Compilation, preface, notes and explanations

V.P. Anikina

Artists

S. Bordyug and N. Trepenok

Russian genius

Twenty-year-old Ivan Andreevich Krylov, a still little-known writer, published his first fables in 1788, without a signature, in the St. Petersburg magazine “Morning Hours.” And he published his first book of fables years later - only in 1809. Having worked in various types of creativity, not without success, Krylov realized that the fable genre was most successful for him. The fable became almost the exclusive genre of his work. And soon the fame of a first-class author came to the writer.

The artistic gift of Krylov the fabulist was fully revealed when he combined his extensive knowledge of ancient and modern European literature with the realization that the type of creativity he favored by nature belonged to the type of creativity in which folk morality is expressed. This morality, for example, is revealed in Russian fairy tales about animals, in proverbs, in teachings - in general, in peasant fables. In Rus', an intricate story has long been called fable. “Fables and fairy tales” are inseparable from the living telling of a fictional story, flavored with jokes and teaching. This was something that many of Krylov’s predecessors did not understand for a long time, who failed because they did not realize that the fable is inseparable from the spoken language.

Thus, the hardworking philologist, famous in the 18th century, member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences V.K. Tredyakovsky (1703–1768), long before Krylov, published a retelling of several “Aesopian fables.” Among them was the fable “The Wolf and the Crane.” Its plot is the same as that of Krylov, but in the presentation of the fable almost everything is alien to colloquial speech.

A wolf choked on a sharp bone one day.
So that he was not strong enough to howl, but became completely stumped.
For this purpose he hired a crane at a price
To extract the nose from the throat with longitude.

Tredyakovsky guessed that the fable story should be presented in a folk style, and it was no coincidence that he introduced some colloquial words and expressions into his translation (although not without distortion): “he was not strong enough to howl,” “he became completely stumped,” but the translation remained heavy and bookish.

Let’s compare Krylov’s fable with Tredyakovsky’s translation:

Everyone knows that wolves are greedy:
Wolf, eating, never
Doesn't understand bones.
For that, for one of them trouble came:
He almost choked on a bone.
Wolf can't neither sigh nor sigh;
It's time to stretch your legs!

The whole structure of the presentation is easy, elegant, understandable to any Russian person! This is our living speech. Krylov followed the intonation of the oral story; in the fable story there is not even a shadow of any artificiality.

The famous 20th-century philologist Viktor Vladimirovich Vinogradov specially studied the language and style of Krylov’s fables and noted dozens of folk proverbs in them. The scientist cited a long list of proverbs and sayings that the fabulist used and called them “semantic bonds,” that is, connections that impart semantic unity to the presentation of the fable story. Here are some of them: “There is a black sheep in a family” (“Elephant in the Voivodeship”), “Though the eye sees, the tooth is numb” (“The Fox and the Grapes”), “Poverty is not a vice” (“The Farmer and the Shoemaker”), “Out of the Fire and into the Fire” (“The Lady and the Two Maids”), “Don’t Spit in the Well—You’ll Need to Drink Water” (“The Lion and the Mouse”) and dozens of others. The fabulist relied on the usual in our language designations and comparisons of animals and birds with people: the crow is a prophet, but is susceptible to flattery, the donkey is stubborn, the fox is cunning, the bear is strong but stupid, the hare is cowardly, the snake is dangerous, etc. And they act like people. Proverbs and sayings, proverbs and allegorical words included in fables were developed and semantically clarified by Krylov.

Krylov's primacy among fabulists continues to this day. And in our time, his fables captivate readers. He is placed on a par with the greatest artists of all times and peoples. No one is surprised that he is compared to the ancient Greek Aesop and other world-famous fabulists. But most of all he is valued in Russia as an artist who expressed the common sense and intelligence of our people.

