Published by Good Press, 2019

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      EAN 4057664649317

Table of Contents

       INTRODUCTION.

       RUSSIAN MYTHS AND FOLK-TALES.

       THE THREE KINGDOMS,—THE COPPER, THE SILVER, AND THE GOLDEN.

       IVAN TSAREVICH, THE FIRE-BIRD, AND THE GRAY WOLF.

       IVAN THE PEASANT’S SON AND THE LITTLE MAN HIMSELF ONE-FINGER TALL, HIS MUSTACHE SEVEN VERSTS IN LENGTH.

       THE FEATHER OF BRIGHT FINIST THE FALCON.

       THE PIG WITH GOLD BRISTLES, THE DEER WITH GOLDEN HORNS, AND THE GOLDEN-MANED STEED WITH GOLDEN TAIL.

       WATER OF YOUTH, WATER OF LIFE, AND WATER OF DEATH.

       THE FOOTLESS AND BLIND CHAMPIONS.

       THE THREE KINGDOMS.

       KOSHCHÉI WITHOUT-DEATH.

       VASSILISSA GOLDEN TRESS, BAREHEADED BEAUTY.

       THE RING WITH TWELVE SCREWS.

       THE FOOTLESS AND THE BLIND.

       KOSHCHÉI WITHOUT-DEATH.

       GO TO THE VERGE OF DESTRUCTION AND BRING BACK SHMAT-RAZUM.

       MARYA MOREVNA.

       YELENA THE WISE.

       THE SEVEN SIMEONS, FULL BROTHERS.

       THE ENCHANTED PRINCESS.

       VASSILISSA THE CUNNING AND THE TSAR OF THE SEA.

       CHEKH MYTHS AND FOLK-TALES.

       BOYISLAV, YOUNGEST OF TWELVE.

       THE TABLE, THE PACK, AND THE BAG.

       THE KING OF THE TOADS.

       THE MOUSE-HOLE, AND THE UNDERGROUND KINGDOM.

       THE CUIRASSIER AND THE HORNED PRINCESS.

       THE TREACHEROUS BROTHERS.

       MAGYAR MYTHS AND FOLK-TALES.

       THE POOR MAN, AND THE KING OF THE CROWS.

       THE USELESS WAGONER.

       MIRKO, THE KING’S SON.

       THE REED MAIDEN.

       KISS MIKLOS, AND THE GREEN DAUGHTER OF THE GREEN KING.

       THE HEDGEHOG, THE MERCHANT, THE KING, AND THE POOR MAN.

       NOTES.

INTRODUCTION.

       Table of Contents

      A FEW tens of years ago it was all-important to understand and explain the brotherhood and blood-bond of Aryan nations, and their relation to the Semitic race; to discover and set forth the meaning of that which in mental work, historic strivings, and spiritual ideals ties the historic nations to one another. At the present time this work is done, if not completely, at least measurably well, and a new work awaits us, to demonstrate that there is a higher and a mightier bond—the relationship of created things with one another, and their inseverable connection with That which some men reverence as God, but which other men call the Unknowable, the Unseen.

      This new work, which is the necessary continuation of the first, and which alone can give it completeness and significance, will be achieved when we have established the science of mythology.

      Of course all that may be attempted in a volume like the present is to throw out a few hints, and to mention some of the uses of mythology as a science.

      There is a large body of myths and folk-tales already published in Europe, and still a great number as yet uncollected. Many of these tales are of remarkable beauty. They are of deep interest both to young and old, and nowhere do they enjoy more delicate appreciation than among educated people in America and England. The delight in a beautiful and wonderful story is the very highest mental pleasure for a child, and great even for a grown man; but the explanation of it (if explanation there be) and the nature of its heroes (if that can be discovered) are dear to the mind of a mature person of culture. Much has been written touching the heroes of folk-tales, as well as the characters in Aryan mythology, but it appears to have produced small effect; for to most readers it seems unproven, and founded mainly on the views of each writer. This is the reason why the chief, almost the only, value found in folk-tales, as yet, is the story itself, with its simple beauty, incomparable grotesqueness,