#holena

According one of the Czech sources I was reading this is the oldest Czech fairy tale. In every collection I own it is the first fairy tale.

Maruška is the step-daughter of a woman who has her own daughter, Holena. Mother and daughter are jealous of Maruška’s beauty and popularity. The tale is classified in the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as type ATU 480, "The Kind and Unkind Girls". Anyone who is familiar with the Brothers Grimm’s fairy tale Frau Holle (German) or Alexander Afanasyev’s Vasilisa the Beautiful (ATU 480 B, Russian, featuring our favorite witch, Baba Yaga) will recognize the theme immediately.

In each of these stories the beautiful and kind step-daughter is sent into the cold, dark woods on an impossible task by the evil step-mother.

In this case Maruška is first sent after violets in January. She encounters the personified months (moons) and impressed by her politeness as they share their fire they decide to assist her, the personification of March giving her the violets.

Next the evil step-mother and spoiled daughter send her for strawberries. This time when she encounters the months (moons) it is June who produces the most wonderful strawberries.

Next the evil step-mother and spoiled daughter send her for apples and it is September who provides them for her.

Eventually the greedy step-daughter goes off on her own seeking the magical fruit claiming Maruška will eat it all if she sends her. She encounters the months (moons) and when she is rude to them January makes a snowstorm and they all disappear leaving the girl to be left in the storm. When the evil step-mother goes looking for the daughter she is lost as well and Maruška inherits the farm lives happily ever after.

Here is an interesting paper that, in part, discusses the personification of days, weeks, months, holidays, etc. in various Slavic cultures.

Illustrators:

#1 unknown

#2 Darina Studentá

#3 Vera Stone

#4 Rodney Thompson

#5 T S Hyman

#6 illustrator unknown

@pvt-lena