Aphorisms of Kozma Prutkov and their meaning. The shortest aphorism of Kozma Prutkov. Kozma Prutkov: thoughts, quotes and aphorisms

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

Kozma Prutkov is a unique phenomenon not only for Russian, but also for world literature. There are fictional heroes who are given monuments, museums are opened in the houses where they “lived”, but none of them had their own biography, collected works, critics of their work and adherents.

Aphorisms by Kozma Prutkov were printed in such well-known publications in the 19th century as Sovremennik, Iskra and Entertainment. Many famous writers of that time believed that this was a real person.

"Guardians" of the hero

Kozma Prutkov appeared thanks to the joint prank of the Zhemchuzhnikov brothers, Alexei, Vladimir and Alexander, and Count Alexei Tolstoy. The Zhemchuzhnikov brothers came from an old Russian family, which included governors, stewards and senators. Alexey, Alexander and Vladimirwere poets, and their brother Leo was a famous artist and engraver.

Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy is a famous Russian writer, playwright and poet. Kozma Prutkov, whose quotes and aphorisms were loved by many of their contemporaries, arose due to the failure of the play co-written by Tolstoy and Alexei Zhemchuzhnikov. Nicholas I, who was present at the performance, was dissatisfied, the play was removed from the repertoire, and in retaliation, the brothers began to write parodies of poets pleasing to the tsar under the name of Kozma Prutkov.

Gradually published in various publications on behalf of Prutkov, there were so many works that the creators had to give him not only a biography, but also an appearance. Thus, they become patrons and advisers of the graphomaniac they created.

Biography of Kozma Prutkov

The aphorisms of Kozma Prutkov, which gained fame in literary circles, became the main reason for their author to find his own face. Introduced in 1854 by the brothers Zhemchuzhnikov and Tolstoy, Prutkov, according to them, was born on April 11, 1803 in the village of Tenteleva. He even had his own small estate, Pustynka, not far from the Sablino station.

At the age of 17, the future graphomaniac entered the military service in the hussar regiment, where he served for a little over 2 years. After retiring, Kozma joined the Assay Chamber, where he made a successful career.

Prutkov died on 1863-13-01 due to a nervous shock that overtook him in the service indirector's office.

Prutkov in military service

Military aphorisms of Kozma Prutkov arose against the background of his memories of military service, which ended very hastily. The reason for leaving the regiment in 1823 was a dream that a young hussar had on the night of his birthday on April 11.

Cosma dreamed of a naked brigadier general, telling him to get up and follow him. After wandering through the dark corridors, the general led the young hussar to the crypt on the top of the mountain, from which he began to get expensive materials and show him. After the brigadier general ran one of the cloths over Prutkov's body, he was struck by a current and woke up.

Despite the fact that the dream happened after a heavy booze, he made such an indelible impression on Kozma that he resigned.

Through this short service, readers were able to get acquainted with his "outstanding" thoughts about the army:

• "When building new overcoats for soldiers, remember that they ate and drank."
• "Let the aim of the soldier's ambition be the precise fitting of ammunition."
• "If you want to be handsome, join the hussars" and many others.

Civil service career

Kozma Prutkov, whose quotes and aphorisms were an undoubted success with the public, made a brilliant career not only in the literary field.

The authorities treated the young employee of the Assay Chamber very favorably, as they noticed his zeal for work, for which they encouraged and rewarded him. Kozma's talents allowed himgo from a simple employee to the highest civil rank of state councilor and receive not only the position of director of the Assay Chamber, but also the Order of St. Stanislav 1st degree.

Kozma Prutkov's aphorisms about public service are no less profound than about the military path. “Only in public service can you learn the truth,” he sincerely believes. “If there were no tailors, how would you distinguish between service departments?” is a vital question for every official.

Friends of the unfortunate author and his literary guardians Tolstoy and Zhemchuzhnikovs encouraged their ward to publish their works. So, the book “Thoughts and Aphorisms” by Kozma Prutkov was born, which contains his statements about life, love and much more.

Literary career

The first literary experience of the new graphomaniac was his play "Fantasy", the production of which failed in the presence of the august person. Discouraged by this, Prutkov wanted to give up his literary studies, but his friends persuaded him to continue writing, and they were right.

Philosophical aphorisms of Kozma Prutkov (“No one will embrace the immensity”, for example) earned him the glory of a wise man who deeply sees the essence of things. It is interesting that many readers of Sovremennik perceived the author of aphorisms, fables and satirical poems as a real person. Prutkov even had his critics and admirers. So, Dostoevsky for a long time perceived him as a would-be creator of bad poetry.

Not only the aphorisms of Kozma Prutkov, but also his fables, poems, romances andprose formed the basis of the collected works of the author. Books were not only published and enjoyed success with readers living in his time, but after his death they were reprinted, and sayings were used to be known as intelligent and educated people.

About love

Kozma Prutkov's aphorisms about love showed his true attitude towards a woman, love and marriage:

• "The wedding ring is the first link in the chain of married life."
• "Girls are like checkers: not everyone succeeds, but everyone wants to get into kings."
• “What we have, we don’t store, what we lose, we cry.”

In fact, many of the statements of Kozma Prutkov, despite his limited mind, are worthy of attention. Having no family of his own, he devoted all his time to the service, writing poetry and his friends.

Co-workers appreciated him, comrades in the pen and relatives loved him, the authorities treated him with sympathy, this was quite enough to live up to his aphorism: “If you want to be happy, be happy.”

Some of the author's phrases were perceived by readers as an instruction or even a warning. For example, "Bdi!" - the shortest aphorism of Kozma Prutkov - sounded like a military order and caused anxiety among those around.

Other of his expressions began to be used in everyday life as allegorical vernacular. The phrase "If you have a fountain, shut it up" began to be pronounced as "Shut the fountain", which meant "shut up".

Kozma Prutkov's aphorisms and their meaning made readers laugh, as they were an indicatorstupidity and self-confidence of a pompous graphomaniac, who considers his statements worthy of the wisdom of ancient philosophers: "Many people are like sausages: what they stuff, they carry in themselves."

Portrait of Prutkov

Thanks to the efforts of the Zhemchuzhnikov brothers and Alexei Tolstoy, their fictional character gained not only the fame of a graphomaniac and a biography, but also a personality. Lev Zhemchuzhnikov and his painter friends were invited by Prutkov to paint a portrait of the "great" writer who wished to publish his collected works with him.

This is how the famous image appeared, conveyed so realistically that the customer spoke flatteringly about the artists. They depicted his graying curls, and warts, and even a band-aid on his neck, where there was a cut from a razor.

At the request of Kozma Prutkov, the painters placed a lyre with rays emanating from it under the portrait. Although the literary activity of this hero lasted only 5 years, he left a noticeable mark in Russian literature, and his famous Thoughts and Aphorisms were published and quoted many years after his death.

Prutkov's work today

Today the most famous are 10 aphorisms of Kozma Prutkov, which have become common phrases in everyday life. Among them, the most popular are "Bdi!" and "Look at the root!". Often people, when saying them, do not even know who their author is.

The phenomenon of Kozma Prutkov remains unsurpassed, since no other hero has appeared in world literature with his owncollected works and life.