Characteristics of fairy tales about animals. Images of animals in Russian folk tales and Slavic mythology

Quiz “Animals – heroes of fairy tales”

Quiz on fairy tales for elementary school students

List of materials used
1. Russian folk tales: From the collection of A.N. Afanasyev / Intro. article by V. Anikin; ill. N. Kaminsky. - M.: Pravda, 1982.- 576 p.: ill.
2. Russian folk tales / Comp., intro. Art. and note V.P. Anikina; Drawings by E. Korotkova, N. Kochergin, I. Kuznetsov, K. Kuznetsov, V. Milashevsky, B. Shakhov; Design of B. Shkolnik.- I.: Det. lit., 1986.- 543 p.: ill.
3. My favorite songs (Electronic resource). - 2001, SIMAZ

Farmanchuk Artyom

Considerable attention is paid to the consideration of such characters...

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MUNICIPAL NON-TYPICAL BUDGET

GENERAL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION
"LYCEUM No. 76"

Animals are carriers of certain human qualities in fairy tales and fables

Completed

Student 5 "A" class

Farmanchuk Artem

Supervisor

Biology teacher

Fedosova Elena

Nikolaevna

Novokuznetsk

2015

I Introduction 3

II Tales about animals, their features and varieties 5

III Negative animal characters in Russian folk tales 8

III.I Fox in animal tales 9

III.II Wolf in fairy tales about animals 12

III.III Bear in fairy tales about animals 14

IV Positive animal characters in Russian folk tales 15

V The role of fairy tales and fables about animals in the formation of national character 17

Bibliography 19

I Introduction

Over the course of many centuries, in the process of developing the current images of animals in Russian folk tales, literature was created that explored and described folklore features heroes of fairy tales from various regions, countries, etc.

In such works V.Ya. Proppa like " Historical roots fairy tale", "Russian fairy tale" and "Morphology of a fairy tale", E.V. Pomerantseva “The Fates of a Russian Fairy Tale”, V.P. Anikin “Russian folk tale” gives an idea of ​​the structure of a fairy tale, its types, large quantities different types fairy tale heroes. Books by O.M. Ivanova-Kazas “Mythological Zoology” (dictionary) and E. A. Kostyukhin “Types and forms of animal epic” help to consider in detail the most famous heroes tales about animals and create them collective image based on a comparative analysis of the characters’ data and their actions.

The heroes of fairy tales are often animals, personifying people with different characters.

It is also worth noting that Russian literature includes not only Russian folk tales about animals. It is also rich in fables. Animals in these works have such human qualities as cowardice, kindness, stupidity, and envy.

Enough attention is paid to the consideration of such characters, but there is not enough literature explaining the role of their existence in fairy tales about animals, which is due to the relevance of the topic of the course work.

Goal: Describe Russian heroes folk tales and fables about animals.

Tasks:

A study of Russian folk tales and its animal heroes.

Creation of a comparative analysis of the data of the heroes and their actions.

To prove the educational role of fairy tales and fables through the necessity of the existence of animal heroes.

Subject of research:

Object of study:

Animal heroes of Russian folk tales and fables.

Methods:

Theoretical method

Method of analysis

Questionnaire method

Comparative method

Research material:

Russian folk tales and fables about animals.

II Tales about animals, their features and varieties

In fairy tales about animals, certain characters can be traced in different time frames. Therefore one of critical issues is the problem of the difference between fairy tales about animals and fairy tales of other genres in which animals take part.

The key to solving this problem is given by the definition of fairy tales about animals proposed by V.Ya. Propp: “Tales about animals will mean those tales in which the animal is the main object or subject of the narrative. On this basis, fairy tales about animals can be distinguished from others, where animals play only a supporting role and are not the heroes of the story.”

Fairy tales about animals, of course, include tales where only animals act (“The Fox and the Crane”, “The Fox, the Hare and the Rooster”, “The Fox-Midwife”, “The Fox and the Blackbird”, “The Fool-Wolf”, etc.). d.). Of the fairy tales about the relationship between man and animals, this genre should include those in which animals are the main characters, and people are the objects of their action, and the narration in which is told from the point of view of animals, not humans (“The Wolf at the Ice Hole,” “The Dog and wolf”, “Man, bear and fox”, etc.).

Tales about animals bear little resemblance to stories from the lives of animals. Animals in fairy tales act only to some extent in accordance with their nature, and to a much greater extent they act as bearers of one or another character and producers of certain actions that should be attributed primarily to humans. Therefore, the world of animals in fairy tales is supplemented by human imagination; it is a form of expression of a person’s thoughts and feelings, his views on life.

Animals that speak, reason and behave like people are just a poetic convention: “The adventures of animals are projected onto human life - and it is their human meaning that makes them interesting.” Hence the main themes of Russian fairy tales about animals - human characters, virtues and vices of people, types of human relationships in everyday life, in society, sometimes these images even look satirical.

Most researchers note the problem of classifying tales about animals due to their diversity. V.Ya. wrote about the complexity of types of tales about animals. Propp, noting the following varieties: tales about animals that exist in a cumulative form (“Teremok”, “Kolobok”, “The Cockerel and the Bean Seed”, etc.); tales about animals, close in structure to fairy tales (“The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats”, “The Cat, the Rooster and the Fox”, etc.); tales about animals, close in structure to fables (“The Wolf and the Fox”); animal tales coming to literary works and having political form(“The Tale of Ersha Ershovich”).

Developing a classification of Russian fairy tales about animals based on texts collected by A.N. Afanasyev, V.Ya. Propp identifies the following groups: Tales about wild animals (“Beasts in the Pit”, “Fox and Wolf”, “Fox Midwife”, “Fox and Crane”, “Fox Confessor”, etc.); Tales about wild and domestic animals (“The Dog and the Wolf”, “The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids”, “The Cat, the Fox and the Rooster”, etc.); Tales about humans and wild animals (“The Fox and Her Tail”, “The Man and the Bear”, “The Bear is a Linden Leg”, “The Fox with a Rolling Pin”, etc.); Tales about domestic animals (“The Whacked Goat”, “The Horse and the Dog”, etc.); Tales about birds and fish (“The Crane and the Heron”, “The Cockerel and the Bean Seed”, “The Ryaba Hen”, etc.); Tales about other animals, plants, mushrooms and elements (“Fox and Crayfish”, “Teremok”, “Kolobok”, “Sun, Frost and Wind”, “War of the Mushrooms”, etc.).

The characters of Russian folk tales about animals are represented, as a rule, by images of wild and domestic animals. Images of wild animals clearly prevail over images of domestic animals: these are fox, wolf, bear, hare, among birds - crane, heron, thrush, woodpecker, sparrow, raven, etc. Domestic animals are much less common, and they do not appear as independent or leading characters, but only in combination with forest ones: this is a dog, a cat, a goat, a ram, a horse, a pig, a bull, and among poultry - a goose, a duck and a rooster. There are no tales only about domestic animals in Russian folklore. Each of the characters is an image of a very specific animal or bird, behind which stands one or another human character, and therefore the characterization characters based on observation of the habits, demeanor of the animal, and its appearance. The difference in characters is especially clearly and definitely expressed in the images of wild animals: thus, the fox is depicted primarily as a flattering, cunning deceiver, a charming robber; the wolf is like a greedy and slow-witted gray fool, always getting into trouble; the bear is like a stupid ruler, a forest oppressor who uses his power not according to reason; a hare, a frog, a mouse, forest birds - like weak, harmless creatures, always serving on errands. The ambiguity of assessments also persists when describing domestic animals: for example, a dog is portrayed as an intelligent animal, devoted to humans; the cat has a combination of courage and laziness; The rooster is noisy, self-confident and curious.

