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Description of the tale of Saltykov Shchedrin the wise gudgeon. "the wise minnow", analysis of the tale

In the most hard years reaction and strict censorship, which created simply unbearable conditions for the continuation of his literary activity, Saltykov-Shchedrin found a brilliant way out of this situation. It was at that time that he began to write his works in the form of fairy tales, which allowed him to continue the scourging of vices. Russian society despite the frenzy of censorship.

Fairy tales became for the satirist a kind of economical form that allowed him to continue the themes of his past. Hiding true meaning written from censorship, the writer used Aesopian language, grotesque, hyperbole and antithesis. In fairy tales for fair age» Saltykov-Shchedrin, as before, spoke about the plight of the people and ridiculed their oppressors. Bureaucrats, pompadour mayors and other impartial characters appear in fairy tales in the form of animals - an eagle, a wolf, a bear, etc.

"Lived - trembled, and died - trembled"


According to the spelling norms of the 19th century, the word "minnow" was written through "and" - "piskar".
One of these works is the tale "The Wise Scribbler", written by Saltykov-Shchedrin in 1883, which has become a textbook. The plot of the tale, which tells about the life of the most ordinary minnow, is known to anyone. educated person. Having a cowardly character, the gudgeon leads a secluded life, tries not to stick out of his hole, shudders at every rustle and a flashing shadow. So he lives until his death, and only at the end of his life does he realize the worthlessness of his miserable existence. Before his death, questions arise in his mind concerning his whole life: “Who did he pity, whom did he help, what did he do good and useful?”. The answers to these questions lead the minnow to rather sad conclusions: that no one knows him, no one needs him, and hardly anyone will remember him at all.

In this plot, the satirist in a caricature form clearly reflects the mores of modern petty-bourgeois Russia. The image of a minnow has absorbed all the unpleasant qualities of a cowardly, self-contained man in the street, constantly shaking for his own skin. “He lived - trembled, and died - trembled” - such is the moral of this satirical tale.


The expression "wise minnow" was used as a common noun, in particular, by V. I. Lenin in the fight against liberals, the former "left Octobrists", who switched to supporting the right-liberal model of constitutional democracy.

Reading the fairy tales of Saltykov-Shchedrin is quite difficult, some people still cannot understand deep meaning invested by the writer in his works. The thoughts that are set forth in the tales of this talented satirist are still relevant in Russia, mired in a series of social problems.

wise scribbler, wise scribbler summary
fairy tale/fable

Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin

Original language: Date of writing:

December 1882 - first half of January 1883

Date of first publication: Publisher:

newspaper "Common cause" (Geneva)

Text of the work in Wikisource This term has other meanings as well. wise gudgeon.

(in some modern children's publications - "The Wise Gudgeon") - satirical tale from the cycle "Tales for children of a fair age" by M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, published in 1883.

  • 1 History of creation and publication
  • 2 Criticism
  • 3 Plot
  • 4 Using an expression
  • 5 Screen adaptations
  • 6 Illustrations
  • 7 Notes

History of creation and publication

Written in December 1882 - the first half of January 1883. First published in September 1883 in No. 55 of the émigré newspaper The Common Cause (Geneva), p. 2-4, together with the tales "The Selfless Hare" and "The Poor Wolf", under the editorial heading "Tales for children of a fair age", without a signature. Russia for the first time - in the journal "Domestic Notes" No. 1, 1884, p. 275-280 (January 16). As a book edition - in the publication of the free hectography "Public benefit", under the general title "Fairy tales" and under the signature of N. Shchedrin. The Geneva edition during 1883 (before the publication of the tales in Otechestvennye Zapiski) was issued eight times in various formats (six times with the date of issue and two times without). The publication was distributed by the participants " People's Will”, as evidenced by the seal on a number of surviving copies (“Narodnaya Volya Book Agents”). One of the editions of the collection with the designation of the release date, unlike all the others, contains only one fairy tale - "The Wise Piskar".

Criticism

According to commentators and critics, the tale is dedicated to satirical criticism of cowardice and cowardice, which seized the public mood of part of the intelligentsia after the defeat of the Narodnaya Volya.

The writer and critic Konstantin Arseniev noticed that the tale "The Wise Scribbler" echoes the "Fourth Evening" from "Poshekhon's Tales", which appeared in No. 10 of "Notes of the Fatherland" for 1883, where the publicist Kramolnikov denounces liberals hiding from harsh reality in " burrows, stating that in this way they will still not be able to escape.

