Encyclopedia of fairy-tale heroes: "The Wise Minnow". The wise minnow

Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin - writer, journalist, critic. He combined literary work with public service: at different times he was the vice-governor of Ryazan and Tver, and headed the State Chambers in the cities of Penza, Tula and Ryazan.

Mikhail Evgrafovich perfectly mastered a formidable weapon - the word. Life observations formed the basis of his creations; from the pen of the genius of journalism, many texts appeared on the topic of the day. Today we will get acquainted with the work that Saltykov created, “The Wise Minnow”. A summary will be presented in this article.

Preface

The work "The Wise Minnow" (in the modern interpretation - "The Wise Minnow"), which is part of the cycle "Fairy Tales for Children of a Fair Age", was first published in 1883. It ridicules cowardice and touches on the age-old philosophical question of what is the meaning of life.

Here is a summary of "The Wise Minnow". It is worth noting that reading the original will not take much time and will bring a lot of aesthetic pleasure, since it was written by a real master of the word, so do not limit yourself to getting to know the “reworked” work.

Once upon a time there was a gudgeon, he was lucky with his parents, they were smart and gave the right life guidelines. They lived for many years (“arid centuries”), avoiding numerous dangers that may lie in wait for small representatives of the underwater world. The father, dying, instructed his son - in order to live a long life, you need to keep your eyes open and not yawn.

The gudgeon himself was not stupid, or rather, he was “smart.” I decided that the surest recipe for longevity is not to provoke trouble, to live without anyone noticing. For a year, he dug a hole with his nose, just large enough for himself to fit in, exercised at night, and at midday, when everyone was full and hiding from the heat, he ran out in search of food. He didn’t get enough sleep at night, the wise minnow wasn’t eating enough, he was afraid... Every day he shook with fear that he would gape and not be able to save his precious life, as his father punished. What did Shchedrin want to say with this work?

"The Wise Minnow": summary - main idea

Having lived “more than a hundred years,” the gudgeon at his deathbed asked himself the question of what would happen if everyone, like him, led a smart life? And he made a disappointing conclusion - the gudgeon race would have been interrupted. No family, no friends... Only impartial epithets: dunce, fool and disgrace - that's all he deserved for his hermit life. He lived and trembled - that's all, not a citizen, a useless unit who only takes up space for nothing... This is how the author spoke about his hero in the text.

The wise gudgeon died, disappeared, and how it happened - whether naturally or who helped, no one noticed, and no one was interested in it.

This is the summary of “The Wise Minnow” - a fairy tale that the author wrote, ridiculing the mores of society of bygone times. But it has not lost its relevance in our time.

Afterword

A representative of the fishing community, the main character, having refused the benefits, left behind him the glory of a trembling creature. The gudgeon, whom the author satirically called wise, chose a meaningless life, filled only with fear and deprivation, and as a result, for a criminally ineffective life lived, punishment followed - death in the insight of his worthlessness and uselessness.

We hope that the summary of “The Wise Minnow” in this presentation will be useful to you.

The wise gudgeon lived his entire life in a hole that he built himself. He feared for his life and considered himself wise. I remembered the stories of my father and mother about the dangers.

The gudgeon was proud that they died a natural death, and he wanted to too. He never left the hole and didn’t have a family. And so death approached. Thinking about my life, I remembered the words of one pike: “If all minnows lived like this, then the river would become quieter.”

The meaning of her words is this: to live like this, the entire race of minnows will die out. After all, it is impossible to continue the race with such an existence. I wanted to appear like a fish face from the house, so I began to tremble. I was completely exhausted from hunger. You won’t rush like lightning through the water, but between the stones.

So the gudgeon disappeared, or they ate it, but no one considered it wise. Didn't remember him.

The fairy tale teaches the reader that life without noble risk has no meaning, it is empty. Living life is not a field to cross. Dangers and difficulties both strengthen character, make you stronger, wiser, and also deprive you of this. Everyone chooses for themselves.

Once upon a time there was a gudgeon. He considered himself wise, a chamber of brains. He lived a long, but not peaceful life in the hole. I remembered the dangers that awaited outside the hole. I remembered my mother’s and father’s stories – about fish soup and fish soup. I wanted them to die their own death.

He also had a dream that he won 200 thousand, grew up and became a predator himself - swallowing pike. He was afraid for his life, did not marry, because he reasoned that it was easier for his father before - the fish were kinder, even the old man threw his father into the river, because he did not end up in the ear. And now... I would like to save myself, and not start a family.

