Prince Ivan had three sisters: Princess Marya, Princess Olga, and Princess Anna. When his parents were dying, they told him to marry off his sisters to their first wooers, and not keep them by him. So when a falcon turned himself into a handsome young man to woo Marya, and she consented, he agreed to the marriage; and then Olga – to a transforming eagle, and finally Anna – to a raven.
Prince Ivan grew lonely and set out on a quest to visit his sisters, but on the way, he found an army slaughtered by the Princess Marya Morevna, and met her. They fell in love and settled in her kingdom. One day she went off to a war and forbid Ivan to open a secret room. He went into this room anyway and found Koschei the Immortal there begging for water. Prince Ivan gave him three bucketfuls. Koschei broke the chains and swore Ivan would never see Marya Morevna again.
Devastated, Ivan set out after her. He found the castle of the Falcon, who asked him to leave his silver spoon for them to remember him by; then that of the Eagle, who asked him to leave his silver fork; then that of the Raven, who asked him to leave his silver snuff-box. Then he found the castle where Marya Morevna was in-prisoned. He tried to flee with her 4 times, but Koschei kept catching them. He let Ivan go the first 3 times, for each bucket of water Prince Ivan had given him, but on the 4th time, he chopped Prince Ivan to pieces and threw him, sealed in a barrel, into the sea. At the castles, the silver things grew tarnished, and his brothers-in-law came for him. The Eagle found the barrel, the Falcon fetched the Water of Life, and the Raven the Water of Death. They put the pieces together, and the Water of Death reattached them and the Water of Life restored them.
Prince Ivan asked Marya Morevna to find out where Koschei got the fast horse he used to catch the lovers. Koschei told her that he got it by watching Baba Yaga’s horses for three days. Marya Morevna stole the handkerchief he used to get to Baba Yaga’s house and gave it to Prince Ivan. Waving it three times over the fiery river produced a bridge. On the way, he decided to eat a wild bird’s chick, a piece of honeycomb, and a lion cub, but refrained each time when the wild bird, the bees, and the lioness pleaded with him and promised their help in return.
Baba Yaga took the Prince into her service. Her horses fled the next morning over the meadows. The wild bird came up to him in the evening, and sent him to her house. Baba Yaga scolded her horses, which answered that birds came and pecked their eyes out when they tried to flee. She told them to try the forest the next day. They fled the next morning, but in the evening, the lioness told Prince Ivan to go back, and the mares were back. Baba Yaga told the mares to try the sea the next day, but the bees stung them until they had to come back.
At night Prince Ivan got up and stole a horse from the stable. He rode to the fiery river and waved the handkerchief three times for a bridge. When he had ridden over, he waved it two times, which kept the bridge in place, but made it so thin that when Baba Yaga tried to cross it chasing Ivan, she fell thru to her death.
Ivan returned to Marya Morevna, and they fled again. Koschei chased after them, but this time after he caught up with them, Ivan’s horse kicked and crushed his head. After that, Ivan burned Koschei’s body.
Ivan’s sisters and brothers-in-law rejoiced over his bride, and they held a wedding feast before returning to their own countries!