The scarlet flower is such a fairy tale. Fairy tale Scarlet flower

The fairy tale "The Scarlet Flower" was written down by the famous Russian writer Sergei Timofeevich Aksakov (1791-1859). He heard it as a child during his illness.

The fairy tale "The Scarlet Flower" was written down by the famous Russian writer Sergei Timofeevich Aksakov (1791-1859). He heard it as a child during his illness. The writer tells about this in the story "The childhood of Bagrov the grandson":
“Insomnia interfered with my early recovery ... On the advice of my aunt, they called once the housekeeper Pelageya, who was a great craftswoman to tell fairy tales and whom even the late grandfather loved to listen to ... Pelageya came, middle-aged, but still white, ruddy ... chanting: "In a certain kingdom, in a certain state ..."
Needless to say, I did not fall asleep until the end of the tale, that, on the contrary, I did not sleep longer than usual?
The next day I listened to the story of "The Scarlet Flower" on another occasion. From that time, until my very recovery, Pelageya told me every day one of her many fairy tales. More than others I remember "Tsar Maiden", "Ivanushka the Fool", "Firebird" and "The Serpent of Gorynych".
In the last years of his life, while working on the book "Childhood of Bagrov the Grandson", Sergei Timofeevich remembered the housekeeper Pelageya, her wonderful fairy tale "The Scarlet Flower" and wrote it down from memory. It was first published in 1858 and has since become our favorite fairy tale.

