Shortly before the death of Vladimir Lenin, a struggle began in the highest circles of the RCP(b) for the position of party leader. Prominent party leaders were pushed to rivalry not only by personal ambitions, but also by ideological differences. Among the key figures of the party there was no unity on the issues of continuing the NEP, the implementation of national policy, the continuation of the world revolution. Several "platforms" took shape within the party. The struggle for power continued for a long time, among other things, because there was no formal position of head of the party.

To the reasons for the inner-party struggle in the CPSU in the 1920s. applies to:

1. disputes about the methods of building socialism in one country.
2. the desire of a part of the party to restore the order of war communism.
3. struggle for power between I. Stalin and his opponents.

The condemnation by the majority of party members of the anti-democratic and repressive policies of the Bolsheviks does not apply.

I. Stalin took the post of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the RCP in 1924.

Intra-party struggle of the 20s. went through several stages:

By the end of the 1920s, Stalin crushed the inner-party opposition platforms one by one. Remaining in the post of general secretary, which during Lenin's lifetime was purely technical, Stalin became the sole head of the party and the ruler of the USSR. Party purges, initially aimed at destroying the opposition, continued after the destruction of independent party platforms. Over time, they turned into an instrument of terror and a preventive measure that did not even allow the birth of a new anti-Stalinist group.

In a certain kingdom there lived a merchant. He lived in marriage for twelve years and had only one daughter, Vasilisa the Beautiful. When her mother died, the girl was eight years old. Dying, the merchant's wife called her daughter to her, took the doll out from under the blanket, gave it to her and said: “Listen, Vasilisushka! Remember and fulfill my last words. I am dying and, together with my parental blessing, I leave you this doll; take care of it always with you and do not show it to anyone; and when something bad happens to you, give her something to eat and ask her for advice. She will eat and tell you how to help misfortune. Then the mother kissed her daughter and died.

After the death of his wife, the merchant groaned as he should, and then began to think about how to marry again. He was a good man; there was no business for the brides, but one widow came to his liking most of all. She was already in years, had her two daughters, almost the same age as Vasilisa - therefore, both a mistress and an experienced mother. The merchant married a widow, but was deceived and did not find in her a good mother for his Vasilisa. Vasilisa was the first beauty in the whole village; her stepmother and sisters envied her beauty, tormented her with all kinds of work, so that she would lose weight from labor, and turn black from the wind and sun; there was no life at all!

Vasilisa endured everything without a murmur, and every day she grew prettier and stouter, and meanwhile the stepmother and her daughters grew thinner and uglier with anger, despite the fact that they always sat with folded hands like ladies. How was it done? Vasilisa was helped by her doll. Without this, where would the girl cope with all the work! On the other hand, Vasilisa herself would not eat, and even leave the doll the most delicious morsel, and in the evening, when everyone had settled down, she would lock herself in the closet where she lived, and regale her, saying: “Here, doll, eat, listen to my grief! I live in the father's house, I do not see myself any joy; evil stepmother drives me out of the white light. Teach me how to be and live and what to do? The doll eats, and then gives her advice and consoles her in grief, and in the morning she does all the work for Vasilisa; she only rests in the cold and picks flowers, and she already has weeded ridges, and watered cabbage, and water has been applied, and the stove has been heated. The chrysalis will also point out to Vasilisa some weed for sunburn. It was good for her to live with a doll.

Several years have passed; Vasilisa grew up and became a bride. All suitors in the city are courting Vasilisa; no one will look at stepmother's daughters. The stepmother is more angry than ever and answers all the suitors: “I will not give out the younger one before the elders!”, And when she sees off the suitors, she takes out the evil on Vasilisa with beatings.

Once a merchant had to leave home for a long time on business. The stepmother moved to live in another house, and near this house there was a dense forest, and in the forest in a clearing there was a hut, and in the hut the Baba Yaga lived: she did not let anyone near her and ate people like chickens. Having moved to a housewarming party, the merchant's wife would now and then send Vasilisa, whom she hated, into the forest for something, but this one always returned home safely: the doll showed her the way and did not let Baba Yaga go to the hut of the Baba Yaga.

Autumn came. The stepmother distributed evening work to all three girls: she made one to weave lace, the other to knit stockings, and Vasilisa to spin, and all according to their lessons. She put out the fire in the whole house, left one candle where the girls worked, and went to bed herself. The girls worked. Now the candle burned, one of the stepmother's daughters took tongs to straighten the lamp, but instead, on the orders of the mother, as if by accident, she put out the candle. “What are we to do now? the girls said. - There is no fire in the whole house, and our lessons are not over. We must run to Baba Yaga for fire!” - “It’s light for me from the pins! said the one who wove the lace. - I will not go". “And I won’t go,” said the one who knitted the stocking. - It’s light for me from the knitting needles! - "You go after the fire," they both shouted. - Go to Baba Yaga! - and pushed Vasilisa out of the room.

Vasilisa went to her closet, put the prepared dinner in front of the doll and said: “Here, doll, eat and listen to my grief: they send me for fire to Baba Yaga; Baba Yaga will eat me!” The doll ate, and her eyes shone like two candles. "Don't be afraid, Vasilisushka! - she said. “Go where they send you, but always keep me with you.” With me, nothing will happen to you at the Baba Yaga. Vasilisa got ready, put her doll in her pocket and, crossing herself, went into the dense forest.

She walks and trembles. Suddenly, a rider gallops past her: he himself is white, dressed in white, the horse under him is white, and the harness on the horse is white - it began to dawn in the yard.

Vasilisa walked all night and all day, only towards the next evening she came out into the clearing where the hut of the yaga-baba stood; a fence around the hut made of human bones, human skulls stick out on the fence, with eyes; instead of ropes at the gate - human legs, instead of constipation - hands, instead of a lock - a mouth with sharp teeth. Vasilisa was stupefied with horror and became rooted to the spot. Suddenly a rider rides again: he is black himself, dressed in all black and on a black horse; he galloped up to the gates of the baba-yaga and disappeared, as if he had fallen through the earth, - night had come. But the darkness did not last long: the eyes of all the skulls on the fence lit up, and the whole clearing became as bright as the middle of the day. Vasilisa trembled with fear, but, not knowing where to run, remained where she was.

