This tale contains a good deal of myth material. Specially interesting
is the withering of the trees when the soldier is put to sleep, and
their budding forth when South Wind brings him back.
Vassilissa the Cunning, and the Tsar of the Sea. Page 249. (Part vi.
p. 218.)
Vassilissa is written Vasilisa in Russian. I have doubled the _s_ to
assist the reader, but regret now that I did not preserve the Russian
orthography and call attention to the pronunciation.
Tsar Unchristened Forehead is in the original text, and Tsar of the
Sea is given as a variant. I have taken the variant, which is
undoubtedly earlier than the name in the text. The battle between
beasts and birds in the beginning of the tale is very curious. In
Indian mythology struggles between beasts and birds are common; not,
however, beasts and birds of the present kind, but the beings who
lived before men appeared, and who fell from their former high places,
becoming such beasts and birds as those that we see now. The eagle in
this story corresponds in character to the mythologic birds before
their fall.
It is noteworthy that the struggles for superiority in Indian myths
are not carried on through fighting (the usual method in Aryan myths),
but through trials of skill, strength, dexterity,--through playing
ball, dice, foot-races, wrestling, and shooting. The opponents always
bet their heads, and the head of the losing party is cut off without
delay.
* * * * *
The "Chekh Myths and Folk-Tales," except "The Cuirassier and the
Horned Princess," are taken from a work in two parts called,
"Folk-Tales," by J. K. z. Radostova.[10] Prague, 1872.
[10] Národní Pohádky, od J. K. z. Radostova. V. Praze, 1872.