"The Tale of the Priest and of his Workman Balda" (Russian: «Сказка о попе и о работнике его Балде», romanized: Skazka o pope i o rabotnike yego Balde) is a fairy tale in verse by Alexander Pushkin. Pushkin wrote the tale on September 13, 1830, while staying at Boldino. It is based on a Russian folk tale which Pushkin collected in Mikhaylovskoye early on. The Tale of the Priest and of his Workman Balda consists of 189 extremely varied lines that range from three to fourteen syllables but made to rhyme in couplets. In the summer of 1831, Pushkin read the tale to Nikolai Gogol who liked it a great deal. The Tale was first published posthumously by Vasily Zhukovsky in 1840 with considerable alterations due to censorship; the Priest character was replaced by a merchant.
The Tale of the Priest and of his Workman Balda
Plot summary
The poem tells of a lazy (Russian Orthodox) priest who is wandering around a market looking for a cheap worker. There he meets Balda (Балда in Russian means a stupid or just simple, or not very serious person) who agrees to work for a year without pay except that he be allowed to hit the priest three times on his forehead and have cooked spelt for food. The priest, being a cheapskate, agrees. But then, after he gets a chance to observe Balda at work, he sees that he is not only very patient and careful, but also very strong. That worries the priest greatly and he starts giving Balda impossible missions to accomplish.
The Priest asks Balda to collect a fabricated debt from sea devils. Balda troubles the sea with rope and forces the leader of the devils, an "old Bies", to come out. He agrees to pay the debt if Balda will defeat his grandson at running and weight carrying. Balda tricks the "little Bies", first by getting a hare, whom he proclaims his "younger brother" to run in his stead, and then by "carrying" a horse between his two legs by riding on it.
The story ends when Balda gives the priest three blows to the forehead which results in the priest losing his mind. The final line is, "You shouldn't have gone rushing off after cheapness."
On October 5, 2006, Sophia Kishkovsky reported in The New York Times that "In the northern city of Syktyvkar, the State Theater of Opera and Ballet of the Republic of Komi, a region once notorious as a center of the prison camp system, or Gulag, recently bowderlized a commemorative performance of 'The Tale of Priest and his Workman Balda' ...after the local diocese objected to the portrayal of the priest in the work." The resulting production was "reduced to a series of numbers..., none of which included the priest."[4]
Conflict over similar matters had also arisen in Dnepropetrovsk Opera and Ballet Theatre on Christmas & New Year Season of 2006/2007.[5][6]
References
^"Российская анимация в буквах и фигурах - Фильмы - ╚СКАЗКА О ПОПЕ И РАБОТНИКЕ ЕГО БАЛДЕ╩". animator.ru.
^"Российская анимация в буквах и фигурах - Фильмы - ╚СКАЗКА О ПОПЕ И РАБОТНИКЕ ЕГО БАЛДЕ╩". animator.ru.
^"Российская анимация в буквах и фигурах - Фильмы - ╚СКАЗКА О ПОПЕ И РАБОТНИКЕ ЕГО БАЛДЕ╩". animator.ru.
^Kishkovsky, Sophia (5 October 2006). "Shostakovich Is Scaled Down After Protests From Church" – via select.nytimes.com.
^. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-09-27.
^. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-09-28.
Alexander Pushkin: A Critical Study by A.D.P. Briggs, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1982.
