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Grimm Library
No. 1
GEORGIAN FOLK TALES
‘I quite understand, my good friend,’ said I, ‘the contempt you bestow upon the nursery tales with which the Hajee and I have been entertaining each other; but, believe me, he who desires to be well acquainted with a people will not reject their popular stories or local superstitions. Depend upon it, that man is too far advanced into an artificial state of society who is a stranger to the effects which tales and stories like these have upon the feelings of a nation....’
Sir John Malcolm’s Sketches of Persia, ch. xvi.
Marjory Wardrop
in the Strand, London
1894
Edinburgh: T. and A. Constable, Printers to Her Majesty
TO
DR. EDWARD B. TYLOR
AS A SLIGHT TOKEN OF
ADMIRATION FOR HIS GREAT TALENTS
THESE TRANSLATIONS ARE
RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
PREFACE
As the first attempt to translate into English any part of the varied and interesting secular literature of the Georgian people, this little book may perhaps claim some attention from the public. A volume of sermons by Bishop Gabriel of Kutaïs was published by the Rev. S. C. Malan in 1867, but, with this single exception, I do not know of any other work in the Iberian tongue which has been offered to English readers. The state of comparative neglect into which Oriental studies in general have fallen of late among us, the rulers of the East, accounts, to some extent, for this fact; it is to be hoped that an improvement in this respect may soon be apparent.
Some years ago, a book written by my brother1 first excited my interest in the Caucasus and its brave and beautiful inhabitants. A study of the classical
As a relaxation from these more arduous studies, I amused myself by turning into English the originals of the following stories. I showed the manuscript to Dr. E. B. Tylor, who told me that it presented many features of interest to folklorists, and advised me to publish it; it is, therefore, fitting that I should dedicate the book to the creator of the modern science of anthropology, and he has kindly given me permission to do so.
The geographical position of Georgia, a region lying between East and West, forming a bridge along which a great part of the traffic in ideas as well as in commodities must pass, makes it a rich field of inquiry for the student. By their religious and political connection with Byzantium on the one hand, and by their constant intercourse with Persia and Turkey on the other, the Iberians have gained much from both Christendom and Islam, and among them may yet be found lost links in several chains of historical and literary investigations.
The sources from which I have taken the stories are the following:—
Part I. is a collection edited by Mr. Aghniashvili, and published in Tiflis, in 1891, by the Georgian Folklore Society, under the title, Khalkhuri Zghaprebi.
Part II. comprises the Mingrelian stories in Professor A. A. Tsagareli’s Mingrelskie Etyudy, S. Pbg., 1880 (in Mingrelian and Russian).
These were collected by Professor Tsagareli during the years 1876–79, chiefly in the districts of Sachichuo and Salipartiano, which lie almost in the centre of Mingrelia, far removed from foreign influence, and are famous for the purity of their Mingrelian idiom. The Mingrelian dialect is rapidly being replaced by pure Georgian throughout the country.
Part III. is an anonymous collection, entitled Gruzinskiya Narodnyya Skazki. Sobr. Bebur B.* S. Pbg., 1884.
It will be found that, besides the differences due to geographical position, the three groups of stories are not of the same character. Part II. is more naïve and popular than Part I., and Part III. exhibits more appreciation of the ridiculous than the rest of the book, and is of a more didactic nature.
The points of resemblance between the following stories and those quoted by the late Mr. Ralston, in his well-known Russian Folk Tales, are so numerous, and so apparent, that I have not thought it necessary to refer to them in the notes.
In conclusion, I must express my thanks to Prince Ivané Machabeli, of Tiflis, the Georgian translator of Shakespeare, for his kindness in reading my proofs, and to my brother, who did the Russian part of the work for me.
M. W.
Chislehurst, April 1894.
1 The Kingdom of Georgia: Notes of Travel in a Land of Women, Wine, and Song. To which are appended Historical, Literary, and Political Sketches, Specimens of the National Music, and a Compendious Bibliography, with Illustrations and Maps. By Oliver Wardrop. London: Sampson Low, 1888.
CONTENTS
GEORGIAN TALES
PAGE I. Master and Pupil, 1 II. The Three Sisters and their Stepmother, 5 III. The Good-for-Nothing, 11 IV. The Frog’s Skin, 15 V. Fate, 22 VI. Ghvthisavari, 25 VII. The Serpent and the Peasant, 39 VIII. Gulambara and Sulambara, 42 IX. The Two Brothers, 49 X. The Prince, 52 XI. Conkiajgharuna, 63 XII.MINGRELIAN TALES
I. The Three Precepts, 109 II. Kazha-ndii, 112 III. The Story of Geria, the Poor Man’s Son, 118 IV. The Prince who befriended the Beasts, 124 V. The Cunning Old Man and the ‘Demi,’ 129 VI. Sanartia, 132 VII. The Shepherd Judge, 138 VIII.GURIAN TALES
I. The Strong Man and the Dwarf, 147 II. The Grasshopper and the Ant, 150 III. The Countryman and the Merchant, 153 IV. The King and the Sage, 160 V. The King’s Son, 162 VI. Teeth and No-Teeth, 163 VII. The Queen’s Whim, 164 VIII. The Fool’s Good Fortune, 165 IX. Two Losses, 167 X. The Story of Dervish, 168 XI. The Father’s Prophecy, 171