Russian Myths

Russia is the largest country in the world, with the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons. Over a thousand years this multifaceted nation of shifting borders has been known as Rus, Muscovy, the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. Thirty years ago, it was reinvented as the Russian Federation. Russia is not an enigma, but its past is violent, tragic, sometimes glorious, and certainly complicated. Like the rest of us, the Russians constantly rewrite their history. They too omit episodes of national disgrace in favour of patriotic anecdotes, sometimes more rooted in myth than reality.

Long cold winter nights make for good story telling, so it's scarcely surprising that some of the world's most wonderful fairy tales come from Russia. Soar through the air in 'The Flying ship', feel the frost freeze your bones in 'The Strange Bridegroom', sail the seven seas in a ship with patchwork sails in 'The Salt Mountain'. These are stories guaranteed to delight in another outstanding edition of Classic Children's Stories.

Russkaja narodnaja skazka - proizvedenie ustnogo tvorchestva russkogo naroda, odin iz vidov fol'klornoj prozy. V russkih skazkah russkij narod pytalsja vyskazat' svoe nacional'noe mirooshhushhenie, nastavit' svoih detej v pervobytnoj, no glubokoj zhiznennoj mudrosti, - razreshaja lezhavshie na ego serdce zhiznennye, nravstvennye, semejnye, bytovye i gosudarstvennye voprosy.

"Alisa v Strane Chudes" - skazka, napisannaja anglijskim matematikom, pojetom i pisatelem Charl'zom Ljutvidzhom Dodzhsonom pod psevdonimom L'juis Kjerroll i izdannaja v 1865 godu. V nej rasskazyvaetsja o devochke po imeni Alisa, kotoraja popadaet skvoz' krolich'ju noru v voobrazhaemyj mir, naseljonnyj strannymi antropomorfnymi sushhestvami.

Marya Morevna is a Russian fairy tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev in Narodnye russkie skazki. Marya was a warrior queen who ruled a small kingdom and for some 10 years, kept Koschei the Deathless a captive in her castle's tower. The character Koschei is an evil immortal man who menaces young women with his magic.She fell in love with Ivan Tsarevitch, and while she was away on a campaign, he accidentally released Koschei. The evil wizard then abducted the queen and Ivan Tsarevitch was forced to find some way to kill him. Ivan was successful and was reunited with Marya.

The fourth installment of Russian Collection for Kids features stories that begin in everyday life and end in magic. Their main characters are children - boys and girls thrown into tough circumstances and having to test the limits of their courage and ingenuity to solve problems without grown-up help.

В сборник вошли наиболее известные сказки зарубежных писателей: Братья Гримм "Храбрый портняжка"; В. Гауф "Маленький Мук"; Г. Андерсен "Соловей"; Ш. Перро "Золушка"; Д. Харрис "Братец Лис и Братец Кролик"; Р. Киплинг "Слоненок"; О. Уайльд "Преданный друг"; Э.

Наше первое знакомство со сказкой происходит в детстве когда, затаив дыхание, мы слушаем, как мама читает нам о Царевне-лягушке и Золотой рыбке, Царе Салтане и Спящей царевне. Став взрослыми, мы сами читаем эти сказки нашим детям, заново оценивая их красоту и поэтичность.

Братья Гримм - Якоб и Вильгельм, прожили скромную жизнь. Они рано потеряли родителей и сполна познали все тягости непосильного труда и материальных невзгод. Только благодаря своей тетке братья смогли закончить обучение, к которому всегда проявляли блестящие способности.

Vasilisa the Beautiful is a Russian fairy tale collected by a Russian poet, writer, editor, ethnographer and translator Alexander Afanasyev. It tells the tale of a beautiful girl named Vasilisa. When her mother dies, she gives her a magic doll. Her father remarries, and she gains an evil stepmother and two stepsisters. Despite the stepmother's attempts to diminish Vasilisa's beauty, she continues to grow more beautiful.

Finist Clear Falcon 's feather is a Russian fairy tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev in Narodnye russkie skazki (1855-1863). The story of a daughter who asks only for a scarlet flower when her father goes to market, instead of the luxuries her two sisters ask for. Two times her father forgets; the third time, he buys a scarlet flower from a mysterious old man as long as the daughter agrees to marry his son, Finist the Falcon. This sets in motion a tale of love, jealousy, and adventure as the two overcome many obstacles to their love.

The Tale of Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf is a Russian fairy tale collected by a Russian Slavist and ethnographer Alexander Afanasyev. A king's apple tree bore golden apples, but every night, one was stolen. Guards reported that the Firebird stole them. The king told his two oldest sons that the one who caught the bird would receive half his kingdom and be his heir. They drew lots to see who would be first, but both fell asleep; they tried to claim it had not come, but it had stolen an apple. Finally Ivan Tsarevich, the youngest son, asked to try; his father was reluctant because of his youth but consented.

The Russian fairy tale about Tsarevich Ivan and his wife, Vasilisa the Wise, who was enchanted to be a frog, was recorded by the renowned folklorist Alexander Nikolayevich Afanasyev (1826–1871), who collected and published more than 600 Russian folk tales in the middle 19th century.

Aleksey Nikolaevich Tolstoy - russkiy pisatel', poeht, publicist i dramaturg, sozdavshiy original'nuyu detskuyu povest' "Zolotoy klyuchik, ili Priklyucheniya Buratino", istoriyu o derevyannom mal'chishke s dlinnym nosom po motivam skazki Kollodi. S "Buratino" vyroslo ne odno pokolenie lyudey, umeyushchih smeyat'sya i druzhit', lyubit', byt' muzhestvennym i imet' v serdce mesto dlya sostradaniya, a povest' A. N. Tolstogo stala odnoy iz luchshih v detskoy mirovoy literature.

Все сказки кончаются свадьбой. А мои приключения ею начинаются.

Лев Николаевич Толстой в сказках и баснях - это строгие и точные описания, которые всегда пользовались и будут пользоваться высоким спросом у любителей русской литературы. Сказки и басни Толстого заворожат любого, ну а дети будут перечитывать дивные рассказы снова и снова.

In 1913, Arthur Ransome traveled to Russia to explore Russian folklore. The result of his studies was the publication of retellings (rather than translations) of a number of stories, including The Soldier and Death, which first appeared in 1920.

Once there lived an old man and old woman. The old man said, "Old woman, bake me a bun." "What can I make it from? I have no flour." "Eh, eh, old woman! Scrape the cupboard, sweep the flour bin, and you will find enough flour." The old woman picked up a duster, scraped the cupboard, swept the flour bin and gathered about two handfuls of flour. She mixed the dough with sour cream, fried it in butter, and put the bun on the window sill to cool.

A fox made friends with a crane and went to call him to visit her: "Do come, crony, do come, dear. I'll treat you the best!"

Возвращаясь в поезде в Петербург с заболевшим сыном, он под стук колес рассказывал ему сказку про крокодила. Ребенок очень внимательно слушал. Прошло несколько дней, Корней Иванович уже забыл о том эпизоде, а сын запомнил все, сказанное тогда отцом, наизусть. Так родилась сказка "Крокодил", опубликованная в 1917 году.