The Virtue of Fairy Tales

   From the earliest fables and folk tales passed down through succeeding generations to today's cinematic versions of popular fairy tales, these stories have reflected the changing moral values in society and culture.

   Fables are narrations in which animals speak and act like human beings, intended to inculcate a useful truth or enforce a lesson. Folk tales and folklore refer to any tales circulated by word of mouth among the common folk. Popular fairy tales are fanciful stories or explanations of legendary deeds and creatures, today usually intended for children. What we think of as traditional fairy tales do not necessarily involve fairies but do involve fantasy and some form of wonder or special powers; forces of good and evil dueling over the fate of the hero or heroine. ¹

   In the same way that every culture in the world has its own myths and legends, every culture also has its own fairy tales.  In the US, many fairy tales were originally borrowed from the writings of the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, and others and adapted for an American audience.   Reading or watching fairy tales can provide a person with a great deal of insight into a foreign culture. 

    For example, the fairy tales of Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837) and stories about a very popular character known as “Ivan the Fool” are still extremely popular in many Russian speaking countries.  These are not simply children’s stories as they are in the US and many other Western countries.  There are many plays performed based upon Slavic fairy tales and the animated versions of these tales are often watched on television by both children and adults.

    Fairy tales exercise and cultivate the imagination. Now the imagination is a most powerful auxiliary in the development of the mind and will. In the next place fairy tales stimulate the idealizing tendency. Faith itself cannot abide unless supported by a vivid idealism. The value of the fairy tales is that they stimulate the imagination, reflect the unbroken communion of human life with the lived universal and incidentally, but all the more powerfully on that account, they quicken the moral sentiments. ² 

    “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” written in 1831 by Alexander Pushkin is one such fairy tale.   The basic premise of the story is quite simple: The story is of three sisters, of whom the youngest is chosen by Tsar Saltan to be his wife, while he makes the other two his royal cook and royal weaver. They are jealous of course, and when the tsarina gives birth to a son, Prince Gvidon, they arrange to have her and her child ordered to be enclosed in a barrel and thrown into the sea. The sea itself takes pity on them, and they are cast upon the shore of a remote island, Buyan. The son, having quickly grown while in the barrel, goes hunting. However, he ends up saving an enchanted swan from a kite. The swan creates a city for Prince Gvidon to rule, but he is homesick, and the swan turns him into a mosquito. In this guise he visits Tsar Saltan's court, where he stings his aunt's eye and escapes.

    Back in his distant realm, the swan gives Gvidon a magical squirrel. However, he continues to pine for home, so the swan transforms him into a fly, and in the Tsar's court he stings the eye of his other aunt. In a third round he becomes a wasp (or bee) and stings the nose of his grandmother. In the end, he expresses a desire for a bride instead of his old home, at which time the swan is revealed to be a beautiful princess, whom he marries. He is visited by the Tsar, who is overjoyed to find his wife and newly-married son.⁴

     The tsarina’s sister is convinced that since she is not happy, no one should be happy.  There is a well known American idiom which states, “Misery loves company” (“Беда не приходит одна”) and one of the points made in this fairy tale is that this idiom transcends culture.  Human nature does not change based upon culture, but the way that these truths are conveyed vary depending upon the particular audience.

     It has been said that everything connected to the universe and nature can be found in the poetry of Alexander Pushkin.  For example, in his poem “The Fish and the Fisherman” the fisherman’s wife shows us that happiness cannot be found in having many things and disturbing the natural order.  In fact, there is sufficient evidence from nature that if we attempt to disrupt the natural order or acquire too many things from nature we end up having to deal with hurricanes, tornadoes, and other natural disasters. 

    In the fairy tale, The Tale of the Golden Cockerel,⁵ the golden rooster represents the forces of nature, just as the swan does in The Tale of Tsar Saltan and the magic fish in The Fish and the Fisherman. This theme can also been seen in Pushkin’s other fairy tales.

    Like myths and legends, fairy tales also convey the truth.  They are present in every culture and can help us to understand the world on a metaphorical, if not literal, level.  Just because an event did not happen in the exact same way that the story about the event describes it does not mean that either the event or the story is untrue.  In some cases it is important to look beyond the ‘facts’ of a story in order to see the greater message contained within. 

    Formed by the science of the twentieth century, fairy tales have been broken down into four basic schools: mythological, comparative (migration), the British "anthropological" structuralist school.  Analyzing stories of different ages and from different nations, scientists discovered their common plot schemes, "anthropologists" - one domestic, psychological basis of their origin, and the structuralists - a uniform structure in which there are constant and stable elements or functions.
  
