12 versions of the fairy tale “Hen Ryaba”

Chicken - fairy tale No. 70 from the collection “Russian Folk Tales” by A. N. Afanasyev
Chicken - fairy tale No. 71 from the collection “Russian Folk Tales” by A. N. Afanasyev
Dear egg. Saratov region
Ruffed chicken. Voronezh region
There was an old man and an old woman. Vologda region
Chicken Ryaba. Ukrainian story. Chernigov region
Ryabonka Chicken. Ukrainian story. Chernigov region
Did and Baba. Ukrainian story. Poltava region
About the pockmarked chicken. Ukrainian story. Kharkov region.
Belarusian story.
Golden egg. Retelling by D. Ushinsky
Ryabka hen. Retelling of A. Tolstoy

Fairy tale No. 70 from the collection “Russian Folk Tales” by A. N. Afanasyev

Once
upon a time there was an old man and an old woman, they had a Tatar hen, she laid an egg in the closet [1] under the window: colorful, colorful, boney, tricky! I put it on the shelf; The mouse walked, shook its tail, the shelf fell, and the egg broke.

The old man is crying, the old woman is sobbing, the stove is on fire, the top of the hut is shaking, the girl-granddaughter hanged herself out of grief. Mallow[2] comes and asks: Why are they crying so much?

The old men began to retell:

- How can we not cry? We have a Tatar hen, she laid an egg in the hut under the window: motley, vostro, boney, tricky! I put it on the shelf; The mouse walked, shook its tail, the shelf fell, and the egg broke! I, an old man, am crying, the old woman is sobbing, the stove is on fire, the top of the hut is shaking, the girl-granddaughter hanged herself out of grief.

As soon as the breadmaker heard it, she broke all the bread and threw it away. The sexton comes up and asks the breadmaker: why did she throw away the bread?

She told him all the grief; the sexton ran to the bell tower and broke all the bells.

The priest comes and asks the sexton: why did you break the bells?

The sexton recounted all the grief to the priest, and the priest ran and tore up all the books.

Old Man's Great Grief

Strictly speaking, Alexander Nikolaevich Afanasyev was not a professional folklorist, but rather an amateur enthusiast; due to his too liberal views in his youth, he was prohibited from teaching at universities and, accordingly, the official path to science was closed. This, however, did not prevent him from making a fairly successful career as a government official, rising to the rank of court councilor (state lieutenant colonel), receiving the court rank of chamber cadet and “Anna on the neck.” He entered the history of science as the compiler of the famous collection “Russian Folk Tales”, from which all modern Russian folkloristics originates. At the same time, he did not wander around the villages, did not write down folk tales from the words of local grandmothers-storytellers, but used the storerooms of the Main Moscow Archive, the oldest archive of the empire, where he served as the head of the department, and also looked for and bought ancient manuscripts at the bookstore near the Sukharevskaya Tower.

Eight books in his collection were published in small editions in 1855–1863. And the second edition of the collection in four volumes, where the fairy tales were grouped according to plots according to all scientific rules, was published after his death in 1871 and still serves as one of the reference books for folklorists. In parallel with the release of the first books of fairy tales, Afanasiev prepared a collection of “Russian Children's Fairy Tales” with pictures, adapted for family reading. But it just so happened that this collection was published only in 1870, that is, simultaneously with Vladimir Ivanovich Dahl’s book “The First First Fruit of a Semi-Literate Grandson. Fairy tales, songs, games”, where 15 Russian folk tales adapted for children were published, and number six there was the tale of the Ryaba Hen.

