Classic Books
All the folktales that have been translated from various books are in full. They have been selected from all the continents depending on their availability. The criteria of choosing them are – one, the book is old enough – normally around or before 1900; two – the book is of rare folktales, the book is out of print; three, all African books since they can go out of print anytime; four – all Indian books available in English but not in Hindi and certainly those books which are not available in Hindi. A couple of more books have also sneaked in this list. The list of presently available titles is given here with the number of their stories contained in and translated. Two of them have already been published.
All inquiries to hindifolktales@gmail.com
ALL THE BOOKS ARE AVAILABLE IN HINDI FOR THE FIRST TIME
AFRICA-8 Books
(12) African Folktales
by Alessandro Ceni. 1998. 18 Tales
(14) The Cow-Tail Switch and Other West African Stories
by Harold Courlander and George Herzog. NY: Henry Holt and Company. 1947. 143 p. 17 Tales
(7) Favorite African Stories
edited by Nelson Mandela. 32 Tales.
(15) Folk Stories From Southern Nigeria
by Elphinstone Dayrell. 1910. 40 Tales.
(8) Fourteen Hundred Cowries: traditional stories of the Yoruba
by Abayomi Fuja. Ibadan: OUP. 1962. 164 p. 31 Tales
(13) The Orphan Girl and Other Stories
by Buchi Offodile. 2001. 41 Stories. 41 Tales. In two vols: vol 1, vol 2
(20) West African Folk-Tales
by William H Barker and Cecilia Sinclair. 1917. 35 Tales.
(1) Zanzibar Tales : told by the natives of the East Coast Africa
Translated by George W Bateman. Chicago: AC McClurg. 1901. 10 Stories.
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AMERICA NORTH-1 Book
The Thunder Bird Tootooch Legends
By ML Webber. 1936. 39 Tales
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ASIA-16 Books
(36) Cossack Fairy Tales and Folktales (27)
By R Nisbet Bain. 1894. 27 Tales
Fairy tales and folktales from Ukraine
(16) Folklore and Legends: Oriental (13)
By Charles John Tibbits. London: WW Gibbins. 1889. 13 Tales
Along with Ssidi Kur stories – For the first time in Hindi
(17) The Oriental Story Book (7)
By Wilhelm Hauff. 1885. 7 Tales
Chinese Myths and Legends (38)
By Joanne O’Brien. Translated by Kwak Man Ho. 38 Myths. In two vols. vol 1, vol 2
(3) Israel: Raja Solomon
Solomon and Saturn and Adrian and Rithues are the two medieval texts of widely spread genre in a number of languages.
Published with the title “Raja Solomon” by Prabhat Prakashan, Delhi. 2019.
(6) Folk Tales From the Russian (9)
By Veera Xenophontovna Kalamatiano de Bluementhal. 1903. 9 Tales.
Available in English at the Web Site :
http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/ftr/index.htm
(5) Russian Folk-Tales (73)
By Alexander Nikolayevich Afanasyev. 1889. 73 Tales.
Translated in English by Leonard Arthur Magnus. 1916.
Available in English at the Web Site :
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Russian_Folk-Tales
Russian Folktales
Retold by James Riordan. Oxford, OUP. 2000. 96 p.
(26) Russian Garland (17)
By Robert Steele. 1916. 17 Tales
Available in English at the Web Site :
https://www.worldoftales.com/European_folktales/Russian_Folktale_6.html
(37) Fourtyfour Turkish Tales (44)
By Ignacz Kunos. 1913. 44 Tales. In two volumes. vol 1, vol 2
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INDIA-8 Books
(22) Deccan Nursery Tales or Fairy Tales from the South (20)
Translated by Charles Augustus Kincaid from Marathi. 1914. 20 Tales
(4) Folk-tales of Bengal (22)
By Lal Behari Dey. London, Macmillan. 1883. 22 Tales. These stories from its 1912 edition.
Published by NBT, Delhi. 2020. 214 p.
(11) Folktales of Kashmir (64)
By James Hinton Knowles. London: Kegan Paul. 1887. 2nd edition. 64 Tales. In four vols: vol 1, vol 2, vol 3, vol 4
(23) Old Deccan Days or Hindoo Fairy Legends (24)
By Mary Frere. First published in 1868. 24 Tales. In two vols: vol 1, vol 2
(24) Qissaye Chahar Dervesh (5)
by Amir Khusro. Between 1300 and 1325. / Translated in Urdu by Mir Imman. 1804.
Available in English translated by Duncan Forbes in 1857.
(29) Shuk Saptati (70)
by Author Unknown. 12th Century. 70 Tales.
(10) Tales of the Punjab (43)
By Flora Annie Steel. London: MacMillan & Co. 1894. 43 Tales.
Available in English at the Web Site :
http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/steel/punjab/punjab.html
Wide Awake Stories
By Flora Annie Steel. London : MacMillan & Co.
It is same as “Folktales from the Punjab” given above.
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EUROPE-7 Books
(21) Facetious Nights of Straparola (75)
By Giovanni Francesco Straparola. 2 volumes. 1550 and 1553. 10 Tales
First English translation by HG Waters. London : Lawrence and Bullen. 1894.
(18) Georgian Folktales (38)
Translated by Marjorie Wardrop. London, David Nutt in the Strand. 1894. 200 p. 38 Tales.
Available in English at the Web Site :
http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924029936006#page/n12/mode/1up
(33) Il Decamerone (100)
By Giovanni Boccaccio. 1353. 10 Tales
(9) Il Pentamerone (50)
By Giambattista Basile. Naples (Italy). 1634, 1636. 3 volumes. vol 1, vol 2, vol 3Available in English at the Web Site :
http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924029936006#page/n12/mode/1up and
https://fairytalez.com/author/stories-from-pentamerone/
Italian Folktales : collected and retold by Italo Calvino (127/200)
by Italo Calvino. 1889. 200 Tales. 7 Vols: vol 1, vol 2, vol 3, vol 4, vol 5, vol 6, vol 7
Translated by George Martin. San Diego, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. 1980. 200 Tales. Only 127 tales are selected to translate.
(27) Popular Italian Folktales (109)
By Thomas Frederich Crane. 1885. 109 Tales 4 Vols:vol 1, vol 2, vol 3, vol 4
(2) Serbian Folk-tales: popular tales (26)
Translated by Madam Csedomille Mijatovies. London: W Isbister. 1874. 26 Tales
Available in English at the Web Site :
http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924029936006#page/n12/mode/1up