Tatiana KALGANOVA

Analysis of fables by I.A. Krylova in the 5th grade

Teaching schoolchildren the analysis of works of art begins with the 5th grade. At the same time, it is important for the teacher to take into account the age characteristics of students and, avoiding difficulties, introduce and repeat the necessary theoretical and literary concepts.

The analysis is based on a holistic perception and expressive reading by students of works of art, in particular, the fables of I.A. Krylov, for example, "Dragonfly and Ant", "Rooster and Pearl Grain".

We use the method of comparing the fables of I.A. Krylov with a literary source - Aesop's fables. Let's show students the originality of the Russian fabulist, national character his works. For this purpose, we give the task: compare the fable of Aesop, the ancient Greek fabulist who lived in the 6th century BC, “The Ant and the Beetle” and Krylov’s fable “The Dragonfly and the Ant”.

Let us explain that to compare literary works means to find out what they have in common, how they differ.

Ant and beetle

In the summer, an ant walked around the arable land and collected wheat and barley grain by grain in order to stock up on food for the winter. The beetle saw him and sympathized that he had to work so hard even at such a time of the year when all other animals rest from hardships and indulge in idleness.

Then the ant was silent; but when winter came and the manure was washed away by the rains, the beetle remained hungry, and he came to ask the ant for food.

The ant said: “Oh, beetle, if you had worked then, when you reproached me with labor, you would not have to sit without food now.”

Aesop (VI century BC)

Dragonfly and Ant

Jumper Dragonfly
Red summer sang:
Didn't have time to look back
As winter rolls in the eyes.
The field is dead;
There are no more bright days,
As under each leaf
Both the table and the house were ready.
Everything is gone: with a cold winter
Need, hunger comes;
The dragonfly no longer sings:
And who will come to mind
On the stomach to sing hungry!
Evil melancholy dejected,
She crawls to the Ant:
“Don’t leave me, godfather dear!
Give me the strength to gather
And until spring only days
Feed and warm!”
“Gossip, this is strange to me:
Did you work during the summer?” -
Ant tells her.
“Before that, my dear, was it?
In soft ants we have
Songs, playfulness every hour,
So it made my head spin."
“Ah, so you ...” - “I am without a soul
The whole summer she sang.” -
“Have you been singing? This business:
So come on, dance!”
I.A. Krylov (1808)

Let's explain to the students the meaning of the word "ant" - grass, hence the ant; grass-ant is a folk poetic expression.

Sample questions for analysis

Why are these fables comparable?

Which fable is written in verse, which is in prose?

Who are the heroes of the fables?

Why did Krylov write the words “Dragonfly”, “Ant” with a capital letter as proper names?

Find words and expressions in Krylov's fable, features of nature, on the basis of which we can say that this fable is Russian.

What qualities of a person are allegorically depicted and ridiculed by both fables?

What words express morality (moralization) of fables?

Summarizing the students' answers, let's say that the fables tell about the similar behavior of the characters, about their identical moral qualities: laziness, frivolous attitude to life, so they can be compared.

Aesop's fable is written in prose, Krylov's - in verse. The heroes are insects, but instead of a lazy beetle, Krylov creates the image of a lazy and frivolous Dragonfly, striving only for entertainment. We will invite students to choose synonyms for the word frivolity: frivolity, carelessness, superficiality, thoughtlessness, superficiality, windiness.

In Aesop, the beetle sympathizes with the ant, because he has to work hard in the summer, but the sloth does not think about why this is necessary; Krylov's Dragonfly, in a whirlwind of fun, does not notice at all that someone is working even in summer. The fables show the advantage of industriousness and the danger of idleness and laziness.

In Aesop's fable, winter came with rains, which is typical for Greece, southern country. Krylov has a real Russian winter, snowy and cold. He uses constant epithets characteristic of Russian folklore: red summer, evil melancholy, open field. Let's tell the students that Krylov took the plots from Aesop, but created a truly Russian, folk fable.

Fabulists always talk about what worries society, ridicule the negative qualities of people so that they get rid of their shortcomings. Therefore, from the content of the fable morality (morality) always follows. In these fables, which we are considering, moralizing follows from the content and is expressed in last words in Aesop and the last two lines in Krylov without instructive judgment.

Most often, morality (morality) stands out in the fable as an independent part of it and is located either at the end or at the beginning of the fable. We read Krylov's fable "The Rooster and the Pearly Grain", highlight the morality (morality).

In fables, animals, plants, objects, natural phenomena often act, but they mean people. Animals, plants, objects, natural phenomena are endowed in fables, as in fairy tales, with human qualities: the gift of speech, feelings and thoughts.