In Dahl’s fairy tale, there were no murders or sacrilege (the breadmaker, the clerk and the priest are not among the characters), but the picture of universal (not just the old man and the old woman) grief solely for one reason - because of a testicle broken by a mouse - was more epic: the fairy tale ended with the fact that “the whole village began to scream loudly, began to tear out their hair, grieving over the old man’s great grief.” The fairy tale in the book was called “The Old Man’s Great Grief.” By the way, the picture of natural disasters that accompanied the breaking of an egg is more impressive in Dahl’s version; one can safely raise the severity of the earthquake and hurricane in the old man’s yard by one.

from the collection “Russian Folk Tales” by A. N. Afanasyev

Just like our grandmother had a hazel hen in her backyard; The chicken planted an egg, from shelf to shelf, into an aspen hollow [4], into a cubby under the bench. The mouse ran, returned with its tail, and broke the testicle! About this testicle the system[5] began to cry, Baba began to sob, the faithful[6] began to laugh, Chickens began to fly, gates creaked; The rubbish under the threshold began to smoke, the doors began to shake [7], the wall crumbled; The priest’s daughters came with water, They broke the tub, They said to the priest: “You don’t know anything, mother! After all, in my grandmother’s backyard there was a hazel hen; The chicken planted an egg, from shelf to shelf, into an aspen hollow, into a cubby under the bench. The mouse ran, returned with its tail, and broke the testicle! The system began to cry about this testicle, Baba began to sob, and burst out laughing. Chickens are flying, the gates are creaking, the rubbish under the threshold is lighting up, the doors are shaking, the wall is crumbling; We walked with water and broke the tub!” The priest kneaded the kneading mixture - She scattered all the dough on the floor; I went to church, the priest said: “You don’t know anything... After all, in my grandmother’s backyard (The same story is repeated again.) ……… the tyn crumbled; Our daughters walked with water - The tub was broken, they told me; I kneaded the dough - I scattered all the dough!” The priest began to tear the book - he scattered it all over the floor!

Notes

A corner in a hut, a counter, a stall in which chickens were kept in winter.
A woman at the church who baked prosvira - specially shaped bread
Recorded in Arkhangelsk province. A. Kharitonov.
A tub hollowed out of a solid tree or stump.
Beggar, cripple.
Veres are pillars on which gates are hung.
They made a face

Chicken - fairy tale No. 70 from the collection “Russian Folk Tales” by A. N. Afanasyev
Chicken - fairy tale No. 71 from the collection “Russian Folk Tales” by A. N. Afanasyev
Dear egg. Saratov region
Ruffed chicken. Voronezh region
There was an old man and an old woman. Vologda region
Chicken Ryaba. Ukrainian story. Chernigov region
Ryabonka Chicken. Ukrainian story. Chernigov region
Did and Baba. Ukrainian story. Poltava region
About the pockmarked chicken. Ukrainian story. Kharkov region.
Belarusian story.
Golden egg. Retelling by D. Ushinsky
Ryabka hen. Retelling of A. Tolstoy

Russian story

Saratov region

Dear egg

There lived an old man and an old woman. And they had an old hazel hen. She laid an egg in the canopy on a shelf, on rye straws. Wherever the mouse came from, it split this egg. The grandfather is crying, the woman is grieving, the magpie has broken her leg, the backbone has become loose, the oak tree has knocked off its leaves. The priest's daughter went for water, broke the buckets, and came home without water. Popadya asks: “Why are you daughter, did you come without water?” She says: What grief is upon me, how great is it upon me: “Once upon a time there lived an old man and an old woman. And they had an old hazel hen. She laid an egg in the canopy on a shelf, on rye straws. Wherever the mouse came from, it split this egg. The grandfather is crying, the woman is grieving, the magpie has broken her leg, the backbone has become loose, the oak tree has knocked off its leaves. And I went for water, broke the buckets, broke the rocker. At least leave the pies out of the window out of grief!” The priest got upset and threw the pies out the window. The priest goes: “What are you doing, priest?” And she replies: “What a grief it is for me, how great it is for me. There lived an old man and an old woman. And they had an old hazel hen. She laid an egg in the canopy on a shelf, on rye straws. Wherever the mouse came from, it split this egg. The grandfather is crying, the woman is grieving, the magpie has broken her leg, the backbone has become loose, the oak tree has knocked off its leaves. Our daughter went to fetch water, broke the buckets, and broke the rocker. And out of grief, I left all the pies out the window. And you, priest, at least hurt yourself on the doorframe out of grief!” The priest ran away, and how he hit the doorframe! That's where he died. They began to bury the priest and celebrate a wake. What an expensive egg!

