The plot of “Morozko” served as the basis for the creation of literary fairy tales; A feature film of the same name was made based on it.

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✪ Fairy tale "Morozko"

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Varieties

According to researchers who studied records of the fairy tale “Morozko” in different regions, there are at least forty Russian varieties, about thirty Ukrainian versions and eleven Belarusian ones. Initially, these oral stories were close to tales; peasants, believing in the supernatural capabilities of Frost, until the 19th century sought to appease him with the help of jelly. Later, when Frost began to lose the features of a mythological character in the popular consciousness, the story of meeting him took the form of a fairy tale.

Folklore collector Alexander Afanasyev, when including two versions of “Morozko” in his collection of fairy tales, noted that one of them (No. 95) was recorded in the Nikolsky district of the Novgorod province, the second (No. 96) - in the Kursk province.

Another edition of “Morozko”, included in the book “Tales and Legends of Pushkin’s Places” (1950), was recorded not far from Mikhailovsky in 1927. From the storyteller, 50-year-old illiterate peasant woman Anna Fedorovna Dvoretskova, the collectors learned that fairy tales in their family were usually told in the evenings, during weaving or spinning work. She herself pronounced them in a chant, with expression, from time to time switching to recitation.

Plot

From Afanasyev's fairy tales (No. 95)

The evil stepmother, wanting to get rid of her stepdaughter Marfushka, a hard-working and resigned girl, ordered her husband to take her to the forest and marry her to Moroz. The old man did not dare to disobey his grumpy wife: he brought his daughter to the forest, left her near a large pine tree and returned home.

Soon Morozko appeared. Having asked Marfushka three times, “Are you warm, girl, are you warm, red one?”, he wrapped the freezing guest in fur coats.

The next day, the old man went into the forest again and found his daughter there alive, healthy, with rich gifts. When the stepmother saw her stepdaughter in a new fur coat and with a box of linen, she decided to send her daughters to the groom. However, to the question “Are you warm, girls?” they answered rudely and soon became “ossified.”

From fairy tales of Pushkin's places

Having been widowed, the old man married again. The new wife did not like his own daughter and ordered to get rid of her. The old man took her to the forest, collected brushwood and left. The girl walked along the path and came across a hut. At night Morozko came there, brought her a dress, a fur coat, felt boots, drove a horse, and delivered a carriage.

When the dog told the stepmother that her stepdaughter was coming home dressed in silver and gold, the old woman did not believe it at first. But she soon saw that the girl was indeed alive, healthy and rich. The stepmother ordered that her own child be taken to the same hut. But the stepmother’s daughter behaved arrogantly, met Moroz unfriendly, for which she paid: all that was left of her were bones.

Literary roll call

The first to turn to a literary adaptation of the fairy tale “Morozko” was Vladimir Odoevsky, who wrote the work “Moroz Ivanovich”. In this version, the main character is a gray-haired old man who lives in a house made of ice. Just like Morozko in the folk tale, Moroz Ivanovich values ​​hard work, and therefore gives the Needlewoman a “diamond” for her scarf and silver patches in a bucket for her work. The Sloth, who followed in the footsteps of the Needlewoman to the ice kingdom of the old man, received only an icicle as a “reward”.

In Odoevsky's pedagogical fairy tale, the ritual Moroz and the fabulous Morozko are turned into a kind but fair educator and mentor.

Researchers find many points of intersection between “Morozko” and “Mistress Snowstorm” written by the Grimm brothers (German: Frau Holle): in both fairy tales there are hardworking stepdaughters, evil stepmothers and their arrogant daughters; good girls in each of the stories receive a reward, only in the first case the generosity comes from the “Lord of Winter”, and in the second - from the “Lady of Winter”. According to Vladimir Propp, both in “Morozko” and “Frau Holle” there is a “personification of winter” (in male and female images, respectively). At the same time, the folklorist draws attention to the “interweaving of plots”:

There are no completely objective criteria for separating one plot from another. Where one researcher sees a new plot, another will see a variant and vice versa.

- V. Propp

Researchers also include Samuil Marshak’s dramatic story “Twelve Months” (1942) among the literary revised modifications of the fairy tale “Morozko”.

Artistic Features

Literary critic Elena Korovina, characterizing the hero of the fairy tale “Morozko,” reproduces a saying from the legacy of Vladimir Dahl that “Morozko gallops through spruce forests, along birch forests, along dry banks.” The lightness and playfulness of the “Lord of Winter” allows us to say that the character is one of the “young deities” who are ready to be courteous “with the maidens who find themselves in his forest.”