Soon a terrible noise was heard in the forest: the trees cracked, dry leaves crunched; Baba Yaga left the forest - she rides in a mortar, drives with a pestle, sweeps the trail with a broom. She drove up to the gate, stopped and, sniffing around her, shouted: “Fu-fu! It smells of Russian spirit! Who is there?" Vasilisa approached the old woman with fear and, bowing low, said: “It's me, grandmother! Stepmother's daughters sent me for fire to you. - “Good,” said the yaga-baba, “I know them, live in advance and work for me, then I will give you fire; and if not, then I'll eat you! Then she turned to the gate and cried out: “Hey, my strong locks, unlock yourself; My wide gates, open!” The gates opened, and the Baba Yaga drove in, whistling, Vasilisa came in after her, and then everything was locked again. Entering the room, the Baba Yaga stretched out and said to Vasilisa: “Give me here what is in the oven: I want to eat.”

Vasilisa lit a torch from those skulls that were on the fence, and began to drag food from the stove and serve the yaga, and the food was cooked up for ten people; from the cellar she brought kvass, mead, beer and wine. She ate everything, the old woman drank everything; Vasilisa left only a little cabbage, a crust of bread, and a piece of pork. The yaga-baba began to go to bed and said: “When I leave tomorrow, you look - clean the yard, sweep the hut, cook dinner, prepare linen, go to the bin, take a quarter of the wheat and clean it of black 1. Yes, so that everything is done, otherwise - I will eat you! After such an order, the Baba Yaga began to snore; and Vasilisa put the old woman's leftovers in front of the doll, burst into tears and said: “Here, doll, eat, listen to my grief! The yaga-baba gave me a hard job and threatens to eat me if I don’t do everything; help me!" The doll answered: “Do not be afraid, Vasilisa the Beautiful! Have dinner, pray and go to bed; the morning is wiser than the evening!”

Vasilisa woke up early, and the Baba Yaga had already got up, looked out the window: the eyes of the skulls go out; then a white horseman flashed by - and it was completely dawn. Baba Yaga went out into the yard, whistled - a mortar with a pestle and a broom appeared in front of her. The red rider flashed by - the sun rose. Baba Yaga sat down in a mortar and drove out of the yard, driving with a pestle, sweeping the trail with a broom. Vasilisa was left alone, looked around the Baba Yaga's house, marveled at the abundance in everything, and stopped in thought: what kind of work should she take up first of all. Looks, and all the work has already been done; the chrysalis selected the last grains of nigella from the wheat. “Oh, you, my deliverer! Vasilisa said to the doll. “You saved me from trouble.” - “You only have to cook dinner,” the doll answered, climbing into Vasilisa's pocket. “Concoct with God, and rest in good health!”

By the evening, Vasilisa has gathered on the table and is waiting for the Baba Yaga. It was beginning to get dark, a black rider flashed past the gate - and it was completely dark; only the eyes of the skulls shone. Trees crackled, leaves crunched - Baba Yaga is coming. Vasilisa met her. "Is everything done?" - Yaga asks. “Please see for yourself, grandmother!” Vasilisa said. Baba Yaga examined everything, was annoyed that there was nothing to be angry about, and said: “Well, all right!” Then she shouted: “My faithful servants, my hearty friends, grind my wheat!” Three pairs of hands came, grabbed the wheat and carried it out of sight. Baba Yaga ate, began to go to bed and again gave the order to Vasilisa: “Tomorrow you do the same as today, and besides that, take poppy seeds from the bin and clean it from the earth grain by grain, you see, someone, out of the malice of the earth, into it messed up!" The old woman said, turned to the wall and began to snore, and Vasilisa began to feed her doll. The doll ate and said to her in the yesterday's way: “Pray to God and go to bed; morning is wiser than evening, everything will be done, Vasilisushka!

The next morning, the Baba Yaga again left the yard in a mortar, and Vasilisa and the doll immediately fixed all the work. The old woman returned, looked around and shouted: “My faithful servants, my hearty friends, squeeze the oil out of poppy seeds!” Three pairs of hands appeared, grabbed the poppy and carried it out of sight. Baba Yaga sat down to dine; she eats, and Vasilisa stands in silence. "Why aren't you talking to me? Baba Yaga said. - You stand like a dumb! “I didn’t dare,” answered Vasilisa, “but if you let me, I would like to ask you something about something.” - "Ask; only not every question leads to good: you will know a lot, you will soon grow old!” - “I want to ask you, grandmother, only about what I saw: when I was walking towards you, a rider on a white horse, white himself and in white clothes, overtook me: who is he?” “This is my clear day,” answered the Baba Yaga. “Then another rider on a red horse overtook me, red himself and all dressed in red; Who is this?" - "This is my red sun!" Baba Yaga answered. “And what does the black rider who overtook me at your very gate mean, grandmother?” - “This is my dark night - all my faithful servants!”

Vasilisa remembered the three pairs of hands and was silent. "Why don't you ask?" - said Baba Yaga. “It will be with me and this; Well, you yourself, grandmother, said that you will learn a lot - you will grow old. - “It’s good,” said the Baba Yaga, “that you only ask about what you saw outside the yard, and not in the yard! I do not like to have rubbish taken out of my hut, and I eat too curious! Now I will ask you: how do you manage to do the work that I ask you? “The blessing of my mother helps me,” answered Vasilisa. “So that's it! Get away from me, blessed daughter! I don't need the blessed." She dragged Vasilisa out of the chamber and pushed her out of the gate, removed one skull with burning eyes from the fence and, stumbling on a stick, gave it to her and said: “Here is a fire for your stepmother's daughters, take it; That's what they sent you here for."

Vasilisa ran home by the light of the skull, which went out only at the onset of morning, and finally, by the evening of the next day, she reached her house. Approaching the gate, she wanted to throw the skull. “That’s right, at home,” he thinks to himself, “they don’t need fire anymore.” But suddenly a dull voice was heard from the skull: “Don’t leave me, take me to my stepmother!”

She glanced at her stepmother's house and, not seeing a light in any window, decided to go there with the skull. For the first time they greeted her affectionately and told that since she left, they had not had a fire in the house: they themselves could not carve, and the fire that was brought from the neighbors went out as soon as they entered the upper room with it. "Perhaps your fire will hold on!" - said the stepmother. They carried the skull into the chamber; and the eyes from the skull look at the stepmother and her daughters, they burn! They had to hide, but wherever they rush - eyes everywhere follow them; by morning it had completely burned them into coal; Vasilisa alone was not touched.

In the morning, Vasilisa buried the skull in the ground, locked the house, went to the city and asked to live with a rootless old woman; lives for himself and waits for his father. Here she somehow says to the old woman: “It’s boring for me to sit idle, grandmother! Go buy me the best linen; At least I'll spin." The old woman bought good flax; Vasilisa sat down to work, the work burns with her, and the yarn comes out smooth and thin, like a hair. A lot of yarn has accumulated; it’s time to start weaving, but they won’t find such reeds that are suitable for Vasilisa’s yarn; no one undertakes to do something. Vasilisa began to ask her doll, and she said: “Bring me some old reed, and an old canoe, and a horse's mane; I'll fix everything for you."