Subsequently, on the basis of this similarity and considering its appearance in Russia in January 1884 as the first publication of the tale, the writer Ivanov-Razumnik concluded that the idea of ​​"Piskar" was originally expressed in the third Poshekhon "evening". In reality, Kramolnikov’s speech in Poshekhonsky Tales does not portend, but repeats the idea already written and published in the foreign “ common cause» fairy tales «The wise scribbler».

Plot

The gudgeon lives in the river. His parents have lived through Aredov's eyelids and die a natural death. Before his death, the gudgeon's father tells him to always be careful (after all, danger is everywhere), and he himself almost got into his ear. The gudgeon decides to dig a small hole for himself so that no one but him can fit in there, and he never leaves the hole during the day, and at night he crawls out of it for a short time to perform a nocturnal exercise.

So many years pass. The minnow is afraid of everything and does not crawl out of the hole. One day he sees in a dream how he wins two hundred thousand rubles in the lottery. Minnow lives for a hundred years, sick and old, but glad that he dies like a father and mother. Falling asleep, he sees old ambitious dreams, as if he had won two hundred thousand and swallowed the pike himself. Falling asleep, the gudgeon forgets, his snout crawls out of the hole, and after that the gudgeon inexplicably disappears. The story ends with a guess:

Most likely, he died himself, because what sweetness is it for a pike to swallow an ailing, dying minnow, and besides, a wise one?

Using an expression

The expression "wise minnow" was used as a common noun, in particular, by V. I. Lenin in the fight against Russian liberals, former "left Octobrists" who switched to supporting the right-liberal model of constitutional democracy after the dissolution of the Duma of the first convocation by Nicholas II:

Oh, wise minnows of the notorious progressive "intelligentsia"! Protection of the Peaceful Renovators by the Intelligentsia Radicals, Turn central authority Party of Cadets to a peaceful renewal immediately after the instructions on forms, these are all typical examples of liberal tactics. The government is one step to the right, and we are two steps to the right! You see - we are again legal and peaceful, tactful and loyal, we will adapt even without forms, we will always adapt in relation to meanness! This seems to the liberal bourgeoisie realpolitik.

V. I. Lenin, Forgery by the government of the thought and tasks of social democracy, 1906, PSS V. I. Lenin, vol. 14, p. 199. Archived from the original on November 21, 2012.

According to the Encyclopedic Dictionary winged words and expressions”, Shchedrin, under the guise of a minnow, portrayed the Russian liberal intelligentsia, concerned only with survival; in an ironic and allegorical sense, the expression is used in the sense: a conformist person, a socially or politically passive cowardly person who elevates his conformism to the rank of philosophy.

Screen adaptations

In 1979, director V. Karavaev released a cartoon of the same name based on the fairy tale (Soyuzmultfilm studio, duration 9 minutes 23 seconds).

Illustrations

The tale has been illustrated many times, incl. such artists as Kukryniksy (1939), Y. Severin (1978), M. Skobelev and A. Eliseev (1973)

Notes

Wikiquote has quotations related to
  1. 1 2 According to the 19th century spelling rules, the word "minnow" in this tale traditionally written with "and" - "p And scar", including in modern academic (with comments) editions of Saltykov-Shchedrin. Some children's illustrated non-academic publications name the main character according to modern standards- "P e scary."
  2. 1 2 3 Comments by V. N. Baskakov, A. S. Bushmin to the publication: M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. Fairy tales. Variegated letters // Collected works in twenty volumes. - Volume 16. - Book 1. - S. 425-435.
  3. K. K. Arseniev. Saltykov-Shchedrin. SPb., 1906, p. 218-219.
  4. M. E. Saltykov (Shchedrin). Works, vol. V. M. - L., GIZ, 1927, p. 496-497.
  5. Cit. according to the commentary of T. Sumarokova in: Saltykov-Shchedrin, M. E. The history of one city; Tales / Foreword Y. Kozlovsky; Comment. T. Sumarokova; Il A. Samokhvalova. - M.: Pravda, 1984. - 400 p., ill. - S. 395.
  6. The instruction of the tsarist government prohibiting the issuance of election forms to illegal parties was introduced after the dissolution of the Duma of the first convocation by Nicholas II.
  7. The wise gudgeon // encyclopedic Dictionary winged words and expressions / comp. Vadim Serov. - M .: "Lokid-Press", 2003 ..
  8. Kukryniksy, illustration for the fairy tale The Wise Piskar. Archived from the original on November 21, 2012.
  9. Wise minnow, 1978
  10. M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. "Wise minnow". Drawings by M. Skobelev and A. Eliseev. Ed. "Children's Literature", M. - 1973