To understand the meaning of Russian folk tales about animals, it is necessary to work on their plot organization and composition, which is distinguished by clarity, clarity and simplicity: “Tales about animals are built on elementary actions that underlie the narrative, representing a more or less expected or unexpected end, in a known way prepared. These simplest actions are phenomena of a psychological nature...” They are often one-episode (“The Fox and the Crane”, “The Crane and the Heron”, etc.). However, much more often there are fairy tales with plots based on the sequential linking of the same plot links-motives. The events in them are connected by similar in nature actions of cross-cutting characters: for example, in the fairy tale “The Fox and the Wolf” there are three plot motifs - “The Fox steals fish from the sleigh”, “The wolf at the ice hole”, “The beaten one is lucky.” Multiple episodes, as a rule, do not complicate the composition, since we are usually talking about the same type of actions of characters performed in different plot situations.

III Negative animal characters in Russian folk tales

In this work, I conducted a study of two negative heroes of Russian folk tales about animals - the fox and the wolf. This choice is due not only to their popularity, but also to the fact that using the example of these heroes one can clearly see what vices are ridiculed and condemned in fairy tales, thereby influencing the formation of the national character of readers. Both characters meet in different fairy tales separately and in one together. And despite the fact that both the wolf and the fox are negative heroes, and it seems that they have a lot in common: they live in the same forests, attack the same animals, are also afraid of the same opponents, in fairy tales they endowed with different human qualities, which is quite interesting. Also interesting is the fact that one negative hero is male and, it turns out, he is endowed with masculine negative traits character, and the other hero is female, endowed with feminine traits, accordingly, which is why the methods of achieving their goals are different, despite the fact that these goals are the same.

Thus, based on analyzes of various Russian folk tales about animals, it is possible to consider these heroes from the same positions: their appearance, features, actions, and determine which of them is smarter, smarter or more cunning, and who is stupid and naive. Comparative analysis the wolf and the fox will also help to identify the main human vices that are ridiculed in society and find out how the presence of these heroes in Russian folk tales influences the formation of national character, which is the goal of this work.

III.I Fox in fairy tales about animals

One of the most famous fairy tales with the participation of a fox - “The Tale of the Fox and the Wolf.”

It begins with the fact that the fox wants to eat fish, but doesn’t know where to get it. And, to achieve her goal, she decides to lie down on the road. A man notices her on the road and puts her in his cart with fish. While the man is riding and rejoicing at his good find, the fox gnaws a hole in the sleigh and lowers the fish down to the ground. The fox fishes out almost all the fish, and then runs off into the forest. When the man saw that there was no fox or fish, he was very upset. Meanwhile, the fox runs to collect fish and feast on it. On the road she meets a wolf who asks her where the fish is from, how she caught it and where. In order to get rid of the wolf and not share the prey with him, she tells him that the tail must be lowered into the hole and utter special words so that the fish will catch better. So the stupid wolf ran to the ice hole. While he was sitting and waiting for the fish, the tail froze in the hole so that there was no way to get it out. A woman with a rocker saw a wolf. At first she chased him, and when she realized that he was frozen, she began to beat him so that the wolf’s tail came off. And at this time the fox runs into the hut where the woman lived and begins to knead the dough. While she was kneading, she got all dirty in the dough, went and lay down on the road. The wolf met her again, said that nothing had worked out for him, and noticing that the fox was lying all white, he got scared and began to ask what happened to her. The fox told him that her head was broken with a yoke. The wolf took pity on her, put her on his back and took her home. And the fox rode on his back and said, smiling: “The beaten one carries the unbeaten!”

In Russian folk tales about animals, the fox is often the enemy of the wolf. This “gossip darling” often arouses our sympathy for her dexterity, courage and resourcefulness in fooling the wolf. And in the fairy tale presented above, the fox’s imagination and resourcefulness have no boundaries. For the sake of her own benefit, the fox deceives the wolf, the man, and, most likely, would be ready to deceive and frame anyone for the sake of her goal - food and warm shelter. And therefore, despite all the sympathy for her, it would still be a mistake to talk about her as a positive character. The fox's cunning and ingenuity coexist with unbridled arrogance, hypocrisy and betrayal.

Among the tales about animals, there are also those in which not only human, but also social vices are condemned, although there are few of them. For example, the fairy tale “The Fox and Kotofey Ivanovich”. Worship of rank and bribery are depicted in it with inimitable brilliance. A cat, expelled from home, thanks to a resourceful fox who supposedly marries him, becomes Kotofey Ivanovich - the “boss” of all forest animals, because the fox, through deception, passes him off to everyone as a terrible beast. Even the strongest inhabitants of the forest - the bear and the wolf - are forced to serve him, and the cat freely robs and presses everyone.

In Russian folk tales about animals, the fox also appears before us in the form of a sweet-voiced red-haired beauty who can talk to anyone. Thus, in the fairy tale “The Fox the Confessor,” before eating the rooster, she convinces him to confess his sins; at the same time, the hypocrisy of the clergy is wittily ridiculed. The fox turns to the rooster: “Oh, my dear child, rooster!” She tells him the biblical parable of the publican and the Pharisee, and then eats him.

Another fairy tale whose plot is known to everyone is “Kolobok”. The tale is a chain of homogeneous episodes depicting Kolobok's meetings with various talking animals intending to eat him, but the Kolobok escapes from everyone except the fox. With each animal, the bun enters into a discussion, in which each time he explains his departure: “I left my grandmother, I left my grandfather, and I will leave you, bear (wolf, hare),.” The fox, as usual, with the help of deception, pretending to be partially deaf, catches Kolobok in his vanity and, taking advantage of his kindness, which is expressed in his readiness to repeat the song closer to the ear and mouth of the fox, eats him.

The fox's stupidity is described in the fairy tale "The Fox and the Blackbird." The thrush built a nest and brought out the chicks. The fox found out about this and began to scare the blackbird by saying that he would destroy his nest. First, the fox demanded that the thrush give her food. The blackbird fed the fox pies and honey. Then the fox demanded that the blackbird give her something to drink. The thrush gave the fox beer. Again the fox came to the thrush and demanded to make her laugh. The thrush made the fox laugh. The fox came to the blackbird again and demanded to scare her. So the thrush led the fox to a pack of dogs. The fox got scared, ran away from the dogs, climbed into a hole, and started talking to itself. She quarreled with the tail and stuck it out of the hole. So the dogs grabbed her by the tail and ate her. This is how stupidity and greed are always punished in Russian folk tales about animals.

Having examined several fairy tales with the participation of a fox, we can conclude that in most cases the fox is a negative hero, personifying cunning, deceit, deceit, guile and selfishness. But you can also notice that if she, together with other animals, opposes the wolf, she receives a positive assessment, and if she herself harms others, she receives a negative assessment. Quite often you can see fairy tales about the cunning fox and the stupid wolf, in which the fox deceives the wolf for her own benefit. But the fox is just as much a predator as the wolf. She drives the bunny out of his hut, eats thrush chicks, deceives other animals, for example, a bear, or even people, and she always wants to eat a rooster, black grouse, bun, and hare. And she pays cruelly for these actions. After all, cunning bordering on betrayal cannot be justified. Even the fox's appearance is deceptive: it is usually described as very attractive, red-haired, with eyes that speak of its cunning.

III.II Wolf in fairy tales about animals

The wolf is a fairly popular character in Russian folk tales, but in the minds of Russian people his image is endowed with mostly negative characteristics. Most often in Russian folk tales, the wolf is a stupid and simple-minded animal, which everyone is constantly deceiving and setting up (“Sister Fox and the Wolf”, “Wolf and Goat”, “Fool Wolf”, “Winter Quarter of Animals”). But it should be noted that even when the wolf in fairy tales is represented as a fool, he is never mean and low, unlike the fox.

