“Forefathers” of Krylov’s fable: Fox and grapes in the works of predecessors

The plot of a fox seduced by grapes, but still not able to achieve what he wants, sounds in the works created much earlier by Ivan Krylov's fable “Fox and Grapes”. What is the story of a fabulist in it? The starving fox saw ripe appetizing grapes in a strange garden and tried to jump to it, but without success. After many attempts, the godfather is annoyed: “He looks good, but green”, and “you’ll fill your mouth immediately”. The author here, unlike his other fables, does not give direct lines that contain morality. However, the moralizing message of Krylov’s fable is obvious: the Fox and grapes are a man and his goal, which he sees as desirable and accessible. Unable to achieve it, he is disappointed, but does not want to acknowledge his weakness or inferiority, and then begins to hypocritically devalue what he wants, speaking about him scornfully. Such, in general terms, is the meaning of Krylov's fable.

Fox and grapes in the works of ancient authors

The Church Slavonic parable about the fox and the clusters (Krylov read it in the ancient Alexandrian collection “Physiologist”) sets out a straightforward story about how a hungry fox saw ripe bunches of grapes, but could not get to them and the berries started to grow “green hay.” The following conclusion is drawn: there are people who, desiring something, cannot get it, and so that “they will tame their desire”, they begin to scold. Perhaps this is not bad for complacency, but certainly not worthy in social terms. This is how this idea is reflected in a literary source created long before Krylov's fable.

The fox and grapes in the interpretation of the ancient fabulist Aesop appear in the same conflict - a hungry fox and inaccessibly high hanging berries. Unable to get the grapes, the fox recommended it as immature sour meat. The fable of the Greek also ends with a moralizing hint: "Whoever verbally defames the beyond will have to see his behavior here."

French interpretation

The fable of the French writer Lafontaine hides in the image of a fox a "Gascon, or maybe a Norman", whose eyes were lit on a mature rosy grape. The author notes that “the lover would be glad to feast on them”, but did not reach. Then he snorted contemptuously: “He is green. Let every rabble feed on them! ” What is the morality in the La Fontaine’s fable “Fox and Grapes”? The poet makes fun of the inherent, in his opinion, Gascons and Normans pride and arrogance. This instructive composition differs from previous parables and fables of Krylov, the Fox and grapes in which allude to universal human flaws, and do not indicate national flaws.

Features of Krylov's fables

No wonder contemporaries noted that Ivan Andreevich had a bright directorial talent. He so visibly and expressively wrote out his heroes that in addition to the main purpose of the fable - the allegorical ridicule of human vices - we see lively expressive characters and juicy colorful details. We see with our own eyes how "the eyes and teeth of Kumushka flared up." The author gently and accurately defines the satirically colored situation: “even though he sees the eye, the tooth is numb”. The foxes and grapes are very eloquent in the dynamic instructive scene. Krylov so generously “nourishes” his works with the spirit of folklore that his fables themselves become a source of sayings and proverbs.

Something from the natural world

It turns out that fox addiction to grapes is not exactly a fiction of fabulists. The studies of wildlife ecologist Andrew Carter showed that, for example, fluffy predators from Australia are not averse to tasting fragrant wine berries, and as soon as dusk sets in, they rush into the vineyard and eat the fruits with pleasure.