Mistress of the Copper Mountain

The Gumёshki mine was famous for various wonders, where, since the 18th century, copper ore was extracted for the nearby Polevskoy plant. And not without reason: power here belonged to the Mistress of the Copper Mountain. She could take on... different forms: sometimes she would turn into a lizard or present herself as a cheerful girl, sometimes she would enter the house as a wanderer or graciously receive guests as a powerful sovereign in her kingdom. But in any form, the Mistress loved to 'outsmart a person': she would give a complicated task - and the overseer would harshly punish the worker; she would entice with a mysterious stone flower - and the master would forever vanish into her mountain. In the mountain, 'there are big rooms... and their walls are different. Sometimes they are all green, sometimes yellow with golden speckles. On which again are copper flowers. There are also blue ones, azure ones. In a word, it's so decorated that it’s hard to describe.' This beauty of the Ural land, the incredible wealth of the Ural mountains, was lovingly and deeply conveyed by the artist Vyacheslav Nazaruk, who dedicated several years to illustrating the most famous tales of Pavel Bazhov. The text is printed according to the edition: P. Bazhov. The Malachite Box. — Moscow: OGIZ, 1948. Contents • Mistress of the Copper Mountain • The Malachite Box • The Stone Flower • The Mountain Master • Dictionary