Pavel Bazhenov fairy tales online. Bazhov's works for children

Biography of Pavel Petrovich Bazhov

Bazhov Pavel Petrovich(January 27, 1879 - December 3, 1950) - famous Russian Soviet writer, famous Ural tale full-time writer, prose writer, talented processor of folk tales, legends, Ural tales.

Biography

Pavel Petrovich Bazhov was born on January 27, 1879 in the Urals near Yekaterinburg in the family of the hereditary mining foreman of the Sysertsky plant, Peter Vasilyevich and Augusta Stefanovna Bazhev (this is how this surname was written then).

The surname Bazhov comes from the local word "bazhit" - that is, to tell fortunes, to foretell. Bazhov also had a boyish street nickname - Koldunkov. And later, when Bazhov began to print his works, he signed one of his pseudonyms - Koldunkov.

Petr Vasilievich Bazhev was a foreman of the puddling and welding shop of the Sysert Metallurgical Plant near Yekaterinburg. The writer's mother, Augusta Stefanovna, was a skilled lacemaker. This was a great help for the family, especially during the forced unemployment of her husband.

The future writer lived and was formed among the Ural miners. Childhood impressions turned out to be the most important and vivid for Bazhov.

He liked to listen to other old experienced people, connoisseurs of the past. The Sysert old men Aleksey Efimovich Klyukva and Ivan Petrovich Korob were good storytellers. But the best of all whom Bazhov happened to know was the old field miner Vasily Alekseevich Khmelinin. He worked as a caretaker of wood warehouses at the plant, and children gathered at his gatehouse on Dumnaya Gora to listen to interesting stories.

The childhood and adolescence of Pavel Petrovich Bazhov were spent in the town of Sysert and at the Polevsk plant, which was part of the Sysert mining district.

The family often moved from factory to factory, which allowed the future writer to get to know the life of the vast mountain district well and was reflected in his work.

Thanks to chance and his abilities, he got the opportunity to learn.

Bazhov studied at the men's zemstvo three-year school, in which there was a talented teacher of literature, who managed to captivate the children with literature.

So, a 9-year-old boy once read by heart the entire school collection of poems by N.A. Nekrasov, learned by him on his own initiative.

We settled on the Yekaterinburg Theological School: it has the lowest tuition fees, no need to buy a uniform, and there are also student apartments rented by the school - these circumstances turned out to be decisive.

Having excellently passed the entrance exams, Bazhov was enrolled in the Yekaterinburg Theological School. The assistance of a family friend was needed because the theological school was, after all, not only, so to speak, professional, but also class-based: it trained mainly ministers of the church, and mainly the children of the clergy studied in it.

After graduating from college at the age of 14, Pavel entered the Perm Theological Seminary, where he studied for 6 years. It was the time of his acquaintance with classical and modern literature.

In 1899, Bazhov graduated from the Perm Seminary - the third in terms of points. It's time to choose a path in life. The offer to enter the Kyiv Theological Academy and study there on a full pay basis was rejected. He dreamed of a university. However, the way there was closed. First of all, because the spiritual department did not want to lose its "cadres": the choice of higher educational institutions for graduates of the seminary was severely limited by the Dorpat, Warsaw, and Tomsk universities.

Bazhov decided to teach in primary school in an area inhabited by the Old Believers. He began his career in the remote Ural village of Shaydurikha, near Nevyansk, and then in Yekaterinburg and Kamyshlov. He taught Russian, traveled a lot around the Urals, was interested in folklore, local history, ethnography, and was engaged in journalism.

For fifteen years, every year during school holidays, Bazhov wandered on foot around native land, everywhere he looked at the life around him, talked with workers, wrote down their well-aimed words, conversations, stories, collected folklore, studied the work of lapidaries, stone cutters, steel workers, foundry workers, gunsmiths and many other Ural masters, talked with them about the secrets of their craft and conducted extensive records. A rich supply of life impressions, samples of folk speech helped him a lot later in his work as a journalist, and then in writing. He replenished his “pantry” all his life.

Just at that time, a vacancy opened up at the Yekaterinburg Theological School. And Bazhov returned there - now as a teacher of the Russian language. Bazhov later tried to enter Tomsk University, but was not accepted.

In 1907, P. Bazhov moved to the diocesan (women's) school, where until 1914 he taught classes in Russian, and at times in Church Slavonic and algebra.

Here he met his future wife, and at that time just his student, Valentina Ivanitskaya, whom they married in 1911. Marriage was based on love and unity of aspirations. The young family lived a more meaningful life than most of Bazhov's colleagues who spent their free time playing cards. The couple read a lot, visited theaters. Seven children were born in their family.

When did the first World War, the Bazhovs already had two daughters. Due to financial difficulties, the couple moved to Kamyshlov, closer to the relatives of Valentina Alexandrovna. Pavel Petrovich transferred to the Kamyshlov Theological School.

Participated in civil war 1918-21 in the Urals, Siberia, Altai.

In 1923-29 he lived in Sverdlovsk and worked in the editorial office of the Peasant Newspaper. At this time, he wrote over forty tales on the themes of the Ural factory folklore.

Since 1930 - in the Sverdlovsk book publishing house.

In 1937, Bazhov was expelled from the party (a year later he was reinstated). But then, having lost his usual work in the publishing house, he devoted all his time to tales, and they flickered in the "Malachite Box" with genuine Ural gems.

In 1939, Bazhov's most famous work, the collection of fairy tales The Malachite Box, was published, for which the writer received the State Prize. In the future, Bazhov replenished this book with new tales.

Bazhov's writing path began relatively late: the first book of essays, "The Urals were," was published in 1924. Only in 1939 were his most significant works published - a collection of tales "The Malachite Box", which received the USSR State Prize in 1943, and an autobiographical story about childhood "Green filly". In the future, Bazhov replenishes the "Malachite Box" with new tales: "The Key-Stone" (1942), "Tales about the Germans" (1943), "Tales about gunsmiths" and others. His later works can be defined as "tales" not only because of their formal genre characteristics (the presence of a fictional narrator with an individual speech characteristic), but also because they go back to the Ural "secret tales" - the oral legends of miners and prospectors, characterized by a combination of real -household and fabulous elements.

Bazhov's works, dating back to the Ural "secret tales" - the oral legends of miners and prospectors, combine real-life and fantastic elements. The tales, which absorbed plot motifs, the colorful language of folk legends and folk wisdom, embodied the philosophical and ethical ideas of our time.

He worked on the collection of tales "The Malachite Box" from 1936 until the last days of his life. It was first published as a separate edition in 1939. Then, from year to year, the "Malachite Box" was replenished with new tales.

Tales " Malachite casket”is a kind of historical prose in which the events and facts of the history of the Middle Urals of the 18th-19th centuries are recreated through the personality of the Ural workers. Fairy tales live as an aesthetic phenomenon thanks to a complete system of realistic, fantastic and semi-fantastic images and the richest moral and humanistic problems (themes of work, creative search, love, fidelity, freedom from the power of gold, etc.).

Bazhov sought to develop his own literary style, sought original forms the embodiment of his writing talent. He succeeded in this in the mid-1930s, when he began to publish his first stories. In 1939, Bazhov combined them into the book The Malachite Box, which he later supplemented with new works. Malachite gave the name to the book because, according to Bazhov, "the joy of the earth is collected" in this stone.

