Vasilisa The Priest’s Daughter

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Vasilisa The Priest's Daughter (Afanas’ev 131-133) is a Russian fairy tale collected by Aleksandr Afanas'ev in Narodnye russkie skazki.^[1]

[edit] Synopsis

A daughter of a priest wore men's clothing, rode horses, and could fire a gun. One day the king saw this "young man", but his servants insisted that the "young man" was in fact a girl. The king did not believe the servants; he wrote to the priest asking him if his "son" could have dinner with him. The priest sends his daughter to the king’s home. Before she arrives, the king seeks advice from the witch regarding the true identity of the "young man". The witch tells the king to do many different things to test if Vasilisa is a girl or not, such as place an embroidery frame and a gun positioned on a wall and to see which object she will notice first. If she is a girl she will notice the frame first, and vice-versa. Constantly, the "young man" seems to escape the house during these tests that were given, leaving the king not knowing the true answer. The king tries several times to find the true identity, but on the last time the king asks the "young man" to take a bath with him. "He" agrees to take a bath with him. While the king undresses "he" takes the bath, and quickly leaves a note for the king saying

"Ah King Barkhat, raven that you are, you could not surprise the falcon in the garden! For I am not Vasily Vasilyevna, but Vasilisa Vasilyevna" (Afanas’ev 133).