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Unravelling wonder tales: the representation of the initiation rite in

Russian and Japanese wonder tales

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the


Degree of Master of Arts

in Comparative Literature
at The University of Nottingham

September 2018
Abstract of dissertation entitled

Unravelling wonder tales: the representation of the initiation rite in


Russian and Japanese wonder tales

Submitted by Dumitru Taca

Initiation is intended for the transition of a person from one status to another, in
particular, inclusion in a certain community. This rite is divided into several phases: the
isolation from the usual society, the border period, trails and the initiation. By this rite the
neophyte became a full member of the society and acquired the right to marry. This is the
social function of this rite. Its forms are different, and this dissertation examines them in
connection with the material of the wonder tale.

Studying the specifics of the wonder tale, Propp reveals that the compositional unity
of a wonder tale lies not in any peculiarities of the human psyche, or in the features of
artistic creativity, it lies in the historical reality of the past. A wonder tale is a reflection of
the phenomena and representations of a concrete social system, a concrete historical reality,
concrete relationships between members of the society. Each character of a wonder tale is
not a fictional hero, but an actual participant in the rite, which is the basis of a wonder tale.
The results of this cross-cultural study of Russian and Japanese wonder tales make it
possible to conclude that the selected texts, on the one hand, have a cultural specificity, and
on the other hand, have the characteristics of metaculture.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction...…………………………………………………………………………….4

1 The initiation rite in wonder tales about a supernatural


helper……………………………………………………………….……………………..7

1.1 The Fire Boy and Sivka-Burka…………………………………………………...8

1.2 The Crane’s Return of Favour and Ivan Tsarevich, The Firebird and The Gray
Wolf………………………………………………………………………………………14

1.3 Picking Nara Pears and The Milk of Wild Beasts……………………………....22

Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………….41

Appendix 1……………………………………………………………………………....44

Appendix 2……………………………………………………………………………....46

Appendix 3……………………………………………………………………………....49

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Introduction

A fairy tale is one of the main types of oral folk art. Artistic story of a fantastic,
adventure or domestic character. According to Marina Warner, ‘another alternative term for
‘fairy tale’ is ‘wonder tale’, from the German Wundermärchen’, which recognizes the
ubiquitousness of magic in the stories.’1 For this reason, in this dissertation the latter term
is used for its wider meaning. Heroes of wonder tales fight not for life, but for death, defeat
enemies, save friends and face evil spirits. Most of these texts are related to the search for
a bride or a stolen wife.

The approach Vladimir Propp proposed to the interpretation of wonder-tale motifs


was based on the premise that the wonder tale retained traces of disappeared forms of social
and ritual life. The study of these tracks helps to discover and explain the sources of many
motifs of the wonder tale. Believing that wonder tales absorbed many elements of early
social and cultural life, Propp, set the way for their understanding to understand the wonder
tale. He attached great importance to explaining the connection of the wonder tale with the
ritual practices of archaic society:

The wonder tale has preserved the traces of so many rites and customs:
many motifs only through a comparison with the rituals receive their genetic
explanation. So, for example, in a wonder tale it is told that the girl digs in
cow’s bones and water them (Af. 100). There was indeed such a custom or
rite. For some reason, the animals were not eaten or destroyed but buried. 2
If we could show which motifs go back to such rites, then the origin of these
motifs to some extent would have been explained. It is necessary to
systematically study this connection of a wonder tale with rituals’3

The founder of ritualism in science, James George Frazer, compared certain


mythological motifs with traditional rituals and advanced the theory about the origin of
most myths from rituals. The ritual occupies a pivotal position in the life of archaic

1
Warner, M. (2018). Fairy Tale. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 27.
2
Propp, V. (2013). Istoricheskie Korni Volshebnoĭ Skazki. Moskva: Ripol Classic. p. 10. (own translation)
3
Ibid., p. 87.

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societies. The main annual ritual in almost any archaic society is the ritual of ‘renewal’ of
the world,4 associated with cosmogonic myths, which constitute the ‘backbone’ of
mythological representations. Frazer considered the mythological motif of the ‘dying-and-
rising deity’ in connection with the agrarian calendar cults and the more archaic initiation
rituals. The main content of archaic rituals is the scheme for generating a system of
categories that defines mythological representations and relations with reality.

However, the most ancient basis of most wonder tales in different peoples,
according to Propp, was defined by cosmogonic rituals and initiation rites, as the most
typical for archaic society. Moreover, Propp singled out wonder-tale motifs related to
initiation rites: ‘chopping and revitalization’, ‘swallowing and expectoration’, ‘acquiring a
magic tool or a magical assistant’ etc.5 According to Propp, the cycle of death is closely
related to the cycle of initiation; ‘the whole initiation rite was tested as a visit to the country
of death, and vice versa, the deceased experienced all that the initiate experienced’.6

The rite of initiation, which is the most indicative for revealing the problems of this
dissertation, have been adopted and preserved by the wonder tale in the most distinctive
form. From the earliest stages of culture, the initiation of adolescents who reached puberty
included a series of rituals, the symbolism of which is obvious: it was assumed that the
initiate, experiencing temporary death, returns to the state of the embryo and is reborn.
According to Propp, this revival of the spiritual order made it possible to enter into a
qualitatively new form of existence, including admission to the tribal community as a full
member, participation in cult and sacred activities, sexual maturity (that is, the possibility
of marrying). Temporary death and resurrection were caused by such actions as symbolic
burning, dismemberment, overcoming of some severe, sometimes cruelty tests (scourging,
tearing out teeth, cutting fingers, starving, sleep deprivation). 7

4
Allen, D. (2002). Myth and Religion in Mircea Eliade. New York: Routledge. p. 204.

5
Propp (2013), p. 308.
6
Ibid., p. 308.
7
Ibid, p. 308.

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The dissertation focuses on the representation of the initiation rite in Russian and
Japanese wonder tales about a supernatural helper (according to Aarne-Thompson-Uther
Classification). For this reason, The Fire Boy, The Crane's Return of Favour, Picking Nara
Pears, Sivka-Burka, Ivan Tsarevich, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf and The Milk of Wild
Beasts were selected. The helpers in these wonder tales whether animals or humans, play
a vital role in hero’s initiation. It often happens that the hero of the wonder tales cannot
fulfil the task assigned to him (save the princess, get the treasure, free the country from
Zmey Gorynych, etc.) and some magical powers come to his aid, taking on the appearance
of either mysterious, strange people, or objects, that is, next to the main characters in a
wonder tale, there are always supernatural assistants. The helper is the expression of the
hero’s strength and ability. All the helpers are one group of characters. This dissertation
will consider individual helpers as they are given by a wonder tale and their connection
with the initiation rite. After considering each helper individually, the whole category will
be examined and only then the reader will get a general judgement about the helpers and
their role in the initiation of the neophyte.

The sources are primarily Russian and Japanese wonder tales. Russian wonder tales
that are used in this dissertation are from Alexander Afanas’ev’s collection. Despite the
fact that Afanas’ev himself practically did not write down the wonder tales, he used the
archive of the Russian Geographical Society, as well as the records of other famous
collectors, including Vladimir Ivanivich Dal. Dal did not set himself the goal of making
the stories for children audience, and Afanas’ev, in whose hands the wonder tales recorded
by Dal fell, stood on the point of view of the inviolability of the text, and only occasionally
introduced some editorial amendments to the text of the manuscripts he published.

Proceeding from all of the above, the choice of the collection of Afanas’ev’s wonder
tales as a source for this research is justified by the fact that it contains a collection of
folklore, which for many centuries, according to tradition, was orally transmitted from
generation to generation, and recorded directly from the people themselves. In the middle
of the nineteenth century, folklore entered a crisis time, when the creative thought of the
people, alarmed by social novelty, rushed to new subjects – and the full-fledged art of
storytelling began to occur less and less often. Therefore, the main value of this source,

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from the point of view of realizing the research objectives, is that the collection of
Afanas’ev contains the earliest, from all accessible to date, versions of wonder tales. The
wonder tales of this collection were not subjected to processing, which would adapt them
for children’s reading, and in the least distorted form they convey the content of those
legends that from time immemorial existed in the people’s environment, and therefore
preserved the deepest layer of popular consciousness.

As for Japanese wonder tales, as a source in this work is the collection of wonder
tales presented on the Japanese site hukumusume.com. This site contains wonder tales in
Japanese, collected from all over Japan. Moreover, Seki Keigo’s Compilation of Japanese
Folktales and Types of Japanese Fairy Tales are used in this dissertation. His work,
dedicated to the Japanese wonder tales, their origin and classification, allowed to
significantly expand the theoretical base of research. It is wonder tales in the original
language that can contain the earliest versions of records, and are abler to convey the full
depth of the meaning inherent in them by generations of the Japanese people.

Since the wonder tale is inextricably linked with the myth, the myths of the Slav
and Japanese peoples are no less important source in the context of this study. The myth is
closely connected with the entire structure of the tribal life: it expresses and codifies beliefs,
imposes moral principles, guarantees the effectiveness of ritual ceremonies, offers rules for
practical life. Thus, myth can be used as a source, which contains the realities of life of
people in early society.

The initiation rite in wonder tales about a supernatural helper

The essence of the wonder tales of this category is events related to a supernatural
helper. With all its diversity, wonder tales of this type are united by a functional unity - an
assistant is an expression of the strength and abilities of the hero.

Among the Japanese wonder tales of this type were chosen wonder tales: The Fire
Boy, The Crane's Return of Favour and Picking Nara Pears. Among Russian wonder tales
were chosen: Sivka-Burka, Ivan Tsarevich, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf and The Milk of
Wild Beasts.

