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adam hoffman, Alexander Afans'ev, Asbjornsen and Moe, Charles Kiernan, Henri Pourrat, Italo Calvino, James Stephens, Jane Dorfman, Jane Yolen, Tim Ereneta
Sagacia had picked up the tape dispenser and was just fixin’ to pull off a long ribbon of it to seal the box of replies to Eavesdropping from Evanston.
“Wait!” Simplia cried out, running into the room. “Here are some more!” she said, dumping a small pile of index cards onto the table. “Remember? We left those cards in the Fairy Tale Lobby for people to write their thoughts on. And they did!”
Sagacia sighed and put down her tape. “Okay,” she said. “Let’s see what they have to say.
She reached for the yellow card on top. It was from Charles Kiernan.
Has anyone mentioned the Joseph Jacob collections? English Fairy Tales, More English Fairy Tales, Celtic Fairy Tales, and More Celtic Fairy Tales. Actually, he is only one of many 19th century collectors, not to forget his sometimes rival Andrew Lang and his “color” fairy books.
A green card from Jane Dorfman agreed and elaborated.
I would second Joseph Jacobs’ books. I also tell several stories from Jane Yolen’s Folktales of the World. And when I first heard, and then read, James Stephens’ Irish Fairy Tales I knew I wanted to tell them. I suspect he was an ‘active participant’ in the folk process, as there are some stories in there I have never been able to find other versions of.
And Simplia pulled out a blue card from Tim Ereneta.
I like Lang’s breadth and appreciate his dedication to sharing folklore, but I find his work is a stepping stone… his editing choices, to make the tales “appropriate” for children, mean I have to look elsewhere to find the story.
“I didn’t know that!” Sagacia said. “But it kind of fits, now that I think about it.”
She picked up a pink index card note from Adam Hoffman.
If we’re talking about collections of folk tales, then we can’t forget the collections by Asbjornsen and Moe, Italo Calvino, Aleksandr Afanas’ev and Henri Pourrat.
“Oh, my!” Sagacia said. “Maybe someone should ask Vasilisa to list favorite fairy tale collections sometime.
“Yep,” said Simplia, picking up the last card, an orange one one from Tim Ereneta.
“I better get cracking on this reading list. I have a lot of catching up to do.”
“Me, too!” said Simplia, crushing the cards into the box with the other letters.
Sagacia pulled her tape along the back seam, then across the ends, and the Simpletons set out for the US Post Office. It was such a pretty day that it seemed almost too soon when they arrived and climbed the steps to the great portals. Simplia grasped the brass handles and ushered her friend inside where they hoisted their box onto the scales.
“$4.90,” said the clerk.
“Anything for us?” Simplia asked, handing him a $5 bill.
“Haven’t seen anything,” he replied, sliding the bill into his drawer and picking out a dime.
“It’s just that we often get something on the third day of the month,” Sagacia said. “That is, Vasilisa does.”
“And we pick it up for her,” Simplia explained, putting the dime in her coin purse.
The postal clerk turned around and checked the little boxes behind him again. “Nope,” he said. “Nothing here. Nothing fo . . . .”
BOINK!
The clerk wobbled then sank. Something had hit him on the side of the head right before the Simpleton’s very eyes! It looked like a small, flat brown box, but it had come rocketing from the west at a speed and intensity greater than normal, normal being—oh, say the flight speed of a bird or insect.
Simplia climbed up over the high desk and peered downward. On the floor, the clerk was rubbing his head. Beside him was the box wrapped in brown paper, stamped and labeled for mailing.
“What happened?” Sagacia asked from behind.
“He’s okay. Hold my foot!” Simplia ordered, pushing herself up and over the desk.
Sagacia clasped Simplia’s ankle and braced herself as her friend stretched to reach the postman’s hand.
Turnip-pulling style, they lifted him up and out, and he arrived at upright with the little box in his hand.
“Oh! It’s for Vasilisa,” he said, holding it at a distance to read the address. “Will you take it to her?
“Of course!” Sagacia said, accepting the little package. It wasn’t nearly as heavy as it had seemed at the moment of boink, she noticed.
Once out the door, the Simpletons quickly opened Vasilisa’s package, drew out a tightly folded page, and greedily read:
Dear Vasilisa the Wise:
When I go to the library, I always try to get myself a collection from Joseph Jacobs or one of Andrew Lang’s color fairy books. I’ve read collections by Henri Pourrat, Italo Calvino, Jane Yolen and James Stephens, Asbjornsen and Moe or even your own Alexander Afanas’ev. Those seem to be some of the classic cultural collections of fairy tales, but my small village library doesn’t seem to have any from continents other than Europe.
