Euripides short biography. Her appearance was accompanied by some kind of stage effect, as the chorus says that a hurricane is shaking the house and the roof is collapsing

When in 1998 in Ufa Memorial House-Museum S.T. Aksakov celebrated the 140th anniversary of the fairy tale “ The Scarlet Flower", art critic Larisa Kudoyarova brought vintage collection works of Catherine.

The character of one of the Empress’s fairy tales, Prince Chlorus, had to, after passing various tests, obtain “a rose without thorns that does not prick.” The motif of a magic flower, apparently, was not by chance at the center of this literary fairy tale, like another, much more popular fairy tale S.T. Aksakova.

The fairy tale of Catherine II, although mentioned in a modern textbook for the 8th grade, is practically unknown to the general reader. It must be admitted that it is difficult to perceive these days. On the one hand, the moral of the fairy tale is somehow too obvious: “you must be virtuous.” On the other hand, apart from the mysterious flower, there is nothing magical in the text.

At the same time, the unusual form and even the name of the tale, the unusual nature of its author himself, prompts attempts to find, if not a solution, then at least a modern, readable interpretation. We made such an attempt together with art critic and researcher of the work of S.T. Aksakov S.L. Sobolevskaya. At one time, Catherine’s works were widely known, and one can hardly doubt the influence they had both on the work of S.T. Aksakov and on Russian literature.

It is noteworthy that Catherine II built the composition of her essay according to the law fairy tales: the narrative develops in two worlds - one ordinary, in which the hero is born, and another, special, in which the hero undergoes initiation. This kind of construction was revealed as a result of special research by V.Ya. Propp only in the 20th century.

For the modern reader, this “matryoshka of worlds” has one more layer: historical context. This context, while remaining completely historical, sounds completely like a fairy tale: “Once upon a time there was Queen Catherine, and she had a son whom she did not love, and she had a grandson whom she dreamed of seeing on the throne. And so that the grandson would grow up smart, brave and noble - a real Russian Tsar - Tsarina Catherine composed a fairy tale for him...” However, it may well be that the world in which the fairy-tale prince was born and the world in which the prince listening to the fairy tale or the reader is located, its reader is a world of the same historical reality. After all, Catherine writes that Prince Chlorus was born “before the time of Kiy, Prince of Kyiv.” Here the boundaries between fiction and reality remain unclear.

However, the space for testing the valor of the protagonist is quite clearly separated, fenced, has its own name - “Menagerie” - and also has an entrance - a gate. But this is not a park or a garden; In terms of its length, the “Menagerie” is more reminiscent of a nature reserve. But this is not a biological reserve, but a reserve in which different human customs are collected. Moreover, the professional or class characteristics of the people who meet on the hero’s path are often not very specific and not even very important: their attitude to life is paramount. Yes, this is a moralizing essay. However, the author does not impose moral dogmas or even prove their validity, but shows morals and their actions in specific situations. The playful experience of such a model of human society is very important for the future ruler, but isn’t it essential for other children? And didn’t S.T. Aksakov build a similar, but more complex and developed model in his “Childhood Years of Bagrov the Grandson”?

At the beginning of the work on illustrating the fairy tale “Tsarevich Chlor”, I was faced with two tasks: on the one hand, to get as close as possible to the era of the creation of the fairy tale and to express the intention of Catherine the Great, on the other hand, to convey all this without deliberate stylization in the most modern and intelligible form.

For the cover design and large color illustrations, I decided to use tonally and texturally detailed hand-drawn frames. With the help of these frames, an illusory space of action is organized in depth, behind the plane of the page, and a transition is created from this virtual space outward - into the real world. For example, a rose without thorns obtained by the hero seems to grow from an illusory niche on the cover.

A special role in the book is played by the image of the “Menagerie” map - here the illustration has not only a drawn frame, but also a gate entrance. This map is like a bird's eye view, it looks like a diarama - a genre very common in art XVIII centuries, centuries of significant geographical discoveries. U modern children like this figurative form easily associated with board and computer games. In some computer games, by selecting an icon on the map, you can get to one or another stage of the game. In subsequent illustrations this or that scene of action is also shown close-up: This is the home of the overseer of the "Menagerie", a peasant house and a temple on the top of the mountain. The episodes of the fairy tale actually resemble the stages of computer games, performing the game functions of the dead ends of the labyrinth, from which you need to get to the direct path to the goal. Here we also recall a page from the book of John Amos Comenius “The World of Sensuous Things in Pictures”, which depicts the thorny and steep path to virtue and the false but easy paths of laziness, passions and vice (CIX - Ethics). Is it possible to create an "ethical" computer game without falling into disrepute? The question remains open for now, but the basis for the scenario of such a game could well be a story written by Russian empress. While working on the illustrations, I tried to create an atmosphere similar to a game: a kind of small graphic theater. Moreover, the situation as a whole is very reminiscent of “Town in a Snuffbox” by V.F. Odoevsky and “Alice in Wonderland” by L. Carroll. The little heroes of these works also find themselves in some artificial, closed worlds and discover their amazing laws.

In addition to large color illustrations, smaller ones were required to accompany the text on almost every page. The fact is that the fairy tale in the old book was printed together, in very large pieces - this is one of the reasons why it is difficult to read. In order to give the text greater dynamism and semantic relief, S. Sobolevskaya had to divide it into smaller paragraphs - thanks to this technique, changes in the text in order to adapt it to perception modern reader have been reduced to a minimum. This also made it possible to depict current characters next to descriptions of actions and remarks, observing the principle of comics, which is characteristic, however, of any modern children's books. But detailed color pictures, attracting too much attention, could slow down the development of the action, while technically it would be almost impossible to build an illusory space outlined by a drawn frame. Therefore, I limited myself to silhouette drawings. The principle of graphic theater was preserved, but now the theater became shadow. The need for an illusory frame, as well as for duplicating the once close-up scenery depicted, was eliminated. At the same time, the silhouette is a type of graphics characteristic of Catherine’s era. The term itself originates from the name of the 18th century French minister E. de Silhouette, of whom a caricature was made in the form of a shadow profile.

In conclusion, I will say that all illustrations were made using computer programs. This makes the work of the illustrator easier, as it allows you to correct drawings at any stage. As for the spirit of the era, the 18th century was a period of fascination with various fancy mechanisms, such as musical, chess, writing and drawing automata.

The article “A rarity of the 18th century - the fairy tale of Empress Catherine II “Tsarevich Chlor” and the features of its illustration” was published in the collection “Rumyantsev Readings 2004: Innovative technologies and diversity of cultures" (Moscow, 2004).
The fairy tale "Tsarevich Chlor" with my illustrations was published in the magazine "We are Growing", No. 5 (Ufa, 2002).

© Kupriyanov Nikolay, 2006 .

The deeper and wider our interests in social issues spread, the more responsive literature became to the phenomena of reality. Empress Catherine II, who attracted the masses of Russian society to conscious life, contributed to the development of the desire for “self-criticism” among this masses. And, as a result of this, “realistic satire” and “realistic comedy” appeared. Image of reality as she is, has become the favorite content of this realistic literature that has emerged among us.

Portrait of Catherine II. Artist F. Rokotov, 1763

Having failed with her “Order,” the Empress set herself with the fantastic idea of ​​creating “new” people in Russia in order to build a reformed state on them in the future. This is how some historians explain the meaning of her journalistic and pedagogical activity. (See Catherine II and public education.) This activity was expressed in the publication of magazines, in the writing of pedagogical articles, in the establishment of closed educational institutions. Under the educational influence of this conscious literature, under the guidance of “ideal” educators, in her opinion, a new, “improved breed of people” should have been created in Rus'.

Among the empress’s pedagogical works is, by the way, a “children’s library” intended by her for her grandchildren, Alexander Pavlovich and Konstantin Pavlovich. This library includes various moral stories, instructions and edifying proverbs. The fairy tales “About Prince Chlorus” and “About Prince Fevey” also belong to the category of the same fictional works pursuing pedagogical goals.

In the first work, under the cover of allegory, it is proven that true happiness is acquired only by virtue with the help of the guidance of reason. The content of the tale is as follows: Chlorus, the son of the Kyiv king, was kidnapped by the Kyrgyz khan. Testing the prince’s abilities, the khan ordered him to find a “rose without thorns” - a symbol of Virtue. Khan's daughter Felitsa, taking pity on Chlorus, gave him her little son, “Reason,” as a companion. With his help, the prince successfully defeated all difficulties and trials; Having climbed a steep rocky mountain, he picked a “rose without thorns,” which he brought to the khan. He, along with the flower, sent Chlorus to his father.

