A Cure for Story-Telling

A Cure for Story-Telling

There was once a porter in the world: he had a wife who was passionately

fond of stories, and she would only let people come and visit her who

could tell stories. Well, as you may understand, this was rather costly

to the husband. So he began to think, “How can I cure her of this

undesirable habit?”

Well, one day in the winter, late at night, an old man came in frozen to

atoms, and he asked to be allowed to stop the night. So the husband ran

out to him and said, “Can you tell tales?”

Then the peasant saw that there was no help for it, as he was simply

freezing with cold, and said, “I have an idea: will you tell stories for

a long time?”

“Yes, all night long.”

“Capital: come in!”

So he led the guest in.

Then the husband said, “Now, my wife, here is a peasant who has promised

to tell stories all night long, on the condition that you are not to

make any remarks or interruptions.”

“Yes,” said the guest; “no remarks, or else I shall not open my mouth.”

So they had supper and lay down to sleep, and the peasant began—

“There was an owl flying across a garden, and it sat over a well and

sipped the water.

“There was an owl flying across a garden, and it sat over a well and

sipped the water.

“There was an owl flying across a garden, and it sat over a well and

sipped the water.

“There was an owl flying across a garden, and it sat over a well and

sipped the water.”

And he went on telling the same thing over and over again—

“There was an owl flying across a garden, and it sat over a well and

sipped the water.”

So the mistress went on listening, and at last interrupted: “What sort

of a tale is this? Why, it is a mere repetition.”

“Why do you interrupt me? I told you you must not make any exclamations:

this is the preface of the tale, and there comes another after it.”

Then the man, after hearing this, could not help leaping up from the

bench and whipping his wife.

“You were told not to make any interruptions, and you will not let him

end his story.”

So he set on beating, beating, whipping, slippering, basting her, until

the wife at the end hated stories, and was in despair ever afterwards at

the sound of them.

                             NOTES

Alyósha Popóvich. One of the great knights at the court of Prince

Vladímir. He was an effeminate kind of person and perhaps one who rather

incited others to effort by his jibes than by his prowess. He is always

given the uncomplimentary soubriquet of the ‘Mocker of Women.’ His

principal heroic episode is told in the prose ballad in this book

entitled ‘Alyósha Popóvich.’

Angey, Tsar. Filuyán is a fabulous city found in the cantations and

mystical rites of the Russian peasants. It is, however, probably derived

from the Greek Θύλη.

Bába Yagá. In Professor Sypherd’s studies on Chaucer’s _House of

Fame_, Chaucer Society, 1904, a most valuable note will be found on

revolving houses. It will be seen that the legend is cognate with magic

wheels that revolve at great speed, or turn on wheels emitting flame and

poison. The nearest analogy quoted is the whirling rampart in the _Mael

Duinn_, but the Russian legend is evidently related and not derived.

Bogatýr. The bogatýr is the Russian Knight, but is absolutely unlike

any Western romantic notion. He is a person of magical power and

gigantic stature and prowess. Some of the bogatyrí are decidedly

demi-gods; others more decisively human; but they all have some

superhuman, it may be said inhuman, touch. The derivation of the word

has been very much in dispute. The characteristic thing to note is that

the word is only found in Russian, and in no other Slavonic language,

and is almost certainly of Tatar origin, the original form being

something like Bagadur. The Sanskrit derivation which is attempted of

Baghadhara seems scarcely probable. Goryáyev’s dictionary states that

the original meaning was a company-commander of the Tatars. If so,

bogatýr is probably a corruption (through bog God and bogat rich)

of the form buĭtur, found in the Slóvo, which is certainly cognate

with the Turanian root buĭ, to command. v. notes in my edition of

Igor.

Bryánsk. Bryánsk in the Province of Orél contains wonderful woods

which were in ancient times impenetrable, and became the legendary home

of magic, and of weird happenings. The Aspen tree is always associated

in Russian folk-lore with magic and wizardry; it is also said that Judas

hanged himself on this tree.

Chernígov. An ancient city of Russia on the Dniepr, a little higher up

than Kíev.

Christ. As, in German folk-lore, the legends of Christ walking the

earth with His disciples are very frequent and characteristic. There is

a touch of friendly familiarity in this presentation which does not

involve the least irreverence, but adds a touch of sarcastic humour

which the Germans lack.

