Latvian fairy tales. Latvian folk tales

INTRODUCTION

Since time immemorial, the life and work of every nation has been accompanied by oral folk poetry. In diverse artistic forms it expressed the folk wisdom, thoughts and aspirations of many generations. In the past, folk art represented the most important form of ideology for the masses. Nowadays it provides very valuable material for study historical development people social relations And various sides everyday life We will always be captivated artistic values And poetic world images in the works of folk talents. Especially rich history has Latvian folklore, which has its roots deep in the life of the people. This is largely due to historical destinies Latvians. The normal formation and development of the Latvian nation was interrupted by the invasion of the German crusaders into the Baltic lands. The 13th century in the history of the Latvian people is a century of fierce struggle of Latvian tribes against well-armed hordes of knights. Since the end of the 13th century, the peoples of the Baltic states have been under the cruel yoke of German feudal lords. Over the centuries, the boundaries of feudal states on the territory of Latvia changed, some rulers replaced others, but the economic and spiritual power of foreign feudal lords and their minions - ministers of the Christian Church over the Latvian people remained unchanged. Only Great October socialist revolution helped the Latvian people finally throw off the shackles of almost 700 years of enslavement. For many centuries, Latvians were almost completely excluded from participation in deciding the political and economic destinies of their homeland and were deprived of the opportunity to develop their national culture, including written literature. Until the 19th century, when the first books of Latvian writers appeared, oral artistic creativity was the only form of reflection of all life and work experience of the Latvian people, an exponent of their hopes for a better future. One of the main motives in the works of Latvian folklore is the working person’s desire for freedom and hatred of oppressors and exploiters. Richness and variety folk art Latvians were discovered in the second half of the 19th century, when work began on collecting and systematizing all genres of folklore. A stream of recordings poured in from all corners of Latvia folk songs, fairy tales, legends and other folklore materials. The first collection of Latvian folk tales in Russian was published in 1887 in Moscow by teacher and writer F. Brivzemniek. The 148 fairy tales included in the collection were only a small part of the wealth of narrative folklore that was revealed by end of the 19th century century. With the active help and support of the Russian scientific community, a 7-volume publication was completed in 1903 Latvian fairy tales and legends (“Latvieshu tautas teikas un pasakas”, 1891–1903), collected people's teacher and a passionate lover of folk poetry A. Lerch-Pushkaitis. The collection of narrative folklore continued in subsequent years. At the end of 1924, the Latvian Folklore Repository was founded, where several thousand folk tales had accumulated over the course of 15 years. About 8,000 Latvian fairy tales and legends were published in a 15-volume collection (“Latvieshu pasakas un teikas”, 1925–1937), prepared by folklorist and literary critic P. Šmit. Currently, the collection and study of works of folk art in the republic is managed by the folklore sector of the Institute of Language and Literature of the Academy of Sciences of the Latvian SSR. IN scientific archive The sector stores about 2.7 million records of folklore materials, including approximately 90 thousand fairy tales and legends. IN post-war years every summer they travel to the regions of Latvia scientific expeditions to collect folklore, in particular fairy tale, material and study the role of folk art in the life of the people at the present time. In the years Soviet power The publication of Latvian folklore of all genres in both Latvian and Russian is widely carried out. Most full edition of Latvian folk tales in Russian is the three-volume collection “Latvian folk tales”, published by the publishing house “Zinatne”. Folk tales undoubtedly occupy the most important place among the materials of narrative folklore. For centuries, folk wisdom, ethical and aesthetic ideals have been embodied in the images and plots of fairy tales. life experience people, the desire to understand and explain the patterns of the surrounding world. The ethical and aesthetic values of folk tales can still be used in education today. younger generation. For researchers of the material and spiritual culture of the people, fairy tales are an indispensable source of information about historical events, captured through the prism of the people's consciousness, about the formation and development of the worldview of the people. In Latvian literary criticism, folk tales are usually divided into three main groups: short allegorical tales about animals, very diverse fairy tales and everyday fairy tales - comic and novelistic. Each of these varieties of the fairy tale genre has its own characteristics, manifested both in the content and in the use of means artistic expression. There are few tales about animals in Latvian folklore, but they are different interesting story and can provide valuable information about the long and complex path of development of the fairy tale genre. Modern storytellers classify tales about animals as children's folklore, perceiving them either as simple funny jokes, or as fables with educational content. However, fairy tales about animals did not always have only such narrow