Gabriel Romanovich Derzhavin in his famous ode glorified Catherine II herself under the name of Felitsa.

Another work, “The Tale of Prince Fevey,” tells about the ideal upbringing that Prince Fevey received at home, about the good qualities of his young soul, about his “inclination towards goodness” and good behavior.

Catherine narrates that Fevey as a child “was not swaddled, not wrapped, not lulled” - in a word, she was never pampered. To instill unquestioning obedience in him, his father forced him to water a dry twig stuck in the ground every day, without considering whether anything could grow from it. Already as a young man, Fevey himself gave the following order to his servants: “Never let my soul become proud, and for this, every day, when I wake up from the sleep of the night, tell me this speech: Fevey, get up from your bed and remember all day long that you are a man just like us."

Then it is told how the prince grew up, got married and became a good man and a wonderful sovereign.

The realistic element in both of these works was expressed in a vivid picture of the negative aspects of a life that did not know a good upbringing.

Federal Agency for Education

State educational institution

Higher professional education

"Altai State Pedagogical Academy"

Department of Theory, History and Methods of Teaching Literature

COURSE WORK

Tales of Catherine II

Completed by a student

Faculty of Philology

4 courses of OZO

Lutsina S.S.

Scientific adviser:

Sinelnikova G.P.

Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor

Barnaul 2010.

Introduction

Chapter 1. Fairy tale genre.

1.1.Folklore and literary fairy tale

1.2.Literary fairy tale in the 18th century

Chapter 2. Tales of Catherine II.

2.1.Literary activity of Catherine II

2.2.Tales of Catherine II

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

This course work is dedicated to Catherine II and her fairy tales. Catherine II is an outstanding personality. It is difficult to underestimate her role in Russian history. But few people know that Catherine II was also one of the most prolific writers. According to the calculations of academician P.P. Pekarsky, everything written by her (including various business and government documents) can amount to about five thousand volumes. Catherine II developed an entire education system for her grandchildren. This means that she has proven herself as a teacher. The works that came out from her pen are of considerable interest to modern literary scholars and philologists. Catherine's passion for writing did not in any way correspond to her literary talent, the extent of which there can be no two opinions. Catherine had no talent for writing. Nevertheless, Catherine’s work is not without a peculiar interest, both for the history of literature and for the history of Russian society in general. Firstly, it is interesting precisely because it is the work of the empress, that it is the real and official literary policy of the government, that it is the sum of works that contain, so to speak, royal directives, both general ideological and specifically literary in nature.

People who supported power and revered it, caught every word of the empress as an instruction and instruction; advanced elements of society, opposed to the government, carefully looked at the queen’s work, as if studying the enemy, honing their weapons of attack against him; but everyone was interested in everything that the queen would write and publish.

The object of study of the course work is literary creativity Catherine II.

The subject of the study is the fairy tales of Catherine II.

The purpose of the work is an attempt to analyze the tales of Catherine II.

The objectives of this work are as follows:

1) define the concept of a fairy tale, identify distinctive features folklore and literary fairy tales.

2) determine the place of the fairy tale in the literature of the 18th century.

3) analyze the “fairytale-creating” activity of Catherine II.

The methods of course work are cultural-historical and typological. In this course work, an attempt is made to identify the typology of the fairy tales of Catherine II.

The novelty of the work lies in the fact that there is not a single complete study on the topic of the fairy tales of Catherine II. There are only isolated comments about fairy tales.

Chapter 1 - Fairy tale genre

1.1-Folklore and literary fairy tale

Even in the first third of the 19th century, scientific literature about fairy tales was not very rich. In addition to the fact that few works were published, bibliographic summaries showed the following picture: most of all texts were published, there were quite a lot of works on specific issues and relatively few works of a general nature. If they were, then in most cases “they were not strictly research-based, but of a philosophical-amateurish nature” [Propp, 1998:34].

“The study of fairy tales was carried out mainly only genetically, for the most part without attempts at a preliminary systematic description.” [Propp, 1998:34]

What is a fairy tale? At first glance it may seem that everyone knows this.

First of all, you should get as clear an idea as possible about the term “fairy tale” itself. It is logical to begin the definition of the concept “fairy tale” by studying the word “fairy tale” itself, with how this concept is designated in different languages, and, therefore, from what the people themselves understand by the word “fairy tale”.

Let us turn to the research of one of the most famous specialists in fairy tales, V.Ya. Proppa. The results he obtained were somewhat unexpected. European peoples, as a rule, do not designate this type of folk poetry in any way, using the most in different words. There are only two European languages ​​that created special words to denote this concept. These are Russian and German languages.

In Latin, the word for fairy tale is fabula. But this word is not specific to the fairy tale; it has many different meanings: conversation, gossip, subject of conversation, etc. (cf. our “fable” - “plot, subject of narration), as well as story, including fairy tale and fable. In the meaning of “fable” it passed into the German language . In German Fabel is “fable”, and the verb fabulieren is “to tell with lies”. In German, a fairy tale is denoted by the word Marchen. The root Mar- means “news”, “news”, -chen is a diminutive suffix. Thus, Marchen - "a small, interesting story." This word has been found since the 13th century and gradually became entrenched in the meaning of “fairy tale”.

From this we can draw the following conclusions:

1. The fairy tale is recognized as a narrative genre (raconter - “to tell”, Mar - news”, “news”, which is also related to the fact of storytelling)

2. A fairy tale is considered fiction.

3. The purpose of a fairy tale is to entertain listeners.

Many scientists have done without defining a fairy tale. However, there were those who defined this concept.

The scientific understanding of the term "fairy tale" has its own very interesting story, but the scope of this work does not allow us to dwell on it in detail. Therefore, the most common definition of a fairy tale should be given.

According to V.Ya. A proppa fairy tale is determined, first of all, by its artistic form. “Each genre has a special artistic quality peculiar to it, and in some cases only to it. The totality of historically established artistic techniques can be called poetics.” This is how the primary, most general definition is obtained: “a fairy tale is a story that differs from all other types of narration by the specificity of its poetics.” [Propp, 1984:35].

This definition, made according to all the rules of logic, still does not fully reveal the essence of the fairy tale and requires further additions.

It was precisely this path of defining the concept of “fairy tale” that the largest collector and researcher of fairy tales, A. I. Nikiforov, took. The definition given by Nikiforov reads: “Fairy tales are oral histories, existing among the people for the purpose of entertainment, containing events that are unusual in the everyday sense (fantastic, miraculous or everyday) and distinguished by a special compositional and stylistic structure" [Nikiforov, 1930: 7]

There are some inaccuracies in the definition given by Nikiforov, namely in highlighting the main features of a folk tale.

A fairy tale, a folk tale is a narrative folk genre. It is characterized by its form of existence. It is a story passed down from generation to generation only through oral transmission. In this way, the existence of a folk tale differs from the existence of a literary fairy tale, which is transmitted through writing and reading and does not change. However, the form of existence is not a genre-forming feature (a novel, story, drama, comedy, etc. are also transmitted through writing and also do not change).

According to Nikiforov, a fairy tale is characterized as a story, that is, it belongs to the narrative genres. This feature is also not yet decisive, since there are other narrative genres (epic, ballad) that do not belong to fairy tales. As already indicated, the very word “fairy tale” means something that is told. This means that people perceive the fairy tale as a narrative genre par excellence. This feature remains unchanged when understanding a literary fairy tale.

Another sign, indicated by V.G. Belinsky, is that the fairy tale is told for the purpose of entertainment. It belongs to the entertainment genre. However, there are different points of view on this matter. For example, V.P. Anikin believes that a fairy tale has educational purposes. [Anikin, 1984:34]. What does she have educational value- this is undoubtedly, but that it is created for the purpose of education - this, according to V.Ya. Propp is definitely wrong. The entertaining nature in no way contradicts the deep ideological content of the fairy tale. When talking about the entertainment value of a fairy tale, this means that it has primarily aesthetic functions.

A literary fairy tale can be created specifically for educational purposes, and aesthetic functions will fade into the background. If in a folk tale its educational meaning is so closely intertwined with entertainment functions that sometimes, having become carried away by the plot, you do not immediately unravel the deep hidden meaning folklore work, then in a literary fairy tale one of the main tasks of the author is to convey his thoughts to readers, show his vision of the world and, to some extent, influence readers.

The sign of entertainment causes serious controversy in science, and there is no single point of view on this issue. In addition, the presence of this feature to some extent depends on the reader (or listener) of the fairy tale, on how ready (or not ready) he is to perceive the educational meaning of the work, for what purpose he himself reads or listens to the fairy tale.

