The Baba Yaga story begins with a little girl named Vasilisa who lives with both her parents. She was a sweet and lovely girl. One day Vasilisa’s mother fell ill and she lost her life to the sickness. The little girl missed her mother dearly. Before she passed away, Vasilisa’s mother gave her a rag doll.
The mother asked her to feed the doll daily and the doll in return helped her when she was in need. After some time, Vasilisa’s father got remarried and the woman he married had two daughters. Both Vasilisa’s stepmother and stepsiblings don’t like her and they are mean to her. They wanted her out of their way.
One faithful day, Vasilisa’s father went on a business trip and the wicked stepmother devised a plan to get rid of her once and for all. She turned off all the lights in the house and she pretended that the wind blew them out. Then she sent Vasilisa to Baba Yaga’s hut to get her some light.
Holding her small rag doll, the little girl walked out of her house. While she was going to Baba Yaga’s house, she heard some galloping hooves of three horses. Each of these horses had a rider on it. The first horse had a white horseman while the second one had a red horseman. The third horse had a black rider which was as black as the night.
Vasilisa was curious about who they were as she reached Baba Yoga’s house. The look of the house scared her. She was afraid and she held her rag doll firmly and then proceeded to knock on the front door. After knocking, the door opened and Baba Yoga flew out of the house on her broom.
She asked the little girl who she was and why she was disturbing her. The little girl was terrified as she saw the witch. She was trembling and she barely uttered a word. The little girl then told her name to the witch and told her that her stepmother sent her here to get some light.
The witch told her that she would have what she wanted. However, she had to complete some tasks first. The witch went ahead to warn her that if she didn’t complete the task, she would eat her. The little girl agreed to it because she knew that she couldn’t return home without the lights.
The next day, the witch called the little girl. She told her that she was leaving and that she would return at sunset. She told her to clean the house and clean the yard. The witch also told Vasilisa to make dinner and separate the white peas from the black peas before she got back. She told the girl that if she didn’t complete her task before she returned then she would eat her for dinner.
After giving the instructions, the witch flew away. After feeding her rag doll, she asked for help. Then she heard a noise and she ran to the door. At the door, it was a white horseman that she saw on her way to the witch’s home. When she got back inside, she was shocked to see that all her chores were completed.
Vasilisa thanked her rag doll and she went to rest. When the witch returned, she was impressed to see that the little girl had completed the task which she gave to her. The witch had her dinner and she called for Vasilisa. Then she assigned Vasilisa another task for the next day. She asked her to fill her water tank.
She told Vasilisa to use a bucket to fetch water from the river and use it to fill the water tank. However, the bucket had holes in it. This made the little wonder how she would be able to fill the tank. The next day, Vasilisa arrived at the river with the bucket with the holes and she asked her doll for help.
The horse with the red horseman suddenly appeared and passed her. Upon returning to the witch’s home, she found the water tank filled. When they returned home, she discovered that the little girl had completed the task given to her.
The witch then gave her another task which was to count all the stars in the sky and tell her the next morning. Baba Yoga vowed to devour Vasilisa if she was unable to finish this mission. After this, the little girl fed her rag doll and she went to sleep.
She tried to count the stars in the sky, but the numbers confused her. She was tired and she dozed off. Then a black horseman showed up to her window and whispered the numbers of the stars in the sky to her. When Vasilisa woke up, the witch asked her how many stars were in the sky, then she answered correctly. The little girl completed the task, stunning and surprising the witch.
She told the little girl that there was no way she would have completed the task without the help of the three horsemen. She then told her that she was a good girl. After giving Vasilisa a lantern, the witch ordered her to return home.
The little girl was very happy that she could go home and she thanked her rag doll and the horsemen in a prayer. When Vasilisa got home with the lantern, she saw that the entire house was filled with darkness. As she entered the house with a lantern, her stepmother and her stepsisters all turned into dust. After this, Vasilisa lived happily with her father.