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    Russian Fairy Tales

    Part of The Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library

    Author Aleksandr Afanas'ev
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    Paperback
    $26.00 US
    Knopf | Pantheon
    On sale Sep 12, 1976 | 672 Pages | 9780394730905
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    Nearly 200 characteristic and colorful traditional folk and fairy tales are brought together here in the only comprehensive edition available in English. Of the original 1945 edition, Eudora Welty wrote, "These Russian tales are rambunctious, full-blooded and temperamental. They are tense with action, magical and human, and move in a kind of cyclone speed...These tales are gorgeous."

    Translated by Norbert Guterman from the collections of Aleksandr Afanas'ev; Illustrations by Alexander Alexeieff; Folkloristic commentary by Roman Jakobson

    "A beautiful book. I recommend it to all readers, young and old, who are interested in the folktale and its unique qualities."--Isaac Bashevis Singer, The New York Times Book Review
    The Wondrous Wonder, the Marvelous Marvel  13
    The Fox Physician  15
    The Death of the Cock  17
    Misery  20
    The Castle of the Fly  25
    The Turnip  25
    The Hen  26
    Riddles  27
    The Enchanted Ring  29
    Foma and Erema, the Two Brothers  31
    The Just Reward  37
    Salt  39
    The Golden Slipper  40
    Emelya the Simpleton  44
    The Three Kingdoms  46
    The Pike with the Long Teeth  49
    The Bad Wife  54
    The Miser  56
    The Nobleman and the Peasant  58
    The Goat Comes Back  59
    Ivanushka the Little Fool  61
    The Crane and the Heron  62
    Aliosha Popovich  66
    The Fox Confessor  67
    The Bear  72
    The Spider  74
    Baba Yaga and the Brave Youth  75
    Prince Ivan and Princess Martha  76
    The Cat, the Cock, and the Fox  79
    Baldak Borisievich  86
    Know Not  90
    The Magic Shirt  97
    The Three Pennies  110
    The Princess Who Wanted to Solve Riddles  113
    A Soldier’s Riddle  115
    The Dead Body  117
    The Frog Princess  118
    The Speedy Messenger  119
    Vasilisa, the Priest’s Daughter  124
    The Wise Maiden and the Seven Robbers  131
    The Mayoress  134
    Ivan the Simpleton  141
    Father Nicholas and the Thief  142
    Burenushka, the Little Red Cow  145
    The Jester  146
    The Precious Hide  151
    The Cross Is Pledged as Security  156
    The Daydreamer  159
    The Taming of the Shrew  161
    Quarrelsome Demyan  161
    The Magic Box  163
    Bukhtan Bukhtanovich  164
    The Fox and the Woodcock  168
    The Fox and the Crane  171
    The Two Rivers  171
    Nodey, the Priest’s Grandson  172
    The Poor Wretch  173
    The Fiddler in Hell  177
    The Old Woman Who Ran Away  180
    Two Anecdotes  182
    The Singing Tree and the Talking Bird  184
    The Ram Who Lost Half His Skin  184
    The Fox as Midwife  188
    The Fox, the Hare, and the Cock  191
    Baba Yaga  192
    The Ram, the Cat, and the Twelve Wolves  194
    The Fox and the Woodpecker  196
    The Snotty Goat  199
    Right and Wrong  200
    The Potter  202
    The Self-Playing Gusla  208
    Marco the Rich and Vasily the Luckless  211
    Ivanko the Bear’s Son  213
    The Secret Ball  221
    The Indiscreet Wife  224
