Satirical devices in the tales of Saltykov-Shchedrin. The technique of the grotesque in “Fairy Tales” by M. Saltykov-Shchedrin. A fairy tale is not a lie

The main problem of Shchedrin's fairy tales is the relationship between the exploiters and the exploited. The writer created a satire on Tsarist Russia. The reader is presented with images of rulers (“Bear in the Voivodeship”, “Eagle Patron”), exploiters and exploited (“ Wild landowner”, “The story of how one man fed two generals”), ordinary people (“ The wise minnow", "Dried roach").
The fairy tale “The Wild Landowner” is directed against everything social order, based on exploitation, anti-people in its essence. Keeping the spirit and style folk tale, the satirist talks about real events in contemporary life. The work begins as an ordinary fairy tale: “In a certain kingdom, in a certain state, there lived a landowner...” But then the element modern life: “And that stupid landowner was reading the newspaper “Vest”.” “Vest” is a reactionary-serf newspaper, so the stupidity of the landowner is determined by his worldview. The landowner considers himself a true representative of the Russian state, its support, and is proud that he is a hereditary Russian nobleman, Prince Urus-Kuchum-Kildibaev. The whole meaning of his existence comes down to pampering his body, “soft, white and crumbly.” He lives at the expense of his men, but he hates and is afraid of them, and cannot stand the “servile spirit.” He rejoices when, by some fantastic whirlwind, all the men were carried away to who knows where, and the air in his domain became pure, pure. But the men disappeared, and such hunger set in that it was impossible to buy anything at the market. And the landowner himself went completely wild: “He’s all overgrown with hair, from head to toe... and his nails became like iron. He stopped blowing his nose a long time ago and walked more and more on all fours. I even lost the ability to pronounce articulate sounds...” In order not to die of hunger, when the last gingerbread was eaten, the Russian nobleman began to hunt: if he spots a hare, “like an arrow will jump from a tree, grab onto its prey, tear it apart with its nails, and eat it with all the insides, even the skin.” The savagery of the landowner indicates that he cannot live without the help of the peasant. After all, it was not for nothing that as soon as the “swarm of men” was caught and put in place, “flour, meat, and all kinds of living creatures appeared at the market.”
The stupidity of the landowner is constantly emphasized by the writer. The first to call the landowner stupid were the peasants themselves; representatives of other classes called the landowner stupid three times (triple repetition technique): the actor Sadovsky (“However, brother, you are a stupid landowner! Who gives you a wash, stupid one?”) generals, whom he instead of “beef -ki” treated him to printed gingerbread cookies and lollipops (“However, brother, you are a stupid landowner!”) and, finally, the police captain (“You are stupid, Mr. Landowner!”). The stupidity of the landowner is visible to everyone, and he indulges in unrealistic dreams that he will achieve prosperity in the economy without the help of the peasants, and thinks about English machines that will replace the serfs. His dreams are absurd, because he cannot do anything on his own. And only one day the landowner thought: “Is he really a fool? Could it be that the inflexibility that he so cherished in his soul, when translated into ordinary language, means only stupidity and madness? “If we compare the well-known folk tales about the master and the peasant with the tales of Saltykov-Shchedrin, for example, with “The Wild Landowner,” we will see that the image of the landowner in Shchedrin’s fairy tales is very close to folklore, and the peasants, on the contrary, differ from those in fairy tales. In folk tales, a quick-witted, dexterous, resourceful man defeats a stupid master. And in “The Wild Landowner” there arises collective image hard worker

Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin - creator of a special literary genre - satirical tale. IN small stories The Russian writer denounced bureaucracy, autocracy, and liberalism. This article examines such works by Saltykov-Shchedrin as “Wild Landowner”, “Eagle-Patron”, “Wise Minnow”, “Crucian-Idealist”.

