The Malachite Casket (fairy tale)
"The Malachite Casket", also known as "The Malachite Box", is a folk tale of the Ural region collected and reworked by Pavel Bazhov. It was first published in the several issues of the Sverdlovsk newspaper Na Smenu! in September—November 1938, and in Uralsky Sovremennik. It was later released as a part of The Malachite Casket collection. "The Malachite Casket" is considered to be one of the best stories in the collection. The story was translated from Russian into English by Alan Moray Williams in 1944, and by Eve Manning in the 1950s.
The characters from The Malachite Casket collection in the 2004 Russian stamps (from left to right): Danilo and the Mistress of the Copper Mountain ("The Stone Flower"), the Mistress and Tanyushka ("The Malachite Casket"), and the hunter Ailyp and his ladylove Golden Hair ("Golden Hair").
The Malachite Box or The Malachite Casket is a book of fairy tales and folk tales of the Ural region of Russia compiled by Pavel Bazhov and published from 1936 to 1945. It is written in contemporary language and blends elements of everyday life with fantastic characters. It was awarded the Stalin prize in 1942. Bazhov's stories are based on the oral lore of the miners and gold prospectors.
Title page of the 1st edition of The Malachite Box (as a single volume), 1939.
The cover of the 1947 French edition of The Malachite Box.
The stamps of Russia, 27 January 2004. The illustrations are (from left to right): "The Stone Flower" (Danilo and the Mistress of the Copper Mountain), "The Malachite Casket" (the Mistress and Tanyushka), "Golden Hair" (the hunter Ailyp and his ladylove Golden Hair).