wise scribbler, wise scribbler summary, wise scribbler read

Wise Scribbler Information About

Once upon a time there was a piskar. Both his father and mother were smart; Little by little, the Arid eyelids lived in the river and did not get into the ear or the pike in Hailo. And ordered the same for my son. “Look, son,” said the old scribbler, dying, “if you want to live life, then look at both!” And the young scribbler had a mind. He began to scatter with this mind and sees: no matter where he turns, he is cursed everywhere. Around, in the water, everything big fish swim, and he is the smallest of all; any fish can swallow him, but he cannot swallow anyone. Yes, and does not understand: why swallow? Cancer can cut it in half with a claw, a water flea can bite into the spine and torture to death. Even his brother scribbler - and he, as soon as he sees that he has caught a mosquito, will rush to take it away with a whole herd. They will take it away and start fighting with each other, only they will ruffle a mosquito for nothing. And the man? What kind of wicked creature is this! no matter what tricks he invented, so that he, the scribbler, would be destroyed by a vain death! And seine, and nets, and heads, and norota, and, finally ... I will fish! It seems, what could be more stupid than oud? - A thread, a hook on a thread, a worm or a fly on the hook ... Yes, and how are they worn? .. in the most, one might say, unnatural position! And meanwhile, it is precisely on the lure of all that the piskar is caught! The old father warned him more than once about oud. “Most of all, beware of the oud! - he said, - because even though it is the most stupid projectile, but with us, scribblers, what is more stupid is more true. They will throw us a fly, as if they want to take a nap on us; you cling to it - but death is in the fly! The old man also told how one day he missed a little in the ear. At that time they were caught by a whole artel, they stretched a net over the entire width of the river, and so they dragged it about two miles along the bottom. Passion, how many fish then caught! And pikes, and perches, and chubs, and roaches, and loaches - even couch potato breams were raised from the mud from the bottom! And the scribblers lost count. And what fears he, the old scribbler, had endured while being dragged along the river, is neither in a fairy tale to say, nor to describe with a pen. He feels that he is being taken, but where he does not know. He sees that he has a pike on one side, and a perch on the other; he thinks: just about, now, either one or the other will eat him, but they don’t touch him ... “At that time, there was no time for food, brother, it was!” Everyone has one thing in mind: death has come! but how and why she came - no one understands. Finally, they began to lower the wings of the seine, dragged it ashore and began to bring down the fish from the bobbin into the grass. It was then that he learned what an ear was. Something red flutters in the sand; gray clouds run up from him; and it was so hot that he immediately grew numb. Even without water, it's sickening, but here they still give in ... He hears - "bonfire", they say. And on the "bonfire" on this black something is laid, and in it the water, as if in a lake, during a storm, walks with a shaker. This is a "cauldron", they say. And in the end they began to say: put the fish into the “cauldron” - there will be an “ear”! And they started throwing our brother there. A fisherman will throw a fish - at first it will plunge, then, like a madman, it will jump out, then it will plunge again - and subside. "Uhi" means you've tasted it. They felled and felled at first indiscriminately, and then one old man looked at him and said: “What use is he, from the baby, for the fish soup! let it grow in the river!” He took him under the gills, and let him into free water. And he, do not be stupid, in all the shoulder blades - home! He came running, and his scribbler looked out of the hole neither alive nor dead ... And what! no matter how much the old man explained at that time what an ear is and what it consists of, however, even if you offer it in the river, rarely does anyone have a sound idea about the ear! But he, the scribbler-son, perfectly remembered the teachings of the scribbler-father, and he wound it around his mustache. He was an enlightened scribbler, moderately liberal, and he very firmly understood that living life is not like licking a whorl. “You have to live in such a way that no one notices,” he said to himself, “otherwise you will just disappear!” - and began to settle down. First of all, he invented such a hole for himself, so that he could climb into it, but no one else could get in! He pecked this hole with his nose for a whole year, and how much fear he took at that time, spending the night either in silt, or under water burdock, or in sedge. Finally, however, hollowed out for glory. Clean, tidy - just one fit just right. The second thing, about his life, he decided this: at night, when people, animals, birds and fish are sleeping, he will exercise, and during the day he will sit in a hole and tremble. But since he still needs to drink and eat, and he does not receive a salary and does not keep servants, he will run out of the hole around noon, when all the fish are already full, and, God willing, maybe a booger or two and hunt. And if he doesn’t provide, the hungry one will lie down in a hole, and will tremble again. For it is better not to eat, not to drink, than to lose life with a full stomach. And so he did. Did exercise at night, in moonlight bathed, and during the day he climbed into a hole and trembled. Only at noon will he run out to grab something - but what can you do at noon! At this time, the mosquito hides under the leaf from the heat, and the insect buries itself under the bark. Swallows water - and the coven! He lies day and day in a hole, does not sleep at night, does not eat a piece, and still thinks: “It seems that I am alive? ah, what will happen tomorrow? Doze off, a sinful deed, and in a dream he dreams that he has winning ticket and he won two hundred thousand on it. Beside himself with delight, he will roll over to the other side - look, he has a whole half of his snout sticking out of the hole ... What if at that time there