Georgian Folk Tales: "Illustrated"

by Anonymous, Marjory Wardrop (Illustrations)

GEORGIAN FOLK TALES PART I GEORGIAN FOLK TALES I Master and Pupil II The Three Sisters and their Stepmother III The Good-for-nothing IV The Frog's Skin V Fate VI Ghvthisavari (I am of God) VII The Serpent and the Peasant VIII Gulambara and Sulambara IX The Two Brothers X The Prince XI Conkiajgharuna1 XII Asphurtzela1 XIII The Shepherd and the Child of Fortune XIV The Two Thieves XV The Fox and the King's Son XVI The King and the Apple1 PART II MINGRELIAN TALES1 I The Three Precepts II Kazha-ndii III The Story of Geria, the Poor Man's Son IV The Prince who befriended the Beasts V The Cunning Old Man and the Demi VI Sanartia VII The Shepherd Judge VIII The Priest's youngest Son PART III GURIAN FOLK TALES I The Strong Man and the Dwarf II The Grasshopper and the Ant1 III The Countryman and the Merchant IV The King and the Sage V The King's Son VI Teeth and No-Teeth VII The Queen's Whim VIII The Fool's good Fortune IX Two Losses X The Story of Dervish XI The Father's Prophecy XII The Hermit Philosopher XIII The King's Counsellor1 XIV A Witty Answer ONCE upon a time there was a poor peasant who had one son. And it came to pass that his wife said to him: 'He should learn some trade, for when he is separated from thee, what will he do if he is left ignorant like thee?' The wife importuned him; she gave him no rest. So the peasant took his child, and went to seek a master for him. On the way they were thirsty. He saw a rivulet, drank eagerly till his thirst was quenched, and when he lifted up his head he cried out: 'Ah! how good thou art!'1 On saying this, there came forth from the water a devil in the form of a man, and said to the peasant: 'What dost thou want, O man! I am Vakhraca; what troubles thee?' The peasant told him all his story. The devil, when he learnt this, said: 'Give me this son of thine: I will teach him for one year, then come hither; if thou knowest him, it is well, he will go with thee; if not, he is mine and mine alone, he shall be lost to thee.'

Genres: Fantasy, Folklore, Folk Tales, Short Stories, 19th Century, Childrens

202 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1894

About the author

Books can be attributed to "Anonymous" for several reasons:

* They are officially published under that name
* They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author
* They are religious texts not generally attributed to a specific author

Books whose authorship is merely uncertain should be attributed to Unknown.

See also: Anonymous

Reviews

[Calzean · Rating 3 out of 5]

While there are similarities with some European folklore, the Georgian ones seem to be far more violent and have many more threads, twists and turns. I could see the crossing of East and West in some of the stories but I struggled in most cases to see the message the story was trying to tell (except all Princesses are beautiful, handsome Princes are licensed to hunt and kill and devilish imps should be avoided).

[Ahimsa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection is a little hard to get through, but that is kind of its strength. We read folklore to get an insight into the past and other cultures and other cultures in the past. These stories do not match current expectations. Often the wicked person is the one who thrives. Very lucky, very random events often sway the story. The logic is more Looney Tunes than Brothers Grimm.

But for all that, it's a pretty fascinating read and a few of the stories are classics.

[Cynthia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've got to say, these were pretty interesting, even though quite many of them left me scratching my head at times. There were lots of devis, lots of princes (some favored, some not), lots of marrying random princesses for sake of marrying random princesses. Overall, nothing that will probably stick out in my memory as great but it was still fun to read.

[Shakiba Bahrami · Rating 2 out of 5]

با خوندن داستان های فولکلور گرجستان متوجه شدم، هیچی ایران خودمون نمیشه:)) داستان ها به نظرم پایان بندی مسخره ای داشت در حالیکه سیر روایی داستان های ایرانی بسیار زیبا و حرفه ای سینه به سینه نقل شده.
شباهت هاش با داستان های فولکلور بقیه کشورها جالب بود ولی به نظرم نخونیدش:)

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book of Georgian folk tales in conjunction with a trip to the Republic of Georgia in May 2018. The tales are interesting, but written in rather stilted language. They did make a fine backdrop to my trip and enabled my understanding of a rich, ancient culture.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been interested in the Grimm Brother Tales and all manner of folk stories for a long time and I've read quite a few anthologies of them. The Georgian Folktales assembled by Marjory Wardrop are fresher and more enjoyable than many I've read. Almost every story has several twists that I wouldn't have expected. I found myself laughing, sometimes simply at the oddity of the plot element, oftentimes because characters often unexpectedly do the wrong thing, the morally incorrect thing. And sometimes they get away with it! You don't have to read too many tales by the Brothers Grimm before you find a dud, one or more stories, in fact, that are just a bit dull. I didn't find that to be the case with these tales. The anthology includes Mingrellian tales and Gurian tales and I did find those described as Georgian, which make up more than half of the anthology, to be the best. You will find stories that make you think of certain folk tales you are familiar with, but are truly different.

https://www.newenglandbard.com/post/t...

[rebel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Available free on Project Gutenberg