Fairy-tale heroes. The smallest one is not a gnome The smallest heroes of fairy tales

If only I could become, friends, taller than my dad,

Children are always not allowed to do what adults can.

Everyone gives us advice,

It would be better if they let us into the cinema every day,

It would be better not to disturb the children's sleep in the morning,

That would be grace.

Yes, growing up faster is great, but even now we are not as small as it seems. And every day we grow more and more.

What if there are people who are smaller than us and will never grow bigger? We decided to look for such short heroes in fairy tales.

Who are you, shorties?

Short heroes are present in both folk and original fairy tales.

Short heroes appear in a special, fabulous way. So, for example, our first hero - a boy - finger from a Russian folk tale of the same name appeared from the finger of an old woman. Here's what the fairy tale says:

“There lived an old man and an old woman. Once the old woman was chopping cabbage and accidentally cut off her finger. She wrapped it in a rag and placed it on the bench.

Suddenly I heard someone on the bench crying. She unfolded the rag, and in it lay a boy as tall as a finger.

The old woman was surprised and frightened:

Who are you? -

I am your son, born from your little finger. -

The old woman took him and looked - the boy was tiny, tiny, barely visible from the ground. And she named him Thumb Boy"

The heroine of Andersen's fairy tale Thumbelina was born even more unusual. The sorceress gave the woman a grain of barley. From this seed a wonderful flower appeared - a tulip. When the magic flower blossomed, a living girl was sitting in its cup. “She was small—small, only an inch tall. That’s why they called her that – Thumbelina.”

And here is an excerpt from Wilhelm Hauff’s fairy tale “Little Muk”: “In my native city of Nicaea, there lived a man nicknamed Little Muk. In those days, Little Muk was already an old man, no more than three or four feet tall. Moreover, he was built very strangely: on his body, small and fragile, sat a head, the size of which was much more voluminous than that of other people.” Little Muk is known to everyone as the fastest walker.

And this is not the only shorty invented by Gauff. More recently, another fairy tale by this author, “Dwarf Nose,” received a second life. We all enjoyed watching the cartoon based on this fairy tale. There, the evil witch turned the boy Jacob into an ugly dwarf. “And indeed, the change was terrifying: the eyes became tiny, like a pig’s, the huge nose hung below the chin, the neck seemed to completely disappear, so that the head stuck straight out on the shoulders, and only with difficulty could he turn it to the right or left. He was no taller than when he was twelve years old. But while other young men from twelve to twenty years of age grow in height, he grew only in width: his back and chest were wide and arched and looked like tightly stuffed bags. This thick body was supported by small, weak legs that could not bear such a weight. But his arms were the same length as those of an ordinary adult. The palms are thick, brown, the fingers are long, spider-like, and when he stretched out his arms, he could reach the floor with them without bending. That’s what an ugly dwarf Yakov has become.”

Men whose height is less than 130 cm are considered dwarfs; for women this threshold is 120 cm.

Previously, everyone was well aware of the 7 little gnomes who saved Snow White. Now another brave man has joined his famous brothers - the dwarf Gimli from the film - the fairy tale "The Lord of the Rings". Dwarves are up to 3 feet tall.

A whole country of short people was invented by Nikolai Nosov. His book about shorties says this: “In one fairy-tale city there lived shorties. They were called shorties because they were very small. Each short one was the size of a small cucumber.” In his third novel, Dunno is measured at the police station and his height is determined accurately. “Your height, expressed in standard measurement units, is seventy-two. So you are short and of average height.” The standard unit of measurement was a millimeter, which means Dunno’s height is 72 millimeters.

Another country where little people live is Lilliput. This country was invented by Jonathan Swift. The inhabitants of this country were 12 times shorter than the traveler Gulliver. The Emperor of Lilliput “was at least a whole fingernail taller than his courtiers. He was more than three fingers tall and was probably considered a very tall man in Lilliput. »

So, there are quite a lot of fairy-tale shorties and they are all completely different.

Our assistant is the ruler.

What do we know about the growth of short people?

Thumbelina's height is -1 inch, the height of the Lilliputian whom Gulliver met is 3-plus fingers, the gnome's height is 5 feet, Dunno is -72 mm, little Muk has grown by 3 feet, and the dwarf Nose by 120 cm, well, and the boy - with - The finger was so named because it was one finger tall. It turns out that the authors of fairy tales measured their heroes by different standards.

To find out which of them is the smallest and the tallest, it is necessary to bring different measurements to one common one.

The most convenient device for measuring the height of short people has become a ruler. First, we carefully examined the ruler and found out that it had divisions - small and large. Ten small divisions of millimeters make up one large division - a centimeter. This means that it is most convenient to choose a centimeter as a general measure.

We were given the height of the dwarf in centimeters. Using the divisions on the ruler, we were able to convert Dunno’s height from millimeters to centimeters. His height was 7 centimeters 2 millimeters.

Then we measured the thumbs of adults - dad, mom, teacher. It turned out that everyone's finger lengths are different. But the approximate length of the thumb is 5 centimeters. Now we were able to express the height of the little boy and the midget in centimeters. The little boy grew by 5 centimeters, and the midget - by 17 centimeters.

Using a ruler, we were able to set the following short people according to their height:

Boy-thumb - 5 centimeters

Dunno - 7 centimeters 2 millimeters

Lilliputian – 17 centimeters

Dwarf Nose turned out to be the tallest - 120 centimeters. We found out his height using a stadiometer.

Inch and foot.

The height of Thumbelina, the gnome and little Mook was indicated by the authors of fairy tales in inches and feet. We have never encountered such units anywhere before. The ruler didn't help us at all either. We had to turn to our parents for help, who picked up reference books.

Man was faced with the need for measurements in ancient times, at an early stage of his development - in practical life, in agriculture, in the construction of his home, the palaces of his rulers, temples, and in trade. People needed to measure distances, areas, volumes, weights, and time.

The first units of length were very approximate. They were associated with the size of human body parts. In England and the USA, the units of length still used are “foot” - foot (31 cm), “thumb” - inch (2 and a half centimeters) and yard (91 cm). It was equal to the distance from the tip of King Henry I's nose to the end of the fingers of his outstretched hand. 1ft=12 inches.

We noticed an inaccuracy - 2 and a half centimeters - not the length of the thumb, but the length of one phalanx on the thumb.

This means that Thumbelina is 2 and a half centimeters tall, little Mook is 93 centimeters, and the gnome is 155 centimeters.

Conclusion.

After research, measurements and calculations, we were able to express the growth of all fairy-tale heroes- short in centimeters. Now we can line everyone up by height and find out which of them is the smallest and tallest.

So, get in order!

1. Thumbelina – 2 centimeters 5 millimeters

2. boy – with – finger – 5 centimeters

3. Dunno - 7 centimeters 2 millimeters

4. Lilliputians – 17 centimeters

5. small Muk – 93 centimeters

6. dwarf Nose - 120 centimeters

7. gnomes – 155 centimeters.

How can you not compare your own growth with the growth of our heroes? We measured our own height using a stadiometer. In this formation we are between the dwarf Nose and the dwarves. It turned out that we are not so small after all!

We can summarize the results of the work. During the study we:

We re-read such familiar and not so familiar fairy tales;

We learned to find mathematical information in fairy tales;

Learned to use a ruler and stadiometer;

We got acquainted with different units of measurement of length;

We learned that different units of measurement can be reduced to one common one;

We applied our knowledge of finding the smallest and largest numbers.

During our research, we came across the following saying: “Your body is as big as an inch, but your head is as big as a pot.” This means that Rus' also had its own units of length for measuring the height of small people. We can devote our next work to the study of ancient Russian measures of length.

It’s not for nothing that D.I. Mendeleev said this: “Science begins as soon as they begin to measure: exact science is unthinkable without measure.”

A huge warm river flows in the ocean. It's called the Gulf Stream. It flows and warms the whole world. If it were not for the Gulf Stream, the Earth would become like a house without a brownie - cold and uncomfortable. Our life would become just as cold and uncomfortable without the Fairy Tale, which flows like a huge warm river through the ocean called Life.
Someone convinced us that we ourselves invent fairy tales in order to someday “make a fairy tale come true.” Why not let it be as if the Fairy Tale invented us, so that we could return to it later? They swam in the “were”, like Ivan the Fool in spring water and boiling milk, and returned from there as Ivan Tsarevichs and Elena the Beautiful - to the Fairy Tale.
And so that we don’t forget our historical fairy-tale homeland, it flows through our entire lives, reminding us:
“Don’t be timid,” he says, “guys. I'm nearby. Just a little bit, I'll help. Here you go Living water, here is Dead, there is the Gray Wolf and the flying carpet... The main thing is, don’t believe the Serpent Gorynych, but don’t forget where Koshcheev’s death is, so that if there’s any trouble with your Princess, they’ll know how to get to Buyan Island.”
A fairy tale, they say, is “a lie and a hint in it...” There is no hint in a fairy tale. It says everything directly, without hints: this one is the Tsarevich, this one is Baba Yaga, that one is the Leshy...
The warm river of Fairy Tales flows, flows into the ocean called Life, and mixes with it so much that it is difficult to separate them. Is it necessary to divide?

FAIRY-TALE HEROES

ALESHA POPOVICH
Originally from Rostov. Judging by his nickname, he was born into a religious family, which did not prevent him from becoming a professional military man - one of the three heroes. My father's name was Levon, so Alyosha's patronymic is Levontievich.
Unfortunately, Alexey Levontevich Popovich did not have a childhood. According to the recollections of contemporaries, as soon as he was born and saw that he was going to be swaddled and placed in a cradle, Alyosha demanded that he “not be swaddled in swaddling clothes, but given chain mail.” Putting on chain mail, the newborn asked his mother for a blessing, a horse and a saber. Having said goodbye to his parents, he went to work.
Kind, sympathetic and a little naive, Alyosha cut off many enemy heads with his sword. He began his military career with a journey from Rostov to Kyiv, on the way where he defeated a terrible monster named Tugarin.
This Tugarin, having met the hero, behaved defiantly and began to threaten him with violence (smother him with smoke, fry him and eat him). But the monster miscalculated. The young hero defeated Tugarin, cut him with a saber and scattered him across an open field.
Arriving in the former capital of Ancient Rus', Alyosha Popovich entered the service of Prince Vladimir Krasno Solnyshko (Krasno Solnyshko is not a patronymic or surname, but a nickname) and became friends with other heroes (see Ilya Muromets and Dobrynya Nikitich).
Alyosha Popovich limped and possessed magic. He could transform into birds and animals. In adulthood, he married the beautiful Elena, whom he himself called Elenushka, and others called Elena the Beautiful.

ALICE
A typically English, well-mannered girl from the fairy tales of the writer Lewis Carroll. A little boring, but it even decorates her. One day, chasing the Rabbit (see Hare), she climbed into his hole, which turned out to be a bottomless well leading to Wonderland. Then Alice climbed into the mirror and found herself in Through the Looking Glass. The result was two tales about Alice: in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. In both tales, she travels through old games - chess and cards.

ALADDIN
The poor Arab youth from the fairy tales “1001 Nights”. He took out a magic lamp from an enchanted cave, inside of which was the Genie (see Genie). This Genie obediently followed all Aladdin's orders and, in the end, helped him successfully marry an oriental beauty princess (see Princess).
But one should not think that Aladdin himself did nothing to earn the love of the beautiful princess Budur. He probably would have gotten along just fine without the Genie, because he was a handsome, brave and cheerful young man. But it so happened that the Evil Wizard became Aladdin's enemy. Therefore, without the Genie, Aladdin would have had a hard time.

AU
Uncle Au is a modern lonely Finnish ghost, described by the writer Hannu Mäkele, and appeared in Russia thanks to the writer Eduard Uspensky.
There is a brief description of him in the fairy tale:
"He can handle the engine,
He'll steal a truck
A cross between a devil and a lift operator -
Modern forester."
Uncle Au is a colorful and charming personality. He lives in the forest, is also Leshy (see Leshy), experiments, growing an “eternally hungry tree”, fights with the “Box Factory”, which decided to cut down his entire Finnish protected forest into boxes. Of course, a lone ghost could never cope with an entire factory. It’s good that he had friends - children and animals.

