Illustrations are based on the lines of the poem "Ruslan and Ludmila" by Alexander Pushkin. (You can find the poem translation at the bottom of this page)
By Lukomorya there's an oak tree;
And on that tree a golden chain:
And day and night a cat who's learned
Will chase around that chain his tail;
Takes to the right -- A tune will follow,
And to the left -- A tale be told.
There's wonder there: where Leshy's roaming,
A mermaid's on the branches perched;
There by the undiscovered pathways
Are trails of creatures yet unknown;
A chicken footed hut is found there
It's got no windows and no door;
Those woods and dales are full of visions;
At dawn the waves will come back vicious
Too flood the sandy, empty shore,
And thirty knights of highest vigour
Will rise from waves by one with rigour,
Their merman uncle's there for sure;
There Korolyevych in a passing
Takes down the old, oppressive king;
There in the clouds before the people
Above the forests and the seas
The warlock drags the Bogatyr;
And in a tower dwells a princess,
Her trusted wolf conducts her business;
And Baba Yaga's mortar's there,
It roams of own accords, I swear,
Over his gold tsar Kaschchei pines there;
There's Rus' soul... there's Rus' odour!
So there I'd seat,
Drink all their mead;
By sea I saw the fabled oak tree;
Beneath it sat the learned cat
He told me tales of this and that
One I would like to recollect: ...
