The fairy tale The Scarlet Flower was written by Aksakov as an appendix to his autobiography “The Childhood Years of Bagrov the Grandson” and was called “The Scarlet Flower. (The Tale of the Housekeeper Pelageya).” The work is a literary variation of the “Beauty and the Beast” plot.
The merchant's beloved daughter asked her father to bring from long journeys overseas curiosity “The Scarlet Flower”. The father picked a flower in the monster’s garden and, as payback for this, his daughter had to go live with the terrible furry beast. The girl fell in love with the monster, thereby dispelling the magic spell and it turned out that the monster was a handsome prince.
Read the Fairy Tale The Scarlet Flower
In a certain kingdom, in a certain state, there lived a rich merchant, an eminent man.
He had a lot of all kinds of wealth, expensive overseas goods, pearls, precious stones, gold and silver treasury; and that merchant had three daughters, all three beautiful, and the youngest was the best; and he loved his daughters more than all his wealth, pearls, precious stones, gold and silver treasury - for the reason that he was a widower, and he had no one to love; He loved the older daughters, but he loved the younger daughter more, because she was better than everyone else and was more affectionate towards him.
So that merchant is going on his trade affairs overseas, to distant lands, to Far Far Away kingdom, to the thirtieth state, and he says to his dear daughters:
“My dear daughters, my good daughters, my beautiful daughters, I am going on my merchant business to distant lands, to the distant kingdom, the thirtieth state, and you never know, how much time I travel, I don’t know, and I punish you to live honestly without me.” and peacefully, and if you live without me honestly and peacefully, then I will bring you such gifts as you yourself want, and I will give you three days to think, and then you will tell me what kind of gifts you want.
They thought for three days and three nights, and came to their parent, and he began to ask them what gifts they wanted. The eldest daughter bowed to her father’s feet and was the first to say to him:
- Sir, you are my dear father! Do not bring me gold and silver brocade, nor black sable furs, nor Burmita pearls, but bring me a golden crown of semi-precious stones, and so that there will be such light from them as from a full month, as from the red sun, and so that there is It is light in a dark night, as in the middle of a white day.
The honest merchant thought for a moment and then said:
“Okay, my dear daughter, good and pretty, I’ll bring you such a crown; I know a man overseas who will get me such a crown; and one overseas princess has it, and it is hidden in a stone storage room, and that storage room is located in stone mountain, three fathoms deep, behind three iron doors, behind three German locks. The work will be considerable: yes, for my treasury there is no opposite.
The middle daughter bowed at his feet and said:
- Sir, you are my dear father! Don’t bring me gold and silver brocade, nor black Siberian sable furs, nor a necklace of Burmitz pearls, nor a golden crown of semi-precious stones, but bring me a tovalet made of oriental crystal, solid, immaculate, so that, looking into it, I can see all the beauty under heaven and so that, looking at it, I would not grow old and my girlish beauty would increase.
The honest merchant became thoughtful and, after thinking for who knows how long, he says to her these words:
“Okay, my dear daughter, good and pretty, I’ll get you such a crystal toilette; and the daughter of the king of Persia, a young princess, has an indescribable, indescribable and unknown beauty; and that Tuvalet was buried in a high stone mansion, and he stood on a stone mountain, the height of that mountain was three hundred fathoms, behind seven iron doors, behind seven German locks, and there were three thousand steps leading up to that mansion, and on each step stood a warrior Persian, day and night, with a damask saber, and the princess carries the keys to those iron doors on her belt. I know such a man overseas, and he will get me such a toilet. Your work as a sister is harder, but for my treasury there is no opposite.
The youngest daughter bowed at her father’s feet and said this:
- Sir, you are my dear father! Don’t bring me gold and silver brocade, nor black Siberian sables, nor a Burmita necklace, nor a semi-precious crown, nor a crystal Touvette, but bring me The Scarlet Flower, which could not be more beautiful in this world.
The honest merchant thought more deeply than before. Whether he spent a lot of time thinking or not, I can’t say for certain; having thought about it, he kisses, caresses, caresses his youngest daughter, his beloved, and says these words:
- Well, you gave me a harder job than my sisters; If you know what to look for, then how not to find it, but how to find something that you yourself don’t know? It’s not hard to find a scarlet flower, but how can I know that there is nothing more beautiful in this world? I will try, but don’t ask for a gift.
And he sent his daughters, good and handsome, to their maiden houses. He began to get ready to hit the road, to the distant lands overseas. How long it took, how much he planned, I don’t know and don’t know: soon the fairy tale is told, but not soon the deed is done. He went on his way, down the road.
Here an honest merchant travels to foreign lands overseas, to unprecedented kingdoms; he sells his goods at exorbitant prices, buys others at exorbitant prices; he exchanges goods for goods and more, with the addition of silver and gold; Loads ships with golden treasury and sends them home. He found a treasured gift for his eldest daughter: a crown with semi-precious stones, and from them it is light on a dark night, as if on a white day. He also found a treasured gift for his middle daughter: a crystal toilette, and in it all the beauty of heaven is visible, and, looking into it, a girl’s beauty does not age, but increases. He just can’t find the treasured gift for his youngest, beloved daughter - a scarlet flower, which would not be more beautiful in this world.
He found in the gardens of the kings, royals and sultans many scarlet flowers of such beauty that he could neither tell a fairy tale nor write them with a pen; Yes, no one gives him guarantee that there is no more beautiful flower in this world; and he himself doesn’t think so. Here he is traveling along the road with his faithful servants through the shifting sands, through dense forests, and out of nowhere, robbers, Busurmans, Turkish and Indians, flew at him, and, seeing the inevitable trouble, the honest merchant abandoned his rich caravans with his servants faithful and runs into the dark forests. “Let me be torn to pieces by fierce beasts, rather than fall into the hands of filthy robbers and live out my life in captivity, in captivity.”
He wanders through that dense forest, impassable, impenetrable, and as he goes further, the road becomes better, as if the trees part before him, and the frequent bushes move apart. He looks back - he can’t stick his hands in, he looks to the right - there are stumps and logs, he can’t get past the sideways hare, he looks to the left - and worse than that. The honest merchant marvels, thinks he can’t figure out what kind of miracle is happening to him, but he goes on and on: the road is rough under his feet. He walks day by day from morning to evening, he does not hear the roar of an animal, nor the hiss of a snake, nor the cry of an owl, nor the voice of a bird: everything around him has died out. So I came and dark night; All around him it would be prickly to poke out his eyes, but under his feet there is little light. So he walked, almost until midnight, and began to see a glow ahead, and he thought: “Apparently, the forest is burning, so why should I go there to certain death, inevitable?”
He turned back - he couldn’t go; to the right, to the left, you cannot go; leaned forward - the road was rough. “Let me stand in one place - maybe the glow will go in the other direction, or away from me, or it will go out completely.”
So he stood there, waiting; but that was not the case: the glow seemed to be coming towards him, and it seemed to be getting lighter around him; he thought and thought and decided to go forward. Two deaths cannot happen, but one cannot be avoided. The merchant crossed himself and went forward. The further you go, the brighter it becomes, and it almost became like white day, and you can’t hear the noise and crackling of a fireman. At the end he comes out into a wide clearing, and in the middle of that wide clearing stands a house, not a house, a palace, not a palace, but a royal or royal palace, all on fire, in silver and gold and in semi-precious stones, all burning and shining, but there is no fire to be seen ; The sun is exactly red, it’s hard for the eyes to look at it. All the windows in the palace are open, and consonant music is playing in it, such as he has never heard.
He enters a wide courtyard, through a wide, open gate; the road was made of white marble, and on the sides there were fountains of water, tall, large and small. He enters the palace along a staircase covered with crimson cloth and with gilded railings; entered the upper room - there was no one; in another, in a third - there is no one; at the fifth, tenth, there is no one; and the decoration everywhere is royal, unheard of and unprecedented: gold, silver, oriental crystal, ivory and mammoth.
The honest merchant marvels at such unspeakable wealth, and doubly marvels at the fact that there is no owner; not only the owner, but also no servants; and the music doesn’t stop playing; and at that time he thought to himself: “Everything is fine, but there is nothing to eat,” and a table grew up in front of him, cleaned up: in gold and silver dishes there were sugar dishes, and foreign wines, and honey drinks. He sat down at the table without hesitation: he got drunk, ate his fill, because he had not eaten for a whole day; the food is such that it’s impossible to say anything, and suddenly you swallow your tongue, and he, walking through the forests and sands, is very hungry; He got up from the table, but there was no one to bow to and no one to say thank you for the bread or the salt. Before he had time to get up and look around, the table with food was gone, and the music was playing incessantly.
