Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights
Author: Alexander Sergevich Pushkin
Illustrator: V.K. Golnev
A king went on a journey and the queen waited for him. From morning till night she waited. She waited
for 9 months. After 9 months she had a child and died during childbirth. For a long time the king was
sad, but after 1 year he remarried to another queen. The new queen was beautiful, white, young, tall,
but she was full of pride and jealousy and her character was wayward . The new queen received a
dowry and the dowry contained a talking magic mirror. The new queen would talk to the mirror and the
mirror would tell her that she was the most beautiful, the most white and that nobody could compare
with her. The queen was overjoyed at the mirror’s comments and was very content.
The princess to whom the first queen had given birth grew and grew. She had a beautiful face and
beautiful eye brows and very good quiet character. Also, the princess had a fiancé named Elisei. The
princess had as her dowry 7 cities and 140 houses.
The princess had a pre-marriage party called a hen-party for all her women friends and also invited the
new queen. Before attending the hen-party the queen asked her mirror: “Who is the most beautiful;
the most white, and has rosy red cheeks? “ The mirror answered “Of course—you, Queen, but the
princess is the most beautiful, the most white, and has the most rosy cheeks, than you.” The queen
banged the mirror on the counter and stomped her high heels in anger. When she banged the mirror
she told the mirror it was lying. She demanded that the mirror look in the entire world to find out who
was the most beautiful. The mirror kept repeating the same: “The princess is the most beautiful, the
most white with the most rosy cheeks, of all the world!” The new queen was envious and told the
servants to get the princess, bind her with rope, and put her in the forest so that the wolves would eat
her. The servants got the princess and took her to the forest. The princess guessed that the servants
meant to do her evil, and began to plead with them for her life, promising that when she was queen she
would give them favors. The servants let her free and said “Go, and God be with you!”
When the servants returned to the castle, the queen asked whether they had bound her tightly, and the
servants said “Yes, of course, she will quickly be attacked by animals and will die.” Soon, everyone
noticed that the princess was missing and began looking for her. Her father, the King became sad, and
asked her fiancé, Elisei, to go out and look for her. But before Elisei left, he prayed earnestly.
The princess bride ran deeper and deeper into the forest. She found a big house in the forest, and she
entered the house. Once inside she saw very good furniture, good carpet, a grand table and she knew
very fine people lived there. She called out, but no one answered, as no one was at home. She looked
in every room of the house. As she went, she put each room in order, cleaning. She lit candles on the
altar of God in the house. Then, she was so tired that she became very sleepy, and she went to sleep.
In the afternoon 7 knights, who were also 7 brothers, came to the house and wondered who had
cleaned and put the house in order. “If it is an old man, we will treat you like a father; if you are a young
man, we will treat you like a brother; if you are an old woman we will treat you like our mother; if you
are a young girl, we will treat you like a sister. Just then, the princess entered and bowed down to the
knights. She apologized for entering their house without invitation. The knights quickly recognized that
she was the princess because of her perfect demeanor. They made a place for her at their table and
brought food and wine. The princess refused the wine, but did eat a small piece of pie, and informed
that she would like to sleep because she was so tired.
Day by day, the princess lived in the house with the 7 knights. One day the 7 knights spoke with her.
We have treated you as a sister, but all of us have fallen in love with you and are arguing which one of us
you would like to marry? The princess told the knights. “You are so nice to treat me as my brothers, but
I already have a fiancé and am promised in marriage”. The 7 knights were puzzled and apologized for
asking this of her, and continued to live with her like brothers.
The new queen meanwhile, remembered the princess, and could not get her out of her mind. She was
still very angry with the mirror. Eventually, she got the mirror again and sat down to talk to it. She
asked who was the most beautiful, most white, with the most rosy red cheeks. The mirror answered:
“Of course, you—my Queen, but among the trees, and with the 7 knights, lives a person who is more
beautiful than you.” The queen was enraged and called her servants together. She demanded to know
why they had lied. The servants told the queen the truth that they had let the princess free in the
forest.
One day the princess was waiting for the 7 knights. An old beggar woman came to the house. She
asked the princess if she had any bread. The old lady gave the princess an apple as a gift. The princess’s
pet dog barked and howled trying to prevent the princess from eating the apple, but the princess was
hungry and the apple was red, ripe and juicy—she took a bite. As the piece of apple went down her
throat, she stopped breathing, and dropped her hands. She fell onto the bench.
When the 7 knights came home, they heard the loud barking of the dog. They were worried that
something bad had happened. The 7 bothers/knights were shocked to see the princess unconscious on
the bench. They watched over her for 3 days, but the princess never woke up. They did not want to put
her into the ground, so they built a special casket for her. The casket was a box made with a crystal top.
It had 6 columns and they made a base of woven metal for the casket. They laid her in the casket and
said “Rest in peace”.
On the same day, the new queen took her mirror and again asked the same question: “Who is the most
beautiful, the most white, and has the most red and rosy cheeks in the world?” The mirror answered,
“No one but you, of course. You are the most beautiful, the most white with the most red and rosy
cheeks in the world!”
The princess’ fiancé Elisei, searched the entire forest for the princess. He was so sad, inquiring of
everyone if they had seen his princess, but no one had, and they only laughed at him. Exhausted, he
finally asked the sun. “Sun, you can see everything from your position in the sky. You can see all people
under you. You have seen everything under you for the past year. Please tell me if you have seen the
young princess, my fiancé!” The red sun told him: “I did not see her, maybe she is not alive.” The sun
directed the prince to his neighbor, the moon, to see if she would know. Elisei waited until the night. At
night, he asked the moon whether she had seen the princess. The moon informed that she had not seen
the princess and directed Elisei to go ask the wind. The wind said: Behind the river is a very big
mountain. There are tunnels built there. Inside the tunnels you can find a crystal casket. Inside the
crystal casket, you will find your fiancé.” Elisei began to loudly cry. He went to the place to see his
princess for the last time. When he arrived in the tunnel. He broke open the crystal casket. The
princess suddenly woke up. The princess asked; “How long have I been sleeping?” Then she saw her
fiancé and both began to weep. After that he brought her back to the castle. Before they arrived,
everyone had found out that the princess was alive and coming back to the castle.
At that time, the angry stepmother was sitting by the window. She got the magic mirror and asked it
who was the most beautiful, the most white, and with the most rosy red cheeks. She received the
answer: “Of course, you, queen, but the princess is the most beautiful, the most white with the most
red and rosy cheeks in the whole world.” The stepmother got up very angry, and threw the mirror on
the floor and it broke to pieces. When she saw the princess, she got so deeply upset, that she died.
After she died, the largest wedding that had ever been held was given and the princess and the prince
lived happily for a very long time.