The sign of entertainment stands in connection with another sign of a fairy tale put forward by Nikiforov, namely the extraordinary nature of the event (fantastic, miraculous or everyday) that makes up the content of the fairy tale. This feature of a fairy tale has been noted in science for a long time, but a significant addition made by Nikiforov is that unusualness is understood not only as a fantastic unusualness (which is true for a fairy tale), but also as an everyday unusualness, which makes it possible to subsume this definition and short stories.

Thus, fairy tales not only depict fantastic persons and objects, but also real phenomena are presented in a fantastic aspect.

The unreality and fantastic nature of a fairy tale not only does not exclude its conditioning by reality, but also does not contradict its appeal to reality, its desire to influence it. The dependence of fictional situations and images on the idea underlying the fairy tale convinces us that it is dominated by the desire of the storytellers to express the intended idea.

Vladimir Prokopyevich Anikin shares the above point of view. In his opinion, fiction, of course, makes fairy tales special poetic genre, but it is not it as such that is the main feature of the fairy tale genre, but “the special disclosure of real life themes carried out with its help” [Anikin, 1984:54]. As already noted, V.P. Anikin wanted to emphasize educational functions fairy tales, its role in the formation of a person’s personality and worldview. It is this function, as already mentioned, that to some extent distinguishes between literary and folk tales.

Another important sign is that what is being said is not believed to be true. The people themselves understand the fairy tale as fiction. They do not believe in the reality of the events described in the fairy tale, and this is one of the main features of the fairy tale. It was also noticed by V. G. Belinsky, who, comparing epics and fairy tales, wrote: “At the basis of the second type of work (i.e. fairy tales), a back thought is always noticeable, it is noticeable that the narrator himself does not believe what he is telling, and internally laughs at his own story. This especially applies to Russian fairy tales" [Belinsky, 1954:354].

K.S. Aksakov, who made an attempt more than a hundred years ago to distinguish fairy tales from other types of folklore, wrote that fiction influences the content of fairy tales, the depiction of the scene in them, and the characters of the characters. Moreover, the most characteristic thing for fairy tales is their focus on conscious fiction. Whole line folklorists such as E.V. Pomerantseva, V.Ya. Propp, T.G. Leonov also define the attitude towards fiction as the main genre-forming feature of a fairy tale.

In a literary fairy tale, the focus on fiction can be deliberately blurred.

Finally, the last feature put forward by Nikiforov is a special compositional and stylistic structure. It is this feature that is decisive for determining what a fairy tale is.

T.G. Leonova in her book “Russian Literary Fairy Tale of the 19th Century in Its Relation to the Folk Fairy Tale” substantiates another essential feature of a fairy tale - special imagery. She calls the special fairy-tale imagery conventionally fantastic and considers it a genre-forming feature of a fairy tale.

So, all these features distinguish fairy tales from other folklore genres. In the totality of all these features, a fairy tale can be defined as a genre as follows:

A fairy tale is an epic, most often prose work with a focus on fiction, a work with a fantastic plot, conventionally fantastic imagery, a stable plot-compositional structure and a listener-oriented form of narration [Leonova, 1982:198].

So, having a clear definition of a folk tale, it is possible to identify the features that distinguish it from a literary one. Some differences have already been mentioned.

As already mentioned, there are a number of features that are characteristic of both folk and literary fairy tales. It is necessary to highlight the criteria by which a literary fairy tale differs from a folk tale:

1)Ideological or ideological-thematic content;

2) Composition;

3) Image system;

4) Language (speech style)

By comparing literary and folk tales according to these criteria, we can make some assumptions regarding specific features literary fairy tale.

The ideological or ideological-thematic content of a literary fairy tale is, first of all, determined by the author of the work, in contrast to a folk tale. In this regard, the issue of individual and collective principles in folk and literary fairy tales should be raised. In folklore, creativity, of course, belongs to individuals, but it conveys a mass worldview. The signs of individual creativity constitute the least valuable thing in folklore and, as a rule, are not retained by it, whereas when assessing the author's creativity, the features that characterize the works of a particular author are of particular importance. Personal, subjective can be expressed in different ways: in style, in the characteristics of heroes, etc.

In addition, a literary fairy tale, as the fruit of the labors of a certain person belonging to a certain time, carries within itself ideas contemporary to this era, reflects contemporary social relations, while a folk tale, passed down from generation to generation and living for many centuries, retains the imprint of archaic forms of worldview (fairy tales are associated primarily with myth) and archaic socio-economic relations.

Speaking about the plot and compositional structure of folk tales, it is necessary to dwell on the laws of construction of folk fairy tales, derived by V.Ya. Proppom. Based on the understanding of the plot as a complex of motives or repeating elements-functions of the characters, Propp identified 31 functions of the characters, the combination of which fits into any fairy tale. The elements-functions of the characters in a fairy tale are not necessarily present in every fairy tale, due to the law of displacement, about which Vl. Propp mentions it in his work "Morphology of the Fairy Tale". "Fairy tales have one peculiarity - the components of one fairy tale can be placed in another fairy tale without any changes. This is the law of transferability, specific feature every fairy tale" [Propp, 1998:168]; but any of these functions is necessarily present in some of the fairy tales.

However, we will not find such a strictly defined scenario in a literary fairy tale, which differs from a folk tale in that it has a specific author and no longer belongs to folklore genres. In literary fairy tales we will find in a peculiar interweaving the clarity and mystery characteristic of folk fairy tales, manifestations of the miraculous in different forms, and not only in the tangible world. The miraculous can indicate the psychological and moral complexity of a person, and spiritual significance can be attached to the miraculous. Thus, there is complete scope for the creative imagination of the creator of a literary fairy tale, which does not prevent the authors from using the traditional functions of the heroes.

As for the plots of folk and literary fairy tales, there are also serious differences. As is known, for a long time attempts have been made to classify all known folk tales, combining them into groups based on the similarity of plots. These attempts were crowned with success, and as a result, modern science has pointers fairy tales(index Aarne - Andreev). Thus, the plots of folk tales are traditional and to some extent given, while the plot of a literary fairy tale depends entirely on the author’s imagination, which, as already indicated, does not prevent writers from turning to folk tradition as a source of inspiration.

As already mentioned, one of the genre-forming features of a folk tale is its focus on conscious fiction. The presence of fiction determines the special properties of imagery in folk tales. At every step we are faced with the unusual properties of the most ordinary people who, by the will of fate, find themselves in incredible situations. Fictional creatures, animals endowed with human qualities, and miraculous objects never leave the pages to excite the imagination.

Special structure fairy tale image in folk tales it appears:

1) in the tendency to reveal typical content and images of characters through generalization;

2) in the constancy of the characters’ functions;

3) in the brevity of the portrait and psychological characteristics of the characters, which are revealed more fully in dialogues and actions;

4) limited number of characters, the plot is based on two or three main characters.

An important role is played by placing the character in a fantastic situation, the character performing fantastic, fabulous actions. It is action that can be called the basic law of a fairy tale, and the movement of the plot in the actions and dialogues of the characters is its structural core.

The structure of the fairy-tale image of the heroes of a literary fairy tale differs sharply from the imagery in folk tales in all of the above points. The following trends are reflected in the literary fairy tale:

1. individualization of a fairy-tale hero. Often he has full name(that is, first and last name), the author of the tale tells readers the details of his life;

2. in literary fairy tales there are countless characters, while within the framework of folk tradition it is customary to transfer characters from one fairy tale to another, often even while maintaining the function of the hero;

3. The constancy of functions in a literary fairy tale is also violated. In the course of the action, the hero can move from the category of positive to the category of negative and vice versa;

4. portrait and psychological characteristics play in literary fairy tales important role to understand the image of the hero. The author tries to justify the actions of the characters, explaining them by character traits.

5. the system and hierarchy of heroes becomes significantly more complicated, many “side”, minor heroes appear;

Thus, the structure of the fairy-tale image of a literary fairy tale differs significantly from the structure of the fairy-tale image in a folk tale.

One of the main elements of the structure of a literary work is language, or speech style. Style is a specific way of realizing a goal that is most characteristic of a particular type of communication. In the field of literary communication, the goal setting is represented by the aesthetic intention of the writer, which, embodied in the artistic structure of the work, turns out to be the basis of it aesthetic function. The method of realizing the aesthetic function includes the use of all available means, starting from the system of artistic images and the general construction of the work, and ending with the use of linguistic means.

Based on this, it can be argued that in a folk tale there is practically no style, since it is a form of collective creativity, and in literary style plays an important role.

So, a folk tale, as a representative epic genre, the following stylistic features are inherent:

The presence of traditional beginning and ending formulas;

The presence of repeating structures;

Colloquial speech;

Repetitive storytelling techniques;

Three-stage plot construction.

