Fables were written by many literary figures, but Ivan Andreevich Krylov became famous more than other fabulists: his surname, like the names of Lafontaine and Aesop, became almost synonymous with the fable.
Fabulist I.A. Krylov
Ivan Andreyevich was from a poor family of an employee of a dragoon regiment. His father was “not trained in science”, but he knew how to write, and reading loved even more. My son got a whole chest of books and literacy lessons from his father.
As a teenager, he lost his father, but continued to learn French in a rich neighbor's house, while at the same time being in the public service. Ivan tried to write even then and showed his works to knowledgeable literary scholars. However, the tragedies and dramas he wrote were far from perfect, although they gave an idea of Krylov’s potential.
The writer was restless, constantly looking for new opportunities and styles. The rebellious spirit pushed him to change and risk: entire periods of his biography will overshadow the researchers. Where he was? What did you do?
The seeming chaotic movement actually became a stone on which the skill of the future fabulist was honed.
Krylov's sharp feather
His character was skeptical and sarcastic: it was common for Ivan Andreyevich to see the negative sides of phenomena and the funny actions of people. From childhood he was a fan of Lafontaine - a famous French fabulist - and repeatedly tried to translate his fables into Russian.
From his youth, Krylov wrote works with a satirical connotation: he was inclined to expose not only social vices, but also well-known fellow citizens, ridiculing them mercilessly.
Krylov published magazines with an accusatory bias, printing literary cartoons and satire. However, the life of the publications was short-lived, they were not very popular, and the publisher closed them pretty soon.
Ivan Andreevich did not stop looking for his niche. At the beginning of the 19th century, Krylov showed Lafontaine’s translations to fable connoisseur I. Dmitriev, to which he replied: “This is your true race; you finally found it.”
And indeed, the whole character of Krylov was perfectly suited to the activities of the fabulist: his skeptical, keen mind, and observation, and the satirical perception of reality, and education. In search of his style, Ivan Andreevich polished his abilities and gradually became a master of the word.
Proverbs from Krylov's fables
So, Ivan Andreevich finally found his own unique niche in literature. It is significant that from this moment on, his career and financial situation began to gradually go uphill.
Krylov went to serve at the Imperial Public Library, from where, many years later, he retired as a completely wealthy man. His fables became popular and published even in his lifetime: 9 collections were published for 35 years!
Masterfully composed turns of speech, full of satire, and sometimes ridicule, often turned into winged expressions from a fable! “Mirror and Monkey”, “Quartet”, “Swan, Cancer and Pike” - each piece contains capacious and accurate exposing phrases that evoke a reader’s smile.
Who is not familiar with the expressions: "Are you to blame for the fact that I want to eat" or "Yes, only things are there now"? These are the lines of Krylov turned into speech allegories.
236 fables were written by the author - one is more beautiful than another. The meaning of Krylov's fables is being studied today in the school curriculum, because, despite the century and a half that has passed since his time, the satire of the fables remains relevant, and the characters are ridiculously recognizable. Any student will easily remember winged expressions from a fable.
"Mirror and the monkey"
The fable tells of an unconscious monkey. She has no idea what she looks like from the outside, or does not want to know this. It’s easier and more interesting for her to find flaws in her “grooms” - she knows almost everything about them.
When the observant godfather-Bear tries to delicately hint to the Monkey that this is her own reflection in the mirror, then she simply passes his words past her ears. “Nobody likes to know himself in satire,” the author mockingly summarizes.
A fable consists of only a few lines, but how accurately describes the criticism and hypocrisy so common in society! He aptly ridicules the terry egoism and mental blindness of Monkey Krylov: The monkey and the mirror become symbols of exorbitant conceit, which reaches ridiculous.
The author mercilessly ridicules human vices, by all the rules of fiction - in the images of animals. He masterfully selects not only the plot and the characters, but also the words spoken by them. Flying expressions from a fable become especially funny and caustic.
The Mirror and the Monkey are essentially the two main characters: the monkey needs the bear only to discuss the “wives” and boast: they say, but I'm not like that! The advice of the Bear, as the fabulist writes, "only wasted in vain." Lines of fable cause an involuntary smile for everyone: everyone remembered someone from the environment, looking like a Monkey. The author, however, as if urges readers to look in the mirror at themselves, to find and neutralize the "monkey in itself."
Winged expression from the fable "The Mirror and the Monkey"
In such a short fable, many expressions have already become winged: people use them in conversation as well-established, denoting a well-known phenomenon.
For example, speaking of a poisonous gossip, who sees only other people's flaws around: "What is it like to think of the gossips to work, is it better to turn on yourself, godfather?"
Talking about a man who accuses others of his own sins: "They read Klimych about bribes, and he nods furtively at Peter."
Many apt, daring, full of satire lines, as if adopting the name of the author, have become winged today! The meaning of Krylov’s fables is obvious - they expose human vices that have become familiar.