The Tale of the Little Humpbacked Horse

Once upon a time there was a peasant family that owned a wheat field. One morning they found that during the night, someone had been trampling around in the field and ruining the wheat. Ivan, the youngest of the three brothers, whom everyone thought was the fool in the family, managed to catch the wonderful mare that had been destroying the field. He let the mare go in exchange for two golden-maned steeds of unheard-of beauty and a small humpbacked horse which would become Ivan’s best friend. One day Ivan found a shiny feather dropped by a firebird and kept it, despite his pony’s warning not to touch it. This led to a series of adventures and troubles for Ivan, but eventually, with the little horse’s help he overcomes them, catches the firebird, marries a beautiful tsar-maiden and rules the land.