The wise gudgeon year of writing. Tale of the wise minnow

Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin - writer, journalist, critic. Literary work combined with public service: V different time Vice-Governor of Ryazan and Tver, headed the State Chambers in the cities of Penza, Tula and Ryazan.

Mikhail Evgrafovich perfectly mastered a formidable weapon - the word. Life observations formed the basis of his creations; many texts on the topic of the day appeared from the pen of the genius of journalism. Today we will get acquainted with the work that Saltykov created, " The wise minnow". A summary will be presented in this article.

Preface

Work " The wise minnow" (V modern interpretation- “The Wise Minnow”), which is included in the cycle “Fairy Tales for Children of considerable age", was first published in 1883. It ridicules cowardice and touches on the age-old philosophical question about what the meaning of life is.

Here is a summary of "The Wise Minnow". It is worth noting that reading the original will not take much time and will bring a lot of aesthetic pleasure, since it was written by a real master of the word, so do not limit yourself to getting to know the “reworked” work.

Once upon a time there was a gudgeon, he was lucky with his parents, they were smart and gave the right life guidelines. They lived for many years (“arid eyelids”), avoiding numerous dangers that can beset small representatives underwater world. The father, dying, instructed his son - in order to live a long life, you need to keep your eyes open and not yawn.

The gudgeon himself was not stupid, or rather, he was “smart.” I decided that the surest recipe for longevity is not to provoke trouble, to live without anyone noticing. For a year, he dug a hole with his nose, just large enough for himself to fit in, exercised at night, and at midday, when everyone was full and hiding from the heat, he ran out in search of food. He didn’t get enough sleep at night, the wise minnow wasn’t eating enough, he was afraid... Every day he shook with fear that he would gape and not be able to save his precious life, as his father punished. What did Shchedrin want to say with this work?

"The Wise Minnow": summary - main idea

Having lived “more than a hundred years,” the gudgeon at his deathbed asked himself the question of what would happen if everyone, like him, led a smart life? And he made a disappointing conclusion - the gudgeon race would have been interrupted. No family, no friends... Only impartial epithets: dunce, fool and disgrace - that's all he deserved for his hermit life. He lived and trembled - that’s all, not a citizen, a useless unit who only takes up space for nothing... This is how the author spoke about his hero in the text.

The wise gudgeon died, disappeared, and how this happened - whether naturally or who helped, no one noticed, and no one was interested in it.

This is the summary of “The Wise Minnow” - a fairy tale that the author wrote, ridiculing the mores of society of bygone times. But it has not lost its relevance in our time.

Afterword

Representative of the fishing community main character, having abandoned blessings, left behind him the glory of a trembling creature. The gudgeon, whom the author satirically called wise, chose a meaningless life, filled only with fear and deprivation, and as a result, for a criminally ineffective life lived, punishment followed - death in the insight of his worthlessness and uselessness.

We hope that the summary of “The Wise Minnow” in this presentation will be useful to you.

The fairy tale "The Wise Minnow" intended for adults, when carefully analyzed, demonstrates typical features creativity M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. The writer was a master of subtle irony. Within the chosen style, the author draws very characteristic images, helping himself using grotesque techniques and exaggerating the figures of the main characters.

Literary criticism of the Soviet school sought to look for features of class confrontation and social struggle in the Russian classics of the imperial period. The same fate befell the tale of the wise minnow - in the main character they diligently looked for the features of a despicable petty official, trembling with fear, instead of devoting his life to the class struggle.

However, most Russian writers were not so worried about revolutionary ideas, How many moral problems society.

Genre and meaning of the fairy tale title

The fairy tale genre has long been attractive to fiction writers. It is interesting because, within the framework of allegory, one can allow oneself to draw any parallels with objective reality and real figures of contemporaries, without skimping on epithets, but at the same time without annoying anyone.

A typical fairy tale genre involves the participation of animals in the plot, endowed with intelligence, agility, and human manner of communication and behavior. IN in this case The work, with its phantasmagorical nature, fits well into the plot of the fairy tale.

The work begins characteristically - once upon a time. But at the same time, it is called a fairy tale for adults, because the author, in allegorical language, invites the reader to think about a problem that is not at all childish - about how to live one’s life so that before death one does not regret its meaninglessness.

