The version of the fairy tale that appears before us in Afanasyev's collection is greatly reduced, so some moments seem strange and absurd.
Let's compare two versions - Timofeev (1787) and Afanasyev (No. 269). For brevity, I will designate them as "T" and "A".
So, "Option A", known from childhood, has some strange and inexplicable plot twists.
Ridiculousness # 1
Why does Ivan Tsarevich decide to marry a frog? The frog demands from him to marry, explaining that, they say, “such is his fate,” and Ivan, without offering any resistance, dutifully carries the frog to the registry office.
It is especially disturbing that this fool has the right to the throne …
In the "T" variant, everything is much more logical:
Promotional video:
Ivan wanders through the swamps in search of an arrow and suddenly sees a hut. And in the hut a croak with an arrow is waiting for him. And here Ivan wanted to take the arrow and retreat, but suddenly the frog says:
How does it feel? This blackmail has completely disappeared from the more well-known options. But now we know that Ivan is not at all mournful of mind, but simply did not want to work the rest of his life as a living illustration for the saying "with a dear paradise and in a hut."
Ivan, by the way, does not give up right away, he tries to deceive the frog:
The frog, seeing his doubts, takes off its skin and turns into a beauty. (Up to this point, she was obviously flirting.)
Ivan feels relief and joy. He agrees to marry.
However, Ivan cannot be allowed to leak information. The girl turns back into a frog, he carries her to the palace and turns on the fool, saying that he decided to take an amphibian as his wife.
Ridiculousness # 2
In option "A" the king does not express any emotion about his son's decision. He just plays three weddings, without commenting on the choice of the younger prince.
On the other hand, variant "T" describes panic:
But Ivan manages to insist on his own.
Ridiculousness # 3
The frog dishonestly wins the competition with other daughters-in-law.
She calls the mothers-nannies, they sew and bake for her, and the daughters-in-law puff themselves, albeit ineptly, but honestly …
In the "T" variant, it is the mothers-nannies who help the daughters-in-law, and the winds help the frog.
Also different weight categories, of course, but here at least all the contestants do not perform tasks themselves.
Ridiculousness # 4
In the embodiment, "A" n After burning skins Vasilisa voluntarily surrenders to Koscheyu.
What does he have to do with it?.. What kind of "piano in the bushes"?
In the "T" variant Koschei is absent, but the intonations of the offended wife sound more clearly.
Vasilisa simply “pauses the relationship” and retires to a certain “Sunflower Kingdom”. To earn forgiveness, Ivan goes through a "quest", chasing his wife through three huts on chicken legs, in which Vasilisa takes different guises - snakes, frogs, arrows. Ivan's task is to keep her in his hands, taming the obstinate sorceress.
In the end, he copes, and the happy couple returns home.
As you can see, a more complete version is much more logical than the well-known one.
You can read about the secret of Vasilisa's mystical dance here.