V.P. Anikin

A Crow and a fox

How many times have they told the world,
That flattery is vile and harmful; but everything is not for the future,
And a flatterer will always find a corner in the heart.
___
Somewhere God sent a piece of cheese to a crow;
Raven perched on the spruce tree,
I was just about ready to have breakfast,
Yes, I thought about it, but I held the cheese in my mouth.
To that misfortune, the Fox ran close by;
Suddenly the cheese spirit stopped the Fox:
The fox sees the cheese, and the fox is captivated by the cheese.
The cheat approaches the tree on tiptoe;
He twirls his tail and doesn’t take his eyes off Crow,
And he says so sweetly, barely breathing:
“My dear, how beautiful!
What a neck, what eyes!
Telling fairy tales, really!
What feathers! what a sock!
And surely there must be an angelic voice!
Sing, little light, don’t be ashamed! What if, sister,
With such beauty, you are a master at singing,
After all, you would be our king bird!”
Veshunin's head was spinning with praise,
The breath stole from my throat with joy, -
And to the fox’s friendly words
The crow croaked at the top of its lungs:
The cheese fell out - such was the trick with it.

Oak and Cane

With Trostinka, Oak once came into speech.
“Truly, you have the right to grumble about nature,”
He said: “The sparrow is heavy for you too.
A slight breeze will make the water ripple,
You will stagger, you will begin to weaken
And so you bend down lonely,
What a pity to look at you.
Meanwhile, on a par with the Caucasus, proudly
It’s not just the sun that I block the rays of,
But, laughing at both whirlwinds and thunderstorms,
I stand firm and straight,
As if surrounded by an inviolable peace.
Everything is a storm to you - everything seems like marshmallows to me.
Even if you grew in a circle,
Covered in the thick shadow of my branches,
I could be your protection from bad weather;
But nature has given you your destiny
Brega of the stormy Eolian domain:
Of course, she doesn’t care about you at all.” -
"You are very pitiful"
said the Cane in response,
“However, don’t be downhearted: I don’t have much to lose.
It’s not for myself that I fear the whirlwinds;
Although I bend, I don’t break:
So storms do little harm to me;
They threaten you almost more!
It is true that even hitherto their ferocity
Your strength has not overcome you,
And you did not bow your face from their blows;
But let’s wait for the end!”
As soon as the Cane said this,
Suddenly rushing from the northern sides
And with hail and rain, the noisy aquilon.
The oak is holding on, - Reed fell to the ground.
The wind is raging, it has doubled its strength,
Roared and uprooted
The one who touched heaven with his head
And in the region of shadows he rested his heel.

Musicians

Neighbor invited neighbor to have a meal;
But there was a different intention here:
The owner loved music
And he lured his neighbor to listen to the singers.
The fellows sang: some into the forest, some for firewood,
And who has gained any strength?
The guest's ears began to crackle,
And my head started spinning.
“Have mercy on me,” he said in surprise:
“What is there to admire here? Your choir
He's babbling nonsense! -
“That’s true,” the owner answered with emotion:
“They fight a little;
But they don’t put drunken things in their mouths,
And all with excellent behavior.”
___
And I’ll say: for me it’s better to drink,
Yes, understand the matter.

Crow and Chicken

When the Prince of Smolensk,
Armed against insolence with art,
The vandals installed a new network
And he left Moscow to their destruction:
Then all the inhabitants, small and large,
Without wasting an hour, we got ready
And they rose from the walls of Moscow,
Like a swarm of bees from a hive.
A crow from the roof is here to all this alarm
He looks calmly, cleaning his nose.
“What about you, gossip, are you going on the road?”
The Chicken shouts to her from the cart:
“After all, they say that at the threshold
Our adversary." -
“What does this matter to me?”
The prophetess answered her: “I will stay here boldly.
Here are your sisters, as they wish;
But Raven is neither fried nor boiled:
So it’s no wonder for me to get along with the guests,
And maybe you can still make some money
Cheese, or a bone, or something.
Farewell, little corydalis, happy journey!”
The crow truly remained;
But, instead of all the bait for her,
How Smolensky began to starve the guests -
She herself got caught in their soup.
___
So often a person is blind and stupid in his calculations.
It seems that you are rushing on the heels of happiness:
How do you actually get along with him?
Caught like a crow in soup!

