Reading Notes: Russian Folk Tales, Part A

(wikimedia)

- The story, The Leshy, follows a young hunter who finds a missing girl that had been kidnapped by a forest demon. The young girl, the daughter of the local priest, had gone missing in the woods several years prior. One day, while out hunting, the hunter came across a odd looking man sitting on a log and working on a shoe. The hunter asks the man who he is, pointing out that he looked young, but had very gray hair. The odd man introduces himself as the devil's grandfather. The hunter shoots the demon, who runs off into the woods. The hunter follows him and comes across a cleft in a cliff. Inside is a hut, and inside the hut is the body of the now dead demon and the missing girl. He takes the girl back to the village and she's returned to her family. He memory is gone, but begins to return over time. She is eventually married to the hunter that saved her.
- I want to tell the story from  the girl's point of view. What was her life like living with the Leshy? What did he want from her, and why and how are her memories missing? The young girl had gone into the woods without her parent's permission. What had drawn her there, and what were the circumstances of her capture by the Leshy?


Bibliography: Russian Fairy Tales by W.R.S. Ralston. Web source.