(Tales of the Saratov region. Saratov, 1937. pp. 147-148).

Voronezh region

Ruffed chicken

Once upon a time there lived a grandfather and a woman. And they had a hazel grouse chicken. The chicken was not a simple one, which means it laid golden eggs. Here the hazel grouse laid a golden egg, such a large one, it’s a pleasure to look at. Grandfather saw the egg and called grandmother. They began to praise the hazel hen. And then the grandfather says: “Put the egg in a good place so that it can be seen. Well, they put it in. They put it in and can’t stop looking at it. We admired it all day. And my grandparents had a purring cat, very angry with mice. And when my grandfather and grandmother went to bed, the purr began to run after the mouse. I thought about eating it. The mouse goes here and there - there’s no escape from the cat. She saw the egg, wanted to hide behind it - and dived onto the shelf. But the egg on the shelf could not resist and fell to the floor and broke. Grandfather and grandmother get up in the morning. Let us, they think, admire the egg. Lo and behold, there is no egg on the shelf. It's lying on the floor and everything is broken as it is. Grandfather and grandmother began to cry and went to complain to the hazel grouse. And the chicken says to them: “Don’t cry, grandfather, don’t cry, grandmother!” The hazel hen will lay you another golden egg, better than the first.”

(From Natalya Mikhailovna Danshina (1892), Krasovka village, Gribanovsky district, in 1969 // Folk tale of the Voronezh region. Modern records. Voronezh 1977 ed. Kretov. Page 17, No. 1.)

Vologda region

There was an old man and an old woman

There was an old man and an old woman. And they had a mottled chicken. She laid an egg from Kot Kotofeich under the window on a scrap of fur coat. Look, the mouse jumped out, returned it with its tail, blinked its eye, kicked its foot, and broke the egg. The old man is crying, the old woman is crying, the broom is plowing, the mortar is dancing, the pestles are pounding. The priest's girls went out to the well to get water, and they were told that the egg had been broken. The girls broke the buckets out of grief. They told the priest that she planted pies under the stove without memory. They told the priest, and the priest ran to the bell tower to ring the alarm. The laity gathered: “What happened?” Here the laymen began to fight among themselves out of frustration.

(Sokolovs, 142. From Elizaveta Panteleevna Chistyakova, Pokrovskaya village, Punemsky volost, Kirillovsky district, Novgorod province.)

“Ryaba Hen”: interpretation, hypotheses, versions

The instructive meaning of the fairy tale about “Ryab the Hen”

If we take the text of A. N. Afanasyev as a basis for analysis (a cyclical narrative, there is no golden egg at all, a simple egg is broken, after which a series of inadequate and therefore comical reactions and consequences occur), then the meaning of the fairy tale turns out to be purely everyday: do not stand too violently react to everyday things

.
Or - you shouldn’t create problems from scratch. Or - giving too much significance to events that do not deserve it leads to unnecessary frustration and negative consequences. And so on. This concept ridicules human stupidity, the inability to think soberly and logically.
Therefore, from this point of view, the moral of the tale is to elevate your reason over your emotions, and control them from the height of your personality,

but not vice versa. If the human mind is weak, then emotions are always erroneous, drunken, exaggerated, and this, in turn, gives rise to fussiness and suspiciousness.

The meaning of the fairy tale “Ryaba Hen” from an Orthodox point of view

Interpreting Russian folk tales through the prism of Christianity is a rather controversial exercise, because they are essentially a product of the pre-Christian world.
These ancient images were initially created and developed outside the Christian paradigm, therefore their meaning cannot in any way be deduced from the Christian picture of the world. Coincidences here are more likely to be random, and conclusions will be distorted. However, to complete the picture, we will also give an interpretation of the tale of “The Ryab Hen” from an Orthodox point of view. Orthodoxy interprets this legend as the need for God

.
A random event should be perceived by
Grandfather and Grandmother
as His providence
, because He is omniscient and omniscient. There is no event that was not foreseen by Him. That is, the source of life is God's moral law, and not a trick of chance or, in a sense, of the Devil. The Golden Egg in this case can be interpreted as a sign of excess wealth, and the image of the Mouse can be interpreted as a person’s inability to predict the future.