    The Cheater Cheated  226
    The Maiden Tsar  228
    Ivan the Cow’s Son  229
    The Wolf and the Goat  234
    The Wise Little Girl  249
    Danilo the Luckless  252
    Ivan the Peasant’s Son and the Thumb-Sized Man  255
    Death of a Miser  262
    The Footless Champion and the Handless Champion  268
    Old Favors Are Soon Forgotten  269
    The Sheep, the Fox, and the Wolf  273
    The Brave Laborer  275
    Daughter and Stepdaughter  276
    The Stubborn Wife  278
    Six Anecdotes  280
    Snow White and the Fox  280
    Foma Berennikov  283
    The Peasant, the Bear, and the Fox  284
    Good Advice  288
    Horns  289
    The Armless Maiden  292
    Frolka Stay-at-Home  294
    The Milk of Wild Beasts  299
    How a Husband Weaned His Wife from Fairy Tales  304
    The Cock and the Hen  308
    The Fox and the Lobster  309
    Nikita the Tanner  310
    The Wolf  310
    The Goat Shedding On One Side  312
    The Bold Knight, the Apples of Youth, and the Water of Life  312
    Two Out of the Sack  314
    The Man Who Did Not Know Fear  321
    The Merchant’s Daughter and the Maidservant  325
    The Priest’s Laborer  327
    The Peasant and the Corpse  332
    The Arrant Fool  333
    Lutoniushka  334
    Barter  336
    The Grumbling Old Woman  338
    The White Dock  340
    If You Don’t Like It, Don’t Listen  342
    The Magic Swan Geese  345
    Prince Danila Govorila  349
    The Wicked Sisters  351
    The Princess Who Never Smiled  356
    Baba Yaga  360
    Jack Frost  363
    Husband and Wife  366
    Little Sister Fox and the Wolf  369
    The Three Kingdoms, Copper, Silver and Golden  371
    The Cock and the Hand Mill  375
    Tereshichka  387
    King Bear  389
    Magic  393
    The One-Eyed Evil  399
    Sister Alionushka, Brother Ivanushka  404
    The Seven Semyons  406
    The Merchant’s Daughter and the Slanderer  410
    The Robbers  415
    The Lazy Maiden  419
    The Miraculous Pipe  423
    The Sea King and Vasilisa the Wise  425
    The Fox as Mourner  427
    Vasilisa the Beautiful  437
    The Bun  439
    The Foolish Wolf  447
    The Bear, the Dog, and the Cat  450
    The Bear and the Cock  453
    Dan, Evening, and Midnight  455
    Two Ivans, Soldier’s Sons  457
    Prince Ivan and Byely Polyanin  463
    The Crystal Mountain  475
    Koshchey the Deathless  482
    The Firebird and Princess Vasilisa  485
    Beasts in a Pit  494
    The Dog and the Woodpecker  498
    Two Kinds of Luck  499
     Go I Know Not Whither, Bring Back I Know Not What  501
    The Wise Wife  504
    The Goldfish  521
    The Golden-Bristled Pig, the Golden-Feathered Duck, and the Golden-Maned Mare  528
    The Duck with Golden Eggs  533
    Elena the Wise  541
    Treasure-Trove  545
    Maria Morevna  550
    The Soldier and the King  553
    The Sorceress  563
    Ilya Muromets and the Dragon  567
    The Devil Who Was a Potter  569
    Clever Answers  576
    Dividing the Goose  578
    The Feather of Finist, the Bright Falcon  579
    The Sun, the Moon, and the Raven  580
    The Bladder, the Straw, and the Shoe  588
    The Thief  590
    The Vampire  593
    The Beggar’s Plan  599
    Woman’s Way  599
    The Foolish German  600
    The Enchanted Princess  600
    The Raven and the Lobster  612
    Pronce Ivan, the Firebird, and the Gray Wolf  612
    Shemiaka the Judge  625
     