The title fully corresponds to the genre in which the work is written. The gudgeon is not called smart, not wise, not intellectual, but precisely “wise”, in best traditions fairy tale genre (just remember Vasilisa the Wise).

But already in this title itself one can discern the sad irony of the author. It immediately sets the reader up to think about whether it is fair to call the main character wise.

Main characters

In the fairy tale, the most striking portrait is the image of the wisest minnow. The author not only characterizes his general level of development - the “mind chamber” tells the background to the formation of his character traits.

He describes in detail the motives of the main character’s actions, his thoughts, mental turmoil and doubts shortly before his death.

The gudgeon son is not stupid, he is thoughtful, and even prone to liberal ideas. Moreover, he is such a cowardly individual that he is ready to fight even with his instincts in order to save his life. He agrees to live always hungry, without creating his own family, without communicating with his relatives, and practically without seeing sunlight.

Therefore, the son heeded his father’s main teaching and, having lost his parents, decided to take all available measures to never risk his life. Everything he subsequently did was aimed at realizing his plans.

As a result, it was not life itself in its entirety, but precisely the preservation of life that gained highest value, has become an end in itself. And for the sake of this idea, the gudgeon sacrificed absolutely everything, for which, in fact, he was born.

The gudgeon father is the second hero of the fairy tale. He, deserving of the author’s positive characterization, lived ordinary life, had a family and children, took moderate risks, but had the imprudence to scare his son for life with the story of how he almost got hit in the ear.

The reader's main picture of his personality is formed mainly through the account of this dramatic incident, told in the first person.

Brief summary of Saltykov-Shchedrin’s fairy tale “The Wise Minnow”

Gudgeon, the son of good and caring parents, left alone after their death, rethought his life. The future scared him.

He saw that he was weak and defenseless, and water world around him is full of dangers. To save its life, the gudgeon began to dig a hole for itself to hide from the main threats.

During the day he did not get out of it, he only walked at night, which is why over time he almost went blind. If there was danger outside, he preferred to stay hungry so as not to take risks. Because of his fear, the gudgeon abandoned a full life, communication and procreation.

So he lived in his hole for more than a hundred years, trembling with fear and considering himself wise, because he turned out to be so prudent. At the same time, the other inhabitants of the reservoir did not share his opinion of themselves, considering him a fool and a dunce who lived as a hermit in order to preserve his worthless life.

Sometimes he had a dream in which he won two hundred thousand rubles, stopped trembling and became so big and respected that he himself began to swallow pike. However, in reality he does not strive to become rich and influential, these are just secret dreams embodied in dreams.

However, before his death, the gudgeon comes to mind about a wasted life. Analyzing the years he has lived, thinking that he has never consoled, pleased, or warmed anyone, he realizes that if other gudgeons led the same useless life as he did, the gudgeon race would quickly be extinguished.

He dies the same way he lived - unnoticed by others. According to the author, he disappeared and died as a result natural death or was eaten - no one is interested, not even the author.

What does the fairy tale “The Wise Minnow” teach?

The author, using allegorical language, tries to make the reader rethink the most important philosophical theme- about the meaning of life.

It is precisely what a person spends his life on that will ultimately become the main criterion of his wisdom.

With the help of the grotesque image of a minnow, Saltykov-Shchedrin tries to convey this idea to the reader, to warn the younger generation against the wrong choice of their path, and invites the older generation to think about a worthy ending to their life’s journey.

The story is not new. The Gospel parable about the man who buried his talent in the ground is precisely about this. It gives the very first and most important moral lesson about this theme. Subsequently, the problem was repeatedly raised in the literature little man- “a trembling creature”, and his place in society.

But with all this, a fair portion of the generation of Saltykov-Shchedrin’s contemporaries are familiar with literary heritage ancestors, educated, and moderately liberal, did not draw the necessary conclusions, therefore, in their multitude, they were just such minnows, having no civic position, no social responsibility, no desire for a positive transformation of society, entrenched in their own little world and trembling with fear of those in power.