goals and such limited meaning in the life of the people. In the motifs and plots of the Latvian animal epic, more or less clear echoes of ancient mythological views can be traced, various kinds of observations of the animal world are reflected, surrounding a person nature and ideological views working people during the period of feudal oppression. The totality of all these centuries-old layers forms the basis of the content of fairy tales about animals. If we add to this the rather strong influence of the animal epics of neighboring peoples (Russians, Lithuanians, Belarusians) and medieval fable literature, then the diversity of Latvian fairy tales about animals will become clear. Materials from narrative folklore indicate that tales about animals were widespread already in ancient times as works of a magical nature. The folklore of many peoples preserves stories about the magical emergence of the living world, the connections between man and animals and their common affairs. These stories are not yet fairy tales; they express the desire to use magical means and the power of words to influence the forces of nature that are incomprehensible and hostile to humans. Many animal tales developed from stories mythological content about the totem of the clan - an animal that was considered the patron and benefactor of members of the clan. These stories were told primarily before a hunt to ensure success. In Latvian folklore, echoes of mythological beliefs are preserved in tales about the connections between man and animals, in particular with the bear. Often stories are told about the joint affairs of man and beast; their relationship is often based on an agreement that is binding on both parties. Undoubtedly, along with myths about animals, in the early stages of human development, simple stories about various animals, their habits, and stories of hunters were common, in which realistic observations of wildlife were intertwined with fiction. In these stories the person is already stronger than the beast; The life experience and knowledge of a person defeats an animal that has only physical strength. These manifestations creative imagination people formed the basis of fairy tales and determined them further development as a type of folk artistic creativity. Subsequently, stories about animals and their relationships with humans gradually lose their connection with mythological and magical views. With the development of society, the naive perception of nature as a hostile anthropomorphized creature disappears. Tales about animals are born in literally words. In them, the depiction of images and the development of the plot are based on more accurate observations of natural phenomena. The appearance, behavior and lifestyle of a particular animal in fairy tales are used to create artistic image bearer of certain moral qualities and character. For example, traits such as guile and gluttony formed the basis of the image sly fox. Animals in fairy tales are not only endowed with human speech, but generally live and act like people. In conditions of class contradictions, the ethical views of the people begin to appear more and more clearly in fairy tales. During the period of feudalism, the plots of fairy tales become allegorical pictures of social trends and contradictions of their time. Fairytale images animals are perceived by people as symbols of representatives of various social groups expressing class contradictions. In fairy tales, animals work for their master. When he drives them out, the wolf, who dared to demand payment for their work, receives a stone in the throat. old dog after expulsion he becomes a shoemaker to earn his bread. In some versions, all the grief and joy is shared with the animals by a person - an elderly farm laborer, kicked out of the house by his owner. The motif is about an oppressed worker striving for free life without masters and masters, very common in Latvian folklore. Condemnation of feudal exploitation and hatred of evil and stingy owners sound very convincing in these tales. Denial of evil and confidence in the victory of good forces is the leading thought of all fairy tales, the plots of which depict the struggle of a strong predator with a small animal. The last one in fairy tales always comes out victorious. The ideology of folk storytellers is very clearly manifested in fairy tales where humans act together with animals. If a person acts as the master and enslaver of his subordinates - animals and birds, all the sympathies of the storyteller are on the side of the animals. In stories where there is no such social opposition, the main ideological content fairy tales become a glorification of the wisdom and work skills of man. Despite the physical strength of animals, man’s wit and his ability to use specific circumstances for his own good win out. In their ideological orientation, fairy tales about animals are close to magical and everyday tales about the struggle of a peasant boy with the devil. A separate group in Latvian folklore they form tales about forest and domestic birds. The themes and images of these tales reflect judgments about human character, permeated with criticism of negative phenomena everyday life And public life. Thus, in the fairy tale about how a dove learned to build a nest, haste and negligence in work are condemned. Most fairy tales in this group are characterized by etiological motives: they explain the emergence of certain animal traits, which brings these tales closer to legends. The group of fairy tales about animals also includes fables about various plants and natural phenomena, the images of which serve as the basis for an allegorical tale of an educational or ethical nature.