It was said earlier that fairy tales about animals were created not only for the edification of little ones. Many of them use funny fiction and jokes to ridicule vices. And, for example, the embodiment of stupidity in fairy tales is often the wolf. His stupidity is the stupidity of a cruel and greedy beast. Storytellers seem to deliberately put the wolf in conditions that justify his actions, which should make the listener feel pity for him, but this does not happen, because there is no place in life for stupidity, cruelty and greed - this is the main thesis of fairy tales.

One of the most famous fairy tales about the wolf is the fairy tale “The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats.” A mother goat, leaving the house, warns her kids to beware of the wolf that wanders nearby. Meanwhile, the wolf, taking advantage of the opportune moment, knocks on the goat's door and declares that he is their mother. And the kids respond by saying that their mother’s voice is soft, while his voice is rough. To soften his voice, the wolf eats a piece of honey, but the kids still don’t let him in because their mother’s paws are white, not black, like the wolf’s. Then he goes to the mill and gets his paws dirty in flour. The kids let the wolf in, who immediately eats them all, except for the smallest one, hidden in the stove. Returning home, the mother goat sees the destruction caused by the wolf and the smallest kid who escaped, who tells her about what happened. She goes after the wolf and finds him sleeping with a full stomach, in which something is stirring. The mother goat rips open the wolf's belly, and six kids emerge alive. Instead of kids, their mother fills the wolf's belly with stones. The next morning, the goat met the wolf and invited him to compete in jumping over the fire, the goat jumped over, the wolf also jumped, but the stones pulled him down. So the wolf burned. Another version of the ending - the wolf woke up with stones in his stomach, became thirsty, went to the stream, slipped, fell into the water and drowned from the weight.

In this fairy tale, the wolf is cruel and merciless; for the sake of his prey, he is able to deceive the little kids who are left alone at home. By deception (speaking in the voice of a mother goat), he tells the kids that he is their mother and asks to let him in home. And when they let him in, the wolf eats all the kids except one, which he did not notice. It is thanks to the little goat that evil, greed and mercilessness are punished in this fairy tale.

In “The Tale of the Wolf and the Fox,” the wolf appears to readers in a slightly different image - a stupid and naive animal that is easy to deceive. The fox in his house manipulates and controls the wolf, cleverly charming him. At the very beginning of the fairy tale, it is said that the fox lived in an ice hut, and the wolf lived in a twig hut, and when spring came, the fox’s hut melted, and she began to ask the wolf to live in the wolf’s house. The wolf took pity on her and foolishly let her in. Every day the fox managed to deceive the wolf: she said that guests were coming to her and went out to them to eat his sour cream and butter, and slowly changed her sleeping place so that it was closer to the stove. So, the fox moved to sleep on the stove, and the wolf moved under the stove. The fairy tale ended with the fact that, continuing to deceive the wolf, the fox remained to live in his house forever, becoming the mistress there, and making the wolf a servant.

The stupidity of the wolf is also described in the fairy tale “How the Fox Sewed a Fur Coat for the Wolf.” The stupid wolf asked the sly fox to sew him a fur coat. The fox received sheep from the wolf: she ate the meat and sold the wool. And when the wolf ran out of patience and asked for his fur coat, the fox killed him by deception.

So, from the fairy tales discussed above, we can conclude that the wolf is often stupid, but this is not his main feature: he is cruel, ferocious, angry, greedy - these are his main qualities. He eats a poor old man's horse, breaks into the animals' winter quarters and disturbs them peaceful life, wants to eat the kids, deceiving them with a song. But such qualities are never encouraged in fairy tales, so the wolf always gets what he deserves.

III.III Bear in fairy tales about animals

It is impossible not to mention such a hero of fairy tales as the bear, which is the embodiment of brute force. Sometimes he is fierce, sometimes he is naive and kind. Being the owner of the forest, he has power over other animals, but, nevertheless, he has a simple character. The presence of physical strength in a given animal character practically excludes intelligence - the bear in fairy tales is stupid and is fooled by weak animals. You can see a parallel between the image of a bear and the image of rich landowners during serfdom. Therefore, people and other animals, symbolizing the free and cunning Russian people in fairy tales, often try to outwit and fool the bear. For example, the bear is left with nothing (fairy tale "Man and bear ") or is completely eaten by a crowd of people ("Bear - fake leg "). In some fairy tales, the bear is lazy, calm and values ​​his peace very much. There are also fairy tales in which the bear manifests itself as a kind animal character who helps people. For example, the bear gives gifts to Masha, thereby acting as a symbol of the good forces of nature that love hard work and honesty.

IV Positive animal characters in Russian folk tales

I also analyzed positive characters-animals in Russian folk tales, which represent a whole gallery of diverse characters. Of course, all these characters metaphorically reflect the world of people - their actions, the fears of the weak before the strong, resourcefulness and kindness. In fairy tales about animals, humans play a minor role or are absent altogether. In Russian fairy tales, positive animal characters are very widely represented. They always win thanks to their intelligence and resourcefulness.

Often a cat in fairy tales openly demonstrates its playful disposition; in many stories it turns out to be a robber or even a thief. But at the same time, the cat is distinguished by justice and a lively resourceful mind. Thanks to his eloquence, he gets out of any difficult situations, helps the offended, and protects his friends. Moreover, the cat does not have obvious power; its true power lies in the word. The wise words of a cat can strike fear into animals many times larger than him. For example, in the fairy tale "Cat and fox “The cat calls himself Voivode and makes even such strong animal characters as a bear and a wolf tremble. You can also remember the fairy tale “Cat - gray forehead, goat and ram ", in which a cat and his friends cleverly deceive the wolves.

The rooster in fairy tales appears to us from two sides. In many fairy tales the rooster is portrayed as frivolous and very self-confident. Sometimes he shows disobedience, violates some prohibition and as a result ends up stolen. Like in a fairy taleCockerel - golden comb “- the fox steals the rooster, and his friends come to the hero’s rescue. This characterizes him as weak hero, however, there is another side. The rooster in fairy tales acts as a wise assistant to his friends or people, as was the case in fairy tales "Rooster and millstones " And " Fox and Hare " He manifests himself as truly fearless and strong positive characters in Russian fairy tales.

The hare is a weak but cunning hero. He often acts as the personification of cowardice, however, thanks to his dexterity and resourcefulness, he easily gets out of difficult situations. For example, in the fairy tale "Boasting Hare "The hero helps save the crow. There is an obvious change in the image of the hare in fairy tales: at first it appears to us as a symbol of cowardice and timidity (“Fox and Hare "), but as the story progresses we see how this cowardly hero transforms. He can outsmart even a wolf and save his friends.

The hedgehog in the fairy tale is an intelligent and cautious animal character. He expresses kindness and friendliness, and often reconciles animal characters with each other, resolves their dispute, and finds justice. Fairy tales sometimes explain the appearance of spines on a hedgehog, with the help of which it can not only defend itself, but also resist larger animals. There may even be heroic glory about him (the fairy tale “The Hedgehog”).

The mouse in fairy tales is hardworking and kind, although it is often emphasized that “a mouse’s brain is smaller than a pea.” She often acts as a savior, and the reward for this is not at all large - just a spoonful of porridge, for example. The mouse often helps people - carries water in a fairy tale "Fear has big eyes "and can even save lives ("Daughter and stepdaughter "). This is a strong animal character, who sometimes plays a decisive role in the development of the plot of a fairy tale - and helps to pull out the turnip (“turnip "), and does something completely impossible and beyond the strength of people - he breaks the golden egg ("Chicken"). Despite its small size, the role of the mouse in fairy tales turns out to be very significant.

