“The Romance of the Fox” is the largest monument of urban medieval literature, which arose in France, but then became widespread in all European countries. This is an epic about animals, depicting the tricks of the cunning Fox-Renard, from whom all the other animals suffer - the wolf Isengrim, the bear Brun, the cat Tiber, the rooster Chanticleer, etc., including the king of animals himself - the lion Noble. The main theme of the novel is the struggle between the cunning, resourceful Renard and the rude and stupid Isengrim. Renard robs his opponent, brings him under blows, mocks him in every possible way, and rapes his wife. In form, “The Romance of the Fox” is a huge cyclic poem consisting of thirty parts. It took shape over three quarters of a century, from the end of the 12th to the middle of the 13th century, and at least ten poets took part in its creation.
The author of the first poem about the Fox was a certain Pierre de Saint-Cloud. Around 1175 he wrote a story in eight-syllable verse about the adventures of the Fox and his antagonists. Its plot was still quite traditional and included folklore motives, known among many European peoples (including the Russians): Renard lures cheese from a crow with flattery, then lies down on the road in front of a cart of fish and pretends to be dead. Seduced by the fur, the peasants take it into their sleigh, and Renard, having eaten plenty of fish and stole a fair amount of eels, runs away.
The hungry wolf Isengrim begs him for fish, the treacherous fox goes with him to the river and forces him to lower his tail into the hole. By morning, the tail freezes into the ice, the peasants appear, and Isengrim receives a good beating. Finally, Renard cunningly enters Isengrim's house and rapes his wife Gryzenta.
The success of Pierre Saint-Cloud's poem was enormous. The interest shown by the people in his character is eloquently evidenced by the fact that new stories immediately appeared about his adventures. Since in the first poem all the main adventures of the sly fox, known from fairy tales and fables, were exhausted, in order to continue the story it was necessary to transfer the heroes of the poem to a new social environment. Important step to the further formation of the image of Renard was made by the unknown author of the poem, which appeared around 1178 (due to its importance for the entire novel, modern researchers call this poem the 1st “branch” and open modern editions of the “Roman of the Fox” to it, although the events described in it continue the poem by Pierre Saint-Cloud). It was here that the idea was brilliantly realized to turn the poem about the Fox into a comic, parodic parallel to the chivalric romance, which was then experiencing a period of rapid flowering. In fact, the book about the Fox is also a “novel”, that is, a story about adventures, including knightly and love ones, but their participants are not people, but animals, and they do not behave like sophisticated courtly knights and their ladies, but as notorious scoundrels and swindlers, or as stupid simpletons. There is no longer an attempt to reproduce the true habits of animals, their real relationships. The action is transferred to a certain imaginary kingdom of animals, reminiscent of the feudal reality of the 12th century. At the same time, the animal mask does not hide, but reveals human shortcomings. All characters- a complex combination of the properties of real animals with some human traits.
The supreme ruler of the kingdom is the lion Noble. His image is quite comparable to such a popular character as King Arthur. Noble is wise, fair and calm. He does not like fuss and haste, although sometimes he can flare up and rein in a troublemaker. He strives to end everything peacefully, to calm everyone down, to put an end to hostility. The Fox's desperate mischief amuses him, and he patronizes him in his own way. Only the extreme impudence and treachery of Renard force the lion to resort to exceptional measures. The main characters of the novel are representatives of different classes: the huge, overweight and stubborn bear Bren - a large feudal lord; an angry and rude, often hungry wolf prowling in search of prey Isengrim is a knight of medium or small caliber; chickens, hares, snails - common people. The figure of Renard himself is complex and far from uniform throughout the novel. Initially, Renard is a typical robber and rapist - without a doubt a knight. But his appearance was supplemented by features characteristic of a city dweller: efficiency, resourcefulness, simplicity of language and manners, naked practicality of behavior. This is a constant troublemaker, driven by an innate, uncontrollable mischief, giving him unique folk features. His habitat is not an ordinary hole, but the well-fortified Malpertu Castle, where he feels completely safe. Renard's antics reveal his courage and resourcefulness. He never gets lost and finds a way out of any trouble. Even if he does not always defeat his opponents, he certainly gets away with it. At the same time, he discovers the stupidity, greed, and envy of other animals, first of all, of course, the wolf Isengrim.
The first “branch” begins with Isengrim bringing a complaint against Renard to Noble. He says:
“I, sir, am on Fox with a petition!
Fornication with a defenseless woman
My Gnawed Whoremonger
In Malperta, in his hole,
He did it: he squeezed his wife into a corner,
He raped me, and then sprayed him,
The wolf cubs peed wetly;
His pleasures make me bitter..."
However, Leo is not inclined to dramatize the situation. He says:
“Ah, Isengrin, no need for noise.
What will you achieve, sullenly
Remembering your shame?
King or Count, whose court is magnificent,
They are subject to the same troubles.
We know your shame today.
In fact, the harm is negligible,
There is no point in grieving and being angry.
The case is so invisible
That won’t give rise to gossip.”
A trial is convened, to which the accused does not appear. The opinions of the judges differ, and they are ready to acquit Renard, when suddenly a funeral procession appears: the rooster Chauntecleer and three hens are carrying the corpse of their sister, whom Renard had just strangled, on a funeral chariot. Renard is being called to account. He evades for a long time, and finally appears in court, where he feigns repentance and asks to be given the opportunity to atone for his sins. He is shown this leniency. Dressed up as a pilgrim, he sets off on his journey, but at the very first crossroads he grabs a hare running past and mocks the king. The rescued hare tells Noble everything, and Renard is chased. He manages to escape home, and then a siege of Renard's castle is organized.
The turmoil lasts for six months,
And the fox is harmed like peas;
Although there was not an hour in the day,
If only the troops would not go to the wall.
Renard continues to mock his opponents. One day, when they were very tired and fell asleep, he penetrates their camp and ties everyone to the trees. Not satisfied with this, he sneaks into bed with the queen, who, due to a quarrel with Noble, slept separately. Therefore, she does not immediately wake up from sleep, “deciding that it is her husband who is busy.” But in the end, the fox's ardor brings her out of her slumber. The lioness raises a heart-rending cry (however, as they show further events, this happened more out of surprise than out of hostility towards Renard).
