Russian Folktales · Chapter
The Foundling Prince explained
A Tsar and Tsaritsa lose their only son, who disappears for fifteen years.
What happens
A Tsar and Tsaritsa lose their only son, who disappears for fifteen years. A peasant finds the boy in a corn-kiln, and the Tsar recognizes him as his own son after the boy cleverly solves a riddle about how to present himself.
Themes in this chapter
Trickery and Cunning
The boy uses cleverness to solve the Tsar's paradoxical riddle, proving his identity.
Fate and Divine Justice
The prince's disappearance and eventual return suggest a destined reunion orchestrated by fate.
Family and Betrayal
The loss of the son and the subsequent search highlight the bonds of family and the pain of separation.
Characters to notice
- The Tsar
The father who loses his son and later tests the foundling with a riddle.
- The Tsarítsa Harpist
The mother who grieves the disappearance of her son.
- The Boy
The foundling prince, clever and beautiful, who solves the Tsar's riddle.
- The Old Man
The peasant who found and raised the boy.
Key passages
“Tell your foundling that he is to come to me neither naked nor dressed, nor on foot nor on horseback, neither by day nor by night, neither in the courtyard nor in the street.”
The Tsar sets a paradoxical condition for the boy to appear before him.
This riddle tests the boy's cleverness and confirms his royal lineage.
“So he took and undressed himself from head to foot, put a net on himself, came on a goat, came up to the Tsar at twilight, and mounted the goat at the gate, leaving the forefeet of the goat on the courtyard and the hind feet in the street.”
The boy solves the riddle by wearing only a net, riding a goat at dusk, and positioning the goat partly inside and partly outside the gate.
This clever solution demonstrates the boy's wit and proves he is the Tsar's son.