The author of "Travel Frogs" is the famous Russian writer and art critic Vsevolod Garshin. He wrote several fairy tales for children, some of them are still popular.
Writer Biography
The author of "Travel Frogs" was born in the Ekaterinoslav province in 1855. Garshin is a representative of an old noble family, his ancestors came from the Golden Horde.
He spent his childhood among the military, father Mikhail Egorovich was an officer, and his mother was a typical representative of the generation of the sixties. She was fond of literature and politics, fluent in French and German. She had a great influence on the formation of her son as a person.
The immediate educator of the future writer was the leader of the revolutionary movement of 1860 Zavadsky. Over time, Garshin’s mother will part with her husband and begin to live with Zavadsky, and then go to exile for him. The family drama that happened in the boy’s childhood greatly affected his health and his whole worldview.
In 1864, the author of The Frog Traveler enrolled in St. Petersburg, and four years later into a real gymnasium. In 1874, Garshin became a student at the Mining Institute, but did not manage to finish it. The war with the Ottoman Empire began. Because of this, he had to interrupt classes.
Garshin joined the army as a volunteer, took part in hostilities, was wounded in the leg. After the war, he retired with the rank of officer.
The talent of the child manifested itself in early childhood. This was facilitated by his earlier mental development. He was very impressionable and nervous, for which reason he suffered from nervous disorders. It all ended very sadly, at the age of 33, he committed suicide by throwing himself in a flight of stairs. Moreover, the fall was from a small height, so he died only a few days later, which he spent in terrible agony.
The writer was buried on Literary Bridges, a museum-necropolis of St. Petersburg.
Writer's Family
The family of the author of "The Frog-traveler" Garshin was large. His brother, named Evgeny Mikhailovich, became famous for becoming a literary critic, public figure and teacher. At St. Petersburg University, he graduated from the Faculty of History and Philology.
Since 1884, he began to teach Russian literature in one of the city’s gymnasiums on the Neva. He conducted active journalistic activities, was published in the thick literary magazines "Russian Wealth", "Historical Bulletin", "Star", "Russian School", as well as in the newspapers Birzhevye Vedomosti and Golos.
In 1901 he became director of the Taganrog Commercial School , and received the status of a full-time state councilor. He wrote scientific and journalistic books "The Public and Educational Importance of Archeology", "Russian Literature of the 19th Century", "Novgorod Antiquities", "Critical Experiments".
Summary of the tale of Vsevolod Garshin
Garshin, of course, wrote more than one fairy tale, but in the history of Russian literature he remained the author of The Traveling Frog.
This is the story of an ordinary frog that lived in a swamp. Every fall, she watched the ducks fly past her home south, only briefly stopping for a bite to eat and rest.
It was from them that she learned how good it was in the south. It is warm there, everywhere there are many wonderful picturesque swamps with a large number of mosquitoes. Somehow she took courage and asked to fly with them. How to do it? She invented everything herself.
Two ducks took the ends of the twig with their beaks, and the frog grabbed the middle of his mouth. She hoped that if someone got tired, then they could change and so fly to the very south. The ducks, admiring her intelligence and ingenuity, agreed to implement this plan.
Garshin always managed such unusual, but at the same time deep and moralizing plots. Now that you know exactly who is the author of the fairy tale "The Frog-traveler", we will tell a further plot.
Flying Frog
At first, the frog flew forward in muzzle, but after the next halt decided to roll over, and also ask the ducks to fly a little lower, so that people walking on the ground could see it. She dreamed that they also admired her resourcefulness. As a result, it happened. Whoever the people noticed a strange flock of birds and frogs, immediately wondered who invented such a witty thing.
When the ducks flew the third village in a row, the frog could not stand it, decided to admit everything and say that she was so smart. Unable to restrain herself, she croaked: "It's me!" And at that moment she let go of the treasured branch and fell into the swamp.
There she had to meet new inhabitants, whom she talked about, what a wonderful way to travel came up with. She thought she had flown to the wonderful and wonderful south, and then flew in to see how frogs live in other swamps. She released the ducks until spring, agreeing that they would pick her up on her way back.
But the ducks did not return. They were sure that the frog had crashed to death. And very sorry about their fellow traveler. This story was composed by Vsevolod Garshin. Now you know who wrote The Traveling Frog. The author of the tale remained significant in Russian literature thanks to other works.
Garshin's creativity
The author of The Traveling Frog, of course, became famous not only for this book. In literature, he made his debut in 1877, when he was 22 years old. He released the story "4 days", which immediately brought him fame. This is the story of Private Ivanov, who volunteers for the Russian-Turkish war. After one of the fights, he comes to his senses in a completely unfamiliar forest. He recalls how the past day passed, which was filled with deaths and shots.
It soon turns out that both of his legs were broken. And nearby lies the enemy stabbed by him. Guilt overwhelms him, but he sees a flask of water on the body of a dead man. To get to the life-giving moisture, it is necessary to overcome two fathoms. This distance seems to him forever.
In this story, the author of The Traveling Frog, Garshin, protested against the war, this is a very pacifist work.
He devoted his work more than once to this topic. For example, the stories "Ayaslyar case", "Batman and officer", "Coward", "From the memoirs of Private Ivanov."
Fallen Woman Theme
The theme of the "fallen" woman is another popular motive in the works of the author of the fairy tale "Frog-traveler" Garshina. For example, the stories "Nadezhda Nikolaevna", written in the form of memoirs of a young man who decided to pour out his soul on paper, and "Occurrence" are devoted to this.
In 1883, his famous story "Red Flower" was published. The hero of this work is a mentally unhealthy person who fights against world evil. For some reason, it seems to him that it was embodied in a red flower that grows in the garden. To defeat him, just pick this flower.
Garshin's stories
The greatest success the author of the book "The Frog-traveler" won thanks to stories and tales. Another of his popular works is called "Artists." In it, Garshin raises an important question about the role of art in the life of society, as well as about the possibility of bringing benefit to the creators of the people around him. Garshin contrasts the real plots of the situation when art is done for the sake of art. He is looking for various ways to combat social injustice.
Garshin demonstrates the essence of modern society in his story “Meeting”. In it, he vividly describes personal egoism, which is imbued with many around.
Garshin's Innovation
The writer legalized a special literary form in Russian literature - the short story. Later, it fully developed in the work of Anton Pavlovich Chekhov.
Garshin wrote short stories with a simple plot, which he built strictly according to one plan. At the same time, the composition remained as complete as possible, in it almost geometric certainty was achieved. A distinctive feature of the hero of our article is the absence of complex collisions; in most of his short stories there is practically no action.
Moreover, these are the most realistic works, written, as a rule, in the form of letters, diaries or confessions.