“Tu mi fai remembrar dove et qual era
Proserpina nel tempo che perdette
La madre lei, ed ella primavera.”
“You make me remember where and what
Proserpina was, in the time
When her mother lost her, and she lost spring.”
Dante Alighieri, “Purgatorio”, Canto 28.
IVAN OPENS THE BOX GIVEN TO HIM BY THE LITTLE SISTER OF THE SUN
“What must be, must,” says the Sun’s little sister; “Though she is more likely to eat you than you are to save them. You shall go…”
From “Old Peter’s Russian Tales”, Arthur Ransome, 1916
There are many, many versions of this story. Usually the hero – or heroine – is given a range of magical objects by some powerful helper; in at least one version – I think it is a Grimm’s one, but I can’t find it – it is a mysterious box, only to be opened in the hour of direst need…
Anastasia Kashian 