Folk tales about animals: list and titles. Russian folk tales about animals

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

For children, a fairy tale is an amazing but fictional story about magical items, monsters and heroes. However, if you look deeper, it becomes clear that a fairy tale is a unique encyclopedia that reflects the life and moral principles of any people.

For several hundred years, people have come up with a huge number of fairy tales. Our ancestors passed them from mouth to mouth. They changed, disappeared and returned again. Moreover, the heroes of fairy tales can be completely different characters. Most often, the heroes of Russian folk tales are animals, and in European literature, princesses and children are more often the main characters.

The fairy tale and its meaning for the people

A fairy tale is a narrative story about fictional events that did not actually take place with the participation of fictional heroes and magical characters. Fairy tales, composed by the people and being the creation of folklore traditions, exist in every country. The inhabitants of Russia are closer to Russian folk tales about animals, kings and Ivan the Fool, to the inhabitants of England - about leprechauns,gnomes, cats, etc.

Fairy tales have a powerful educational power. A child from the cradle listens to fairy tales, associates himself with the characters, puts himself in their place. Thanks to this, a certain model of behavior is developed in him. Folk tales about animals teach respect for our smaller brothers.

It is also worth noting that Russian fairy tales of an everyday nature include such words as "master", "muzhik". This awakens curiosity in the child. With the help of fairy tales, you can interest the child in history.

Everything that is invested in a child in childhood remains with him forever. A child properly brought up on fairy tales will grow up to be a decent and sympathetic person.

Composition

Most fairy tales are written in one system. It is the following scheme:

1) Beginning. This describes the place where the events will take place. If these are folk tales about animals, then in the beginning the description will begin with a forest. Here the reader or listener gets acquainted with the main characters.

2) Tie. At this stage of the tale, the main intrigue occurs, which turns into the beginning of the plot. Let's say the hero has a problem and needs to solve it.

3) Climax. It is also called the pinnacle of a fairy tale. Most often this is the middle of the work. The situation is heating up, the most responsible actions are taking place.

4) Decoupling. At this point, the main character solves his problem. All characters live happily ever after (as a rule, folk tales have a good,happy ending).

Most fairy tales are built according to this scheme. It can also be found in author's works, only with significant additions.

Russian folk tales

They represent a huge block of folklore works. Russian fairy tales are varied. Their plots, actions and characters are somewhat similar, but, nevertheless, each is unique in its own way. Sometimes the same folk tales about animals come across, but their names are different.

All Russian folk tales can be classified as follows:

1) Folk tales about animals, plants and inanimate nature ("Terem-Teremok", "Rock-Rock Hen", etc.)

2) Magical ("Self-Assembly Tablecloth", "Flying Ship").

3) Fables ("False-tale", "Vanya rode a horse…")

4) Boring tales ("About the white bull", "The priest had a dog").

5) Household ("Master and dog", "Kind pop", "Good and bad", "Pot").

There are quite a lot of classifications, but we considered the one proposed by V. Ya. Propp, one of the outstanding researchers of the Russian fairy tale.

Images of animals

Every person who grew up in Russia can list the main animals that are characters in Russian fairy tales. Bear, wolf, fox, hare - these are the heroes of Russian fairy tales. Animals live in the forest. Each of them has its own image, in literary criticism called an allegory. For example, the wolfwhom we meet in Russian fairy tales, is always hungry and angry. It is always a negative character. Because of his anger or greed, he often gets into trouble.

The bear is the master of the forest, the king. He is usually depicted in fairy tales as a just and wise ruler.

The fox is an allegory of cunning. If this animal is present in a fairy tale, then one of the other heroes will definitely be deceived. The hare is an image of cowardice. He is usually the eternal victim of the fox and wolf intent on eating him.

So, these are the heroes that Russian folk tales about animals present to us. Let's see how they behave.

Examples

Let's consider some folk tales about animals. The list is huge, we will try to analyze only a few. For example, let's take the tale "The Fox and the Crane". She tells about the Fox, who called the Crane to her dinner. She cooked porridge, smeared it on a plate. And the Crane is uncomfortable to eat, so he didn’t get porridge. Such was the trick of the frugal Fox. The crane invited the Fox to dinner, boiled okroshka and offered to eat from a jug with a high neck. But Lisa never got to the okroshka. Moral of the tale: as it comes around, so, unfortunately, it will respond.

An interesting tale about Kotofey Ivanovich. One man brought a cat to the forest and left it there. A fox found him and married him. She began to tell all the animals how strong and furious he was. The wolf and the bear decided to come and see him. The fox warned that it was better for them to hide. They climbed a tree, and underox meat was put on them. A cat with a fox came, the cat pounced on the meat, began to say: "Meow, meow …". And it seems to the wolf and the bear: "Not enough! Not enough!". They marveled and wanted to take a closer look at Kotofei Ivanovich. The leaves stirred, and the cat thought it was a mouse, and grabbed their muzzles with its claws. The wolf and the fox ran away.

These are Russian folk tales about animals. As you can see, the fox is fooling everyone.

Animals in English fairy tales

Good characters in English fairy tales are a hen and a rooster, a cat and a cat, a bear. Fox and wolf are always negative characters. It is noteworthy that, according to the research of philologists, the cat in English fairy tales has never been a negative character.

Like Russian, English folk tales about animals divide characters into good and evil. Good always triumphs over evil. Also, the works have a didactic purpose, that is, at the end there are always moral conclusions for readers.

Examples of English animal tales

Interesting piece "Cat King". It tells about two brothers who lived in the forest with a dog and a black cat. One brother was late hunting one day. Upon his return, he began to tell miracles. He says he saw the funeral. Many cats carried a coffin with a pictured crown and scepter. Suddenly, the black cat lying at his feet raised his head and cried out: "Old Peter is dead! I am the cat king!" Then he jumped into the fireplace. He was never seen again.

Let's take the comical tale "Willy and the Piglet" as an example. One master entrusted his stupid servant to carry a piglet to his friend. However, Willy's friends persuaded him to go to the tavern, and while he was drinking, they jokingly replaced the pig with a dog. Willie thought it was the devil's joke.

Animals in other genres of literature (fables)

It is worth noting that Russian literature includes not only Russian folk tales about animals. It is also rich in fables. Animals in these works have such qualities of people as cowardice, kindness, stupidity, envy. I. A. Krylov especially liked to use animals as characters. His fables "The Crow and the Fox", "The Monkey and Glasses" are known to all.

Thus, we can conclude that the use of animals in fairy tales and fables gives literature a special charm and style. Moreover, in English and Russian literature, the heroes are the same animals. Only their stories and characteristics are completely different.