Ivan Ivanovich (Story loosely based on Russian Folktales)

There was once a Prince of Russia named Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov who fell in love with a young peasant girl called Evgenia and tried to woo her by buying her lavish and expensive gifts like a dress spun from pure golden thread; diamond slippers, roses carved from rubies and violets carved from sapphires but, whatever the Prince brought her; however beautiful and expensive it was, the girl would always send it back because, being a pure and simple soul, she was not impressed by wealth or luxury.
And so, in desperation, the Prince sought out the powerful witch Baba Yaga who lived in a thorned forest in a hut with long chicken legs and large chicken wings and when, the hut kneeling down and its door opening, Baba Yaga came out, Prince Ivanovich begged her to give him something that would woo the young peasant girls heart.
Reaching up an arm as if about to pluck fruit from a tree, Baba Yaga plucked a silver Balalaika out of the frosty air and gave it to the Prince telling him that, if he played a merry tune upon it, it would make young Evegenias heart whirl and dance like a Cossak and, if he played a sad song upon it, it would make her weep like the River Volga and fall deep in love as the Caspian sea.
But then the witch said to the Prince, "Many winters from today, I will come to your palace and ask you for something in return and whatever it is you must give it to me".
The Prince was so overjoyed that at last he might win the heart of Evgenia that he did not even stop to think about what he might be agreeing to and so, without hesitation, he said to Baba Yaga, "I give you my word as a Prince".
Then, getting up onto his white horse, the Prince galloped as fast as he could to the village where Evgenia lived and, kneeling before her, played a love song upon the silver balalaika.
And when he did, all at once, tears came streaming out of Evgenias eyes and she fell in love with the Prince and shortly after that, in the royal Palace in St Petersburg, they were married.
But then after several winters had passed, Evgenia gave birth to a little girl and, no sooner had the cord been cut between mother and infant when Baba Yaga appeared in the Princes Palace demanding that he give her the child.
"You made me a promise", she said to him, "When I gave you my balalaika that whatever I asked for you would give it to me and I am asking for your daughter".
Naturally, when they heard this, the Prince and Princess were horrified and the Prince refused to give the witch what she asked for, even drawing his sword and threatening to run her through with it if she did not leave but, when the Prince raised the sword, Baba Yaga only laughed.
"Ha!", she said, "I am not one of your serfs who cowers before you in fear. I am Baba Yaga; the queen of Witches and no one dares break a promise made to me".
Then the witch, stirring the air with a wooden spoon, made a startled Princess Evgenia dissapear, in a whirlwind of magic, from her throne.
"Because you have not kept your word you will never see your wife again", said the witch.
Then, with another stir of her spoon, this time in the other direction, the witch herself, vanished into thin air.
Poor young Evgenia. Baba Yaga took her back to her house on chicken legs and then, flapping its wings the giant house flew far away where none could find it.
But Prince Ivan vowed that he would rescue his wife.
"There is only one person who is as powerful as Baba Yaga", he said, "And that is Grandfather Frost. I will go and see him and ask him for help".
So the Prince rode to the town of Veliky Ustyug where Grandfather Frost lives within a kremlin of snow with glistening minarets carved out of ice and there he saw the old man seated upon a throne of ice  with a long beard of snow, wearing a long fur-coat with boots of felt upon his feet, a round fur cap upon his head and a magic staff in his right hand and, kneeling upon the icy floor of his throne room, the prince humbly asked Grandfather Frost to help him rescue his wife from Baba Yaga.
"Please", he said, "Tell me where I may find her flying house and how I can defeat her".
Now Grandfather Frost had long been the mortal enemy of Baba Yaga, for she always tried to steal the presents that he gave out to children but he did not want to get into a fight with her and so, sadly, he sent the Prince away and that may have been the sad ending to the story had the Prince not taken out the silver Balalaika that Baba Yaga had given him and, plucking upon it, started to sing a sad song that was overheard by the Snow Maiden, the daughter of Grandfather Frost and, when the Snowmaiden heard the sad song her heart started to melt and, skating into the palace, she pleaded with her father to help the Prince and, because Grandfather Frost could never deny his daughter anything he gave the Prince a flying reindeer to ride upon and a blue sword of Ice that he said would turn anything it touched into ice including the evil witch and he said,
"Her flying house will land today in the Dancing Forest in Konigsberg and will stay there for 1 day. If you travel by flying reindeer you may reach it in time to save your wife".
So the Prince, thanking Grandfather Frost and the Snowmaiden for their kindness, climbed upon the back of the flying reindeer and, soaring upwards through the air and leaping over clouds like hurdles in a steeplechase, galloped across the sky all the way to Konigsberg in Eastern Prussia and the fabulous Dancing forest.
And there he saw, amidst the strange trees that were twisted like cavorting dancers, the hut on chicken legs; the home of Baba Yaga.
But the hut was so tall that he wondered how he would get inside.
Then the Prince had an idea. He scattered some grain on the ground infront of the hut, the kind that chickens peck at and, when he did, the hut bent down and its door opened to eat the grain.
Then, seizing his opportunity, the prince leapt in through the door of the hut.
Inside he looked around but could not see the Princess but then he noticed a giant Matryoshka nesting doll standing in the corner of a room and, pressing his ear close to its wooden belly heard his wife inside, crying for help.
Hurriedly, he unscrewed the top of the Matryoshka doll and then unscrewed the top of the doll inside that and the top of the doll inside that and, within the third doll, he found his wife, then releasing her from her bonds and lifting her out of the doll, he hurried with her to the exit of the witches chicken legged hut which, because it was still eating up grain, was kneeling down.
However, no sooner had the Prince and Princess escaped from the hut when Baba Yaga woke up and, seeing what had happened ordered her hut to chase after them.
Running, terrified, as the giant legged hut pursued them, at first the Prince hadn't a clue what he should do and when, suddenly, they came to the edge of a steep cliff overlooking sharp rocks, he was certain they would both perish but, just then, the Prince remembered the magic sword of ice that Grandfather Frost had given him, the one that would turn anything it touched to ice and, drawing it from its sheathe and touching it to the ground, suddenly the Prince made a giant sheet of ice spread out across the ground and, when the hut on chicken legs that was stampeding towards them stepped upon the ice it started to slide; infact it slid all the way to the edge of the cliff and, because it couldn't stop, went crashing over the edge of it, down onto the sharp rocks deep below.
Looking down over the edge, the Prince saw the wood of the hut shatter to pieces; its monstrous legs and wings break and heared Baba Yaga screaming a high pitched scream like the sound of the howling northwind as she plunged to her doom.
Now, sighing with great relief, the Prince lifted his wife up onto the back of his flying reindeer and they both flew home to the Princes Palace where they lived, with their daughter, happily ever after.