The artist Victor Vasnetsov liked to walk on akhtyrsky fields, and it seemed to him that to fields this the end edge isn't present. Will fly a breeze, for a moment light paints of a field — and заблещут indifferently will darken again. Hot the gentle Yellow Sea a rye will become agitated, and thousands cornflowers will recover, the song from where will be heard, you won't sort her words. It is sung by soul of the person. Over the remote Russian villages which have grown into the earth by weak-sighted log huts, the washed-away roads to the artist sad songs often were heard.It seemed, these songs are sung by autumn bad weather, whispered by hopeless poverty and a hopeless grief. Victor Vasnetsov had same feelings in soul after he read the tale of Alyonushka in the collection of fairy tales of Afanasyev. The artist heard more than once this fairy tale and in the childhood, it touched it more deeply and more strongly than others, sank down to it in soul and the sad tune reaching from a river bed, and all poetic situation of the fairy tale with its celebration of the truth. Vasnetsov thought of Alyonushka, and the plan of its new composition cleared up more and more.In Victor Vasnetsov's picture "Alyonushka" we see the heroine of the fairy tale of the same name who has been unfairly offended by people. It absolutely alone in dark full of mysterious sounds and rustles. I became sad, I sat down on a round old stone at a black pond and in a heavy, hopeless grief I clasped thin hands knees. She is dressed in a colorful rural sundress, barefoot, her hair in a braid are a little uncombed. Sadly she sits, having put the head on hands. This is the real rural teenage girl I came in dark, but not so terrible (Alyonushka grew up among these trees, flowers and glades) the wood погрустить about the life and a fate. Her father and mother already isn't present in live, foreign people force to work for them from morning to the night, raise on it a hand, starve and offend. What will be farther?The nature represented in a picture, reflects internal state of the girl. In a presentiment of near winter it is gloomy frowned and hard the low autumn sky hung. The pond isn't mobile and dark, Alyonushka's sundress is only vaguely reflected in its mysterious smooth surface.But not everything is gloomy in the landscape surrounding Alyonushka. In a distance the fir-trees, attracting forever young greens are visible, is slightly closer — harmonous osinka. Osinki stand absolutely near the girl and under a running breeze, showering with Alyonushka with gold leaves as if whisper to it: "Don't cry, don't grieve! " And cane stalks to the left of the girl and in the picture foreground absolutely firm, rigid and direct as if want to tell it that she didn't cry and I became straight as they.The slavish share of the woman in painting was represented also by other masters, but, unlike them, Vasnetsov opened this subject in truly national style. After all in this picture it was embodied not only the fairy tale. The author said that in it "… wonderful Russian eyes which looked at me and all God's world … and in Vyatka settlements, and on the Moscow streets and markets and forever live in my soul and heat it! " Vasnetsov recognizes generalization of the Russian type of female spiritual beauty in this picture.