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       MYTHS AND FOLK-TALES
              OF THE
   RUSSIANS, WESTERN SLAVS, AND
              MAGYARS

        By JEREMIAH CURTIN


              BOSTON
    LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY
               1890


         _Copyright, 1890_
        By Jeremiah Curtin


         University Press
  John Wilson and Son, Cambridge




To FRANCIS JAMES CHILD, PH.D., LL.D.

_Professor of English in Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass._


My dear Professor Child,--

It is more than a quarter of a century since you began for Harvard
that collection of myths, folk-tales, and ballads, in all European
languages, which has grown under your hand to such proportions that it
is now, perhaps, the most complete of its kind in either hemisphere.

This work was begun by you through a clear perception of what was
needed for laborers in a most important field of inquiry, and achieved
by tireless and patient care in seeking and finding.

Your labors as a scholar are honored abroad as at home, and your work
on English and Scottish ballads will endure as a monument of skill and
devotion.

During your career as Professor you have been true to the ideals of
Harvard scholarship and life, adding to them meanwhile something of
your own.

Whoso adds to or freshens the spirit of our revered Alma Mater
deserves well of the country; for Harvard, now in the second half of
the third century of her existence, is the oldest witness and, so far,
the most eloquent that we have to the collective and continuous
striving of Americans towards a higher life.

To you,--the distinguished Professor, the earnest scholar, the
faithful friend,--I, one of thousands who have listened to your
instruction, dedicate this volume, gathered from a field in which you
take so much delight.

                                                Jeremiah Curtin.

    Smithsonian Institution,
        Bureau of Ethnology.
            Washington D. C. October 23, 1890.




CONTENTS.


                                                                Page
    Introduction                                                 vii


    RUSSIAN MYTHS AND FOLK-TALES.

    The Three Kingdoms,--The Copper, the Silver, and
      the Golden                                                   1

    Ivan Tsarevich, The Fire-Bird, and the Gray Wolf              20

    Ivan the Peasant's Son and the Little Man Himself
      One-finger Tall, his Mustache Seven Versts in Length        37

    The Feather of Bright Finist the Falcon                       47

    The Pig with Gold Bristles, the Deer with Golden Horns,
      and the Golden-Maned Steed with Golden Tail                 59

    Water of Youth, Water of Life, and Water of Death             72

    The Footless and Blind Champions                              82

    The Three Kingdoms                                            97

    Koshchéi Without-Death                                       106

    Vassilissa Golden Tress, Bareheaded Beauty                   124

    The Ring with Twelve Screws                                  137

    The Footless and the Blind                                   149

    Koshchéi Without-Death                                       165

    Go to the Verge of Destruction and Bring Back
      Shmat-Razum                                                179

    Marya Morevna                                                203

      Variant of the Rescue of Ivan Tsarevich and the
        Winning of the Colt                                      217

    Yelena the Wise                                              218

    The Seven Simeons, Full Brothers                             228

    The Enchanted Princess                                       238

    Vassilissa the Cunning, and the Tsar of the Sea              249


    CHEKH MYTHS AND FOLK-TALES.

    Boyislav, Youngest of Twelve                                 273

    The Table, the Pack, and the Bag                             295

    The King of the Toads                                        311