- Origin
- Chuvash
- Source
- How Wilka Went to Sea and Other Tales
from West of the Urals
- translated and edited by Mirra Ginsburg
- illustrated by Charles Mikolaycak
- Crown Publishers: New York, 1975
- The Story
- The story of three giants' might deed is related here. Mighty Earth
Hero, Mighty Forest Hero, and Mighty Mountain Hero, with their stallions,
set out to find the sun and the moon stolen by the Great Dragon. The
Great Dragon not only has stolen the light sources, but also devoured all
the people. The three heroes have to first face the two sons of the
Great Dragon: one with 9 heads, and the other 12. The Heroes manage to
slay the Great Dragon, put back the sun and the moon, and also free all
the population from the Great Dragon's belly.
- Comments
- It is stated straightforwardly that the Great Dragon is "huge and
evil" and breathes fire. The reason for his rage against mankind is
deliberately omitted from the telling. The scenes where each dragon dies
are handled effectively within the least amount of words possible. The
image of all the population on earth is somehow "reborn" by the Great
Dragon when they all jump out from its belly without any harm.
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Introduction/Index