The Great Snake
| "The Great Snake" | |
|---|---|
| Author | Pavel Bazhov |
| Original title | "Про Великого Полоза" |
| Translator | Alan Moray Williams (first), Eve Manning, et al. |
| Country | Soviet Union |
| Language | Russian |
| Series | The Malachite Casket collection (list of stories) |
| Genre(s) | skaz |
| Published in | Krasnaya Nov |
| Publication type | Periodical |
| Media type | Print (magazine, hardback and paperback) |
| Publication date | 1936 |
| Published in English | 1944 |
| Preceded by | "Beloved Name" |
| Followed by | "The Mistress of the Copper Mountain" |
"The Great Snake" or "The Great Serpent" (Russian: Про Великого Полоза, tr. Pro Velikogo Poloza, lit. "Of the Great Serpent") is a folk tale (the so-called skaz) of the Ural region of Siberia collected and reworked by Pavel Bazhov. It was first published in the 11th issue of the Krasnaya Nov literary magazine in 1936 and later the same year as a part of the collection Prerevolutionary Folklore of the Urals. It was later released as a part of the The Malachite Casket collection. The story was translated from Russian into English by Alan Moray Williams in 1944, and by Eve Manning in the 1950s.
In this skaz, two boys meet the legendary creature the Great Snake (also translated as Poloz the Great Snake; Russian: Великий Полоз, tr. Velikij Poloz).
The story of two brothers is then continued in "The Snake Trail", published in 1939.
This skaz was first published together with "The Mistress of the Copper Mountain" and "Beloved Name" (also known as "That Dear Name") in the 11th issue of Krasnaya Nov in 1936. "Beloved Name" was published on the pages 5–9, "The Great Snake" on pp. 9–12, and "The Mistress of the Copper Mountain" on pp. 12–17. These tales are the ones that follow the original Ural miners' folklore most closely. They were included in the collection Prerevolutionary Folklore of the Urals (Russian: Дореволюционный фольклор на Урале, tr. Dorevoljucionnyj folklor na Urale), released later the same year by Sverdlovsk Publishing House. It was later released as a part of the The Malachite Casket collection on 28 January 1939.
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