Lessons 31 · 1 lessons · G. T. Gasilova, Yu. Yu. Musurmanova. Russian Language, Grade 6 (for schools with Uzbek and other languages of instruction). 2nd revised edition. “O‘zbekiston milliy ensiklopediyasi”, Tashkent, 2017
31
A. S. Pushkin. “The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights”
Textbook, pp. 129–131
GoalUnderstand the events, characters and idea of Pushkin’s «Сказка о мёртвой царевне и семи богатырях».
«Сказка о мёртвой царевне и семи богатырях» (1833) is another literary tale by Pushkin. In it the evil stepmother-queen asks her magic mirror (зеркальце): “Am I the most beautiful?” For a long time the mirror says yes, but when her stepdaughter, the princess, grows up and becomes beautiful, the answer changes. Out of envy (зависть) the queen orders a servant to take the girl into the forest and leave her there. The princess comes to the house of seven knights (богатырь) who accept her as a sister. The envious queen, disguised as an old beggar woman, gives her a poisoned apple (яблоко) and the princess falls into a “dead sleep”. The knights hang her in a crystal coffin in a cave. Her bridegroom Prince Elisei looks for her, asks the Sun and the Moon, and only the Wind helps. Elisei breaks the coffin and the princess wakes up. Good wins over envy and evil. Remember: the number «seven» is magic in tales.
Worked examples
«Царевна и зеркальце» (summary). «Злая царица каждый день спрашивала у зеркальца, кто красивее всех. Зеркальце отвечало правду. Когда выросла царевна, оно назвало её самой прекрасной. От зависти царица решила избавиться от падчерицы. Но девушку приютили семь богатырей. Царица принесла ей отравленное яблоко. Царевна уснула, но жених Елисей нашёл её, и добро победило.» (The wicked queen asked her mirror every day who was the most beautiful. The mirror told the truth. When the princess grew up it named her the most beautiful. Out of envy the queen decided to get rid of her stepdaughter. But seven knights gave the girl shelter. The queen brought her a poisoned apple. The princess fell asleep, but her fiancé Elisei found her, and good won.)
Characters: «царица-мачеха» (cruel), «царевна» (kind and open-hearted), «богатыри» (good protectors), «Елисей» (a loyal fiancé), «ветер» (the helper). Note: «зеркальце» is the diminutive of «зеркало» — you learned this in week 1.
Class activity
“Magic mirror”. One pupil is the mirror, another the queen. The queen asks in her own words «… скажи, кто …?» and the mirror answers. The class names the character’s traits.
Practice
1
Why did the queen want to get rid of her stepdaughter?
От зависти: зеркальце назвало царевну красивее.
2
Who gave the princess shelter?
семь богатырей
3
What suffix forms «зеркальце»?
-ц- (зеркало → зеркальце)
4
Elisei asked the Sun, the Moon and the Wind. Why do you think only the Wind helped?
The wind reaches everywhere; it could know where the princess lay.