Directly artistic and literary activity began late, at the age of 57 years. According to him, “there was simply no time for this kind of literary work.

The creation of tales became the main business of Bazhov's life. In addition, he edited books and almanacs, including those on Ural local history.

Pavel Petrovich Bazhov died on December 3, 1950 in Moscow, and was buried in his homeland in Yekaterinburg.

Tales

As a boy, he first heard an interesting story about the secrets of the Copper Mountain.

The Sysert old people were good storytellers - the best of them was Vasily Khmelin, at that time he worked as a watchman at the wood warehouses at the Polevsk plant, and the children gathered at his gatehouse to listen to interesting stories about the fabulous snake Poloz and his daughters Zmeevka, about the Mistress of the Copper Mountain, about the grandmother Sinyushka. For a long time Pasha Bazhov remembered the stories of this old man.

Bazhov chose interesting shape narration "skaz" is primarily an oral word, an oral form of speech transferred to a book; in the tale, the voice of the narrator is always heard - grandfather Slyshko - involved in the events; he speaks in a colorful folk language, full of local words and expressions, proverbs and sayings.

Calling his works tales, Bazhov took into account not only the literary tradition of the genre, which implies the presence of a narrator, but also the existence of ancient oral traditions of the Ural miners, which in folklore were called "secret tales". From these folklore works, Bazhov adopted one of the main signs of his tales: a mixture of fairy-tale images.

The main theme of Bazhov's tales is a simple man and his work, talent and skill. Communication with nature, with the secret foundations of life is carried out through powerful representatives of the magical mountain world.

One of the brightest images of this kind is the Mistress of the Copper Mountain, whom the master Stepan meets from the tale "The Malachite Box". The mistress of the Copper Mountain helps Danila, the hero of the tale The Stone Flower, to discover his talent - and becomes disappointed in the master after he refuses to try to make the Stone Flower on his own.

The works of the mature Bazhov can be defined as "tales" not only because of their formal genre features and the presence of a fictional narrator with an individual speech characteristic, but also because they go back to the Ural "secret tales" - oral legends of miners and miners, characterized by a combination of real household and fabulous elements.

Bazhov's tales absorbed plot motifs, fantastic images, color, the language of folk legends and folk wisdom. However, Bazhov is not a folklorist-processor, but an independent artist who used his knowledge of the Ural miner's life and oral art to embody philosophical and ethical ideas.

Talking about the art of the Ural craftsmen, reflecting the colorfulness and originality of the old mining life, Bazhov at the same time raises general questions in the tales - about true morality, about spiritual beauty and dignity. working man.

The fantastic characters of fairy tales personify the elemental forces of nature, which entrusts its secrets only to the brave, hardworking and pure soul. Bazhov managed to give fantastic characters (the Mistress of the Mednaya Mountain, Veliky Poloz, Ognevushka the Poskakushka) extraordinary poetry and endowed them with subtle complex psychology.

Bazhov's tales are an example of the masterful use of the folk language. Carefully and at the same time creatively referring to the expressive possibilities of the folk language, Bazhov avoided the abuse of local sayings, the pseudo-folk "playing on phonetic illiteracy" (Bazhov's expression).

Tales of P.P. Bazhov are very colorful and picturesque. His color is sustained in the spirit of folk painting, folk Ural embroidery - solid, thick, ripe. The color richness of the tales is not accidental. It is generated by the beauty of Russian nature, the beauty of the Urals. The writer in his works generously used all the possibilities of the Russian word to convey the variety of colors, its richness and richness, so characteristic of the Ural nature.

The tales of Pavel Petrovich are an example of the masterful use of the folk language. Carefully and at the same time creatively referring to the expressive possibilities of the folk word, Bazhov avoided the abuse of local sayings and the pseudo-folk "playing on phonetic illiteracy" (the expression of the writer himself).

Bazhov's tales absorbed plot motifs, fantastic images, color, the language of folk legends and their folk wisdom. However, the author is not just a folklorist-processor, he is an independent artist who uses excellent knowledge of the Ural miner's life and oral art to embody philosophical and ethical ideas. Talking about the art of the Ural craftsmen, about the talent of the Russian worker, reflecting the colorfulness and originality of the old mining life and the social contradictions characteristic of it, Bazhov at the same time raises general questions in his tales - about true morality, about the spiritual beauty and dignity of a working person, about aesthetic and psychological laws of creativity. Fantastic characters of fairy tales personify the elemental forces of nature, which entrusts its secrets only to the brave, hardworking and pure soul. Bazhov managed to give his fantastic characters (the Mistress of the Copper Mountain, Veliky Poloz, Ognevushka-Poskakushka, etc.) extraordinary poetry and endowed them with a subtle and complex psychology.

The tales recorded and processed by Bazhov are originally folklore. Many of them (the so-called "secret tales" - old oral legends of the Ural miners) he heard as a boy from V. A. Khmelinin from the Polevskoy plant (Khmelinin-Slyshko, grandfather Slyshko, "Glass" from "Ural byli"). Grandfather Slyshko is the narrator in The Malachite Box. Later, Bazhov had to officially declare that this was a trick, and he did not just write down other people's stories, but really is their writer.

Later, the term "skaz" entered Soviet folklore with the light hand of Bazhov to define working prose (prose of workers). After some time, it was nevertheless established that it does not denote any new folklore phenomenon - “tales” turned out to be legends, fairy tales, memories, that is, genres that have existed for many hundreds of years.

Ural

The Urals is “a rare place both in terms of craftsmen and beauty.” It is impossible to know the beauty of the Urals if you do not visit the amazing, enchanting silence and peace of the Ural ponds and lakes, in pine forests, on the legendary mountains. Here, in the Urals, talented craftsmen lived and worked for centuries, only here Danila the master could carve his stone flower, and somewhere here the Ural craftsmen saw the Mistress of the copper mountain.

Since childhood, he liked the people, legends, fairy tales and songs of his native Urals.

P.P. Bazhov's work is firmly connected with the life of the mining Urals, the cradle of Russian metallurgy. The writer's grandfather and great-grandfather were workers and spent their whole lives at copper-smelting furnaces in the Ural factories.

Due to the historical and economic features of the Urals, the life of industrial settlements was very peculiar. Here, as elsewhere, the workers could barely make ends meet and were powerless. But, unlike other industrial regions of the country, the Urals were characterized by significantly lower wages for artisans. Here there was an additional dependence of workers on the enterprise. The breeders presented the free use of land as compensation for reduced wages.

The old workers, "experienced", were the keepers of folk miners' legends and beliefs. They were not only a kind of "folk poets", but also a kind of "historians".

The Ural land itself gave birth to legends and fairy tales. P.P. Bazhov learned to see and understand the richness and beauty of the mountainous Urals.

Archetypal images

The mistress of the Copper Mountain - the keeper of precious rocks and stones, sometimes appears before people in the form beautiful woman, and sometimes - in the form of a lizard in a crown. Its origin is most likely from the "spirit of the area." There is also a hypothesis that this is the image of the goddess Venus, refracted by the people's consciousness, with the sign of which for several decades in the 18th century field copper was branded.

Great Poloz - responsible for the gold. His figure was created by Bazhov on the basis of the superstitions of the ancient Khanty and Mansi, Ural legends and signs of miners and miners. Wed mythological serpent.