Recall what is the name of the method of endowing animals, plants, objects, natural phenomena with the qualities and properties of a person?

(With the concept personification Fifth graders get to know each other while studying myths and fairy tales.)

Indicate the personifications in Krylov’s fable “The Dragonfly and the Ant” (“the empty field has died”, “winter rolls in the eyes”, “the Ant tells her”, etc.)

We emphasize that personification is one of the constant artistic techniques in fairy tales, fables and other literary works.

The moral qualities of people in fables are allegorically depicted in the form of animals: cunning in the form of a fox, greed, cruelty appear in the form of a wolf, deceit - in the form of a snake, etc. Cunning, greed, laziness All these are abstract concepts. The artistic technique of depicting abstract concepts in specific images (animals, plants, objects, natural phenomena) is called allegory (allegory). An allegory of peace on Earth is a white dove, an allegory of human hope is an anchor, etc. There is another name for the allegory (allegory) - Aesopian language.

Critic V.G. Belinsky wrote that in Krylov's fables "there are neither bears nor foxes, although these animals seem to act in them, but there are people, and moreover, Russian people." The reproduction of the national folk color is the innovation of Krylov the fabulist. He boldly introduces folk vernacular and oral-poetic vocabulary, everyday details, affirms the people's point of view.

Accurate and brief sayings (aphorisms) from his fables entered the treasury of the Russian language.

Which expression from the fable "Dragonfly and Ant" has become an aphorism?

Krylov also created original fables in which not only animals, but also people act.

Read the fable "The Wolf in the Kennel" first to yourself, then expressively aloud. (You can organize the reading by roles.)

Many of Krylov's fables were written for some specific reason, and it was clear to the contemporaries of the fabulist in whose garden the stone was thrown. At the same time, fable characters have a broad generalizing meaning, which is understandable even today.

So, the fable "The Wolf in the Kennel", written in 1812, is a response to the Patriotic War against the French invasion. The wolf is Napoleon defeated on the Borodino field; having occupied Moscow, he realized that he was trapped and sent an offer of peace to Kutuzov, assuring the Russian commander that he desired peace. Kutuzov rejected the conqueror's proposal and in victorious battles liberated Russia from enemies. The hunter in the fable is Kutuzov.

Compare the appearance of the wolf and his speech.

Why did the wolf kennel “become hell”? What is the meaning of this comparison?

Determine what negative qualities of a person are allegorically depicted in a fable.

What traits does the Huntsman have?

Summarizing the answers of students, we draw their attention to the fact that the discrepancy appearance and the speeches of the wolf testifies to his deceit (malice, covered with ostentatious benevolence).

Let's say that the Wolf perceives the kennel as hell (according to the Bible - a place of punishment and eternal torment for sinners). In other words, the wolf himself realizes the legitimacy of the punishment for the harm done and tries to avoid it by cunning.

The hunter (chief of the psary) is depicted as a brave, wise man, endowed with life experience:

You are gray, buddy, and I am gray,
And I have long known your wolf nature ...

Homework. Read the fables in the textbook reader. Determine what negative traits of people the author makes fun of? What is the moral of the fables? What words have become aphorisms?

Consolidation of the studied material can be carried out in the form independent work students at next lesson(small fables are given on cards for analysis in the form of written work).

Read Aesop's fable "The Rooster and the Diamond" and I.A. Krylov "Rooster and Pearl Grain". What are the similarities and differences between these fables? Write down your judgments.

Rooster and diamond

The rooster was raking the dunghill, as usual, and pulling out the diamond, he thought: if the goldsmith had found this brilliant trinket, then it would be very useful to him; and I would have a barley grain a hundred measures better than this. ( Aesop (6th century BC)

Rooster and Pearl Seed

I will dung up a bunch of tearing,
The Rooster Found the Pearl Seed
And he says: “Where is it?
What an empty thing!
Isn't it stupid that he is so highly valued?
And I would really be much more glad
Grain of Barley: it is not so at least visible,
Yes, it's satisfying."
.................................................
The ignoramuses judge exactly like this:
What's the point of not understanding, then everything is a trifle for them.
I.A. Krylov (1808)

Explain the meaning of words ignoramus(rude, ill-mannered person) and ignoramus(poorly educated, ignorant person).

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These are his fables; they never become obsolete and cannot become obsolete; they manifested artistic creativity and a huge, original talent of the author. No wonder Pletnev, who wrote his biography, said about the first fable ("The Oak and the Cane"), written in 1806: "For us, Krylov was born at 40."

