DOCSLIB.ORG

Folk-Lore of Modern Greece : the Tales of the People

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Folk-Lore of Modern Greece : the Tales of the People m^^ '^m -^(^«Sf ,,' -://: .. W' ^. y^f'^^^^^ -. i4.-: ^1^ -im^ -. .-'„ -,-. \ i^f- '^X^^:m -:^w ^^s^m: : FOLK-LOKE OK MODERI (GREECE: THE TALES OF THE PEOPLE. EDITED BY THE Rev. E. M. GELDART, M.A., AVTIlOIi OF "the MODEKX GREEK LAXCa'AGE IS ITS liELATIO.V TO A.NCIEXT " GBEEK ; ''A GUIDE TO MObERX GREEK," &C•., &C. LONDON W. SWAX SONNENSCHEIN & CO.,. PATERNOSTER SQUARE. 1SS4. .. (JATK <:?:. , AM) KIN ;SI'ON-nN-THAMKf PREP' A C . ': following Fairy Talcs are translated, witli the exception of tlie first three, the originals of which are contained in the Paniassos, a journal published by the Philological Society of that name in Athens, from the Cireek text, edited by J. Pio at Cu])enhagen, under the title : Coxites J'opii/aires Grecs piiblies d'aprl-s li's Afa/iiiscn'ts dii Dr. G. dc J/ii/nr, 1879. ' Hahn J. himself, the author of Albaiicsisilw Studten, Jena, 1854, and GriecJiischc und albancsiscJie JMarchcn, Leipzig, 1864, having lived from his youth in various parts of (Ireece, had employed native amanuenses to Avrite dovn, by word of mouth, the several stories• which formed the basis of his German version, as they fell from the lips of their narrators. Some of these were subsequently re\ised by Professor Mavrophrydes, of Athens, the rest after his• death by M. Pio, the editor of the Greek text already mentioned. Of many of the tales the latter found duplicate versions among the posthumous MSS. of Von Hahn, and, by the collation of these, he succeeded in i)roducing a text which, while it leaves much to be desired from a purely philological point of viev/, is evidently, as the mere style of the recital sufficiently attests, a far closer approximation to genuine oral tradition than is mostl)• the case with collections of jiopular legends. With regard to my own work, namely, the selection and translation of the tales con- tained in the present volume, I wish to say first that I have confined myself entirely to those of which I had the (keek text before me ; secondly, that I ha\-e translated them directly from the original, and subseciuently compared, where I could, the (ierman version of Von Hahn : besides consulting native Cireek PREFACE. friends on doubtful points. 1 cannot, however, ask to be judged by Von Hahn's translation. Great as his merit is in having first drawn the attention of his countrymen to the rich treasure of fairy legends (in a ])rose form) to be found in (Ireece, he was rather a mythologist than a linguist, and his (Jerman version is not only free, but in some instances either demonstrably inaccurate or founded on a different reading to that followed by Pio. In regard to the choice I have made within the limits assigned, and resisting the temptation to enlarge the present volume either from those portions of Von Hahn's Marchcn of which the Greek text is not published, or from the charming French collection of Emile Legrand : Recueil de Contes Popiilaires Grecs, Paris, 1881, of which also the original is not yet accessible, I have to say that I was still further restricted in the matter of selection, by the character of the legends themselves, many of which exhibit all that naive unconsciousness of the proprieties of •civilized life, which belongs to popular thought and speech, and which, while wholly innocent in itself, renders the narratives un- presentable in polite society, except at the cost of such mutilation as would deprive them of scientific value. For this scientific value consists essentially, as it seems to me, in the faithful and rigorous preservation both of the matter and the form of the original, so far as this is po.ssible and compatible with translation. I have therefore not sought nor desired to remove the uncouth :abruptness of the narrative, or to make it in any sense conform to the demands of literary elegance ; I have rather endeavoured to retain, so far as the English idiom at all admits, even the rapid transition from thejiast tense to the historic present, and vice 7rr.ur, Avhich is so specially characteristic of popular oral narration, and have left intact, as far as I