Nikita Kozhemyaka has long been a hero of folk tales in Russia. This is a typical example of a hero who is not only strong and brave, but also kind. There are several versions of the tale, but in all of them Nikita Kozhemyaka is a hero who killed the dragon and saved the princess. Most of all, the Ukrainian and Belarusian variations are similar, and in the Russian only the ending differs significantly. Although he always remains a hero, a simple good hero.
The plot of the fairy tale
An evil serpent stole the daughter of a Kyiv prince and hid her in his house so that no one could get to her. She is homesick and longs to return, but the snake won't let her go.
Later, the snake told the princess that in the whole world he was afraid of only one person - Nikita Kozhemyaku. Since then, she began to think about how she could persuade Nikita to fight with a snake. The prisoner sends a letter to her father to find the hero and persuade him to save her - to kill the terrible snake. What is the answer to Tsar Kozhemyak? This is very atypical for fairy tales, because he refuses. When the first royal delegates visited Nikita's house, he was so surprised that he accidentally tore twelve skins, which already indicatesconsiderable strength. Many messengers go to Nikita, but he remains adamant, but agrees only when crying children are sent to him: the hero simply cannot bear children's tears. Coated with resin to become invulnerable to the snake, the strong man sets off to save the princess. A long battle between the hero and the snake ends with the victory of Kozhemyaka.
The end of the fairy tale
In the Belarusian and Ukrainian versions, after Kozhemyak defeats the snake, the place where he lived was called Kozhemyaki. In the Russian version, the serpent defeated by Kozhemyaka asks for mercy, and the good heart of the hero surrenders.
Snake gives half of his land to the hero. He divided the territory with a furrow, and the snake drowned in it.
Nikita Kozhemyaka
This legend is not just about a hero, it is a classic fairy tale of Kievan Rus. The chronicle was originally created. She was first witnessed back in 992, but then the hero was not yet called Kozhemyak, he was a youth with incredible strength, who tore the skin during a quarrel with his father. Since then, of course, the tale has evolved. If initially it was a youth who defeated the Pecheneg monster, then in later versions it is already a hero who fought a fantastic monster and saved the princess. A typical folk tale on which more than one generation of children have been brought up.
