The Malachite Box them are keepers of hidden underground riches. The Mistress, described as either a beautiful green-eyed woman in malachite gown or a lizard with the crown on her head, is the keeper of gemstones. Poloz is the master of every existing piece of gold. The miners believed that if a gold-bearing lode disappeared, it meant that the Great Snake moved it to a different place. Bazhov introduced numerous daughters of Poloz, including Golden Hair from the tale of the same name. The relationship between Poloz and the Mistress is unclear. Bazhov commented that he asked some story-tellers about it, but they
The Malachite Box have fallen in love with the Ural's old storyteller P. Bazhov". Selected stories have been a part of school core curriculum since the Soviet Union, and are still used for education purposes nowadays. The Ministry of Education and Science of Russia included the tales in their 2013 list of "100 Recommended Books" for schoolchildren. Their effective pedagogical influence have been noted. "The Malachite Box" became a classic of Soviet children's literature, yet the stories continued to be popular among adults as well. Mark Lipovetsky believed the situation in the author's life added to the depth of the tales and made