    Commentary  629
    Index  657
    RIDDLES
     
    Near a highway a peasant was sowing a field. Just then the tsar rode by, stopped near the peasant, and said: “Godspeed, little peasant!” “Thank you, my good man!” (He did not know he was speaking to the tsar.) “Do you earn much profit from this field?” “If the harvest is good, I may make eighty rubles.” “What do you do with this money?” “Twenty rubles go for taxes, twenty go for debts, twenty I give in loans, and twenty I throw out of the window.” “Explain to me, brother, what debts you must pay, to whom you loan money, and why you throw money out the window.” “Supporting my father is paying a debt; feeding my son is lending money; feeding my daughter is throwing it out of the window” “You speak the truth,” said the tsar. He gave the peasant a handful of silver coins, disclosed that he was the tsar, and forbade the man to tell these things to anyone outside of his presence: “No matter who asks you, do not answer!”
     
    The tsar came to his capital and summoned his boyars and generals. “Solve this riddle,” he said to them. “On my way I saw a peasant who was sowing a field. I asked him what profit he earned from it and what he did with his money. He answered that if the harvest was good he got eighty rubles, and that he paid out twenty rubles in taxes, twenty for debts, twenty as loans, and twenty he threw out of the window. To him who solves this riddle I will give great rewards and great honors.” The boyars and generals thought and thought but could not solve the riddle. But one boyar hit upon the idea of going to the peasant with whom the tsar had spoken. He gave the peasant a whole pile of silver rubles and asked him: “Tell me the answer to the tsar’s riddle.” The peasant cast a glance at the money, took it, and explained everything to the boyar, who returned to the tsar and repeated the solution to the riddle.
     
    The tsar realized that the peasant had not abided by the imperial command, and ordered that he be brought to court. The peasant appeared before the tsar and at once admitted he had told everything to the boyar. “Well, brother, for such an offense I must order you put to death, and you have only yourself to thank for it.” “Your majesty, I am not guilty of any offense, because I told everything to the boyar in your presence.” As he said this, the peasant drew from his pocket a silver ruble with the tsar’s likeness on it, and showed it to the tsar. “You speak the truth,” said the tsar. “This is my person.” And he generously rewarded the peasant and sent him home.
    Copyright © 1976 by Aleksandr Afanas'ev. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
    ALEKSANDR AFANAS'EV (1826-1871) published his groundbreaking collection of Russian folktales and fairy tales in eight volumes, from 1855 to 1867. His success in polarizing Russian folklore and culture is reflected in the work of writers and composers from Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov to Igor Stravinsky. He first published Russian Fairy Tales with Pantheon Books in 1945. View titles by Aleksandr Afanas'ev

    “Rambunctious, full-blooded, and temperamental, these stories are tense with action, magical, and human. They are gorgeous.”
    —Eudora Welty
     
    “The oral folk tradition in Russia was truly a magic spring [that] flowed inexhaustibly, reviving, consoling, and enlightening all who partook of it . . . These stories have an ingenuity that marks them as uniquely Russian.”
    —Time
     
     “A beautiful book. I recommend it to all readers, young and old, who are interested in the folktale and its unique qualities.”
    —Isaac Bashevis Singer, The New York Times Book Review

    “Luckily someone garnered these jewels before they were lost [and] bound them into one volume before they disappeared . . . It is filled with action, magic, and humanity.”
    —St. Louis Globe-Democrat

    About

    Nearly 200 characteristic and colorful traditional folk and fairy tales are brought together here in the only comprehensive edition available in English. Of the original 1945 edition, Eudora Welty wrote, "These Russian tales are rambunctious, full-blooded and temperamental. They are tense with action, magical and human, and move in a kind of cyclone speed...These tales are gorgeous."

    Translated by Norbert Guterman from the collections of Aleksandr Afanas'ev; Illustrations by Alexander Alexeieff; Folkloristic commentary by Roman Jakobson

    "A beautiful book. I recommend it to all readers, young and old, who are interested in the folktale and its unique qualities."--Isaac Bashevis Singer, The New York Times Book Review