Features of Saltykov-Shchedrin's tales

In the fairy tales of this writer one can find allegory, grotesque, and hyperbole. There are features characteristic of an Aesopian narrative. The interactions between the characters reflect the relationships that prevailed in 19th century society. Which satirical devices did the writer use? In order to answer this question, it is necessary to briefly talk about the life of the author, who so mercilessly exposed the inert world of landowners.

about the author

Saltykov-Shchedrin combined literary activity with public service. The future writer was born in the Tver province, but after graduating from the lyceum he left for St. Petersburg, where he received a position in the Ministry of War. Already in the first years of work in the capital, the young official began to languish with the bureaucracy, lies, and boredom that reigned in the institutions. With great pleasure, Saltykov-Shchedrin attended various literary evenings, where anti-serfdom sentiments prevailed. He informed St. Petersburg residents about his views in the stories “A Confused Affair” and “Contradiction.” For which he was exiled to Vyatka.

Life in the provinces gave the writer the opportunity to observe in all details the bureaucratic world, the life of landowners and the peasants oppressed by them. This experience became the material for writing later works, as well as the formation of special satirical techniques. One of Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin’s contemporaries once said about him: “He knows Russia like no one else.”

Satirical techniques of Saltykov-Shchedrin

His work is quite diverse. But perhaps the most popular among Saltykov-Shchedrin’s works are fairy tales. We can highlight several special satirical techniques with the help of which the writer tried to convey to readers the inertia and deceit of the landowner world. And above all, in a veiled form, the author reveals deep political and social problems, expresses his own point of view.

Another technique is the use of fantastic motifs. For example, in “The Tale of How One Man Fed Two Generals” they serve as a means of expressing dissatisfaction with the landowners. And finally, when naming Shchedrin’s satirical techniques, one cannot fail to mention symbolism. After all, fairy tale heroes often point to one of the social phenomena XIX century. Thus, the main character of the work “Horse” reflects all the pain of the Russian people, oppressed for centuries. Below is the analysis individual works Saltykov-Shchedrin. What satirical techniques are used in them?

"Crucian idealist"

In this tale, the views of representatives of the intelligentsia are expressed by Saltykov-Shchedrin. Satirical techniques that can be found in the work “Crucian carp the idealist” are symbolism, the use folk sayings and proverbs. Each of the heroes is a collective image of representatives of one or another social class.

The plot of the tale centers on a discussion between Karas and Ruff. The first, as is already clear from the title of the work, gravitates towards an idealistic worldview, belief in the best. Ruff, on the contrary, is a skeptic who mocks the theories of his opponent. There is also a third character in the tale - Pike. This unsafe fish symbolizes in the work of Saltykov-Shchedrin powerful of the world this. Pike are known to feed on crucian carp. The latter, driven by the best feelings, goes to the predator. Karas does not believe in the cruel law of nature (or the established hierarchy in society for centuries). He hopes to bring Pike to his senses with stories about possible equality, universal happiness, and virtue. And that’s why he dies. Pike, as the author notes, is not familiar with the word “virtue”.

Satirical techniques are used here not only to expose the rigidity of representatives of certain sections of society. With the help of them, the author tries to convey the futility of moralistic debates that were common among the intelligentsia of the 19th century.

"Wild Landowner"

The theme of serfdom is given a lot of space in the works of Saltykov-Shchedrin. He had something to say to readers about this. However, writing a journalistic article about the relations of landowners to peasants or publishing work of art in the genre of realism on this topic was fraught with unpleasant consequences for the writer. Therefore, we had to resort to allegories, easy humorous stories. In “The Wild Landowner” we are talking about a typical Russian usurper, not distinguished by education and worldly wisdom.

He hates “men” and dreams of killing them. At the same time, the stupid landowner does not understand that without the peasants he will die. After all, he doesn’t want to do anything, and he doesn’t know how. One might think that the prototype of the fairy tale hero is a certain landowner whom the writer perhaps met in real life. But no. We are not talking about any particular gentleman. Oh social stratum generally.