WOMAN
In fairy tales he always lives with Grandfather (“Once upon a time there were Grandfather and Baba…”). Often a grumpy, wayward woman with bad character. He always strives to send his Grandfather somewhere. Either to the bluest sea to catch fish, then to dark forest for firewood, then to the fair for a cow, and one winter she even forced Grandfather to sculpt the Snow Maiden in the cold.
In her poor hut, most often there are no pickles. She is stingy, stupid and curious. This is usually used by various passers-by, wanderers and especially soldiers who come to visit her from time to time. They tell her all sorts of fairy tales and stories, forcing her to put the food in the cellar on the table. A striking example is the story of the Soldier (see Soldier), who, in front of the surprised Baba’s eyes, cooked soup from an ax and from her grandmother’s products.
However, to be fair, it must be noted; being in good mood, Baba can sometimes, at Grandfather’s request, scrape the bottom of the barrel, place it in the barns and bake a Kolobok. She often helps her husband pull the turnip and beat the golden egg from under the Ryaba Hen (see Ryaba Hen). True, she does the latter poorly. Nevertheless, when “Grandfather and Baba live in a fairy tale,” the fairy tale itself turns out to be more fun. If in a fairy tale Baba lives without Grandfather, and even in the forest, she is almost certainly a witch. IN best case scenario– Baba Yaga (see Baba Yaga).

BABA YAGA
The character is not a fairy tale at all, but a real one. It was (and maybe still is) found in taiga areas. There, in the swamps, a very tasty berry grows - cloudberries. The pine forest itself is called Yag. It was by the name of the boron and especially the berries that she picked that they called the lonely grandmother - a hermit, and maybe even a healer, Baba Yaga. However, there are many other versions of the origin of her name.
Baba Yaga made decoctions, dried herbs, and knew all sorts of ancient spells against the evil eye, against damage, and against toothache. Therefore, of course, she did not enjoy much popular love. Quite the contrary. She took advantage of great popular fear. People were afraid of her. For his secretive, unsociable character. For witchcraft and incomprehensible knowledge. But love is love, fear is fear, and many people needed Baba Yaga’s help from time to time. Either the cow will get sick, then her teeth will ache, then there will be a drought, then a flood, or some other misfortune. Who will help? It is known that you need to go to Baba Yaga in the forest. Into a hut on chicken legs. By the way, this hut is also, I think, not fictitious, but real. Hunters in the taiga built (and are still building) houses on poles, and more often on tall, felled stumps. No windows, no doors. And they put their loot there so that the forest animals would not steal it. Where did the old hermit get her house from? She won't build it herself. So she lived in such a hunting barn. These barns were low. You can sleep there, but you can’t stand upright. That’s why Baba Yaga slept “nose to the ceiling.” Grandmother had one joy - communicating with interesting people: either Ivashka would drop by, then Alyonushka would get lost in the forest, or Koschey would come to the light.

Pinocchio
Wooden boy from a fairy tale by Alexei Tolstoy. Son of Papa Carlo (see Papa Carlo). Self-confident, ignorant, but kind and brave hero. Perhaps in the future it will be good actor or even the main director of a puppet theater. No wonder he managed to gather and rally around himself a whole group of like-minded actors (Malvina, Pierrot, the dog Artemon, etc.), who coped with the theater director Karabas Barabas. In fairy tales, this is the first (and, it seems, the only case of reflection of the eternal struggle in theaters between actors and administration).

VASILISA THE WISE
The best, fairy-tale bride, and then the wife of Ivan Tsarevich (see Ivan Tsarevich). He can do everything (see Frog): sow and grow a field of rye in one night, build a palace from pure wax or gold (in the same short term), deceive the Sea King (see Sea King), turn into a dove or a duck. Nobody knows who she is, where she comes from, only every Ivan Tsarevich dreams of his Vasilisa the Wise.

WOLF
Without the Gray Wolf, there would be three times fewer fairy tales, which means life would be three times more boring. Despite the fact that wolves live in packs, the fairy-tale Wolf is always alone. He behaves the same way as the Bear (see Bear) - unpredictably. Either he will eat Little Red Riding Hood and Grandmother, or he will help Ivan Tsarevich or Helen the Wise.
The Gray Wolf is always a loner in fairy tales. Moreover, in every fairy tale he is special. Sometimes stupid, sometimes smart, sometimes kind, sometimes evil, sometimes greedy, sometimes generous. True, angry, greedy and stupid - more often. The Gray Wolf in fairy tales can turn into a “good fellow”, “red maiden”, “clear falcon”. Sometimes it suddenly “hits the ground,” and now - instead of the Wolf, a hero’s horse is already standing in front of the hero. In the most terrible fairy tales, evil sorcerers turn into wolves and scour the open fields in search of prey.
On the other hand, why be surprised: there are all sorts of people.

CROW
The bird, frankly speaking, is ominous on the one hand, and prophetic on the other. Because he lives as long as we never dreamed of - 300 years. Over the years, she has seen, experienced, and changed her mind. Gained a wealth of life experience. As a result, she began to play a variety of roles in fairy tales.
On the one hand, she is with Baba Yaga (see Baba Yaga) circling over the hut, guarding the captives. On the other hand, it can fly for living and dead water to revive Ivan Tsarevich. Controversial bird.
Polish folk tales say that when the devil (see devil) made a Wolf (see Wolf) from wood, he constructed a Crow from the remains of the tree. It is interesting that in Russian fairy tales the Crow sometimes serves the Wolf.
In fairy tales, the crow guards treasures. At the same time, she is famous as a well-known thief, greedy for everything shiny - gold, silver, precious stones. Contradictions in Raven are a dime a dozen! Her wisdom is as well known as her stupidity. And not only fairy tales, but even fables and anecdotes are written about her laziness and sluggishness.

WITCH
A distant relative of Baba Yaga (see Baba Yaga), but much more harmful. Baba Yaga is somehow simpler, more understandable, more popular. She doesn’t pretend to be anyone, as a rule, she remains herself. She is easy to identify: a long hooked nose, old age, a bone leg, a creaky voice, a mortar, a broom, etc. The witch always disguises herself. You think she is a simple peasant woman, or a modest girl from a large family, or even from a wealthy, noble family. And it turns out that she is a Witch.
In order for us to distinguish a witch, fairy tales are told and written. If it were not for fairy tales, there would be many more witches.
Judging by the fact that almost all nations of the world have tales about witches, we can conclude that witches are everywhere: in Germany, and in England, and in Denmark, and in America, and in China, and in Australia, and even here in Russia. Moreover, a Chinese or German witch is not much different from a Russian one.
Except with the tongue.
All witches gather annually for their meetings. This happens on Bald Mountain on Walpurgis Night (it usually happens on May 1st of every year). Other evil spirits are also present at these meetings.
In ancient uncivilized times, in order to distinguish a witch from a decent girl, they did this; The suspect was thrown into the hole. If she drowns immediately, then she is not a witch; if she floats, she is a witch. Nowadays such examination is no longer carried out, as new, more scientific methods have appeared.

GIANT
A man of great stature and, as a rule, of small intelligence (there is some mathematical pattern observed here. (See Little Thumb. The exception is Uncle Styopa). According to ancient legends, the Giants (aka Titans) were the first earthlings who took an active part in the creation world: they built mountains, created lakes with the help of dams, dug the beds of future rivers. In connection with this generally useful activity, the giants became very proud, as a result of which they were punished by God - they died during the Flood.
Some individuals have survived, as evidenced by numerous tales of the peoples of the world. The surviving giants have a bad character and criminal tendencies. They are often cannibals. Sometimes there are two, three or more heads. There are rumors that the remains of giants are found in ancient mounds, and their bones are successfully used by traditional healers to treat fever.
You cannot defeat a giant in a fair fight. Usually people cope with them with the help of intelligence and cunning. So Odysseus dealt with the Cyclops Polyphemus, Puss in Boots and Thumb and the Ogre (see Thumb, Ogre), and Jack (see Jack) killed so many giants that he lost count.

WINNIE THE POOH
Apparently a bear cub. Loves jam, honey and everything tasty. A character in the books of the English writer Alan Alexander Milne, who in 1927 bought a gift from a store for the first birthday of his son, Christopher Robin. Christopher Robin himself named the bear Edward. But over time, Edward became Winnie the Pooh. "Weenie" - because that was the name of the black bear from the London Zoo, who let Christopher Robin near him, and "Pooh" - because it was the nickname of the swan from Sussex. Our domestic “Winnie the Pooh” differs from the English one in the voice of the artist Evgeniy Leonov and in the words children's writer Boris Zakhoder.

VRUNGEL
Konstantin Bonifatievich, fabulous sea captain. The hero of Viktor Nekrasov’s book “The Adventures of Captain Vrungel.” He is best known for his participation in the round-the-world race on the yacht “Trouble,” which he won together with his chief mate named Lom. Thanks to his exceptional truthfulness, Vrungel has always enjoyed love and respect among readers. The peak of its popularity came in the 1980s (immediately after the release of the multi-part series animated film). Unlike Baron von Munchausen (see Munchausen), Captain Vrungel comes from a simple, non-noble family. However, this did not prevent him from eventually becoming as truthful and brave as his German predecessor.

GVIDON SALTANOVICH
Prince. Son of Tsar Saltan (see Saltan). As a child, he and his mother, at the behest of their aunts, were put in a barrel, which was tarred and thrown into the blue sea. Luckily the wind drove her to desert island Buyanu. By that time, Guidon had already grown in a barrel and matured.
Having been released with his mother, the young man found himself on a deserted shore. Here he saved the Swan Princess from imminent death, who turned out to be a good sorceress (see Good Witch). The swan built a kingdom for Saltan, where he and his mother began to rule. The kingdom was very good, in it the sorceress created many miracles (read “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” by A.S. Pushkin). Over time, the Swan Princess turned into a beauty and became the wife of Guidon Saltanovich.
Guidon is a good son, a loving husband, a kind king (see Tsar). He many times invited his father to visit his kingdom, who made a tragic mistake - he believed the slander of evil aunts. Finally, Tsar Saltan arrived on Buyan Island. Then his eyes finally opened and he learned about the treachery of his relatives. As punishment, he sent them all home, and he himself stayed to live on Buyan with his wife, son and the Swan Princess.

DWARF
Lives in forests and mountains. Often in large colonies. It can be evil and good. But kind - more often. The main occupation is geological and mining work. Dwarves work underground, mining ore and various precious stones.
Gnomes are very small, approximately the size of Thumb Thumb. The character is unbalanced. They easily move from joy to grief, from love to hate. It is best not to irritate or upset gnomes. This can be judged from the tale of Nils' travels with wild geese. This boy once laughed at the Dwarf’s small stature and paid dearly for it. The dwarf became so furious that he cast a terrible spell on him, as a result of which Nils himself became just as small. And he had to travel with wild geese in search of this Dwarf, and then, in order to break the spell, fulfill his almost impossible whims.
So it’s better to do what Snow White did when she found herself in the forest with the seven dwarfs (read the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm). She cleaned their house, cooked dinner, sang songs. And in the evenings she told fairy tales. The dwarves doted on her. So they lived in perfect harmony.

GOODWIN
The Wizard of the Emerald City (read the story by Nikolai Volkov) is the Great and Terrible, but in fact he is an ordinary American magician. Once in fairytale city, with the help of several circus tricks, he convinced all the surrounding residents and evil sorceresses that he was the most powerful Sorcerer. Having thus spent a fabulous election campaign, he became the head of the city, which he called Emerald. The city got this name because the “Wizard” ordered all residents to wear green glasses without taking them off. The same glasses were given free of charge to all visitors. So he would have lived happily ever after, if not for a compatriot from Kansas - the girl Ellie, who was carried into magical land one of the hurricanes (Next read the fairy tale itself).