V The role of fairy tales and fables about animals in the formation of national character

Russian folk tales about animals show what the people condemned in society, their enemies and even in themselves. They ridiculed cruelty, boasting, flattery, corruption and much more. And, often, thus, in fairy tales, precisely due to the presence of animals, in simple content such ideas are hidden that form the essence of the moral code of the people. Those stories that unfold in fairy tales about animals are a kind of dramatization of real life situations. It is not for nothing that such fairy tales have a morally instructive role, because their heroes personify certain human qualities, and that is why a cunning person is called a fox, a cowardly person is called a hare, and a stupid person is called a wolf. Tales about animals are parables that show the reader what is respected and what is not.

The character of each person is made up of emotional, volitional and moral traits, the foundations of which are laid in early childhood. Parents read fairy tales to their children, with the help of which they learn about the world. Therefore, it is inherent in fairy tales educational role, after all, a fairy tale is centuries-old folk wisdom. Through it, the child learns about the world around him and his place in this world, receives his first ideas about good and evil, friendship and betrayal, courage and cowardice. These ideas appear precisely through the images of heroes of fairy tales, including animals, because sometimes animals at the end of a fairy tale become more moral, going through certain moralizing tests, and sometimes it is animals that are those “moral teachers” in a fairy tale, with the help of which morality is determined . There are many similar characters in Russian folk tales, the consideration of which has led to very interesting results. The identification of similar features in animals and humans (speech - cry, behavior - habits) served as the basis for combining their qualities with human qualities in the images of animals: animals speak and behave like people. This combination also led to the typification of the characters of animals, which became the embodiment of certain qualities: the fox - cunning, the wolf - stupidity and greed, the bear - gullibility, and the hare - cowardice. Thus, fairy tales acquired an allegorical meaning: animals began to mean people of certain characters. Images of animals became a means of moral teaching, and then social satire, which led to the development of national character, because in fairy tales about animals not only negative qualities(stupidity, laziness, talkativeness), but also condemns the oppression of the weak, greed, and deception for profit.

The animal plays a special role not only in folk tales, but also in fables. Turning to Krylov's fables, one can see that the animal in them sometimes causes laughter, sometimes not. In such fables as “The Wolf and the Lamb,” “The Lion and the Mouse,” “The Wolf in the Kennel,” and a number of other fables, animals are not funny. But let’s take the fables “The Monkey and the Glasses”, “The Frog and the Ox”, “The Quartet” and many others - and we’re already having fun. In the image of a fidgety monkey, a frog puffed up with arrogance, a stupid monkey, a donkey, a goat and a bear, we can easily recognize people with all their shortcomings.

Bibliography

1. Afanasyev A.N. “Russian folk tales: complete edition in one volume”, M., 2010.

2. Anikin V.P. Russian folk tale. M., 1984.

3. Vedernikova N.M. Russian folk tale. M., 1975.

4. Ivanova-Kazas O.M. Mythological zoology (dictionary), St. Petersburg, Faculty of Philology, 2004.

5. Kostyukhin E. A. Types and forms of animal epic. Moscow, 1987

6. Nikiforov A.I. Children's folk tale dramatic genre. L., 1928.

7. Propp V.Ya. Historical roots of fairy tales.

8. Propp V.Ya. Morphology of a fairy tale. M., 98.

9. Propp V.Ya. Russian fairy tale. L., 1984.

10. Pomerantseva E.V. The fate of the Russian fairy tale, M., 1965.

11. Tales about animals, Tula, 2000.

12. Tales of hares, Tyumen, 1959.

13. Fairy tales about the fox, retold by O. Kapitsa and A. Tolstoy for preschool children, L., 1970.

14. Fundamental electronic library. Russian literature and folklore. http://feb-web.ru/feb/feb/atindex/atindx01.htm#

For children, a fairy tale is amazing, but fictional story about magical objects, monsters and heroes. However, if you look deeper, it becomes clear that a fairy tale is a unique encyclopedia that reflects the life and moral principles of any people.

Over the course of several hundred years, people came up with huge amount fairy tales Our ancestors passed them on from mouth to mouth. They changed, disappeared and came back again. Moreover, there can be completely different characters. Most often, the heroes of Russian folk tales are animals, and in European literature the main characters are often princesses and children.

Fairy tale and its meaning for the people

A fairy tale is a narrative story about fictional events that did not occur in reality with the participation of fictional heroes and magical characters. Fairy tales, composed by the people and being the creation of folklore traditions, exist in every country. Residents of Russia are closer to Russian folk tales about animals, kings and Ivan the Fool, residents of England are closer to leprechauns, gnomes, cats, etc.

Fairy tales have a powerful educational power. A child from the cradle listens to fairy tales, associates himself with the characters, puts himself in their place. Thanks to this, he develops a certain model of behavior. Folk tales about animals teach careful attitude to our smaller brothers.

It is also worth noting that Russian fairy tales of an everyday nature include words such as “master”, “man”. This awakens curiosity in the child. With the help of fairy tales, you can interest your child in history.

Everything that is invested in a child in childhood remains with him forever. A child properly raised on fairy tales will grow up to be a decent and sympathetic person.

Composition

Most fairy tales are written according to one system. It represents the following diagram:

1) Initiation. This describes the place where the events will take place. If it’s about animals, then the description will begin with the forest. Here the reader or listener gets acquainted with the main characters.

2) The beginning. At this stage of the tale, the main intrigue occurs, which turns into the beginning of the plot. Let's say the hero has a problem and he must solve it.

3) Climax. It is also called the pinnacle of a fairy tale. Most often this is the middle of the work. The situation is heating up, the most responsible actions are taking place.

4) Denouement. At this point main character solves his problem. All characters live happily ever after (as a rule, folk tales have a good, kind ending).

Most fairy tales are built according to this scheme. It can also be found in original works, only with significant additions.

Russian folk tales

They are a huge block folklore works. Russian fairy tales are varied. Their plots, actions and characters are somewhat similar, but, nevertheless, each is unique in its own way. Sometimes you come across the same folk tales about animals, but their names are different.

All Russian folk tales can be classified as follows:

1) Folk tales about animals, plants and inanimate nature (“Terem-Teremok”, “Rock-hen”, etc.)

2) Magical (“Self-assembled tablecloth”, “Flying ship”).

3) "Vanya rode on a horse...")

4) (“About the white bull”, “The priest had a dog”).

5) Household (“The Master and the Dog”, “Good Priest”, “Good and Bad”, “Pot”).

There are quite a lot of classifications, but we looked at the one proposed by V. Ya. Propp, one of the outstanding researchers of Russian fairy tales.

Animal images

Every person who grew up in Russia can list the main animals that are characters in Russian fairy tales. Bear, wolf, fox, hare - these are the heroes of Russian fairy tales. Animals live in the forest. Each of them has its own image, which in literary criticism is called an allegory. For example, the wolf we meet in Russian fairy tales is always hungry and angry. It is always because of his anger or greed that he often gets into trouble.

The bear is the owner of the forest, the king. He is usually portrayed in fairy tales as a fair and wise ruler.

The fox is an allegory of cunning. If this animal is present in a fairy tale, then one of the other heroes will definitely be deceived. The hare is an image of cowardice. He is usually the eternal victim of the fox and wolf who intend to eat him.

So, these are the heroes that Russian folk tales about animals present to us. Let's see how they behave.

Examples

Let's look at some folk tales about animals. The list is huge, we will try to analyze only a few. For example, let's take the fairy tale "The Fox and the Crane". It tells the story of the Fox, who called the Crane to her place for dinner. She prepared some porridge and spread it on a plate. But Crane is uncomfortable eating, so he didn’t get any porridge. Such was the cunning of the thrifty Fox. The Crane invited the Fox to dinner, made okroshka and offered to eat from a high-necked jug. But Lisa never got to the okroshka. Moral of the story: whatever comes around, unfortunately, comes around.