And her cry was so exhausted,
That the camp suddenly became hectic:
Seeing everything, as if in courage
The red fox climbed towards their mistress
And he had fun with her,
Outraged; they are not amused.
A terrible commotion begins, as the tails and paws of the besieged are entangled in ropes. Finally, the animals are freed by a snail that Renard forgot to tie up. They seize the fox, give him a speedy trial, and prepare to hang him. But then Renard’s wife appears in front of Noble with a rich ransom.
Ser Lord looks: richly
In packs of silver and gold.
He did not expect such a catch...
Renard is granted forgiveness. Of course, he doesn’t even think about improving. Before the royal troops had time to leave Malpertu, they were met by a funeral procession - they were carrying to bury a mouse strangled by a fox. Leo angrily reverses his decision. However, it's too late! – Renard had already managed to escape. In search of food, he sneaks into the dyer's house, falls into a vat of paint and is painted in yellow. Later short time Renard meets Isengrim. The stupid wolf does not recognize the yellow beast as his enemy and bitterly complains about the insults that the fox inflicted on him. Meanwhile, Renard pretends to be an English juggler and plays his role with unusual skill. Enchanted by him, Isengrim is ready to present the juggler to the court. But bad luck - it turns out that his viella (viola) was stolen. How will he amuse the king without his instrument? To improve the situation, the wolf decides to climb into the house of one villager and steal his viella. This enterprise ends with Isengrim falling into the mouth of an evil dog, who castrates him in a fight. Meanwhile, Renard returns home. And just in time! His wife, believing that he was dead, was ready to get married.
One of the next branches talks about Noble's illness. Courtiers gather at the sick king's bedside, and each one brings a complaint about Renard's latest trick. The main complainants, as usual, are the wolf Isengrim and the deer. The king is outraged and is ready to deal harshly with the scoundrel at the first opportunity. Meanwhile, Renard, having heard about Noble's illness, robs the pilgrim, who was carrying medicinal herbs with him, and comes to the palace. The courtiers are petrified by such insolence, but Renard, without embarrassment, turns to the king with an acquittal speech, in which the insolence is flavored with a fair amount of flattery. Noble agrees to accept medical help from Renard. The sly fox announces:
“Sir, let us begin the procedure,
Please deliver the wolf skin,
Including your head, to me -
And everyone in your family will say,
What do I know about science?
And you will get rid of the torment.”
Noble takes his words at face value and asks Isengrim as if it were a minor favor:
“...My faithful friend,
Don't refuse services
I need to alleviate the illness."
The unfortunate wolf is skinned, and he runs away, barely alive. But that's not enough! Renard demands a tendon from the trunk of a deer's antlers and a piece of skin from its back. The courtiers fall on the poor fellow, break his horns, cut his back. Thus, the impudent one suddenly acquires terrible power. Everyone fawns over him and rushes to fulfill his every desire. Treatment begins. Renard puts a wolf skin on the king and treats him indiscriminately with all the herbs he has. From such treatment, Noble almost gives his soul to God, but then, oddly enough, he is cured. As a result, Renard becomes his favorite minion.
One of the next “branches” develops the theme of Renard’s favoritism. The king goes on a campaign against the scorpion pagans and entrusts the fox to rule the country in his absence. Before Noble can leave the palace, Renard seduces the queen. On his orders, the messenger brings a false letter with news of the death of the lion. The court flatterers and sycophants immediately proclaim Renard the new sovereign. He marries a lioness and is ready to ascend the throne, but Noble’s return from the campaign puts an end to this adventure.
The largest monument of urban literature that arose in France is very close to fabliau in its style and ideological content - "Novel about L And se" . This is an epic about animals, depicting the tricks of the cunning Fox-Renard, from which all other animals suffer - the wolf Isengrim, the bear Brun, the cat Tiber, the rooster Chanticleer, etc., not excluding the king of animals himself - the lion Noble.
This huge cyclical poem, consisting of thirty parts (or “branches”), was composed over three quarters of a century, from the end of the 12th to the middle of the 13th century, and no less than ten authors took part in its creation. After several of the oldest “branches” of the novel arose independently of one another, an editor appeared who cycled all this material, arranging the “branches” in a certain order and introducing some coordination into them. After this, the material continued to grow, but new authors took into account what had been written before them. Such a series of layers turned out to be possible because the basis of the work is not a solid and complete plot, but an unlimited number of episodes, united only by the commonality of the main characters and the unity of the main situation.
It is quite natural that, ideologically and stylistically, there is some inconsistency within the cycle. The degree of sharpness of satire and its direction vary from one “branch” to another. In some “branches” animals become completely like people: they ride horses, storm castles with the help of siege engines, etc., in others they retain their animal appearance.
The direct source of the “Roman of the Fox” was tales about animals that originated in the era of pre-class society and totemistic ideas. Found among primitive peoples of all parts of the world, they still exist today as relics of a very distant era among most peoples of modern Europe. So, for example, Russian fairy tales about the theft of a fish by a fox, pretending to be dead, from a passing man’s cart, or about her advice to a wolf to catch fish in an ice hole in winter by dipping his tail into it, exactly correspond to some episodes of the French novel. There is no doubt that in France, since ancient times, there have been tales of this kind, which existed among the people for many centuries before being processed in writing. However, this folklore source was joined by another, book source - medieval adaptations of Greek and Roman fables; from it, for example, the image of the king of animals - the lion, which is absent in the zoological fairy tales of European peoples, was transferred to the "Roman of the Fox".