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1.1 The Fire Boy and Sivka-Burka

The wonder tale The Fire Boy begins with the fact that the wicked stepmother
slanders Mamichigane in front of his father. The father, in anger, drives Mamichigane away.
However, he hands him his best horse and rich clothes. The hero leaves his native village
and drives up to a high mountain, which cannot be avoided, but his horse, ‘like a bird, flies
over this mountain’.8 In Sivka-Burka, a similar situation occurs; a horse is handed to the
hero. Before his death, the old father wills his three brothers in turn to spend the night in
his grave. However, since the older brothers refuse to come to the grave to their father, the
youngest, Ivan the Fool, spends all three nights on the grave. On the third night, the father
thanks the hero and gives him a magic horse: ‘The earth trembled under its hoofs, flames
streamed from its nostrils’. 9

As can be seen from the text of the wonder tales, both heroes receive horses from
their fathers, and the horses are supernatural. In the Japanese wonder tale, the transfer to
the son of a magic horse is coloured in a real, everyday setting: the father gives his son a
horse and rich clothes, as this reflects his own high social status. The transfer of the horse
in Sivka-Burka looks quite different. The donor has a clear connection with the realm of
death and the world of ancestors. Since the wonder tale preserves and reinterprets many
rituals, it is likely that in this case is abandoned the once-existing rite of sacrifice, and the
father's death covenant can be deciphered as a request to perform a sacrifice on his grave.
According to Propp, if someone does not make sacrifices, that is, does not satisfy the
‘hunger’ of the deceased, he will not have peace and will return to life as a spirit. 10 In the
wonder tale, the refusal of the brothers to sit at night on the grave of their father is motivated
by fear.11 It is obvious that the fear of the deceased father is based on the fear that the dead
man can rise from his grave. Hence the act of ‘sitting on the grave’ – they go to the grave
‘to sit’ to bring the deceased back to the grave if he gets up. Propp believes that this is

8
Seki, K. (1978). Nihon Mukashibanashi Taisei. Volume 5. Tokyo: Kadokawashoten. p. 191.

9
Afanas’ev, A.N. (1984). Narodnye Russkie Skazki A.N. Afanasʹeva v 3 tomah. Volume 2. Moskva: Nauka. pp. 5-6.

10
Propp (2013), p. 122.
11
Afanasʹev (1984), Volume 2, p. 5.

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something that not only the living are afraid of, but also the dead themselves. Therefore,
the offer of the father to go to his grave is caused by the desire to secure his otherworldly
peace.12 Thus, in the wonder tale the reader can see that the hero no longer tries to penetrate
the realm of death himself, as was the case in the initiation ceremony, the supernatural
assistant is given to him by the deceased father, that is, the ancestor who is strong already
because he is in the world of the dead. The test of the initiation rite in this text is
reinterpreted in honouring the paternal grave, which reflects the patriarchal order and the
cult of ancestors.

It is also interesting to see the look of the horse itself, in which ‘flame streamed
from its nostrils, smoke rose in columns from its ears’. There is clearly traced the fiery
nature of the horse. Fire, as is known, was once represented as a mediator between two
worlds. According to Rybakov, with the advent of the cremation ritual, the cult of ancestors
split: some actions were associated with the idea of a soul rising to the sky with the smoke
of fireplace; others were still confined to the cemetery, to the burial place of the ancestor,
as the only item actually associated with the deceased. 13 The funeral pyre, on which the
corpse of the deceased was laid for cremation, was called ‘krada’ in the Slavic rite. At the
funeral pyre (‘krada’), along with the deceased himself, various animals, including horses,
were burned.14 Apparently, the wonder tale Sivka-Burka, reflected at once two rituals
associated with funeral rituals: a ritual performed during cremation and inhumation. In the
end, both the supernatural helper and the hero himself are invariably connected with the
world of the dead, which corresponds to a visit as dead man and obtaining magical objects
in the initiation rite.

Then, the wonder tale Sivka-Burka develops as follows. The king promises to marry
his daughter to that who will tear the princess’s portrait. Ivan is going to go to the city with
his brothers, but they just laugh at him. However, Ivan calls his horse, and his horse jumps
so high that tears off the portrait of the princess. 15 The reader can notice that the magic

12
Propp (2013), p. 123.
13
Rybakov, B. (1987). Iazychestvo Drevnei Rusi. Moskva: Nauka. p. 81

14
Ibid., p. 87.
15
Afanasʹev (1984), Volume 2, pp. 6-7.

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horse almost flies. According to another version, given in the same collection, the reader
can see that sitting on the horse, the hero ‘flew like a falcon’. 16 The horse from the wonder
tale The Fire Boy also has similar functions: ‘like a bird flew across the mountain’.17 As
stated in Propp’s book, Istoricheskie Korni Volshebnoi Skazki, the horse, as is known, enters
the human consciousness later than the animals of the forests, and is used in completely
new household functions. The new form of household does not immediately create
equivalent forms of thinking, there is a period when these new forms come into conflict
with old thinking and create new images. 18 Therefore, the horse is clothed in the bird image,
it is attributed to the function that early thinking firmly entrenched behind the bird, namely,
the function of the conductor from the world of the living to the world of the dead. For
example, according to Levkievskaia, in the Slavic pre-Christian picture of the world, there
was an idea of Vyriy – a mythical overseas country where birds fly away for the winter,
and whence they return in the spring. 19 Interesting in the context of this study is the fact
that the Nihongi, in the cycle of stories about the emperor Jimmu says the following:

[…] among the mountains it was so precipitous that there was no road by
which they could travel [...] Then Ama-terasu no Oho-Kami instructed the
Emperor in a dream of the night, saying: - ‘‘I will now send thee Yata-
garasu20, make it thy guide through the land’’21

Here, the bird also appears to be a guide, an envoy. The reader can notice that something
similar happens with Mamichigane. Even though the hero overcomes the mountain thanks
to the magic horse, the very fact that the horse is flying confirms that the image of a horse
that preserves the functions of a bird in a wonder tale is of a superficial nature.

The mythologeme ‘soul – bird’ is widespread in many traditional cultures. In the


ancient legends of the Ainu, the soul, when it let the human body after death, was pictured

16
Afanasʹev (1984), Volume 2, p. 8.
17
Seki (1978), pp.191-192.
18
Propp (2013), p. 142.
19
Levkievskai︠a︡, E. E. (2000). Mify Russkogo Naroda. Moskva: Astrel. p. 188.
20
The crow with a head eight feet long.
21
Aston, W.G. (1896). Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan From The Earliest Times to A.D. 697. London: Paul. p. 115.

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as a small bird that could fly far away. At the end of the feast of the deceased, who
consecrate the souls of their ancestors by their presence, the Ainu perform a farewell mimic
dance, depicting the flight of a bird and issuing sounds characteristic of the noise of wings.
Sjoberg believes that this dance depicts the flight of souls in the guise of birds at the end
of the feast.22 In addition, Nihongi also mentions the transformation of the soul of the
deceased into a bird. In one of the scrolls there is a story of Yamato-Takero-no Mikoto,
who after death took ‘the shape of a white bird [...] and flew towards the Land of Yamato’.23
According to the Slavic beliefs, the soul of the deceased also takes the form of a bird, hence
the custom to scatter grains on graves.24

In addition, the bird is directly related to totem animals, as it occupies a prominent


place among them. According to Propp, the bird is an indispensable companion and
assistant to the shaman, it accompanies him in his wanderings to heaven and into the
underworld. For example, in the vestments of Siberian shamans, parts of the eagle appear:
bones, feathers, claws; and the shaman's caftan was cut out like a bird and was lined with
a long fringe, symbolizing feathers.25 According to Naumann, in the Yayoi era, cults of
bird-spirits, magical and shamanic birds begin to take shape. On the ceramics of the Yayoi
period, there are images of priests, or shamans with wings or bird heads. In myths there is
a famous scene of funeral ritual of the deity Amenowakahiko, performed by birds, who
danced for eight days and sang funeral songs. 26

Summarizing all of the above, the reader can come to the conclusion that the bird
in the wonder tale is an ancient totemic animal, a spirit protector. Moreover, it is conceived
as a guide, a link between the world of the living and the world of the dead.

22
Sjöberg, K. (1991). Mr. Ainu: Cultural Mobilization and The Practice of Ethnicity in a Hierarchical Culture. Lund:
University of Lund, Department of Social Anthropology. p. 84.
23
Aston (1896), p. 210.
24
Levkievskaia (2000), pp. 163-164.
25
Propp, V. (1998). Morfologiia Volshebnoĭ Skazki. Moskva: Labirint. p. 257.

26
Naumann, N. (2000). Japanese Prehistory: The Material and Spiritual Culture of The Jō mon Period. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. pp.
63-65.

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Now, returning to the problem of assimilation of a horse and a bird, it will be easier
to trace the transfer of the functions of one animal to another, and to understand what
significance it has in the context of this study. The reader has already seen that in wonder
tales, magic horses fly like birds. In addition, in the wonder tale Sivka-Burka the hero
receives a horse from his deceased father. As already mentioned, the bird was conceived as
a guide from the world of the living to the world of the dead. Therefore, the flight on the
horse developed directly from the flight in the image of a bird or on a bird, and the custom
of giving a horse, which is a mount, at death, is a consequence of the transfer to it of the
function of a bird, the function of a guide to the other world. According to Propp, with the
transition to settled agriculture, the circle of interests centres on the earth, and a cult of
ancestors appears; the deceased are no longer thought of as departed, but of living in the
house, near the hearth, in the grave. The horse remained as an attribute of the deceased in
general, although it lost its meaning. Therefore, the father who lives with a horse in the
grave is a late phenomenon, it reflects the cult of ancestors27. The horses successfully fly
heroes of both texts, and this is due to the initiation ceremony.

The initiates, passing through a symbolic mortification, were to join the spirit of the
totem ancestor-patron, and thus acquire magical armament. The essence of the initiation
rite is expressed in the fact that the totemic ancestor often carried out the transfer of the
subject to the other world. As already noted, originally the guide was played by a bird, and
the soul of a man was represented in the image of a bird, was one with it. But as the mounts
appear, the loss of the original idea of consubstantiality begins. According to Prop, by the
time man began to tame the horse, the idea of turning into an animal has already come to
the fore.28 However, flying on a horse in wonder tales still reflects the same ideas as the
flight in the image of a bird: crossing into the realm of the dead; and this, is one of the
actions in the initiation rite.

Thus, in the case of the wonder tale The Fire Boy, the reproduction of the initiation
rite is the fact that the horse represents the hero's guidebook to the world of the dead. In
the case of the wonder tale Sivka-Burka, the reader can observe that there is a whole

27
Propp (1998), p. 260.
28
Ibid., p. 294.

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complex of rituals that have preserved a wonder tale, but in the end they all boil down to
the notions of the afterlife. The horse, firstly, is itself a being from the world of the dead,
and secondly, it acts as a totemic animal - carries out the crossing and communicates
magical armament. All this is also an integral part of the initiation rite.

Next in the texts is the following. Mamichigane works for a long time in the house
of a rich man as a stoker. When a festival starts in the city, he waits until everyone leaves,
changes into his beautiful clothes and flies on the horse to the city centre. People worship
him as a deity. After that, he returns to the house and lies down on a pile of ashes near the
stove.29 In the wonder tale Sivka-Burka the hero on his magic horse tears off the portrait of
the princess and at the same time snatches the scarf from her. After that, he, as if nothing
had happened, comes home and sits down near the stove. 30

According to the Russian folklorist Meletinsky, the conscious aspiration of the hero
to hide under the ‘low’ guise, perhaps, is connected with the ‘marriage-workmanship’,
widely known in ethnography: the young man had to work for a certain period in a 'low'
position with his future father-in-law. The matrilocal marriage was characterized by the
relative passivity of a man who is going to transition to his wife's family. This passivity
received in the ritual a peculiar expression in the form of ‘escaping of the groom’.
Therefore, it is likely that the wonder tales reflected a similar rite (draws attention to the
marked passivity of the heroes). They escape from the festival, return to their normal state
and not only do not achieve a higher position, but as if they avoid it. 31

In addition, the marriage was preceded by the initiation rite, which presupposed the
neophyte’s being in a state of temporary death. According to Propp, one form of imitation
of death was the smearing of soot or clay. 32 Such colouring made the person unrecognizable
and gave him a repulsive appearance, that is, made him invisible, lost his personal qualities,
and this, is a characteristic feature of the dead man. Thus, the image of the facelessness,

29
Seki (1978), pp. 193-194.
30
Afanasʹev (1984), Volume 2, p. 7.
31
Meletinskii, E. (2005). Geroi Volshebnoĭ Skazki. Moskva: Akademii︠a︡ issledovaniĭ kulʹtury. p. 205.