Chest

It often happens to us
And work and wisdom to see there,
Where you just have to guess
Just get down to business.
___
A Casket was brought to someone from the master.
The decoration and cleanliness of the Casket caught my eye;
Well, everyone admired the beautiful Casket.
Here the sage enters the Mechanics room.
Looking at the Chest,
he said: “A box with a secret,
So; it doesn't even have a lock;
And I undertake to open it; yes, yes, I'm sure of it;
Don't laugh so secretly!
I will find the secret and I will reveal the little chest to you:
I’m worth something in Mechanics too.”
So he set to work on the Casket:
Turns him from all sides
And he breaks his head;
First a carnation, then another, then a bracket.
Here, looking at him, another
Shakes his head;
They whisper, and they laugh among themselves.
It just rings in my ears:
“Not here, not like that, not there!” The mechanic is even more eager.
Sweated, sweated; but finally got tired
I left Larchik behind
And I couldn’t figure out how to open it:
And the casket simply opened.

Frog and Ox

The frog, seeing Ox in the meadow,
She decided to match his stature herself:
She was envious.
And well, puff up, puff and pout.
“Look, wah, what, will I get rid of him?”
He says to his friend. “No, gossip, far away!” -
“Look how wide I am now.
Well, what's it like?
Am I replenished? - “Almost nothing.” -
“Well, how now?” - “It’s all the same.”
Puffed and puffed
And my idea ended with
That, not being equal to Vol,
With an effort it burst and died.
___
There is more than one example of this in the world:
And is it a wonder when a tradesman wants to live,
As a distinguished citizen,
And the fry is small, like a noble nobleman.

Wolf and Lamb

The powerful are always to blame for the powerless:
We hear countless examples of this in History,
But we don’t write History;
Here's how they talk about it in Fables.
___
On a hot day, a lamb went to a stream to drink;
And something must happen,
That a hungry Wolf was prowling around those places.
He sees a lamb and strives for the prey;
But, to give the matter at least a legal look and feel,
Shouts: “How dare you, insolent, with an unclean snout
Here is a clean drink
My
With sand and silt?
For such insolence
I'll rip your head off." -
“When the brightest Wolf allows,
I dare to convey: what’s down the stream
From the Lordship of his steps I drink a hundred;
And he deigns to be angry in vain:
There’s no way I can make him drink worse.” -
“That's why I'm lying!
Waste! Such insolence has never been heard of in the world!
Yes, I remember that you were last summer
Here he was somehow rude to me:
I haven’t forgotten this, buddy!” -
“For mercy, I’m not even a year old yet,”
The lamb speaks. "So it was your brother." -
"I have no brothers." - “So this is godfather or matchmaker
And, in a word, someone from your own family.
You yourself, your dogs and your shepherds,
You all want me harm
And if you can, then you always harm me:
But I will clear out their sins with you.” -
“Oh, what’s my fault?” - “Be quiet! I'm tired of listening
It’s time for me to sort through your faults, puppy!
It’s your fault that I want to eat.”
He said and dragged the Lamb into the dark forest.

