Russian folk tales are wise and instructive, funny and sad, simple-hearted and subtly cunning, yet always captivating and drawing you into a magical reality where a fox can become a confessor, and a frog—a princess; where Kрошечка-Хаврошечка, Vasilisa the Beautiful, and Koschei the Immortal live; where the magic self-playing gusli can be heard, and a golden fish fulfills the deepest, most cherished wishes.
A collection of tales, including the “forbidden” ones, prepared by folklorist, literary scholar, and historian Alexander Nikolayevich Afanasyev, is considered the most complete of their collections and has been successfully enhanced with folk anecdotes and ditties.