The Scarlet Flower

The fairy tale of the housekeeper Pelageya

In a certain kingdom, in a certain state, there lived a rich merchant, an eminent person.
He had a lot of all kinds of wealth, expensive goods from overseas, pearls, precious stones, gold and silver treasury, and that merchant had three daughters, all three beauties are painted, and the smallest is 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, and 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 across the sea, to the distant lands, to the distant kingdom, to the thirtieth state, and he says to his dear daughters:
“My dear daughters, my good daughters, my daughters are handsome, I am going on my merchant business to the distant lands, to the distant kingdom, the thirtieth state, and you never know, how much time I drive - I don’t know, and I punish you to live honestly without me and quietly, and if you live without me honestly and peacefully, then I will bring you such gifts as you yourself want, and I give you three days to think, and then you will tell me what gifts you want. "
They thought for three days and three nights, and they came to their parent, and he began to ask them what kind of gifts they wanted. The eldest daughter bowed to her father's feet, and the first one says to him:
“Sovereign, you are my dear father! Do not bring me gold and silver brocade, nor black sable furs, nor Burmytsky pearls, but bring me a golden crown of gems, and so that there would be such a light from them, as from a full month, as from a red sun, and so that it would be from it is light on a dark night, as in the middle of a white day. "
The honest merchant became thoughtful and then said:
“Well, my dear daughter, good and handsome, I will bring you such a crown; I know a man across the sea who will get me such a crown; and there is one overseas queen, and it is hidden in a stone pantry, and that pantry is in a stone mountain, three sazhens deep, behind three iron doors, behind three German locks. The work will be considerable: yes, there is no opposite for my treasury. "
The middle daughter bowed at his feet and said:
“Sovereign, you are my dear father! Do not bring me gold and silver brocade, no black Siberian sable furs, no Burmytsky pearl necklaces, no jewel crown gold, but bring me a tuvalet made of oriental crystal, whole, immaculate, so that, looking into it, I can see all the beauty of heaven and so that, looking into him, I do not grow old and my maiden beauty would increase. "
The honest merchant pondered and, thinking whether it was not enough, how much time, said to her these words:
“Well, my dear daughter, good and good-looking, I will get you such a crystal tuvalet; and he also has it in the daughter of the king of Persia, a young queen, unspeakable beauty, indescribable and unspecified; and that tuvalot was buried in a high stone tower, and it stands on a stone mountain, the height of that mountain is three hundred fathoms, behind seven iron doors, behind seven German locks, and three thousand steps lead to that tower, and at each step there is a warrior Persian and day and night with a saber bald of damask, and the keys to those iron doors are worn by the princess on her belt. I know such a man across the sea, and he will get me such a tuvalo. Your job as a sister is harder, but there is no opposite for my treasury.
The younger daughter bowed at the feet of her father and says this word:
“Sovereign, you are my dear father! Do not bring me gold and silver brocade, no black Siberian sables, no Burmytsky necklace, no semi-precious crown, no crystal tovalet, but bring me a scarlet flower that would not be more beautiful in the world. "
The honest merchant pondered harder than ever. You never know, how much time he thought, I cannot say for certain; having thought it over, he kisses, caresses, plays with his younger daughter, his beloved, and says these words:
“Well, you gave me a job that was heavier than sisters: if you know what to look for, how not to find, but how to find what you yourself do not know? It's not tricky to find a scarlet flower, but how can I know that it is not more beautiful in this world? I will try, but don’t ask for a present ”.
And he sent his daughters, good, handsome, to their maidens' houses. He began to get ready for the journey, on the path, to the distant overseas lands. How long, how much he was going to, I don’t know and don’t know: soon the fairy tale tells itself, it’s not soon the work is done. He set off on the road.
Here is an honest merchant traveling on foreign sides overseas, across unprecedented kingdoms; he sells his goods at exorbitant prices, he buys other people's goods at three-fold prices, he exchanges goods for goods and a similar gangway, with the addition of silver and gold; he loads ships with gold treasury and sends them home. He found a cherished present 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. I also found a treasured gift for my middle daughter: a crystal tuvalet, and in it you can see all the beauty of heaven, and, looking into it, the maiden beauty does not age, but increases. He can not only find a cherished gift for his younger, beloved daughter - a scarlet flower, which would not be more beautiful in this world.
In the gardens of the tsar, the royal and the sultan's, he found many scarlet flowers of such beauty that he could neither say in a fairy tale, nor write with a pen; but no one gives him a guarantee that there is no more beautiful flower in this world; and he himself does not think so. Here he goes along the path - along the road with his faithful servants through the loose sands, through the dense forests, and out of nowhere, robbers, Busurmans, Turkish and Indian, flew at him, and, seeing an imminent disaster, the honest merchant throws his rich caravans with his servants faithful and flees into the dark forests. “Let them be devoured by fierce beasts, than to fall into the hands of robbers, filthy ones, and live out my life in captivity in captivity.”
He wanders through that dense, impassable, impassable forest, and what goes on, the road becomes better, as if the trees parted in front of him, and the bushes were often parting. Looks back. - he can't put his hands in, looks to the right - stumps and logs, the hare can't slip through, looks to the left - and even worse. The honest merchant marvels, thinks he can't figure out what a miracle is happening to him, but everything goes on and on: he has a long road under his feet. He walks 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: exactly around him everything has died out. Now the dark night has come; at least gouge out an eye around him, but under his feet it is light. Here he goes, read it, until midnight, and he began to see ahead like a glow, and he thought:
"It can be seen that the forest is on fire, so why should I go there to certain death, inevitable?"
He turned back - you can't go, right, left - you can't go; thrust forward - the road is torny. "Let me stand in one place - maybe the glow will go in the other direction, al away from me, al will go out altogether."
So he became, waiting; but it wasn’t there: the glow was coming towards him as if it was getting brighter around him; he thought, thought, and decided to go forward. There are no two deaths, and one cannot be avoided. The merchant crossed himself and went forward. The further it goes, the brighter it becomes, and it has become, read, like a white day, and you cannot hear the noise and crackling of a fireman.
At the end he goes out into a wide clearing and in the middle of that wide clearing there is a house not a house, not a palace, but a royal or royal palace all on fire, in silver and gold and in semi-precious stones, everything is burning and shining, but no fire can be seen; the sun is exactly red, it is hard for the eyes to look at it. All the windows in the palace are open, and a consonant music is playing in it, such as he has never heard.
He enters into a wide courtyard, wide open gates; the road has gone from white marble, and on the sides there are fountains of water, high, large and small. He enters the palace by a staircase covered with crimson cloth, with gilded railings; entered the upper room - there is no one; in the other, in the third - there is no one; in the fifth, tenth - there is no one; and the decoration is everywhere royal, unheard of and unprecedented: gold, silver, oriental crystal, ivory and mammoth bones.
The honest merchant marvels at such unspeakable wealth, but twice that there is no owner; not only the owner, and no servants; and the music plays incessantly; and he thought to himself at that time:
“Everything is fine, but there’s nothing to eat,” and a table rose before him, tidied up: in a bowl of gold and silver, there were sugar dishes, and overseas wines and honey drinks. He sat down at the table without hesitation, got drunk, ate his fill, because he had not eaten for a whole day; the food is such that it is impossible to say - just look that you swallow your tongue, and he, walking through the forests and sands, is very hungry; he got up from the table, and there was no one to bow to and to say thanks for the bread for the salt there was no one. Before he had time to get up and look around, the table with the food was gone, and the music was playing incessantly.
An honest merchant marvels at such a wonderful miracle and such a wondrous marvel, and he walks through the adorned chambers and admires, and he himself thinks: "It would be nice now to sleep and snore" - and sees that there is a carved bed in front of him, made of pure gold, on crystal legs, with a canopy of silver, with a fringe and pearl tassels; the down jacket on her like a mountain lies, down soft, swan.
The merchant marvels at such a new, new and wonderful miracle; he lies down on a high bed, pulls back the silver curtain and sees that it is thin and soft, like silk. It became dark in the ward, exactly at dusk, and the music seemed to play from afar, and he thought: "Oh, if only I could see my daughters in a dream!" - and fell asleep at the same minute.
