In the Ural Mountains there once lived a valiant hunter. He could shoot a bear with a single arrow. He could drag an elk by the horns and fling it over his head. Once he was out riding on horseback in a field when he spotted a fox. It certainly posed no challenge to him, but he felt like some amusement. He tried to lash the fox but failed. Then he fired an arrow at it but missed. The fox began to taunt him. The hunter followed it deeper and deeper into the forest until it vanished into thin air. He climbed up a tall tree to find out where he was and saw f glittering river not far off. The indescribable beauty of a maiden sitting at the water's edge caught his eye. She let down her long golden hair, and it floated and glistened in the water. The maiden also noticed the hunter and beckoned to him. She asked him if he would her. "I will certainly marry you, if you wish," he replied. At that moment the fox reappeared. In the twinkling of an eye it turned into an old woman and said to the hunter: "You want to marry, do you? You could not even catch me, and marriage is all the more complex a venture."
Zlatovlaska (Gold Hair) was the name of the maiden. She was daughter of Poloz, the great wizard who owned all the gold in the Ural Mountains. Poloz loved his daughter and did not want to part with her. Her long and heavy hair made it impossible for her to leave her father's domain without someone's aid.
The hunter was a strong man. He wound Zlatovlaska's hair around himself, took her in his arms and carried her away. As he was leaving the old woman thrust a pair of scissors into the girl's hand.
The hunter bore Zlatovlaska in his arms a long way. When they were tired they stopped to rest. No sooner had they sat down than an invisible force started to pull them into ground. The maiden managed to cut off her hair with scissors just in time to save the hunter from being dragged down into the earth. However, the girl with her gold hair was nowhere to be found. The hunter was in despair. The fox came up to him and said that the maiden was already sitting in the place on the river-bank where he discovered her, and her father had made her fair grow even longer. The hunter could see her again but only in three years if he had not forgotten her by then. In three years the fox would call on him and lead him to the girl, but the hunter was not to try and rescue her by himself; if he did, he would lose the girl forever. For two years the hunter waited, then doubts began to enter his thoughts. "Maybe I should marry my young neighbour who is so attentive to me." However, he continued to resist all temptation and patiently waited for the fox - the old woman.
The three years finally passed and the fox appeared as promised and took the hunter to Zlatovlaska who greeted him full of joy and tenderness. "Don't be upset that my hair has grown even longer; it is not as heavy as before. As you never forgot me, day by day I felt it becomes a little lighter. Only in the third year something troubling happened." The hunter was embarrassed and told her about his temptation. She forgave him, and they set off on their journey once again. When it was dark, they decided to spend the night in a tree, thinking that Poloz would be powerless to catch them there. The hunter tied the girl to a branch, and then they fell asleep. At midnight they awoke and saw a large ring of fire emerging out of the ground of gold sparkles and floated towards the fire. Then it became dark and the hunter realized that once again he had lost his beautiful bride and would wait for her for another three years.
Poloz made his daughter's gold hair grow to 30 meters. The hunter was desperate; he could see no way of winning his gold-haired girl this time. Then he asked the wise owl for advice. It answered that the sweethearts could live safely together on a certain island in the middle of a lake, where Poloz would be powerless to touch them. The hunter found the lake after a long search. It was very far from the river-bank where Zlatovlaska was sitting. The hunter started to build a road from the lake to his beloved. It took him three years and when the road was finished the hunter fetched his bride. They raced away on horseback, reached the lake and were on the island by nightfall. When the sun had set, three rings of fire rose up around the island. This was Poloz trying to recapture his daughter. The fire-rings appeared for several nights in a row, but at last the willful father resigned himself to his loss. The hunter and hid gold-haired lady lived happily on the island, and in due time a baby was born to them.
Old folk say that at dawn Zlatovlaska comes out of her house and sits on a stone at the water's edge. She lets down her gold hair; it floats in the water and transforms the lake under the rays of the rising sun into a glittering pool of gold.

This tale by Pavel Bazhov is based on a legend of the Urals. English language retelling was done by Vadim Shchanitsyn)