Vasilissa the Beautiful
Encyclopedia
Vasilisa the Beautiful commonly known as Vasilisa's Doll, is a Russian fairy tale
collected by Alexander Afanasyev
in Narodnye russkie skazki
.
Another of the many versions of the tale appears in A Book of Enchantments and Curses
(under the title Vasilissa Most Lovely), by Ruth Manning-Sanders
.
Aleksandr Rou
made this fairy tale into a film, Vasilisa the Beautiful in 1939; it was the first large-budget feature in the Soviet Union
to use fantasy elements, as opposed to the realistic style long favored politically. The film, however, differs drastically from the popular tale.
) the Beautiful. When she was eight years old, her mother died. On her deathbed, she gave Vasilisa a tiny wooden doll
with instructions to give it a little to eat and a little to drink if she were in need, and then it would help her. As soon as her mother died, Vasilisa gave it a little to drink and a little to eat, and it comforted her.
After a time, her father remarried to a woman with two daughters. Her stepmother was very cruel to her, but with the help of the doll, Vasilisa was able to perform all the tasks imposed on her. When young men came wooing, the stepmother rejected them all because it was not proper for the younger to marry before the older, and none of the suitors wished to marry Vasilisa's stepsisters.
One day the merchant had to embark on a journey. His wife sold the house and moved them all to a gloomy hut by the forest. One day she gave each of the girls a task and put out all the fires except a single candle. Her older daughter then put out the candle, whereupon they sent Vasilisa to fetch light from Baba Yaga
's hut. The doll advised her to go, and she went. While she was walking, a mysterious man rode by her in the hours before dawn, dressed in white, riding a white horse whose equipment was all white; then a similar rider in red. She came to a house that stood on chicken legs and was walled by a fence made of human bones. A black rider, like the white and red riders, rode past her, and night fell, whereupon the eye sockets of the skull
s became luminous. Vasilisa was too frightened to run away, and so Baba Yaga found her when she arrived in her mortar
.
Baba Yaga said that she must perform tasks to earn the fire, or be killed. For the first task, Vasilisa was to clean the house and yard, cook supper, and pick out black grains and wild peas from a quarter measure of wheat. Baba Yaga left, and Vasilisa cooked, while the doll did everything else. At dawn, the white rider passed; at or before noon, the red. As the black rider rode past, Baba Yaga returned and could complain of nothing. She bade three pairs of disembodied hands seize the grain to grind it, and set Vasilisa the same tasks for the next day, with the addition of cleaning poppy seed
s that had been mixed with dirt. Again, the doll did everything but cook the meal. Baba Yaga set the three pairs of hands to press the oil from the poppy seeds.
Vasilisa asked about the riders' identities and was told that the white one was Day
, the red one the Sun
, and the black one Night
. Other details are not explained, on the grounds that Baba Yaga preferred to keep them secret. In return, Baba Yaga inquired into the cause of Vasilisa's success. On hearing the answer "by my mother's blessing", Baba Yaga sends Vasilisa home with a skull-lantern to provide light for her step-family, only to find that, since sending her out on her task, no candles or fire will light in their home. Even lamps and candles brought in from outside snuff out the second they are carried over the threshold. The light burns Vasilisa's stepmother and stepsisters to ashes, and Vasilisa buries the skull as per its instructions so no person would ever be harmed by it.
Later, Vasilisa becomes an assistant to a maker of cloth in Russia's capital city, where she becomes so skilled at her work that the czar himself notices her skill; he later marries Vasilisa.
, do feature it.
and are often interpreted to give her a mythological significance.
In common with many folklorists of his day, Alexander Afanasyev
regarded many tales as primitive ways of viewing nature. In such an interpretation, he regarded this fairy tale as depicting the conflict between the sunlight (Vasilisa), the storm (her stepmother), and dark clouds (her stepsisters).
Clarissa Pinkola Estés
interprets the story as a tale of female liberation, Vasilisa's journey from subservience to strength and independence. She interprets Baba Yaga as the "wild feminine" principle that Vasilisa has been separated from, which, by obeying and learning how to nurture, she learns and grows from.
Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...
collected by Alexander Afanasyev
Alexander Afanasyev
Alexander Nikolayevich Afanasyev was a Russian folklorist who recorded and published over 600 Russian folktales and fairytales, by far the largest folktale collection by any one man in the world...
in Narodnye russkie skazki
Narodnye russkie skazki
Russian Fairy Tales , is a collection of Russian fairy tales, collected by Alexander Afanasyev and published by him between 1855 and 1863. His work was explicitly modeled after the Brothers Grimm's work, Grimm's Fairy Tales....
.
Another of the many versions of the tale appears in A Book of Enchantments and Curses
A Book of Enchantments and Curses
A Book of Enchantments and Curses is a 1977 anthology of 13 fairy tales from around the world that have been collected and retold by Ruth Manning-Sanders. It is one in a long series of such anthologies by Manning-Sanders....
(under the title Vasilissa Most Lovely), by Ruth Manning-Sanders
Ruth Manning-Sanders
Ruth Manning-Sanders was a prolific British poet and author who was perhaps best known for her series of children's books in which she collected and retold fairy tales from all over the world. All told, she published more than 90 books during her lifetime. The dust jacket for A Book of Giants...
.
Aleksandr Rou
Aleksandr Rou
Alexander Arturovich Rou was a Soviet film director, People's Artist of RSFSR . He worked primarily in fairy-tale genre....
made this fairy tale into a film, Vasilisa the Beautiful in 1939; it was the first large-budget feature in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
to use fantasy elements, as opposed to the realistic style long favored politically. The film, however, differs drastically from the popular tale.
