All about history book of myths and legends. ( PDFDrive )

MARIASSA

There was once a young girl called Mariassa, whose stepmother

sent her to Bába Yagá to borrow a needle and thread. Luckily,

the girl initially called on her aunt, who told Mariassa how to

avoid the jaws of Bába Yagá’s dog and how to talk to her cat.

Mariassa asked the cat for a way out when the witch tried to

imprison the girl, and it told her to run away with a towel

and a comb. Mariassa escaped, and when she heard the witch

approaching, she threw down the towel, which turned into

a river, and the comb, which became a

forest, thus trapping Bába Yagá.

A 16th-century engraving of a witch burning

The witch’s cat

Bába Yagá’s black cat

was ill-treated by her,

so it helped Vassilisa

escape her clutches.

Vassilisa and the skull

When Vassilisa returned home with the skull that she had

stolen from Bába Yagá’s fence, its glowing eyes shone on

her stepmother and stepsisters, turning them to ashes.

Bába Yagá chasing Mariassa

The witch became trapped in the swift

river and could not row fast enough with

her pestle to catch Mariassa.

LEGENDS OF THE WITCH

WITCH BURNING

With the arrival of Christianity in Central and

Eastern Europe, witches came to be regarded as evil

women who performed the Devil’s work. Many

women suspected of being witches were burned at

the stake, most of whom had nothing to do with

witchcraft at all. Making models of witches that are

burned on May Day is still a popular custom in

Central Europe. Such customs, associated with

the many rituals that celebrate the arrival of spring,

are also held in remembrance of those who died.

The powerless crow
Some versions of the story say
that after Vassilisa’s escape, the
witch was turned into a crow
and she lost all her powers.

VASSILISA

Vassilisa was a young girl who lived with her elderly parents in a village.

Her mother fell ill and, before dying, gave Vassilisa a magic doll, which

would advise her if she ofered it good food to eat. Vassilisa’s father

remarried, but her stepmother and stepsisters did not like Vassilisa

and made her do all the hard work at home. One day, when a taper

was needed to light the lamps in the house, Vassilisa’s stepmother sent

her to get some from Bába Yagá, who, instead of giving her some, set the

girl some impossible tasks, such as picking out only peas from a

mixture of peas and poppy seeds. Vassilisa was able to successfully

complete all the tasks with the help of her doll, but Bába

Yagá kept devising more for her to do.

Seeing no other way of escape, Vassilisa

stole away from the house at night while the

witch slept, taking with her one of the

glowing skulls from Bába Yagá’s fence.

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