STORIES OF THE STEPPES: Kazakh Folk Tales

Cleverness raises the poor (people) and lowly (animals) to a par with the rich and mighty in this collection of nineteen tales adapted from Kazakh originals. Some are variations of the very familiar (The Brave Little Tailor, Puss in Boots, the Mouse Princess, etc.); others are supernatural success stories or incidents of judging between contesting claims; a few tell how and why. ""If You Know a Story, Don't Keep It to Yourself,"" warns the most distinctive, in which the spirits of the stories a bridegroom didn't tell to the guests (because he wanted to be with his bride) plot revenge. Most of the stories are brief and there's very little embellishment, which makes for undemanding reading; neither are they particularly rewarding beyond the moment.