The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship

Story

The Tsar of Russia declares that whoever can build a flying ship will marry his daughter. A young fool sets out to do this and on his journey he meets a man who tells him to strike a tree with an axe, but not to look at it. He does and a flying boat magically appears. The man tells him to give anyone who asks a lift – the fool agrees and flies towards the Tsar’s palace…

Why we chose it

A great example of a story about the foolish youngest brother with his two much cleverer older brothers, mistreated by his family but rewarded for his kindness to (magical) strangers.

Where it came from

This story comes from a Russian folk-story which was passed down from generation to generation. Russian and Slavic fairy tales were told orally until the 17th century as only religious stories were written down.

Where it went next

It was included in Andrew Lang’s Yellow Fairy book (1894). Arthur Ransome also retold it in Old Peter’s Russian Tales (1916). Ransome wrote to introduce children at home to the Russian tales he encountered on his travels in the country.

This story has been made into many picture books, the most famous being Uri Shulevizt’s illustration of Ransome’s story (1968), for which he won the Caldecott Medal in 1969.

It has also been made into a stop-motion film (1990) and a DVD movie(2010). Robin Williams featured in an audio-tape version of the story in 1991.

Associated stories

Andrew Lang collected many other folk stories alongside this tale, including the Russian legends The Story of King Frost and The Witch.

Arthur Ransome’s Old Peter’s Russian Tales is a collection of Russian folk stories with a framing story about an old man telling stories to his grandchildren.

Another myth which includes a ‘flying’ ship (if only in name!) is the famous pirate legend of The Flying Dutchman, the 17th century ghost ship that is doomed to never make port. This ship made its film debut in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.