Ivan Rudchenko

Taken from the nineteenth-century collections of ethnographer Ivan Rudchenko (published in 1869 and 1870), as well as the 1947 collection of historian Maria Lukiyanenko, this volume presents twelve traditional Ukrainian tales, translated by Marie Halun Bloch, and accompanied by the woodcut-style illustrations of J. Hnizdovsky. There are some old favorites here, like Pan Kotsky - a tale involving the union of a cat and a fox, also retold as Mister Cat-and-a-Half - and Seeko, in which a dog and wolf aid one another. Others, like The Farmer, the Bear, and the Fox, are probably less well-known.

This was an interesting selection of tales, more focused on animal stories, than on quest-type fairy-tales, which made me wonder about the original collections, and whether the same holds true of them. I wish someone would do a complete translation! The final selection, The Farmyard, appears to be a folk chant/song, and doesn't come across very well, but other than that, this was engaging enough of a collection. Not as comprehensive as Irina Zheleznova's Ukrainian Folk Tales, which contained all of these selections, if I recall correctly, it will still be of interest to readers researching Ukrainian folklore, as well as those who appreciate woodcut illustrations.… (mais)