Zoe Zajdler

This collection of seventeen Polish fairy tales was released as part of Follett's World Fairy Tale Collections series, published in the 1950s and 1960s, and provides an entertaining and fascinating glimpse of Polish folk beliefs. Here the reader will encounter the classic "quest-type" story, the ubiquitous animal fable, and one or two general discussions of certain supernatural beings. Included are:

The Snake King's Crown, in which a kind young man named Jan learns after many adventures that mortals are not meant for true happiness, which can never be had on earth...

As the World Pays, in which a clever vixen learns that even she will be repaid in a "worldly" fashion...

Crookshanks, in which an unsuspecting wolf obtains a set of "boots" from a clever fox...

The Palace of Rainbow Fountains, in which the youngest of three brothers - who, as a classic fairy-tale trope, is believed to be the slowest and least favored - embarks upon a quest to find the beautiful swan-princess he encountered in his father's garden...

The Drowners, which offers a variety of short tales concerning this race of water beings who lure unsuspecting mortals to their death and/or imprisonment underwater...

Kind Brother, Cruel Sister, in which a hard-hearted step-sister attempts to aid a group of robbers in murdering her brother...

The Cock and the Wind, in which the wind is comforted for the loss of his son...

The Jar of Ducats, in which a clever peasant discovers a way to circumvent his wife's tendency to gossip, managing to keep the jar of coins he finds on his master's property...

The Pitch Princess, in which a brave corporal frees a princess from a curse that condemned her to existence as a vampire-like creature...

The Peasant and the King, in which a peasant obtains justice from his king, the only man at court who can "read" his petition...

The Envious Stepmother, in which a malicious stepmother's attempt to do away with her beautiful step-daughter lead to tragedy for her own child...

The Wolf's Breakfast, in which a slow-witted wolf is cheated of his breakfast many times over, and learns not to trust in dreams...

Matthew's Bed, in which a young man whose father had unknowingly sold him to a demon, wins back his father's bond and saves the soul of a villainous outlaw...

The Horned Goat, in which a lying goat is eventually defeated by the other animals...

Simon, in which the ne'er-do-well son of an innkeeper eventually proves his worth by freeing a spirit from his curse, and winning the hand of a princess...

The Magical Crock, in which an unscrupulous nobleman learns that it is unwise to steal magical gifts...

And finally, The Treasurers, which speaks of the mysterious race of underground beings with whom miners sometimes interact...

I enjoyed this collection, although I was disappointed at the lack of source notes - something that is unfortunately all-too-common in earlier collections. I was fascinated at the perceived "stupidity" of wolves, something I have also observed in other folk traditions (see: The Hungry Wolf and Crafty Fox in the collection of Palestinian folktales, Ghaddar the Ghoul and Other Palestinian Stories), as this contradicts my own perceptions of this wonderful animal. I was also interested (and somewhat disturbed) at the idea of "blackness" being evil, as in two cases (The Pitch Princess and Simon) in which a destructive and/or dangerous individual is described as "black as pitch," only to become "white and beautiful" with the lifting of a curse. I was particularly fascinated by the chapters devoted to the "Drowners" and "Treasurers," and wished that the author had provided their Polish names, or included some other reference that would permit further research. Finally, I was delighted to learn the meaning of three words previously unknown to me: glebe, tessellated, and pelf... ah, the excitement!… (més)