Saltykov-Shchedrin fully explored this theme, without allegories, in “The Golovlev Gentlemen.” The heroes of the novel - representatives of a provincial landowner family - die one after another. The reason for their death is stupidity, ignorance, laziness. The character in the fairy tale “The Wild Landowner” faces the same fate. After all, he got rid of the peasants, which he was glad about at first, but he was not ready for life without them.

"Eagle Patron"

The heroes of this tale are eagles and crows. The first symbolize the landowners. The second are peasants. The writer again resorts to the technique of allegory, with the help of which he ridicules the vices of the powerful. The tale also includes the Nightingale, Magpie, Owl and Woodpecker. Each of the birds is an allegory for a type of people or social class. The characters in “The Eagle the Patron” are more humanized than, for example, the heroes of the fairy tale “Crucian the Idealist.” Thus, the Woodpecker, who has the habit of reasoning, at the end of the bird's story does not become a victim of a predator, but ends up behind bars.

"The Wise Minnow"

As in the works described above, in this tale the author raises questions relevant to that time. And here this becomes clear from the very first lines. But Saltykov-Shchedrin’s satirical techniques are the use artistic means for a critical depiction of vices not only social, but also universal. The author conducts the narration in “The Wise Minnow” in a typical fairy tale style: “Once upon a time...” The author characterizes his hero in this way: “enlightened, moderately liberal.”

Cowardice and passivity are ridiculed in this tale Great master satires. After all, these were precisely the vices that were characteristic of most representatives of the intelligentsia in the eighties of the 19th century. The gudgeon never leaves its shelter. He lives long life, avoiding encounters with dangerous inhabitants of the aquatic world. But only before his death does he realize how much he missed during his long and worthless life.

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The main problem of Shchedrin's fairy tales is the relationship between the exploiters and the exploited. The writer created a satire on Tsarist Russia. The reader is presented with images of rulers (“Bear in the Voivodeship”, “Eagle Patron”), exploiters and exploited (“Wild Landowner”, “The Tale of How One Man Fed Two Generals”), ordinary people (“The Wise Minnow”, “ Dried roach").
The fairy tale “The Wild Landowner” is directed against the entire social system, based on exploitation, anti-people in its essence. Preserving the spirit and style of a folk tale, the satirist talks about real events in contemporary life. The work begins as an ordinary fairy tale: “In a certain kingdom, in a certain state, there lived a landowner...” But then an element of modern life appears: “and that stupid landowner was reading the newspaper Vest.” “Vest” is a reactionary-serf newspaper, so the stupidity of the landowner is determined by his worldview. The landowner considers himself a true representative of the Russian state, its support, and is proud that he is a hereditary Russian nobleman, Prince Urus-Kuchum-Kildibaev. The whole meaning of his existence comes down to pampering his body, “soft, white and crumbly.” He lives at the expense of his men, but he hates and is afraid of them, and cannot stand the “servile spirit.” He rejoices when, by some fantastic whirlwind, all the men were carried away to who knows where, and the air in his domain became pure, pure. But the men disappeared, and such hunger set in that it was impossible to buy anything at the market. And the landowner himself went completely wild: “He’s all overgrown with hair, from head to toe... and his nails became like iron. He stopped blowing his nose a long time ago and walked more and more on all fours. I even lost the ability to pronounce articulate sounds...” In order not to die of hunger, when the last gingerbread was eaten, the Russian nobleman began to hunt: if he spots a hare, “like an arrow will jump from a tree, grab onto its prey, tear it apart with its nails, and eat it with all the insides, even the skin.” The savagery of the landowner indicates that he cannot live without the help of the peasant. After all, it was not for nothing that as soon as the “swarm of men” was caught and put in place, “flour, meat, and all kinds of living creatures appeared at the market.”
The stupidity of the landowner is constantly emphasized by the writer. The first to call the landowner stupid were the peasants themselves; representatives of other classes called the landowner stupid three times (triple repetition technique): the actor Sadovsky (“However, brother, you are a stupid landowner! Who gives you a wash, stupid one?”) generals, whom he instead of “beef -ki” treated him to printed gingerbread cookies and lollipops (“However, brother, you are a stupid landowner!”) and, finally, the police captain (“You are stupid, Mr. Landowner!”). The stupidity of the landowner is visible to everyone, and he indulges in unrealistic dreams that he will achieve prosperity in the economy without the help of the peasants, and thinks about English machines that will replace the serfs. His dreams are absurd, because he cannot do anything on his own. And only one day the landowner thought: “Is he really a fool? Could it be that the inflexibility that he so cherished in his soul, when translated into ordinary language, means only stupidity and madness? “If we compare the well-known folk tales about the master and the peasant with the tales of Saltykov-Shchedrin, for example, with “The Wild Landowner,” we will see that the image of the landowner in Shchedrin’s fairy tales is very close to folklore, and the peasants, on the contrary, differ from those in fairy tales. In folk tales, a quick-witted, dexterous, resourceful man defeats a stupid master. And in “The Wild Landowner” a collective image of a worker appears

