Other editions of book Russian Fairy Tales A Choice Collection of Muscovite Folk-lore

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface.We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

The stories are taken from the collections published by Afanasief, Khudyakof, Erlenvein, and Chudinsky."STORIES contained in the following pages are taken from the collections published by Afanasief, Khudyakof, Erlenvein, and Chudinsky. The South-Russian collections of Kulish and Rudchenko I have been able to use but little, there being no complete dictionary available of the dialect, or rather the language, in which they are written. Of these works that of Afanasief is by far the most important, extending to nearly 3,000 pages, and containing 332 distinct stories — of many of which several variants are given, sometimes as many as five. Khudyakof's collection contains 122 skazkas — as the Russian folk-tales are called — Erlenvein's 41, and Chudinsky's 31. Afanasief has also published a separate volume, containing 33 "legends," and he has inserted a great number of stories of various kinds in his " Poetic views of the Old Slavonians about Nature," a work to which I have had constant recourse."

This compendium of Russian and Muscovite folk stories is authentic, vivid and complete with the original notes and references appended by W. R. S. Ralston. Ralston collected and translated this collection of stories in a concerted attempt to introduce European and North American audiences to the myriad folk stories which had developed in Russia over many centuries. The tales found in this collection are imbued by vivid descriptions, fast moving and culturally rich narratives, and a keen sense of leaving readers with moral lessons. The book categorizes Russian folklore into six principle parts: We begin with myths and legends selected for their good introductory qualities and moral conclusions, as in The Bad Wife and The Three Kopecks. The second part of the book contains stories about manifestations of evil, such as the infamous Baba Yaga. The third contains tales concerning other manifest beings and entities, for instance Sozh, Dnieper and One-Eyed Likho. In the fourth part, we hear tales of magic, witchcraft and warlocks, such as The Headless Princess. The fifth part contains stories concerning ghosts and vampires, for example the Fox Physician and The Two Corpses. Last of all, Ralston narrates traditional legends of Russian folklore, with particular focus upon the saints of the Russian Orthodox church, and the various demons said to have appeared long ago. An accomplished researcher with a strong affinity for the Russian nation, Ralston was sure to select only the best quality Russian folk stories. This collection is unique for maintaining a sound balance the popularly known with obscure yet high quality examples. Whether you are already an expert in Eastern folklore, or desire a superb introduction to the Russian folk stories, this book is sure to satisfy.

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This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface.We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Russian Fairy Tales CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. There are but few among those inhabitants of Fairy-land of whom "Popular Tales" tell, who are better known to the outer world than Cinderella--the despised and flouted younger sister, who long sits unnoticed beside the hearth, then furtively visits the glittering halls of the great and gay, and at last is transferred from her obscure nook to the place of honor justly due to her tardily acknowledged merits. Somewhat like the fortunes of Cinderella have been those of the popular tale itself. Long did it dwell beside the hearths of the common people, utterly ignored by their superiors in social rank. Then came a period during which the cultured world recognized its existence, but accorded to it no higher rank than that allotted to "nursery stories" and "old wives' tales"--except, indeed, on those rare occasions when the charity of a condescending scholar had invested it with such a garb as was supposed to enable it to make a respectable appearance in polite society. At length there arrived the season of its final change, when, transferred from the dusk of the peasant's hut into the full light of the outer day, and freed from the unbecoming garments by which it had been disfigured, it was recognized as the scion of a family so truly royal that some of its members deduce their origin from the olden gods themselves.

Russian Fairy Tales - A Choice Collection of Muscovite Folk-lore is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by William Ralston Shedden Ralston is in the English language, and may not include graphics or images from the original edition. If you enjoy the works of William Ralston Shedden Ralston then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection.

William Ralston Shedden Ralston (1828-1889) was a noted Russian scholar and translator. He was born in London, and studied at Cambridge. In 1862 he was called to the bar, but he never practised. He worked as an assistant in the British Museum library till 1875. He visited Russia; his works include: The Songs of the Russian People (1872), Early Russian History (1874) and Russian Fairy Tales: A Choice Collection of Muscovite Folk-Lore (1880).