Has Russia really brought only troubles to the peoples of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as is now claimed in the Baltic states? Why are Russian people’s rights now being infringed upon, the graves of Soviet soldiers are being desecrated, and monuments are being erected to SS men? Has enmity always reigned between Russia and the Baltic peoples? Why did the Baltic states serve as a bridge either for peaceful ties between the West and Russia, or for an attack on our country? Analyzing events thousand years of history, famous domestic historian Yu.V. Emelyanov in his book gives answers to these and other questions...

Tales from a Travel Suitcase Svyatoslav Sakharnov

The book includes folk tales South-East Asia and Japan, as well as English, African and Cuban tales collected by the author during his travels to various countries. Of significant interest is the retelling of the great story included in the collection. Indian epic Ramayana - "The Tale of Rama, Sita and the Flying Monkey Hanuman."

Sword of Prince Vyachka Leonid Daineko

The action of L. Daineko’s novel “The Sword of Prince Vyachka” dates back to the end of the 12th century. -early XIII centuries, when the Polotsk land united in its composition most modern Belarus. The bloody war waged by Polotsk together with the peoples of the Baltic states against the crusaders rushing to the east forms the basis of the work.

The funniest zaviral stories Yuri Viira

Yuri Borisovich Viira - famous children's writer. His stories were regularly published on the pages of the best magazines for children, and the writer himself was called “the capital’s Andersen.” This book is the most full meeting works of the author. This included the cycles: “Zaviral Stories”, “Balcony”, “Gazebos”, the main characters are an inquisitive girl and her dad, with whom there is never a dull moment; also “Tales of the Peoples of the World”, the amazingly lyrical cycle “White Hedgehog by the White Sea”. They are united by a subtle, lively, childlike, spontaneous humor, unsurpassed...

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This book can be called fantasy. With exactly the same basis as the books of Borges, Murakami or Cortazar. This book can be called classic Russian prose. With the same right as the stories of Chekhov, Gogol, Bulgakov. This book can be called humorous. Just like the books of Zoshchenko, Hasek or Mark Twain. But all this is Leonid Kaganov. If you haven't read it yet, then you're probably just illiterate. Sergey Lukyanenko The collection includes: Tales of the Peoples of the World, The Fourth Tier, Make a Wish, Rednecks, The First Purge, Thirty-Five, Dollar, Epic of the Predator,…

Fairy tales and myths of the peoples of Chukotka and Kamchatka Author unknown

This book is the first wide publication of fairy tales and myths of the peoples of Chukotka and Kamchatka, accompanied by a folklore preface and comments. The collection includes myths, tales about animals, everyday life and fairy tales of the Asian Eskimos, Chukchi, Kerek, Koryak and Itelmen. At the end of the publication there is an ethnographic information about these peoples, a dictionary is given geographical names, untranslatable words and terms used in fairy tales and myths. The collection is intended for an adult reader. Comp., preface. and approx. G. A. Menovshchikov

The glutton king. Turkmen folk tales Turkmen Fairy Tale

Fairy tales of the Turkmen people are rightfully very popular among readers of any age and have successfully undergone reprints. This collection includes the following interesting tales like “The Glutton Tsar”, “Two Mergens”, “Mamed”, “Clever Old Man”, etc. For the younger school age The Glutton Tsar Three Bulls The Language of Animals The Tale of the Fox Bread from Dzhugara Two Mergens Mamed Smart Old Man Don’t set fire - you’ll burn yourself, don’t dig a hole - you’ll please yourself Widow’s son

Psychology of fairy tales Maria von Franz

Fairy tales are the purest expression of the collective unconscious of the human psyche. Each nation, throughout its history, has developed its own way of experiencing psychic reality in a fairy tale. An undisputed authority in the field psychological interpretation fairy tales is the Swiss psychoanalyst Marie-Louise von Franz. The proposed edition includes two very important work on the analysis of fairy tales.

Tales and legends of Bengal Author unknown - Epics, myths, legends and tales

The collection includes tales and legends widely spread among the population of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal. As a type of oral folk art, these tales and legends were formed over many centuries based on traditional culture Bengal and vividly reflect the life and way of life of its people. The reader will get acquainted with the nature of this distant corner of Southeast Asia, with the kind and hardworking Bengali people, with their customs, traditions and beliefs. Compiled and translated from English by A.E. Empty. Afterword by S.D. Silver. Notes...