The main characters are not a Man and a Woman, not a Boy and a Girl, but Grandfather and Grandmother. Firstly, these are heterosexual creatures, like Adam and Eve, a symbol of all humanity. Secondly, these heroes are a demonstration of the inevitable - old age, that is, a kind of reminder that the transition to Hell or Heaven, depending on earthly actions, is inevitable.

The philosophical meaning of the fairy tale “Hen Ryaba”

In the story, Grandfather and Grandmother intend to break the golden egg, but are upset when a mouse does it. In ancient times, gold was often associated with death

.
Perhaps this is due to the process of its extraction - from underground and in difficult conditions. In general , everything underground was traditionally associated in folklore with the afterlife - it was associated with burial rites
.
Moreover, fairy-tale characters who are in a borderline state are traditionally associated with gold. For example, Koschey - “the living dead” - “wasting away over gold
.

Vsevolod Ivanov . In the palace of Kashchei

In turn, the Egg was a symbol of life, rebirth

.
But encased in “gold” it is no longer alive. This is not just death, but life nailed into some kind of bonds, anti-life , and according to some versions - pure evil.
Life proceeds correctly only if there is development, and golden shackles are what prevent it from developing. Grandfather and Grandmother, looking at this, strive to release life and restore balance.

Mouse from the cartoon “The Wonderful Bell”, 1949

The mouse, as a mediator between life and death, acts as a “providence” - an accident or fate.

When she breaks the egg, Grandfather and Grandmother are disheartened because the egg turns out to be hollow, which means there is no hope of receiving a “second” life or immortality.
By the way, the Mouse, as a symbol of chance , impermanence, and unexpected changes, appears in many fairy tales
. For example, in “Morozko”, a timely fed mouse becomes a salvation for a girl, and helps her win a dangerous game with the Bear, and as a result, return home with rich gifts.

Then the Chicken gives new hope. It is the Ryaba Hen - a symbol of forgiveness and salvation - she promises to create a new life

, save Grandfather and Grandmother from existential torment.
In many ways, the functions of Ryaba are similar to the functions of God, if we judge him from the point of view of religion, and the appearance after the golden hollow egg of something that brings life is the transformation of death, in a sense, immortality
.

Easter
eggs-pysanka .
Painting in the traditions of the Lusatian Serbs - a Slavic ethnic group in Germany It is interesting that the image of an egg as a symbol of eternal life was used both in ancient times and in late Christian times - right up to the present day. Let us remember the custom of painting and breaking eggs at Easter.

The sacred “cosmic” meaning of the fairy tale Chicken Ryaba

This interpretation originates from the etymology of the words

, which are used to name the main characters of the tale.
The root “star-” in Russian means antiquity and a certain STARShinsto
: old man, old woman, old woman (an ancient abandoned river bed), old times, old times (imitate old times), old man, foreman, stry (father’s brother) ... Compare with English.
“star” - literally - old, like “star”. That is, Grandfather and Grandmother - the Old Man and the Old Woman - symbolize a certain common accumulated wisdom of generations
and at the same time represent
two principles - male and female
.

The chicken represents Mokosh (or Makosh) - a Slavic goddess associated with crafts and fate

. Mokosh controls Time and Fate, keeps the hearth and gives abundance. Her image is inextricably linked with a spindle, a thread, the weaving of destinies or the fabric of the universe.

Alexander Uglanov. Makosh

And why Ryaba? The epithet “ripple” can be interpreted in the context of the words “ripple”, “pockmarked”

- that is, with spots of a different color on the main background.
As a result, we have a certain integrity (cosmos) consisting of many elements (infofield) - it is precisely this understanding of the structure that physicists
are approaching today .