The honest merchant marvels at such a wonderful miracle and such a wondrous marvel, and he walks through the decorated chambers and admires them, and he himself thinks: “It would be nice to sleep and snore now,” and he sees a carved bed standing in front of him, made of pure gold, on crystal legs , with a silver canopy, with fringe and pearl tassels; the down jacket lies on her like a mountain, soft, swan-like down.
The merchant marvels at such a new, new and wonderful miracle; He lies down on the high bed, draws the silver curtains and sees that it is thin and soft, as if made of silk. It became dark in the room, just like twilight, and the music was playing as if from afar, and he thought: “Oh, if only I could see my daughters in my dreams!” - and fell asleep at that very moment.
The merchant wakes up, and the sun has already risen above the standing tree. The merchant woke up, and suddenly he couldn’t come to his senses: all night he saw in a dream his kind, good and beautiful daughters, and he saw his eldest daughters: the eldest and the middle, that they were cheerful and cheerful, and only the youngest daughter, his beloved, was sad; that the eldest and middle daughters have rich suitors and that they are going to get married without waiting for his father’s blessing; the youngest daughter, her beloved, a written beauty, does not want to hear about suitors until her dear father returns. And his soul felt both joyful and joyless.
He got up from the high bed, his dress was all prepared, and a fountain of water beats into a crystal bowl; he gets dressed, washes himself and no longer marvels at the new miracle: tea and coffee are on the table, and there is a sugar snack with them. Having prayed to God, he ate something to eat and began to walk around the chambers again to admire them again in the light of the red sun. Everything seemed better to him than yesterday. Now he sees through the open windows that around the palace there are strange, fruitful gardens, and flowers are blooming of indescribable beauty. He wanted to take a walk through those gardens.
He goes down another staircase, made of green marble, copper malachite, with gilded railings, and goes straight into the green gardens. He walks and admires: ripe, rosy fruits hang on the trees, just asking to be put into his mouth; Indo, looking at them, his mouth waters; the flowers are blooming, beautiful, double, fragrant, painted with all sorts of colors, unprecedented birds are flying: as if lined with gold and silver on green and crimson velvet, they are singing heavenly songs; fountains of water gush out high, and when you look at their height, your head falls back; and the spring springs run and rustle along the crystal decks.
An honest merchant walks around and marvels; His eyes widened at all such wonders, and he didn’t know what to look at or who to listen to. He walked for so long, or for how little time - we don’t know: soon the fairy tale is told, but not soon the deed is done. And suddenly he sees a scarlet flower blooming on a green hillock, a beauty unseen and unheard of, which cannot be said in a fairy tale or written with a pen. The honest merchant's spirit takes over; he approaches that flower; the scent from the flower flows in a steady stream throughout the garden; The merchant’s arms and legs began to shake, and he said in a joyful voice:
“Here is a scarlet flower, the most beautiful in this world, which my youngest, beloved daughter asked me for.”
And, having uttered these words, he came up and picked a scarlet flower. At that same moment, without any clouds, lightning flashed and thunder struck, and the earth began to shake under his feet and rose, as if from under the ground, in front of the merchant: a beast is not a beast, a man is not a man, but some kind of monster, terrible and shaggy, and he roared in a wild voice:
- What did you do? How dare you pluck my reserved, favorite flower from my garden? I treasured him more than the apple of my eye and every day I was consoled by looking at him, but you deprived me of all the joy in my life. I am the owner of the palace and garden, I received you as a dear guest and invitee, fed you, gave you something to drink and put you to bed, and somehow you paid for my goods? Know your bitter fate: you will die an untimely death for your guilt!..
- You may die an untimely death!
The honest merchant's fear made him lose his temper; he looked around and saw that from all sides, from under every tree and bush, from the water, from the earth, an unclean and countless force was crawling towards him, all ugly monsters.
He fell to his knees before his greatest owner, the furry monster, and said in a plaintive voice:
- Oh, you, honest sir, beast of the forest, miracle of the sea: I don’t know how to call you, I don’t know! Do not destroy my Christian soul for my innocent audacity, do not order me to be chopped down and executed, order me to say a word. And I have three daughters, three beautiful daughters, good and pretty; I promised to bring them a gift: for the eldest daughter - a gem crown, for the middle daughter - a crystal toilette, and for the youngest daughter - a scarlet flower, no matter what is more beautiful in this world. I found gifts for the older daughters, but I could not find gifts for the younger daughter; I saw such a gift in your garden - a scarlet flower, the most beautiful in this world, and I thought that such a rich, rich, glorious and powerful owner would not feel sorry for the scarlet flower that my youngest daughter, my beloved, asked for. I repent of my guilt before Your Majesty. Forgive me, unreasonable and stupid, let me go to my dear daughters and give me a scarlet flower as a present for my youngest, beloved daughter. I will pay you the gold treasury that you demand.
Laughter rang through the forest, as if thunder had thundered, and the beast of the forest, the miracle of the sea, said to the merchant:
“I don’t need your golden treasury: I have nowhere to put mine.” There is no mercy for you from me, and my faithful servants will tear you into pieces, into small pieces. There is one salvation for you. I will let you go home unharmed, I will reward you with countless treasury, I will give you a scarlet flower, if you give me your word of honor as a merchant and a note from your hand that you will send in your place one of your good, handsome daughters; I will not do her any harm, and she will live with me in honor and freedom, just as you yourself lived in my palace. I'm getting bored of living alone, and I want to get a friend.
So the merchant fell on the damp ground, shedding burning tears; and he will look at the forest beast, at the miracle of the sea, and he will remember his daughters, good, beautiful, and even more than that, he will scream in a heart-rending voice: the forest beast, the miracle of the sea, was painfully terrible.
For a long time, the honest merchant is killed and sheds tears, and he says in a plaintive voice:
- Mister honest, beast of the forest, miracle of the sea! But what should I do if my daughters, good and handsome, do not want to come to you of their own free will? Should I not tie their hands and feet and send them by force? And how can I get there? I have been traveling to you for exactly two years, but to what places, along what paths, I don’t know.
The beast of the forest, the miracle of the sea, will speak to the merchant:
“I don’t want a slave; let your daughter come here out of love for you, of her own will and desire; and if your daughters do not go of their own free will and desire, then come yourself, and I will order you to be executed with a cruel death. How to come to me is not your problem; I will give you a ring from my hand: whoever puts it on his right little finger will find himself wherever he wants in an instant. I give you time to stay at home for three days and three nights.
The merchant thought and thought and came up with a strong thought: “It’s better for me to see my daughters, give them my parental blessing, and if they don’t want to save me from death, then prepare for death according to Christian duty and return to the forest beast, the miracle of the sea.” There was no falsehood on his mind, and therefore he told what was on his thoughts. The forest beast, the miracle of the sea, already knew them; Seeing his truth, he did not even take the note from him, but took the gold ring from his hand and gave it to the honest merchant.
And only the honest merchant managed to put it on his right little finger when he found himself at the gates of his wide courtyard; At that time, his rich caravans with faithful servants entered the same gate, and they brought treasury and goods three times as much as before. There was a noise and hubbub in the house, the daughters jumped up from behind their hoops, and they were embroidering silk flies in silver and gold; They began to kiss their father, be kind to him, and call him various affectionate names, and the two older sisters fawned over their little sister more than ever. They see that the father is somehow unhappy and that there is a hidden sadness in his heart. His elder daughters began to question him whether he had lost his great wealth; the younger daughter does not think about wealth, and she says to her parent:
“I don’t need your riches; wealth is a gainable thing, but tell me your heartfelt grief.
And then the honest merchant will say to his dear, good and handsome daughters:
“I did not lose my great wealth, but gained three or four times the treasury; But I have another sadness, and I will tell you about it tomorrow, and today we will have fun.
He ordered to bring traveling chests, bound with iron; He got his eldest daughter a golden crown, Arabian gold, does not burn in fire, does not rust in water, with semi-precious stones; takes out a gift for the middle daughter, a toilette for oriental crystal; takes out a gift for his youngest daughter, a golden jug with a scarlet flower. The eldest daughters went crazy with joy, took their gifts to the high towers and there, in the open air, amused themselves with them to their fill. Only the youngest daughter, my beloved, saw the scarlet flower, shook all over and began to cry, as if something had stung her in the heart.
As her father speaks to her, these are the words:
- Well, my dear, beloved daughter, don’t you take your desired flower? There is nothing more beautiful in this world!
The youngest daughter took the scarlet flower even reluctantly, kisses her father’s hands, and she herself cries burning tears. Soon the older daughters came running, they tried their father’s gifts and could not come to their senses with joy. Then they all sat down at oak tables, at stained tablecloths, at sugar dishes, at honey drinks; They began to eat, drink, cool off, and console themselves with affectionate speeches.