It is curious that society itself also considers such individuals to be ballast - uninteresting, stupid and meaningless. The inhabitants of the reservoir spoke extremely unflatteringly about the gudgeon, despite the fact that he lived without disturbing anyone, without offending anyone and without making enemies.

The end of the main character's life is very significant - he did not die, he was not eaten. He disappeared. The author chose this ending to once again emphasize the ephemeral nature of the minnow’s existence.

The main moral of the fairy tale is this: if during life a person did not strive to do good and be needed, then no one will notice his death, because his existence had no meaning.

In any case, before his death, the main character regrets precisely this, asking himself questions - to whom did he do a good deed, who can remember him with warmth? And he doesn’t find a consoling answer.

Best quotes from the fairy tale “The Wise Minnow”

Saltykov-Shchedrin, “The Wise Minnow”, let’s start the analysis of the fairy tale with the personality of the writer.

Mikhail Evgrafovich was born in 1826 (January) in the Tver province. On his father's side he belonged to a very old and rich family of nobles, and on his mother's side he belonged to the class of merchants. Saltykov-Shchedrin successfully graduated and then took up the post of official in the military department. Unfortunately, the service interested him very little.

In 1847, its first literary works- “Entangled Case” and “Contradictions”. Despite this, it was only in 1856 that people started talking about him seriously as a writer. At this time he began to publish his “Provincial Sketches”.

The writer tried to open the readers' eyes to the lawlessness happening in the country, to ignorance, stupidity, and bureaucracy.

Let's take a closer look at the cycle of fairy tales written by the writer in 1869. This was a kind of synthesis of Saltykov-Shchedrin’s ideological and creative quest, a certain result.

Mikhail Evgrafovich could not fully expose all the vices of society and the failure of management due to the censorship that existed at that time. That is why the writer chose the form of a fairy tale. So he was able to sharply criticize the existing order without fear of prohibitions.

The fairy tale “The Wise Minnow,” which we are analyzing, is quite rich in artistic terms. The author resorts to the use of grotesque, antithesis, and hyperbole. An important role is also played by these techniques that helped to hide true meaning what is written.

The fairy tale appeared in 1883, it is famous to this day, it has even become a textbook. Its plot is known to everyone: there lived a gudgeon who was completely ordinary. His only difference was cowardice, which was so strong that the gudgeon decided to spend his entire life in a hole without sticking his head out of there. There he sat, afraid of every rustle, every shadow. This is how his life passed, no family, no friends. The question arises: what kind of life is this? What good has he done in his life? Nothing. Lived, trembled, died.

That's the whole story, but it's just the surface.

Analysis of the fairy tale “The Wise Minnow” implies a deeper study of its meaning.

Saltykov-Shchedrin depicts the morals of contemporary bourgeois Russia. In fact, a minnow does not mean a fish, but a cowardly man in the street who fears and trembles only for his own skin. The writer set himself the task of combining the features of both fish and humans.

The fairy tale depicts philistine alienation and self-isolation. The author is offended and bitter for the Russian people.

Reading the works of Saltykov-Shchedrin is not very easy, which is why not everyone was able to comprehend the true intent of his fairy tales. Unfortunately, the level of thinking and development modern people not quite up to par.

I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the thoughts expressed by the writer are relevant to this day.

Read the fairy tale “The Wise Minnow” again, analyze it based on what you have now learned. Look deeper into the intention of the works, try to read between the lines, then you will be able to analyze not only the fairy tale “The Wise Minnow” yourself, but also all works of art.

Once upon a time there lived a minnow. Both his father and mother were smart; little by little, and little by little, arid eyelids ( long years. - Ed.) lived in the river and didn’t hit the fish soup or the pike. They ordered the same for my son. “Look, son,” said the old gudgeon, dying, “if you want to chew your life, then keep your eyes open!”

And the young minnow had a mind. He began to use this mind and saw: no matter where he turned, he was cursed. All around, in the water, everything big fish they swim, and he is the least of them all; Any fish can swallow him, but he cannot swallow anyone. And he doesn’t understand: why swallow? A cancer can cut it in half with its claws, a water flea can bite into its spine and torture it to death. Even his brother the gudgeon - and when he sees that he has caught a mosquito, the whole herd will rush to take it away. They’ll take it away and start fighting with each other, only they’ll crush a mosquito for nothing.

