var currentStory="Vasilisa The Beautiful";
var myTitle="Vasilisa The Beautiful";
var defText="Vasilisa the Beautiful is a classic Russian folktale of a girl who is sent out to get a fire from an evil witch Baba Yaga. Along the way Vasilisa is being helped by a magic wooden doll given to her by her mother. Whether young or older, you will enjoy this classic story. The story is broken to 42 chapters. Click any chapter on the right. Next, click \"start test\" button and begin typing. ";
var sideTitle="Vasilisa The Beautiful - Russian fairy tail in 42 parts";
Vasilisa0="In a far off Tzardom, there lived a little girl who was so lovely that she was known as Vasilisa the beautiful. When Vasilisa was eight years old her mother became ill and no doctor could cure her. Just before she died, she called Vasilisa to her bedside and told her: \"My dearest Vasilisa, do not weep for me, but listen carefully to my words. I am leaving you this little wooden doll, which my own mother left me; you must never show it to anyone. Always carry it with you wherever you go. It will help you whenever you are in trouble and comfort you when you have no one to turn to. When you need help, go somewhere quiet and give it something to eat and it will tell you what to do.\" Blinking back her tears, Vasilisa took the little wooden doll, received her mothers blessing and kissed her for the last time. ";

Vasilisa1="Vasilisa was heartbroken when her beloved mother died. She missed her terribly, and spent many lonely nights crying. When she woke up and remembered that her mother was no longer around, she would feel worse than ever. She was so sad, that she did not think of the little wooden doll for a long time afterwards. One evening, when she was thinking about her mother, she put her hand into her pocket and suddenly felt the little doll and remembered her mothers words. She took some food to her room and fed the doll. As soon as the doll began to eat, its eyes began to shine as if they were human, and it suddenly became alive. Vasilisa was shocked for a moment, but the doll smiled up at her and said \"Don\'t be frightened Vasilisa, and do not be sad, for the morning is wiser than the evening. Lie down and sleep, and tomorrow you will feel much better.\" ";
Vasilisa2="Vasilisa felt all her sadness slipping away from her and fell asleep. After that, any time she felt sad Vasilisa would turn to the little doll for comfort. With the help of the little doll, her grief became somewhat easier to bear, although she still missed her mother very much. Her father also missed his wife. But the women of the village gave him some advice: \"You must marry again soon, for your little daughter needs a mother.\" As he had to be away on business a lot, Vasilisa\'s father thought he had better do just that, for he did not want to leave Vasilisa alone. There was no shortage of women in the village, and soon afterwards he decided to marry a widow with two daughters a little older than Vasilisa. But when he broke the news to Vasilisa, she was horrified. ";
var Vasilisa3="\"But Father, you can\'t mean that awful Liliya! Why, you used to say yourself that she was a shrew! No one in the village likes her! And her daughters are just as bad.\" Her father laughed, \"Don't be silly, Vasilisa! I didn\'t know what Liliya was like then. And you don\'t know her properly - she\'s really nice when you get to know her. She told me she\'ll treat you as she would her own daughters. And she\'s a fine housekeeper too - she tells me so all the time.\" Vasilisa, who could only think of the way Liliya had of pursing up her lips as if she was sucking on something extremely bitter and wrinkling up her pointed nose, said nothing more. A few days later, Liliya and her daughters were invited over to tea. ";
var Vasilisa4="Liliya gushed all over Vasilisa, with a look of heartrending sympathy on her face. Sighing and dabbing at her eyes, she proclaimed loudly: We were so sad to hear about your poor mother, Vasilisa darling, how terrible for you - you must be so lonely without her. Don't worry my dear, soon you will have a new Mama to take care of you. Vasilisa was even more disgusted when she realized her father was taken in by this falseness. That night as she was drifting off to sleep, she again saw the pursed up lips and wrinkled up nose in front of her. She could still hear Liliya\'s voice echoing in her head... soon you will have a new Mama to take care of you! No! Vasilisa heard herself shouting and awoke with a start, her heart beating fast. ";