The main theme of the novel, running through almost all its branches, is the struggle of the cunning, resourceful Renard with the rude and stupid Isengrim. Renard robs his opponent, brings him under blows, mocks him in every possible way, and rapes his wife. Isengrim brings Noble a complaint against Renard. A court is convened, to which the accused wisely does not appear. The opinions of the judges differ, and they are ready to acquit Renard, when suddenly a funeral procession appears: the rooster Chauntecleer and three hens are carrying the corpse of their sister, whom Renard had just strangled, on a funeral chariot. Renard is being called to account. He evades for a long time, and finally appears in court, where he pretends to repent and asks to be given the opportunity to atone for his sins. He is shown this leniency. Dressed up as a pilgrim, he sets off on his journey, but at the very first crossroads he grabs a hare running past and mocks the king. The rescued hare tells Noble everything, and Renard is chased. He manages to escape home, and then a siege of his castle is organized. Renard continues to mock his opponents. One day, when they, very tired, fell asleep, he penetrated into their camp and tied them all to trees. The awakened animals are freed by a snail that Renard forgot to tie up. In the end, Renard's castle is taken, but amid the general confusion he manages to escape.
The motif of Renard's trial, with all sorts of variations, is repeated several times in different branches. One of them says that Renard nevertheless had to agree to a legal duel with Isengrim. Renard was defeated, and they wanted to hang him, but the monks begged him for mercy, so that Renard would go to a monastery and atone for his sins there. Renard pretends to be a righteous man in the monastery, but at night he cleverly steals chickens. Convicted of this and driven out of the monastery, he manages to gain Noble's confidence again and become his favorite.
In The Romance of the Fox, as in the fabliaux, it is necessary to distinguish between satire and humor. When it appeared, the novel did not pursue satirical goals. The dressing up of people in animal guise or, conversely, the transference of human feelings and morals onto animals was amusing as a comic masquerade, at times turning into a cheerful parody of human society as a whole, without emphasizing any specific class features. At the same time, the opportunity opened up to give a naked and reduced image of human life, so characteristic of the aspirations of urban literature, with abundant moral-descriptive and everyday elements, in a didactic-allegorical form. But starting approximately from the middle of the novel, the social-satirical element appears more and more clearly. The last branches of the novel are accusatory in nature.
This change corresponds to the growth in the 13th century. consciousness of the townspeople, who are increasingly beginning to use literature as a means of struggle against the feudal elite of society.
The direction of satire is determined by the characters and roles of the main characters in the novel. The class affiliation of some of them is given directly: for example, King Noble, the court preacher the donkey Baudouin, the drummer of the royal army, the rooster Chanticleer, etc. In other cases, deciphering does not present much difficulty: the huge, heavy and unyielding bear Brun is a large feudal lord; an angry and rude, often hungry wolf prowling in search of prey Isengrim is a knight of medium or small caliber; chickens, hares, snails, etc. - common people.
The most complex figure is Renard himself, who is far from uniform throughout the novel. Initially, Renard, as a typical robber and rapist, is without a doubt a knight. But his appearance was early joined by features characteristic of a city dweller: efficiency and resourcefulness, as well as the simplicity of his language and manners, the naked practicality of his entire behavior. It is significant that the moral assessment of his personality is twofold. If in his clashes with purebred feudal lords - Noble, Isengrim, etc. - the sympathies of the storytellers are undoubtedly on his side, since the triumph of intelligence over brute force is glorified here, then this same Renard is exposed as a low predator in those cases when he robs and strangles the poor. It should be noted, however, that these latter, as in fabliau, are by no means always represented as helpless victims. They often themselves show energy and intelligence, allowing them to triumph over the rapist. The rooster, which Renard carries away in his teeth, teaches him to shout to the pursuing peasants: “I dragged him away in spite of you!” Renard opens his mouth to shout this, and the rooster escapes. The cat, having found sausage on the road with Renard, jumps up with it onto a roadside cross and, alone, eats the pleasant prey in front of Renard’s eyes. Even a tiny snail gets the better of Renard. With all this, folk wisdom is opposed to both the feudal-knightly principle and the morality of the townspeople.
TO mid-XIII V. the main part of “The Romance of the Fox” was completed. However, for a long time, new additions and variations on this theme continued to appear in France, sometimes presenting a very original and fresh interpretation of the plot. This is the poem "Coronation of the Fox" , which arose in Flanders around 1270 in connection with the extraordinary development around this time of monastic orders that sought to seize the leadership of the entire political and social life France. Renard's social characteristics change radically.
Renard, on the advice of his wife, decides to reach the throne himself. To do this, he enters a French monastery, where he teaches the monks his “fox cunning.” Having learned that Noble has fallen ill, Renard appears to him as a confessor and instills in him the idea of bequeathing the throne not to the strongest, but to the most cunning: such, they say, is the spirit of the times. When, after Noble’s death, his will is opened, Renard refuses the kingdom for a long time, but in the end he agrees. Renard rules skillfully and wisely: he patronizes the rich and oppresses the poor, observing, however, moderation so as not to incite the people too much against him. Refusing the gifts they bring him, he at the same time orders his wife to accept them from the back porch. The fame of Renard reaches Rome, and the pope himself wants to learn from him the art of making a priest out of a ram, a monk out of a slacker, and a bishop out of a scoundrel.
Thus, throughout the long development of the epic, Renard consistently takes on the guise of various social forces that oppressed the masses.
The French Romance of the Fox became known in whole or in part in almost all European countries and was translated into Dutch, Italian, English, German and Scandinavian languages. The famous "Reinecke the Fox" by Goethe .
Another equally major creation of urban literature in France is "The Romance of Rose" This is a very complex work. The first part of the novel, which he managed to write in the 30s of the 13th century. Guillaume de Lorris , designed in courtly tones. Forty years later, Guillaume’s work was continued and completed by JeandeMaine, but in a diametrically opposite spirit.
Guillaume tells a love story that is sublime and tender, although not without an element of sensuality. When the poet was twenty years old, he once dreamed that, while walking along the river bank, he suddenly found himself in a garden and saw a Rose of extraordinary beauty there. While he was admiring her, Cupid pierced his heart with an arrow, and the young man fell passionately in love with the Rose, which he dreams of plucking. Hello, he undertakes to help him in this matter, but they are opposed by Refusal, Malice, Shame, Fear. Thanks to their efforts, the first attack was repulsed. Then Hello calls on new allies - Generosity and Compassion. But Evil Tongue also replenishes the ranks of its army with Envy, Dejection, Hypocrisy, etc. A series of skirmishes occur, as a result of which the attackers are defeated. Hello is imprisoned in a tower under the supervision of an evil old woman, and the Young Man falls into complete despair. Here Guillaume de Lorris's story ends.