An interesting tale about Kotofey Ivanovich. One man brought a cat to the forest and left it there. A fox found him and married him. She began to tell all the animals how strong and angry he was. The wolf and the bear decided to come and look at him. The fox warned them that it was better for them to hide. They climbed a tree, and laid the bull's meat under it. A cat and a fox came, the cat pounced on the meat and began saying: “Meow, meow...”. And the wolf and the bear think: “Not enough! Not enough!” They marveled and wanted to take a closer look at Kotofey Ivanovich. The leaves rustled, and the cat thought it was a mouse and grabbed their faces with its claws. The wolf and fox ran away.

These are Russian folk tales about animals. As you can see, the fox is fooling everyone around his finger.

Animals in English fairy tales

Positive characters in English fairy tales are a hen and a rooster, a cat and a cat, and a bear. The fox and the wolf are always negative characters. It is noteworthy that, according to research by philologists, the cat in English fairy tales has never been a negative character.

Like Russian, English folk tales about animals divide characters into good and evil. Good always triumphs over evil. Also, the works have a didactic purpose, that is, at the end there are always moral conclusions for readers.

Examples of English fairy tales about animals

The work "The Cat King" is interesting. It tells the story of two brothers who lived in the forest with a dog and a black cat. One brother was once delayed while hunting. Upon his return, he began to tell miracles. He says he saw the funeral. Many cats carried a coffin with a depicted crown and scepter. Suddenly the black cat lying at his feet raised his head and screamed: “Old Peter is dead! I am the cat king!” After that he jumped into the fireplace. Nobody saw him again.

Let's take the comical fairy tale "Willy and the Little Pig" as an example. One owner entrusted his stupid servant to take a pig to his friend. However, Willie's friends persuaded him to go to the tavern, and while he was drinking, they jokingly replaced the pig with a dog. Willie thought it was the devil's joke.

Animals in other genres of literature (fables)

It is worth noting that Russian literature includes not only Russian folk tales about animals. It is also rich in fables. Animals in these works have such human qualities as cowardice, kindness, stupidity, and envy. I. A. Krylov especially liked to use animals as characters. His fables “The Crow and the Fox” and “The Monkey and the Glasses” are known to everyone.

Thus, we can conclude that the use of animals in fairy tales and fables gives literature a special charm and style. Moreover, in English and Russian literature the heroes are the same animals. Only their stories and characteristics are completely different.

Krendelev Anton

Tales about animals are not only entertaining and funny, but also instructive.

Man attributed to animals the ability to reason and speak, but people’s misconceptions were also permeated by the desire to understand the life of animals, to master the means of taming them, protecting them from attack, and methods of hunting.

The most common heroes of fairy tales about animals are the fox and the wolf. This is explained by the fact that, firstly, a person most often had to encounter them in economic activity; secondly, these animals occupy the middle in the animal kingdom in size and strength; finally, thirdly, thanks to the previous two reasons, a person had the opportunity to get to know them very closely.

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IV regional youth “Philological readings”

Municipal educational institution Mikhailovskaya secondary school

Krendelev Anton

Municipal educational institution Mikhailovskaya secondary school, 5th grade, 11 years old

Competition work

Genre: Exploration

“Images of animals in Russian folk tales”

Teacher-mentor:

Yablokova Svetlana Vladimirovna

Teacher of Russian language and literature

Mikhailovsky village, Yaroslavl municipal district, 2010.

1.Introduction 2 pages

2. Chapter “Images of animals in Russian folk tales”

1.1 The Fox of the Seven Wolves will spend 5 pages.

1.2. The wolf changes its fur, but not its character 7 p.

1.3. A bear, although old, is worth two foxes 9 p.

1.4. Soft paws, and in the paws there are scratches 11 p.

3. Conclusion 12 pages.

4. References 14 pages.

Introduction

What is a fairy tale? This beautiful world magic and transformations in which we live in childhood, where reality ends and this world, amazing and incomprehensible, begins. This is a world in which good triumphs over evil, which is probably why this genre is so loved by children.

And if he speaks in scientific language, fairy tale-type narrative, mostly prosaic folklore. Its history goes back a long way. Word " fairy tale " recorded in written sources of the 16th century. From the word"show". Meaning: list, list, exact description. Modern meaning the word has been acquired since the 19th century. Until the 19th century, the 11th century word was used - blasphemy.

There are several types of Russian folk tales: magical, everyday, tales about animals.The purpose of my work is to identify the features of animal images in folk tales. To achieve the goal, a number of tasks must be solved:

1. identify the place and features of the depiction of animals in fairy tales;
2. see whether they are the main or secondary person;
3. consider character traits;

I used several folk tale sources to write my work.

This type of fairy tales differs significantly from other types of fairy tales. A fairy tale about animals is a work in which the main characters are animals, birds, fish, as well as objects, plants and natural phenomena. The question of the original origins of fantasy in fairy tales about animals has concerned scientists for many decades. The beliefs of the Russian people and, in general, the beliefs of the East Slavic peoples allow us to assume with all confidence which animals were the heroes of mythical stories and legends of ancient fables. The peculiarity of these legends was that the animals were endowed with various human qualities, but in the animals they saw precisely the animals. Not all stories and legends of this kind have disappeared from the memory of the people. Their traces are preserved in fairy tales thattraditionally acceptedfrom ancient fables some of its essential features. This is the tale of the bear on a fake leg. This fairy-tale narrative is unknown in Western Europe. Its origin is purely East Slavic. The system of characters in Russian folk tales about animals is represented, as a rule, by images of wild and domestic animals. Images of wild animals clearly prevail over images of domestic animals: these are fox, wolf, bear, hare, and among birds - crane, heron, thrush, woodpecker, sparrow, raven, etc. Domestic animals are much less common, and do not appear as independent or leading characters, but only in conjunction with forest birds: a dog, a cat, a goat, a ram, a horse, a pig, a bull, and among domestic birds - a goose, a duck and a rooster. There are no tales only about domestic animals in Russian folklore.

In fairy tales about animals, animals implausibly argue, talk, quarrel, love, make friends, and quarrel: the cunning “fox is beautiful in conversation,” the stupid and greedy “wolf-wolf who grabs from under a bush,” the cowardly bow-legged bunny who jumps up the hill "

The fox will lead seven wolves

The favorite hero of Russian fairy tales about animals, as well as all East Slavic fairy tales, was the fox.

The image of the fox is stable. She is portrayed as a lying, cunning deceiver: she deceives a man by pretending to be dead (“The Fox steals fish from a sleigh”); deceives the wolf (“The Fox and the Wolf”); deceives the rooster (“The Cat, the Rooster and the Fox”); drives the hare out of the bast hut (“The Fox and the Hare”); exchanges a goose for a lamb, a lamb for a bull, steals honey (“The Bear and the Fox”). In all fairy tales, she is flattering, vengeful, cunning, calculating.Lisa Patrikeevna, the beautiful fox, the butterfly sponge fox, the godmother fox, Lisafya. Here she lies on the road with glassy eyes. She was numb, the man decided, he kicked her, she wouldn’t wake up. The man was delighted, took the fox, put it in the cart with fish, covered it with matting: “The old woman will have a collar for her fur coat,” and started the horse from its place, walking in front. The fox threw all the fish from the cart and left. The man realized that the fox was not dead, but it was already too late. There's nothing to do.

The fox is true to herself everywhere in fairy tales. Her cunning is conveyed in the proverb: “When you look for a fox in front, it is behind.” She is resourceful and lies recklessly until the time when it is no longer possible to lie, but even in this case she often indulges in the most incredible invention. The fox thinks only about his own benefit. If the deal does not promise her acquisitions, she will not sacrifice anything of hers. The fox is vindictive and vindictive.