could, the somewhat confusing inter- -calation of comment, and often far-fetched proverbial allusion and illustration, which is another strongly marked trait of these vernacular recitals. The main interest for the student attaching to these tales centres around the problem of the migration of 'i^y^^ IWAOH Vi^''^'^ ^M—^'^i '^^~-' PREFACE. myths. Many an old nursery favourite will be recognised through its Greek disguise by English children when they read, as I hope they will read, this book. A little girl of eleven interrupted me in the story of the Two Brothers and the Forty-Nine Dragons by the cry, "Why that's the tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves'."' .\nd so it is, with a difference. How far such tales are --- i/iaii!sJics Gemeingut, how far they have crept into Greece through Turkish, Arabic and perhaps, ultimately, Persian sources; what way they have travelled, and what they have lost and gained upon the journey, is one of the most interesting, and at the .same time complicated (juestions which can engage the investigator of ethnological relations. That Little Saddleslut is the Greek Cinderella is obvious at the first blush. But why the one sat upon the hearth and the other on a saddle, not without a reminiscence of the hearth in respect of the place of burial of her much injured mother ; why in Greece the corpse of the mother replaces the (rodmother of the Teutonic legend, whether or not in the spinning wheel and the cannibal feast which usher in the Greek story, we have elements purely Hellenic, in a word, to account at once for difference and likeness in the two tales when placed side by side : these are among the most knotty points which savants can undertake to determine. The reader who is •curious about parallels will find abundant comparative illustration in the note_s to Von HahiVs collection. But the inexhaustible nature of the inquiry here opened up deters me under present conditions, especially that of my own ignorance, from doing more than offering one or two solitary and perhaps superfluous hints. With the story of "The Golden Steed" compare "Der gute Johannes" in Grimm's Kinder- und Hausmarcheii. ^Vith " Starbright and Birdie," Grimm's " Briiderchen und Schwes- tcrchenl" With "Sir Lazarus and the Dragons," Grimm's " Das tapfere Schneiderlein." Again, as essentially the same tale in another form, compare "The Man without a Beard" " I venture here to . and Der Riese und der Schneider." \/ hazard the suggestion that the greater i)rominence of solar / "^ and stellar elements to he t'ound in the (ireek, compared with the German versions, of cognate stories, points to a higher antiipiity for the former, as regards the shape in which they have come down. I would es]jecially refer to the almost total disappear- ance of the astronomical '• strain " in •• Briiderchen and Schwes- erchen,'" and its, even conscious, jjresence in the story of '• Starbright and Birdie." For a more distinctly solar signification I would draw special attention to the adventures of the " .Scab- pate," pp. 56-65, and 152-181. His tumbling in the mire, his hor.se.s of various hue, his javelin wherewith he slays his rival in the first story, and all the varied vicissitudes of his che(iuered fortune, are so many Avays of representing the struggle of the sun with clouds and darkness, and depicting its final victory over storm and gloom. In the " Tale of the Dragon," pp. 141-143, the jiart played by the pea reminds us curiously of Hans Andersen"s. story of "The Real Princess."' 1 CONTENTS VAC, I. — THE TWO I'.ROTHERS AND THE FORIV-XJNE DRAGON'S ....... 9 II. THE NINE DOVES ...... iS III. MY I.ADV SEA . .22 IV. — LITTLE SADDLESLUT 27 V. STARBRIGHT AND lURDIE 31 C VI. THE (;) WAND ..... 37 VII.•—THE SNAKE, THE DOG, AND THE CAT . 42 '. SUi r.AZARL'S AND 1 DRAGONS ... 47 IX. —THE LION, THE TIGER, AND THE EAGLE . 50 X. THE LITTLE LROl HER WHO SAVED HIS SISTER FROM THE DRAGON ..... 55 XL THE HET WU II THE LEARDLESS . .60 XII. -IHE KNIFE OF SLAUGHTER, THE WHETSTONE OF PATIENCE, AND THE UNMEI.TINt; CANDLE . 62 XIII. FOX ON PII,GRLMAGE .... 65 XIV. —THE HUSIUNDMAN, THE SNAKE, AND THE FOX . 68 XV.-^THE PRINCESS WHO WENT TO THE WARS . 70 XVI. THE TWINS ....... 