The Malachite Box

The Malachite Box or The Malachite Casket (Russian: Малахитовая шкатулка, romanized: Malakhitovaya Shkatulka, IPA: [məlɐˈxʲitəvəjə ʂkɐˈtulkə]) is a book of fairy tales (skazka) and folk tales (also known as skaz) 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. The first edition of The Malachite Box was published on 28 January 1939. It consisted of 14 stories and an introduction, which contained some information about the life, industry and culture of the Urals and which the author tried to include into every edition of the collection. Later versions contained more than 40 stories. Not all stories are equally popular nowadays. The most popular tales were written between 1936 and 1939: "The Mistress of the Copper Mountain" and its continuation "The Malachite Casket", "The Stone Flower" and its continuation "The Master Craftsman", "Silver Hoof", "Cat's Ears", "Sinyushka's Well", "The Manager's Boot-Soles". Among the later stories, "A Fragile Twig" (1940), "The Fire-Fairy" (1940), "Tayutka's Mirror" (1941), "Ivanko Krylatko" (1943), "That Spark of Life" (1943) are popular. The characters of the Ural Mountains folklore such as the Mistress of the Copper Mountain became very well known after their appearance in Pavel Bazhov's The Malachite Box.