Fairy tales often depict the triumph of a fox. She revels in revenge, feels complete superiority over the gullible heroes. How much resourcefulness she has and how much vengeful feeling she has! Both are so often found in people with a practical, resourceful mind, overwhelmed by petty passions... Infinitely deceitful, she takes advantage of gullibility, plays on the weak strings of friends and foes.

I have a lot of pranks and pranks in my memory.foxes. She chases the hare out of the bast hut (“The Fox and the Hare”), exchanges the rolling pin for a goose, the goose for a lamb, the lamb for a bull, threatens the thrush to eat the chicks, forces him to water, feed, and even make himself laugh (“The Fox and the Blackbird”) . The fox marries the cat-voivode with the hope of seizing power in the entire forest district (“The Cat and the Fox”), learns to fly (“How the Fox Learned to Fly”), orders the wolf to take the oath to be sure of the correctness of his words: indeed Is the sheep wearing a wolf caftan? The wolf foolishly stuck his head into a trap and got caught (“Sheep, Fox and Wolf”). The fox steals the stored honey (“The Bear and the Fox”).

The fox is a pretender, a thief, a deceiver, evil, unfaithful, flattering, vindictive, clever, vindictive, cunning, selfish, calculating, cruel. In fairy tales, she is faithful to these traits of her character throughout.

The wolf changes its fur, but not its character

Another hero that the fox often encounters is the wolf. He is stupid, which is expressed in the attitude of the people towards him, he devours kids (“Wolf and Goat”), is going to tear apart a sheep (“Sheep, Fox and Wolf”), fattens a hungry dog ​​in order to eat it, is left without a tail (“Fox and wolf").More often than other animals, the fox deceives the wolf and laughs cruelly at him. Who do people understand in this image?? In fairy tales, the wolf is infinitely stupid.Phenomenal stupidity discredits the wolf. Such an image expressed not so much the real features of that human type, which the wolf personifies, as well as the attitude towards him.

Let us think about why the wolf takes blows from angry women who come to the river by water, why, having barely survived one misfortune, the wolf ends up in another. The tale ends with the death of the wolf. The wolf dies a cruel death so that a new fairy tale come to life and again accept an evil death. What ineradicable evil is driven out and executed by the people?

An insatiable thirst for blood, the traits of a rapist who recognizes one right - the right of the strong, the right of the teeth - without this trait a wolf is not a wolf. The social prototype of this fairy tale character becomes clear. The people knew many scoundrels and criminals from whom they had a hard time.

Tales about the wolf do not hide who they mean... The irony of fiction lies in playing on a folk custom.

The tale of how a wolf slaughtered a pig (“The Pig and the Wolf”) depicts in the image of a wolf a cruel and unforgiving master who exacted money from the peasants for poisoning. There lived an old man and with him an old woman. The only livestock they have is a pig. The devil took her, and into someone else's lane - into oats. A wolf came running there, “he grabbed the pig by the bristles, dragged it away by the legs and tore it to pieces.”

Such tales contain that sharp social allegory that made the tale interesting for adults as well. Fantasy narratives talk about social class relations. We cannot ignore this meaning if we do not want to see Fairy tales are just fun.

Fantastic fiction in these fairy tales is also connected with their ideological concept. Boyar, the master is cruel as a wolf, you cannot expect mercy from him, you can only deal with him as the proverb advises: “Trust the wolf in the torok,” that is, the killed one. The fairy tale conveys, as it were, the essence of the wolf law, according to which the weak becomes a victim of the strong. The prince, the boyar, did not need to be cunning. His right is the right of a cruel and strong master. So is fairy wolf. The storytellers took revenge on the oppressors, exposed their moral rudeness and lack of intelligence: the system of social oppression, resorting to the force of the fist, rod and weapon, did not require mental effort from its founders and defenders.

A bear, although old, is worth two foxes

Another hero of fairy tales about animals is the bear. He personifies brute strength and has power over other animals. In fairy tales he is often called “the oppressor of everyone.” The bear is also stupid. Persuading with the peasant to harvest the harvest, he is left with nothing each time (“The Man and the Bear”).

The human type embodied in the bear is partly similar to that reproduced in the image of the wolf. It is not for nothing that the wolf often replaces the bear in fairy tales. These are the numerous versions of fairy tales: “A Man, a Bear and a Fox”, “A Bear, a Dog and a Cat”, etc. However, the similarity of the images is only partial. In the minds of any person familiar with fairy tales, the bear is a beast of the highest rank. He is the most powerful forest animal. When in fairy tales one animal replaces another, the bear is in the position of the strongest. Such is the tale of the little tower, the beasts in the pit, and other tales. One must think that this position of the bear in the animal hierarchy is explained in its own way by its connection with those traditional pre-story mythological legends in which the bear occupied the most important place as the owner of forest lands. Perhaps, over time, the bear began to be seen as the embodiment of the sovereign, the ruler of the district. Fairy tales constantly emphasized the enormous strength of the bear. He crushes everything that comes under his feet.

The stupidity of a bear is the difference between the stupidity of a wolf. The wolf is slow-witted, not stupid. The stupidity of a bear is the stupidity of a person in power. The bear does not use his strength wisely. There is an assumption that the bear represents a person in authority.

The bear is the owner of the forest, has great strength and a rich fur coat, which is obviously why he was assigned the role of a landowner. These tales describe the life of captivity of the Russian people, the period of serfdom. Then the peasants paid rent (half a field of wheat, which for some reason was called tithe) and worked off corvée (they worked in a bear’s house, sometimes it lasted 6 days). The bear decided when to let Masha go and how much to rip off the man. Through such a prism, it becomes clear not only the difficult life of the once free Russian people, but also why they constantly tried to outwit the bear, and even hunt it down with dogs. It is worth noting that in Russian fairy tales the landowner is always stupider than the peasant, and the image of the landowner - the bear - is endowed with the same intelligence. Behind these images is the thought: “You may be a strong gentleman, but I’m smart and I’ll stick to my guns!”

There are fairy tales where the bear gives Masha gifts and punishes her lazy sister. Here the image of a bear carries within itself the image of nature, good and evil. If a person works honestly, then nature rewards him with its gifts, but whoever is lazy has no water flowing.

Soft paws, and scratches in the paws

Among domestic animals and birds, the cat is a positive hero in fairy tales. In a Russian folk tale, a cat (it's a cat, not a cat) is often found in the image of a savior from various misfortunes. For example, take the cycle of fairy tales" Cat, rooster and fox", which A.N. Afanasyev go by numbers. These tales are very similar, and in essence almost the same. They only replace some of the heroes. He acts as a gallant defender of the rooster. Moreover, the cat has excellent hearing, he is smart and caring. That is, in these fairy tales the cat acts as a positive hero. To sum up the conversation about the cat, we can note common features. Firstly, animals everywhere are afraid of cats. Secondly, a cat always has a name, and with a patronymic. The cat is selfless in friendship. The warlike rooster is ready to come to the aid of anyone who is offended. However, the positivity of these characters is very conditional. The tale of how a rooster drove a fox out of a hare's hut (“The Fox, the Hare and the Rooster”) is basically a cheerful humoresque. The irony is that the rooster - the fox's prey - managed to scare the lover of white chicken meat. The fairy tale “Cat in the Voivodeship” is ironic - it makes a lover of hut warmth, a bakery resident, a hero by coincidence of circumstances: the wolf, hiding in a pile of leaves, began to stir; the cat thought there was a mouse there, jumped, the wolf jumped to the side, and a general commotion began - the flight of the animals. Only in the fairy tale “The Cat, the Rooster and the Fox” is the cat truly a hero. This fairy tale was probably created for children from the very beginning.