Vasilisa got everything she needed and went to bed, and the doll prepared a glorious camp overnight. By the end of winter, the fabric is also woven, so thin that it can be threaded through a needle instead of a thread. In the spring, the canvas was bleached, and Vasilisa said to the old woman: “Sell, grandmother, this canvas, and take the money for yourself.” The old woman looked at the goods and gasped: “No, child! There is no one to wear such a canvas, except for the king; I'll take it to the palace." The old woman went to royal chambers Yes, everything walks past the windows. The king saw and asked: “What do you need, old woman?” - “Your royal majesty,” the old woman answers, “I brought an outlandish product; I don't want to show it to anyone but you." The king ordered the old woman to be admitted to him, and when he saw the canvas, he was indignant. "What do you want for it?" the king asked. “There is no price for him, the king-father! I brought it to you as a gift." The king thanked and sent the old woman with gifts.

They began to sew shirts for the king from that linen; they cut them open, but nowhere could they find a seamstress who would undertake to work them. Long searched; Finally, the king called the old woman and said: “If you knew how to spin and weave such a cloth, know how to sew shirts out of it.” “It was not I, sir, who spun and wove the cloth,” said the old woman, “this is the work of my adopted child, the girl.” - “Well, let her sew!” The old woman returned home and told Vasilisa about everything. “I knew,” Vasilisa tells her, “that this work would not pass by my hands.” She locked herself in her chamber, set to work; she sewed tirelessly, and soon a dozen shirts were ready.

The old woman carried the shirts to the king, and Vasilisa washed, combed her hair, dressed and sat down under the window. He sits and waits to see what will happen. He sees: a royal servant is going to the old woman's yard; entered the room and said: "The Tsar-sovereign wants to see the artisan who worked for him shirts, and reward her from his royal hands." Vasilisa went and appeared before the eyes of the king. As the king saw Vasilisa the Beautiful, he fell in love with her without memory. “No,” he says, “my beauty! I will not part with you; you will be my wife." Then the tsar took Vasilisa by the white hands, seated her beside him, and there they played a wedding. Soon Vasilisa's father also returned, rejoiced at her fate and remained to live with his daughter. She took the old woman Vasilisa to her place, and at the end of her life she always carried the doll in her pocket.

1 Chernukha - reindeer moss, a genus of field wild peas.

In a certain kingdom there lived a merchant. He lived in marriage for twelve years and had only one daughter, Vasilisa the Beautiful. When her mother died, the girl was eight years old. Dying, the merchant's wife called her daughter to her, took the doll out from under the blanket, gave it to her and said: “Listen, Vasilisushka! Remember and fulfill my last words. I am dying and, together with my parental blessing, I leave you this doll; take care of it always with you and do not show it to anyone; and when something bad happens to you, give her something to eat and ask her for advice. She will eat and tell you how to help misfortune. Then the mother kissed her daughter and died.

After the death of his wife, the merchant groaned as he should, and then began to think about how to marry again. He was a good man; there was no business for the brides, but one widow came to his liking most of all. She was already in years, had her two daughters, almost the same age as Vasilisa - therefore, both a mistress and an experienced mother. The merchant married a widow, but was deceived and did not find in her a good mother for his Vasilisa. Vasilisa was the first beauty in the whole village; her stepmother and sisters envied her beauty, tormented her with all kinds of work, so that she would lose weight from labor, and turn black from the wind and sun; there was no life at all!

Vasilisa endured everything without a murmur, and every day she grew prettier and stouter, and meanwhile the stepmother and her daughters grew thinner and uglier with anger, despite the fact that they always sat with folded hands like ladies. How was it done? Vasilisa was helped by her doll. Without this, where would the girl cope with all the work! On the other hand, Vasilisa herself would not eat, and even leave the doll the most delicious morsel, and in the evening, when everyone had settled down, she would lock herself in the closet where she lived, and regale her, saying: “Here, doll, eat, listen to my grief! I live in the father's house, I do not see myself any joy; the evil stepmother drives me from the white world. Teach me how to be and live and what to do? The doll eats, and then gives her advice and consoles her in grief, and in the morning she does all the work for Vasilisa; she only rests in the cold and picks flowers, and she already has weeded ridges, and watered cabbage, and water has been applied, and the stove has been heated. The chrysalis will also point out to Vasilisa some weed for sunburn. It was good for her to live with a doll.

Several years have passed; Vasilisa grew up and became a bride. All suitors in the city are courting Vasilisa; no one will look at stepmother's daughters. The stepmother is more angry than ever and answers all the suitors: “I will not give out the younger one before the elders!”, And when she sees off the suitors, she takes out the evil on Vasilisa with beatings.

Once a merchant had to leave home for a long time on business. The stepmother moved to live in another house, and near this house there was a dense forest, and in the forest in a clearing there was a hut, and in the hut the Baba Yaga lived: she did not let anyone near her and ate people like chickens. Having moved to a housewarming party, the merchant's wife would now and then send Vasilisa, whom she hated, into the forest for something, but this one always returned home safely: the doll showed her the way and did not let Baba Yaga go to the hut of the Baba Yaga.

Autumn came. The stepmother distributed evening work to all three girls: she made one to weave lace, the other to knit stockings, and Vasilisa to spin, and all according to their lessons. She put out the fire in the whole house, left one candle where the girls worked, and went to bed herself. The girls worked. Now the candle burned, one of the stepmother's daughters took tongs to straighten the lamp, but instead, on the orders of the mother, as if by accident, she put out the candle. “What are we to do now? the girls said. - There is no fire in the whole house, and our lessons are not over. We must run to Baba Yaga for fire!” - “It’s light for me from the pins! said the one who wove the lace. - I will not go". “And I won’t go,” said the one who knitted the stocking. - It’s light for me from the knitting needles! - "You go after the fire," they both shouted. - Go to Baba Yaga! - and pushed Vasilisa out of the room.

Vasilisa went to her closet, put the prepared dinner in front of the doll and said: “Here, doll, eat and listen to my grief: they send me for fire to Baba Yaga; Baba Yaga will eat me!” The doll ate, and her eyes shone like two candles. "Don't be afraid, Vasilisushka! - she said. “Go where they send you, but always keep me with you.” With me, nothing will happen to you at the Baba Yaga. Vasilisa got ready, put her doll in her pocket and, crossing herself, went into the dense forest.