was a little pup nearby! after all, he would have pulled him out of the hole! One day he woke up and sees: right in front of his hole is a cancer. He stands motionless, as if bewitched, staring at him with bone eyes. Only the whiskers move with the flow of water. That's when he got scared! And for half a day, until it got completely dark, this cancer was waiting for him, and in the meantime he was trembling, trembling all the time. Another time, just before dawn he had time to return to the hole, he just yawned sweetly, in anticipation of sleep, - he looks out of nowhere, at the very hole, the pike is standing and clapping his teeth. And she, too, guarded him all day, as if she were fed up with the sight of him alone. And he blew a pike: he did not come out of the hole, and the coven. And not once, not twice, this happened to him, but almost every day. And every day he, trembling, won victories and overcomings, every day he exclaimed: “Glory to you, Lord! alive!" But this is not enough: he did not marry and had no children, although his father had big family. He reasoned like this: “Father could have lived jokingly! At that time, the pikes were kinder, and perches did not covet us, small fry. And although once he was in the ear, and then there was an old man who rescued him! And now, as the fish have hatched in the rivers, and squeakers have hit in honor. So it’s not up to the family here, but how to live on your own!” And the wise scribbler lived in this way for over a hundred years. Everyone trembled, everyone trembled. He has no friends, no relatives; neither he to anyone, nor anyone to him. He doesn’t play cards, he doesn’t drink wine, he doesn’t smoke tobacco, he doesn’t chase red girls - he only trembles and thinks for one thought: “Thank God! seems to be alive! Even the pikes, in the end, and they began to praise him: “Now, if everyone lived like that, then it would be quiet in the river!” Yes, but they said it on purpose; they thought that he would introduce himself for praise - here, they say, I am! here it and clap! But he did not succumb to this thing either, and once again defeated the intrigues of his enemies with his wisdom. How many years have passed after a hundred years is unknown, only the wise scribbler began to die. He lies in a hole and thinks: “Thank God, I am dying of my own death, just like my mother and father died.” And then he remembered the pike words: “If only everyone lived like this wise scribbler lives ...” Well, really, what would happen then? He began to scatter the mind, which he had a ward, and suddenly, as if someone whispered to him: “After all, that way, perhaps, the entire squeaky family would have died long ago!” Because, in order to continue the scribble family, first of all, a family is needed, but he does not have one. But this is not enough: in order for the Piskar family to strengthen and prosper, for its members to be healthy and vigorous, it is necessary that they be brought up in their native element, and not in a hole where he was almost blind from eternal twilight. It is necessary that the piskari receive sufficient food, that they do not shun the public, that they share bread and salt with each other and from each other virtues and other excellent qualities borrowed. For only such a life can perfect the minnow breed and will not allow it to be crushed and degenerate into a smelt. Those who think that only those scribblers can be considered worthy citizens who, mad with fear, sit in holes and tremble, believe incorrectly. No, these are not citizens, but at least useless scribblers. No one is warm or cold from them, no honor, no dishonor, no glory, no dishonor ... they live, they take up space for nothing and eat food. All this presented itself so distinctly and clearly that suddenly a passionate desire came to him: “I’ll get out of the hole and swim like a goldeneye across the river!” But as soon as he thought about it, he was frightened again. And he began, trembling, to die. Lived - trembled, and died - trembled. His whole life flashed before him in an instant. What were his joys? who did he comfort? who gave good advice? to whom good word said? who sheltered, warmed, protected? who heard about it? who remembers its existence? And he had to answer all these questions: "No one, no one." He lived and trembled, that was all. Even now: death is on his nose, and he is trembling, he himself does not know why. It is dark and cramped in his hole, there is nowhere to turn around, not a ray of sunlight will look there, nor will it smell of warmth. And he lies in this damp darkness, blind, exhausted, of no use to anyone, lies and waits: when will starvation finally free him from a useless existence? He can hear other fish darting past his hole - perhaps, like him, piskari - and not one of them will take an interest in him. Not a single thought will come: “Let me ask the wise scribbler, in what manner did he manage to live for too hundred years, and neither the pike swallowed him, nor the cancer of the claws did not break, nor did the fisherman catch the hook?” They swim past, or maybe they don’t know that in this hole there is a wise scribbler life process completes! And what is most offensive of all: not even to hear anyone call him wise. They just say: “Have you heard about the dumbass who doesn’t eat, doesn’t drink, doesn’t see anyone, doesn’t take bread and salt with anyone, but only saves his hateful life?” And many even simply call him a fool and a shame and wonder how the water tolerates such idols. He scattered in this way with his mind and dozed. That is, not that he was dozing, but he began to forget. Death whispers rang out in his ears, languor spread throughout his body. And then he dreamed of the former seductive dream. He allegedly won two hundred thousand, grew by as much as half a yard, and swallows the pike himself. And while he was dreaming about it, his snout, little by little and gently, completely poked out of the hole. And suddenly he disappeared. What happened here - whether the pike swallowed him, whether the crayfish was killed by claws, or whether he himself died of his own death and surfaced - there were no witnesses to this case. Most likely - he died himself, because what a sweet thing for a pike to swallow an ailing, dying squash, and besides, wise?