The Brother of Christ. For the punishment of the old man who grumbled

at the good things of earth there is a surprisingly close analogy in

Dante’s Inferno, canto vii.

        “Fitti nel limo dicon; Tristi fummo

          Nell’ aer dolce che dal sol s’allegra,

          Portando dentro accidioso fummo:

        Or c’ attristiam nella belletta negra.”



        “Sunk in the slime they utter: ‘Loth were we,

          In sweet air sullen, which the sun makes glad,

          Our souls besmirched with dull reluctancy:

        Now in this black morass, our hearts are sad.’”

Chufil-Filyushka. Both these names are adaptations of the Greek

Θεόφιλος.

            THE CRYSTAL APPLE AND THE SILVER SAUCER

There is a strong Celtic flavour about this episode. Cf. The Twa Sisters

o’ Binnorie.

           Ho’s ta’en three locks o’ her yellow hair

               (Binnorie, oh Binnorie),

           And wi’ them strung his harp sae rare

               By the bonny mill-dams of Binnorie.



           And sune the harp sang loud and clear

               (Binnorie, oh Binnorie),

           Fareweel my father, and mother dear!

               By the bonny mill-dams of Binnorie.



           And then, as plain as plain could be,

               (Binnorie, oh Binnorie),

           There sits my sister wha drowned me!

               By the bonny mill-dams o’ Binnorie.

In this story the Russian of the words sung by the piper is also in

Russian ballad metre.

Danílo the Unfortunate. This is a prose version of a ballad and

contains a very full account of this legend. The old hag whom Danílo

meets on the way is elsewhere called the Wise Woman of Kíev, an old

witch with the ugly qualities generally assigned.

Death. Death is feminine in Russian and occurs all through the

folk-lore as the visible figure of a skeleton whom they met by the way

on the roadsides, and who may be cheated of her prey or dealt with like

any other demon.

Dobrýnya Nikítich. One of the great figures at the legendary court of

Prince Vladímir. He was a dragon-slayer, but his principal employment

was as ambassador.

                        THE DREAM. NOTES

The izbá, or hut, always has a dvor or courtyard, access to which is

gained through double gates as well as through a postern. Often the hut

is raised by a flight of steps from the level of the courtyard.

The izbá may have a cooling room in which to rest, so as to avoid the

sudden change of air from the heated inner room; it is also a living

room in the summer. Outside the dvor against the fence there is a

bench (lávka), on which the family sits in the summer. The hut is made

of logs, the fence of boards.

Between the rafters and the sloped roof is the loft (cherdák), into

which a ladder leads.

Inside the hut is that essential and central feature of Russian peasant

life, the stove, which occupies one side of a wall. In front against it

three long implements stand, the poker, broom and shovel. The oven rests

on a brick or tile foundation, about eighteen inches high, with a

semicircular hollow space below. The top of the stove is used for a

sleeping bench (poláty) for the old folk or the honoured guest. In

larger houses there may be a lezhán’ka or heating stove, used as a

sleeping sofa.

The bath-house is separate from the hut, and contains a flight of steps

for different degrees of heat, obtained from white-hot stones on which

water is flung. This is only found in better-class houses. In villages

there is a general bath-house to which the peasants go once a week.

Every corner in the izbá has its particular name. There is the _great

corner_, where the Ikon stands, the upper corner near the door, and

the stove corner opposite to the doors of the stove.

The fence is made of boards or sticks or stumps.

Long thin laths are stuck on to an iron spike, and lit; a pail of water

is placed below into which the cinders fall; these lamps must be renewed

as they burn down, and the charred ends swept up.

Up to very recent times, patriarchal usages obtained through Russia, and

married sons resided in the father’s house.

This particular story portrays some of the personifications and

allegorizings of the common acts of life; all of which have their

appropriate blessing or grace. There are a number of tales of the curse

attendant on the neglect of these duties, e.g. _The Devil in the

Dough-pan_.

An example of the invocations is given in a note to _The Midnight

Dance_.

Duke. i.e. a translation of voyevodá, which is again a translation

of the High-German Herzog, which again is derived from the Latin

Dux, meaning the leader of an army, not a mere title.

Egóri Khrábry. Egori the Brave. Is the Russian counterpart for St.

George the Dragon-slayer.