In the evening the guests arrived in large numbers, and the merchant’s house became full of dear guests, relatives, saints, and hangers-on. The conversation continued until midnight, and such was the evening feast, such as the honest merchant had never seen in his house, and where it came from, he could not guess, and everyone marveled at it: gold and silver dishes and outlandish dishes, such as had never been seen in the house have not seen.
The next morning the merchant called his eldest daughter to him, told her everything that had happened to him, everything from word to word, and asked if she wanted to save him from cruel death and go to live with the beast of the forest, with the miracle of the sea.
The eldest daughter flatly refused and said:
The honest merchant called his other daughter, the middle one, to his place, told her everything that had happened to him, everything from word to word, and asked if she wanted to save him from cruel death and go to live with the beast of the forest, the miracle of the sea.
The middle daughter flatly refused and said:
“Let that daughter help out her father, for whom he got the scarlet flower.”
The honest merchant called his youngest daughter and began to tell her everything, everything from word to word, and before he could finish his speech, the youngest daughter, his beloved, knelt before him and said:
- Bless me, my lord, my dear father: I will go to the beast of the forest, the miracle of the sea, and I will live with him. You got a scarlet flower for me, and I need to help you out.
The honest merchant burst into tears, he hugged his youngest daughter, his beloved, and spoke to her these words:
- My dear, good, pretty, smaller and beloved daughter! May my parental blessing be upon you, that you save your father from a cruel death and, of your own free will and desire, go to live a life contrary to to a terrible beast forest, miracle of the sea. You will live in his palace, in great wealth and freedom; but where that palace is - no one knows, no one knows, and there is no way to it, neither on horseback, nor on foot, nor for a flying animal, nor for a migratory bird. There will be no hearing or news from you to us, and even less to you about us. And how can I live out my bitter life, not seeing your face, not hearing your kind words? I part with you forever and ever, and I bury you alive in the ground.
And the youngest, beloved daughter will say to her father:
“Don’t cry, don’t be sad, my dear sir, my father: my life will be rich and free; the beast of the forest, the miracle of the sea, I will not be afraid, I will serve him with faith and truth, fulfill his master’s will, and maybe he will take pity on me. Don’t mourn me alive as if I were dead: maybe, God willing, I will return to you.
The honest merchant cries and sobs, but is not consoled by such speeches.
The older sisters, the big one and the middle one, came running and started crying all over the house: see, they feel so sorry for their little sister, their beloved; but the younger sister doesn’t even seem sad, doesn’t cry, doesn’t groan, and is getting ready for a long, unknown journey. And he takes with him a scarlet flower in a gilded jug
The third day and third night passed, the time had come for the honest merchant to part, to part with his youngest, beloved daughter; he kisses, has mercy on her, pours burning tears on her and places his parental blessing on her on the cross. He takes out the ring of a forest beast, a miracle of the sea, from a forged casket, puts the ring on the right little finger of his youngest, beloved daughter - and at that very moment she was gone with all her belongings.
She found herself in the palace of the forest beast, the miracle of the sea, in tall stone chambers, on a bed of carved gold with crystal legs, on a down jacket of swan down, covered with golden damask, she did not move from her place, she lived here for a whole century, exactly went to bed and woke up. Consonantal music began to play, such as she had never heard in her life.
She got up from her downy bed and saw that all her belongings and a scarlet flower in a gilded jug were standing right there, laid out and arranged on green malachite copper tables, and that in that room there was a lot of goods and belongings of all kinds, there was something to sit and lie on, there was There is something to dress up in, something to look at. And there was one wall all mirrored, and the other wall was gilded, and the third wall was all silver, and the fourth wall was made of ivory and mammoth bones, all decorated with semi-precious yachts; and she thought: “This must be my bedchamber.”
She wanted to examine the whole palace, and she went to examine all its high chambers, and she walked for a long time, admiring all the wonders; one chamber was more beautiful than the other, and more and more beautiful than what the honest merchant, her dear sir, said. She took her favorite scarlet flower from a gilded jug, she went down into the green gardens, and the birds sang their songs of paradise to her, and the trees, bushes and flowers waved their tops and bowed down before her; fountains of water began to flow higher and the springs began to rustle louder, and she found that high place, an ant-like hillock, on which an honest merchant picked a scarlet flower, the most beautiful of which is not in this world. And she took that scarlet flower out of the gilded jug and wanted to plant it in its original place; but he himself flew out of her hands and grew to the old stem and blossomed more beautifully than before.
She marveled at such a wonderful miracle, a wondrous marvel, rejoiced at her scarlet, treasured flower, and went back to her palace chambers, and in one of them there was a table laid, and only she thought: “Apparently, the beast of the forest, the miracle of the sea, is not angry with me.” , and he will be a merciful lord to me,” as fiery words appeared on the white marble wall:
“I am not your master, but an obedient slave. You are my mistress, and whatever you wish, whatever comes to your mind, I will do with pleasure.”
She read the fiery words, and they disappeared from the white marble wall, as if they had never been there. And the thought dawned on her to write a letter to her parent and give him news about herself. Before she had time to think about it, she saw paper lying in front of her, a golden pen with an inkwell. She writes a letter to her dear father and her dear sisters:
“Don’t cry for me, don’t grieve, I live in the palace of the forest beast, the miracle of the sea, like a princess; I don’t see or hear him himself, but he writes to me on the white marble wall in fiery words; and he knows everything that is on my thoughts, and at that very moment he fulfills everything, and he does not want to be called my master, but calls me his mistress.”
Before she had time to write the letter and seal it, the letter disappeared from her hands and eyes, as if it had never been there. The music began to play louder than ever, sugar dishes, honey drinks, and all the utensils were made of red gold. She sat down at the table cheerfully, although she had never dined alone; she ate, drank, cooled off, and amused herself with music. After lunch, having eaten, she went to bed; the music began to play quietly and further away - for the reason that it would not disturb her sleep.
After sleep, she got up cheerfully and went for a walk again through the green gardens, because she didn’t have time to walk around half of them before lunch and look at all their wonders. All the trees, bushes and flowers bowed before her, and the ripe fruits - pears, peaches and liquid apples— they put themselves in their mouths. After walking for a considerable time, almost until the evening, she returned to her lofty chambers, and she saw: the table was set, and on the table there were sugar dishes and honey drinks, and all of them were excellent.
After dinner she entered that white marble chamber where she had read fiery words on the wall, and she again saw the same fiery words on the same wall:
“Is my lady satisfied with her gardens and chambers, food and servants?”
“Don’t call me your mistress, but be always my kind master, affectionate and merciful.” I will never step out of your will. Thank you for all your treats. Better than your lofty chambers and your green gardens cannot be found in this world: then how can I not be satisfied? I have never seen such miracles in my life. I still haven’t come to my senses from such a wonder, but I’m afraid to rest alone; in all your high chambers there is not a human soul.
Fiery words appeared on the wall:
“Do not be afraid, my beautiful lady: you will not rest alone, your hay girl, faithful and beloved, is waiting for you; and there are many human souls in the chambers, but you don’t see or hear them, and all of them, together with me, protect you day and night: we won’t let the wind blow on you, we won’t let even a speck of dust settle.”
And the merchant’s young daughter, a beautiful woman, went to rest in her bedchamber, and saw: her hay girl, faithful and beloved, was standing by the bed, and she was standing almost alive from fear; and she rejoiced at her mistress and kisses her white hands, hugs her playful legs. The mistress was also happy with her, began to ask her about her dear father, about her older sisters and about all her maiden servants; after that she began to tell herself what happened to her at that time; They didn’t sleep until the white dawn.
And so the merchant’s young daughter, a beautiful woman, began to live and live. Every day new, rich outfits are ready for her, and decorations are such that they have no price, neither in a fairy tale nor in writing; every day there were new, excellent treats and fun: riding, walking with music in chariots without horses or harness through dark forests, and those forests parted in front of her and gave her a wide, wide and smooth road. And she began to do needlework, girlish needlework, embroidering flies with silver and gold and trimming fringes with fine pearls; she began to send gifts to her dear father, and gave the richest fly to her affectionate owner, and to that forest animal, a miracle of the sea; and day by day she began to go more often to the white marble hall, to speak kind words to her merciful master and to read on the wall his answers and greetings in fiery words.
You never know, how much time has passed: soon the fairy tale is told, but not soon the deed is done - the young merchant’s daughter, a written beauty, began to get used to her life-being; She no longer marvels at anything, is not afraid of anything; invisible servants serve her, serve her, receive her, ride her in chariots without horses, play music and carry out all her commands. And she loved her merciful master day after day, and she saw that it was not for nothing that he called her his mistress and that he loved her more than himself; and she wanted to listen to his voice, she wanted to have a conversation with him, without going into the white marble chamber, without reading fiery words.