var Vasilisa5="\"Oh - it was only a dream!\" she thought, but she could not go back to sleep. Then she thought of her little doll and gave it a few crumbs and asked for its advice. \"Do not worry, Vasilisa, everything will work itself out. Now go to sleep and forget your troubles.\" Vasilisa at last fell asleep. The same women of the village who had advised Vasilisa\'s father to marry, now shook their heads in dismay and muttered among themselves: \"Wait until after the wedding, that\'s when she\'ll show her true colors!\" Vasilisa tried her best to dissuade her father, but he had made up his mind to marry the widow, as he had often to go away on business. While Vasilisa\'s father was around, Liliya was nice to Vasilisa, but as soon as he was out of the house, she would immediately begin to bully her again. ";
var Vasilisa6="Everyone in the village loved Vasilisa, who was good and kind, but nobody liked Liliya or her daughters. Because of this, her stepmother and stepsisters began to hate her, and did everything they could to make her life a misery. They sent her out to work in the fields, so that her beautiful white skin would become brown and weather-beaten. They barely gave her enough to eat and kept her working hard all day, hoping that she would become thin and scrawny, just like themselves. But Vasilisa kept her beautiful pale complexion and grew strong and healthy, while they themselves became thinner and more horrible by the day. How did she manage it? Well, the little wooden doll helped her. The doll did all the work, while Vasilisa sat in the shade or picked flowers. ";
var Vasilisa7="Whenever the others were watching, she would of course appear to be working. The doll told her how to prepare ointment from a special herb that would keep her skin from becoming sunburned and brown. And the doll provided her with healthy meals. That is how the years passed for Vasilisa, and they would have been unbearable had it not been for the doll. Her father, who had at last begun to realize that he had perhaps been wrong about Liliya and her daughters, began to spend less and less time at home. When he was around, the three harpies tried at least to be civil to Vasilisa. Years passed, and the three girls were now growing up. The stepmother wanted to see her two daughters married as soon as possible. ";
var Vasilisa8="But it was not an easy task. Somehow, none of the village boys were interested in her bad-tempered daughters. They only came to see Vasilisa. Whenever they came around, Liliya would immediately fly into a rage. \"Get out of here!\" she would yell, \"The youngest will not be married before the eldest!\" One day she decided to get rid of Vasilisa for good. We will get rid of her somehow, she told her daughters, but we must bide our time. It happened that Vasilisa\'s father had to go away for a long time on business. Vasilisa was full of dread and begged him not to go. She tried to tell him what her stepmother was really like. \"That\'s just plain silly, Vasilisa, for she is fond of you - she says so all the time. But you don't make it easy for her either.\" ";
var Vasilisa9="\"Now I have to go away for a few months, so please try to be nice to Liliya and life will become easier for all of us.\" \"Nothing I could do would please her Father.\" \"My dear, try your best for my sake.\" \"Very well, Father, I will try to for your sake, but come back as soon as you can.\" He kissed Vasilisa, gave her his blessing, then said goodbye to the others and departed. As Vasilisa had feared, as soon as her father was gone, Liliya and her daughters began to make life unbearable for her. They shouted and screamed abuse at Vasilisa for no reason, bullied her unmercifully, and made her do all the work around the house. The neighbors, who realized what was going on, came over several times to tell them to leave the girl in peace. Early one morning Liliya announced that they were going to move. ";

var Vasilisa10="\"I\'ve had enough of those nosey neighbors interfering in our business!\" Although Vasilisa\'s father wrote regularly to her, Liliya never gave her his letters. She sneered, \"Your beloved father obviously doesn\'t care about you any more. He hasn\'t sent us any money in weeks - it looks as if he\'s not coming back. We can't afford to live here any longer: we must move to the country, and you must work in the fields to earn your keep!\" \"It can't be true!\" cried Vasilisa in tears, \"Father would never have forgotten me - something must have happened to him!\" They packed up everything into a cart and left the house before the neighbors were awake. Liliya left a note on the door to say they had gone to join Vasilisa\'s father. ";