Elijah the Prophet and St. Nicholas. Perún was the God of Thunder in

pagan Slavdom, and his attributes have been transferred to Elijah who is

represented as driven up to Heaven in a fiery chariot darting fiery

rays, drawn by four winged horses, and surrounded by clouds and flames;

a tale which copied the biblical account of Elijah’s end. On earth the

noise of the wheels is called thunder. In Nóvgorod there were one or two

churches to St. Elijah of the Drought, and St. Elijah of the Rain, to be

consulted as occasion required. The name-days of these saints are

December 6th and July 20th.

Hawk. The hawk is one of the most common references in Russian

folk-lore, and the reference to the clear-eyed hawk is one of the

strongest metaphors. The crow is equally common, but is generally used

as a malign being. In Russian folk-tale there is nothing incongruous in

a man having as his sons a boy, a crow and a hawk or an eagle: or as in

‘Márya Morévna,’ where the marriage of Iván with a beautiful princess

and of his two sisters with the eagle and the crow are all of them

equally plausible.

Ídolishche. One of the symbols of paganism in the early ballads of

Russia. He is generally represented as a gluttonous monster; but in the

ballad of the Realms of Copper, Silver, and Gold his name has been given

too as a goblin. Goblins are very rare in Russian folk-lore; fairies

seem to be non-existent.

Ilyá Múromets. Ilyá Múromets is one of the heroes of the Kíev cycle;

he derives his strength from mystical sources of Mother Earth, and his

great feat is the slaying of the Nightingale Robber. He is intermediate

between the ‘elder bogatyri,’ the earth-born Tirans, and the human

champions of the legendary Court of Vladímir. He is always of popular

origin and, as such, at variance with the semi-Scandinavian Court.

Iván Vasíl’evich. The Tsar Iván Vasíl’evich is a very popular figure

in the Russian ballads; there are two of this name: Iván III. 1462–1505,

and Iván the Terrible, 1533–1584. Both were very energetic rulers who

enlarged the domain of Moscow and curbed the power of the territorial

nobility.

          MIDNIGHT DANCE. GENERAL NOTES TO THIS STORY

The underworld is the home of magic. This charm, to be said by a soldier

going to the wars, may be of interest.

“Beneath the sea, the sea of Khvalýnsk [the Caspian], there stands a

house of bronze, and in that house of bronze the fiery serpent is

enchained, and under the fiery serpent lies the seven pud key from the

castle of the Prince, the Prince Vladímir, and in the princely castle,

the castle of Vladímir, are laid the knightly trappings of the knights

of Nóvgorod, of the youthful war-men.

“On the broad Volga, on the steep-set banks, the princely swan swims

from the Prince’s courtyard. I will capture that swan, I will seize it,

I will grasp it. (I will say) ‘Thou, oh swan, fly to the sea of

Khvalýnsk, peck the fiery snake to death, gain the seven pud key, the

key from the earth of Prince Vladímir.’ In my power it is not to fly to

the sea of Khvalýnsk; in my power it is not to peck to death the fiery

snake; nor with my legs may I reach the seven pud key. There is on the

sea, on the ocean, on the island of Buyán, the eldest brother of all the

crows, and he will fly to the sea of Khvalýnsk, he will peck to death

the fiery snake, he will gain the seven pud key; but the crow is held

back by the evil witch of Kíev. In the standing wood, in the grey-clad

forest, stands a little hut, not thatched, not wattled; and, in the

little hut, lies the evil witch of Kíev. I will go to the standing

forest, the dreamy wood, I will enter in at the hut of the evil witch of

Kíev.

“Thou, oh evil witch of Kíev, bid thy crow fly over the sea of

Khvalýnsk, to the house of bronze; bid him peck the fiery snake, bid him

gain the seven pud key. She was grim, and she clove to her crow, the

evil witch of Kíev. In my old age I cannot roam to the sea, to the

ocean, to the isle of Buyán, to the Black Crow. Do thou bid, by my

enchanting words, the crow gain me the seven pud key.

“The crow has smitten the house of bronze, has pecked the fiery snake to

death, has gained the seven pud key.

“With that key I will unlock the princely castle, the castle of

Vladímir, I will gain the knightly gear, the trappings of the knights of

Nóvgorod, of the youthful war-men; and in that gear the arquebus cannot

fell me, the shots cannot hit me, the warriors and champions, the hosts

of Tatary and Kazán cannot hurt me.

“I invoke the servant, a man, a fighter, in the host, who goeth to war

with these my potent words.

