About the book: 2010 / In the southeast of Moscow, three days' ride on crossroads, on the border of a coniferous forest and wormwood steppe stood two villages: Torbeevo and Vysotskoye. Whether these villages have survived today and who lives there now - God knows, but a hundred years ago the villages still stood and people lived in them. They sowed grain, felled trees, fished, and in the fall they went to the swamp to pick cranberries. Children were born in huts, black from time to time, covered with shingles. They grew up, worked, got married, quarreled, had children themselves and grew old. And in the end, everyone returned to the damp, warm earth, to the village churchyard strewn with spruce needles, to the ringing of a lonely bell. Of course, on Sundays all the peasants went to church and diligently crossed their foreheads. But tell me, how can I live my whole life in the forest and not meet the devil? How can you not see a mermaid at the edge of the green river water at sunset? The residents of Torbeev and Vysotsky knew and knew about the surrounding evil spirits and about the miracles that filled their world. But they kept this knowledge to themselves, otherwise the priest would get angry. And in order not to forget, the peasants began to compose fairy tales. After all, what is the demand from a fairy tale? So, it’s just pampering, scaring children. The first collection of “Wonders”, which you are holding in your hands, includes three Torbeyev’s tales about a bear, about a burnt church and about Pugachev’s treasure) and two from Vysotsot (about a stone woman and about a queen bee). Please note right away that our fairy tales are not for children, but for older children. However, these fairy tales are also suitable for parents. It is best to read them one at a time, before bed, after evening tea with jam. If you want to know what happened next or what happened before, in ancient times, write to us. We also have fairy tales for every taste.