Monkey

When you adopt wisely, then it’s not a miracle
And find benefit from it;
And it’s crazy to adopt,
And God forbid, how bad it is!
I will give an example of this from distant countries.
Those who have seen Monkeys know
How greedily they adopt everything.
So in Africa, where there are many Monkeys,
A whole flock of them sat
Along the branches, along the branches of a thick tree
And she looked at the catcher furtively,
As if he were rolling around on the grass in nets.
Each friend here quietly pushes her friend,
And they all whisper to each other:
“Look at the daredevil;
There really is no end to his undertakings:
It will tumble
It will turn around
It's all in a lump
He'll get it together like that
That there are no arms or legs to be seen.
Are we really not masters of everything?
But we don’t see this kind of art!
Beautiful sisters!
It would be a good idea for us to adopt this.
He seemed rather amused;
Maybe he’ll leave, then we’ll immediately...” Look,
He truly left and left the nets for them.
“Well,” they say, “should we lose time?
Let's go try!"
The beauties have come down. For dear guests
There are a lot of nets spread out below.
Well, they tumble and roll in them,
And wrap up and curl;
They scream and squeal – it’s a lot of fun!
Yes, that's the problem
When did it come to break out of the network!
Meanwhile the owner guarded
And, seeing that it’s time, he goes to the guests with bags,
Let them run away
Yes, no one could unravel:
And they were all taken by hand.

Tit

The tit took off to the sea;
She boasted
What the sea wants to burn.
The speech immediately became famous around the world.
Fear embraced the inhabitants of Neptune's capital;
Birds fly in flocks;
And the animals from the forests come running to watch,
How will the Ocean be, and how hot will it be to burn?
And even, they say, on hearing the winged rumor,
Hunters wander around feasts
Of the first to come to the shores with spoons,
To sip the fish soup of such a rich woman,
What a tax farmer and the most well-packed one
Didn't give it to secretaries.
They crowd: everyone marvels at the miracle in advance,
He is silent and, staring at the sea, waits;
Only occasionally will someone whisper:
“It’s about to boil, it’s about to catch fire!”
Not so: the sea doesn’t burn.
Is it even boiling? – and it doesn’t boil.
And how did the majestic undertakings end?
The titmouse swam away in shame;
The Tit made glory,
But she didn’t light the sea.
___
It’s good to keep a speech here,
But without touching anyone's face:
What's going on without reaching an end?
There is no need to boast.

Donkey

When did Jupiter inhabit the universe?
And he started a tribe of various creatures,
That’s when the Donkey was born.
But with intent, or while getting pregnant,
In such a busy time
The cloud chaser made a mistake:
And the Donkey poured out almost as small as a squirrel.
Almost no one noticed the donkey,
At least in arrogance the Donkey was not inferior to anyone.
The donkey would like to boast:
But with what? having such a height,
And it’s a shame to appear in the world.
My arrogant donkey stuck to Jupiter
And he began to ask for more growth.
“Have mercy,” he says, “how can you take this down?
Lions, leopards and elephants are everywhere so honored;
Moreover, from the greatest to the least,
Everything is about them only and about them;
Why are you so daring towards Donkeys?
That they have no honor,
And no one says a word about Donkeys?
And if only I were the height of a calf,
If only I had knocked down the arrogance of lions and leopards,
And the whole world would talk about me.”
What day, then again
My donkey sang to Zeus;
And before that he was tired,
What's finally the donkey's prayers
Zeus listened:
And the Donkey became a great beast;
And on top of that, he was given such a wild voice,
What is my eared Hercules
The whole forest was scared.
“What kind of animal is this? what kind?
Tea, does he have teeth? horns, tea, no number?
Well, the only talk was about the Donkey.
But how did it end? Not even a year has passed
How everyone found out who Donkey is:
My donkey's stupidity has become a proverb.
And they carry water on a Donkey.
___
Highness is good in breed and rank;
But what is gained in it when the soul is low?

Monkey and glasses

The monkey's eyes became weak in old age;
And she heard from people,
That this evil is not yet so big:
All you have to do is get glasses.
She got herself half a dozen glasses;
He turns his glasses this way and that:
Either he will press them to the crown, or he will string them on his tail,
Sometimes he sniffs them, sometimes he licks them;
The glasses don't work at all.
“Ugh, the abyss! - she says: - and that fool,
Who listens to all human lies:
They only lied to me about the Glasses;
But there’s no use for hair in them.”
The monkey is here out of frustration and sadness
Oh stone, there were so many of them,
That only the splashes sparkled.
___
Unfortunately, this is what happens to people:
No matter how useful a thing is, without knowing its price,
The ignoramus tends to tell everything about her for the worse;
And if the ignorant is more knowledgeable,
So he also drives her away.