Literary fairy tales for the most part borrow from folk tales. stylistic features. But, as has been repeated many times, the degree of stylization of his work depends only on the will of the author. Most often, the author of a literary fairy tale sacrifices colloquial speech, complicating the structure of phrases and attaching great importance to the correctness of their construction. As for other features, they can also be painlessly absent in original work, although their presence creates a special fabulous atmosphere.

1.2-Literary fairy tale in the 18th century

The Russian literary fairy tale took in what was developed by traditional folklore (the spiritual experience of the people, ideals and hopes, ideas about the world and man, good and evil, truth and justice - in a perfect, harmonious, capacious form developed over centuries), combining moral values and artistic achievements of the people with the author's talent.

The fairy tale has become an integral part of the spiritual culture of the people; the fairy-tale principles of understanding and depicting the world and man are universal and recognizable in art. The history of the author's fairy tale as a whole reflects the features of the literary process, as well as the originality of literary and folklore interaction in different historical and cultural periods.

In the field of fairy tales, the interaction between folklore and literature was the closest, longest and most fruitful. The fairy tale as a type of folk epic creativity lived not only in traditional, natural existence or existed in the form of texts recording oral tradition, but was also included in Russian literature on equal rights - in the form of a literary fairy tale. Thus, one of the most authoritative domestic folklorists V.P. Anikin notes: “The fairy tales of writers have merged in the minds of people of all generations with the fairy tales of the people. This happens because every writer, no matter how original his own work, felt his connection with folklore.” [Anikin, 1985:22]

Moral philosophy and psychological basis, laws of poetics and style of fairy tales as one of the oldest types folk art are such that writers, poets and playwrights have always turned to it in search of answers to the most important questions of our time and for the purpose artistic comprehension"eternal" problems human existence. The fairy tale (as a type of folk art) is unique because it can transform into literary works without collapsing.

Many features inherent in the fairy tale as a type of literature have already developed in the early stages its development. The first stage in the history of the Russian literary fairy tale can be called “pre-Pushkin” (fairy tale in literature XVIII-beginning XIX centuries). The result was the final consolidation of the fairy tale in the system of literary genres.

Medieval culture knew two opposing trends in relation to fairy tales: condemnation of fairy tales along with other pagan forms of culture as “harmful fables”, recognition of fairy tales as entertaining, instructive fictional story- necessary in the life of any person (from the king to the peasant). Genre system medieval Russian literature is such that author's fairy tale cannot turn on.

In the XVII-XVIII centuries. The first book and literary adaptations of folk tales and translated Western European and Eastern stories and novels “in fairy-tale style” appear. Folklorism as a feature of literature and an integral feature of a literary fairy tale is just beginning to take shape.

The general rise of national consciousness, especially in the 60-90s. XVIII century, the desire of literature for originality, the revival of traditions led to interest in folk poetry and its active penetration into fiction. The first steps towards creating an original literary fairy tale are often associated with the “pre-romantic” movement, understood quite broadly. [Troitsky, 1985:23]

Around the 60-70s. XVIII century two main directions of development of literary-folklore synthesis were formed, which later influenced the design of fairy tales in literature: “the composition of a literary fairy tale based on a folk fairy tale, borrowing from the latter certain specific elements of content and form” and “the retelling of a folk tale with a clear desire to keep in it as much as possible of its characteristic features...” [Novikov, 1971:24] Entertaining and unusual borrowed works of this time also received a “fairy tale-like” form of written representation, as corresponding to the national tradition of entertaining and educational literature.

The first fairy-tale experiments in literature were of a magical-heroic or magical-adventurous nature, based on the traditions of everyday life. satirical tales and stories of the 17th century. At the same time, professional literary and fairy-tale works and popular ones emerge. IN professional literature second half of the XVIII V. the genre of the “fairytale” poem was born (“Darling” by I.F. Bogdanovich, “Bakhariana” by M.M. Kheraskov, poems by N.M. Karamzin). The fairytale principle in literature is also manifested in the allegorical moral “fairy tales” of Catherine II.

Chapter 2.-Tales of Catherine II

2.1-Literary activity of Catherine II

The literary activity of Catherine II lasted about a quarter of a century and was unusually abundant, more abundant than the writing of Frederick II, with whom Catherine competed both as a “philosopher on the throne” and as a monarch-writer. In this competition, she undoubtedly had an advantage because she wrote her works mainly herself, without significant outside help. Catherine wrote down a truly monstrous amount of paper during her life. She herself, not without boastful coquetry, spoke about her characteristic graphomania. At the same time, we must not forget about a huge amount official documents and business papers, as well as private letters from her pen. She wrote laws, extremely long laws at that, whole volumes of legislative provisions, she herself wrote rescripts to nobles, generals, clergy, and in her own hand wrote a huge number of letters to her employees, friends, acquaintances, lovers and many, many others.

The literary work of Catherine II was very diverse in character and genre, although it was united in its ideological orientation and in the political tendency clearly expressed in all her works.

It should be pointed out that, despite the anonymity of all the speeches of Catherine II in print and on stage, contemporaries knew very well who the author of these works was. In the 18th century the very widespread anonymity of literary publications did not in the least hinder the awareness of the reading public in matters of authorship of anonymous works. Catherine, with the exception of isolated cases, did not at all strive to hide her authorship and, on the contrary, flaunted it somewhat, which could only contribute to the interest in her works in the public.

Catherine appeared in print for the first time in 1767-1768. The first publication of her work was the publication of “Nakaz”, a book not so much journalistic as having the character of an official state act, although purely declarative and not practical, but still not individually literary. However, Catherine systematically took up Russian literature and took a direct part in it a little later, precisely when she was confronted with the question of the need for government guardianship over minds, government leadership of the social movement and open pressure on it both through administrative measures and measures of persuasion, through printing. This is how “Everything and Everything” arose, a weekly magazine published in 1769 under the editorship and with the active participation of Catherine, whose assistant, most likely a technical one, was her secretary, the writer and philologist G.V. Kozitsky.

By the time Catherine entered the field of drama, Russian comedy had already passed, although short, but abundant creative quests path.

Her first comedy "Oh Time!" is a reworking of Gellert’s play “The Praying Mantis.” In 1772, Catherine published, in addition to the comedy “About Time!”, also “Mrs. Vorchalkina’s Name Day,” “The Front Hall of a Noble Boyar” and “Mrs. Vestnikova with her Family”; Apparently, the comedy “The Questioner” dates back to the same time. Beginning in 1786, Catherine worked on a series comic operas, in which she sought to use folklore, thereby responding to the pre-romantic movement that also embraced Russian literature. In the spirit of this movement, her operas are stage fairy tales, allowing for grotesque and fantasy, claiming to be a play of imagination, colorfulness and variety of invention. There is nothing truly folklore about them. But they have a political meaning, which emerges quite clearly from underneath the cheerful joke. Thus, the opera “Fevey” (1786), built on the basis of Catherine’s own fairy tale, concludes with an admonition to Pavel Petrovich to obey his mother-empress, not to go beyond her will and not to strive to go abroad; in other words, this opera was one of the tactical moves in Catherine’s struggle with her son. The opera “Novgorod Bogatyr Boeslavich” (1786), i.e. Vasily Buslaevich, interprets the famous epic plot. Vasily is represented in it as the Prince of Novgorod, who by force taught a lesson to the daring Novgorodians who dared not to obey the autocrat, who refused him slavish obedience; Vasily forces them to obsequiously bow before the saving cruelty of the autocracy. The opera about Gora the Hero Kosometovich, which is preceded by a fairy tale of the same content composed by Catherine (1789), is a satire on the Swedish king Gustav III. In Catherine’s operas, as well as in her “historical performances”, in prose text many arias and choruses are inserted, partly taken from poems by Trediakovsky, Lomonosov, Sumarokov, partly composed by the Empress’s secretary A.V. Khrapovitsky, partly assembled by him from folk songs.

The opera “Fedul with Children” was almost entirely composed of other people’s poems, i.e., it almost did not require the author’s work of Catherine herself.

Catherine did not write at all and could not, did not know how to write poetry.

