Tale
Nobleman Zavalnia, or Belarus in Fantastical Tales
Szlachcic Zawalnia
Jan Barszczewski · 1844
Synopsis
Pan Zawalnia's nephew recounts the evening gatherings held at his uncle's estate, near Polotsk. When a storm drives travellers to shelter there, the host asks of them only one payment: a story that frightens. A blind man, a fisherman, a Romani man, an organist and a few noblemen tell in turn tales of sorcerers, of lost souls and of people who sell their souls to evil spirits, like the one about the hair that screams on the head.
Context
The collection appeared in Saint Petersburg in volumes: the first in November 1844, the last completed in the autumn of 1846. Its framework is that of the noble gawęda of the Romantic era, and its tales mingle pagan mythology and Christian dogma; critics also read in it, beneath the allegory, the history of Belarus in the second half of the eighteenth century. The narrator, Janka, like the author studied with the Jesuits of Polotsk, and he is regarded as his double. The first complete English translation appeared in 2025.
Who it is for
A series of fantastic tales linked by a fireside narrative, written in Polish, translated into Belarusian and, since 2025, into English.
Prizes and reception
Counted among the first works of modern Belarusian literature, it received its first critical edition in 2020, in Białystok.
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