Vasilissa the Beautiful

Daleena Mendoza 1757 Final Project

• In a Tsardom in Russia there lived a wealthy merchant who had been married for a long time.

• He had one daughter named Vasilissa

• Vasilissa’s mother died when she was very young

• Her mother gave her a doll to keep her safe telling her, that whenever she needed help to feed the doll and pray for its help and it will help you.

• But she is never to speak of the doll to anyone else.

• Vasilissa was very sad after her mom passed away

• So she fed the doll and asked it to help her with her grief

• The doll told her that she will be ok and the sadness will pass

• Vasilissa’s father married again after a long time of grief

• His new wife had two daughters

• The new mother was very cold and her daughters were mean to Vasilissa

• Vasilissa was the most beautiful in all the village.

• The stepmother was very cruel to her and left her very little joy in life.

• She made her do nothing but chores and work endlessly, while her daughters had all the luxuries

• Vasilissa would have lost her beauty working so hard if it weren’t for her doll.

• She asked for the doll’s help and it would come to life and do her chores allowing her to enjoy life.

• Vasilissa then grew up to be a beautiful woman and was of age to be married

• Lots of men came asking for her hand in marriage but none of them came for her ugly step-sisters

• Her stepmother was very angry at this.

• The stepmother wanted to get rid of Vasilissa

• She would send her into the woods to find rare herbs and berries that perhaps she would find the evil Baba Yaga that lived in a house on hens legs

• But Vasilissa always came home safe and sound because the doll showed her where the herbs and berries grew

• One night the stepmother put out all the fires in the house and told Vasilissa she must go and borrow a fire from the Baba Yaga

• Vasilissa was afraid and asked her doll what she should do

• Her doll said she would be fine and no harm would come to her from the Baba Yaga

• So she set out into the forest

• Vasilissa walked for a long time in the forest

• Eventually she saw a man riding a red horse and galloping away

• As the man passed the sun rose in the dark forest

• Finally she did find the Baba Yaga’s evil house

• Vasilissa saw a man dressed in black and riding a black horse go through the Baba Yaga’s gate and once he had gone night came.

• Vasilissa then heard the Baba Yaga flying through the forest and toward the house.

• She came and stopped at the house in front of Vasilissa

• Vasilissa told asked the Baba Yaga if she could borrow some fire for her and her stepmother and sisters

• The Baba Yaga said she would give her the fire if she would stay and work for it

• She told her if she didn’t do it she would eat her for her supper

• The Baba Yaga had Vasilissa serve her all the food that was in her oven leaving Vasilissa little to eat for herself

• She told Vasilissa that when she leaves tomorrow she wants her to: Clean the yard, sweep the floors, and cook supper.

• She also wants her to take all the black grains and wild peas out of her wheat in the store house

• She must do all of this or she will be eaten for supper

• The Baba Yaga then went to sleep

• When Vasilissa was sure she was asleep, she went into the corner and told her doll about the impossible tasks the Baba Yaga left for her to do.

• The doll told her not to worry and to get some sleep she will be ok in the morning.

• Vasilissa woke up the next morning and saw the Baba Yaga leaving

• She remembered all the things she needed to do for the day.

• She saw that the doll had already swept the floors and cleaned the yard

• She found the doll in the store house picking the last of the wild peas out of the wheat

• This left Vasilissa only the supper to make before the night and she had all day to prepare

• Vasilissa completed the supper

• The Baba Yaga came home and inspected all the tasks Vasilissa was to complete thinking she could not have completed them

• She couldn’t find anything wrong with the work she had done and so she asked for her supper

• The Baba Yaga was angry that Vasilissa had completed the tasks that seemed impossible for her to do in one day

• The Baba Yaga asked her how she possibly completed all of the tasks

• Vasilissa said she was just blessed by her dead mother.

• The Baba Yaga sent her away with a skull with burning eyes to take to her stepmother who still needed the fire

• Vasilissa wandered back through the forest and figured that by now they should of gotten fire on their own

• She tried throwing away the skull in a nearby bush.

• The skull spoke to her told her that she needed to keep it and bring it to her stepmother

• Vasilissa finally came home and found her stepmother and sisters had no fire.

• She learned that when she had left no fire ever lit again inside the home.

• Even if they brought a flame from somewhere else it would just go out as soon as it entered the house.

• Vasilissa was welcomed by the stepmother and sisters

• The skull began to glow fire red and burned everything there except Vasilissa

• Vasilissa then waited for her father to come home

• Vasilissa became bored waiting to she went and got some flax from an old woman in the village

• She then began to spin thread out of the flax to make cloth

• The cloth was so finely made that none of the seamstresses in palace could sew with the cloth.

• Not even the greatest seamstress in the land could sew with the cloth.

• So the old woman said she knew of someone who could sew the cloth for him

• She said it was the same woman who wove the linen

• So the Tsar ordered her to bring her to the palace and have her sew his clothes

• The Old woman went and got Vasilissa to come to the palace to sew the clothes

• When Vasilissa arrived the Tsar fell in love with her right away

• They were married in a beautiful wedding

• Her merchant father finally came home

• And he and the old woman lived with Vasilissa in the palace happily ever after