14 February 2012

"And the old woman..."

"And the old woman poured the batter onto his bald spot. The result was a sight to behold! It took three days of bathing to finally get the old man cleaned up."
Illustration to the Russian fairy tale "Three sons-in-law". / Artist: I. A. Kuznetsov.

* In this fairy tale, the old man's daughters were wed off to the Moon, the Sun, and the Wind. The Sun could use the top of his head to cook pancakes, and after visiting the young couple, the old simpleton tried to imitate the feat.

"Vanaeit valas talle tainast kiilaspähe. Oh, mis siis juhtus! Kolm päeva pesti vanameest saunas, enne kui puhtaks saadi."
Vene muinasjutu "Kolm väimeest" illustratsioon. / I. Kuznetsov.

"Налила ему старуха теста на лысину. Что тут было, что тут делалось! Три дня старика в бане отмывали, насилу отмыли."
Иллюстрация к русской народной сказке "Три зятя". / Художник И. А. Кузнецов.

Postcard, 1955.
My collection.

No comments:

Post a Comment