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"Marya Morevna"[edit]

In a tale also known as "The Death of Koschei the Deathless", Ivan Tsarevitch encounters
Koschei chained in his wife's (Marya Morevna's) dungeon. He releases and revives Koschei, but
Koschei abducts Marya. Ivan goes to rescue Marya several times, but Koschei's swift horse
allows him to easily catch up with the escaping lovers; each time the magical horse informs
Koschei that he will be able to carry out several activities first and still be able to catch up. After
the third unsuccessful escape, Koschei cuts up Ivan and throws his parts into the sea in a barrel.
Ivan is revived with the aid of the water of life. He seeks Baba Yaga for a suitably swift horse.
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After trials he steals a horse and rescues Marya.

"Tsarevich Petr and the Wizard"[edit]


Tsar Bel-Belianin's wife the Tzaritza is abducted by Koschei (the wizard). The Tsar's three sons
attempt to rescue her. The first two fail to reach the wizard's palace, but the third, Petr, succeeds.
He reaches the Tzaritza, conceals himself, and learns how the wizard hides his life. Initially he
lies, but the third time he reveals it is in an egg, in a duck, in a hare, that nests in a hollow log,
that floats in a pond, found in a forest on the island of Bouyan. Petr seeks the egg, freeing
animals along the way – on coming to Bouyan the freed animals help him catch the wizard's
creatures and obtain the egg. He returns to the wizard's domain and kills him by squeezing the
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egg – every action on the egg is mirrored on the wizard's body.

"The Snake Princess"[edit]


In "The Snake Princess" (Russian "Царевна-змея"), Koschei turns a princess who does not
want to marry him into a snake.

Ivan Sosnovich[edit]
Koschei hears of three beauties in a kingdom. He kills two and wounds a third, puts the kingdom
to sleep (petrifies), and abducts the princesses. Ivan Sosnovich (Russian Иван Соснович) learns
of Koschei's weakness: an egg in a box hidden under a mountain, so he digs up the whole
mountain, finds the egg box and smashes it, and rescues the princess.
He also appears as a miser in Pushkin's Ruslan and Ludmila, though this interpretation does not
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reflect previous folk tale representations.

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