If you use the Old Russian words, it turns out that “ripple”

-
“something bright, shimmering, beautiful, consisting of threads or a motley repeating pattern”
(“ryasno” - decoration; “cassock” - thread; “ryat” - clarity or brightness) + suffix “ba” meaning “process” (gulba, threshing, walking, etc.).
It turns out that Ryaba is a living shimmering cosmos
(perhaps dark matter or the noosphere in the sense of some potential ready to be revealed), and
Ryaba Hen
is the cosmic part of Mokoshi, that is,
the intelligent and self-governing outline of the universe, the creative and ever-evolving Universe.

The Spiral Nebula in the constellation Aquarius

The egg is a common cultural symbol of the beginning and end of life. Golden egg - living in non-living

. Grandfather and Grandmother's attempts to break it speak of an unsuccessful struggle against the inevitable.

Mouse is a sacred image

, which is used in one way or another in the legends of almost all peoples of the Earth.
It is curious that most often the mouse is neither a positive nor a negative character, but rather a kind of paradoxical hero
who appears unexpectedly and does not act according to some kind of his own plan/algorithm, not related to the general logic of the development of events.
It is often associated with the theme of Death as a transition to some new state
. Linguist O. N. Trubachev, having studied M. Vasmer’s dictionary, noticed that mouse (Indo-European mūs - “gray”) is one of the Indo-European taboo names (by analogy with “bear” - “knowing honey”).

Milky Way

By the way, the popular name for the “Milky Way”

also associated with the mouse - our ancestors often
called it the “Mouse Trail”
(read more about the Old Russian names of constellations about the Old Russian names of constellations). In ancient Indian legends, the Milky Way was created by the milk that flowed from the teats of the Cow Zemun (Mokosh).

An interesting logical chain is discovered when examining various images of the goddess Mokoshi

: she is
the creator
(the one who holds the threads of Fate in her hands, weaves the outline of the universe), and
Share, and Nedolya, and Mara
, and - finally,
the personification of the End - that is, the Mouse
(note the consonance of the words mouse and Makosh)!
In this dimension, the goddess is perceived as death, and the tail with which the mouse broke the egg is the end of an era, where the “golden” (ossified, dying) life dies and a new one is reborn - simple, living, “real”.

The general sacred meaning of the tale is as follows: in the power of Mokosha both the birth of the world and its death

.
At the same time, the processes of completing the old and creating a new one are cyclical
- that is,
there is no death as such, because it is always followed by a new life
and this constant cycle is development.
Cosmic dying and rebirth are continuous like breathing and inevitable like fate
. At the same time, people’s desires in this case do not play a big role - by trying to complete the cycle ahead of time or start it, they turn out to be powerless. Probably, Grandfather and Grandmother, as the personification of humanity, must learn to appreciate the current moment and realize that earthly life (a simple egg) is the highest reward, while the golden shell is not so much death as a transitional state between the completion of a worldly stage and esoteric rebirth .

Vedic meaning of the tale of the Golden Egg

Images of a fairy tale familiar to us can also be found in the Indian Vedas, created more than five thousand years ago. Thus, orientalist and religious scholar S. Zyuzko in the article “Vedic roots of Russian fairy tales” writes that Brahma

- an inhabitant of the highest levels of the universe and the creator of new worlds -
creates the Universal Egg with the help of certain mantras
.
The sacred syllable “OM” gives him the knowledge of exactly how to create this world
(more about the creation of worlds through sound - in the article about the harp).
It is noteworthy that in Sanskrit the higher worlds where Brahma lives are called “svarga” - almost like the Creator God Svarog
in Slavic mythology.
It is he who is probably presented in the fairy tale about the Ryaba Hen in the form of an Old Man or Grandfather,
while the Old Woman is his wife and companion -
the goddess Lada
(remember the often repeated refrain of Russian ritual songs -
“Oh Did Lado”
).

Mouse

- a “chthonic”
creature personifying the “earth”
, that is,
the process of breaking a golden egg by a mouse in this case is interpreted as the separation of the earth/firmament from the universal waters
in which the Golden Egg initially floated.

