The Project Gutenberg EBook of Folk Tales from the Russian, by Various

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Title: Folk Tales from the Russian

Author: Various

Release Date: July 8, 2004 [EBook #12851]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FOLK TALES FROM THE RUSSIAN ***

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[Illustration: "_She gave him a touchstone and flint_"]

FOLK TALES

FROM THE RUSSIAN

RETOLD BY

VERRA XENOPHONTOVNA KALAMATIANO DE BLUMENTHAL

FOREWORD

In Russia, as elsewhere in the world, folklore is rapidly scattering
before the practical spirit of modern progress. The traveling peasant
bard or story teller, and the devoted "nyanya", the beloved nurse of
many a generation, are rapidly dying out, and with them the tales and
legends, the last echoes of the nation's early joys and sufferings,
hopes and fears, are passing away. The student of folk-lore knows that
the time has come when haste is needed to catch these vanishing songs
of the nation's youth and to preserve them for the delight of future
generations. In sending forth the stories in the present volume, all
of which are here set down in print for the first time, it is my hope
that they may enable American children to share with the children of
Russia the pleasure of glancing into the magic world of the old Slavic
nation.

THE AUTHOR.

THE TABLE OF CONTENTS

_Foreword_

_A List of Illustrations_

_Dedication_

_Notes_

FOLK TALES

The Tsarevna Frog

Seven Simeons

The Language of the Birds

Ivanoushka the Simpleton

Woe Bogotir

Baba Yaga

Dimian the Peasant

The Golden Mountain

Father Frost

A LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

"She gave him a touchstone and flint".

The Tsarevna Frog

"Hunters, grooms, and servants rushed in all directions"

Ivan learns the language of the birds

"The old man went begging from town to town"

"One brother was sent to watch the turkeys"

The rich brother

"The children ran away as fast as their little feet could possibly
carry them"

"Well, I struck a snag"

"Old Frost gave the gentle g