   In spite the lack of a clear definition and classification, researchers still highlights a number of features in common: an epic-narrative framework and reliance on folk "genre memory" psychology in the interpretation of the characters.  Researchers point to the literary fairy tales of the twentieth century as having multifunctional ties with folk and world culture, flexibility in the orientation of the mythology, folk demonology, legends, and multi-genre, as well as conventional and metaphorical allegory.
   
   Nikolai Leskov (1831-1895), a well-known Russian author, once said, "My dear sirs, Russian people are at peace with their old fairy tales! Woe to the one who will not be in his or her old age."

                                                          End Notes

1)    “Popular Fairy Tales Reflect Moral Values in Society and Culture ” http://news.vision.org/press-release/articles/popular-fairy-tales-reflect-moral-values-society-and-culture

2)    “The Value of Fairy Tales” http://www.oldandsold.com/articles14/mothers-guide-book-58.shtml

3)    “Tale of Tsar Saltan” http://www.marxists.org/subject/art/literature/children/texts/pushkin/tsar.html

4)    “Russian Fairy Tales” http://www.russfolkart.com/folkTales.htm

5)    “The Tale of the Golden Cockerel” http://www.fairytales.biz/alexander-pushkin/the-tale-of-the-golden-cockerel.html  

Поиск Счастья

Есть различные вещи, которые делают одну культуру отличной от другой,
включая музыку, живопись, обычаи и традиции. Однако, общее для всех
культур –– это легенды,сказки. Эти мифические истории присутствуют в
каждой культуре.
В американских историях Золушка, Златовласка, Три Медведя,
Принцесса на Горошине были очень популярны у разных поколений
детей. Многие из этих историй описывают путь поиска счастья. Этот путь
может быть пожизненным, а в некоторых случаях, даже никогда и не
достижимым.
Многие дети знакомы со сказкой Рапунцель писателей Братьев Гримм.
По всему миру известны также Гадкий Утенок и многие другие сказки
Ганса Христиана Андерсена. Эти сказки часто имеют счастливый конец.
Некоторые из этих историй заканчиваются встречей принцессы и принца.
Существует эпическая легенда, близкая к сказке, и в России. На берегу
озера герой этой легенды Садко играет на гуслях (древнерусский струнный
музыкальный инструмент, подобный лире). Морскому Царю нравится
его музыка и он предлагает ему помощь. Садко должен сделать ставку
с местными торговцами о ловли рыбы в озере и когда он ловит её с
помощью Морского Царя, то выигрывает пари, согласно которому
торговцы должны заплатить ему хорошую сумму.
Садко решает помочь крестьянам родного города Новгорода и сообщает
им о птице счастья, которая существует где-то по середине моря. Он
использует своё богатство, чтобы построить ряд судов и начинает эту
поездку, в надежде найти птицу счастья.
После поиска по различным уголкам мира, он наконец заканчивает
свой путь в Индии. Один из мужчин узнал, что птица счастья принадлежит
местному принцу. Садко соглашается сыграть партию шахмат с ним.
По договору, Садко может взять птицу Феникс (которая каждый раз
возрождается к жизни из собственного пепла), если он выигрывает эту
партию, и отдать собственную лошадь, если он проиграет индийскому
принцу.
В этой легенде Садко показан также романтиком и мечтателем.
Поэтому мать его возлюбленной Любавы считает его бесперспективным
женихом, "ни на что не годным" и советует дочери избегать его. Однако
дочь не может принять её решения. Садко рассказывает Любаве о
желании найти птицу счастья, и она согласна с этим, поскольку это
желание находится в его сердце. Она обещает ждать его всё это время.
И хотя Любава не получает известий от Садко в течении двух лет, она
думает о нем каждый день.
Садко выигрывает шахматное состязание с индийским принцем и берёт
птицу счастья с собой. Но вскоре он понимает, что птица не приносит
ему счастья. Он тоскует по дому и рассказывает об этом купцам, которые
собираются возвратиться в Новгород.
После этого он заключает соглашение с Морским Царём, согласно
которому он должен предложить дань взамен его богатства. Однако
Садко не полностью выполняет это соглашение. Когда корабль Садко
возвращается домой, то попадает в шторм и все суда оказываются под
угрозой гибели. Тогда Садко старается умилостивить Морского Царя
золотом. Однако всё напрасно и Садко оказывается в глубине моря. Он
опять играет на гуслях для Морского Царя, после чего тот предлагает ему
свою дочь в жёны. 1
Садко погружается в глубокий сон. После пробуждения он оказывается на
берегу родного Новгорода и видит Любаву. Возможно счастье, которое он
искал в другом месте, могло найти его только дома ?
Любава – образец прекрасной русской души. Она верна своему
возлюбленному и не разочаровывается в нем, независимо от ситуации.
Только такая любовь и преданность может принести истинное счастье.
Так что же значит “найти своё счастье”? Ответ на этот вопрос не
простой. У разных людей счастье понимается по разному. Одно лишь
очевидно. Трудно найти счастье вне себя, если ты несчастлив. Надеяться,
что другой человек может сделать тебя счастливым не верно и такой
путь не может принести нужные результаты. Если вы полагаетесь на
другого человека, чтобы стать счастливым, то вы рассматриваете другого
человека как средство достижения счастья. Без ощущения внутреннего
счастья вы обречены, так как каждый станет несчастным с "объектом" их
счастья и вероятно начнет искать другого, чтобы принести ему счастье.
В легенде Садко важными являются факты о ценности любви и
преданности, а поиск счастья также происходит в собственном сердце.
Именно там счастье должно быть прежде всего, перед тем как его находят
где-нибудь еще. Садко узнал это после возвращения к Любаве и хочется
надеяться, что эта истина будет также обнаружена всеми, кто ищет
счастье в их собственных жизнях.
1) “Sadko” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadko
2) Movie and legend “ Sadko”