Folklorist Vladimir Bakhtin, recalling that Father Frost, Red Nose Frost, and Morozko are one and the same “lord of the cold,” calls the hero of the fairy tale a “protector”; in the popular consciousness, “the weakest, the most offended” should win and receive the reward. Literary critic Vladimir Anikin notes that Morozko, depending on the situation, can prove himself both as a benevolent master and as a merciless ruler:

In the fairy tale story about the perseverance and patience of an orphan, about the harsh Frost, there is a thought: the oppressed, those who are persistent, will be happy. A fairy tale is a kind of ideological, aesthetic and ethical code of the people; their aspirations and expectations are embodied here.

“Morozko” is a fairy tale that has many different plot varieties. The classics of Russian literature loved this genre and therefore engaged in their own treatment of plots. Leo Tolstoy also has a famous adaptation of “Morozko”. Two versions were recorded in the collection “Russian Folk Tales” by A. Afanasyev. He recorded the first version in the Novgorod province, the second in Kursk. Based on the plot of “Morozko,” a wonderful children’s film of the same name was even made. Researchers have calculated that this tale sounds differently in each region and there are about four dozen Russian versions, Ukrainian - only thirty, Belarusian - eleven.

Folk tales

Previously, peasants were afraid of the supernatural powers of Frost and almost until the 19th century they tried to appease him with the help of jelly. But then interest in this mythological character was gradually lost, but the form of a fairy tale remained and was not forgotten. There is another version of “Morozko”, this tale was written down from the words of the peasant storyteller Anna Fedorovna Dvoretskova. Collectors of folklore learned that their family told stories in the evenings while spinning or weaving. This interpretation was included in the book “Tales and Legends of Pushkin Places” (1950).

Brief summary of “Morozko” in L. Tolstoy’s adaptation

Once upon a time there lived an old man and an old woman. The old man had his own daughter, and the old woman had her own daughter, who no matter what she did, everyone patted her on the head, but the stepdaughter got it for everything, she looked after the cattle, and stoked the stove, and cleaned the hut, in general, all the dirty work did housework. But it was simply impossible to please the angry and grumpy old woman, and she decided to kill her stepdaughter completely from the world.

One day she commands her weak and spineless old man to take his daughter into the forest into the bitter cold, so long as his eyes do not see her. The old man groaned and cried, but he was afraid of his grandmother more than death and could not even contradict her. Then he harnessed the horse, put his daughter in the sleigh and took her homeless girl to the forest. And then he threw it straight into a snowdrift near a large spruce tree.

Morozko

The summary of “Morozko” can be continued by saying that the poor girl is sitting under a spruce tree and a strong chill runs through her. Then she sees Morozko jumping from branch to branch, crackling and clicking. And soon he found himself next to the girl and began to slyly ask about whether she was warm? She humbly answered him that she felt very warm, and called him affectionately - Morozushko.

Then Frost began to sink even lower and crackle more than ever. And again he asks the girl if she is cold? But she again responded kindly, calling him Father and Morozushka, and assured him that she was warm. Then Morozko sank even lower and began to crackle louder. And again he turned to her with his questions about whether she, the red maiden, was warm? But the girl could barely speak and became completely numb from the cold, and then, turning to him, out of the kindness of her soul, she called him Morozushka and again calmed him down, saying that she was very warm.

Rewarding Patience and Kindness

Then Morozko took pity on her, threw a warm fur coat over her and warmed her with down blankets.

The old man arrived at the place and saw that his daughter was standing rosy-cheeked and cheerful, in a sable fur coat, in gold and silver, and next to her was a full box with rich gifts. The old man was very happy, put his daughter in the sleigh, loaded all her wealth and took her home.

Temptation

When the old woman saw that the old man’s daughter was being carried in silver and gold, she immediately ordered another sleigh to be harnessed and her daughter to be taken to the same place. The old man did just that, he took his stepdaughter into the forest and dumped her again under the same spruce tree.

The girl is sitting, freezing, chattering her teeth. And Morozko crackles and clicks in the forest and the old woman’s daughter glances at her. And then he asks if the girl is warm, and she answered that she is cold and oh, cold! The frost drops lower and clicks and crackles more than ever and again asks the girl if she is warm. Then she screamed that her hands and feet were frozen. And Morozko grabbed him completely and hit him even harder. The girl completely moaned that the damned Morozko would disappear and disappear. Then he got angry and grabbed so hard that the old woman’s daughter became completely numb.