var Vasilisa11="Vasilisa had to walk alongside the cart, while her stepsisters sat behind their mother. But she hardly noticed the distance she was walking, she was so preoccupied with thoughts of her father and what could have happened to him. All along the way her stepsisters mocked her saying that her father had forgotten her. She was in tears by the time they reached the old house standing alone at the edge of a dark forest. It was a large gloomy house with a few fields at the front, which looked as if they hadn\'t been worked for years. The nearest neighbors were miles away. It was a swampy, unhealthy area and nobody came near the place if they could help it, for the old witch Baba Yaga lived in the middle of the forest and devoured anyone who came near her hut. ";

var Vasilisa12="That evening Vasilisa was told to unpack the cart, take everything inside, and clean the house while the others went to bed. When they had gone upstairs, Vasilisa took out her little doll, gave it some food, all the time crying bitter tears: \"My little friend, please help me, for I am in despair over my dear father - I fear that something must have happened to him.\" The dolls eyes began to shine as it came to life. \"Do not worry Vasilisa, your father is alive and well and loves you as he always has. Your stepmother has been lying. Even when things become worse than they are now, do not despair, for no harm can come to you while I am here. Go to sleep now. The morning is wiser than the evening.\" ";
var Vasilisa13="Vasilisa was comforted by the words of the little doll and fell into a deep sleep. When she awoke the next morning all the unpacking had been done, the house was tidy, and the stoves were lit. Her stepmother and sisters were amazed to see how fresh Vasilisa looked after she had been apparently working all night. And although they teased her and mocked her about her father, this did not seem to bother her as it had the day before. \"How come she always looks so well?\" grumbled one of her stepsisters. \"Don\'t worry,\" replied her mother, \"we won\'t have to put up with her for much longer! Baba Yaga will soon take care of her!\" Her stepmother and stepsisters did not dare to venture near the forest, for Baba Yaga devoured people as if they were chickens. ";
var Vasilisa14="But they sent Vasilisa into the forest every day on some errand or other, hoping that she might be eaten. However, thanks to the little dolls protection, she always came home safe and sound. Summer came and went and Vasilisa was still alive and well. She was sent out to work in the fields, and her stepsisters were amazed that she never seemed tired afterwards. Soon the leaves turned golden on the trees and the nights became longer. It was a lonely life living on the edge of the forest. \"We don\'t want to spend the winter out here Mother,\" Liliya\'s daughters nagged her, \"We\'ve got to get rid of her soon.\" \"Don't worry, my dears, I have thought of a plan.\" One evening she gave the three girls work to do. ";
var Vasilisa15="She told one of her daughters to do some sewing, the other to knit a pair of socks and Vasilisa to do some spinning. Vasilisa was somewhat surprised at this, as her stepsisters normally never did any work - and they did not even protest once about it! Then Liliya extinguished all the lamps in the house, saying \"Waste not, want not!\" leaving only a single candle in the room where the three girls were working, and went upstair to bed. They had been working for some time, when one of the stepsisters tried to straighten the wick of the candle with her needle. \"Oh silly me!\" she exclaimed as she put the candle out, pretending it was an accident. \"What are we going to do now?\" asked her sister joining in the pretence, which was of course well planned. ";
var Vasilisa16="\"There is no other light in the house, and we have not finished our work yet. Mother will be frightfully angry with us. We need a light,\" said the first. \"Our nearest neighbor is Baba Yaga. We\'ll have to ask her for a light.\" \"Well, I\'m certainly not going!\" said the first one. \"Nor am I,\" said the second. \"Vasilisa,\" said the first, \"you\'re the youngest!\" \"And you know your way around the forest!\" said the second. \"You must go!\" they both cried as they pushed Vasilisa out of the house, saying \"Don't come back until you get a light!\" Out in the garden, Vasilisa took the little doll from her pocket and cried:\"Little doll! Listen to my tale of woe. I\'ve been told to go to Baba Yaga for a light but I\'m terrified that she\'ll eat me. What should I do?\" ";
