Ruslan and Ludmila
Written as an epic literary fairy tale consisting of a dedication (посвящение[1]), six "cantos" (песни), and an epilogue (эпилог), it tells the story of the abduction of Ludmila, the daughter of Prince Vladimir of the Kievan Rus' (reigned 980–1015), by an evil wizard and the attempt by the brave knight Ruslan to find and rescue her.
Before it was published in 1820, Pushkin was exiled to the south of Russia for political ideas he had expressed in other works such as his "Ode to Liberty" (вольность).
In a brief prologue, the narrator of the story describes a green oak by the sea, on which a learned cat walks back and forth on a gold chain.
The story opens with a feast given by Prince Vladimir (Владимир) to celebrate the marriage of his daughter, Ludmila, to the bold warrior Ruslan.
Among the guests are Ruslan's jealous rivals, the bold warrior Rogday (Рогдай), the boastful Farlaf (Фарлаф), and the young Khazar Khan Ratmir (Ратмир).
On their wedding night, as Ruslan prepares to consummate the marriage, a strange presence fills the bedroom, accompanied by thunder and lightning.
On hearing of Ludmila's disappearance, the angered Vladimir annuls the marriage and promises his daughter's hand to whoever is able to return her safely.
The old man himself is a Finn who tells the story of how he had fallen in love with a beautiful young maiden, Naina (Наина), who spurned his attention.
In order to win her love he tried to become a glorious warrior, but when she rejected him, spent years learning the magical arts instead.
As Ruslan rides on, he finds himself in the midst of a deserted battlefield, strewn with bones, dead horses, and war relics.
Ludmila eludes Chernomor's henchmen by remaining invisible, but then is tricked by the wizard into revealing herself when he takes the form of Ruslan and calls to her in his voice.
Farlaf returns Ludmila to Vladimir, whose initial happiness soon turns to mourning as he finds that she cannot be awakened from her deep slumber.
The name Ruslan is adapted from Yeruslan Lazarevich, who appears in earlier Russian tales and is mentioned in Pushkin's The Moor of Peter the Great.
Rogday and Farlaf are mentioned in Nikolay Karamzin's History of the Russian State (История государства Российского).
[3] The Pechenegs, mentioned in Song 6, besieged the city of Kiev in 968, and again (in a date which would make sense in a possible timeline of the poem) in 997.
A feature film based on the poem was produced in the Soviet Union in 1972, directed by Aleksandr Ptushko and starring Valeri Kozinets and Natalya Petrova as the title characters.
[citation needed] Other film versions include a 1915 silent produced by the Russian production company Khanzhonkov, directed by Ladislas Starevich,[citation needed] and a 1996 made-for-TV version based on Glinka's opera, directed by Hans Hulscher and produced by NHK.
[6][7] Lines from the prologue of this poem are repetitively recited by the character Masha in the play Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov.
[8] References to the tale are made in Monday Starts on Saturday by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky: In the first part of the book Sasha stays in an old house 'by the sea' (actually in an alleyway called Curving Seashore Street) with a green oak in the garden.
The house is revealed to be chicken legged hut of Baba Yaga (who is called Naina by the characters in the book).
There is a well learned cat who paces to and fro under the tree, trying to recount stories and songs but who is unable to remember more than the first few lines of each.