Atheists

There was a people in ancient times, to the shame of the earthly tribes.
Who was so hardened in his hearts,
That he armed himself against the gods.
Rebellious crowds, behind a thousand banners,
Some with a bow, some with a sling, rush noisily into the field.
The instigators, from the daring heads,
To incite more riots among the people,
They shout that the court of heaven is both strict and stupid;
That the gods are either asleep or ruling recklessly;
That it’s time to teach them a lesson without rank;
Which, however, is not difficult with stones from nearby mountains
Throw into the sky at the gods
And sweep Olympus with arrows.
Confused by the insolence of madmen and blasphemies,
All Olympus approached Zeus with prayer,
So that he averts trouble;
And even the whole council of the gods of those thoughts was,
Which, to the rebels’ conviction, is not bad
Show at least a small miracle:
Or a flood, or thunder with a coward,
Or at least hit them with stone rain.
"Let's wait"
Jupiter river: “and if they don’t reconcile
And in a riot they will abuse, not fearing the immortals,
They are executed for their deeds.”
Then it soared into the air with a noise
Darkness of stones, cloud of arrows from the rebel troops,
But with a thousand deaths, both evil and inevitable,
Chapters fell on their own.
___
The fruits of unbelief are terrible;
And know, peoples, you
That the supposed sages of blasphemy are bold,
What do they arm you against the deity?
Your hour of destruction is approaching,
And they will all turn into arrows of thunder for you.

Eagle and chickens

Wanting to fully admire the bright day,
An eagle flew in the sky
And I walked there
Where lightning is born.
Having finally descended from the cloudy heights,
The King Bird sits on a barn to rest.
Although this is an unenviable perch for the Eagle,
But the Kings have their own quirks:
Perhaps he wanted to honor the barn,
Or if he wasn’t nearby, he should sit down according to his rank,
Neither oak nor granite rock;
I don’t know what this thought is, but just Eagle
Didn't sit much
And then he flew to another barn.
Seeing that, the crested hen
He talks like this to his godmother:
“Why are the Eagles so honored?
Is it really for the flight, dear neighbor?
Well, really, if I want,
From barn to barn I will fly too.
Let's not be such fools forward,
To honor the Eagles who are more noble than us.
They have neither legs nor eyes larger than ours;
Yes, you saw it now,
That below they fly like chickens.”
The eagle answers, bored with the nonsense:
“You're right, but not quite.
Eagles sometimes descend lower than chickens;
But chickens will never reach the clouds!”
___
When you judge talents, -
Do not waste your labors in vain by counting their weaknesses;
But, feeling that they are both strong and beautiful,
Know how to comprehend their different heights.

The Fox, not having seen Leo,
Having met him, I was left barely alive from my passions.
So, a little later, she came across Leo again,
But he didn’t seem so scary to her.
And then the third time
The Fox started talking with Leo.
We are also afraid of something else,
Until we take a closer look at him.

Siskin and Dove

The siskin was slammed shut by the villainous trap:
The poor thing was tossing and thrashing in it,
And the young Dove mocked him.
“Isn’t it a shame,” he says, “in broad daylight?
Gotcha!
They wouldn't trick me like that:
I can confidently vouch for this.”
An, look, he immediately got himself caught in the snare.
And that's it!
Don’t laugh at someone else’s misfortune, Dove.

Wolf and Shepherds

Wolf walking close to the shepherd's yard
And seeing through the fence,
That, having chosen the best ram in the herd,
Calmly, the shepherds are gutting the lamb,
And the dogs lie quietly,
He said to himself as he walked away in frustration:
“What a fuss you all make here, friends,
If only I could do this!”

