From time immemorial the ocean has been considered an exciting and mysterious element. Our ancestors endowed each phenomenon with the soul and qualities inherent in a living being. People who lived on the seashore saw the power and rebellion of endless raging waters and explained the unpredictability of the elements with myths of sea lords and monsters. If the sky was covered with black clouds and the waves aggressively beat against the stone coast, then the sea king was angry with something. If the surface of the water is calm and the sky is clear, then in the depths of the ocean everything is fine, and a person on land has no reason to worry.
Marine life
The variety of fauna of the seas and oceans to this day does not cease to surprise us and present surprises. What can we say about the ancestors who did not have the opportunity to explore the depths of the ocean, and they could only speculate about the contents of the underwater world from those creatures that appeared above the surface of the water to immediately hide again in the depths. Often a person saw rather large specimens of marine life and naturally attributed to them supernatural qualities. Because in the mysterious sea-ocean, only even more mysterious animals can live, which are dangerous to anyone who dares to try to subjugate their element to themselves.
Tales about fish
Everyone loves fish. Both adults and children. What could be more mysterious and wonderful than the deep ocean? For children, written "The Tale of the Golden Fish" and "By the Pike Command". Fish in these and many similar works fulfill the desires of the person who left them life and freedom. Adults will love the ironic tales of Saltykov-Shchedrin about river crucians, ruffs and gudgeons, whose behavior is a caricature of human vices in society. There are also legends and fairy tales about fish and monsters from different nations, representatives of which believed that, for example, travelers' ships do not just drown in the deep sea, but they are eaten by a huge monster, in which a whole fleet easily fits in the belly. True, this miracle may not look like a fish at all, and a whale too. Since sea fish used to mean non-existent snake-like voracious dragons. For example, the leviathan from the Bible.
There are also fairy tales about fish that will be interesting to all ages. For example, the tale of Mamin-Sibiryak about Ersh Yershovich, Sparrow Vorobeich and the fun chimney sweep Yasha. Or "The Story of Ersh Ershovich, son of Shchetinnikov." In both stories, a trial of animals is arranged and in the end a useful morality is revealed. These tales will be interesting to analyze with the whole family.
Whale
Since ancient times, people called all marine life fish, regardless of what biological class the creature belonged to. So there were legends about the miraculous judo fish-whale, which is so huge that it holds on its back a whole city with villages, churches, arable lands and pastures. It recalls the ancient doctrine that the Earth stands on three pillars. And now the main terms of any science are called whales. The city in fairy tales of miracle fish is often built on a poor animal as a punishment for swallowing many ships with travelers who have been in its belly for a long time. But even the most fabulous fairy tale about a whale fish will not convey the primitive fear of our ancestors before the bottomless ocean, according to their ideas, teeming with sea monsters. It was believed that the wooden ships of sailors did not disappear without a trace. Huge monsters living in the salt waters necessarily dragged them to the bottom.
Real Whale Fish Prototypes
It is clear to us that mythological creatures were not invented from the air. Their real relatives became real animals, many of which exist to this day. Like all stories about different sea monsters, the tale of a whale fish also has a real prototype. The paintings of artists illustrating the stories of the miracle fish mainly depict whale whale. The largest representative of minke whales reaches a length of 30 meters. It is a pity that this size is not enough to place even the smallest town on the back of the animal. In addition, the whales of this family feed on plankton and will not be able to swallow the ship.
Tale "Little Humpbacked Horse" about a whale fish
The author of the work "The Little Humpbacked Horse" P.P. Ershov tells the story of the adventures of Ivan the peasant son, the youngest of three brothers, and the Humpbacked Horse got to him by a coincidence of strange circumstances. Ivan and his skate carry out various assignments of the king whom they serve. During one of the assignments, Ivan and the Hunchback come to the sea, where they see a miracle of judo with a whole city on their backs. Undoubtedly, the work of Ershov is the most famous fairy tale about the miracle fish of a whale. It describes in most detail both the whale fish itself and its character and lifestyle. A huge fish asks Ivan to find out why she was punished by carrying a whole city on her back. When the heroes find out the cause of the whale's troubles and thereby relieve him of the burden, the miracle fish promises to fulfill any request of Ivan. Well done, he asks to find at the bottom of the sea ring of the girl - the future wife of the old king, that a huge fish happily performs.
Whale fish images
The fantasy of artists always works well, so the whale's wonder-judo has already been portrayed in all possible shapes and sizes. One of the most visual works came out from under the brush of artist N. Kochergin. The tale of the whale fish in books is often illustrated by his picture. It depicts a huge whale, the tail of which has turned into forests and mountains, a river flows from them, a city is spread on its back, and on its head cheerful residents are dancing around a fountain that beats from a whale crown. This is exactly the picture we see in the tale of the Humpbacked Horse. In the foreground, paintings also depict Ivan himself with a ridge, who listen to the request of the sea monster.
Fish in the works of Saltykov-Shchedrin
Writers often make fun of their contemporaries, clad them in the images of any animals. The fairy tale "Crucian idealist" is precisely built on this principle. Crucian and ruffian love to argue about virtue and the future of fish society. They are buried in a calm pool overgrown with grass and begin to rant. Karas believes that all the fish will soon agree with each other, stop eating each other, and then peace will come in all the water bodies. Ruff, as a more experienced and seen bad fish, laughs at the words of crucian carp and claims that nothing good will come next. Because nature arranged it this way, and no one can influence the established foundations. Crucian decides to tell the pike that caused him about her freedom-loving thoughts, and in the end she is so taken aback by his naive words that she opens her mouth in surprise and swallows the crucian whole.
"The Wise Gudgeon" is another instructive tale about Saltykov-Shchedrin fish for adults and children. From childhood, his father taught a gudgeon to look in both eyes and be careful not to get caught in the mouth of a pike or in people in the ear. Pescara was so afraid of being eaten that he spent his whole life in a dark cramped hole, without making friends with anyone or creating a family. He understood the meaninglessness of his life only when he prepared to die of old age. And he died all forgotten and useless.