# Help Me ID This Old Russian Fairey tale **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 8, 2005, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-old-russian-fairey-tale/288911 "2005-02-08T00:57:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-old-russian-fairey-tale/288911/1 "2005-02-08T00:57:17Z")
I remember fragments of this old story, told to me as a child by my grandmother. It is about a little girl who loses her mother (who dies in poverty, leaving only a little doll to her daughter).the daughter is taken in by a witch (the Baba Yaga) who forces the girl to clean her house , cook for her, etc. For comfort, the girl talks to her doll, who always tells her “the morning is wiser than the day”…or something. That is all I remember…anyone know this story? ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-old-russian-fairey-tale/288911/2 "2005-02-08T01:02:06Z")
Try “Vasilisa”: [http://www.oldrussia.net/vas.html](http://www.oldrussia.net/vas.html) [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0688085008](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0688085008) ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-old-russian-fairey-tale/288911/3 "2005-02-08T01:18:34Z")
Baba Yaga was a one-woman orphanage…I don’t know how many Russian folk-tales involve her taking in a pretty young orphan girl to be her servant! You have to admit, there’s a certain cachet in living in a house that walks you to the market… ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-old-russian-fairey-tale/288911/4 "2005-02-08T01:47:16Z")
I read an old Russian folk tale that used that phrase “morning is wiser than evening.” But it did not involve Baba Yaga. The story was called “Clever Sonja” about a girl who helped her father outwit his greedy brother. The Tsar was involved too, and he ended up marrying Sonja. The story came from a book my mother read at grade school. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-old-russian-fairey-tale/288911/5 "2005-02-08T04:03:29Z")
This story gets retold in the first volume of Time-Life’s Enchanted World series, Wizards And Witches (page 123-140 Haunter Of The Birch Forest) ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-old-russian-fairey-tale/288911/6 "2005-02-08T04:15:50Z")
Pronnciation- I’ve said it as bahbuh yahguh for years. However, the many Russians in the neighborhood all say bahbuh yihGAH. [From the fine folks at ToyVault](http://www.toyvault.com/herebemonsters/Baba%20Yaga.jpg) Disclaimer- I am not affiliated with [toyvault.com](http://toyvault.com) . Nor is this a hint for any of the many people who forgot my birthday. I already have the plush Baba Yaga and her izba on hen’s legs. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-old-russian-fairey-tale/288911/7 "2005-02-08T06:13:43Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > This story gets retold in the first volume of Time-Life’s Enchanted World series, Wizards And Witches (page 123-140 Haunter Of The Birch Forest) Wow. I remember those books. My neighbors had them when I was in elementary school, and let me borrow them one by one to read. That brings back memories.