"The Mistress of the Copper Mountain" is one of the most famous tales of the Russian writer Pavel Bazhov (1879 - 1950). The story was first published in 1936. Copper Mountain is the name of the Gumeshki copper mine in the Urals. Bazhov heard stories about the Mistress of the Copper Mountain from his family and from factory old people. The image of the Mistress of the Copper Mountain or Malachitnitsa in the mining folklore has various options: Mountain mother, Stone girl, Golden woman, girl Azovka, Mountain spirit, Mountain elder, Mountain master. All these folklore characters are the keepers of the riches of the mountain bowels. Bazhov's image of Malachitnitsa is much more complicated. The writer embodied in it the beauty of nature, inspiring a person to creative searches.

Summary of the tale "Mistress of the Copper Mountain"

Once two mine workers went to look at their mowing, and when they reached the Krasnogorsk mine, they lay down to rest in the grass and fell asleep. The junior worker, whose name was Stepan, woke up after some time and saw a girl with a black braid sitting with her back to him. From her dress of malachite, the guy guessed that in front of him was the Mistress of the Copper Mountain. Stepan wanted to run away from her unnoticed, but the Mistress turned around and called him to her for a conversation.

The retinue of the Mistress had countless lizards. The next day the mistress ordered Stepan to convey to the factory clerk the following words: “The mistress, they say, ordered the Mednaya Mountain to you, stuffy goat, to get out of the Krasnogorsk mine. that there is no way to get it." After that, the Mistress turned into a lizard with a human head and shouted goodbye to Stepan: "Do it in my opinion, I will marry you!"

It was terrible for Stepan to incur the wrath of the clerk, but the wrath of the Mistress of the Copper Mountain was even more terrible, and Stepan nevertheless conveyed the words of the Mistress to the clerk. The clerk got angry and ordered Stepan to be flogged, sent to work in a damp mine with bad ore, and chained to him. And as a task, Stepan was assigned to extract a huge amount of pure malachite. But the Mistress of the Copper Mountain took care of Stepan, he had an abundance of malachite, and the water from the mine was gone. Soon the Mistress took Stepan to look at her dowry.

Having looked at the wealth of the Mistress of the Copper Mountain, Stepan said that he could not marry her, because. he already has a fiancee - the orphan Nastya. In response to this, the Mistress was not angry, but delighted: “I praised you for the clerk, but for this I will double praise. And the Mistress gave a gift to Stepan's girlfriend - a malachite box with earrings, rings and other rich jewelry. Saying goodbye to Stepan, the Mistress of the Copper Mountain ordered not to remember her, began to cry and ordered to collect her tears - gems. After that, the Mistress returned Stepan to the mine.
Seeing a lot of malachite mined by Stepan, the overseer of the mine put his nephew in Stepanov's mine, and Stepan was transferred to another mine. Seeing that Stepan was still extracting a lot of malachite, and his nephew could not get anything, the warder ran to the clerk: "Not otherwise, Stepan evil spirits sold." The clerk to this and says: "It's his business, to whom he sold his soul, and we need to get our own benefit. Promise him that we will release him into the wild, let him only let him find a malachite block worth a hundred pounds.
The clerk remembered the words of the Mistress of the Copper Mountain, transmitted to him by Stepan, and decided to stop work at the Krasnogorsk mine. Stepan found a malachite block, but he was deceived and not released. A gentleman from St. Petersburg wrote about the block, he came and ordered Stepan to find such malachite stones in order to cut down pillars five sazhens long from them. Stepan refused to look for stones until they write free in his name and in the name of his fiancee Nastya. Stepan found the pillars, he and his bride were freed from serfdom, and the malachite pillars were placed in a church in St. Petersburg.
The mine, where the stones for the pillars were found, soon flooded. They said that this was the wrath of the Mistress of the Copper Mountain at the fact that the pillars in the church were standing.
Stepan got married, but was sad all the time, often went to the abandoned mine to hunt, but did not bring the booty home.

Stepan at an abandoned mine. Artist Vyacheslav Nazaruk

Once Stepan was found dead near the mine. There was a smile on his face. It was said that near his body they saw a large lizard that was crying.

In 1975, director Oleg Nikolaevsky made a puppet cartoon "The Mistress of the Copper Mountain" based on Bazhov's tale. You can watch this cartoon online below:

Illustration for P.P.Bazhov's tale "The Mistress of the Copper Mountain". Master class with step by step photos

Master class on drawing "The Mistress of the Copper Mountain".

