A long time ago in one Urals village there lived a famous craftsman named
Prokopyich. He made jewelry and other things from malachite and was renowned
as the best gem carver in the Urals. The rulers ordered him to teach some
boys his profession, but none of them was talented enough.
At the same time an orphan named Danila lived in the village. He was weak
and couldn't work at the factory. But he was full of dreams and liked
to observe nature. Once he tried to help an old herdsman, but when he
played his flute, the old shepherd felt asleep and several cattle were
eaten by wolves. Danila and the herdsman were were severely punished.
A kind old woman took Danila into her house and healed him using many
herbs and flowers. She taught him the lore of plants, and one day told
him about the Stone Flower from Malachite Mountain. She told him it was
the most beautiful flower in the world. But she also warned him, "Whoever
finds that flower will never be happy."
After Danila recovered, the manager of the factory sent him to Prokopyich
to study gem carving. He was surprisingly gifted. Prokopyich was a widow
without children, and he loved the boy as if he were his own son. Several
years passed. Danila became a strong, handsome young man.
One day the owner of the factory sent him a commission to make a vase
from malachite, along with a sketch of what he wanted. Danila began the
intricate task, but he was unsatisfied with the idea on the sketch. Every
day he went to the woods looking for inspiration and observing many flowers
and plants. He worked for a long time and at last completed a vase like
the one in the sketch. When he showed it to the other craftsmen, they
liked it and praised it. But Danila said, "This vase is made precisely
according to the sketch, but there is no living beauty in it. When you
look at the simplest flower, joy fills your heart because of its beauty.
Where is there such beauty in the stone?"
One very old craftsman warned him, "Don't even think that way. Otherwise
you could become a servant of the Mistress of Copper Mountain. Her workers
live and work in the Mountain and nobody ever sees them. Once I was lucky
enough to see their work. Magnificent! Our work can't compare with theirs,
because they have seen the Stone Flower and understand the beauty of the
stone."
After this conversation Danila went to the woods more often looking for
a block of stone for his own vase. Prokopyich was worried about him and
urged him to marry the nice girl named Katya to whom Danila was engaged.
But Danila said, "I want to wait! First I need to make my own vase and
then we will think about marriage.".
One day he was in the woods looking for stone and suddenly heard a whisper
saying, "Danila-Craftsman, look for stone on Serpent Hill." He turned
around and saw the dim outline of a woman, which vanished in a second.
He thought, "Perhaps it was the Mistress of Copper Mountain!" So he went
to Serpent Hill and found a huge block of malachite. He was very glad,
took the stone home and started to carve the vase.
But soon again he was disappointed with the result and said sadly, "Maybe
I am just not able to understand the power and the beauty of the stone."
So he and Katya announced the date of their wedding. The day before the
wedding he went for a walk to Serpent Hill again, sat down and thought
about the Stone Flower. "How I desire to see that Flower!" he mused.
All a sudden the Mistress of Copper Mountain appeared before his eyes.
Danila began to implore her: "There is no life for me without seeing that
Flower!"
She replied, "I could show it to you, but afterwards you will regret it.
Those who have seen my Flower have left their family and come to live
in my mountain. Think about Prokopyich and Katya who love you."
"I know," shouted Danila, "but I must see it." "All right," she said.
"Let's go then to my garden." So she took him and showed him the wonderful
Stone Flower.
In the evening Danila came to the village. His fiancee Katya had a party
the day before the wedding. At first he had fun, danced, and sang songs,
but then he became sadder and sadder. To Katya's questions he replied
that he had a headache. After the party he returned home, broke his vase
and ran away.
The village was full of rumors after he disappeared, but no one knew where
he had gone. Three years passed. Katya did not marry. After her parents
died she came to live with old Prokopyich and helped him in his work.
But soon Prokopyich died, too, and Katya lived on her own. She did not
have any money, so she decided to try making some brooches.
She went to Serpent Hill hoping to find good pieces of stone. But at the
hill she remembered her beloved Danila and wept. Suddenly she saw a beautiful
piece of malachite. Katya took it home and tried to carve several brooches.
She worked hard and well and her carving beautifully set off the natural
patterns in the stone. Katya was happy when she sold her works to a merchant
in the village. She thought, "My brooches are the best in his store. I
was lucky finding that malachite. Maybe Danila helped me?"
She ran again to Serpent Hill looking for another good stone. But she
thought again of Danila and burst into tears, sobbing, "Where are you,
my beloved friend? Why did you leave me?" When Katya looked around it
seemed to her she stood in an unfamiliar woods, and the mountain opened
before her eyes. "Here is the magic mountain," she thought. "Maybe I could
see my Danila."
When Katya looked down, she saw a man who looked just like Danila. The
man raised his hands toward her. She wanted to jump down to him, but the
vision disappeared. She told her relatives what she had seen but they
did not believe her and decided that she must be ill.
The next day Katya ran to the hill hoping desperately to see Danila. Her
sister followed her. Katya came to the same place and found herself in
the magic woods. She started to call out, "Danila, where are you? Answer
me!" The echo answered: "He is not here! He is not here!" Then suddenly
the Mistress of Copper Mountain appeared and demanded, "Why did you come
to my garden? If you need the stones, take what you wish and go away."
Brave Katya replied, "I don't need your dead stones. Give me my Danila
back. You don't have the right to take another's fiance." The Mistress
laughed. "Do you have any idea whom you are speaking to?" Katya cried
out, "I am not blind, I know who you are. I am not afraid of you! Not
at all! And I know that Danila wants to come back to me." The Mistress
said, "All right, let him speak then."
At the same moment Katya saw Danila. The Mistress said, "You have to choose,
Danila-Craftsman. If you go with her, you will forget everything you saw
and learned in the mountain. If you want to stay here, you have to forget
the rest of the world."
Danila sighed, "I am sorry. I can't forget the people I love. I think
about Katya every minute of my life." The Mistress smiled and said, "All
right, Danila. Go back home. And for your honesty and loyalty I will give
you a present. You will not lose your knowledge that you have learned
here. But do not tell people about the mountain. If somebody asks you
where have you been, just say that you went away to improve your skill."
Katya and Danila returned home, filled with joy. Katya's sister could
not find her in the woods and returned home. When she came into the house
she saw Danila and Katya. She cried out, "Danila, where have you been?"
Danila just smiled. "I went to study my craft with a master who lives
far away. "Katya and Danila lived happily together for many years. He
became known far and wide as the greatest carver in the Ural Mountains.
