The Fire-Fairy
| "The Fire-Fairy" | |
|---|---|
| Author | Pavel Bazhov |
| Original title | "Огневушка-поскакушка" |
| Translator | Alan Moray Williams (first), Eve Manning, et al. |
| Country | Soviet Union |
| Language | Russian |
| Series | The Malachite Casket collection (list of stories) |
| Genre(s) | skaz (fairy tale) |
| Published in | Morozko |
| Publication type | anthology |
| Publisher | Sverdlovsk Publishing House |
| Media type | |
| Publication date | 1940 |
| Published in English | 1944 |
"The Fire-Fairy" or "The Dancing Fire Maid" (Russian: Огневушка-поскакушка, tr. Ognevushka-poskakushka, lit. "the hopping fire girl") is a fairy tale short story written by Pavel Bazhov, based on the folklore of the Ural region of Siberia. It was first published in 1940 in the children's stories collection Morozko released by Sverdlovsk Publishing House. It was later included in the The Malachite Casket collection. In this fairy tale, the characters meet the female creature from the Ural folklore called Poskakushka (lit. "the jumping/hopping girl"), who can do the magical dance that reveals gold deposits. This is one of the most popular stories of the collection. It was translated from Russian into English by Alan Moray Williams in 1944, and by Eve Manning in the 1950s.
Pavel Bazhov indicated that all his stories can be divided into two groups based on tone: "child-toned" (e.g. "Silver Hoof") and "adult-toned" (e.g. "The Stone Flower"). He called "The Fire-Fairy" a "child-toned" story. Such stories have simple plots, children are the main characters, and the mythical creatures help them, typically leading the story to a happy ending.
In 1939 Klavdiya Rozhdestvenskaya, the editor-in-chief of Sverdlovsk Publishing House was working on the children's book Morozko. She decided to include Bazhov's fairy tale "Silver Hoof" in it, which had previously been published in Uralsky Sovremennik, and said to Bazhov that she needed another story or two. Bazhov replied that he had an idea about the character Poskakushka, but he needed to go back to the factory and "relive old memories" by talking to some story-tellers. After a short trip to Polevskoy Bazhov completed "The Fire-Fairy". The fairy tale was published in Morozko and became a popular children's story.
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