maria morevna

7/28/2019 Maria Morevna

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Maria Morevna

Once upon a time there was Tsar and Tsarina who riled one of the Russian

kingdom and had four beautiful children. They were blessed by one son Ivan and

tree daughters Maria, Olga, and Anna. The time passed, the Tsar grew old and got

more and more sick. Laying on his deathbed he instructed his elder son Ivan to take

a good care of his three younger sisters. The old Tsar died and Ivan inherited his

kingdom and became a fair and an honest ruler whom his people were admiring.

One beautiful sunny day, the new Tsar Ivan was walking with his sisters in a

royal garden. Suddenly a black cloud appeared covering the entire sky out of

nowhere. As soon as it happened, Ivan instructed his sisters to hide inside of the

palace for safety. As soon as they all stepped inside the palace lighting flashed

across the blue sky, thunder rattled the land, and a heavy rain fell upon the Ivans

kingdom. Suddenly a falcon appeared out of nowhere and as soon as it landed the

bird turned into a handsome young man. He saw the Ivans eldest sister Maria from

the air and fell in love with this lovely maid. The handsome stranger asked Ivans

permission to merry his sister. Maria accepted his proposal and Ivan blessed them

both. They had a beautiful wedding and shortly after the new-weds moved to the

falcons land. About one year later, Ivan, Olga and Anna were walking through the

garden again. Just as it did happen the previous year a storm appeared out of

nowhere and an eagle appeared in the sky. As soon as it landed it turned into a

handsome young Tsarevich. He saw Ivans second eldest sister Olga and fell in love

with this beautiful princess. He asked Ivan for his permission to marry Olga and was

approved by both the tsar Ivan and by the princess Olga herself. The new-weds then


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moved to the eagles kingdom. And shortly after, a black raven showed up in the sky

above the tsar Ivans kingdom. As soon as the bird landed it turned into a handsome

young prince who fell in love with the princess Anna. The stranger did not hesitate to

ask for Ivans blessings to marry his youngest sister. And as soon as they got

married, Anna moved to her husbands kingdom. Shortly after, the tsar Ivan heard

some news that his kingdom is about to be attacked by an unknown enemy. The

brave young man did not wait for the enemy army to approach his kingdom. Instead

he gathered his own army and decided to face the enemy first.

He mounted his horse and rode off. He rode up to a field where he saw the

great army of countless soldiers. That countless army was led by Marya Morevna,

who currently was taking a rest in her tent near the forest. Ivan decided to meet

Marya face-to-face trying to explain that he came with peace and was not interested

to start a war. The tsarina was impressed by the courage of this brave man and

invited him to stay in her tent for supper. Soon after that both rulers realized that

they fell in love with each other and set a date for a wedding in Marya's kingdom. For

years they lived in harmony and love.

One day, Marya told her husband Ivan that she had to go to a battle with an

enemy who is threatening her authority. Before she took off with her army, Marya

provided Ivan with the instruction on how to take care of her kingdom. She also said,

Ivan, just remember one thing that is very important: do not enter the darkest

chamber under the ground. Shortly after, tsarina Marya left, Ivan started missing

her and did not know how to occupy his thoughts. He started wandering around the

kingdom until he found a mysterious chamber under the ground with a heavy oak


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door. Ivan opened that door and saw the dark chamber with a big bonny man being

braced to the wall with heavy chains and iron locks.

The giant cried to Ivan that he had no food nor drink in ten years. The kind

and naive Ivan felt sorry for that man and brought a whole bucket of water for him,

which the giant drank in one gulp. He asked for two additional buckets and as soon

as he finished the last one he stood up and broke all of his chains. It was no ordinary

man, it was the Koschei the Deathless. Koschei told Ivan that he would never see

his wife again and like a blizzard flew out of the open window. Koschei flew across

the land and as soon as he spotted Marya who was returning home from the battle,

grabbed her and carried away to his kingdom. Ivan was depressed and devastated

over the loss of his beloved Marya. But soon he realized that his tears will not help

Marya to escape from the Koscheis captivity. He started packing up for a long

journey since he was determined to rescue his wife.

He rode on his horse for three days until he saw a beautiful castle in front of

him. This castle belonged to his eldest sister Maria and her husband. Maria and

prince falcon were overjoyed to have Ivan as their guest. Ivan told them the whole

story , thanked them for their warm welcome and moved on. Before he departed,

young tsar left his magic silver spoon with them so they would know the exact time

when Ivan is in trouble. He rode his horse for days until another magnificent castle

grew in front of him. This castle was a house of his second eldest sister Olga and

her husband Eagle, who was very delighted to see Ivan as their guest. However,

Ivan could not stay long since he was on a mission. He thanked his sister and his

brother-in-law and jump on the back of his horse. Before he took off, young tsar left


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his magic silver fork with them so they would know too the exact time when Ivan is in

trouble.

After three more days Ivan came upon another beautiful castle. This beautiful

kingdom was the one where his youngest sister Anna and her husband Raven lived

in harmony and piece. Anna was very happy to see her brother again and wanted

him to stay longer. But Ivan could not stay long. He left his silver tobacco box that

had a magic power to notify others when Ivan is in trouble. The tsar Ivan traveled for

days before he reached the dark kingdom of Koschei the Deathless. Ivan bravely

walked inside of his palace and found Marya Morevna in one of the rooms. She

warned Ivan that Koschei should be back any minute. Ivan and Marya could not

have lost a single second. They jumped on Ivans horse and rode off the dark

kingdom.

