Baba Yaga
by Deidra Kelly
"Well, we have lived a long time and
seen many great things. For this, we should be thankful," said the Fir
Tree.
"That is very true. I remember the
countless times my squirrel friend complained to me of Baba Yaga and
her antics...before she was run out by her own humiliation and anger
and headed to deeper woods," chuckled the Elm.
"Can you tell me that story please?
It was before I was born," the Alder tree asked wistfully.
"Of course, I remember it well..."
A small hut and a yard lay enveloped in the dark woods. It contained a
small sadness from a dead wife and mother and
a father and his daughter.
They lived together happily in spite of her death, until Baba
Yaga's sister came and married the man. She
began to treat the girl horribly, blaming her for everything, giving
her chores and stale food. The girl would drag herself out to the woods
that fringed her yard and weep and weep for her sorrows.
One day as she wept, a mouse crawled in front of her, and looked
curiously
upon her sadness. The girl looked up through her tears and threw her
stale
crust to the mouse, who began to nibble upon it.
"Tell me when your stepmother sends you on a chore. I will help you, or
you will surely be eaten by Baga Yaga's iron teeth," the mouse said in
his squeaky voice before he ambled off with his meal.
The girl went to bed with her head full of questions and worry. The
next morning she was rudely awoken he next morning by her stepmother's
demanding voice.
"Go to my sister's house and fetch me a needle and thread," she barked
as the girl rubbed her eyes.
"But, I have a needle and thread in my drawer-" The girl's words were
silenced by a slap.
"Don't give me your sass! I have no time for it! Here is some food, now
go! Your auntie's
house is at the end of the path in the forest" her stepmother growled
as she hurried the girl into her clothes and shoved her out the door
with a
cloth with a crust of bread.
The girl's heart fell when she remembered the words of the mouse, but
she could not go back to the back of the yard to find him, because her
stepmother was watching her closely through the window. Sadly, she made
her way to the path.
"Listen carefully!" the mouse exclaimed as he darted on the path in
front of her. "Pick up the items you see on the path as you go, for
they
will help you escape! For your auntie is actually the witch, Baba Yaga!"
"What-?" the girl began, but the mouse had disappeared. She cautiously
walked forward and found sitting on the path a can of oil and scraps of
meat. She crouched down and carefully put each object in the
pockets in
her apron and made her way to the end of the path some time later and
looked upon a looming gate.
She opened the gate and it shrieked and groaned. She took the can of
oil and treated the hinges, banishing the horrible sound, and made her
way into the yard where Baba Yaga's hut was standing upon its chicken
legs. It lowered itself to the ground to allow the girl to knock.
Swallowing her fear, she did so and the door opened.
"Hello dear, won't you have a seat? I will go fetch your needle and
thread," Baba Yaga said in her creaky voice, looking upon the girl with
her wild eyes and smiled with her gleaming iron teeth. The girl slowly
took
a seat as Baba Yaga went to the hallway and disappeared into a back
room.
A cat suddenly leapt onto the girl's lap. The girl fed him the meat
scraps.
"Listen, child," the cat said when it was done eating. "On that table
you will find a towel. Take it and throw it behind you as you run
away from this place. Baba Yaga plans to eat you. Do this, and you will
be safe." The girl pocketed the towel and made a dash out into the yard.
No sooner than the gates had flung open on their own for her did she
hear pounding, and the ground began to shake. Baga Yaga was at the door
of her
hut, looking furious and gnashing her great iron teeth. The girl threw
the towel behind her, hoping she would not die, and it turned into a
wide river that stopped Baba Yaga in her tracks. The girl fled
back to her own home as Baba Yaga moved her hut to deeper woods.
When the girl arrived home, her stepmother looked upon her in disbelief
and started to shriek with rage. The husband demanded to know what was
going on and the girl told him all that had happened. He was not
pleased at all and kicked his wife out of the house.
From then on, the father and daughter lived in happiness and the girl
fed the mouse with crusts every day, grateful that her life had been
saved and changed.
"Ah, yes. I wonder what forest Baba
Yaga is making trouble in now?" the Pine remarked.
"She couldn't be making any more
trouble
than the Cat stirred up..." said the Olive tree.
Author's Note:
This story was hard to write because I
kept going over my word allotment. I had to rewrite it several times to
cut it down. It was very difficult for me to reduce the word count, not
only because it is a pain but because I had to take out many details to
the story. There were more items that the little girl used to her
advantage that I had to leave out, such as a comb that further thwarted
Baga Yaga, more items to appease those in Baba Yaga's service, that I
had to cut out (a servant, a tree, a dog). I could only leave in what
was absolutely essential since it turned out to be a such a long story.
I had a lot more description and detail that I had to cut out as well.
Still, I think the story retelling turned out okay all things
considered.
I also had a lot more details about Baba Yaga that I ended up having to
cut out. She is a very prominent figure in Russian stories,
so it was essential that I included this story in my storybook. I
included the woods in this story instead of a shed that the little girl
cried under to tie it more into my theme.
Coverpage
Image: Baba Yaga. Web Source: Wikipedia.
"Baba Yaga and the Little Girl with the Kind Heart" by
Arthur Ransome from Old Peter's Russian Tales (1916). Web Source:
SurLaLune Fairy Tales.