The summary of “Morozko” ends with the fact that in the morning, just before dawn, the old woman calls the old man to her, so that he immediately goes for her daughter and brings her in gold and silver. The old man harnessed the sleigh and drove off, and the dog under the table yelped that the suitors would soon take the old man’s daughter as a wife, and the old woman’s daughter was carrying bones in a bag.

When the grandfather returned, the old woman ran up to his sleigh, lifted the matting, and there her daughter lay dead. The old woman screamed, but it was too late.

Justice

This Russian folk tale is included in the school literature curriculum. The main characters of the fairy tale “Morozko”, as it should be, are both positive and negative, otherwise it would be uninteresting to read. The plot presents a variation of the story about a persecuted person (stepdaughter), to whom a wonderful assistant (Morozko) comes to the rescue and rewards him for his kindness, meekness, humility and hard work. And he punished another person (the old woman’s daughter), proud, selfish and spiteful.

The stepmother, of course, in this folk story is the main fiend of evil and the instigator, to whom retribution also came. Her husband is a subservient person who cannot resist her due to the weakness of his character; fate did not offend him either.

This story is clearly educational and moral in nature, which is very easy to read. The meaning of the fairy tale “Morozko” is that the triumph of justice will definitely come sooner or later, and everyone will receive reward for their deeds, as they say, whoever sows will also reap.

The fairy tale "Morozko": reviews

The end of the tale is quite tragic, if not cruel. Russian folk tales, including Morozko, are told from the perspective of the people, who in all centuries have condemned envy, greed and oppression of the defenseless. According to reviews, the behavior of negative characters, such as the stepmother and her daughter, causes the reader’s soul to reject injustice, and punishment is perceived, on the contrary, as the triumph of justice.

In general, Russian folk tales, “Morozko”, for example, like many others, are causing a lot of discussion, supposedly very bloodthirsty and cruel, in which dubious ideals are affirmed in the form of meekness instead of assertiveness, and the emphasis is also placed on material wealth.

To protect a child from unnecessary cruelty, according to some parents, it is necessary to prevent children from reading such stories. The negative main characters of the fairy tale “Morozko” seem to serve as bad examples to follow.

However, we must understand that this is our ancient heritage, so to speak, folk treasures, and the plot is therefore determined by the realities of that very primitive and dark time. Then such cruelty was justified, since it set itself the goal of instructing the younger generation, and the brighter the colors, the deeper the educational impact.

Wisdom of the Ages

It is necessary to note the main thing in this topic: fairy tales have always preserved the centuries-old wisdom of the people, and the task of modern teachers is not to break the thread that connects generations, and to help the young reader read, correctly understand and respect the folk wisdom of fairy tales invented by our ancestors.

There is not a single person in Russia who does not know the famous and, without a doubt, one of the favorite winter stories of childhood - “Morozko”. But those who can confidently say who wrote the fairy tale “Morozko” are an order of magnitude smaller. The tradition, which instills in a child a sense of kindness, compassion and, of course, belief in magic, simply could not help but gain universal popularity and love. Parents take great pleasure in reading this magical story to their kids before bed and just like that, each time returning to their own carefree childhood.

Where does childhood go?

So why are many people perplexed by the question: who wrote the fairy tale “Morozko”? Today we will try to understand this and answer the question posed. In general, few people know that there are more than a hundred interpretations of the fairy tale, but the meaning in each remains the same. By the way, those children who had the opportunity to grow up in Soviet times remember that every New Year holidays a film adaptation of “Morozko” was shown on television, and all preschool children, schoolchildren and even their parents with a smile on their faces once again reviewed a truly interesting plot, which you never seem to get tired of. And even now, to be honest, many channels delight TV viewers with their favorite fairy tale on New Year’s Eve.

A summary of the tale in case someone has forgotten

In general, if you write an annotation for the fairy tale “Morozko”, then it will look quite the same for all its interpretations. The evil stepmother protected her own daughter from all adversities, and loaded her stepdaughter with housework every day. Then, this was not enough for the grumpy woman, and she decided to completely get rid of the hated girl. She persuaded her husband to take her to the forest and leave her there. And after a while, the stepdaughter arrived in her native land with her groom, smartly dressed, and even with a dowry chest that Santa Claus had collected for her. The stepmother and her own daughter became jealous and decided to do the same thing in order to get both the groom and wealth. However, Frost immediately saw through the parasite and incompetence and rewarded her justly: three harnessed pigs and a chest filled to the brim with black crows.

