The Great Snake

Did You Know?

• Bazhov's Poloz also fulfils a concept of social justice, rewarding the worthy and endangering those who quarrel over gold.
• In Bazhov's tales, Poloz's constant opponent is the wise eagle-owl.
• A 2007 Russian film "The Golden Snake" is loosely based on "The Great Snake".

Publication

The skaz first appeared in the 11th issue of Krasnaya Nov in 1936, alongside "The Mistress of the Copper Mountain" and "Beloved Name". "Beloved Name" occupied pages 5–9, "The Great Snake" pages 9–12, and "The Mistress of the Copper Mountain" pages 12–17. These tales most closely follow original Ural miners' folklore. Later that year, they were collected in "Prerevolutionary Folklore of the Urals", published by Sverdlovsk Publishing House. On 28 January 1939, the story was released as part of "The Malachite Casket". Alan Moray Williams translated it into English in 1944 as "The Great Snake"; Eve Manning produced another translation in the 1950s titled "The Great Serpent". This tale begins a cycle of prospectors' stories, continued by "The Snake Trail" (1939), "The Fire-Fairy" (1940), "Zhabrei's Path" (1942), "Dikes of Gold" (1945), and "The Blue Snake" (1945).

Plot

The old miner Levonty, worn out from copper mining, is transferred to a gold mine by the manager. With the master's permission, he is freed from paying obrok and becomes a prospector, taking his two sons along. After a week of poor results, the father leaves the boys to guard the tools. They fish in the nearby Chusovaya River and meet Semyonich, a former iron furnace operator who seems to procure money mysteriously. He refuses those who seek his help but aids the needy who do not ask. The children share fish soup; he offers bread. Hearing their plight, he promises to consult someone and warns them to keep it secret and never show fear. Later, Semyonich returns with a green-eyed man dressed all in yellow brocade, with a greenish girdle, a yellow hat with red flaps, and red boots. The earth sinks under him. The helper hints he is the Great Snake who could reveal the gold trail but worries he may spoil the boys. Semyonich defends them as destitute. The snake-man says that when people are poor they are decent, but gold brings evil like toadstools.

Veliky Poloz

Bazhov explains that in Ural miners' myth, the snakes were ruled by a huge snake, Poloz, who controlled all gold. Poloz could take away or bring gold at will, sometimes with snake servants, sometimes alone. He often guarded land gold by scaring people, causing anxiety, dragging tools into the ground, or taking gold away. In rare cases, he acted as a conscientious sovereign steward, rewarding or punishing as he saw fit. Bazhov introduced numerous daughters of the Snake, including Zmeevka, Ognevushka, and Golden Hair, who becomes the stolen bride of the Bashkir hero Ailyp in the tale "Golden Hair". The relationship between Poloz and the Mistress of the Copper Mountain is unclear; Bazhov could not get his storytelling source Grandpa Slyshko to clarify.

Origins

Veliky Poloz takes its name from the Russian word for snakes of the Colubridae family. Bazhov said the origin of the image did not interest him, as it was familiar from childhood; he thought it derived from external impressions, not ancient symbolism. People likely witnessed large snakes among the aboriginal population (jalpyng uj). The character is based on Ural legends, miners' omens, and superstitions of the Khanty, Mansi, and Bashkirs. Legends of a giant serpent 6–10 meters long still exist in the Urals. In Bashkir folklore, the Master of Gold can appear as various animals, including the snake. Throughout the Urals, the gold hoarder is called the Serpent or Snake King. Bazhov noted that in the Middle and Southern Urals, this snake is more often called Poloz, the Great Poloz. Grass turns yellow where he touches the surface; snake trails indicate gold locations. Legless lizards (slowworms) are his servants. The tales came from the old Sysert Mining District, especially the Polevskoy Plant. Bazhov believed the most ancient creature is Azov Girl, then the Snake, then the Mistress; Poloz's zoomorphic nature suggests totemistic origins. Miners explained lost gold veins as Poloz moving them, and gold in quartz as the passage of his daughter Zmeevka.