Tale
Ziemas pasakas
Not translated into English
Kārlis Skalbe · 1913
Synopsis
The author's tales from Kārlis Skalbe's first collection, among them Kaķīša dzirnavas, the little cat's mill, and a Cinderella. The storyteller freely reworks motifs from Latvian folklore to raise moral questions, and shows in each story the strength of the spirit to change the world, against hatred and violence.
Context
The collection appeared in 1913. Its author would write seventy-two tales, which earned him the nickname king of tales, and the Lithuanian encyclopedia notes in it a moral problematic and a distinctive way of reinterpreting oral tradition. Kaķīša dzirnavas received in 2024 a bilingual edition, Latvian and Russian, at Aminori. His works were gathered in six volumes in Stockholm, from 1952 to 1955, then in twelve volumes in Riga in 2001. The words Tēvzemei un Brīvībai, for the fatherland and for freedom, which appear on the Freedom Monument in Riga, are his.
Who it is for
Short tales in simple language, which are not addressed only to children. It is as well to know that they draw on Latvian folk motifs.
Prizes and reception
His tale Kaķīša dzirnavas has been included in the Latvian cultural canon since 2008, and its author remains the king of tales.
Sources for this page 2
The pages consulted to check this page.