KidLit Forum

A. Context
It is a folk tale from Russian Empire. It is written in Russian and translate in English.
The original collector is Alexander Nikolayevich Afanasyev (1826 – 1871).
A.N. Afanasyev is best remembered for his Narodnyye russkiye skazki - Russian Popular Fary Tales compiled between 1855-1864 and including over 600 tales. His Narodnyye russkiye legendy, Russian popular Legends, was banned by the government censor until 1914 and his Lyubimyye Skazki, Beloved Fairy Tales, collection, which includes children’s stories satirizing landowners and members of the clergy, was originally published anonymously in Geneva.
I consulted the volume The three kingdoms – Russian folk tales – Raduga Publishers, Moskow, 1985
It was translated by Irina Zheleznova.
B. Summary
There once was a soldier who guarded a tower. One night he heard a voice that begged him to unlock the tower door and be released. The voice was an evil spirit asking to be set free. The soldier released him right away because the evil spirit promised him help any time he needed it. Then the soldier was very sorry of what he did but it was too late.
Because of his wrongdoing the soldier decided to leave his duty serving the king. On his wanderings he got very hungry and thirsty and in his thoughts he accused to the evil spirit. The very next moment the spirit appeared and treated him with plenty of food and drink. Then, the evil spirit invited him to live in his house and watch his daughters. The soldier accepted gladly recived a very good treatment there. But at night the three sisters were leaving somewhere, and our soldier stood watch to find out what was happening.
He saw the maids striking a carpet transforming themselves into pigeons and flying out through the window. He decided to try to transform himself into a bird follow them. He used the same carpet, became a robin, and just like the three sisters he flew out he window, following them.
The birds arrived at a green meadow where there were a lot of pigeons gathered. Very soon a chariot of gold drawn by six fiery dragons came in treir midst. Elena the Wise, of an astounding beauty, came out and sat on a golden throne and showed each pigeon how to do magic triks. Then all the birds spread out, and returning home the three pigeons and the robin became human again. The maids were astonished at the sight of the soldier.The soldier admitted to following them into the meadow and watching it all from a distance. The sisters warned him that this is their queen and that he was very luky to be alive. Elena the Wise would have certainly put him to death if it wasn’t for the fact that she didn’t have her book of magic with her.
The following night the soldier again transformed himself into a robin and flew out. When the ceremony in the meadow was finished the robin followed the queen, to her palace. There the bird sang very piteously under her window all night. Elena the Wise who couldn’t close her eyes all night, sent for her maids in the morning to catch the robin. When they failed, she got angry and went outside to catch the bird herself. To her surprise the robin did not try to get away from her and she could just lift him up and take him into her room. She put him in a golden cage where he sat all day. At night, after Elena fell asleep, he changed into a fly to get out of the cage and became a soldier again. He couldn’t help himself and kissed the queen while she was asleep. By the time the queen awoke, he was bak in his cage. He did that three times until Elena realized it was not a dream and she looked in her book of magic.
When Elena the Wise saw that the bird was a just a man who dared to dope her, she wanted to kill him right away. He begged her to forgive him, but she was firm on her decision. As the headsman prepared to cut his head off, the soldier asked Elena the Wise to let him sing to her for the last time, and she agreed with that. His song again touched her heart and she gave him ten hours to hide where she couldn’t find him. If she found him after ten hours he wil die, and if not, she’ll marry him.
Again he was wandering in the forest without hope, and blaming the evil spirit. The spirit appeared to him and tried to help him once more. The spirit became a grey eagle who took the soldier on his back to hid him behind a thundercloud. After five hours Elena the Wise saw them both very clearly using her book and told the eagle to come down to the ground. Then the spirit turned the soldier into a pin and himself into a mouse and got inside Elena’s palace where he stuck the pin into Elena’s magic book. After another five hours Elena opened her book, but she didn’t see them anymore. Angrily she threw the book into the fire and the pin fell out. At that moment the soldier became human again and she admitted to himthat he was wiser than she.
They were married and lived happily ever after.

C. Position in the Aarne-Thomson-Uther Index.
It belongs to the category of the TALES OF MAGIC 300-749, the subcategory Supernatural Power or Knowledge 650-699.

D. Characters and functions according to Vladimir Propp.
Characters:
1. The Hero : the soldier
2. The Villain :
3. The Princess or prize : Elena the Wise
4. Her father: -
5. The dispatcher:
6. The donor: the evil spirit
7. The magical helper:
8. The false hero:
Functions:
• Initial situation: ‘a soldier…. guard by a stone tower”
• Interdiction: “the door to it was locked and sealed”
• Violation of interdiction: “The soldier at once broke both the seal and the lock”
• Villany: “the evil spirit flew out of tower”
• Meditation: “What have I done?”
• Departure: “he… went off he knew not where”
• Testing: “…run away only to starve to death”
• Acquisition : “the evil spirit…bringing all sorts of foods and drinks with him”
• Guidance : “…the evil spirit begged him to come and live in his house”
• The struggle: there is no struggle, but we can assimilate the struggle with night’s expeditions.
• Victory :”…put him in a gold cage which she hang in her chamber”
• Return: “He came up to the bed in which Elena the Wise lay…”
• Pursuit: “…you will pay with your life for trying to trik me”
• Task: “…find yourself a hiding place that I will be unable to discover…”
• Solution: “…the evil spirit…turned him into a pin…and stuck the pin in the book of magic…”
• Transfiguration: “seeing him so tall and handsome”
• Marriage: “…they were married…and lived happily ever after”

E. Similarities
There are some similarities with “Aleodor Împărat”.

SOURCES:
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Al ... h-Afanasev
- http://web.mit.edu/allanmc/www/propp.pdf
- http://research.omicsgroup.org/index.php/Aarne–Thompson_classification_system


Student: Nițu (Fărcășan) Gabriela