After Koschei returned back to his palace and found that Marya was missing,

he galloped after them in a fury. He caught up with them, grabbed Marya, sliced Ivan

into many small pieces, and put those into an oak barrel, which was sealed and

thrown into the depth of the blue sea. At the exact moment when those things were

happening, the silver spoon, the fork, and the tobacco box all turned black. The

brothers-in-law immediately realized that Ivan is in trouble and needs their help. The

eagle flew to the sea, spotted the barrel and carried it to the shore. The falcon flew

off to obtain the living water and the raven flew to get the dead water. When all three

Ivans brothers-in-law gathered together on the shore, they managed to broke the

barrel and put the Ivan's body back together piece by piece. The raven poured the

dead water on Ivans body pieces and they all joined together. Then the falcon


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poured the living water on the body and Ivan came back to life. Ivan thanked his

brothers-in-law for saving him and walked right back to Koschei's palace. Next time

when Koschei went for a walk, Ivan snuck inside and instructed Marya to find out

where Koschei obtained his magical superfast horses. When Koschei , Marya found

out that he got the horses from Baba Yaga who lived on the other side of the Fire

stream. The only way to cross that stream though is to use Koscheis magic scarf.

When Koschei fell asleep, Marya took his magic scarf and secretly handled it to her

husband Ivan and explained how to use it and where to get the magical horses.

Ivan thanked his wife and soon enough he was on the shore of Fire stream.

The young man tossed the magic scarf up in the air and a crystal bridge grew right in

front of his eyes. Ivan crossed the bridge safely, but before meeting Baba Yaga, he

felt hungry and was looking for a quick snack. He came upon a mother bird whose

baby fell of the nest. He thought of having it for a snack, but the mother bird cried to

him, Please do not harm my boy, Ivan. You may find us very useful in the future.

Ivan put the baby bird back to its nest and went on. Next, Ivan saw a beehive and

thought, What a great luck goes right into my hands: a beehive full of sweet honey.

But the queen bee asked him not to touch its honey, Maybe you will find me very

useful soon, Ivan. Not having a single dry piece of bread for three days, Ivan was

exhausted and starving. Not that far from him, he spotted a mother bear and a bear

cub. The young hungry man wanted to fire his arrow and kill the cub for a meal but

the mother bear begged him, Ivan, do not harm my cub. Who knows, maybe I will

serve you one day. Ivan felt sorry killing the bear cub and kept walking straight to

Baba Yagas hut. The brave Ivan walked inside the Baba Yagas hut and introduced


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himself. He asked her to hire him as a servant. She told him that he would tend her

stables and if even one horse escaped she would cut Ivans head off and put it on

her fence next to many others. However, if Ivan manages to do his job well for three

days, Baba Yaga would reward him in the end. The old witch let Ivan eat, drink and

sleep, but he must start his work in the morning. In the morning before waking Ivan

up, the wicked old woman told warned all of her horses to run away from Ivan once

they got in the meadow.

As soon as Ivan woke up, he started his work as instructed by Baba Yaga.

After they arrived to the meadow, all the horses ran off in the opposite directions

leaving Ivan on his own. Then the same birds that Ivan spared swooped out of the

sky forcing all the horses back to their stables. Baba Yaga was angry and

disappointed with her horses. She asked them why they didnt heed her instructions.

They told her that they had no other choice because the birds would have plucked

their eyes out. She instructed them next time to scatter into the deepness of the

forest. Next morning, the horses ran in the opposite directions into the depth of the

forest. The same mother bear, her cub and a whole lot of other bears successfully

chased the horses back to their stables. Baba Yaga was once again angry at her

horses since they were back in their stables in the morning. This time she told them

to hide in the blue sea once Ivan took them out.

Next morning Ivan again took the horses out and they ran off into the blue

sea just as their owner told them. Then a swarm of bees flew at the horses that were

standing in the sea and stung them until each and every one of them safely returned

home. The queen bee flew to Ivan and told him to go back to Baba Yaga's house


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and hide from her in the stables. The bee also instructed him to find a mangy looking

colt and to make his way out Baba Yagas residence at night. Ivan did as he was told

and rode off on the ugly colt towards the River of Fire. He reached the River of Fire,

tossed his magic scarf in the air and crossed the crystal bridge that appeared from

out of nowhere. The next morning Baba Yaga found out that Ivan disappeared with

one of her colts and she rode after him. When she reached to the River of Fire she

failed to cross it and fell right in. As soon as they left the Baba Yagas land, Ivans

ugly looking colt turned into a strong and beautiful horse. Once the young man

reached the palace of Koschei he found Marya Morevna and they both rode off.

Soon Koschei found out from one of his magic horses that Ivan had come back and

took Marya. Furious, Koschei immediately rode after them. When Koschei finely

managed to catch up with a couple, Ivans horse struck Koschei and killed him .

Marya mounted Koschei's horse and they proceeded on their safe journey back

home. On the way they stopped to feast and rest at each of three brothers-in-laws

castles.

maria morevna

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