The fairy tale "Bird tongue": a summary

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

"Bird tongue" is a fairy tale known to every child. A fantastic story about a man who understood the speech of birds from an early age has several versions. Their plots are similar. About what differences exist in the most famous versions of the fairy tale "Bird's Tongue" is described in the article.

Afanasiev

For the first time, the Russian folk tale "Bird's Tongue" was recorded by an eighteenth century folklore collector. The name of this literary critic and researcher of spiritual culture was Alexander Nikolaevich Afanasyev. The tale referred to in the article is a folk tale. But Afanasiev wrote it down and gave it a literary form. That is why it is commonly believed that the famous Russian folklorist and historian is its author.

"Bird language" summary

In a Russian merchant family there lived a boy, capable and smart beyond his years. They called him Vasily. In the merchant's house, as expected, a nightingale lived in a gilded cage. The bird sang loudly from morning until evening. The owner of the house once suddenly thought about what the nightingale was talking about. On this day, Vasily's parents discovered a rare gift: a boyunderstood bird language. What did the nightingale sing about?

Prediction

However, when Vasya translated the meaning of the nightingale's song into human language, the parents were quite upset. A six-year-old boy with tears in his eyes announced to the merchant and his wife that after many years they would serve him. The nightingale allegedly predicted that Vasily's father would carry water, and his mother would serve a towel. Vasily's parents were visited by fear and despair when they heard the bird's prophecy. And in order not to go into the service of their own son, in the dead of night they transferred the child to the boat and sent him on a free voyage.

Meet the shipbuilder

The nightingale followed the boy. Fortunately, towards the boat in which Vasya and his faithful feathered friend were sailing, a ship was flying at full sail. The captain of this ship took pity on the boy, took him on board and decided to raise him as his own son.

The nightingale did not let up even in the sea. The bird sang to Vasily that a terrible storm would soon occur, the mast and sails would be torn, and therefore the shipbuilder should turn to the camp. Vasily reported a nightingale prediction. However, the new father, unlike the previous one, did not believe that the boy understood bird language. The shipbuilder did not listen to Vasily, which almost cost him his life. The next day, a terrible storm really began. The mast was broken, the sails were cut.

When, a few days later, the adopted son told that twelve robber ships were coming towards him, the father did not doubt, but turnedto the island. The prediction came true this time too. The robber ships soon passed by.

In Khvalynsk

The shipbuilder waited some time and set off again. They wandered the seas for a long time. One day they arrived in a city called Khvalynsk. By that time, Vasily had grown up, matured.

Crows were screaming under the windows of the local king for twelve years. No one by any means could protect the royal people from the loud cries of birds. Crows haunted day and night.

In Khvalynsk, the ability to recognize bird language came in handy again for Vasily. He went to the king and offered help. He promised in return half the kingdom and one of his daughters as a wife. If Vasily fails to save the royal family from the presence of crows, do not blow his head off. The hero of the fairy tale coped with the task and received the reward due to him.

The fact is that the raven and the raven have been arguing all these years about who owns the chick. The king only had to answer whose son the twelve-year-old cub was. Which is what was done. The king heard no more crows. As well as his large family. And the son-in-law of the king was an unusually gifted man, able to understand the language of the nightingale, crow and other birds.

King

"Bird's tongue" is a fairy tale, and therefore the end of it is happy. Basil began to reign. In his spare time from his royal affairs, he traveled a lot. One day he arrived in an unfamiliar city, where he was given a hospitable welcome by a merchant withmerchant's wife. The next morning the host and his wife gave the king both water and a towel. Needless to say, these people were the natural parents of a connoisseur of bird speech?

Vasily did not remember the betrayal that his father and mother had once committed. The heroes of this story, in accordance with the laws of the fairy tale genre, began to live, live, and make good money.

Other versions

The tale has several interpretations. According to Khudyakov's version, the hero's gift intensified as he ate snakes. In fairy tales of other peoples of the world, similar motifs are also found. A character who can understand the speech of birds and animals is present, for example, in Goldilocks. The plot, reminiscent of Afanasyev's fairy tale, is present in the legends and tales of the Crimean Tatars. And the motive of the predicted fate originates from ancient Greek mythology. Suffice it to recall the legend of Paris.