GEESE-SWANS
A flock of swans, flying over the village, carried away on their wings little boy playing on the grass under his window. The swan geese were in the service of Baba Yaga (see Baba Yaga), so they carried the boy to the hut on chicken legs. It must be said that Geese-Swans have long gained a bad reputation for themselves. “There was a lot of mischief and little children were stolen.”
Interestingly, this was not observed with swans alone. Usually swans were beautiful enchanted princesses, whom princes later married. But in the pack they somehow deteriorated, became aggressive and went into the service of evil spirits. (The exception is “The Wild Swans” by Hans Christian Andersen).
The geese-swans handed over the kidnapped children to Baba Yaga, after which they carried out aerial guard duty near the hut. Such service was necessary for Baba Yaga, since she herself was absent-minded and inattentive.
This time, too, I didn’t keep track of the boy. His older sister, chasing the swan geese, managed to kidnap her brother. The swan geese, of course, immediately flew after her, but nothing worked out for them, since the sister and brother hid in a stove standing alone on the road.
Most likely, the geese-swans did not get anything from Baba Yaga for this, because she herself was to blame for everything.

GRANDFATHER
(See Baba). As a rule, he always lives with Baba. Sometimes in a village near a forest or field, sometimes “near the very blue sea,” sometimes in “the distant kingdom, the thirtieth state.” He is flexible, hard-working, and sometimes achieves an unprecedented harvest, which, however, he then does not know what to do with (read “Turnip”). So in fairy tales it happened that the grandfather either has no children at all, or three of them at once. He likes to send them somewhere far away for marriage or other happiness. He also likes simple peasant food: porridge with milk, kolobok (see Kolobok), rejuvenating apples, etc.
Grandfather is a man, although elderly, but cheerful. He treats Baba condescendingly, does not like to argue with her, and is sometimes afraid.

FATHER FROST
Currently, he is a kind, simple-minded (a little silly, but that suits him) grandfather who comes to the children on New Year’s Eve to put a gift under the tree for them. He carries all the gifts in a big beautiful bag. He wears a red (sometimes blue) fur coat with a white collar. Wears felt boots and a hat. His nose and cheeks are always red. Most likely due to frost.
A character from many fairy tales. Perhaps the most long-awaited (they wait for it all year long) for all children. But he didn’t become like that right away, but over time.
Several thousand years ago he was the most terrible villain in the world. Worse than Koschey. They scared not only children, but also adults. And this happened just before the New Year, when the day is shortest and the night is longest (“winter solstice”). During this solstice Slavic peoples ancient times usually performed the ritual of Kolyada, and the ancient Romans - the holiday “Invincible Sun”. According to ancient legends, this period seemed to our ancestors to be the time Great Battle for Light and Sun.
This battle was fought by Belobog and Chernobog (according to other versions - Perun and Karachun). Legends depict Karachun as a gray-bearded old man pursuing Gromovnitsa, Perun’s wife.
Karachun turns into a bear and with a pack of wolves, personifying severe winter snowstorms, tries to find Gromovnitsa, who is supposed to give birth to the Sun of the New Year - Kolyada. (The word “kolyada” comes from the ancient Slavic “kolo”, that is, a circle that has always served as a graphic image of the Sun). This same Karachun was once our Grandfather Frost.
Santa Claus, as you all know, usually appears at midnight - the most traditional time of rampant evil spirits. At the same time, mummers began to walk around in the images of bears, wolves, goats, etc.
From time immemorial frost has been a dangerous enemy for the merchant, the artisan and the peasant. This is how people used to say Frost on Christmas Eve:
Moroz, Moroz Vasilievich! Go eat some food! I'll break your head with a flail,
I'll cut out your eyes with a broom!
Judging by this verdict, the relationship between our ancestors and Grandfather Frost can hardly be called friendly. They imagined him as a little old man with a long white beard and a staff in his hand. He ran through the fields, knocking with his staff and thereby causing bitter frosts. They tried to appease and tame this Santa Claus. In winter, they often fed him: they threw delicious bread balls out the window “for Frost”, brought out a spoonful of sweet jelly, and at the same time they said: “Frost, Frost!” Come eat some jelly! Frost, Frost! Don’t hit our oats!”
Grandfather Frost ate sweet jelly and gradually became kinder. So the evil old man turned into the kind Grandfather Frost. And he did the right thing, because now he is loved.

JACK
(See Ivan the Fool). He differs from our Ivan the Fool only in that no one ever called him a fool. On the contrary, they immediately said that Jack was dexterous and smart. Lives in fabulous England. The main occupation is the slayer of giants (see Giant). Jack defeated his first giant named Kormoren back in early childhood. It was a voracious, hairy monster that stole everything from the surrounding villages. At a time, Kormoren carried away a dozen bulls, and strung hundreds of sheep and pigs on his belt.
Being a business man, Jack officially signed his first contract in his life to destroy a giant with the Cornwall County Council. The reward for the work was all the stolen treasures of the giant, stored in his cave. (Here we observe another difference from Ivan the Fool, who never entered into contracts with anyone).
Jack completed the first job quickly, literally burying the unlucky giant in a skillfully disguised hole. That's how it began work activity, which he completed many years later, killing about a dozen giants of various sizes.
Jack's activities useful for the kingdom were highly appreciated by the English government. From King Arthur he received a knighthood and the daughter of an influential duke as his wife.

GENIE
Thanks to the famous animated series about Aladdin (see Aladdin), the modern young man who is intelligent enough to believe fairy tales has a completely distorted idea of ​​​​the image of the Genie. They began to imagine him as a kind of friendly shirt-guy with the smile of a Texas cowboy.
I must inform you that this is a misconception. The real Genie, who has been sealed in a bottle for thousands of years, is far from being a Disney hero.
If the reader has ever seen parents open a bottle of warm Champagne, he can imagine how the Genie, who has been sitting in it for a thousand years, flies out of such a bottle.
He destroys, sweeps away everything in his path and woe to anyone who happens to be nearby at that moment. Unless, of course, a special spell was cast on the Genie, according to which he must serve the person who released him (as happened with Aladdin). So don't be in a hurry to let the Genie out of the bottle. First, think about the consequences and read the fairy tales “1001 Nights”. This is the best instruction for dealing with Jinns.
Of course, there are exceptions. For example, the incident that happened to the pioneer Volka from Leonid Lagin’s fairy tale “Old Man Khotabych”. But to be honest, I doubt the veracity of these events. Firstly, Volka found a bottle with a Genie not in the sea or ocean, or even on the Arabian Peninsula, but in the Moscow River, where Genies cannot be found. They don't survive. And secondly, Hotabych was a very good-natured old man, if he was a Genie, then he was wrong...
Much more correct was his brother, whom Hotabych and Volka caught while traveling by sea. This one is definitely a Genie - evil and harmful. Can quickly build a palace and destroy it even faster. So don’t look for magic lamps or bottles with Genies in caves and ponds. Rely only on yourself and your parents. Because every person is his own best Genie.

THE GOOD WIZARD
A very beautiful woman in a star cap, a cloak and with a magic wand in her hands. Fulfills all the wishes of the good heroes of fairy tales and punishes the evil ones.

DOBRYNYA NIKITICH
Great Russian hero. Second in importance after Ilya Muromets (see Ilya Muromets) and first before Alyosha Popovich (see Alyosha Popovich). Dobrynya Nikitich always reconciled Ilya Muromets with Alyosha Popovich. If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t have the Three Heroes.
By origin, Dobrynya Nikitich was from a princely family, a hereditary military man. Dobrynya comes from the city of Ryazan. The hero’s upbringing was carried out by his mother, Amelfa Timofeevna, because his father, Nikita Romanovich, died when Dobrynya was not even born. The mother gave her son a good education. He “learned to read and write”, and of course studied music. Of course, there was no piano then. Therefore, he played the first scales on the harp. He also sang wonderfully and played chess. In future heroic affairs, all this was very useful to him, and Dobrynya more than once remembered his mother with a kind word.
Most of all, Dobrynya Nikitich loved to fight with various snakes. He did not like snakes themselves and, as the authors of encyclopedic dictionaries rightly write: “The fight against the snake tribe began early for him, when “young Dobrynyushka Mikitinets began to ride on a good horse in an open field... to trample small snakes.” Finally, Dobrynya got tired of trampling the little snakes. This is not a heroic thing, he decided, and went to the Puchai River to fight with the main Serpent - Gorynych (see Serpent Gorynych).
Dobrynya drove up to the river and saw: port-washing girls were working on the shore, heroic and peasant ports were being washed. They saw Dobrynya Nikitich and began to dissuade him from fighting the Serpent. Whether they were so attracted to Dobrynya, or whether they had already become accustomed to the Serpent Gorynych, we don’t know.
Dobrynya Nikitich did not listen - he dived into the river and swam. As soon as he reached the middle of the river, the Serpent Gorynych flies out of nowhere and dives straight at the defenseless hero. Breathes fire on him, showers him with fiery sparks. Unless it bombs. The hero was not at a loss and dived, but emerged on the other side of the river. Dobrynya came ashore and “crushed the Serpent with the cap of the Greek land.” He fell on the damp ground and began to ask for forgiveness. Dobrynya was a good hero. He forgave Zmey Gorynych for the first time, but as time has shown, it was in vain. The Serpent Gorynych, having taken his feet away from Dobrynya, immediately took up his old ways. Flying over Kiev, he kidnapped Vladimir’s beloved niece Red Sun, Zabava Putyatishna. The hero had to fight the Serpent again.
Dobrynya Nikitich was a relative of Vladimir Krasnoe Solnyshko. And when the prince ordered him and his brother Putyata (the father of the liberated Zabava) to go and punish the inhabitants of Novgorod, who did not want to be baptized, but stubbornly worshiped the gods of pagan mythology. Dobrynya obeyed. Together with Putyatya, they baptized all the surviving residents of Novgorod. Since then, a humorous proverb has developed among the people: “Putyata baptizes with a sword, but Dobrynya baptizes with fire.”
During his life, Dobrynya Nikitich won many great victories. He was not afraid to enter into battle even with Baba Yaga (see Baba Yaga). Why Yaga! Dobrynya Nikitich entered into battle with Marina Ignatievna, a witch known throughout the area, a “sorceress”, “poisoner”, “root worker”, a sorceress who knew how to turn a person into an animal.
It was like this; One day Dobrynya Nikitich came into Marinkin Lane. Approaching her house, he suddenly sees Snake Tugarin and Marinka kissing through the window. Here the heroic heart trembled, and he shot an arrow straight through the window. The snake Tugarin died on the spot, and Marinka began to offer herself to Dobrynya Nikitich as a wife. He, of course, did not agree. Why does he need such a wife? Marina Ignatievna got angry and turned the hero into a “bay aurochs” - that is, into a horned bull. This is where the fairy tale would have ended if Dobrynya’s mother had not helped out. Amelfa Timofeevna saw what Marina Ignatievna did to her son and came to the rescue. She immediately cast a spell on her son, made her a man, and turned Marinka into a “water-carrying mare.” So she has been carrying water ever since.
Dobrynya Nikitich married a very good girl - Nastasya Nikulishna. All his life he loved her very much. One day, while going to work in an open field, Dobrynya ordered his wife to wait for him for exactly 12 years, and if he was late, to marry whoever she wanted. The main thing is not for Alyosha Popovich.
Time passed, the hero was delayed and the time had come for Nastasya to get married again. She, of course, really didn't want this. But then, out of nowhere, the hero Alyosha Popovich appeared and began to strongly insist that she become his wife. Nastasya had to agree. And then, during the wedding, Dobrynya Nikitich returned from work from the open field. To avoid being recognized, he dressed up as a buffoon and began singing songs and playing the harp (that’s where his music lessons came in handy!).
Nastasya Nikulishna recognized her husband from the songs. Dobrynya Nikitich was very offended by Alyosha Popovich and decided to fight him tooth and nail. And he would probably have killed if not for Ilya Muromets, who reconciled them.
Alyosha Popovich asked for forgiveness, and the three heroes remained good friends.

GOOD AND EVIL
The most important thing is why everything happens in fairy tales and in life. Twin brothers waging a universal battle.

