I love Russian fairy tales, but many are hard to understand as we move away from them in time and distance. Some don’t have good translations into English. But this one, Vasilisa the Beautiful, translated by Irina Zheleznova, is really really good. It’s definitely one of my favorites.
It’s the first fairy tale in this e-book: http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/65r.pdf
I hope you like it!
All Things Russian: Stories, Culture, and Food 
Beautiful translation. Are you going to use it with your students?
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Yes, I will. I can show them all the beautiful illustrations, talk about Baba Yaga and her modes of transportation, the connection to nature, story structure, etc. It’ll be a nice change for them. Something different.
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The mode of transportation is common to all witches of all times across cultures, I think. I sometimes wonder where it originated and how it spread. Regardless, I envy your students, having such a creative and inspired teacher!
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Always loved this.
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Me too!
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Have you come across the Sadko tale? Very intriguing.
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That’s a great suggestion!!! Yes, I know the tale; Alexander Pushkin’s Sadko was required (but liked!) reading in school. But I never thought about it for my students, and I didn’t realize there were so many English translations until your comment. And there are a lot of beautiful illustrations and some short clips from Russian movies online, so lots to share in class. Thank you! I can’t believe I never considered it. What was I thinking???
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On quite another matter, outside school, I’d like to know your feelings, reactions, ideas, on the Campaign of Igor poem.
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That’s a big question. Let me think about it for a bit.
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Thank you for following me, I really appreciate it, and shall look forward to reading your blogs. Are you based in Russia, it is a Country that has always fascinated me and one day I hope I shall make it to St Petersburg.
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Thank you, Anna! I live in Arizona now, but I still have family in Russia, so I travel there every summer. Even though I was born and raised in Moscow, St.Petersburg has always had a special place in my heart. It’s a beautiful city, with lots of amazing architecture.
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I wrote a bit about Russian tales in one of my posts and mentioned this story. I was in 7th grade when I first heard about them but did not have direct access. They are very unique. I find them appropriate for any age. It appears we both have something in common:we are educators and had the privilege of knowing a different part of the world.
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Thanks, Henriette. I’ll go find your post about Russian fairy tales now :).
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