The Humpbacked Horse by P. P. Ershov: The Background of the Literary Success

As for its quality, The Humpbacked Horse, a fairy-tale by P. P. Ershov, is comparable to Pushkin’s masterful tales that the young author used as his reference point, mostly under the influence of his teacher, Professor P. A. Pletnyov. The first thing to consider, however, is the folklore background of Ershov’s story, arguably based on The Tale of Ersh Ershovich (The Tale of the Ruffe the Ruffe’s Son); and it is for this reason that this character, with the name consonant to the name of the author, made his way into the tale about the Humpbacked Horse. The interest of the young man from Siberia in the Old Russian literature and folklore is also worth considering. Many fantastic images from Ershov’s fairy-tale (the magic horse, the Firebird, The Tsar Maiden) have insidious mythological origin, which certainly enriches the poetical quality of Ershov’s tale.