Like the shape V And Denia , in which the narrative is clothed, and allegorism The images are drawn from the religious poetry of the era. IN in this case However, both are only a frame for the theory of refined love developed by Guiolm, and Ovid, the treatise of Andrei Capellan and the novels of Chrétien de Troyes served as his main sources and models. The author showed a certain amount of observation, ability for psychological analysis, and elegance of turns of thought and language. But still, although his work received high praise in the next two centuries, it was decisively surpassed second part of the novel , written Jean de Men , who showed in her outstanding education, and most importantly, courage of thought.
In terms of the plot and its allegorical shell, Jean de Maine follows completely in the footsteps of his predecessor. Continuing the story where Guillaume de Lorris left off, he says that Reason unsuccessfully convinces the Youth to give up love. A Friend appears, giving the Young Man good advice. Nor do Nature’s instructions lead to the goal. Finally, Cupid himself intervenes in the matter: the enemies are defeated, the Young Man plucks the Rose and wakes up.
In this huge second part of the novel (approximately 18,000 verses), the main value is the long interpolated arguments, put into the mouth of Reason and Nature and having the character of independent didactic poems. Overall, they form a kind of encyclopedia of free thought, which has prompted some researchers to call Jean de Maine the “Voltaire of the Middle Ages.” The poet ridicules the doctrine of refined love, exposing the true motives of women who most strive for profit. We must give them, he says, complete freedom, because no matter how you treat them, they will always find a way to deceive their husbands. In general, you should not become too attached to one woman and be especially generous with her, because this is contrary to nature, which “created everyone for everyone and everyone for everyone.” Jean de Maine sighs about the golden age, when there was no power of some people over others, no property, no marriage and the jealousy associated with it, and free love reigned. All evil came from Jason, who obtained the Golden Fleece: since then, people have had a passion for enrichment, and they have established royal power to consolidate property inequality. Meanwhile, all people are equal by nature. It is foolish, for example, to think that comets by their appearance foreshadow the death of kings, for, as Nature declares, kings are no different from the last poor: “I create them all alike, as is seen at their birth.” She adds: “There are no vile people except by their vices, and nobility depends on kind heart, without which the family nobility is worth nothing.” Learned people are nobler than kings and princes, because they are able to judge every thing correctly and are able to distinguish between good and evil.
Nature and Reason for Jean de Maine are the basic principles of all things and the highest criteria of human judgment. We must follow nature in everything. Vices are bad because they shorten a person’s life, and life is the first law of nature. On behalf of Reason and Nature, the poet exposes all kinds of superstitions, offering instead scientific explanations for all phenomena. He laughs at the belief that storms are caused evil spirits that some women are witches with the ability to fly through the air. He explains a number of visual illusions that seem miraculous to completely natural optical causes.
Painting a picture of human society, Jean de Maine attacks all kinds of stupidity and violence. He has a particularly strong hatred for the monks of the so-called “mendicant” orders, exposing their obscurantism with the expressively introduced figure of Hypocrisy.
Jean de Maine is not able to free himself from scholastic terms and forms of thinking, but within this framework he accommodates extremely progressive ideas that far exceed the general level of consciousness of his time. In particular, by his use of ancient authors, from whom he takes not only individual maxims, but also general, fundamental thoughts, he is a distant predecessor of the humanists. In natural philosophy, Jean de Maine follows mainly Aristotle, in moral philosophy - Plato. With his doctrine of the sovereignty of nature, he anticipates the ideas of Rabelais.
) is a huge cyclic poem consisting of thirty parts (or “branches”). It was compiled in France over three quarters of a century, from the end of the 12th to the middle of the 13th century, and at least ten authors took part in its creation. After several of the oldest “branches” of the novel arose independently of one another, an editor appeared who cycled all this material, arranging the “branches” in a certain order and introducing some consistency into them.
Reinecke the fox. Cartoon
And then the material continued to be added. Such a series of layers turned out to be possible because the basis of the work is not a solid, complete plot, but a series of episodes united only by the commonality of the main characters. It is quite natural that, ideologically and stylistically, there is some inconsistency within the cycle. The degree of sharpness of satire and its direction vary from one “branch” to another. In some “branches,” animals become completely like people: they ride horses, storm castles with the help of siege engines, etc., in others, they retain their animal appearance.
The direct source of “The Romance of the Fox” was tales about animals that originated in ancient times. Found among primitive peoples of all parts of the world, they still exist today. So, for example, Russian fairy tales about the theft of a fish by a fox, pretending to be dead, from a passing man’s cart, or about her advice to a wolf to catch fish in an ice hole in winter by dipping his tail into it, exactly correspond to some episodes of the French novel. There is no doubt that in France, since ancient times, there have been tales of this kind that existed among the people for many centuries before being processed in writing. However, to this folklore source another one joined, bookish - medieval adaptations of Greek and Roman fables; from it, for example, the image of the king of beasts, the lion, passed into the “Roman about the Fox.”
The basis of the “Roman about the Fox” (Roman de Renart), which was compiled by a number of authors over almost a century and a half (XII-XIII centuries), are folk tales about animals that have existed among European peoples since ancient times. From about the middle of the 12th century. these tales began to coalesce into a vast epic cycle, as evidenced by the German retelling by Henry the Hypocrite (c. 1180). At the same time, the authors of the novel also used various book sources dating back to the Greco-Roman fable tradition. This is indicated at least by the presence in the novel of an exotic figure of the king of beasts, a lion, which is absent in European folk tales about animals. Back in the 9th-10th centuries. learned poets showed interest in animal epics. 19th century refers to the Latin “Fable of the Lion and the Fox,” which develops a plot from Aesop (see the section “Latin Literature”). The Latin poem “The Flight of the Prisoner” (10th century) is also associated with Aesop, which tells how a cunning fox cured a lion with the help of a skin torn from a wolf. We encounter a reflection of local folk tales in the Latin poem “Isengrim” (circa 1150).
