“There was once a sheep-dog whose master behaved ill to him and did not give him enough to eat, and when for hunger he could bear it no longer, he left his service very sadly. In the street he was met by a sparrow, who said, ‘Dog, my brother, why are you so sad?'”
Content Warning: This tale and post contains gore and violence pertaining to animals.
“The story, my dear young folks, seems to be false, but it really is true, for my grandfather, when relating it always used to say, ‘It must be true, my son, or else no one could tell it to you.’ The story is as follows.”
My fairy tale exploration has officially gone beyond the Grimm realm, with my reading of The Snow Maiden and other Russian Tales, translated and retold by Bonnie C. Marshall (advised by Alla V. Kulagina). I’m going to talk a little bit about the particular edition I read, and then cover some of the fairy tales and stories from the various sections.
For the first time, I visited the Maine State Library and – shocker – it was fantastic.
My trip was prompted by the latest book chosen for the #AnHistorianReads book club. The library I frequent did not have a copy, and I could not request the book from the Maine State Library (to be delivered to a nearby library they are connected to) without a state library card. So I decided to spend a lovely Saturday morning making the trip up to Augusta (the capital of Maine) to get a card and the book.
“There was once a woman who lived with her daughter in a beautiful cabbage-garden; and there came a rabbit and ate up all the cabbages.”
“Once on a time the cock and the hen went to the nut mountain, and they agreed beforehand that whichever of them should find a nut was to divide it with the other.”