32
Propp (1998), pp. 223-225.

13
unrecognizability of the hero also reveals a connection with the ideas underlying the
initiation rites.

Both wonder tales end in a well-known scenario. Heroes have already shown their
magical armament, because they have at their disposal a supernatural helper, and hence the
connection with the totem ancestor. Thus, they have proved that they are initiated, and
therefore can enter into a marriage relationship. In both texts, the hero is recognized by a
special mark. In the wonder tale The Fire Boy such is the black mark on the left ear of the
hero, which reveals hero's true identity.33 In the wonder tale Sivka-Burka the princess brings
a glass of beer to the hero, and sees the scarf he once snatched from her. 34 In this case, the
scarf plays the same role as the mark in the wonder tale The Fire Boy: Both these details
are present in the texts as a stigma, according to which the hero stands out among other
suitors. According to Propp, in the ritual of initiation, stigmatization, that is, the drawing
of distinctive signs, was necessary for admission to the tribal union. The presence of such
a stigma confirmed that the new member of the society is an initiate and has the right to
join a clan association.35

1.2 The Crane's Return of Favour and Ivan Tsarevich, The Firebird and The Gray
Wolf

The content of the wonder tale The Crane's Return of Favour briefly looks like this.
A young man saves a wounded crane. Soon, on the threshold of his house appears a girl
who asks to shelter her. The girl becomes his wife and for his kindness, she decides to
weave fabrics. The girl forbids her husband to look into the room while she is there
however, one day he violates the ban. The man finds a crane at the loom and understands
that this is the same crane that he saved once. The crane girl flies away. 36

As can be seen from the text, a bird appears in the wonder tale. The nature of the
bird, its connection with the souls of the dead, the afterlife and totemic animals has already

33
Seki (1978), p. 195.
34
Afanasʹev (1984), Volume 2, p. 7.
35
Propp (1998), p. 378.
36
Seki (1966), p.77.

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been mentioned above. According to Eason, in the Yayoi period, wooden birds, which
symbolized the shaman's feathery spirits, protecting people from the evil spirit of disease,
were installed in front of houses or on the roofs of houses. Among these assistants, the
crane was often considered to be revered for a particularly sacred bird and figured in many
religious rituals. 37

In the wonder tale, the crane girl is engaged in weaving, and does it secretly, behind
closed doors. Opening the door, the hero violates the ban, and the crane leaves the house
and her husband. This motif, where the weaving room is forbidden, is rooted in antiquity.
In particular, Amaterasu – the goddess of the sun, is also the goddess of weaving. In
Nihongi, in the cycle of myths about the concealment of Amaterasu, one of the reasons that
prompted the goddess to hide in the celestial cave is the following:

[…] after this Waka-hiru-me no Mikoto was in the sacred weaving-hall,


weaving the garments of the Deities. Susa no wo no Mikoto saw this and
forthwith flaying a piebald colt with a backward flaying, flung it into the
interior hall [...] Waka-hiru-me no Mikoto [...] fell down from the loom,
wounding herself with the shuttle which she held in her hand. 38

After this, the angry goddess disappears in the Stone Cave of Heaven. Ueda Masaaki,
analysing the ancient texts and highlighting the myth in which Amaterasu ‘took the
silkworms in her mouth, and succeeded in reeling thread from them’39 came to the
conclusion that Amaterasu was the Chief Celestial Weaver. 40 In the general system of
symbols, the act of spinning embodied creation and growth. This position is confirmed by
the fact that the virgins in Niiname-no-Matsuri (the feast of eating the first harvest, the
main agricultural holiday of the annual cycle) spun. 41 It should also be noted that Nihongi
directly states that Amaterasu ‘sowed for the first time the rice seed in the narrow fields

37
Eason, C. (2008). Fabulous Creatures, Mythical Monsters, and Animal Power Symbols: A Handbook. California:
Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 65-66.
38
Aston (1896), p. 45.
39
Ibid., p. 33.
40
Ueda, M. (1999). Nihon Shinwa Ron. Tokyo: Kadokawa Shoten. pp. 227-247.

41
Hosoi, Y. (1974). Tree Symbolism in The Japanese Religious Tradition. Chicago: University of Chicago. p. 193.

15
and in the long fields of Heaven’. 42 Amaterasu is revered as the pioneer in rice cultivation.
Thus, Amaterasu combines all the properties of an agricultural deity – a symbol of fertility.
Turning to the wonder tale, one can see that it is no accident that a girl appears in the house
of the young man at the end of winter, spends the summer there and flies away, when winter
comes. That is, the crane-girl is directly connected with the agricultural cycle. The crane-
girl, like the insulted goddess of the sun, leaves the house of the young man, after the hero
dared to disturb her solitude in the weaving room. The fact that weaving was associated
with a number of prohibitions is confirmed by the myth from Fudoki:

According to another version [of the story], the name utsuhata derived from
Tate’s manner of weaving. Tate would shut himself up in his hut while he
worked because he was afraid that his technique would be stolen. Thus, his
cloth came to be called utsuhata (woven in secret).43

This is due to the fact that fabrics from ancient times were one of the types of sacrifice to
the gods. Thus, in the wonder tale, the reader can see that the crane-girl is connected with
the agricultural ritual, as it should stimulate fertility and abundant harvest. Moreover, she
is engaged in weaving, which is also part of the agricultural ritual, since the act of spinning
represents a growing crop.

Now, turning to the Russian wonder tale, it begins as follows. In a certain kingdom,
the king has a wonderful garden with a golden apple tree. However, the apples are stolen
every night, and the king alternately sends his sons to watch the thief. The younger son
discovers that the Firebird steals the apples. 44

Firebird is often presented to the reader as a kind of mythical fire bird, which is
associated with phoenix. However, one should pay attention to the fact that many verbal
signs of heat (‘zhar’) are phonetically very close to the words denoting cranes (‘zheravik’),
which is a homonym indicating both the crane and the hot coals. Apparently, the proximity

42
Aston (1896), p. 33.
43
Aoki (1997), p. 70.
44
Afanas’ev, A.N. (1984). Narodnye russkie skazki A.N. Afanasʹeva v 3 tomah. Volume 1. Moskva: Nauka. p. 331.

16
of writing, sometimes reaching homonymic identity, led to the convergence of two
semantically unrelated concepts. In addition, according to Rybakov, the fire properties of
the Firebird, its luminous feathers could have resulted as a consequence of the illumination
of the cranes by the rays of the ascending or setting sun, when in June those flew to the
feeding in the nearest grain fields. 45 Thus, like in the Japanese wonder tale, in Ivan
Tsarevich, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf a crane appears. Subsequently, the king sends
his sons to search for the Firebird. Ivan travels for a long time on his horse, but suddenly a
grey wolf appears, tears his horse and asks to accompany Ivan in his wanderings. Ivan sits
on the wolf and continues his journey. 46 Here the situation is the same as with the magic
horse. A helper is a totemic animal and carries the hero to another kingdom.

The fact that the wolf is a guide to the afterlife, is confirmed by the further
development of the plot. The hero gets to the wonderful garden, in which there is a golden
cage with the Firebird. When he shows greed and decides to take the cage, an alarm sounds:
‘a thunderous noise resounded through the whole garden, for there were strings tied to the
cage’.47 The owner of the garden, is angry, but promises to give the Firebird, if Ivan will
bring him a golden-haired horse. The hero on his wolf gets to the desired kingdom, but
touches the gold bridle and everything repeats. The local king agrees to give the horse in
return for Princess Elena the Fair. The reader can see that as soon as the hero touches the
golden object, a roar is heard throughout the kingdom and all guards awake, this is due to
the presence of a certain ‘alarm, but this is a later interpretation, and alarm here is of a
different kind, it works when the hero presents himself as living in the realm of the dead.
According to Agranovich, a specialist in the field of folk traditions, rituals and Russian
folklore, almost from the very beginning of the emergence of human society, long before
gold become a symbol of wealth, it was already a sign of death. 48 The logic here is simple:
the dead were buried in the ground, and gold from the earth was washed away, it was found

45
Rybakov (1987), pp. 712-713.
46
Afanasʹev (1984), Volume 1, p. 332.
47
Ibid., pp. 332-333.
48
Agranovich S. Z. and Rassovskaia L. P. (1989). Istorizm Pushkina i Poètika Folʹklora. Saratov: Izd-vo Saratovskogo
Universiteta. pp. 39-41.

17
mostly in the forms of nuggets in the sources of streams. 49 According to Propp, since gold
in the consciousness of an early man has always been connected with death, everything
that is coloured in gold in wonder tales, reveals its belonging to a different world.
Therefore, only the living can be deceived by the gold, which abounds in the afterlife, and
to which the dead are indifferent.50 This once again confirms that the hero is in the realm
of the dead, which corresponds to the second stage of the initiation rite.

The images of the wolf and the Firebird, also, are not devoid of a certain symbolism
associated with the ideas of fertility. According to Rybakov, their images were often placed
on widely known silver bracelets from princely and boyar treasures between the twelve
and sixteenth centuries, which were intended for ritual activities during the Green week. 51
Interesting for the study, conjugated with a wonder tale, is a bracelet from the Mikhailovsky
treasure, which depicts a long-legged bird and beside it two solar signs (see Appendix 1,
Figure 1). In this bird it is easy to recognize the demoiselle crane (Anthropoides virgo) that
inhabits the southern Russian lands. Rybakov believes that the arrival of cranes meant the
influx of spring heat, and their famous spring games coincided with the beginning of the
cycle of agrarian holidays.