Mikhail Evgrafovich Salttykov-Shchedrin

(1826 - 1889)

Fairy tale “The Tale of How One Man Fed Two Generals” (1889)

The book "Fairy Tales" consists of 32 works, written mainly, with some exceptions, in the period from 1883 to 1886. Fairy tales are written "for children" of considerable age».

“The story of how one man fed two generals” was published in the journal “Otechestvennye zapiski” for 1869.

Fairy tales of a satirical nature, have a ring composition.

Plot

"By pike command“, according to the author’s “will”, two generals who previously served “in some kind of registry”, and are now retired, end up on desert island. Since they have not learned anything in their entire life, they cannot get food for themselves. Having found the Moskovskie Vedomosti, they begin to read about the dishes, can’t stand it, and attack each other out of hunger. Having come to their senses, they decide to find a man, since “there are men everywhere, you just have to look for him.”

Having found the man, the generals force him to look for and prepare food. Having grown fat from abundant food and a carefree life, they help that they miss their life on Podyacheskaya and begin to worry about pensions. A man builds a boat for the generals and delivers them to St. Petersburg, for which he receives “a glass of vodka and a nickel of silver.”

Heroes

Generals

We are used to receiving everything ready-made: “Who would have thought, Your Excellency, that human food, in its original form, flies, swims and grows on trees?”

Being in critical conditions, they are unable to feed themselves and are ready to eat each other: “Suddenly both generals looked at each other: an ominous fire shone in their eyes, their teeth chattered, a dull growl came out of their chests. They began to slowly crawl towards each other and in an instant they became frantic.”

They only care about their own well-being: “Here they live on everything ready-made, but in St. Petersburg, meanwhile, their pensions keep accumulating and accumulating.”

Incapable of appreciating the work of others; man “he lit a fire and baked so many different provisions that the generals even thought: “Shouldn’t we give the parasite a piece?”

Man (people)

Admiration, sympathy

A man is strong, smart, hardworking, skillful, can do anything, is able to survive anywhere.

He, "a huge man" before the arrival of the generals, having managed the economy, “I avoided work in the most impudent manner.”

For the gentlemen, the man was able to pick apples, catch fish, light a fire, dig potatoes, bake a lot of provisions, and even learned to cook soup in a handful. Then the man managed to make a boat and deliver the generals to St. Petersburg.

Irony

Strong "man" resignedly submits to weak and stupid generals. Narvav to his enslavers "Ten ripest apples each" takes it for himself "one, sour."

The man tolerates being treated as a slave, a parasite; he is incapable of legitimate rebellion; on the contrary, he is ready to put himself in shackles with his own hands: “The man now collected wild hemp, soaked it in water, beat it, crushed it - and by evening the rope was ready. The generals tied the man to a tree with this rope so that he would not run away.”

He considers the meager payment for his work fair.

Allegory

The relationship between the generals and the peasant is the relationship between the authorities and the people.