                     “My words die down,

                     My deeds they crown.”

[Kazán was the last stronghold of the Tatars. It was stormed in 1549.]

Buyán is a kind of fairy hill like the Tír n’an óg of the Irish

folk-tales, the land of youth, and cannot probably be assigned to any

physical geography. Most probably the mythical Isle of Buyán is the

reminiscence of the Isle of Rügen. The whole of the Pomeranian coast

from Lübeck to the Memel was, prior to its conquest by the Saxons and

the Brandenburgers, a Slavonic district, and the Isle of Rügen, in

especial, the promontory of Arcona, a seat of the most highly developed

Slavonic pagan ritual: Saxo Grammaticus has conserved us full details.

Considering the intimate association of the mysterious stone Alátyr

(probably meaning amber) with Buyán: and the fact that Buyán is a Slav

translation of the Old Slav name Ruyán, the wind-swept isle [cf. English

rough, German rauh, etc.]; also taken the specific references in the

magic charms in connection with the facts recorded by the Scandinavian

chroniclers, there seems to be little doubt that the Isle of Buyán is a

folk-tale shadow of the old place of Pagan pilgrimage, contaminated, of

course, with other fantastic elements.

Katomá. This is one of the marvellous servants whom fortunate princes

possess in folk-lore. In Russian folk-tales they have magical

attributes, and are often described by their caps, e.g. oaken-cap,

blue-cap, etc.

Koshchéy the Deathless. The meaning of this name is very hard to

determine. There are at least three disparate ideas involved. First of

all the most ancient is that which occurs in the Word of Igor’s

Armament, in which the word Koshchéy is used for a warrior of the

hostile Pólovtsy; and, when Igor is said to be put on a Koshchéy saddle,

it means he is taken into captivity. Hence the word koshchéy came to

be used in Russian as meaning a slave, or a groom, originally a captive

slave from the Pólovtsy who fought the Russians for over two hundred

years. Consequently the word has a meaning in Russian folk-lore which

has a widespread Aryan notion, that of a fearful Enchanter who lives in

a mountain fastness far removed; runs away with the beautiful princess,

and can only be slain by the valiant lover, going through unfordable

streams, impenetrable forests and unpassable mountains, so as to catch

hold of his soul which is contained in a casket, or in some other manner

is always terribly enclosed. He takes this soul, which is as a rule

lastly contained in an egg, up to the Monster’s palace, scrunches it in

his hand, and the monster dies. Thirdly, the word became confused with

kost’, bone, and so came to mean a skeleton or miser, and a wandering

Jew. The epithet ‘deathless’ does not mean indestructible, but that he

can only be slain in an extraordinary manner and will not die in a

natural way.

Kutúzovo. The Kutúzovy are one of the most ancient of Russian

families; this particular village from which they derive their name must

be somewhere on the trade route of the Dniepr.

Kvas. A liquid made from various kinds of flour and fermented with

sour milk to which is added malt or yeast.

Name-day. The day of the patron Saint. In Russia Saints’ days are kept

in place of birthdays.

Na-úm. In this Russian name the two vowels are to be sounded

separately, Na-úm.

Nightingale Robber. His patronymics are Rakhmánovich, Odikhmantovich,

Rakhmánya, all of them very difficult of definition or explanation.

Nightingale Robber. Ilyá Múromet’s conquest of the Nightingale Robber

is his most notable feat. He is a very difficult figure to explain. He

is a gigantic bird who has been explained on the one hand as a highway

robber who was a great bard, for the Russian solovéy (nightingale) is

applied to a minstrel. But it is more probable that there is a confusion

of two other words in this one, and that the word solovéy, which has

come to mean nightingale, is either derived from sláva, meaning fame,

or from the same root as the hostile power whom Ilyá Múromets, in some

of the ballads, fights, namely Solóvnik the Grey One. Be this as it may,

the version which has come down is that the Nightingale Robber was an

enormous bird, whose nest spread over seven oaks, who had needed no

other weapon than his dreadful beast-like, lion-like, or dragon-like

whistle on which every wall and every beast and every man fell down in

sheer terror. The rest of this story may be gathered from the one which

has been selected for this book.

The Pike. The pike plays a peculiar part in Russian folk-lore.