She walks and trembles. Suddenly, a rider gallops past her: he himself is white, dressed in white, the horse under him is white, and the harness on the horse is white - it began to dawn in the yard.

Vasilisa walked all night and all day, only towards the next evening she came out into the clearing where the hut of the yaga-baba stood; a fence around the hut made of human bones, human skulls stick out on the fence, with eyes; instead of ropes at the gate - human legs, instead of constipation - hands, instead of a lock - a mouth with sharp teeth. Vasilisa was stupefied with horror and became rooted to the spot. Suddenly a rider rides again: he is black himself, dressed in all black and on a black horse; he galloped up to the gates of the baba-yaga and disappeared, as if he had fallen through the earth, - night had come. But the darkness did not last long: the eyes of all the skulls on the fence lit up, and the whole clearing became as bright as the middle of the day. Vasilisa trembled with fear, but, not knowing where to run, remained where she was.

Soon a terrible noise was heard in the forest: the trees cracked, dry leaves crunched; Baba Yaga left the forest - she rides in a mortar, drives with a pestle, sweeps the trail with a broom. She drove up to the gate, stopped and, sniffing around her, shouted: “Fu-fu! It smells of Russian spirit! Who is there?" Vasilisa approached the old woman with fear and, bowing low, said: “It's me, grandmother! Stepmother's daughters sent me for fire to you. - “Good,” said the yaga-baba, “I know them, live in advance and work for me, then I will give you fire; and if not, then I'll eat you! Then she turned to the gate and cried out: “Hey, my strong locks, unlock yourself; My wide gates, open!” The gates opened, and the Baba Yaga drove in, whistling, Vasilisa came in after her, and then everything was locked again. Entering the room, the Baba Yaga stretched out and said to Vasilisa: “Give me here what is in the oven: I want to eat.”

Vasilisa lit a torch from those skulls that were on the fence, and began to drag food from the stove and serve the yaga, and the food was cooked up for ten people; from the cellar she brought kvass, mead, beer and wine. She ate everything, the old woman drank everything; Vasilisa left only a little cabbage, a crust of bread, and a piece of pork. The yaga-baba began to go to bed and said: “When I leave tomorrow, you look - clean the yard, sweep the hut, cook dinner, prepare linen, go to the bin, take a quarter of the wheat and clean it of black 1. Yes, so that everything is done, otherwise - I will eat you! After such an order, the Baba Yaga began to snore; and Vasilisa put the old woman's leftovers in front of the doll, burst into tears and said: “Here, doll, eat, listen to my grief! The yaga-baba gave me a hard job and threatens to eat me if I don’t do everything; help me!" The doll answered: “Do not be afraid, Vasilisa the Beautiful! Have dinner, pray and go to bed; the morning is wiser than the evening!”

Vasilisa woke up early, and the Baba Yaga had already got up, looked out the window: the eyes of the skulls go out; then a white horseman flashed by - and it was completely dawn. Baba Yaga went out into the yard, whistled - a mortar with a pestle and a broom appeared in front of her. The red rider flashed by - the sun rose. Baba Yaga sat down in a mortar and drove out of the yard, driving with a pestle, sweeping the trail with a broom. Vasilisa was left alone, looked around the Baba Yaga's house, marveled at the abundance in everything, and stopped in thought: what kind of work should she take up first of all. Looks, and all the work has already been done; the chrysalis selected the last grains of nigella from the wheat. “Oh, you, my deliverer! Vasilisa said to the doll. “You saved me from trouble.” - “You only have to cook dinner,” the doll answered, climbing into Vasilisa's pocket. “Concoct with God, and rest in good health!”

By the evening, Vasilisa has gathered on the table and is waiting for the Baba Yaga. It was beginning to get dark, a black rider flashed past the gate - and it was completely dark; only the eyes of the skulls shone. Trees crackled, leaves crunched - Baba Yaga is coming. Vasilisa met her. "Is everything done?" - Yaga asks. “Please see for yourself, grandmother!” Vasilisa said. Baba Yaga examined everything, was annoyed that there was nothing to be angry about, and said: “Well, all right!” Then she shouted: “My faithful servants, my hearty friends, grind my wheat!” Three pairs of hands came, grabbed the wheat and carried it out of sight. Baba Yaga ate, began to go to bed and again gave the order to Vasilisa: “Tomorrow you do the same as today, and besides that, take poppy seeds from the bin and clean it from the earth grain by grain, you see, someone, out of the malice of the earth, into it messed up!" The old woman said, turned to the wall and began to snore, and Vasilisa began to feed her doll. The doll ate and said to her in the yesterday's way: “Pray to God and go to bed; morning is wiser than evening, everything will be done, Vasilisushka!

The next morning, the Baba Yaga again left the yard in a mortar, and Vasilisa and the doll immediately fixed all the work. The old woman returned, looked around and shouted: “My faithful servants, my hearty friends, squeeze the oil out of poppy seeds!” Three pairs of hands appeared, grabbed the poppy and carried it out of sight. Baba Yaga sat down to dine; she eats, and Vasilisa stands in silence. "Why aren't you talking to me? Baba Yaga said. - You stand like a dumb! “I didn’t dare,” answered Vasilisa, “but if you let me, I would like to ask you something about something.” - "Ask; only not every question leads to good: you will know a lot, you will soon grow old!” - “I want to ask you, grandmother, only about what I saw: when I was walking towards you, a rider on a white horse, white himself and in white clothes, overtook me: who is he?” “This is my clear day,” answered the Baba Yaga. “Then another rider on a red horse overtook me, red himself and all dressed in red; Who is this?" - "This is my red sun!" Baba Yaga answered. “And what does the black rider who overtook me at your very gate mean, grandmother?” - “This is my dark night - all my faithful servants!”

Vasilisa remembered the three pairs of hands and was silent. "Why don't you ask?" - said Baba Yaga. “It will be with me and this; Well, you yourself, grandmother, said that you will learn a lot - you will grow old. - “It’s good,” said the Baba Yaga, “that you only ask about what you saw outside the yard, and not in the yard! I do not like to have rubbish taken out of my hut, and I eat too curious! Now I will ask you: how do you manage to do the work that I ask you? “The blessing of my mother helps me,” answered Vasilisa. “So that's it! Get away from me, blessed daughter! I don't need the blessed." She dragged Vasilisa out of the chamber and pushed her out of the gate, removed one skull with burning eyes from the fence and, stumbling on a stick, gave it to her and said: “Here is a fire for your stepmother's daughters, take it; That's what they sent you here for."