Grandma Sinyushka is a character related to Baba Yaga.

Jumping Fire - dancing over a gold deposit (the connection between fire and gold).

Representing a collection of ancient legends that went among the miners.

P. P. Bazhov

The writer was born in the Urals - in the city of Sysert. His father was a mining foreman. The future writer, journalist, publicist and folklorist graduated from the factory school in Sysert. From 10 to 14 years old, the boy studied at a religious school in Yekaterinburg. Then he graduated from the seminary in Perm. After receiving his education, he taught Russian. During his summer vacation he traveled around the Urals and collected folklore.

P. P. Bazhov began to write "Ural Tales" in the 1930s. At first they were published in a magazine. Then came a collection of Ural tales, which was called "Malachite Box". It was published in 1939. The author has updated the book many times.

In 1943, Pavel Petrovich received the Stalin Prize for his work.

"Ural Tales"

Bazhov P. "Ural Tales" collected, as already mentioned above, throughout the Urals. He heard many of them from miners as a child. After some time, Pavel Petrovich made an official statement that he composed the Ural Tales himself. The works are combined into groups that are interconnected by common characters. P. Bazhov thought out such a move in order to give his book more integrity. Many tales are interconnected by the place of action.

The most important wonderful character in the tales of P. Bazhov is the Mistress of the Copper Mountain. She guards treasures. The hostess is unusually beautiful and has magical powers. Only talented stone craftsmen were allowed to descend into her domain. She could help, or she could destroy.

List of stories included in the collection

The book "Ural Tales" by P. P. Bazhov includes the following works:

"Mountain Master"
Vasina Gora.
"Pig-iron grandmother".
"Snake trail".
"Gift of the Old Mountains".
"Diamond match".
"Amethyst business".
"Two Lizards".
"Golden Hair"
"Sun Stone"
"Copper share".
"Silk Hill".
"Blue snake".
"Mistress of the Copper Mountain."
"About the Great Poloz".
"Tayutkino mirror".
"Distant Viewer".
"Crystal Lacquer".
"The inscription on the stone."
"Markov stone".
"The Golden Flower of the Mountain".
"The Mysterious Tulunkin".
"At the old mine."
"Ore Pass".

And many others.

"Mistress of the Copper Mountain"

This is one of the most significant, well-known and beloved by readers of the works of the book "Ural Tales". Below is a summary of this work.

A young worker named Stepan once saw a beautiful girl in the forest, with a long braid and dressed in malachite. He understood that it was the Mistress of the Copper Mountain herself. The girl told him that she had business with him. You need to go to the factory clerk and tell him to get out of the Krasnogorsk mine. The hostess promised Stepan that she would marry him if he fulfilled her order. Then she turned into a lizard and ran away. The next morning Stepan went to the clerk, and handed over everything that was ordered. For this he was flogged, lowered uphill, and chained. At the same time, they ordered to get a lot of malachite. The Hostess helped Stepan for not being afraid to fulfill her order. He got a lot of malachite. The Mistress showed him her dowry. And then she began to ask if he agreed to take her as his wife. Stepan thought, and said that he already had a bride. The Mistress praised him for not coveting her wealth. She gave Stepan a jewelry box for his bride. And then she said that he would live richly, only he must forget her. Soon he got married, built a house, the kids went. But he was not happy. Stepan began to go hunting in the forest, and every time he looked at the Krasnogorsk mine. Stepan could not forget the Mistress. Once he went into the forest and did not return - they found him dead.

"Malachite Box"

Another very famous work of the Ural Tales cycle. Summary"Malachite Box" is presented in this article. This tale is a continuation of the story about the Mistress of the Copper Mountain. Stepan died, but his widow Nastasya kept the malachite box. Decorations were kept in it, donated by the hostess. Only Nastasya did not wear them and wanted to sell them. There were many people who wanted to buy the box. Yes, but everyone offered a small price. There was another reason why she kept the box with her. The youngest daughter, Tatyana, was very fond of these jewelry. Tanyusha grew up and, thanks to a wanderer who asked to spend the night in their house, she learned to embroider with silk and beads. And she was such a craftswoman that she began to earn big money. Soon the master saw the girl and was so struck by her beauty that he offered her to become his wife. She agreed, but made a condition that she would marry him if he showed her the queen in a room made of malachite by her father. The master promised to grant her wish. Once in the malachite chamber of the queen, the girl leaned against the wall and melted. Since then, no one has heard anything about her, only they began to notice that the Mistress of the Copper Mountain began to double.

"Stone Flower"

This work is the last of the cycle about the Mistress of the Copper Mountain, which was created by Pavel Bazhov. "Ural tales", as you know, include several stories about this amazing beauty. "Stone Flower" is a story about the orphan Danilka, who at the age of 12 became a student of a malachite craftsman. The boy was talented and the teacher liked him. When Danila grew up, he became an excellent master. He had a dream. He wanted to create a malachite bowl, similar to a flower. I even found a suitable stone. But he could not manage to cut a beautiful flower. Once he met the Mistress of the Copper Mountain herself. He asked her to show him her stone flower. The Mistress dissuaded him from this, but he insisted. He saw the flower of the Mistress of the Copper Mountain, and since then he has completely lost his peace. Then he broke his unfinished bowl and left. He was not seen again, but there were rumors that he served with the Mistress of the Copper Mountain.

"Silver Hoof"

P. P. Bazhov wrote “Ural Tales” for children, but they are also interesting for adults. One story that readers of all ages enjoy is Silver Hoof. The lonely old man Kokovanya took in an orphan. Grandfather worked every day, and the granddaughter in the hut put things in order, cooked. In the evenings, Kokovanya told the girl stories. And once he told her about a magical goat with a silver hoof, with which he knocks, and precious stones appear in that place. Once a girl was waiting for her grandfather from hunting and saw through the window that her cat was playing with the same goat from a fairy tale. She ran out to look at him. And the goat jumped onto the roof, began to beat with his hoof, and precious stones fell from under his feet. Grandfather and granddaughter collected them and lived comfortably for the rest of their lives.

"Sinyushkin well"

The book "Ural Tales" includes a story about a good fellow Ilya. He was left an orphan early on. He inherited only a sieve full of feathers from his grandmother Lukerya, who ordered her grandson not to pursue wealth. Once Ilya decided to go to the mine by a short road. And this path through the swamp lay. Ilya wanted to drink. He looks, and in the swamp there is a plot with clean water like a well. He decided to drink this water, lay down on the ground, and out of the water Sinyushka stretched out her hands to him. He managed to cope with her charms, he got up and spat on her hand. And she began to tease him that he would not be able to drink water from her well. Ilya promised Sinyushka that he would return, and left.

The young man kept his promise. Ilya returned, tied the ladle to the perch and scooped up water from the well with it. Sinyushka was amazed at his ingenuity and promised to show her wealth. Ilya came again to the well. And girls come up to him with trays full of jewelry. He remembered that his grandmother punished, and began to refuse everything. An eighteen-year-old beauty approached him with a sieve containing berries and feathers. Ilya realized that this is Sinyushka. He took the sieve from her hands. When he came home, the berries turned into gems. Ilya began to live richly, but he could not forget Sinyushka. Once he met a girl who looked very much like her, and he married her.

