Russian folk culture is filled with magical stories for children; tales of witches and wizardry, perilous journeys, wise animals, frightful giants, and beautiful princesses. This choice collection presents six of the most popular tales. Some bear a resemblance to the folktales of western Europe, while others introduce exotic creatures and situations unique to the Russian imagination. Among the fanciful characters young readers will encounter in these stories are the legendary Fire-bird; the dulcimer-playing Sadko, whose music could make the Tzar of the Sea dance; the iron-toothed witch Baba Yaga, and many more. British author Arthur Ransome (1884–1967) gathered these authentic tales from peasant storytellers on his journeys to Russia early in the twentieth century. He then retold them in English. This volume reproduces the English versions, reset in large, easy-to-read type, and illustrated with six handsome new drawings.
Author
Arthur Michell Ransome (January 18, 1884 – June 3, 1967) was an English author and journalist. He was educated in Windermere and Rugby. In 1902, Ransome abandoned a chemistry degree to become a publisher's office boy in London. He used this precarious existence to practice writing, producing several minor works before Bohemia in London (1907), a study of London's artistic scene and his first significant book. An interest in folklore, together with a desire to escape an unhappy first marriage, led Ransome to St. Petersburg, where he was ideally placed to observe and report on the Russian Revolution. He knew many of the leading Bolsheviks, including Lenin, Radek, Trotsky and the latter's secretary, Evgenia Shvelpina. These contacts led to persistent but unproven accusations that he "spied" for both the Bolsheviks and Britain. Ransome married Evgenia and returned to England in 1924. Settling in the Lake District, he spent the late 1920s as a foreign correspondent and highly-respected angling columnist for the Manchester Guardian, before settling down to write Swallows and Amazons and its successors. Today Ransome is best known for his Swallows and Amazons series of novels, (1931 - 1947). All remain in print and have been widely translated. Arthur Ransome died in June 1967 and is buried at Rusland in the Lake District.
