| Attribute | Original | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Title | Рукавичка | The Mitten (Rukavichka) |
| Series or Collection | ||
| Author(s) | Unknown | Translation by Peter Moiseyenko |
| Region(s) | Україна | Ukraine |
| Date(s) | 19th Century |
Body Text
1 Ішов дід лісом, а за ним біг собачка, та й загубив дід рукавичку. От біжить мишка, улізла в ту рукавичку та й каже: – Тут я буду жити!
2 Коли це жабка плигає та й питає: – А хто, хто в цій рукавичці? – Мишка-шкряботушка. А ти хто? – Жабка-скрекотушка. Пусти й мене! – Іди! От уже їх двоє.
3 Коли біжить зайчик, прибіг до рукавички та й питає: – А хто, хто в цій рукавичці? – Мишка-шкряботушка, жабка-скрекотушка. А ти хто? – А я зайчик-побігайчик. Пустіть і мене! – Іди! От уже їх троє.
4 Коли це біжить лисичка та до рукавички: – А хто, хто в цій рукавичці? – Мишка-шкряботушка, жабка-скрекотушка, зайчик-побігайчик. А ти хто? – А я лисичка-сестричка. Пустіть і мене! – Та йди! От уже їх четверо сидить.
5 Аж суне вовчик та й собі до рукавички, питається: – А хто, хто в цій рукавичці? – Мишка-шкряботушка, жабка-скрекотушка, зайчикпобігайчик та лисичка-сестричка. А ти хто? – А я вовчик-братик. Пустіть і мене! – Та вже йди! Уліз і той, – уже їх п’ятеро.
6 Де не взявся, – біжить кабан: – Хро-хро-хро! А хто, хто в цій рукавичці? – Мишка-шкряботушка, жабка-скрекотушка, зайчикпобігайчик, лисичка-сестричка та вовчик-братик. А ти хто? – Хро-хро-хро! А я кабан-іклан. Пустіть і мене! – Оце лихо! Хто не набреде, та все в рукавичку! Куди ж ти тут улізеш? – Та вже влізу, – пустіть! – Та що вже з тобою робити, – йди! Уліз і той. Уже їх шестеро, уже так їм тісно, що й нікуди.
7 Коли це тріщать кущі, вилазить ведмідь та й собі до рукавички, реве й питається: – А хто, хто в цій рукавичці? – Мишка-шкряботушка, жабка-скрекотушка, зайчик-побігайчик, лисичка-сестричка, вовчик-братик та кабан-іклан. А ти хто? – Гу-гу-гу! Як вас багато! А я ведмідь-набрід. Пустіть і мене! – Куди ми тебе пустимо, коли й так тісно? – Та якось будемо. – Та вже йди, тільки скраєчку! Уліз і ведмідь – семеро стало.
8 Та вже так тісно, що рукавичка осьось розірветься. Коли це дід оглядівся, – немає рукавички. Він тоді назад – шукати її, а собачка попереду побіг. Біг, біг, бачить – лежить рукавичка і ворушиться. Собачка тоді «Гав-гав-гав!» Вони як злякаються, як вирвуться з рукавички, – так усі й порозбігалися лісом. Прийшов дід та й забрав рукавичку.
Translation
1: Once upon a time, an old man went walking through the forest with his dog and lost a mitten. There came a mouse that crawled into the mitten and said: “Here is where I will live!”
2: A frog then came hopping up and asked: “And who, who is in this mitten?” The mouse replied: “I am Shkryabotishka the mouse. And who are you?” The frog said “I am Skrekotushka the frog. Let me in!” The mouse said “Come in!” And then there were two.
3: Then ran a rabbit, who ran to the mitten and asked ” And who, who is in the mitten?” The two replied “Shkryabotyshka the Mouse, and Skrekotushka the Frog. And who are you?” The rabbit said “I am Pobigaichik the Rabbit. Let me in!” The two said “Come in!” And then there were three.
4: Then ran a fox to the mitten, and she asked: “And who, who is in the mitten?” The three replied “Shkryabotyshka the Mouse, Skrekotushka the Frog, and Pobigaichik the Rabbit. And who are you?” The fox said “I am Sestrichka the Fox. Let me in!” The three said: “Well, come in!” And already there sat four.