The wolf also occupies an important place in symbolic compositions, imbued with
the idea of life and the flowering of nature. In Rybakov’s book Iazychestvo drevnei Rusi,
there are images of wolves with flowering tails in the white-stone carving of the Vladimir-
Suzdal land (see Appendix 1, Figure 2), where they are next to the so-called ‘tree of life’,
the trunk and branches of which very accurately reproduce the letter ‘Zh’ (‘zhivete’). Such
an image expressed a verbal appeal to nature, ‘pustʹ vse zhivet!’ (let everything live!), in
order to communicate life forces to it by means of an incantation. 52

On a bracelet from Principality of Halych (see Appendix 1, Figure 3), where all the
space is covered with dozens of rhombuses equipped with dots, which is typical

49
Propp (1998), p. 364.
50
Propp, V. (1999). Problemy Komizma I Smekha. Moskva: Labirint. pp. 230-231.

51
Rybakov (1987), pp. 696-701.
52
Ibid., pp. 703-704.

18
conventional depiction of a sown field, a tumbling wolf is depicted, and next to it is a
woman and a large male head with horns. The woman, as it were, begins to take off her
skirt: one leg is exposed above the knee. 53 In this regard, of particular interest is
lycanthropy the transformation of people into wolves. In the wonder tale, the Gray wolf
undoubtedly possesses magical properties characteristic of a shaman and is engaged in
shapeshifting: it turns into an exact copy of the princess, and then returns its wolfish
appearance.54

In addition, the wolf tells Ivan to wait for him in a ‘open field under the green oak’,
where it returns, carrying Princess Elena the Fair on its back. 55According to Rybakov, the
image of the wolf and the woman on the sown field on the bracelet seems to illustrate the
custom of ritual copulation on a ploughed field. At this time, the woman and the main
performer of the rite, imitating a wolf, rolled around the field, imitating coition in order to
influence the fertile forces of nature. The man's head with horns, pictured nearby, is none
other than Volos, the cattle god, a very archaic deity that goes back to the hunters of the
Paleolithic, disguised as animal skins during hunting and rituals. His festive days were wolf
holidays (‘Kudelitsa’).56 This once again confirms that the wolf on the ornament is a person
who has adopted a wolf appearance.

Summarizing all of the above, and returning to the analysed wonder tale, the reader
can come to the conclusion the in the wonder tale there is a crane, the arrival of which
coincided with the beginning of the cycle of agrarian holidays. Crane is inseparable from
the notions of fertility, the life-giving force of sunlight. In the wonder tale, this was
reflected in the fact that the crane is represented by the Firebird, the fiery nature which
corresponds to the idea of the connection of the crane with the solar cult. The wolf also
plays an important role in the notions of fertility and the life principle in general. This is
confirmed, firstly, by the depiction of wolves with their buds tied up next to the tree of life,
and secondly, by the fact that images of wolves were placed on the sown field. In the

53
Ibid., p. 725.
54
Afanasʹev (1984), Volume 1, p. 335.
55
Ibid., p. 334.
56
Rybakov (1987), pp. 733-735.

19
wonder tale, the wolf, having stolen Princess Elena the Fair, takes her to the field riding on
its back. In the text, of course there is no longer either that the woman was rolling around
the field, nor the fact that the wolf was rolling around itself. Nevertheless, it can be assumed
that some echoes of the ancient rite in the wonder tale are still preserved, and the fact that
the wolf brings Elena on the field, and the presence of a wolf and a woman in one field,
indirectly can indicate it. Thus, both of the wonder tales, one way or another, are associated
with perceptions of fertility and agrarian ritual.

Despite that, the reader can see how both wonder tales are related to the rite of
initiation. In the Japanese wonder tale, the hero meets the magical helper – the crane. As it
was already established, the bird in antiquity was a totemic animal, an ancestor-guard, a
companion of a shaman. Crane in Japan also was among the spirits assistants of the shaman.
Testing the initiation rite for obtaining a magical helper – a totemic animal, in a wonder
tale is reinterpreted and presented as a help that a man renders to the animal. Here again
there is a motif of the grateful animal. In the Russian wonder tale, the hero also receives a
supernatural helper who clearly contains all the signs of a totemic animal and acts as a
guide to the afterlife. The very course of the wonder tale is full of signs that the hero is in
the realm of death, which corresponds to a visit as dead in the initiation rite.

One should also point out the essential difference between the two wonder tales in
question. If Ivan Tsarevich, Firebird and the Gray Wolf ends in a well-known scenario (the
hero returns after the initiation and marries), 57 that is, there is a traditional happy ending,
the Japanese wonder tale ends tragically.

The absence of opposition, characteristic of the wonder tale canon, and the
reconciliation of heroes with their destiny are features of the Japanese wonder tale and
Japanese folklore in general. In particular, especially the sad ending is present in wonder
tales, where the supernatural helper appears.

According to the Japanese scholar Tomo Matsui, this is due to the fact that the
wonder tales reflected the changes in the culture of the Japanese people. The scholar notes

57
Afanasʹev (1984), Volume 1, p. 343.

20
that during the Jomon period (the culture of hunters and gatherers in Japan), people revered
animals as gods, in other words, during this period the population of the Japanese islands
was in a deep relationship with nature. However, the Jomon culture was replaced by an
agrarian culture, which implies the partial capture by nature of man by building villages,
breeding livestock and cultivating fields. This led to the emergence of an independent
agricultural community, which is a human world that exists apart from the natural world.
Since a person gained economic and psychological independence from nature, this world,
once inhabited by deities, becomes ‘different’ for man. Matsui believes that Japanese
wonder tales arose under the influence of the picture of the world that existed during the
culture of hunters and gatherers. For example, The Crane's Return of Favour still contains
the echoes of the former divine status of the crane girl: her amazing skill as a weaver and
the ability to bring luck and prosperity to the family. However, when the old culture was
replaced by the culture of agriculture, the stories of these texts were rethought. According
to the scholar, animals that were formerly revered as divine ancestors, founders of the genus
and its patrons, lose their divine status and become for man beings from the ‘other’ world.
Therefore, in wonder tales, when a person reveals their true identity, the animals have
nothing left but to leave the family and again return to their world, which has become alien
to the human world.58 In other words, parting in such wonder tales symbolizes the gap that
has occurred between man and nature.

Moreover, the universal concept of sadness and admiration, the so-called ‘mono no
aware’ concept, where ‘aware’ can mean both ‘charm’ and ‘sorrow’ may have influenced
the creation of wonder tales in a similar way, peculiar only to the Japanese mentality 59: ‘I
am the crane that you saved. I wanted to repay you [...] but now that you have seen my true
form I can stay here no longer.’ [...] The crane then quickly flew off into the sky’. 60 The
main feeling that the reader brings to the finale of this story is undoubtedly sadness.
According to McCullough, the characters of many Japanese legends are often tragic

58
Matsui, T. (1988). Mukashibanashi no Shi to Tanjo. Kyobunkan. pp. 106-108.

59
Choi, J. (2018). Reorienting Ozu: A Master and His Influence. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 7.

60
Web-japan.org. (2018). Tsuru no Ongaeshi 5 - Folk Legends - Kids Web Japan - Web Japan. [online] Available at:
https://web-japan.org/kidsweb/folk/tsuru/tsuru05.html

21
figures, especially those characteristic of female characters who embody the beauty of the
emotional, evocative ‘aware’, since the aesthetic ideal of the refined woman - the woman
with the aura of sadness - is close to the Japanese since ancient times. 61

In addition, the Japanese system of values is constantly influenced by the concept


of ‘wabi-sabi’. The spirit of the ‘sabi’ in particular is characterized by the presence of
emotional polarity: at one pole is pathetic grief, on the other - enlightened reconciliation
with their sorrows. In other words, it is the aesthetic mastery of the world in all its harsh
truth: the ‘sabi’, which goes back to a sense of ‘horror’ before the world, then turns into
‘beauty’, ‘reconciliation’.

Such a dual perception of the world could not but arise in Japan. For example, in
Kamo no Chomei’s An Account of my Hut, which was written in Kamakura period, the
author talks about real natural disasters (earthquakes, floods, hurricanes etc.) that he
witnessed personally:

[…] there was a violent earthquake, causing unbelievable


damage. Mountains crumbled, rivers were completely filled up, and waves
from the sea inundated the land. The earth split and water gushed out
[…] People who were inside the houses might be crushed at once, but those
who ran outside were faced by the cracks in the earth.62

Listening and other misfortunes, the author convincingly leads to the conclusion that
nowhere in the world there is a safe place for life. It is not necessary to focus on
insignificant things when all can be suddenly lost. He comes up with this idea of
impermanence of everything in the world (‘mujokan’). Japan is often subjected to the
strongest earthquakes and tsunamis. According to Eliott and Hsu, against this background,
the Japanese mentality has developed a natural resilience: because of the constant threat of

61
McCullough, H. (1990). Classical Japanese prose: An anthology. Stanford: Stanford University Press. p.560.

62
Washburn.edu. (n.d.). Hojoki. [online] Available at: https://washburn.edu/reference/bridge24/Hojoki.html [Accessed
1 Sep. 2018].

22
losing everyone, the Japanese have learned to overcome losses and treat it as a given, which
it makes no sense to resist – it can only be expected.63

In a word, the spirit of overcoming tragedy through reconciliation with reality


permeates the entire culture of Japan, moreover, determines its distinctive content. Such a
unique feature of the Japanese mentality could not but affect the wonder tale subjects, so
the lack of opposition in the wonder tale, being tradition for the wonder tale canon in Japan,
does not fit into the generally accepted system of wonder tale composition. It is in this that
one of the main differences between the wonder tales of Japan and Russia is manifested.

1.3 Picking Nara Pears and The Milk of Wild Beasts

Despite the fact that the wonder tale The Milk of Wild Beasts is much more
complicated and contains elements typical of the type of wonder tales about marriage tests,
it was chosen on the basis that consideration of supernatural helpers appearing in these
wonder tales will help shed light on the commonality of early representations of both
peoples.

The wonder tale Picking Nara Pears begins as follows: the mother of three sons
becomes ill and craving for pears, she sends her elder son to bring them. He goes to the
mountains and meets an old woman sitting on a rock. She warns him that no one has yet
managed to get these pears and come back alive. However, the young man shows the
firmness of his intentions. Then, the old woman shows him the way. Soon the man comes
to the pond, next to which grows a pear tree. As soon as he starts to pluck the fruits, a
terrible snake appears from the depths and swallows him. The same think happens with the
middle brother, who, following his elder brother, goes on a quest.64

To begin with, it is very interesting in the context of this study to consider the old
woman who sits on a rock. In this case, it should be said about such a character of Japanese
mythology as Yamauba (‘the mountain witch’). She watches the lost travellers and invites

63
Elliott, A. and Hsu, E.L. (2016). The consequences of global disasters. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
pp. 50-52.
64
Picking Nara Pears. [online] Available at: http://hukumusume.com/douwa/pc/jap/08/31.html

23
them to her house, supposedly in order to help. She feeds them, puts them to bed, and when
they fall asleep, she attacks them. In most modern Japanese, the term Yamauba is really
associated with a mountain witch who devours unsuspecting travellers. In this sense,
Yamauba can be considered a Japanese ‘colleague’ of Baba Yaga.65

However, this character is very ambiguous. For example, there is a wonder tale
describing how Yamauba descends from the mountains to the village and asks the living
couples to give her a place for childbirth, where she gives birth to four sons named
Haruyoshi (‘Good Spring’), Natsuyoshiko (‘Good Summer’), Akiyoshiko (‘Good
Autumn’) and Fuyuyoshiko (‘Good Winter’). After that, she awards the couple with two
magic boxes, one of which is filled with gold, the other with yarn. There is also an entry in
the diary of Zuikei Shuho 66(1391-1473), who writes that ‘the reason why this summer we
have heavy rainfalls is because Yamauba gave birth to four sons’.67 Here, the reader can
see that Yamauba, firstly, is connected with nature, as indicated by the names of her sons
and the ability to influence the amount of rainfall, and secondly, it brings wealth to the
peasants.

