У лукоморья дуб зеленый,
 Златая цепь на дубе том:
 И днем и ночью кот ученый
 Всё ходит по цепи кругом;
 Идет направо - песнь заводит,
 Налево - сказку говорит.

Beside the sea stands a green oak tree,
 And on the tree a golden chain: 
 And on the chain a learned cat 
 Walks round and round and round again; 
 When he goes left he tells a tale, 
 And when he goes right he sings a refrain. 

 ~Alexander Pushkin 

So begins Alexander Pushkin’s fantasy poem Ruslan and Ludmila. This piece is a mélange of popular Slavic characters and stories: Vasilisa the Fair, the Frog Tsarevna, Rusalka, the firebird, and Baba Yaga. Baba Yaga’s house on chicken legs is practically a character in its own right, wandering the forest, turning its back to any who would try to enter, and crouching down only for Baba Yaga to reach its door.