Intended for adults, the fairy tale "The Wise Gudgeon" when carefully analyzed, demonstrates typical features creativity of M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. The writer was a master of subtle irony. Within the framework of the chosen style, the author draws very characteristic images, helping himself with the use of grotesque techniques and hyperbolizing the figures of the main characters.

Literary criticism of the Soviet school sought to look for features of class confrontation and social struggle in the Russian classics of the imperial period. The same fate befell the tale of the wise minnow - in the main character, they diligently looked for the features of a contemptible petty official, trembling with fear, instead of devoting his life to the class struggle.

However, the majority of Russian writers were still worried not so much about revolutionary ideas as moral issues society.

Genre and meaning of the name of the fairy tale

The fairy tale genre has long been attractive to fiction writers. It is interesting in that, within the framework of allegorism, one can afford to draw any parallels with objective reality and real figures contemporaries, not stinting on epithets, but at the same time not annoying anyone.

A typical genre of a fairy tale implies the participation in the plot of animals endowed with intelligence, quickness, human manner of communication and behavior. IN this case the work, with its phantasmagoric nature, fits perfectly into the plot of the fairy tale.

The work begins characteristically - once upon a time. But at the same time, it is called a fairy tale for adults, because the author, in allegorical language, invites the reader to think about a problem that is by no means a child's - about how to live one's life so as not to regret its meaninglessness before death.

The title is quite appropriate for the genre in which the work is written. The minnow is called not smart, not wise, not intellectual, but precisely “wise”, in best traditions fairy-tale genre (suffice it to recall at least Vasilisa the Wise).

But already in this title one can guess the sad irony of the author. It immediately sets the reader up to think about whether it is fair to call the protagonist wise.

Main characters

In the fairy tale, the image of the most wise minnow is created by the brightest portrait. The author not only characterizes his general level of development - the “mind chamber” tells the background of the formation of his character features.

He describes in detail the motives of the protagonist's actions, his thoughts, mental anguish and doubts shortly before his death.

Minnow son - not stupid, thinking, even prone to liberal ideas. At the same time, he is such a cowardly individual that he is ready to fight even with his instincts in order to save his life. He agrees to live always hungry, not creating his own family, not communicating with his relatives, practically not seeing sunlight.

Therefore, the son heeded the main teaching of his father and, having lost his parents, decided to take all available measures in order to never risk his life. Everything that he subsequently did was aimed at realizing his plan.

As a result, it is not life itself in its entirety, but the preservation of life that has acquired highest value has become an end in itself. And for the sake of this idea, the gudgeon sacrificed absolutely everything, for which, in fact, he was born.

The minnow-father is the second hero of the tale. He, deserving a positive characterization of the author, lived ordinary life, had a family and children, took risks in moderation, but had the imprudence to scare his son for life with a story about how he almost hit his ear.

The main picture of his personality is formed in the reader mainly due to the story of this dramatic incident, narrated in the first person.

