"The Gigantic Turnip" or "The Enormous Turnip" (russian: Репка, ', , literally "small turnip";
ATU 2044, ‘Pulling up the turnip') is a
cumulative Russian fairy tale
A Russian fairy tale or folktale (russian: ска́зка; ''skazka''; "story"; plural russian: ска́зки , translit = skazki) is a fairy tale from Russia.
Various sub-genres of ''skazka'' exist. A ''volshebnaya skazka'' олше́бн ...
, collected in Arkhangelsk Governorate and published in 1863 by folklore researcher Alexander Afanasyev in his collection ''Russian Fairy Tales'' (tale number 89).
The story has been rewritten and adapted numerous times into other languages (e.g. into Ukrainian by Ivan Franko; into Polish by
Julian Tuwim; into Bulgarian by
Ran Bosilek
Ran Bosilek ( bg, Ран Босилек) (26 September 1886 in Gabrovo – 8 October 1958 in Sofia), born Gencho Stanchev Negentsov ( bg, Генчо Станчев Негенцов), was a Bulgarian author of children's books. Three years bef ...
).
Plot
It is a
chain tale, in which a grandfather plants a
turnip
The turnip or white turnip ('' Brassica rapa'' subsp. ''rapa'') is a root vegetable commonly grown in temperate climates worldwide for its white, fleshy taproot. The word ''turnip'' is a compound of ''turn'' as in turned/rounded on a lathe and ...
, which grows so large that he cannot pull it up himself. He asks the grandmother for help, and they together still cannot pull it up. Successively their granddaughter and pets are recruited to help, until they finally pull the turnip up together. The specific ordering and set of people and animals varies. However, in the popular Russian version (based on the 1864 adaptation of
Konstantin Ushinsky
Konstantin Dmitrievich Ushinsky (russian: Константи́н Дми́триевич Уши́нский; uk, Костянти́н Дмитро́вич Уши́нський, translit=Kostiantyn Dmytrovych Ushynskyi) ( – ) was a Russian t ...
) their order is quite fixed, with rhythm and rhyme: it is the grandfather (''dedka''), the grandmother (''babka''), the granddaughter (''vnuchka''), the female-dog (''zhuchka''
[ The original version had the word "suchka" (bitch), but kid versions replace that with "zhuchka", due to the original word having a negative meaning much like in English.]), the female-cat (''koshka'') and finally only with the help of the female-mouse (''myshka'') can the giant turnip (''repka'') be pulled up.
Derivative works
Several version for children have been penned, including by
Konstantin Ushinsky
Konstantin Dmitrievich Ushinsky (russian: Константи́н Дми́триевич Уши́нский; uk, Костянти́н Дмитро́вич Уши́нський, translit=Kostiantyn Dmytrovych Ushynskyi) ( – ) was a Russian t ...
(1864),
Vladimir Dal
Vladimir Ivanovich Dal ( rus, Влади́мир Ива́нович Даль, p=vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr ɨˈvanəvʲɪdʑ ˈdalʲ; November 22, 1801 – October 4, 1872) was a noted Russian-language lexicographer, polyglot, Turkologist, and founding me ...
(1870), and
Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy
Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy (russian: link= no, Алексей Николаевич Толстой; – 23 February 1945) was a Russian writer who wrote in many genres but specialized in science fiction and historical novels.
Despite having ...
(1940).
The fairy tale has had multiple treatments in English. One of the unfinished projects of award-winning illustrator
Ezra Jack Keats
Ezra Jack Keats (né Jacob Ezra Katz; March 11, 1916 – May 6, 1983) was an American people, American writer and illustrator of children's books. He won the 1963 Caldecott Medal for illustrating ''The Snowy Day'', which he also wrote. Keats wr ...
was a version of "The Giant Turnip"; artwork for the book was published in the 2002 collection ''
Keats's Neighborhood: An Ezra Jack Keats Treasury''.
See also
*
The Little Red Hen
*
The Turnip
References
;Notes
;Footnotes
External links
*
The Giant Turnip A translation of the Russian fairy tale.
The Enormous Turnip (Retold by Irene Yates)
Fairy tales collected by Alexander Afanasyev
Fictional plants
Russian folklore
ATU 2000-2199
{{Child-lit-stub