chapter I

had prepared on the Russian "Beast-Epos."

Another chapter which I have, at least for a time, suppressed, is that in which I had attempted to say something about the origin and the meaning of the Russian folk-tales. The subject is so extensive that it requires for its proper treatment more space than a single

## chapter could grant; and therefore, though not without reluctance, I

have left the stories I have quoted to speak for themselves, except in those instances in which I have given the chief parallels to be found in the two collections of foreign folk-tales best known to the English reader, together with a few others which happened to fall within the range of my own reading. Professor de Gubernatis has discussed at length, and with much learning, the esoteric meaning of the skazkas, and their bearing upon the questions to which the "solar theory" of myth-explanation has given rise. To his volumes, and to those of Mr. Cox, I refer all who are interested in those fascinating enquiries. My chief aim has been to familiarize English readers with the Russian folk-tale; the historical and mythological problems involved in it can be discussed at a later period. Before long, in all probability, a copious flood of light will be poured upon the connexion of the Popular Tales of Russia with those of other lands by one of those scholars who are best qualified to deal with the subject.[6]

Besides the stories about animals, I have left unnoticed two other groups of skazkas--those which relate to historical events, and those in which figure the heroes of the Russian "epic poems" or "metrical romances." My next volume will be devoted to the Builinas, as those poems are called, and in it the skazkas which are connected with them will find their fitting place. In it, also, I hope to find space for the discussion of many questions which in the present volume I have been forced to leave unnoticed.

The fifty-one stories which I have translated at length I have rendered as literally as possible. In the very rare instances in which I have found it necessary to insert any words by way of explanation, I have (except in the case of such additions as "he said" or the like) enclosed them between brackets. In giving summaries, also, I have kept closely to the text, and always translated literally the passages marked as quotations. In the imitation of a finished work of art, elaboration and polish are meet and due, but in a transcript from nature what is most required is fidelity. An "untouched" photograph is in certain cases infinitely preferable to one which has been carefully "worked upon." And it is, as it were, a photograph of the Russian story-teller that I have tried to produce, and not an ideal portrait.

* * * * *

The following are the principal Russian books to which reference has been made:--

AFANASIEF (A.N.). Narodnuiya Russkiya Skazki[7] [Russian Popular Tales]. 8 pts. Moscow, 1863-60-63. Narodnuiya Russkiya Legendui[8] [Russian Popular Legends]. Moscow, 1859. Poeticheskiya Vozzryeniya Slavyan na Prirodu [Poetic Views of the Slavonians about Nature].[9] 3 vols. Moscow, 1865-69.

KHUDYAKOF (I.A.). Velikorusskiya Skazki [Great-Russian Tales]. Moscow, 1860.

CHUDINSKY (E.A.). Russkiya Narodnuiya Skazki, etc. [Russian Popular Tales, etc.]. Moscow, 1864.

ERLENVEIN (A.A.). Narodnuiya Skazki, etc. [Popular Tales, collected by village schoolmasters in the Government of Tula]. Moscow, 1863.

RUDCHENKO (I.). Narodnuiya Yuzhnorusskiya Skazki [South-Russian Popular Tales].[10] Kief, 1869.

Most of the other works referred to are too well known to require a full setting out of their title. But it is necessary to explain that references to Grimm are as a general rule to the "Kinder- und Hausmaerchen," 9th ed. Berlin, 1870. Those to Asbjoernsen and Moe are to the "Norske Folke-Eventyr," 3d ed. Christiania, 1866; those to Asbjoernsen only are to the "New Series" of those tales, Christiania, 1871; those to Dasent are to the "Popular Tales from the Norse," 2d ed., 1859. The name "Karajich" refers to the "Srpske Narodne Pripovijetke," published at Vienna in 1853 by Vuk Stefanovich Karajich, and translated by his daughter under the title of "Volksmaerchen der Serben," Berlin, 1854. By "Schott" is meant the "Walachische Maehrchen," Stuttgart und Tubingen, 1845, by "Schleicher" the "Litauische Maerchen," Weimar, 1857, by "Hahn" the "Griechische und albanesische Maerchen," Leipzig, 1864, by "Haltrich" the "Deutsche Volksmaerchen aus dem Sachsenlande in Siebenbuergen," Berlin, 1856, and by "Campbell" the "Popular Tales of the West Highlands," 4 vols., Edinburgh, 1860-62.

A few of the ghost stories contained in the following pages appeared in the "Cornhill Magazine" for August 1872, and an account of some of the "legends" was given in the "Fortnightly Review" for April 1, 1868.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] So our word "book," the German _Buch_, is derived from the _Buche_ or beech tree, of which the old Runic staves were formed. Cf. _liber_ and +biblos+.

[2] "Russische Volksmaerchen in den Urschriften gesammelt und ins Deutsche uebersetzt von A. Dietrich." Leipzig, 1831.

[3] "Russian Popular Tales," Chapman and Hall, London, 1857.

[4] "Die aeltesten Volksmaerchen der Russen. Von J. N. Vogl." Wien, 1841.

[5] Such as the "Orient und Occident," "Ausland," &c.

[6] Professor Reinhold Koehler, who is said to be preparing a work on the Skazkas, in co-operation with Professor Juelg, the well-known editor and translator of the "Siddhi Kuer" and "Ardshi Bordschi Khan."

[7] In my copy, pt. 1 and 2 are of the 3d, and pt. 3 and 4 are of the 2d edition. By such a note as "Afanasief, i. No. 2," I mean to refer to the second story of the first part of this work.

[8] This book is now out of print, and copies fetch a very high price. I refer to it in my notes as "Afanasief, _Legendui_."

[9] This work is always referred to in my notes as "Afanasief, _P.V.S._"

[10] There is one other recent collection of skazkas--that published last year at Geneva under the title of "Russkiya Zavyetnuiya Skazki." But upon its contents I have not found it necessary to draw.

CONTENTS.

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