The rise of urban culture in the XII-XIII centuries. created favorable conditions for further development animal epic. Around the figure of a clever fox (in many ways akin to the heroes of Fabliau and Schwank), numerous episodes are grouped in which the life of the then medieval Europe. This is how the French “Romance of the Fox” arises, consisting of twenty-six episodes, or “branches”. The main theme of the novel is the successful fight between the fox Renard, who personifies resourcefulness, dexterity and cunning, with the stupid, bloodthirsty wolf Isengrin. The novel is replete with vivid everyday details. Its action takes place either at the royal court, then in a monastery, or in a knight's castle. As events develop in the novel, satirical motifs begin to sound more and more loudly. The authors of Renard, expressing the interests of the rising third estate, attack mainly feudal-clerical circles. They mock various medieval prejudices and denounce the feudal order as a kingdom of brutal violence and arbitrariness. Their sympathies are entirely on the side of the smart, resourceful fox, triumphant over large predators. When Renard himself turns into a predator, when he encroaches on the life and property of the “lesser brethren” (chickens, tits, hares, etc.), then luck often deserts him. A proven cunning man gets into trouble. The innate ingenuity and energy of some peaceful tit helps her escape the jaws of the crafty Renard. This clearly reveals the underlying folk wisdom, condemning the greed and bloodthirstiness of big gentlemen, no matter what disguises they hide behind.
The novel was a huge success. It inspired a number of imitations. Not only laymen, but also clergy read to them. No wonder the cleric Gautier de Coincy ( beginning of XIII c.) complained that the monks read fables about Renard more readily than the Bible. In the 15th century In Germany, a German version of the animal epic poem “Reinecke the Fox” arose, later processed by Goethe (1793).
INTRODUCTION
You, sir, have heard more than once from us storytellers the story of how Paris kidnapped Helen,
But he was punished for treason.
You have often heard from us The sad, touching tale About the glorious knight Tristan And about his mortal wound. Today I will start for you a funny story about the war. That lasted hundreds of years (there is still no end to it).
Renard and the wolf led her,
And Other animals could not reconcile them. The fox was known as an excellent rogue. Yes, and He was really cunning, what to hide, And he was used to defeating the wolf not with force, but with his mind.
I will tell you a lot of different stories later, but now let me amuse you with the first story. I'm ready to start it without unnecessary words...
RENARD AND TITAME
Titmouse, hatching chicks,
She sat in the hollow and was fresh and cheerful in the morning.
Renard ran along the path and, seeing a bird, shouted: “Hello to you, my godmother! I haven't seen you for a long time. Come down, let me hug you!” “Why, Renard? It’s time to know that you have no faith,” the titmouse said in response.
You did so much harm to everyone that I would surely be a fool if I believed your kind words. No, you can't deceive me,
So continue your
path!"
“Have mercy! - exclaimed
fox.-
Don’t be afraid and go downstairs, After all, I have always been your friend, Isn’t it?.. Yes! At all
forgot
Tell you the news! Therefore, You must be distrustful of my character... With the lion, our Great King,
I recently made peace.
Didn't Nobody tell you about this? Not expected.
So listen. I gave
%CucnobkC tcliouf JcrtCct auotttuurteituMf trnC mC oturftrou їсшж Kti ож Ulmoutticttnttmc
The Lion King and his vassals. From the manuscript of “The Romance of the Fox” of the 12th century.
Recently I took an oath to keep peace, To eliminate Enmity between animals forever. If I break my oath, then let Noble, the king, judge me
beasts, by his Supreme power." Laughing, the titmouse says: “To be honest, your whole appearance will inspire confidence in anyone,
Yes, I don’t understand why I should start peace with you, - Just to kiss you?..” “Yes, I see, I have no faith;
I've done a lot of trouble -
Renard said, looking down.
But I've changed since then
How I received absolution And concluded a great peace... Come down, my godfather,
I'll close my eyes
So that you are completely convinced,
That you can trust me now.” “Well, I agree, hurry up and close your eyes more tightly!” "Please!" - answered the fox. Then the titmouse flew down like a stone. With a twig She lightly touched the hair of Renard's mustache and easily flew high again. (Now we see who is more cunning,
But then listen quickly.)
Renard opened his mouth to enjoy the bird
to his heart's content, Yes, he missed. "Like this
once! -
‘Noble is the king of beasts, a lion.
12 i-shv
A voice rang out. “You just swore that you would protect the world. You decided... Why lie?
Why?..” Renard decided
to cheat, And so he began to speak:
“Yes, I wanted to scare you,
Why, godmother, should I lie? Come down! This time I won’t scare you anymore.”
“Well, I agree!” - And
The bird flew down headlong, not allowing Renard to accurately calculate the Strike, and immediately flew up again and sat on a twig.
And again the fox couldn’t grab her, he just fell
revealed, But again he was cunningly deceived. “Believe me, my godfather
Renard,” he heard, “and the heat of hell would now engulf me!..” “Kuma, I was joking again!
How cowardly you are, my God!
Yes, I swear to you on my head,
That I didn’t even have any thoughts of harming you; I only dared to scare you, and my guilt, by God, is not terrible.
In the name of God I pray to you:
Forgive my joke!
But the cunning bird had a feeling that the fox was boring her, that she was sleeping with her beak buried in the fluff.
Then suddenly a hunting horn announced the hour of the hunt,
And immediately a whistle, a dog's bark, a stomp, a cry were heard in the forest... The deceiver fox instantly
wilted,
Tuck your tail between your legs and quickly
I decided to disappear between the branches.
Then the bird shouted to him:
“Have you decided to go? Why?
Take your time, I’ll kiss you for the third time!..”
But the fox was cunning and smart And he knew that he had to hide. I lied, what’s there to object to, now I just want to run away!
“You, dear godfather, cannot be fooled, you are so cunning, smart, and yet the ancestors of my great-grandfathers saw through the fox mind; They could not be deceived,
As do you to me. The sinful path has led you, you see, to
The wolf happened to throw a box of holy gifts into the moat Pop,
When he trudged half drunk To his monastery from the peasants.
Along that familiar path, Renard the Trickster Fox ran home.
And here in the ditch, among the branches and last year’s acorns,
He saw that box.
