The popular fairy tale “Ashik-Kerib” was written by Lermontov in exile in the Caucasus in 1837. It will be very interesting for any reader to find out what is the main idea of the Ashik-Kerib tale. Indeed, in eastern countries the story about Ashik-Kerib was very common. The brilliant poet also could not help but pay attention to her, since at that time he was very fond of folk tales, myths and legends. Soon he introduced her in his own folklore. And now, in order to better understand what the Ashik-Kerib tale teaches, we will start with a completely different one.
Eastern story
M. Yu. Lermontov, as a person gifted with extraordinary literary talent, has always been interested in heterogeneous language flows and cultural traditions. And here on the example of the analysis of the poem “Demon”, you can see that it was written in the genre of the “eastern story”, where the demon is the central character.
In Christianity, the demon is Satan, the devil or a fallen angel, who takes the position of complete opposition to God (Allah). Therefore, the poem focuses on the dualistic perception of the world, where the human soul is an arena for the struggle between good and evil. The humanized romantic image of the demon, according to tradition, has a philosophical correspondence of all this struggle in the Muslim sense, which, in turn, influenced Russian and European literary culture.
In the tale "Ashik-Kerib" looms one of the facets of the tragic romanticism (struggle in verse) of the poet. Lermontov, anticipating Dostoevsky, was very deeply imbued with the antithesis between a person’s dream of happiness and unhappiness in real everyday life, between the beauty of life, sublime love and the unity of people with the reality of the ugliness of the face of the cruel modern world.
Muslim motifs
Muslim motifs in the works of Mikhail Yurievich can be placed in a kind of philosophical and symbolic complex, which manifests, on the one hand, a generalized philosophical meaning, for example, in such supportive concepts as “East”, “book”, “fate”, “pilgrimage” . On the other hand, one can observe specific elements of the poetic allegory, characteristic of the entire work of the poet Lermontov. This is heaven, earth, paths and games. Examples are the Turkish fairy tale by M. Yu. Lermontov “Ashik-Kerib”, poems and poems “Dagger”, “Spaniards”, “Complaints of the Turk”, “Dispute”, “Haji Abrek”, “Aul Bastunji”, “Two Slaves”.
The genre of the tale "Ashik-Kerib"
Using the example of this Turkish tale, one can consider in detail the Muslim components. What is the main idea of the tale “Ashik-Kerib”? Its compositional scheme was based on traditional motives for the Middle East and Central Asia, such as promises of eternal love and violation of their fulfillment in connection with tragic circumstances, as well as magic, wandering, dressing up, recognizing and returning.
And therefore, in Russian literature, this work functions as one of the stylized works, so to speak, “to the East” with its characteristic style, designations and names, for example, ana - mother, aha - gentleman, gerurses - you will recognize, saaz - balalaika, or by the example of exclamations of the type “O Almighty Allah!” etc. In this case, the eastern elements do not form an independent systemic structure, with the help of which one can enter the philosophical and symbolic space.
The main idea of the tale “Ashik-Kerib” is the love of Ashik-Kerib and Magul-Megeri, which unfolds with a narrative sequence inherent in the foundations of classical poetry of the peoples of the East. Interestingly, this kind of compositional scheme in Western literary criticism was perceived only as primitive. And all because they do not describe in detail love languor and suffering and do not focus on the conscious strengthening of the imagination, which acts animatingly on the images of lovers. Such a look at this work makes the love story too simplistic.
Ashik-Kerib: the main idea of the tale
The main character is Ashik-Kerib. Not wanting to be financially dependent, he goes for seven years to distant lands to earn money and arrange a wedding with Magul-Megeri, the daughter of a wealthy Turkish merchant. It is immediately felt that love in the text is presented as a given, and no more dynamics to the very end.
In continuation of the plot, after parting, the heroes in love agree that if Ashik-Kerib does not return after seven years, then Magul-Megeri will marry another. But after a while, the rich Ashik suddenly forgets about his promise, and only a reminder in the form of a golden dish sent by his beloved through a friend of the merchant makes him set off, but there is no more time. Miraculously, a mystical rider on a white horse helps him to get home and reunite with his beloved.
Analysis
In most cases, folk stories of the Muslim world, regardless of date and place of origin, have their own philosophical and religious codes, which reveal the hidden meaning of the text. The main idea of the tale “Ashik-Kerib” is not in the description of life and the development of the love line, but in the mystical movement of the hero and a detailed description of his return.
When decoding the text of the work, it turns out that a person, when born in this world, then, as it were, goes on a journey. Thus, he temporarily parted with a single world soul. The world for man in this case is the way with all his trials and obstacles.
And here the most important and most difficult test, what the Ashik-Kerib tale teaches, is to once remember the world for which this whole journey was begun, and where its beginning and end are.
And, of course, the person is not left in this way. The “Supreme Judge” along the way puts its signs, which will also help to remember, this is the message of the prophets, and the insight that is given to poets and musicians. Recall everything, return with your soul, and thereby receive a new test and new wonders for rewarding.
Love in a fairy tale is the main driving force. Every man in Islam, the Garip, is a stranger, who is largely determined by his moral purity and observance of religious requirements, and who has kept the "covenant", he will be returned with all honors. Ashik-Kerib did not miss prayer and honored all centuries-old Islamic traditions. Thanks to his purity, he received miracles - a meeting with Haderiliaz (George the Victorious), healing from his mother’s blindness, which was meant as spiritual blindness.
Wisdom of the world
The main character Ashik-Kerib turned out to be quite difficult. The main idea of the tale is that with the help of a collective image in the form of a Quranic sage, the idea of double being (explicit and hidden) and the deep wisdom of the world order is emphasized. That which may turn out to be evil at some stage for a person will then turn into a great blessing for him. So in the tale, the forced wandering of Ashik-Kerib, the insidiousness of Kursud-Bek and the blindness of his mother subsequently turned into a triumph of justice, which was realized through a happy combination of circumstances and the appearance of a wonderful messenger. Significant were the words of the enemy Kursud-Bek, who stopped his brother, who rushed with a dagger at the united lovers. He said: "Calm down immediately and know that on the forehead of a person at birth already written that he will not pass ..."