Vasilisa The Priest’s Daughter
- Vasilisa The Priest’s Daughter
"Vasilisa The Priest's Daughter" (Afanas’ev 131-133) is a Russian fairy tale collected by Aleksandr Afanas'ev in "Narodnye russkie skazki". [Afanas’ev, Aleksandr. "Russian Fairy Tales." New York, NY: Pantheon Books, Inc. (1945).]
ynopsis
A daughter of a priest 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 sends his daughter to the king’s home. Before she arrives, the king seeks advice from the witch regarding the true identity of the "young man". The witch tells 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. Constantly, the "young man" seems to escape the house during these tests that were given, leaving the king not knowing the true answer. The king tries several times to find the true identity, but on the last time the king asks the "young man" to take a bath with him. "He" agrees to take a bath with him. While the king undresses "he" takes the bath, and quickly leaves 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 Vasilyevna, 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", by Madame d'Aulnoy, "Costanza / Costanzo", by Giovanni Francesco Straparola, and "The Three Crowns" by Giambattista Basile
References
Wikimedia Foundation.
2010.
Look at other dictionaries:
Vasilisa — can refer to:A character in Russian fairy tales*The Firebird and Princess Vasilisa *Vasilissa the Beautiful *Vasilisa The Priest’s Daughter *Ivan Tsarevich *Narodnye russkie skazki *The Frog PrincessPeople*Vasilissa, Martyr *Vasilisa BardinaThe… … Wikipedia
The Three Crowns — is an Italian literary fairy tale written by Giambattista Basile in the Pentamerone . [Jack Zipes, The Great Fairy Tale Tradition: From Straparola and Basile to the Brothers Grimm , p 167, ISBN 0 393 97636 X] ynopsisA childless king heard a voice … Wikipedia
Russian Fairy Tales — Vasilisa the Beautiful at the Hut of Baba Yaga, illustration by Ivan Bilibin Russian Fairy Tales (Russian: Народные Русские Сказки, variously translated; English titles include also Russian Folk Tales), is a collection of Russian fairy tales,… … Wikipedia
List of fairy tales — This is a list of fairy tales, the dates of their earliest known printed version, the author and, if known, the collection of tales in which it was published. It should be noted, however, that not all stories listed below would be categorized as… … Wikipedia
Narodnye russkie skazki — (Народне Русские Сказки, variously translated; English titles include Russian Fairy Tales and Russian Folk Tales), is a collection of Russian fairy tales, collected by Alexander Afanasyev and published by him between 1855 and 1863. His work was… … Wikipedia
Costanza / Costanzo — is an Italian literary fairy tale written by Giovanni Francesco Straparola in The Facetious Nights of Straparola . [W. G. Waters, translator, The Facetious Nights by Straparola London: Privately Printed for Members of the Society of Bibliophiles … Wikipedia
Belle-Belle ou Le Chevalier Fortuné — is a French literary fairy tale, written by Madame d Aulnoy. [Miss Annie Macdonell and Miss Lee, translators. [http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/aulnoy/1892/bellebelle.html Belle Belle ] The Fairy Tales of Madame D Aulnoy . London:… … Wikipedia
List of Russian people — The Millennium of Russia monument in Veliky Novgorod, featuring the statues and reliefs of the most celebrated people in the first 1000 years of Russian history … Wikipedia
Slavic mythology — is the mythological aspect of the polytheistic religion that was practised by the Slavs before Christianisation. The religion possesses many common traits with other religions descended from the Proto Indo European religion. Zbruch Idol. Contents … Wikipedia
Fairy tale — For a comparison of fairy tale with other kinds of stories, such as myths, legends and fables, see Traditional stories. For other uses, see Fairy tale (disambiguation). Not to be confused with Fairy Tail … Wikipedia
