Valery Carrick’s bear receives turnip tops while the peasant keeps the roots
The first harvest division leaves the bear with the turnip leaves and the peasant with the edible roots. This is the selected crop-sharing bargain, rather than either of Carrick’s separate bears with a wooden leg or a sack of hidden daughters.
Overview
A widowed peasant without surviving relatives asks the bear to keep house and cultivate together. Their first agreement gives the bear the tops and the peasant the roots. When they grow turnips, the bear works hard to harvest them but receives only the cut-off foliage, while the peasant keeps the useful roots. Angry at the result, the bear retires to its den and sucks its paws.
The following spring, the bear insists on the roots, believing the reversed bargain will protect him. The peasant instead plants wheat and keeps the grain-bearing tops; the bear receives straw and roots. It ends the partnership, calling the peasant too crafty, and departs into the forest. Human speech and agricultural cooperation make this a tale figure; the story supplies no shapeshifting, revenge killing or magic growth of either crop.
Origins & earliest records
More Russian Picture Tales: The Peasant and the Bear, printed pp. 39–44. Valery Carrick, translated by Nevill Forbes; the selected undated title carries copyright dates 1914 and 1920, without identifying an individual oral narrator or locality.
Records & interpretation
Complete selected animal-tale dialogue supports speech, threats, deceptive appearances and the stated ending. The figures are literary anthropomorphic animals, with no added supernatural anatomy or biological species record.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
More Russian Picture Tales: The Peasant and the Bear, pp. 39–44
Complete selected tale through its stated ending; no unnamed continuation or hidden magical identity imported.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Primary textCarrick/Forbes: The Peasant and the Bear, complete selected taleResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
Historical illustrationValery Carrick’s bear receives turnip tops while the peasant keeps the roots
The first harvest division leaves the bear with the turnip leaves and the peasant with the edible roots. This is the selected crop-sharing bargain, rather than either of Carrick’s separate bears with a wooden leg or a sack of hidden daughters.
