The Polish literary reinterpretations of Pyotr Yershov’s wonder tale. A comparative study

The present article is based on three literary rewritings of The Little Humpbacked Horse (Конёк-Горбунок, 1834): 1) The Tale of Knight Niezginek, the Self-cutting Sword and the Self-playing Gusli (Baśń o rycerzu Niezginku, mieczu samosieczu, i o gęślach samograjach) by Antoni Józef Gliński, 2) The Little Humpbacked Horse (Konik Garbusek) by Jan Brzechwa and 3) The Little Fatty Horse (O koniku Grubasku) by Jerzy Niemczuk. Gliński’s wonder tale appeared in 1853 in the second volume of The Polish Tale Teller, Brzechwa’s poem was presented in 1949 as a summary of Ivan Ivanov-Vano’s film and Niemczuk’s story was part of Mr. Mess’s Ring (Pierścień pana Bałagana) that came out in 1993. These works were therefore published in very different periods and literary contexts that had inevitable influence on writers’ approach to the Russian original.