Customer Reviews

Czech, Moravian and Slovak Fairy Tales (Hippocrene Library of Folklore)

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Parker Fillmore may be best known for his collection of stories called The Shepherd's Nosegay, but these Czech, Moravian and Slovak Folktales, which were originally published in 1919, are wonderfully detailed, full-fledged stories. In the first story, a prince sees pictures of 12 princesses and decides to search for the one he considers the most beautiful of all. He chooses friends along the way who can help him: a tall man who can stretch to enormous distances, a round man who can widen himself, a man with such keen sight he must keep his eyes bandaged. The four friends must guard the princess for three nights; if she escapes they will be turned to stone. Cleverly, the friends find the princess each time she disappears. She eventually is freed and the prince marries her. The three helpers go into the world to look for fresh challenges. In another story a King learns that a charcoal burner's son will marry his daughter. Though the King does all he can to avoid having this happen, Fate makes it happen after all. In still another story, a seer protects the king and does not allow anything to defeat him. In "The Three Citrons" the prince finds three princesses closed in three citrons, but he loses the first two since he has no food or drink for them. The third citron is opened when there is food and drink. When he has to go to war, his wife faces dangers and is turned into a dove, but is found and recognized when the prince returns. And so it goes. Fifteen stories are included in this marvelous collection.