She began to beg and ask him about it, but the beast of the forest, the miracle of the sea, did not quickly agree to her request, he was afraid of frightening her with his voice; she begged, she begged her kind owner, and he could not be opposite to her, and he wrote to her in last time on the white marble wall with fiery words:
“Come today to the green garden, sit in your beloved gazebo, plaited with leaves, branches, flowers, and say this: “Talk to me, my faithful slave.”
And a little later, the merchant’s young daughter, a beautiful woman, ran into the green gardens, entered her beloved gazebo, plaited with leaves, branches, flowers, and sat down on a brocade bench; and she says breathlessly, her heart is beating like a caught bird, she says these words:
“Don’t be afraid, my kind and gentle lord, to frighten me with your voice: after all your mercies, I will not be afraid of the roar of an animal; speak to me without fear.
And she heard exactly who sighed behind the gazebo, and a terrible voice was heard, wild and loud, hoarse and hoarse, and even then he spoke in an undertone. At first the merchant’s young daughter, a beautiful woman, shuddered when she heard the voice of the forest beast, the miracle of the sea, but she only controlled her fear and did not show that she was afraid, and soon his kind and friendly words, his intelligent and reasonable speeches, she began to listen and listened, and her heart felt joyful.
From that time, from that time on, they began to talk, almost all day long - in the green garden during festivities, during dark forests on skating and in all high chambers. Only the young merchant’s daughter, the written beauty, will ask:
“Are you here, my good, beloved sir?”
The forest beast, the miracle of the sea, answers:
“Here, my beautiful lady, is your faithful slave, unfailing friend.”
Little or much time has passed: soon the tale is told, the deed is not soon done, - the young merchant’s daughter, a written beauty, wanted to see with her own eyes the beast of the forest, the miracle of the sea, and she began to ask and beg him about it. He doesn’t agree to this for a long time, he’s afraid of scaring her, and he was such a monster that he couldn’t be said in a fairy tale or written down with a pen; not only people, but wild animals were always afraid of him and fled to their dens. And the beast of the forest, the miracle of the sea, spoke these words:
“Don’t ask, don’t beg me, my beautiful lady, my beloved beauty, to show you my disgusting face, my ugly body.” You have become accustomed to my voice; We live with you in friendship, harmony, honor each other, we are not separated, and you love me for my unspeakable love for you, and when you see me, terrible and disgusting, you will hate me, the unfortunate one, you will drive me out of sight, and in separation from you I will die of melancholy.
The young merchant's daughter, a beautiful woman, did not listen to such speeches, and began to beg more than ever, swearing that she would not be afraid of any monster in the world and that she would not stop loving her merciful master, and she spoke to him these words:
“If you are an old man, be my grandfather, if Seredovich, be my uncle, if you are young, be my sworn brother, and while I am alive, be my dear friend.”
For a long, long time, the forest animal, the miracle of the sea, did not succumb to such words, but could not resist the requests and tears of its beauty, and says this word to her:
“I cannot be opposite to you for the reason that I love you more than myself; I will fulfill your desire, although I know that I will ruin my happiness and die an untimely death. Come to the green garden in the gray twilight, when the red sun sets behind the forest, and say: “Show yourself, faithful friend!” - and I will show you my disgusting face, my ugly body. And if it becomes unbearable for you to stay with me any longer, I don’t want your bondage and eternal torment: you will find in your bedchamber, under your pillow, my gold ring. Put it on your right little finger - and you will find yourself with your dear father and will never hear anything about me.
The young merchant’s daughter, a real beauty, was not afraid, she was not intimidated, she firmly relied on herself. At that time, without hesitating a minute, she went into the green garden to wait for the appointed hour, and when the gray twilight came, the red sun sank behind the forest, she said: “Show yourself, my faithful friend!” - and from afar a forest beast, a miracle of the sea, appeared to her: it passed only across the road and disappeared in the dense bushes, and the merchant’s young daughter, a beautiful woman, did not see the light, clasped her white hands, screamed in a heart-rending voice and fell on the road without memory. Yes, and the beast of the forest was terrible, a miracle of the sea: crooked arms, animal nails on the hands, horse legs, great camel humps in front and back, all shaggy from top to bottom, boar tusks protruded from the mouth, a hooked nose like a golden eagle, and the eyes were owls. .
After lying there for how long, who knows how long, the young merchant’s daughter, a beautiful woman, came to her senses, and heard: someone was crying next to her, shedding burning tears and saying in a pitiful voice:
“You have ruined me, my beautiful beloved, I will no longer see your beautiful face, you will not even want to hear me, and it has come for me to die an untimely death.”
And she felt sorry and ashamed, and she mastered her great fear and her timid girlish heart, and she spoke in a firm voice:
“No, don’t be afraid of anything, my kind and gentle lord, I won’t be more afraid of your terrible appearance, I won’t be separated from you, I won’t forget your mercies; Show yourself to me now in your same form: I was just scared for the first time.
A forest animal, a miracle of the sea, appeared to her, in its terrible, disgusting, ugly form, but it did not dare to come close to her, no matter how much she called him; They walked until the dark night and had the same conversations as before, affectionate and reasonable, and the merchant’s young daughter, a beautiful woman, did not sense any fear. The next day she saw a forest animal, a miracle of the sea, in the light of the red sun, and although at first she was frightened when she saw it, but did not show it, and soon her fear completely passed.
Here they began to talk more than ever: almost day after day, they were not separated, at lunch and dinner they ate sugar dishes, cooled off with honey drinks, walked through green gardens, rode without horses through dark forests.
And a lot of time has passed: soon the fairy tale is told, but not soon the deed is done. So one day, in a dream, a young merchant’s daughter, a beautiful woman, dreamed that her father was lying unwell; and an incessant melancholy fell upon her, and in that melancholy and tears the beast of the forest, the miracle of the sea, saw her, and began to spin violently and began to ask why she was in anguish and in tears? She told him her bad dream and began to ask him for permission to see her dear father and her dear sisters.
And the beast of the forest, the miracle of the sea, will speak to her:
- And why do you need my permission? You have my gold ring, put it on your right little finger and you will find yourself in the house of your dear father. Stay with him until you get bored, and I’ll just tell you: if you don’t come back in exactly three days and three nights, then I won’t be in this world, and I’ll die that very minute for the reason that I love you more, than myself, and I can’t live without you.
She began to assure with cherished words and oaths that exactly an hour before three days And three nights returns to his lofty chambers.
She said goodbye to her kind and merciful owner, put a gold ring on her right little finger and found herself in the wide courtyard of an honest merchant, her dear father. She goes to the high porch of his stone chambers; the servants and servants of the courtyard ran up to her and made noise and shouting; the kind sisters came running and, when they saw her, they were amazed at her maiden beauty and her royal, royal attire; The white people grabbed her by the arms and took her to her dear father, and the father lay unwell, unhealthy and joyless, remembering her day and night, shedding burning tears. And he did not remember with joy when he saw his dear, good, comely, younger, beloved daughter, and he marveled at her maiden beauty, her royal, royal attire.
They kissed for a long time, showed mercy, and consoled themselves with affectionate speeches. She told her dear father and her older, kind sisters, about her life with the beast of the forest, the miracle of the sea, everything from word to word, without hiding any crumbs. And the honest merchant rejoiced at her rich, royal, royal life, and marveled at how she was accustomed to looking at her terrible master and was not afraid of the beast of the forest, the miracle of the sea; He himself, remembering him, trembled in his trembling. The older sisters, hearing about the countless wealth of the younger sister and about her royal power over her master, as if over her slave, became envious.
The day goes by single hour, the next day passes like a minute, and on the third day the older sisters began to persuade the younger sister so that she would not toss and turn to the beast of the forest, the miracle of the sea. “Let him die, that’s his way...” And the dear guest, the younger sister, became angry with the elder sisters, and said these words to them:
“If I pay my kind and affectionate master for all his mercies and ardent, unspeakable love with his fierce death, then I will not be worth living in this world, and it is worth giving me then to wild animals to be torn to pieces.”
And her father, an honest merchant, praised her for such good speeches, and it was ordered that, exactly one hour before the due date, she should return to the beast of the forest, the miracle of the sea, a good, comely, younger, beloved daughter. But the sisters were annoyed, and they conceived a cunning deed, a cunning and unkind deed: they took and set all the clocks in the house a whole hour ago, and the honest merchant and all his faithful servants, the courtyard servants, did not know this.
