The Big Cart

11 hrs. 48 min.

Language Russian

Author Max Frei

Narrator Denis Verovoy

Description

Ursa Major, the third-largest constellation in the sky, covers a significant part of the circumpolar constellation zone of the Northern Hemisphere. The pattern formed by the group of seven brightest stars making up the Bear’s hindquarters and tail, known as the Plough or the Big Dipper, is easily recognizable and therefore serves as an excellent starting point for orientation in the sky.

In ancient Babylon, the constellation Ursa Major was called the Cargo Wagon. Many peoples borrowed this name, and in some places it survived into modern times. In particular, the Germans call it Grosser Wagen — Big Wagon, or Big Cart, and in Russian old names have also survived, though they have become little used: Voz, Vozilo, Telega, Povozka.

The word “telega” in slang means an oral story, usually long and convoluted, often (but not necessarily) implausible; in such cases the verb usually used is “to spin.”

Thus, our “Big Cart” is not only the ideal means of transport for journeys around Europe, but also a fitting title for a collection of accounts of these travels — long, tangled, at first glance implausible, but true.