The Frog Princess is a Russian folk tale where the main character, Ivan Tsarevich, married a frog by the will of fate. Ivan had no idea that his wife was Vasilisa the Wise, turned by Koshchei into a frog. Ivan hurried, burned the frog skin and had to rescue his wife from captivity ...

The frog princess read

In a certain kingdom, in a certain state, there lived a king, and he had three sons. The youngest was named Ivan Tsarevich.

Once the king called his sons and said to them:
- My dear children, now you are all old, it's time for you to think about brides!

For whom, father, should we woo?

And you take an arrow, pull your tight bows and shoot arrows in different directions. Where the arrow falls - there and woo.

The brothers came out into the wide father's yard, pulled their tight bows and fired.

The elder brother fired an arrow. An arrow fell on the boyar court, and the boyar daughter raised it.

The middle brother shot an arrow - an arrow flew to a rich merchant in the yard. The merchant's daughter raised her.

Ivan Tsarevich fired an arrow - his arrow flew straight into the swampy swamp, and the frog frog raised it ...

As the older brothers went to look for their arrows, they immediately found them: one - in the boyar's chamber, the other - in the merchant's yard. And Ivan Tsarevich could not find his arrow for a long time. For two days he walked through the forests and mountains, and on the third day he went into a marshy swamp. He looks - a frog is sitting there, holding his arrow.

Ivan Tsarevich wanted to run away and retreat from his find, and the frog says:

Kwa-kva, Ivan Tsarevich! Come to me, take your arrow, and marry me.

Ivan Tsarevich was saddened and answered:

How can I marry you? People will laugh at me!

Take it, Ivan Tsarevich, you won't regret it!

Ivan Tsarevich thought and thought, took the frog, wrapped it in a handkerchief and brought it to his kingdom-state.

The elder brothers came to the father, they tell where whose arrow hit.

Ivan Tsarevich also spoke. The brothers began to laugh at him, and his father said:

Take the wah, there's nothing you can do!

Here they played three weddings, the princes got married: the elder prince - on a hawthorn tree, the middle one - on a merchant's daughter, and Ivan Tsarevich - on a frog.

The next day after the wedding, the king called his sons and said:

Well, my dear sons, now all three of you are married. I would like to know if your wives know how to bake bread. Let them bake me a loaf of bread by morning.

The princes bowed to their father and left. Ivan Tsarevich returned to his chambers, unhappy, hanging his head below his shoulders.

Kwa-kva, Ivan Tsarevich, - says the frog, - why are you so sad? Or did you hear an unkind word from your father?

How can I not be sad! - answers Ivan Tsarevich. - My father ordered that you yourself bake a loaf of bread by morning ...

The frog put the prince to sleep, and she threw off her frog skin and turned into a red maiden Vasilisa the Wise - such a beauty that she can’t say in a fairy tale or describe with a pen!

She took frequent sieves, fine sieves, sifted wheat flour, kneaded white dough, baked a loaf - loose and soft, decorated the loaf with various tricky patterns: on the sides - cities with palaces, gardens and towers, flying birds on top, roaring animals below ...

In the morning, Ivan Tsarevich's frog wakes up:

It's time, Ivan Tsarevich, get up, carry the loaf!

She put the loaf on a golden dish, accompanied Ivan Tsarevich to his father.

The elder brothers also came, brought their loaves, only they had nothing to look at: the bread of the boyar's daughter was burnt, the merchant's - raw and lopsided turned out.

The king first accepted the loaf from the senior prince, looked at it and ordered it to be taken to the dogs of the yard.

He took it from the middle one, looked and said:

You will eat such a loaf only from great need!

The turn came to Ivan Tsarevich. The king received a loaf from him and said:

This bread is only on big holidays!

And then he gave his sons a new order:

I would like to know how your wives know how to needlework. Take silk, gold and silver, and let them weave my carpet with their own hands overnight!

The senior princes returned to their wives, gave them the royal order. Wives began to call mothers, nannies and red girls - to help them weave carpets. Immediately mothers, nannies and red girls gathered and began to weave and embroider carpets - some with silver, some with gold, some with silk.

And Ivan Tsarevich returned home unhappy, hung his head below his shoulders.

Kwa-kva, Ivan Tsarevich, - says the frog, - why are you so sad? Or did he hear an unkind word from his father?

How can I not freak out! - answers Ivan Tsarevich. - Father ordered to weave a patterned carpet for him in one night!

Do not grieve, Ivan Tsarevich! Go to bed better sleep-rest: the morning is wiser than the evening!

The frog put him to bed, and she herself threw off her frog skin, turned into a red maiden Vasilisa the Wise and began to weave a carpet. Where it pricks with a needle once - the flower will bloom, where it pricks another time - cunning patterns go, where it pricks the third - birds fly ...