Renard sniffed it from all sides, licked it once or twice, gently picked it with his paw and finally opened it. Inside, wrapped three times in a white napkin with a cross, lay something. The fox wagged its tail in impatience,
He quickly unwrapped the napkin and saw the wafers in it.
*Communion wafers.
(Why did the priest carry them with him? The secret is for us.) Renard immediately
That now you yourself need to be saved. For lying, in the end you will disappear!
Take your time, godfather, now I will fly to you for the third time!” ...Renard ran with his tail between his legs, afraid to rise to his full height. “No,” he said as he walked, “Goodbye!” I'll be heading home. Tired. I want to fall asleep..." "Well, your lordship,
good journey Since it became scary!..” Into the forest
thick
Renard now ran like an arrow, hearing ridicule behind him.
PRIEST
I ate a good hundred at once,
And I wrapped up what was left,
He closed the casket, with difficulty pulled Him up and carried Him home on his back. But in the silence there was a noise. Across
Without understanding the path, Primo climbed that Isengrin was his brother; he was known as a terrible Glutton, and, as they say, he was stupid. "What's up?" - “Oh, damn everyone,”
Primo in response - all day
didn't eat! Cursed forest! I’ve been wandering around since morning and haven’t found anything!”
“But would you like to eat the Holy Gifts? I wanted to take them to my home, but well, take them if you want.
Will you take it?
“Thank you, godfather, thank you,
Brother!" - Primo was incredibly happy.
He gobbled it all up at once. “So far, at least I’ve killed a worm.” “Come on, Primo, you and I will go to the monastery now. I saw a hole in the wall there
Through it we will penetrate into God's temple; the monks always have something to drink and eat.” Primo was happy. "ABOUT,
let's go! - He exclaimed. - With you
together
Even straight into the inferno, to hell with hell, I’ll be glad to go and eat:
You won’t be lost anywhere!..”
It was already completely dark, yet Renard chose a roundabout path, so as not to accidentally run into peasants somewhere.
Near the church, a fox and a wolf climbed into the weeds and began to wait and watch from behind the leaves...
The door creaked...
Lock
He squealed like a spring and
fell silent... The priest put the key under the floor and walked, crossing himself, towards the village. The path to the church was now open.
Someone really made an excellent hole in the wall. The fox must have been here more than once: the wolf was amazed at how well he knew everything here.
They climbed onto the altar
And here Primo saw a stall exactly like the one that was
in the ditch
Just more. “Let me rip the lock off him,” said Primo. I could use these wafers
By God, eat at least five pounds!” “Fool, did you think the priests here only have unleavened dough?
Oh you!.. Why the hell do they need it! Hurry up and tear down the lock, weirdo! Pull harder! Well! Like this..." "Wow! - Primo cried.
Well, brother, I see there’s a whole warehouse here! Pop, you know, a thrifty guy!” “Yes, the old man loves to eat heartily! For the laity, these round dough balls are just for the soul,
But people are greedy for them,
And that is why the income of the church is growing. Fools and fools!
Priests, gluttons and scoundrels, always guide gullible peasants into churches without difficulty.”
And now the bread and ham have already been taken out of the chest, a hefty ham, wine...
And so that it is not dark,
Renard removed the lamps from the icons and placed them on the pulpit.
To tell the truth, wolf
for a long time
I've already tasted the wine
And the result did not slow down to show itself immediately. (It was his empty stomach that was to blame.)
What a disaster!.. Still, they arranged a feast on the mountain. The wolf sang, danced... (Well, in a word, He got drunk after a few minutes.) “Drink, friend Renard, drink, us
because there are a few... three... Nothing!
(His vision was double.)
There's enough wine for us all! Oh well
I see you drink a little?..” “I drink a lot... (Renard didn’t lie: He leaned on the snack,
But he drank in moderation.) “You’re lying, you yourself, Primo, drink a little!” “Do I drink a little? - exclaimed
wolf. - Ha ha! I know a lot about wine
And it’s not for you to teach me,
How to drink... how to d... drink...
However, listen, Renard,
After all, I’m not that old... And my legs, damn them,
I'm not being held... look...
Maybe I should go to bed now? No! Here's another... five sips... So!.. No, wait... another sip! Well, it will be, huh?..” - “Oh, my friend,
I didn’t think that you were weak to drink. There was no need to come here, by God: I just sat down,
I took a sip and got drunk!”
“Who oh... was drunk? Me not,
wait,
With whom, with whom, but not with
me
You can compete..." - "Suddenly! I see you really have been drinking,
Friend,
Not strong enough!..” - “Well,
Let's,
Who will drink more? -
“Pour it up!” And the friends clinked glasses again. The wolf drank in one gulp. “Yes... your idea was a great success,”
He said, “here we can
to your heart's content
Let’s feast with you, my friend...”
“You forget to pour it,” the fox answered, and he poured it for himself and the wolf, but only took a sip. Primo sighed, winced, took a hard sip of the drink once, then twice...
And he began to drink, no longer seeing anything in front of him.
And the fox kept pouring and pouring into his large glass...
...Renard has long dreamed of playing a joke on the stupid wolf, in order to adequately teach Him a lesson for greed and for that...
Well, in a word, you never know. Primo was Isengrin's brother,
So for this alone I was glad to give him a pig The prankish fox: all his life He was at enmity with Isengrin,
And why, I didn’t even know.
Most likely, it was only because the Wolf was hated by him,
That with his greedy stupidity He stood out among the animals.
Meanwhile, Primo drank and drank, While he still had enough strength (As long as he didn’t ask for mercy.) To bring his paw to his lips with a heavy, hundred-pound glass. He had long been ready to doze off, but the fox interfered:
He shook him by the shoulders, breathed in his face, and even doused him with cold water all over him.
Primo began to mumble at first, Then he began to whine protractedly... A little later,
Having almost completely come to my senses,
He tried to get up and suddenly, to the fox’s delight, he began: “Friend!
Is that you?.. Yes?.. Then... What?..
Go, call the people here! I will serve mass...
I want to enlighten the people of Japan... Why am I not a priest, tell me?.. Wait, friend, support me First... What the hell am I talking about? Oh yes!
I remember in young years I could sing... Haven't you heard?