This tale is that the main wealth in life is not gold and gems. Sinyushkin's well is a test that only one who does not envy, is not greedy and remembers advice can pass.

"Rapid Fire"

The book written by Bazhov P. - "Ural Tales" - includes a story about a gold mine. Once the peasants were sitting by the fire, and with them - the boy Fedyunka. And suddenly they saw a red-haired girl who jumped out of the fire. She danced, and then she stopped near a pine tree and stamped her foot. According to legend, this is how she indicated the place where you need to look for gold. Only she deceived this time - there was nothing under the pine. Soon Fedyunka saw Poskakushka again. This time she showed him the right place. The boy found gold and lived comfortably for 5 years. The people heard about it, and everyone rushed to that mine for gold. They were coming from all directions. Yes, only gold was lost there because of this.

Went once two of our factory grass to look. And they had long hauls. Somewhere behind Severushka.

It was a festive day, and hot - passion. Parun is clean. And both of them robbed in grief, that is, in Gumeshki. Malachite ore was mined, as well as blue tit. Well, when a beetle with a coil fell, and there it was said that it would do.

There was one young guy, unmarried, and it began to cast green in his eyes. Another older one. This one is completely ruined. The eyes are green, and the cheeks seem to turn green. And the man was coughing all the time.

It's good in the forest. The birds sing and rejoice, soaring from the earth, the spirit is light. They, listen, and exhausted. We reached the Krasnogorsk mine. At that time iron ore was mined there. It means that ours lay down on the grass under the mountain ash and immediately fell asleep. Only suddenly the young one - exactly someone pushed him in the side - woke up. He looks, and in front of him a woman is sitting on a pile of ore near a large stone. Back to the guy, and on the braid you can see - a girl. The scythe is black and does not dangle like our girls, but evenly stuck to the back. At the end of the ribbon is either red or green. They shine through and tinkle so thinly, like sheet copper. The guy marvels at the scythe, and he notes further. A girl of small stature, of herself is fine and such a cool wheel - she will not sit still. He leans forward, looks exactly under his feet, then leans back again, bends on that side, on the other. He jumps to his feet, waves his arms, then bends down again. In a word, Artut-girl. Hearing - muttering something, but in what way - it is not known, and with whom he speaks - it is not visible. All just a laugh. It's fun, apparently.

The guy was about to say a word, when he suddenly got hit on the back of the head.

- You are my mother, but it is the Mistress herself! Her clothes are. How did I not notice right away? She averted her eyes with her scythe.

And the clothes are truly such that you will not find another in the world. From a silk, you hear, malachite dress. This kind happens. A stone, but on the eye like silk, at least stroke it with your hand. “Here,” the guy thinks, “the trouble! As if only to carry away the legs, until I noticed. From the old people, you see, he heard that this Mistress - a malachite girl - loves to philosophize over a person. As soon as she thought about it, she looked back. He looks merrily at the guy, bares his teeth and says in a joke:

“What are you doing, Stepan Petrovich, staring at a girl’s beauty for nothing? After all, they take money for a look. Come closer. Let's talk a little. The guy was frightened, of course, but he does not show it. Attached. Although she is a secret force, but still a girl. Well, he's a guy - that means he's ashamed to be timid in front of a girl.

“No time,” he says, “I have to talk. We overslept without that, and went to look at the grass.

She laughs and then says:

- It will be good news for you. Go, I say, there is work.

Well, the guy sees - there is nothing to do. I went to her, and she looms with her hand, go around the ore from the other side. He walked around and sees - there are countless lizards. And everyone, listen, is different. Some, for example, are green, others are blue, which flow into blue, otherwise they are like clay or sand with golden specks.

Some, like glass or mica, shine, while others are faded like grass, and which are again decorated with patterns. The girl laughs.

“Do not part,” he says, “my army, Stepan Petrovich. You are so big and heavy, but they are small for me. - And she clapped her hands, the lizards fled, they gave the way.

Here the guy came closer, stopped, and she again clapped her hands, and says, and all with laughter:

“Now you have nowhere to go. Crush my servant - there will be trouble. He looked under his feet, and there was no knowledge of the earth. All the lizards somehow huddled together in one place - the floor became patterned underfoot. Stepan looks - fathers, but this is copper ore! All sorts and well polished. And mica right there, and blende, and all sorts of glitter, which are like malachite.

- Well, now he recognized me, Stepanushka? - asks the malachite girl, and she laughs and bursts into laughter. Then, a little later, he says:

- Don't be scared. I won't do you any harm.

The guy felt sorry that the girl was mocking him, and even saying such words. He became very angry and even shouted:

- Whom should I be afraid of, if I shy away in grief!

“That’s all right,” the malachite replies. - I just need such a person who is not afraid of anyone. Tomorrow, like going downhill, your factory clerk will be here, you tell him yes, look, do not forget the words: “The mistress, they say, the Copper Mountain ordered you, stuffy goat, to get out of the Krasnogorsk mine. If you still break this iron hat of mine, then I’ll send you all the copper in Gumeshki there, so that there’s no way to get it.

She said this and frowned.

“Do you understand, Stepanushko? In grief, you say, you rob, you are not afraid of anyone? So tell the clerk as I ordered, and now go and tell the one who is with you, don’t say anything, look. He is a spoiled man, that he should be disturbed and involved in this matter. And so she said to the little titmouse to help him a little.

And again she clapped her hands, and all the lizards fled. She herself also jumped to her feet, grabbed a stone with her hand, jumped up and, like a lizard, ran over the stone. Instead of arms and legs, her paws have green steel, her tail sticks out, there is a black stripe halfway along the ridge, and her head is human. She ran to the top, looked back and said:

- Do not forget, Stepanushko, as I said. She ordered, they say, you, a stuffy goat, to get out of Krasnogorka. If you do it, I'll marry you!

The guy even spat in the heat of the moment:

- Ugh, what a bastard! So that I marry a lizard.

And she sees him spitting and laughing.

“Okay,” he shouts, “we’ll talk later.” Maybe you think?

And now over the hill, only the green tail flashed.

The guy was left alone. The mine is quiet. You can only hear how another snores behind a breast of ore. Woke him up. They went to their mowing, looked at the grass, returned home in the evening, and Stepan had one thing on his mind: what should he do? Saying such words to the clerk is not a small matter, but he was still, - and it’s true, - he was stuffy - he had some kind of rottenness in his gut, they say, was. Not to say it's also scary. She's the Mistress. What he likes ore can be thrown into a blende. Do your lessons then. AND worse than that, it's a shame to show yourself as a braggart in front of a girl.

Thought and thought, laughed:

“I wasn’t, I’ll do as she ordered.

The next day in the morning, as people gathered at the trigger drum, the factory clerk came up. Everyone, of course, took off their hats, was silent, and Stepan came up and said:

- I saw the Mistress of the Copper Mountain in the evening, and she ordered to tell you. She tells you, stuffy goat, to get out of Krasnogorka. If you spoil this iron hat for her, then she will sink all the copper in Gumeshki there, so that no one can get it.

The clerk's mustache even quivered.

– What are you? Drunk, or mind decided? What hostess? To whom are you speaking these words? Yes, I will rot you in grief!

“Your will,” Stepan says, “but that’s the only way I’ve been told.”

