Revived in the book Serbian Folk Tales, the world of Serbian tradition and folklore presents three tales: The Maiden Who Outwitted the King, Fate, and The Emperor Trojan’s Goat’s Ears, which are a treasure trove of wisdom for the youngest and older readers alike.

This interesting and instructive reading was written in Serbian, but each of the three fairytales has been translated into English and illustrated with interesting drawings in cheerful colors.

The fairytales were translated and adapted by Anika Dačić and illustrated by Marica Kicušić.

The book will be available for the youngest readers, as well as older fairytale lovers during July, and it will be published by the Laguna publishing house.

– Read about a girl who was wiser than a king, an emperor who was ashamed of his looks and a man who went on a quest to find his fate. Readers of all ages who aim to improve their knowledge of the English language will enjoy this lovely illustrated bilingual edition – reads the statement from Laguna.

These are tales offering a lot to learn to children and adults alike, because they summarize all the wisdom of life.

This book is important because the youngest can learn English in an interesting and simple way by comparing the text with the fairytales in Serbian.

Namely, the first story, The Maiden Who Outwitted the King, is about an ordinary girl characterized by wit and wisdom. Unlike other fairytales, this one features no mythical heroes such as dragons, witches and wizards.

Opposite the girl is an emperor who tests her mind. It is important to note that this girl does not reach the goal through beauty and modesty as is often the case in fairytales, but solely owing to her wit.

She did not wait for a prince to save her, but she saved herself and her father. Therein lies the lesson that girls need to study, be smart and learn to take care of themselves.

Vuk Stefanović Karadžić recorded the short story Fate, the second in this collection, from the Zemun merchant Gruja Mehandžić, and he published it in 1853 in the second book of folk tales.

It is fate that has the miraculous power to grant destinies to people without thinking whether it is just or not.

At the heart of this short story is the belief that nothing can change a person’s happiness and destiny. It shows that people can only alleviate their destiny to an extent, provided they were born under a lucky star.

A frequent motif in all Serbian and Slavic fairytales is belief in destiny, because people have always tried to explain the things happening to them and this is one of the ways.

The third fairytale in this book is The Emperor Trojan’s Goat’s Ears, which will be interesting to children because it is about an emperor who wanted to hide his goat’s ears.

This story will show the youngest readers, and remind the older ones, that the truth cannot be hidden and that, whatever it may be, it always comes to light in the end.

Source and photo: Glas Srpske