Goré (Woe)

Overview

In the Novgorod story translated as Woe, a poor man returning unfed from his rich brother’s feast hears another voice join his song. Goré promises never to depart and repeatedly urges him to drink away his clothing, tools, household and finally his wife’s spare petticoat. The being then reveals a gold-filled pit under a stone. After removing the treasure, the peasant tricks Woe into checking the empty pit and closes the stone, gaining prosperity while leaving his companion trapped.

His envious brother releases Woe, intending it to ruin the newly wealthy man. Instead it leaps onto the rescuer’s shoulders and grips his neck, rejecting his explanation and beginning the same drinking losses. The merchant eventually challenges it to hide in a wheel’s axle-box, closes both ends with wedges and throws the wheel into a river, where the narrative says it drowns. The tale supplies speech, movement, appetite for drinking and confinement in narrow spaces, but no fixed animal body. Ralston’s adjacent Need variants use different containers and endings and are not automatically the same episode.

Origins & earliest records

Afanasief, volume V, no. 34; Ralston identifies the Novgorod Government as the source region.

Records & interpretation

Complete selected narrative and source note directly read in the cached Hurst transcription. Collector and translator mediation retained.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

1. 01

   Russian Fairy Tales: A Choice Collection of Muscovite Folk-lore: Woe, pp. 193–199, footnote 233

   W. R. S. Ralston, translator and commentator, after the collected source specified here · Undated Hurst title page; London edition catalogued 1873

   Afanasief, volume V, no. 34; Ralston identifies the Novgorod Government as the source region. Hosted title page does not print a date; Gutenberg header1872 and catalogued London1873 are not assumed to identify the same physical edition.

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.

1. Primary translated collected narrativeRalston: Woe, pp. 193–199, footnote 233Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.