Catherine also wrote a series of pedagogical essays. At the center of her pedagogical system is the idea of ​​​​the happiness of the child, on whose future actions the well-being of the people and the state depends. In addition to instructions for raising her grandchildren Alexander and Konstantin, Catherine also wrote “Civic Elementary Teaching,” “Elective Russian Proverbs,” and two fairy tales for children. The first of these works is a pamphlet consisting of two hundred sayings and summary provisions that claim to impart to the child basic information about morality, life, and the world; along with the calculation of months, days of the week, seasons, etc., it is said here, for example: “Good deeds themselves bring rewards” or “There is nothing perfect in the world,” etc. “Russian proverbs” of Catherine have nothing in common with folklore; these are sayings she composed, like: “Always new, but rarely right,” “It’s no good to argue with people,” “Money can do a lot, but truth reigns,” etc. External imitation of folk proverbs cannot hide the artificiality and tendentiousness of the imperial creativity; It does not change matters that Catherine introduces several genuine folk sayings into her collection.

Not possessing a special literary gift, Catherine II tried to write two fairy tales for children: “The Tale of Prince Fevey” (1783) and “The Tale of Prince Chlorus” (1781).

2.2-Tales of Catherine II

Fairy tales of Catherine II, which can be considered the first literary fairy tales in the history of Russian literature. The remarkable thing is that, without possessing any special writing talent and not being an expert in Russian literature, Catherine II wrote fairy tales in accordance with all the criteria of this genre.

There is no doubt that Catherine II was influenced by folklore and she took folk tales as a basis, but in general these tales differ from folk tales.

The ideological and thematic content of fairy tales corresponds to the laws of the 18th century, the Age of Enlightenment. These tales are artistic embodiment educational ideas about the need to educate an honest, virtuous, just person.

As for the plot and compositional features of fairy tales, for example, “The Tale of Prince Chlorus,” the patterns of the compositional structure of folk tales are very clearly manifested here. It is noteworthy that Catherine II built the composition of her work according to the law of fairy tales, which was revealed as a result of special research by V.Ya. Propp only in the 20th century. Catherine in “The Tale of Prince Chlorus” used the main functions of the heroes identified by Propp.

For example, the first function that appears in the text is the absence of the elders and Chlorus remains at home alone, without his parents. “The king took the troops that were camped nearby and went with regiments to defend the border. The queen went with the king. The prince remained in the city and house that he was born" [Ekaterina II, 1994: 13].

Scouting is the next function of the character that appears in a fairy tale. “It occurred to him (the khan) to dress up in tattered clothes and sit at the gate of the garden, like an old and sick man.”

Thus, it becomes clear that Catherine was trying to build harmonious composition, drawing on the traditions of fairy tales. However, the plot of the fairy tale is devoid of any entertainment and is based on moral teachings, which is not something you will find in a folk tale. And this reveals the peculiarity of a literary fairy tale, that everything depends on the will of the author. Here author-storyteller does not care about the logic and harmony of the plot: it is not clear why the Kyrgyz Khan kidnaps Chlorus and takes him to the steppe. The fairy-tale flavor is also destroyed by many everyday details: it is told where the boy was taken, what tent they put him in, what they fed him. The image of the main character, Prince Chlorus, differs from the traditional image of children in the 18th century, both in literature and folklore. And here Catherine II showed herself as an innovator. The reader is presented with a living boy, smart and well-mannered, and not a smaller copy of an adult, as children were traditionally depicted in the 18th century. Here is the plot of the plot: the prince is walking in the garden and sees a beggar sitting at the gate (disguised as the Kyrgyz Khan) “Chlorine, like a curious child, asked to see the sick beggar; the nannies calmed Chlor down, they said that there was nothing to see... Chlor wanted to give the money himself, he ran forward, the nannies ran after him, but the faster the nannies ran, the faster the baby started to run..., he ran through the gate, caught his foot on a pebble and fell on his face... [Ekaterina II, 1994:14]. “In front of us is just a child who cries for a long time when he finds out that he was kidnapped, but at the same time this extraordinary child: he is smart and sharp beyond his years, full of self-esteem, and amazes Khan with his good manners. [Sinelnikova, 2008:69] “...entered the khan’s tent and bowed to everyone; first, to Khan, then to those standing around to the right and left, after which he stood in front of Khan with a respectful, courteous and decent appearance that surprised all the Kyrgyz people and the Khan himself” [Ekaterina II, 1994:14]. Catherine manages to describe not fairy tale hero, but to create an image of a living boy, perfect child, as she depicts him in her “Instructions”.

Little Chlorus is helped by Han's daughter Felitsa, who suddenly appears. She gives Chlorus her son, Reason, as an assistant. Reason helps the prince break out of the gathering of young people lying idle on the grass, and get away from Lazy Murza, who seduces Chlor with a soft sofa and a quiet life. Catherine cannot resist an idyllic description of peasant life: “Not in the far distance we saw a peasant house and

several acres of highly fertilized land, on which all kinds of grain, such as rye, oats, barley, buckwheat, etc., were sown...; further away we saw meadows where sheep, cows and horses grazed. They found the owner with a watering can in his hands - he was dousing the cucumbers and cabbage his wife had planted; The children were exercising in another place - they were plucking unusable grass.” [Ekaterina II, 1994:16].

The Tsarevich meets with different people, makes mistakes (follows the sound of bagpipes and ends up with the “drunkards”), but in the end Reason leads him to the mountain, where they are met by two elders - Honesty and Truth, who help them find a rose without thorns, which does not prick.

Catherine II, when writing her fairy tale, borrows its stylistic features from the folk tale.

For example, she introduces a traditional fairy-tale beginning and ending into “The Tale of Prince Chlorus.” Opening: “Before the time of Kiy, the Prince of Kyiv, there lived and there was a tsar in Russia - a kind man...” [Ekaterina II, 1994: 13]. And the ending: “Here the fairy tale ends, and whoever knows more will tell another.” [Ekaterina II, 1994:18].

Catherine II uses a fabulous three-stage plot structure and introduces colloquial speech into the tale. Folklore figures appear magic numbers: three and seven. When the king’s son of “wonderful beauty” was born, there was a three-day celebration, and then the child was under the care of seven nannies.

In her fairy tale, Catherine uses continuous allegories, and makes her unravel educational and moral allegories. Khan's daughter Felitsa is the bearer of happiness, and her son has Reason in general telling name, he is the embodiment of intelligence and prudence.

The rose without thorns is a classic allegory of the 18th century - virtue.

The whole tale is undoubtedly an illustration of Catherine II’s treatises on education. Its idea is transparent: no matter how smart and handsome the Tsarevich is, in order to become a worthy person and ruler, he must acquire virtue by making friends with reason, honesty and truth.

The second fairy tale of Catherine II - “The Tale of Prince Thebes” - is even more moralizing, and the main conversation in it is about the upbringing of the heir to the throne. The conversation begins with parenting. The author's position in the tale is expressed very clearly: this is the position of the ruling empress, who is concerned about the future of her state. At the beginning, an image of an ideal ruler is given, and this is not folk hero As a rule, in fairy tales he is a little funny and kind. Before the reader is a real ruler sitting on the throne: “...The king, smart and virtuous person, who loved his subjects as a father loves his children: he did not burden anyone with unnecessary taxes and, in any case, saved people as much as he could. He greatly despised splendor, splendor and luxury...” [Catherine II, 1990: 126].

A third of the tale is a story about how parents need to prepare for the birth of a child. The Queen's illness, described in the fairy tale, due to which there were no children, turns out to be that she led an incorrect lifestyle. Following the doctor’s instructions, the Queen recovers without any medicine and gives birth to a beautiful child, Prince Thebes, which means Red Sun.

It should be noted that the image of Thebes, unlike the image of Chlorus, is too positive. But this reveals the peculiarity of a literary fairy tale - everything is the will of the author. Prince Thebey is obedient, smart, patient, knows no pride, and is hardworking. According to Catherine, he is the standard of a sovereign.

So, after analyzing “The Tale of Prince Chlorus”, as well as “The Tale of Prince Thebes”, we can draw the following conclusions: Catherine II undoubtedly imitated famous folk tales. But this imitation was due to the fact that her fairy tales were the first in this genre in the history of Russian literature, it was a kind of test of the pen, laying the foundations in this genre.

Conclusion

The tales of Catherine II are unique in their kind. These are the first literary tales in the history of Russian literature. And yet they are built according to all the laws of the genre, which are still relevant today. This showed Catherine II’s talent as a writer.

Firstly, Catherine II maintained in her fairy tales the plot and compositional structure characteristic of literary fairy tales.

Secondly, she built a system of images corresponding to a literary fairy tale.

Thirdly, in her fairy tales she used the stylistic features of folk tales, which also characterize literary fairy tales.

The ideological and thematic content of Catherine II's fairy tales completely depends on the will of the author.

It is necessary to pay attention to the fact that Catherine II independently comprehended the laws of the genre, being a pioneer in this field, and this emphasizes the uniqueness of Catherine II’s personality.