External links
Works related to The Tale of the Priest and of His Workman Balda at Wikisource
Media related to Tale of the Priest and His Workman Balda at Wikimedia Commons
(in Russian) Сказка о попе и о его работнике Балде available at Lib.ru
Excerpts from the English translation by Oliver Elton
March 04, 2023
tale, priest, workman, balda, this, article, about, fairy, tale, alexander, pushkin, film, adaptation, film, balda, redirects, here, other, uses, balda, disambiguation, tale, priest, workman, balda, russian, Сказка, попе, работнике, его, Балде, romanized, skaz. This article is about the fairy tale by Alexander Pushkin For the film adaptation see The Tale of the Priest and of His Workman Balda film Balda redirects here For other uses see Balda disambiguation The Tale of the Priest and of his Workman Balda Russian Skazka o pope i o rabotnike ego Balde romanized Skazka o pope i o rabotnike yego Balde is a fairy tale in verse by Alexander Pushkin Pushkin wrote the tale on September 13 1830 while staying at Boldino It is based on a Russian folk tale which Pushkin collected in Mikhaylovskoye early on The Tale of the Priest and of his Workman Balda consists of 189 extremely varied lines that range from three to fourteen syllables but made to rhyme in couplets In the summer of 1831 Pushkin read the tale to Nikolai Gogol who liked it a great deal The Tale was first published posthumously by Vasily Zhukovsky in 1840 with considerable alterations due to censorship the Priest character was replaced by a merchant The Tale of the Priest and of his Workman BaldaPlot summary EditThe poem tells of a lazy Russian Orthodox priest who is wandering around a market looking for a cheap worker There he meets Balda Balda in Russian means a stupid or just simple or not very serious person who agrees to work for a year without pay except that he be allowed to hit the priest three times on his forehead and have cooked spelt for food The priest being a cheapskate agrees But then after he gets a chance to observe Balda at work he sees that he is not only very patient and careful but also very strong That worries the priest greatly and he starts giving Balda impossible missions to accomplish The Priest asks Balda to collect a fabricated debt from sea devils Balda troubles the sea with rope and forces the leader of the devils an old Bies to come out He agrees to pay the debt if Balda will defeat his grandson at running and weight carrying Balda tricks the little Bies first by getting a hare whom he proclaims his younger brother to run in his stead and then by carrying a horse between his two legs by riding on it The story ends when Balda gives the priest three blows to the forehead which results in the priest losing his mind The final line is You shouldn t have gone rushing off after cheapness Adaptations Edit1933 1936 The Tale of the Priest and of His Workman Balda USSR animated film by Mikhail Tsekhanovsky and the surviving film score by Dmitri Shostakovich 1940 The Tale of the Priest and of His Workman Balda USSR traditionally animated film by Panteleymon Sazonov 1 1956 The Tale of the Priest and of His Workman Balda USSR live action and Puppetry stop motion animated film by Anatoly Karanovich 2 1973 The Tale of the Priest and of His Workman Balda USSR traditionally animated film by Inessa Kovalevskaya 3 Portrayal of priest protested EditOn October 5 2006 Sophia Kishkovsky reported in The New York Times that In the northern city of Syktyvkar the State Theater of Opera and Ballet of the Republic of Komi a region once notorious as a center of the prison camp system or Gulag recently bowderlized a commemorative performance of The Tale of Priest and his Workman Balda after the local diocese objected to the portrayal of the priest in the work The resulting production was reduced to a series of numbers none of which included the priest 4 Conflict over similar matters had also arisen in Dnepropetrovsk Opera and Ballet Theatre on Christmas amp New Year Season of 2006 2007 5 6 References Edit Rossijskaya animaciya v bukvah i figurah Filmy SKAZKA O POPE I RABOTNIKE EGO BALDE animator ru Rossijskaya animaciya v bukvah i figurah Filmy SKAZKA O POPE I RABOTNIKE EGO BALDE animator ru Rossijskaya animaciya v bukvah i figurah Filmy SKAZKA O POPE I RABOTNIKE EGO BALDE animator ru Kishkovsky Sophia 5 October 2006 Shostakovich Is Scaled Down After Protests From Church via select nytimes com Aj da Balda ili Dostupen li detyam yazyk allegorii Pravoslaviye v Ukrayini Internet vidannya UPC Archived from the original on 2007 09 27 Retrieved 2007 09 27 Ekonomicheskie Izvestiya Obshestvo Stati Odesskij Balda beschinstvuet v Dnepropetrovske Archived from the original on 2007 09 28 Retrieved 2007 09 28 Alexander Pushkin A Critical Study by A D P Briggs Rowman amp Littlefield Publishers 1982 External links Edit Works related to The Tale of the Priest and of His Workman Balda at Wikisource Media related to Tale of the Priest and His Workman Balda at Wikimedia Commons in Russian Skazka o pope i o ego rabotnike Balde available at Lib ru Excerpts from the English translation by Oliver Elton Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Tale of the Priest and of His Workman Balda amp oldid 1113598748, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