DOCTOR AIBOLIT
Actually, his name is Doctor Dolittle. There are twelve books for children written English writer Hugh Lofting. They are called "Dolittle" and tell about the adventures of one extraordinary gentleman who understood the language of animals. But what does the name Doolittle tell us? Only that he is a foreigner.
Therefore, the writer Korney Chukovsky, based on the tales of Doctor Dolittle, created his own fairy-tale hero and called him the name Aibolit, which we understand.
This is the kindest doctor in the world. And the most fearless. A kind of hero (see Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich, Alyosha Popovich). Despite the fact that in appearance he does not at all look like a hero (instead of chain mail there is a doctor’s robe, instead of a helmet there is a white cap, glasses on his nose, and in his hands a bag with medicines) Doctor Aibolit always performs real feats.

BOWNIE
In fairy tales, the creature is kind, but with character. He loves to be treated humanely. I have a sweet tooth. He especially respects jelly. Ready to eat it day and night. Especially at night, because it leads a predominantly nocturnal lifestyle. Domovoy got his name from the place where he was born, lived and worked - Dom. True, Domovoy’s life and work mainly takes place behind the stove. From here he keeps order: so that mice and owners do not misbehave, so that the house is cozy and warm. From time to time, Domovoy himself likes to misbehave: rearrange things from place to place, knock on doors and windows.
He looks different: sometimes he will appear in the guise of the owner of the house - you can’t tell the difference, sometimes he will appear as a gray-haired old man with a face completely overgrown with hair, or even pretend to be a broom or a cat.
Irritable. If he slightly misses him, he will knock over everything in the house, break glass, turn over pots, and it’s good if he doesn’t start a fire. Most likely, it shows his character (Domovoy’s wife (see Kikimora) is a strict, grumpy and unfair woman. Therefore, having received a portion of abuse from his wife, he takes it out on the household. They will endure everything, they will not go against Domovoy).
When the owners move from one house to another, they ask Domovoy to come to them. They bow to him, treat him in a special way, beg him: let’s go, the breadwinner to new home! There is a Russian stove ready for you, and jelly, and a new bathhouse with a swimming pool. They ask for a long time until he agrees. Because a house without a Domovoy is not a home, but a misunderstanding.

DRAGON
(see Serpent Gorynych). Found in China, England, France, Germany, and America. In Russia, apparently for climatic reasons, we don’t have them. There are only Snakes Gorynych (see Snake Gorynych), which tolerate cold winters better. Our lack of dragons should not upset you, because the Serpent Gorynychi is no worse.
The dragon has many heads, spits out smoke and flame, flies, swims, walks (sometimes crawls). Unlike the Serpent Gorynych, in fairy tales he sometimes plays noble roles - he carries knights on himself, enters into battle with witches, and, from time to time, turns into either a noble prince or a disenchanted princess.
This does not happen with our Serpent Gorynych. He is a confirmed villain. If the appearance of the Serpent Gorynych has not yet been well studied, the Dragon has been described and sketched many times; This fairy-tale hero is not devoid of beauty and grace. Its members are harmonious, proportionate, its scales burn brightly with gold and silver, its wings cover half the sky. Outwardly, it resembles a greatly enlarged lizard (see Lizard) with wings.
Due to the fact that the claws, heart, teeth and other parts of the Dragon's body were considered lucky talismans, medicines and luxury items in ancient times, the number of dragons on earth has decreased. Dragons remain only in fairy tales, where the hunt for them is strictly controlled by kings and wizards.

Thumbelina
Very small and beautiful girl. Not even a girl, but a fairy who was born in a flower. Then she traveled a lot - by water, by air, by land. I even visited underground, in the hole of an elderly gray mouse. She really wanted to marry her to the wealthy Mole. But, fortunately, everything worked out.

UNCLE STEPA
A successful variety of Giant (see Giant). Unlike other giants, he goes to work every day and brings benefits to people. He successfully worked as a policeman, sailor, pilot, and mastered several blue-collar professions. Uncle Styopa was invented by the poet Sergei Mikhalkov.

UNCLE FEDOR
A very independent boy. He can even cook soup. Something like Uncle Styopa. Not by height, of course, but by nickname and independence.
Loves nature and animals. With money found in the treasure, he founded agriculture in the village of Prostokvashino. His farm is managed by Kot Matroskin (Kot took his surname due to his great love for the sea). Dog Sharik also works here (from ordinary dogs, not from purebred ones), who in his free time is engaged in photo-hunting; Half the day he runs to take a picture of the Hare, and the other half to give him the photo card.
Uncle Fyodor's economy is prosperous and progressive. Therefore, there is hope that over time Uncle Fyodor will become a real farmer, the breadwinner of the family - mom and dad. Over time, in addition to his mother and father, Uncle Fyodor had many other relatives - uncles and aunts, about whom the writer Eduard Uspensky also wrote books.

FIREBIRD
In illustrated fairy tale books it always looks a lot like a peacock, but in reality it has nothing to do with a peacock. And it looks completely different. They say that in pagan religions the Firebird meant “a gift from God,” and those who find the Firebird’s feather are not afraid of any misfortunes. Catch the Firebird, or at least find its feather - cherished dream everyone.
Some people succeed.

HARE
(Aka Cowardly Bunny Gray, aka Oblique) The most cowardly, defenseless and resourceful hero of fairy tales. There is an interesting legend about the appearance of the Hare on earth.
They say that God, getting carried away, sculpted his ears too large, and when he began to sculpt his heart, he saw that there was not enough clay. But for God, as we know, there are no insoluble problems. He tore off the hare's tail (leaving a stub) and fashioned a heart from it. That's why the Hare's heart turned out to be small and cowardly.
A fairy-tale world without the Hare would be boring. This is the kind of prey that always eludes any hunter: Fox, Wolf, Bear (see Fox, Wolf, Bear). The hare is a kind of fairy-tale Kolobok (see Kolobok), - he left everyone, defeated everyone - not with strength, but with his mind, or even weakness (There is nothing strange in this, weakness is also a weapon).
For example, the sly Fox kicked the Hare out of his hut. Where should he go? She goes and cries. This is where helpers appear. He doesn't live alone in the forest. Another thing is that not everyone can outwit the Fox. But there was a Rooster (see Rooster), who restored justice and kicked the red cheat out of the hare’s house. That's why he and the Rooster are to restore justice in fairy tales.
On the other hand, the Hare is not such a weakling as is commonly thought of. For example, in the cartoons and books of the writer Alexander Kurlyandsky (“Well, just wait!”), although the Hare runs from the Wolf, it is in such a way that one feels sorry not for the game, but for the Wolf himself.
In short, the Hare is very good fairy tale character. And our distant ancestors understood this. It is not for nothing that according to ancient Slavic customs it was not accepted to eat hare meat.

ZMEY GORYNYCH
A cross between a lizard, a bat and a flamethrower. A flying snake with several heads. Serpent Gorynych’s father is a real Mountain! That’s why his middle name is Gorynych. The number of heads of the Serpent Gorynych depends on his age. The smallest one has three heads, the older Gorynych has six, the mature one has nine, and the elderly one has twelve. Amphibian; Can fly, swim, dive, walk on the ground. He lives in holes and caves, where he hides his wealth, which he cannot spend. Because when they see him, they immediately give everything away for free.
In his holes he hides beautiful princesses, whom he steals while flying over different kingdoms and cities. He especially fell in love with the Kyiv princesses.
Not everything is clear about these thefts of brides and princesses. The main thing is why he so easily manages to steal another bride while flying over the city. The fact is that the approach of the Serpent Gorynych, as is known, is accompanied by noise, thunder and rain. But for some reason, it is at this time that the princesses strive to go out for a walk, and as a result they fall into the clutches of a terrible monster.
The Serpent Gorynych usually dies at the hands of Ivan Tsarevich, or Dobrynya Nikitich, who do not kill him right away, but first give him time to reform. But Zmey Gorynych has never corrected himself, so the second meeting with the heroes always becomes his last.
After the death of the Serpent Gorynych, the winner frees the captives, captives and even the heroes whom the villain holds in the dungeon. And then destroys (usually tramples) all the baby snakes. But, apparently, he does this last work hastily, because the Gorynych Snakes also appear in other fairy tales.

CINDERELLA
A sweet, hard-working, kind girl who met a real Prince at a ball (see Prince), fell in love with him and eventually became a Princess (see Princess). I wish the same for all of you.

IVAN-BYKOVICH
Most often - the half-brother of Ivan Tsarevich (see Ivan Tsarevich). He is distinguished by intelligence, courage and great physical strength. Ivan Bykovich usually doesn’t have a dad, his mom is Korova.

IVAN IS A FOOL
(Aka Ivanushka - the fool) The most beloved folk hero. Usually the youngest in the family. Kind, lazy and lucky. Loves animals, fish, firebirds and horse riding. He often rides either on the Gray Wolf, or on the Little Humpbacked Horse, or on Sivka-Burka, or even just on the stove. At the end of fairy tales, he most often becomes a king and marries Helen the Beautiful or Vasilisa the Wise. But before getting married, he goes through many tests. First of all, poverty, because he is usually born in a poor large family(rarely in the royal one), lies on the stove and catches flies. Ivan the Fool really doesn’t have enough stars in the sky: there are only toadstools instead good mushrooms he picks it up in the forest, then he feeds his father’s lunch to his shadow so that he will stay away from him, then he salts the river, then he puts hats on the pots so that they don’t freeze... But all the stupid things that Ivan the Fool does a little later begin to serve him well. No wonder they say: “luck is for fools.”
And he receives Sivka the Burka, the prophetic kaurka, and the Treasure Sword, and the wonderful pipe, and the Unsmeless Princess, and half a kingdom in addition. And all because he is not greedy and lucky. And he’s also a master at playing the pipe, singing songs, and asking (and solving) riddles. How can such a Firebird not catch, the Princess not make her laugh!
And at the end of the fairy tale, he bathes in spring water and boiling milk, then jumps out of these cauldrons as a good fellow - the spitting image of Ivan Tsarevich (see Ivan Tsarevich).

IVAN THE PEASANT SON
His name contains his entire biography. From a simple peasant family. Strong, almost like Ilya Muromets (see Ilya Muromets). Clever, almost like Dobrynya Nikitich (see Dobrynya Nikitich), naive, almost like Alyosha Popovich (see Alyosha Popovich), a hero, almost like all fairy-tale heroes.

IVANA.
Real heroes of Russian folk tales. Among them there is simply Ivanushka or Ivashka, there are Ivan the Bogatyr, Ivan the peasant’s son, Ivan the soldier’s son, Ivan the living son, Ivan the naked, Ivan the Pea, Ivan the Beschastny, Ivan Bykovich, Ivan the Mare’s son, Ivan the Cow’s son, Ivan Tsarevich, Ivan the Fool, Ivan Korolevich, Ivashka Zapechnik, Ivashka White Shirt, Ivashka Medvedko and many others.
All of them are united by heroic strength, a heroic fairy-tale fate and a difficult work history.