Eh, how I sang before... Today I want to Sing Mass for everyone...” - “This
sin!
After all, you have not yet been ordained into the clergy, you have not been tonsured as a monk, and in order to sing Mass, you must have a tonsure3...” “A tonsure?” - “There is a symbol
such,
So that everyone knows that you are a saint.” “You’re right, Renard, but how
be,
Who could ordain Me as a monk, once and for all?”
“Yes, I could!” - "You could
would?" - “Yes, what’s so tricky about this: once,
two -
That's all. Yes, you first need to find something to shave with, that’s what
secret,
There seem to be no other obstacles. Let’s go find a razor.”
“Well, can you really find a razor?”
The fox began to prowl, and finally He found a chest in the closet,
In which there was a razor, a basin and scissors. “Well, it’s as if Everything was waiting for us here, Primo!
* Tonsure is a place cut on the top of the head among Catholic clergy.
I know Saint Remo himself
It accompanies you, she-she! Get to work quickly, be bold! All these are just little things,
Because other days await you,
When will you suddenly become a bishop yourself, my friend.
You are endowed by nature with everything that he possesses:
You are honest, unselfish, you are Smart... All this is not a dream, Believe me, I know that the synod will elect you as head!”
Primo was very excited. Walking with great difficulty, he climbed to the altar, where he lay down, so that Renard could soap the top of his head. The fox immediately soaped the entire wolf's head from ears to eyes and began to scrape it off. He was so tired, Having finished his great work,
That after several minutes, All sweaty, he could hardly breathe; But in his heart he rejoiced.
The wolf endured the pain in silence, and only finally asked: “Well, is everything alright?” - “Yes, believe me,
You have become a priest now!
And know, Primo, that you were given spiritual rank deservedly.
Well, who among us could think of such an honor?” “You’re right... I’ll go to the sacristy... I’ll probably find a chasuble, Epitrachelion and other rubbish, Necessary only there...
I would sing like that, but the people, you know, would scream,
Why did he climb naked?
After all, God’s temple is here, not a forest...” “You reason like a sage,” Renard said, “you’re great!” Let's go, I'll help you as best I can,
And I will help in this matter.”
And now Primo is dressed: he is wearing a robe embroidered with silver, somehow,
A cross, a black velvet sash, and to top it all off, Renard put the Epitrachelion on him. “Well, I’m ready,” said Primo, “without further
words
I’m starting the service...” - “Stop! Don't be in such a hurry, God be with you.
What about the ringing? - “Ringing?..”
"Yes. So, we need to strike the church bell forward... Then you can, according to the laws of everyone, And begin the service immediately.” “Well, then, so be it... I love it when in churches
they're calling!..."
He grabbed the rope
Which was lowered from above from the bell; He pulled it with all his strength, and he heard a wondrous ringing above him.
The fox rejoiced. “Stronger!
Stronger! - He shouted. - Yes! Now
hurry up
Go sing mass at the altar! - And I thought to myself: - Spar, my friend! Let the people come and listen to you now!
8 With Satan himself.
At least, damn it, it will be in front of people for the first time
Sing is not a hypocrite glutton,
Like their priest, for example,
Not a cunning rogue, but just like that, A rather sincere fool..."
Renard, however, somehow decided to run away now.
While the wolf, staggering, walked to sing at the altar, Renard found his hole in the wall, crawled through it, but before rushing off into the forest, he filled up the hole with earth.
Listened to Primo screaming, imagining he was singing,
And he said to himself: “Well, now they’ll come here, fool,
Then you’ll sing wrong!”
And he rushed off into the forest like an arrow...
The bell is ringing wolf howl Of course, he woke up the priest.
Barefoot, he immediately jumped out of bed and, crossing his stomach, began, trembling, to call the people. Clerk Gilan, the priest's wife and the chaplain came running to the call. Armed with whatever they could,
They rushed with all their might to where the wolf howl thundered like a cracked pipe.
Trembling, looking sideways, They timidly approached the church doors on tiptoe... They listened... But what could They figure out from their sleep?
Whom did they decide to strike within the walls of the monastery With their souls in their heels?.. Apparently, in vain They decided to fight with such fearlessness...
With myself!" Oh, God! Who else would dare to go to church at one o'clock
night
Climb, if not he... And the priest crashed to the ground like a sheaf, losing consciousness... Yes,
It's worse to fight with Satan than
with my wife... Here the priest lets squeal. What a fool! How to contain it
How to silence? No!
You'll get into big trouble with her... Well, God bless your legs! And headlong the Clerk and the chaplain, raising a cry, set off towards the village with all their strength. And everyone shouted wildly: “Save!.. Devil!.. Oh!.. Hurry! ABOUT! Satan killed the priest!..
And the same fate awaits us all!.. Save us!.. Our hour is coming!..” The village woke up... Noise, hubbub...
What? Where? Can you really figure it out? Such panic all around!..
One with a rusty spear is running somewhere; in a hurry Another, overcoming fear,
He somehow put the helmet and chain mail on himself. The dogs were released from the chain here and there... Scream. Stomp. Screech. Noise.
Screams. Hum... Everyone rushed to the church
in a crowd.
The priest crossed everyone with a weakened hand and said,
What kind of sins, they say, did God send down in His great mercy to test people;
That Satan climbed into the temple,
That Satan is still there today
That everyone must go to battle with the sworn enemy - Satan. But he didn't speak for long
And he opened the door, crossing himself. The Villans rushed forward.., ...The wolf glanced sideways at the people, Stuttered, barked, and the ecstasy was immediately replaced by horror.
He rushed towards the hole like an arrow,
But the hole was sealed with earth.
In mad fear he began to rush about, but from all sides he saw many people,
Forks, stakes, sticks and poles... He crashed into the crowd with a roar,
But he was immediately pressed to a post and completely wounded. Jumping sideways, he knocked someone off their feet, bit someone viciously,
rushed out last bit of strength And, stunned, barely alive,
With a bloody head he dived into the open window and thus escaped death.
On the way, he grumbled under his breath: “Ugh, thank God, at least I took my skin, damn it!
That is OK! I’ll settle my scores with people somehow!