Dyakova Olga Sergeevna teacher of the class of fine arts MBOUDO "DSHI" Okhansk
Description: this master class will be useful for art teachers, teachers additional education artistic and aesthetic orientation, students starting from grade 3 may well cope with this work.
Step-by-step drawing will help you avoid the most common mistakes and give you self-confidence.
Purpose: use in drawing classes, interior decoration or as a gift.
Target: performing an illustration for P.P. Bazhov’s tale “The Mistress of the Copper Mountain” - to depict the main character of the tale, familiarity with the techniques and technique of working with gouache, the formation of the ability to create the volume of a character using pictorial means.
Tasks: improving the ability to work with gouache
promote the development of creative abilities
develop a sense of composition, the ability to analyze the shape and proportions of depicted objects, deepen the sense of perception of color and color harmony
cultivate interest in painting, develop accuracy in work
Materials:
gouache
whatman format A-3.,
nylon brushes numbered 2, 3, 5.

Execution sequence:

Place a sheet of paper vertically. We draw a thin wavy line - this is the floor of our future cave.
Next, we outline the arch of the cave - the shape of the arch resembles a semicircular arch. We don't need a pencil anymore.

The floor of the cave is made in two colors - ocher (sand) and brown.

The arch of the cave is also performed in two colors - green and emerald green.

Blur the boundaries between colors making the transitions smoother.

We fill the entrance to the cave with blue color - this will favorably emphasize the silhouette of the main character.

Let's start working on the main character.
Let's start with the head, since the proportions of the whole figure will depend on it.
The head and neck are done in light pink.

In white, we complete the upper part of the figure.

The hem of the sundress is emerald in green.

The sleeves are done in light green.

We draw the upper part of the sundress and straps.

We outline the shadows - in black and green.

With juicy light yellow strokes we draw light on a sundress.

Slightly blur the light along the inner contour, softening the borders.

blue color we outline the folds on the shirt.

We “decorate” the sundress, draw a belt, edging along the sleeves and hem, decorate the neck and sundress in the center. Kant is performed in bright orange.

Add light highlights with white and shadow strokes with brown on the protruding parts of the piping.

We outline the silhouettes of hands and boots.

Saturated with pink color, draw shadows on the face and hands.
The shadows are slightly blurred along the inner contour, softening the borders.

To perform the kokoshnik, we first outline the height of its "petals".

We connect the "petals", forming the silhouette of a kokoshnik.

We fill the kokoshnik with emerald color.
With a thin brush, in black, draw expressive eyes and eyebrows.

in pink we outline the shadows under the eyes, the contour of the nose and the line of the chin.

We draw lips.

We outline the shadows and light on the kokoshnik.

Slightly blur the shadows and light on the kokoshnik along the inner contour, softening the borders.

Draw the braid in black.

light in gray, with light strokes we outline the light on the braid.

Let's start decorating the outfit.
With white and yellow "beads" (dots) we draw a pattern on the kokoshnik.

In the same way we decorate the edging of a sundress. On the edge itself we draw "pebbles of emeralds".

In green-black color, with wavy lines, we create an imitation of a malachite pattern on a sundress and on the arch of the cave.

Add light yellow "veins" of malachite on the roof of the cave.

We draw silhouettes of stalactites and stalagmites - brown.

We draw the second row of stalactites and stalagmites more light color- ocher and white-brown.

We plan "bouquets" of future crystals.

Draw the vertices of the crystals - the color of the vertices repeats the color of the crystal, but with the addition white color.

With a thin brush, with light strokes, draw shadows on the crystals, emphasizing their edges.

On the tops of the crystals we draw light, in white, not forgetting to emphasize the shapes of the faces.

Light white paint the light from the crystals with strokes (to achieve a gentle effect, the brush should be almost dry).

Despite how many Bazhov's books I already have in my library, this book won first place!
Because at least this book has the property of hypnosis, not otherwise.
How else to explain the fact that I read it from cover to cover - I do not know.
It's all about the illustrations. When you hold a book of excellent quality in your hands, with a embossed cover, coated paper, you already want to open it. Okay, open up.
(Don't open the book, don't make a mistake!). Because I opened it and disappeared: the very first spread with patterns of malachite stones struck me with its beauty. Apparently, he rebuilt something in me, set the right note, and I began to scroll further.
Each illustration of the book was a discovery for me, despite the fact that I had seen them before on the Internet. But seeing it live is another matter entirely. You read the text excitedly, turn the page and a new illustration. And with new pleasure you read the text, which is on the spread with an illustration. And so again and again ... hypnosis, I say! And given that the tales themselves are magical and interesting, the whole book is just a masterpiece for me.
Take a look at how the artist conveys the beauty of malachite, nature, mountains. And also framing. Nazaruk has a penchant for framing: each illustration has a frame in one form or another: sometimes an arch, sometimes a depression in a malachite stone, a doorway, framing with tree foliage. And, in addition to adding foreground and details, it adds fabulousness, as it emphasizes that the characters live in their fairy-tale world.
The format of the book is A4 and another format simply cannot be. Take a look at the illustrations - they look perfect on the stretched-out A4 format.
There are 4 sayings in the book:
1) Copper Mountain Mistress
2) Malachite box
3) Stone flower
4) Mining master.
The last two are my favorite :)
At the end of the book there is a glossary that contains explanations of individual expressions and terms found in Bazhov's tales.
I highly recommend the book to everyone!