By the way, the Vedas also emphasize the golden color of the Egg,

or rather, the infinite space of Eggs (remember the “ripples” of the Ryaba Hen), each of which is a golden cosmic egg that becomes alive with a new cycle of “universal inhalation-exit” (analogous to the scientific theory of the big bang):

“Divine seeds are born from the pores of
Maha-Vishnu in the form of endless golden eggs. These golden grains are covered with the five main material elements. In his expansions, Maha-Vishnu enters each of the Universes, each of the cosmic eggs.”

_________
The true meaning of the fairy tale “Ryaba Hen” is perceived not by the mind, but by the subconscious. From century to century, the peoples of the earth accumulated wisdom and passed it on in the form of image codes that permeate all truly folk tales. A simple form, adapted for oral transmission, made it possible to preserve this knowledge and deep semantic content and convey it to us today for thousands of years.

Ukrainian story

Chernigov region

Chicken Ryaba

Once upon a time there lived a grandfather and a woman. They had chicken Ryaba. The hen laid an egg, not an ordinary one - a golden one. Grandfather beat and beat, but did not break. The woman beat and beat, but did not break. The mouse was running, its tail touched it, the egg fell and broke. The grandfather is crying, the woman is crying, and the hen is cackling: “Don’t cry, grandfather, don’t cry, woman: I will lay you an egg, not a golden one, but a simple one!”

(village Ploskoe, Nezhinsky district of Chern.).

Ryabonka Chicken

Long live the old man, long live the old woman. Dida had a rouse hen. The chicken attacked the egg, and the mouse jumped at the window, wagged its tail, the egg fell and broke. They started crying. The hen laid an egg; Then the chicken disappeared within two days.

(village Ploskoe, Nezhinsky district of Chern.).

Poltava region

Did and Baba

Buv sobi did and baba // Mali sobi chicken grouse. // The hen laid an egg, // Baba is a sweet hut, // She broke the egg. // Did you cry, woman cry, // The gates creak, // The magpie chirps.

A magpie flew, hitting the oak tree. A magpie is feeding on an oak tree: “Why are you chirping?”, “Hey oak, oak.” If you had known, you would have dropped the leaves. Letting go of the oak leaves.”

Buv sobi did and baba // Mali sobi chicken grouse. // The hen laid an egg, // Baba is a sweet hut, // She broke the egg. // Did you cry, woman cry, // Gates creaking, // Magpies chirping // Oak leaves drooping.

Priishov bull. Pitae goby: “Why are you lowering the leaves?” “If you had known, you would have forgotten your eyes.”

The bull went to the water. Water Pitae: “Why are you beating your eyes?” “Water, water, if you knew, you would become bloody.”

Buv sobi did and baba // Mali sobi chicken grouse. // The hen laid an egg, // Baba is a sweet hut, // She broke the egg. // Did you cry, woman cry, // The gates creak, // The magpie chirps. // The oak leaves dropped, // The bull's mouth left. // The water became blood.

The hired woman Popova came to the water: “Water, water, why did you become bloody?” “It’s amazing, it’s amazing, if you knew, you’d be dead.”

The hired woman came to the house. Pyup pitae: “Why were you there?” “Her ass, ass, if you had known, you would have thrown everyone out of the church.”

Priishov pyup do popoddi. Then you try: “Pop, pop, why did you leave the church?” “Oh come on, come on, if only you knew, you’d throw away the proskura.”

Buv sobi did and baba // Mali sobi chicken grouse. // The hen laid an egg, // Baba is a sweet hut, // She broke the egg. // Did you cry, woman cry, // The gates creak, // The magpie chirps. // The oak tree dropped its leaves, and the little bull left its mouth. // The water became blood. Vidra's hireling stayed. // I threw him out of the church. // Having thrown out the proskuryts.

(M. Borispol, Pereyaslavsky district, Poltava province. Chubinsky. Proceedings of an ethnographic-statistical expedition to the Western Russian region. Materials and studies collected by Chubinsky. T.2 Little Russian fairy tale. St. Petersburg. 1878 department 1 , 2)

Kharkov region.

