The study aims to examine the ritual and symbolic interpretation of a Russian fairy-tale narrative centered on a heroine who undergoes a symbolic death and subsequent rebirth in another realm. The king’s words (“Your little plate is silver, but your heart is golden”) are interpreted as evidence of the heroine’s completed transition into another ontological order, where silver represents the earthly sphere and gold symbolizes the otherworldly dimension. The research identifies the interrelation between initiation, wedding, and funeral rites, interpreting deviations from V. Ya. Propp’s classical model as manifestations of the transformation of archaic ritual practices preserved in folk consciousness. The findings suggest that the fairy-tale plot functions as a reflection of the rites of passage, merging the motifs of death and marriage into a unified ritual and symbolic structure.