{"id":1475,"date":"2010-09-24T10:00:59","date_gmt":"2010-09-24T10:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/?p=1475"},"modified":"2014-07-17T13:54:39","modified_gmt":"2014-07-17T13:54:39","slug":"russian-fairy-tales-from-a-to-z-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/russian-fairy-tales-from-a-to-z-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Russian Fairy Tales from A to Z – Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\u00ab<\/strong>\u0423 <\/strong>\u041b\u0443\u043a\u043e\u043c\u043e<\/span>\u0440\u044c\u044f <\/strong>\u0434\u0443\u0431 <\/strong>\u0437\u0435\u043b\u0451<\/span>\u043d\u044b\u0439…\u00bb<\/strong> – do you know the rest by heart yet? One of the most famous lines from Alexandr Pushkin\u2019s opening to \u201cRuslan and Lyudmila\u201d does not translate very well into English. \u201cThere grows a green oak in Lookomorie\u2026\u201d somehow doesn\u2019t sound nearly as magical, don\u2019t you think?<\/p>\n

Yes, I\u2019m back with more Russian fairy tale characters, as promised<\/a>. Well, it took me long enough to write \u00ab<\/strong>\u043f\u0440\u043e\u0434\u043e\u043b\u0436\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u0438\u0435\u00bb<\/strong> [continuation] of the post, but as they say in Russia, \u00ab<\/strong>\u043e\u0431\u0435<\/span>\u0449\u0430\u043d\u043d\u043e\u0433\u043e <\/strong>\u0442\u0440\u0438 <\/strong>\u0433\u043e<\/span>\u0434\u0430 <\/strong>\u0436\u0434\u0443\u0442\u00bb<\/strong> [one must wait three years for what\u2019s promised].<\/p>\n

This time I\u2019d like to talk about the heroes – male and female – of the \u00ab<\/strong>\u0440\u0443<\/span>\u0441\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0435 <\/strong>\u0441\u043a\u0430<\/span>\u0437\u043a\u0438\u00bb<\/strong> [Russian fairy tales]. I already mentioned \u00ab<\/strong>\u0410\u043b\u0451<\/span>\u043d\u0443\u0448\u043a\u0430\u00bb<\/strong> [Alyonushka] and her little brother \u00ab<\/strong>\u0418\u0432\u0430<\/span>\u043d\u0443\u0448\u043a\u0430\u00bb<\/strong> [Ivanushka], but there are plenty of others, including<\/p>\n

\u00ab<\/strong>\u0418\u0432\u0430<\/span>\u043d <\/strong>\u0414\u0443\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u043a\u00bb<\/strong> [Ivan the Fool] – this guy is featured in countless tales. Sometimes he has two older brothers who are ambitious and cunning. Ivan, on the other hand, is \u00ab<\/strong>\u043f\u0440\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0430<\/span>\u043a\u00bb<\/strong> [a simpleton] for which he\u2019s teased a lot. His parents don\u2019t seem to expect much from him. How else would you explain that in one of the fairy tales his own father consents to Ivan\u2019s marriage to a frog. I guess they know him too well. After all, the dude is known for disregarding all sound advice he gets. And of course, he always \u00ab<\/strong>\u043f\u043e\u043f\u0430<\/span>\u0441\u0442\u044c <\/strong>\u0438\u0437 <\/strong>\u043e\u0433\u043d\u044f<\/span> <\/strong>\u0434\u0430 <\/strong>\u0432 <\/strong>\u043f\u043e<\/span>\u043b\u044b\u043c\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> [is between the rock and the hard place].<\/p>\n

Yet in the end it\u2019s Ivan and not his brothers who ends up with all the goodies – riches, pretty girls, magical servants, etc – mostly by asking fairy tale creatures to do all the dirty work for him. How come? \u00ab<\/strong>\u041f\u043e\u0442\u043e\u043c\u0443<\/span>, <\/strong>\u0447\u0442\u043e <\/strong>\u043e\u043d – <\/strong>\u0434\u043e\u0431\u0440\u043e\u0441\u0435\u0440\u0434\u0435<\/span>\u0447\u043d\u044b\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> [Because he is kind-hearted]. Well, if by kind-hearted you mean not shooting a bear after the animal pleads for its life or not setting Baba Yaga\u2019s house on fire after she feeds him, then yes – he is a nice guy.<\/p>\n