The sun has not risen yet, but the carpet is ready.

So all three brothers came to the king, each brought his own carpet. The king first took the carpet from the senior prince, looked and said:

With this carpet only to cover the horses from the rain!

Took from the middle, looked and said:

Only lay it at the gate!

Received from Ivan Tsarevich, looked and said:

But this carpet in my room on big holidays to spread!

And immediately the king gave a new order for all three princes to come to him for a feast with their wives: the king wants to see which of them dances better.

The princes went to their wives.

Ivan Tsarevich is walking, he is sad, he himself thinks: “How can I lead my frog to the royal feast? ..”

He came home unhappy. The wah asks him:

What again, Ivan Tsarevich, is sad, below his shoulders he hung his wild head? What did you worry about?

How can I not be sad! - says Ivan Tsarevich. - Father ordered me to bring you to his feast tomorrow ...

Do not grieve, Ivan Tsarevich! Lie down and sleep: the morning is wiser than the evening!

The next day, when it was time to go to the feast, the frog said to the prince:

Well, Ivan Tsarevich, go alone to the royal feast, and I will follow you. When you hear a knock and thunder - do not be afraid, say: “This, apparently, is my frog in a box!”

Ivan Tsarevich went to the tsar alone for a feast.

And the older brothers came to the palace with their wives, dressed up, undressed. They stand and laugh at Ivan Tsarevich:

Why did you, brother, come without a wife? If only he had brought her in a handkerchief, he would have let us all listen to her croaking!

Suddenly there was a knock and thunder - the whole palace shook and staggered. All the guests were alarmed, jumped up from their seats. Ivan Tsarevich says:

Fear not, dear guests! This, apparently, is my frog in his little box!

Everyone ran up to the windows and saw: fast walkers were running, messengers were jumping, and after them a gilded carriage was riding, harnessed by a trio of bay horses.

The carriage drove up to the porch, and Vasilisa the Wise got out of it - she herself shines like a clear sun.

Everyone marvels at her, admires her, they cannot utter a word from surprise.

Vasilisa the Wise took Ivan Tsarevich by the hands and led her to the oak tables, to the patterned tablecloths ...

The guests began to eat, drink, and have fun.

Vasilisa the Wise drinks from the goblet - does not finish her drink, pours the rest into her left sleeve. He eats a fried swan - he throws bones for his right sleeve.

The wives of the senior princes saw this - and there too: what they don’t finish drinking, they pour into their sleeve, what they don’t finish eating, they put it in another. And why, why - that they themselves do not know.

As the guests got up from the table, music began to play, dancing began. Vasilisa the Wise went to dance with Ivan Tsarevich. She waved her left sleeve - the lake became, waved her right - white swans swam across the lake. The king and all the guests were amazed. And as soon as she stopped dancing, everything disappeared: the lake and the swans.

The wives of the elder princes went to dance.

How they waved their left sleeves - they splashed all the guests; how they waved their right ones - they showered them with stubs of bones, they almost knocked out the tsar himself with a bone. The king got angry and ordered them to be driven out of the room.

When the feast was running out, Ivan Tsarevich seized a moment and ran home. He found frog skin and burned it on fire.

Vasilisa the Wise came home, missed - no frog skin! She rushed to look for her. She searched, searched - she did not find it and said to Ivan Tsarevich:

Ah, Ivan Tsarevich, what have you done! If you had waited three more days, I would have been yours forever. And now goodbye, look for me at distant lands, at distant seas, in the kingdom of the thirtieth, in the sunflower state, at Koshchei the Immortal. How you wear out three pairs of iron boots, how you gnaw through three iron loaves - only then will you find me ...

She said she turned into a white swan and flew out the window.

Tsarevich Ivan was lit up. He equipped himself, took a bow and arrows, put on iron boots, put three iron loaves in his shoulder bag and went to look for his wife, Vasilisa the Wise.

Whether he walked for a long time, whether it was short, whether it was close, whether it was far - soon the fairy tale is told, but not soon the deed is done - he wore out two pairs of iron boots, gnawed two iron loaves, set to work on the third. And then he met an old man.

Hello grandfather! - says Ivan Tsarevich.

Hello, good fellow! What are you looking for, where are you going?

Ivan Tsarevich told the old man his grief.

Eh, Ivan Tsarevich, - says the old man, - why did you burn the frog's skin? You didn’t put it on, it wasn’t for you to take it off!

Vasilisa the Wise, wiser and wiser than her father, Koshchei the Immortal, was born, he was angry with her for that and ordered her to be a frog for three years. Well, yes, there is nothing to do, you can’t fix the trouble with words. Here's a ball for you: wherever it rolls, go there too.

Ivan Tsarevich thanked the old man and went for the ball.

