Vasilissa the Wise - an old Slavic tale
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| Vasilisa the Beautiful by Galina Zykova/ source: https://www.thecollector.com/tales |
Long, long ago, there lived an old man and an old woman and their daughter Vasilisa. Their life was a peaceful and happy one but even the brightest of skies may become overcast, and misfortune stepped over their threshold at last. The old woman fell gravely ill and, feeling that her end was near, she called Vasilisa to her bedside, gave her a little doll, and said:
- Do as I tell you, my child. Take good care of this little doll and never show it to anyone. If ever anything bad happens to you, give the doll something to eat and ask its advice. It will help you out in all your troubles.
And, giving Vasilisa a last, parting kiss, the old woman died. The old man sorrowed and grieved for a time, and then he married again. He had thought to give Vasilisa a second mother, but he gave her a cruel stepmother instead. The stepmother had two daughters of her own, two of the most mean and hard to please young women that ever lived. The stepmother loved them dearly and was always kissing and coddling them, but she nagged at Vasilisa and never let her have a moment's peace.
Vasilisa felt very unhappy, for her stepmother and stepsisters kept scolding her and making her work beyond her strength. They hoped that she would grow thin and ugly with too much work and that her face would turn dark in the wind and sun. All day long they gave her endless tasks:
- Fetch the wood, don't be slow! Start a fire! Wash the plates, milk the cow! Scrub the floor, hurry now! Work away and don't take all day!
Vasilisa did all she was told to do, she waited on everyone and always got her chores done on time. And with every day that passed she grew more and more beautiful. Such was her beauty as could not be pictured and could not be told, but was a true wonder and joy to behold. And it was her little doll that helped Vasilisa in everything. The doll showed her a herb to be used against sun-burn, and Vasilisa used it and became more beautiful than ever.
One day, late in the fall, the old man set out from home and was not expected back for some time. The stepmother and the three sisters were left alone. They sat in the hut and it was dark outside and raining and the wind was howling. The hut stood at the edge of a dense forest and in the forest there lived Baba-Yaga, a cunning witch and sly, who gobbled people up in the wink of an eye.
Now the three sisters the stepmother had a plan. They put out all the lights in the house and started to scream:
- It is dark and we must work. One of us will have to go to BabaYaga's house to ask for a light.
They quicly decided that Vasilisa is the one, who must go for the light o Baba-Yaga's house.
They pushed Vasilisa out of the house. The blackness of night was about her, and the dense forest, and the wild wind. Vasilisa was frightened, she burst into tears and she took out her little doll from her pocket and the doll comforted her:
- Never you mind, you'll be all right. Nothing bad can happen to you while I'm with you.
All of a sudden whom should she see but a man on horseback galloping past. He was all in white, his horse was white. It was dawn allaround.
Suddenly another horseman came galloping by. He was dressed in red and his horse was red too. The sun rose, it kissed Vasilisa and warmed her and dried the dew on her hair.
Vasilisa never stopped but walked on for a whole day, and it was getting on toward evening when she came out on to a small glade. She looked, and she saw a hut standing there. The fence round the hut was made of human bones and crowned with human skulls. The gate was no gate but the bones of men's legs and the lock was no lock but a set of sharp teeth. Vasilisa was horrified.
Suddenly a horseman came riding up. He was dressed in black, his horse was black and the horse's harness was black too. The horseman galloped up to the gate and vanished as if into thin air of night.
Only the eyes of the skulls crowning the fence began to glow, and it became as light as if it was day.
Vasilisa shook with fear. She could not move her feet which seemed to have frozen to the spot.
All of a sudden, she felt the earth trembling and rocking beneath her, and there was Baba-Yaga flying up in a mortar, swinging her pestle like a whip and sweeping the tracks away with a broom. She flew up to the gate and, sniffing the air, cried:
- I smell flesh! Who is here?
Vasilisa came up to Baba-Yaga, bowed low to her and said very humbly:
- It is I, Vasilisa, Grandma. My stepsisters sent me to you to ask for a light.