    Table of Contents

    The Wondrous Wonder, the Marvelous Marvel  13
    The Fox Physician  15
    The Death of the Cock  17
    Misery  20
    The Castle of the Fly  25
    The Turnip  25
    The Hen  26
    Riddles  27
    The Enchanted Ring  29
    Foma and Erema, the Two Brothers  31
    The Just Reward  37
    Salt  39
    The Golden Slipper  40
    Emelya the Simpleton  44
    The Three Kingdoms  46
    The Pike with the Long Teeth  49
    The Bad Wife  54
    The Miser  56
    The Nobleman and the Peasant  58
    The Goat Comes Back  59
    Ivanushka the Little Fool  61
    The Crane and the Heron  62
    Aliosha Popovich  66
    The Fox Confessor  67
    The Bear  72
    The Spider  74
    Baba Yaga and the Brave Youth  75
    Prince Ivan and Princess Martha  76
    The Cat, the Cock, and the Fox  79
    Baldak Borisievich  86
    Know Not  90
    The Magic Shirt  97
    The Three Pennies  110
    The Princess Who Wanted to Solve Riddles  113
    A Soldier’s Riddle  115
    The Dead Body  117
    The Frog Princess  118
    The Speedy Messenger  119
    Vasilisa, the Priest’s Daughter  124
    The Wise Maiden and the Seven Robbers  131
    The Mayoress  134
    Ivan the Simpleton  141
    Father Nicholas and the Thief  142
    Burenushka, the Little Red Cow  145
    The Jester  146
    The Precious Hide  151
    The Cross Is Pledged as Security  156
    The Daydreamer  159
    The Taming of the Shrew  161
    Quarrelsome Demyan  161
    The Magic Box  163
    Bukhtan Bukhtanovich  164
    The Fox and the Woodcock  168
    The Fox and the Crane  171
    The Two Rivers  171
    Nodey, the Priest’s Grandson  172
    The Poor Wretch  173
    The Fiddler in Hell  177
    The Old Woman Who Ran Away  180
    Two Anecdotes  182
    The Singing Tree and the Talking Bird  184
    The Ram Who Lost Half His Skin  184
    The Fox as Midwife  188
    The Fox, the Hare, and the Cock  191
    Baba Yaga  192
    The Ram, the Cat, and the Twelve Wolves  194
    The Fox and the Woodpecker  196
    The Snotty Goat  199
    Right and Wrong  200
    The Potter  202
    The Self-Playing Gusla  208
    Marco the Rich and Vasily the Luckless  211
    Ivanko the Bear’s Son  213
    The Secret Ball  221
    The Indiscreet Wife  224
    The Cheater Cheated  226
    The Maiden Tsar  228
    Ivan the Cow’s Son  229
    The Wolf and the Goat  234
    The Wise Little Girl  249
    Danilo the Luckless  252
    Ivan the Peasant’s Son and the Thumb-Sized Man  255
    Death of a Miser  262
    The Footless Champion and the Handless Champion  268
    Old Favors Are Soon Forgotten  269
    The Sheep, the Fox, and the Wolf  273
    The Brave Laborer  275
    Daughter and Stepdaughter  276
    The Stubborn Wife  278
    Six Anecdotes  280
    Snow White and the Fox  280
    Foma Berennikov  283
    The Peasant, the Bear, and the Fox  284
    Good Advice  288
    Horns  289
    The Armless Maiden  292
    Frolka Stay-at-Home  294
    The Milk of Wild Beasts  299
    How a Husband Weaned His Wife from Fairy Tales  304
    The Cock and the Hen  308
    The Fox and the Lobster  309
    Nikita the Tanner  310
    The Wolf  310
    The Goat Shedding On One Side  312
    The Bold Knight, the Apples of Youth, and the Water of Life  312
    Two Out of the Sack  314
    The Man Who Did Not Know Fear  321
    The Merchant’s Daughter and the Maidservant  325
    The Priest’s Laborer  327
    The Peasant and the Corpse  332
    The Arrant Fool  333
    Lutoniushka  334
    Barter  336
    The Grumbling Old Woman  338
    The White Dock  340
    If You Don’t Like It, Don’t Listen  342
    The Magic Swan Geese  345
    Prince Danila Govorila  349
    The Wicked Sisters  351
    The Princess Who Never Smiled  356
    Baba Yaga  360
    Jack Frost  363
    Husband and Wife  366
    Little Sister Fox and the Wolf  369
    The Three Kingdoms, Copper, Silver and Golden  371
    The Cock and the Hand Mill  375
    Tereshichka  387
    King Bear  389
    Magic  393
    The One-Eyed Evil  399
    Sister Alionushka, Brother Ivanushka  404
    The Seven Semyons  406
    The Merchant’s Daughter and the Slanderer  410
    The Robbers  415
    The Lazy Maiden  419
    The Miraculous Pipe  423
    The Sea King and Vasilisa the Wise  425
    The Fox as Mourner  427
    Vasilisa the Beautiful  437
    The Bun  439
    The Foolish Wolf  447
    The Bear, the Dog, and the Cat  450
    The Bear and the Cock  453
    Dan, Evening, and Midnight  455
    Two Ivans, Soldier’s Sons  457
    Prince Ivan and Byely Polyanin  463
    The Crystal Mountain  475
    Koshchey the Deathless  482
    The Firebird and Princess Vasilisa  485
    Beasts in a Pit  494
    The Dog and the Woodpecker  498
    Two Kinds of Luck  499
     Go I Know Not Whither, Bring Back I Know Not What  501
    The Wise Wife  504
    The Goldfish  521
    The Golden-Bristled Pig, the Golden-Feathered Duck, and the Golden-Maned Mare  528
    The Duck with Golden Eggs  533
    Elena the Wise  541
    Treasure-Trove  545
    Maria Morevna  550
    The Soldier and the King  553
    The Sorceress  563
    Ilya Muromets and the Dragon  567
    The Devil Who Was a Potter  569
    Clever Answers  576
    Dividing the Goose  578
    The Feather of Finist, the Bright Falcon  579
    The Sun, the Moon, and the Raven  580
    The Bladder, the Straw, and the Shoe  588
    The Thief  590
    The Vampire  593
    The Beggar’s Plan  599
    Woman’s Way  599
    The Foolish German  600
    The Enchanted Princess  600
    The Raven and the Lobster  612
    Pronce Ivan, the Firebird, and the Gray Wolf  612
    Shemiaka the Judge  625
     