References:

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2. Belinsky V.G. Articles about folk poetry. - Complete collected works in 13 volumes, T. V.-M.: Enlightenment, 1954.-863 p.

3.Catherine II, Empress. The Tale of Prince Chlorus // Russian Literature, 1994, No. 2.s11-18.

4. Catherine II. The Tale of Prince Thebes // Catherine II. Works-M.: 1990, pp. 126-127.

5. Klyuchevsky V.O. Empress Catherine II: her studies. Trials and successes. // Museum World. - 1994, No. 4. p. 44-49.

6. Leonova T.G. Russian literary fairy tale of the 19th century in its relation to the folk tale. - Tomsk, Tomsk University Publishing House, 1982. - 198 p.

7. Lenz F. Figurative language of folk tales. -M.: 2000.-345 p.

8. Lipovetsky M.N. Poetics of a literary fairy tale. - Sverdlovsk: Ural University Publishing House, 1992.-282 p.

9. Mikhailova O.N. Catherine II - Empress, writer, memoirist //

Works of Catherine II.-M.: 1990, pp. 3-20.

10. Nikiforov A.I. Fairy tale, its existence and carriers // Kapitsa O.I. Russian folk tale. M.;L.:1930.p.7.

11.Novikov N.V. Russian fairy tales in early records and publications (XVI -XVIII centuries). - L., 1971, pp. 23-24.

12.Pomerantseva E.V.Russian oral prose.- M.: Education, 1985.-272 p.

13. Propp V.Ya. Folklore and reality.-M.: Leningrad University Publishing House, 1976.-325 p.

14. Propp V.Ya. Morphology of a fairy tale. - M.: Labyrinth, 1998. - 512 p.

15. Propp V.Ya. Russian fairy tale. - M.: Labyrinth, 2000. - 413 p.

16. Sipovsky V.V. Historical anthology on the history of Russian literature: textbook. Volume 1, issue. 2.Russian literature from the 11th to the 18th centuries. -SPb.: 1910.-268 p.

17. Sinelnikova G.P. Catherine II and literature for children.//Text: problems and research methods.-Barnaul, 2008.-p.64-73

18. Troitsky V.Yu. Artistic discoveries of Russian romantic prose of the 20-30s of the 19th century (chapter “At the origins of Russian romantic prose”). - M., 1985.-274s

19. Internet resource. Access mode: http://feb-web.ru/

A special place in the work of Catherine II is occupied by her fairy tales. Catherine knew the child's soul well and knew how to get to the level of a young, fresh and naive child's mind. However, her tales are very specific. Firstly, Catherine wrote primarily for her grandchildren, future Russian emperors, which determined the didactic specificity of fairy tales. Secondly, Catherine, as you know, was influenced European Enlightenment, which could not but be reflected in her work. Thus, “The Tale of Prince Chlorus” and “The Tale of Prince Fevey” are philosophical tales, in the spirit of Voltaire, with allegories and moral teachings. Their idea was borrowed by Catherine from Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Locke, but, nevertheless, they are original and distinctive.

"The Tale of Prince Chlorus"

Its structure is similar to traditional Russian folk tales. It begins with the beginning: “Before the time of Kiy, Prince of Kiev, there lived and lived a good man Tsar in Russia...” Hereinafter the text is quoted from: Collected Works of the Russian Empress Catherine II in 4 volumes; M., 1986. This beginning is very reminiscent of the traditional one: “In a certain kingdom, in a certain state, there lived...”, but Catherine uses a literary approach to the beginning. It not only specifies the place where the events described in the fairy tale will take place, but also expands the beginning, turning it into a kind of “backstory”. However, the narrative itself in the “prehistory” - short story about the life of the Tsar and Queen before birth, before the birth of the child and after this event, about Chlorine’s earliest childhood and upbringing - is presented in a simple, laconic manner of an oral folk tale.

It should also be noted that Catherine pays great attention to the description of the city and house in which Tsarevich Chlor was born and where he spent his early childhood. Thus, the City was surrounded by “a wall of wild stone, with towers at the corners according to the ancient custom,” and the prince’s house, “although it was not built of Siberian marble and porphyry, was very good and calmly located; behind the chambers there were gardens planted with fruitful trees, near which ponds with fish were dug, decorating the location, and gazebos of different tastes.<...>gave pleasure to that dwelling.” Such deliberately detailed descriptions are typical of magical folk tales. They are found especially often in stories about overseas countries and distant lands, about beautiful, unprecedented palaces and wonders. Thus, already at the beginning there is a merging of the purely everyday and the fabulous, which can be observed in the future, throughout the entire fairy tale.

The immediate action of the tale begins with the fact that “some Khan of the Kirghiz” heard “about the beauty, intelligence and good talents of the Tsarevich”, “was curious to see such a wondrous child and, having seen it, wanted to take the child with him to the steppe.” But this is the beginning of only one storyline, moreover, not the main one, but a secondary one. But it is precisely this plot that frames another, central, main actor in which it is no longer Khan, who obtained the child by cunning, but Prince Chlorus himself.

Initially, Prince Chlorus is passive, like most heroes of traditional fairy tales. But the reason for this passivity is not Chlorus’s personal qualities (quite the contrary: the Tsarevich was “smart and lively”), but his young age. Khan takes Chlor away as a completely dependent “baby.” However, this passivity is also overcome by the hero. If at first Chlorus is carried around Khan’s “chambers” in his arms, then later he himself comes to him on his orders.

And yet, the hero’s truly active actions begin from the moment he receives the task of finding “a rose flower without thorns that does not prick.” To complete this task, Prince Chlorus must go through the gate into a great menagerie,” and here one of the central motifs of the vast majority of traditional fairy tales arises - the motif of the path. Everything connected with it also appears. Firstly, the Tsarevich goes on a hike with a specific goal - a unique, wonderful flower. Thus, his path is not just a path, but a search. Secondly, Chlorine must pass through the “gate,” that is, through a special door connecting two worlds: the ordinary world and the fairy-tale world. However, the “classic” fairy-tale dual world is not observed by Catherine. In the everyday world there are fairy-tale elements (for example, the same Tsarevich Chlor - completely real, but at the same time far from an ordinary character), and in fairy world reality intrudes: it is enough to recall the idle pastime of former seekers of a wonderful flower at the court of the “benefactor” Lazy Murza. Therefore, we can conclude that the “wicket” in the context of the fairy tale has an exclusively symbolic meaning. Thirdly, as soon as Prince Chlorus enters the “menagerie”, he finds himself at a crossroads. “Then I saw many roads in front of me: some straight, some with curves, others mixed up...” The motive for the main character’s choice of road is also traditional. Well, of course, no search path can be without obstacles that the hero must overcome in order to achieve his goal.

Felitsa, the “Khan’s daughter,” warns Tsarevich that Chlorus will face trials and what they will be like. Her role in the tale can be interpreted as that of a traditional magical assistant, just like the role of her son Reason, sent by her to meet Chlorus. At the same time, it is interesting to note that Felitsa bears the features of an ordinary woman trying to help a child. It belongs to the “real” world and does not cross its boundaries. On the other hand, Reason operates only in the “fairy-tale” world and does not appear in the “real” world. But Reason, despite its “speaking” name, is not so much a fairy tale as an allegorical character. This is evidenced by his behavior during the trials that befall the young Tsarevich. So, he saves Chlorus three times: he “pulls” him out of the round dance of idle people during the first test, forces him to come to his senses and leave the palace of Lazy Murza during the second, and takes him out of the “indecent place” during the third. This is exactly what true reason would “do.” Thus, there is a traditional three-fold repetition of tests and the role of a magical assistant in overcoming them, on the one hand, and the use of purely literary device when creating the image of a hero.

From the point of view of such a synthesis, the episode of the quarrel between Prince Chlorus and his faithful assistant Razudok before the last test is interesting. Catherine uses a technique traditional in magical folk tales - retardation before the climax and denouement of the plot. But a literary tendency, characteristic of author’s fairy tales and works for children in general, also appears - in climax the hero's strength of character, his ability to make friends and his ability to trust his friend are tested. It is interesting that Catherine does not idealize her hero. Chlorus, despite the remarkable traits of his character, is no stranger to mistakes and delusions. The didactic orientation of the tale is manifested in the fact that Chlorine still repents of his behavior and admits that he was wrong.

The following episodes are also retardations. Firstly, this is an episode of “deciphering” the allegory that underlies the entire fairy tale. So, “a rose flower without thorns, which does not prick,” “means nothing more than virtue; others think to reach by oblique roads, but no one will reach except by the straight road; Happy is the one who overcomes all the difficulties of that path with sincere firmness...”

Secondly, artistic time slows down and stretches out as Prince Chlorine and his companion Reason “with difficulty” climb a narrow path to the mountain, on the top of which the treasured flower grows. On the way, they meet “an old man and an old woman in a white dress, equally respectable in appearance,” who hand them their staffs. The interpretation of these two allegorical images is given by Catherine right away: “the name of the first is Honesty, and the other is Truth.”

The culmination of the tale is that brief moment when Prince Chlorus picks a wonderful flower from a bush. The denouement of both plots - the central one and the framing one - is just as quick and natural, in the style of folk tales. “Chlorine found at such a young age a rose without thorns that does not prick. He hurried to Khan with a flower, and Khan sent Chlorus with the flower to the King.” What follows is a brief conclusion, which tells of the events that occurred after Prince Chlorus returned home. Catherine endures it in a humanistic mood, characteristic of magical folk tales: Khan, who kidnapped the Tsar’s son, is not punished, because the Tsar “was so happy about the arrival of the Tsarevich and his successes that he forgot all the melancholy and sadness.”

Illustrations by Nikolay Kupriyanov

Catherine II adored her grandson, called him “Mr. Alexander”, and predicted, bypassing Paul, to be the heir to the throne. The august grandmother actually took the child away from the parents, establishing only visiting days, and she herself was involved in raising her grandson. She composed fairy tales, believing that literature for children was not at the proper level. One of the fairy tales, “Prince Chlorine,” has come down to us.

Portrait of Empress Catherine II

"Before the time of Kiy, the Prince of Kyiv, there lived and lived in Russia a tsar - a kind man. He loved the truth and wished good to all people. He often traveled around his regions to see what it was like people live and visited everywhere whether their lives were being lived in truth or not...
The king had a queen, and they lived in harmony. The queen traveled everywhere with the king and did not like to be apart from him.

Once the king and queen arrived in a city built on high mountain in the middle of the forest. Here their son of wondrous beauty was born. They gave him the name Chlorine. There was great joy, and the celebration lasted three days. But in the midst of that joy, the king received unpleasant news: his neighbors began to bother him; They violate borders and offend peaceful people.

Portrait of Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich as a child. 1787
Levitsky Dmitry Grigorievich. XVIII century

The king took his troops, and they were standing nearby in a camp, and went with his regiments to defend the border. The queen went with the king, leaving the child in the city and house where he happened to be born.
The king assigned a nurse and seven reasonable nannies to the prince, children's education skilled. The king ordered to fortify the city with a wall of wild stone, and to erect towers in the corners according to the ancient custom. They didn’t put cannons on the towers; they didn’t exist then.

The house of Prince Chlorus was very well located. It was famous not for its Siberian marble and porphyry, but for its elaborate surrounding gardens. Behind the chambers there were fruit trees planted. They dug ponds near them and put fish in them. The pavilions were set up according to the tastes of different nations, and the view from them extended far to the fields and valleys lying around.

As the prince began to grow up, the nurse and nannies began to notice that no matter how handsome he was, he was just as smart and lively. Rumors spread everywhere about the beauty, intelligence and good talents of the prince.

The Kirghiz khan, wandering across the wild steppe in tents, heard about this. He was curious to see such a wondrous child and, having seen it, wanted to take it with him to the steppe. He began to invite nannies to visit the prince. The nannies answered with all politeness that they could not do this without the king’s permission, that they did not have the honor of knowing Mr. Khan and the prince to strangers they don't travel.

Khan was not satisfied with the polite answer, he stuck even more than before, as if numb to the test. Having received a firm refusal, he realized that requests would not help, and sent them gifts. The nannies, thanking them, sent the gifts back and told them to say that they had no need for anything.

Khan was stubborn. It occurred to him to dress up in tattered clothes and sit at the garden gate. He pretended to be old and sick and began to beg for alms from those passing by.
That day, the prince was walking in the garden and saw an unfamiliar old man. Chlorine, like a curious child, asked to look at the beggar. The nannies calmed him down and advised him to send alms to the old man. Chlorus wanted to give the money himself, jumped out of the gate, caught his foot on a stone and fell.
The beggar jumped up, grabbed the child by the arms and went down the mountain with him. Here his gilded flowers, trimmed with velvet, were waiting for him. The khan sat down in the dissolution, holding the prince in front of him with one hand, like a chicken by the wing. He waved his other hand in victory and shouted “Hurray” three times. At this voice the nannies came running to the slope, but it was already too late.

The khan brought the prince to his nomadic camp. He assigned an uncle, his best foreman, to look after him. This one took Chlorus in his arms and carried him to a richly decorated tent, covered with Chinese red damask and Persian carpets. He sat the child on a brocade pillow and began to comfort him. But Chlorus cried a lot and regretted that he had run away from the nannies. The foreman began to tell Chlorus fables that the stars had predicted that the prince would live in the steppe, and that he would be better off here than at home.

Seeing that the tears could not be stopped, he began to frighten Chlorus with an unprecedented thing: “Stop crying, otherwise I will turn you into a bat or a kite, and then a wolf or a frog will eat you.” The prince was not fearful and, in the midst of tears, burst out laughing at such absurdity. The foreman, seeing that the child was not crying, ordered the table to be set; the table was set and the food was brought. The prince ate, then they served jam in sugar and various fruits that they had. After dinner, they undressed him and put him to bed.

The next day, early, before daylight, the khan gathered his nobles and told them the following:
- Let it be known to you that I brought with me Prince Chlorus, a child of rare beauty and intelligence. I heard a lot about his talents and wanted to test him.
They bowed to the khan at the nobleman's belt. Some of them, caresses and cowards, praised the khan’s act of taking away a stranger’s child from a neighboring king. They spoke:

“So, Nadezhda Khan, whatever it is in your heart, so be it.”

Those of them who truly loved the khan remained silent. The khan ordered them to express everything frankly and heard unflattering words for himself:
“What you did was wrong, that you took away the son of a neighboring king, and we will not escape trouble if you do not correct your actions.”

Khan replied:
“You always grumble against me,” and he walked past them.
When the prince woke up, the khan ordered him to be brought to him. The child, seeing that they wanted to carry him, said:
- Don’t bother, I know how to walk, I’ll go myself.

Chlorus entered the khan's tent, bowed to everyone: first to the khan, then to those standing to the right and left, after which he stood in front of the khan with such a respectful and decent appearance that he surprised all the Kyrgyz people and the khan himself.
The khan tells him: “Tsarevich Chlor! They say about you that you are a reasonable child. I decided to test you. Find me, perhaps, a strange flower, a rose without thorns, that does not prick. It grows in a protected place called the Menagerie. The foreman will show you the way there. I give you three days.” The prince bowed to the khan, said: “I hear,” and left the wagon.

On the way he met the Khan’s daughter Felitsa. She was married to the Grumpy Sultan: he never laughed and was angry with others for smiling. Hansha was of a cheerful disposition and very amiable. Seeing Chlor, Felitsa said:
- Hello, prince! Are you living healthy? Where do you want to go?
The prince replied that, on the orders of her khan’s father, he was going to look for a rose without thorns, which does not prick. The Khansha marveled that a child was sent to look for such a difficult thing. Having loved the baby in her heart, she decided to go with him, first asking permission from Father Khan.

The strict khan forbade Felitsa to go with the child. She went to the prince and said:
- Do you hear, child! The khan does not order me to go with you. But I will give you good advice. Please don't forget what I tell you.

The prince promised to remember. Felitsa continued:
- When you go looking for a rose without thorns, that doesn’t prick, you will meet different people, idle people, who will try in every possible way to lead you away from the true path.
Some people, very pleasant, will promise you a cheerful life and spending time in countless amusements. Don't believe them, they lie. Their fun is imaginary and is associated with a lot of boredom. Refuse them firmly, and they will leave.

Then you will find flattering and lazy people who will try to distract you from your work with idle talk. But you remember that you must look for a flower, a rose without thorns, that does not prick. I fell in love with you, and therefore I will send my son to meet you, and he will help you find a rose without thorns that does not prick.

Chlorus, after listening to Felitsa’s speech, said:
-Is it so difficult to find that flower?
No,” answered the Khansha, “it is not so extremely difficult for those who are straightforward and firmly in good intentions.”

Chlorine asked:
-Has anyone already found a rose without thorns that doesn’t prick?
“I saw,” said Felitsa, “burghers and peasants, who were no worse than nobles, kings and queens.

The Khansha said goodbye to the Tsarevich.

The sergeant major took the child to carry out the khan’s task - to look for a rose without thorns. He let him through the gate into a reserved place - the great Menagerie, and left him alone.

Then Chlorus saw many roads in front of him: some straight, others crooked, and others confused. The child is standing there, not knowing which way to go.

The prince sees it and a young man hurries to meet him. Chlorus asked him who he was. The young man replied:
I am Reason, son of Felitsa. My mother sent me to go with you to look for a rose without thorns, that does not prick.
The prince, thanking Felits with his heart and lips, took him by the hand and began to inquire about how to find the right path to follow to the goal.

Reason with a cheerful and cheerful look said to him:
Don't be afraid, prince! Let's take the straight road, which not everyone walks, although it is nicer than others.
Why don't people walk on it? - asked the prince.
Because they stop or get lost on other roads,” the young man answered.
Reason showed Chlorus a beautiful path passing in the distance, saying:
Look, prince, this path is called “well-disposed souls of infancy”; It's good, but short.

Along a straight road, holding hands, the child and the young man walked through the forest to a pleasant valley and a river of clear water. Several young people, men and women, were found near her. Some of them were sitting, others were lying on the grass and under the trees. When they saw the prince, they stood up and approached him. One of them, with all courtesy and friendliness, said:

-Let me ask, sir: where are you going? did you come here by accident? and may we have the pleasure of serving you with something? Your appearance fills us with respect and friendship for you, and we are overjoyed to see so many of your brilliant talents.

The prince, remembering Felitsa’s words, smiled and replied:
“I don’t have the honor of knowing you, nor do you know me, and I attribute your words to mere secular politeness, and not to my merits.” I'm going to look for a rose without thorns, that doesn't prick.

Another person entered the conversation:
Your intentions show great talents, but do me a favor, stay with us for at least a few days and take part in our incomparable fun.

Chlorus said that he had a deadline, and he feared the khan’s wrath. They tried to assure him that he needed rest for his health, and that better place you couldn’t find people more diligent than them, and God knows how they asked and persuaded them to stay with them. Finally, men and women, taking each other by the hands, made a circle around Chlorus and his guide, began to dance and jump, and did not let them in any further.
The circle was spinning quickly, but Reason grabbed Chlorus by the arm and ran out of the circle so quickly that those spinning in the circle could not hold them.

Friends, a little tired, went to him. In the upper room, Lazy Murza sat them down on the sofa, and he himself lay down next to them in the middle of down pillows covered with ancient brocade. His household sat down near the wall. Lazy Murza ordered smoking pipes and coffee to be brought. Having heard from friends that they did not smoke tobacco or drink coffee, he ordered the carpets to be sprayed with fragrant perfume. After this, he asked Chlorus about the reason for his coming to the Menagerie.

The prince replied that, on Khan’s orders, he was looking for a rose without thorns that does not prick. Lazy Murza was amazed that at such a young age the prince undertook such work and said:

One of these people stood up and said:
- I myself wanted to get to the flower many times, but boredom overcame me on the way. Instead, I stayed to live with my benefactor Lazy Murza, who waters and feeds me.

Between conversations, Lazy Murza buried his head in the pillow and fell asleep. When the household heard that Lazy-Murza was snoring, they stood up lightly. Some went to dress up and decorate themselves, others went to bed, others began to talk all sorts of idle talk, others grabbed hold of cards and dice. Various internal movements affected people's faces.

When Lazy Murza woke up, everyone gathered around him, and a table with fruit was brought into the room. The lazy Murza remained among the down pillows and from there began to treat the prince, who very diligently took note of everything that was done there.
Chlorus wanted to taste the treats of Lazy Murza, but the guide Reason tugged him lightly by the sleeve. The bunch of beautiful grapes that the prince was holding in his hands scattered on the floor. He, having come to his senses, immediately stood up, and both walked out of the choir of Lazy-Murza.

Not far from the direct road they saw a peasant's house and several acres of highly fertilized land. On that land all kinds of grain were sown, such as rye, oats, barley, buckwheat, etc.; some kept up, others just emerged from the ground. Further away we saw meadows where sheep, cows and horses grazed. They found the owner with a watering can in his hands: he was watering the cucumbers and cabbage his wife had planted. The children were busy elsewhere: they were picking unusable grass from vegetables.

Reason said: “God help, good people" They answered: “Thank you, barichi.”
They bowed to the Tsarevich as if he were a stranger, but they cordially asked Reason: “Please visit our home. Your mother, Khansha, favors us, visits us and does not leave us.”

Reason agreed, and he and Chlorus entered the courtyard. In the middle of the yard stood an old and tall oak tree. Underneath there is a wide, cleanly scrubbed bench, and in front of the bench there is a table. The guests sat down on the bench. The hostess and daughter-in-law spread a tablecloth on the table and placed on the table a bowl of curdled milk, another with scrambled eggs, a dish of hot pancakes and soft-boiled eggs, and in the middle a good ham. They put sieve bread on the table and placed a jug of milk next to each one. And after the meal, instead of snacks, they brought honeycombs and fresh cucumbers and cranberries with honey.
The owner asked: “Please, eat.”

The travelers were hungry and did not disdain anything. Meanwhile, the owner and mistress told them how they lived healthily, cheerfully and calmly, and in every pleasure according to their condition. They spend their time in peasant work, overcoming every need and disadvantage through hard work.

After dinner, felt felt was spread out on the same bench. Chlorine and Reason put their caps on them. The hostess brought everyone a pillow with a white pillowcase. We went to bed and fell asleep soundly because we were tired. In the morning we got up at dawn. They thanked the owner, who did not want to take anything from them for an overnight stay, and went on their way.

Having walked about half a mile, we heard from a distance that they were playing bagpipes. Chlorus decided to come closer, but Reason said that bagpipes would lead them away from the path. Curious Chlorus followed the sound of bagpipes and found himself near drunken, staggering people, performing outrageous pranks. He got scared and rushed into Reason's arms. He carried it to the straight road.

Having passed through the grove, the friends saw a steep elevation. Reason said to the prince: “Here grows a rose without thorns, that does not prick.” Here Chlorus stopped. He felt the heat of the sun and fatigue. I started to get bored and curse the road. He said that there was no end to that road, how long would this continue and whether it was impossible to go along a different road. Reason answered that it was leading him along the nearest path. And he also said:
– Patience alone overcomes labor.
The prince said with displeasure:
“Perhaps I’ll find the way myself,” and, waving his hand, he doubled his pace and moved away from the guide.

Reason remained behind and followed him silently with a quiet step. The child wandered into the market, a place where no one looked at him, for it was a trading day, and all the people were busy trading or bartering. The prince walked in the midst of the noise of trade, walked, got lost between the carts and began to cry.
A man walked past, and seeing that the child was crying, he said to him:
“Stop shouting, puppy, there’s enough noise here without you.”
At that very time Reason approached him. The prince complained about the man who called him a puppy.
Reason, without saying a word, led Chlorus back onto the straight road. The prince asked the conductor why he did not talk to him as before. Reason said:
“You don’t ask my advice, you yourself wandered into an indecent place, so don’t be angry that you found people or speeches that are not according to your thoughts.”

Then they saw that a man was coming towards them, not young, but of a pleasant appearance, surrounded by many young men. Chlorus, always curious about everything, asked one of them about the man, who he was. The young man said:
- This man is our teacher; We’ve finished studying, we’re going for a walk; where are you going?
- We are looking for a rose without thorns, that does not prick.
“I heard,” said the young man, “the interpretation of a rose without thorns, which does not prick, from our teacher: this flower means nothing more than virtue.” Others think to reach it by oblique roads, but only a straight road leads to it. Happy is the one who overcomes all the difficulties of the path with sincere firmness. There's a mountain in sight. The rose that does not prick grows on it, but the road is steep and rocky.

Chlor and his guide went straight to the mountain and found a narrow and rocky path along which they walked with difficulty. They came across an old man and an old woman in white robes of equally respectable appearance. The name of the first is Honesty, and the other is Truth. They handed their staffs to their friends and said: “Lean on them, you won’t stumble.”

The friends reached the foot of the mountain, leaning on those staves. Then they were forced to climb onto a branch from the path, from branch to branch, and so they reached the top of the mountain. Here they found a rose without thorns that does not prick. As soon as they had time to remove it from the bush, they started playing trumpets and kettledrums in a nearby temple. And the rumor spread everywhere that Prince Chlorus, in his youth, had found a rose without thorns that did not prick.

The prince hurried with the flower to the khan. The Khan sent Chlorus and the flower to the king. The king was so happy about the arrival of the prince and his successes that he forgot all the melancholy and sadness.

From then on, the Tsar and the Tsarina, and all the people, loved the Tsarevich more and more hour by hour, because hour by hour he became stronger in virtue.

This is where the fairy tale ends, and whoever knows more will tell another.