- How was Christianity introduced into Russia?
- In what two important centers was it finally established?
- How was the Greek Church able to supply these converts with a Slavonian translation of the Bible?
- Who were Kyríll and Methódy? Describe their work.
- Why was "Ancient Bulgarian" not the original language of the Bulgarians?
- In what language was Russian literature written up to the time of Peter the Great?
- Where, according to tradition, did the early Slavonians settle in Europe?
- How are the forces of nature represented in the ancient marriage songs?
- What custom is illustrated in "The Sowing of the Millet"?
- What connection is there between the funeral wails of modern and of ancient Russia?
- What was the festival of Kolyáda?
- What Christian character has been given to the ancient "Glory Song"?
- Why is pork commonly used at the Russian New-Year?
- What different dates have been observed for the opening of the New-Year?
- What remarkable fact is true of the preservation of the Russian epic songs?
- How were the religious ballads brought before the people?
- Describe some of the characteristics of these ballads.
- Into what three groups do the epic songs naturally fall?
- What is the Lay of Sadkó?
- What are the favorite subjects of the songs of the "Imperial Cycle"?
- What interesting discovery of modern epic songs has recently been made?
- Why have the songs of the Kíeff Cycle died out in their own country?
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- The Epic Songs of Russia. Isabel F. Hapgood.
- Myths and Folk-Tales of Russians, Western Slavs, and Magyars. Jeremiah Curtin.
- Cossack Fairy-Tales. R. Nisbet Bain.
- Sixty Folk-Tales from Exclusively Slavonic Sources. A. H. Wratislaw.
- Russian Fairy-Tales. R. Nisbet Bain.
- Fairy-Tales of the Slav Peasants and Herdsmen. From the French of Alexander Chodsko.
- Songs of the Russian People and Russian Folk-Tales. W. R. S. Ralston.
- Slavonic Fairy-Tales. M. Gastner.
- Slavonic Literature and its Relations to the Folk-Lore of Europe. M. Gastner.
- Russian Folk-Songs as Sung by the People. Mme. Eugenie Lineff.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] A Tatár word, signifying "tower"; used to mean the part of the house where the women were secluded, in Oriental fashion.
[2] Lord, in the original, is Gosudár, the word which, with a capital, is applied especially to the emperor.
[3] The dramatist Ostróvsky has made effective use of this game, and the more prophetic couplets of the song, in his famous play: "Poverty is not a Vice." Other national customs and songs are used in his play.