74 XVII. THE GOAT-GIRL 8 XVIII. THE PAY-PERRV 85 XIX. THE PRINCE AND THE 1 AIRV . ... 88 XX.—THE GOLDEN STEED 02 coyTEXTS. PAC i; XXI. —THE GOLDEN CASKET Io6 XXII. —THE CUNNING OLD 120 XXIII. —THE SHOEMAKER AND THE PRINCES^ . 1 35 XXIV. —THE TALE OK THE DRAGON . • M^ '. LITTLE JOHN, THE WTDOW's SON . 1 44 XXVI.—THE SCAIi-PATE 1 54 XXVII. —CONSTANTES AND THE DRAGON . 74 '. THE CRAZY PRIESTESS WITH HER CRAZV DAUGHTERS . 183 XXIX.—-THE MAN WTTHOUr A BEARD . 8 : : THE TWO BROTHERS AND THE FORTY NINE DRAGONS. (SVRA.) OxcK upon a time there were two brothers. One was very rich and had four children, the other was very poor and had seven children. One day the poor man's wife went to the rich man and said to him, " I am very wretched, for I have not enough bread for my children. I take a little meal and I mix it with a great deal of bran and so manage to make bread.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Jim's Book List 2019
    JIM’S BOOK LIST 2019 Best of 2019 Fiction A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne Non-Fiction Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe Year of the Monkey by Patti Smith The Education of an Idealist by Samantha Power Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing Endurance: My Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery by Scott Kelly Fall and Rise: The Story of 9/11 by Mitchell Zuckoff The Red Caddy: Into the Unknown with Edward Abbey by Charles Bowden reviews posted throughout the year at bosilawhat.wordpress.com Best. Movie. Year. Ever. How 1999 Blew Up the Big Screen by Brian Raftery It’s 1999. The U.S. is between the two Gulf wars. We’re approaching the end of the millennium. Y2K has some people on edge, but tech stocks are on a roll. The internet has not yet changed everything, but everyone understands it will. 9/11 is unimaginable. Television is still fairly uninteresting and predictable compared to the big screen. Something about this mix made it a great petri dish for film. I heard about this book in an interview with Rafferty on The Gist podcast, and I was skeptical. After all, 1939 is traditionally accepted as the best movie year in history. Gone With the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, Stagecoach, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. But when he started to name the movies of 1999, I couldn’t believe the list.
    [Show full text]
  • Dragon Magazine #111
    D RAGON 1 SPECIAL ATTRACTION 41 Death of an Arch-Mage Michael D. Selinker A murder-mystery module for the AD&D® game Publisher OTHER FEATURES Mike Cook 8 Good stuff, for a spell John M. Maxstadt Editor-in-Chief Magic-focusing items: a new concept in treasure Kim Mohan 14 Welcome to Malachi Becky Helfenstein Editorial staff A game city designed with magic in mind Patrick Lucien Price Roger Moore 1 8 DUNGEON Adventures Roger E. Moore Robin Jenkins Everything there is to say about our new publication Editorial assistance 22 No campaign ever fails Joel E. Roosa Eileen Lucas How to recognize and correct an uncontrolled campaign Art, graphics, production 27 Microscopic monsters Kent Colbath Roger Raupp Single-celled organisms take on monstrous proportions Kim Lindau Gloria Szopinski 35 The role of books Reviews by John C. Bunnell Advertising 66 Pull the pin and throw Kevin Marzahl Mary Parkinson Grenades explode onto the TOP SECRET® game scene Subscriptions 7 2 File Under B Esther M. Friesner Pat Schulz Love, magic and a barbarian by the card catalog! This issues contributing artists Denis Beauvais THE ARES SECTION Dennis Kauth Ted Goff Valerie Valusek 78 Phoenix Roger E. Moore Richard Tomasic Marvel Bullpen Bright and dark in the Marvel Universe Denton Elliott Jeff Butler Joseph Pillsbury DC Comics staff 82 Maxima Jack Herman Dave Trampier Larry Elmore Back from the future in the V&V game 84 Supergirl Greg Gorden The Maid of Steel in the DC HEROES game 8 8 The Marvel®-Phile Jeff Grubb An advanced look at a long shot 90 Quantum George MacDonald A quantum leap in CHAMPIONS gaming DEPARTMENTS 3 Letters 64 TSR Profiles 97 Snarfquest 4 World Gamers Guide 94 Gamers Guide 100 Dragonmirth 6 The forum 96 Convention calendar 102 Wormy 62 TSR Previews COVER High above the clouds, away from the interference of men and other landlubbers, The Conflict rages.