Vasilisa ran home by the light of the skull, which went out only at the onset of morning, and finally, by the evening of the next day, she reached her house. Approaching the gate, she wanted to throw the skull. “That’s right, at home,” he thinks to himself, “they don’t need fire anymore.” But suddenly a dull voice was heard from the skull: “Don’t leave me, take me to my stepmother!”

She glanced at her stepmother's house and, not seeing a light in any window, decided to go there with the skull. For the first time they greeted her affectionately and told that since she left, they had not had a fire in the house: they themselves could not carve, and the fire that was brought from the neighbors went out as soon as they entered the upper room with it. "Perhaps your fire will hold on!" - said the stepmother. They carried the skull into the chamber; and the eyes from the skull look at the stepmother and her daughters, they burn! They had to hide, but wherever they rush - eyes everywhere follow them; by morning it had completely burned them into coal; Vasilisa alone was not touched.

In the morning, Vasilisa buried the skull in the ground, locked the house, went to the city and asked to live with a rootless old woman; lives for himself and waits for his father. Here she somehow says to the old woman: “It’s boring for me to sit idle, grandmother! Go buy me the best linen; At least I'll spin." The old woman bought good flax; Vasilisa sat down to work, the work burns with her, and the yarn comes out smooth and thin, like a hair. A lot of yarn has accumulated; it’s time to start weaving, but they won’t find such reeds that are suitable for Vasilisa’s yarn; no one undertakes to do something. Vasilisa began to ask her doll, and she said: “Bring me some old reed, and an old canoe, and a horse's mane; I'll fix everything for you."

Vasilisa got everything she needed and went to bed, and the doll prepared a glorious camp overnight. By the end of winter, the fabric is also woven, so thin that it can be threaded through a needle instead of a thread. In the spring, the canvas was bleached, and Vasilisa said to the old woman: “Sell, grandmother, this canvas, and take the money for yourself.” The old woman looked at the goods and gasped: “No, child! There is no one to wear such a canvas, except for the king; I'll take it to the palace." The old woman went to the royal chambers and kept walking past the windows. The king saw and asked: “What do you need, old woman?” - “Your royal majesty,” the old woman answers, “I brought an outlandish product; I don't want to show it to anyone but you." The king ordered the old woman to be admitted to him, and when he saw the canvas, he was indignant. "What do you want for it?" the king asked. “There is no price for him, the king-father! I brought it to you as a gift." The king thanked and sent the old woman with gifts.

They began to sew shirts for the king from that linen; they cut them open, but nowhere could they find a seamstress who would undertake to work them. Long searched; Finally, the king called the old woman and said: “If you knew how to spin and weave such a cloth, know how to sew shirts out of it.” “It was not I, sir, who spun and wove the cloth,” said the old woman, “this is the work of my adopted child, the girl.” - “Well, let her sew!” The old woman returned home and told Vasilisa about everything. “I knew,” Vasilisa tells her, “that this work would not pass by my hands.” She locked herself in her chamber, set to work; she sewed tirelessly, and soon a dozen shirts were ready.

The old woman carried the shirts to the king, and Vasilisa washed, combed her hair, dressed and sat down under the window. He sits and waits to see what will happen. He sees: a royal servant is going to the old woman's yard; entered the room and said: "The Tsar-sovereign wants to see the artisan who worked for him shirts, and reward her from his royal hands." Vasilisa went and appeared before the eyes of the king. As the king saw Vasilisa the Beautiful, he fell in love with her without memory. “No,” he says, “my beauty! I will not part with you; you will be my wife." Then the tsar took Vasilisa by the white hands, seated her beside him, and there they played a wedding. Soon Vasilisa's father also returned, rejoiced at her fate and remained to live with his daughter. She took the old woman Vasilisa to her place, and at the end of her life she always carried the doll in her pocket.

1 Chernukha - reindeer moss, a genus of field wild peas.

Baba Yaga, the bone leg, quickly sat on the mortar, urged her on with a pusher, swept the trail with a broom and set off in pursuit of the girl. Here the girl put her ear to the ground and heard that the Baba Yaga was chasing, and it was already close, she took it and threw a towel: the river became so wide, wide! Baba Yaga came to the river and gritted her teeth in anger; returned home, took her bulls and drove them to the river; the bulls drank the whole river clean. Baba Yaga started chasing again. The girl put her ear to the ground and heard that the Baba Yaga was close, threw the comb: the forest had become so dense and scary! Baba Yaga began to gnaw it, but no matter how hard she tried, she could not gnaw it and turned back.

And the grandfather has already arrived home and asks: “Where is my daughter?” “She went to her aunt,” says the stepmother. A little later, the girl ran home. "Where have you been?" the father asks. "Ah, father! she says. - So and so - my mother sent me to my aunt to ask for a needle and thread - to sew a shirt for me, and my aunt, Baba Yaga, wanted to eat me. - "How did you leave, daughter?" So and so - says the girl. Grandfather, when he found out all this, became angry with his wife and shot her; and he began to live with his daughter and live and make good, and I was there, drinking honey-beer: it flowed down my mustache, it didn’t get into my mouth.

In a certain kingdom there lived a merchant. He lived in marriage for twelve years and had only one daughter, Vasilisa the Beautiful. When her mother died, the girl was eight years old. Dying, the merchant's wife called her daughter to her, took the doll out from under the blanket, gave it to her and said: “Listen, Vasilisushka! Remember and fulfill my last words. I am dying and, together with my parental blessing, I leave you this doll; take care of it always with you and do not show it to anyone; and when something bad happens to you, give her something to eat and ask her for advice. She will eat and tell you how to help misfortune. Then the mother kissed her daughter and died.

After the death of his wife, the merchant groaned as he should, and then began to think about how to marry again. He was a good man; there was no business for the brides, but one widow came to his liking most of all. She was already in years, had her two daughters, almost the same age as Vasilisa - therefore, both a mistress and an experienced mother. The merchant married a widow, but was deceived and did not find in her a good mother for his Vasilisa. Vasilisa was the first beauty in the whole village; her stepmother and sisters envied her beauty, tormented her with all kinds of work, so that she would lose weight from labor, and turn black from the wind and sun; there was no life at all!

