Audiobook Russian Fairy Tales: A Choice Collection of Muscovite Folk-lore

This volume brings together a carefully chosen selection of traditional Russian folk tales, known as skazkas, gathered from the authoritative collections of Afanasief and other scholars. The editor provides a direct and unvarnished transcript of these popular narratives, aiming to present a faithful photograph of the traditional Russian story-teller rather than an idealized artistic portrait. The work serves as an introduction to the vast and fascinating world of Russian folklore, setting aside for the moment complex historical and mythological problems in order to let the stories speak for themselves.

The volume opens with an extensive introductory chapter exploring the general nature of the folk-tale, its relation to Russian peasant life, and its parallels with the folklore of other Aryan nations. Here the reader encounters vivid descriptions of village life, rustic courtships, winter evening gatherings, wedding dramas, and solemn funeral wails. The pages reflect the everyday habits, the domestic virtues, and the peculiar passions of the Russian peasantry, including their familiar attitude towards strong drink and their deep, if sometimes unconventional, reverence for religious traditions.

The central portion of the book delves deeply into the mythological skazkas, focusing on the principal incarnations of evil in Slavic folklore. The author details the male embodiments of adversity, such as the many-headed Snake that steals the daylight, the subterranean monster Norka, and the dreaded Koshchei the Deathless who keeps his life hidden outside his mortal frame. Alongside them appear the female counterparts, most notably the gaunt and terrifying Baba Yaga and her kindred witches, who dwell in remote forest huts and wage relentless war against wandering heroes.

The narrative argument develops through a series of magical quests, daring rescues, and supernatural trials. Heroes like Prince Ivan or Ivan Popyalof descend into underground realms, traverse rivers of fire, and overcome twelve-headed monsters with the aid of grateful animals and magic talismans. The tales recount how faithful helpers are rewarded and how wicked adversaries meet their doom through the destruction of their hidden vital essence, echoing motifs found in the traditional lore of many distant lands.

The collection also includes a section devoted to genuine ghost stories and Slavonic beliefs about the dead, vampires, and the life beyond the grave. The final chapters present a series of moral legends featuring saints, demons, and simple-minded rustics, illustrating the consequences of hasty words and human greed. Through these varied narratives, the volume preserves the quaint humor, the dramatic tension, and the simple poetic beauty of the genuine Russian folk-tale.