The Rusalka Poem

In this haunting episode of Tales of Bedlam, host Knob Twister (Micah) and guest Andrea dive into the eerie world of Slavic folklore through the poem “The Rusalka” by the legendary Alexander Pushkin.

Unlike the friendly mermaids of Disney fame, the Rusalka is a seductive and vengeful spirit born from tragedy—often luring men to their watery graves.

Enjoy a dramatic reading of the poem, followed by three original stanzas written by Knob Twister that deepen the mystery of the monk’s fate. Along the way, the hosts discuss the folklore behind Rusalki, including their origins in untimely death, their dual nature as both protectors of nature and bringers of doom, and their eerie method of “tickling victims to death.”

It’s part poetry, part dark mythology, and 100% Bedlam.

This episode is a replay from 2019-2021; please ignore any announcements during the episode.

For more Fairy Tale fun, follow, like, and share at...

TalesofBedlam.com

Instagram @talesofbedlam

Facebook @talesofbedlam

If you have a question for us, email us at talesofbedlam@gmail.com

Transcript

Micah (Knob Twister) 0:04

Welcome to Tales of Bedlam. I'm your host, Knob Twister, and today with me is a very special guest, my wife Andrea.

Andrea 0:14

Hi there.

Micah (Knob Twister) 0:16

She's sitting in for my good friend Sofa Sitter who's feeling under the weather and could really use your thoughts and prayers. Who's feeling under the weather and could really use your thoughts and prayers? Today we're doing a poem from Slavic folklore. It's called Rusalka Rusalka. Rusalka is the Russian equivalent of a mermaid. They are featured in many Russian and Slavic paintings, operas and novels. One of the most renowned homages to a Rusalka was written by poet Alexander Pushnik, which is the exact poem that we're going to read for you now and then afterwards. Stay tuned for a little more info on the Russian Mermaid. So, without further ado, the Rasalka poem. In a lakeside, leafy grows, a friar Escaped the world. Out there he passed his summer days in constant prayer, deep studies and eternal fast. Already, with a humble shovel, the elder dug himself a grave and calling saints to bless his hovel Death. Nothing other did he crave.

Andrea 1:37

So, once upon a falling night, he bowed down beside his drooping shack and meekly prayed to the Almighty. The grove was turning slowly black. Above the lake, the mist was lifting Through milky clouds across the sky. A ready moon was softly drifting when water drew the friar's eye. Nice, when water drew the friar's eye, nice.

Micah (Knob Twister) 2:05

Feel free to insert any info that you would like to share with our listeners.

Andrea 2:10

Okay.

Micah (Knob Twister) 2:13

As you can see from the very first, this is a rather dark poem. He looks, his heart is full of trouble, oh fear. He cannot quite explain. He sees the waves rise more than double and suddenly grow calm again, then white as first snow of the highlands, light-footed as nocturnal shade. There comes a shore and sits in silence upon the bank a naked maid.

Andrea 2:49

Oh.

Micah (Knob Twister) 2:50

Oh, I might point out that the Russian water sprites, or mermaids as we would call them, actually didn't have tails like our little mermaid, but rather they had legs that they would walk upon land with and dance and entice people with their sultry moves.

Andrea 3:18

It's kind of like a siren.

Micah (Knob Twister) 3:20

Yes, In fact they're very closely related to the Greek sirens Interesting.

Andrea 3:27

So she looks at him and brushes gently the hair and water off her arms. He shakes with fear and looks intently at her seductive, luscious charms. With eager hand, she waves and beckons, nods quickly, smiling from afar, and shoots within two flashing seconds into still water like a star.

Micah (Knob Twister) 4:01

I think she's beckoning him to follow.

Andrea 4:04

Starting to sound a little seductive here.

Micah (Knob Twister) 4:07

The glum old man slept not an instant. All night, all day, not once. He prayed Before his eyes still hung and glistened the wondrous girl's persistent shade. The grove puts on the gown of nightfall, the moon walks on the cloudy floor and there's the maiden, young, delightful, reclining on the spellbound shore.

Andrea 4:36

Is this PG G13?

Micah (Knob Twister) 4:41

Well, it could get worse. Oh boy, If this were a movie, it would be rated R.

Andrea 4:49

She looks at him, her hair. She brushes Smiles, sends him kisses, sweet and wild, plays with the waves, caresses. Splashes now laughs, now whimpers. Like a child, moans tenderly, calls louder and louder here monk, here monk, to me, to me. Then vanishes into liquid water and all is silent instantly.

Micah (Knob Twister) 5:27

This monk really needs to return to his prayers and he needs to get away from this beach, because this can only end badly.