It is impossible to list and analyze all of Krylov's fables (see the summary of many of them on our website): they are so diverse and rich in topics, plots and meaning. With a general assessment of them, it must be said that the main artistic merits of fables lie, firstly, in the language and artistry of the form, and secondly, in amazing convexity and realism.

Portrait of Ivan Andreevich Krylov. Artist K. Bryullov, 1839

Krylov speaks pure Russian, vernacular; he often uses diminutive forms of words - "kumanek", "svetik", - or such expressions and turns of speech that are characteristic only of the common folk, everyday language: "bride-girl thought groom”, “no matter where you are”, - “ quietly bear sense foot", " happen there's a fly here." Or he uses folk turns of speech, with the omission of a verb or another word: - " towards the pug them. - Seeing an elephant well, jump on it". - "And with a cart boo- into the ditch.

Some of Krylov's expressions came into use as sayings, which proves how successful they are: “what to count gossips to work, it’s not better to turn on yourself, godfather”; - "stigma in the cannon"; – “the casket just opened”; the names of some fables began to serve as commonly used epithets: "Demyanova's ear", "Trishkin's caftan".

Fabulist Ivan Andreevich Krylov

It is strange that among such a purely Russian language of fables there are sometimes mythological, ancient names of Jupiter, Athena, Apelles, Neptune; however, they do not meet too often, and this is the only thing that Krylov paid tribute to classicism in his fables.

The realism of the fables is amazing, some paintings are described with such, so to speak, bulge, liveliness that you can see and hear them at the same time. How happy is the "yard faithful dog, Barbos" ("Two Dogs") of his old acquaintance, Zhuzha, when he sees her in the window:

“To her fawns, as if to relatives,
He almost cries with tenderness
And under the window
Screams, wags its tail
And jumps ... ".

So you see this shaggy, rustic Barbos.

It is interesting, by the way, to compare one of the most famous fables "The Crow and the Fox" with the fable of the same name: "Le Corbeau et le Renard" by La Fontaine, which so subtly conveys the graceful French XVII century. Krylov's crow and fox are Russian, you can't go wrong with that. With what realism is described the sly fox who wants to eat, her cautious, dexterous tricks!

"The cheat approaches the tree on tiptoe,
He wags his tail, does not take his eyes off the crow
And he says so sweetly, breathing a little:
Dove, how good!"

With what a purely folk expression the author ends his fable - "there was such a cheat with him"!

Another characteristic feature of Krylov's fables is the ability, with witty hints, as if in passing, to hurt and ridicule human shortcomings, even if these shortcomings do not belong to the main plot of the fable. So, in the fable “The Liar,” a friend tells the braggart-liar that “two journalists and a tailor” fell into the water from a bridge over which “no liar dares to pass”; a hint that often journalists and tailors are accused of lying. In the fable “The Cat and the Cook”, telling how “the literate cook from the kitchen ran his own to the tavern”, leaving the kitchen in the care of the cat, Krylov, as if in passing ironically about the hypocrisy of the cook: “he was devout and on this day by godmother feast of rules "...

Krylov's fables are often given to be taught by heart to young children, but in essence much of them is incomprehensible in childhood; An adult can learn a lot by delving into these lively, subtly witty and often deep in thought images and pictures.

In conclusion, we will quote a few words from a touching letter from Krylov’s younger brother, who admires Ivan Andreevich’s talent and says: “I read the fables of other writers (Izmailov), but in comparison with yours, like heaven from earth: neither that smoothness in syllable, nor beauty no, especially you just with which you have a secret to write, because your fables and a literate peasant and soldier can read with the same pleasantness ... As you write, dear aunt, so it is for everyone: for the small and for the old, for the learned and the simple, and everyone praises you...

This is how touchingly and surprisingly correctly Lev Andreevich Krylov characterizes and praises the wonderful works of his famous brother!

Ivan Andreevich Krylov created a large number of moralizing works. The famous fable called "The Crow and the Fox" was published in 1808. The plot of the creation is not original, the theme of flattery was revealed by the ancient Greek poet Aesop and the popular writer from France Jean de La Fontaine. A similar plot is found in the works of the German playwright Lessing, as well as the poets Sumarokov and Trediakovsky. Differences concern the main characters, but the essence always remains the same.

In contact with

plot

Since ancient times, the genre of fable has the face of the animal world.. The main task of the work is the disclosure and expression of morality, moral truth that arises in society. The depravity of Krylov has peculiar features of the Russian epic. This distinguishes his fables from similar works by La Fontaine and Aesop. The plot of the considered version of "Crows and Foxes" has a simple structure, easy unpretentiousness and frankness.