“Flog him,” the clerk shouts, “and lower him up the hill and chain him in the face!” And in order not to die, give him dog oatmeal and ask lessons without indulgence. A little something - to fight mercilessly!

Well, of course, they whipped the guy and up the hill. The overseer of the mine, - also not the last dog - took him to the face - nowhere worse. And it's wet here, and there is no good ore, it would be necessary to quit long ago. Here they chained Stepan to a long chain, so that, therefore, it was possible to work. It is known what time it was - a fortress. Everyone made fun of the person. The warden also says:

- Cool down here a bit. And the lesson from you will be pure malachite so much, - and he appointed it completely inappropriate.

Nothing to do. As soon as the guard walked away, Stepan began to wave the kaelka, but the guy was still nimble. Look, it's okay. So malachite is poured, exactly who throws it with his hands. And the water went somewhere from the bottom. It became dry.

“Here,” he thinks, “it’s good. Apparently, the Mistress remembered me.

I just thought, suddenly it sounded. He looks, and the Mistress is here, in front of him.

“Well done,” he says, “Stepan Petrovich. It can be honoured. Not frightened stuffy goat. Well told him. Let's go, apparently, to look at my dowry. I don't go back on my word either.

And she frowned, as if she didn't feel good about it. She clapped her hands, the lizards ran in, the chain was removed from Stepan, and the Mistress gave them a routine:

- Break the lesson in half here. And so that there was a selection of malachite, a silk variety. - Then he says to Stepan: - Well, fiancé, let's go look at my dowry.

And here we go. She is ahead, Stepan is behind her. Where she goes - everything is open to her. How large rooms have become underground, but their walls are different. Either all green or yellow with golden dots. On which again the flowers are copper. There are also blue ones, azure ones. In a word, embellished, which is impossible to say. And the dress on her - on the Mistress - is changing. Now it shines like glass, then it suddenly fades, and then it sparkles with a diamond scree, or it becomes red copper, then again it casts green silk. They go, they go, she stopped.

And Stepan sees a huge room, and in it are beds, tables, stools - all made of king copper. The walls are malachite with diamonds, and the ceiling is dark red under black, and on it are copper flowers.

“Let’s sit,” he says, “here, we’ll talk.” They sat down on stools, malachite and asked:

Did you see my dowry?

“I saw it,” Stepan says.

“Well, what about marriage now?”

And Stepan does not know how to answer. He had a fiancee. A good girl, an orphan alone. Well, of course, against malachite, where is her beauty to equal! Simple man, ordinary. Stepan hesitated, hesitated, and he says:

- Your dowry fits the kings, and I am a working man, a simple one.

“You,” he says, “dear friend, do not wobble. Tell me straight, do you marry me or not? - And she frowned at all.

Well, Stepan answered bluntly:

- I can’t, because another was promised.

He said something like that and thinks: now he is on fire. And she seemed happy.

- Well done, - he says, - Stepanushka. I praised you for the clerk, but for this I will praise you twice. You didn’t look at my riches, you didn’t exchange your Nastenka for a stone girl. - And the guy, right, the bride's name was Nastya. “Here,” he says, “you have a present for your bride,” and gives a large malachite box. And there, listen, every female device. Earrings, rings and protcha, which not even every rich bride has.

- How, - the guy asks, - will I go upstairs with this place?

- Don't worry about it. Everything will be arranged, and I will release you from the clerk, and you will live comfortably with your young wife, only here is my tale for you - don’t think about me, mind you, then. This will be my third test for you. Now let's eat a little.

She clapped her hands again, lizards ran in - the table was set full. She fed him good cabbage soup, fish pie, lamb, porridge and protchi, which, according to the Russian rite, is supposed to be. Then he says:

"Well, goodbye, Stepan Petrovich, don't think of me." - And at the very tears. She offered this hand, and the tears drip-drip and grains freeze on her hand. Half a handful. - Come on, take it for a living. People give big money for these pebbles. You will be rich, - and gives it to him.

The pebbles are cold, but the hand, listen, is hot, as it is alive, and shakes a little. Stepan accepted the stones, bowed low and asked:

– Where should I go? - And he also became unhappy.

She pointed with her finger, and a passage opened in front of him, like an adit, and it was light in it, like daylight. Stepan went along this adit - again he had seen enough of all the riches of the land and came just in time for his slaughter. He came, the adit was closed, and everything became the same as before. The lizard came running, put the chain on his leg, and the box with gifts suddenly became small, Stepan hid it in his bosom. Soon the mine overseer came up. He got along well to laugh, but he sees that Stepan has heaped up on top of the lesson, and selection of malachite, grade-sort. “What,” he thinks, “for a thing? Where does it come from?" He climbed into the face, examined everything and said:

- In some kind of slaughter, everyone will break as much as he likes. - And he took Stepan to another face, and put his nephew in this one.

The next day, Stepan began to work, and the malachite just flew off, and even the beetle with a coil began to fall, and that nephew had something, - tell me, there’s nothing good, everything’s a little trick and a snag. Here the warden and swept the case. I ran to the clerk. Anyway.

- Not otherwise, - he says, - Stepan soul evil spirits sold.

The clerk says to this:

- It's his business, to whom he sold his soul, and we need to have our own benefit. Promise him that we will release him into the wild, let him only let him find a hundred-pood malachite block.

All the same, the clerk ordered Stepan to be unchained, and he gave such an order - to stop work on Krasnogorka.

Who, he says, knows him? Maybe this fool from the mind then spoke. Yes, and the ore went there with copper, only damage to cast iron.

The warder announced to Stepan what was required of him, and he replied:

- Who will refuse the will? I will try, but if I find it - that's how my happiness will suit.

Soon Stepan found them such a block. They dragged her upstairs. They are proud, - that's what we are, but they didn’t give Stepan the will. They wrote to the gentleman about the block, and he came from, you hear, Sam-Petersburg. He found out how it was, and calls Stepan to him.

“Here’s what,” he says, “I give you my noble word to let you go free, if you find me such malachite stones in order, therefore, to cut down pillars from them at least five fathoms in a valley.

Stephen answers:

- I've already been spanked. I am a scientist. First write free, then I will try, and what happens - we'll see.

The master, of course, shouted, stamped his feet, and Stepan alone, his own:

- I almost forgot - prescribe a free order for my bride, too, but what kind of order is this - I myself will be free, and my wife in the fortress.

The master sees - the guy is not soft. Wrote him an act paper.

- On, - he says, - just try, look.

And Stepan is all his own.

- It's like looking for happiness.

Found, of course, Stepan. What is he, if he knew the inside of the mountain and the Mistress herself helped him. They cut down the poles they needed from this malachitana, dragged them upstairs, and the master sent them to the butt in the main church in Sam-Petersburg. And the block is the one that Stepan first found, and now in our city, they say. How rare it is cherished.

From that time on, Stepan went free, and after that all wealth disappeared in Gumeshki. Lots and lots of blue tit goes, but more of a snag. They didn’t hear about a beetle with a coil and a rumor, and the malachite left, the water began to be added. So from that time on, Gumeshki began to wane, and then they were completely flooded. They said that it was the Mistress who fired at the poles, you hear that they were put in the church. And it doesn't matter to her at all.

Stepan also did not have happiness in his life. He got married, started a family, built a house, everything was as it should be. To live evenly and rejoice, but he became gloomy and heznul health. So it melted before our eyes.