Summary of Saltykov-Shchedrin's fairy tale "The Wise Gudgeon"

Minnow, the son of good and caring parents, left alone after their death, rethought his life. The future scared him.

He saw that he was weak and defenseless, and water world around him is full of dangers. To save his life, the minnow began to dig his own hole to hide from the main threats.

During the day he did not get out of it, he walked only at night, because of which, over time, he almost went blind. If there was danger outside, he preferred to stay hungry so as not to risk it. Because of his fear, the minnow refused full life, communication and procreation.

So he lived in his hole for more than a hundred years, trembling with fear and considering himself wise, because he turned out to be so prudent. At the same time, other inhabitants of the reservoir did not share his opinion about themselves, considering him a fool and a dunce who lives as a hermit in order to preserve his worthless life.

Sometimes he had a dream in which he wins two hundred thousand rubles, stops trembling and becomes so big and respected that he himself begins to swallow pike. At the same time, in fact, he does not seek to become rich and influential, these are just secret dreams embodied in dreams.

However, before his death, thoughts of a life lived in vain come to mind. Analyzing the past years, thinking that he never consoled, pleased, or warmed anyone, he realizes that if other minnows led the same useless life as he did, then the minnow family would quickly cease.

He dies just as he lived - unnoticed by others. According to the author, he disappeared, and died as a result of a natural death or was eaten - no one is interested, even the author.

What does the fairy tale "The Wise Minnow" teach

The author in allegorical language tries to force the reader to rethink the most important philosophical theme- about the meaning of life.

Exactly what a person spends his life on will eventually become the main criterion of his wisdom.

By using grotesque image minnow Saltykov-Shchedrin tries to convey this idea to the reader, to warn the younger generation against the wrong choice of their path, and to the older one he suggests thinking about a worthy finale of his life path.

The story is not new. The gospel parable about a man who buried his talent in the ground is just about this. It gives the very first and main moral lesson about this theme. Subsequently, the problem has been repeatedly raised in the literature. little man- "trembling creatures", and his place in society.

But with all this, a fair part of the generation of Saltykov-Shchedrin's contemporaries is familiar with literary heritage ancestors, educated, and moderately liberal, did not draw the necessary conclusions, therefore, in her multitude, she was just such minnows, who did not have any citizenship, no social responsibility, no striving for a positive transformation of society, entrenched in their little world and trembling with fear of those in power.

It is curious that society itself also considers such individuals to be ballast - not interesting, stupid and meaningless. The inhabitants of the reservoir spoke extremely impartially about the gudgeon, despite the fact that he lived without interfering with anyone, without offending anyone and without making enemies.

The end of the protagonist's life is very indicative - he did not die, he was not eaten. He disappeared. The author chose such an ending to once again emphasize the ephemeral existence of the gudgeon.

The main moral of the tale is as follows: if during life a person did not strive to do good and be needed, then no one will notice his death, because his existence did not make sense.

Anyway, before death main character he regrets precisely this, asking himself questions - to whom did he do a good deed, who can remember him with warmth? And he does not find a consoling answer.

The best quotes from the fairy tale "The Wise Minnow"

There lived a gudgeon. Both his father and mother were smart; little by little, but gently arid eyelids ( long years. - Ed.) They lived in the river and did not get into the ear or the pike in the haylo. And ordered the same for my son. “Look, son,” said the old minnow, dying, “if you want to live life, then look at both!”

And the young minnow had a mind chamber. He began to scatter with this mind and sees: no matter where he turns, he is cursed everywhere. All around, in the water, all the big fish swim, and he is the smallest of all; any fish can swallow him, but he cannot swallow anyone. Yes, and does not understand: why swallow? A cancer can cut it in half with a claw, a water flea can bite into a ridge and torture to death. Even his brother minnow - and he, as soon as he sees that he has caught a mosquito, will rush to take it away with a whole herd. They will take it away and start fighting with each other, only they will ruffle a mosquito for nothing.

And the man? What kind of wicked creature is this! no matter what tricks he invented, so that he, the gudgeon, would be destroyed by a vain death! And seine, and nets, and administer, and norota, and, finally ... I will fish! It seems that it can be more stupid than oud? - A thread, a hook on a thread, a worm or a fly on the hook are put on ... Yes, and how are they put on? . in the most, one might say, unnatural position! And meanwhile, it is precisely on the hook of all that the gudgeon is caught!

The old father warned him more than once about oud. “Most of all, beware of the oud! - he said, - because even though it is the most stupid projectile, but with us minnows, what is more stupid is more true. They will throw us a fly, as if they want to take a nap on us; you cling to it - en death is in the fly!

