Thursday, March 6, 2008

Baba Yaga

The Baba Yaga is a Russian fairytale derived from the American Cinderella story. As a typical fairytale the ending is very unlike any other because there’s usually an evil step mother who is jealous of their husbands first born child, but when it comes to the ending usually the step mother is put to jail or moves away to never been seen again.
There was a young girl who’s step mother told her to go to her step mother’s sisters house and ask for a needle and thread, but the girl was smart enough to go to her real aunt’s and ask for advice. Her aunt tells her..

“There is a birch tree there, niece, which would hit you in the eye -- you must tie a ribbon round it; there are doors which would creak and bang -- you must pour oil on their hinges; there are dogs which would tear you in pieces -- you must throw them these rolls; there is a cat which would scratch your eyes out -- you must give it a piece of bacon."

The girl listens to the advice and when she goes into her step aunt’s house, she talks to a cat who gives her advice how to leave. When she does this, the aunt finds out and goes on a hunt for her. The girl listened to the advice that her aunt had given her and did everything she was told to.
When Baba Yaga confronts the dogs to find the girl the dog says, "Long as we've served you, you've never so much as pitched us a burnt crust; but she gave us rolls to eat”, and so on with the others.
The girl then goes home and tells her father how her step mother set her up to try and kill her with Baba Yaga, but the father becomes very wroth with his wife and shoots her.

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