It would seem, who may be interested in the length of a literary work? About the book we can say: "Interesting, smart, useful, funny." But the characteristic: “This book is short” sounds a little strange. Nevertheless, there are people in our world who are very interested in the length of each work that needs to be read. Firstly, philology students who have to shovel mountains of literature. Secondly, schoolchildren. If the teacher gives the task to memorize a poem or a fable, you can be sure that most of his students will choose a shorter work. Normal instinct for energy conservation.
Therefore, the question of what is Krylov's shortest fable is not at all idle. We will try to find an answer to it within the framework of the article by conducting a little research (and at the same time recalling some of the works of the famous "grandfather").
A bit about fables
The fable is not a very long piece in itself. It is interesting that in Russian literature it is almost exclusively associated with the name of Krylov, and with his death it gradually ceases to exist as a literary genus, meeting only in the work of individual poets as a joke or a parody.
Famous works
The famous masterpieces of Ivan Andreevich include several dozen lines: “Elephant and Pug” - 20, “Demyanov's ear” - 27, “Crow and Fox” - 28, “Dragonfly and Ant” - 30, “Quartet” - 36, “Wolf and the Lamb” "- 37. The shortest fable of Krylov (known) is, perhaps," Swan, Pike and Cancer. " It has only 12 lines, and the content is simple and straightforward. Any student knows: “when there is no agreement in the comrades”, each of the three people “oppresses his line”, no one compromises, there will be no sense, “their work will not go smoothly.”
Less popular options
But this is not the smallest fable of Krylov. His most concise works are not so famous, but also interesting. For example, “The Boy and the Snake” is a short parable about forethought, prudence and the need to know biology well. The moral of the small fable “Leo and the Fox” can be expressed in the Russian proverb: “The devil is not so terrible as he is painted.” The allegorical story “The Wolf and the Shepherds” tells about the policy of double standards: the actions of different people are evaluated by others differently. If this is not the shortest Krylov fable, it is very useful for schoolchildren. Earn yourself a reputation as an excellent student - a thoughtful, serious, hardworking student, and in the future you yourself will be surprised how this will help you out in various life situations. But to summarize some of the results.
What are the smallest fables of Krylov?
Fable name | Number of lines | Word Count | Number of letters |
"Boy and the Snake" | 8 | 47 | 224 |
"Lion and the Fox" | 8 | 48 | 207 |
"The Wolf and the Shepherds" | 8 | 45 | 210 |
"Siskin and Dove" | 10 | 52 | 227 |
“Rooster and Pearl Grain” | 10 | 53 | 218 |
"Fox and Grapes" | thirteen | 68 | 291 |
"Mouse and Rat" | 14 | 53 | 233 |
What to choose?
The table includes works that are considered small by most readers. Our statistics cannot pretend to be a serious study, but for schoolchildren this degree of reliability is not required. What is the shortest fable of Krylov? We recommend choosing from the three already mentioned works: “The Boy and the Snake”, “The Lion and the Fox” or “The Wolf and the Shepherds”. These are the undoubted winners, as they contain the least number of lines, words and letters. In addition, they are distinguished by simplicity of content and understandable morality. Finally, little known to the general public, which indirectly may indicate your readiness. However, if other fables of a famous author were read to you in childhood, it may turn out that it is much easier to learn them than new works.