The Leszi

- N.E.Onchukov, "Severnye skaski" p. 443

"We were walking in the forest. The weather was very bad. We shot a deer and I went up to it. I saw my father was standing, leaning on his rifle. I went up, had a look: neither my father nor the deer was there. Evidently, I had been seeing things. It became dark and I could barely figure out which way to go. I walked and cried out, 'Father, Father.' And terribly bad weather set in. I seemed to see my father walking with a dog, and I cried out thinking it was my father. Then I saw my father come up from a dry spot, and I cried out. It was just as if the other one melted away, disappeared."

- Ibid, p 464

Savikha and the Leszi

In Nenosky, an old woman named Savikha went into the forest to pick berries and lost her way. She wandered and wandered, but nothing looked familiar and it began to get dark. Eventually a young man happened upon her and asked, "Grandmother, why are you crying?"

"Oh dear child, I'm lost and don't know in which direction my house is."

"Oh, come with me," the young man answered. "I'll lead you out to the road."

They walked and walked and Savikha soon noticed that they were going farther into the woods. They eventually came upon a house in the middle of the forest. "Why have you led my here?" Savikha cried.

"Oh, don't worry, grandmother. Come in and we'll have a rest." Upon entering the house he yelled out, "Come out wife. I've brought a nanny for you."...and then Savikha knew she was in the home of the leszi.

The leszi's wife was also a Russian woman that had been led astray. Savikha settled in with them and lived in the forest house for 3 years. However, she soon became homesick. The leszi's wife took pity upon her and said. "If you want to get home, do not eat any of our food." so first for one day, then a second, then a third, the old woman ate nothing.

After the three days the wife said to the leszi, "What kind of nanny did you bring me, she will not eat, and she's a lousy nanny to boot! Take her home." The leszi but Savikha on his shoulders and took her home.

When she arrived at her own izba, her sarafan (clothing) was shredded and even her own husband did not recognize her. Later she told everyone that life with the leszi was good, but just too boring.

"I know", said the stranger, "Exactly how to repay you. Last night you complained that you could find no competent help to herd your cattle. I will give you a herdsman in payment for your kindness. Every morning, let the cattle out by the gate and every evening they will be returned, well tended. But don't EVER go look at the herd after they've been put out."

The farmer did as he was told and every day the cattle came back well fed and full of milk. It continued this way for three years and then the farmer's curiousity got the best of him.

Following the cattle out one morning, he hid behind a tree and watched. A lone old woman stood leaning on a stick, rocking as if she were constantly dozing. She looked so decrepit that the farmer had to take pity upon her. "Grandmother," he said stepping out from behind the tree, "why don't you sit down and take a rest."

"Oh, thank you. I will." she said and disappeared.

From then on, the cows were no longer tended by the leszi and the farmer was forced to hire a hand.

1st Illustration is by Boris Zabirokhin and is from
Vlasova, M. Novaia ABEVEGA russkikh sveverii. SPb: Severo Zapad, 1997


2nd Illustration by Nadezhda Atipova from
Grushko, Elena & Medvedev, Iurii. Slovar' Slavianskoi Mifologii. Nizhnii Novgorod: Russkii Kusnets and Brat'ia Slaviane. 1996


3rd illustration of the leszi abducting a girl, is from a painted Russian box.