Alexander Afanasyev or the people?

In general, many people think that the author of the fairy tale “Morozko” (who originally wrote it) is Alexander Afanasyev. However, Afanasyev simply collected epics, stories and fairy tales from around the world and retold them in his own language in collections that were so loved by children and adults. He constantly mentioned and did not hesitate to talk about how in different parts of our big country he heard the same stories, told in different ways, but with absolutely the same names of the characters and plot. Therefore, it is impossible to assume that Alexander Afanasyev is the one who wrote the fairy tale “Morozko”. He just put what he heard on paper. But his contribution to the spread of this story should not be underestimated, because it was thanks to him that the tale became widely known.

When there is no specific name...

“Morozko” is a Russian legend, which, most likely, many, many years ago, someone came up with and told for the first time, but no data about this person has survived. Like many other fairy tales, it was passed down from grandmother to granddaughter and has survived to this day. Therefore, it is impossible to specify and say who wrote the fairy tale “Morozko” - it is most correct to assume that this masterpiece was created by the people.

The theme of Morozko's fairy tale is a moralizing magical Christmas tale, that is, a fairy tale with trials for the heroes and a happy ending - the reward of the main character. Children listen to such tales with bated breath. A fair tale will leave a lot of emotions in the soul of every child. Be sure to read the fairy tale online and discuss it with your child.

Read Morozko's fairy tale

Who is the author of the fairy tale

The traditional story of an orphan girl and an evil stepmother appears in many folk and literary fairy tales. Morozko's fairy tale is more attractive to readers in Tolstoy's presentation, although another version of it can be found in folklorist Afanasyev.

The poor stepdaughter did not know how to please her stepmother. The girl's kindness and beauty, nimble hands, and humility only irritated the fierce old woman even more. The stepmother cherished and took care of her negligent daughter, and took out all her evil on her stepdaughter. She told the old man to take his daughter to the forest in the winter cold and leave her there. The old man did not dare to contradict. Morozko met his stepdaughter in the forest. For his heart of gold, he gave the girl gold, silver and rich gifts. When the old man brought his daughter home, the woman ordered him to take her daughter to the forest to buy gifts. But the rude and angry girl angered Morozko. He blew on her and she became numb from the frost. You can read the fairy tale online on our website.

Analysis of Morozko's tale

The plot of the tale is traditional. The positive heroine, the stepdaughter, is contrasted with the negative ones, the stepmother and stepsister. Heroes are tested. The magical character, Morozko, rewards the good girl and punishes the evil one. The punishment is cruel, but it shows the mentality of the Russian people: there must be retribution for the abuse of an orphan. What does Morozko’s fairy tale teach? The fairy tale teaches kindness, humility, hard work, and condemns greed and envy.

Moral of Morozko's tale

All human actions have consequences, good ones are returned to him with goodness, and bad ones are punished. The moral of Morozko's tale is convincing and instructive. Talk to your children about it to help them understand the law of life's boomerang.

Proverbs, sayings and fairy tale expressions

• Don't dig a hole for someone else - you yourself will fall into it.
• What goes around comes around.

Morozko's fairy tale is everyone's favorite New Year's story for children, boys and girls. This is a fascinating Russian folk tale, which will be presented to you on the pages of our website. In an imperceptible way, it has a beneficial effect on the ethics and morality of the baby. It teaches the reader the basics of Russian culture, very unobtrusively teaches children to be kind, sympathetic, to love and respect not only themselves, but also the world around them, to respect the people around them, but at the same time always remain themselves in any situations. This is exactly what the main character of this good fairy tale, Nastenka, behaves and does. She has a combination of tenderness, kindness, affection, honesty, meekness; these are all good qualities and are a great role model for your children.

Only thanks to a chance meeting with Nastenka, in Morozko’s fairy tale, the boy Ivan, who had been bewitched for a long time, was able to quickly understand and realize all his mistakes and then correct them too. This piece deals with curliness and greed. These negative qualities are condemned. It is these negative qualities that predominate in one of the heroines, this is the stepmother of her own daughter. The conclusion is that a layer of man can never be happy. You can read Morozko’s fairy tale online from any age, both boys and girls. The plot of this fairy tale will never grow old and will always be relevant. More than one generation of our children has grown up on this kind, gentle and instructive tale of the famous poet.