In addition, in the collection of short stories of Muromachi period in the story


Blossoming Princess, Yamauba is represented as an elderly woman who was disliked by
her own grandchildren and expelled from the house. Since she had nowhere to go, she
began to live in the mountains.68 In connection with this, it is worth mentioning the so-
called custom of ‘ubasute’ (‘abandoning an old woman’), possibly existing in ancient
Japan, when the conditions of life with a lack of food led to the habit of expelling the old
people in the forest or mountains, to the mercy of fate.

According to Hori, the mountains are directly connected with the world of dead,
the world where the ancestors live, which is confirmed by ethnographic research. During

65
Reider, N. (2005). Yamauba: Representations of The Japanese Mountain Witch In The Muromachi and Edo Periods.
International Journal of Asian Studies, 2(02). p. 239.

66
Zen monk, poet and traveller.

67
Reider (2005), pp.241-242.
68
Ibid., p. 243.

24
the Kofun period burial mounds were erected, as a rule, on natural hills, but sometimes the
embankment of a large mound, mostly of the imperial mound, was produced on the plain.
In the subsequent period of Japanese history, the Heian period, despite the fact that the
construction of the mounds had ceased to figure in funeral rites, the mausoleum of the
emperor was still called yama (mountain), and the officials responsible for erecting the
mausoleum were ‘yama tsukuri no tsukasa’ (‘officials who erects the mountain’). The
scholar also says that the idea of the mountains as a place of stay of the deceased is still
preserved in rural areas, where the term ‘yama’ is often used in connection with funeral
rites.69 Thus, the reader can see that Yamauba has a certain connection with the world of
death, nature, fertility and wealth.

Proceeding from all of the above, one can come to the conclusion that in Picking
Nara Pears the old woman who sits on the rock and helps the heroes is none other than the
deceased ancestor of the donor, and the mountains are her dwelling place, that is, the
kingdom of the dead, in which allegedly departed the initiate during the initiation
ceremony. According to Agranovich and Stefanskii, the initiate, who received the right to
join human society at the end of the rite, had to prove that he really was a man, and therefore
he had no instinct of self-preservation, unlike any animal that consciously would never
have condemned itself to death.70 In the wonder tale, the reader can see that the heroes are
not at all alarmed by the warning of the old woman that, to go for pears, this is a sure death.
On the contrary, they are full of enthusiasm and continue their journey. In the wonder tale,
of course, a similar moment in the rite, when a person voluntarily goes to death, is no longer
understandable. Therefore, the behaviour of the characters is motivated by the fact that at
home they have an unhealthy mother.

According to Hardacre, such self-sacrifice is specific to the Japanese wonder tale,


which is the product of the era in which the narrator lived, that is, in the cultural
environment for which the influence of Confucian and Buddhist morals is characteristic.

69
Hori, I. (1968). Folk Religion in Japan: Continuity and Change. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press. pp. 152-153.

70
Agranovich, S.Z. and Stefanskii, E.E. (2003). Mif v slove: Prodolzhenie zhizni (Ocherki po mifolingvistike). Samara:
Izd. Samarskoi gumanitarnoi akademii. pp. 34-48.

25
The latter, as is known, above all appreciates the respectful attitude of relatives to each
other. 71

Now, the wonder tale The Milk of Wild Beasts begins as follows. In a certain
kingdom a king lives with his son and daughter. Ivan Tsarevich, having learned that the
entire nation has died out in a neighbouring state, asks his father to bless him to go there.
The father does not agree, and the hero decides to run away. Along with him goes his sister.
After a while they come to the hut on the chicken legs, where they meet Baba Yaga. She
feeds and put them to bed. In the morning Ivan receives a ball of threads, which help the
characters to enter the kingdom where the people died out.72

In this wonder tale, as well as in the wonder tale Picking Nara Pears, there is clearly
a connection with the initiation rite. First, the very place where the brother and sister go,
speaks for itself. This is the state where all people died, that is, the realm of death. In
addition, not everyone, but only an initiate, who is consciously sent to the other world, will
go to such a state. Secondly, the rite of initiation was mandatory for every person who had
reached a certain age, and the unwillingness to let a child to leave from home was a natural
fear for his life, since it was believed that during initiation a person was put to death in the
truest sense of the word. As can be seen from the text of the wonder tale, the father
dissuades his son, but nothing can be done about his decision to go to a dead state. In
addition, the reader can see that the heroes cannot just get to the state they need. First, they
have to meet with Baba Yaga, which guards the entrance to the realm of the dead.

The fact that Baba Yaga in this text is the guardian of the entrance to the other world,
comes from the very boundary location of the hut. Only through it the heroes finally get
the opportunity to get to the dead state. It should also be noted that in the wonder tale Baba
Yaga ‘lies; in one corner – the feet, in the other the head; lips on the lintel and the nose
buried in the ceiling’; that is occupies the whole hut. Baba Yaga here resembles a corpse in
a closed coffin; a dead person.73 In addition, she feeds heroes, this is a typical trait of her,

71
Hardacre, H. (2014). Lay Buddhism in Contemporary Japan. Princeton: Princeton University Press. p. 80.

72
Afanasʹev (1984), Volume 2, pp. 82-83.
73
Propp (1998), p. 163.

26
which is mentioned in most of the wonder tales. Moreover, while the hero will not be fed,
Yaga often does not seek to help him. This is not just hospitality; food in the realm of the
dead has special significance. In mythology, there is often a case when, after eating the
food of the Underworld, the living can no longer leave the realm of the dead. So, for
example, in the Japanese mythology, food of the Underworld, appears to be the same ‘point
of no return’. In Nihongi, in the myth of the heavenly spouses Izanami and Izanagi, the
following is said. When Izanami died, Izanagi went after her to the country of Yomi no
kuni (‘the land of the dead’, ‘the country of darkness’). There ‘Izanami no Mikoto said:
‘My lord and husband, why is thy coming so late? I have already eaten of the cooking-
furnance of Yomi’. 74 In addition, in one of the legends presented in the work of the expert
on the culture of the Ainu people, Kubodera Itsuhiko, it is directly pointed out that if a
person, after reaching the afterlife, eats food there, he will never be able to return to the
world of the living (see Appendix 1). Obviously, having tried the food of the dead, the alien
himself is attached to the world of the dead. Since the heroes of the wonder tale represent
initiates in the initiation rite, they must prove that not only do they not feel disgust for this
food, but they also have the right to it, and thus consciously go to the other world. 75

Comparing Baba Yaga and Yamauba, the reader can see that both are guards on the
border of two worlds and point the way to the realm of death. Yamauba in this case
simply gives advice, while Baba Yaga supplies Ivan with a magic tangle of threads. 76 The
tangle of threads performs the same function as a guide to the afterlife, which is also a
magical helper.

On the other hand, if the reader looks at the thread from the point of view of its
symbolic meaning, he/she can understand why the tangle of threads has become a certain
canon in the Russian wonder tales. It is believed that the magic thread is stretched between
the world of the living and the world of the dead. The thread is a very ancient symbol of
human destiny, known to many peoples, spun by a divine spinner. The Slavs had such a

74
Aston (1896), p. 24.
75
Ibid., p. 161.
76
Afanasʹev (1984), Volume 2, p.83.

27
goddess-spinner, Mokosh, who besides this was associated with the world of darkness.77
In one of the Slavic myths, Mokosh is the wife of the god of thunder and lightning Perun,
who punishes her for treason, exiled from heaven to the underworld, into the chthonic
waters.78 Mokosh appears in the image of a woman who lives in a hut and spins at night.79
It is likely that the complex image of Mokosh associated with the spinning of the thread of
life, with the world of the dead and the hut, was reflected in the Baba Yaga, who is also a
being of the afterlife, lives in the hut and gives the hero a magic tangle of threads.

Further in the wonder tale The Milk of Wild Beasts the following occurs. After the
heroes began to live in a dead state, Zmei Gorynych80, in the guise of a young man came
to the sister of Ivan Tsarevich. They fall in love and decide to kill Ivan. 81

Now, in the Japanese wonder tale Picking Nara Pears the following happens. Since
neither the elder son nor the middle son returned home, the younger son's turn comes to go
to the mountains. There he meets the old woman who says the same things that she said to
her brothers, but besides that she hands him a sword. The hero goes further and notices the
pear tree and starts to tear the fruits. Suddenly, the snake leaps out of the water and tries to
swallow the hero. However, the hero kills the snake with the sword, after which he cuts its
belly and finds there his dead brothers. The hero washes them with water from the pond,
and they come back to life.82

As can be seen from the plot events, in both texts there is a figure of a snake, whose
intention is expressed quite clearly – it tries to swallow the hero. Here again it is necessary
to mention what sense was given to the ritual absorption in the initiation rite. Ritual
absorption symbolically placed the neophyte in the womb of the mother, where he returned

77
Monaghan, P. (2014). Encyclopedia of Goddesses and Heroines. California: New World Library. p. 305.

78
Taylor, B. (2008). The Encyclopaedia of Religion and Nature. London: A&C Black. p. 1558.

79
Larrington, C. (1992). The Feminist Companion to Mythology. London: Pandora. p. 103.

80
Three-headed green snake/dragon.
81
Afanasʹev (1984), Volume 2, p.85.
82
Hukumusume.com.

28
to his original state, the state of the embryo. Then, coughed up by the absorber, he is born
anew; as an adult possessing sacral knowledge, who has the right to join a tribal union.

In the wonder tale Picking Nara Pears, the reader can see that even before the hero
comes, the serpent swallows his brothers, that is, his functions correspond to the functions
of the absorber in the initiation rite. Essential is also the fact that the snake-absorber lives
in the mountains. Here it seems necessary to consider such a unique mystical teaching as
Shugendo, which was born in the Nara period. According to Hori, Shugendo was formed
under the influence of ideas about the mountains, as a world of the dead or the world of
shamans, which passed through a series of tests83 to obtain supernatural forces and the
possibility of contact with the deities. 84 The center of the activity of the followers of the
Shugendo became mountains, the main one being Mount Gassan. For farmers living in the
area, this mountain was a place of worship for agricultural deities and the spirits of
ancestors. Special ceremonies of Shugendo were held depending on four seasons of the
year: ‘fuyu no mine’ (‘Winter Peak’), ‘haru no mine’ (‘Spring Peak’), ‘natsu no mine’
(‘Summer Peak’), ‘aki no mine’ (‘Autumn Peak’). Of particular interest to the study are the
rituals during the Autumn Peak, because they contain a rite of initiation for neophytes. The
ceremony was conducted as follows. Neophytes in white robes made an ascent to the
‘Autumn Peak’, where they were led by an ascetic mentor, while white clothes symbolized
the death state of the neophytes. Climbing to the top, they were in total solitude in the
temple. The stay in the temple was accompanied by severe tests: the prohibition of food,
speech, sleep. Such austerity continued for ten days. 85 Thus, it can be seen that the the
essence of the initiation rite for beginners Shugendo, without any doubt, was symbolic
death and the return of the neophyte to the womb of the mother. Here the reader has a vivid
and extremely valuable example of a rite whose roots go directly to the ancient rite of
initiation. Moreover, all the actions of the rite directly indicate that the neophytes are in a
state of temporary death. However, it implies not only death, but also the beginning of a
new life.