Page 1 of 2

Went once two of our factory grass to look. And they had long hauls. Somewhere behind Severushka.
It was a festive day, and hot - passion. Parun is clean. And both of them robbed in grief, that is, in Gumeshki. Malachite ore was mined, as well as blue tit. Well, when a beetle with a coil fell, and there it was said that it would do.
There was one young guy, an unmarried man, and it began to cast green in his eyes. Another older one. This one is completely ruined. The eyes are green, and the cheeks seem to turn green. And the man was coughing all the time.
It's good in the forest. The birds sing and rejoice, soaring from the earth, the spirit is light. They, listen, and exhausted. We reached the Krasnogorsk mine. At that time iron ore was mined there. It means that ours lay down on the grass under the mountain ash and immediately fell asleep. Only suddenly the young one - exactly someone pushed him in the side - woke up. He looks, and in front of him on a breast of ore big stone a woman is sitting. Back to the guy, and on the braid you can see - a girl. The scythe is black and does not dangle like our girls, but evenly stuck to the back. At the end of the ribbon is either red or green. They shine through and tinkle so thinly, like sheet copper. The guy marvels at the scythe, and he notes further. A girl of small stature, good-looking and such a cool wheel - she won’t sit still. He leans forward, looks exactly under his feet, then leans back again, bends on that side, on the other. He jumps to his feet, waves his arms, then bends down again. In a word, Artut-girl. Hearing - muttering something, but in what way - it is not known, and with whom he speaks - it is not visible. All just a laugh. It's fun, apparently.
The guy was about to say a word, when he suddenly got hit on the back of the head.
- You are my mother, but this is the Mistress herself! Her clothes are. How did I not notice right away? She averted her eyes with her scythe.
And the clothes are truly such that you will not find another in the world. From a silk, you hear, malachite dress. This kind happens. A stone, but on the eye like silk, at least stroke it with your hand.
“Here,” the guy thinks, “trouble! As if only to carry away the legs, until I noticed. From the old people, you see, he heard that this Mistress - a malachite girl - loves to philosophize over a person.
As soon as she thought about it, she looked back. He looks merrily at the guy, bares his teeth and says in a joke:
- Are you staring at a girl's beauty for nothing, Stepan Petrovich? For a look-from after all, they take money. Come closer. Let's talk a little.
The guy was frightened, of course, but he does not show it. Attached. Although she is a secret force, but still a girl. Well, he's a guy - that means he's ashamed to be timid in front of a girl.
“No time,” he says, “I have to talk. We overslept without that, and went to look at the grass.
She laughs and then says:
- It will be good news for you. Go, I say, there is work.
Well, the guy sees - there is nothing to do. I went to her, and she looms with her hand, go around the ore from the other side. He went around and sees - there are countless lizards. And everyone, listen, is different. Some, for example, are green, others are blue, which flow into blue, otherwise they are like clay or sand with golden specks. Some, like glass or mica, shine, while others are faded like grass, and which are again decorated with patterns.
The girl laughs.
- Do not part, - he says, - my army, Stepan Petrovich. You are so big and heavy, but they are small for me. - And she clapped her hands, the lizards fled, they gave the way.
Here the guy came closer, stopped, and she again clapped her hands, and says, and all with laughter:
Now you have nowhere to go. Crush my servant - there will be trouble.
He looked under his feet, and there was no knowledge of the earth. All the lizards somehow huddled together in one place - how the floor became patterned underfoot. Stepan looks - fathers, but this is copper ore! All sorts and well polished. And mica right there, and blende, and all sorts of glitter, which are like malachite.
- Well, now he recognized me, Stepanushko? - asks the malachite girl, and she laughs and bursts into laughter.
Then, a little later, he says:
- Don't be afraid. I won't do you any harm.
The guy felt sorry that the girl was mocking him, and even saying such words. He became very angry and even shouted:
- Whom should I be afraid of, if I shy away in grief!
“That’s all right,” the malachite replies. - I just need such a person who is not afraid of anyone. Tomorrow, how to go downhill, your factory clerk will be here, you tell him, yes, look, do not forget the words:
“The mistress, they say, ordered the Mednaya Mountain to you, stuffy goat, to get out of the Krasnogorsk mine. If you still break this iron hat of mine, then I’ll send you all the copper in Gumeshki there, so that there’s no way to get it.
She said this and frowned.
- Did you understand, Stepanushko? In grief, you say, you rob, you are not afraid of anyone? So tell the clerk as I ordered, and now go and tell the one who is with you, don’t say anything, look. He is a spoiled man, that he should be disturbed and involved in this matter. And so she said to the little titmouse to help him a little.

