“Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf” [1] ( The Tale of Ivan Tsarevich , the Fire Bird and the Gray Wolf [2] , The Firebird [3] ) is the plot of a folk tale among Eastern Slavs . Refers to the so-called fairy tales . In the index of fairy-tale plots, there is No. 550 “The Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf” (“The Tsarevich, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf”, “The Firebird and the Gray Wolf” [4] ): three brothers go for the Firebird; the younger one with the help of a wolf gets it; as well as a horse and a princess; the brothers take the spoil from him and kill him; the wolf revives the hero, the deception is revealed [5] . One of the most famous types of Russian folk fairy tales, the world widespread plot [4] . About 30 versions of this tale are known in Russian folklore [6] , in Ukrainian - 19, in Belarusian - 6 variants [7] .
| Ivan Tsarevich and the Grey Wolf | |
|---|---|
 Cover of the book "The Tale of Ivan Tsarevich, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf." Artist: Ivan Bilibin | |
| Genre | Russian folktale |
| Original language | Russian |
The oldest written European fairy tale about a firebird and a gray wolf dates back to the Latin monk Johann Gabius' collection Scala Coeli ( Latin Scala Coeli ), published in 1480. The plot got into the Russian oral tradition through splint [8] .
In Russian folk versions, Tsar Vyslav or simply Tsar acts, in the literary tales of V. Zhukovsky and A. Tolstoy - Tsar Berendey .
The main characters of the plot:
- The youngest son of the king, or a young archer who went in search of the mysterious Firebird for the king;
- The Gray Wolf is Ivan’s loyal friend and helper in his quest to obtain the Firebird and protect him from all the dangers that stand in this way.
The most common variant Russian folk tale is in the treatment of A. N. Tolstoy (Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf, 1940 [9] ). The story of V. Zhukovsky (“The Tale of Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf”, 1845) is based on the plot of the folk “The Tales of Ivan Tsarevich, The Firebird and the Gray Wolf”.
Content
The plot of the Russian folk tale
The old king named Vyslav Andronovich [10] had three sons-prince: Dmitry, Vasily and Ivan. The royal palace was located a beautiful garden, where there was a tree with golden apples on the branches. One day, the king noticed that someone was stealing apples, and ordered his sons to wait for the kidnapper. The elder princes fell asleep on the clock and saw nothing. Ivan did not close his eyes until midnight and discovered that the Firebird was stealing apples. Trying to catch the kidnapper, the prince pulls out only her feather, which, however, glows in the dark like a torch. Having learned about the incident and having received a feather, the king gives the sons the task: to deliver a living Firebird to it. As a reward, the king promises to give a delivering half-kingdom. The princes are sent to search, and are divided at a crossroads. Ivan Tsarevich chooses the road on which the wanderer, as the index stone says, "will remain alive and lose the horse." The prediction comes true quickly: the next morning after the halt Ivan finds only the gnawed bones of his horse. After long wanderings through the forest, Ivan Tsarevich meets a talking gray wolf, who, having learned about the grief of the young man, says that he ate his horse and offers Ivan himself as a steed and assistant in the search for the Firebird. The wolf and Ivan embark on a long journey, in the course of which to get the Firebird is becoming more and more difficult and dangerous. With the help of the Gray Wolf, Ivan Tsarevich managed to find a firebird and steal Helen the Beautiful. However, greedy brothers want to take away the prey, but Gray Wolf rescues the prince. Ivan returns home alive and marries Elena the Beautiful .
Featuring in literary tales
Fairy Tale by V. Zhukovsky
Unlike the Russian folk tale, where the king called his three sons and sent him to search for the firebird, in the tale of V. Zhukovsky, the younger son Ivan had to stay with his father:
You're still young, wait; your
It is time to come; now you me
Do not leave; I am old, not for long
In the light of life; and if i am alone
If I die, I will leave my people and kingdom ...
In his narration, V.A. Zhukovsky includes heroes from other tales:
- Koschey the Immortal , whose death is in the egg, the egg in the duck, the duck in the hare. This egg from the bottom of the sea gets pike. Analogy with the fairy tale "The Frog Princess ".
- Baba Yaga , who was supposed to feed the hero and put him to bed, and then help. A similar description is found in the fairy tales " Frost ", " Marya Morevna " and others.
- Leshy , similar to the description in the fairy tales "Frost", " Vasilisa the Wise ."
- The heroic horse , similar to the description in the fairy tale "Vasilisa the Wise."
- Magical items, such as a ground-dressing tablecloth , club baton, self -gusk. The description of the tablecloth is found in the fairy tales "Gusli-samogudy", "The prince and his uncle", "The enchanted queen".
- The serpent Gorynych with six heads is found in the fairy tale “Ivan is a peasant son”.
The creative experience of Zhukovsky, combining several tales into one, found a continuation with a number of other writers.
Notes
- ↑ Russian folk tales. In the processing of A.N. Tolstoy. - M. L .: Detgiz, 1948
- ↑ Folk Russian Fairy Tales by A. N. Afanasyev: In 3 tons. - Lit. monuments. - M .: Science, 1984-1985
- ↑ Firebird // Khudyakov, I.A. Vol. 1 // Great Russian tales. - M .: Edition of K. Soldatenkov and N. Schepkina, 1860. - p. 1-7
- ↑ 1 2 Budur, 2005 , p. 151.
- ↑ Comparative index plots. East Slavonic tale - L .: Science, 1979 - p. 154-155
- ↑ Commentary on "The Tale of Ivan Tsarevich, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf" // Afanasyev A.N. Russian National Tales - M .: OLMA Media Group - 304 p.
- ↑ Shakhmatov A. A. Folklore heritage of A. A. Shakhmatov. RAS, Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House) - SPb .: Publishing House of the RCA, 2005. - 799 p. - p. 676-677
- ↑ Literary encyclopedia of terms and concepts. Institute of Scientific Information on Social Sciences (Russian Academy of Sciences) - Moscow: Intelvak, 2001 - P. 994
- ↑ Samodelova E. A. The initial history of the creation of "Russian folk tales in the processing of A. N. Tolstoy" (1937-1938 - according to archival sources) // Journal "Bulletin of the Vyatka State University", 2011
- ↑ Grandfather walks, containing 10 Russian fairy tales. SPb., 1819. First ed. - SPb., 1786., № 3, p. 3-27.
Literature
- Zhukovsky V. A. The Tale of Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf - Moscow: Prospect , 2013 - 31 p.
- Budur N. V. The Firebird and the Gray Wolf // Fantastic Encyclopedia / Society. ed. N.V. Budur. - M .: Olma-Press, 2005. - p . 151 . - ISBN 5-224-04818-4 .
Links
- 550 = K417. Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf // Comparative Index of Plots. East Slavic tale
- Ivan Tsarevich and the Grey Wolf
- Ivan Tsarevich and the Grey Wolf
- Ivan Tsarevich and the Grey Wolf
- Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf (Russian folk tale) (in the treatment of A. N. Tolstoy)
- Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf (artistic sounding of the whole tale)