And when the real hour came, the young merchant’s daughter, a beautiful woman, began to have a pain and aching heart, something began to wash her away, and she looked every now and then at her father’s, English, German watches - but it was still too early for her to indulge in long journey. And the sisters talk to her, ask her about this and that, detain her. However, her heart could not bear it; the youngest daughter, beloved, written beauty, said goodbye to the honest merchant, her father, received the parental blessing from him, said goodbye to the older, dear sisters, to the faithful servants, the courtyard servants, and, without waiting a single minute before the appointed hour, put on the gold ring on the right little finger and found herself in a white-stone palace, in the high chambers of a forest beast, a miracle of the sea; and, marveling that he did not meet her, she cried in a loud voice:
“Where are you, my good sir, my faithful friend?” Why don't you meet me? I came back ahead of schedule appointed for an hour and a minute.
There was no answer, no greeting, the silence was dead; V green gardens the birds did not sing heavenly songs, the fountains of water did not gush and the springs did not rustle, and music did not play in the high chambers. The heart of the merchant's daughter, a beautiful woman, trembled; she sensed something unkind; She ran around the high chambers and green gardens, calling in a loud voice to her good master - there was no answer, no greeting and no voice of obedience anywhere. She ran to the anthill, where her favorite scarlet flower grew and adorned itself, and she saw that the forest animal, a miracle of the sea, was lying on the hillock, clasping the scarlet flower with its ugly paws. And it seemed to her that he had fallen asleep while waiting for her, and was now fast asleep. The merchant's daughter, a beautiful woman, began to wake him up little by little, but he did not hear; she began to wake him up, grabbed him by the furry paw - and saw that the forest animal, a miracle of the sea, was lifeless, lying dead...
Her clear eyes grew dim, her quick legs gave way, she fell to her knees, wrapped her white hands around the head of her good master, an ugly and disgusting head, and screamed in a heart-rending voice:
- Get up, wake up, my dear friend, I love you like a desired groom!..
And as soon as she uttered these words, lightning flashed from all sides, the earth shook from great thunder, a stone thunder arrow struck the anthill, and the young merchant’s daughter, a beautiful woman, fell unconscious.
Whether she lay unconscious for how long or how long, I don’t know; only, having woken up, she sees herself in a high white marble chamber, she is sitting on a golden throne with precious stones, and a young prince, a handsome man, on his head with a royal crown, in gold-plated clothes, hugs her; in front of him stands his father and sisters, and around him a great retinue is kneeling, all dressed in brocades of gold and silver. And the young prince, a handsome man with a royal crown on his head, will speak to her:
- You fell in love with me, beloved beauty, in the form of an ugly monster, for my kind soul and love for you; love me now in human form, be my desired bride. The evil sorceress was angry with my late parent, the glorious and mighty king, stole me, still a small child, and with her satanic witchcraft, with unclean power, turned me into a terrible monster and cast such a spell so that I could live in such an ugly, disgusting and terrible form for everyone man, for every creature of God, until there is a red maiden, no matter what her family and rank, who loves me in the form of a monster and wishes to be my lawful wife - and then the witchcraft will all end, and I will again become a young man as before and look pretty. And I lived as such a monster and a scarecrow for exactly thirty years, and I brought eleven red maidens into my enchanted palace, and you were the twelfth. Not a single one loved me for my caresses and pleases, for my kind soul.
You alone fell in love with me, a disgusting and ugly monster, for my caresses and pleasures, for my kind soul, for my unspeakable love for you, and for this you will be the wife of a glorious king, a queen in a mighty kingdom.
Then everyone marveled at this, the retinue bowed to the ground. The honest merchant gave his blessing to his youngest daughter, his beloved, and the young prince-royalty. And the elder, envious sisters, and all the faithful servants, the great boyars and the military cavaliers, congratulated the bride and groom, and without hesitation they began to have a merry feast and to the wedding, and began to live and live, make good money. I was there myself, I drank honey and beer, it flowed down my mustache, but it didn’t get into my mouth.
The Scarlet Flower- a beautiful, magical and kind children's story about unconditional devotion and love that overcomes unbelief and evil. The fairy tale The Scarlet Flower was created by S. Aksakov for children's collection in 1858. main character, a kind-hearted girl, asked her father to bring her a scarlet flower from a long journey. Fulfilling the pet’s request, the father picks a flower in the garden of the wondrous beast. In order to avoid punishment, the father has to send his daughter to the monster, who later turns out to be an enchanted prince. Girls will especially enjoy reading the fairy tale The Scarlet Flower - they are fascinated by stories about love. It is recommended to read the story before going to bed, because it is written in a melodious and lyrical vernacular, having a slightly soothing nature.Why should you read the fairy tale The Scarlet Flower?
Reading the fairy tale The Scarlet Flower is useful and instructive for children. She will explain to the little ones that love has no price, that there are no barriers to unfeigned feelings, and that the love of parents is the most precious gift. But the most important lesson from this children's story is that outer beauty- is by no means the main dignity of a person: the most important thing is hidden inside. Our intentions and actions, our feelings - these are what determine the true beauty of a person.Fairy tales describe and express: first of all, the life and identity of peoples, their dreams and hard work.
The fairy tale The Scarlet Flower is also no exception, which was retold by the famous writer Sergei Timofeevich Aksakov, although he is not a storyteller, but fate gave us such a masterpiece. Just like the fairy tale by Pyotr Pavlovich Ershov - The Little Humpbacked Horse, who besides this fairy tale did not write anything special.
Author of the fairy tale about the Scarlet Flower— Sergei Timofeevich Aksakov. Very good and good fairy tale, it’s these kinds of fairy tales that need to be shown as often as possible, and not these modern ones, in which either incomprehensible people are running around in spacesuits, or an incomprehensible monster. It’s better to watch classics, which often have instructive and kind moments. It is moments like these that form our first values, which over time can develop into our everyday values.
I remember well the hand-drawn full-length cartoon The Scarlet Flower, which was filmed in 1952 by director L. Atamanov. The cartoon was created based on a fairy tale Sergei Aksakov and is still considered classics. Vivid images, gorgeous story line, high-quality voice acting and memorable phrases made this children's film relevant today.
Answer: Sergey Aksakov.
The fairy tale The Scarlet Flower has its own author, the 19th century Russian writer Sergei Timofeevich Aksakov. The tale is included in the collection Tales of Pelageya the Housekeeper. When little Serge fell ill as a child, they invited Pelageya to be the housekeeper, and she told him fairy tales. He liked the fairy tale The Scarlet Flower so much that he wrote it from memory. Aksakov has few fairy tales, but The Scarlet Flower is the most famous.
However, the fairy tale The Scarlet Flower is deep in meaning.
Every monster has a soul. The main thing is to see it.
And there will always be those who envy someone else’s happiness.
Hardly Sergey Aksakov assumed that his tale would be remembered for many years.
The fairy tale The Scarlet Flower was first published in 1858. According to the form of the narrative, this work belongs to the tale.
The plot of the tale is this: a girl casts a spell on a young man who has been turned into a terrible monster. The scarlet flower appears in the fairy tale as a symbol of love.
The fairy tale has been filmed several times, there is both a cartoon and a movie, and it is also staged on theater stages.
Fairy tale The Scarlet Flower -
Aksakov Sergey Timofeevich first date of publication 1858
The fairy tale The Scarlet Flower was written by Sergei Aksakov. This is a fairly well-known fairy tale, but few people know who wrote it. The fairy tale is about a monster who is bewitched by a girl with the help of love. Children really like this fairy tale.
Everyone's favorite fairy tale, The Scarlet Flower, is a fairy tale by our compatriot, Russian writer Sergei Timofeevich Aksakov.
Moreover, I want to note that this is his only fairy tale. But he really succeeded.
It was first published back in 1858 and still delights us and our children with its kind and instructive story.
Based on this work, Lev Atamanov made a cartoon of the same name in 1952. In 1977, Irina Povolotskaya filmed the film The Scarlet Flower. And already at the end of the 20th century, director Vladimir Grammatikov - the film The Tale of merchant's daughter and a mysterious flower.
The scarlet flower is not folk tale, it has an author. And this fairy tale was written by the Russian writer S.T. Aksakov. In addition to this fairy tale, among Aksakov’s works there are also well-known stories, for example, about hunting.
By literary work The scarlet flower was Sergei Timofeevich Aksakov. The plot itself echoes folklore different countries of Europe. The most famous variation is Beauty and the Beast, but the ancient Roman writer Apuleius had a fairy tale about Cupid and Psyche with a similar plot.
WHO FIRST WRITTEN "THE SCARLET FLOWER"?
02.03.2013
Readers first saw the beloved fairy tale “The Scarlet Flower” in 1858 in the appendix to Sergei Aksakov’s book “The Childhood Years of Bagrov the Grandson.” And from then on, we fell in love with all our hearts. For 155 years now, more than one generation has read it. Based on this wonderful fairy tale, two cartoons and a feature film were made in our country alone.
