It caught up the three lovely princesses and carried them up into the air (p. 272)

Old Peter's Russian Tales

by Arthur Ransome

[1916]

Contents Start Reading Page Index Text [Zipped]

This is a book of Russian folklore retold for young people and the young at heart. The tales are a good sampling of Slavic märchen, and the luminous prose counterposes the sometimes dark narratives. Ransome was the author of the popular 'Swallows and Amazons' childrens' books. He spent time in Russia during World War I as a journalist for a radical British newspaper, the Daily News, meeting among others, Lenin and Trotsky. However, that was after he wrote this book. He was a member of the London bohemian artistic scene, and knew Pamela Coleman Smith, the artist behind the Rider-Waite Tarot deck.

Title Page
Note
Contents
The Hut in the Forest
The Tale of the Silver Saucer and the Transparent Apple
Sadko
Frost
The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship
Baba Yaga
The Cat Who Became Head-Forester
Spring in the Forest
The Little Daughter of the Snow
Prince Ivan, the Witch Baby, and the Little Sister of the Sun
The Stolen Turnips, the Magic Tablecloth, the Sneezing Goat, and the Wooden Whistle
Little Master Misery
A Chapter of Fish
The Golden Fish
Who Lived in the Skull?
Alenoushka and her Brother
The Fire-Bird, the Horse of Power, and the Princess Vasilissa
The Hunter and His Wife
The Three Men of Power--Evening, Midnight, and Sunrise