Andrea 5:35

And is there not anyone else on there? No one else is on the beach and seeing this.

Micah (Knob Twister) 5:40

I don't know. I assume that this is an abandoned beach that a water sprite lives near. Maybe everybody else learned a lesson and this friar Tuck is well, he's being seduced.

Andrea 5:58

I think so.

Micah (Knob Twister) 6:00

On the third day, the ardent hermit was sitting on the shore in love awaiting the voluptuous mermaid as shade was lying on the grove, night seeded to the sun's emergence. By then the monk had disappeared, it said. A crowd of local urchins saw floating there a wet gray beard. And this is where Alexander Pushnik's poem ends. But I felt that there needed to be a little more explanation than a floating gray beard. So for you, the listener, I wrote three more stanzas that I think fits well with this poem and gives a little bit more explanation of what happens to the hermit friar. So I just want to state that the next three stanzas were written by Knob Twister and not Alexander Pushkin.

Andrea 7:07

So take it away, dear she took him deep in blackened water. There she kissed him on the cheek. He opened wide his arms to caress her, yet found her not within his reach. Her whisper, a soggy echo, travels the message lacking any grace To me. To me come yet deeper To death. To me Come yet deeper To death, to death Beneath the waves.

Micah (Knob Twister) 7:38

Then he sudden realizes he cannot breathe. Beneath the waves, no choice has he but sinking deeper, ever closer to this dire maid. She swims in circles all around him, fingers tickle, seeking mirth, bring him to a raunchous laughter, another to avenge her death at birth.

Andrea 8:06

Now he breathes the blackened water, never more to rise again. She looks into his eyes with wonder and watches as his soul descends. That got dark.

Micah (Knob Twister) 8:28

I wanted to encapture the interesting way that one of these sirens would, after obtaining her prey, dispose of them, and it's interesting that they would lure them into the water with their seductions, but then they would.

Andrea 8:55

Tickle them.

Micah (Knob Twister) 8:56

Yes, I thought that was amazing. They would tickle them to death. But it would make sense because they need them to open their mouths and drown, breathe the dark water. That's right. So in Slavic folklore, the mermaids would tickle you to death under dark water. That's right. So in Slavic folklore, the mermaids would tickle you to death under the water.

Andrea 9:18

And that's why there's no one on the beach.

Micah (Knob Twister) 9:20

Yes.

Micah (Knob Twister) 9:24

Good job, oh boy. So what was their motive for this? The mermaids, yes, the mermaids or the water sprites. They say that the russica was formed by an untimely death. So maybe a woman who had been cheated on or thrown away, who committed suicide, would then be brought back as a water sprite until her allotted time on Earth is over. Or there were even talks of babies that might have been defective, because it wasn't uncommon back then for a birth defect to have that baby drowned. So their idea was that these babies' spirits would remain on Earth until they were either avenged or their allotted time that they would have had if they weren't killed at birth runs out on Earth.

Comparing Mermaid Folklore

Micah (Knob Twister) 10:31

Wow, yeah, that's best, but there's also stories of them in good ways too, because they are keepers of the water and the plants that surround that water. Whether it be a pond, a lake, a river, a stream, a pool yes, any kind of water you would find that they could bless the plant life and animal life that surrounded that water. So there were good things to them and bad, but they do seem to have been a sultry, seductive female that liked to torture men and kill them. Hmm, interesting.

Andrea 11:13

Very.

Micah (Knob Twister) 11:14

A lot different than our little mermaid huh.

Andrea 11:17

Ariel.

Micah (Knob Twister) 11:18

Could you see Ariel tickling her prince to death under the salty water? No, it's very different. Under the sea. I killed him under the sea.

Andrea 11:31

Disney puts a good spin on those Not everything's better down where it's wetter.

Micah (Knob Twister) 11:36

Take it from me.

Andrea 11:40

All right then.

Micah (Knob Twister) 11:42

So if you liked our story, slash poem from Alexander Pushnik.

Andrea 11:49

Did I say his name right? Slash knob twister.

Micah (Knob Twister) 11:52

Pushnik yes, I said it right and you'd like to hear more? Then subscribe and tell a friend or family member, because the best way for you to help us is to let everybody know about us so they can come here, subscribe to and enjoy our work. Keep my good friend.

Andrea 12:15

SofaS sitter.

Micah (Knob Twister) 12:15

Sofa sitter. Yeah, I can't remember his name. Keep my good friend sofa sitter in mind, good night.

Andrea 12:22

Good night.

Micah (Knob Twister) 12:30

That was a little raw, but we tried.

Andrea 12:36

It was a short poem, yeah.