The Cunning Little Vixen the vixen, and sits at the tree grieving the loss of both the vixen and Terynka. His grief grows until, just as in the beginning of the opera, a frog unexpectedly jumps in his lap, the grandson of the one who did so in act one. This reassurance of the cycle of death leading to new life gives his heart a deep peace. Apart from the Excursions of Mr Broucek, this is Janáček's lightest opera, and, despite the titular vixen's death at the end of the work, it stands in contrast to the often brutally serious nature of operas such
Boris Godunov Boris Godunov Boris Fyodorovich Godunov (; , ; c. 1551) ruled the Tsardom of Russia as "de facto" regent from c. 1585 to 1598 and then as the first non-Rurikid tsar from 1598 to 1605. After the end of his reign Russia descended into the Time of Troubles. Boris Godunov was the most noted member of an ancient, now extinct, Russian family of Tatar origin (Chet), which came from the Horde to Kostroma in the early 14th century. This legend is written in the annals dating from early 17th century. He was descended from the Tatar Prince Chet, who went