Mermaid Tales

A collection of works by Russian classics based on folk folklore. The book includes works of various genres dedicated to mermaids, forest spirits, and kikimoras in the world of the living. An encounter with them promises many troubles and sometimes threatens the demise of the unwary traveler.

The laughter of the mermaid is enchanting and lures one into the river depths, the forest spirit confuses paths in the thicket, and the kikimora arrives under the cover of night, bringing with her unease and fear. Russian folklore preserves many legends about the otherworld. But woe to those who encounter in reality those whom the elders spoke of. Few manage to escape their charms and leave unharmed. Those who succumb to temptation and lose their vigilance are awaited by madness, demise, and eternal wandering on the border of the world of the living and the realm of the dead.

The book includes "Mermaid Tales" by Alexei Tolstoy, the story by Nikolai Gogol "May Night, or The Drowned Woman", the play by Alexander Pushkin "The Mermaid" and the stories by Orest Somov "The Mermaid", "Kikimora" and "Werewolf".