    [Show full text]
  • SEEING Is BELIEVING
    Another educational program from SEEING is BELIEVING Dear Educator: urriculum specialists Young Minds Inspired (YMI), in Ccooperation with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, is proud to present this newest addition to our series of study guides that focus on different branches of the Academy. In this guide, students will learn about the subject of visual effects. The kits have been designed for students in English, language arts, visual arts, science and communications classes. As former teachers, we know that these critical-thinking activities capitalize on students’ natural interest in current films and the excitement generated by the Academy Awards®. The Academy, organized in 1927, is a professional honorary organization composed of more than 6,000 motion picture craftsmen and women. Its purposes include advancing the art and science of motion pictures; promoting cooperation among creative leaders for cultural, educational, and technological progress; recognizing outstanding achievements; and fostering educational activities between the professional community and the public. Academy members are the people who create movies—the cream of the industry’s actors, animators, art © A.M.P.A.S.® directors, cinematographers, costume designers, directors, film editors, documentarians, makeup artists, composers, producers, sound and visual effects experts, writers and other contributors. Please share this material with other educators. Although the material is copyrighted, you may make as many photocopies as necessary to meet your needs. To ensure that you receive future educational materials, please fill out and return the enclosed reply card. Sincerely, Roberta Nusim Publisher and former teacher YMI is the only company developing free, creative and innovative classroom materials that is owned and directed by award-winning former teachers.
    [Show full text]
  • Stu's Movie Reviews 2013 Father's Day Edition
    Stu's Movie Reviews 2013 Father’s Day Edition Note I’m definitely not a pro reviewer. It’s just that if I don’t jot down impressions of movies I watch, I tend to forget them in a week. I rarely see blockbusters, usually stick to films that gross less than 10 mil. As a joke, I started rating these movies to three significant figures sometime in 2011. That way I could say I was the most precise (if not accurate) movie reviewer in the world. I started to add rambling riffs at the end of reviews sometime in 2011 as well. Warning! The reviews have typos and weird sentences with Yiddish grammar galore. Ignore the typos but not the opinions. My Rules of Thumb If it isn't funny, it better be damn good (mediocre and funny is OK); if it has subtitles, it better be fantastic. What You’ll See Mentioned Time and Time Again The script is lousy, but the acting is excellent. A Modest Request You can disagree with me, but don’t shoot me. This Year I’ve Added Color Coding Red: Run, do not walk, to your library to get a copy. Orange: I like it. Black: If you’re sick at home with a fever and this thing shows up on TV, why not? Blue: Brain cell killer. 2 All Time Favorites This is a good way to see if it’s worthwhile to read my reviews. If you shake your head at the list below, go no further. American Splendor Drama Annie Hall Comedy Bananas Comedy Beaufort Foreign Being John Malkovich Comedy Best in Show Comedy Big Night Drama Bonnie and Clyde Drama Boys Don't Cry Drama Breaker Morant: Drama Capturing the Friedmans Documentary Chicken Run Comedy Chinatown
    [Show full text]
  • The Metacomics of Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, and Warren Ellis
    University of Alberta Telling Stories About Storytelling: The Metacomics of Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, and Warren Ellis by Orion Ussner Kidder A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English Department of English and Film Studies ©Orion Ussner Kidder Spring 2010 Edmonton, Alberta Permission is hereby granted to the University of Alberta Libraries to reproduce single copies of this thesis and to lend or sell such copies for private, scholarly or scientific research purposes only. Where the thesis is converted to, or otherwise made available in digital form, the University of Alberta will advise potential users of the thesis of these terms. The author reserves all other publication and other rights in association with the copyright in the thesis and, except as herein before provided, neither the thesis nor any substantial portion thereof may be printed or otherwise reproduced in any material form whatsoever without the author's prior written permission. Examining Committee Douglas Barbour, English and Film Studies Brad Bucknell, English and Film Studies William Beard, English and Film Studies Steven Harris, Art and Design Bart Beaty, Communications and Culture, University of Calgary This document is the product of work, support, and love from many people, and so there is no one person I could possibly dedicate it to. I would like to thank my parents, Michael Kidder and Joanna Ussner, for giving me both a love of fantasy and the ability to critique it; Dr. Kirsten Uszkalo for suggesting, years ago, that I do a dissertation on comic books at all; Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • The Eye of the Crocodile