var Vasilisa17="The dolls eyes began to shine like two candle flames as it became alive. It said, \"Don't be afraid, Vasilisa. Go to Baba Yaga\'s hut as you were told. While I am with you no harm shall come to you.\" Vasilisa went into the dark forest. Trembling with fear, she tried to keep her spirits up by thinking of her little dolls words. Vasilisa walked deeper and deeper into the dark forest. She walked on in the darkness, becoming more and more certain that she was completely lost. Suddenly she heard the sound of a horses hooves and a horseman galloped past her. He was dressed entirely in white, his horse was white, and as he passed her by, the first silver rays of dawn appeared in the sky. ";
var Vasilisa18="A little while later she again heard the sound of a horses hooves behind her, and another man on horseback came galloping past her. She called out to him, but he was going too fast to hear her. He was dressed in red, his horse was red and the harness was red. As he galloped passed her the sun came up and shone upon the topmost branches of the tallest trees. Vasilisa walked on all day, not knowing where she was going. There was no path in that forest, as no one ever dared venture into it. The doll was silent, as she had no more food to give it. Just as she thought she could no longer keep going, she saw a clearing through the trees. She could see what appeared to be a hut in the distance. But it seemed to be moving. ";
var Vasilisa19="At first she thought she was dreaming; for it was spinning around. When she came closer, she saw that the hut was on chickens legs. The fence around the hut was made of bones, on the top of which were scores of grinning skulls with glaring eye sockets. The gates in the fence had hands for hinges. The locks were jawbones set with sharp iron teeth. At the sight of the fence Valilisa\'s blood ran cold, and she stood rooted to the spot in terror. Suddenly a third man on horseback came galloping up. His face was black, he was dressed all in black, and the horse he rode was jet black. He galloped up to the gates, took a leap towards the hut and suddenly disappeared into thin air. At the same moment night fell as if a black curtain had been thrown over the entire forest. ";
var Vasilisa20="Instantly, the glaring eye sockets of the skulls lit up and threw out their baleful light on the clearing until it gradually became as bright as day. Vasilisa shuddered at the sight - but worse was yet to come! The forest became full of a terrible din; the trees began to groan, the branches creaked as if a violent storm were coming, and the old witch Baba Yaga came crashing through the undergrowth in her great iron mortar. With a pestle in her right hand she urged the mortar along, while her left hand was busy sweeping away the trail behind her with a broomstick. A host of spirits came in her wake, sending up a terrible howling and screeching until she approached the gates, where they left her and flew silently back into the forest. ";
var Vasilisa21="She rode right up to the gates in the mortar, all the while chanting in a blood- curdling voice: \"Little hut, little hut, turn towards me with your door. Turn your back to the forest and your face to me!\" And the hut immediately stopped spinning, turned to face her and stood still. Then, to Vasilisa\'s horror, she thrust her long nose into the air and sniffing all around her, shrieked: \"Well, well - I can smell a Russian bone or two! Who is it? Show yourself! \" Vasilisa, her legs not quite obeying her as they should, shuffled out into the clearing and stammered: \"Its me - Vasilisa.\" \"Have you come of your own free will or have you been sent?\" \"My stepmother\'s daughters sent me to get a light from you.\" \"I know them well, as well as their mother. And they will know me too!\" cackled the old crone. ";
var Vasilisa22="Vasilisa\'s blood almost turned to water as she saw the fierce look on the old witch\'s face. \"Listen girl! If I give you a light you must work to pay for it. If not, I will eat you for my supper!\" Then she turned to the gates and shouted: \"My solid locks, unlock! Open wide, my tall gates!\" Immediately the jaw-locks unlocked themselves, and the gates swung wide open. Baba Yaga screamed at Vasilisa to follow her and then rode into the yard whistling so loudly that Vasilisa thought her eardrums would burst. Her hands clamped tightly over her ears, she ran behind Baba Yaga into the yard while the gates crashed shut on her heels, and the jaw-locks snapped together again with a loud gnashing of iron teeth. ";
var Vasilisa23="They went inside the hut, and the old witch threw herself down beside the stove and said: \"Take everything out of the oven and put it on the table.\" Not even knowing where the oven was, Vasilisa hesitated for a moment. \"Hurry up, I\'m ravenous!\" screeched the old witch. Vasilisa ran and took the food from the oven. There was enough meat to feed a dozen men. She brought a barrel of mead, beer and red wine, and the old crone swallowed it all at once making a terrible gulping noise as it dripped down her hairy chin. Then, belching loudly, she began to tear the meat apart with her long gnarled fingers. Vasilisa shuddered as she watched the old witch in a feeding frenzy, crunching the large bones into splinters with her terrible iron teeth. ";
