Once upon a time there was a king and a queen, who were very sorry that
they had no children,--so sorry that it cannot be told.

At last, however, the Queen had a daughter. There was a very fine
christening; and the Princess had for her godmothers all the fairies
they could find in the whole kingdom (there were seven of them), so that
every one of them might confer a gift upon her, as was the custom of
fairies in those days. By this means the Princess had all the
perfections imaginable.

Once upon a time… there lived a very powerful Sultan whose kingdom stretched to the edges of desert. One of his subjects was called Ali, a man who enjoyed making fun of his ruler. He invented all sorts of tales about the Sultan and his Court, and folk would roar with laughter at his jokes. Indeed, Ali became so well known, that people pointed him out in the street and chuckled.

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, a brother and sister walked together down a long road. The sister's name was Alyonushka, and her brother was called Ivanushka. The two had been walking a long time when they came to a cow's hoof filled with water. "May I drink form it sister?" Little Ivanushka asked. "No, or you will turn into a calf." Alyonushka answered. Little Ivanushka was very thirsty, but obeyed his sister. He obeyed her again when they came to a horse's hoof filled with water. Alyonushka told him that if he drank from it, he would turn into a foal.

Once upon a time there lived a peasant. His wife died and left him three daughters. The old man wanted to hire a servant-girl to help about the house, but his youngest daughter Maryushka said:
"Don't hire a servant, Father, I shall keep house alone."

Ilya Murometz is the most famous of the mighty warriors, known as Bogatyrs, of the Russian "Bilyny" legends. This legendary hero was unable to move during his first 33 years of his life. Then one day he was visited in his house by the three Holy Old Men, who asked Ilya for some water. Ilya became furious, as he thought the Old Men were playing a joke on him when they commanded Ilya to get up, much to his own surprise, Ilya rose. From that moment on he became a warrior of extraordinary powers and the defender of the Holy Russia.

Once upon a time... in the middle of a thick forest stood a small cottage, the home of a pretty little girl known to everyone as Little Red Riding Hood. One day, her Mummy waved her goodbye at the garden gate, saying, 'Grandma is ill. Take her this basket of cakes, but be very careful. Keep to the path through the wood and don't ever stop. That way, you will come to no harm.'

In the fable of Sadko, a man appearing to be a poor psaltery player, has talents which are neglected by the merchants of the City of Novgorod . However Sadko, was indeed a very talented person. This was the reason that the beautiful Sea princess, Volkhova, daughter of Tsar Morskoi, the King of the Sea, was charmed by Sandko's music and songs. Eventually, the princess Volkhova fell in love with the psaltery player.

Once upon the time… the shop belonging to an astute merchant called Salem , and all carpets in it, were burnt in a fire. Salem was left with nothing but his house, and since he was a trader hi decided to sell it. With the money he would be able to buy a new shop and more carpets. Salem did not ask a high price for his house. However, he had a most unusual request to make of would-be buyers:

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, a peasant woman looked out the window of her cottage to watch the village children play in the snow. She did this often because, although she led a very happy life with her husband, there was still a longing in her heart. The woman and her husband had no children of their own, and their biggest wish was to one day be able to watch their own child play in the snow.

In a far away land a thief was stealing golden apples which had the power of bestowing youth and beauty from Tsar Berendey`s magic Garden. The guards of the Tsar were unable to stop this, for as hard as they tried, the thief always got away. None of the guards could even see this thief. The Tsar was frustrated for he needed the golden apples for himself, as he was married to a very beautiful young Queen.