The sick man came up with the idea of starting a shotgun and got into the habit of hunting. And that’s all, listen, he goes to the Krasnogorsk mine, but he doesn’t bring the booty home. In the autumn he left so and so with the end. Here he is gone, here he is gone... Where did he go? Shot down, of course, the people, let's look. And he, listen, is lying dead in the mine near a high stone, smiling evenly, and his rifle is lying on the sidelines right there, not shot from it. Which people were the first to come running, they said that they saw a green lizard near the dead man, and such a big one, which did not happen at all in our places. It is as if she is sitting over the dead man, she raised her head, and her tears are dripping. As people ran closer, she was on a stone, only they saw her. And when they brought the dead man home and began to wash it, they look: he has one hand tightly clamped, and you can barely see green grains from it. Half a handful. Then one knowledgeable happened, looked sideways at the grains and said:

- Why, it's a copper emerald! Rare - a stone, dear. Whole wealth is left for you, Nastasya. Where does he get these stones from?

Nastasya - his wife - explains that the deceased never talked about any such pebbles. I gave the casket to her when I was still a groom. A large box, malachite. There is a lot of kindness in her, but there are no such pebbles. Didn't see.

They began to get those pebbles out of Stepanov's dead hand, and they crumbled into dust. They never found out at that time where Stepan had them from. Then they dug in Krasnogorka. Well, ore and ore, brown, with a copper sheen. Then someone found out that it was Stepan who had the tears of the Mistress of the Copper Mountain. I didn’t sell them, hey, to anyone, secretly kept them from my own, and accepted death with them. AND?

Here she is, so what a Mistress of the Copper Mountain!

A bad person to meet her is grief, and a good one has little joy. 1
The tale was first published together with two others: “About the Great Poloz” and “Dear Name” - in the collection “Pre-revolutionary Folklore in the Urals”, Sverdlovsk Regional Publishing House, 1936. This tale is closest to the Ural mining folklore. Geographically, they are connected with the old Sysertsky mining district, “which,” P. Bazhov pointed out, “included five factories: Sysertsky or Sysert, the main plant of the district, Polevskoy (aka Polevaya or Poleva) - the oldest plant of the district, Seversky (Severn ), Upper (Verkh-Sysertsky), Ilyinsky (Nizhva-Sysertsky). Near the Polevskoy plant there was also the most famous copper deposit of the fortified period of the Urals - the Gumeshki mine, otherwise the Copper Mountain, or simply the Mountain. Most of the tales of the Polevsky district are connected with these Gumeshki, which for a century were a terrible underground penal servitude for more than one generation of workers ”(P. Bazhov, Preface to the tales published in the October magazine, No. 5–6, 1939, p. 158 ).
About the Mistress of the Copper Mountain, about the Great Poloz, about the mysterious mine of Gumeshki, P. Bazhov heard stories both in his own family and from factory old people. They were experienced workers who had devoted their entire lives to the mining industry. By old age, when they were already “wearied out”, they were transferred from the mines and from the copper-smelting furnaces to lighter work (to watchmen, forest patrolmen, etc.). They were the tellers of legends about old factories, about the life of miners. The image of the Mistress of the Copper Mountain or Malachitnitsa in the mining folklore has various options: Mountain mother, Stone girl, Golden woman, girl Azovka, Mountain spirit, Mountain elder, Mountain master - (see P. L. Ermakov, Memoirs of a miner, Sverdlgiz, 1947; L. Potapov. Cult of mountains in Altai, magazine "Soviet ethnography", No. 2, 1946: "Songs and tales of miners", folklore of the miners of the Shakhtinsky district, Rostov regional publishing house, 1940; N. Dyrenkova, Shorsky folklore, M-L. 1940 A. Misyurev, Legends and were, folklore of old miners of the South and Western Siberia; - Novosibirsk, 1940) - All these folklore characters are - the keepers of the riches of the mountain bowels. The image of Malachitnitsa - in P. Bazhov is much more complicated. The writer embodied in it the beauty of nature, inspiring a person to creative search.
The image of Malachitnitsa from the tales of P. Bazhov was widely included in Soviet art. It has been recreated on stage, in painting and sculpture. “Images of Bazhov’s tales are in the wall paintings of the Palace of Pioneers in the city of Sverdlovsk, the House of Pioneers in the city of Serov, in works of handicraft art industry, in toys for children” (Vl. Biryukov, Singer of the Urals, Krasny Kurgan newspaper, February 1, 1951 t.). Bazhov's tales were recreated by Paleshian artists.
“In the large white-stone Palace of Pioneers in Sverdlovsk, there are whole labyrinths of rooms, and there are a lot of interesting things in them. But the guys enter one of the rooms with a joyful feeling of expectation of something special, a little mysterious and beautiful. This is the room of Bazhov's tales. On a high spacious wall she scattered her long braids girl - Golden Hair. Nearby is a green-eyed beauty in a heavy malachite dress of the Copper Mountain Mistress. Dancing on the wall is a mischievous red-haired girl - Fire-Jumping. This is how the room of a master from Palekh was painted” (Pionerskaya Pravda, March 10, 1950). This group, in addition to the specified tale, includes nine more works, including; "Prikazchikov's soles" (1936), "Sochneva pebbles" (1937), "Malachite box" (1938), "Stone flower" (1938), "Mining master" (1939), "Two lizards" (1939), "Fragile Twig" (1940), "Grass Trap" (1940), "Tayutkino Mirror" (1941).

Malachite Box

Nastasya, Stepanov's widow, has left a casket of malachite. With every feminine device. Rings there, earrings and protcha according to the women's rite. The Mistress of the Copper Mountain herself gave Stepan this box, as he was going to get married.

Nastasya grew up in an orphanage, was not used to some kind of wealth, and she was not a very lover of fashion. From the first years, as they lived with Stepan, put on, of course, from this box. Just not to her soul. He puts on a ring ... Exactly just right, he doesn’t press, he doesn’t roll, but he goes to church or visits somewhere, gets lost. Like a chained finger, at the end it will turn blue. Hang earrings - worse than that. The ears will be so pulled back that the lobes will swell. And to take it on hand - no harder than those that Nastasya always wore. Beads in six or seven rows only once and tried on. Like ice around the neck, they do not warm at all. She didn’t show those beads to people at all. It was embarrassing.

“Look, they’ll say what kind of queen they found in Polevaya!”

Stepan also did not force his wife to carry from this casket. Once he even said:

Nastasya put the box in the lowest chest, where canvases and papers are kept in reserve.

How Stepan died and he had pebbles in dead hand It turned out that Nastasya felt like showing that box to strangers. And the one who knows about Stepanov's pebbles told Nastasya later, when the people subsided:

- You, look, do not shake this box for nothing. It's worth thousands.

He, this man, was a scientist, also from the free. Earlier, he went around in dandies, but he was removed: he gives the people a weaken. Well, he did not disdain wine. The tavern plug was also good, don’t be remembered by that, the little head is calm. And so everything is correct. Write a petition, wash off the test, look at the signs - he did everything according to his conscience, not like other others, anyhow to rip off half a damask. To someone, and everyone will bring a glass to him with a festive affair. So he lived in our factory until his death. He ate around the people.

Nastasya heard from her husband that this dandy was correct and smart in business, even though he was addicted to wine. Well, I listened to him.

