“Bird's tongue” is a fairy tale known to every child. A fantastic story about a man who, from an early age, understood the speech of birds, has several versions. Their plots are similar. About what differences exist in the most famous versions of the tale "Bird's tongue", described in the article.
Afanasyev
For the first time, the Russian folk tale Bird's Language was recorded by a collector of eighteenth-century folklore. The name of this literary critic and researcher of spiritual culture was Alexander Nikolayevich Afanasyev. The tale referred to in the article is folk. But Afanasyev wrote down and gave her a literary form. Therefore, it is generally accepted that it is the famous Russian folklorist and historian who is its author.
Bird Tongue: Summary
A boy lived in one Russian merchant family, capable and smart beyond his years. His name was Vasily. In the merchant’s house, as it should be, a nightingale lived in a gilded cage. The bird sang fluffy from morning to evening. The owner of the house once suddenly wondered what the nightingale was broadcasting. On this day, parents discovered a rare gift from Vasily: the boy understood the bird language. What was the nightingale singing about?
Prediction
However, when Vasya translated the meaning of the nightingale song into human language, his parents were quite upset. A six-year-old boy with tears in his eyes announced to the merchant and his wife that in many years they would serve him. The nightingale allegedly predicted that his father would carry water to Vasily, and his mother to serve a towel. Vasily's parents were visited by fear and despair when they heard a bird's prophecy. And in order not to go into the service of their own son, late at night they transferred the child to the boat and sent him free to sail.
Meeting with the shipbuilder
Following the boy went and the nightingale. Fortunately, towards the boat in which Vasya and his faithful feathered friend sailed, the ship flew in full sail. The captain of this ship took pity on the boy, took him aboard and decided to raise him as his own son.
The nightingale did not let up at sea. The bird sang to Vasily that a terrible storm would happen soon, the mast and sails would be torn, and therefore the shipbuilder should turn to the camp. Basil reported the nightingale prediction. However, the new father, unlike the previous one, did not believe that the boy understood the bird language. The shipman did not listen to Basil, which almost cost him his life. The next day, a terrible storm really began. The mast was broken, the sails were torn off.
When a few days later the adoptive son told me that twelve robber ships were coming towards him, his father did not doubt, but turned to the island. The prediction came true this time. The robber ships soon sailed by.
In Khvalynsk
The shipman waited a while and set off again. They roamed the seas for a long time. Once arrived in a city called Khvalynsk. Vasily by that time had grown up, matured.
The local king for twelve years under the windows crows cried. No one could protect the royal people from loud bird cries by any means. Crows haunted day and night.
In Khvalynsk, the ability to recognize a bird's language Vasily again came in handy. He went to the king and offered help. He promised in return for half the kingdom and one of his daughters as a wife. If Vasily fails to rid the royal family of the crow's presence, do not demolish his head. The hero of the tale coped with the task and received the award due to him.
The fact is that the raven and the raven have been arguing all these years about who the chick belongs to. The king only had to answer, whose son is a twelve-year-old cub. Which was done. The king no longer heard the cries of crow. As well as his large family. And the king’s son-in-law was a man of extraordinary talent, able to understand the language of the nightingale, raven and other birds.
King
“Bird's tongue” is a fairy tale, and therefore the end in it is happy. Vasily began to reign. In his spare time he traveled a lot from his royal affairs. Once he arrived in an unfamiliar city, where a merchant and a merchant gave him a hospitable welcome. The next morning, the owner and his wife gave the king both water and a towel. Needless to say, these people were the native parents of a connoisseur of bird speech?
Vasily did not recall the betrayal that his father and mother once committed. The heroes of this story, in accordance with the laws of the fairy-tale genre, began to live and live, and to make good.
Other versions
The tale has several interpretations. According to Khudyakov’s version, the hero’s gift intensified as he consumed the snakes. In the tales of other peoples of the world, similar motives are also found. A character who can understand the speech of birds and animals is present, for example, in Goldilocks. The plot, reminiscent of a fairy tale Afanasyev, is present in the legends and tales of the Crimean Tatars. And the motive of the predicted fate takes its roots even from ancient Greek mythology. It is enough to recall the legend of Paris.