It should be concluded that in all the Russian fairy tales reviewed, the cat is shown to be dexterous and cunning. In a number of fairy tales, he is a warrior and comes to the aid of his friends. He loves to bask on the stove and enjoy sour cream or fresh mouse. He might stage a “massacre”, or he might resign himself to death. The characteristics of fairy tales certainly depend on the characteristics of the people of a particular region. After all, despite the fact that there is one people - Russian, people are still different.

Conclusion

In the course of working on this topic, we conducted a survey among students in grades 3-6. The following questions were proposed:

1. How many fairy tales about animals have you read?
2. What animals were most common in fairy tales?
3. What features are present?
4. What do fairy tales about animals teach?

The survey yielded the following results:

1 question: 1 fairy tale-6%

2 fairy tales -18%

Several - 76%

Question 2: wolf - 7%

Bear-18%

Fox – 75%

Question 3: The fox is cunning

Bear - stupidity

The wolf is angry

1. question: Kindness

Love

Don't hurt the little ones.

To summarize all of the above, it should be noted: fairy tales about animals are not only entertaining and funny, but also instructive.

Man attributed to animals the ability to reason and speak, but people’s misconceptions were also permeated by the desire to understand the life of animals, to master the means of taming them, protecting them from attack, and methods of hunting.

The most common heroes of fairy tales about animals are the fox and the wolf. This is explained by the fact that, firstly, people most often had to deal with them in economic activity; secondly, these animals occupy the middle in the animal kingdom in size and strength; finally, thirdly, thanks to the previous two reasons, a person had the opportunity to get to know them very closely.

The wolf, like the bear, in popular beliefs appears as an animal in whose honor holidays were held. They did not call him by his real name, fearing that he himself would be called out by doing so. A hostile and dangerous creature, the wolf evoked respect and fear.

From experience, people knew that the wolf is a predatory, cunning, intelligent, resourceful, and evil creature. Meanwhile, in fairy tales the wolf is stupid and easy to deceive. There seems to be no such trouble as this unlucky, always hungry, always beaten beast might find himself in.

The respectful attitude towards the fox expressed in beliefs also contradicts the outright mockery with which fairy tales tell about its frequent mistakes and failures. The beliefs of the Russian people and, in general, the beliefs of the East Slavic peoples allow us to assume with all confidence which animals were the heroes of mythical stories and legends of ancient fables.

Literature used

1. Anikin V.P. Russian folk tale M., “Enlightenment”, 1977
2. Afanasiev. A.N. Russian folk tales / Ed. Georgian. - Ed. 3rd. - 1897.
3. Vedernikova N .M. Russian folk tale M., “Science”

4) Fokeev A.L. “An inexhaustible source. Oral folk art" ed. "Lyceum"

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Fairy tales opened up before me a window into another life, where I existed and, dreaming about better life, some kind of free, fearless force was acting.

M. Gorky

IN folk art- probably the biggest miracle. Words and expressions are common in it: “once upon a time,” “brother,” “sister,” “grandfather,” “woman,” “hut,” “bake pies,” “I’ll go for fish,” but the real world is transformed. We recognize and do not recognize him.

A fox lies on the road - pretending to be dead; My grandfather saw it and realized it would be suitable for a collar: “This would be a gift for my wife!” I took it. I put the fox on the cart, and she took the time to throw fish out of the cart - fish after fish. She threw it all away and left. The fox deceived his grandfather.

The grandfather could have made a mistake, the fox could have been cunning, but not everything in this story is believable, and the further it goes, the more fiction there is. ( This material will help you write competently on the topic The role of animals in Russian fairy tales. Summary does not make it possible to understand the full meaning of the work, so this material will be useful for a deep understanding of the work of writers and poets, as well as their novels, novellas, short stories, plays, and poems.) The fox collected the fish, sat down and eats it. A wolf runs, sees a fox and says:

Hello, sister! And the “sister” answers:

Hello, brother!

Seeing the fox's fish, the wolf began to ask:

Give me some fish!

But the fox did not risk itself for this, it was cunning in order to share its prey with someone.

She says:

Catch it yourself. Wolf complain:

I can't.

The fox seemed to be waiting for these words:

Hey, I caught it! The wolf has nothing to say. Lisa teaches:

You, brother, go to the river, put your tail in the hole, sit and say: “Catch, fish, both small and great! Catch, little fish, both small and great! The fish will attach itself to your tail... But make sure you sit longer, otherwise you won’t catch it.

Apparently, the fox is very angry with the wolf if she decided to deceive him so cruelly. The wolf believed the fox - and almost paid with his head.

We didn’t even notice how we found ourselves in the grip of fiction and how interesting everything the storyteller talks about becomes. Animals in fairy tales talk, reason, cheat, deceive, quarrel, and make friends. The question itself is: what is this - an idle fiction?

Long ago, more than two hundred years ago, Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov recognized the serious significance of fairy-tale fiction. According to the scientist, since ancient times, in the fairy tales of all peoples of the world, there has been a rule to give “dumb animals a word.” Lomonosov drew attention to the fact that fantasy can be the most incredible: monstrous centaurs in the myths of the ancient Greeks are endowed with “half man”, “half horse”, sea maidens-sirens are in the “upper part” as maidens, and in the “lower part” Like fish, the monster chimeras have a lion's head, a snake's tail, and a goat's "middle". There are many similar fantasy creatures in Russian fairy tales: the Serpent Gorynych, mermaids, Baba Yaga, Koschey, sea ​​king. Fantastic fiction, Lomonosov wrote, is “an idea that is contrary to nature or human customs.” Indeed, fantasy is implausible, the opposite of what exists in life, in nature. Fairy tales always tell about something incredible, impossible in real life, but at the same time, fantastic fiction contains, as Lomonosov said, “an ordinary and natural idea,” that is, there is truth in fiction.

The truth of fairy tales is that although they talk about animals, they reproduce similar human situations - that’s why fairy tales are interesting. That's why storytellers talk about animals in order to more clearly convey, first of all, the human meaning of a fantastic story. The actions of animals more openly reveal inhumane aspirations, thoughts, reasons for the actions committed by people. It's expressive artistic technique. Lomonosov wrote that, thanks to fantastic fiction, “an ordinary and natural idea,” that is, the truth of life, is expressed “more powerfully” than if the story were told without fiction.

So it turned out that the fairy tale is both false and true at the same time. A miracle of art happened before our eyes. Fairy tales tell us more than is directly contained in their fiction. The story of a wolf and a fox, a cat and a fox, a cockerel, a goat, a goat, a crane and a heron, a crow and a crayfish, a black grouse, a frog, a mouse and a dozen other animals and birds with whom amazing adventures happen - these are all stories in which there is room not only for fun, but also for the expression of serious meaning.

The turnip grew so big that the grandfather alone could not pull it out. He called his grandmother for help, but again there was no way to get him out. They called their granddaughter, then the dog, then the cat, but they still couldn’t pull out the turnip. The cat called the mouse. They pulled and pulled. Of course, this is all one funny fiction, but this story also has a meaning: all that was missing was the mouse’s strength to pull out the turnip. It turned out that no force, even the smallest one, is superfluous in a matter, but it happens that it is not enough to achieve a result.

A perky bun rolls along the road and sings: he has good luck everywhere - he left his grandfather, left his grandmother, didn’t get eaten. The bun escaped from the hare, from the wolf, from the bear itself - and was so confident in his luck that he dared to sit on the fox’s tongue. She is his - din! - and ate it. This is what happened to the careless kolobok: he completely forgot that he was mixed with sour cream, fried in oil, and all with varnish.

The fox scared the blackbird - scared him to death. He agreed to feed the fox. The fox wanted to drink - he gave it something to drink. The fox wanted to laugh - the blackbird made her laugh. The fox liked the pleasures so much that she ordered to scare herself. The thrush pointed the dogs at her. As soon as the fox left them, annoyed at the tail for preventing her from running, she allowed the dogs to tear him to pieces. A cautionary tale for fools!