\u00ab<\/strong>\u0412\u0430\u0441\u0438\u043b\u0438<\/span>\u0441\u0430 <\/strong>\u041f\u0440\u0435\u043a\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0441\u043d\u0430\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> [Vasilisa the Most Beautiful] and \u00ab<\/strong>\u0415\u043b\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u0430 <\/strong>\u041f\u0440\u0435\u043c\u0443<\/span>\u0434\u0440\u0430\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> [Yelena the Wisest] – sometimes these two swap their last names and then you read about \u00ab<\/strong>\u0412\u0430\u0441\u0438\u043b\u0438<\/span>\u0441\u0430 <\/strong>\u041f\u0440\u0435\u043c\u0443<\/span>\u0434\u0440\u0430\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> [Vasilisa the Wisest] or \u00ab<\/strong>\u0415\u043b\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u0430 <\/strong>\u041f\u0440\u0435\u043a\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0441\u043d\u0430\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> [Yelena the Most Beautiful].<\/p>\n

Note the use of the prefix \u00ab<\/strong>\u043f\u0440\u0435\u00bb<\/strong> in both names. In this particular case, \u00ab<\/strong>\u043f\u0440\u0435\u00bb<\/strong> indicates the superlative. To be wise is to be \u00ab<\/strong>\u043c\u0443<\/span>\u0434\u0440\u044b\u0439\u00bb<\/strong>, but to be the wisest is \u00ab<\/strong>\u043f\u0440\u0435\u043c\u0443<\/span>\u0434\u0440\u044b\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> [the wisest].<\/p>\n

You can use \u00ab<\/strong>\u043f\u0440\u0435\u00bb<\/strong> to form some other superlative forms of adjectives, such as \u00ab<\/strong>\u043f\u0440\u0435\u0438\u043d\u0442\u0435\u0440\u0435<\/span>\u0441\u043d\u044b\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> [of outmost interest], \u00ab<\/strong>\u043f\u0440\u0435\u0441\u0442\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u043d\u043d\u044b\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> [the strangest], \u00ab<\/strong>\u043f\u0440\u0435\u043f\u0440\u043e\u0442\u0438<\/span>\u0432\u043d\u044b\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> [the most disgusting], etc.<\/p>\n

However, \u00ab<\/strong>\u043f\u0440\u0435\u00bb<\/strong> might also mean to make something differt, as in \u00ab<\/strong>\u043f\u0440\u0435\u043e\u0431\u0440\u0430\u0436\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u044c\u00bb<\/strong> [to transform into something different]. For example, \u00ab<\/strong>\u0412\u0430\u0441\u0438\u043b\u0438<\/span>\u0441\u0430 <\/strong>\u041f\u0440\u0435\u043c\u0443<\/span>\u0434\u0440\u0430\u044f <\/strong>\u043f\u0440\u0435\u043e\u0431\u0440\u0430\u0436\u0430<\/span>\u0435\u0442\u0441\u044f <\/strong>\u0438\u0437 <\/strong>\u043b\u044f\u0433\u0443<\/span>\u0448\u043a\u0438 <\/strong>\u0432 <\/strong>\u0446\u0430\u0440\u0435<\/span>\u0432\u043d\u0443\u00bb<\/strong> [Vasilisa the Wisest transforms herself from a frog into a tsarina].<\/p>\n

Finally, \u00ab<\/strong>\u043f\u0440\u0435\u00bb<\/strong> can also have the meaning of \u201cacross\u201d – \u00ab<\/strong>\u0418\u0432\u0430<\/span>\u043d <\/strong>\u0414\u0443\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u043a <\/strong>\u043f\u0440\u0435\u0441\u0442\u0443\u043f\u0438<\/span>\u043b <\/strong>\u043f\u043e\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u0433 <\/strong>\u0438\u0437\u0431\u044b<\/span> <\/strong>\u0411\u0430<\/span>\u0431\u044b <\/strong>\u042f\u0433\u0438<\/span>\u00bb<\/strong> [Ivan the Fool crossed the threshold of the Baba Yaga\u2019s cottage].<\/p>\n