Vasilisa endured everything without a murmur, and every day she grew prettier and stouter, and meanwhile the stepmother and her daughters grew thinner and uglier with anger, despite the fact that they always sat with folded hands like ladies. How was it done? Vasilisa was helped by her doll. Without this, where would the girl cope with all the work! On the other hand, Vasilisa herself would not eat it herself, and even leave the doll the tidbit, and in the evening, when everyone had settled down, she would lock herself in the closet where she lived, and regale her, saying: “Here, doll, eat, listen to my grief! I live in the father's house, I do not see myself any joy; the evil stepmother drives me from the white world. Teach me how to be and live and what to do? The doll eats, and then gives her advice and consoles her in grief, and in the morning she does all the work for Vasilisa; she only rests in the cold and picks flowers, and she already has weeded ridges, and watered cabbage, and water has been applied, and the stove has been heated. The chrysalis will also point out to Vasilisa some weed for sunburn. It was good for her to live with a doll.

Several years have passed; Vasilisa grew up and became a bride. All suitors in the city are courting Vasilisa; no one will look at stepmother's daughters. The stepmother is more angry than ever and answers all the suitors: “I will not give out the younger one before the elders!”, And when she sees off the suitors, she takes out the evil on Vasilisa with beatings.

Once a merchant had to leave home for a long time on business. The stepmother moved to live in another house, and near this house there was a dense forest, and in the forest in a clearing there was a hut, and in the hut the Baba Yaga lived: she did not let anyone near her and ate people like chickens. Having moved to a housewarming party, the merchant's wife would now and then send Vasilisa, whom she hated, into the forest for something, but this one always returned home safely: the doll showed her the way and did not let Baba Yaga go to the hut of the Baba Yaga.

Autumn came. The stepmother distributed evening work to all three girls: she made one to weave lace, the other to knit stockings, and Vasilisa to spin, and all according to their lessons. She put out the fire in the whole house, left one candle where the girls worked, and went to bed herself. The girls worked. Now the candle burned, one of the stepmother's daughters took tongs to straighten the lamp, but instead, on the orders of the mother, as if by accident, she put out the candle. “What are we to do now? the girls said. - There is no fire in the whole house, and our lessons are not over. We must run to Baba Yaga for fire!” - “It’s light for me from the pins! said the one who wove the lace. - I will not go". “And I won’t go,” said the one who knitted the stocking. - It’s light for me from the knitting needles! - "You go after the fire," they both shouted. - Go to Baba Yaga! - and pushed Vasilisa out of the room.

Vasilisa went to her closet, put the cooked supper in front of the doll and said: “Now, doll, eat and listen to my grief: they send me for fire to Baba Yaga; Baba Yaga will eat me!” The doll ate, and her eyes shone like two candles. "Don't be afraid, Vasilisushka! - she said. “Go where they send you, but always keep me with you.” With me, nothing will happen to you at the Baba Yaga. Vasilisa got ready, put her doll in her pocket and, crossing herself, went into the dense forest.

She walks and trembles. Suddenly, a rider gallops past her: he himself is white, dressed in white, the horse under him is white, and the harness on the horse is white - it began to dawn in the yard.

Vasilisa walked all night and all day, only towards the next evening she came out into the clearing where the hut of the yaga-baba stood; a fence around the hut made of human bones, human skulls stick out on the fence, with eyes; instead of ropes at the gate - human legs, instead of locks - hands, instead of a lock - a mouth with sharp teeth. Vasilisa was stupefied with horror and became rooted to the spot. Suddenly a rider rides again: he is black himself, dressed in all black and on a black horse; he galloped up to the gates of the baba-yaga and disappeared, as if he had fallen through the earth, - night had come. But the darkness did not last long: the eyes of all the skulls on the fence lit up, and the whole clearing became as bright as the middle of the day. Vasilisa trembled with fear, but, not knowing where to run, remained where she was.

Soon a terrible noise was heard in the forest: the trees cracked, dry leaves crunched; Baba Yaga left the forest - she rides in a mortar, drives with a pestle, sweeps the trail with a broom. She drove up to the gate, stopped and, sniffing around her, shouted: “Fu-fu! It smells of Russian spirit! Who is there?" Vasilisa approached the old woman with fear and, bowing low, said: “It's me, grandmother! Stepmother's daughters sent me for fire to you. - “Good,” said the yaga-baba, “I know them, live in advance and work for me, then I will give you fire; and if not, then I'll eat you! Then she turned to the gate and cried out: “Hey, my strong locks, unlock yourself; My wide gates, open!” The gates opened, and the Baba Yaga drove in, whistling, Vasilisa came in after her, and then everything was locked again. Entering the room, the Baba Yaga stretched out and said to Vasilisa: “Give me here what is in the oven: I want to eat.”

Vasilisa lit a torch from those skulls that were on the fence, and began to drag food from the stove and serve the yaga, and the food was cooked up for ten people; from the cellar she brought kvass, mead, beer and wine. She ate everything, the old woman drank everything; Vasilisa left only a little cabbage, a crust of bread, and a piece of pork. The yaga-baba began to go to bed and said: “When I leave tomorrow, you look - clean the yard, sweep the hut, cook dinner, prepare linen, go to the bin, take a quarter of the wheat and clean it from the black. Yes, so that everything is done, otherwise - I will eat you! After such an order, the Baba Yaga began to snore; and Vasilisa put the old woman's leftovers in front of the doll, burst into tears and said: “Here, doll, eat, listen to my grief! The yaga-baba gave me a hard job and threatens to eat me if I don’t do everything; help me!" The doll answered: “Do not be afraid, Vasilisa the Beautiful! Have dinner, pray and go to bed; the morning is wiser than the evening!”

AT In some kingdom there lived a merchant. He lived in marriage for twelve years and had only one daughter, Vasilisa the Beautiful. When her mother died, the girl was eight years old. Dying, the merchant's wife called her daughter to her, took the doll out from under the blanket, gave it to her and said:

Listen, Vasiliska! Remember and fulfill my last words. I am dying and, together with my parental blessing, I leave you this doll; take care of it always with you and do not show it to anyone; and when something bad happens to you, give her something to eat and ask her for advice. She will eat and tell you how to help misfortune.

Then the mother kissed her daughter and died.

‎ After the death of his wife, the merchant groaned as he should, and then began to think about how to marry again. He was a good man; there was no business for the brides, but one widow came to his liking most of all. She was already in years, had her two daughters, almost the same age as Vasilisa - therefore, both a mistress and an experienced mother. The merchant married a widow, but was deceived and did not find in her a good mother for his Vasilisa. Vasilisa was the first beauty in the whole village; her stepmother and sisters envied her beauty, tormented her with all kinds of work, so that she would lose weight from labor, and turn black from the wind and sun; there was no life at all!

