The Lime Tree (Russian folktale)
"The Lime Tree" is a Russian folktale that illustrates themes of greed and contentment through the story of a poor peasant. One day, while seeking firewood, the peasant encounters an enchanted lime tree that can grant wishes. Initially, the peasant requests wealth and a better life, and the tree fulfills his desires, leading him to a life of comfort and power. However, as he becomes increasingly discontented, he makes more ambitious requests, seeking to become a king. Despite the tree's warnings about the dangers of unchecked ambition, the peasant persists, ultimately leading to his downfall when the tree revokes all his gifts and transforms him and his wife into bears. This tale serves not only as a moral lesson about the perils of greed but also as a creation story explaining the bear's resemblance to humans. It reflects broader folkloric traditions where magical beings grant wishes, showcasing the importance of contentment and the consequences of desire. The narrative connects to various cultural motifs regarding trees and their symbolic meanings, particularly in relation to love and transformation.
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Subject Terms
The Lime Tree (Russian folktale)
Author: Traditional
Time Period: 1851 CE–1900 CE
Country or Culture: Russia
Genre: Folktale
PLOT SUMMARY
Vanyusha is sitting with his grandfather one day and asks him why bears’ paws are similar to the hands and feet of humans. The grandfather tells him a tale that was passed down from ancient people explaining that bears were once like the Orthodox Christians they are now.
The grandfather recounts that a poor peasant lived in a cottage with no horses or livestock and no wood to warm his house in the winter. When the cold came, the peasant took his ax and went into the woods to cut his own firewood. He came across an enchanted lime tree and prepared to cut it down.
He struck the tree with his ax, and the lime tree spoke in a human voice. The tree stated that he could give the cottager anything he wanted, including riches and a wife. The peasant asked that the lime tree make him wealthier than all of the peasants in his village, and the lime tree told him to go home and find all that he wished for. The peasant returned home and discovered a new house with horses and storerooms full of corn. He was not impressed, however, with the wife the lime tree had provided him. She was not beautiful enough for him, so he decided to ask the lime tree for a better-looking bride.
The lime tree granted his wish, and when the peasant returned home, he found a satisfactory wife. Together, the peasant and his wife lived comfortably, but he soon began to long for authority in addition to wealth. He returned to the lime tree and asked it to make him the head of his borough; the lime tree complied and the peasant was granted the position. Still unsatisfied, however, the peasant once again returned to the lime tree and asked it to make him a lord. The peasant was content with this for a bit, but while he enjoyed throwing parties for other gentlemen in his position, he soon longed to become an official.
Again, the peasant visited the lime tree, and once again, the tree granted his desire, albeit more impatiently this time. As before, the peasant’s new title did not satisfy him for long, and he was soon asking the tree to make him a lord-lieutenant. The lime tree stated that this request was difficult to fulfill, but it begrudgingly elevated the peasant to an even loftier title. He was given a state of inheritance and enjoyed great riches with this position. The peasant quickly became discontent, finally wishing to be made a king. So, once again, he returned to the lime tree to make his request. The lime tree tried to persuade him to recant that wish, explaining that the peasant should reflect on where he started out and be content with how rich and powerful he had become. But even when the lime tree asserted that only God could choose the king, the peasant continued to insist. Frustrated, the lime tree declared that this wish was impossible; it took back everything he had given before angrily turning the peasant and his wife into bears.
The grandfather explains to Vanyusha that the moral of the story is to be content with what you have, because greed and desire will cause you to lose everything.
SIGNIFICANCE
“The Lime Tree” is a Slavonic moral story containing some fantastical elements such as a talking tree and transformations. It was made popular by A. H. Wratislaw in his collection Sixty Folk-Tales from Exclusively Slavonic Stories, published in 1890. In his introduction to the story, Wratislaw explains that it is a variation of the Brothers Grimm tale “The Fisherman and His Wife,” in which a poor fisherman’s wife repeatedly coaxes him into asking a magical flounder to grant them wishes. When the wife asks to become God, the flounder takes everything he has given them away, much like what happens to the peasant in this story.
There are several other variations of this tale of discontent and greed, including one from Japan involving a stonecutter and a spirit and one from Russia involving an old man and a fish. While “The Lime Tree” focuses on one man’s greed, other variations involve some amount of marital discord between a husband and his wife, who is typically portrayed as power hungry.
Making and granting wishes is a recurring motif of fairy tales and folklore from all corners of the globe. Mystical creatures such as fairies, demons, and genies typically grant wishes, but sometimes magical items such as rings or, in this case, a lime tree can grant them. Trees have been essential in much of the world’s mythologies and religions. They oftentimes were given sacred meanings and depicted as symbols of growth, death, and resurrection. This led to the popular Tree of Life image that is found in several mythologies. Many cultures also have “wish trees,” which are individual trees typically designated by locals and presented with offerings for the fulfillment of wishes.
Limes and lime trees also have their significance in mythology, fairy tales, and customs. The heart-shaped lime tree leaf has led the tree to become associated with love and its related symbolism, including fidelity and justice. In Scandinavian mythology, the lime tree is associated with Freya, the goddess of love. The German epic poem “Nibelungenlied” contains a character Sieglinde, which can be translated as “lime tree of victory.
Besides being a morality tale, “The Lime Tree” also acts as a bear creation story, specifically explaining how bears got their humanlike paws. Another famous folktale, “The Bear’s Tail,” explains why bears do not have tails. Bears appear in a myriad of fairy tales and folktales from around the world, the most famous one being, of course, “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.”
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Albuisson, Pierre. “The Dance Lime Tree and Its Symbolism.” Tilleuls à Danser. Trans. Marcia Hadjimarkos. Tilleuls-a-danser.eu, n.d. PDF file.
Ashliman, D. L., trans. “Dissatisfaction and Greed.” Folklore and Mythology Electronic Texts. U of Pittsburgh, 22 Mar. 2013. Web. 15 June 2013.
Heiner, Heidi Anne. “The Annotated Fisherman and His Wife.” SurLaLune Fairy Tales. SurLaLune Fairy Tales, 17 Sept. 2007. Web. 15 June 2013.
Luthi, Max. The European Folktale: Form and Nature. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1986. Print.
Wratislaw, A. H., trans. “The Lime Tree.” Sixty Folk-Tales from Exclusively Slavonic Sources. Boston: Houghton, 1890. 164–67. Print.