The Firebird, Tsarevich Ivan, and the Gray Wolf

            Once upon a time, there lived a mighty Tsar with a magnificent palace and beautiful gardens, one of which had a golden apple tree whose apples were disappearing. He discovered a Firebird who was the thief and asked his 3 sons to catch her. On the third night, young son Ivan was able to seize a feather from the bird, and the Tsar demanded she be captured. Ivan rode his horse 3 days, but then was attacked by a great gray wolf. The wolf was sorry to have killed the horse and helped Ivan capture the Firebird, but they in turn were caught by the local czar. Eventually Ivan was freed to go to the Thirtieth Kingdom to pick up a golden horse for the Tsar. Ivan climbed onto he wolf and rode to the distant kingdom. When stealing the golden horse, he woke the guards and was taken to Tsar Aaron. Ivan was told he’d be freed if he went to a distant country and brought back the lovely Princess Elena. Again Ivan rode the wolf then waited while the wolf captured Elena and brought her to him. Eventually, Elena was taken to Ivan’s castle where my picture shows Ivan introducing her to his father, Tsar Dolmat, while the Firebird sings from the golden cage and the wolf escorts Princess Elena. I enjoyed the great number of patterns and colors this scene presented.