83
Hori (1968), pp. 177-178.
84
Ibid., p. 155.
85
Hori (1968), pp. 170-174.

29
In the wonder tale, the reader can notice that the actions are also developing in the
mountains. Heroes are absorbed by the serpent and remain in his stomach as dead.
According to Propp, in ancient societies initiation rites were often held in special
zoomorphic huts, the inner space of which was the stomach of a monster and was conceived
as a mother's womb.86 Thus, the initiation rite for the neophytes of Shugendo is another
confirmation that such ideas of death and rebirth by return to the embryonic state did indeed
take place. The fact that such representations can be traced also to the example of Japanese
ritual practice seems to be especially important in the context of this work. Now it is even
more certain that heroes in the wonder tale pass through the initiation rite and stay in the
stomach of the monster is equivalent to the state of death and simultaneously the state of
the embryo in the womb of the mother.

Further in the text, the hero cuts the snake up and animates his brothers by washing
them with water from red cups. Red is the colour of death and rebirth. In most peoples, it
was associated with blood, the most important life-meaning value of which could not be
known to early people. Numerous rituals associated with initiation and sacrifice serve as
sufficient evidence. According to Croucher, red-coloured skeletons were found in many
countries, including Japan in the Neolithic period. This is the earliest case in Japan of
backfilling dead bodies with ochre. The scholar says that backfilling with ochre
symbolized, as it were, the reality of the afterlife and the continued existence of the
deceased ‘in flesh and blood’.87 This is also indicated by the similar composition of the
funerary inventory, suitable only for a living person. In addition to the magic cups, there is
the animating force of water in the wonder tale, and the action of the wonder tale takes
place next to the water source.

The mountains in Japan are a natural reservoir and a source of water flows. Since
the mountains were endowed with a special sacral meaning, the same sacral meaning was
given to the water flows flowing from the mountains. According to Hori, these sacred
waters were usually called ‘harae-gawa’ ('rivers for purification) or ‘mitarashi-gawa’

86
Propp (2013), p. 47.
87
Croucher, K. (2012). Death and Dying in the Neolithic Near East. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 246.

30
('rivers of divine girdle'). The river streams encircling the sacred mountains were perceived
as the boundary between the earthly and sacred world. Therefore, those wishing to possess
a magical power or to communicate with the mountain gods had to go through the initiation
in the sacred waters.88 The rite of the initiation of Shugendo ended with a purification ritual.
After that, the neophytes made a loud scream, which symbolized the first cry of a child at
birth. At the end of the ritual, it was believed that they were reborn into new initiates of the
Shugendo doctrine, they were given new names and secret knowledge was
communicated.89

In the wonder tale, the reader can see that the brothers of the hero come to life only
after he washed their dead bodies with water. Obviously, water plays the same role here as
in the Shugendo rite. It must be said that the purifying rituals associated with water are a
distinctive feature of Japanese ritual practice. Since the idea of death is inseparable from
the concept of filth in the Japanese consciousness, water is called upon to purify a person
from everything connected with death. This is confirmed by the myth about Izanagi and
Izanami, in which Izanagi goes after his deceased spouse to the land of darkness:

Izanagi no Mikoto […] looked at her. Putrefying matter had gushed up, and
maggots swarmed […] Izanagi no Mikoto was greatly shocked, and said:
‘Nay! I have come unawares to a hideous and polluted land.’ So he speedily
ran away back.90

Returning from the country of darkness, Izanagi says ‘Having gone to Nay! A
hideous and filthy place, it is meet that I should cleanse my body from its pollutions’.91
After that he bathes in the waters. Izanagi, thus, is born again, leaving the world of the
dead, and through cleansing completely separates himself from the other world. All this
once again confirms that the speech in the wonder tale is about death and rebirth in a new
capacity, which ultimately goes back to the initiation rite.

88
Hori (1968), pp. 164-166.
89
Ibid., p. 174.
90
Aston (1896), p. 25.
91
Ibid., p. 26.

31
If in the wonder tale Picking Nara Pears, there is an absorption of characters by a
snake, then in the wonder tale The Milk of Wild Beasts, such absorption does not occur. The
snake only threatens to swallow the hero, but does not have time to do it – the magical
helpers of the hero kill it. In addition, in the case of the Japanese wonder tale, absorption
is indirect, since the snake swallows the eldest and the middle son, and not the protagonist
who fights with it.

In literature, it is often suggested that the motif of fighting with snakes is very
ancient and that it reflects old ideas. According to Propp, this statement is completely
erroneous; the motif of fighting with snakes arose as a change in the motif of absorption
that had existed before it and was layered on it.92 As it was already established, the rituals
associated with absorption were included in the initiation system, and the absorber was not
originally conceived as a creature that only brings harm. On the contrary, the absorption
and mystical death of the neophytes did not carry a negative charge. The death of a
neophyte meant his return to an embryonic state. This is not a repetition of maternal
pregnancy and carnal birth, but a temporary return to the cosmic world, followed by a
rebirth. According to Eliade, the need for periodic repetition of cosmic events is a
characteristic feature of ancient, early thinking. In addition, being in a state of temporary
death, being among the ancestors, enriches the neophyte with new knowledge. Thus, during
the rite of initiation of the neophyte, myths of the tribe, representing ‘knowledge’ of a
special kind, were reported. Speech in this case is not about external, abstract knowledge,
but about knowledge that is ‘experienced’ ritually along with the reproduction of the myth
during the ritual. Therefore, such knowledge was associated with the acquisition of magical
power. For example, knowledge of the origin of an animal or plant, reported in the myth,
meant the acquisition of a magical power over them, allowing the man to dominate and, at
his own desire, to control their reproduction. 93 The neophyte also learned the rules of
behaviour in society, production techniques and organization of public life. Also, what is
especially important, during the initiation, he was attached to the totem ancestor-patron and

92
Propp (1998), pp. 306-307.
93
Eliade, M. (2001). Aspekty Mifa. Moskva: Akademicheskii proekt. pp. 42-46.

32
thus received the opportunity to enter the totemic genus. Thus, initiation introduced the
neophyte simultaneously into the human family and the world of spiritual values. Only
after that he was recognized as a full member of the tribal alliance.

According to Propp, with the development of human society, the ritual decays and
dies, as absorption and expectoration no longer correspond to either the forms of social life
or the ideology of peoples.94 However, in wonder tales, this rite is preserved in some forms
or another.

If one talks directly about the absorption of the serpent in wonder tales, then in
Picking Nara Pears he/she encounters both the process of decomposition of the rite and its
complete withering away. The decomposition of the rite in this text is represented as the
absorption of secondary characters – the brothers of the protagonist. The narrator at the
same time does not know why the characters must necessarily die (be swallowed) and
motivates it by the fact that they need to get pears for the unhealthy mother. The swallowed
characters are no longer coughed up, they are forcibly removed from the stomach of the
serpent, and then the hero himself revives them. Exhortation, thus, is rationalized and took
the form of liberation, and the fact that the liberated are then animated proves that the
wonder tale presents a typical form of temporary death in the initiation rite. The main hero
in the text is not swallowed up, because the shift that occurs in the social life of the people
in the process of historical development, turns into a wonder tale, and the center of gravity
shifts to the personality of the hero himself. To a person who is at a higher stage of
development, there is no need to prove that he is a person, society accepts him on the fact
of birth, religion gives him the necessary protection, and the myth ceases to be taboo and
becomes public.

With the withering away of the rite, the absorber that brings death is now seen as
an enemy, with which it is necessary to fight. Propp states thay if in the past the hero was
the one who was swallowed and couched up, because with the existence of the rite, this
was tantamount to obtaining magical weapons, now the hero is the one who could kill the

94
Propp (1998), pp. 317.

33
absorber.95 With the complete disappearance of the rite, both the swallowing and the
expectoration disappear in the wonder tale, and the fight with a snake appears in its typical
forms. Therefore, in the wonder tale The Milk of Wild Beasts there is already neither one
nor the other. In the wonder tales there is only a clear intention of monsters to swallow the
heroes. Thus, it can be said that in the motif of the fight with a snake, there is no massacre
with a monstrous absorber, but the victory of new ideas over old ones that have become
obsolete.

It should also be noted that in the Russian wonder tale The Milk of Wild Beasts, the
reader can find a connection between the snake and the rituals, designed to affect fertility.
After the hero wins the snake, he collects its remains, burns them and scatters the ash over
a field.96 This, according to Propp, resembles the rituals performed during Maslenitsa,
when a straw doll was made, which was then rattled and torn, and its parts burned at the
stake. Then, the ash was scattered over all adjacent crops. Obviously, spreading of the ash
over the crops should have provided them with a successful growth.97 In the wonder tale
the reader notices that the hero is doing with the snake the same thing as with the doll
during Maslenitsa.

The connection of the Russian wonder tale The Milk of Wild Beasts with agrarian
rites is also traced in the further development of the plot. After the victory over the snake,
the hero goes to another kingdom. There he learns that the kingdom is split in two parts
and that each part takes turns to feed the twelve-headed snake that has lodged on the lake
and eats people every night. He sees that half of the people are having fun and singing
songs, and the other is in a flood of tears. The hero also discovers that during that night,
the princess is going to be sacrificed to the serpent. However, when the serpent is about to
eat the princess Ivan kills it.98

In this passage one can find a certain similarity to the holiday of Kostroma, which
was often performed on public holidays on the Rusalii week or Kupala Night. Kostroma

95
Ibid., p. 319.
96
Afanasʹev (1984), Volume 2, p. 85.
97
Propp (1995), pp. 84-87.
98
Afanasʹev (1984), Volume 2, pp. 85-86.

34
was embodied in the form of a doll, or the role could be played by a girl. According to
Propp, in the Penza and Simbirsk provinces, the girls selected from their environment one,
called Kostroma, and carried to a river or pond. This procession was usually accompanied
by lamentations and laughter. The participants were divided into two parties, one of them
lamented and the other laughed.99 This holiday is clearly a cult of water, which is associated
with the sacrifice of water in the form of female dolls, a cult of vegetation and fertility.
Herewith, the farcical imitation of a funeral procession in which some lament, the others
cry and laugh at the same time is very revealing.

