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which accompany these tales. In the case of Pan Kotsky, an illustration by Jacques Hnizdovsky, depicting the Cat and the Fox as a couple, is particularly notable. The woodcut by Hnizdovsky illustrates Marie Halun Bloch’s translation, published in Ukrainian Folk Tales in 1964. Pan Kotsky and his companion are most elegantly dressed, a perfect couple indeed. It is also interesting to note the changes that subsequent translators have wrought upon the original text published by Rudchenko. The notation under the title of the book assures the reader that the folk tales in the book are from the original collection of folk tales collected by Ivan Rudchenko (and Maria Lukiyanenko). However, the text of Bloch's translation of Pan Kotsky varies from Rudchenko's text in two significant points. In the translation, the cat introduces himself as "Pan Kotsky"; Miss Fox asks Pan Kotsky to marry her. Neither detail conforms to the original text. Bloch's translation also portrays a meaner, more frightening Pan Kotsky. In her version, Miss Fox announces, "Pan Kotsky is in my house and he will tear you to pieces" (pg. 25). In Christina Oparenko's interpretation of the tale (Oxford University Press, 1996), we find an empowered Miss Fox who demands that the forest animals prepare an ox for dinner! In the latest versions of the tale, indeed, instead of laughter at the imaginary fright, we find emphasis on Food with a capital F and on fear with a capital F, so much so that Pan Kotsky himself is so stricken by Fear that he can no longer enjoy FocJ! In 1990, the original text of Pan Kotsky by Ivan Rudchenko was published in Semylitochka (Kyiv: "Veselka"), a textbook for grammar schools. This text emphasizes diversity and harmony. The cat and the fox do not constitute a traditional couple; they are two old folks who decide to join efforts in their old age to survive and succeed to live in harmony. The story also points out that strength is something people build together. The cat appears as a persona who in the imagination of his neighbors resembles a giant; we laugh at their credulity. In later versions of the tale, it is Miss Fox who creates a persona for her companion; we are puzzled and we do not laugh. Through the years, one notices that the character of Miss Fox has changed from self-assured to demanding; the cat introduces himself as the "fiercest" animal in the forest. One is not quite sure about the spirit of the latest versions of "Pan Kotsky" which seem to insist upon injecting violence into an innocent Ukrainian folk tale and perhaps it is time to re-examine the original text and its basic 1908 translation. If the folk tale is to introduce Ukraine and the Ukrainian spirit through animal characters to a young foreign audience, it is crucial that the messages it conveys is one children will remember with pleasure, not fear. Copyright Helene N. Turkewicz-Sanko Department of Classic and Modern Languages and Cultures John Carroll University March 1998 BIBLIOGRAPHY Tales of Laughter. Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora Archibald Smith, editors. Garden City: Doubleday and Company, Inc. (1908). Ukrainian Folk Tales, from the original collections of Ivan Rudchenko and Maria Lukiyanenko; translated by Marie Halun Bloch; illustrated by J. Hnizdovsky. New York: Coward-McCann, Inc. (1964). Ukrainian Folk-tales. Retold by Christina Oparenko. Oxford University Press: Oxford, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press (1996). Ukrainian Folk Tales Vol. 5. Prologue Video, Inc. South Orange, NJ. (YEVCHAN catalogue: Ukrainian Folk Tales. Vol. 5: #VP775) M. В. Лисенко — Листи. Редакція JI. Кафмана. Київ: Мистецтво (1964). Микола Віталйович Лисенко — Життя і творчість . JI. Архімович, М. Гордійчук. Київ: Мистецтво (1963) Семиліточка. Українські народні казки у записах та публікаціях письменників ХІХ-поч. XX ст. для молодшого та середнього шкільного віку. Київ: "Веселка" (1990).
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