The merchant wakes up, and the sun has already risen above the standing tree. The merchant woke up, and suddenly he could not come to his senses: all night he saw his daughters, kind, good and handsome, in a dream, and he saw his eldest daughters: the eldest and middle, that they were merry, cheerful, and one youngest daughter, beloved, was sad; that the eldest and middle daughters have rich suitors and that they are planning to marry without waiting for his father's blessing; the younger daughter, beloved, a beautiful written woman, does not want to hear about suitors until her dear father returns. And it became in his soul both joyful and not joyful.
He got up from the high bed, his dress had been prepared for him, and a fountain of water was beating into a crystal bowl; he dresses, washes, and does not marvel at the new, the miracle: tea and coffee are on the table, and with them a sugar snack. Having prayed to God, he ate, and he began to walk around the wards again, so that he could admire them again in the light of the red sun. Everything seemed to him better than yesterday. Now he sees through the open windows that the palace is surrounded by outlandish, fertile gardens and flowers are blooming with beauty indescribable. He wanted to stroll through those gardens.
He descends another staircase made of green marble, copper malachite, with gilded railings, and descends directly into the green gardens. He walks and admires: ripe, ruddy fruits hang on the trees, they themselves beg in their mouths, sometimes, looking at them, drooling; flowers bloom beautifully, Terry, fragrant, painted with all sorts of paints; unprecedented birds fly: as if on green and crimson velvet, laid out in gold and silver, they sing heavenly songs; fountains of water beat high, inda look at their height - the head is thrown back; and the spring keys run and rustle over the crystal decks.
An honest merchant walks, marvels; at all such curiosities his eyes fled, and he does not know what to look at and who to listen to. Whether he walked so much, how little time - no one knows: soon the fairy tale will tell itself, not soon the work will be done. And suddenly he sees, on a hillock of green, a flower blooms in the color of scarlet, a beauty unseen and unheard of, which is not to say in a fairy tale, or to write with a pen. The spirit of an honest merchant is engaged; he fits that flower; the smell from the flower runs smoothly throughout the garden; both hands and feet of the merchant shook, and he said in a joyful voice:
"Here is a scarlet flower, which is no more beautiful than the white world, which my younger daughter, beloved, asked me."
And, having said these words, he came up and picked a scarlet flower. At the same moment, without any clouds, lightning flashed and thunder struck, and the earth swayed underfoot - and it rose as if out of the ground, before the merchant the beast is not a beast, a person is not a person, but some kind of monster, terrible and furry , and he roared in a wild voice:
"What did you do? How dare you pick my favorite flower in my garden? I kept him more than the apple of my eye, and every day I was comforted, looking at him, and you deprived me of all the joy in my life. I am the owner of the palace and the garden, I received you as a dear guest and invited, fed you, gave you drink and put you to bed, and you somehow paid for my good? Know your bitter fate: you will die an untimely death for your guilt! .. "
And an uncountable number of wild voices from all sides screamed:
"You must die an untimely death!"
The honest merchant didn’t come to grips with fear from fear, he looked around and saw that from all sides, from under every tree and bush, from the water, from the ground, an unclean and innumerable force was crawling towards him, all the horrors are ugly. He fell to his knees in front of the big owner, a furry monster, and spoke in a plaintive voice:
“Oh, you that art, lord honest, beast of the forest, miracle of the sea: how to exalt you - I don’t know, I don’t know! Do not ruin my Christian soul for my innocent impudence, do not order me to be hacked and executed, order me to say a word. And I have three daughters, three beautiful daughters, good and handsome; I promised to bring them a present: the eldest daughter - a semi-precious crown, the middle daughter - a crystal tuvalet, and the youngest daughter - a scarlet flower, which would not be more beautiful in this world.
I found a present for the elder daughters, but I could not find a present for the younger daughter; I saw such a present in your garden - a scarlet flower, which is more beautiful in this world, and I thought that such a master, rich, rich, glorious and powerful, would not feel sorry for the scarlet flower that my younger daughter, beloved, asked for. I confess my guilt before your majesty. Forgive me, foolish and stupid, let me go to my dear daughters and give me a scarlet flower for the gift of my youngest, beloved daughter. I will pay you a gold treasury, whatever you demand. "
Laughter rang out through the forest, as if thunder had thundered, and the beast of the forest, the miracle of the sea, will say to the merchant:
“I don’t need your gold treasury: I have nowhere to put my own.
You have no mercy from me, and my faithful servants will tear you to pieces, to small pieces. There is one salvation for you.
I will let you go home unscathed, I will reward you with an uncountable treasury, I will give you a scarlet flower, if you give me an honest merchant's word and a record of your hand that you will send one of your daughters, good, handsome, in place of yourself; I will not hurt her, but she will live with me in honor and freedom, as you yourself lived in my palace. It has become boring for me to live alone, and I want to get a friend for myself. "
So the merchant fell on the damp earth, shedding burning tears; and he will look at the forest beast, at the miracle of the sea, and he will remember his daughters, good, handsome, and even more than that, he will scream with a heart-rending voice: the forest beast was painfully terrible, the miracle of the sea. For a long time an honest merchant is killed and sheds tears, and he will say in a plaintive voice:
“Mr. honest, beast of the forest, miracle of the sea! And what should I do if my daughters, good and handsome, do not want to go to you of their own free will? Can't they bind their hands and feet and send them forcibly? And which way to get to you? I have been traveling to you for exactly two years, and I don't know what places, along what paths. "
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, by her own will and desire; and if your daughters do not go of their own accord and desire, then come yourself, and I command you to execute you with cruel death. And how to come to me is not your problem; I will give you a ring from my hand: whoever puts it on the right little finger, he will be where he wants, in a single moment. I give you the term to stay at home for three days and three nights. "
The merchant thought, thought a strong thought and came up with this: "It is better for me to see my daughters, to give them my parental blessing, and if they do not 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." Falsity was not in his mind, and therefore he told what he had in mind. The beast of the forest, the miracle of the sea, already knew them; seeing his truth, he did not take the record from him, but took the gold ring from his hand and gave it to the honest merchant.
And only the honest merchant had time 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 entered the same gate with a faithful servant, and they brought the treasury and goods three times as much as before. There was a clamor and hubbub in the house, the daughters jumped up from behind their hoops, and they embroidered their silk fly with silver and gold; they began to kiss their father, to have mercy, and to call them various affectionate names, and the two older sisters are fawning over their younger sister. They see that the father is somehow unhappy and that there is a hidden sadness in his heart. The elder daughters began to question him if he had lost his great wealth; the younger daughter does not think about wealth, and she says to her parent:
“I do not need your riches; Wealth is a gain, but reveal your heartbreak to me. "
And then the honest merchant will say to his daughters, dear, good and useful:
“I have not lost my great wealth, but amassed treasury three or four times; but I have another sorrow, and I will tell you about it tomorrow, and today we will have fun. "
He ordered to bring the travel chests, bound with iron; he got his eldest daughter a golden crown, Arabian gold, does not burn on fire, does not rust in water, with semi-precious stones; pulls out a present for the middle daughter, a tuvalet with oriental crystal; takes out a present for his youngest daughter, a golden jug with a scarlet flower. The eldest daughters went crazy with joy, took their gifts to the tall chambers and there they made fun of them in the open space. Only the younger daughter, beloved, seeing the scarlet flower, shook all over and began to cry, as if something had stung her heart. As her father will speak to her, these are the speeches:
“Well, my dear daughter, beloved, do you not take your desired flower? More beautiful than it is not in this world. "
The smaller daughter took the scarlet flower evenly reluctantly, kisses her father's hands, and she herself cries with burning tears. Soon the eldest daughters came running, they tried their father's gifts and could not come to their senses for joy. Then they all sat down at the oak tables, at the tablecloths they had taken for sugar dishes and honey drinks; they began to eat, drink, chill, comfort themselves with gentle speeches.
In the evening the guests came in large numbers, and the merchant's house was full of dear guests, relatives, saints, hangers-on. Until midnight, the conversation continued, and such was the evening feast, which an honest merchant had never seen in his house, and where he came from, he could not guess, and everyone marveled at that: both gold and silver dishes and outlandish food, which never never seen in the house.
In the morning the merchant called his eldest daughter to him, told her everything that had happened to him, everything from word to word, and asked: does she want to save him from fierce death and go live with the forest beast, the miracle of the sea? The eldest daughter flatly refused and said:

The honest merchant called his other daughter, the middle one, told her everything that happened to him, everything from word to word, and asked if she wanted to save him from fierce death and go live with the forest beast, 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 younger daughter and began to tell her everything, everything from word to word, and before he could finish his speech, his younger daughter, beloved, knelt before him and said:
“Bless me, my dear sir, my dear father: I will go to the forest beast, the miracle of the sea, and I will begin to live with him. For me you got a scarlet flower, and I need to help you out. "
The honest merchant burst into tears, he hugged his youngest daughter, his beloved, and says these words to her:
“My dear, good, dear daughter, smaller and beloved, may my parental blessing be over you, that you are helping your father from fierce death and, of your own free will and desire, you go to a life opposite to the terrible forest beast, the miracle of the sea. You will live with him in the palace, in great wealth and freedom; but where is that palace - no one knows, does not know, and there is no way to it, neither for horse, nor for foot, nor for sprying beast, nor for migratory birds. We will not hear from you, no news, and even more so from us. And how can I live out my bitter age, I cannot see your face, I cannot hear your affectionate speeches? I part with you forever and ever, I live you exactly, I bury you in the ground. "
And the younger daughter, beloved, will say to her father:
“Don't cry, don't grieve, my dear sir; my life will be rich, free: the beast of the forest, the miracle of the sea, I will not be afraid, I will serve him with faith and righteousness, fulfill his master's will, or maybe he will take pity on me. Do not mourn me alive, as if dead: maybe God willing, I will return to you. "
The honest merchant cries, weeps, he is not comforted by such speeches.
The older sisters, the big one and the middle one, come running, they started crying all over the house: you see, it hurts them to feel sorry for their younger sister, their beloved; and the younger sister does not even seem sad, does not cry, does not groan, and the unknown is going on a long journey. And he takes with him a scarlet flower in a gilded jug.
The third day and the third night have passed, the time has come for the honest merchant to part, to part with his youngest daughter, beloved; he kisses, pardons her, pours hot tears on her, and puts his parent's blessing of the Cross on her. 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 she was gone at that very moment with all her belongings.
She found herself in the palace of the forest beast, the miracle of the sea, in high, stone chambers, on a bed of carved gold with crystal legs, on a swan's down jacket covered with gold damask, she did not leave the place, exactly she lived here for a whole century, lay flat rest and wake up.
A consonant music began to play, such as she had never heard of when she was born.
She got out of the downy bed and sees that all her belongings and a scarlet flower in a gilded jug are right there, laid out and placed on the tables of green copper malachite, and that in that ward there is a lot of goods and belongings of every kind, there is something to sit and lie on, there is what to dress up, what to look at. And there was one wall all mirrored, and the other gilded wall, and the third wall all silver, and the fourth wall of ivory and mammoth ivory, all stripped down by semi-precious yachons; and She thought: "This must be my bedchamber."
She wanted to inspect the whole palace, and she went to inspect all its high chambers, and she went for a long time, admiring all the wonders; one chamber was more beautiful than the other, and all the more beautiful than, as the honest merchant told her, her dear sir. She took her favorite scarlet flower from a gilded jug, she went down into the green gardens, and the birds sang their paradise songs to her, and the trees, bushes and flowers waved their tops and bowed evenly before her; fountains of water gushed higher and the springs rustled louder; and she found that high place, an anthill on which an honest merchant plucked a scarlet flower, which is not more beautiful in this world. And she took that scarlet flower out of a gilded jug and wanted to put it in its former place; but he himself flew out of her hands and grew to the old stalk and blossomed more beautifully than before.
She marveled at such a wonderful miracle, wondrous marvel, rejoiced at her scarlet, cherished flower and went back to her palace chambers; and in one of them there is a table set, 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 words of fire appeared on the white marble wall:
“I am not your master, but an obedient slave. You are my mistress, and everything that you wish, everything that comes to your mind, I will do with pleasure. "
She read the words of fire, and they disappeared from the white marble wall, as if they had never been there. And she fell to the idea of ​​writing a letter to her parent and giving him news about herself. Before she had time to think about it, she saw that there was paper in front of her, a golden pen with an inkwell. She writes a letter to her dear father and her beloved sisters:
“Do not cry for me, do not grieve, I live in a palace with a forest beast, a miracle of the sea, like a queen; I don't see him and I don't hear him, but he writes to me on the white marble wall with fiery words; and he knows everything that is in my mind, and at the same moment does 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 with a seal, the letter disappeared from her hands and from her eyes, as if it had not been there.
Music began to play more than ever, sugar dishes, honey drinks, all the dishes of red gold appeared on the table. She sat down at the table merrily, although she had never dined alone before; She ate, drank, cooled herself, amused herself with music. After dinner, having eaten, she lay down to sleep; the music began to play quieter and farther away - for the reason that she would not interfere with her sleep.
After sleep, she got up cheerfully and went again for a walk in the green gardens, because before lunchtime she did not have time to go around half of them, to look at all their wonders. All the trees, bushes and flowers bowed before her, and ripe fruits - pears, peaches and apples - went into her mouth by themselves. After walking for a long time, read until evening, she returned to her high chambers, and she saw: the table was laid, and on the table were sugar and honey drinks, and all excellent.
After supper, she entered that white marble chamber, where she read words of fire on the wall, and she sees again the same words of fire on the same wall:
"Is my mistress satisfied with her gardens and chambers, food and servants?"
And the young merchant daughter, a beautiful written woman, spoke in a joyful voice:
“Do not call me your mistress, but be you always my kind lord, gentle and merciful. I will never act out of your will. Thank you for all your treat. It is better to find your high chambers and your green gardens in this world: then how can I not be enough? I never saw such miracles when I was born. I will not come to my senses from such a diva, only I am 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 only you do not see or hear them, and all of them together with me take care of you day and night: we will not let the Venuti wind blow on you, we will not let a speck of dust settle ”.
And she went to rest in the bedchamber her young merchant daughter, a beautiful written woman, and saw: her hay girl, faithful and beloved, was standing by the bed, and she was a little alive with fear; and she rejoiced at her mistress, and kisses her white hands, hugs her brisk legs. The mistress was also glad of her, began to ask her about her father's father, about her elder sisters and about all her maiden servants; after that she began to tell herself what happened to her at that time; they did not sleep until the white dawn.
And so the young merchant daughter, a beautiful written woman, began to live and get on well. Every day, new, rich outfits are ready for her, and decorations are such that they have no price, neither say in a fairy tale, nor write with a pen; every day I have new, excellent treats of merriment: riding, walking with music in chariots without horses and harness through dark forests; and those forests in front of her parted and the road gave her wide, wide and smooth. And she began to be engaged in needlework, girls' needlework, to embroider the pants with silver and gold and to lower the fringes with frequent pearls; began to send gifts to my dear father, and gave the richest fly to her gentle master, and to that forest beast, the miracle of the sea; and she began to walk more often from day to day to the white marble hall, to speak affectionate speeches to her merciful master, and to read his answers and greetings on the wall with fiery words.
You never know, how much has passed that time: soon the fairy tale tells itself, not soon the work is done, - the merchant's young daughter, a beautiful written woman, 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 in chariots without horses, play music and carry out all her commands. And she loved her merciful master day by 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, wanted to have a conversation with him, without going to the white marble ward, without reading the words of fire.
She began to pray and ask him about that; yes, the forest beast, the miracle of the sea, does not soon agree to her request, fears to frighten her with his voice; she begged, she begged her gentle master, and he could not be opposite to her, and he wrote to her for the last time on the white marble wall with fiery words:
“Come today to the green garden, sit in your beloved gazebo, braided with leaves, branches, flowers, and say this:
"Talk to me, my faithful slave."
And a little later, a young merchant's daughter, a beautiful written woman, ran into the green gardens, entered her beloved gazebo, braided with leaves, branches, flowers, and sat down on a brocade bench; and she says breathlessly, her heart beats like a bird caught, she says these words:
“Do not be afraid, my lord, kind, gentle, to frighten me with your voice: after all your mercies I will not fear the roar of the beast; do not be afraid to talk to me. "
And she heard, exactly who sighed behind the pavilion, and a terrible voice, wild and loud, hoarse and hoarse, was heard, and even then he spoke in an undertone. At first, the young merchant's daughter, a beautiful written woman, shuddered, hearing the voice of the forest beast, the miracle of the sea, only with her fear she mastered the sight that she was frightened, did not show it, and soon his words, tender and friendly, clever and reasonable, she began to listen to and heard, and her heart felt joyful.
Since that time, since that time, conversations have begun among them, read it, all day long - in the green garden at the festivities, in the dark forests on the skates and in all the high chambers. Only a young merchant daughter, a beautiful written one, will ask:
"Are you here, my kind, beloved master?"
The forest beast, the miracle of the sea, answers:
"Here, my beautiful lady, is your faithful slave, unchanging friend."
And she is not afraid of his wild and terrible voice, and they will speak kindly that there is no end to them.
Little time has passed, how many time has passed: soon the fairy tale tells itself, not soon the work is done, - the young daughter of a merchant, a beautiful written woman, wanted to see with her own eyes the forest beast, the miracle of the sea, and she began to ask and pray for him. For a long time he did not agree to that, he was afraid to frighten her, and he was such a monster that he could neither say in a fairy tale, nor write with a pen; not only people, wild animals were always afraid of him and fled to their dens. And the beast of the forest speaks, the miracle of the sea, these are the words:
“Do not ask, do not beg me, my lovely lady, beloved beauty, to show you my disgusting face, my ugly body. You have become accustomed to my voice; we live with you in friendship, in harmony with each other, honor, we are not parting, and you love me for my unspeakable love for you, and when you see me, terrible and disgusting, you will hate me, unfortunate, you will drive me out of sight, and apart from you, I will die of longing. "
The young merchant's daughter, a beautiful written woman, did not listen to such speeches, and began to pray more than ever, swearing that no bogeyman in the world would be frightened and that she would not stop loving her merciful master, and said to him these words:
"If you are an old man - be my grandfather, if middle-class - be my uncle, if you are young - be my named brother, and as long as I live - be my Heart friend."
For a long, long time, the forest beast, a miracle of the sea, did not succumb to such words, but could not be opposite to the requests and tears of its beauty, and this is the word he says 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 at gray twilight, when the red sun sits behind the forest, and say: "Show me, faithful friend!" - and I will show you my disgusting face, my ugly body. And if it becomes unbearable for you to stay with me anymore, I do not 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 at the father’s dear and you will not hear anything about me ”.
She was not afraid, not frightened, the young merchant daughter, a beautiful written woman, strongly 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 descended behind the forest, she said: "Show me, my faithful friend!" - and it seemed to her from a distance a forest beast, a miracle of the sea: it passed only across the road and disappeared in the dense bushes; and the young merchant's daughter, a beautiful written woman, did not see the light, threw up her white hands, screamed in a heart-rending voice and fell on the road without memory. And the forest beast was terrible, the miracle of the sea: crooked hands, animal claws on the hands, horse legs, great camel humps in front and behind, all shaggy from top to bottom, boar tusks sticking out of the mouth, a crooked nose like a golden eagle, and the eyes were owl.
After lying down for a long time, little time, the young merchant's daughter, a beautiful written woman, remembered, and hears: someone is crying beside her, bursting with fiery tears and says in a pitiful voice:
"You ruined me, my beautiful beloved, I will never see your beautiful face anymore, you will not even want to hear me, and it has come to me to die an untimely death."
And she felt pitiful ashamed, and she mastered her great fear and her timid girlish heart, and she spoke in a firm voice:
“No, do not be afraid of anything, my lord is kind and gentle, I will not be afraid anymore of your terrible appearance, I will not be parted from you, I will not forget your favors; show yourself to me now in your present form; I just got scared for the first time. "
A forest beast appeared to her, a miracle of the sea, in its form terrible, opposite, ugly, only he did not dare to come close to her, no matter how much she called him; They walked until the dark night and conducted the same conversations, affectionate and sensible, and the merchant's young daughter, a beautiful written woman, did not sense any fear. The next day she saw a forest beast, a miracle of the sea, in the light of the red sun, and although at first, looking at it, she was frightened, but did not show it, and soon her fear completely passed away. Here they started conversations more than ever: day after day, read it, they didn’t part, at lunch and dinner we were saturated with sugar dishes, we cooled down with honey drinks, walked in green gardens, rode without horses through the dark forests.
And it took a lot of time: soon the fairy tale tells itself, it is not soon the work is done. Once, in a dream, a young merchant's daughter, a beautiful written woman, dreamed that her father was not well; and unremitting anguish attacked her, and a forest beast, a miracle of the sea, saw her in that melancholy and tears, and began to twirl violently and began to ask: why is she in melancholy, in tears? She told him her unkind dream and began to ask him for permission to see her 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 only I will tell you: if you do not return in exactly three days and three nights, then I will not be in this world, and I will die in the same 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 one hour before three days and three nights she would return to his high chambers. She said goodbye to her gentle and merciful master, put a gold ring on her right little finger, and found herself in the wide courtyard of an honest merchant, her father's father. She goes to the high porch of his stone chambers; a servant and a servant of the courtyard ran up to her, raised a noise and a cry; the kind sisters came running and, seeing her, marveled at the beauty of her maiden and her along with the royal, royal; the whites grabbed her by the arms and led her to the father's father; but father is not well. lay, unhealthy and unhappy, remembering her day and night, pouring out burning tears; and he did not remember for joy when he saw his daughter, dear, good, good-looking, smaller, beloved, and he marveled at her maiden beauty, her alongside the royal, royal.
For a long time they kissed, took mercy, consoled themselves with tender speeches. She told her dear father and her elders, dear sisters, about her life and being with the forest beast, the miracle of the sea, everything from word to word, she did not hide any crumbs. And the honest merchant rejoiced at her rich, royal, royal life, and marveled at how she was used to looking at her terrible master and not afraid of the forest beast, the miracle of the sea; he himself, remembering him, was trembling with a droshky. For the older sisters, hearing about the infinite riches of the younger sister and about her royal power over her master, as if over her slave, inda became envious.
The day passes like a single hour, the other day passes like a minute, and on the third day the older sisters began to persuade the younger sister not to toss and turn towards the forest beast, the miracle of the sea. “Let it freeze, there is dear to him ...” And the dear guest, the younger sister, got angry with the older sisters, and said to them these words:
"If I am my kind and gentle lord for all his mercies and hot love, unspeakable will pay him with death fiercely, then I will not be worth living in this world, and then I should be given to wild animals to be torn apart."
And her father, an honest merchant, praised her for such good speeches, and it was necessary that before the deadline in exactly an hour she would return to the forest beast, the miracle of the sea, a good daughter, appealing, lesser, beloved. And then 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 servants of the courtyard, did not know.
And when the real hour came, the young merchant's daughter, a beautiful written woman, began to ache and ache in her heart, something began to wash her away, and she looks every now and then at her father's, English, German watches - but all the same she will go to a distant way. And the sisters talk to her, ask about this, and delay her. However, her heart could not bear it; said goodbye to her younger daughter, beloved, beautiful written, with an honest merchant, my dear father, accepted a parental blessing from him, bade farewell to the older sisters, amiable, with the faithful servant, servants of the household, and, without waiting a single minute before the appointed hour, put on a gold ring on her right little finger and found herself in the white-stone palace, in the chambers of the tall forest beast, the miracle of the sea, and, marveling that he did not meet her, she cried out in a loud voice:
“Where are you, my good lord, my faithful friend? Why don't you meet me? I came back before the appointed time for a whole hour and a minute. "
There was no answer, no greeting, the silence was dead; in the green gardens the birds did not sing songs of paradise, the fountains of water did not beat and the springs did not rustle, the music in the high chambers did not play. The heart of the merchant's daughter, a beautiful writing, trembled, she smelled something unkind; she ran around the high chambers and green gardens, calling in the loud voice of her good master - there is nowhere no answer, no greetings, and no voice of obedience. She ran to the anthill, where her favorite scarlet flower was growing, and she sees that the forest animal, a miracle of the sea, lies on the hill, clutching the scarlet flower with its ugly paws. And it seemed to her that he was asleep, waiting for her, and now he was sleeping soundly.
A merchant's daughter, a beautiful writing, began to wake him up on the sly - he does not hear; began to wake him up stronger, grabbed him by the shaggy paw - and saw that the beast of the forest, a miracle of the sea, lifeless, lying dead ...
Her clear eyes dimmed, her brisk legs gave way, she fell to her knees, embraced her good master's head, an ugly and disgusting head with her white arms, and screamed in a heart-rending voice:
"You get up, wake up, my heartfelt Friend, I love you as the desired bridegroom! .."
And only such words she uttered, as lightning flashed from all sides, the earth shook from great thunder, a thunderous stone arrow struck at the anthill, and a young merchant daughter, a beautiful written woman, fell unconscious. How much, how little time she lay without memory - I do not know; only when she wakes up, she sees herself in a high chamber, white marble, she sits on a golden throne with precious stones, and embraces her a young prince, a handsome man, on his head with a royal crown, in gold-forged clothes; before him stands his father and his sisters, and a great retinue is kneeling around him, all dressed in gold and silver brocade. And a 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 deceased parent, the king of the glorious and mighty, stole me, still a minor, and with her satanic sorcery, unclean power, turned me into a terrible monster and imposed such a spell on me to live in such an ugly, disgusting and terrible form for everyone a person, for every creature of God, until there is a red maiden, no matter what kind and title she may be, and loves me in the form of a bogeyman and wishes to be my lawful wife, and then witchcraft will all end, and I will again become a young man and come in handy. And I lived as such a bogeyman and a scarecrow for exactly thirty years, and I got into my palace enchanted eleven red girls, you were the twelfth.
None of them loved me for my caresses and pleasures, for my kind soul. You alone fell in love with me, a disgusting and ugly monster, for my caresses and pleasures, for my good soul, for my unspeakable love for you, and for that you will be the wife of a glorious king, a queen in a mighty kingdom. "
Then everyone marveled at this, the retinue bowed down to the ground. Without hesitation - without doubt, without fear.
To store more than the apple of an eye is to protect, store something more than the eyes.
The handwritten record is a receipt.
Fly - here: wide towel.
Let’s go - we started.
Have tried - here: looked, tried on.
Branded tablecloth - a tablecloth woven with patterns.
Spicy - impetuous, fast.
Damask - silk colored fabric with patterns.
Ant - here: overgrown with grass (ant).
The hay girl is a servant.
Venuti - breathe, blow.
Seredovich is a middle-aged man.
The voice of obedience is the answering voice.