Propp states that in the emergence of agriculture, concepts of the vital force of
laughter were transferred to the field of agrarian cults. The power of laughter was supposed
to provide fertile power to the earth. Laughter during the fertility rites influenced nature
not directly, but through the resurrection of the mortified anthropomorphic personifications
of the feast, which allegedly created their own harvest by their death and their resurrection.
Therefore, lamentation during the ritual showed that the creature died and laughter,
provided the killed creature with a new life and a new incarnation in the grains.100 Thus, it
is impossible not to notice that in the wonder tale there is practically the same thing as in
the ritual of Kupala Night.

First, these rites were conducted mainly in the evening or at night. In the wonder
tale it is clearly stated that the serpent appears at night. Secondly, the holiday of Ivan
Kupala was accompanied by the sinking of an anthropomorphic being, the personification
of the feast, which was conceived as a sacrifice to water. In the wonder tale, the reader can
see that the girl is given to be eaten by the serpent, which lives in the lake, that is, has a
water nature, in fact, it is the embodiment of water. Thirdly, the killing of an
anthropomorphic creature took the form of a funeral, during which some lamented, while
others laughed and danced. In the wonder tale it immediately catches the eye that one half
of the people are having fun and singing songs, and the other is flooded with tears. This
strange behaviour is explained by the fact that there is supposedly a certain order for eating
by the serpent, and those who fed the monster are happy, while others are crying. The

99
Propp (1995), pp. 99-104.
100
Ibid., pp. 121-123.

35
narrator no longer understands why it is necessary to cry and laugh and come up with his
own motivations.

In addition, in the wonder tale The Milk of Wild Beasts there is a motif for sacrificing
an innocent girl to the water snake. This motif is the oldest. This is evident from its
prevalence, in particular, it is also present in the Japanese myth about the god Susanoo and
his victory over Yamata no Orochi101: when Susanoo descends from the sky to the country
of Izumo, he sees an elderly couple crying at the headwaters of the river, and between them
a girl is sitting. Susanoo finds out that before him are the gods of this country, and that
before, they had eight daughters, but they were all devoured by the Serpent. There is only
one daughter left, Kushi Inada Hime and the Serpent is going to devour her.102 Susanoo
promised to kill the serpent, and when it appeared: ‘he drew the ten-span sword which he
wore, and chopped the serpent into small pieces’.103

In this regard, it should be noted that according to Norishiro Kanda, the serpent in
Japan has always been worshipped both as deity of water and as the deity of agriculture,
since the management of agricultural economy could not do without water.104 Proceeding
from this, it is especially interesting to note the following. At the festival of Amaya, which
is held in the territory of the Sanctuary of Kamo, the central event is the famous miare rite,
during which the deity in the image of the serpent and the chosen girl allegedly enter into
sexual intercourse and then simulate childbirth. The scholar affirms that the word ‘miare’
represents the Great Birth, and the chosen girl is called ‘are otome’, literally ‘a woman in
labor’, which indicated that the chosen girl performs the part of the woman in labor.
Pregnancy and childbirth from the connection with the serpent deity are a condition for
abundant harvest.105 In addition, in various places on the coast of the Sea of Japan, a fertility
rite was conducted, connected with the deity of fields, which was thought of as a giant

101
Eight-headed eight-tailed serpent.

102
Aston (1896), p. 52.
103
Ibid., p. 53

104
Kanda, N. (1988). Kodai Izumo to Shisha no Sekai: Shinwa ni Miru Izumo-zō no Kyojitsu. Tokyo: Tairiku Shobō.
p.105.
105
Ibid., p. 109.

36
snake. In the course of the action, a ritual marriage of a serpent with a virgin, which in the
rite was called Inazuru hime, was concluded. Ina in the name of Inazuru hime means ‘rice’.
In this vein, it is necessary to look again at the myth of the Yamata no Orochi. The girl that
Yamata no Orochi should eat is called Kushi Inada Hime which translates according to
Aston as ‘the Wondrous Princess of the Rice Fields’.106 In addition, this girl is one of eight
sisters, which indicates a connection with the so-called ‘yaotome’ (a group of eight miko
shamans), who in ancient times often participated in rituals. Therefore, it would be
appropriate to assume that Kushi Inada Hime was a sacred girl dedicated to the deity. 107

Thus, the relationship between Yamata no Orochi and Kushi Ianada Hime is nothing
more than the myth of the god of water, who came to people to join the goddess of fields
and rice in a sacred marriage, contributing to an abundant harvest. Also, the myth about the
victory of Susanoo over Yamata no Orochi appeared as a result of people stopping to revere
the serpent as a deity of water and agriculture, and took the form of the struggle of a
stronger god with a malicious deity-serpent.108

Such a process of rethinking is well illustrated by the Japanese legends about Mount
Miwa (see Appendix 2). The ‘legend A’ tells about the marriage between the serpent deity
and the girl, the ‘legend B’ tells how the serpent, having adopted the human form, deceived
the girl into entering into a relationship with him, and when it was exposed, it killed her,
dragging her under the water. In ‘legend C’, a girl and a serpent enter into a relationship by
mutual consent, but, in the end, it is not only denounced, but also killed. Obviously, all
these legends tell of a ritual marriage between a deity and a girl, but when the belief in the
serpent deity was exhausted, the meaning of the sacred marriage became incomprehensible,
and the story of the sexual relationship between the ordinary snake and the woman could
only be perceived as strange and unpleasant. In order to get rid of this, the narrator had no
choice but to add to the narrative an element in which the evil snake deceives the girl.
Moreover, since the snake was originally worshipped as the deity of water, the natural result
was that the moment the narrative in which the snake gets a girl was interpreted as when

106
Aston (1896), p. 53.
107
Kanda (1988), p. 112.
108
Ibid., pp. 113-114.

37
‘it drags the girl into the water’. The chosenness of the girl remained, as the central moment
of the narrative, but the girl herself became a victim for the serpent. 109 The same thing
happened with the myth of Yamata no Orochi.

It is also interesting to note the fact that in Slavic mythology the god Volos, who is
connected with the fruit-bearing function, with cattle breeding and farming, is also
connected with water, since it has a ‘snake’ nature. Thus, in the miniature of the Radziwiłł
Chronicle in the depiction of the oath of Prince Oleg, Volos is represented by a snake at his
feet.110 In addition, there is a myth about the quarrel of Volos with the god Perun, in which
the god of storm Perun pursues his serpentine enemy. The reason for their strife is the
abduction by Volos of livestock, people, and in some cases the wife of the Perun. The duel
ends with Perun's victory over Volos, as a result of which the rain begins, bringing
fertility. 111

Thus, the motif of fighting with a snake in wonder tales appears from the opposition
to rituals that were once considered sacred and significant, but due to changes in society,
they turned into scary and condemned. In Picking Nara Pears, of course, there is no girl
who would play the role of a snake's victim, but its functions as an absorber are still present,
and since with the withering away of the rite, absorption has ceased to be perceived as
something necessary and bringing good, with a serpent fighting in a wonder tale.

After the victory over the serpent, Ivan Tsarevich cuts out the tongues of all twelve
snake heads and presents them as evidence that he is the deliverer of the princess, to which
he then marries. 112 The hero, marries only after numerous trials, and the serpent tongues,
in this case, play the role of a stigma applied after the initiation rite. The wonder tale
Picking Nara Pears also ends with a safe return home and corresponds to the three-stage

109
Ibid., p. 107-110.
110
Lichačëv, D. S. (2014). The Poetics of Early Russian Literature. Lanham: Lexington Books. pp. 49-50.

111
Kropej, M. (2012). Supernatural Beings From Slovenian Myth and Folktales. Ljubljana: Založba ZRC. p. 34.

112
Afanasʹev (1984), Volume 2, pp. 86-87.

38
structure of the initiation rite. Heroes leave the house, are in a state of temporary death and
return back.

A brief retrospective review allows the reader to arrive at the conclusion that
Russian and Japanese wonder tales of this type are undoubtedly similar, since they go back
to the initiation rite. They are a reflection of the three-part structure of this rite, and
individual motifs leave no doubt that the heroes of wonder tales are in a state of temporary
death, corresponding to the imitation of death in the initiation rite. In addition, the motif
for obtaining magical objects and helpers, in wonder tales of both peoples, goes back to
the idea of a totem ancestor-patron, which again indicates that the heroes of wonder tales
are being initiated.

A certain similarity is achieved through the presence of agrarian and magical rituals,
which are reflected in wonder tales. For example, the same animals in wonder tales of
different peoples are endowed with a force capable of influencing the fruitful power of
nature. The main difference is in particular the Japanese perception of death, which is
inseparable from the concept of filth. This view was reflected in the plot of Picking Nara
Pears, in which ritual purification is performed with the purpose of final revival.

Conclusion

Based on the results of the comparative analysis of Russian and Japanese wonder
tales, the reader can come to the conclusion that there is much in common. This community
is the result of similar early ideas about life and death, characteristic of both peoples. Most
clearly the unity of such representations is manifested in the initiation rite, to which the
complex of early mythological ideas, including the cycle of ideas about death and
totemism, as the basic form of beliefs, goes back. During the rite the neophyte was taken
to a remote place, hidden from other people, where he passed through numerous tests that
were designed to imitate his killing. In the process of initiation, the neophyte joined the
totem ancestor, patron of the tribal community, received from him certain supernatural
forces, and was reborn as an adult, dedicated member of society, which implied the
possibility of entering into marriage. With the initiation rite, the myth was closely
associated with the purpose of explaining the content of the rite. It reproduced ritual

39
actions, clothed them in an oral form, and passed down from generation to generation. With
the development of society, the rite of initiation ceased to exist, and the myth lost its
authenticity and began to be perceived as a wonder tale. Therefore, wonder tales are built
on early representations and retain in themselves the most important elements of the
initiation rite. It was established that the composition structure of wonder tales of both
peoples is a complete reproduction of the three-part structure of this rite, since all the
analysed wonder-tale subjects, one way or another, repeat this three-part structure. Like a
neophyte who passes through the initiation rite, the hero of a wonder tale is separated from
society, goes to the afterlife and then returns in a qualitatively new status, which in most
cases means the acquisition of a higher status in society and the opportunity to enter into
marriage. Thus, there is no doubt that the Russian and Japanese heroes of wonder tales
genetically go back to the early man, who in the process of initiation dies and is reborn in
a new, adult quality, ready to join the tribal community.

Along with similarities, in Russian and Japanese wonder tales, certain differences
can be found, which are achieved as a result of bringing into the plots of Japanese wonder
tales individual elements of the Shinto. One of such elements in the considered wonder
tales is a special attitude to nature, as to the ideal of beauty. Unlike the hero of Russian
wonder tales, the hero of Japanese wonder tales will never harm nature, and therefore gets
the support of a magical assistant for his kindness and responsiveness, whereas in a Russian
wonder tale the reader can observe that the hero subordinates an animal on contractual
terms: he enlists a magical assistant in an exchange for his life.