The fox tells the black grouse about the new decree - now the birds don’t have to be afraid of anyone, just walk in the meadows: “Nowadays animals don’t touch each other.”

“That’s good,” said Tererev, “but the dogs are running; If it were the old way, you would have to leave, but now you have nothing to fear.

The fox fled in disgrace, although he was found here too - he managed to say that perhaps the dogs did not hear the decree. The fox failed to lure the black grouse to the ground. The cunning man has no faith.

For many centuries, tales about animals and birds were a kind of social, everyday encyclopedia in Rus'. Here, cunning people, liars, scoundrels, klutzes, lazy people, thieves, ignoramuses, fools, misers, bullies, rude people, hypocrites, hypocrites are condemned. Human vices are exposed to shame and laughter.

It has long been noted that fairy tales different nations are very similar to each other: plot situations, actions of animals and birds are repeated. But for all that, every nation has special fairy tales. Russian fairy tales also have their own appearance. On the fairy tales about the clumsy bear Mikhail Ivanovich, who shares tops and roots with the peasant, about the fox Lizaveta, the burgomaster cat from the Siberian forests, about the wolf who goes to the oath and kisses the trap - all our fairy tales bear the stamp of ancient life, customs, orders of magnitude.

Here the fox, imitating the tone of the hospitable and generous godmother, invites the crane to visit:

Come, kumanek, come, dear! I'll treat you! The crane came to the “feast party”.

The fox is busy at the table:

Eat, my dear little kumanek, I cooked it myself.

And the porridge is smeared on the plate. How can a crane peck it?!

Lisa is being hypocritical:

Don't blame me, kumanek! There is nothing else to treat. The crane did not remain in debt - he repaid the mockery: he invited the fox to visit and kept saying:

Eat, gossip! Really, there’s nothing else to regale you with. The okroshka treat was poured into a jug with a narrow neck:

The fox goes this way and that, but there’s no way to get it.

IN folk custom maintain friendship, and when goodwill is neglected, then things turn into those relationships about which the proverb says: “As it comes around, so it will respond.” Of course, among other nations, hospitality, friendship, and condemnation of those who trample on good customs are just as common, but the tales of each nation speak about this in their own way. It is about such a manifestation national characteristics in artistic creativity A.S. Pushkin wrote: “There is a way of thinking and feeling, there is a darkness of customs, beliefs and habits that belong exclusively to some people.”

And the style, the language, expressed the special character of the Russian fairy tale. Thus, in the fairy tale “The Fox the Confessor” it is said: “Once a fox trudged through the forest all long autumn night without eating. At dawn she ran to the village, went into the man’s yard and climbed onto the roost of the chickens. It seems to be said quite simply, but how characteristic these words and phrases are, they are marked by such originality that not a single word can be replaced by another, not a single one of them can be rearranged to another place without the risk of losing the originality of the style. Let’s try to say it differently: “Once in the fall, a fox walked through the forest without food. In the morning she came to the village and climbed into the chicken coop.” The meaning remained, but the fairy tale was gone - it disappeared, like the patterns on the wings of a butterfly disappear when you roughly touch it with your fingers. The storyteller’s phrases capture artistic nuances that cannot be expressed in other words. Everything is important here: and the fact that the fox wandered through the forest throughout the languid, long, dark, “big autumn night”, and did not pass, but “dragged along... without eating.” The storyteller clearly does not feel sorry for the fox: about the one with whom they sympathize, they will not say: she got lost.” In the morning, in the light of dawn, the fox “went into the man’s yard” and not only ended up in the chicken coop, but “climbed” in there—climbed right away: after all, he was hungry.

In every word and phrase it is easy for us to sense a special style of storytelling. The storyteller's stable habit of clearly and firmly defining his attitude to everything that is discussed is noticeable. The narrator himself knew well the languor of a long, hungry autumn night and how little joy the cold morning dawn brings. This feeling was expressed in the fairy tale, as it was expressed in another folk work - in the song about a dreary autumn night “Oh, you little night, dark night, autumn night...”. Almost imperceptibly, bit by bit, their speech originality is shaded in the style and meaning of fairy tales, but it ultimately creates the impression of folk uniqueness of fairy tales.

Fairy tales, compared to fairy tales about animals, open up a world of other wonders for us. There is so much you can learn about from fairy tales! The miracle begins with a saying: “It happened at sea, on the ocean, on the island of Kidan there was a tree - golden domes: on this tree he walked cat Bayun; he goes up - he sings a song, and he goes down - he tells fairy tales... This is not a fairy tale, but there is also a saying, and the whole fairy tale is ahead. A skilled storyteller promises from the very beginning entertaining story. When storytellers do without a saying, they find another way to immediately interest listeners. Fairy tales almost invariably begin with an intriguing beginning: “In a certain kingdom, in a certain state, there lived an old man and an old woman...” or: “Far distant lands, in the thirtieth state, there lived a king and a queen...”

This is how the tale of the seven Simeons begins. The king took into his service seven brothers, seven twins. They all have the same name - they are all Simeons and they are such daredevils that you can’t find equals. One of the brothers forged an iron pillar of twenty fathoms (and each fathom is the distance from the fingertips of one hand to the fingertips of the other), the second brother lifted the pillar and dug it into the ground, the third climbed onto the pillar - sat at the very top and saw “how and what’s going on in this wide world,” I saw the blue seas and how ships were dying in spots on them, I saw villages, cities, I even saw a beautiful princess in a distant mansion. The fourth brother built a ship, but not a simple one - it sails on the sea “as if on dry land.” The fifth managed to successfully trade various goods in foreign lands, the sixth was able to dive into the sea together with a ship, people and goods, swim under water and emerge where necessary, and the last, seventh brother managed to lure a wonderful princess onto the ship. The skill and prowess of all seven came in handy - the brothers took the princess away and escaped the chase. Cheerful, full incredible adventures a fairy tale is an outright fable. Therefore, at the end of the tale, the storyteller gave vent to ridicule: “I had a nag, wax shoulders, and a pea whip. I see: a man’s barn is on fire; I installed the nag and went to fill the barn. While the barn was flooding, the nag melted, and the crows pecked at the whip.” Here there is no doubt that the fairy tale is a joke. Nevertheless fairy tale story captivates with the dream of the unlimited possibilities of man.

In fairy tales it is often difficult to understand when the storyteller is joking and when he is serious. It happens that the storyteller remains serious even when he talks about the most incredible things. Some elders thanked for the deck bridge laid across the swamp, which made the journey short good fellow- taught him to turn into a fast deer, a hare and a bird. This skill came in handy for Semyon (that was the young man’s name), but he had an enemy - a crafty and cruel general. Semyon ran faster than the wind to bring the sword forgotten in the palace to the king on time, but the general took credit for the feat and pushed Semyon into the sea. The storyteller tells about the misadventures of the young man - there is not even a shadow of joke or ridicule here.

Semyon lives in the depths of the sea, he is bored, bitter, the king of the sea asks:

What, Semyon, little boy, are you bored here?

Boring, Your Majesty!

Do you want to go to the Russian world?

Want...

Twice the king takes Semyon to the shore at midnight and before sunrise he takes him back to the sea. After returning back, the young man becomes even more bitter. The third time, when the sea king carried him ashore, the young man said in despair:

Sunshine, show yourself, red one, show yourself!

And a miracle happened. Before his time, the sun shone on the young man; the king of the sea could not carry him to the bottom. Semyon returned home.

The idea of ​​a person's attachment to native land conveyed in the tale with noticeable excitement. The homeland is that sweet limit to which the hero strives with all his thoughts. In general, no matter what luck and happiness life promises in lands far from their homeland, the heroes of fairy tales cannot imagine their existence without their homeland.

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