"Saratovtelefilm" presents
The Tale of the Round and the Long Wee Folk
Under hill, by river flowing,
Lived a people rolly-polly
The Round Poet They lived quietly, Without worry
From round mugs they drank tea neatly,
Hunting And round cheese-cakes they ate sweetly
From round saucers All year round
In the cities of those wee folk Things were roundish as could be:
Logs in roundish stoves they burned,
Their sheep's hair was roundly curled, And round tails on piggies wee.
In the morning they would rise To a great, circular light,
Come night - The round moon would shine
To the mundane revolution
Each day made its contribution
In the fields were clovers swaying,
Daisies round, their bloom displaying,
Birds flew round in circles, playing.
Only one thing in this world Did disrupt their peace and quiet -
Their strange neighbors made them quiver - From the grove across the river!
Fishermen
Under hill, by river's edge, Lived a people long and stretched -
They were an amazing folk!
All things that were pointy, long, Or at very least oblong,
Seemed to them most glorious, The most vital things on Earth!
Life among them was upright; Beautiful, safe, long and straight.
Their summer was long, their autumn fair, Winter was really winter there!
Only one thing in this world Did disrupt their peace and quiet -
Their strange neighbors made them quiver - From the grove across the river!
From round mugs their tea they'd drink, Round cheese-cakes they'd eat - just think!..
But among the stretched-out folk...
That same whirling affectation Brought out only irritation.
Now, one day, On a grassy site,
Those two peoples Had a fight
To War Now, the round wee folk at last Bravely started their campaign
Hero On a Rooster
That big fight could have been endless, But an odd thing then came to pass:
In amongst the roundish people, There lived a most bulging sage.
To his forehead he put his finger,
On deep thoughts made himself linger,
and
Thought up something very strange.
He said:
- Hold on there, boys,
If you really want to fight,
Then fight, battle - That's your right,
there's just one thing I can't make out -
I don't mind coming to blows,
But just tell me, rowdy fellows, Wherefore did we come to blows? What's the reason for this bout?
Then the round ones clamoured loudly, And the long ones cried out proudly:
It is true! We lived in bliss! How did we not notice this?
Those round guys aren't like us tall folk, But why should that be important?
It's unseemly for that merely To begin a war, my friends.
Fiddler
Peace prevailed, no grief nor bother, Neighbours made friends with each other.
The long folk, their ire forgotten, Called on the round to visit often.
Party
To an end now comes this tale
Mermaid My dear lad, step without worry Through the front gates of the story!
It is quiet and peaceful there.
Your reward will be this seed:
You should know that There's no need for,
Ah, no need for, Oh, no need for,
Senseless quarrels, anywhere!
THE TALE OF THE LITTLE PEOPLE Written by the poet Roman Sef
story narrated by Natalya Belyakova
the wee folk were drawn by artist Andrey Melnikov
the wee folk were animated by Aleksandr Lanin, Irina Melnikova
the wee folk were reconciled by director Eduard Belyayev
the story was portrayed by cameraman Yuriy Belyakov
music written by Sergey Tkachyov
music recorded by Yuriy Klyuchnikov
production director Vyacheslav Pletnyov helped everyone
Subtitles: Timing Agape, Translation Niffiwan & Eus (Mar 2022)