IVAN TSAREVICH
(He is Ivan Korolevich). Unlike Ivan the Fool, from the very beginning the Tsar’s son and the Tsar’s throne are already guaranteed to him even without marrying the Tsar’s daughter. This circumstance prevented its widespread popularity in the last century. Others were more honored: Ivan Peasant son, Ivan the Naked, Ivan the Soldier's Son, Ivan the Miserable, Ivan who does not remember his kinship, and simply Ivan the Fool.
Despite this circumstance, Ivan Tsarevich may be the most chief Ivan Russian folk tales. Here he has only one competitor - Ivan the Fool. Moreover, sometimes it’s not a competitor at all, because there are fairy tales where Ivan Tsarevich and Ivan the Fool are one and the same person. It’s just that at first he is Ivan the Fool, and in the end he is Ivan Tsarevich.
What he has in common with Ivan the Fool is that they are both younger children - Ivan the Third. Both have no plans for inheritance, and both have to rely only on themselves.
For example, if a beautiful bride, queen or princess comes from a kingdom neighboring Ivan Tsarevich, you can rest assured that Ivan Tsarevich will go to rescue them. Together with him, his older brothers, who do not like Ivan Tsarevich, will first go on the journey. They reach some deep well or underground cave where Zmey Gorynych usually hides his brides, and they begin to argue about who will go down there first. Guess who gets the lot? That's right - to Ivan Tsarevich.
He goes down, defeats Gorynych, frees the beautiful captive (and sometimes as many as three beauties) and shouts from the bottom of the well to the brothers to raise the girls. The brothers raise the first princess and immediately fall in love with her. And having fallen in love, they immediately begin to fight with each other. Then they raise the second one and also fight, because the second princess is even more beautiful. Can you imagine how offensive it is to be the first!?
Further - more. When the third Princess is taken out of the well, we already understand for sure that things will be bad for Ivan Tsarevich. And we are not mistaken. Because, having seen her, the brothers forget about the first two and about their third, youngest.
They don’t just forget, but decide to destroy him: First they lift him almost to the frame of the well, and then they cut the rope. And Ivan Tsarevich falls from a great height. Anyone else in his place would have crashed. But Ivan is strong. Doesn't break. Moreover, he finds three eggs in the lair of the Serpent Gorynych. Not simple ones, but copper, silver and gold. Three kingdoms are rolled up in those eggs. Then the eagle lifts him up, he catches up with his brothers. They make peace, but at night Ivan Tsarevich is killed. They chop into pieces. It’s good that the Gray Wolf appears and takes out living and dead water. Without them, both the fairy tale and Ivan Tsarevich would have ended. Ivan Tsarevich comes to life, goes to his Far Far Away Kingdom, deals with his brothers, marries the beautiful Princess and becomes the real Ivan Tsarevich. Not the third, but the only one.

ILYA MUROMETS
Ilya Ivanovich Muromets was born into a peasant family in the village of Karacharovo, in the Muromsky district of the Vladimir region. The most important Russian hero. The life path of Ilya Ivanovich Muromets was glorious and difficult.
For thirty years he sat on the stove in his Karacharovo, as he was born “without arms, without legs.” And he would have sat like that all his life without accomplishing a single feat, but a happy accident helped. One day, when his parents (father Ivan Timofeevich, mother Efrosinia Yakovlevna) went to work, two cripples knocked on the door of the Murom residents. Ilya answered them that his parents were not at home, and he himself was just as crippled as they were, even worse, because he could not get up from the stove. The cripples probably didn't hear him, so they knocked again. A real miracle happened here. Ilya Muromets suddenly stood up for the first time in thirty years and went to open the gate.
In those distant times, guests often came with their own food and drink. This time too, the cripples, entering the Murom residents’ yard, treated Ilya to a glass of honey drink. Having drained the glass and washed it down with spring water, Ilya Muromets felt unprecedented strength in himself and went into the field to help his parents.
After this, Ilya mounted a heroic horse and rode to Kyiv. In those days, all the heroes went to Kyiv to serve in the heroic squad of Prince Vladimir Red Sun. This squad was truly elite, princely. And serving there was not only interesting, but also an honor.
Having driven quite a bit from his village, Ilya Ivanovich found himself in the neighboring village of Devyatidubye. This village enjoyed a bad reputation among the Karacharovskys. Settled here on nine oak trees big family Solovyov Razboinikov (see Nightingale the Robber). The most terrible thing was the head of the family, who sat on nine oak trees at once and waited for rare passers-by.
But neither the nightingale's whistle, nor the snake's thorn, nor the animal's roar frightened the hero. Only his horse was a little frightened, which was then very ashamed in front of its owner. Ilya Muromets shot a red-hot arrow into the right eye of Nightingale the Robber. He immediately crooked and fell from the oak tree.
The Robber's wife, Nightingale began to ask the hero to let her husband go, but Muromets did not believe her. And so that the Solovyov Robber family would no longer destroy the surrounding heroes, he “cut off all the Nightingale’s children.”
Having accomplished his first feat, Ilya tied the Robber to the saddle and rode to Kyiv. Along the way, Ilya Ivanovich did many more good deeds: he cleared the city of Chernigov from the enemy “great force” and built several pedestrian bridges across the Smorodina River for local residents.
Having finally arrived in the capital city of Kyiv, Ilya Muromets showed Vladimir the Red Sun his trophy - the Robber Nightingale. He, of course, immediately whistled, which greatly frightened the prince and his guests. Then the hero killed the villain, and the frightened Vladimir made Ilya Muromets his most important hero.
And on time. Because in Kyiv, out of nowhere, a filthy Idol appeared. Everyone, of course, was scared. Only Ilya Muromets was not afraid and went to fight. But then he made a mistake. As soon as they started to fight with the Idol, Ilya sees that he forgot his damask club somewhere. And without her, Idolishche cannot be defeated. In annoyance, Muromets took off his fur “hat of Greek land” from his head (either his hat was from Greece, or there was soil from Greece in it - the epic is silent about this) and cursed it about the filthy Idol! This is where the end came for him.
Ilya Muromets provided great assistance to the defense of Kyiv from the invasion of the Golden Horde. Having once met with their leader Tsar Kalina, the hero first asked him to withdraw his troops from Kyiv in an amicable way. In response, the invader “spit in Ilya’s clear eyes.”
This was his fatal mistake. Ilya Muromets grabbed the enemy by the legs “and began to wave: wherever he waved, there were streets, and wherever he turned, there were alleys.” He waved at Kalin, waved, and then “hit him on a flammable stone and smashed it into crumbs.” Tsar Kalin turned out to be strong. He collected everything that was left of him and fled from near Kyiv along with the army.
And crumbs of flammable stone are probably still lying somewhere in Kyiv. And Ilya Ivanovich Muromets was a traveler. On his heroic horse he traveled all over Ancient Rus', visited India, Turkey, Mongolia and even Karelia.
Ilya Muromets was a real hero and a good friend. He was friends with Alyosha Popovich and Dobrynya Nikitich (see related articles). He had a very good wife, whom he affectionately called “Baba Zlatygorka” and three children: Sokolnik, Sokolnichek and Podsokolnichek.
At the end of his life, Ilya Muromets found a treasure, which he gave to Vladimir the Red Sun for all the people. Nothing is known about the further fate of this treasure. Having given away the treasure, Ilya Ivanovich went into the Kyiv caves, where he became completely petrified and remains in this state to this day.

CARLSON
Invented by Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren. Not a wizard, not a man and not a beast. Lives on the roof, eats jam and plays around. Like any spoiled person he flies, because he has a propeller behind him. In general, a completely useless person, even somewhat unpedagogical. On the other hand, Malysh feels very bad without Carlson.
Judge for yourself, what kind of Kid is this who doesn’t have his own Carlson?

KIKIMORA
A type of evil spirit. Brownie's wife (see Brownie). If you can at least somehow come to an agreement with Domov, then find common language You can’t do it with a homemade Kikimora. Grumpy, harmful and useless in the household. My favorite pastime is to scare small children and confuse everything. She can't stand all men, including her husband. Loves darkness and dampness. Found in the cellar, sometimes in a faulty refrigerator.
The wild variety of Kikimora lives in fabulous swamps, for which it received the nickname Swamp. Here she waits for good fellows, whom she drowns in the quagmire with special pleasure. He often communicates with Leshiy, Baba Yaga and Koshchei the Immortal (see related articles).

KLEPA
A completely modern girl, a sorceress. I think she was born in France. And this is noticeable in her wonderful dress, shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow. In his free time from miracles, he loves to travel: across time, space, science, cities, planets, countries... There are no places that Klepa has not visited. N. Dubinina wrote about some of her adventures in the book “Once Upon a Time, Klepa...”. The book is interesting, with pictures. Unlike other fairy-tale heroes - Pinocchio, Aibolit, Baba Yaga, etc. (see relevant articles), Klepa has her own children's magazine of the same name).

KOLOBOK
Some kind of nonsense: a loaf is not a loaf, a pie is not a pie, something like a dry bun without raisins, but everyone wants to eat it. First, Grandfather, who asked Baba (see Grandfather and Baba) to scrape the bottom of the barrel and scrape up flour for Kolobok. Then the Hare (see Hare), then the Wolf (see Wolf), then the Bear (see Bear). He sang a song to everyone and rolled away from everyone. Then the Fox (see Fox) outwitted him and ate him.
The most mysterious hero of Russian folk tales, because he doesn’t do anything special, but everyone loves him. This Kolobok has done no good or harm to anyone, but everyone pities him.

QUEEN
The queen is different. She is usually the wife of the King (see King), but sometimes she is lonely. If the Queen is lonely, then she is most likely an evil sorceress who commits many evil deeds. A striking example is The Snow Queen (read “The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen”). If the Queen is the second wife of the King, then she will be his stepmother to the royal children (see Stepmother).
In the best case, she is a kind, smart wife; in the past she could be Alyonushka (see Alyonushka) or the Princess (see Princess).
The Queen is unhappy in her personal life. The husband-king either dies early, or, due to the slander of those close to him, drives her out of the kingdom along with his heir (heiress). But that’s what a fairy tale is for, so that in the end everything ends well; she either marries again, or the King realizes what injustice he has committed and asks her for forgiveness.

QUEEN ELISH
A variety of Prince (see Prince). A real fairy-tale groom and hero. For the sake of his beloved, he performs various heroic deeds: he fights giants, snakes, and other evil spirits, searches for his betrothed at the end of the world, kisses “on the lips of sugar,” and then he definitely marries her and makes her his Queen (see Queen).

KING
(see King). Many fairy tales begin with the words: “Once upon a time there was a King...” So without fairy tale kings, we would not have many good fairy tales.
Fairy tale kings are different: there are stupid ones, there are smart ones, there are evil ones, there are also kind ones. Evil kings in fairy tales end badly. They either die an unnatural death, or they are overthrown from their thrones, and good kings sit in their place. As for the good kings, they have various troubles at the beginning of the tale, but in the end everything ends well
The King often has a princess daughter (see Princess), or a prince son, and sometimes even three sons. Then the younger one is necessarily either a fool or a prince. In both cases, at the end of the fairy tale, the king's son marries the princess, and the King gets a beautiful daughter-in-law.
Often the King has a wife - the Queen (see Queen). Depending on what kind of King and Queen his fairy-tale life develops.

PUSS IN BOOTS
If you ever inherit a Cat, be kind and affectionate to him. Feed him, give him water, change the litter, read fairy tales out loud to him. Over time, your Cat will grow up and appreciate your care. Perhaps he will make you Marquis of Carabas and marry you to the princess. Perhaps he will make you easy good person(not a marquis) and marries a simple, good girl, who in any case will become a princess.
It may also happen that even without the help of the Cat you yourself will successfully marry (or get married). But even in this case, the Cat will not bother you.

KOSHCHEY THE IMMORTAL
The name “Koshchey” translated from Turkic means “prisoner”. Whose prisoner he was is unknown. Apparently your own. Despite his surname, the Immortal inevitably dies at the end of fairy tales, making him in fact the most mortal of all fairy-tale heroes.
He usually carefully hides his death in a needle, a needle in an egg, an egg in a duck, a duck in a pike, a pike in a hare, a hare in a chest, a chest under the roots of an oak tree, an oak tree stands on the island of Buyan, an island “on the blue sea” , on okiyane.”
Koschey's appearance is the most repulsive. I don’t even want to describe it. The character is harmful. Constantly strives to steal the king's daughter. Either Elena the Beautiful, or Vasilisa the Wise. He steals to get married. But he never lives to see the wedding because he keeps telling his brides about the location of his death. The brides immediately report this to their savior heroes, and all that remains is for them to get to the reserved oak tree.

Little Red Riding Hood
“Once upon a time there was a girl. Her name was Little Red Riding Hood...” This is how the fairy tale of the French writer Charles Perrault begins, which he wrote more than 300 years ago for... adults (However, as well as “Cinderella”, “Puss in Boots”, “Tom Thumb” and others). The girl was called “Little Red Riding Hood” because she wore her bright red cap all the time and never took it off. Even at home. Even visiting grandma. She really loved this hat. Then Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother were eaten by the evil Wolf (see Wolf). And if it weren’t for the hunters, she would have sat in her red cap in the wolf’s belly all her life. But everything ended well.