Many believe that “The Scarlet Flower” is plagiarism, borrowed from Madame de Beaumont’s fairy tale “Beauty and the Beast.” This opinion is wrong. Such stories have existed at all times, starting from antiquity: remember the myth of Cupid and Psyche.
The fairy tale about an enchanted young man turned into a monster and a girl who, with the power of selfless love, saves him and returns him to human form, is found in almost all nations. There are obstacles on the path of love. Happiness can only be found through loyalty, dedication and kindness.
In Italy, such a fairy tale is called “Zelinda and the Scarecrow.” In Switzerland - “The Tale of the Bear Prince”, in England - “Big Dog with Small Teeth”. In Germany - “Summer and winter Garden”, in Russia - “The Enchanted Tsarevich”, in Ukraine - “The Already Tsarevich and the Faithful Wife”. In Turkey there is a legend about the daughter of a padishah and a pig, in China - about a magic snake, in Indonesia - about a lizard husband. The same plot is found in tales of southern and Eastern Slavs. The names are different, but everywhere there is a Beast and a selfless Beauty. Love conquers all and saves all.
Many historians believe that this plot is an echo of antiquity, when ritual marriages took place with totem animals.
According to Aksakov himself, he first heard the plot from the housekeeper Pelageya in childhood, when he was sick. In the story “The Childhood Years of Bagrov the Grandson,” the writer himself said the following: “My speedy recovery was hampered by insomnia... On the advice of my aunt, they once called the housekeeper Pelageya, who was a great master of telling fairy tales and whom even my late grandfather loved to listen to... Pelageya came, not young, but still white, ruddy... she sat down by the stove and began to speak, in a slightly sing-song voice; “In a certain kingdom, in a certain state...” Need I say that I did not fall asleep until the end of the fairy tale, that, on the contrary, I did not sleep longer than usual? The next day I listened to another story about “The Scarlet Flower.”
From then on, until my recovery, Pelageya told me every day one of her many fairy tales...”
Pelageya was the daughter of a serf peasant in the Orenburg province. Because of the anger and cruelty of the owner, she and her father fled to Astrakhan. She lived there for 20 years, got married, and became a widow. She served in merchant houses, even with Persian merchants, where she heard oriental tales- including the famous “A Thousand and One Nights”. Having learned that the old owner had died, and the new owners were the Aksakovs, she returned to the estate. Pelageya had a special gift for telling fairy tales; she “literally reworked” them and created her own. At the Aksakovs, Pelageya was given the keys to all the storerooms - she became the main person in the house. And the gentlemen fell in love with her for her skill as a storyteller. Little Seryozha Aksakov constantly listened to the fairy tale “The Scarlet Flower” for several years - he liked it so much.
As an adult, he told it himself - with all the jokes, groans, and sighs of Pelageya. Translated oral, truly folk speech into the story, preserving the melodiousness of the dialect.
Contemporaries considered Aksakov “a sorcerer of sweet Russian speech.” Gogol himself advised him many times to take up his pen. And the great Pushkin admired the imagery and poetry of Aksakov’s style.
In those days there was no literature for children (there was only children's magazine“Children’s reading for the heart and mind” is something similar to the series “I want to know everything”), no one has seriously studied the psychology of the child. It was believed that a child should be obedient and comfortable, like a doll. Aksakov was the first to pay attention to the subtle movements of a child’s soul.
The literary critic, poet, and theater connoisseur turned out to be an extremely sophisticated child psychologist. Turgenev exclaimed that before Aksakov there were no such books.
The writer translated a common folk tale into a style accessible to the aristocracy, managing to preserve the songfulness and poetics of the folk language during the literary treatment. He retained the phrases, epithets, and lyrics of Russian speech. He captivated the jaded public with a banal legend about selfless love, nobility and devotion.
Aksakov enriched the tale with other minor details, for example: the monster did not take the handwritten note - in those days this was the name for a receipt sealed with signatures and seals.
But on the whole, the writer told the tale as Pelageya herself told it.
The very name “The Scarlet Flower”, words colored with kindness and affection, sets the mood for a happy ending. And the most important thing in a fairy tale is to pay attention to the fact that the beauty of the soul can be covered by unsightliness and ugliness. The monster is actually a kind, affectionate and generous creature. It truly fell in love with the merchant's youngest daughter. When she realized this, she responded to love with love. All-conquering and resurrecting even the dead.
No matter what times and morals prevail, people are always drawn to fairy tales, to the triumph of good. “The Scarlet Flower” is an illustration of the triumph of light over darkness, good over evil, love over hate. The fairy tale teaches that goals must be achieved with kindness and humanity. Only they should be rewarded. But meanness and envy cannot be rewarded with happiness and success.
Read the most interesting things in the “Culture” section
Larisa Kazakevich
There are anniversaries not only for poets and writers, but also for their books. So, this year the famous fairy tale by Sergei Timofeevich Aksakov “The Scarlet Flower” turns 160 years old. She is rightfully included in the golden fund of Russian fairy tales. Not a single generation of children has read it; films and cartoons have been made based on it. They are used to perceiving it as a folk tale, and not all fans of the love story of beauty and the beast know the history of this fairy tale.
Russian readers first became acquainted with “The Scarlet Flower” in 1858, when the famous writer S.T. Aksakov published his autobiographical book “The Childhood Years of Bagrov the Grandson,” which tells about his childhood spent on Southern Urals. This book tells, in particular, how during his illness the housekeeper Pelageya told him fairy tales. Among them - magic story about a merchant who brought his daughter a scarlet flower. In order not to interrupt the narrative, the writer did not include the text of the fairy tale, recorded from the words of Pelageya, in the text of the book, but placed this story in the appendix.
The writer talked about it this way: “My speedy recovery was hampered by insomnia... On the advice of my aunt, they once called the housekeeper Pelageya, who was a great master of telling fairy tales and whom even her late grandfather loved to listen to... Pelageya came, not young, but still white and ruddy... sat down at stove and began to speak, in a slightly singsong voice: “In a certain kingdom, in a certain state...”. Need I say that I did not fall asleep until the end of the fairy tale, that, on the contrary, I did not sleep longer than usual? The next day I listened to another story about “The Scarlet Flower.” From then on, until my recovery, Pelageya told me every day one of her many fairy tales...”
Pelageya was the daughter of a serf peasant in the Orenburg province. Because of the anger and cruelty of the owner, she and her father fled to Astrakhan. She lived there for 20 years, got married, and became a widow. She served in merchant houses, even with Persian merchants, where she heard oriental tales, including the famous “A Thousand and One Nights.” Having learned that the old owner had died, and the new owners were the Aksakovs, she returned to the estate. Pelageya had a special gift for telling fairy tales; she “literally reworked” them and created her own. At the Aksakovs, Pelageya was given the keys to all the storerooms - she became the main person in the house. And the gentlemen fell in love with her for her skill as a storyteller.
Little Seryozha Aksakov constantly listened to the fairy tale “The Scarlet Flower” for several years - he liked it so much. As an adult, he told it himself - with all the jokes, groans, and sighs of Pelageya. He transferred oral, truly folk speech into a story, preserving the melodiousness of the dialect. Aksakov’s literary adaptation of “The Scarlet Flower” preserved the melodiousness and poetry of the folk language, making the fairy tale truly mesmerizing.
Not everyone knows that in the first edition the fairy tale was called “Olenkin’s Flower” - in honor of the writer’s beloved granddaughter Olga.
Contemporaries considered Aksakov “a sorcerer of sweet Russian speech.” Gogol himself advised him many times to take up his pen. And the great Pushkin admired the imagery and poetry of Aksakov’s style.
Many believe that “The Scarlet Flower” is a plagiarism, borrowed from Madame de Beaumont’s fairy tale “Beauty and the Beast,” which was created back in 1756. In fact, the plot is about a girl who found herself “hostage” with an invisible monster and fell in love with him for his kindness - very ancient and widespread since antiquity (for example, the story of Cupid and Psyche). The fairy tale about an enchanted young man turned into a monster and a girl who, with the power of selfless love, saves him and returns him to human form, is found in almost all nations.
In Italy, such a fairy tale is called “Zelinda and the Scarecrow.” In Switzerland - “The Tale of the Bear Prince”, in England - “The Big Dog with Small Teeth”, in Germany - “Summer and Winter Garden”, in Ukraine - “The Prince and the Faithful Wife”. In Turkey there is a legend about the daughter of a padishah and a pig, in China - about a magic snake, in Indonesia - about a lizard husband. The same plot is found in the tales of the southern and eastern Slavs. The names are different, but everywhere - the Beast, the selfless Beauty and, of course, the all-conquering and saving love of all.
Russian writer Sergei Timofeevich Aksakov, recorded by him “from the words of the housekeeper Pelageya.” One of the many variations of the "Beauty and the Beast" plot.