Synopsis
A merchant had, by his first wife, a single daughter, who was known as Vasilisa ("Βασίλισσα", meaning Queen in GreekGreek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
) the Beautiful. When she was eight years old, her mother died. On her deathbed, she gave Vasilisa a tiny wooden doll
Doll
A doll is a model of a human being, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have traditionally been used in magic and religious rituals throughout the world, and traditional dolls made of materials like clay and wood are found in the Americas, Asia, Africa and Europe. The earliest documented dolls...
with instructions to give it a little to eat and a little to drink if she were in need, and then it would help her. As soon as her mother died, Vasilisa gave it a little to drink and a little to eat, and it comforted her.
After a time, her father remarried to a woman with two daughters. Her stepmother was very cruel to her, but with the help of the doll, Vasilisa was able to perform all the tasks imposed on her. When young men came wooing, the stepmother rejected them all because it was not proper for the younger to marry before the older, and none of the suitors wished to marry Vasilisa's stepsisters.
One day the merchant had to embark on a journey. His wife sold the house and moved them all to a gloomy hut by the forest. One day she gave each of the girls a task and put out all the fires except a single candle. Her older daughter then put out the candle, whereupon they sent Vasilisa to fetch light from Baba Yaga
Baba Yaga
Baba Yaga or Baba Roga is a haggish or witchlike character in Slavic folklore. She flies around on a giant pestle, kidnaps small children, and lives in a hut that stands on chicken legs...
's hut. The doll advised her to go, and she went. While she was walking, a mysterious man rode by her in the hours before dawn, dressed in white, riding a white horse whose equipment was all white; then a similar rider in red. She came to a house that stood on chicken legs and was walled by a fence made of human bones. A black rider, like the white and red riders, rode past her, and night fell, whereupon the eye sockets of the skull
Human skull symbolism
Skull symbolism is the attachment of symbolic meaning to the human skull. The most common symbolic use of the skull is as a representation of death and mortality, but such a reading varies with changing cultural contexts....
s became luminous. Vasilisa was too frightened to run away, and so Baba Yaga found her when she arrived in her mortar
Mortar and pestle
A mortar and pestle is a tool used to crush, grind, and mix solid substances . The pestle is a heavy bat-shaped object, the end of which is used for crushing and grinding. The mortar is a bowl, typically made of hard wood, ceramic or stone...
.
Poppy seed
Poppy seed is an oilseed obtained from the opium poppy . The tiny kidney-shaped seeds have been harvested from dried seed pods by various civilizations for thousands of years...
s that had been mixed with dirt. Again, the doll did everything but cook the meal. Baba Yaga set the three pairs of hands to press the oil from the poppy seeds.
Vasilisa asked about the riders' identities and was told that the white one was Day
Day
A day is a unit of time, commonly defined as an interval equal to 24 hours. It also can mean that portion of the full day during which a location is illuminated by the light of the sun...
, the red one the Sun
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
, and the black one Night
Night
Night or nighttime is the period of time when the sun is below the horizon. This occurs after dusk. The opposite of night is day...
. Other details are not explained, on the grounds that Baba Yaga preferred to keep them secret. In return, Baba Yaga inquired into the cause of Vasilisa's success. On hearing the answer "by my mother's blessing", Baba Yaga sends Vasilisa home with a skull-lantern to provide light for her step-family, only to find that, since sending her out on her task, no candles or fire will light in their home. Even lamps and candles brought in from outside snuff out the second they are carried over the threshold. The light burns Vasilisa's stepmother and stepsisters to ashes, and Vasilisa buries the skull as per its instructions so no person would ever be harmed by it.
Later, Vasilisa becomes an assistant to a maker of cloth in Russia's capital city, where she becomes so skilled at her work that the czar himself notices her skill; he later marries Vasilisa.
Variants
In some versions, the tale ends with the death of the stepmother and stepsisters, and Vasilisa lives peacefully with her father after their removal. This is unusual in a tale with a grown heroine, although some, such as Jack and the BeanstalkJack and the Beanstalk
Jack and the Beanstalk is a folktale said by English historian Francis Palgrave to be an oral legend that arrived in England with the Vikings. The tale is closely associated with the tale of Jack the Giant-killer. It is known under a number of versions...
, do feature it.
Interpretations
The white, red, and black riders appear in other tales of Baba YagaBaba Yaga
Baba Yaga or Baba Roga is a haggish or witchlike character in Slavic folklore. She flies around on a giant pestle, kidnaps small children, and lives in a hut that stands on chicken legs...
and are often interpreted to give her a mythological significance.
In common with many folklorists of his day, Alexander Afanasyev
Alexander Afanasyev
Alexander Nikolayevich Afanasyev was a Russian folklorist who recorded and published over 600 Russian folktales and fairytales, by far the largest folktale collection by any one man in the world...
regarded many tales as primitive ways of viewing nature. In such an interpretation, he regarded this fairy tale as depicting the conflict between the sunlight (Vasilisa), the storm (her stepmother), and dark clouds (her stepsisters).
Clarissa Pinkola Estés
Clarissa Pinkola Estés
Clarissa Pinkola Estés is an American poet, post-trauma specialist and Jungian psychoanalyst.-Biography:Similar to William Carlos Williams and other poets who also worked in the health or other professions in tandem, Estés is a poet who uses her poems throughout her psychoanalytic books,...
interprets the story as a tale of female liberation, Vasilisa's journey from subservience to strength and independence. She interprets Baba Yaga as the "wild feminine" principle that Vasilisa has been separated from, which, by obeying and learning how to nurture, she learns and grows from.