The name of Pavel Petrovich Bazhov is known to every adult. At the mention of the name of this Russian writer, wonderful original tales about a malachite box, a stone flower, hardworking and kind Ural prospectors and skilled craftsmen arise in our minds. Bazhov's works take you to the world of the Ural underground and mountain kingdom and introduce you to its magical inhabitants: the Mistress of the Copper Mountain, the Pokopkakushka, the Silver Hoof, the Great Snake and the Blue Snake.
P. P. Bazhov is a master of Ural tales
Pavel Bazhov was born in the Urals in 1879. His family traveled a lot, and much of what the boy heard and saw in his childhood in Sysert, Polevskoy, Seversky, Verkh-Sysert formed the basis of his tales about the Urals and his life. Pavel Bazhov has always been attracted to folklore.
He had great respect forthe history of his people, to his original character and oral creativity. The writer constantly collected and updated folklore records and based on them created his own unique tales. The heroes of his works are ordinary workers.
Display of historical events in the tales of P. Bazhov
Serfdom existed in the Urals until the end of the 19th century. The works of P. P. Bazhov describe the time when the people lived under the yoke of masters. The plant owners, in pursuit of income, did not think about the cost of human life and the he alth of their wards, who were forced to work in dark and damp mines from morning to night.
Despite hard times and hard labor, the people did not lose heart. Among the workers there were very creative, smart people who knew how to work and deeply understood the world of beauty. Description of their characters, life and spiritual aspirations contain the works of Bazhov. Their list is quite large. The literary merits of Pavel Bazhov were appreciated during his lifetime. In 1943, he was awarded the Stalin Prize for the book of Ural tales, The Malachite Box.
The message of the Ural tales
Tales are not the early works of Pavel Bazhov. Despite the fact that the journalist, publicist and revolutionary Bazhov was always interested in folklore, the idea of writing fairy tales did not come to him immediately.
The first tales of "The Mistress of the Copper Mountain" and "Dear Name" were published before the war, in 1936. Since then, Bazhov's works began to appear in print regularly. The purpose and meaning of the tales was to raisefighting spirit and self-awareness of the Russian people, awareness of themselves as a strong and invincible nation, capable of exploits and confronting the enemy.
It is no coincidence that Bazhov's works appeared before the start of the Great Patriotic War and continued to be published during it. In this regard, P. P. Bazhov was a visionary. He managed to foresee the onset of trouble and contribute to the opposition to world evil.
Mystical images in the literary works of P. P. Bazhov
Many people know what works Bazhov wrote, but not everyone understands where the writer borrowed the magical images of his tales from. Of course, the folklorist only conveyed folk knowledge about otherworldly forces that helped good heroes and punished evil people. There is an opinion that Bazhov's surname comes from the word "bazhit", which is a Ural dialect and literally means "to tell fortunes", "foretell".
Most likely, the writer was a man well versed in mysticism, since he decided to recreate the mythological images of the Great Snake, Fire-Rap, Mistress of the Copper Mountain, Silver Hoof and many others. All these magical heroes represent the forces of nature. They have untold riches and open them only to people with pure and open hearts, opposing the forces of evil and in need of help and support.
Bazhov's works for children
The meaning of some tales is very deep and does not lie on the surface. It must be said that not all of Bazhov's works will be understandable to children. To the tales addressed directlythe younger generation are traditionally referred to as "Silver Hoof", "Fire Rip" and "Blue Snake". Bazhov's works for children are written in a very concise and accessible language.
Here not much attention is paid to the experiences of the characters, but the emphasis is on the description of miracles and magical characters. Here Fire-Rapting in a fiery sarafan is mischievous, in another tale Silver Hoof suddenly appears and knocks out precious stones for an orphan girl and a good hunter Kokovani. And, of course, who doesn't want to meet the Blue Snake, which turns the wheel and shows where the gold lies?
Bazhov's tales and their use in fairy tale therapy
Bazhov's works are very convenient to use in fairy tale therapy, the main task of which is to form positive values and motivations in children, strong moral principles, develop their creative perception of the world and good intellectual abilities. Bright images of fairy tales, simple, sincere, hardworking people from the people, fantastic characters will make the child's world beautiful, kind, unusual and bewitching.
The most important thing in Bazhov's tales is morality. Her child must learn and remember, and the help of an adult in this is very necessary. After the fairy tale is told, it is necessary to have a conversation with the children in the same friendly manner about the main characters, about their behavior and fate. Kids will be happy to talk about those characters and their actions that they liked, express their opinion about negative characters andtheir behaviour. Thus, the conversation will help to consolidate the positive effect of fairy tale therapy, contributing to the firm rooting of the acquired knowledge and images in the mind of the child.
List of Bazhov's works:
- "Diamond Match";
- "Amethyst Case";
- "Bogatyrev Gauntlet";
- "Vasina Gora";
- "Veselukhin Spoons";
- "Blue snake";
- "Mining Master";
- "Distant gazer";
- "Two Lizards";
- "Demidov's Caftans";
- "Dear name";
- "Dear Earth Coil";
- "Yermakov's swans";
- Zhabreev Walker;
- Iron Tires;
- "Live in action";
- "Live Light";
- "Snake trail";
- Golden Hair;
- Golden Bloom of the Mountain;
- Golden Dykes;
- "Ivanko-winged";
- "Stone Flower";
- "Earth Key";
- "The Root Secret";
- "Cat ears";
- "Circle Lantern";
- "Malachite Box";
- Markov Stone;
- Copper Share;
- "Mistress of the Copper Mountain";
- "In the same place";
- "The inscription on the stone";
- "Wrong heron";
- "Rapid Fire";
- Eagle Feather;
- "Kazakhchikov's soles";
- "About the Great Snake";
- "About divers";
- "About the main thief";
- Ore Pass;
- Silver Hoof;
- "Sinyushkin well";
- "Sun Stone";
- "Juicy Pebbles";
- "Gift of the Old Mountains";
- "Cockroach soap";
- "The mirror melts";
- "Herbal Trap";
- "Heavy coil";
- "At the old mine";
- "Fragile Twig";
- "Crystal Lacquer";
- "Iron Grandmother";
- Silk Hill;
- "Broad Shoulder".
Bazhov's works, a list of which parents would like to study in advance, will help to form in children a sense of sympathy for kind characters, such as the old man Kokovanya, Darenka, and a negative attitude, censure of others (the clerk from the fairy tale "The Mistress of the Copper Mountain"). They will instill in the child a sense of kindness, justice and beauty and teach him to empathize, help others and act decisively. Bazhov's works will develop the creative potential of children and will help them develop the values and qualities necessary for a successful and happy life.
