Oil in the Borsch and Other Ukrainian Folktales

Lois Provost Turchetti is a professional children’s storyteller (in
English and Caribbean Creole), who also conducts educational workshops
in Toronto.

This volume is the sixth in a series of books documenting Ukrainian oral
tradition in Canada. The cosmopolitan nature of Ukrainian folktales in
Canada is reflected in Evanishen’s observations that “Axe Borsch”
is known as “Stone Soup,” “The Bee and the Pigeon” and “The
Fox and the Crow” reflect Aesop’s Fables, and “Lida-Rosa” is
similar to the English “Little Hawthorn Rose.”

Two stories are of particular interest. “How Much Land Does a Man
Need?,” which explores the classic themes of knowledge and greed,
could be used in social studies to introduce global historical land
disputes. One of seven brothers, a bitter peasant who works hard for his
landlord, curses the landlord, his own lot in life, the weather, his
dog, and the Devil himself. His cursing summons the Devil, who offers
the man a proposition: as much land as the man can walk around in a day
will be his ... or he gets nothing. Overestimating his strength and
abilities, the man ends up with a plot six feet long and six feet deep.

“The Two Daughters” looks at stepfamily relations. This story is
about a jealous stepmother who forces her husband to send his daughter
away while her own daughter is allowed to stay.

These stories may seem horrific to the many adult readers, but they
serve to exorcise the fears of younger readers. In the context of the
classroom, the stories could be used as a starting point for exploring
the folktale genre.