The Great Snake
| "The Great Snake" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Short story by Pavel Bazhov | |||
| Original title | Про Великого Полоза | ||
| Translator | Alan Moray Williams (first), Eve Manning, et al. | ||
| Country | Soviet Union | ||
| Language | Russian | ||
| Genre(s) | skaz | ||
| Publication | |||
| Published in | Krasnaya Nov | ||
| Publication type | Periodical | ||
| Media type | Print (magazine, hardback and paperback) | ||
| Publication date | 1936 | ||
| Published in English | 1944 | ||
| Chronology | |||
| Series | The Malachite Casket collection (list of stories) | ||
| |||
"The Great Snake" or "The Great Serpent" (Russian: Про Великого Полоза, romanized: Pro Velikogo Poloza, lit. "Of the Great Serpent") is a folk tale (the so-called skaz) of the Ural region of Siberia collected and reworked by Pavel Bazhov. It was first published in the 11th issue of the Krasnaya Nov literary magazine in 1936 and later the same year as a part of the collection Prerevolutionary Folklore of the Urals. It was later released as a part of The Malachite Casket collection. The story was translated from Russian into English by Alan Moray Williams in 1944, and by Eve Manning in the 1950s.
In this skaz, two boys meet the legendary Great Snake (also translated as Poloz the Great Snake; Великий Полоз; Velikij Poloz).
The story of the two brothers is continued in "The Snake Trail", published in 1939.