The main characters of the fairy tale "The Scarlet Flower" by STAksakova are the merchant's youngest daughter and an ugly monster living in solitude in remote places. The merchant was a rich man, and, getting ready for his next trip, he called his three daughters and asked them who to bring what gifts. The eldest daughter asked for a wonderful crown, which itself glows in the dark. The middle daughter wanted a magical toilet, in the mirror of which she would always look young and beautiful. And the youngest daughter asked for a scarlet flower, and one that is more beautiful than all flowers in the world.

The merchant wandered for a long time with his goods. Trade went briskly with him. I found gifts for both the eldest daughter and the middle one. But I couldn't find a scarlet flower.

On the way, trouble happened to him - robbers attacked the caravan, but the merchant managed to escape from them. Wandering through the dense forest, he came out to a wonderful palace, in which there was no one. There were many unusual things in that palace. As soon as the merchant thought about food, a table with exquisite dishes appeared in front of him, he wanted to sleep - and a golden bed with a luxurious bed appeared. One day the merchant was walking in a wonderful garden and saw a scarlet flower, just the one that the youngest daughter asked for. To celebrate, the merchant plucked a flower and immediately there was a terrible noise, a terrible monster appeared, which was angry with the merchant for the plucked flower and threatened him with death.

When the merchant explained for whom he had picked the flower, the monster demanded that one of his daughters voluntarily agree to live in his palace, otherwise the merchant could not escape death. So that the merchant could get home, the monster provided the merchant with a magic ring that carried the person wherever he wants.

And the merchant in an instant found himself in his home, with all his things and gifts. The eldest and middle daughters were delighted with their gifts and could not stop looking at them, and the youngest only cried, looking at the scarlet flower. The merchant had to tell his daughters about the condition of the monster, and the youngest of the sisters agreed to go to live in an unusual palace. She put a magic ring on her finger and disappeared.

She found herself in a wonderful palace and began to live in it as a full-fledged mistress. The owner of the palace fulfilled her every desire. The monster did not appear in the eyes of the girl, fearing to scare her with his appearance, and his speeches on one of the walls of the palace appeared in the form of inscriptions.

Over time, the girl wanted to communicate directly with the monster, and it gave in to her requests. At first, the girl got used to his terrible speech, and then she got used to his ugly appearance. And they became friends, talking to each other all day.

And once the merchant's daughter dreamed that her father was sick and she asked the monster to visit her native house, to see her father and sisters. The monster did not refuse, but, in turn, asked not to stay longer than three days, otherwise it would die of longing for the girl.

With the help of the magic ring, the youngest merchant's daughter found herself in her own home, where everyone was delighted with her. Everyone admired her rich clothes and expensive gifts. The sisters envied her and turned all the hands on the clock an hour ahead so that she would be late for the time of her return to the palace. When the girl returned to the monster, it was already lying lifeless. She cried and began to ask the monster to wake up, because she loves him like a groom. And a miracle happened - she found herself at a wedding feast, a handsome prince was sitting next to her, and her father and sisters were sitting at the same table. The prince explained to her that he was bewitched and turned into a monster, and only sincere love could disenchant him. They played a merry wedding and began to live happily.

This is the summary of the tale.

The main idea of ​​the fairy tale "The Scarlet Flower" is that true, sincere love can perform miracles, making people more beautiful. The tale teaches you to think before taking any action. The merchant thoughtlessly picked the scarlet flower and incurred the wrath of the monster. The tale "The Scarlet Flower" also teaches you to pay attention primarily to the soul and character of a person, and not to his external data.

In the fairy tale "The Scarlet Flower" I liked the main character, the merchant's youngest daughter. She without hesitation agreed to go to the palace to the monster in order to save her father from death. And living with the monster, she was able to discern in the ugly creature a kind, beautiful soul and sincerely fell in love with the owner of the palace, thereby destroying the witchcraft.

What proverbs are similar to the fairy tale "The Scarlet Flower"? "

Seven times measure cut once.
The envious dries up for someone else's happiness.
Love us black ones, and everyone will love red ones.

