Favorite fairy tales. "The Scarlet Flower"

This fairy tale was not written by the storyteller at all. Sergei Timofeevich Aksakov (1791-1859) remained in the history of literature as a prose writer, publicist and memoirist, theater and literary critic, censor, and public figure. And the author “The Scarlet Flower”, which glorified him most of all other works, made the author a kind of annex to the big autobiographical novel “The Childhood Years of Bagrov the Grandson”.

The narration is conducted in the first person, and the hero talks about how he first heard this magical tale. The boy was very sick and could not sleep at night. The housekeeper Pelageya was called to him, and night after night she told him the same wonderful story about a good girl, a terrible and miserable monster and a scarlet flower, because of which everything had begun.

What does the fairy tale affect

A wealthy merchant gathers overseas for business and asks his three daughters what kind of goodies they should bring. The elder asks her to get a gold crown, which is more beautiful than in the world, the middle one asks for a miracle mirror, in which everything seems beautiful. And the youngest wants a scarlet flower. Father is confused: he knows that there is a gold crown, one of the overseas queenesses is hidden in the pantry, and he heard about the wonderful mirror, the daughter of the Persian king has such a thing - he will get everything. But he cannot comprehend what kind of flower: how to find out what exactly this scarlet flower is needed by his beloved little daughter.

I found a merchant in the countries of distant gifts for older daughters. Finally found on a deserted island and a flower for the youngest. Just ripped off - everything darkened. And the master of the flower appeared - the forest monster. He punished the merchant forever in captivity, but felt sorry and let go of his daughters to say goodbye. The youngest daughter secretly put a magic ring on her finger and instead of her father went to the island to the monster and returned the scarlet flower to its place. And that monster turned out to be an unfortunate young man, enchanted by an evil sorceress. She sentenced him to remain in a terrible guise until he fell in love with his damsel for a good heart. And so it happened: Alenka (and in the cartoon - Nastya) felt sorry and fell in love with him, and he again became a handsome young man. Such, in brief, is the plot of the tale told by S. T. Aksakov.

Perhaps the most beloved cartoon of several generations appeared on the TV screen in 1952. Old drawn Soviet cartoons today look with a mixed sense of tenderness and nostalgia. The fairy tale "The Scarlet Flower" was embodied in the film-tale directed by Irina Povolotskaya, filmed in 1977. But the most legendary production was the eponymous performance of the A.S. Pushkin Moscow Theater. In 2012 was the anniversary - the 4000th! - show performance. Where did such a story about the beauty and the beast quite well-known in world literature come from? The reason is obvious: there are enduring, eternal things that never become obsolete. These are well-known truths: good always conquers evil, and the most evil spells are powerless against love and a pure heart. This is also told by the fairy tale, written not at all by the storyteller S.T.