Page 422 - Актуальные проблемы обучения русскому языку XIII

search <…> she managed to deliver him from the magic dream send by a cunning rival, to
push aside the latter one, and to became a real wife» (Афанасьев 1995, 228).
It should be mentioned that A.S. Pushkin «replaced» a wife by a husband: as is
known, Prince Yelisey is looking for his lost bride in the fairy tale written by the poet (Зуева
1989, 95). This plot – as well as the related motifs – was frequently reimagined by writers
from different countries. Among them the following ones should be mentioned: Charles
Perrault («The Sleeping Beauty»; France), the Brothers Grimm («Snow White» and «Little
Briar Rose»; Germany), V.A. Zhukovsky («The Sleeping Princess»; Russia), and others. Let’s
consider only certain, but the most significant, features indicating how the «wandering» plot
was rendered by A.S. Pushkin in his «The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights»
(1833).
Thus, the fairy tale’s exposition (this one describing the birth of the princess) is
already important. Note that the benevolence of Heavenly Powers can be seen here through
the indication to the church calendar. It is quite clear that the Christmas Eve is mentioned:
«Then from God on Christmas Eve / She a daughter did received» (Pushkin 1974, 3; here
and throughout emphasis is our. – S.V.) (or, in literal translation: «And so on the very
Christmas Eve, at this very night / Lord gave a daughter to the Tsaritsa». – Translated by
A.I.Parfyonov. – S.V.). It is symbolical that the princess was born at the night of Christ’s
Nativity. In this regard, the common phrase «Got gave» gains its original meaning: any birth
is a gift from God and a manifestation of His benevolence. The phrase also serves as a
supplementary indication to the wonder of pregnancy (the pregnancy isn’t mentioned in the
fairy tale, only the fact that the Tsaritsa was waiting for her husband departed on a long
journey). Entanglement of the «sleeping beauty» plot is the «mistake» made by the king (or
the Tsar Matvey), who didn’t invite a sorceress (or an enchantress) to the feast celebrating
the birth of his daughter.
Let’s now turn to A.S. Pushkin’s fairy tale. The cause of the sorcery is also (albeit
indirectly) associated here with princess’s father, but it isn’t a «mistake» made by the Tsar or
an accidental theft. The second marriage of the sovereign reveals the shroud of mystery,
which have enwrapped his image. As compared with the detailed representation of feelings
peculiar to the Tsar’s first wife (those ones, forming the Tsaritsa’s image: «Not a sign of her
beloved!» and other passages), the preterition on the new family relationship is especially
significant. Instead, the detailed portrait of the second Tsaritsa is provided by the poet,
thereby replacing the depiction of the first one’s feelings. It is obvious that the «temptation»
of the impersonal and «empty» Tsar by the «stubborn» and «haughty» beauty doesn’t
rendered by the author here, as it is the case with Pushkin’s another literary work, «The Tale
of the Golden Cockerel» (1834). No wonder such a stepmother envies precisely the female
attractiveness of her stepdaughter (it is a plot connected with the Russian fairy tale «The
Magic Mirror», which is reimagined by the author in the given case). The Pushkin’s
stepmother wishing to deal with the princess doesn’t waste her time waiting: «on the night
before the wedding», she commands Smudge to feed the girl to the wolves. The princess is
send to the forest for death, which isn’t a fictitious one at all: thus, the dog Sokolko really
dies having gulped the poisoned apple. Pushkin sharply dramatizes the plot through the
omitting of the sorcery itself and the conditions on which it could be overcome; in other
words, the whole entourage of the magic death sleep is removed by the poet. If the
conditions on which the princess fall asleep are unknown, then when and how she’ll wake up
is unknown as well, and, indeed, even the awakening itself isn’t certain.
The situation may be described in a slightly different manner: if it isn’t a death, but a
sleep, we have here a very specific one, infinite or eternal, i.e., basically, the same death.
This is what determines the image of the eternal dream: «…a coffin made of crystal / Where

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