Russian Wonder Tales

Whilst flicking though my latest Christmas edition Toast catalogue which included the usual wonderful clothing, photography, poems and stories, i came across an extract from a Russian wonder tale called Tzar Saltan which goes as follows:


'In ancient days, long before our time, in a certain Tzardom of a realm far beyond the blue sea-ocean, there was a Tzar, young in years, named Saltan, who was so handsome and clever  that songs were sung and tales told of him, and beautiful maidens everywhere dreamt of him at night. Minded to rule his Tzardom well, he used to wander forth at dusk in all four directions of his capital, in order to see and hear, and thus he perceived much good and much evil and saw many strange sights. One evening, as he passed the house of a rich merchant, he saw though the window three lovely, damsels, the merchant's daughters, sitting at their needlework, and drawing near he overheard their conversation. 


The eldest said '"If the Tzar were to wed me, i would grind flour so fine that the like of the bread i would bake from it could not be found in the whole world."  The Tzar, hearing, thought: "That would be good bread truly: however, the bred i eat now is not so bad."


The second said: "If the Tzar were to wed me, i would weave for him a kaftan of gold and silver thread, so that he would shine like the Glowing Bird."


"That would be good weaving, indeed," thought the Tzar; " though little enough need have i for such a splendid coat." 


Then the youngest daughter, who was named Marfa said: "As for me, if the Little Father Tzar became my husband, i know how neither to spin nor to weave, but i would bear him seven hero-sons like bright falcons, that should be the comeliest in his Tzardom; and their legs should be golden to the knee and their arms silver to the elbow, and in their hair should be little stars.".......


And from the 1st December you can download four podcasts of Russian Wonder Tales, one for each of the four weeks before Christmas from www.toasttravels.co.uk then go to features. And i thought it would be a great way to get into the Christmas-y mood anywhere you are so i hope you will join me in this storytelling advent calender if you will. Also whilst your on the website check out the cool clothing and Christmas decorations and if you buy something you'll receive a Toast catalogue every month trust me its worth it just for the catalogue. Happy listening!