Once upon a time in a far away land, Tsar Saltan chose to marry one of three sisters, making the other two sisters become very jealous. These two women decided to do everything they could to make their married sister's life unhappy.

Tsar Saltan soon went away to war. While he was away, his faithful queen gave birth to a strong and healthy baby boy named Gvidon. The queen's greatest wish was that this son would grow to be a great warrior. In their jealousy, her evil sisters wrote to the Tsar and convinced him that his son was an evil monster. The foolish Tsar believed their ridiculous story, and ordered that his wife and son be sealed in a barrel and cast into the sea.

As can only happen in fairy tales, the barrel was adrift for years and when it finally washed ashore the young prince was a man. On this shore, Prince Gvidon performed his first great task--he rescued a swan being attacked by an evil magician who was in the form of a black hawk. After being saved, the swan turned into an enchanting princess who promised to help Gvidon find his father. The Prince became ruler of the land that he had washed ashore upon and his kingdom became famous throughout the world.

One day a merchant ship on his way to Tsar Saltan's country passed through Prince Gvidon's magnificent land. On arrival to Tsar Saltan's country the merchant told the Tsar about his son's great land. Tsar Saltan made plans to travel there, but the evil sisters talked him out of it. The next time the merchant passed through the kingdom of Prince Gvidon he saw the Magic Squirrel, which lived in a crystal cage that Prince Gvidon had built for it. Again the merchant arrived home to tell Tsar Saltan of his son's magical land, but again the evil sisters interfered. They told the Tsar that he should instead go to the land where one can see 33 warriors and Chernomor rise from the ocean.

The Swan Princess explained to Prince Gvidon that these warriors were her brothers, so when the merchant passed through the land a third time this feat was performed for him. Having heard this story the wicked sisters dissuaded the Tsar once more from traveling to his son by telling him that it would be more worth his while to find the Magic Princess with the Sea Star above her head.