Hyperbola

“I even began to cook soup in a handful”, “the rolls will be born in the same form as they are served with coffee in the morning”

Fantastic

“Once upon a time there were two generals, and since both were frivolous, they soon, at the behest of a pike, at my will, found themselves on a desert island.”

Irony

“And the man began to play tricks on how he could please his generals because they favored him, a parasite, and did not disdain his peasant work!”

Grotesque

“Shreds flew, squeals and groans were heard; the general, who was a teacher of calligraphy, bit off the order from his comrade and immediately swallowed it.”

Tales of Saltykov-Shchedrin and folk tales

The form of the work does not correspond to the content: the form is fabulous, and the content is socio-political.

WITH Kazka "Wild Landowner" (1869)

Plot

The landowner, living in abundance, dreamed of one thing: to have fewer peasants on his estate. “But God knew that the landowner was stupid, and did not heed his request,” however, I heard the people’s request: “It’s easier for us to perish even with small children than to suffer like this all our lives!” And “There was no man on the entire territory of the stupid landowner’s property.”

Without the peasant's care, the landowner gradually began to turn into a beast. He didn’t wash his face and ate only gingerbread. Urus-Kuchum-Kildibaev invited the actor Sadovsky and his neighbors-generals to his place, but the guests, not receiving proper care and dinner, got angry and left, calling the landowner stupid.

The landowner decides "stay strong until the end" And "don't look."

In a dream he sees an ideal garden, dreams of reforms, but in reality he only plays cards with himself.

The police captain comes to see him and threatens to take action if the men do not return and pay taxes.

There are mice in the landowner's house, the paths in the garden are overgrown with thistles, snakes live in the bushes, and a bear wanders under the windows.

The owner himself became wild, grew hair, began to move on all fours, and forgot how to speak.

The provincial authorities remain concerned: “Who will pay taxes now? who will drink wine in taverns? who will engage in innocent activities?

“As luck would have it, at this time through provincial town An emerging swarm of men flew and showered the entire market square. Now this grace has been taken away, put in a whip and sent to the district.”

The landowner was found, washed, put in order, and he still lives.

Landowner image

The author repeatedly focuses on the stupidity of the landowner: “This time the landowner was thinking seriously. Now the third person will honor him with a fool, the third person will look and look at him, spit and walk away.”

Landowner introduces himself "Russian nobleman, Prince Urus-Kuchum-Kildibaev." Non-Russian surname enhances the grotesqueness of what is happening, hinting that only an enemy can think of exterminating the breadwinner people.

After the disappearance of the peasants, the support of the nobility and the state, the landowner degrades and turns into a wild beast: “He was all overgrown with hair, from head to toe, like the ancient Esau, and his nails became like iron. He had long since stopped blowing his nose; he walked more and more on all fours and was even surprised that he had not noticed before that this way of walking was the most decent and most comfortable. He even lost the ability to utter articulate sounds and acquired some kind of special victory cry, a cross between a whistle, a hiss and a roar. But I haven’t acquired a tail yet.”

The landowner is a weak-willed and stupid creature, incapable of anything without peasant support. In order to return him to a decent life, they caught him, “Having caught it, they immediately blew their nose, washed it and cut their nails. Then the police captain made him a proper reprimand, took away the newspaper “Vest” and, entrusting it to Senka’s supervision, left.”

“He is still alive today. He plays grand solitaire, yearns for his former life in the forests, washes himself only under duress, and moos from time to time.” Even after everything that has happened, he remains a reckless beast in human form.

Distinctive features of the fairy tale

Facilities artistic expression in a fairy tale

The tale is entirely based on hyperbole, grotesque and absurdity. The author deliberately brings hyperbole to the grotesque in order to show the absurdity of reality that gives rise to such heroes and such circumstances.

EXAMPLES:

“The men see: although their landowner is stupid, he has a great mind.”

