From Ivan and the Firebird
The
Legend of the Firebird
Russian Origin
The
Legend of the Firebird
Russian Origin
Once, a long time ago or a short time ago, there was an orphan named Maryushka. She was very beautiful but very humble, and she could embroider more beautifully than anyone else in the world, and took whatever price anyone could afford, no matter how small.
Soon her fame began to spread, and merchants from all over the world came to see her marvelous works. One after the other came, and every time they would say, "I have never seen anything more beautiful in all the world." And one after the other they would try to get her to come home with them, promising riches and fame. ‘But she would only lower her eyes and reply modestly, "Riches I do not need and I shall never leave the village where I was born, but of course I will sell my work to all who find it beautiful."’ And so the merchants had nothing to say, but had to be content leaving without her, spreading the news of her skill to the ends of the earth.
One day her fame reached an evil sorcerer named Kachei the Immortal. He was furious to learn that such beauty was in the world that he had never seen. ‘So he took the form of a handsome youth and flew over the deep oceans, the tall mountains and the impassable forests until he came to Maryushka’s cottage.’ He knocked on her door and asked to see the needlework she had just completed. She set them out for him, and he noted how each was even more beautiful than the previous.
She said to him, "You may take any which please your eyes. If you have no money, you may pay me whenever you get the chance, whatever you can afford." Her kindness and the sight of all the beauty infuriated Kashei, for he was jealous that a simple country girl could fashion finer things than he. In his most cunning tone he said, "Come, Maryushka, I will make you a Queen. You will eat off gold, sleep on eiderdown, and live in a castle made of precious jewels, with orchards where golden apples grow, and birds of paradise sing sweet songs."
She replied in much the same way she always did adding, "I shall never embroider for you alone." In an instant a Firebird flapped its wings where Maryushka had stood, and Kaschei became a great black Falcon. He soared high into the sky grabbing her in his talons.
Maryushka knew that she was being taken away, and resolved to leave one last beautiful thing for the world. She shed all of her plumage, and feather after feather they floated down in all the colors of the rainbow to the meadow and forest bellow. ‘As the feathers fell, Maryushka’s strength ebbed. And although the Firebird died in the black Falcon’s talons, her feathers continued to live, down on the ground…but only those who love beauty and seel to make beauty for others can admire them.’