Page:RussianFolkTales Afanasev 368pgs.djvu/359

Rh Name-day. The day of the patron Saint. In Russia Saints' days are kept in place of birthdays.

Na-úm. In this Russian name the two vowels are to be sounded separately, Na-úm.

Nightingale Robber. His patronymics are Rakhmánovich, Odikhmantovich, Rakhmánya, all of them very difficult of definition or explanation.

Nightingale Robber. Ilyá Múromet's conquest of the Nightingale Robber is his most notable feat. He is a very difficult figure to explain. He is a gigantic bird who has been explained on the one hand as a highway robber who was a great bard, for the Russian solovéy (nightingale) is applied to a minstrel. But it is more probable that there is a confusion of two other words in this one, and that the word solovéy, which has come to mean nightingale, is either derived from sláva, meaning fame, or from the same root as the hostile power whom Ilyá Múromets, in some of the ballads, fights, namely Solóvnik the Grey One. Be this as it may, the version which has come down is that the Nightingale Robber was an enormous bird, whose nest spread over seven oaks, who had needed no other weapon than his dreadful beast-like, lion-like, or dragon-like whistle on which every wall and every beast and every man fell down in sheer terror. The rest of this story may be gathered from the one which has been selected for this book.

The Pike. The pike plays a peculiar part in Russian folk-lore.

Potán'ka. The name of Potan'ka [in which the 'n' and 'k' are to be sounded separately as in pincase], is also found in the Nóvgorod ballads where Potán'ka the Lame is one of the boon companions of Vasíli Busláyevich.

Prískazka. Many of the tales begin with a conventional introduction which has no relation to the story. Such an instance may be found in 'The Wolf and the Tailor.' Also in 'A Cure for Story-telling.' And the tale of 'The Dun Cow,' 'Princess to be Kissed at a Charge,' etc.