“The Little Old Woman.”The Snow Queen and other tales : a selection of traditional Russian fairy tales, André Bay, Marie Ponsot, New York: Golden Press, 1962, pp. 45-46.
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Tale Summary
Once upon a time there was a young girl who went for a walk in the forest, searching for a dove which she could hear singing. The girl forgot the way home, and when the sun set she began to cry. Suddenly, a white dove appeared and gave her a golden key. He instructed her to walk to a nearby pine tree and use the key to unlock a little door in its trunk. He flew away and she did as she was told, finding a little room with milk, honey, and bread. She ate her fill and wished to sleep, but there was no bed, so she called out to the dove. He gave her another key and told her to unlock a different tree. She did and fell asleep on the warm bed inside, and had dreams that the dove returned with many golden, silver, and jeweled keys, with which she found whatever she needed. The next day the dove noticed her torn dress and gave her a new key, which unlocked a tree full of beautiful dresses. The girl lived happily for some time like this, and one day the dove asked her for a favor. He asked her to follow him to a cabin, where she was to go inside without knocking and ignore the old woman inside, and go to the next room. There would be millions of gorgeous jeweled rings, but she was to find a single plain one and bring it out to him. She agreed, but when she got to the next room, she could not find a single plain ring. The old woman slipped past the table with a bird in a cage with a plain gold ring around its neck, which she seized. The woman vanished and the girl went outside to wait for the dove, leaning against a tree. Suddenly, the tree became a young man, who told her that she had freed him from the trap of a wicked enchantress, who doomed him to take the forms of a tree or a dove. He brought her back to his father’s place and they were married, living happily ever after.
Fairy Tale Title
The Little Old Woman
Fairy Tale Author(s)/Editor(s)
André Bay, Marie Ponsot
Fairy Tale Illustrator(s)
Adrienne Ségur
Common Tale Type
The Old Woman in the Wood
Tale Classification
ATU 442
Page Range of Tale
pp. 45-46
Full Citation of Tale
“The Little Old Woman.”The Snow Queen and other tales : a selection of traditional Russian fairy tales, André Bay, Marie Ponsot, New York: Golden Press, 1962, pp. 45-46.
Original Source of the Tale
A Brothers Grimm story
Tale Notes
Research and Curation
Kaeli Waggener, 2024
Book Title
The Snow Queen and other tales : a selection of traditional Russian fairy tales
Book Author/Editor(s)
André Bay, Marie Ponsot
Illustrator(s)
Adrienne Ségur
Publisher
Golden Press
Date Published
1962
Decade Published
1960-1969
Publisher City
New York
Publisher Country
United States
Language
English
Rights
Copyright not evaluated
Digital Copy
Book Notes
A collection of fairy tales from different countries centered around winter, snow, and the Christmas season.