Strawberries under the snow. Tales of the Japanese Islands... Folklore

Wonderful tales Japanese islands for children. It's amazing how often similar stories appear in fairy tales. different nations. At the same time, the book is distinguished by the bright originality of the images created. The exciting plot and color of Japanese folk tales will attract both children and adults, leaving no one indifferent. The book is richly illustrated famous artist Kalinovsky G.V.

Since time immemorial, the life and work of every nation has been accompanied by oral folk poetry. In diverse artistic forms it expressed folk wisdom, thoughts and aspirations of many generations. In the past, folk art represented the most important form of ideology for the masses. Nowadays, it provides very valuable material for studying the historical development of the people, social relations and various aspects of life. We will always be captivated by artistic values and the poetic world of images in the works of folk talents. Latvian folklore has a particularly rich history, with its roots deep in the life of the people. This is largely due to the historical destinies of Latvians. The normal formation and development of the Latvian nation was interrupted by the invasion of the German crusaders into the Baltic lands. The 13th century in the history of the Latvian people is a century of fierce struggle of Latvian tribes against well-armed hordes of knights. Since the end of the 13th century, the peoples of the Baltic states have been under the cruel yoke of German feudal lords. Over the centuries, the boundaries of feudal states on the territory of Latvia changed, some rulers replaced others, but the economic and spiritual power of foreign feudal lords and their minions - ministers of the Christian Church over the Latvian people remained unchanged. Only the Great October Socialist Revolution helped the Latvian people to finally throw off the shackles of almost 700 years of enslavement. For many centuries, Latvians were almost completely excluded from participation in deciding the political and economic destinies of their homeland and were deprived of the opportunity to develop their national culture, including written literature. Until the 19th century, when the first books by Latvian writers appeared, oral art was the only form of reflection of the entire life and work experience of the Latvian people, an expression of their hopes for a better future. One of the main motives in the works of Latvian folklore is the working person’s desire for freedom and hatred of oppressors and exploiters. The richness and diversity of Latvian folk art was discovered in the second half of the 19th century, when work began on collecting and systematizing all genres of folklore. A stream of recordings of folk songs, fairy tales, legends and other folklore materials poured out from all corners of Latvia. The first collection of Latvian folk tales in Russian was published in 1887 in Moscow by teacher and writer F. Brivzemniek. The 148 tales included in the collection were only a small part of the wealth of narrative folklore that was revealed by the end of the 19th century. With the active help and support of the Russian scientific community, in 1903, a 7-volume edition of Latvian fairy tales and legends (“Latvieshu tautas teikas un pasakas”, 1891–1903), collected by the folk teacher and passionate lover of folk poetry A. Lerch-Puskaitis, was completed. The collection of narrative folklore continued in subsequent years. At the end of 1924, the Latvian Folklore Repository was founded, where several thousand folk tales had accumulated over the course of 15 years. About 8,000 Latvian fairy tales and legends were published in a 15-volume collection (“Latvieshu pasakas un teikas”, 1925–1937), prepared by folklorist and literary critic P. Šmit. Currently, the collection and study of works of folk art in the republic is managed by the folklore sector of the Institute of Language and Literature of the Academy of Sciences of the Latvian SSR. The scientific archive of the sector stores about 2.7 million records of folklore materials, including approximately 90 thousand fairy tales and legends. In the post-war years, every summer scientific expeditions travel to the regions of Latvia to collect folklore, in particular fairy tale, material and study the role of folk art in the life of the people at the present time. During the years of Soviet power, the publication of Latvian folklore of all genres in both Latvian and Russian languages was widely carried out. The most complete publication of Latvian folk tales in Russian is the three-volume collection “Latvian Folk Tales”, published by the publishing house “Zinatne”. Folk tales undoubtedly occupy the most important place among the materials of narrative folklore. For centuries, the images and plots of fairy tales have embodied folk wisdom, ethical and aesthetic ideals, the life experience of the people, and the desire to understand and explain the laws of the world around them. The ethical and aesthetic values of folk tales can still be used today in educating the younger generation. For researchers of the material and spiritual culture of the people, fairy tales are an indispensable source of information about historical events, captured through the prism of the people's consciousness, about the formation and development of the people's worldview. In Latvian literary criticism, folk tales are usually divided into three main groups: short allegorical tales about animals, very diverse fairy tales and everyday tales - humorous and novelistic. Each of these varieties of the fairy tale genre has its own characteristic features, manifested both in the content and in the use of means of artistic expression. There are few tales about animals in Latvian folklore, but they have an interesting plot and can provide valuable information about the long and complex development of the fairy tale genre. Modern storytellers classify