The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse is a beloved Russian classic, written in the 1830s. It is the tale of a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar (indeed, this portrayal of the tsar got the book banned for 20 years in the nineteenth century). 

It is a tale of love and bravery, fantasy and humor, and it is all told in beautiful, rich, narrative poetry. Presented in our popular bilingual format (accented Russian on the left page, matching English on the right), with a stellar literary translation by Lydia Stone, this is a volume to cherish and share. 

About the Translator: Lydia Razran Stone is a first generation American who works as a technical and literary translator from Russian into English. She earned a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology and spent 10 years working for NASA, tracking and writing about Soviet biomedical research relevant to space flight. Her first bilingual book of translations, a poetry collection by Irina Ratushinskaya entitled Wind of the Journey, was published in 2000 by Cornerstone Press. Many of her translations have been published in various venues and her translated plays have been performed. She is the editor of SlavFile, the publication of the Slavic Language Division of the American Translators Association, for which she writes a humor and cultural column. Her translation of Ivan Krylov’s fairy tales, The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (and 61 other Russia fables by Ivan Krylov) was published by Russian Life Books in 2010.

A line-by-line literal translation of the Russian into English is available as a PDF for students and teachers. You may request a copy using our contact form.