- Oh, it's you, is it? - Baba-Yaga replied. - I know you and your stepmother. Very well, then, stay with me for a while and work, and then we'll see what is to be seen.
They came inside the spinning hut. Baba -Yaga only warned the girl:
- You see, Vasilisa, it is not easy to run away from me. My cat will scratch you, my dog will bite you, my birch-tree will lash you, and put out your eyes, and my gate will not open to let you out.
Saying this Baba-Yaga came into her room, and started to order:
- Come, black-browed maid, give us something to eat.
And Vasilissa light the fire under the kitchen and started to cook a pot of borshch, ten jugs of milk, twenty chickens and forty geese.
Baba-Yaga ate and drank up everything, but she only gave Vasilisa a chunk of bread.
Then Baba-Yaga ordered to wash her clothes and sweep the hut. It took ages to satisfy the hag but what to do Vasilisa washed and swept for hours.
Eventually, she said:
- And now, Vasilisa, take this sack of millet and pick it over seed by seed. And mind that you take out all the black bits, for if you don't I shall eat you up.
And Baba-Yaga closed her eyes and began to snore.
Vasilisa took the piece of bread, put it before her little doll and said: "Come, little doll, eat this bread, my dear, and I'll pour out all my troubles in your ear!
- Do not grieve and do not weep, but close your eyes and go to sleep. For morning is wiser than evening. - answered the doll.
And the moment Vasilisa was asleep, the doll called out all her feathered friends. They began to chirp and to coo, to set up a great to-do, and to pick over the millet seed by seed very quickly indeed. They had only just finished when the white horseman galloped past the gate on his white horse.
The day was dawning. Baba-Yaga woke up and when she saw that everything is done, she was very angry, but there was nothing more to be said.
- Humph - she snorted - I am off to hunt and you take that sack. It's filled with peas and poppy seeds, pick out the peas from the seeds and put them in two separate heaps. And mind, now, if you do not do it, I shall eat you up.
Baba-Yaga went out into the yard and whistled, and the mortar and pestle swept up to her. The red horseman galloped past, and the sun rose. Baba-Yaga got into the mortar and rode out of the yard.
Vasilisa took a crust of bread, fed her little doll and said:
- Do take pity on me, little doll, my dear, and help me out.
And the doll called out in ringing tones:
- Come to me, mice of the house, the barn and the field, for there is work to be done!
And the mice came running, swarms and swarms of them, more than eye could see or tongue could tell, and before the hour was up the work was all done.
It was getting on toward evening, and the black-browed maid set the table and began to wait for Baba-Yaga's return. The black horseman galloped past the gate, night fell, and the eyes of the skulls crowning the fence began to glow.
And now the trees groaned and crackled, the leaves rustled, and Baba-Yaga, the cunning witch and sly, who gobbled people up in the wink of an eye, came riding home.
Again when she saw evrything done, Baba-Yaga was very angry. But what could she say!
- Well, then you can't come back without a light. Go and take one of the skulls from the fence and, mounting it on a stick Vasilisa ran into the dark forest. Fortunatelly, the eyes uf skull glowed, and by their light the dark night was as bright as day.
When the girl ran home, she saw that there was no light on in the house. Her stepsisters rushed out and began to chide and scold her.
- What took you so long fetching the light? - We cannot seem to keep one on in the house at all. We have tried to strike a light again and again but it went out the moment it was lit. Perhaps yours will keep burning.
They brought the skull into the house, and its eyes fixed themselves on the stepmother and her two daughters and burnt them like fire.
By morning they were burnt to a cinder, all three.
Only Vasilisa remained unharmed. Now she was a strong woman.
P.S. Believe it or not but every detail in the tale has its meaning on the way while Vasilisa step by slow step turns from a girl into an independant, mature woman. I really recommend reading Dr Clarissa Pinkola Estés explanation in the book 'Women who Run with the Wolves'.
The story above is my shortened version of the old tale. If you want to read the original one you can find it here:
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