For the 210th birth anniversary of the Russian poet, prose writer and playwright Pyotr Pavlovich Yershov
By Ekaterina Grig
Pyotr Yershov went down in the history of literature primarily as the author of the wonderful fairy tale in verse, The Little Humpbacked Horse, which he wrote at the age of nineteen.
The future writer was born on 22 February (6 March) 1815 in the Siberian village of Bezrukovo into the family of an official. Pyotr spent his childhood in the city of Tobolsk where he obtained his primary education. Later he studied at the Department of Philosophy and Law at St Petersburg University.
Yershov became interested in folk art at an early age. His admiration for Russian folk tales, excellent knowledge of folklore and passion for literature inspired him to try his hand at writing his own work. Thus, was born the tale about a wonderful tiny horse, which was «only twelve hands high, with two humps upon his back and ears a foot long…»
The fairy tale is full of vivid characters: these are the protagonist Ivan the fool, the most popular hero of Russian fairy tales; the wicked tsar; the beautiful princess; the sea tsar; and, of course, the clever and faithful Little Humpbacked Horse which helped Ivan overcome many challenges: to get the firebird’s feather, rescue the princess and even get down to the bottom of the sea.
Yershov presented his fairy tale at the university, and it immediately attracted the attention of the teachers. During one of his lectures Peter Pletnev, Professor of Russian Literature, read an excerpt from The Little Humpbacked Horse and, to the students’ amazement, announced that the author of the tale was their fellow student Pyotr Yershov.
It was Pletnev who showed the tale to Alexander Pushkin. «Now I can stop writing in this genre,» Pushkin said, highly appreciating the talent of the novice poet.
The Little Humpbacked Horse is notable for its light and lively popular language, apt jokes and vivid imagination. Yershov masterfully used elements of Russian folk tales – miraculous transformations, magical helpers, and tests for the protagonist; there is also a lot of social satire in the tale.
Yershov’s work was a huge success. It also attracted the attention of the royal censorship office, and as a result in 1834 the Biblioteka Dlya Chteniya (Library for Reading) magazine published only the first part and several verses from the second part of the tale, and the first edition was published in St Petersburg with considerable cuts made by the censorship office.
We cannot help but recall Vladimir Nabokov’s words about Nicholas I: «Regardless of what brilliant qualities he displayed as a Tsar, it must be admitted that in dealing with the Russian Muse he behaved like an assassin…»
It was not until 1856 and 1861 that Yershov managed to prepare new uncensored editions of the tale.
Today The Little Humpbacked Horse remains one of the most beloved Russian fairy tales. It has been translated into English, French, Japanese and other languages.
In 1856 the Italian composer Cesare Pugni and the French choreographer Arthur Saint-Leon created the ballet The Little Humpbacked Horse, or The Tsar Maiden, based on Yershov’s work. In 1947 and 1975 cartoons were made based on the story of The Little Humpbacked Horse, and feature films were produced in 1941 and 2021 respectively.
Yershov also wrote other works, such as poems, plays, and short stories, but he went down in the history of literature as the author of just one yet truly immortal fairy tale, The Little Humpbacked Horse, a true gem of Russian literature.
