Приказки на народите на Украйна Белорусия и Молдавия

Folk Tales From The Soviet Union

by Robert Babloyan (Editor)

A collection of folk tales, including: The Flying Ship / The Poor Man and the Tsar of the Crows / Teeny-Tiny / How Ionike Fet-Frumos Freed the Sun / The Pot of Gold.

144 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1986

Reviews

[T.F. · Rating 4 out of 5]

My views: I have this fondness for books from the Soviet Union. They were my earliest reads. I had read them even before Enid Blyton. Some of the books that you read as a child you no longer enjoy as an adult. I read these till I was 11 or so and never got back to them for close to 30 years. I even let my mother give them away. Off late I have been revisiting my childhood favorites. But these books by Raguda publishers were out of print with the collapse of the USSR. However recently I found someone selling them in an online book community. Thus began my journey once again into the wonderful world of the books from the Soviet.

This particular book is a collection of 5 covering the different regions of the Soviet Union. This one is from Ukraine, Byelorussia, and Moldavia. This is the second one I am reading from the series, one I had not read as a child. This is quite a small book with just 5 stories. The first tale is one I had already read from my larger Ukranian folk tales collection - it is about a fool who wins a princess with the help of an old wizard and a bunch of men with supernatural powers. The second is kind of real long. It starts with the birth of the protagonist and his thirty brothers from eggs, starts with petty rivalry and from there goes on to the hero being sent on adventures by his Tsar. In every adventure he is helped by his talking horse and he emerges victorious. The third tale is about an old man sending his son to get gifts from the king of crows. While this story itself is new, the theme is kind of old. A traveler who helps someone seeking help on the way is repaid multi-fold while ones who ignore the pleas for help are left high and dry. The next one is a standard tale of which I have read many versions. A powerful hero gains a powerful weapon and a worth horse and does battle with a family of dragons one after the other and defeats them all. Somehow Russian dragons don't seem to be like Chinese or European dragons. It seems more like a catch all term for all manner of monsters. In many cases they are shape changing demons. In some case they are depicted as hydras with multiple heads. I wonder if something is lost in translation and whether the dragons in Russian stories are really dragons as we know them. The last tale is kind of like a parable - a tale of father and his sons which ends with a moral.

Nice bunch of stories. There is a feel good to them. But only problem when you start collection too many of these fairy tales is that stories start repeating and sometimes the same plot elements, characters etc. are mixed and mashed in different tales. I think with 10 Russian folk tales books, I possibly have covered the entire gamut of possibilities in folk tales of Russia and the neighboring countries. I possibly should not have bought so many. But apart from reading the stories, the nice paper and the illustrations give them a collector value as well. I really wanted to have all the 5 books of this series. I wonder how a communist nation like USSR produced fancy collector items like these books. Somehow I seem to associate such things more with capitalism.

Anyways I am digressing from the review. Overall a fun book if you have not read too many Russian folk tales already. And definitely a good collector's item.

[Yoana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Нищо никога няма да се доближи да безсмъртната ми любов към "Приказки на прибалтийските народи", която ми беше може би любимата книга като дете и чиито приказки са странни и красиви като произведения за възрастни, но тези приказки от Украйна, Молдавия и Беларус са много симпатични и интересни, въпреки доста бруталните моменти в повечето. Почти няма царкини, но има много приключения и премеждия за млади мъже, които трябва да помогнат на семействата си или да се докажат пред света, както и хора и животни със свърхестествени и много полезни за съответното затруднение на героя умения. Появява се и Баба Яга Сухокрака - бях забравила за формулировката "главата й в ъгъла, устата й при огнището, носа й в покрива опира". И изобщо на много места чувах забравени отгласи от детството си.

[Patricia Woodruff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this better than the folktales from the Caucasus in this series. The tales are gentler without the the influence of conflict and war. There's a great tale with Baba Yaga in it and one with the Lord of the Crows. The illustrations are very stylized but you can see traditional instruments like the goat-shaped bagpipe and the trembita horn. Although the tales are not really empowering for girls, since all the women in the story are inactive and given away as prizes for valorous deeds of the men. But it could make a good discussion point on the culture at the time.

[snyoprzeszlosci]

Przepraszam, zaczęłam się śmiać na widok zdania o "długoletniej przyjaźni pomiędzy narodem ukraińskim i rosyjskim"...

[Claire Binkley · Rating 4 out of 5]

As far as Soviet things go, this is cute. The back says to write to the office in Moscow, USSR.

As far as fairy tales go, this is scary. If I were read these as a small child, I predict having nightmares.

As far as historical records go, this is a fun mark of the late '80s.
If you want something somewhat lower key than the Marxist-Leninist tracts, this is what to read next.

[Maciej · Rating 4 out of 5]

Egzotyczne. Miejscami brutalne. Tu i ówdzie motywy skopiowane z innych bajek (zapewne dobre motywy "wędrowały" po całym świecie dostosowując się do lokalnych warunków). Trochę za bardzo odrealnione. Ale dobrze się czytało i rozmawiało o nich z dziećmi.