The fairy tale was first published by Aksakov in 1858 as an appendix to the autobiography “The Childhood Years of Bagrov the Grandson”, so as, as the author himself noted, not to interrupt the story about childhood.
Plot
A rich merchant goes to trade in overseas countries. Before leaving, he asks his daughters what gifts to bring them. The eldest asks for a golden crown with gems, which will make the night as light as day. The middle daughter asks for a mirror, looking into which the girl does not age, but becomes more and more beautiful. The youngest daughter asks for a scarlet flower, the most beautiful one in this world. The merchant promises the two eldest daughters to get their gifts, and youngest daughter- just try to find such a flower: “A scarlet flower is not tricky to find, but how can I know that there is nothing more beautiful in this world?”
Having received a large profit, but not finding the flower his daughter asked for, the merchant returns home with his servants and gifts for his eldest daughters. On the way, the merchant and his servants are attacked by robbers. Abandoning caravans and servants, the merchant runs away from the robbers into a dense forest.
In the forest he comes out to a luxurious palace. Entering the palace, he sits down at the table, on which beautiful dishes and wines appear of their own accord. After dinner, an overnight stay and breakfast, he decides to take a walk in the garden around the palace and sees a scarlet flower of unprecedented beauty. Realizing that in front of him is the very flower that his daughter asked for, the merchant plucks it. Then an angry monster appears - the owner of the palace. Because the merchant, who was received as a dear guest, plucked his favorite flower, the joy of his whole life, the monster sentences the merchant to death. The merchant talks about his daughter’s request, and then the monster agrees to let the merchant go with a flower, giving him a rich gift, on the condition that one of his daughters must voluntarily come to his palace, where she will live in honor and freedom. If within three days none of the daughters wants to go to the palace, then the merchant must return himself, and then he will be executed with a cruel death. Having agreed and given his word of honor, the merchant receives a gold ring: whoever puts it on his right little finger will instantly be transported wherever he wishes.
The merchant puts on the ring and finds himself at home. His caravans with servants enter the gates, and they carry goods and treasury three times as much as before. The merchant gives his daughters the promised gifts. The older daughters rejoice, and the younger daughter cries. In the evening, guests arrive and the feast begins. During the feast, silver and gold dishes spontaneously appear with such dishes that have never been seen in the house. The next day the merchant tells his daughters about what happened and invites each one to go to the monster. The eldest daughters flatly refuse to go, saying “let that daughter help out her father, for whom he got the scarlet flower.” The youngest daughter agrees, says goodbye to her father, puts on the ring and finds herself in the monster’s palace.
In the palace, the merchant's daughter lives in luxury, and all her wishes are immediately fulfilled. The invisible owner of the palace assures that he considers her his mistress, and the girl in response tells him sweet words. First, he communicates with her through fiery letters appearing on the wall, then with a voice heard in the gazebo. Gradually the girl gets used to his scary, wild voice. Yielding to the girl’s insistent requests, the monster shows himself to her (giving her the ring and allowing her to return if she wishes), and soon the girl gets used to his ugly appearance. The merchant's daughter and the monster are walking, having affectionate conversations. One day a girl dreams that her father is sick. The owner of the palace invites his beloved to return home, but warns that he cannot live without her, so if she does not return in three days, he will die.
Returning home, the girl tells her father and sisters about her have a wonderful life in a palace. The father is happy for his daughter, but the sisters are jealous and persuade her not to return, but she does not give in to persuasion. Then the sisters change the clocks, as a result, their younger sister is late for the palace and finds the monster dead. The girl hugs the monster’s head and shouts that she loves him as a desired groom. As soon as she utters these words, lightning begins to strike, thunder rumbles and the earth begins to shake. The merchant's daughter faints, and when she wakes up, she finds herself on the throne with the prince, a handsome man. The prince says that he was turned into an ugly monster by an evil sorceress. He had to be a monster until there was a red maiden, no matter what her family and rank, who would love him in the form of a monster and wish to be his legal wife. He lived in the form of a monster for thirty years, brought eleven red maidens into his palace, but not one of them fell in love with him for his affection, pleasing and kind soul. Only she, the twelfth, fell in love with the prince, and as a reward for this she will be the queen. The merchant gives his blessing, and his daughter and the prince get married.
Analysis
The story is retold by the author in folk language in the style of a lyrical, melodious tale. For example, when the merchant’s youngest daughter finds “the beast of the forest, the miracle of the sea,” dead upon her return from her family, it is described as follows:
Her clear eyes grew dim, her quick legs gave way, she fell to her knees, hugged her good master’s head with her white hands, an ugly and disgusting head, and screamed in a heart-rending voice: “You get up, wake up, my dear friend, I love you like a desired groom!” ."
Yuri Korinets writes that “unique and without own name in the world of flowers, a scarlet flower, in a fairy tale, is probably a symbol of the miracle of the only love entering a person’s life, the meeting of two people destined for each other.”
Plot sources
According to Aksakov, he first heard the plot of “The Scarlet Flower” from the housekeeper Pelageya, when he was very ill as a child:
This fairy tale, which I heard dozens of times over the course of several years, because I really liked it, I subsequently learned by heart and told it myself, with all the jokes, antics, groans and sighs of Pelageya. I imitated her so well that everyone in the house laughed while listening to me. Of course, then I forgot my story; but now, restoring the long past in my memory, I unexpectedly came across a pile of rubble of this fairy tale; many words and expressions came to life for me, and I tried to remember her. A strange combination of oriental fiction, oriental construction and many, obviously translated, expressions with techniques, images and our folk speech, traces of the touch of various storytellers and storytellers, seemed to me worthy of attention.
Subsequently, the writer was surprised at the strong similarity of the plot with a fairy tale he later read called “Beauty and the Beast” from the translated collection “Children's School, or Moral Conversations between a Smart Teacher and Nobles different years students, composed in French Madame Leprince de Beaumont." Later, Aksakov attended a performance at the Kazan Theater, where A. E. M. Gretry’s opera “Zemira and Azor” was performed, the libretto of which was written based on the same work by Beaumont.
Editions and adaptations
The tale is popular and is often published in Russian for children's reading. The first illustrator was Nikolai Alekseevich Bogatov (1854-1935), who created several black and white drawings for the anthology “The Magic Lantern”. Also known is the colored Fedoskino lacquer miniature “The Scarlet Flower” by V. D. Lipitsky (b. 1921), which is found in the painting of boxes, and was also used in the design of the 16-kopeck postage stamp USSR from 1977.
In 1976, the tale was translated into English language. James Riordan's translation is highly professional and artistic.
In the theatre
- “The Scarlet Flower” - performance by Moskovsky drama theater named after A. S. Pushkin based on the fairy tale of the same name by S. T. Aksakov (premiere in 1949).
- “The Scarlet Flower” is a ballet to the music of Hartmann, staged in 1907 at the Mariinsky Theater.
- “The Scarlet Flower” is a ballet for music by Korchmarev, first staged in 1949 at the Novosibirsk Theater.
- “The Scarlet Flower” - cartoon, (directed by Lev Atamanov, Soyuzmultfilm, (1952)
- “The Scarlet Flower” - feature film-fairy tale, (directed by Irina Povolotskaya), Film Studio named after. M. Gorky (1977)
- “The Tale of the Merchant’s Daughter and the Mysterious Flower” (1992), dir. Vladimir Grammatikov.
The Scarlet Flower-3 (Bogatov).jpg
Gifts for daughters
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The youngest daughter in the enchanted palace
The Scarlet Flower-6 (Bogatov).jpg
Wedding of the prince-royalty and the youngest daughter of a merchant
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Excerpt characterizing The Scarlet Flower
“Everything is the same,” she answered her husband.Prince Vasily frowned, wrinkled his mouth to the side, his cheeks jumped with his characteristic unpleasant, rude expression; He shook himself, stood up, threw his head back and with decisive steps, past the ladies, walked into the small living room. With quick steps, he joyfully approached Pierre. The prince's face was so unusually solemn that Pierre stood up in fear when he saw him.
- God bless! - he said. - My wife told me everything! “He hugged Pierre with one hand and his daughter with the other. - My friend Lelya! I'm very, very happy. – His voice trembled. – I loved your father... and she will be a good wife for you... God bless you!...
He hugged his daughter, then Pierre again and kissed him with a foul-smelling mouth. Tears actually wet his cheeks.
“Princess, come here,” he shouted.
The princess came out and cried too. The elderly lady was also wiping herself with a handkerchief. Pierre was kissed, and he kissed the hand of the beautiful Helene several times. After a while they were left alone again.
“All this had to be this way and could not have been otherwise,” thought Pierre, “so there is no point in asking whether it is good or bad? Good, because definitely, and there is no previous painful doubt.” Pierre silently held his bride's hand and looked at her beautiful breasts rising and falling.