Potán’ka. The name of Potán’ka [in which the ‘n’ and ‘k’ are to be

sounded separately as in pin-case], is also found in the Nóvgorod

ballads where Potán’ka the Lame is one of the boon companions of Vasíli

Busláyevich.

Prískazka. Many of the tales begin with a conventional introduction

which has no relation to the story. Such an instance may be found in

‘The Wolf and the Tailor.’ Also in ‘A Cure for Story-telling.’ And the

tale of ‘The Dun Cow,’ ‘Princess to be Kissed at a Charge,’ etc.

The Realm of Stone. For the episodes in this story of the kingdom

turned to stone there seems strong evidence of adaptation or loan from

the Arabian Nights. Cf. The Tale of the Young King of the Black Islands,

and the Tale of the City of Brass, but the development is very

different.

Sebezh. A city in the Vitebsk Province bordering on Poland.

Shemyák. The judge. Shemyákin Sud, the court of Shemyák, is a

proverbial expression for arbitrary judgments. He was a prince of

Galicia of the time of Vasíli II, 1425–62. He was also a leader of the

unruly nobles of that time. This may be partly the reason that the name

of the family has been given this unfortunate significance.

The Shovel. Shovels are used to insert loaves and pots deep into the

Russian stove, for which use see the long note on the ‘Dream.’

The Sister of the Sun. The Russian commentator in the compilation,

from which these stories are drawn, states that this is the expression

for the dawn.

Sorrow. This picture of Sorrow as an ancient hag who pursues mankind

throughout life is peculiarly Russian and is the theme of very many

beautiful ballads. She is described as a lovely beggar woman, with a

pale face, low stature, and hare’s blood in her veins, and her cheeks of

poppy red, and she entices men to drink their sorrow away in the

public-houses, and is frequently turned into a moral lesson against

over-indulgence. But this particular application of the myth, the

picture of her as a wandering devil who attaches herself to unfortunate

heroes but can be cheated into non-existence, much like the ordinary

devil of folk-lore, is a feature, as has been said, probably peculiar to

Russia.

St. Nicholas. In Russia St. Nicholas is the most popular miracle

worker amongst all the saints. In the story of St. Nicholas and St.

Elias his beneficent character is clearly shown.

In the story of St. Nicholas the Wonder-Worker, I have taken the story

as I found it, and have not attempted to fill up the obvious gaps.

The Sun, and how it was made by Divine Will. This story is of literary

and ancient origin; the language is very antique.

Svyatogór. Svyatogór in this story may be eponymous of geography. The

word standing for svyátyya góry, the sacred mountains. Múrom is an

ancient Russian settlement in the province of Vladímir, by the river

Oka, and the village of Karacharovo is not far off.

As to Svyatogór’s bride, there is another story which tells how he

acquired her. One day Svyatogór was walking on the earth and laid hold

of a wallet which an old man whom he met wandering by held. He could not

lift it however, for it was rooted in the earth. He went on from there

to a smith, something like Wayland Smith (the whole tale has a curious

Norse tang), who forged his fortune, told him he would have to go to the

Kingdom by the Sea, and there he would find his wife who for thirty

years had been lying in the dung. He proceeds to the Kingdom by the Sea,

finds the miserable hut, enters it, and sees the maiden lying in the

dung. And her body was as dark as a pine. So Svyatogór purchases her

freedom by taking out five hundred roubles, laying it on the table, and

then snatching up his sharp sword out of his sheath smote her on her

white breasts and so left her. Then the maiden woke up, and the skin of

age-long filth had been broken; she went and traded with the five

hundred roubles, came to the Holy Mountains, and presented herself there

in all her maiden beauty. Svyatogór the Knight also came to look on her,

fell in love and wooed her for his wife. He then recognised her by the

scar on her white breasts.

The Swan Maiden. This is one of the most baffling figures in Russian

mythology. She corresponds to the Siren of Greece, and the Lorelei of

Germany, but is very distinct in all her characteristics. She is also

called in the Russian Devítsa (maiden), which may be a corruption of

Dívitsa, the feminine of Div, one of the ancient pagan deities of

Russia. Like the Lorelei, she is said to sit on the rocks and draw

sailors down into the depths, but her more human characteristics are

stated in this story.

Thoughtless Word. The devil in this story is the popular myth of the

water-gods or sprites, elsewhere called the vodyanóy or vódyánik.

