Time Period: A Flashback
In "Prince Danilla Govorilla" (A Russian Fairytale) a witch casts a spell on a prince to make him want to marry his sister. Not surprisingly, the sister is mortified – until a group of wise old women pull her aside and tell her to make four "little dolls." "Tuck them into the corners of your bridal chamber," they advise. This solves the problem: the dolls help the princess drop into the Underworld long enough for the prince to come to his senses:
And the dolls in the four corners cried like cuckoos... The earth began to open, the sister began to fall in. Her brother cried: 'Sister Catherine, come to the featherbed!" The dolls cuckooed... Only the sister's head was still above ground. The dolls cuckooed [again], and she vanished into the earth (Afanas'ev 1973: 351-56). Source: "Dolls", Fairy Tales, and Ancient Goddess Figurines | Goddess Pages ( .uk)-Google Search (Fairytales about Dolls)