On a note!

The structure of the work is divided into two parts. In the first quatrain, the reader finds the main moral, according to the author himself. Krylov condemns flattery and says that it will not leave the minds of many people for a long time. The second part includes 23 lines, which contain the plot and the author's monologue.

The red-haired heroine of Krylov's fable "The Crow and the Fox" flatters and says things that do not at all apply to the owner of the cheese. The "feathered pride" does not have the beautiful eyes, graceful nose and angelic voice that the fox speaks of. Unable to withstand the pressure of inner vanity, the stupid crow cries out and loses the tasty "jewel". The fox gets her way and suddenly disappears back home.

The moral of the fable "The Crow and the Fox" - problems

There are no positive morals in the work. Krylov thoroughly ridicules the vice that deceived itself. Children should not take an example from an allegorical theme within a fable. The crow is too callous and stupid, the fox is smug and cunning. After analyzing, the reader will understand that virtue is not described here in its pure manner, no errors of behavior are noted. The first words of the fable about flattery give the impression of morality, but this morality is strained.

The problems of the fable are relevant for the time of the author himself. IN early XIX centuries, servile behavior was prevalent in the realms of high society. Flattery strengthened and ceased to seem something vicious. Allegorical satires are useful enough because they encourage corrupted people to turn to their own minds and try to avoid further shame.

Analysis of the fable "The Crow and the Fox"

The work has two sides., unfolding the action around one seductive object. The fox is most often mentioned in the works of I.A. Krylov. This beast personifies cunning, hypocrisy, selfishness and the ability to flatter sweetly. The fox remains deaf to other people's misfortunes, knows no greater joy than to see the failure of another.

The crow in the fable appears to be a naive, vain and stupid creature. It has a delicious delicacy, a precious deliciousness. The bird understands how precious this object is in its beak and thinks that no one is able to take away the heavenly gift. However, the cunning enemy sees through the crow. The great vices of the feathered creature become an argument in favor of the loss of fragrant cheese. Krylov ridicules the stupidity and baseness of character, which so easily succumbed to flattering provocation. The topic seems to be relevant for today's world.

Differences between Krylov's fiction and La Fontaine's fable

Conclusion

A short and lively fable for many years appears as a measure Society XIX century. She teaches lessons, ridicules depravity and teaches not to fall into the trap of undisguised flattery. Every corruption must be corrected and not tread on the road that leads to disgrace. The meaning of the fable determines the predisposition of stupidity to great deceit. The bird is not spared, it is taught. The fox is not admired, it is corrected.

The fable genre originated in the deep past. Such great masters of the word as Aesop, Phaedrus, Lafontaine showed themselves in this genre.

From their immortal creations, I. A. Krylov drew inspiration for his fables, who gave works from the deep past new life bringing them closer to the realities of contemporary reality. At the same time, among the works of the fabulist, there are relatively few with an abstract plot.

In most cases, the reader, when getting acquainted with the next creation of Krylov, plunged into the environment of the language, images and historical parallels inherent in Russian national culture.

The fabulist gave great attention questions of morality and moral perfection, as well as the justice of the existing social order. These searches are our reflection in many of Krylov's works. Thanks to deep creative work over the fable tradition, the author managed to create new, original fable plots and bring more accuracy and truthfulness to the classic plots.

A large group of his fables are those dedicated to social organization or in any other way relate to the political life of Russia. As a rule, they are exposed to vices the mighty of the world of this, the arbitrariness of power is revealed wherever it takes place, the bureaucracy of officials is scourged. In fables of this kind, the relations between the “tops” and the “bottoms” emerge in detail. This group includes such now well-known works as "The Wolf and the Lamb", "The Horse and the Rider", "The Peasant and the River", "The Fish Dance", "The Nobleman", "The Frogs Asking for the Tsar" and etc.

In some fables, the writer expressed his views on the rational structure of the world, in which each estate knows its place and performs its direct duties ("Leaves and Roots", "Spike"). Along the way, in the fables of this orientation, Krylov mercilessly ridiculed such vices as nepotism (“Council of Mice”), bribery (“Fox and Su-rok”), preached the implementation of socially useful activities (“Eagle and Bee”).

As a person who grew up on the ideas of the Catherine era, Krylov often raised the problems of education in fables of a social orientation (“Pig under an oak tree”, “Casket”, “Gardener and Philosopher”, etc.).