“How much or little time has passed, only the landowner sees that in the garden the paths to his garden are overgrown with thistles, snakes and all sorts of reptiles are teeming in the bushes, and wild animals are howling in the park. One day a bear approached the estate itself, squatted down, looked through the windows at the landowner and licked its lips.”

“And he became terribly strong, so strong that he even considered himself entitled to enter into friendly relations with the very bear who had once looked at him through the window.

- Do you want, Mikhail Ivanovich, to go hunting for hares together? - he said to the bear.

- To want - why not want! - answered the bear, - but, brother, you destroyed this guy in vain!

- And why?

- But because this man was far more capable than your nobleman brother. And therefore I’ll tell you straight: you’re a stupid landowner, even though you’re my friend!”

Fantastic and real in a fairy tale

The fairy tale “The Wise Minnow” (1883)

Plot

"Once upon a time there was a minnow" grew up in " smart" family. The father bequeathed to his son when dying: “If you want to chew your life, then keep your eyes open!” The gudgeon was wise, he remembered his father’s story about how his parent almost got hit in the ear, so he decided to listen to the advice, and since there is danger at every turn in the river (fish, crayfish, water fleas, “and seine, and nets, and tops, and nets”, and ouds), made it a rule "keep your head down" and live like this “so that no one notices.” He suffered a lot of hardships, went hungry, suffered from fear, lacked sleep, trembled, and so he lived to be a hundred years old. dreamed about big win. And only before his death he realized that he was alone, without a family, without relatives, and had never done anyone any good in his entire life. And because he lived for so long, no one would even call him wise.

The image of the “wise minnow”

• Piskar is the image of a frightened man in the street who lives only for himself, and as it turns out, he does not live, but only exists for an unknown reason.
• For a hundred years, the minnow not only did nothing, but never even felt joy.
• There is an interpretation of the image of the gudgeon as a conformist who, during the years of reaction, takes a wait-and-see attitude.
• The author also touches on philosophical problem meaning of life (“lived - trembled and died - trembled”).
• “He was an enlightened minnow, moderately liberal.”
• Lived by the motto: “You have to live in such a way that no one notices.”
• Every day I thought: “Does it seem like I’m alive? oh, will there be something tomorrow?
• Afraid of getting caught in the mouth of a big fish, the gudgeon decided for himself: “at night, when people, animals, birds and fish are sleeping, he will exercise, and during the day he will sit and tremble in the hole.” “And if he doesn’t provide, the hungry one will lie down in a hole and tremble again. For it is better not to eat or drink than to lose life with a full stomach.”
• “He did not marry and had no children, although his father had big family" “So there’s no time for family here, but how to live on your own!” "And he lived wise minnow it's been like this for over a hundred years. I kept shaking, I kept shaking."
• Only at the end of his life, thinking about the question of what would have happened if all minnows lived like this, he realized: “After all, this way, perhaps, the entire piscary family would have died out long ago!”
• Before his death, realizing that his life had been in vain, the gudgeon decided: “I’ll crawl out of the hole and swim like a goldeneye across the entire river!” But as soon as he thought about it, he became frightened again. And he began to die, trembling. He lived and trembled, and he died - he trembled.”
• The gudgeon, having lived joylessly for more than a hundred years, did not even deserve respect: “And what’s most offensive is that I haven’t even heard anyone call him wise. They simply say: “Have you heard about the dunce who doesn’t eat, doesn’t drink, doesn’t see anyone, doesn’t share bread and salt with anyone, and only saves his hateful life?” And many even simply call him a fool and a disgrace and wonder how the water tolerates such idols.”
• It is not clear whether the gudgeon died on its own or whether someone ate it. “Most likely, he died himself, because what sweetness is it for a pike to swallow a sick, dying gudgeon, and what’s more, a “wise” one?”

Allegory in a fairy tale

• The main technique is allegory. In an allegorical form, the author expresses thoughts about “minnows” - cowardly and pathetic ordinary people.
• The author's voice is heard in the "moral" of the story: “Those who think that only those minnows can be considered worthy citizens who, mad with fear, sit in holes and tremble, believe incorrectly. No, these are not citizens, but at least useless minnows."(a game with the names “man - minnow”).