Waterfall and Stream

Boiling Waterfall, overthrew from the rocks,
He said with arrogance to the healing spring
(Which was barely noticeable under the mountain,
But he was famous for his healing power):
“Isn’t this strange? You are so small, so poor in water,
Do you always have a lot of guests?
It’s no wonder if someone comes to marvel at me;
Why are they coming to you?” – “To be treated,” –
The stream humbly purred.

Boy and Snake

The boy, thinking of catching an eel,
He grabbed the Snake and, staring, out of fear
He became as pale as his shirt.
The snake, looking calmly at the Boy:
“Listen,” he says, “if you’re not smarter,
That insolence will not always be easy for you.
This time God will forgive; but watch out ahead
And know who you’re joking with!”

Sheep and Dogs

In some flock of Sheep,
So that the Wolves can no longer disturb them,
The number of Dogs is supposed to be multiplied.
Well? Finally, so many of them divorced
It’s true that the Sheep survived from the Wolves,
But dogs also need to eat.
First the wool was taken from the sheep,
And there, according to the draw, their skins flew off,
And there were only five or six Sheep left,
And the Dogs ate them.

Rooster and pearl grain

Tearing up a pile of manure,
The rooster found a grain of pearl
And he says: “Where is it?
What an empty thing!
Isn't it stupid that he is so highly regarded?
And I would really be much more happy
Barley grain: it is not so visible,
Yes, it's satisfying.
***
The ignorant judge exactly like this:
If they don’t understand the point, it’s all nothing.

Cloud

Above the side exhausted from the heat
A big cloud swept by;
Not a single drop refreshes her,
She fell like a big rain over the sea
And she boasted of her generosity before the Mountain,
“What? did good
Are you so generous? –
The Mountain told her. –
And it doesn’t hurt to look at it!
Whenever you would shed your rain on the fields,
You could save an entire region from hunger:
And in the sea without you, my friend, there is enough water.”

The Peasant and the Fox (Book Eight)

The Fox once said to the Peasant:
“Tell me, my dear godfather,
What did the horse do to deserve your friendship?
What, I see, she is always with you?
You keep her in contentment even in the hall;
On the road - you are with her, and often with her in the field;
But of all the animals
She’s probably the stupidest of all.” –
“Eh, gossip, the power here is not in the mind! –
The peasant answered. - All this is vanity.
My goal is not at all the same:
I need her to drive me
Yes, so that she obeys the whip.”

Fox and grapes

The hungry godfather Fox climbed into the garden;
The bunches of grapes in it were red.
The gossip's eyes and teeth flared up;
And the brushes are juicy, like yachts, burning;
The only problem is that they hang high:
Whenever and however she comes to them,
At least the eye sees
Yes, it hurts.
After wasting a whole hour,
She went and said with annoyance:
"Well!
He looks good,
Yes it is green - no ripe berries:
You’ll set your teeth on edge right away.”

Falcon and Worm

At the top of the tree, clinging to a branch,
The worm was swinging on it.
Above the Worm Falcon, rushing through the air,
So he joked and mocked from above:
“What kind of hardships you, poor thing, have not endured!
What profit did you get that you crawled so high?
What kind of will and freedom do you have?
And you bend with a branch wherever the weather dictates.” –

“It’s easy for you to joke,”
The worm answers, flying high,
Because with your wings you are both strong and strong;
But fate gave me the wrong advantages:
I'm here on top
The only reason I’m holding on is that, fortunately, I’m tenacious!”

Dog and Horse

Serving for a peasant,
The Dog and the Horse somehow began to be reckoned with.
“Here,” says Barbos, “a great lady!”
For me, at least they would drive you out of the yard completely.
It's a great thing to carry or plow!
I’ve never heard anything else about your daring:
And can you be equal to me in any way?
Neither day nor night I know peace:
During the day, the herd is under my supervision in the meadow,
And at night I guard the house.”
“Of course,” the Horse answered, “
Your speech is true;
However, whenever I plowed,
Then there would be nothing for you to guard here.”