And the man? - what kind of malicious creature is this! no matter what tricks he came up with in order to destroy him, the minnow, in vain! And the seine, and the nets, and the tops, and the net, and, finally... the fishing rod! It seems that what could be more stupid than oud? - A thread, a hook on a thread, a worm or a fly on a hook... And how are they put on? . in a most, one might say, unnatural position! Meanwhile, it is on the fishing rod that most gudgeons are caught!

His old father warned him more than once about uda. “Most of all, beware of the oud! - he said, - because even though this is the stupidest projectile, but with us minnows, what is stupid is more accurate. They will throw a fly at us, as if they want to take advantage of us; If you grab it, it’s death in a fly!”

The old man also told how he once almost hit his ear. At that time they were caught by a whole artel, the net was stretched across the entire width of the river, and they were dragged along the bottom for about two miles. Passion, how many fish were caught then! And pikes, and perches, and chubs, and roaches, and loaches - even couch potato bream were lifted from the mud from the bottom! And we lost count of the minnows. And what fears he, the old gudgeon, suffered while he was being dragged along the river - this cannot be told in a fairy tale, nor can I describe it with a pen. He feels that he is being taken, but does not know where. He sees that he has a pike on one side and a perch on the other; thinks: just about now, either one or the other will eat him, but they don’t touch him... “There was no time for food at that time, brother!” Everyone has one thing on their mind: death has come! but how and why she came - no one understands. . Finally they began to close the wings of the seine, dragged it to the shore and began to throw fish from the reel into the grass. It was then that he learned what ukha was. Something red flutters on the sand; gray clouds run upward from him; and it was so hot that he immediately became limp. It’s already sickening without water, and then they give in... He hears “a fire,” they say. And on the “bonfire” something black is placed on this one, and in it the water, like in a lake, shakes during a storm. This is a “cauldron”, they say. And in the end they began to say: put fish in the “cauldron” - there will be “fish soup”! And they started throwing our brother there. When a fisherman slams a fish, it will first plunge, then jump out like crazy, then plunge again and become quiet. “Uhi” means she tasted it. They kicked and kicked at first indiscriminately, and then one old man looked at him and said: “What good is he, a kid, for fish soup! let it grow in the river!” He took him by the gills and let him into free water. And he, don’t be stupid, goes home with all his might! He came running, and his gudgeon was looking out of the hole, neither alive nor dead...

And what! No matter how much the old man explained at that time what fish soup was and what it consisted of, however, even when brought into the river, rarely did anyone have a sound understanding of fish soup!

But he, the gudgeon-son, perfectly remembered the teachings of the gudgeon-father, and even reeled it into his mustache. He was an enlightened minnow, moderately liberal, and very firmly understood that living life is not like licking a whorl. “You have to live so that no one notices,” he said to himself, “or else you’ll just disappear!” - and began to get settled. First of all, I came up with a hole for myself so that he could climb into it, but no one else could get in! He dug this hole with his nose whole year, and how much fear he took in at that time, spending the night either in the mud, or under the water burdock, or in the sedge. Finally, however, he dug it out to perfection. Clean, neat - just enough for one person to fit in. The second thing, about his life, he decided this way: at night, when people, animals, birds and fish are sleeping, he will exercise, and during the day he will sit in a hole and tremble. But since he still needs to drink and eat, and he doesn’t receive a salary and doesn’t keep servants, he will run out of the hole around noon, when all the fish are already full, and, God willing, maybe he’ll provide a booger or two. And if he doesn’t provide, the hungry one will lie down in a hole and tremble again. For it is better not to eat or drink than to lose life with a full stomach.

That's what he did. At night I did exercise, in moonlight He swam, and during the day he climbed into a hole and trembled. Only at noon will he run out to grab something - but what can you do at noon! At this time, a mosquito hides under a leaf from the heat, and a bug buries itself under the bark. Absorbs water - and the Sabbath!

He lies in the hole day and day, doesn’t get enough sleep at night, doesn’t finish eating, and still thinks: “Does it seem like I’m alive? oh, will there be something tomorrow?

