Dear Children

Would you like to know why animals differ from each other? Why the Raven is black and not white? Why Lions don’t live in Siberia any more, and why the Bear has no thumb? Or how the Falcon lit a fire in the sky, how the Ant visited the Frog, and how the little Gnat triumphed over the Evil Spirit— Chuchunna?

This book will tell you fairy-tales and legends about various animals, birds, insects inhabiting the taiga and the tundra. Siberian boys and girls love listening to these stories and reading them, sometimes they even make up their own tales. We hope you will like these fairy-tales, too, as well as the pictures by Victor and Larisa Yegorov from Krasnoyarsk.
Happy reading!

The publishers hope that this Little book will bring together the interests of children of different countries, help them to study languages and introduce them to the favourite fairy-tale characters of young Siberians and other northern peoples. The designers have tried to reveal as vividly as possible the beauty and distinctness of each of the cultural traditions represented here. They have attired all the figures in colourful national dress and adorned the pages with original ornamental frames and special folklore symbols. Note that each group of tales has its own frame-line and symbols. They were developed from national motifs by the artist Victor Yegorov.

Compilation of text Galina Smirnova
Layout and design Yictor and Larisa Yegorov
Translation Olga Myazina and Galina Shchitnikova

Note: The book is bilingual in English and Russian.

You can get the book here and here

Contents
RUSSIAN FAIRY-TALES
7
THE CRANE AND THE HERON
9
THE BEAR AND THE DOG
11
THE GULLS AND ANGARA THE BEAUTIFUL
15
THE SOU1RREL AND THE NUTCRACKER
18
TUVINIAN FAIRY-TALES
21
IIOW THE CAMEL LOST I IIS GOOD LOOKS
23
THE LAZY OWL
25
THE WOOD-GROUSE AND THE DRAKE
28
WHY THE ELK HAS A LONG MUZZLE
29
EVENK FAIRY-TALES
31
HOW’ Tl IE FOX CHEATED THE OLD MAN
33
WHY THE CRUCIAN BECAME FLAT
35
THE PRICE OF THE NEEDLE
38
WHY THE BEAR HAS NO THUMB
39
THE SWAN AND Tl IE RAVEN
41
THE CUNNING FOX AND THE W’OODPECKER
44
SELKUP FAIRY-TALES
47
THE FALCON FIRE
49
HOW THE DOCj FOUND HIS MASTER
51
SEVEN ISLANDS ON THE YEN1SEI-R1VER
54
DOLGAN FAIRY-TALES
57
THE WAR BETWEEN THE PARTRIDGES
AND THE PIKES
59
THE ROGUISH FOX
65
THE SNOWY OWL LANGKEY
69
THE OLD MAN AND THE HARES
72
YAKUT FAIRY-TALES
75
THE LAZY MAN AND THE LINNET
77
WHY WINTER IS LONG AND SUMMER IS SHORT
79
THE LITTLE GNAT AND CHUCHUNNA
82
HOW THE PARTRIDGE SAVED THE HUNTER.
83
TOFALARIAN FAIRY-TALES
85
ULUGF.N FROM THE VALLEY OF FLOWERS
87
SIX NAMES OF THE BEAR
89
THE ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER
94
HOW THE BEAR WAS PUNISHED
95
KET FAIRY-TALES
97
THE WOOD-GROUSE, THE DUCK AND THE GOOSE
99
WHY THE MOON IS COED IN THE SKY
102
DON’T STAY OVERN1GHI IN A BEAR’S DEN
104
THREE PRESENTS EROM THE SUN
105
BURYAT FAIRY-TALES
107
WHY EIONS NO LONGER LIVE IN SIBERIA
109
THE MOUSE AND THE CAMEL
111
THE SWALLOW AND THE GNAT
114
THE HEN AND THE CAT
115
THE SOUIRREL AND THE MOUSE
117
1WO MICE
119
THE SNOW AND THE HARE
121
THE CRANE
122
THE HEN AND THE BAT
124
THE WOLF
126
MANSI FAIRY-TALES
129
WHY THE RAVEN IS BLACK
131
THE YELLOW WAG TAIL IS A HERO
133
THE LITTLE HARE
135
NOOMY-TOROOM’S GIRDLE
138
NENETS FAIRY-TALES
139
HOW THE FOX TRIED TO BECOME RICH
141
THE LEADEN FLY
145
THE POLAR BEAR AND THE BROWN BEAR
147
THE GIRL AND THE HARRIER
149
THE FIRST CUCKOO
153
KHAKASS FAIRY-TALES
155
THE FROG AND THE CRANE
157
WHY THE SNIPE FLIES AWRY
161
THE SWAGGERING SHAMAN
162
HOW THE ANT VISITED THE FROG
164
THE MAGIC ROOSTER
165
NANAI FAIRY-TALES
167
IOGA
169
A FAIRY SALMON
173
WHY THE ANIMALS DIFFER FROM EACH OTHER
175
NGANASSAN FAIRY-TALES
177
Tl IE DOMESTIC AND THE WILD DEER
179
THE FOX’S AXE
181
MOW THE DEER RECONCILED TUJ-NJAMY
AND MOU-NJAMY
185
HOW THE DUCK GATHERED EARTH
186
SHORIAN FAIRY-TALES
187
THE FIRE-FLOWER AND THE BEE
189
THE QUICK-WITTED OTTER
190
TWO BROOKS
193
THEY SAY IN SIBERIA
197
GLOSSARY
201