- Helen! - he said out loud and stopped.
“Something special is said in these cases,” he thought, but he could not remember what exactly they say in these cases. He looked into her face. She moved closer to him. Her face flushed.
“Oh, take off these... like these...” she pointed to the glasses.
Pierre took off his glasses, and his eyes, in addition to the general strangeness of the eyes of people who took off their glasses, looked fearfully questioning. He wanted to bend over her hand and kiss it; but with a quick and rough movement of her head she captured his lips and brought them together with hers. Her face struck Pierre with its changed, unpleasantly confused expression.
“Now it’s too late, it’s all over; “Yes, and I love her,” thought Pierre.
- Je vous aime! [I love you!] - he said, remembering what had to be said in these cases; but these words sounded so poor that he felt ashamed of himself.
A month and a half later, he was married and settled, as they said, the happy owner of a beautiful wife and millions, in the large St. Petersburg newly decorated house of the Bezukhyh counts.
The old Prince Nikolai Andreich Bolkonsky in December 1805 received a letter from Prince Vasily, informing him of his arrival with his son. (“I’m going on an inspection, and, of course, it’s not a 100-mile detour for me to visit you, dear benefactor,” he wrote, “and my Anatole is seeing me off and going to the army; and I hope that you will allow him to personally express to you the deep respect that he, imitating his father, has for you.")
“There’s no need to take Marie out: the suitors are coming to us themselves,” the little princess said carelessly when she heard about this.
Prince Nikolai Andreich winced and said nothing.
Two weeks after receiving the letter, in the evening, Prince Vasily’s people arrived ahead, and the next day he and his son arrived.
Old Bolkonsky always had a low opinion of the character of Prince Vasily, and even more so in Lately, when Prince Vasily in the new reigns under Paul and Alexander went far in rank and honor. Now, from the hints of the letter and the little princess, he understood what was the matter, and the low opinion of Prince Vasily turned in the soul of Prince Nikolai Andreich into a feeling of malevolent contempt. He snorted constantly when talking about him. On the day Prince Vasily arrived, Prince Nikolai Andreich was especially dissatisfied and out of sorts. Was it because he was out of sorts that Prince Vasily was coming, or because he was especially dissatisfied with the arrival of Prince Vasily because he was out of sorts; but he was not in a good mood, and Tikhon in the morning advised against the architect coming in with a report to the prince.
“Can you hear how he walks,” said Tikhon, drawing the architect’s attention to the sounds of the prince’s steps. - He steps on his entire heel - we already know...
However, as usual, at 9 o'clock the prince went out for a walk in his velvet fur coat with a sable collar and the same hat. It snowed the day before. The path along which Prince Nikolai Andreich walked to the greenhouse was cleared, traces of a broom were visible in the scattered snow, and a shovel was stuck into the loose mound of snow that ran on both sides of the path. The prince walked through the greenhouses, through the courtyards and buildings, frowning and silent.
- Is it possible to ride in a sleigh? - he asked the venerable man who accompanied him to the house, similar in face and manners to the owner and manager.
- The snow is deep, your Excellency. I already ordered it to be scattered according to the plan.
The prince bowed his head and walked up to the porch. “Thank you, Lord,” thought the manager, “a cloud has passed!”
“It was difficult to get through, your Excellency,” added the manager. - How did you hear, your Excellency, that the minister will come to your Excellency?
The prince turned to the manager and stared at him with frowning eyes.
- What? Minister? Which minister? Who ordered? – he spoke in his shrill, harsh voice. “They didn’t clear it for the princess, my daughter, but for the minister!” I have no ministers!
- Your Excellency, I thought...
- You thought! - the prince shouted, pronouncing the words more and more hastily and incoherently. – You thought... Robbers! scoundrels! “I will teach you to believe,” and, raising a stick, he swung it at Alpatych and would have hit him if the manager had not involuntarily deviated from the blow. - I thought so! Scoundrels! – he shouted hastily. But, despite the fact that Alpatych, himself frightened by his audacity to dodge the blow, approached the prince, obediently lowering his bald head in front of him, or maybe that’s why the prince continued to shout: “scoundrels! throw up the road! He didn’t pick up his stick another time and ran into the rooms.
Before dinner, the princess and M lle Bourienne, who knew that the prince was out of sorts, stood waiting for him: M lle Bourienne with a beaming face that said: “I don’t know anything, I’m the same as always,” and Princess Marya - pale, frightened, with downcast eyes. The hardest thing for Princess Marya was that she knew that in these cases she had to act like m lle Bourime, but she could not do it. It seemed to her: “If I act as if I don’t notice, he will think that I have no sympathy for him; I’ll make it look like I’m boring and out of sorts, he’ll say (as it happened) that I’m hanging my nose,” etc.
The prince looked at his daughter's frightened face and snorted.
“Dr... or stupid!...” he said.
“And that one is gone! They were already gossiping about her too,” he thought about the little princess, who was not in the dining room.
-Where is the princess? - he asked. - Hiding?...
“She’s not entirely healthy,” said Mlle Bourienne, smiling cheerfully, “she won’t come out.” This is so understandable in her situation.
- Hm! hmm! ugh! ugh! - said the prince and sat down at the table.
The plate did not seem clean to him; he pointed to the spot and threw it. Tikhon picked it up and handed it to the barman. The little princess was not unwell; but she was so insurmountably afraid of the prince that, having heard how out of sorts he was, she decided not to go out.
“I’m afraid for the child,” she said to m lle Bourienne, “God knows what can happen from fright.”
In general, the little princess lived in Bald Mountains constantly under a feeling of fear and antipathy towards the old prince, which she was not aware of, because fear was so dominant that she could not feel it. There was also antipathy on the part of the prince, but it was drowned out by contempt. The princess, having settled down in the Bald Mountains, especially fell in love with m lle Bourienne, spent her days with her, asked her to spend the night with her, and often talked to her about her father-in-law and judged him.
“Il nous arrive du monde, mon prince,” said M lle Bourienne, unrolling a white napkin with her pink hands. “Son excellence le prince Kouraguine avec son fils, a ce que j"ai entendu dire? [His Excellency Prince Kuragin with his son, how much have I heard?],” she said questioningly.
“Hm... this boy of excellence... I assigned him to the college,” the prince said offended. “Why son, I can’t understand.” Princess Lizaveta Karlovna and Princess Marya may know; I don’t know why he’s bringing this son here. I don't need it. – And he looked at his blushing daughter.
- Unwell, or what? Out of fear of the minister, as that idiot Alpatych said today.
- No, mon pere. [father.]
No matter how unsuccessfully M lle Bourienne found herself on the subject of conversation, she did not stop and chatted about greenhouses, about the beauty of a new blossoming flower, and the prince softened after the soup.
After dinner he went to his daughter-in-law. The little princess sat at a small table and chatted with Masha, the maid. She turned pale when she saw her father-in-law.
The little princess has changed a lot. She was more bad than good now. The cheeks sank, the lip rose upward, the eyes were drawn downwards.
“Yes, it’s some kind of heaviness,” she answered when the prince asked what she felt.
- Do you need anything?
- No, merci, mon pere. [Thank you, father.]
- Well, okay, okay.
He went out and walked to the waitress. Alpatych stood in the waiter's room with his head bowed.
– Is the road blocked?
- Zakidana, your Excellency; Forgive me, for God's sake, for one stupidity.
The prince interrupted him and laughed his unnatural laugh.
- Well, okay, okay.
He extended his hand, which Alpatych kissed, and walked into the office.
In the evening Prince Vasily arrived. He was met at the prespekt (that's the name of the avenue) by coachmen and waiters, who shouted and drove his carts and sleighs to the outbuilding along a road deliberately covered with snow.
Prince Vasily and Anatoly were given separate rooms.
Anatole sat, having taken off his doublet and resting his hands on his hips, in front of the table, at the corner of which he, smiling, fixed his beautiful large eyes intently and absent-mindedly. He looked upon his entire life as a continuous amusement that someone like that for some reason had undertaken to arrange for him. Now he looked at his trip to the evil old man and the rich ugly heiress in the same way. All this could have turned out, he supposed, very well and funny. Why not marry if she is very rich? It never interferes, Anatole thought.
He shaved, perfumed himself with care and panache, which had become his habit, and with his innate good-natured, victorious expression, holding his handsome head high, he entered his father’s room. Two valets were busy around Prince Vasily, dressing him; He himself looked around animatedly and nodded cheerfully to his son as he entered, as if he were saying: “So, that’s exactly what I need you for!”
- No, no joke, father, is she very ugly? A? – he asked, as if continuing a conversation he had had more than once during the trip.
- That's enough. Nonsense! The main thing is to try to be respectful and reasonable with the old prince.