History and Literature

Once upon a time, there lived an old man and woman who had a granddaughter called Little Masha. One day, Little Masha and her friends decided to go into the forest to pick mushrooms and berries. 

“Please, Grandma and Grandpa,” said Little Masha, “may I go to the forest with my friends to pick mushrooms and berries?”

“You may, but keep close to the others so that you won’t get lost,” the old couple replied.

Little Masha and her friends ran off into the forest. When they came there, they began to look for mushrooms and berries. Little Masha ran from tree to tree and from bush to bush, and before she knew it she had lost sight of all her friends. She began to call out, “Aoooh -aoooh -aoooh! Where are you?” But her girlfriends couldn’t hear her, and didn’t answer. Little Masha wandered around and around the forest, and got more and more lost. She ended up in the very depths of the forest. 

“Look, there is a small cottage,” said Little Masha to herself. She knocked on the door, but there was no answer. Little Masha gave the door a push, and it opened! She went inside and sat down on a bench near a window. She thought to herself, “Who lives here, I wonder?”

In fact, a huge bear lived in that very same little cottage, but he was out walking in the forest. By evening, the bear returned, and was very pleased to see Little Masha sitting there forlornly. In a gruff voice, the Bear said: 

Little Masha was sad for a long time, but she had no choice but to stay with the Bear and keep house for him.  

Every day, the Bear went off into the forest. Before he left, he always said to Little Masha, “You mustn’t ever try to run away, you know. If you do, I’ll catch you and eat you up in two bites!”

Although Little Masha was ever so frightened when she heard this, she couldn’t help but start to plan her escape from the Bear. The cottage was surrounded by the deep forest on all sides, and Masha didn’t know how she would find her way home. And there was no one she could ask. So she racked her brains, and finally thought of a way she might trick the Bear. 

One day when the Bear returned from the forest, Little Masha said to him, “Dear Mister Bear, let me go on a trip to the village to visit grandma and grandpa, so I can take them something nice to eat.” 

“No,” said the Bear, “you’ll only get lost in the forest. I’ll take it to them myself.” 

Now, this was exactly what Little Masha had hoped the Bear would say! She baked some nice homemade pies called Pirozhki, and put them in a very big basket. She said to the Bear, “Look here Mister Bear, I’ll put the pies into this basket, so you can take them to grandma and grandpa. But no matter what happens, you mustn’t open the basket on your way there, or take out any of the pies to eat! I’m going to climb to the top of the old oak tree, and I’ll be keeping an eye on you, you know!” 

“Very well, then,” said the Bear, “give me the basket!” 

Little Masha said, “But go out onto the porch first, and see if it is raining!” 

When the Bear went out onto the porch, Little Masha quickly climbed into the basket, and put the large plate of pies on her head. The Bear came back and saw that the basket was all ready. He strapped it onto his back and set off for the village. “Tramp, tramp” went the Bear among the pine trees. “Stamp, stamp,” went the Bear among the birch trees. Up the hills and down the dales he trudged, on the long and winding road to the village. At last he got tired and had to sit down to rest. 

“I’ll just sit down on this tree stump and eat a pie,” the Bear thought to himself. 

But Little Masha called out from inside the basket: 

The Bear looked up at the trees. “My, what sharp eyes that girl must have!” thought the Bear to himself, “she sees everything I do!”

The Bear lifted the basket onto his back again, and continued on his journey. He walked and walked, and walked and walked, and once again became ever so tired. He stopped and said to himself, “I’ll just sit down on this tree stump and eat a pie!” 

But Little Masha again called out from inside the basket: 

“What a crafty little girl that Masha is!” thought the Bear to himself. “She sits high and sees far!” The Bear got up again, and continued at full trot until he reached the village!

In the village, he found the house where Masha’s grandma and grandpa lived. He knocked on the gate with all his might. “Knock, knock! Open the gate! I’ve brought you some pies from Masha,” shouted the Bear.

The village dogs scented the Bear and rushed out at him from every yard, yelping and barking. This frightened the Bear, and he put the basket down and ran towards the forest as fast as he could, without ever looking back. 

The old man and the old woman came out of the house, and saw the basket standing next to the gate. Grandpa lifted the lid, and couldn’t believe his eyes. In the basket sat Little Masha, alive and well! The old man and the old woman were overjoyed! Little Masha told Grandma and Grandpa what had happened as they kissed and hugged her, saying, “Our Little Masha tricked the Bear! You are as clever as clever can be.” And indeed our reader will surely agree!