And again she clapped her hands, and all the lizards fled. She herself also jumped to her feet, grabbed a stone with her hand, jumped up and, like a lizard, ran over the stone. Instead of arms and legs, her paws have green steel, her tail sticks out, there is a black stripe halfway along the ridge, and her head is human. She ran to the top, looked back and said:
- Do not forget, Stepanushko, as I said. She ordered, they say, you - a stuffy goat - to get out of Krasnogorka. If you do it, I'll marry you!
The guy even spat in the heat of the moment:
- Ugh, what a bastard! So that I marry a lizard.
And she sees him spitting and laughing.
- All right, - shouts, - then we'll talk. Maybe you think?
And now over the hill, only the green tail flashed.
The guy was left alone. The mine is quiet. You can only hear how another snores behind a breast of ore. Woke him up. They went to their mowing, looked at the grass, returned home in the evening, and Stepan had one thing on his mind: what should he do? Saying such words to the clerk is no small matter, but he was still, - and it’s true, - he was stuffy - he had some kind of rot in his gut, they say. Not to say it's also scary. She's the Mistress. What he likes ore can be thrown into a blende. Do your lessons then. And worse than that, it’s a shame to show yourself as a braggart in front of a girl.
Thought and thought, laughed:
- Was not, I will do as she ordered.
The next day, in the morning, as people gathered at the trigger drum, the factory clerk came up. Everyone, of course, took off their hats, was silent, and Stepan came up and said:
- I saw the Mistress of the Copper Mountain in the evening, and she ordered to tell you. She orders you, stuffy goat, to get out of Krasnogorka. If you spoil this iron hat for her, then she will sink all the copper in Gumeshki there, so that no one can get it.
The clerk's mustache even trembled.
- What are you? Drunk Ali mind decided? Which Mistress? To whom are you speaking these words? Yes, I will rot you in grief!
- Your will, - says Stepan, - but only so I was ordered.
- Flog him, - the clerk shouts, - and lower him up the mountain and chain him in the face! And in order not to die, give him dog oatmeal and ask lessons without indulgence. A little something - to fight mercilessly!
Well, of course, they whipped the guy and up the hill. The overseer of the mine, - also not the last dog - took him to the face - nowhere worse. And it's wet here, and there is no good ore, it would be necessary to quit long ago. Here they chained Stepan to a long chain, so that, therefore, it was possible to work. It is known what time it was - a fortress. Everyone was galling over a person. The warden also says:
- Cool down here a bit. And the lesson from you will be pure malachite so much, - and he appointed it completely inappropriate.
Nothing to do. As soon as the guard walked away, Stepan began to wave the kaelka, but the guy was still nimble. Look - it's okay. So malachite is poured, exactly who throws it with his hands. And the water went somewhere from the bottom. It became dry.
“Here,” he thinks, “it’s good. Apparently, the Mistress remembered me.
I just thought, suddenly it sounded. He looks, and the Mistress is here, in front of him.
- Well done, - says, - Stepan Petrovich. It can be honoured. I was not afraid of the stuffy goat. Well told him. Let's go, apparently, to look at my dowry. I don't go back on my word either.
And she frowned, as if she didn't feel good about it. She clapped her hands, the lizards ran in, the chain was removed from Stepan, and the Mistress gave them a routine:
- Break the lesson here in half. And so that the selection of malachite was, a silk variety. - Then he says to Stepan: - Well, fiancé, let's go look at my dowry.
And so, let's go. She is ahead, Stepan is behind her. Where she goes - everything is open to her. How large rooms have become underground, but their walls are different. Either all green or yellow with golden dots. On which again the flowers are copper. There are also blue ones, azure ones. In a word, embellished, which is impossible to say. And the dress on her - on the Mistress - is changing. Now it shines like glass, then it suddenly fades, and then it sparkles with a diamond scree or becomes red copper, then again it casts green silk. They go, they go, she stopped.
“Further,” he says, “yellows and grays with specks will go for many miles. What are they to watch? And here we are right under Krasnogorka. Here I have the most expensive place after Gumeshki.