About the Ryaba chicken

When the woman told her, and their hen was pockmarked, she laid an egg, not simpler, more golden. Did beat - didn't break, baba beat - didn't break. They put it in a little skull and put it next to the little hutch. The beagle mouse capped its tail and went away. Did you cry, woman cry, the chicken is kudkudache, the doors are digging straw. There is an oak tree. “Doors, doors, why are you rattling? “Let go of Gill, I’ll say so. Oak and lowering the gill.. “As it seems, we are not rypyty: Buv sobi did that woman, and their hen is pockmarked, she laid an egg, not simpler, more golden. Did beat - didn't break, baba beat - didn't break. They put it in a little skull and put it next to the little hut. The beagle mouse capped its tail and went away. Did you cry, woman cry, the chicken is kudkudache, the doors are digging straw. The gill oak has descended. Idea ram of the waters of torture: “Dube, Dube, why are you letting go of the hill?” “You gotta lose your horns, I’ll say so.” Taking the wine and visiting. “Why don’t they let me go: Buv sobi did that woman, and their hen is pockmarked, she laid an egg, not simpler, more golden. Did beat - didn't break, baba beat - didn't break. They put it in a little skull and put it next to the little hutch. The beagle mouse capped its tail and went away. Did you cry, woman cry, the chicken is kudkudache, the doors are digging straw. Beating Gill's oak. The ram has lost its horns. Priyshov ram to the river. “Ram, ram, have you forgotten your horns? “And become crooked, I’ll say so. Richka became crooked. “Like my horns haven’t forgotten: If they did that woman, and their hen is pockmarked, she laid an egg, not simpler, more golden. Did beat - didn't break, baba beat - didn't break. They put it in a little skull and put it next to the little hut. The beagle mouse capped its tail and went away. Did you cry, woman cry, the chicken is kudkudache, the doors are digging straw. The gill oak has descended. The ram has lost its horns. Richka became crooked. When the priest arrived at the river, a diva of plates of banyty: “Richka, richka, why did you become crooked?” “If you break the dishes, I’ll say so. The diva stayed. “How, it seems, I’m crooked, I’m not worthy: If that woman did sobi, and their hen is pockmarked, she laid an egg, not simpler, more golden. Did beat - didn't break, baba beat - didn't break. They put it in a little skull and put it next to the little hut. The beagle mouse capped its tail and went away. Did you cry, woman cry, the chicken is kudkudache, the doors are digging straw. The gill oak has descended. The ram has lost its horns. The div has left the dishes. The diva came home, and when she got there she taught the diju. “Why are you torturing the dishes? And give it a whirl, I’ll say so. She scattered the wrath, the diva, and she said: “How come they haven’t been to me: If they did that woman, and their hen had a pockmarked hen, she laid an egg, not simpler, more golden. Did beat - didn't break, baba beat - didn't break. They put it in a little skull and put it next to the little hutch. The beagle mouse capped its tail and went away. Did you cry, woman cry, the chicken is kudkudache, the doors are digging straw. The gill oak has descended. The ram has lost its horns. The div has left the dishes. When I got into trouble, I scattered it all over the place. The pip comes: “What did you get? “And I’ll put it on the braid, I’ll say so. Pip recognized and shouted. “How come they didn’t give me away: Buv sobi did that woman, and their hen is pockmarked, she laid an egg, not simpler, more golden. Did beat - didn't break, baba beat - didn't break. They put it in a little skull and put it next to the little hut. The beagle mouse capped its tail and went away. Did you cry, woman cry, the chicken is kudkudache, the doors are digging straw. The gill oak has descended. Beating Gill's oak. The ram has lost its horns. The div has left the dishes. Mother threw a piss out of her hat. Pip straightened his braid.

(Manzhura I.I. Fairy tales, proverbs, etc. recorded in the Ekaterinoslav and Kharkov provinces. Collection of the Kharkov Philological Society. T. 3, issue 2 Kharkov. 1890.)