The point of detail, that after the rescue of the maiden the boy has to

walk backwards until he reaches the high road, is rather similar to the

Celtic notion of Widdershins, the superstition that anyone who walked

round the churchyard contrary to the direction of the sun would be

captured by the fairies.

Túgarin Zmyéyevich. Túgarin Zmyéyevich, the strong man, the Serpent’s

Son.

Vazúza and Vólga. Similar stories are told of other rivers. The old

Russian ballads give names and patronymics to their rivers such as the

people use for themselves, e.g. Dněpr Slovútich Don Iványch.

The Vazúza is a short stream crossing the borders of the provinces of

Tver and Smolensk, meeting a great bend of the Vólga at Zubtsóv (in the

province of Tver).

The Sea of Khvalýnsk is the Caspian, so called from an ancient people

(the Khvalísi) of the eleventh and tenth centuries, who lived at the

mouth of the Vólga in the Caspian. There is also a town called Khvalýnsk

on the Vólga in the province of Sarátov, above the city of Sarátov.

This particular story is probably a poetization of a geographical fact,

but in all the Russian folk-lore the river-gods play a very great part.

Thus Igor in The Word of Igor’s Armament, on the occasion of his defeat,

has a very beautiful colloquy with the Donéts. At least two of the

heroes of the ballad cycle, Don Ivánovich and Sukhán Odikhmántevich, are

in some aspects direct personifications of the rivers, whilst the

river-gods exercise a direct and vital influence over the fortunes of

several others, such as Vasíli Buslávich and Dobrýnya Nikítich.

Many Russian rivers have been rendered almost into human characters. The

ordinary speech is still of Mother Vólga. In the Nóvgorod ballads there

is a mention of Father Volkhov, much as we speak of Father Thames, and

there were very great possibilities of the development of a river

mythology which did not succeed. It is worth observing that in one

ballad dealing with Vasíli Buslávich, the hero of Nóvgorod, this

semi-comic figure is twitted by the men of Nóvgorod that he will one day

turn the Volkhov into Kvas (q.v.): i.e. he will one day set the Thames

on fire. [Rybnikov, I, 336].

The Wood Sprite. Léshi is a peculiar feature in Russian folk-lore.

He is somewhat similar to Pan, but is also represented as having copper

arms, and an iron body, terms which refer to colour rather than to

material. Sometimes he has claws for hands.

Yagá-Búra. This is the same as Bába Yagá, but is specific reference to

the Witch who raises the Wind.

                            GLOSSARY

Aspen. Always associated with magic. Its trembling leaves give it a

weird appearance.

Bába Yagá. Russian witch, also Yagá-Búra.

Bábushka. The grandmother.

Bárkhat. This word also means velvet.

Bátyushka. Father in a general sense, meaning anybody older. Otéts

is father, meaning the relationship of father and son.

Birds’ milk. The Russian folk-tale expression for asking for the moon.

Boyárs. This may be translated earls, but in the Russian social scale

it only meant the bigger men, the seigneurs.

Boyárynyi. Countesses, feminine plural of boyár.

Chúdo-Yúda. The Old Man of the Sea. This is a very clear loan from the

Homeric Proteus.

Dyádka. Uncle. A term of respect.

Egórushko Zalyót. Means George the Bold Flier.

Fatá. A long silken glove.

Gúsli. A musical instrument, something like a zither with seven

strings.

Iváshko Zapéchnik. Iván, who is always sitting behind the stove.

Iváshechko. A diminutive form of Iván.

Iváshko. A diminutive form of Iván.

Izbá. Hut.

Kaftán. A peasant’s overcoat, made very long.

Khvalýnsk. The old name of the Caspian. Vide Vazúza and Vólga.

Korolévich. King’s son. Koról, king.

Korolévna. King’s wife.

Ksálavy. Mythical birds, the meaning of which is entirely unknown.

Mikháilo Ivánovich. The popular name for the bear.

Mísha Kosolápy. Dmítri, the Bandy-legged.

Morévna. Of the sea.

Nikíta. From the Greek Νικήτης, conquer.

Pope. Village priest.

Pud. A Russian weight. Thirty-six pounds avoirdupois.

Sarafán. A short sleeveless jacket, generally embroidered, worn over

the bodice or the blouse.

Sazhén. A length of seven feet.

Sebézh. A city in the Vítebsk province, bordering on Poland. The Poles

and the Mussulmen are all called infidels, Saracens or Busormany.