The most famous are Krylov's moralizing fables, which are distinguished by their free style and transparency. storyline. In these works, the author reflects on human nature and exposes such human vices and shortcomings as greed, laziness, susceptibility to flattery, carelessness, and many others (“Monkey and Glasses”, “Dragon-goat and Ant”, etc.). d.).

A special place in the work of Krylov is occupied by historical fables, primarily a cycle dedicated to the Patriotic War of 1812. One of the most famous fables of this cycle is "The Wolf in the Kennel". It is known that M.I. Kutuzov read it aloud to his soldiers, who, in the phrase “you are gray, and I, buddy, am gray,” took off his headdress, exposing his gray hair.

Among the historical fables were also sharply satirical, criticizing the situation in foreign policy("Swan, Pike and Cancer"). material from the site

Krylov's fables are loved because their language is lively, juicy, rich, close to the folk. The images coming out from the writer's pen are invariably bright and truthful. Most often, these are animals that are borrowed from Russian fairy tales, which makes the fables even more fascinating.

From folklore, Krylov also borrowed the tradition of endowing this or that animal with any one human trait. This technique makes the writer's works even more attractive. In these fables, the fox is invariably a cheat, the wolf is a bloodthirsty villain, the bear is an ignoramus, the donkey is a fool, etc. The dynamic development of the action and the liveliness of the style enhance the impact of the fable on the reader, put the work above the classical traditions of the genre. “Krylov’s fables are a story, a comedy, a humorous essay, an evil satire, in a word, whatever you want, but not just a fable” (V. G. Belinsky).

It often happens to us
And work and wisdom to see there,
Where you can only guess
Just get down to business.

Someone brought a casket from the master.
Finishing, cleanliness Casket rushed into the eyes;
Well, everyone admired the beautiful Casket.
Here comes the sage into the mechanics room.
Glancing at the Casket, he said: “A casket with a secret,
So; he is without a lock;
And I undertake to open; yes, yes, I'm sure of it;
Don't laugh so hard!
I will find a secret and I will open the Casket for you:
In mechanics, and I'm worth something.
Here he took up the Casket:
Spins it around
And he breaks his head;
Now a carnation, then another, then a bracket shakes.
Here, looking at him, another
Shakes his head;
They whisper, and they laugh among themselves.
In the ears only reverberates:
“Not here, not like this, not there!” The mechanic is more torn.
Sweat, sweat; but finally tired
Behind the casket
And I didn't know how to open it.
And the casket just opened.

Heroes

Mechanic

Summary

Once the mechanic was in the workshop. There he happened to see a beautiful and skillfully made casket. There was no lock on this chest. The hero claimed that he would definitely unravel the secret of the mechanism and open the casket. The mechanic tried various methods to open the casket. However, all attempts were unsuccessful. People crowded around him and laughed at him. As a result, the mechanic got tired and retreated. And as it turned out, the casket opened simply.

Morality

Man often tries to find difficult ways solving a problem when it can actually be solved quite easily.

Fable analysis

History of creation

The fable "Casket" was first read by I. A. Krylov at Prince Shakhovsky in May 1807. The work was published in the journal Dramatic Herald in 1808.

The meaning of the name

A casket (or casket) is an outdated name for a small casket, a chest, which often had some kind of ingenious lock with a secret.

Main theme

The main theme of the work is a mockery of unnecessary physical and mental efforts in the simplest of cases.

Before the appearance of the sage, it never occurs to anyone that the Casket may have some kind of secret. People simply admire the wonderful work of the master.

The sage is far from understanding the beautiful, he is eager to demonstrate his deep knowledge of Mechanics. The absence of a lock on the Casket only reinforces his suspicions about the secret. However, all the knowledge and skills of the sage do not bring him any success. The sweaty hero cannot open the Casket in any way and admits his defeat.

The final, later proverbial phrase (“And the Casket just opened”) contains caustic irony about people who overly praise their minds and get stuck in everyday situations.

Issues

The main problem inherent in the fable is the deliberate complication of obvious things and concepts. The author gives the most good example, but this problem occurs in almost all areas of human activity.

By showing their "abstruseness", people strive to rise, artificially raise their authority and gain respect from others. But often their mental attempts are not only useless, but also frankly stupid.

Composition

The work has a structure traditional for Krylov's fables: a brief author's introduction and the main part, ending with a moralizing conclusion.

What does the author teach

The fable is intended to show that when solving a problem, one should first of all look for the simplest and most accessible way, and not delve into reflections and search for secrets. A wise man turns into a fool, because the Casket can be easily opened by any child.