Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin (June 6 [O.S. May 26] 1799 – February 10 [O.S. January 29] 1837) was a Russian Romantic author whom many consider the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature. Pushkin pioneered the use of vernacular speech in his poems and plays, creating a style of storytelling—mixing drama, romance, and satire—associated with Russian literature ever since and greatly influencing later Russian writers. Contents: Ruslan and Lyudmila Tale of Tsar Saltan The Tale of the Priest and of his Workman Balda is a 1830 poem by Aleksandr Pushkin. It tells about a lazy priest who was wandering around market looking for cheap worker, there he met Balda (????? in russian means stupid or not very serious person) who agreed to work for a year without any pay except that he could hit the priest 3 times in his forehead and cooked fish for food. The priest of course agreed because he was very cheap. But then after he has observed Balda at work, he saw that he was not only very patient and careful but also very strong, that worried him a lot and the priest started giving him impossible missions. The story ends on Balda giving the priest 3 strikes on the forehead which resulted in priest's death. The final line is something about "You shall not look for cheap merchandise". The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights is a 1833 fairy-tale poem by Aleksandr Pushkin. Its story is similar to that of Snow White, with bogatyrs (knights) replacing dwarves. and others