fairy tales about animals as children's folklore, perceiving them either as simple funny jokes or as fables with educational content. However, fairy tales about animals did not always have only such narrow goals and such limited meaning in the life of the people. In the motifs and plots of the Latvian animal epic, more or less clear echoes of ancient mythological views can be traced, various observations of the animal world, the natural environment around humans and the ideological views of the working people during the period of feudal oppression are reflected. The totality of all these centuries-old layers forms the basis of the content of fairy tales about animals. If we add to this the rather strong influence of the animal epics of neighboring peoples (Russians, Lithuanians, Belarusians) and medieval fable literature, then the diversity of Latvian fairy tales about animals will become clear. Materials from narrative folklore indicate that tales about animals were widespread already in ancient times as works of a magical nature. The folklore of many peoples preserves stories about the magical emergence of the living world, the connections between man and animals and their common affairs. These stories are not yet fairy tales; they express the desire to use magical means and the power of words to influence the forces of nature that are incomprehensible and hostile to humans. Many tales about animals developed from stories of mythological content about the totem of the clan - an animal that was considered the patron and benefactor of members of the clan. These stories were told primarily before a hunt to ensure success. In Latvian folklore, echoes of mythological beliefs are preserved in tales about the connections between man and animals, in particular with the bear. Often stories are told about the joint affairs of man and beast; their relationship is often based on an agreement that is binding on both parties. Undoubtedly, along with myths about animals, in the early stages of human development, simple stories about various animals, their habits, and stories of hunters were common, in which realistic observations of wildlife were intertwined with fiction. In these stories, man is already stronger than the beast; The life experience and knowledge of a person defeats an animal that has only physical strength. These manifestations of human creative imagination formed the basis of fairy tales and determined their further development as a type of folk art. Subsequently, stories about animals and their relationships with humans gradually lose their connection with mythological and magical views. With the development of society, the naive perception of nature as a hostile anthropomorphized creature disappears. Fairy tales about animals are born in the literal sense of the word. In them, the depiction of images and the development of the plot are based on more accurate observations of natural phenomena. The appearance, behavior and lifestyle of a particular animal in fairy tales are used to create an artistic image of a bearer of certain moral qualities and character. For example, traits such as guile and gluttony formed the basis for the image of a sly fox. Animals in fairy tales are not only endowed with human speech, but generally live and act like people. In conditions of class contradictions, the ethical views of the people begin to appear more and more clearly in fairy tales. During the period of feudalism, the plots of fairy tales become allegorical pictures of social trends and contradictions of their time. Fairy-tale images of animals are perceived by the people as symbols of representatives of various social groups, expressing class contradictions. In fairy tales, animals work for their master. When he drives them out, the wolf, who dared to demand payment for their work, receives a stone in the throat. After being expelled, the old dog becomes a shoemaker to earn his bread. In some versions, all the grief and joy is shared with the animals by a person - an elderly farm laborer, kicked out of the house by his owner. The motif of an oppressed worker striving for a free life without masters and masters is very common in Latvian folklore. Condemnation of feudal exploitation and hatred of evil and stingy owners sound very convincing in these tales. Denial of evil and confidence in the victory of good forces is the leading thought of all fairy tales, the plots of which depict the struggle of a strong predator with a small animal. The last one in fairy tales always comes out victorious. The ideology of folk storytellers is very clearly manifested in fairy tales where humans act together with animals. If a person acts as the master and enslaver of his subordinates - animals and birds, all the sympathies of the storyteller are on the side of the animals. In stories where there is no such social opposition, the main ideological content of the tale becomes the glorification of human wisdom and work skills. Despite the physical strength of animals, man’s wit and his ability to use specific circumstances for his own good win out. In their ideological orientation, fairy tales about animals are close to magical and everyday tales about the struggle of a peasant boy with the devil. A separate group in Latvian folklore is formed by tales about forest and domestic birds. The themes and images of these tales reflect judgments about human character, permeated with criticism of the negative phenomena of everyday life and public life. Thus, in the fairy tale about how a dove learned to build a nest, haste and negligence in work are condemned. Most fairy tales in this group are characterized by etiological motives: they explain the emergence of certain animal traits, which brings these tales closer to legends. The group of fairy tales about animals also includes fables about various plants and natural phenomena, the images of which serve as the basis for an allegorical tale of an educational or ethical nature.