After all, I know the way to their herd,
And with Ermangara, his wife,
We will not leave a single living cow or sheep in their herd!.. Evil fools!.. Yes!.. But what a traitor the foxes are!
OK! Just catch me! I won't go to Noble's A simpler way I'm natsau
To teach you a lesson; I won’t let myself be offended, brother!” Suddenly, he sees, sitting
There is a Fox in the bushes with tears in his eyes.
“Oh, finally, dear godfather! - Renard cried. - You are so gloomy,
Oh, what’s wrong with you, tell me quickly...” “Get away from here, villain! - Primo muttered through his teeth. “You, traitor, betrayed me!”
You blocked the hole with earth,
And I was now forced to fight with many enemies. I survived, but I'm ready to settle the score with you now!
So know, you evil freak, what if I was not the first,
Whom you, monster, annoyed,
Then I, damned fox, will be the last! Yes! Now hold on! I'll teach you a lesson, bandit!
“Oh wait, Primo! So are you beaten? Oh, my God, it can’t be!.. Who would have guessed this!..
You are in a big mistake:
After all, the hole was sealed... with a priest! Yes, yes, priest. I begged to leave the hole. But the priest did not heed, Yes, yes, he did not heed my plea! The villain wanted to kill me!
And I was forced to run away. However, here I decided to wait for you. For your life, I give you my word on this,
I wasn't afraid. I was happy,
What ritual did we perform?
That you were now ordained to the clergy: I knew that he couldn’t help but connect you with the priest, couldn’t help but unite you with each other, godfather. And suddenly!..
Oh no!
There is some secret in this! Perhaps the priest did not recognize you in the darkness, and wild fear pushed Him to take this step?
No, believe me, he is not your enemy!
Renard fell silent and sighed so much, and suddenly looked at the wolf so sadly that Primo again could not resist the fox. “Perhaps you, Renard, are right... Of course, priest, without understanding,
That I was just like him
Today he was ordained a priest, he called people together. That is OK,
I’ll still teach him a lesson!”
“Yes, teach me a lesson! It’s always like this: If you’re a dumbass and a fool,
Blame yourself, brother!
Let him remember this... Well, goodbye!”
At this point we will now interrupt our story about the cunning fox.
The Old French “Romance of the Fox” and the problems of the medieval animal epic
Vor Jahrhunderren hätte ein Dichter dieses gesungen?
Wie es das möglich? Der Stoff ist ja von gestern und heut.
F. Schiller. Xenien. 270. Reineke Fuchs
It often happens that a popular plot finds its most complete and perfect expression not at all where and when it arose. So it was with the stories about the tricks and tricks of the desperate daredevil, impudent and rascal Renard-Fox, known (with variations) in almost all the literatures of the world. At the end of the wanderings of this plot, we find Goethe’s famous poem “Reinecke-Fox”, written in 1793. And before it - numerous adaptations and adaptations, written by both famous authors and nameless medieval poets.
The first extensive processing of stories about the Fox, their first reduction into a whole, took place on French soil, where in last decades XII century small poems began to appear one after another, telling about one or another episode from the life of the Fox, then, already at the beginning of the next century, united into a fairly coherent narrative, to which throughout the 13th century. Additional “branches” continued to be added.
The author of the first of these poems was a certain Pierre de Cepe-Cloux. Around 1175 he wrote a story in eight-syllable verse with paired rhyme about the adventures of the Fox and his antagonists. The size was not new: most of the poetic narrative works of the era were written with it - chivalric novels, edifying works, descriptions of animals (“bestiaries”), fables, etc. All the successors of Pierre de Saint-Cloud also wrote in this size. Their poems, which are usually called “branches” (from the French branches), were not long in coming: in thirty years, before 1205, about twenty such poems were written. Scientists rightly note a certain unity of the “branches” created between 1175 and 1205, although there is no strict sequence or logic in the presentation of events. Unity is not a plot thing. It is realized at the level of interpretation of characters who have fixed characters and permanent functions in the narrative. Let us immediately note the compositional “openness” of this bizarre whole: the incompleteness of the main conflict of the “Novel” - the enmity and rivalry between the fox Renard and the wolf Isengrin, which includes other representatives of the animal world, from the lion to the snail - made it possible to create more and more new poems dedicated to the next tricks of the Fox. And if the “branch” XVII partly summarizes and sums up the previous ones, telling about the death of the main protagonist, then this result turns out to be imaginary - in reality, the Fox does not die and is again ready for new tricks and pranks. Therefore, it is not surprising that later the next “branches” of the “Roman” were created, and they not only continued it, attaching themselves to its end, but also wove into its middle and even became its beginning: thus, after 1205, the XIII -th “branch”, telling how Fox painted himself black, and “branch” XXIV, dedicated to the “heroic childhood” of Fox and Isengrin, which became a kind of prologue to the entire corpus of “Roman”. Apparently, the laws of cyclization, its techniques and methods are of the same type, whether we are talking about heroic epic, a chivalric novel, or about such a unique work as “The Romance of the Fox.”
The time of composition of this work and its cyclic organization was not long: in the middle of the 13th century. the main building of the Roman was completed. Subsequent continuations and additions are completely new works, acting as deliberate paraphrases and even parodic reinterpretations of the monument.
As already noted, with all the diversity of the “branches” that make up “The Romance of the Fox,” there is a certain unity in the interpretation of the characters, their characters and habits, in depicting the correlation of the animal world with the human world. And yet, different “branches” have their own, unique tonality; they seem to set themselves not quite similar tasks. In some, interest prevails in describing the antics of the Fox as a representative of the animal world in general, seen through the eyes of an attentive and thoughtful observer, in others the same antics are depicted outside the zoological context - as the behavior of a simple rogue and deceiver, in others they are brought to the fore, as is customary in the fable tradition, didactic tasks, fourthly, under the transparent covers of the kingdom of animals, the feudal society of the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries is reliably and impartially depicted. All this determines the nature of the Fox’s pranks described in individual “branches,” and their motivation, and the presence or, on the contrary, absence in the work of people with whom the animals either come into some kind of contact or parodicly reproduce human psychological types and relationships.