Too Much of a Good Thing

   The movie “Wall Street” appeared in US theaters in 1987 and for many people this film typified their beliefs regarding the economy.  This film follows the career of Bud Fox, a young stockbroker who becomes involved in various business dealings with Gordon Gekko, an unscrupulous businessman who buys companies in order to sell off what is profitable and then allow the company to fail. 
    Fox goes so far as to actually violate several Federal laws in order to assist Gekko and is finally caught by Federal agents and sent to prison, but not before turning against Gekko and gathering enough information to send Gekko to prison as well. 
    One of the most memorable statements made by Gordon Gekko was, “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.”  It was his belief that greed inspired people to work harder and become more successful.  For many people this attitude exemplified the stock market in the 1980s.  Several well-known investment bankers went to prison during this period of time after destroying the financial lives of countless people simply because they were greedy. 
    The issue of greed is certainly not limited to the United States, nor was it only present in the 1980s.  This same issue was addressed by the famous Russian poet Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (1799-1837) in his poem, The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish. 1 which was written in 1833.  The story is very simple.  Once upon the time lived a poor fisherman. One day he caught a golden fish. The fish talked with him in a human voice and begged him to go free. She promised to fulfill any of his wishes. He was a kind man and simply let her go free.
    After hearing the story, the fisherman's wife shouted at him and sent him back to see the magic fish - she needed a new washboard. The fish granted the wish, and a new trough magically appeared at their hut.
    However, his wife continued to scream and yell at him. She wanted a new house, to be a noble lady, and then wanted to be the Tsarina. Every time she sent her old husband to the shore, the golden fish fulfilled the wishes of the wicked wife.
    The woman now wanted to be Empress of the Land and the Sea, and that the golden fish should be her servant. The fisherman went to the shore, called to the fish, and when she came he explained the last wish of his wife. The gold fish disappeared without a word. The old man then went home and found his old mud hut, his poor wife, and a broken washboard.2
     Based upon this story it would appear that greed, for lack of a better word, is not necessarily good.  Instead of simply being happy with a new washboard, this woman actually went so far as to ask to become Empress of the Land and Sea and lost everything she had already been given. 
     There is nothing wrong with wanting to things to make your life easier, but the need to acquire things simply because you can or in order to make sure that you do not have fewer things than your neighbor is actually foolish.  However, this is very common in the US.  We need to keep buying things in order to compete with our neighbors.  It is not enough to simply have a mobile phone and a computer; we need to have the latest and most updated model of both, otherwise, how can we possibly show our face in public? 
       When it comes to raising children, I cannot imagine that most people who openly promote greed as a virtue; however, this is the lesson they are being taught by virtue of our actions instead of what we say.  Pushkin’s poem may be written in the form of a fairy tale, but the message it true for adults and children alike. 
                                                        End Notes
1) “The Fisherman and the Little Fish” (translated from Russian) http://www.barynya.com/tales/fish.htm  [accessed 4/28/12].
2) “Fisherman and the Fish” http://www.tradestonegallery.com/index.php?content=fairytaleview&fairytaleid=6&fairytale=fifi&length=S (accessed 4/28/12)

The Search for Happiness

   There are various things which make one culture different from another, including music, food, and dress.  However, one thing that all cultures have in common is fairy tales.  These mythical stories where are written to convey a particular point are present in all every, if not every, culture. 