var Vasilisa24="She swallowed the lot, leaving nothing but a crust of bread, a drop of cabbage soup and a lump of half-chewed fat, which she spat out onto her plate. When she was finished eating, she rubbed a bony hand over her greasy chin, stretched herself out on the stove and said: \"Listen to me well now, and do as I tell you. Tomorrow, you must clean the house from top to bottom, weed the yard and cook for me. Then take the wheat from my storehouse and pick all the bad grains out of it. Do not forget even one grain or I will eat you for my supper.\" With that Baba Yaga turned her long nose towards the ceiling and began to snore loudly. Vasilisa tiptoed over to the stove and stood listening for a moment to make sure she was really asleep. ";
var Vasilisa25="The heat near the stove was stifling. \"How can she lie on that hot stove?\" she wondered to herself. Stepping outside into the cool air, she took the doll from her pocket and gave it some of the left over food. Eat up little doll and listen to my tale of woe! \"I\'m trapped in the house of the old witch, and if I don't get the work done, she will eat me. Tell me what to do!\" The eyes of the doll began to light up and it said: \"Don't be afraid, Vasilisa. I will take care of you. Say your prayers and go to sleep. The morning is wiser than the evening.\" Vasilisa felt her fears slipping away from her and she went back inside. She said her prayers, and then curled up on the floor as far away from the witch as she could and fell into a deep sleep. ";
var Vasilisa26="When she woke early next morning, it was still dark. She looked out of the window and saw the white horseman galloping past the hut, and the sky suddenly became bright. The fiery sockets of the skulls flickered once and went out. The old witch was already outside; she let out an ear-splitting whistle, and the great iron mortar and pestle came rushing towards her, and the broom flew into her hand. As she climbed into her mortar, the red horseman came galloping past, leaped up over the fence of bones, and at that very moment the sun rose. Then Baba Yaga yelled: \"Hey, my unyielding locks, unlock! Open wide, my tall gates!\" The jaws unlocked and the gates swung open with a crash and she rode away in the mortar driving it on with the pestle and sweeping away the traces behind her with the broomstick. ";
var Vasilisa27="The earth shook and the trees creaked and groaned as if they were about to be uprooted by a storm. Dry leaves whirled and spun all around her head, and the host of spirits shrieked and howled as they flew along after her. Thinking that this was her chance to escape, Vasilisa ran straight out behind the witch, but alas, the gates suddenly swung shut with a crash in front of her, and she leaped back just in time to avoid being bitten by the gnashing teeth of the locks. Above the noise she could hear Baba Yaga shrieking with laughter as she drove off through the forest. Standing well back from the fence, Vasilisa tried to get the locks to open by repeating what she had heard Baba Yaga say. ";
var Vasilisa28="\"My solid jaws, unlock! My tall gates, open! Oh, what was it again? My unyielding gates, open! My wide gates, open! She tried as many different versions as she could think of, but the gates would not obey her. The jaws grinned horribly at her, and it seemed that even the skulls on the fence with their glaring eyes were mocking her. She gave up with a sigh and went back inside the hut. She looked around her, amazed to find the hut filled with enough provisions to feed a whole village. Then she remembered with dismay all the work that she had been told to do and wondered where to begin. When she looked around her, she could not believe her eyes, for the hut was already cleaned, and the little doll was picking the last bad grains out of the wheat. ";
var Vasilisa29="\"Now you have only to cook the supper. Have some yourself and take a rest,\" the doll told her. Vasilisa rested all day ,and towards evening she cooked the old witch\'s supper and sat on the steps of the hut waiting. In the twilight she saw the black horseman gallop up to the gates. Darkness immediately came down over the forest, and the eyes of the skulls began to glow in their sockets. Then a terrible din arose again, as if a storm was sweeping over the forest, the ground shook, the trees began to creak and groan, and the leaves fell down and swirled around as if caught in a whirlwind. Followed by the howls and shrieks of the host of spirits in her wake, Baba Yaga came crashing out of the forest in her huge iron mortar. She drove it on with the pestle and swept away her trail behind her with the broomstick. ";