He falls asleep, sinfully, and in his sleep he dreams that he has winning ticket and he won two hundred thousand with it. Not remembering himself with delight, he will turn over on the other side - lo and behold, he has half a snout sticking out of the hole... What if at that time the little puppy was nearby! After all, he would have pulled him out of the hole!

One day he woke up and saw: a crayfish was standing right opposite his hole. He stands motionless, as if bewitched, his bony eyes staring at him. Only the whiskers move as the water flows. That's when he got scared! And for half a day, until it got completely dark, this cancer was waiting for him, and meanwhile he kept trembling, still trembling.

Another time, he had just managed to return to the hole before dawn, he had just yawned sweetly, in anticipation of sleep - he looked, out of nowhere, a pike was standing right next to the hole, clapping its teeth. And she also guarded him all day, as if she had had enough of him alone. And he fooled the pike: he didn’t come out of the hole, and it was a sabbath.

And this happened to him more than once, not twice, but almost every day. And every day he, trembling, won victories and victories, every day he exclaimed: “Glory to you, Lord! alive!

But this is not enough: he did not marry and had no children, although his father had big family. He reasoned like this:

“Father could have lived by joking! At that time, the pike were kinder, and the perches did not covet us small fry. And although once he was about to get caught in the ear, there was an old man who rescued him! And now, as the fish in the rivers have increased, the minnows are in honor. So there’s no time for family here, but how to just live on your own!”

And the wise gudgeon lived in this way for more than a hundred years. Everything was trembling, everything was trembling. He has no friends, no relatives; neither he is to anyone, nor anyone is to him. He doesn’t play cards, doesn’t drink wine, doesn’t smoke tobacco, doesn’t chase hot girls - he just trembles and thinks only one thing: “Thank God! seems to be alive!

Even the pikes, in the end, began to praise him: “If only everyone lived like this, the river would be quiet!” But they said it on purpose; they thought that he would recommend himself for praise - so, they say, I’ll slap him here! But he did not succumb to this trick either, and once again, with his wisdom, he defeated the machinations of his enemies.

How many years have passed since the hundred years is unknown, only the wise gudgeon began to die. He lies in a hole and thinks: “Thank God, I’m dying by my own death, just like my mother and father died.” And then he remembered the pike’s words: “If only everyone lived like this wise minnow lives...” Well, really, what would happen then?

He began to think about the mind he had, and suddenly it was as if someone whispered to him: “After all, this way, perhaps, the entire gudgeon race would have died out long ago!”

Because to continue the gudgeon family, first of all, you need a family, and he doesn’t have one. But this is not enough: in order for the gudgeon family to strengthen and prosper, so that its members are healthy and vigorous, it is necessary that they are raised in their native element, and not in a hole where he is almost blind from the eternal twilight. It is necessary that the minnows receive sufficient nutrition, so that they do not alienate the public, share bread and salt with each other and borrow virtues and other excellent qualities from each other. For only such a life can improve the gudgeon breed and will not allow it to be crushed and degenerate into smelt.

Those who think that only those minnows can be considered worthy citizens are those who, mad with fear, sit in holes and tremble, believe incorrectly. No, these are not citizens, but at least useless minnows. They give no warmth or cold to anyone, no honor, no dishonor, no glory, no infamy... they live, take up space for nothing and eat food.

All this seemed so clearly and clearly that suddenly a passionate hunt came to him: “I’ll crawl out of the hole and swim like a goldeneye across the entire river!” But as soon as he thought about it, he became frightened again. And he began to die, trembling. He lived and trembled, and he died - he trembled.

His whole life flashed before him instantly. What joys did he have? Who did he console? to whom good advice submitted? to whom kind word said? whom did you shelter, warm, protect? who has heard of him? who will remember its existence?

And he had to answer all these questions: “No one, no one.”

He lived and trembled - that's all. Even now: death is on his nose, and he is still trembling, he doesn’t know why. His hole is dark, cramped, and there is nowhere to turn; neither Sunbeam He won’t look in there, he won’t smell any warmth. And he lies in this damp darkness, blind, exhausted, useless to anyone, lying and waiting: when will starvation finally free him from a useless existence?