Vasilisa endured everything resignedly and every day she grew prettier and stouter, and meanwhile the stepmother and her daughters grew thinner and uglier with anger, despite the fact that they always sat with folded hands like ladies. How was it done? Vasilisa was helped by her doll. Without this, where would the girl cope with all the work! On the other hand, Vasilisa herself would not eat, and even leave the tastiest morsel for the doll, and in the evening, when everyone had settled down, she would lock herself in the closet where she lived, and regale her, saying:

Come on, doll, eat, listen to my grief! I live in the father's house, I do not see myself any joy; the evil stepmother drives me from the white world. Teach me how to be and live and what to do?

The doll eats, and then gives her advice and consoles her in grief, and in the morning she does all the work for Vasilisa; she only rests in the cold and picks flowers, and she already has weeded ridges, and watered cabbage, and water has been applied, and the stove has been fired. The chrysalis will also point out to Vasilisa and weed for sunburn. It was good for her to live with a doll.

‎ Several years have passed; Vasilisa grew up and became a bride. All suitors in the city are courting Vasilisa; no one will look at stepmother's daughters. The stepmother is more angry than ever and answers all the suitors:

I will not give out the younger one before the older ones! - And when he sees off the suitors, he takes out the evil on Vasilisa with beatings.

‎ Once a merchant had to leave home for a long time on business. The stepmother moved to live in another house, and near this house there was a dense forest, and in the forest in a clearing there was a hut, and a baba yaga lived in the hut: she did not let anyone near her and ate people like chickens. Having moved to a housewarming party, the merchant's wife would now and then send Vasilisa, whom she hated, into the forest for something, but this one always returned home safely: the doll showed her the way and did not let Baba Yaga go to the hut of the Baba Yaga.

‎ Autumn has come. The stepmother distributed evening work to all three girls: she made one to weave lace, the other to knit stockings, and Vasilisa to spin, and all according to their lessons. She put out the fire in the whole house, left one candle where the girls worked, and went to bed herself. The girls worked. Now the candle burned, one of the stepmother's daughters took tongs to straighten the lamp, but instead, on the orders of the mother, as if by accident, she put out the candle.

What are we to do now? the girls said. - There is no fire in the whole house, and our lessons are not over. We must run after the fire to Baba Yaga!

I'm light from the pins! said the one who wove the lace. - I will not go.

And I won’t go,” said the one who knitted the stocking. - I'm light from the spokes!

You go after the fire, - they both shouted. - Go to Baba Yaga! - and pushed Vasilisa out of the room.

Vasilisa went to her closet, put the prepared supper in front of the doll, and said:

Come on, doll, eat and listen to my grief: they send me for fire to Baba Yaga; Baba Yaga will eat me!

The doll ate, and her eyes shone like two candles.

Don't be afraid, Vasilisushka! - she said. “Go where they send you, but always keep me with you.” With me, nothing will happen to you at Baba Yaga.

Vasilisa got ready, put her doll in her pocket and, crossing herself, went into the dense forest.

She walks and trembles. Suddenly a rider gallops past her: he himself is white, dressed in white, the horse under him is white, and the harness on the horse is white - it began to dawn in the yard.

Vasilisa walked all night and all day, only towards the next evening she came out into the clearing where the hut of the yaga-baba stood; a fence around the hut made of human bones, human skulls stick out on the fence, with eyes; instead of ropes at the gate - human legs, instead of locks - hands, instead of a lock - a mouth with sharp teeth. Vasilisa was stupefied with horror and became rooted to the spot. Suddenly a rider rides again: he is black himself, dressed in all black and on a black horse; he galloped up to the gates of the baba-yaga and disappeared, as if he had fallen through the earth, - night had come. But the darkness did not last long: the eyes of all the skulls on the fence lit up, and the whole clearing became as bright as the middle of the day. Vasilisa trembled with fear, but, not knowing where to run, remained where she was.

‎ Soon a terrible noise was heard in the forest: the trees cracked, dry leaves crunched; Baba Yaga left the forest - she rides in a mortar, drives with a pestle, sweeps the trail with a broom. She drove up to the gate, stopped and, sniffing around her, shouted:

Fufu! It smells of Russian spirit! Who is there?

Vasilisa approached the old woman fearfully and, bowing low, said:

It's me, grandma! Stepmother's daughters sent me to bring fire to you.

Well, - said the yaga-baba, - I know them, live in advance and work for me, then I will give you fire; and if not, then I'll eat you!

Then she turned to the gate and cried out:

Hey, my strong locks, open up; my wide gates, open!

The gates opened, and the Baba Yaga drove in, whistling, Vasilisa came in after her, and then everything was locked again. Entering the room, the Baba Yaga stretched out and said to Vasilisa:

Give me what's in the oven: I'm hungry.

Vasilisa lit a torch from those skulls that were on the fence, and began to drag food from the stove and serve the yaga, and the food was cooked up for ten people; from the cellar she brought kvass, honey, beer and wine. She ate everything, the old woman drank everything; Vasilisa left only a little cabbage, a crust of bread, and a piece of pork. The yaga-baba began to go to bed and says:

When I leave tomorrow, you look - clean the yard, sweep the hut, cook dinner, cook the linen, go to the bin, take a quarter of the wheat and clean it of the black. Yes, so that everything is done, otherwise - eat you!

After such an order, the Baba Yaga began to snore; and Vasilisa placed the old woman's leftovers in front of the doll, burst into tears, and said:

Here, doll, eat, listen to my grief! The yaga-baba gave me a hard job and threatens to eat me if I don’t do everything; help me!

The doll replied:

Don't be afraid, Vasilisa the Beautiful! Have dinner, pray and go to bed; the morning is wiser than the evening!

‎ Vasilisa woke up early, and the Baba Yaga had already got up, looked out the window: the eyes of the skulls go out; then a white horseman flashed by - and it was completely dawn. Baba Yaga went out into the yard, whistled - a mortar with a pestle and a broom appeared in front of her. The red rider flashed by - the sun rose. Baba Yaga sat down in a mortar and drove out of the yard, driving with a pestle, sweeping the trail with a broom. Vasilisa was left alone, looked around the house of the Baba Yaga, marveled at the abundance in everything, and stopped in thought: what kind of work should she take up first of all. Looks, and all the work has already been done; the chrysalis picked out the last grains of nigella from the wheat.

Oh, you, my deliverer! Vasilisa said to the doll. You saved me from trouble.

All you have to do is cook up dinner, ”the doll answered, slipping into Vasilisa’s pocket. - Cook with God, and rest on your health!