The old man also told how one day he missed a little in the ear. At that time they were caught by a whole artel, they stretched a net over the entire width of the river, and so they dragged it about two miles along the bottom. Passion, how many fish then caught! And pikes, and perches, and chubs, and roaches, and loaches - even couch potato breams were raised from the mud from the bottom! And the minnows lost count. And what fears he, the old minnow, had suffered while they dragged him along the river - it is neither in a fairy tale to say, nor to describe with a pen. He feels that he is being taken, but he does not know where. He sees that he has a pike on one side, and a perch on the other; he thinks: just about, now, either one or the other will eat him, but they don’t touch him ... “At that time, there was no time for food, brother, it was!” Everyone has one thing in mind: death has come! and how and why she came - no one understands. . Finally, they began to lower the wings of the seine, dragged it ashore and began to bring down the fish from the bobbin into the grass. It was then that he learned what an ear is. Something red flutters in the sand; gray clouds run up from him; and the heat is such that he immediately succumbed. Even without water, it's sickening, and then they give in ... He hears - "fire", they say. And on the "bonfire" on this black something is laid, and in it the water, as if in a lake, during a storm, walks with a shaker. This is a "cauldron", they say. And in the end they began to say: put the fish into the “cauldron” - there will be an “ear”! And they started throwing our brother there. A fisherman will throw a fish - it will first plunge, then, like a madman, jump out, then plunge again - and calm down. "Uhi" means you've tasted it. They felled and felled at first indiscriminately, and then one old man looked at him and said: “What use is he, from the baby, for the fish soup! let it grow in the river!” He took him under the gills, and let him into free water. And he, do not be stupid, in all the shoulder blades - home! He ran, and his gudgeon peeps out of the hole neither alive nor dead ...

And what! no matter how much the old man explained at that time what an ear is and what it consists of, however, even if you raise it in the river, rarely does anyone have a sound idea about the ear!

But he, the minnow-son, perfectly remembered the teachings of the minnow-father, and he wound it around his mustache. He was an enlightened minnow, moderately liberal, and he very firmly understood that living life is not like licking a whorl. “You have to live in such a way that no one notices,” he said to himself, “otherwise you’ll just disappear!” - and began to settle down. First of all, he invented such a hole for himself, so that he could climb into it, but no one else could get into it! He pecked this hole with his nose for a whole year, and how much fear he took at that time, spending the night either in silt, or under water burdock, or in sedge. Finally, however, hollowed out for glory. Clean, tidy - just one fit just right. The second thing, about his life, he decided this: at night, when people, animals, birds and fish are sleeping, he will exercise, and during the day he will sit in a hole and tremble. But since he still needs to drink and eat, and he does not receive a salary and does not keep servants, he will run out of the hole around noon, when all the fish are already full, and, God willing, maybe a booger or two and hunt. And if he doesn’t provide, the hungry one will lie down in a hole and will tremble again. For it is better not to eat, not to drink, than to lose life with a full stomach.

And so he did. At night he did exercise, bathed in the moonlight, and during the day he climbed into a hole and trembled. Only at noon will he run out to grab something - but what can you do at noon! At this time, the mosquito hides under the leaf from the heat, and the insect buries itself under the bark. Swallows water - and the Sabbath!

He lies day and day in a hole, does not sleep at night, does not eat a piece, and still thinks: “It seems that I am alive? ah, what will happen tomorrow?

He will doze off, a sinful thing, and in a dream he dreams that he has a winning ticket and he won two hundred thousand on it. Beside himself with delight, he will roll over to the other side - lo and behold, he has a whole half of his snout sticking out of the hole ... What if at that time there was a little pup nearby! after all, he would have pulled him out of the hole!

One day he woke up and sees: right in front of his hole is a cancer. He stands motionless, as if bewitched, staring at him with bone eyes. Only the whiskers move with the flow of water. That's when he got scared! And for half a day, until it got completely dark, this cancer was waiting for him, and in the meantime he was trembling, trembling all the time.

Another time, he had just managed to return to the hole in front of the dawn, he had just yawned sweetly, in anticipation of sleep, - he was looking, out of nowhere, at the very hole, a pike was standing and clapping his teeth. And she, too, guarded him all day, as if she were fed up with the sight of him alone. And he blew a pike: he did not come out of the hole, and the coven.

And not once, not twice, this happened to him, but almost every day. And every day he, trembling, won victories and overcomings, every day he exclaimed: “Glory to you, Lord! alive!"

