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Overview
Baba Yaga tells the prince to take three men he will meet on his way to the Water King: Obedalo, Opivalo and Moroz Treskum. Ralston’s footnote glosses their functions as eater-up, drinker-up and Crackling Frost. The narrative calls them heroes but gives no extraordinary bodily measurements. They are presented together here because their linked sequence of services, rather than separate origin stories, supplies the evidence.
At the wedding feast the Water King orders the prince to finish more food than a hundred men could eat. Obedalo consumes everything and is still unsatisfied. Opivalo empties forty tubs of strong drinks and asks for more. When the king prepares an iron bath with twelve loads of firewood and red-hot walls, Moroz Treskum enters first and blows into two corners; icicles immediately appear, allowing the couple to bathe safely afterward. Their powers answer three specific threats. They do not accompany the subsequent transformation chase or the forgotten-bride ending, and the text does not identify this frost helper with the suitor of Ralston’s separate Morozko tale.
Origins & earliest records
Ralston translates a collected Russian narrative and identifies its source in a footnote. The hosted New York Hurst title page is undated; its physical edition is not dated from Gutenberg’s 1872 header.
Records & interpretation
pp. 135–139 within the complete tale pp. 130–141; notes 143–144 identify Afanasief V, no. 23, and explain the three names. The complete English narrative preserves a particular collected version; the earlier Russian text has not been independently collated.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Russian Fairy Tales: The Water King and Vasilissa the Wise
pp. 135–139 within the complete tale pp. 130–141; notes 143–144 identify Afanasief V, no. 23, and explain the three names.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Primary translated narrativeRalston’s complete translated collected narrativeResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
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