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Author
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Comment
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judithhq
Unregistered User
(3/25/02 7:13:06 am)
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baba yaga
Hello all. I haven't visited this site in a long time and love immersing myself in the fairy tale mind. I am looking for the version of the baba yaga story where the girl ties a ribbon around a birch, feeds rolls to the animals and oils the fence. In this version (it was the first fairy tale I read as a child) Vasalisa gets magical gifts for these acts, one being a comb she throws behind her as she is chased by Baba Yaga- does anyone know where I can find this version? The comb turns into a forest, I believe. Can anyone recommend their favorite versions of this tale and where to find them?
Judith Berger
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Jane Yolen
Unregistered User
(3/25/02 11:27:34 am)
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answer
You are thinking of "Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Beautiful." There is a version in the Afanasev collection of RUSSIAN FOLK TALES (Pantheon) I am pretty sure. No time to check right now.
Jane
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cloudshaper
Registered User
(3/27/02 4:44:51 pm)
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Re: baba yaga
In the Vasalisa (and Vassilissa) stories (at least the versions I know of), Baba Yaga lets her go because of the blessing of her dead mother and the fact that she does the right thing, and isn't really "evil", more like a wise woman who "tests" mortals.
There is a version of this in Jane's book "Favorite Folktales from around the World".
The one you are thinking of is "Baba Yaga and Lubachka" or just "Baba Yaga and the Kind Girl", which I think is the most common Baba Yaga tale. She's definitely the "evil old witch" in that story! The girl escapes due to kindness she shows to all of Baba Yaga's servants, who in turn give her gifts to help her escape and hinder Baba Yaga. I remember that one well because of the dreams I had the night I first heard it as a child, Baba Yaga with her iron teeth coming for me in her flying morter and pestle!
There is a version of this one here on SurLaLune!
Baba Yaga
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judithwq
Registered User
(3/27/02 5:37:42 pm)
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baba yaga
Cloudshaper-Thanks a lot. I re-read the tale right here and it is indeed the one I read as a child. It was the first fairy tale I ever read, and the one that made me long for the forest, and made me forever think differently about combs, rolls, towels and birch trees.
Judith
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