“Okay,” he says, “I’ll save it for a rainy day.” And put the box back in its place.

They buried Stepan, the Sorochins sent honor-honor. Nastasya is a woman in the juice and with prosperity, they began to woo her. And she, a smart woman, tells everyone one thing:

- At least the golden second, but all the robots are patrimonial.

Well, we're behind the times.

Stepan good supply left the family. The house is in order, a horse, a cow, a complete furnishing. Nastasya is a hard-working woman, little robins are word-for-word, they don’t live very well. They live a year, two live, three live. Well, they got poor anyway. Where is one woman with youngsters to manage the economy! Also, after all, you need to get a penny somewhere. At least for salt. Here are relatives and let Nastasya sing in your ears:

- Sell the box! What is she to you? What a waste of good to lie. Everything is one and Tanya, as she grows up, will not wear it. There are things over there! Only bars and merchants fit to buy. You can't put on an eco seat with our belt. And people would give money. Breakups for you.

In a word, they talk. And the buyer, like a raven on a bone, flew. All of the merchants. Who gives a hundred rubles, who gives two hundred.

“We are sorry for your widows, we are making a descent for you according to the position of a widow.

Well, they get along well to fool a woman, but they hit the wrong one. Nastasya remembered well what the old dandy told her, he wouldn't sell her for such a trifle. It's also a pity. After all, a groom's gift, husband's memory. And even more so, her youngest girl shed tears, asks:

- Mommy, don't sell! Mommy, don't sell! I'd rather go among the people, but take care of the memo.

From Stepan, you see, there are three little children left. Two darlings. The robyata are like robyata, and this one, as they say, is neither mother nor father. Even when she was Stepan, as she was completely small, people marveled at this girl. Not only the girls-women, but also the men said to Stepan:

- Not otherwise, this one fell out of your hands, Stepan.

In whom it was just born! She herself is black and fable, and her eyes are green. It doesn't look like our girls at all.

Stepan jokes, it used to be:

- It's not a miracle that the black one. Father, after all, from an early age hid in the ground. And that the eyes are green - also not surprising. You never know, I stuffed malachite to master Turchaninov. Here's a reminder for me.

So he called this girl Memo. - Come on, my memo! - And when she happened to buy something, she would always bring blue or green.

So that girl grew up in the minds of people. Exactly and in fact, the garusinka fell out of the festive belt - it can be seen far away. And although she was not very fond of strangers, but everyone was Tanya and Tanya. The most envious grandmothers, and they admired. Well, what a beauty! Everyone is nice. One mother sighed: - Beauty is beauty, but not ours. Exactly who replaced the girl for me.

Went once two of our factory grass to look. And they had long hauls. Somewhere behind Severushka.

It's good in the forest. The birds sing and rejoice, soaring from the earth, the spirit is light. They, listen, and exhausted. We reached the Krasnogorsk mine. At that time iron ore was mined there. It means that ours lay down on the grass under the mountain ash and immediately fell asleep. Only suddenly the young one - exactly someone pushed him in the side - woke up. He looks, and in front of him a woman is sitting on a pile of ore near a large stone. Back to the guy, and on the braid you can see - a girl. The scythe is black and does not dangle like our girls, but evenly stuck to the back. At the end of the ribbon is either red or green. They shine through and tinkle so thinly, like sheet copper. The guy marvels at the scythe, and he notes further. A girl of small stature, good-looking and such a cool wheel - she won’t sit still. He leans forward, looks exactly under his feet, then leans back again, bends on that side, on the other. He jumps to his feet, waves his arms, then bends down again. In a word, Artut-girl. Hearing - muttering something, but in what way - it is not known, and with whom he speaks - it is not visible. All just a laugh. It's fun, apparently.

The guy was about to say a word, when he suddenly got hit on the back of the head.

You are my mother, but it is the Mistress herself! Her clothes are. How did I not notice right away? She averted her eyes with her scythe.

And the clothes are truly such that you will not find another in the world. From a silk, you hear, malachite dress. This kind happens. A stone, but on the eye like silk, at least stroke it with your hand. “Here,” the guy thinks, “trouble! As if only to carry away the legs, until I noticed. From the old people, you see, he heard that this Mistress - a malachite girl - loves to philosophize over a person. As soon as she thought about it, she looked back. He looks merrily at the guy, bares his teeth and says in a joke:

What are you, Stepan Petrovich, staring at a girl's beauty for nothing? After all, they take money for a look. Come closer. Let's talk a little. The guy was frightened, of course, but he does not show it. Attached. Although she is a secret force, but still a girl. Well, he's a guy - that means he's ashamed to be timid in front of a girl.

No time, - he says, - I have to talk. We overslept without that, and went to look at the grass.

She laughs and then says:

You will win the game. Go, I say, there is work.

Do not part, - he says, - my army, Stepan Petrovich. You are so big and heavy, but they are small for me. - And she clapped her hands, the lizards fled, they gave the way.

Here the guy came closer, stopped, and she again clapped her hands, and says, and all with laughter:

Now you have nowhere to go. Crush my servant - there will be trouble. He looked under his feet, and there was no knowledge of the earth. All the lizards somehow huddled together in one place - how the floor became patterned underfoot. Stepan looks - fathers, but this is copper ore! All sorts and well polished. And mica right there, and blende, and all sorts of glitter, which are like malachite.

Well, has he recognized me now, Stepanushka? - asks the malachite girl, and she laughs and bursts into laughter. Then, a little later, he says:

You don't get scared. I won't do you any harm.

The guy felt sorry that the girl was mocking him, and even saying such words. He became very angry and even shouted:

Whom should I be afraid of, if I shy away in grief!

That's all right, - the malachite answers. - I just need such a person who is not afraid of anyone. Tomorrow, like going downhill, your factory clerk will be here, you tell him yes, look, do not forget the words: “The mistress, they say, the Copper Mountain ordered you, stuffy goat, to get out of the Krasnogorsk mine. If you still break this iron hat of mine, then I’ll send you all the copper in Gumeshki there, so that there’s no way to get it.

She said this and frowned.

Did you understand, Stepanushko? In grief, you say, you rob, you are not afraid of anyone? So tell the clerk as I ordered, and now go and tell the one who is with you, don’t say anything, look. He is a spoiled man, that he should be disturbed and involved in this matter. And so she said to the little titmouse to help him a little.

Don't forget, Stepanushko, as I said. She ordered, they say, you - a stuffy goat - to get out of Krasnogorka. If you do it, I'll marry you!

The guy even spat in the heat of the moment:

Ugh, what a bastard! So that I marry a lizard.

And she sees him spitting and laughing.

Okay, - shouts, - then we'll talk. Maybe you think?

And now over the hill, only the green tail flashed.

The guy was left alone. The mine is quiet. You can only hear how another snores behind a breast of ore. Woke him up. They went to their mowing, looked at the grass, returned home in the evening, and Stepan had one thing on his mind: what should he do? Saying such words to the clerk is not a small matter, but he was still, - and it’s true, - he was stuffy - he had some kind of rot in his gut, they say. Not to say it's also scary. She's the Mistress. What he likes ore can be thrown into a blende. Do your lessons then. And worse than that, it’s a shame to show yourself as a braggart in front of a girl.

Thought and thought, laughed:

Was not, I will do as she ordered.

