This is the year when the first volume of legend and folk tale collection compiled and arranged by Anss Lerhis-Puskaitis (1859-1903) comes out of print. With more than 1900 folk tales, 3300 legends along with other texts (the total number of texts is 6650, the edition contains 4561 pages) it still is the second largest publication of Latvian narrative folklore. At the time of its creation this edition by an altruistic country schoolteacher was among the largest in Europe.

The first three volumes under the title of “Latviesu tautas pasakas” ("Latvian Folk Tales") were published in 1891, contained texts almost exclusively collected by A. Lerhs-Puskaitis himself (363 texts). Those were also included in the selection “Dzukstes pasakas” (Folk Tales from Dzukste, first edition in 1980, 2nd - 1991).

Volume 4 contains the variants of tales previously collected, Volume 5 is thicker (983 texts), and mainly composed of collections by Fricis Brivzemnieks. It has new arrangement as well: the volume opens with legends about the sorcerers, witches and the dead, not folk tales. It is reflected by the title as well, now changed to “Latviesu tautas teikas un pasakas”. Volume 6 is comprised of collections by the Baltic German pastor, ethnographer and linguist August Bielenstein (1826-1907; collected since 1855. g.), Riga Society of Latvians and others, this volume consists of two thick tomes.

Starting the work A. Lerhis-Puskaitis could not imagine that he will have to deal with so many texts. Therefore the summary of the whole work was intended to be the last and thickest volume - the seventh.

With every volume the classification system becomes more elaborate, based on the animism theory of anthropological school – namely the concept that “the building of legends and folk tales” is supported by the narratives describing encounters with the dead and the spirits of the underworld. From those have developed the long or story tales, where veli (the dead) or velni (the devils) kidnap a maiden, take her to the underworld, but then a hero comes to the rescue.

Shortly before his death in the spring of 1903 A. Lerhis-Puskaitis (dying of tuberculosis at the age of 43) got the opportunity to see the first part of his Volume 7 published (more than 1400 pages), while the second part remained in manuscript. This manuscript was kept in St. Petersburg, later was used by Peteris Smits in his edition of folk tales. During the World War II the manuscript came to the Archives of Latvian Folklore and with some insignificant abbreviations the book was published in 2001.

Now in the building of Dzukste parish Lancenieki school there is a museum of the parish's history and... folk tales! You can go there and see for yourself what it is like, just call +371-3174713, +371-9488987!