The Kingdom of Crooked Mirrors (Russian: Королевство кривых зеркал) is a 1951 fairytale by Vitaly Gubarev.
Eleven-year-old Olya is bratty and lazy, and one day, her grandmother wishes she could just see herself. It results in Olya falling through a mirror and meeting her mirror self Yalo, who is a nice girl at heart but displays all of Olya's worst qualities. The girls then travel together through a picture to a magic realm, the eponymous kingdom, where the tyrannical regime orders the production of only crooked mirrors to make sure its subjects never learn the truth about themselves and their oppressors. When a boy called Gurd (Dneirf) at a crooked mirror factory gets rebellious, he is beaten and sentenced to death, and Olya and Yalo team up to try and rescue him.
The fairytale was adapted to the screen by Alexander Rou in 1963.
The book provides examples of:
- Affectionate Nickname: Aunt Aksal calls Olya and Yalo "pheasant nestlings", since they sneak into the kitchen in a basket of pheasants.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: Everyone who belongs to the ruling class is malicious or at best apathetic.
- Arranged Marriage: There is talk of Anidag's betrothal to Abazh's son for the sake of uniting the two ministers' families. Due to the revolution in the end, it's unlikely it would ever occur.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Anidag usually acts very kind and sweet... unless you are a servant who displeases her, or unless you make her really outraged. Beneath it all, anyway, she is just as wicked as her father.
- But Now I Must Go: After Gurd is freed and the revolution in the Kingdom of Crooked Mirrors begins, Olya returns home.
- Childhood Brain Damage: One of the courtiers was dropped on his head as a child. Since then, he can only count to three.
- Creepy High-Pitched Voice: Nushrok has a very squeaky voice.
- Death Glare: Nushrok is infamous for his dreadful fierce glare that makes anyone paralyzed with fear. No wonder it becomes his actual weapon in the last confrontation.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Nushrok and Anidag are vile and power-hungry, but they genuinely care for each other.
- Evil Twin: Downplayed with Yalo. She is by no means evil, but all of Olya's worst qualities are exaggerated in her (while Olya's best qualities begin to shine immediately after she comes into the mirror world).
- The Ghost: Abazh's son never appears, only getting mentioned when Abazh offers to betroth him to Anidag.
- Good Hurts Evil: Olya defeats Nushrok by looking him straight into the eyes, and he can't stand the kindness and bravery in her look, takes a step back, and falls down.
- Granny Classic: Olya's grandmother is kind, loving and quite lenient towards her granddaughter's antics. When even she gets angry with Olya's unruly behavior, she wishes for Olya to take a look at herself, which leads to Olya's adventures in the mirror world.
- Hated by All: Topsed the Seventh is hated by the commons and despised by his ministers.
- Meaningful Name: Everyone in the Kingdom of Crooked Mirrors has a Sdrawkcab Name that relates to their character and/or looks:
- Nushrok (Korshun) — "kite" (as in the bird). Nushrok is repeatedly described as resembling a bird of prey and has a hooked nose.
- Anidag (Gadina) — "viper"/"vermin". Anidag is a malevolent Bad Boss.
- Abazh (Zhaba) — "toad". Abazh is a Fat Bastard.
- Gurd (Drug) — "friend". Gurd is a brave and honest Nice Guy.
- Aksal (Laska) — "tenderness". Aunt Aksal is a gentle and helpful woman.
- Puppet King:
- Topsed the Seventh is just a figurehead, while his ministers hold all the actual power.
- Abazh intends for Anidag to be a Puppet Queen, and neither Nushrok nor Anidag take the suggestion well.
- Sdrawkcab Name: In addition to many such names in the Kingdom of Crooked Mirrors, Olya's mirror counterpart is called Yalo ("ya" is denoted by a single letter in Russian).
- Sweet Polly Oliver: Olya and Yalo spend the majority of the book disguised as pageboys.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Both Olya and Yalo start off as spoiled, lazy, and arrogant, but become brave and empathetic (for Yalo, it takes a bit longer).
