Polish Fairy Tales
by A. J. Gliński
translated by Maude Ashurst Biggs; illustrated by Cecile Walton
(Rare Book Collection)

The frog princess.--Princess Miranda and Prince Hero.--The eagles.--The whirlwind.--The good ferryman and the water nymphs.--The princess of the Brazen Mountain.--The bear in the forest hut

These are selections from a large collection made by A. J. Gliński, printed at Wilna in 1862. These fairy tales come from a far past and may even date from primitive Aryan times. They represent the folklore current among the peasantry of the Eastern provinces of Poland, and also in those provinces usually known as White Russia.
They were set down by Gliński just as they were related to him by the peasants. In the translation it was of course necessary to shorten them considerably; the continual repetition — however quaint and fascinating in the original—cannot easily be reproduced. Portions, too, are often told in rhyme, or in a species of rhyming prose that we associate with the ancient ballad. The obvious likenesses between these and the folklore of Germany, the Celtic nations, or to the Indian fairytales, will strike every reader.