The basic idea of rabbits and boa constrictors. Products of civilization necessary for life
Option 4: 02/25/2012: 21.41
Option 1 2012: 02/25/2012: 21.41
Option 6: 02/25/2012: 21.38 Satire in philosophical tale F. Iskander “Rabbits and Boas”
A person enters the world of literature in early childhood, already at this rather unconscious age, defining for oneself certain priorities. The most important things pass through our lives different writers and works, but only a few of them become truly loved, making you want to turn to them again and again. For many, such a book was Fazil Iskander’s philosophical fairy tale “Rabbits and Boas,” full of sparkling humor and deep philosophical meaning.
Some critics call this tale a dystopia, but this is not entirely true, because a dystopia is a reflection of the unforeseen consequences that can arise in a society that blindly implements utopian ideas. That is, it is a depiction of a supposed ideal society trapped by its ideals. In "Rabbits and Boas, we see a complete real picture life of society, albeit disguised as a fantastic world of certain boas and rabbits. This technique was used by many writers of the 70s, whose works talked about the negative sides of life Soviet society or contained criticism of the socio-political structure of the country. The founder of this genre was Saltykov-Shchedrin with his “Fairy tales, where real types and characters were hidden under the guise of animals.
The fantastic world of Iskander’s fairy tale is represented by a distant African country, where boa constrictors traditionally eat rabbits, rabbits take this for granted, considering it, however, an injustice, and monkeys, elephants and natives take a third-party position. Depicting two of these, at first glance, different societies, shows their unexpected symbiosis: “... a rabbit, processed by a boa constrictor, turns into a boa constrictor. This means that boas are rabbits at the highest stage of their development. In other words, we are the former them, and they are the future us,” explains the ruler boa constrictors Great Python to his wards. Their similarities are not limited to this, both of them represent a model of a totalitarian ideologized society with all the accompanying attributes: anthems, flags, the image of a bright future looming ahead, in in this case his role is played by Cauliflower in rabbits. In both worlds, deceitful servility reigns, based on fear of the leader, which is supported by severe punishments of any free-thinking. "The king knew that only with the help of hope (Cauliflower) and fear (boa constrictors) can one intelligently control the lives of rabbits. The life of rabbits and boa constrictors is filled with endless betrayals and denunciations of their own kind, often ending up in their place, and, "...any a devoted traitor, remembering his feelings when he betrayed, and comparing them with his feelings when he was betrayed, thinks with complete sincerity: after all, for me it was not so low. And how philosophical is the phrase that “whoever ponders the question of whether to convey or not to convey, will definitely convey in the end, because every thought strives for the completion of the possibilities inherent in it.
Boa constrictors who eat rabbits are proud of their humanity, which, in their opinion, is manifested in the fact that they, by hypnotizing rabbits, save them from a painful death. The rabbit, who announced that “...their hypnosis is our fear. And our fear is their hypnosis, created, in fact, a revolutionary situation, dangerous for both boas and rabbits. This threatens some with hunger, others with anarchy. Proposed The hermit boa constrictor's new method of killing rabbits - strangulation - makes both of them regret the good old days, forgetting about previous indignations: “It is interesting that some elderly rabbits, telling young ones about their former life during the hypnotic period, strongly idealized him.
“It’s surprising that the old boas, sharing their memories with the young, said that it was better before. At the same time, they, too, as usual, exaggerated a lot. So, the good intentions of the Ponder ended in general disappointment, which again allows us to draw a parallel with the history of our country, survived the revolution, the consequences of which were unpredictable. Associations with the past of our country are also caused by the abundance of meaningless slogans proclaimed by both rabbits and boa constrictors: “The boa constrictor from which the rabbit speaks is not the boa constrictor that we need. “Hiss in a whisper, do not forget that the enemy is within us, “the better the emergency exit, the less chance it will be needed,” for the education of the rabbit
don't skimp on ink and the like.
But "Rabbits and boas cannot be named only satirical work, because the themes touched upon by the writer are classified as eternal and are rethought by more than one generation: betrayal, cowardice, betrayal of one’s ideals for the right to be “admitted,” individuals rebelling against society, the psychology of power - all this is repeated from century to century, giving rise to new heroes and tyrants.
Teacher of State Educational Institution Central Educational Center No. 556
Eremina Lyudmila Vadimovna
Fantasy and reality in works of Russian literature.
Fazil Iskander. Philosophical fairy tale “Rabbits and Boas.”
Of the many works of an allegorical nature that appeared in last decades, the most significant should be considered the philosophical tale of F. Iskander “Rabbits and Boas”. Relevance of the topic, depth of analysis social processes events that have occurred in our society since the late 80s of the twentieth century, and the breadth of generalizations of a moral nature certainly make the work significant. Continuing the satirical tradition of philosophical fairy tales by M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, F. Iskander depicts an allegorical picture of a totalitarian society that uses the apparatus of suppression and demagoguery to maintain its viability. However, the fairy tale “Rabbits and Boas” is not only about the past. It is about our present and future. As always, Russian literature warns us against softness, inertia, and the pursuit of material wealth to the detriment of moral values, calls for the creation of mature public institutions that will not allow manipulation public opinion in the interests of the authorities.
The work of F. Iskander is familiar to us from a number of works, where the author tells about the life of an Abkhaz village, where the elders of the family utter thoughts, the value of which extends far beyond the borders of sunny Abkhazia, where the comic and sad live side by side, where deep moral ones are reflected in bright everyday scenes Problems.
Philosophical tales occupy an independent place in the work of F. Iskander. The reader is already familiar with the previously published “Constellation of Kozlotur” and “Dzhamkhukh - the son of the Deer”. These works highlight problems that all of humanity is struggling to solve.
And here we have another philosophical fairy tale, “Rabbits and Boas.” The action takes place in a southern country far from us, the characters are animals, but each of us can find familiar parallels, see a critical analysis of situations in which each of us had to participate in one form or another, and also consider development prospects the society in which we live. There is no ending in the fairy tale, neither happy nor tragic, happiness, like suffering, are inevitable companions in everyone’s life, however, the work as a whole is optimistic, because, as the writer shows, the solidarity of even such weak animals as rabbits can seriously influence the fate of society .
So, what is the philosophical tale about?
In the southern southern country there is a State of Rabbits. In this State, an Authoritarian form of government is supported, the King is at the head of the state, but the society of Rabbits has reached a stage of development when Authoritarian Power must be artificially maintained. Very skillfully F. Iskander explores all the attributes of Authoritarian Power, which primarily include:
Dream of Cauliflower, i.e. benefits that await all members of the Rabbit Society in the distant future
Coercive bodies that suppress and destroy those who do not agree with official myths and versions.
Each of the attributes is written out very clearly and is rich in detail. The King and the Ruling Elite are trying to make the dream of Cauliflower permanent. The bright horizons of the future must continuously move away from the Rabbits as their society develops. Even the image of Cauliflower slowly but continuously changes to better suit the dream of her to the structure of the moment.
The Enforcement Bodies are depicted in even more detail. They include bodies for the direct suppression of dissent (a contingent of Boas, whose task is to swallow up unwanted rabbits), and the Royal Guard, which must be powerful enough to protect the King from possible actions by ordinary rabbits. But precisely because of its power, this Guard became dangerous for the King himself, so the Second Guard was needed in order to protect the King from the First Guard, etc. F. Iskander convincingly shows that brutal coercion is not enough to support Authoritarian Power without causing indignation among the members of the Rabbit Society; the support of the intelligentsia is necessary. If any rabbit was SWALLOWED, then with the help of rumors, which in the State of Rabbits replaced the means mass media, it was explained that this rabbit was SECRET and transferred to work on creating Cauliflower, and if the family of the Repressed Rabbit showed interest in his fate, then the family was liquidated, and rumors spread that the Repressed Rabbit was so important that he was allowed to take him family. The Rabbit King, well aware that in order to maintain power he needs the support of the creative strata of society, keeps close to him the out-of-mind Poet-Petrel, who inappropriately and inappropriately proclaims “... let the Storm break stronger!” and participates in the vile betrayals of his fellow men.
The same Poet-Petrel discovered the alcoholic effect of ink intended to ensure universal education in the state of Rabbits. Rabbits do not write with ink, but rather suck on it, which promotes lightness of soul and pleasant dreams. So the Stormbringer became the Stormbringer for many Decent Rabbits, and the struggle for universal literacy led to a significant increase in ink consumption within the country. The main one State Scientist Rabbits, dividing the amount of ink used by total number population, concluded that the population is universally literate.
A significant place in the tale is devoted to the study of the Ration System of Distribution of Benefits, which also serves to strengthen the Authoritarian Power. It is interesting to note that the main occupation of the members of the Rabbit Society is theft. Although socially useful work is proclaimed, it does not arouse enthusiasm among the Members of the Society, since it cannot feed either the worker or his family. State wealth is created through a tax on stolen property, called the Garden Tax. In the Rabbit Society, at the expense of the State, there is a Privileged Stratum, the so-called Admitted to the Table. This Layer includes the top of the Security, artists collaborating with the King, and even, to maintain the version of democracy, the widows of some Repressed rabbits. The King is concerned about the stratification of even this Privileged Stratum, for which purpose a rumor has been spread that part of those admitted to the Table have even higher privileges and are admitted to the Table. And although in reality there is no Table, just as no work is being done to create Cauliflower, the myth about the Table works flawlessly: those admitted to the Table are literally bursting out of their skin, creating a cult of personality of the King and hoping that their efforts will lead to further advancement in the acquisition of Rations Good. F. Iskander convincingly proves that the System of Ration Benefits and closed distributors is the basis of a society built according to the Rabbit type. Without such a system, the power of the King is impossible; anyone who threatens this hierarchical system must be immediately sent to the HOLD.
What allows Boas to swallow members of the Rabbit Society, if the latter run fast, jump high and, therefore, can easily escape? There is a version that boa constrictors allegedly have hypnosis, which makes the Rabbit go straight into the boa constrictor's mouth. This version is being intensively spread by the King and his inner circle. However, it was enough for one of the Rabbits to think about the nature of hypnosis (the author calls this rabbit: THINKING), as he easily established experimentally that the hypnosis of the Boas is the fear of the Rabbits: “Their hypnosis is our fear, Our fear is their hypnosis!” - says Ponderful. Fear, fear, only fear! - this is what the Royal Elite strives to instill in their fellow citizens. What about the Thoughtful Rabbit? According to tradition, he must be immediately handed over to the GLOBAL, and the King, together with the Stormpoet, immediately commits treason. Carefully and scrupulously F. Iskander explores the psychology of the Traitor as a person and Betrayal in general. It seems that the conclusions of this study have meaning beyond the borders of the Rabbit State. It turns out that you can pay negligibly little for betrayal because the payment is given in advance. The betrayal has not yet been committed, it is only slightly visible in the foggy future and does not seem to be fraught with unpleasant consequences, and the payment for it is quite tangible.
The question of the personality of the traitor is also important, who disgustingly compromises his comrades and even the pure rabbit nature itself, which is disgusted by even the very thought of betrayal.
Not all is well in the Boa Constrictor Society. These compelling organs are also torn apart internal contradictions. Boas that show indecisiveness and softness in the performance of punitive functions are expelled. The cleaning of the ranks of Boa constrictors is carried out under the slogan: “The boa constrictor from which the rabbit speaks is not the boa constrictor we need.” This phrase runs like a refrain through the pages, dedicated to life Boa constrictors.
The decline of the fear of Boas and the prestige of so-called Hypnosis posed a number of difficult problems for the Boas. To preserve themselves as a biological species, they have to improve punitive methods. The Desert Boa, expelled from the organization for the unclear execution of the operation entrusted to him to GLOW the devoted Rabbit, invents new way suppression - STRANGULATION. It is Strangulation, he believes, that should ensure an increase in the prestige of the Boas. It is curious that the Rabbit King also had a dream about Strangulation, and how predator birds They raise the corpse of the Boa constrictor, he saw a good omen: “The falling Boa constrictor is again raised to the proper height.”
In the Boa community, power struggles, hypocrisy and intrigue are very common. F. Iskander used a variety of artistic techniques, with their help creating in readers a feeling of hostility towards these creatures. It is convincingly shown that the Boas themselves could hardly exist as a biological species if not for the support of the Rabbit King.
The fairy tale is almost ending, and there is no reason for optimism. The thoughtful rabbit is betrayed and swallowed by the Boa, his follower - the Thirsty Rabbit - did not find support among the masses, the Poet-Petrel composes flattering poems, the Falling Boa is again raised to the proper height, and Strangulation, apparently, is still capable of maintaining the Rabbits’ fear of the Authoritarian Power. But here something new appears actor- Young Rabbit. The younger generation does not have a stamped consciousness that is influenced by myths about Authoritarian Power; it wants to see the results that the Rabbit State has achieved as a result of the selfless work of previous generations. To my deep disappointment, there are no results, only emptiness and pompous phrases. To the little rabbit’s simple question: “Uncle, you want some Cauliflower!” - Neither the King nor his Retinue can give an intelligible answer. Protest younger generation put the Ruling Elite in a difficult position: after all, cruel repressive measures (like throating and strangulation) cannot be used against young people, but educational work must be carried out.
The optimism of the tale lies precisely in the fact that neither the King nor the leading members of his Guard managed to achieve any success in educating the younger generation in the form of adherence to his Authoritarian Power. The little rabbit somehow eludes the Royal Guard and splits into two. It is not even clear whether he acts alone or whether we are dealing with many similar rabbits. It seems to us that it is with the younger generation that the author pins his hopes for change in the State of Rabbits.
Here are a few comments about genre specificity of this work. The author calls his work a philosophical fairy tale, but this definition of the genre is somewhat narrower than the range of problems raised. Although the work touches on issues that are vitally important for Rabbits and Boas, and the author brilliantly explains such concepts as abomination, injustice, betrayal, rejoicing and patriotism, it seems that F. Iskander’s main task is not only to clarify the meaning of these concepts for the southern pre-southern country.
In our opinion, the subject of the author’s reflection is the possibility of the existence of a state with an Authoritarian Form of Government with the labor and political passivity of its citizens. The author analyzes the processes of internal development of the state and its prospects, starting with the insignificant conversation of the Boas about the essence of hypnosis, so the introduction really resembles some kind of fairy tale about animals tropical country. The end of the work is also Boa conversations about the good old days, when it was possible to hypnotize rabbits for future use, and about the difficulties of obtaining food using a new method, which requires a lot of effort. All the above conversations are far from the main topic of the study; the reasoning itself has an allegorical meaning and concerns the general rabbit morality and the laws of existence of the Rabbit Society. Thus, before us is a story-parable, a parabolic composition, the content, reflecting general philosophical questions of existence, lies not in the characters and life circumstances, but in the exceptional sharpness of the author’s thoughts. The plot is used only to illustrate the author's idea.
The story is also interesting from a stylistic point of view. The abundance of puns, aphoristic expressions, refrains, oxymorons, and logically verified reasoning attracts the reader’s attention. Let's give a few examples. The Rabbits had an “EXTRAORDINARY meeting on the Royal Lawn”, at which the members of the Society came to the conclusion that life in this state was “a continuous celebration of FERTILITY and Gluttony.” When the conversation turned to the need to reduce raids on the natives’ gardens, the King proclaimed that in his state a “REGIME of savings is possible only not at the expense of the interests of the REGIME.” The rabbits were horrified by the prospect of incomplete satisfaction of their digestion and asked their King not to raise such questions, because... with them he “pours SWEET SALT into their wounds.” Also interesting is the phrase, which is a kind of “code of honor” for Boa constrictors: “The boa constrictor from which the rabbit speaks is not the boa constrictor we need.”
The first part of the story is the most interesting, both in content and stylistically, but in the second the author gets carried away with side issues and somewhat disrupts the unity of the work.
The story ends with a direct appeal to the reader, in which the author warns against excessive optimism.
The history of the relationship between Boas and Rabbits, according to the author, is sad. He prefers a reader who is somewhat gloomy, believing that it is the darkened, and not the rejoiced, reader who can still help the Rabbit Society in some way.
Reader! I would like for you, after reading this article, to become somewhat gloomy... and join the Society for the Protection of Animals. I especially urge you to be merciful to the Little Rabbits. Believe that they express their thoughts, even controversial ones, with the best intentions, trying to eradicate the evil that, unfortunately, was created by the active actions of accomplices of the Authoritarian Power and the passivity of subsequent generations. If you, reader, join the Animal Welfare Society, then swallowing and suffocating Little Rabbits will become impossible.
In “Rabbits and Boas” F. Iskander showed the totalitarian social system, demonstrated the mechanism of its action. The tale is an extended metaphor for a social order in which there are three levels of hierarchy: boa constrictors, led by the Great Python, swallowing rabbits; rabbits; natives who grow vegetables.
The world of rabbits and boa constrictors is a familiar, established world, based on the unconscious fear of one of the other, on an unspoken agreement according to which the top of the rabbit kingdom condones the “swallowing” of rabbits by boa constrictors. Hypnotized by fear, rabbits do not even try to resist when they are swallowed by boa constrictors. The world of rabbits is a world of conformity, lies, a chain of denunciations and betrayals, and general paralyzing fear.
This rabbit kingdom has its own hierarchy. At the head of the state is the King, who rules through two means - fear and the promise of Cauliflower (what a wonderful metaphor for the “bright future of communism”!). Those admitted to the Table are grouped around him, whose place those striving to be admitted strive to take by any means. To achieve a dream, all means are good: gossip, slander, betrayal, complicity in murder.
IN folk tales About animals, rabbits and boa constrictors represent two opposing forces. But in Iskander’s tale this is not such a simple opposite. Here, it is not an allegory of strength and cowardice that is contained in animals: each of them, while having generic qualities, is also individual.
Rabbits have their own personalities. A Thoughtful Rabbit appeared, who discovered that rabbit fear is hypnosis, making rabbits powerless against boa constrictors. “Our fear is their hypnosis. Their hypnosis is our fear.” If you overcome fear, it is not so easy to swallow a rabbit. But this discovery broke the system according to which rabbits can be controlled intelligently with the help of hope - Cauliflower and fear. If the rabbits are not afraid, break the hypnosis of fear, and are vigilant in front of the enemy, then you will not last long on Cauliflower alone. Therefore, the violator of the harmonious system had to be eliminated. Resourceful is the best suited for this purpose, as he knows how to whisper at the right time and where to jump. He longs to be Admitted to the Table, and for this he is ready to do whatever is necessary for the King. He does not want to speak out openly, as this would violate his reputation as a liberal, but he is ready to curry favor through betrayal. Therefore, he sings a song in which he veiledly informs the boas where the Ponderer is. But Resourceful himself turns out to be compromised, and the King sends him into exile in the desert to be eaten by boa constrictors. The witness and participant in the murder of the Ponderer was destroyed. This episode reflected the system characteristic of the repressive machine of a totalitarian state.
F. Iskander shows that rabbit psychology and mass hypnosis reign in the kingdom of rabbits. When, after the death of the Ponderer, the rabbits decided to rebel. The king calls democratic elections, but before that he organizes a session of state gymnastics that evokes the “submission reflex.” “Rabbits, stand up! Rabbits, sit down! Rabbits, stand up! Rabbits, sit down! - the King said ten times in a row, gradually increasing the tension and speed of the command along with the music... - Rabbits, who is for me? - the King shouted, and before the rabbits had time to wake up, they found themselves with their paws raised.” “State gymnastics” is a profound metaphor for the indoctrination in a totalitarian society that leads to unanimity. No wonder “The king was again in a cheerful mood. He believed that the gymnastics he had once invented external simplicity in fact, it is a great technique designed to refresh the reflex of submission that weakens from time to time.”
When Ponder discovered that hypnosis is the fear of rabbits, and the rabbits stopped being afraid of boa constrictors, it was a threat not only to the prosperity of the rabbit kingdom with its dream of Cauliflower. This also shook the kingdom of the boas. And this is where the Hermit Boa appeared, finding a new way to treat rabbits without hypnosis. This new method is strangulation. “What is the upper and lower limit of strangulation?” - asked one of the boas. This is physical, economic, moral suffocation. F. Iskander constructs his tale in such a way that allusions arise. The period of authoritarian rule gave way to a more “humane” one, when dissent was not physically destroyed, but was suffocated morally. After the death of the Great Python, society “democratized”: “After the reign of the Hermit, the life of boas and rabbits entered a new, but deeper and smoother track, rabbits stole for their own pleasure, boas strangled for theirs.” The allusion here is obvious: the time of the Great Python - totalitarian state Stalinist type, the time of the Hermit - softer authoritarianism of the Brezhnev type. Despite the obvious parallels, the social space of the fairy tale is much wider - it is all totalitarian social order, and not just specific Soviet society.
In “Rabbits and Boas” F. Iskander showed a totalitarian social system and demonstrated the mechanism of its action. The tale is an extended metaphor for a social order in which there are three levels of hierarchy: boa constrictors, led by the Great Python, swallowing rabbits; rabbits; natives who grow vegetables.
The world of rabbits and boa constrictors is a familiar, established world, based on the unconscious fear of one of the other, on an unspoken agreement according to which the top of the rabbit kingdom condones the “swallowing” of rabbits by boa constrictors. Rabbits, hypnotized by fear, do not even try to resist when they are swallowed by boa constrictors. The world of rabbits is a world of conformism, lies, a chain of denunciations and betrayals, and general paralyzing fear.
This rabbit kingdom has its own hierarchy. At the head of the state is the King, who rules through two means - fear and the promise of Cauliflower (what a wonderful metaphor for the “bright future of communism”!). Those admitted to the Table are grouped around him, whose place those striving to be admitted strive to take by any means. To achieve a dream, all means are good: gossip, slander, betrayal, complicity in murder.
In folk tales about animals, rabbits and boa constrictors represent two opposing forces. But in Iskander’s tale this is not such a simple opposite. Here, it is not an allegory of strength and cowardice that is contained in animals: each of them, while having generic qualities, is also individual.
Rabbits have their own personalities. A Thoughtful Rabbit appeared, who discovered that rabbit fear is hypnosis, making rabbits powerless in front of you. “Our fear is their hypnosis. Their hypnosis is our fear.” If you overcome fear, it is not so easy to swallow a rabbit. But this discovery broke the system according to which rabbits can be controlled intelligently with the help of hope - Cauliflower and fear. If the rabbits are not afraid, break the hypnosis of fear, and are vigilant in front of the enemy, then you will not last long on Cauliflower alone. Therefore, the violator of the harmonious system had to be eliminated. Resourceful is the best suited for this purpose, as he knows how to whisper at the right time and where to jump. He longs to be Admitted to the Table, and for this he is ready to do whatever is necessary for the King. He doesn’t want to speak out openly, since it would violate his reputation as a liberal, but he is ready to curry favor through betrayal. Therefore, he sings a song in which he veiledly informs the boa constrictors where the Thoughtful One is. But Resourceful himself turns out to be compromised, and the King sends him into exile in the desert to be devoured by boa constrictors. The witness and participant in the murder of the Pondered One was destroyed. This episode reflected the system characteristic of the repressive machine of a totalitarian state.
F. Iskander shows that rabbit psychology and mass hypnosis reign in the kingdom of rabbits. When, after the death of the Ponderer, the rabbits decided to rebel. The king calls democratic elections, but before that he organizes a session of state gymnastics that evokes the “submission reflex.” “Rabbits, stand up! Rabbits, sit down! Rabbits, stand up! Rabbits, sit down! - the King said ten times in a row, gradually increasing the tension and speed of the command along with the music... - Rabbits, who is for me? - the King shouted, and before the rabbits had time to wake up, they found themselves with their paws raised.” “State gymnastics” is a deep metaphor for ideological propaganda indoctrination in a totalitarian society, leading to unanimity. No wonder “The king was again in a cheerful mood. He believed that the gymnastics he had once invented, despite its apparent simplicity, was in fact a great technique designed to refresh the reflex of submission that weakened from time to time.” Material from the site
When Ponder discovered that hypnosis is the fear of rabbits, and the rabbits stopped being afraid of boa constrictors, it was a threat not only to the prosperity of the rabbit kingdom with its dream of Cauliflower. This also shook the kingdom of the boas. And this is where the Hermit Boa appeared, finding a new way to treat rabbits without hypnosis. This new method is strangulation. “What is the upper and lower limit of strangulation?” - asked one of the boas. This is physical, economic, moral suffocation. F. Iskander constructs his tale in such a way that allusions arise. The period of authoritarian power gave way to a more “humane” one, when dissent was not physically destroyed, but was suffocated morally. After the death of the Great Python, society “democratized”: “After the reign of the Hermit, the life of boas and rabbits entered a new, but deeper and smoother track, rabbits stole for their own pleasure, boas strangled for theirs.” The allusion here is obvious: the time of the Great Python is a totalitarian state of the Stalinist type, the time of the Hermit is a softer authoritarianism of the Brezhnev type. Despite the obvious parallels, the social space of the fairy tale is much wider - it is any totalitarian social system, and not just a specific Soviet society.
Iskander F., Rabbits and boas.
Events take place many years ago in a distant African country. Boas tirelessly hunt for rabbits, and monkeys and elephants remain neutral. Despite the fact that rabbits usually run very quickly, when they see boa constrictors, they seem to fall into a daze. Boa constrictors do not strangle rabbits, but rather hypnotize them. One day, a young boa constrictor wonders why rabbits can be hypnotized and whether there have been attempts at rebellion. Then another boa constrictor, nicknamed Oblique, although in fact he is one-eyed, decides to tell his young friend " amazing story" about how the rabbit he had swallowed suddenly rebelled right in his stomach, did not want to "compact" there and "continuously screamed" all sorts of insolence from his stomach. Then the head of the boas, the Great Python, ordered Squint to be dragged out to the Elephant Path so that the elephants "compacted" the daring rabbit, albeit at the cost of the health and even the life of the "pathetic" boa constrictor Kosoy, for "the boa constrictor from which the rabbit speaks is not the boa constrictor that we need." The unfortunate boa constrictor woke up only two weeks later and was already one-eyed, without remembering , at which point a cheeky rabbit jumped out.
Squint's story is overheard by a rabbit whose name is Pensive, as he thinks a lot; as a result of lengthy reflection, this rabbit comes to a bold conclusion and reports it to the shocked boas: “Your hypnosis is our fear. Our fear is your hypnosis.” With this sensational news, Ponder rushes to the other rabbits. Ordinary rabbits are delighted with the idea of the Ponderer, but the King of Rabbits does not like such free-thinking, and he reminds the rabbits that although “the fact that boa constrictors swallow rabbits is a terrible injustice,” but for this injustice the rabbits enjoy “a small but charming injustice , appropriating the most delicate foodstuffs grown by the natives": peas, cabbage, beans, and if one injustice is abolished, then the second must be abolished. Fearing destructive force everything new, as well as the loss of their own authority in the eyes of ordinary rabbits, the King urges the rabbits to be content with what they have, as well as the eternal dream of growing delicious Cauliflower in the near future. Rabbits feel that “in the words of the Ponderer there is some kind of seductive, but overly disturbing truth, and in the words of the King there is some kind of boring, but at least soothing truth.”
Although for ordinary rabbits the Thoughtful is still a hero, the King decides to secretly eliminate him and persuades ex-friend Ponderful, and now close to the court and favorite of the Queen named Resourceful, betray the disgraced rabbit, for which it is necessary to read loudly in the jungle a poem composed by the court Poet with “hints” to the whereabouts of Ponderful. Resourceful agrees, and one day, when Thoughtful and his student named Thirsty are thinking about how to eliminate injustice from the lives of rabbits, a young boa constrictor crawls up to them. The thinker decides to conduct an experiment to prove his theory about the absence of hypnosis, and indeed the boa constrictor does not succumb to hypnosis. The annoyed boa constrictor tells the rabbits about the betrayal of the Resourceful One, and the Thoughtful One, who sincerely loves his native rabbits and is deeply shocked by the King’s meanness and the very fact of betrayal, decides to sacrifice himself to the boa constrictor, whose instinct turns out to be stronger than reason, and the young boa constrictor, to the horror of the Thirsty One, against his own will eats the Great Rabbit. The one who thinks before his death bequeaths his work to the faithful student, as if passing on to him “all his experience in studying boa constrictors.”
Meanwhile, the young boa constrictor, emboldened by eating the Ponderer, comes to the conclusion that the boa constrictors should be ruled by the boa constrictor, and not by some alien Python. For such a daring thought, the boa constrictor is exiled to the desert. Resourceful is also exiled there for treason (the King disowned him). The hungry boa constrictor soon comes up with a new method of eating rabbits - through strangulation - and swallows the astonished Resourceful. The boa constrictor logically decides that with “such a brilliant discovery” the Great Python will “receive him with open arms” and returns from the desert.
Meanwhile, in the jungle, the Thirsty One is doing enormous educational work among the rabbits - he is even ready to run over the body of a boa constrictor in both directions as an experiment. In the era of dying hypnosis, complete chaos reigns: “the discovery of the Thoughtful about hypnosis and even the promise of the Longing to run back and forth over the boa constrictor largely undermined the centuries-old relationship between rabbits and boa constrictors.” As a result, " great amount anarchist-minded rabbits, weakly or not at all amenable to hypnosis." But the kingdom of rabbits does not fall apart precisely thanks to the return of the Hermit Boa. He proposes a method of strangling rabbits and demonstrates it on Scythe, so that he gives up the ghost. After this, the Great Python forgives the Hermit and appoints him soon the Hermit informs the boas about the death of the Great Python and that, according to the will of the deceased, he, the Great Hermit, will rule over them. While the boas are improving in the technique of strangulation, glorifying the new ruler, the Rabbit King guesses and notifies the rabbits of the impending danger , suggesting the old, but the only method of dealing with boa constrictors is to “breed proactively.”
Interestingly, both rabbits and boas regret the good old days. The activities of the Thirsty now, when the boas are strangling everyone, are having “less and less success.” Rabbits idealize the era of hypnosis, because then the dying person did not feel pain and did not resist, boa constrictors - because it was easier to catch rabbits, but both agree that there used to be order.
R.S. Later, the author was destined to be convinced of the scientific correctness of the Ponder’s observations: one familiar snake expert “with contemptuous confidence” informed him “that there is no hypnosis, that all these are legends that have come down to us from primitive savages.”