    In the US the stories of Cinderella, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, the Princess and the Pea, among others, have been very popular to generations of children.  Many of these stories deal with the issue of finding happiness. The search for happiness can be life-long and, in some cases, the sought for happiness may never be found. 

    Most children would be familiar with Rapunzel and the other German fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm.  The Ugly Duckling and the various other tales of Hans Christian Andersen would likewise be known to children throughout the world.  These various tales often have a “happily ever after” quality about them. Some of these stories end with the princess riding off with the prince or some other happy ending. 

    There is a medieval epic story with a fairy tale quality from Russia entitled “Sadko” (Садко) which deals with this theme quite directly. Sadko played the gusli (a stringed instrument similar to a lyre) on the shores of a lake. The Sea King enjoyed his music, and offered to help him. Sadko was instructed to make a bet with the local merchants about catching a certain fish in the lake; when he caught it (as provided by the Sea King), the merchants had to pay the wager, making Sadko a rich merchant.

    Sadko wants to be of help to the peasants of his home city of Novgorod and informs them of the fact that he had heard of a ‘bird of happiness’ which exists somewhere across the sea.  He uses the wealth provided by the local merchants to build a series of ships and begins a journey to find this ‘bird of happiness’. 

    After searching to the various corners of the world, he finally ends up in India.  One of his men finds out that there is a ‘bird of happiness’ owned by the local prince.  Sadko agrees to play a game of chess with the prince.  If he wins, he can have this bird, a phoenix, which has risen to life from its own ashes.  If he loses, the prince wins Sadko’s horse, which he brought with him. 

    Sadko is a dreamer. His girlfriend’s mother tells her to avoid him because he had no prospects and was a “good for nothing”.  He tells his girlfriend, Lyubava, of his desire to find ‘the bird of happiness’ and she tells him that he must do what is in his heart, but that she will wait for him until he returns.  Lyubava does not hear from Sadko for two years, but she thinks about him every day.

    Sadko wins his chess match with the Indian prince.  He is granted permission to take the ‘bird of happiness’, but he soon realizes that this bird does not bring him happiness at all.  He is homesick and tells his men that they will be returning to Novgorod.

   He had made an agreement to the Sea King that he would offer tribute to the king in return for his wealth, but Sadko never kept his end of the agreement. On their return trip, a storm comes upon the water and the ships are in danger of capsizing.  He and his sailors tried to appease the Sea King with gold, but to no avail. Sadko's crew forced him to jump into the sea. There, he played the gusli    for the Sea King, who offered him a new bride. On advice, he took the last maiden in a long line, and lay down beside her. ¹

   He awakes on the shore of Novgorod and returns to the arms of Lyubava. Perhaps the happiness which he sought for elsewhere could only be found in his own city?  Lyubava is an example of the Russian soul who pines for her beloved and will not give up on him no matter how long he is aware.  Such love and devotion are among the things which can bring happiness to another. 

   What does it mean to “find happiness”?  The answer to this question is neither simple nor straightforward.  Happiness means different things to different people.  One thing is clear.  It is difficult to find happiness outside of yourself, if you are not happy within.  Relying upon another person or some object to bring them happiness can have disastrous results.  If one relies upon another person to bring them happiness they run the risk of treating the other person as an object instead of a human being. Without a sense of internal happiness is in inevitable that one will become unhappy with the “object” of their happiness and will likely begin to search for another to bring them the happiness that they so desire. 

    Fairy tales such as Sadko make an important point about the value of love and devotion in the search for happiness, but the journey must be an interior one, not to some far off land searching for an elusive bird.  The journey must be into one’s own heart.  It is there that happiness must be found before it can be found anywhere else.  Sadko seemed to have found this out upon his return to Lyubava.  Hopefully this truth will also be discovered by all those who search for happiness in their own lives as well.

                                                       End Notes

1)    “Sadko” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadko