Reading Notes: Russian Folktales (Part A)

1. The Dead Mother

• Synopsis:
• A couple is happily married
• The wife dies in childbirth
• The father hires an old woman to care for the child
• The child will not be soothed
• At night, the baby sleeps, well, like a baby despite crying uncontrollably all day
• The nanny decides to stay up one night and try to figure out what it is that calm the child
• She hears someone go into the baby's room and the crying stops
• She tells the father about this
• The father and his men decide to hide in the baby's room over night to try and catch the person who has been coming in to nurse and soothe the child
• When the person enters, the men spring out and shine a light on the intruder
• It's the mother, dressed in the same clothes she had been buried in
• Possibilities:
• What if the mother is a vampire???
• How do the people react to finding her?

8. Wednesday

• Synopsis:
• A woman goes to bed after deciding to get up early and finish her work in the morning
• She forgets to cross herself before going to sleep
• This apparently summons a demon into her home
• She discovers that the demon wants to kill her and manages to banish it
• Possibilities:
• I want the demon to just be genuinely helpful
• It's just lonely and wanted to help

Little Demon Dude Just Doing His Best
via Pixabay

Story Source: Russian Fairy Tales, W. R. S. Ralston