The Mystery of the Anecdot “Kruchanaya Baba”

Abstract

This article is devoted to the issue of Belarusian-language literary heritage of Adam Plug. This famous Polish-speaking writer from historical Lithuania in his works used not only Belarusian folklore, but also the Belarusian language itself. But did he write separate works in Belarusian? In 1918, bibliophile and literature historian Romuald Ziemkiewicz claimed that he had in his hands a Belarusian manuscript by Adam Plug from 1849, which contained 4 stories from the life of the people and one legend. From this manuscript, only one work saw the daylight  – the dykteryjka  or anecdote Kruchanaya baba. Printed in a little-known publication of the revolutionary period, the dikteryjka remained unknown to literature historians for a long time. Although it was introduced into readership circulation in the 1990s, it has not received proper historical-literary commentary to this day. The research shows that the Belarusian-language dikteryjka Kruchanaya baba is a component part of the novel Spowiedź. Ustęp z życia mego przyjaciela (1849) by Adam Plug. In fact, it is a translation of the bilingual Polish-Belarusian dykteryjka A jak pan sało krau. Who carried out the translation? The author himself, Adam Plug? Someone from the circle of the writer’s school friend Eustachy Rdultowski at the Snov estate? However, I tend to hypothesize that it was Romuald Ziemkiewicz. Firstly, this publication can be interpreted as a manifestation of his „literary support” for the Belarusian national revival, and secondly, the literature historian often used similar methods in his activities.