The Russian Garland being Russian Folk Tales

BEING RUSSIAN FOLK TALES: TRANSLATED FROM A COLLECTION OF CHAP BOOKS MADE IN MOSCOW: EDITED BY ROBERT STEELE AND PICTURED BY J. R. DE ROSCISZEWSKI. [Illustration] A. M. PHILPOT, LIMITED, 69 GREAT RUSSELL STREET, LONDON, W.C. 1. [Illustration: THE HORSE GREW RESTIVE, REARED HIGHER THAN THE WAVING FOREST. Page 18. ] CONTENTS PAGE Foreword vii Story of Lyubim Tsarevich and the Winged Wolf 1 Story of the most wonderful and noble Self Playing Harp 16 The Seven Brothers Simeon 29 Story of Ivan, the Peasant's Son 39 Story of the Golden Mountain 50 Iliya of Murom and the Robber Nightingale 61 The Renowned Hero, Bova Korolevich and the Princess Drushnevna 68 The Mild Man and his Cantankerous Wife 117 Story of the Duck with Golden Eggs 125 Story of Bulat the Brave Companion 131 Story of Prince Malandrach and the Princess Salikalla 142 Story of a Shoemaker and his Servant Prituitshkin 153 Emelyan, the Fool 166 The Judgment of Shemyaka 183 Story of Prince Peter with the Golden Keys, and the Princess Magilene 187 Sila Tsarevich and Ivashka with the White Smock 194 Story of the Knight Yaroslav Lasarevich and the Princess Anastasia 202 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE The Horse grew restive, reared higher than the waving forest Frontispiece Instantly upstarted Lyubim Tsarevich, put on his armour and leapt upon his steed 4 At length they fell in with a cripple on the road 64 "Alas! my gracious mother, why have you put me in prison?" 74 The Judge thought that the bundle was full of roubles 184 And so saying, he stretched out his hand to take the sword 226 FOREWORD The special interest of this volume of Russian Folk Tales is that it is a translation from a collection of peasant Chap books of all sorts made in Moscow about 1830, long before the Censorship had in great measure stopped the growth of popular literature. It is not necessary to dilate upon the peculiarities of Chap books and their methods: in the conditions of their existence many of the finest qualities of the primitive stories are eliminated, but on the other hand certain essentials are enforced. The story must be direct, the interest sustained, and the language however fine, simple and easily understood. It is to be hoped that some of these merits have been preserved in this translation: for this book is intended to appeal to a class of severe and incorruptible critics the children of to day. To older critics the matter is also interesting. Who on earth would ever expect to find in a Russian Chap book printed in Slavonic type on a coarse broadside sheet the Provençal legend of "Pierre et Maguelonne" or the Old English tale of "Bevis of Hampton." And the mystery deepens when one is told that Bevis of Hampton is ages old in Russia, however the names have been re furbished by the printer to not the English, but the Italian form... >>