    The Eye of the Crocodile The Eye of the Crocodile Val Plumwood Edited by Lorraine Shannon Published by ANU E Press The Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200, Australia Email: [email protected] This title is also available online at http://epress.anu.edu.au National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Author: Plumwood, Val. Title: The Eye of the crocodile / Val Plumwood ; edited by Lorraine Shannon. ISBN: 9781922144164 (pbk.) 9781922144171 (ebook) Notes Includes bibliographical references and index. Subjects: Predation (Biology) Philosophy of nature. Other Authors/Contributors: Shannon, Lorraine. Dewey Number: 591.53 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Cover design and layout by ANU E Press Cover image supplied by Mary Montague of Montague Leong Designs Pty Ltd. http://www.montagueleong.com.au Printed by Grifn Press This edition © 2012 ANU E Press Contents Acknowledgements .................................vii Preface ......................................... ix Introduction ......................................1 Freya Mathews, Kate Rigby, Deborah Rose First section 1. Meeting the predator ..............................9 2. Dry season (Yegge) in the stone country ............... 23 3. The wisdom of the balanced rock: The parallel universe and the prey perspective ........... 35 Second section 4. A wombat wake: In memoriam Birubi .................. 49 5. ‘Babe’: The tale of the speaking meat ................. 55 Third section 6. Animals and ecology: Towards a better integration ........ 77 7. Tasteless: Towards a food-based approach to death ....... 91 Works cited ..................................... 97 v Acknowledgements The editor wishes to thank the following for permission to use previously published material: A version of Chapter One was published as ‘Being Prey’ in Terra Nova, Vol.
    [Show full text]
  • Foursome at Spruce Creek Foursome at Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Orlando Grande Lakes Foursome at LPGA International Daytona Beach
    Foursome at Spruce Creek Summerfield golf course is an 18-hole facility. The course boasts two very distinct nines, designed by course architect, Terry Doss. The front nine, better known as "The Links", is a challenging course with several different hole designs tucked tightly between majestic oaks. With water coming into play on three of the holes on the front nine, you will be challenged. The back nine, better known as "The Spruce", is a much more open design which replicates the signature of original golf course design with gently rolling fairways and large, fast and undulating greens. But don't think you'll come off hole #18 without a challenge on the back nine! Two very difficult, long Par 4's will test your skills, with again, water coming into play on three holes. The 18-hole track is a true test to golfers of all skill levels and we invite you to visit the facility. Foursome at Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Orlando Grande Lakes Experience a challenging and beautiful Orlando golf course with unprecedented personal attention. Be the guests at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club® Orlando, Grande Lakes and experience the thrill of an 18-hole, par-72 Greg Norman Signature Golf Course, featuring the optional Caddie Concierge Program. Set within the pristine Headwaters of the Florida Everglades and surrounded by magnificent pines, palmettos, and live oaks, this distinguished Orlando golf resort offers a luxury experience unlike any other in the area. Foursome at LPGA International Daytona Beach, FL LPGA International, a premier Daytona Beach golf club, boasts two world-class four-star courses as rated by Golf Digest.
    [Show full text]
  • Imagetext: Interdisciplinary Comics Studies
    ImageTexT: Interdisciplinary Comics Studies ISSN: 1549-6732 Volume 5, Issue 4 (2011). http://www.english.ufl.edu//imagetext/archives/v5_4/introduction.shtml print | close Introduction: Alan Moore and Adaptation By Rex Krueger and Katherine Shaeffer Throughout his career, Alan Moore has shown both a penchant and a skill for reweaving the elements of earlier texts into new works and new worlds of his own. In doing so, Moore has walked a dangerous line. To adapt a text is, paradoxically, to both embrace and to let go of that text. Much like analysis, adaptation is a simultaneously creative and destructive act, which produces new material from the often-fragmented pieces of a source. The adaptations examined in this collection, which include both Alan Moore's adaptation of others' works and others' adaptations of his own, are varied in their execution and their degrees of success, but their analysis in the essays we present here consistently offers new ways of looking at the relationships between closely connected texts. To examine an adaptation alongside its source material—whether or not the source material is completely original it its own right—is to examine the space between two texts. This space, much like the gutter on the comic page, sutures even as it separates. Adaptation both runs through the majority of Moore's work and describes the relationship that other creative people have had with Moore's writing. As we compiled this collection, we decided that we found adaptation operating on at least three distinct levels within Moore's work. First is the adaptation that any writer or artist must perform when taking over an existing franchise within mainstream comics.
    [Show full text]