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 of the miners and gold prospectors. After the initial publication, the author continuously added new stories to the collection, such as the so-called "mountain fairy tales" in 1942, "Stories of Germans" () in 1943, a series of stories about Russian steel-makers and coiners in 1944–1945, "Stories of Lenin" () in 1944–1945, and others. Every edition of the collection ended with the dictionary of unusual words and concepts. "The Watchhouse on Dumna Mountain" () was Bazhov's essay which served as an introduction to the first edition of "The Malachite Box". It contained some information about the life, industry and culture at