CROCODILE GENA
Cheburashka's best friend (see Cheburashka). As a child and teenager, he worked at the zoo as a crocodile. And in his free time from work he helped build the House of Friendship. When the house was built, he successfully went into business (read “The Business of Crocodile Gena” by E. Uspensky).

CHICKEN RHOBA
A kind, useful poultry. Grandfather and Baba's favorite (see Grandfather and Baba). Lives in a hut and, in gratitude for the care, lays many large, fresh eggs. One day she decided to especially thank her household and laid not an ordinary egg, but a golden one. This was a mistake, because neither Grandfather nor Baba knew what to do with this egg. Out of habit, they began to beat him.
The golden egg was strong and did not break. A mouse ran past (there were mice in the house), and inadvertently touched a golden egg with its tail, which fell and broke. This upset the old people very much, and they cried like children.
The Smart Hen realized that the golden egg was no longer needed by the old people and promised them to lay an ordinary egg. Not golden, but simple. Grandfather and Baba calmed down, began to live well, and make good money.

Goblin
(Not to be confused with forester). If a forester is a profession, then a Leshy is a destiny. Lives in fairy forest and does dirty tricks, unlike the forester, who brings only benefit. Of all the goblins I know, only one managed to use his powers for the benefit of society. This is Uncle Au (see Au). All the rest, as they rightly write in learned books: “a collection of evil spirits and the embodiment of the forest, as a part of space hostile to humans.”
Dressed poorly and warmly - in animal skin, which he buttons from left to right and wears all year round. His shoes are also always worn backwards. The left shoe is on the right foot, and the right shoe is on the left. Growth is variable. Sometimes below the grass, sometimes above the trees. Whenever required.
Friend of Kikimora (see Kikimora). Just like her, she loves children. He especially likes to lead them astray and into the thicket. Cheerful. He laughs inappropriately and inappropriately, scaring hares, birds and mushroom pickers. Can turn into a bush, dry tree, stump.
In fairy tales, good fellows usually circle through the forest, preventing them from reaching the red maidens languishing in Baba Yaga’s hut or the hole of the Serpent Gorynych (see Baba Yaga, Serpent Gorynych). But good fellows- not children. You don't mess around with them. So Leshy has to shamefully flee from them into the thicket.
What Leshy eats and what he thinks about in his free time is unknown to anyone, and no one is interested in it.
So they say: “Well, go to Leshy.”

FOX
The most cunning, insidious and eloquent animal living in the vastness of folk tales. Lives by deception and for the sake of deception. He constantly steals the Rooster (see Rooster), eats Kolobok (see Kolobok), and drives the Hare out of the bast hut (see Hare). She even deceives her close but stupid relative - the Wolf (see Wolf). Despite these negative qualities, Fox (nicknames: Redhead, Rogue, Sister, Kuma, etc.) is distinguished by her beauty and femininity.

Ogre
Most unpleasant fairy tale type. Lives alone, in a dense forest. It feeds poorly and irregularly, mainly on lost travelers, boys and girls. He is a giant in stature (see Giant). Just like Baba Yaga (see Baba Yaga) is a good cook. Simple-minded. It's not difficult to carry it out. Puss in Boots (see Puss in Boots), for example, deceived him, taking advantage of the Ogre's passion for transformations.
It is best to run away from him when he falls asleep or goes hunting. There is another proven method (read “Little Thumb”).

FROG
In all the fairy tales, she is a good housewife - “she bakes cabbage pies, very fatty and tasty” both in the mansion and in the mansion of Ivan Tsarevich (see Ivan Tsarevich), and at the same time she sews wonderful shirts and elegant dresses. Everyone likes a frog, but it’s just too scary and unpleasant to the touch.
But as soon as she takes off her frog skin, a beauty is immediately in front of us (see Princess). She dances like a swan princess, helps her husband in everything, in short, she’s smart.
Only one day Ivan Tsarevich was in a hurry, burned her skin in the stove, and for this he had to get ready for the journey again and help his wife out. In fairy tales, the Frog is loved. Here she is always, if not held in high esteem, then certainly not offended. But in life they treat her differently. They are afraid and disdainful. They say that it can put the evil eye on a person, and cause rain, and a storm, and, they say, it is poisonous and is associated with evil spirits.
And they also say that frogs originated from people who drowned in the Great Flood. There is another version that they originated from Egyptian soldiers - the “Pharaoh’s army”, which drove the Jews out of Egypt. This same army was so carried away by the process of expulsion that it did not notice how it entered the sea. And since the Pharaoh’s army was not sea, but land, and did not know how to swim, they all drowned at once.
Popular rumor says that someday everything will change, and frogs will become people again.

LITTLE MUK
The hero of an oriental fairy tale by the German writer Wilhelm Hauff. He was born in the city of Nika, and his full name was Mukra. He was small, and his father was a respectable man and completely uneducated. One day he fell from somewhere, was badly hurt and died, leaving sixteen-year-old Muk in poverty and ignorance. He went wherever his eyes led him, and in one city he finally ended up in the service of a lonely witch (see Witch), who had many cats and dogs. After living with her for some time, he ran away because the owner’s cats had become completely insolent and behaved in some way.
As a reward, Muk took from the Witch magic running shoes and a cane that could look for treasures. With all this goods, he came to the neighboring kingdom and got a job as a royal walker. (In those days there were no couriers or courier trains, so all urgent news was carried by fast walkers).
One day, due to an evil slander from the courtiers, little Muk was captured and accused of theft. To avoid death, he had to give the King (see King) both the magic shoes and the cane. Poor and small, Muk came to the forest where the figs grew. (I must inform you that there are countries where figs tend to grow on trees). These figs were sweet, and Muk ate them. After which he grew long ears and a nose. Muk looked into the lake, saw himself and realized that it was all over. Finally, he swallowed a few more figs from another tree and... suddenly he saw that everything had fallen into place - both his ears and his nose. Then he picked up figs (or, in other words, figs) and went to the King. There Muk fed the King figs and he immediately grew long donkey ears. The king was frightened and returned little Muk's shoes and cane. But little Muk never gave him the ear-shrinking fig. But he just showed it from afar and left.
Many years have passed since then. Little Muk became old and returned to his hometown. There he lives, surrounded by the respect of his neighbors.

BOY-S THING
The youngest and smallest of all his brothers. He is as tall as his little finger. Despite such a significant drawback, he was the most savvy: he overheard his parents talking at night about how they were not able to feed so many children at once and were going to take him and his brothers into the forest to be torn to pieces by wild animals.
Therefore, Little Thumb immediately took white pebbles into his pocket, and when in the morning the unfortunate father, shedding tears, led his children into the dark forest, he slowly threw the pebbles onto the road.
Then, when the children ended up in the Ogre's house (see Ogre), Little Thumb also deceived him and led the brothers home safe and sound through the stones. The parents had long since repented of what they had done and were very happy when their children returned. They never did such stupid things again. Moreover, Thumb, when he grew up, was probably able to provide for their entire large family.

MOWGL
Forest Indian boy from Rudyard Kipling's fairy tale. Once in the jungle he (Mowgli) was stolen by a Tiger. But the circumstances were such that he could not eat it right away, which he later regretted for the rest of his life. But it was already too late. Mowgli picked up wolf pack and made him a real person.
In the jungle, Mowgli had many friends - the bear Baloo, the panther Bagheera, the boa constrictor Kaa and other forest inhabitants. He didn’t like monkeys because they were humanoid and made faces all the time. Mowgli also did not like the tiger Shere Khan, who always did nasty things to him.
Finally, Mowgli found the right remedy for Shere Khan - “red flower” - so local residents the jungle was called fire.
Time passed, Mowgli became an adult and finally it was time for him to get married. He said goodbye to his friends and went to the village, where he found his bride, and at the same time his mother.

STEPMOTHER
The evil, nasty wife of a kind and spineless father. She usually has one or even two daughters of her own. Just like herself. If the Stepmother has several daughters, then she tries unsuccessfully to marry them off one by one to the Prince (see Prince). If there is only one daughter, then she forces her stepdaughter to jump into a deep well for a bucket, or in the very cold winter she drives her out to get snowdrops.
If the Stepmother has no one but a weak-willed husband, then she tries with all her might to destroy her stepdaughter, takes her into a dense forest, and then poisons her with liquid apples.
But she can't do anything. The princes don’t like her lazy daughters, the magic mirror tells the whole truth, despite her unpleasant face, but the stepdaughter always marries Korolevich Elisha (see Korolevich Elisha), or, in extreme cases, receives a good dowry from Moroz Ivanovich (see Grandfather Frost).

BEAR
The hero of many fairy tales, folk and non-folk - ordinary. In some ways, the Bear is also a hero. Strong, human-like. The Bear's feet and fingers are human, he washes himself like a human, and sometimes walks hind legs, understands when you talk to him, dances, sucks his paw. So in the dark he could easily be mistaken for a person. Even guard dogs often confuse him and bark in the same way as at a passerby.
The ancients believed that if you remove the skin from a bear, then inside it looks exactly the same as a person without clothes. (This is easy to check. You need to put on a fur coat and look in the mirror).
In fairy tales, as in life, the Bear is completely unpredictable. That's why they don't like to meet him. It's not clear what to expect from him. Either he will eat you, or he will simply bring you to his forest hut (in fairy tales, the Bear is often in a hut, but in life - in a den) and feed you with what God sent. It all depends on the Bear's mood.
The bear in the forest knows the goblin, Baba Yaga (see Leshy, Baba Yaga), often serves them, and on the other hand, can help: tear out an oak tree by the roots, so that Ivan Tsarevich (see Ivan Tsarevich) will bring out the chest with Koshchey’s death got it.
Like every person, the Bear has a name. We often call him Mikhailo Ivanovich or Mikhailo Potapych. Those who know him better simply call him Potapych, or simply Misha.

SEA KING
The same as the devil (look devil) only underwater, sea. In fairy tales, he first pretends to help the main character get out of a hopeless situation (and really, he does), but then demands for this that either the hero himself or his son go down to the seabed for him for the service. The hero goes down to the Sea King and becomes his prisoner. It’s also good that the king often has a beautiful daughter named Vasilisa the Wise (see Vasilisa the Wise). She falls in love with the hero and helps him escape. True, together with herself.
The sea king gives chase to the young ones, but cannot catch up with them. A similar story happened to a Novgorod merchant named Sadko. He played the harp very well. Almost like Dobrynya Nikitich (see Dobrynya Nikitich). And the Sea King liked his game so much that he decided to lure Sadko to himself. And then an opportunity arose: Sadko rashly bet with other merchants that he would catch “golden feather fish” (a type of freshwater goldfish) in Lake Ilmen. And he made a big bet. Here the Sea King helped him. In his kingdom of these golden-finned fish (see Fish) he has as much as his heart desires.
And when Sadko set off on merchant ships by sea, the Sea King reminded him of his favor. The merchant had to go to the bottom along with the harp. He comes to the royal chambers and begins to fulfill his duty by playing the harp. The sea king rejoiced, sang, danced... The sea, of course, became agitated, a storm arose, the ships began to sink in such numbers that they did not have time to dodge them at the bottom.
Sadko sees that things are bad. He took it and broke the strings.
“That’s it,” he says, “I didn’t take any spare ones.” There will be no more music.
Then the Sea King decided to marry his captive guest to his daughter, a sea maiden. The wedding took place here.
Well, then, you yourself know what happened. Sadko returned home, saw that his ships had sailed with rich goods, and he began to live and live and make good money.

MUNCHHAUSEN was an ordinary honest German baron who lived more than 200 years ago. His name was Baron von Karl-Friedrich-Hieronymus-Munchausen. Participant Russian-Turkish war(1735-1739). After the end of the war, Munchausen was demobilized and settled on his estate near the city of Hanover. Here he loved to gather cheerful companies and talk about his military exploits and travels around Russia.
One day the German writer Rudolf-Erich Raspe heard these stories. He laughed when he heard them, and then immediately emigrated to England. Here he wrote and published a book entitled “Baron Munchausen’s Narrative of His Wonderful Travels and Campaigns in Russia.” Although Raspe added quite a lot to the stories of Munchausen, he did not put his name under this work.
A few years later, this book fell into the hands of another German writer - the poet Gottfried-August Burger. He also decided to add a little to her different stories. And he not only composed it, but also published it under a new title: “ Amazing travel Baron von Munchausen on water and on land. Hiking and fun adventures, as he usually talked about them over a bottle of wine with his friends.”
This is how the stories of Baron von Munchausen, the most truthful man in the world, appeared, which I highly recommend reading. Who knows, maybe after this there will be another book about Munchausen - yours.

