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Introduction
Princess Helena the Fair is a Russian Folktale written by Alexander Afanasyev in the late 19th century and later translated by W.R.S Ralston into English in Russian Fairy Tales; A Choice Collection of Muscovite Folk-lore. This tale is labeled as a ghost tale on Slavic ideas about the dead[1]. This is an important tale that refers to the treatment of dead relatives in this time, following Vanyusha as he honors his late father by praying to his grave each night. The tale follows honoring and respecting the dead and how the people of Russia were thought to be rewarded for such behavior.

Plot Summary
The story begins with an introduction to the father of three children. The two eldest children are described as strapping young fellows while the third and youngest, Vanyusha as a half-grown lad. Before their father’s death, he asks them to go to his grave each night and pray over him. Shortly after the death of their father, they appear at his grave. Each night, the two eldest brothers show up only for a few moments and don’t honor their father's request of a prayer, expecting Vanyusha to take care of it. Vanyusha tires of his brothers going off to have fun while he honors their father and asks them to take a turn praying but they do not.

During this time, the King’s daughter, Princess Helena is having a shrine built for her and it’s announced that she is looking for a bridegroom. After several nights of neglecting to pray to their father, the two eldest brothers ride off on their horses to have company with Princess Helena. They do not, however, inform their youngest brother of their plans, assuming he does not want to go. Vanyusha did want to go and spent the time of his brother’s outing crying to their deceased father. Hearing this, their father’s soul comes back to visit Vanyusha, and because he’d been respecting his father’s wishes and praying over the grave each night, Vanyusha’s father helps him. He summons a horse by whistling into the wind, the horse follows Vanyusha’s commands and takes him to meet Princess Helena.

Vanyusha arrives and swiftly runs through the crowds atop his horse. The people are unable to recognize who he is as he rides straight past Princess Helena and plants a kiss on her lips. He makes his escape and returns home, listening to his brothers talk about the events of the night when they return. The next day, Princess Helena calls for a gathering of all the people in the town. She has guards search for the man who would be her groom within the crowd, but Vanyusha is not found, nor does he reveal himself. Vanyusha waits for Princess Helena to seek him out herself, and when she does, she recognizes him and takes him instantly as her groom. Vanyusha becomes a king, unable to believe how far he’d come.

Historical Setting
According to long standing Russian tradition, and the Russian rituals and Beliefs in accordance with the dead, after one has deceased in Russian culture, there is a time before they go to rest where the soul must battle between heaven and hell. During this time, the living who cared about the deceased must remember their since passed loved one to support them in their journey in the afterlife[2]. Princess Helena the Fair refers to the remembrance of the dead by Vanyusha praying to his father every night. In this way, he is remembering his father and supporting him through this hard journey. The possibility of the dead returning also refers to this journey, for many days the dead are still on the plain of the living. Vanyusha is able to see his father during this period of time when he comes back to help his son. This action of remembering his father after death is revered and Vanyusha is rewarded for this action unlike his brothers who do not honor his father’s death by praying to his grave.

Genre/ Literary Context
Princess Helena the Fair is a story that has been compared to the more familiar story of Cinderella[3]. There are many parallels in the two stories including the cruel elder siblings who don’t invite the younger and more unique sibling to an important outing. In this case, Princess Helena represents Prince Charming, saving Vanyusha from a household that doesn’t care for him. Vanyusha’s father represents the fairy godmother who gifts Vanyusha with a way to access the event he so desperately wants to attend. Essentially this is a repetition of the tale of Cinderella where the genders are entirely reversed.

This story classifies as a ghost tale, including slavic ideas about the dead and how to assist them in their time of need and themes typically seen in Skazkas. Many Russian ghost tales take on this topic, following Indian and German ideas of orphans calling out to deceased family members[4]. Ghost tales of this kind typically entail the calling upon of the dead, and ghosts being helpful rather than destructive.

Themes
Princess Helena the Fair is a tale with many themes of interactions with the dead in relation to  different ways to be honorable. Within this story, Vanyusha’s interactions with the dead grant him visits from his deceased father, which is just one way he is being honorable. Vanyusha gains honor by respecting the traditions of treatment of the dead and assisting his father in a time of need and is thus rewarded for his honorable actions. Because of his being rewarded, it’s implied that readers at the time of this tale also regarded Vanyusha as the more honorable brother of the three.

Translations
An English translation is available in W.R.S Ralston’s Russian Fairy Tales; A Choice Collection of Muscovite Folk-lore (New York: HURST & CO 2007).

Hyperlinks
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Afanasyev

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ralston_Shedden-Ralston

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folktale

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tale

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrine

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tradition

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritual

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_fairy_tale