The egg-sized grain
The egg-sized grain , also A rye grain as big as a chicken egg , The grain as big as a chicken egg and Das Korn ( Russian Зерно с куриное яйцо , Serno s kurinoje jaizo ), is a legend of Lev Tolstoy , which originated in the late spring of 1885 and 1886 was published by the St. Petersburg book publisher Posrednik in the volume Drei Märchen . Since the motif cannot be found in the Russian treasure of fairy tales and legends, it could have come from the author. In 1982 the text in Vol. 10 Powesti and Stories 1872–1886 of the 22-volume Tolstoy edition was published by the publishing house for artistic literature in Moscow . Tolstoy tells a legend from the Arkhangelsk area, in which a 170-year-old is more sprightly than his frail son and his frail grandson.
content
Once children found a grain of rye the size of a hen's egg in a ravine. A man bought it from the finders for a cardboard stick and sold it to the tsar as a rarity. The ruler entrusted his scholars with the investigation. There was nothing about it in their books. They didn't know what to do next and recommended interviewing the farmers. The tsar sent for a very old toothless peasant. He limped into the palace on two crutches and could barely see. The farmer was - after he finally understood - at a loss and referred the tsar to his father. He came on a crutch, heard a little better than his son, looked at the grain closely with his eyes still fairly intact and had to refer to his father. He walked in without a walking aid. His eyes shone brightly. He looked at the grain and spoke clearly and distinctly: "Such a grain grew everywhere in my time, we only fed ourselves with such grain."
German-language editions
- The grain . P. 72–75 in Leo N. Tolstoy: Ein Verbbander. Stories. Translated from the Russian by Wilhelm Goldschmidt . Reclam, Leipzig 1960 ( RUB 8110, edition used)
- The grain as big as a hen's egg. German by Arthur Luther . Pp. 134-136 in: Gisela Drohla (Ed.): Leo N. Tolstoj. All the stories. Fifth volume. Insel, Frankfurt am Main 1961 (2nd edition of the edition in eight volumes 1982)
Web links
- The text
- The egg-sized grain online in the Gutenberg-DE project , translator: Hanny Brentano
- Wikisource Зерно с куриное яйцо (Толстой) (Russian)
- online at RVB.ru (Russian)
- online at tolstoy-lit.ru (Russian)
- Entry in the work list of folk legends (1886)
- Entry at fantlab.ru (Russian)