Romani Fairy Tales

This new edition of the original collection of folk tales and short stories assembled by Milena Hübschmannová, the founder of Czech Romani Studies, was first published in 1973 and re-issued in the 1990s (Fortuna 1999). It contains 71 texts recorded between the 1950s and 1970s in what was then Czechoslovakia. The stories are characterized by “vitality, drama, wit, an independent use of international folklore motifs, a desire for justice and an effort to overcome life’s hardships; they were recorded among the Slovak and Hungarian Romani subethnic groups. The book is organized, in accordance with common practice, into animal and magical fairy tales, folk tales, humorous stories, jokes and legends.”

“A true folk fairy tale,” as the editor notes, “was not intended for children at all; it did not address them, but was told by adults on various occasions to pass the time, to amuse themselves, and to deal—often harshly and cruelly—with enemies, social situations, or their own shortcomings, against which they were in reality powerless.”

Compiled, translated from Romani and prefaced by Milena Hübschmannová. Published by Triáda.