Feodor Rojankovsky

Tale Summary Once upon a time, an old man and his wife died, leaving their daughter Alionushka and her younger brother, Ivanushka, all alone in the world. The girl set out looking for work with her brother in tow, but all along the way he was thirsty. Ivanushka saw a...

Tale Summary There was once a boy named Klimka, whose parents decided he should be apprenticed to a master thief. Klimka learned how to seal so well that the only thing he did not know how to do was steal eggs from a magpie’s nest. The master thief told him...

Tale Summary There was once a man who was made miserable by his wife, who was constantly nagging him and who felt he was always wrong. If he said one thing, she would say or do the other. One day, they were out picking green raspberries (they were picking them...

Tale Summary There was once a Sparrow and a Mouse who both took grain from the same granary, each living off of the food inside. When there wasn't much left, the Mouse chewed a hole in the floor and hid the remaining grain for himself. The Sparrow angrily went to...

Tale Summary A Crane and a Heron lived in a swamp, each having nests on opposite ends. One day, tired of living alone, the Crane decided to propose to Miss Heron. She turned him down, saying his legs were spindly and his flying poor. He went home dejected, but she...

Tale Summary One day an old man was out checking his traps, when he came upon buried treasure. He didn’t know what to do, because his wife was a terrible blabbermouth, and he knew that he would be in trouble with the barin (he found the treasure on his property)...

Tale Summary There was once a girl named Masha, who one day went with her friends for a swim and left her smock on the shore. After her friends had left, Masha found that there was a huge snake on her smock and was horrified. He lifted up its head...

Tale Summary There was once a poor old peasant woman who had two sons, one of whom had died, and the other had left for a long journey. When she was alone, a soldier came by, telling her that he was a soldier from the Great Beyond, and when she...