Anyway, something wonderful has happened! Our librarian has asked me to recommend some folktale collections that she should buy. If I want to read them, everyone will, she said. Of course, I can’t pass up an opportunity like this! Won’t you suggest some of your favorites for me?
I’m interested in other European collections, but please don’t stop there! There are five other continents! I know that fairy tales are sometimes mixed in with folktales and legends, and that’s okay. Oh, and would you please say something about them to get me started? Just an anecdotal comment about each would be perfect!
Thanks so much! I’ll just sign off as . . .
Princess of Pittsburg
“Is it just a coincidence that Princess of Pittsburg started off by naming the very same collectors that some of our magical friends recommended?” Sagacia asked.
“I don’t know,” Simplia replied. “But our magical friends are good for many more collectors and titles. I am sure of that!”
“Me, too!” Sagacia said. “Come on! Let’s go post this request at the Fairy Tale Lobby.”
“Okay! I’ll check the supply of index cards while we’re there, too!” Simplia agreed.
Jane Dorfman said:
I would add another one, ‘Leaves From the Garden of Eden,” a great collection of Jewish folktales by Howard Schwartz, who has other good collections too. Intricate stories.
mary grace ketner said:
Thanks, Jane!
Adam Hoffman said:
I tend to go for the collections published by Pantheon Press. So, I’ve got Folktales from India by A.K. Ramanujan, Japanese Tales by Royall Tyler, Chinese Fairy Tales and Fantasies by Moss Roberts, Arab Folktales by Inea Bushnaq, African Folktales by Roger D. Abrahams among many, many others. Veering from the Pantheon collections, I’m also fond of The Magic Orange Tree and Other Haitian Folktales by Diane Wolkstein, The Peacock Maiden: Folk Tales from China, which appears to be an anonymous volume, and both Grandfather Tales and The Jack Tales by Richard Chase.
mary grace ketner said:
I agree, Adam! I think those companies that reprint old collections are doing a real service to the world!
Barra the Bard / Barra Jacob-McDowell said:
How can we overlook the delightful translations by Priscilla Howe of Hodja tales, deep in Storytell’s archives, or the treasures that Yoel Perez posts?
I also want to back up for a minute. Has anyone mentioned Sir John Rhys’ *Celtic Folklore, Welsh & Manx*? Or the wonderful collections by Duncan Williamson on the Scottish Travellers tales and culture? Or the collections of Sorche nic Leodhas, the nom de plume used by LeClair Gowans Alger,a children’s librarian here in Pittsburgh with an h? –Barra the Bard
mary grace ketner said:
Barra, So glad you brought up how excellent collecting and translating is still going on!!
Tarkabarka said:
I would add Arab folktales to the list, outside of “Arabian Nights.” Arab Folktales by Inea Bushnaq is a favorite of mine, and also Fabled Cities, Princes and Jinn by Khairat Al-Saleh.
mary grace ketner said:
I agree, Csenge! I love Inea Bushnaq’s collection, too! In case it’s new to some readers, I have summaries of some of her stories on my Web site at http://talesandlegends.net/arabian-persian/index.html. That first section, “Fables, Folktales, and Fairy Tales” is almost all from Bushnaq. (Shameless promotion–sorry!)
Marilyn McPhie said:
What about Barbara Walker’s books — Art of the Turkish Tale (2 volumes), Turkish Folk Tales, Turkish Tales for Children? Or is Turkey too European for this list?
megan hicks said:
GREAT recommendation, Marilyn.
Tarkabarka said:
Talking about Turkish: Forty-Four Turkish Fairy Tales by Ignac Kunos (one of my favorite Hungarian collectors). Also available online, but it is a great collection to have. Lovely dragon stories.
mary grace ketner said:
Y’all are hitting all my favorites today! I was fortunate to be able to interview Barbara and Warren Walker in 2001 about their collecting during 30 summers spent in Turkey, and I have a short article about them and their process here: http://talesandlegends.net/arabian-persian/folklorists.html
Their Archive of Turkish Oral Narrative at Texas Tech is now online at http://aton.ttu.edu. It’s the world’s largest collection of Turkish tales from which Barbara’s two-volume book was drawn. (Shameless Promotion Day in Texas.)
cjkiernan said:
I can kick this off and stick with Joseph Jacobs by suggesting his “Indian Fairy Tales,” a collection of stories from India.
Tarkabarka said:
My favorite collections from India are Folktales from India (by A.K. Ramanujan) and also The Flowering Tree (same author). Very well researched and drawing from diverse ethnic and cultural sources (instead of just “from India”).
mary grace ketner said:
I see you down here, Charles and Csenge! Good choices!