A ball rolls over high mountains, rolls through dark forests, rolls through green meadows, rolls through swampy swamps, rolls through deaf places, and Ivan Tsarevich goes on and on after him - he will not stop to rest for an hour.

Walked, walked, wore out the third pair of iron boots, gnawed the third iron bread and came to a dense forest. A bear comes across him.

"Let me kill the bear! - thinks Ivan Tsarevich. “I don’t have any more food.”

He took aim, and the bear suddenly said to him in a human voice:

Don't kill me, Ivan Tsarevich! Someday I'll be nice to you.

Ivan Tsarevich did not touch the bear, regretted it, and went on.

He walks through a clean field, looking - and a large drake flies over him.

Ivan Tsarevich pulled his bow, he was about to shoot a sharp arrow at the drake, and the drake says to him like a human:

Don't kill me, Ivan Tsarevich! There will be time - I will be useful to you.

Tsarevich Ivan took pity on the drake - he did not touch him, he went on hungry.

Suddenly a slanting hare runs towards him.

"I'll kill that rabbit! - thinks the prince. “I really want to eat…”

He pulled on his tight bow, began to aim, and the hare said to him in a human voice:

Do not destroy me, Ivan Tsarevich! There will be time - I will be useful to you.

He went out to the blue sea and sees: on the shore, on the yellow sand, lies a pike-fish. Ivan Tsarevich says:

Well, now eat this pike! My urine is no more - I want to eat so much!

Ah, Ivan Tsarevich, - said the pike, - have pity on me, do not eat me, throw me into the blue sea!

Ivan Tsarevich took pity on the pike, threw it into the sea, and he himself went along the shore for his ball.

How long, how short - a ball rolled into the forest, to the hut. That hut stands on chicken legs, turns around itself.

Ivan Tsarevich says:

Hut, hut, turn your back to the forest, front to me!

The hut, at his word, turned its back to the forest, and its front to it. Ivan Tsarevich entered the hut and sees: a baba-yaga is lying on the stove - a bone leg.
She saw the prince and said:

Why did you come to me, good fellow? Willingly or unwillingly?

Ah, Baba Yaga - a bone leg, you would feed me first, give me a drink and evaporate in a bathhouse, then you would have asked me questions!

And that's true! Baba Yaga answers.

She fed Ivan Tsarevich, gave him a drink, evaporated it in the bath, and the prince told her that he was looking for his wife, Vasilisa the Wise.

I know I know! Baba Yaga says. - She is now with the villain Koshchei the Immortal. It will be difficult to get it, it is not easy to cope with Koshchei: you cannot kill him with an arrow or a bullet. That is why he is not afraid of anyone.

Where is his death?

His death is at the end of a needle, that needle is in an egg, that egg is in a duck, that duck is in a hare, that hare is in a wrought-iron box, and that box is on top of an old oak tree. And that oak grows in a dense forest.

Baba Yaga told Ivan Tsarevich how to get to that oak tree. The prince thanked her and left.

For a long time he made his way through the dense forests, in the swamps of the swamp elm, and finally came to the Koshcheev oak. That oak tree stands, its top rests against the clouds, its roots are spread a hundred miles in the ground, the red sun is covered with branches. And at its very top is a forged casket.

Ivan Tsarevich looks at the oak and does not know what to do, how to get the casket.

“Oh,” he thinks, “is there a bear somewhere? He would help me!"

Just thought, and the bear is right there: he ran and uprooted the oak tree with roots. The casket fell from the top and broke into small pieces.

A hare jumped out of the casket and took off running.

“Where is my hare? - thinks the prince. - He would certainly catch up with this hare ... "

I didn’t have time to think, but the hare was right there: he caught up with another hare, grabbed it and tore it in half. A duck flew out of that hare and rose high, high into the sky.

"Where is my drake?" - thinks the prince.

And the drake flies after the duck - it pecks right at the head. The duck dropped an egg, and that egg fell into the blue sea ...

Ivan Tsarevich was grieving, standing on the shore and saying:

Where is my pike? She would get me an egg from the bottom of the sea!

Suddenly a pike-fish swims up to the shore and holds an egg in its teeth.

Get it, Ivan Tsarevich!

The prince was delighted, broke the egg, took out the needle and broke off the tip of it. And he just broke it off - Koschey the Deathless died, crumbled to dust.

Ivan Tsarevich went to the Koshcheev chambers. Vasilisa the Wise came out to him and said:

Well, Ivan Tsarevich, you managed to find me, now I will be yours all my life!

Ivan Tsarevich chose the best horse from the Koshcheev stable, sat on it with Vasilisa the Wise and returned to his kingdom-state.

And they began to live together, in love and harmony.

(Illustrated by V. Sluzhaev)

Published: Mishkoy 24.10.2017 18:52 09.04.2018