The next day in the morning, as people gathered at the trigger drum, the factory clerk came up. Everyone, of course, took off their hats, was silent, and Stepan came up and said:

I saw the Mistress of the Copper Mountain in the evening, and she ordered to tell you. She tells you, stuffy goat, to get out of Krasnogorka. If you spoil this iron hat for her, then she will sink all the copper in Gumeshki there, so that no one can get it.

The clerk's mustache even quivered.

What are you? Drunk, or mind decided? What hostess? To whom are you speaking these words? Yes, I will rot you in grief!

Your will, - says Stepan, - but that's the only way I've been told.

Flog him, - the clerk shouts, - and lower him up the mountain and chain him in the face! And in order not to die, give him dog oatmeal and ask lessons without indulgence. A little something - to fight mercilessly!

Cool down here a bit. And the lesson from you will be pure malachite so much, - and he appointed it completely inappropriate.

“Here,” he thinks, “it’s good. Apparently, the Mistress remembered me.

If you open a large chest of Soviet literature, then precious stones of a book of beautiful Ural legends immediately catch your eye. The author of these immortal tales, which have forever entered the treasury of Russian and Soviet prose - Pavel Petrovich Bazhov.

What is known about this brilliant writer? A truly national folklorist, publicist, active participant in the revolutionary movement, he went through a difficult path from the son of a simple worker to the laureate of the Stalin Prize. Bibliographers write that Pavel Petrovich considered himself absolutely happy man, because he fulfilled his earthly mission and planted a seed of goodness in the soul of every Soviet child who read his fairy tales

Interesting facts from the biography of P.P. Bazhov

The most famous Russian folklorist was born in January 1879. The guy's parents were from different social classes: his father was a master (golden hands!) at the Sysert factory, and his mother Augusta Stefanovna was a hereditary lace-maker from a noble Polish family.

Interesting fact number 1. The original surname of the family is the Bazhevs, which is consonant with the word “bazhit”, “tell fortune”. From the school bench, Pavel Petrovich had the original nickname Koldunkov, which over time he used as a sonorous pseudonym.

Young Bazhov was educated at a 3-year male school, then, thanks to the help of his beloved teacher, he got into the Yekaterinburg Theological School, and at the age of 14 he entered the Perm Theological Seminary.

Interesting fact number 2. One day, young Pavel took a volume of Pushkin's fairy tales from the library. The librarian jokingly ordered the boy to learn all the poems by heart. Bazhov Jr. took the task seriously and learned the whole thick book by heart in a few days.

Poverty did not allow Pavel Petrovich to continue his education and the young man took up teaching. The future brilliant writer enthusiastically conveyed the beauty of the Russian language to the students of the women's gymnasium.

Interesting fact number 3. AT educational institution where Bazhov worked, there was a rule - to tie beautiful ribbons on the jackets of your favorite teachers. Pavel Petrovich had no room left on the lapels of his coat for badges from grateful students. And one of the most devoted admirers later became the wife of the Soviet writer P.P. Bazhov.

Creativity of the Ural folklorist

The future famous writer in his youth was seriously carried away by the revolutionary movement. Joining the RCP(b) helped young man make a career in publishing and in the field of Soviet journalism. For 15 years, when Pavel Petrovich had the opportunity to travel, he returned to his native land and communicated closely with the local working population.

In the period from 1923-1929, Bazhov wrote more than 40 famous fairy tales. The first book of the writer "The Urals were" was not widely known. But the second collection of Ural tales called "Malachite Box" (1939) brought the author all-Union fame and recognition from the party and government.

Note to readers! In the troubled 30s of the 20th century, Pavel Bazhov miraculously escaped repression. His colleagues in the publishing business fell under the articles, and the aspiring writer escaped with exclusion from the party.

Despite all the hardships of life, the brilliant folklorist continued to create. He presented Soviet citizens and the entire world community with a whole galaxy of unique heroes. Every schoolchild in the great country of the USSR knew the original characters of Bazhov, who had real Ural prototypes:

- The fairy tale "Stone Flower" is one of the most famous tales of the publicist. The story tells about Danil the master, who was captured by the Mistress of the Copper Mountain. Such a hero really existed in reality, and his name was Danila Zverev. He became famous throughout the Urals, and then throughout Russia as a mining master with a true talent as an artist.

- Grandfather Slyshko (Ural worker Vasily Khmelinin) - the narrator from the Malachite Box. The writer fell in love with the colorful character in his early youth, and interesting stories the author wrote down from the words of this wise sincere old man.

- In the legend "Ermakov's Swans" there is a Cossack ataman Ermak. This hero is one of the most revered people in the Urals. He expanded the territory of Russia to the east, conquered Siberia and went down in history forever as a collector of Russian lands.

In his author's tales, Bazhov often mentions ordinary people for whom hard labor in harsh natural conditions- native and familiar reality. Despite all the difficulties that befall the heroes of fairy tales, they remain kind, bright and loving people. They do not cease to believe and hope for happiness, and nature generously endows the Ural craftsmen with gold and precious gems.

All Bazhov's fairy tales on one page

With light hand As a talented writer, a genre appeared in Soviet literature - the Ural tale. This is an oral story immortalized by the author in a children's book. In the legends, the kind voice of a skillful storyteller sounds, who broadcasts in an original folk dialect. And the retelling is full of colorful local expressions, folk proverbs and sayings.

For those who are not yet familiar with the work of the famous folklorist Pavel Petrovich Bazhov, a sparkling scattering of his Ural legends is presented. These wonderful stories are recommended for children and adults to read:

Mistress of Copper Mountain- a tale about a mystical character who was a mountain worker in the form of a beautiful maiden or a large lizard in a golden crown. Masters studying the incomprehensible beauty of the stone fell under the influence of the Copper Beauty and got lost in the deep caves of the old Ural mines.

Sinyushkin well- this is a fairy tale about grandmother Sinyushka, cousin Baba Yaga. Where she settled down, they found full wells precious stones.

silver hoof- a sincere tale about a young goat who knocked out multi-colored stones with his hoof. Meeting with the elusive spirit of the forest brought people wealth and simple human happiness.

blue snake- a story about a magical snake pointing to deposits of native gold. Anyone who is lucky enough to see a writhing snake in the forest will certainly find a secret gold mine.

jumping fireball- a marvelous tale about the Golden Baba. She appears near new mining developments and starts a cheerful dance in the rich gold mines.

Cat's ears- a fascinating story about an earthen cat. This mystical animal appears in the form of dangerous sulfuric gas over the mountain deposits of the Urals.

Veliky Poloz- a tale about a spirit guarding gold reserves. The colorful image was taken by the writer from the folk superstitions of local residents, the ancient clans of the Khanty and Mansi. The image of the guardian of gold mines is still found in the Ural legends, in the signs of working miners and miners of precious ore.

Most popular fairy tales Bazhov are included in the golden fund of developing children's literature. Tales written large print and with bright illustrations, are easily perceived by children of any age. Parents are encouraged to read children's books to their children at night, and it is useful for teachers of schools and kindergartens to include Bazhov's fairy tales in their extracurricular reading program.

Fairy tales for children 3 years old, 4 years old, 5 years old, 6 years old, 7 years old, 8 years old, 9 years old, 10 years old ... for children kindergarten different ages, school students and their parents, teachers and educators. Happy reading!