    Commentary  629
    Index  657

    Excerpt

    RIDDLES
     
    Near a highway a peasant was sowing a field. Just then the tsar rode by, stopped near the peasant, and said: “Godspeed, little peasant!” “Thank you, my good man!” (He did not know he was speaking to the tsar.) “Do you earn much profit from this field?” “If the harvest is good, I may make eighty rubles.” “What do you do with this money?” “Twenty rubles go for taxes, twenty go for debts, twenty I give in loans, and twenty I throw out of the window.” “Explain to me, brother, what debts you must pay, to whom you loan money, and why you throw money out the window.” “Supporting my father is paying a debt; feeding my son is lending money; feeding my daughter is throwing it out of the window” “You speak the truth,” said the tsar. He gave the peasant a handful of silver coins, disclosed that he was the tsar, and forbade the man to tell these things to anyone outside of his presence: “No matter who asks you, do not answer!”
     
    The tsar came to his capital and summoned his boyars and generals. “Solve this riddle,” he said to them. “On my way I saw a peasant who was sowing a field. I asked him what profit he earned from it and what he did with his money. He answered that if the harvest was good he got eighty rubles, and that he paid out twenty rubles in taxes, twenty for debts, twenty as loans, and twenty he threw out of the window. To him who solves this riddle I will give great rewards and great honors.” The boyars and generals thought and thought but could not solve the riddle. But one boyar hit upon the idea of going to the peasant with whom the tsar had spoken. He gave the peasant a whole pile of silver rubles and asked him: “Tell me the answer to the tsar’s riddle.” The peasant cast a glance at the money, took it, and explained everything to the boyar, who returned to the tsar and repeated the solution to the riddle.
     
    The tsar realized that the peasant had not abided by the imperial command, and ordered that he be brought to court. The peasant appeared before the tsar and at once admitted he had told everything to the boyar. “Well, brother, for such an offense I must order you put to death, and you have only yourself to thank for it.” “Your majesty, I am not guilty of any offense, because I told everything to the boyar in your presence.” As he said this, the peasant drew from his pocket a silver ruble with the tsar’s likeness on it, and showed it to the tsar. “You speak the truth,” said the tsar. “This is my person.” And he generously rewarded the peasant and sent him home.
    Copyright © 1976 by Aleksandr Afanas'ev. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

    Author

    ALEKSANDR AFANAS'EV (1826-1871) published his groundbreaking collection of Russian folktales and fairy tales in eight volumes, from 1855 to 1867. His success in polarizing Russian folklore and culture is reflected in the work of writers and composers from Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov to Igor Stravinsky. He first published Russian Fairy Tales with Pantheon Books in 1945. View titles by Aleksandr Afanas'ev

    Praise

    “Rambunctious, full-blooded, and temperamental, these stories are tense with action, magical, and human. They are gorgeous.”
    —Eudora Welty
     
    “The oral folk tradition in Russia was truly a magic spring [that] flowed inexhaustibly, reviving, consoling, and enlightening all who partook of it . . . These stories have an ingenuity that marks them as uniquely Russian.”
    —Time
     
     “A beautiful book. I recommend it to all readers, young and old, who are interested in the folktale and its unique qualities.”
    —Isaac Bashevis Singer, The New York Times Book Review

    “Luckily someone garnered these jewels before they were lost [and] bound them into one volume before they disappeared . . . It is filled with action, magic, and humanity.”
    —St. Louis Globe-Democrat

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