But back to the leading ladies\u2026 These are usually princesses of some sort, cared for by scores of \u00ab<\/strong>\u043c\u0430<\/span>\u043c\u043a\u0438-<\/strong>\u043d\u044f<\/span>\u043d\u044c\u043a\u0438\u00bb<\/strong> [nurses and nannies]. It seems that they divide their leisure time between \u00ab<\/strong>\u0440\u0443\u043a\u043e\u0434\u0435<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u0435\u00bb<\/strong> [crafts] at which they excel and \u00ab<\/strong>\u0443\u0447\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u044c\u0435\u00bb<\/strong> [learning], sometimes getting quite literally too smart to remain unpunished by their evil fathers. Their beauty is world-renown and gets them a stream of marriage proposals, mostly from old, ugly, rich foreign princes. They are also in constant danger of being abducted by either \u00ab<\/strong>\u041a\u0430\u0449\u0435<\/span>\u0439 <\/strong>\u0411\u0435\u0441\u0441\u043c\u0435<\/span>\u0440\u0442\u043d\u044b\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> [Kashey the Deathless], \u00ab<\/strong>\u0417\u043c\u0435\u0439 <\/strong>\u0413\u043e\u0440\u044b<\/span>\u043d\u044b\u0447\u00bb<\/strong> [Zmey Gorinich] or any of their more evil and determined suitors.<\/p>\n

So guess what these chicks end up doing? Yep, they end up marrying Ivans (see above). Not only do they marry them, but they frequently help them in their quests as well. Ok, so Ivans are usually good-looking and young, but does that really justify changing one\u2019s last name from Wise to Fool? I guess, as they say in Russia, \u00ab<\/strong>\u043b\u044e\u0431\u043e<\/span>\u0432\u044c <\/strong>\u0437\u043b\u0430, <\/strong>\u043f\u043e\u043b\u044e<\/span>\u0431\u0438\u0448\u044c <\/strong>\u0438 <\/strong>\u043a\u043e\u0437\u043b\u0430<\/span>\u00bb<\/strong> [love makes you blind].<\/p>\n

Well, why bother with Russian fairy tales anyway? \u00ab<\/strong>\u0421\u043a\u0430<\/span>\u0437\u043a\u0438 – <\/strong>\u0434\u043b\u044f <\/strong>\u0434\u0435\u0442\u0435<\/span>\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> [Fairytales are for the children]. A couple of reasons spring to mind. One is \u00ab<\/strong>\u0441\u043a\u0430<\/span>\u0437\u043a\u0430 – <\/strong>\u043b\u043e\u0436\u044c, <\/strong>\u0434\u0430 <\/strong>\u0432 <\/strong>\u043d\u0435\u0439 <\/strong>\u043d\u0430\u043c\u0451<\/span>\u043a, <\/strong>\u0434\u043e<\/span>\u0431\u0440\u044b\u043c <\/strong>\u043c\u043e<\/span>\u043b\u043e\u0434\u0446\u0430\u043c – <\/strong>\u0443\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u043a\u00bb<\/strong> [fairy tale is a lie, but it has a hint and a lesson for all good lads]. Sometimes reading a tale about an old man who tries to break a golden egg, cries when it happens and gets consoled with a promise of no more golden eggs, just the regular ones can give you deep insights into the unfathomable Russian soul (can you name this fairy tale?).<\/p>\n

Or, if you are into reading contemporary Russian literature, it might give you a better understanding of various works, from Brothers Strugatzkiy\u2019s hilarious \u00ab<\/strong>\u041f\u043e\u043d\u0435\u0434\u0435<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u043d\u0438\u043a <\/strong>\u043d\u0430\u0447\u0438\u043d\u0430<\/span>\u0435\u0442\u0441\u044f <\/strong>\u0432 <\/strong>\u0441\u0443\u0431\u0431\u043e<\/span>\u0442\u0443\u00bb<\/strong> [A Monday Begins on a Saturday] to the dark and soulful \u201cThe Secret History of Moscow\u201d<\/em> by Ekaterina Sedia.<\/p>\n

And if you are into Russian pop-culture, it might even shed some light onto the popularity of the Russian boy-band \u00ab<\/strong>\u0418\u0432\u0430<\/span>\u043d\u0443\u0448\u043a\u0438 International\u00bb.<\/strong><\/p>\n