Translation:Collection of Slavic Folk Tales/Introduction
Introduction
The Slavic folk tales are innumerable: they are collected and published every day. The ones I present here are those that caught my attention in my readings, and whose translation once amused my leisure hours. After having scattered them for several years across a number of journals or magazines, I have now gathered them together. I have taken this opportunity to carefully revise my translation. It has but one merit: that of being faithful and made from the original texts. I have purposely grouped these stories without any systematic order, wishing to indicate that this volume makes no scientific claims, leaving to mythographers or folklorists the task of classification or synthesis.[1] Some of these tales will undoubtedly seem new. Others are variants of well-known stories; they will offer curious readers opportunities for interesting comparisons.
Moreover, for readers wishing to verify my versions against the originals, here is an indication of the collections from which each of my tales has been taken:
I. A Drachma of Tongue, Serbian tale. Le Kolo (English: The Circle Dance), a now rare Croatian review published in Zagreb (Agram) by the poet Stanko Vraz. Year 1847, no. VI, p. 11 and following. The story was collected by Mr. Lukich of Banialuka (Bosnia). I do not believe it has ever been reprinted. It invites many interesting comparisons.
II. The Table, the Bag, and the Sack, Bohemian or Czech tale. Hrase, Kytice z ceskych narodnich povesti (English: Bouquet of Czech Folk Tales), published by Mr. Hrase, director of the schools of the town of Nachod, one volume in 8ᵒ, Prague, Urbanek Bookstore, 1874. This interesting collection provided several of my tales; from now on I will refer to it simply as Hrase.
III. The Russian Tom Thumb. Afanasiev, Rouskia dietskia skaski, Russian tales for children, 2 vols. in 8ᵒ, Moscow, 1870. This collection should not be confused with the great collection by the same author, from which Mr. Ralston borrowed most of his Russian Folktales, translated into French by Mr. Loys Brueyre (Hachette, 1874).
IV. The Wicked Woman, Russian tale, same source.
V. The Doge's Daughter, Dalmatian tale. Siegfrid Kapper, Pohadky Primorske (English: Tales from the Dalmatian Coast, in Czech), Prague, 1873. Siegfrid Kapper was, as is known, well versed in the literature of the Southern Slavs. I do not know the Serbo-Croatian text of this tale, which the Czech author embellished with some fanciful details that I had to remove in my translation.
VI. The Frost, the Sun, and the Wind, a tale from White Russia (in the Belarusian dialect). Erben, Sto prostonarodnych pohadek a povesti Slovanskych v narecich puvodnich (English: One Hundred Slavic Folk Tales and Stories in the Original Languages), Prague, 1865. This collection, one of the most important that exists, offers, as its title indicates, a hundred Slavic tales in fifteen different languages or dialects. I have borrowed many from it.
VII. The Shepherd and the Dragon, Slovak tale. (The Slovak language, as is known, is a dialect of Czech that has risen to the rank of a literary language.) Emil Cerny, Slovenska citanka, Slovak Chrestomathy, 2 vols. in 8ᵒ, Banska Bystrica, 1866. This story, written by Mr. Étienne Danieli, was collected in the region of Trencsin (Hungary).
VIII. Prince Unexpected, Polish tale. Glinski, Bajarz polski (English: The Polish Storyteller), 4 vols., duodecimo, Wilna, 1854. One of the most important collections of Polish literature. This story is also reproduced by Erben.
IX. Snow-White (Sniegourka), Russian tale. Erben, based on a collection by Maximovitch which I do not have at hand.
X. Baba Yaga, Russian tale. Erben, based on the great collection of Afanasiev, which contains numerous tales about this mythical figure (see Ralston, Russian Folk-Tales).
XI. The Language of Animals, Bulgarian tale. Erben.
XII. The Origin of Man, Croatian tale. Erben.
XIII. The Spirit of the Dead, Polish tale. Wojcicki, Klechdy, Starozytne podania i powiesci ludowe (English: Legends, Traditions, and Popular Tales), 2nd edition, Warsaw, 1851.
XIV. Poverty, Polish tale. Balinski, Polish Folk Tales, cited by Erben.
XV. The Enchanted Watch, Bohemian tale. Hrase. This tale is titled Hloupy Jenik (English: Simple Johnny) in the original.
XVI. The Golden Fish, Russian tale. Afanasiev.
XVII. The Enchanted Staff, Bohemian tale. Hrase.
XVIII. The Foolish Wolf, Ukrainian tale (in Ukrainian). Roudtchenko, Narodnya Ioujnorousskia skazki (English: Popular Tales of Little Russia), 2 vols. in 8ᵒ, Kiev, 1869.
XIX. The Weeping Eye and the Laughing Eye, Serbian tale, first published in a Serbian review and reproduced by Erben. I have shortened this rather long tale.
XX. The Gossip, Ukrainian tale. Roudtchenko.
XXI. The Happy Shepherd, Bohemian tale. Hrase.
XXII. The Devil's Dance, Polish tale. Balinski.
XXIII. The Alms, Polish tale, same source.
XXIV. The Two Brothers, Slovak tale, taken from the Collection of Slovak Folk Literature, published by the Matica (literary society) in Vienna, 1870, vol. I (Sbornik slovenskych piesni, poviesti, etc.).
XXV. Punished Laziness, Bulgarian tale. Erben.
XXVI. The Wonderful Hair, Serbian tale. Vouk Karadjitch, Srpske Narodne Pripovetke (English: Serbian Folk Tales), Vienna, 1853.
XXVII. The Fox and the Wolf, Russian tale. Afanasiev.
XXVIII. The Cat and the Fox, same source.
XXIX. The Simpleton, same source.
XXX. The Language of Birds, same source.
XXXI. Long, Broad, and Sharpsight, Bohemian tale. Hrase.
XXXII. The Soldier's Recipe, Russian tale. Afanasiev.
- ↑ A summary of Slavic myths can be found in my pamphlet: Esquisse sommaire de la mythologie slave (English: Brief Outline of Slavic Mythology). Paris, Leroux, 1882.