Fedoskino miniature

Vladimir Soloukhin in his essay "Aksakov places"

writes about the fairy tale "The Scarlet Flower":

“The main thing in her is kindness and love.

And what bad feelings:

greed, envy, selfishness -

do not triumph, and black evil is defeated.

How is it defeated? Love

Good,Gratitude.

These qualities live in the soul of a person,

they are the essence of the soul and its best motives.

They are that scarlet flower,

which is sown in the soul of every person,

it is only important that it sprouts and flourishes " .

The pages of the fairy tale "The Scarlet Flower", familiar to us from childhood, are also connected with the Aksakov family. We'll just flip through some of them.

It is difficult for a person to experience an old age. It is difficult, feeling aching bones, to get up in the morning, overcoming cutting pains in the abdomen or back and listening to the beat of a worn out heart. It is difficult to leave the house, slowly going down the slippery and steep stairs, which before did not seem to be slippery or steep ... It is difficult to expect death, knowing that it will come, unwanted, but often called in moments of bodily suffering. Most readers do not know that S.T.Aksakov wrote his main works, the famous trilogy "The childhood of Bagrov the grandson," in the midst of such senile, physical and mental labors, overcoming pain, fatigue, blindness and constantly awaiting the near end.

In the fall of 1854, the middle son, Grigory, came from St. Petersburg to Abramtsevo near Moscow, where he lived almost without a break, and brought his five-year-old daughter Olenka with him. It seems that it was then that Sergei Timofeevich felt healthy and young for the last time. Joyful, Olenka ran around the house and did not stop in any way: "Grandfather, you promised to go to the river! .. Grandfather, where does the forest Bear live? .. Grandfather, tell a story! .."

And he began to tell her about his childhood games, about old books that he once avidly read in distant Ufa, about his winter and summer trips from city to village and back, about fishing, which he had become interested in almost from infancy, about butterflies, which he caught and collected ... But there was no fairy tale. After staying, Olenka left. Winter has come. On December 26, 1854, she turned six years old, and her grandfather sent her a gift: a poem - completely childish and ingenious in its simplicity:

If God gives strength, About little birds,

Exactly one year later About the nest of testicles,

Ole, dear granddaughter, beautiful butterflies,

Grandfather will send playful moths,

A small book About the forest Bear,

And she will tell you about the white mushroom -

About the flowers of the fields, Olya will become a book ...

His grandfather fulfilled his promise, although not a year later, but a little later, almost before his death. By that time, he was very ill and almost blind, so he did not write himself, but dictated his memories to his daughters.

The book came out with a dedication: “ To my granddaughter Olga Grigorievna Aksakova. "

3. The history of the creation of the fairy tale "The Scarlet Flower"

An appendix to the story, but a completely independent work, is "The Scarlet Flower" - one of the kindest and wisest fairy tales. "The Tale of Pelageya's Housekeeper" - appears in the subtitle.

Once before going to bed, “village Scheherazada,” the housekeeper Pelageya, came to the little boy Seryozha Aksakov, “prayed to God, went to the handle, sighed several times, repeating her habit every time:“ Lord, have mercy on us sinners, ”sat down by the stove, flushed with one hand and began to speak in a slightly singsong voice:

“In a certain kingdom, in a certain state, there lived a rich merchant, an eminent person. He had a lot of all kinds of wealth, expensive goods from overseas, pearls, precious stones, gold and silver treasury; and that merchant had three daughters, all three beauties are painted, and the youngest is the best ... "

Who was this Pelageya? A peasant serf. In her youth, during the Pugachev rebellion with her father, she fled from the cruel treatment of her landlord Alakayev from Orenburg to Astrakhan. She returned to her native place only twenty years after the death of the master. Pelageya was the housekeeper in the Aksakovs' house. In the old days, the housekeeper was in charge of all the food supplies in the house, she kept the keys to all the rooms, and she was also in charge of the domestic servant.

Pelageya knew many fairy tales and was an expert at telling them. Little Seryozha Aksakov often listened to her stories in childhood. Subsequently, the writer, working on the book "Childhood of Bagrov the Grandson", recalled the housekeeper Pelageya, her wonderful fairy tales and wrote "The Scarlet Flower".

Aksakov himself wrote this to his son Ivan: “I am now busy with an episode in my book: I am writing a fairy tale that I knew by heart in childhood and told everyone for amusement with all the jokes of the storyteller Pelageya. Of course, I completely forgot about her; but now, rummaging through the storeroom of childhood memories, I found in a lot of different trash a handful of fragments of this fairy tale, and as it becomes part of Grandfather's Tales, I began to restore this fairy tale. "

Baranova E.N.

Illustrations by Nadezhda Komarova

Aksakov Sergey Timofeevich(1791-1859) - famous Russian writer.
A scion of an old noble family, Aksakov undoubtedly had vivid impressions in his childhood of a proud family consciousness of this gentility. The hero of his autobiography, grandfather Stepan Mikhailovich, dreamed of his grandson precisely as a successor " famous family of Shimon"- the fabulous Varangian, the nephew of the Norwegian king, who left for Russia in 1027. Sergei Timofeevich - son Timofey Stepanovich Aksakov(1759 - 1832) and Maria Nikolaevna Zubova, daughter of the assistant to the Orenburg governor, was born in Ufa September 20, 1791. Love for nature- completely alien to his mother, through and through a city dweller - the future writer inherited from his father. In the initial development of his personality, everything fades into the background before the influence of the steppe nature, with which the first awakening of his observation, his first sense of life, his early hobbies are inextricably linked. Along with nature, peasant life invaded the boy's awakening thought. Peasant labor aroused in him not only compassion, but also respect; the courtyards had their own not only legally, but also mentally. The female half of the courtyard, as always, the keeper of folk poetry, introduced the boy to songs, fairy tales, and Christmas games. AND " The Scarlet Flower", written down many years later from memory about the story of the housekeeper Pelageya, is an accidental fragment of that vast world of folk poetry, into which the boy was introduced to the courtyard, the maiden, the village.
The young man Aksakov studied at Kazan gymnasium then in university... In 1807 he moved to Moscow, then to St. Petersburg, worked as a translator for the commission for drafting laws.

The history of the creation of the fairy tale "The Scarlet Flower"

An appendix to the story, but a completely independent work, is "The Scarlet Flower" - one of the kindest and wisest fairy tales. "The Tale of Pelageya's Housekeeper" - appears in the subtitle.