Combining spaces

The work of Saltykov-Shchedrin can rightfully be called the highest achievement of social satire of the 1860–1880s. It is not without reason that Shchedrin’s closest predecessor is considered to be N.V. Gogol, who created a satirical and philosophical picture modern world. However, Saltykov-Shchedrin sets himself a fundamentally different creative task: to expose and destroy as a phenomenon. V. G. Belinsky, discussing Gogol’s work, defined his humor as “calm in its indignation, good-natured in its slyness,” comparing it with others “formidable and open, bilious, poisonous, merciless.” This second characteristic deeply reveals the essence of Shchedrin's satire. He removed Gogol's lyricism from the satire and made it more explicit and grotesque. But this did not make the works simpler or more monotonous. On the contrary, they fully revealed the comprehensive “bungling” of the Russian society XIX V.

“Fairy tales for children of a fair age” were created in last years the life of the writer (1883–1886) and appear before us as a certain result of Saltykov-Shchedrin’s work in literature. And in terms of the richness of artistic techniques, and in terms of ideological significance, and in terms of the diversity of recreated social types, this book can fully be considered an artistic synthesis of the writer’s entire work. The form of a fairy tale gave Shchedrin the opportunity to speak openly on issues that concerned him. Turning to folklore, the writer sought to preserve its genre and artistic features, with their help, draw the reader’s attention to the main problem of your work. Saltykov-Shchedrin's tales, by their genre nature, represent a kind of fusion of two different genres of folklore and original literature: fairy tales and fables. When writing fairy tales, the author used grotesque, hyperbole, and antithesis.

Grotesque and hyperbole are the main ones artistic techniques, with the help of which the author creates the fairy tale “The Tale of How One Man Fed Two Generals.” The main characters are a man and two loafer generals. Two completely helpless generals miraculously ended up on a desert island, and got there straight from bed in their nightgowns and with orders around their necks. The generals almost eat each other because they cannot not only catch fish or game, but also pick fruit from the tree. In order not to starve, they decide to look for a man. And he was found right away: he was sitting under a tree and shirking work. The “huge man” turns out to be a jack of all trades. He got apples from the tree, and dug potatoes from the ground, and prepared a snare for the hazel grouse from his own hair, and got fire, and prepared provisions. And what? He gave the generals a dozen apples, and took one for himself - sour. He even made a rope so that his generals could tie him to a tree with it. Moreover, he was ready to “please the generals for the fact that they, a parasite, favored him and did not disdain his peasant work.”

The man collected a swan's fluff to deliver his generals in comfort. No matter how much they scold the man for parasitism, the man “keeps rowing and rowing and feeding the generals with herring.”

Hyperbole and grotesque are evident throughout the narrative. Both the peasant's dexterity and the generals' ignorance are extremely exaggerated. A skilled man cooks a handful of soup. Stupid generals don’t know that buns are made from flour. A hungry general swallows his friend's order. An absolute hyperbole is that the man built a ship and took the generals straight to Bolshaya Podyacheskaya.

Extreme exaggeration of individual situations allowed the writer to turn funny story about stupid and worthless generals in a furious denunciation of the existing order in Russia, which contributes to their emergence and carefree existence. There are no random details in Shchedrin's tales and unnecessary words, and the heroes are revealed in actions and words. The writer draws attention to the funny sides of the person depicted. Suffice it to remember that the generals were in nightgowns, and each had an order hanging around their necks.

The uniqueness of Shchedrin’s fairy tales also lies in the fact that in them the real is intertwined with the fantastic, thereby creating comic effect. On the fabulous island, the generals find the famous reactionary newspaper Moskovskie Vedomosti. From the extraordinary island it is not far from St. Petersburg, to Bolshaya Podyacheskaya.

These tales are magnificent artistic monument of the past era. Many images have become household names, denoting social phenomena Russian and world reality.