Tolstoy's Fables - textbook translation of Aesop

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

There is no point in simply discussing Leo Tolstoy's fables. As such, he did not write fables, he translated. Although even this is not the main thing, because before him many were engaged in this and achieved success, for example, Krylov, Pushkin, Dmitriev, La Fontaine. It is strange, at first glance, to start something that has already been done before you more than once. But Tolstoy had a different goal, one might say, a holy one. Thanks to his work, including fables, several generations of our country learned to read. The famous "ABC" was created in order to help ordinary children from peasant families to learn to read and write and their native language.

Aesop's stories for "ABC"

Reviewing Tolstoy's fables without the famous textbook is not a very good idea, because he was translating the fables of an ancient Greek writer who lived in the 6th century BC. e., it is specifically for the "ABC", processing images to the level in which it will not be difficult for children to understand them. By the way, the works of Aesop, written two and a half thousand years ago, were not poetic, but stated in simple language. And most importantly, relevant to this day, isn't it?

Children's Reading Material

The school in Yasnaya Polyana, educated for peasant children, needed a teaching aid. Tolstoy did a tremendous job of studying existing material before his “textbook” saw the light of day. He decided to include Aesop's works in the form of reading materials in the ABC. The translated fables of Tolstoy are called by many textbooks for being as close as possible to the original. He revised some of his compositions in a new way in order to bring the images closer to the reality existing at that time for easier perception.

Concept

Leo Tolstoy, whose fables were very different from the translations made by other venerable authors, tried not to overload the works with unnecessary details. Brevity is key. He wanted such creations to be more like proverbs, simple and easy to learn. Creating small, instructive comedies with a clear conclusion is his goal.

"ABC" and fables

In 1872, the "ABC" was published, and with it the fables of Tolstoy. In fairness, I would like to say that, unlike the rest of his works, the fables were never published separately, but only as reading material as part of a textbook. He arranged them according to the increasing complexity of perception, that is, the easy ones came first, and the book ended with complex instructive stories.

Fable story (Tolstoy)

"Squirrel and Wolf" is not a translation, but my own composition. It has an instructive character and, unlikefrom the works of other writers does not have a clearly defined morality. The familiar fable “The Raven and the Fox” in his interpretation is completely different: she coveted the meat in the beak of the raven, and not the cheese, it’s more natural, and most importantly, that it is written by Aesop. "Dragonfly and Ants" in his edition is not as colorful a work as after Krylov's processing, in whose hands the story became incredibly eloquent. "The Lion and the Mouse" is an example of brevity of statements. "Wolf and Crane", "Thin threads", "Turtle and Eagle" … You can list indefinitely. In total, Tolstoy wrote 629 works for children. Among them were fairy tales, stories, and essays.