Mouse and Rat

“Neighbor, have you heard the good rumor? –
Running in, the Rat Mouse said,
After all, the cat, they say, fell into the claws of a lion?
Now it’s time for us to rest!”
“Don’t rejoice, my light,”
The Rat says back to her,
And don’t hope in vain!
If it reaches their claws,
That is true, the lion will not be alive:
There is no stronger beast than a cat!”

I’ve seen it so many times, take note for yourself:
When a coward is afraid of someone,
Then he thinks that
The whole world looks through his eyes.

Peasant and Robber

The peasant, starting up his house,
I bought a milk pan and a cow at the fair
And with them through the oak tree
I walked quietly home along a country path,
When suddenly the Robber got caught.
The robber ripped the guy off like a stick.
“Have mercy,” the Peasant will cry, “I’m lost,
You've completely finished me off!
For a whole year I was planning to buy a cow:
I could hardly wait for this day.”
“Okay, don’t cry at me,”
Said the Robber, commiserating.
And truly, because I can’t milk cows;
So be it
Take the milk pan back."

Frog and Ox

The frog, seeing Ox in the meadow,
She decided to match his stature herself:
She was envious.
And well, puff up, puff and pout.
“Look, wah, what, will I get rid of him?”
He says to his friend. “No, gossip, far away!” -
“Look how wide I am now.
Well, what's it like?
Am I replenished? - “Almost nothing.”
“Well, how now?” - “Everything is the same.” Puffed and puffed
And my idea ended with
That, not being equal to Vol,
With an effort it burst and died.

***
There is more than one example of this in the world:
And is it a wonder when a tradesman wants to live,
As a distinguished citizen,
And the fry is small, like a noble nobleman?

Krylov Ivan Andreevich(1769 - 1844) - famous Russian poet and fabulist, academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Publisher of the satirical magazines “Mail of Spirits”, “Spectator”, “St. Petersburg Mercury”. Known as the author of more than 230 fables.

When raising a child, moral principles that are laid at a very early age are very important. In order to correctly explain to a child the actions of the people around him, he needs to be shown similar examples of behavior. An ideal option for getting to know social realities would be Krylov's fables. It is best to read the works of Ivan Andreevich with children. Then young listeners will not have problems understanding the current situations.

Read and listen to Krylov's fables online

Thanks to the poetic form, instructive stories are easily perceived by the child. The imagery of the characters presented conveys qualities that are not only inherent to humans. By embodying cunning through the fox, deceit through the wolf, and stupidity through the monkey, the Russian poet evoked in young readers an associative series with the behavior of these animals. The fabulist demonstrated the vices of society, expressing them using the witty language of satire. Once children begin listening to Krylov’s works, they quickly learn to guess the true intentions of others by their actions.

A fable is one of the ancient types of works of art, dating back to the 3rd millennium BC. from Sumerian and Babylonian literature. There is always a moral and a narrative at the heart of a fable.

The fable exposes the dark sides of human character, and since these vices have no power over time, the tales of fables of past years are still relevant today. They help develop moral and ethical qualities in children and carry a significant educational role, guiding them on the right path.

The founder of the fable is considered to be Aesop, an ancient poet and fabulist of Ancient Greece (VI-V centuries BC), who wrote his works in prose. The original plots and wisdom of his works, which have passed through many centuries, served as the basis for the plots of other famous fabulists J. Lafontaine and I.A. Krylova.

Read Fables online

In this section you will find the best selections of fables by Krylov, Aesop, J. Lafontaine, for children of any age, which will be useful in the process of development and upbringing of the child.