Fairy tales are a wonderful example of oral poetic creativity of the Kazakh people, pages of their history, reflecting the life, customs, morals and traditions of the steppe nomad, containing precious pearls folk wisdom, wit, resourcefulness, spiritual generosity. We learn from them about the hard and backbreaking work of the people, about their centuries-old hatred of their oppressors, about the heroic struggle against foreign invaders. In all fairy tales, the stupidity, greed and boundless greed of the bais are ridiculed, and the wisdom, heroism and simplicity of the poor are glorified...

Baltics. Why don't they like Bronze... Yuri Emelyanov

Has Russia really brought only troubles to the peoples of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as is now claimed in the Baltic states? Why are Russian people’s rights now being infringed upon, the graves of Soviet soldiers are being desecrated, and monuments are being erected to SS men? Has enmity always reigned between Russia and the Baltic peoples? Why did the Baltic states serve as a bridge either for peaceful ties between the West and Russia, or for an attack on our country? Analyzing the events of a thousand-year history, the famous domestic historian Yu.V. Emelyanov in his book gives answers to these and other questions...

Tales from a Travel Suitcase Svyatoslav Sakharnov

The book includes tales of the peoples of Southeast Asia and Japan, as well as English, African and Cuban tales collected by the author during his travels to various countries. Of significant interest is the retelling of the great Indian epic Ramayana included in the collection - “The Tale of Rama, Sita and the Flying Monkey Hanuman.”

Forest tales. Heaven for two Maxim Meister

There are things that are very difficult to talk about directly. Freedom, real friendship and love... Concepts that are too expensive, and the words that denote them have become worn out from overuse and no longer inspire confidence. “Heaven for Two” says little directly, and shyly hides the innermost behind images. But each story in the cycle is, in one way or another, dedicated to the most important things that we forget about, but to which every person involuntarily strives... Of course, even a child will understand that in these fairy tales there are no squirrels, hedgehogs, titmice and other forest animals ,…

Epic of the Predator. Collection Leonid Kaganov

Sword of Prince Vyachka Leonid Daineko

The action of L. Daineko’s novel “The Sword of Prince Vyachka” dates back to the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th centuries, when the Polotsk land united most of modern Belarus. The bloody war waged by Polotsk together with the peoples of the Baltic states against the crusaders rushing to the east forms the basis of the work.

The funniest weird stories Yuri Viira

Yuri Borisovich Viira is a famous children's writer. His stories were regularly published on the pages of the best magazines for children, and the writer himself was called “the capital’s Andersen.” This book is the most complete collection of the author's works. This included the cycles: “Zaviral Stories”, “Balcony”, “Gazebos”, the main characters are an inquisitive girl and her dad, with whom there is never a dull moment; also “Tales of the Peoples of the World”, the amazingly lyrical cycle “White Hedgehog by the White Sea”. They are united by a subtle, lively, childlike, spontaneous humor, unsurpassed...

Curiosities Grigory Dikov

In the southeast of Moscow, three days' ride by crossroads, on the border coniferous forest and the wormwood steppe stood two villages: Torbeevo and Vysotskoye. Whether these villages have survived today and who lives there now - God knows, but a hundred years ago the villages still stood and people lived in them. They sowed grain, felled trees, fished, and in the fall they went to the swamp to pick cranberries. Children were born in huts, black from time to time, covered with shingles. They grew up, worked, got married, quarreled, had children themselves and grew old. And in the end everyone returned to the damp warm earth, on the strewn...

Fairy tales and myths of the peoples of Chukotka and Kamchatka author unknown

This book is the first wide publication of fairy tales and myths of the peoples of Chukotka and Kamchatka, accompanied by a folklore preface and comments. The collection includes myths, tales about animals, everyday life and fairy tales of the Asian Eskimos, Chukchi, Kerek, Koryak and Itelmen. At the end of the publication there is an ethnographic information about these peoples, a dictionary of geographical names, untranslatable words and terms used in fairy tales and myths is given. The collection is intended for an adult reader. Comp., preface. and approx. G. A. Menovshchikov