Once before going to bed, the "village Scheherazada", the housekeeper Pelageya, came to the little boy Seryozha Aksakov, "prayed to God, went to the handle, sighed several times, repeating her habit every time:" Lord, have mercy on us sinners ", sat down by the stove, flushed with one hand and began to speak in a slightly singsong voice:

“In a certain kingdom, in a certain state, there lived a rich merchant, an eminent person. He had a lot of all kinds of wealth, expensive goods from overseas, pearls, precious stones, gold and silver treasury; and that merchant had three daughters, all three beauties are painted, and the smallest is the best ... ”Who was this Pelageya? A peasant serf. In her youth, during the Pugachev rebellion with her father, she fled from the cruel treatment of her landlord Alakayev from Orenburg to Astrakhan. She returned to her native place only twenty years after the death of the master. Pelageya was the housekeeper in the Aksakovs' house. In the old days, the housekeeper was in charge of all the food supplies in the house, she kept the keys to all the rooms, and she was also in charge of the domestic servant.

Pelageya knew many fairy tales and was an expert at telling them. Little Seryozha Aksakov often listened to her stories in childhood. Subsequently, the writer, while working on the book "Childhood of Bagrov the Grandson", recalled the housekeeper Pelageya, her wonderful fairy tales and wrote "The Scarlet Flower".

Aksakov himself wrote to his son Ivan: “I am now busy with an episode in my book: I am writing a fairy tale, which I knew by heart in childhood and told everyone for amusement with all the jokes of the storyteller Pelageya. Of course, I completely forgot about her; but now, rummaging through the storeroom of childhood memories, I found in a lot of different junk a handful of fragments of this fairy tale, and as it becomes part of Grandfather's Tales, I began to restore this fairy tale. "

Vladimir Soloukhin in his essay “Aksakov's Places” writes about the fairy tale “The Scarlet Flower”: “The main thing in it is kindness and love. And the fact that bad feelings: greed, envy, selfishness - do not triumph, and the black evil is defeated. How is it defeated? Love, Kindness, Gratitude. These qualities live in the human soul, they are the essence of the soul and its best motives. They are that scarlet flower that is sown in the soul of every person, it is only important that it sprouts and blooms. "

Current page: 1 (the book has 2 pages in total) [available passage for reading: 1 pages]

Sergey Timofeevich Aksakov
The Scarlet Flower
The fairy tale of the housekeeper Pelageya

In a certain kingdom, in a certain state, there lived a rich merchant, an eminent person. 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 beauties in writing, and the youngest is better than all; 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, and 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 across the sea, to the distant lands, to the distant kingdom, to the thirtieth state, and he says to his dear daughters: “My dear daughters, my good daughters, my good daughters, I am going on my merchant affairs beyond the 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 without me honestly and peacefully; and if you live without me honestly and peacefully, I will bring you such gifts as you yourself want, and I give you three days to think, and then you will tell me what gifts you want. " They thought for three days and three nights, and they came to their parent, and he began to ask them what kind of gifts they wanted. The eldest daughter bowed to her father at the feet, and the first one says to him:

“Sovereign, you are my dear father! Do not bring me gold and silver brocade, neither black sable furs, nor Burmytsky pearls, but bring me a golden crown of gems of stone, and so that there would be such a light from them, as from a full month, as from a red sun, and so that it they are light on a dark night, as in the middle of a white day. " The honest merchant pondered and said later: “Well, my dear daughter, good and handsome: I will bring you such a crown; I know that there is such a man across the sea who will get me such a crown; and there is one of the overseas princes, and it is hidden in a stone pantry, and that pantry is in a stone mountain, three sazhens deep, behind three iron doors, behind three German locks. The work will be considerable: yes, there is no opposite for my treasury. " The middle daughter bowed at his feet and said: “Sir, you are my dear father! Do not bring me gold and silver brocade, no black Siberian sable furs, no Burmytsky pearl necklaces, no jewel crown gold, but bring me a tuvalet made of oriental crystal, whole, immaculate, so that, looking into it, I can see all the beauty of heaven and so that, looking into him, I do not grow old and my maiden beauty would increase. " The honest merchant pondered and, thinking whether it was not enough, how much time, said to her these words: “Well, my dear daughter, good and useful, I will get you such a crystal tovalet; and he also has it in the daughter of the king of Persia, a young queen, unspeakable, indescribable and unspeakable beauty: and that tuvalot is buried in a stone tower, high, and he stands on a stone mountain, the height of that mountain is three hundred fathoms, behind seven iron doors, for a family with German locks, and three thousand steps lead to that tower, and at each step there is a Persian warrior, day and night, with a damask saber, and the keys to those iron doors are worn by the princess at her belt. I know that such a man is beyond the sea, and he will get me such a tuvalet. Your job as a sister is harder: yes, there is no opposite for my treasury. The younger daughter bowed at her father's feet and said this is the word: “Sovereign, you are my dear father! Do not bring me gold and silver brocade, no black Siberian sables, no Burmytsky necklace, no semi-precious crown, no crystal tovalet, but bring me a scarlet flower that would not be more beautiful in the world. " The honest merchant pondered harder than ever. You never know, how much time he thought, I cannot say for certain; Thinking about it, he kisses, caresses, gags his beloved youngest daughter and says these words: “Well, you asked me a job harder than your sisters: if you know what to look for, how not to find, but how to find what you yourself do not know? It's not tricky to find the scarlet flower, but how can I know that it is not more beautiful in this world? I will try, but don’t ask for a present ”. And he sent his daughters, good ones, good-looking, to their maidens' houses. He began to get ready for the journey, on the path, to the distant overseas lands. How long, how much he was going to, I don’t know and don’t know: soon the fairy tale tells itself, it’s not soon the work is done. He set off on the road. Here is an honest merchant traveling on foreign sides, overseas, across unseen kingdoms; he sells his goods at exorbitant prices, buys other people's goods at an exorbitant price; he exchanges commodity for commodity, and a similar one, with the addition of silver and gold; he loads ships with gold treasury and sends them home. He found a cherished present 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. I also found a treasured gift for my middle daughter: a crystal tuvalet, and in it you can see all the beauty of heaven, and, looking into it, the maiden beauty does not age, but increases. He cannot only find a cherished present for his little beloved daughter, a scarlet flower, which would not be more beautiful in the world. In the gardens of the tsar, the royal and the sultan's, he found many scarlet flowers of such beauty that he could neither say in a fairy tale, nor write with a pen; but no one gives him a guarantee that there is no more beautiful flower in this world; and he himself does not think so. Here he is traveling the way, along the road, with his faithful servants, through the loose sands, through the dense forests, and out of nowhere robbers, Busurmans, Turkish and Indian non-Christians, pounced on him; and, seeing the inevitable disaster, the honest merchant throws his rich caravans with his faithful servant and runs into the dark forests. “Let them be devoured by fierce beasts, than to fall into the hands of robbers, filthy ones, and live out my life in captivity, in captivity.” He wanders through that dense, impassable, impassable forest, and what goes on, the road becomes better, as if the trees parted in front of him, and the bushes were often parting. Looks back - p

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