PAMPALCHE OF THE SILVER TEETH

An aptly handled Russian version of a common folklore motif--the beautiful young girl whose father is forced to promise her in marriage to some sort of monster. Here Pampalche escapes the huge Master of the Waters by fleeing through the woods to her sister's cliff-top home; she is aided by friendly animals and pursued toward the end by a witch allied with the would-be bridegroom. There are likely to be problems with the image of teeth ""white as silver"" and Rocco Negri doesn't especially help you visualize the heroine's beauty--but he does his job by making the forest perilous and the father's cottage homey, and his witch shows an ingenious application of the woodcut medium.