Ralston Russian Folk-Tales

1. Auflage 2017
ISBN: 978-3-96272-214-2
Verlag: OTB eBook publishing
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 0 - No protection

E-Book, Englisch, 406 Seiten

Reihe: Classics To Go

1873. One touch of storytelling may . . . make the whole world kin. So stated Ralston. In England the works of Ralston were the first to deal with the vast field of Slavonic, and more especially of Russian, folklore. His chief endeavour was to show the great amount of information which the unwritten literature of Russia contains as to the early stages of religious development.(Goodreads)

Autoren/Hrsg.

Ralston, W. R. S.

Leseproben

CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. PAGE. The Folk-tale in general, and the Skazka in particular—Relation of Russian Popular Tales to Russian Life—Stories about Courtship, Death, Burial and Wailings for the Dead—Warnings against Drink, Jokes about Women, Tales of Simpletons—A rhymed Skazka and a Legend 15 CHAPTER II. MYTHOLOGICAL. Principal Incarnations of Evil. On the “Mythical Skazkas”—Male embodiments of Evil: 1. The Snake as the Stealer of Daylight; 2. Norka the Beast, Lord of the Lower World; 3. Koshchei the Deathless, The Stealer of Fair Princesses—his connexion with Punchkin and “the Giant who had no Heart in his Body”—Excursus on Bluebeard’s Chamber; 4. The Water King or Subaqueous Demon—Female Embodiments of Evil: 1. The Baba Yaga or Hag, and 2. The Witch, feminine counterparts of the Snake 75 CHAPTER III. MYTHOLOGICAL. Miscellaneous Impersonations. One-eyed Likho, a story of the Polyphemus Cycle—Woe, the Poor Man’s Companion—Friday, Wednesday, and Sunday personified as Female Spirits—The Léshy or Wood-Demon—Legends about Rivers—Frost as a Wooer of Maidens—The Whirlwind personified as a species of Snake or Demon—Morfei and Oh, two supernatural beings 186 CHAPTER IV. MAGIC AND WITCHCRAFT. The Waters of Life and Death, and of Strength and Weakness—Aid given to Children by Dead Parents—Magic Horses, Fish, &c.—Stories about Brides won by a Leap, &c.—Stories about Wizards and Witches—The Headless Princess—Midnight Watchings over Corpses—The Fire Bird, its connexion with the Golden Bird and the Phœnix 237 CHAPTER V. GHOST STORIES. Slavonic Ideas about the Dead—On Heaven and Hell—On the Jack and the Beanstalk Story—Harmless Ghosts—The Rip van Winkle Story—the attachment of Ghosts to their Shrouds and Coffin-Lids—Murderous Ghosts—Stories about Vampires—on the name Vampire, and the belief in Vampirism 295 CHAPTER VI. LEGENDS. 1. Saints, &c. Legends connected with the Dog, the Izba, the Creation of Man, the Rye, the Snake, Ox, Sole, &c.; with Birds, the Peewit, Sparrow, Swallow, &c.—Legends about SS. Nicholas, Andrew, George, Kasian, &c. 329 2. Demons, &c. Part played by Demons in the Skazkas—On “Hasty Words,” and Parental Curses; their power to subject persons to demoniacal possession—The dulness of Demons; Stories about Tricks played upon them—Their Gratitude to those who treat them with Kindness and their General Behavior—Various Legends about Devils—Moral Tale of the Gossip’s Bedstead 361 STORY-LIST.
PAGE. I. The Fiend 24 II. The Dead Mother 32 III. The Dead Witch 34 IV. The Treasure 36 V. The Cross-Surety 40 VI. The Awful Drunkard 46 VII. The Bad Wife 52 VIII. The Golovikha 55 IX. The Three Copecks 56 X. The Miser 60 XI. The Fool and the Birch-Tree 62 XII. The Mizgir 68 XIII. The Smith and the Demon 70 XIV. Ivan Popyalof 79 XV. The Norka 86 XVI. Marya Morevna 97 XVII. Koshchei the Deathless 111 XVIII. The Water Snake 126 XIX. The Water King and Vasilissa the Wise 130 XX. The Baba Yaga 148 XXI. Vasilissa the Fair 158 XXII. The Witch 171 XXIII. The Witch and the Sun’s Sister 178 XXIV. One-Eyed Likho 186 XXV. Woe 193 XXVI. Friday 207 XXVII. Wednesday 208 XXVIII. The Léshy 213 XXIX. Vazuza and Volga 215 XXX. Sozh and Dnieper 216 XXXI. The Metamorphosis of the Dnieper, the Volga, and the Dvina 217 XXXII. Frost 221 XXXIII. The Blind Man and the Cripple 246 XXXIV. Princess Helena the Fair 262 XXXV. Emilian the Fool 269 XXXVI. The Witch Girl 274 XXXVII. The Headless Princess 276 XXXVIII. The Soldier’s Midnight Watch 279 XXXIX. The Warlock 292 XL. The Fox-Physician 296 XLI. The Fiddler in Hell 303 XLII. The Ride on the Gravestone 308 ...