He became famous for his unusual literary style. His fables, where instead of people the participants are representatives of animals and insects, symbolizing certain human qualities and behaviors, always have a meaning, a message. “The moral of this fable is this” - became the catchphrase of the fabulist.

List of Krylov's fables

Why we love Krylov's fables

Krylov's fables are familiar to every person, they are taught at school, read at leisure, read by adults and children. The works of this author are suitable for any category of readers. He himself washed away the fables to show this and teach something through not boring moralizing, but interesting fairy tales. Krylov’s main characters are usually animals, the author uses their example to show various situations and the way out of them. Fables teach you to be kind, honest, and friendly. Using the example of animal conversations, the essence of human qualities is revealed and vices are shown.

Let's take the most popular fables for example. "The Crow and the Fox" shows the narcissism of the bird, the way it shows and behaves, and the way the fox flatters it. This makes us remember situations from life, because now there are a lot of people who are capable of anything in order to get what they want, of course, going towards your goal is commendable, but if it does not harm others. So the fox in the fable did everything to get his treasured piece of cheese. This fable teaches you to be attentive to what they say to you and to the person who tells you this, not to trust and not to be distracted by strangers.

The fable “Quartet” shows us the Donkey, the Goat, the Bear and the Monkey who decided to create a quartet, all of them have neither skills nor hearing. Everyone perceived this fable differently, some thought that it ridiculed meetings of literary societies, while others saw it as This is an example of state councils. But in the end, we can say that this work teaches a basic understanding that work requires knowledge and skills.

“The Pig under the Oak” In it, the author reveals to the reader such qualities as ignorance, laziness, selfishness and ingratitude. These traits are revealed through the image of the Pig, for whom the main thing in life is to eat and sleep, and she doesn’t even care where the acorns come from.

The main advantage of Krylov’s fables is that their perception by a person is very easy, the lines are written in simple language, so they are easy to remember. Fables are liked by many people and are still relevant today because they are instructive in nature, teaching honesty, work and helping the weak.

The beauty of Krylov's fables.

Ivan Andreevich Krylov is the most famous fabulist in the whole world. Children become acquainted with his instructive and wise works in early childhood. Quite a few generations have grown up and been educated on Krylov’s fables.

A little from the biography of Krylov.

The Krylov family lived in Tver. The father is not a rich man, an army captain. As a child, the young poet learned to write and read from his father, then studied French. Krylov studied little, but read a lot and listened to common people's stories. And thanks to his self-development, he was one of the most educated people of his century. After the death of his father, as a teenager he and his family went to St. Petersburg, where he entered the service.
After the army, he actively began his literary activity. The playwright first made translations and wrote tragedies, but later his soul became addicted to the satirical genre of literature.

In 1844, the writer died of pneumonia; as a last gift to his friends and family, Krylov left a collection of fables. On the cover of each copy was engraved: “An offering in memory of Ivan Andreevich, at his request.”

About Krylov's fables.

As mentioned above, Ivan Andreevich Krylov tried himself in various literary genres before settling on fables. He gave his works “for judgment” to friends, among whom were Dmitriev and Lobanov. When Krylov brought Dmitriev a translation from French of La Fontaine’s fables, he exclaimed: “This is your true family; at last you have found him.”

Throughout his life, Ivan Andreevich published 236 fables. The poet also wrote satirical magazines. In all his humorous works, Krylov exposed the shortcomings of the Russian people, ridiculed the vices of man, and most importantly, he taught people moral and moral qualities.

Each fable by Krylov has its own structure; most often there are two parts: the moral (at the beginning or end of the work) and the fable itself. Ivan Andreevich mainly showed and ridiculed the problems of society through the prism of the example of the animal world. The main characters of the fables are all kinds of little animals, birds and insects. The fabulist described life situations in which characters behaved inappropriately, then Krylov taught morals to his readers, showing how to get out of these situations.

This is the beauty of Krylov’s fables, he taught people about life, he explained the norms of morality and etiquette using the example of fairy tales.