Text of Morozko's fairy tale

Once upon a time there lived a grandfather and a woman. The grandfather had a daughter, and the woman had a daughter. Everyone knows how to live with a stepmother: if you turn over, it’s a bitch, and if you don’t turn over, it’s a bitch. And no matter what my own daughter does, she gets a pat on the head for everything: she’s smart. The stepdaughter watered and fed the cattle, carried firewood and water to the hut, heated the stove, chalked the hut - even before the light... You can’t please the old woman with anything - everything is wrong, everything is bad. Even if the wind makes a noise, it dies down, but the old woman disperses - she won’t calm down soon. So the stepmother came up with the idea to take her stepdaughter away from the world. “Take her, take her, old man,” he says to her husband, “where you want my eyes not to see her!” Take her to the forest, into the bitter cold.
The old man groaned and cried, but there was nothing to do, you couldn’t argue with the women. Harnessed the horse:
- Sit down, dear daughter, in the sleigh.
He took the homeless woman into the forest, dumped her in a snowdrift under a large fir tree and left. A girl sits under a spruce tree, trembling, and a chill runs through her. Suddenly he hears - not far away Morozko is crackling through the trees, jumping from tree to tree, clicking. He found himself on the spruce tree under which the girl was sitting, and from above he asked her:
-Are you warm, girl?
She takes a slight breath:

Morozko began to descend lower, crackling and clicking louder:

She takes a slight breath:
- Warm, Morozushko, warm, father.
Morozko descended even lower, crackled louder, clicked louder:
-Are you warm, girl? Are you warm, red one? Are you warm, honey?
The girl began to stiffen, moving her tongue slightly:
- Oh, it’s warm, my dear Morozushko!
Here Morozko took pity on the girl; wrapped her in warm fur coats and warmed her with down blankets.
And her stepmother celebrates a wake for her, bakes pancakes and shouts to her husband:
- Go, old brat, take your daughter to be buried!
The old man rode into the forest, reached the place where his daughter was sitting under a large spruce tree, cheerful, rosy-cheeked, in a sable fur coat, all in gold and silver, and nearby was a box with rich gifts.
The old man was delighted, put all the goods in the sleigh, put his daughter in, and took her home.
And at home the old woman is baking pancakes, and the dog is under the table:

The old woman will throw her a pancake:
- You're not yapping like that! Say: “They marry the old woman’s daughter, and they bring the bones to the old woman’s daughter...” The dog eats the pancake and again:
- Bang, bang! They take the old man's daughter in gold and silver, but they don't marry the old woman.
The old woman threw pancakes at her and beat her, the dog did everything...
Suddenly the gates creaked, the door opened, the stepdaughter walked into the hut - in gold and silver, and shining. And behind her they carry a tall, heavy box. The old woman looked - and her hands were apart...
- Harness another horse, old bastard! Take, take my daughter to the forest to the same place...
The old man put the old woman's daughter in a sleigh, took her into the forest to the same place, dumped her in a snowdrift under a tall spruce tree and drove off.
The old woman's daughter is sitting, chattering her teeth. And Morozko crackles through the forest, jumps from tree to tree, clicks, the daughter glances at the old woman:
-Are you warm, girl?
And she told him:
- Oh, it's cold! Don’t creak, don’t crack, Morozko...
Morozko began to descend lower, crackling and clicking louder:
-Are you warm, girl? Are you warm, red one?
- Oh, my hands and feet are frozen! Go away, Morozko...
Morozko descended even lower, hit harder, crackled, clicked:
-Are you warm, girl? Are you warm, red one?
- Oh, I've got a cold! Get lost, get lost, damned Morozko!
Morozko got angry and got so angry that the old woman’s daughter became numb.
At first light the old woman sends her husband:
“Harry up quickly, old brat, go get your daughter, bring her in gold and silver...”
The old man left. And the dog under the table:
- Yip, yap! The grooms will take the old man's daughter, but the old woman's daughter will carry the bones in a bag. The old woman threw her a pie:
- You're not yapping like that! Say: “The old woman’s daughter is being carried in gold and silver...”
And the dog is all his:
- Yip, yap! They are carrying bones to the old woman's daughter in a bag... The gate creaked, the old woman rushed to meet her daughter. Rogozha turned away, and her daughter lay dead in the sleigh. The old woman cried out, but it’s too late.