‎ By evening, Vasilisa has gathered on the table and is waiting for Baba Yaga. It was beginning to get dark, a black rider flashed past the gate - and it got completely dark; only the eyes of the skulls shone. Trees crackled, leaves crunched - Baba Yaga is coming. Vasilisa met her.

Is everything done? - Yaga asks.

Let's see for yourself, grandma! Vasilisa said.

Baba Yaga examined everything, was annoyed that there was nothing to be angry about, and said:

OK then!

Then she shouted:

My faithful servants, my hearty friends, crush my wheat!

Three pairs of hands came, grabbed the wheat and carried it out of sight. Baba Yaga ate, began to go to bed and again gave the order to Vasilisa:

Tomorrow you do the same as today, and besides that, take a poppy from the bin and clean it from the earth grain by grain, you see, someone, out of spite of the earth, mixed it into it!

The old woman said, turned to the wall and began to snore, and Vasilisa began to feed her doll. The doll ate and said to her in the yesterday's way:

Pray to God and go to sleep; the morning is wiser than the evening, everything will be done, Vasilisushka!

The next morning Baba Yaga again left the yard in a mortar, and Vasilisa and the doll immediately corrected all the work. The old woman came back, looked around, and shouted:

My faithful servants, my hearty friends, squeeze the oil out of poppy seeds!

Three pairs of hands appeared, grabbed the poppy and carried it out of sight. Baba Yaga sat down to dine; she eats, and Vasilisa stands in silence.

Why don't you say anything to me? Baba Yaga said. - You stand like a dumb!

You didn’t dare,” answered Vasilisa, “and if you will allow me, I would like to ask you something.

Ask; only not every question leads to good: you will know a lot, you will soon grow old!

I want to ask you, grandmother, only about what I saw: when I was walking towards you, I was overtaken by a rider on a white horse, himself white and in white clothes: who is he?

This is my clear day, - Baba Yaga answered.

Then another rider on a red horse overtook me, red himself and all dressed in red; Who is this?

This is my red sun! Baba Yaga answered.

And what does the black rider mean, who overtook me at your very gates, grandmother?

This is my dark night - all my faithful servants!

Vasilisa remembered three pairs of hands and was silent.

Why don't you ask? - said Baba Yaga.

Will be with me and this; Well, you yourself, grandmother, said that you learn a lot - you will grow old.

It's good, - said the Baba Yaga, - that you ask only about what you saw outside the yard, and not in the yard! I do not like to have rubbish taken out of my hut, and I eat too curious! Now I'll ask you: how do you manage to do the work that I'm asking you?

My mother's blessing helps me, Vasilisa answered.

So that's it! Get away from me, blessed daughter! I don't need the blessed.

She dragged Vasilisa out of the room and pushed her out of the gate, removed one skull with burning eyes from the fence and, pointing at a stick, gave it to her and said:

Here is a fire for your stepmother's daughters, take it; That's what they sent you here for.

Vasilisa ran off home by the light of the skull, which went out only with the onset of morning, and finally, by the evening of the next day, she reached her house. Approaching the gate, she wanted to throw the skull.

It’s true, at home, he thinks to himself, they don’t need fire anymore.

Don't leave me, take me to your stepmother!

She glanced at her stepmother's house and, not seeing a light in any window, decided to go there with the skull. For the first time they met her affectionately and told that since she left, they had not had a fire in the house: they themselves could not carve, and the fire that was brought from the neighbors went out as soon as they entered the upper room with it.

Perhaps your fire will hold on! - said the stepmother.

They carried the skull into the chamber; and the eyes from the skull look at the stepmother and her daughters, they burn! They had to hide, but wherever they rush - eyes everywhere follow them; by morning it had completely burned them into coal; Vasilisa alone was not touched.

‎ In the morning, Vasilisa buried the skull in the ground, locked the house, went to the city and asked to live with a rootless old woman; lives for himself and waits for his father. Here is how she says to the old woman:

It's boring for me to sit idle, grandmother! Go buy me the best linen; At least I'll spin.

The old woman bought good flax; Vasilisa sat down to work, the work burns with her, and the yarn comes out smooth and thin, like a hair. A lot of yarn has accumulated; it’s time to start weaving, but they won’t find such reeds that are suitable for Vasilisa’s yarn; no one dares to do something. Vasilisa began to ask her doll, and she says:

Bring me some old reed, and an old canoe, and a horse's mane; I'll make everything for you.

Vasilisa got everything she needed and went to bed, and the doll prepared a glorious camp overnight. By the end of winter, the fabric is also woven, so thin that it can be threaded through a needle instead of a thread. In the spring the canvas was bleached, and Vasilisa said to the old woman:

Sell, grandmother, this canvas, and take the money for yourself.

The old woman looked at the goods and gasped:

No, child! There is no one to wear such a canvas, except for the king; I'll take it to the palace.

The old woman went to the royal chambers and kept walking past the windows. The king saw and asked:

What do you want, old lady?

Your royal majesty, - the old woman answers, - I brought an outlandish product; I don't want to show it to anyone but you.

The king ordered the old woman to be admitted to him, and when he saw the canvas, he was indignant.

What do you want for it? the king asked.

He has no price, the king-father! I brought it to you as a gift.

The king thanked and sent the old woman with gifts.

‎ The king began to sew shirts from that canvas; they cut them open, but nowhere could they find a seamstress who would undertake to work them. Long searched; Finally the king called the old woman and said:

If you knew how to strain and weave such a cloth, know how to sew shirts out of it.

It was not I, sir, who spun and wove the cloth, - said the old woman, - this is the work of my adopted son - the girl.

Well, let her sew!

The old woman returned home and told Vasilisa about everything.

I knew, - Vasilisa tells her, - that this work will not pass by my hands.

She locked herself in her chamber, set to work; she sewed tirelessly, and soon a dozen shirts were ready.

The old woman carried the shirts to the king, and Vasilisa washed, combed her hair, dressed and sat under the window. He sits and waits to see what will happen. He sees: a royal servant is going to the yard to the old woman; entered the chamber and said:

The king-sovereign wants to see the artisan who worked for him shirts, and reward her from his royal hands.

Vasilisa went and appeared before the eyes of the king. As the king saw Vasilisa the Beautiful, he fell in love with her without memory.

No, he says, my beauty! I will not part with you; you will be my wife.

Then the tsar took Vasilisa by the white hands, seated her beside him, and there they played a wedding. Soon Vasilisa's father also returned, rejoiced at her fate and remained to live with his daughter. She took the old woman Vasilisa to her place, and at the end of her life she always carried the doll in her pocket.