But this is not enough: he did not marry and had no children, although his father had a large family. He reasoned like this:

“Father jokingly could live! At that time, the pikes were kinder, and perches did not covet us, small fry. And although once he was in the ear, and then there was an old man who rescued him! And now, as the fish have hatched in the rivers, and the minnows have hit in honor. So it’s not up to the family here, but how to live on your own!”

And the wise gudgeon of this kind lived for more than a hundred years. Everyone trembled, everyone trembled. He has no friends, no relatives; neither he to anyone, nor anyone to him. He doesn’t play cards, doesn’t drink wine, doesn’t smoke tobacco, doesn’t chase red girls - he only trembles and thinks for one thought: “Thank God! seems to be alive!

Even the pikes, in the end, and they began to praise him: “Now, if everyone lived like that, then it would be quiet in the river!” Yes, but they said it on purpose; they thought that he would introduce himself for praise - so, they say, I’m here and bang him! But he did not succumb to this thing either, and once again defeated the intrigues of his enemies with his wisdom.

How many years have passed after a hundred years - it is not known, only the wise minnow began to die. He lies in a hole and thinks: “Thank God, I am dying of my own death, just like my mother and father died.” And then he remembered the pike words: “Now, if everyone lived like this wise minnow lives ...” Come on, really, what would happen then?

He began to scatter the mind, which he had a ward, and suddenly, as if someone whispered to him: “After all, that way, perhaps, the entire minnow family would have been transferred long ago!”

Because in order to continue the minnow family, first of all, a family is needed, but he does not have one. But this is not enough: in order for the minnow family to strengthen and prosper, for its members to be healthy and vigorous, it is necessary that they be brought up in their native element, and not in a hole where he was almost blind from eternal twilight. It is necessary that minnows receive sufficient food, that they do not alienate themselves from the public, that they bring bread and salt with each other and borrow virtues and other excellent qualities from each other. For only such a life can perfect the minnow breed and will not allow it to be crushed and degenerate into a smelt.

Those who think that only those minnows can be considered worthy citizens, who, mad with fear, sit in holes and tremble, believe incorrectly. No, these are not citizens, but at least useless minnows. No one is warm or cold from them, no honor, no dishonor, no glory, no dishonor ... they live, they take up space for nothing and eat food.

All this presented itself so distinctly and clearly that suddenly a passionate desire came to him: “I’ll get out of the hole and swim like a goldeneye across the river!” But as soon as he thought about it, he was frightened again. And he began, trembling, to die. Lived - trembled, and died - trembled.

His whole life flashed before him in an instant. What were his joys? who did he comfort? who gave good advice? to whom did he say a kind word? who sheltered, warmed, protected? who heard about it? who remembers its existence?

And he had to answer all these questions: "No one, no one."

He lived and trembled - that's all. Even now: death is on his nose, and he is trembling, he himself does not know why. In his hole it is dark, cramped, there is nowhere to turn around; not a ray of sunshine will look there, nor will it smell of warmth. And he lies in this damp darkness, blind, exhausted, of no use to anyone, lies and waits: when will starvation finally free him from a useless existence?

He hears how other fish darting past his hole - perhaps minnows, like him - and not one of them will take an interest in him. Not a single thought will come: come on, I’ll ask the wise minnow, in what manner did he manage to live for more than a hundred years, and neither the pike swallowed him, nor the cancer of the claws did not break, nor did the fisherman catch him on the hook? They swim past, or maybe they don’t know that in this hole the wise gudgeon completes his life process!

And what is most offensive of all: not even to hear anyone call him wise. They just say: “Have you heard about the dumbass who doesn’t eat, doesn’t drink, doesn’t see anyone, doesn’t take bread and salt with anyone, but only saves his hateful life?” And many even simply call him a fool and a shame and wonder how the water tolerates such idols.

He scattered in this way with his mind and dozed. That is, not that he was dozing, but he began to forget. Death whispers rang out in his ears, languor spread throughout his body. And then he dreamed of the former seductive dream. He allegedly won two hundred thousand, grew by as much as half an arshin and swallows the pike himself.

And while he was dreaming about it, his snout, little by little and gently, completely poked out of the hole.

And suddenly he disappeared. What happened here - whether the pike swallowed him, whether the crayfish was killed by claws, or whether he himself died by his own death and surfaced - there were no witnesses to this case. Most likely, he died himself, because what sweetness is it for a pike to swallow an ailing, dying minnow, and besides, a wise one?