The Tale of Igor's Campaign

"The Tale of Igor's Campaign" is one of the oldest monuments of literature from Ancient Russia. The archaic nature of the text does not allow for a reliable determination of either the period of its writing or even its author. Being a unique example of literary creativity from deep antiquity, the "Tale" is notable for its lexical diversity, abundance of artistic expressiveness, and the intertwining of folklore motifs and historical facts. It is a richly eventful, emotional work, whose plot narrates the campaign of the ancient Russian prince's army against the enemy Polovtsian tribes. And although Igor's campaign was not crowned with success, his feat is remembered to this day. In this edition, the text of "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" is presented in three versions: the original Old Russian text and two translations into a more modern Russian language. The first such translation was carried out by the publishers under the guidance of Count Alexei Ivanovich Musin-Pushkin (1744–1817) in 1800. Thanks to their painstaking work, "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" became widely known among the reading public of that time. Subsequently, translations of the "Tale" were made repeatedly in reprints. Among this multitude, a particular commendation was given to the translation by Nikolai Alexeevich Zabolotsky (1903–1958), an outstanding poet and translator, a member of the Union of Soviet Writers. Zabolotsky treated the text of the "Tale" with reverence, calling it "a cathedral of our ancient glory," a miracle that has survived to this day after several centuries. Chukovsky noted that Zabolotsky successfully preserved the poetic nature and charm of the original in his rendition.