Finnish taxonomy

As mentioned above, the plot of this tale is found among many nations, and sometimes it is so disguised by national characteristics that special research is required to get to the essence of the tale and correctly classify it according to the plot. At the same time, the matter is complicated by the fact that there are now several main classifications of fairy tale plots and it is necessary to turn to comparative indexes of plots, of which there are also several, and they also differ from each other. In a word, the situation in fairy-tale folklore now is the same as it was in biology before Linnaeus’ “System of Nature” or in chemistry before Mendeleev’s Periodic Table of Elements.

For example, in the “Index of fairy-tale plots according to the Aarne system” by N.P. Andreev, plot 241 III (2022) “The hen laid a golden egg: the mouse broke it, the old woman was crying, the old man was crying behind her, the sexton was behind him, etc., etc. d." is found in Section I, “Tales of Animals” (plots 1–299), subsection “Birds and Fishes” (plots 220–274). And, for example, in the latest edition of Stith Thompson’s Motif-index of folk-literature, this plot numbered B103.2.1 (Bird lays money or golden eggs or an egg) is in the group B100-B119. Treasure animals ("Treasures of animals") subsections B100-B199. Magic animals (“Magical animals”) section B. Animals (“Animals”). And these are just two “determinants” of fairy tale plots - ours and the American one.

With such national “pluralism” in taxonomy, biology, for example, simply would not exist as a science. Carl Linnaeus in the 17th century brought order to it and put everything into shelves, where even a schoolchild could easily find what he needed; in chemistry, Dmitry Mendeleev did the same in the 19th century. The first to try to restore order in folklore was Antti Aarne, a professor at the Imperial Alexander University (now the University of Helsinki). His first “Index of Fairy Tale Types” was published in German in 1910, then it was reprinted several times, supplemented and continues to be supplemented and corrected to this day in the form of the “Index of Folk Tale Plots” (ATU Index - Aarne-Thomson-Uther Index). But such comparative indexes are quite difficult to use even for specialists.

The reason for this discrepancy was pointed out by Leningrad University professor Vladimir Propp back in the 1920s: “While the physical and mathematical sciences have a coherent classification, a uniform terminology adopted by special congresses, a methodology that was improved by continuity from teachers to students, we have all this no... It is also completely obvious and does not require any proof that the origin of any phenomenon can be discussed only after the phenomenon has been described. Meanwhile, the study of the fairy tale was carried out mainly only genetically, for the most part without attempts at a preliminary systematic description... It is clear that before illuminating the question of where the fairy tale comes from, it is necessary to answer the question of what it is... Although classification forms the basis of any study, itself it must be the result of a certain preliminary elaboration. Meanwhile, we see just the opposite: most researchers begin with classification, introducing it into the material from the outside, and not deducing it from the material essentially... Classifiers, moreover, often violate the simplest rules of division. Here we find one of the reasons for the deadlock...”

In short, Professor Propp reproached his colleagues for missing a whole stage in the evolution of any science - the descriptive one; they stubbornly do not admit it and continue to put things that they themselves do not fully understand, or at least have not fully researched, into the shelves they have invented. Professor Propp spoke bitter words, but he had the right to do so: in the 1920s, especially in the second half, fairy tale folkloristics flourished in our country. Within the framework of the State (formerly Imperial) Russian Geographical Society, the “Fairytale Commission”, chaired by Academician Oldenburg, resumed its work.

Just think: in 1929, the year of the “Great Turning Point” according to Stalin’s definition, when the gallant march of aviators “We were born to make a fairy tale come true” sounded throughout the country, Soviet folklorists and storytellers held a symposium discussing the Verzeichnis der Mrchentypen of the “White Finn” Aarne . The upper echelon of Soviet power at all times treated fairy tales favorably and created no less comfortable working conditions for fairy tale scientists than for scientists working for defense. Suffice it to say that the complete academic edition of fairy tales was blessed by the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (government) Vyacheslav Molotov.