Myth of the Firebird
Once upon a time, a very long time ago, an orphan girl named Marushka lived in the motherland of Russia. She was modest, humble, and gentle. She could embroider more beautifully than anyone in the land. She embroidered with shimmering beads and richly textured silks. She made the finest garments in the land. She was content with the money she was given, no matter how small the amount.
Her skill became famous. As the merchants learned of her talents, they came from far and near to buy her fine garments. All were amazed by her great skill to fashion such beauty. Each merchant tried to persuade Marushka to come away with him, offering riches and glory. Marushka would simply lower her gaze and reply: “I shall never leave the village of my birth and I do not need your fine riches. But I will sell my work to all who find it beautiful.”
The merchants then knew that Marushka was resolved and they left, continuing to spread the word of her great talent. Until one day the news spread to Kaschei the Immortal, who was a wicked sorcerer. He was furious to learn that such beauty existed that he had never seen.
Kaschei transformed himself into a handsome young man and travelled the long distance to Marushka’s village. He knocked at her door, bowing low to her and asked to see her needlework. Marushka showed him one fine garment after another, each one more beautiful than the last. She offered him his pick of the lot and told Kaschei that if he could not pay her now, he could do so later, when he was able. The sight of all this beauty and Maruska’s kindness only made Kaschei angrier. He wondered how a simple country girl could create such beauty, such fine work, finer than he himself possessed.
So he took his most beguiling tone and asked Marushka to be his Queen and to come to his palace made of jewels and gold.
But Marushka had never forgotten who she was and replied: “I do not need your palace and your wealth. The greatest sweetness in life is in the fields and woods where one is born. I will never leave the village where my parents lie buried and where the villagers live who love and find joy in my work. I cannot embroider for you alone.”
This made Kaschei furious and his face became red and dark and he bellowed: “If you are so unwilling to leave your kindred, you will become a bird, no longer a maiden fair.”
And in a heartbeat, a Firebird flapped its wings in place of Marushka. Kaschei took the form of a great black Falcon and swooped out of the skies to grab the Firebird in his cruel talons, soaring up beyond the clouds.
When Marushka felt the talons grip her and knew that she was being taken away, she began to shed her feathers. Feather after feather floated down to earth. Marushka would leave a last memory of herself. And although the trickster wind covered them with grass and leaves, the rainbow glow of the feathers could be seen forever more.
As the feathers fell, Marushka could feel her strength ebb and although the Firebird died in the talons of the Black falcon, the feathers continued to live on, down on the ground. The feathers were not ordinary feathers, but magic ones that those who loved beauty and sought to make beauty for others could find. Russian Legend
