So the mistress went on listening, and at last interrupted: “What sort of a tale is this? Why, it is a mere repetition.”
“Why do you interrupt me? I told you you must not make any exclamations: this is the preface of the tale, and there comes another after it.”
Then the man, after hearing this, could not help leaping up from the bench and whipping his wife.
“You were told not to make any interruptions, and you will not let him end his story.”
So he set on beating, beating, whipping, slippering, basting her, until the wife at the end hated stories, and was in despair ever afterwards at the sound of them.
Notes
General Notes
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Alyósha Popóvich. One of the great knights at the court of Prince Vladímir. He was an effeminate kind of person and perhaps one who rather incited others to effort by his jibes than by his prowess. He is always given the uncomplimentary soubriquet of the “Mocker of Women.” His principal heroic episode is told in the prose ballad in this book entitled “Alyósha Popóvich.”
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Angéy, Tsar. Filuyán is a fabulous city found in the cantations and mystical rites of the Russian peasants. It is, however, probably derived from the Greek Θύλη.
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Bába Yagá. In Professor Sypherd’s studies on Chaucer’s House of Fame, Chaucer Society, 1904, a most valuable note will be found on revolving houses. It will be seen that the legend is cognate with magic wheels that revolve at great speed, or turn on wheels emitting flame and poison. The nearest analogy quoted is the whirling rampart in the Mael Duinn, but the Russian legend is evidently related and not derived.
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Bogatýr. The bogatýr is the Russian Knight, but is absolutely unlike any Western romantic notion. He is a person of magical power and gigantic stature and prowess. Some of the bogatyrí are decidedly demigods; others more decisively human; but they all have some superhuman, it may be said inhuman, touch. The derivation of the word has been very much in dispute. The characteristic thing to note is that the word is only found in Russian, and in no other Slavonic language, and is almost certainly of Tatar origin, the original form being something like Bagadur. The Sanskrit derivation which is attempted of Baghadhara seems scarcely probable. Goryáyev’s dictionary states that the original meaning was a company-commander of the Tatars. If so, bogatýr is probably a corruption (through bog God and bogat rich) of the form buĭtur, found in the Slóvo, which is certainly cognate with the Turanian root buĭ, to command. v. notes in my edition of Igor.
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Bryánsk. Bryánsk in the Province of Orél contains wonderful woods which were in ancient times impenetrable, and became the legendary home of magic, and of weird happenings. The Aspen tree is always associated in Russian folklore with magic and wizardry; it is also said that Judas hanged himself on this tree.
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Chernígov. An ancient city of Russia on the Dnieper, a little higher up than Kíev.
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Christ. As, in German folklore, the legends of Christ walking the earth with His disciples are very frequent and characteristic. There is a touch of friendly familiarity in this presentation which does not involve the least irreverence, but adds a touch of sarcastic humour which the Germans lack.
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“The Brother of Christ.” For the punishment of the old man who grumbled at the good things of earth there is a surprisingly close analogy in Dante’s Inferno, canto VII.
“Fitti nel limo dicon; Tristi fummo
Nell’ aer dolce che dal sol s’allegra,
Portando dentro accidioso fummo:
Or c’ attristiam nella belletta negra.”“Sunk in the slime they utter: ‘Loth were we,
In sweet air sullen, which the sun makes glad,
Our souls besmirched with dull reluctancy:
Now in this black morass, our hearts are sad.’ ” -
Chufíl-Fílyushka. Both these names are adaptations of the Greek Θεόφιλος.
The Crystal Apple and the Silver Saucer
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There is a strong Celtic flavour about this episode. Cf. The Twa Sisters o’ Binnorie.
Ho’s ta’en three locks o’ her yellow hair
(Binnorie, oh Binnorie),
And wi’ them strung his harp sae rare
By the bonny milldams of Binnorie.And sune the harp sang loud and clear
(Binnorie, oh Binnorie),
Fareweel my father, and mother dear!
By the bonny milldams of Binnorie.And then, as plain as plain could be,
(Binnorie, oh Binnorie),
There sits my sister wha drowned me!
By the bonny milldams o’ Binnorie. -
In this story the Russian of the words sung by the piper is also in Russian ballad metre.
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“Danílo the Unfortunate.” This is a prose version of a ballad and contains a very full account of this legend. The old hag whom Danílo meets on the way is elsewhere called the Wise Woman of Kíev, an old witch with the ugly qualities generally assigned.
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Death. Death is feminine in Russian and occurs all through the folklore as the visible figure of a skeleton whom they met by the way on the roadsides, and who may be cheated of her prey or dealt with like any other demon.
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Dobrýnya Nikítich. One of the great figures at the legendary court of Prince Vladímir. He was a dragon-slayer, but his principal employment was as ambassador.
The Dream. Notes
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The izbá, or hut, always has a dvor or courtyard, access to which is gained through double gates as well as through a postern. Often the hut is raised by a flight of steps from the level of the courtyard.
The izbá may have a cooling room in which to rest, so as to avoid the sudden change of air from the heated inner room; it is also a living room in the summer. Outside the
