Article

Name: On the newly found exempla from the Russian translation of Gesta Romanorum

Authors: Eliza Malek

The University of Lodz, Poland

In the section Study of literature

Abstract: The paper presents an unknown version of the two exempla of Gesta Romanorum. The text of the new version was discovered in a manuscript of the late 18th century from the collection of the National Library of Russia (Collected by Pomyalovsky, no. 42, pp. 74–78) which has not yet been studied. This manuscript presents the most interesting treatment of Priklada o mudrosti, chtoby my vse dobrym razmyshleniyem tvorili on the plot of «Tale of doing all things with concord and forethought» and Priklada, yako ne podobayet zhenam v taynykh delekh veriti on the «Story of the prudence of the young Papirius, and the inability of women to keep secrets». The comparison of the texts of the Pomyanovsky’s manuscript with the exampla of the Basic edition of the Gesta Romanorum showed that the treatment of both plots follows the further Russification of the borrowed text. In addition, the narrative part is consistently revised. The editor freely modifies the dialogues, putting new words and thoughts into the mouth of the characters; the interpretation of the parable is greatly modified. While preserving the plot of the narrative, the Russian anonymous author introduces new characters, new details and different accents. Besides the textological analysis of the tales, their texts are provided, making it possible for the researchers to identify other lists of this interesting version and determine the time of its creation in future.

Keywords: «Gesta Romanorum», exempla, novel, interpretation, the plot about Papirius, the plot about three wisdoms the story of the three caskets, «The Great Mirror»

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