Another significant difference between Japanese wonder tales and Russian wonder
tales is the absence of a traditional happy ending. There are several reasons for this
deviation from the traditional wonder tale canon. Firstly, the geographical location of the
area in which the wonder tale was created. The Japanese society has developed a moral
stamina in the face of natural disasters and the ability to tolerate losses. This, in particular,
can explain the absence of any opposition in the Japanese wonder tale The Crane's Return
of Favour, when, as in all the Russian wonder tales reviewed, the opposition takes place
without fail. No less important reason for the lack of opposition in the Japanese wonder
tale is Buddhism, which largely influenced the worldview of Japanese society, introducing

40
its concept of perception of the world – the concept of detached innocence. In addition,
Japanese culture is characterized by a unique aesthetic perception of beauty, which finds
its expression in the aesthetic concept of mono no aware, which gives many folklore
characters, especially women, a tragic fate and aura of sadness.

Based on the results obtained in the course of the comparative analysis, the main
conclusion is that there are more similarities between Russian and Japanese wonder tales
than differences. This is a natural pattern based on the presence of similar early institutions
and ways of interpreting the world around them. The main differences are achieved by
introducing elements of Buddhism and Shinto into Japanese wonder tales, as well as the
uniqueness of the Japanese mentality, which undoubtedly influenced the development of
the plot, which was created within the Japanese state, and therefore has no analogues in the
wonder tales of the Russian people.

41
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Propp, V. (1995). Russkie Agrarnye Prazdniki. Sankt-Peterburg: Azbuka.

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Propp, V. (1999). Problemy Komizma I Smekha. Moskva: Labirint.

Propp, V. (2013). Istoricheskie Korni Volshebnoĭ Skazki. Moskva: Ripol Classic.

Reider, N. (2005). Yamauba: Representations of The Japanese Mountain Witch In The


Muromachi and Edo Periods. International Journal of Asian Studies, 2(02), pp.239-264.

Rybakov, B. (1987). Iazychestvo Drevnei Rusi. Moskva: Nauka.

Seki, K. (1966). Types of Japanese Folktales. Tokyo: Society for Asian Folklore.

Seki, K. (1978). Nihon Mukashibanashi Taisei. Volume 5. Tokyo: Kadokawashoten.

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Hierarchical Culture. Lund: University of Lund, Department of Social Anthropology.

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Appendix 1

Figure 1113

113
Rybakov, B. (1987). Iazychestvo Drevnei Rusi. Moskva: Nauka. p.718

45
Figure 2114

Figure 3115

114
Rybakov (1987), p. 749.
115
Rybakov (1987), p. 742.

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Appendix 2

The legend of the journey into the hereafter116

‘I am a respected headman (‘nishpa’), and always lived a life free from poverty.
Once I heard a story about how people went to trade to the Japanese people (‘shisam’) and
got huge profits from it. With envy I listened to this story and also decided to go trade. We
sat with my wife in a boat and sailed to the Japanese land. When we got there, we came to
the ruler of the Japanese city (probably it is the city of Fukuyama or the Tsugaru area,
where there is a port) and sold him bear and deer skins, and in return received a lot of rice
(‘amam’), sake (‘tonoto’), and other valuable things (‘ikor’, usually lacquer ware, long
swords, etc.).

On the way home, we moored to various islets to spend the night. One day we swam
past some rocky coast and saw a small sandy beach, to which our ship could be moored.
Deciding to spend the night in this place, we went ashore, collected firewood and build a
fire. We were already preparing dinner for ourselves, when suddenly, I looked towards the
sea and saw that a huge wave is moving right here and is about to engulf us. I did not know
what to do, and, as if in a dream, grabbed my wife’s hand and ran to the rocks, to where I
could see a rift. We continued to run between rocks, when suddenly I saw a large cave.
Deciding that we had nowhere to hide, we ran inside. The cave was so deep that it seemed
you could go through it endlessly. At first, we walked in pitch-darkness, but gradually the
gloom began to dissipate. So, step by step, we finally got out of the cave and found
ourselves in a fabulously beautiful place. We walked along the road, admiring the
wonderful scenery, and soon saw a village consisting of many lined houses, and then a
harbour on the coast, which was about to moor a big ship (‘penchai’, a Japanese ship).
After walking a little more, we noticed a lonely house on the outskirts of the village. We
stopped at the gate of this house and, having cleared throat, reported our arrival. A little
later, a woman appeared, the mistress of this house, and, saying: ‘Come quickly’,
disappeared inside. We followed her. The owner, who looked like a respectable elder,

116
Kubodera, I. (2001). Ainu Minzoku no Shūkyō to Girei. Tokyo: Sofukan. pp. 117-120. (Own translation)

47
addressed us with a polite welcome, and then asked why we came here. We without
concealment told him everything that happened to us. After hearing us, the owner of the
house said: ‘Once my wife and I, like you, came to this country. It is a country (‘oya-
moshir’, the world after death) into which the souls of the deceased are sent. Once in it, we
unknowingly tasted the local food, which could not be done. Now we will never return our
world, this is our sad fate. In no case do not eat local food, otherwise you will not be able
to return home. I know you are very hungry, but unfortunately, I cannot feed you. In this
world there are many bears and deer on which we hunt. In this village there live many of
your acquaintances who came here after death. But my wife and I, like you, are still alive,
so other people do not notice us, although we can see them. Things that were dear to people
in life, and the things they used in everyday life, the souls of the dead bring with them from
the upper world (‘kanna-moshir’, the human world) and continue to use them in this
country (‘pokna-moshir’). Nevertheless, my wife and I are strangers from the living world
and consist of flesh (‘kaisei) and blood, so we cannot be with the dead and live separately.
So, until death, we will have to live in this world, without the hope of returning home. You
cannot stay here, so go back soon. Leaving this world, you will surely find your boat where
you left it. To remember us, I want to give you bear and deer skins, with which our house
is rich. I will also give you a bunch of dried bear liver. When you get home, tell our story.
Let this bundle serve as proof that you met us in this world’.

Thanking the hospitable owner, we took the skins and a bunch of dried bear liver,
and, having said goodbye, set off on the return journey. We again walked through the cave,
when on the way we met a familiar old man, our fellow villager. Behind his shoulders he
carried a sack (‘kapor’). But, when he came alongside, he just passed by, as if we were not
at all. Continuing our journey, we gradually reached the exit from the cave, where we again
met an old man with a bag over his shoulders. He also passed by and did not seem to see
us at all. We hot out of the cave and returned to the shore, where, fortunately, our boat was
still there. We got into it and in a few days safely reached our native village. Back home,
we told our fellow villagers that we visited the afterlife, and were very surprised when we
found out that the men we met on the way back died and were buried just a few days ago.
It turned out that we met their souls (‘ramachi’), who kept their way to the land of dead.
Shortly thereafter, I went to the market (‘a meeting place’, a place where Ainu had

48
previously gathered for trade), sold the animal skins and the dried bear liver and got a lot
of money (‘icheni’). I thought for a long time about how to thank the kind hosts who met
us in the afterlife, for they are people of flesh and blood, and on the day of the
commemoration of the dead (‘shinurappa’), it is impossible to arrange a funeral service for
them. But still, I'm very sorry for them, so let at least the story that I tell be a comfort to
them.’ (Such a story was told by an elder from the Ainu village)

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Appendix 3

Japanese legends about Mount Miwa117

Legend A: Princess Yamatototobimomoso became the wife of the god Oomononushi, but
since Oomononushi came to her only at night, the girl wished at all costs to see the face of
her husband, who could not see it. Thinking that the spouse has the right to see his face,
Oomononushi hid in the box for the combs. The next morning the princess looked in the
box and was very frightened to find a small snake there. God Oomononushi, and this snake
was exactly him, ashamed of his appearance, left his wife in a fury and returned to Mount
Miwa. The princess, grieving the loss of her husband, fainted directly on the chopsticks
(‘hashi’), sticking into her body, and therefore died. That’s why the grave in which the
princess Yamatototobimoso was buried, is called Hashi. (Kojiki, 10th year of Sujin)

Legend B: When Ohotomonosajihiko boarded a ship in Minama, his beloved Otohihimeko


rose to the top of the mountain and waved (‘furi’) good-bye to him with his handkerchief
(‘hire’). That’s why this mountain is called Hirefuri. Five days after his departure, a man
came to Otohihimeko every night. Appearance was exactly like Sadihiko. This seemed
suspicious to the woman, so she jabbed a hemp string to the man’s clothes and followed
him. The thread led her to the swamp on top of the mountain. There she saw a creature with
the face of a snake and the body of a man who, at the same moment, turned into a man and
began to sing. The maid who saw all of this immediately ran home and told her relatives,
but when her relatives ran to the top of the mountain, there was no longer a snake or a girl.
Only at the bottom of the marsh was Otohihimeko’s corpse. Otohihimeko was buried near
the mountain, and this tomb is there to this day. (Hizen – Fudoki)

Legend C: In old times, there lived a single daughter, beloved by her parents. And so it
happened that every night a handsome youth came to visit this daughter. Whether it was
raining on this day, whether the piercing wind was blowing, every night he came to visit
the girl. Since he was very handsome, even the mother of the girl was happy about his
presence. But one day the young man was not afraid to come even at night, when a terrible

117
Kanda, N. (1988). Kodai Izumo to Shisha no Sekai: Shinwa ni Miru Izumo-zō no Kyojitsu. Tokyo: Tairiku Shobō.
pp. 94-98. (Own translation).

50
storm broke out. This seemed suspicious to her mother. Then the woman decided to ask
where he came from and what his name was, but the young man did not answer. After that,
her suspicions intensified. One night, the woman threaded a needle and, sneaking up to the
pillow of the sleeping young man, tried to pin a needle to his hair. But instead, she pierced
him so that the young man, screaming in pain and stamping loudly, rushed out of the house.
After him stretched, thread rapidly unwinding from the coil. When the morning came, the
woman followed the thread, which led her to a huge abyss. Voices were heard from this
abyss.

Listening, she realized that it was two snakes talking, the mother-snake and her son.

‘- I’m sorry, but there’s nothing to be done.’ You have been wounded with iron, and now
you will die. Do you want to say something before you die?’ said the mother-snake to her
son. To which her son replied:

‘- May I die, but the child who will be born to this girl, will certainly avenge me.’

‘- Indeed. This girl probably does not know about the peach sake, which is drunk on a
holiday in March, and about the sake with the petals of iris that drunk every year at the
festival in May, and about the sake with the chrysanthemum petals that is traditionally
drunk at the festival in September. If she drinks all of these, the child will not be born,’ said
the snake-mother.

Hearing these words, the woman immediately hurried home and ordered her
daughter to drink a peach sake, which is drunk on a holiday in March, a sake with petals
of iris that is drunk every year on a holiday in May, and sake with the petals of
chrysanthemum that is traditionally drunk on a holiday in September. That's why they say
that at the holidays in March, May and September all the girls need to drink sake. (Japanese
wonder tales, Kochi Prefecture, Tosa district)

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