He can hear other fish darting past his hole - perhaps, like him, minnows - and not one of them takes an interest in him. Not a single thought will come to mind: let me ask the wise minnow, how did he manage to live for more than a hundred years, and not be swallowed by a pike, not crushed by a crayfish with his claws, not caught by a fisherman with a hook? They swim past, and maybe they don’t even know that in this hole the wise gudgeon completes its life process!

And what’s most offensive: I haven’t even heard anyone call him wise. They simply say: “Have you heard about the dunce who doesn’t eat, doesn’t drink, doesn’t see anyone, doesn’t share bread and salt with anyone, and only saves his hateful life?” And many even simply call him a fool and a disgrace and wonder how the water tolerates such idols.

He thus scattered his mind and dozed off. That is, it wasn’t just that he was dozing, but that he had already begun to forget. Death whispers rang in his ears, and languor spread throughout his body. And here he had the same seductive dream. It’s as if he won two hundred thousand, grew by as much as half an arshin and swallows the pike himself.

And while he was dreaming about this, his snout, little by little, came out of the hole entirely and stuck out.

And suddenly he disappeared. What happened here - whether a pike swallowed him, or crushed the crayfish with a claw, or he himself died of his own death and floated to the surface - there were no witnesses to this case. Most likely, he himself died, because what sweetness is it for a pike to swallow a sick, dying gudgeon, and a wise one at that?

The satirical fairy tale “The Wise Minnow” (“The Wise Minnow”) was written in 1882 – 1883. The work was included in the cycle “Fairy Tales for Children of a Fair Age.” In Saltykov-Shchedrin’s fairy tale “The Wise Minnow” people laugh cowardly people who live their whole lives in fear, having never done anything useful.

Main characters

The wise minnow- “enlightened, moderate liberal”, lived more than a hundred years in fear and loneliness.

Father and mother of the gudgeon

“Once upon a time there was a minnow. Both his father and mother were smart." Dying, the old minnow taught his son to “look both ways.” The wise minnow understood that there were dangers lurking around him - a large fish could swallow him, a crayfish could be cut with his claws, a water flea could torment him. The minnow was especially afraid of people - his father once almost hit him in the ear.

Therefore, the minnow hollowed out a hole for itself, into which only he could get. At night, when everyone was sleeping, he went out for a walk, and during the day, “he sat in the hole and trembled.” He didn't sleep enough, didn't eat enough, but avoided danger.

Once a gudgeon dreamed that he had won two hundred thousand, but when he woke up, he discovered that half his head had “sticked out” from the hole. Almost every day danger awaited him at the hole and, having avoided another, he exclaimed with relief: “Thank you, Lord, he’s alive!” "

Fearing everything in the world, the minnow did not marry and had no children. He believed that before, “the pikes were kinder and the perches didn’t bother with us small fry,” so his father could still afford a family, and he “would just have to live on his own.”

The wise minnow lived in this way for more than a hundred years. He had neither friends nor relatives. “He doesn’t play cards, doesn’t drink wine, doesn’t smoke tobacco, doesn’t chase red girls.” The pikes had already begun to praise him, hoping that the minnow would listen to them and get out of the hole.

“How many years have passed since the hundred years is unknown, only the wise minnow began to die.” Reflecting on own life, the gudgeon understands that he is “useless” and if everyone lived like this, then “the entire gudgeon family would have died out long ago.” He decided to crawl out of the hole and “swim like a goldeneye all over the river,” but again he got scared and trembled.

Fish swam past his hole, but no one was interested in how he lived to be a hundred years old. And no one called him wise - only a “dumb,” “a fool and a disgrace.”

The gudgeon falls into oblivion and then again he had an old dream about how he won two hundred thousand, and even “grew by a whole half a larshin and swallows the pike himself.” In a dream, a minnow accidentally fell out of a hole and suddenly disappeared. Perhaps the pike swallowed him, but “most likely he himself died, because what sweetness is it for a pike to swallow a sick, dying gudgeon, and a wise one at that?” .

Conclusion

In the fairy tale “The Wise Piskar” Saltykov-Shchedrin reflected contemporary social phenomenon, common among the intelligentsia, who were concerned only with their own survival. Despite the fact that the work was written more than a hundred years ago, it does not lose its relevance today.

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