Dunno
The most attractive shorty from Sunny City. A kind of Ivan the Fool (see Ivan the Fool), only very small - smaller than Thumb Boy (see Thumb Boy). The writer Nikolai Nosov came up with fairy tales about Dunno and his friends. Despite the fact that there were a lot of other short people living in Sunny City, Dunno is loved the most. He is the most naughty, curious, stubborn and cocky. If Dunno had attended school, he would have been a complete loser. But, fortunately for the teachers, he did not study at school, but was self-taught. He himself learned to write poetry, drive a car, fly in a hot air balloon and control a magic wand.
All this worked out badly for him, but ended well. Despite the fact that Dunno is a literary hero, he is loved as a folk hero.

NIKITA KOZHEMYAKA
This story started out scary. I won’t retell it, everything is written in the fairy tale itself: “A serpent appeared near Kyiv, he took considerable taxes from the people: from each yard there was a red wench. He will take the girl and eat her. It was the turn of the king’s daughter to go to that serpent. The snake grabbed the princess and dragged her to his den, but did not eat her: she was a beauty, so he took her as his wife. The snake will fly off to its business, and will cover the princess with logs so that she won’t leave.”
And so, as usual, the princess, covered with logs, sits in the snake’s den and writes a letter to her parents. (Her letters were delivered by a dog who loved the princess very much and was devoted to her). The letter contained a request: to find at least some hero, so that he would be stronger than the snake. They didn't know what to answer.
And Zmey Gorynych (see Zmey Gorynych), it must be said, was the same talker as Koschey the Immortal (see Koschey the Immortal). He once let slip to his wife that only Nikita Kozhemyaka was stronger than him. The wife immediately reported this to her father, who immediately found the hero.
Nikita was from an ordinary family. A simple leather worker. The skins were crushed into sheepskin coats, hats and shoes. And when he saw that the Tsar himself had come to his workshop, he became afraid. Nikita was not afraid of anyone. Only the king. As soon as he saw him, Kozhemyaka’s hands began to tremble and he tore 12 skins at once. He was so strong.
And when I broke it off, I was very upset. The leathers were good, dear. In frustration, he refused to help the king. But he did not get angry, but gathered five thousand children and ordered them to ask for Princess Nikita Kozhemyaka. At this point Nikita could not refuse and even shed tears. Then the hero wiped his tears, took 300 pounds of hemp (that’s 4800 kilograms, almost five tons!), tied himself with this hemp, and then tarred it for strength.
When Zmey Gorynych saw Nikita tied with hemp, he realized that the end had come for him. He harnessed Kozhemyak Gorynych to a plow (it also weighed about five tons) and began to plow the land on it. From “Kyiv to the Sea of ​​Austria.” He plowed, and then in this sea he drowned the snake.
Nikita Kozhemyaka did not take a penny from the tsar for his feat and did not even marry the princess (see Tsarevna).

PAPA CARLO
A simple street organ grinder, best friend carpenter Giuseppe and father Pinocchio (see Pinocchio). He made his naughty son from an ordinary log and tried to educate him. This turned out to be not so simple, because it is very difficult, being a poor organ grinder, to educate yesterday's log. However, the kindness, dedication and love of the father for his son eventually bore fruit. The son, having gone through a great school of life, became a wooden artist. This result allows us to assert that a genuine teacher is capable of raising a real person out of anything.

ROOSTER
A wonderful bird in all respects. The most beautiful in our latitudes: “golden comb, oil beard, silk beard...” Somehow connected with the Sun. It crows both before sunrise and before sunset. Therefore, apparently, all fairy-tale evil spirits really dislike roosters.
If the Rooster gets into trouble, they will definitely help him out. And he himself is a faithful friend and helper. His main enemy is the Fox (see Fox). The cheat invents any way to eat him. Sometimes it is very close to the goal. But never before in fairy tales has the Fox succeeded in this.
Moreover, the Rooster often manages to deceive the Fox and restore violated justice. All this allows us to talk about the Rooster as our national fairy-tale hero.
The Rooster's character is violent, cocky, restless. His name, as a rule, is Petya. Why not Vasya or Boris Gavrilovich is unknown. In any case, he only responds to Petya. This means that his middle name is Petrovich. So - Pyotr Petrovich. Roosters don't have surnames.
In some fairy tales, the Rooster is at odds with the autocracy. In Pushkin's fairy tale about the Golden Cockerel, he pecked at the crown of King Dodon and thereby became the cause of his untimely death. Nothing is known about the Rooster’s attitude towards other government officials and types of government.
In Russia, roosters have always been treated with respect. They even called them “master” and cooked delicious cabbage soup from them. A good rooster protects the house from disease and evil spirits. If a rooster crows on the threshold of a house, expect guests. If you crow at the wrong time, wait for news.

PRINCE
Son of the King (see King), groom of the future princess (see Princess). Kind, beautiful, strong and fair. But one should not assume that the Prince must necessarily be of royal blood. This was the opinion of one Princess, who drove the Swineherd away and then bitterly repented. Because it turned out that the real Prince was disguised as the Swineherd.
So if you are a real Princess, and your groom is the best in the world, then he is your Prince, or someday he will become one.

PRINCESS
There are two types: good and bad. The Good Princess is a kind, sympathetic, brave girl. More often - ex-Cinderella(see Cinderella). The bad one is the opposite: capricious, wayward, lazy. (More often than not, he is the future Stepmother (see Stepmother). The heroine of hundreds of fairy tales. If it were not for the princess in fairy tales, there would be no one to look for, free, protect, no one to help, no one to marry. So the Princess is in some way the most important fairy-tale heroine.

PROSPERO
Heroic personality. Professional revolutionary from Yuri Olesha’s fairy tale “Three Fat Men”. As a result of the first failed uprising against the government of three fat men who terribly oppressed the people, he ended up behind bars in the basement where the government zoo was located. From there he was rescued by a simple circus girl named Suok and another revolutionary - also a professional circus performer - gymnast Tibul.
After his release, Prospero still made a revolution and drove out the three fat men. What happened next is unknown, probably everyone began to live happily and no one else was overthrown.

FISH
In fairy tales it reaches fantastic proportions. One whale fish is worth something. The whole island! Yes, the island, the whole earth, according to some fabulous information, rests on three pillars. They say that it used to stand on even four, but one died of old age, which is why the Great Flood happened. However, this information is often refuted by other, more plausible information, which claims that the earth is not installed on three whales, but on only two fish lying crosswise.
Big fish From time to time ships are swallowed in fairy tales. They do the same with some fairy-tale characters. But a hero cannot be swallowed with impunity. Once in the fish's belly, he behaves like a sports fisherman: he makes a fire and cooks fish soup. The fish, of course, immediately develops terrible heartburn, and, for the purpose of self-medication, it releases what it has eaten (Usually this happens just off its native shores).
Fairytale fish love to swallow various rings and other jewelry that Princesses and Queens lose (see Princess, Queen). After this, they are immediately fished out by poor fishermen who catch fish for the royal table. So if you ever dine in the royal palace, please eat fish very carefully.
In addition to the above-mentioned fish species, in fairy tales you can find Ruff Ershovich (an extremely prickly, ruffly and inedible creature), a Pike, known for its talkativeness and magical qualities, a Goldfish that fulfills all desires, as well as: the magical Sturgeon, the stupid Carp, the ominous Eel, the fussy Herring and many others inhabiting the deep-sea fairy-tale world.

SALTAN
Some people confuse Tsar Saltan with the Turkish Saltan Saltanovich. This error occurs because they are namesakes. But there is nothing else in common between them. Because Tsar Saltan is a simple fairy-tale king who married a peasant girl who, as promised, bore him a hero (see Guidon). Saltan Saltanovich is an ordinary villain, whom Ilya Muromets (see Ilya Muromets) shot with a bow. And it serves him right. Because after that everyone began to live happily.

SEVEN SEEDS
(They are also the Seven Simeons)
This is a very interesting fairy tale hero. The interesting thing about him is that he is not alone, but there are seven of them - the Semenov brothers. Each individual is neither this nor that. And together - fairy-tale heroes.
They were born in the village “to the same guy” - all good fellows are better than young ones. But the problem is that everyone is lazy. They didn't do anything. The father suffered with them, suffered, and then took them to the service of the Tsar (see Tsar). The king, of course, was happy at first. Seven heroes have arrived! And when he realized who the man had brought him, it was already too late. There was no trace of him.
He began to think about what to do with the lazy Seeds. I thought and thought and came up with an idea. He sent them to kidnap a princess from a neighboring overseas kingdom in order to marry her later. Semyon boarded the ship and sailed away. They sailed, kidnapped the princess and returned safely. Only the princess is on the way a little bit left hand was wounded because she “suddenly turned into a white swan” and tried to fly away. But nothing worked out for her, because among the Semenovs there was one very accurate shooter. He shot the princess in the left wing.
The King of the Seven Seeds thanked them for their service and rewarded them. But the princess never married the king. Because he was very old. She chose the eldest Semyon as his wife, who personally kidnapped her from the overseas kingdom. And the Tsar was not the least bit offended by them, he was even delighted and once again rewarded Semenov. These are the heroes.

SISTER ALENUSHKA
Very good girl. He suffers a lot. Sometimes he comes from a peasant family, sometimes from a royal family. She usually has a naughty younger brother, Ivanushka. Her parents die immediately at the very beginning of the fairy tale, but for some reason she does not become a queen. Probably too small, and the children have to go in all four directions. On the way, a misfortune occurs: Ivanushka, not listening to Alyonushka, drinks from a puddle and turns into a little goat. In this position they are found by one unmarried Tsar (see Tsar). He immediately falls in love and marries Alyonushka. And so all three of them would live happily: husband, wife and little goat, but then a Witch appears out of nowhere (see Witch). Most likely, she herself wants to marry the Tsar, so she spoils Alyonushka. She withers and withers before our eyes.
And then this witch disguised as a healer (this is a doctor who treats with traditional folk remedies) comes to her and promises to cure her. The Witch brought Alyonushka to the sea, tied a stone around her neck and threw her into the water. That's all the treatment.
The Witch herself turned into Alyonushka and went to the royal chambers. But everything ended well; The little goat eventually led the Tsar to the sea, Alyonushka surfaced, the Tsar took the stone from her neck and took her to the royal palace. And the evil witch was burned at the stake. “After that, the Tsar with the Queen and the Little Goat began to live and prosper and make good things.”

BLUEBEARD
Unpleasant personality. I don’t even want to write about him. But, as a warning to frivolous girls, it is necessary. “Bluebeard” is the nickname of a person whose name no one knows and no one wants to know. A notorious scoundrel, a criminal, a rich French nobleman of a heroic physique. He didn’t give alms to anyone, didn’t go to church, lived alone in a castle called Bluebeard’s Castle. He was friends only with his dogs - three Great Danes, huge and strong, like bulls. He regularly went hunting in the forest on a huge black horse. He was married seven times. In short, a villain!
Returning from another hunt, he picked up a girl on the road who had gone out for a walk at the wrong time. At the castle, Beard announced to her that she would now be his eighth wife. At this point, the villain’s courtship ended, and difficult family life began for the girl.
One day Bluebeard once again went away to hunt for three months. Before leaving, he gave his wife seven keys (the lock was large), instructing her not to open anything with the seventh key. This act revealed the entire insidious essence of Bluebeard. If he really didn’t want his wife to unlock the seventh room, he would never have given her this key. But he understood that his wife would be tormented by curiosity. And since Bluebeard was a real tormentor of his wives, he gave her this key.
I gave it and I was not mistaken. The wife suffered and suffered and... opened the seventh door. Horror gripped the unfortunate woman at the sight of her seven dead predecessors. Even a child knows what happens next. She dropped the key, which was stained with blood, then the villain husband arrived and, seeing that his wife knew his terrible secret, began to sharpen a knife on her.
Luckily, two of her brothers arrived in time. For an hour they fought with their criminal brother-in-law and finally killed him. Since then, this girl completely got rid of curiosity and began to live happily.