var Vasilisa30="When she came inside she asked: \"Well, have you finished all the work I gave you to do, or can I eat you yet?\" She went around checking everything, but she could not find anything to complain about. The old witch was disappointed that she could not eat Vasilisa for her supper, but she pretended to be pleased with her. \"You have done well,\" she leered. Then, suddenly clapping her bony hands, she screeched: \"Hey! My faithful servants - my bosom friends! Come and grind my wheat!\" Immediately three pair of hands appeared, seized the wheat and took it away. Baba Yaga sat down to supper, and Vasilisa put enough meat for a dozen men in front of her, with a barrel of mead, and red wine. She swallowed the meat, bones and all, without even chewing it this time, then stretched herself out on the stove. ";
var Vasilisa31="Baba Yaga said, \"Tomorrow do the same as today, and as well as that. Take the poppy seeds from my stores and clean them one by one. Someone spiteful has mixed earth in with them, and I want them cleaned. Then she turned her long nose to the ceiling and began to snore loudly. Vasilisa went into the corner, took the little doll from her pocket, gave it some food that was left and asked its advice. The doll said: \"Don't worry, Vasilisa! Say your prayers and go to sleep.\" Her fears once again slipped away from her. She said her prayers and went to sleep. Next morning, she awoke up to an ear-splitting whistle outside. She ran to the door just in time to catch a glimpse of a pair of extremely bone legs clambering into the huge iron mortar. ";
var Vasilisa32="The usual noises echoed throughout the forest after the gates of bone had crashed shut behind the old witch. She drove away through the forest with the host of spirits adding their terrifying voices to the din as they tore along behind her. A few moments later the forest was still again as if she had never been there. When Vasilisa looked around the hut she found that once again, the little doll had done everything except the cooking. There was not a trace of earth left in the bowl of poppy-seeds. She rested until late in the afternoon, when she cooked the supper and shared some with the little doll. The black horseman galloped up to the gates in the twilight, leaped up over them like a shadow and disappeared. Darkness came down once more over the forest. ";
var Vasilisa33="It did not remain dark for long. An instant later, the eye-sockets began to glimmer in their skulls, and they glowed brighter until the clearing gradually became as bright as day. Suddenly, the ground shook, the trees began to creak and groan as if they were breaking, and Baba Yaga came crashing through the undergrowth in her iron mortar, urging it along with her pestle and sweeping away her traces with the broomstick. She could not find any reason to complain about the work and was again disappointed that she could not eat Vasilisa. Then she clapped her hands and screamed: \"Hey! my trusty servants! My soul friends! Press the oil from my poppy-seeds!\"  Instantly the three pair of hands appeared, seized the bowl of poppy-seeds and took it away. ";
var Vasilisa34="Baba Yaga sat down to supper, and Vasilisa brought all she had cooked, enough meat for a dozen men, with beer, mead and red wine to drink, and then stood waiting until Baba Yaga was finished. When she had devoured everything she said: \"Well, what are you standing there for as if you were dumb? Have you nothing to say to me?\" \"I did not dare to speak. But with your permission, I would like to ask you some questions.\" \"Well, just remember that not every question leads to good. If you know too much, you\'ll become old too soon. So, now ask!\" \"I would like to ask you,\" said Vasilisa, \"about the horsemen. Who was the white horseman who rode past me in the forest?\" \"That was dawn, my bright dawn,\" answered Baba Yaga, beginning to grind her teeth. ";
var Vasilisa35="Vasilisa asked again: \"And who was the red horseman?\" \"My servant, my red sun,\" answered Baba Yaga, grinding her teeth a little more this time. \"Who was the black horseman?\" \"My servant, my black, dark night,\" answered the old witch fiercely. \"Any other questions?\" she shrieked suddenly, her eyes flashing wildly. \"Speak!\" Vasilisa thought of the three pairs of hands and was about to ask about them, but quickly stopped herself seeing the frenzied look in the witch\'s eye. \"You were about to ask?\" Baba Yaga growled, grinding her teeth horribly now, so that sparks flew from her mouth. But Vasilisa said nothing. \"Ask me another question!\" shrieked the old witch. Vasilisa answered: \"Three questions are enough for me. I do not want to become old too soon. As you said yourself: \'not every question leads to good.\'\" ";
