The Firebird and Princess Vasilisa (russian: Жар-птица и царевна Василиса) is a Russian

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...

collected by

Alexander Afanasyev Alexander Nikolayevich Afanasyev (Afanasief, Afanasiev or Afanas'ev, russian: link=no, Александр Николаевич Афанасьев) ( — ) was a Russian Slavist and ethnographer who published nearly 600 Russian fairy and folk ta ...

in ''

Narodnye russkie skazki ''Russian Fairy Tales'' (russian: Народные русские сказки, variously translated; English titles include also ''Russian Folk Tales'') is a collection of nearly 600 fairy and folktales, collected and published by Alexander Af ...

''. It is one of many tales written about the mythical

Firebird Firebird and fire bird may refer to: Mythical birds * Phoenix (mythology), sacred firebird found in the mythologies of many cultures * Bennu, Egyptian firebird * Huma bird, Persian firebird * Firebird (Slavic folklore) Bird species ''Various sp ...

. It is Aarne-Thompson type 531. Other tales of this type include ''

Ferdinand the Faithful and Ferdinand the Unfaithful "Ferdinand the Faithful and Ferdinand the Unfaithful" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 126. It is Aarne-Thompson type 531. Other tales of this type include ''The Firebird and Princess Vasilisa'', '' Corvetto'' ...

'', '' Corvetto'', ''

King Fortunatus's Golden Wig "King Fortunatus's Golden Wig" ( Breton: ''Barvouskenn ar roue Fortunatus'') is a French fairy tale collected by Colonel A. Troude and G. Milin in '.Paul Delarue, "The Borzoi Book of French Folk-Tales", Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York 1956 It is A ...

'', and ''

The Mermaid and the Boy The Mermaid and the Boy (''Gutten, Havfruen og Ridder Rød''; German: ''Der Knabe, die Meerfrau und Ritter Roth'') is a Sámi fairy tale collected by Josef Calasanz Poestion in '' Lapplandische Märchen'' (Wein; 1886). Andrew Lang included an Eng ...

''. Another, literary variant is

Madame d'Aulnoy Marie-Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville, Baroness d'Aulnoy (1650/1651 – 14 January 1705), also known as Countess d'Aulnoy, was a French author known for her literary fairy tales. When she termed her works ''contes de fées'' (fairy tales), sh ...

's ''La Belle aux cheveux d'or'', or ''

The Story of Pretty Goldilocks The Story of Pretty Goldilocks or The Beauty with Golden Hair is a French literary fairy tale written by Madame d'Aulnoy. Andrew Lang included it in ''The Blue Fairy Book''. It is Aarne–Thompson type 531. This type is generally called "The ...

''.

Synopsis

A royal huntsman found a feather of the

firebird Firebird and fire bird may refer to: Mythical birds * Phoenix (mythology), sacred firebird found in the mythologies of many cultures * Bennu, Egyptian firebird * Huma bird, Persian firebird * Firebird (Slavic folklore) Bird species ''Various sp ...

and, though his horse warned him against it, picked it up. The king demanded that he bring him the bird. The huntsman went to his horse, who told him to demand that measures of corn be spread over the fields. He did, and the firebird came to eat and was caught. He brought it to the king, who said that because he had done that, now he must bring him Princess Vasilisa to be his bride. The horse had him demand food and drink for the journey, and a tent with a golden top. With it, they set out to a lake where the princess was rowing with golden oars in a silver boat. He set up the tent and set out the food. The princess came and ate, and drinking foreign wine, she became drunk and slept. He carried her off. Princess Vasilisa refused to marry without her wedding gown, from the bottom of the sea. The king sent the huntsman for it. He rode the horse to the sea, where the horse found a great crab (or lobster) and threatened to crush it. The crab asked the horse to spare it and summoned all the crabs to fetch the wedding gown. Princess Vasilisa refused to marry without the king ordering the huntsman to bathe in boiling water. The huntsman went to his horse, who charmed his body. He bathed in the boiling water and became handsome. The king went to bathe in the same water, and died. The people took the huntsman as king instead, and he married the princess.

Translations

The tale was translated into English language with the title ''The Fire-Bird, the Horse of Power and the Princess Vasillisa'', by Arthur Ransome.

Variants

Russia

collected two variants in his original compilation of Russian folk tales (numbered 169–170), under the banner "Жар-птица и Василиса-царевна" ("The Bird-of-Fire and Tsarevna Vasilisa").

Ukraine

Another variant from a Slavic source (Cossack/

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

) is "Тремсинъ — Жаръ-птица и Настасья прекрасная изъ моря" (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: "Tremsin, Bird of Zhar and Nastasya, the Beautiful One that comes from the sea"). This Ukrainian tale was translated as ''The Story of Tremsin, the Bird Zhar and Nastasia, the Lovely Maid of the Sea'' by

Robert Nisbet Bain Robert Nisbet Bain (1854–1909) was a British historian and linguist who worked for the British Museum. Life Bain was born in London in 1854 to David and Elizabeth (born Cowan) Bain. Bain was a fluent linguist who could use over twenty la ...

and as ''The Feather of the Zhar Bird'', by illustrator Katherine Pyle.

Slovenia

Author Bozena Nemcová collected and published a variant from

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

, with the name ''O Ptáku Ohniváku a o Mořské Panne'' ("The Fire-Bird and the Maiden of the Sea").

Czech Republic

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

author

Václav Tille Václav Tille (16 February 1867 in Tábor – 26 June 1937 in Prague) was a Czech writer. He also used the pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from ...

(writing under pseudonym ''Václav Říha'') published the tale ''Dcera mořského krále'' ("The Sea-King's Daughter"): a man is tasked with guarding the king's fields against something that comes in the night and tramples them. The man discovers the culprits: a white steed and several mares; he captures the steed and takes it to the stables. On one occasion, the man sees a golden lock of hair and delivers it to his king. The monarch says it belongs to the Sea-King's Daughter and orders the boy to bring the maiden in person to him. The youth begins his quest with the help of the white horse he tamed. After a series of increasingly difficult tasks, the princess sends the youth for her "horses of the sea". He brings them back to the princess, who suggests the king should try some of the milk the horses produce. The hesitant monarch says the youth should try it first, and the white horse "blows its breath to cool it".

References

External links

''The Firebird and Princess Vasilisa''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Firebird and Princess Vasilisa, The Russian fairy tales Firebird and Princess Vasilisa ATU 500-559