Tsar Dodon. "The Tale of the Golden Cockerel", Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin

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

The role of folk tales in the work of our writers of the 18th - early 19th centuries and A. S. Pushkin in particular is great. The element of folk songs, epics and fairy tales permeated the life of a peasant from birth to death. And this area of folk poetry surrounded A. S. Pushkin from childhood. The poet wrote his fairy tales for at least 20 years.

Connection between A. Pushkin and folk poetry

At Pushkin it was not passive retelling of plots, not just entertaining adventures of heroes with a love affair, but the introduction of social issues into them. An example is the greedy pop and his quick-witted farmhand. They talk about ideal moral standards of behavior ("The Tale of the Dead Princess"). From folk tales, all the tales of A. S. Pushkin differ primarily in poetic speech. Some, earlier, are written in the authentic folk language, when the poet becomes like a folk storyteller.

Other, later, fairy tales by A. S. Pushkin are written in literary verse, trochee. He, along with the storytellers, modifying the plots, introducing new characters, borrowing something from the folklore of other countries, creates a new Russian fairy tale, but retaining its national flavor. Nobody else has anything like itwrote. Adults know almost all fairy tales from childhood, returning to them again when their own children and grandchildren grow up, but only an in-depth analysis can reveal what is hidden behind the plot.

The scariest fairy tale story

In which of Pushkin's fairy tales will we find so many deaths? How relevant the tale of Tsar Dodon sounds at all times! The phantasmagoric picture of the fall of the empire and the disappearance of the dynasty was written in 1834. At the end of this story, piles of dead bodies remain, which there is no one to bury. One crow circles above them. The fiction contains a hint and a lesson to the survivors: do not allow war, especially fratricidal.

Loss of control

The brave and cocky Tsar Dodon always attacked his neighbors from his youth. Sparing no one, he waged wars of conquest. Having grown old, the ruler was tired and wanted to rest. But it was not there. Neighbors, sensing the weakness of the sovereign, began to attack him from all sides. The old ruler did not know how to protect his country from raids.

So he turned to a sage astrologer for help. This step, as it turned out later, proved fatal.

Wonderbird

At first everything seems to be going well. Tsar Dodon received a magical golden cockerel as a gift. This bird not only notifies that one of the enemies has violated the borders, but, turning in the right direction, loudly announces which side the attack will come from. So the monarch managed to send his troops outside the country and preventrobbery in his kingdom. Everyone now knew that this state would not allow insolence and would give a timely rebuff. Life flowed peacefully and calmly.

Result obtained at the end of life

The stormy youth that the stupid Tsar Dodon spent taught him nothing. He did not conclude peace treaties with neighbors or trade, but only smashed foreign troops. The ruler did not experience any repentance for the sins of his youth. He did not change in old age, rejoicing in every victory of his army. Lazy and negligent, he believed that he was always right in any situation. Throughout the tale, his character does not change.

Behind the scenes of the sage's help

When Tsar Dodon found himself at a dead end, the eunuch-wise man, having taken a bird out of the bag, helped the king correct the situation in such a way that the monarch himself did not waste any strength and did not make mental efforts for this. The guardian of the capital, the cockerel, magically collected all the information and did not fall silent until the governors woke the king and went on a campaign.

But the inhabitants of the capital were very afraid of the cries of the magic bird, because behind them were battles and death. The ruler, in order to live peacefully and sleep, turning from side to side, had to calm the people. Practically for the life of the country it was not needed. All that was required was an astrologer, a prophetic cockerel and governors who fought with enemies. Or even less - a cockerel and its sage owner, who himself could give instructions to military commanders. The king was honored, but in fact he was useless. This is how King Dodon is described. Pushkin,following folk tradition, did not change the royal character for the better.

Golden Cockerel

Besides the sage, whose thoughts the reader did not know and which remained a mystery, the Golden Cockerel, a bright, radiant and sunny bird, also represents a riddle. In Slavic beliefs, roosters can scare away evil spirits. They were embroidered as a talisman or placed above the ridge of the roof for the same purpose. This kind bird, which in the end was forced to avenge the death of its owner by King Dodon. The golden cockerel, seeing that the tsar repaid the stargazer for good with evil, flew off the weather vane, pecked the tsar on the crown of the head and flew away to no one knows where.

Who was the enemy of the state

In fact, it was not foreign troops and peoples that posed a danger, namely an unrestricted tyrant and his children. After all, it was with the actions of the king in his youth that bloody wars began, which could not end in any way. But having rebuffed the attacks from all sides, the tyrant lived quietly for a year or two. And suddenly, frightening the whole capital and turning to the east, the cock crowed. The king sent his eldest son from the kingdom of darkness and darkness to the light from the east at the head of the army. And everything became quiet. Eight days passed, and, again also turning to the east, to the light, the cockerel predicted trouble. The old monarch sends the younger to help his eldest son. Another eight days pass, and again grief - the cockerel also cries, turning to the east. Then Dadon himself leads the third army. And what does he see?

Dead are both sons who fought among themselves. In the meantime, the tent was flung open, and from there came out a beautifulthe maiden is a shining evening dawn, the appearance of which foreshadowed that Tsar Dodon would die. Pushkin compares the girl with the sun, and the king with the bird of the night, which means that his days are waning. Seeing her, the king forgot the death of his sons. He feasted with her and took her to the capital. The queen magically possessed power over all men, and everyone wanted to have it: the young princes, who forgot their relationship and killed each other, and the elderly king, and even the eunuch, who could not have an interest in women. And when the ruler killed the astrologer-eunuch, who demanded the promised payment, then all the people shuddered: the beautiful queen is not light and the sun, but death itself.

Evil is rooted in autocracy. He is destroyed by fabulous forces, but how should it be in life? A. Pushkin invited the reader to learn the lesson on their own. This is probably why the last couplet was removed from printing in the first edition.