SNOW MAIDEN
Granddaughter of Father Frost (see Father Frost). Helps grandfather give gifts to children. Nothing is known about her parents. Probably an orphan. Unlike her grandfather, she is very smart and resourceful. He knows a lot of games, riddles, and poems about the New Year. Friends with good people forest dwellers: squirrels, hedgehogs, bunnies, etc.).
As a result, all the machinations of Father Frost's enemies (Wolf, Fox, Baba Yaga, Leshy, etc.) always fail.

SOLDIER
Brave, cheerful and resourceful hero. In fairy tales he often appears when returning home after 25 years of service. So he is already an old man. However, at the end of the fairy tale, sometimes he marries a good girl, whom he rescued from trouble: from the devil or from the Serpent Gorynych (look, the devil, the Serpent Gorynych).
A soldier likes to go to some village to the stingiest Baba (see Baba) to eat and relax. He succeeds because the Soldier is an experienced man. Either he will cook soup from an ax, or he will make such riddles that even the Serpent Gorynych cannot guess them, not to mention Baba Yaga (see Baba Yaga).

THE NIGHTINGALE THE ROBBER
Countryman of Ilya Muromets (the village of Devyatidubye was located next to the village of Karacharovo). In fairy tales, he lives with his entire family (his wife Nightingale and their children, the Nightingales) on nine oak trees, where he whistles and robbers. It whistles so loudly and piercingly that not a single hero can withstand such a whistle. Only Ilya Muromets (see Ilya Muromets) was able to defeat the Nightingale the Robber.
Therefore, it is clear that for real heroes, a keen ear for music sometimes only gets in the way.

THE THREE LITTLE PIGS
Heroes of English folk tales. Actually, only the third Little Pig was the hero of them, because the first two, unfortunately, were eaten by the Wolf (see Wolf). He ate it, because the story of how all the piglets gathered together in the stone house of the third, unfortunately, was the invention of the wonderful American animator Walt Disney and the no less wonderful Russian writer Sergei Mikhalkov.
In fact, both pigs, who built houses from straw and brushwood, fell victim to their carelessness. But the outcome of this drama was terrible for the Wolf himself. Having devoured two suckling piglets, he headed to the stone house of the third. It was a real pig fortress, so the Wolf decided to take it by cunning. He tried several times to lure Piglet out of the house. But he turned out to be smarter, and the Wolf had no choice but to go on the assault. The assault was carried out through a chimney, from where the gray robber fell exactly into the place specified by the third Little Pig - into a boiling cauldron.
Now listen to what really happened to the Wolf: “... The Piglet instantly closed the lid of the cauldron and did not remove it until the Wolf was cooked. Then he ate it for dinner and lived happily, and still lives like that.”

QUEEN
(see Queen). The character depends on what kind of Tsar she has (see Tsar). If he is an independent man, a real just autocrat, then the Queen is usually kind, submissive and patient. If soft and lazy, she becomes cruel, angry and narcissistic.
A good and fair Queen is not uncommon, but she is not the main fairy-tale character. The main ones are her son, daughter, husband or adviser. If the Queen is evil, then she immediately turns out to be the main character of the fairy tale. Nobody loves her, but she loves herself very much.
At the end of the fairy tale, the good Queen triumphs along with justice and the main characters, while the bad one is roughly punished. After her punishment, someone's merry wedding is usually held.

TSAR
(see King) Lives either in “a certain kingdom in a certain state” or in “The Far Away Kingdom, the Thirtieth State.” The figure is complex and contradictory. On the one hand, he is a kind family man, good husband and father, a brave warrior. On the other hand, he may behave frivolously or be too trusting. He will rashly promise, for example, to the Sea King or the devil (see Sea King, devil) “what he doesn’t know at home” (usually his newborn son or daughter), and then the children have to fight an entire fairy tale with evil spirits. Or another example, the Tsar will believe the slander against his wife and drive her and her young child out of the kingdom. Yes, it’s good if he just drives you away, otherwise he will order you to be tarred in a barrel and thrown into the sea, or tied to a tree in the thicket of the forest to be eaten by wolves.
In old age, one often becomes inclined to solve the simplest everyday issues in the most fabulous way; For example, in order to marry his three sons, he tells them to shoot arrows in different directions. It’s good that in fairy tales the arrows fly where they need to go: to the boyar’s daughter, to the merchant’s daughter, to the Frog Princess (see Frog). What if the brothers missed?
The Tsar is not much different from the King. Usually he is the hero of Russian fairy tales (read “Russian folk tales"), and the King - foreign (read "Tales of the Peoples of the World"). Although sometimes (very rarely) it happens that the King (or Prince) lives in our fairy tale and it doesn’t even occur to him that he is a foreigner.
The king is one of the main fairy-tale figures. What kind of fairy tale will be depends on his behavior - scary or funny, happy or sad. However, this is not only in fairy tales, it is like this everywhere.

CHEBURASHKA
You may be surprised, but the first Cheburashka was perhaps even your grandmother, when she was still very little. This happened a long time ago. It was winter, in Moscow. The future author of Cheburashka, the writer Eduard Uspensky, once saw a girl of about three years old in the yard who was walking with her mother. The girl was wearing a long shaggy fur coat, bought for growing up. She kept stumbling and falling in this huge fur coat. And her mother kept raising her and saying: “Oh, you, Cheburashka...” The writer liked this word and he called his fairy-tale hero with it.
Since then, this “beast unknown to science” appeared, which, according to the author, came to us in a box of oranges. Since oranges in those days were brought primarily to Moscow, Cheburashka settled here. At first his housing situation was poor, and he lived in a pay phone booth, where he met Gena the Crocodile.
Later, having settled down a little, he and his friends built the House of Friendship and began to live and live well and make good money...

CRAP
In one word – “unclean”. Lives in the underworld, deep underground. There he, along with his workmates, tortures sinners who behaved incorrectly in life.
It looks unpleasant: all in black fur, with horns, a tail and smells of sulfur. The spitting image of a black goat if it stands on its hind legs. Only a goat doesn’t have wings, but a fairy tale devil does. The little black ones are also unpleasant. Just like the Wolf and the Bear (see Wolf, Bear) can turn into a person. And also a pig, a snake, a dog and a black cat.
If the devil turns into a man, then for some reason he prefers to be a miller or a blacksmith. He probably knows these professions well.
Most often, the devil appears in fairy tales after 12 at night and disappears at dawn, having heard the rooster crow. From time to time, however, it is daytime.
Meeting him does not bode well. But if he meets in a fairy tale with a Soldier or Balda, then his case is bad. They’ll deceive you, they’ll rob you dry, they’ll get their way, and it’s good if they let you go right away. Otherwise, the devil will have to serve and help them faithfully throughout the fairy tale. Makes friends with other devils, goblins, brownies, Sea king and Baba Yaga (see The Sea King and Baba Yaga).
And he has no more friends and cannot have any more.

LIZARD
It can be an enchanted princess, a witch or the Mistress of the Copper Mountain (see Queen). It cannot be argued that a lizard necessarily belongs to evil spirits. In fairy tales, sometimes quite worthy people and wizards turn into lizards. By her appearance you can distinguish who turned into her. If the Lizard is green, it is a girl or a woman; if it is gray, it is a boy or a man.
If the Lizard does not burn in fire, then it is a salamander; if it burns, it is a witch. The bite of a fairy lizard is poisonous and even fatal. As they say in scientific books, a person bitten by a lizard cannot be cured until he hears the roar of a donkey, until he counts a whole measure of millet grain by grain, until he finds nine white mares and nine sisters and drinks milk from nine sisters. You understand that while he does all this, he will definitely die.
If not from a bite, then from overwork. Therefore, lizards, especially fairy ones, need to be protected.

Stories about small creatures have a special appeal for children. They invite the child into a magical world of miracles and metamorphoses. After all, I really want to believe that very close to us there is a world of tiny people, invisible to our eyes.

Dwarves, dwarfs, elves

First of all, small creatures are familiar to us from European folklore. In the famous fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault, we meet hardworking gnomes, busy elves and other magical creatures.
Gnomes are one of the most popular tiny characters in children's stories. They are jacks of all trades, often live in the land, own its riches and understand its beauty.
The Compass Guide publishing house has published the “Big Book of Tales about Dwarves. Elves and Lilliputians." She will talk about house and garden gnomes, as well as their tiny relatives.

“Ripol Classic” approached the theme of gnomes with all responsibility. The publishing house published an almost academic work, “The Encyclopedia of Dwarves.” Following “Dwarves,” their author Wil Huygen writes another story - “Secrets of the Dwarves.” This is a kind of journey into the world of gnomes in search of answers to hitherto unsolved mysteries.

And, of course, what could be more wonderful than celebrating Christmas with gnomes! “Christmas of the Dwarfs” will tell you about the festive traditions of this fairy-tale people and will give you a winter mood.

Against the backdrop of Christmas, the touching fairy tale “Krivulya” unfolds. Its main characters are the troll Krivulya and the Nisse family - Norwegian gnomes.
What happened to the dwarves when Snow White woke up and began to “live happily ever after” with her prince? This is the question asked by Hubert Schierneck in his ironic fairy tale “Latest News about the Seven Dwarfs.”

Elves and fairies can appear in different guises. Some of the Magic People are almost no different from people, while others appear in the form of tiny people with wings on their backs. If gnomes inhabit the earth or human dwellings, then fairies and elves reign in the air, in the forest, in the garden. They say that every flower, tree or blade of grass has its own fairy who protects it.

It seems that Mary Cecile Barker, who wrote poetry and painted fairies all her life, knew most about them.

But the fairy Thorn from Olga Kolpakova’s books only seems small and fragile. Her character is quarrelsome and independent!
Otfried Preussler called his fairy-tale heroes little. Little Baba Yaga, little Vodyanoy, little Ghost, the smallest gnome. These are young, touching, not at all scary creatures.

Reading stories about “little Santa Claus” by Anu Stoner, the child recognizes himself. Their hero also wants to prove to the world that he is not small, but adult and independent.

Little animals

A classic of these stories is “The Wind in the Willows” by Kenneth Grahame.
Agile mice are ideal inhabitants of small worlds. For example, the favorite mouse of all girls is Glyceria. Or the little mice Sammi and Julia, who live in a wonderful dollhouse created by Karina Schapman.

Tiny mice Timka and Tinka, the mascots of the publishing house “On Foot into History,” will not only squeeze through any crack, but will also lead readers with them to different times and eras.

Genevieve Yurie's books open us up to the world of rabbit adventures.

And fans of epic fantasy will certainly enjoy the legendary “Chronicles of Redwall,” where the brave mouse Matthias defends the walls of his beloved abbey.

Tiny people

Stories about little people are very important for a child.

Often these kids are no different from ordinary children with their mischievous and carefree games. This is Dunno and other shorties from the Flower City.
In fantasy stories, having shrunk, children discover a completely new world around them.

Max and Molly from Anatomy Mysteries go on an exciting journey through the human body, and the heroes " Extraordinary adventures Karika and Vali" learn a lot of new things about the world around them.
The English writer Mary Norton came up with a people called “miners”. These tiny creatures live next to us and do not hesitate to “replenish supplies” with what is not lying well.

Stories about little people teach children that the world around them is full of fragile wonders that need to be protected, not destroyed.
Selma Lagerlöf talks about this especially convincingly. An ordinary boy, Nils, once played a cruel joke on a dwarf, which turned against him. Now he faces a long and dangerous journey with wild geese, which will teach him the main thing - to be human.

The “little” heroes of the books are vulnerable, but resourceful, they are fearless warriors and travelers. Stories about them teach not to offend the weak, to put oneself in the place of others, to look closely at the world around us, full of various miracles.

Natalia Strelnikova

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