The Fair Folk and Little Orphan Mary: A Tale about Gnomes

by Maria Konopnicka, Christopher Adam Zakrzewski (Translator)

Overview

A classic children’s tale about Gnomes, appealing equally, if not more so, to the adult child. Written in rich, lyrical prose, frequently shifting into the peasant dialect and interspersed with sundry verses and songs, the tale is replete with mytho-folkloric motifs, legends, superstitions, historical and biblical references, magical depictions of natural phenomena, the sunsets, the twilights, the dawns; the changing seasons, the shadows, the colors, the sounds and silences, Poland’s diverse landscape, her fields, forests and mountains, along with her flora and fauna, and realistic descriptions of late 19th-century Polish rural life. Not least among The Fair Folk’s charms is the author’s whimsical sense of humor—a humor that often rises to a level of high hilarity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798887196909
Publisher:	Cherry Orchard Books
Publication date:	01/07/2025
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	242
File size:	6 MB
Age Range:	7 - 11 Years

About the Author

Christopher Adam Zakrzewski—(born 1948)—literary translator, teacher, scholar. Raised in the UK and Ontario, Canada. Doctoral studies at the Department of Slavonic Studies, University of British Columbia. Professor of languages and literature at Our Lady Seat of Wisdom College in Barry’s Bay, Ontario. He is the translator of Adam Mickiewicz’s classic Polish epic poem Pan Tadeusz, published, concurrently, by Academic Studies Press. Now retired, he and his wife Wendy live in the village of Wilno, Ontario. They have five children and nine grandchildren.

Table of Contents

Translator’s Preface

1. How King Glistel’s Court Chronicler Discovered Spring

2. Spratkin’s Expedition

3. King Glistel Leaves the Crystal Grotto

4. Spratkin Meets Little Orphan Mary

5. Good Times

6. Maestro Sarabanda’s Concert

7. Bluebonnet and His Student

8. At the Palace of the Mountain Queen

9. Midsummer’s Night Eve

10. A Thief in the Night

11. Half-Lord’s Alms

12. The Gnomes Return Underground 

A Short Biography of Maria Konopnicka (1842-1910)

About the Translator

Editorial Reviews

Christopher Adam Zakrzewski’s admirable translation of The Fair Folk and Little Orphan Mary captures the full scope of Maria Konopnicka’s genius, her enchanting storytelling, her wisdom, imagination, and whimsical sense of humor. He raises the Polish masterpiece to its rightful place on the Parnassus of world literature.”

— Professor Kazimierz Braun, Polish writer and scholar

“The title of this moving tale evokes Hans Christian Andersen and his distinctive treatment of the fairy tale genre, but what is delivered here goes beyond the pattern popularized by the Danish author. Yes, the standard elements of nineteenth-century fairy tales are present: gnomes, queens, nature and its seasons, and a happy ending. But the gnomes have unmistakably Polish features, the orphan does not become a queen, society’s problems are intensely present, and the show ends annually with the coming of winter.

Konopnicka’s tale is a joy to read. It can cheer up adults as well as children. Beautifully translated by arguably the best Polish-English translator alive, it belongs with Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows, Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, and medieval morality plays. A mood-lifter and serenity summoner, it is a book to reach for when one needs a proclamation that ‘all is (almost) right with the world.’”

— Ewa Thompson, Rice University

“This translation of Konopnicka's classic fairy tale is a true blessing not merely to a new generation of children who will be introduced to it for the first time but for all lovers of fantasy. As G. K. Chesterton reminds us in 'Ethics of Elfland' and as Tolkien insists in his seminal essay 'On Fairy-Stories', classic tales from the realm of Faërie offer a restorative to grown-ups in need of consolation and the recovery of a clearer view of reality. ”

— Joseph Pearce, author of Tolkien: Man and Myth and Further Up and Further In: Understanding Narnia

“For those who love fairy stories, and the folklore of Europe in general, this charming and deftly translated English edition of Maria Konopnicka’s classic will offer numerous delights. Christopher Zakrzewski's poetic gifts are unsurpassed.”  

—Michael D. O’Brien, author of Island of the World

From the Publisher