Fire Flower

Lore & Background

The story features a female creature from Ural folklore called Poskakushka (the jumping/hopping girl), who can perform a magical dance that reveals gold deposits. The plot follows a group of gold prospectors, including an old man Yefim and an 8-year-old boy Fedyunka, who encounter the Fire-Fairy. The story is considered 'child-toned' by Bazhov, with simple plots, children as main characters, and mythical creatures helping them toward a happy ending.

In Their Own Story

A group of gold prospectors, including an old man Yefim (alternative translation: Grandpa Efim) and an 8-year-old boy Fedyunka, called "Tyunka" by his father, sit around a fire in the woods. A tiny girl suddenly jumps out of the fire. "... just like a doll, she was, but alive. Her hair was red, her sarafan blue, and she held a blue kerchief in her hand. She looked around them merrily and her teeth shone white. Then she put one hand on her hip, raised the blue kerchief with the other and began to dance." She finishes her dance and disappears, while the prospectors look as if spellbound and almost forget the experience afterwards. The only person who clearly remember the maid is Fedyunka. He also hears the cry of an eagle-owl as if the bird is laughing at him. Yefim explains that the girl was the Fire-Fairy, a sign of gold: "If the dancer shows herself, there's gold in that place". Next morning the prospectors start digging in the area, but cannot seem to remember the exact place where the maid had danced. Fedyunka blames the owl, but no one believes him. Children at the factory give him a nickname "Dancing Tyunka" (Russian: Тюнька Поскакушка, romanized: Tjunka Poskakushka). The only person who doesn't laugh at him is Yefim. They become close friends. One day they see the Fire-Fairy again, and again the eagle-owl scares her away. Fedyunka is convinced that the Fairy would have shown them the way to gold if the owl had not hooted. In the winter Fedyunka's father leaves to work in the mine, and the boy stays with his evil step-mother. He decides to live with Yefim instead. On his way to the village he sees the Fire-Fairy again. He follows her and gets lost in the forest, but the maid dances around him, and the snow melts. The winter turns into summer, flowers bloom, birds start singing on a birch tree. The Fairy laughs at Fedyunka and gives him an old spade that leads him out of the forest. Next day Fedyunka and Yefim go back to the birch tree and find a lot of gold. They cannot keep the secret for long, and eventually the landlord takes hold of the place, but Fedyunka and Yefim live in wealth for many years.

Reader's Guide

No guide information is available from the source, as the source does not describe any game or interactive content.

Did You Know?

• The story was translated into English by Alan Moray Williams in 1944 and by Eve Manning in the 1950s.
• The character Poskakushka may be connected to the river Poskakukha near the Polevskoy Copper Smelting Plant.
• A 1979 hand-drawn animated film titled Ognevushka-poskakushka (The Fire-Fairy) was made by Soyuzmultfilm.

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