The Tsar discovers that golden apples are being stolen. His youngest son, Ivan, catches the thief—a Firebird—leaving behind a glowing feather. Intrigued, the Tsar sends his sons to capture the bird.

A brave King’s son sets out to see the world and meets a giant, who challenges him to fetch an apple from the Tree of Life

A King adored a particular apple tree in his garden. He declared that anyone who picked its fruit would be buried a hundred fathoms underground. His youngest daughter didn't listen and picked an apple

In a far-off kingdom, a peasant soldier leaves for war, entrusting his pregnant wife with the home and fifty rubles for their future child. She bears twin sons, both named Ivan.

A miller left his three sons a mill, a donkey, and a cat. The youngest, getting only the cat, lamented his bad luck. The cat, however, asked for boots and a sack, promising to help.

Peter Pan, embodying the Puer Aeternus, reflects eternal youth. This analysis explores the Puer’s struggles alongside the shadowy Senex, embodied by his nemesis, Captain Hook.

In a faraway empire, mighty Tsar Ardin Velich, wealthy beyond measure and guarded by countless warriors, longed for a bride whose beauty and wisdom matched his own.

A poor woman gives birth to a boy with a caul, and it is foretold that he will marry the King’s daughter when he turns fourteen. Hearing this prophecy, the King, in disguise, offers the parents gold for the child, pretending kindness. They agree, believing their son is a “luck-child.”

In a quiet Russian village lived an old man with three sons. The two elder brothers were strong and diligent, always working and providing for the household. The youngest, Emelya, was quite the opposite: slow-witted and content to lie on the warm stove ledge all day, doing nothing at all. While his brothers labored in the fields or went to market, Emelya seemed useless, and his sisters-in-law often scolded him for his idleness.

Once upon a time, despair drove a poor blacksmith to the edge of a rope. But from that dark moment sprang a strange bargain — a black woman rising from the earth, offering him gold in exchange for “something in his house that he did not yet know about.”

The Rejected Princess tells the tale of Liu, a failed scholar whose journey home leads him into the realm of dragons and destiny. After encountering a sorrowful woman herding sheep on a hillside, Liu learns that she is no mortal but the youngest daughter of the Dragon King of the Sea of Dungting—cast out and humiliated by her cruel husband. Moved by compassion, Liu agrees to deliver a letter to her father, beginning an extraordinary adventure that carries him beneath the sea.

Gifted with a magic stick that grants invisibility and a ball that guides his path, a young man is led to a kingdom plagued by mystery: each night, the king’s daughter secretly wears out twelve pairs of golden shoes, and none who try to uncover her secret live to tell the tale.

An old cobbler and his wife are starving, and the cobbler, driven to despair, goes fishing. He catches a magical speaking fish who instructs him to cook and divide its flesh: two portions to his wife, and two to be buried in the garden. The cobbler obeys. Soon, twin sons are born, and in the garden two tall plants grow, each crowned with a shining shield. The boys are known as the Knights of the Fish.

In a small Spanish home lived Mariquita, her brother, and their father. Mariquita was a cheerful and capable little mistress of the house, proud of their courtyard filled with rare plants. One day, an old woman visited, planting in her mind the desire for a magical fountain of silver water. Though her father and brother protested, Mariquita wept until her brother ventured to fetch it. With the guidance of a mysterious old man, he outwitted a lion and brought back the water,.

One-Two Man, a young orphan raised by his Granny, spends a whole summer digging roots until he creates a towering pile. When the pile mysteriously disappears, Granny reveals the truth he has never been told: his father was a legendary warrior, murdered by an evil shaman named Old Stoneshirt, who abducted One-Two Man’s mother and holds her captive inside a guarded cave. His father’s spirit stole the roots to signal that the boy’s childhood is over and that it is time to become a warrior.

A poor widow once had a long leather bag of gold and silver left by her husband, but an old hag stole it and vanished. Years later, when the three daughters are grown, each decides in turn to “push her fortune.” Before leaving, their mother offers each a choice: a whole bannock without her blessing, or half a bannock with her blessing. The two older girls choose the whole bannock without the blessing and go out into the world.