var Vasilisa36="\"It is just as well,\" snarled Baba Yaga menacingly, that you only asked about something that you saw outside of the fence, for those who ask questions about what they see inside it do not live to tell the tale. And now I have a question for you. How is it that you have been able to finish all the work I gave you so quickly? Answer me!\" Vasilisa, by now terrified of the way the old witch was looking at her, somehow managed to stutter out: \"My mothers blessing helped me!\" Baba Yaga sprang at her foaming with rage. \"Get out!\" she howled at her, pushing her out of the hut. \"I want no blessed daughters near me! Your mothers blessing hurts my very bones! Get out of here!\" ";
var Vasilisa37="Vasilisa ran through the yard and behind her heard the old witch shouting at the locks and gates to open up. When they did not open quickly enough for her, the witch aimed a kick at one of the gates. Some of the bones in the gate smashed and all at once a terrible howling and screeching went up. The locks opened with a snap, the gates swung wide, one of them looking a bit lopsided now, and Vasilisa ran out into the clearing, afraid the old witch would change her mind and pounce on her any minute. Baba Yaga seized one of the burning-eyed skulls, shoved it on to the end of a stick and thrust it into her hand saying: \"Here\'s the fire for your stepmother\'s daughters. Take it to them. That\'s what they sent you here for, and I hope they enjoy every bit of it!\" ";
var Vasilisa38="Vasilisa took the glowing skull, which lit up her way, and raced off with it into the forest. She kept going all night long, wanting to get as far away from the old witch as she could. Then, to her dismay, the glowing eyes of the skull began to flicker and went out. A few moments later she heard the sound of a horses hooves behind her and the white horseman galloped past her. A streak of white light appeared in the sky. Shortly afterwards the red horseman galloped past and the first rays of sunlight cast a pink light upon the topmost branches of the trees. She wandered on all day. The little doll was silent, as she had no food to give it. As she walked on, she was surprised to find that the eyes in the skull had begun to gleam and shimmer again. ";
var Vasilisa39="Just then she heard a thundering of hooves behind her. As the black horseman galloped past her, the forest suddenly became pitch dark again, and the eyes of the skull began to glow brightly once more. She continued on for some time and with a sigh of relief saw that she was at last coming out of the forest. She made it back to her stepmother\'s house. She was surprised to find the house in darkness, so she brought the skull inside thinking there was nobody home. But her stepmother and stepsisters were sitting inside in the dark. Ever since Vasilisa had gone, they had had no light in the house. Every light they lit would go out immediately, so they had not even been able to cook. ";
var Vasilisa40="When she saw Vasilisa coming, one of her stepsisters called out \"Oh good, she\'s brought a light!\" But seeing the skull she screamed out: \"What\'s that awful thing?\" \"Keep it away from me!\" yelled the other. Snatching the skull from her, her stepmother only said: \"What kept you?\" But the eyes of the skull suddenly began to glare at the stepmother and her daughters, and even the stepmother became frightened and ran away. But they could not get away from the skull, for it followed them everywhere. The baleful eyes boring into them with a white-hot light until the three of them were burnt to ashes. Only Vasilisa was untouched by the heat from the skull. ";
var Vasilisa41="The next day Vasilisa dug a hole in the ground and buried the skull. Then she left the house and went back to her own village where she went to live in her father\'s house and await his return. It is said that Vasilisa later married the Tzar of Russia with the help of her little doll, but that is another story. The End ";


allChapters=new Array(Vasilisa0,Vasilisa1,Vasilisa2,Vasilisa3,Vasilisa4,Vasilisa5,Vasilisa6,Vasilisa7,Vasilisa8,Vasilisa9,Vasilisa10,Vasilisa11,Vasilisa12,Vasilisa13,Vasilisa14,Vasilisa15,Vasilisa16,Vasilisa17,Vasilisa18,Vasilisa19,Vasilisa20,Vasilisa21,Vasilisa22,Vasilisa23,Vasilisa24,Vasilisa25,Vasilisa26,Vasilisa27,Vasilisa28,Vasilisa29,Vasilisa30,Vasilisa31,Vasilisa32,Vasilisa33,Vasilisa34,Vasilisa35,Vasilisa36,Vasilisa37,Vasilisa38,Vasilisa39,Vasilisa40,Vasilisa41);