Ivan Krylov and popular expressions from the fable "The Mirror and the Monkey"

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

Fables were written by many literary figures, but Ivan Andreevich Krylov became famous more than other fabulists: his surname, like the names of Lafontaine and Aesop, became almost synonymous with the fable.

Fable writer I. A. Krylov

Ivan Andreevich was from a poor family of an employee of a dragoon regiment. His father was "not trained in the sciences," but he knew how to write, and he loved reading even more. The son got from his father a whole chest of books and literacy lessons.

As a teenager, he lost his father, but continued to study French in a we althy neighbor's house, while at the same time being in the civil service. Ivan tried to write even then and showed his works to knowledgeable literary critics. However, the tragedies and dramas he wrote were far from perfect, although they gave an idea of Krylov's potential.

The writer was restless in his temper, constantly looking for new opportunities and styles. The recalcitrant spirit pushed him to change and risk: entire periods of his biography escape from the field of view of researchers. Where was he? Howdid?

The seemingly chaotic movement actually became a stone on which the skills of the future fabulist were honed.

Krylov's Sharp Feather

His character was skeptical and sarcastic: Ivan Andreevich used to see the negative aspects of phenomena and the ridiculous actions of people. From childhood, he was a fan of Lafontaine, the famous French fabulist, and repeatedly tried to translate his fables into Russian.

From his youth, Krylov wrote works with a satirical tinge: he was inclined to denounce not only social vices, but also famous fellow citizens, ridiculing them mercilessly.

Krylov published accusatory magazines, printing literary caricatures and satire. However, the life of publications was short, they were not very popular, and the publisher closed them pretty soon.

Ivan Andreevich never stopped looking for his niche. At the beginning of the 19th century, Krylov showed translations of La Fontaine to the connoisseur of fables I. I. Dmitriev, to which he replied: "This is your true family; you have finally found it."

And indeed, the whole character of Krylov perfectly suited the activities of the fabulist: his skeptical, sharp mind, and observation, and a satirical perception of reality, and education. In search of his own style, Ivan Andreevich polished his abilities and gradually became a master of words.

Proverbs from Krylov's fables

So, Ivan Andreevich finally found his unique niche in literature. It is significant that from that moment on his career andfinancial situation began to gradually go uphill.

Krylov joined the Imperial Public Library, from where he retired as a we althy man many years later. His fables became popular and were published during his lifetime: 9 collections were published within 35 years!

Masterly composed turns of speech, full of satire, and sometimes ridicule, often turned into winged expressions from a fable! "Mirror and Monkey", "Quartet", "Swan, Cancer and Pike" - each work contains capacious and precise incriminating phrases that make the reader smile.

Who is not familiar with the expressions: "It's your fault that I want to eat" or "Yes, only things are still there"? It is Krylov's lines that have turned into speech allegories.

236 fables written by the author - one more beautiful than the other. The meaning of Krylov's fables is studied today in the school curriculum, because, despite a century and a half that has passed since his time, the satire of fables remains relevant, and the characters are ridiculously recognizable. Any student will easily remember the popular expressions from the fable.

Mirror and Monkey

The fable tells of an unconscious monkey. She has no idea what she looks like from the outside, or doesn't want to know. It is easier and more interesting for her to find flaws in her "gossips" - she knows almost everything about them.

When the observant Kum-Bear tries to delicately hint to the Monkey that this is her own reflection in the mirror, she simply skips his wordsears. "No one likes to recognize himself in satire," the author sums up mockingly.

The fable consists of only a few lines, but how accurately it describes the criticism and hypocrisy so common in society! Krylov aptly ridicules the terry selfishness and spiritual blindness of the monkey Krylov: The monkey and the mirror become symbols of exorbitant self-conceit, reaching the ridiculous.

The author mercilessly ridicules human vices, according to all the rules of fable writing - in the images of animals. He masterfully selects not only the plot and characters, but also the words they utter. Especially funny and caustic are the winged expressions from the fable.

The Mirror and the Monkey are essentially two main characters: The monkey needs the Bear only to discuss "gossips" and boast: they say, but I'm not like that! The Bear's advice, as the fabulist writes, "only wasted in vain." The lines of the fable evoke an involuntary smile from everyone: everyone remembered someone from the environment who looked like a Monkey. The author, on the other hand, encourages readers to look in the mirror at themselves, to discover and neutralize the "monkey in themselves".

Winged expressions from the fable "The Mirror and the Monkey"

In such a short fable, many expressions have already become winged: people use them in conversation as well-established, denoting a well-known phenomenon.

For example, speaking of a poisonous gossip who sees only other people's shortcomings around him: "Why consider working for gossips, isn't it better to turn around for yourself, godfather?"

Talking about a person who blames others forown sins: "They read about bribes to Klimych, and he furtively nods at Peter."

Many well-aimed, daring, full of satire lines, as if taking over the author's surname, have become winged today! The meaning of Krylov's fables is obvious - they expose human vices that have become habitual.