5: A wolf came to the mitten and asked: “And who, who is in the mitten?” And the four said “Shkryabotyshka the Mouse, Skrekotushka the Frog, Pobigaichik the Rabbit, and Sestrichka the Fox. And who are you?” The wolf said “I am Bratik the Wolf. Let me in!” And they said: “Come in already!” And already there were five.
6: Then from nowhere ran a boar. “Grunt-grunt-grunt! And who, who is in the mitten? And the five said “Shkryabotishka the Mouse, Skrekotushka the Frog, Pobigaichik the Rabbit, Sestrichka the Fox, and Bratik the Wolf. And who are you?” And the boar said: “Grunt-Grunt-Grunt! I am Iklan the Boar. Let me in!” And they said “This is a disaster! Everyone that comes wants to get inside the mitten. Where will you be able to crawl into?” And the boar said: “Everyone will be able to fit, let me in!” And they all worked to move over and said “Come in!” Already there were six, and everyone was so squeezed they had nowhere to go.
7: The bushes then shook, and out crawled a bear who roared and said” And who, who is in the mitten?” And the six said “Shkryabotishka the Mouse, Skrekotushka the Frog, Pobigaichik the Rabbit, Sestrichka the Fox, Bratik the Wolf, and Iklan the Boar. And who are you?” And the bear said “Grr, Grr, Grr. Oh how many of you! I am Nabrid the Bear. Let me in!” And they said “Where are we going to put you, when we are all so cramped?” The bear said “Somehow we’ll get it done.” And they said “Well come in, only at the edge!” And the bear crawled in- there were seven.
8: And everyone was so cramped tight, that the mitten was about to rip apart. Then the old man came looking- looking for his lost mitten. He had gone back, and his dog had led the way. The dog went to take a look and saw that the mitten was lying there and moving. The dog said in confusion: “Woof, Woof, Woof!” They were so scared by the noise that everyone ran out into the woods. Then came the old man, and he grabbed the mitten.
This is an old Ukrainian fairy tale, long since translated and published in English as a bestseller for children, depicting the “Tragedy of the Commons”: The (economic) idea that too many people overusing a common resource will lead to the collapse of that resource. The economic theory was first coined in 1833 by British economist William Forster Lloyd, but understandings of too much exploitation or overpopulation of a resource have existed in folk memory for centuries.
There is also an interesting, albeit hidden, potential political sentiment reflected in the story. Russia has been for centuries depicted as a bear in heraldry and in popular culture; perhaps it is no surprise that the bear is the one to intrude apart and ultimately is to blame for the discovery of the mitten by trying to push itself inside an already overcrowded mitten.
This is the theory advanced by historian Natalia Kolonenko, who notes that during the Soviet Union depictions of The Mitten such as the animated film Терем-теремок (Terem-Meremok) the animals then working together under the leadership of the bear to build a better home after the splitting of the mitten, symbolizing the role of Russia as a leader in building a new state for each country. After the collapse of the Soviet Union and emergence of Ukraine as an independent country, the next Ukrainian animated film to depict The Mitten would return to the original ending; the Bear and all the other animals, leave the mitten and go their separate ways.
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A note on the names:
This is a childrens story above all, and thus the names reflect children’s rhyming schemes and act effectively as puns! Mouse in Ukrainian is Mishka, and Shkryabotishka essentially means someone who scurries about. Thus, read in Ukrainian, the name becomes Mishka-Shkryabotishka: A nice little rhyme for children!
Skrekotushka the Frog becomes Lyagushka-Skrekotushka, or ‘Frog the Croaker’ by the same metric
Pobigaichik the Rabbit becomes Zaichik-Pobigaichik, or literally ‘Rabbit the Runner’
Sestrichka the Fox becomes Lisichka-Sestrichka, or literally ‘Sister Fox’
Vovchik the Wolf becomes Vovchik-Bratik, or literally ‘Brother Wolf’
Iklan the Boar becomes Kaban-Iklan
And Nabrid the Bear becomes Vedmid-Nabrid, or literally ‘Rabble the Bear’
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Kononeko, Natalie. “The Politics of Innocence: Soviet and Post-Soviet Animation on Folklore Topics.” Journal of American Folklore 124, no. 494 (2011): 272-94. https://doi.org/10.5406/jamerfolk.124.494.0272.