THE TINDERBOX

The Tinderbox is a tale about a brave, lucky soldier who managed to deceive a terrible witch, escape execution, and marry a beautiful princess.  The soldier is presented to us as a dexterous and agile hero who managed to take possession of a magic Tinderbox, kill a witch, cheat the queen and king into both pardon his execution and marry their daughter, the princess he was in love with.  But note that the main character can also be called frivolous and cruel.  The illustrations of the talented artist Igor Oleynikov only emphasize the duality of the character of our soldier.