It was later released as a part of The Malachite Casket collection on 28 January 1939.[2] This is one of the few stories that are based on the Bashkirs folklore (another example being "The Demidov Caftans"[3]).[4] Bazhov was very interested in the Bashkirs' tales, and had some more material of that kind, but decided not to publish it.[5] He wrote: "I, for instance, have some Bashkir folklore in reserve, but I don't put it to use because I feel incompetent in the details of their everyday life".[6] The author disliked inventing details and writing about unfamiliar topics.[7]