"Seven Underground Kings" by Alexander Volkov, summary

The tale was written in 1963 and is the author’s version of the plot about a military clash between the upper and lower worlds without the use of sleeping water.

This work is the third in the fairy tale cycle about the Magic Land. This series also includes the stories "The Wizard of the Emerald City," "Urfin Jus and His Wooden Soldiers," "The Fire God of the Marranos," "The Yellow Fog," and "The Mystery of the Abandoned Castle."

Based on the fairy tales of Alexander Volkov, the Ekran studio created a multi-part puppet cartoon in 1974.

The Traitor’s Escape and the Secrets of the Underworld

Former royal steward Ruf Bilan flees the people’s wrath after the defeat of Urfin Juice’s wooden army. The traitor infiltrates the Emerald City tower’s dungeon and delves into a dark labyrinth of caves. Exhausted, the fugitive hides on a stone ledge from a ferocious six-legged beast.

Hunters led by the trapper Ortega arrive at the cave. They tie the beast with nets and take Bilan captive. Ruf is taken to the Land of Underground Miners, where perpetual twilight reigns. Tamed Six-Paws toil in the fields and mines, and overseers fly on winged dragons.

The travelers arrive in the City of Seven Lords on the shores of the Middle Lake. In the center stands the heptagonal Rainbow Palace. Seven kings rule in turn for one month. Each monarch demands the wearing of a cap of their own color, introduces new taxes, and introduces bizarre greetings. King Barbedo the Twelfth retains the dexterous Bilan at court as a nighttime storyteller.

Bilan learns of a labor shortage in the Cave and proposes to the kings a plan for a military takeover of the upper world’s inhabitants. His plan is for warriors to conduct night raids on dragons and hide in light-proof tents during the day.

At the Great Council, Arrigo, the advisor, speaks out against war. He proposes disbanding the excess court servants and freeing the workforce for peaceful labor. The enraged monarchs dismiss Arrigo from service and approve the plan for a campaign of conquest. Rufus Bilan leads the military preparations.

Attack on the Upper World and the Battle of the Beasts

Arrigo secretly leaves the dungeon through the Trade Gate to warn his neighbors. He comes to the ruler of the Munchkins, Prem Kokus. The inhabitants of the Blue Country are hiding in the forests, and a detachment of wooden men led by Befar blocks the road.

An army of underground warriors, led by Warlord Gaerta and Ruf Bilan, emerges to the surface. Dragons fly across the swamps and surround the blockheads from behind. The wooden workers and careless villagers are taken prisoner. Bilan captures Arrigo, but Prem Kokus’s son, Min, frees the prisoner, placing dark green goggles on him to protect his eyes from the sun.

The crow Kaggi-Karr flies to the Emerald City with news of danger. Scarecrow the Wise leads the defense, but underground warriors on dragons fly over the city walls. The invaders carry off Scarecrow, the Gatekeeper of Faramant, and hundreds of craftsmen in chains. Field Marshal Din Gior remains in the deserted city.

Kaggi-Karr goes into the forest to see the Brave Lion. The King of Beasts gathers a huge army of bears, tigers, panthers, birds, and rats. Beavers and monkeys build a bridge across the Big River.

In the Purple Land, the Tin Woodman transforms his palace into an impenetrable fortress. At night, underground warriors attempt to breach the palace roof. Master Lester suggests pelting the attackers with flaming torches. The bright flames blind the underground dwellers and send them fleeing.

The Brave Lion army approaches the palace. The battle begins. Howler monkeys stun the enemy, predators and rats attack the dragons, and aerial squadrons of eagles and vultures strike the lizards in the sky. The underground army suffers huge losses and retreats in panic.

In the King’s Cave, Mentaho is troubled by the insubordination of the captives brought in and the general outrage at the army’s defeat. For the failure of the campaign, Ruf Bilan is stripped of all honors and made a junior lackey.

Help from a sorceress and a flight to Kansas

The Tin Woodman longs for the Scarecrow and arrives in the Emerald City with his friends. The good sorceress Willina appears in the throne room. According to her magic book, the girl Ellie and the sailor Charlie Black are destined to free the captives.

Willina grows the crow Kaggy-Karr and her young companion, Karr-Karaya, to enormous sizes. The birds fly across the mountains and desert to Kansas and drop a letter on the Smith farm.

Ellie persuades her parents to let her go rescue her friends. Charlie Black takes pistols and a keg of gunpowder. Sedan chairs are constructed on the backs of giant crows. Ellie, Charlie, and Toto fly over the Circumpolar Mountains and land in the Emerald City.

The General Staff decides to restore the blockheads’ former ferocity so they can crush the royal army. Mouse Queen Ramina helps find Urfin Juice, who lives in seclusion in the mountains.

Ellie flies to Urfin on the back of Kagga-Karr. The former dictator has sincerely repented, burned the remains of life-giving plants, and carves children’s toys from wood. Urfin agrees to atone for his guilt. He infiltrates the dungeon disguised as a soldier returning from the war and gets a job in the foundry.

Urfin Jus’s repentance and the preparation of the uprising

The Scarecrow suffers from the dampness in the Cave. Faramant arranges for him to be transferred to the hot foundry. In the dry air, the Scarecrow recovers. He delivers a speech to the kings calling for submission, thereby winning their trust and gaining the right to move freely.

Urfin Jus secretly works his chisel on the faces of the blockheads. He removes any excess good nature, restores General Lan Pirot’s fighting spirit, and directs the squad to seize the warehouse containing the iron tools.

The sorceress Villina grants Ellie the ability to change the size of living beings. Meanwhile, famine strikes the Underland due to the cessation of trade with the Munchkins. King Mentaho orders the hanging of Ruf Bilan for repeated treason.

The liberation forces advance in two directions. The Tin Woodman, along with a squad of Winkies and Arrigo, smashes the Trade Gate. Charlie Black, Dean Gior, Ellie, and Lev make their way through the Reserve. Encountering lowered metal shields, Sailor Charlie blows up the stone barrier with gunpowder, while Urfin opens the barrier from the Trade Gate.

The assault and fall of the kings’ power

The troops enter the Cave. The royal dragons rise to greet them. Ellie casts a spell and transforms a flock of one hundred and forty-eight crows into giant winged warriors with iron clasps on their beaks and talons.

A fierce aerial battle unfolds in the sky. Charlie Black fires at the lizards from his palanquin. Kaggy-Karr destroys the last dragon and falls to the ground, exhausted. Ellie restores the wounded birds to their original size, saving their lives, and finds Uncle Charlie alive.

A pitched battle begins on the ground. Ding Gior leads the torch-wielding warriors, blinding the enemy’s archers. The Blockheads Lana Pirota and the Tin Woodman breach Mentaho’s defenses. The Six-Paws and the rebellious underground workers come to the attackers’ aid. Warlord Fantrono’s force flees after Ellie temporarily transforms Totoshka into a gigantic beast. King Mentaho admits defeat and orders the surrender of arms.

A national rally gathers on the shores of the Middle Lake. The Scarecrow convinces those gathered of the futility of maintaining seven rulers. The people enthusiastically abolish the monarchy and elect the honest Arrigo as ruler. The former kings and ministers are sent to useful work, and their swords are reforged into plows and spades.