Shúba. A fur mantle.

Stárosta. Mayor of a town.

Teléga. A peasant’s cart without springs.

Tsarévich. Tsar’s son.

Tyátya. Daddy.

Tzarévna. Tsar’s wife.

Ukaz. Imperial edict.

Ványa. A diminutive form of Iván.

Vertodúb. The oak-turner, a gigantic figure.

Vertogór. The mountain-turner; a gigantic figure.

Vóron Vóronovich. Crow Crowson.

Zamorýshek. This name is freely translated Benjamin, the last-born son

of an old man.

Footnote 1:

Hut.

Footnote 2:

Hut.

Footnote 3:

The Mayor.

Footnote 4:

Hut.

Footnote 5:

Hut.

Footnote 6:

Ten kopeks.

Footnote 7:

Fur mantle.

Footnote 8:

Grandmother.

Footnote 9:

Another variant, “the Fearsome Swan.”

Footnote 10:

Little Father.

Footnote 11:

Hut.

Footnote 12:

This is a simple instance of the prískazka or preface to a story.

Footnote 13:

A sazhén is seven feet.

Footnote 14:

Benjamin.

Footnote 15:

Father.

Footnote 16:

The Devil in this story is the popular myth of the water-god or

spirit, The Vodyanóy.

Footnote 17:

Countesses.

Footnote 18:

Village priest.

Footnote 19:

Death is feminine in Russian.

Footnote 20:

Ilyá Múromets is one of the heroes of the Byliny: his great feat is

the slaying of the Nightingale Robber. This tale may be eponymous of

geography; Svyatogór (Svyáty Góry, Sacred Mountains) Múrom is on the

river Oka, in the Province of Vladímir, one of the oldest cities in

Russia; the village of Karachárovo is not far off.

Footnote 21:

Affectionate term for old servant, equivalent to uncle.

Footnote 22:

The word means velvet.

Footnote 23:

Hut.

Footnote 24:

Cf. Dante, Inf.

            Fitti nel limo dicon; ‘Tristi fummo.

            Nel dolce mondo che dal sol s’allegra....

            Or c’attristiam’ nella belletta negra.

Footnote 25:

This is a prose version of a bylína: Alyósha Popóvich is one of the

Kíev cycle.

Footnote 26:

The strong man, the Serpent’s son.

Footnote 27:

Hut.

Footnote 28:

Koról’ king: hence princess.

Footnote 29:

I have taken this story as it stands. There are obvious gaps I have

not ventured to fill up.

Footnote 30:

A mythical city, very probably derived from Θύλε.

Footnote 31:

Earls.

Footnote 32:

Diminutive of Iván; so too Ványa.

Footnote 33:

Hut.

Footnote 34:

A bold flier.

Footnote 35:

Bandy-legged.

Footnote 36:

Sitting behind the stove.

Footnote 37:

Ídolishche, i.e. Big idol.

Footnote 38:

Θεόφιλος.

Footnote 39:

An equivalent to the Bába Yagá.

Footnote 40:

Father.

Footnote 41:

Hut.

Footnote 42:

Hut.

Footnote 43:

Hut.

Footnote 44:

Hut.

Footnote 45:

A mock patronymic for the Bull.

Footnote 46:

Hut.

Footnote 47:

v. note to p. 125.

Footnote 48:

A great forest in Central Russia, once impenetrable and always

legendary.

Footnote 49:

Grandmother.

Footnote 50:

Father.

Footnote 51:

Father.

Footnote 52:

Hut.

Footnote 53:

Hut.

Footnote 54:

Hut.

Footnote 55:

Shovels are used to insert loaves and pots deep into the oven.

Footnote 56:

“n” and “k” to be sounded distinct as in pin-case.

Footnote 57:

Uncle: term of affection.

Footnote 58:

Princesses.

Footnote 59:

Earls.

Footnote 60:

Hut.

                           PRINTED BY

                   WM. BRENDON AND SON, LTD.

                       PLYMOUTH, ENGLAND

---

                      TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

1. P. 168, changed “And Alyósha set out into the open field. And

   Alyósha set out into the open field” to “And Alyósha set out into

   the open field”.

2. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling.

3. Archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings retained as printed.

4. Footnotes have been re-indexed using numbers and collected together

   at the end of the last chapter.

5. Enclosed italics font in underscores.