''Vasilisa the Priest's Daughter'' (Afanasyev 131-133) 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 Aleksandr Afanasyev 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 ...

''.Afanas’ev, Aleksandr. ''Russian Fairy Tales.'' New York, NY: Pantheon Books, Inc. (1945).

Synopsis

A daughter of a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

wore men's clothing, rode horses, and could fire a gun. One day the king saw this "young man", but his servants insisted that the "young man" was in fact a girl. The king did not believe the servants; he wrote to the priest asking him if his "son" could have dinner with him. The priest sent his daughter to the king’s home. Before she arrived, the king sought advice from a witch regarding the true identity of the "young man". The witch advised the king to do many different things to test if Vasilisa is a girl or not, such as place an embroidery frame and a gun positioned on a wall and to see which object she will notice first. If she is a girl she will notice the frame first, and vice versa. The "young man" passed every test, but the king remained doubtful. The king tries several times to find the true identity, but on the last time the king asked the "young man" to take a bath with him, and the "young man" agreed. While the king undressed, the "young man" undressed, bathed quickly and fled, leaving a note for the king saying

"Ah King Barkhat, raven that you are, you could not surprise the falcon in the garden! For I am not Vasily Vasilyevich, but Vasilisa Vasilyevna" (Afanas’ev 133).

Motifs

The woman disguised as a man is found in other fairy tales, such as ''

Belle-Belle ou Le Chevalier Fortuné ''Belle-Belle ou Le Chevalier Fortuné'' is a French literary fairy tale, written by Madame d'Aulnoy. Plot summary A king, driven from his capital by an emperor, was forming an army and demanded that one person from every noble household become a ...

'', by

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 ...

, ''

Costanza / Costanzo Costanza / Costanzo is an Italian literary fairy tale written by Giovanni Francesco Straparola in ''The Facetious Nights of Straparola'' (written between 1550 and 1555). Synopsis A king married to have heirs, and his wife bore three daughters. In ...

'', by

Giovanni Francesco Straparola Giovanni Francesco "Gianfrancesco" Straparola, also known as Zoan or Zuan Francesco Straparola da Caravaggio (ca. 1485?–1558), was an Italian writer of poetry, and collector and writer of short stories. Some time during his life, he migrated fr ...

, ''

The Three Crowns The Three Crowns is an Italian literary fairy tale written by Giambattista Basile in his 1634 work, the ''Pentamerone''. Synopsis A childless king heard a voice asking him whether he would rather have a daughter who would flee him or a son who wou ...

'' by

Giambattista Basile Giambattista Basile (February 1566 – February 1632) was an Italian poet, courtier, and fairy tale collector. His collections include the oldest recorded forms of many well-known (and more obscure) European fairy tales. He is chiefly remembere ...

and '' Fanta-Ghiro the Beautiful'', by

Italo Calvino Italo Calvino (, also , ;. RAI (circa 1970), retrieved 25 October 2012. 15 October 1923 – 19 September 1985) was an Italian writer and journalist. His best known works include the ''Our Ancestors'' trilogy (1952–1959), the '' Cosmicomi ...

References

{{Russian fairy tales Russian folklore characters Russian fairy tales Fairy tales collected by Alexander Afanasyev Female characters in fairy tales

Synopsis

Motifs

See also

References