But closer to his death, the gudgeon thought about the words of one pike, who said that if all the gudgeons lived like him, then the river would become calmer. The gudgeon understood what the pike meant. After all, to live like this, the species of minnows will die out and cease to exist. And continue the family line - start a family. In order for the offspring to be healthy and not to be crushed by the gudgeon, they need to grow up in their native element, and not in a hole where there is no space, and you can lose your sight. I spread my mind, because there was a lot of it, I thought for a long time. I began to ask what good I had done, who I helped with deed or word, with practical advice, and the only answer was “No one, nothing, never.” The life of such a minnow is useless - they do no harm or benefit to those around them, they just waste space in their burrows and take food from other fish. The gudgeon thought and thought, and so wanted to crawl out of the hole, swim past everyone, sweep like an arrow along the river bottom, but the fear of getting caught and being eaten, swallowed was not at all attractive. The gudgeon was afraid.

Death approached and found the minnow in his small hole, into which he could barely fit, he was trembling in it and saying: “Oh, Lord, he’s alive.” He lived and trembled, but death is near - he trembles even more than before. And one should be proud that he is dying by his own death, but there is nothing to do with it...

He lies there, trembling with fear and hunger, which has haunted him all his life. After all, I was looking for food only during the day in the heat, when every booger is hiding in the mud under stones. So, having swallowed the water, he returned to his hole - again shaking with large tremors.

And outside life is in full swing, various fish swim past his hole, no one will ask how he lives, what wisdom he has learned, that he has lived to be a hundred years old and has not been caught by anyone. And is he considered wise? No, but some people shamed him and called him a fool. How else can water hold such idols?

And again the gudgeon fell into a doze, its thin body relaxed. I had the same dream - I won 200 thousand and became big, swallowing different fish.

She enveloped the fish's body in a sweet sleep, and its head kept sticking out of the hole and sticking out... Suddenly the gudgeon was gone. It is not known whether he died or who ate it.

But who will eat him, decrepit, bony, and also wise?

Picture or drawing of the Wise Minnow

Other retellings for the reader's diary

Summary of Sholokhov Nakhalenok
Eight-year-old Minka lives in the company of his mother and grandfather. “Nakhalenok” received this nickname due to his restless character and the fact that his mother gave birth to him out of wedlock. Soon, Minka’s father, a member of the Red Guard, comes home from the war.
Summary of Atlas Shrugged by Rand in parts
Working for James Taggart's brother's railroad company, Dagny realizes that the company is suffering large losses and investing in unprofitable projects. James doesn't want to notice the catastrophic situation
Summary of Amphitryon Plautus
The comedy tells about the miraculous birth of Hercules, the myth was reworked by Plautus in the Latin style, that is, here: Hercules - Hercules, Zeus - Jupiter, Hermes - Mercury. As you know, Zeus was a lover of conceiving children.
Summary of Tolstoy's Resurrection
The author created his work in an original style. There is practically no trace of calm in the presentation of this unusual story. The voice of the writer sounds, who acts as a judge, blaming not only a specific society, but the whole world
Summary of Bulgakov's Heart of a Dog briefly and in chapters
Professor Philip Filippovich Preobrazhensky decides to carry out a complex operation to transplant a human pituitary gland into a dog

Once upon a time there lived an “enlightened, moderately liberal” minnow. Smart parents, dying, bequeathed to him to live, looking at both. The gudgeon realized that he was in danger of trouble from everywhere: from big fish, from neighboring minnows, from a man (his own father was once almost boiled in his ear). The gudgeon built a hole for himself, where no one except him could fit, swam out at night for food, and during the day “trembled” in the hole, did not get enough sleep, was malnourished, but did his best to protect his life. The minnow has a dream about a winning ticket worth 200 thousand. Crayfish and pike lie in wait for him, but he avoids death.

The gudgeon has no family: “he would like to live on his own.” “And the wise gudgeon lived in this way for more than a hundred years. Everything was trembling, everything was trembling. He has no friends, no relatives; neither he is to anyone, nor anyone is to him. He doesn’t play cards, doesn’t drink wine, doesn’t smoke tobacco, doesn’t chase hot girls - he just trembles and thinks only one thing: “Thank God! seems to be alive! Even pikes praise the gudgeon for its calm behavior, hoping that it will relax and they will eat it. The gudgeon does not succumb to any provocation.

The gudgeon lived for a hundred years. Reflecting on the pike’s words, he understands that if everyone lived like him, the minnows would disappear (you can’t live in a hole and not in your native element; you need to eat normally, have a family, communicate with neighbors). The life he leads contributes to degeneration. He belongs to the “useless minnows”. “They give no one warmth or cold, no one receives honor or dishonor, no glory or infamy... they live, take up space for nothing and eat food.” The gudgeon decides once in its life to crawl out of its hole and swim normally along the river, but gets scared. Even when dying, the gudgeon trembles. No one cares about him, no one asks his advice on how to live a hundred years, no one calls him wise, but rather a “dumb” and “hateful.” In the end, the gudgeon disappears to God knows where: after all, even the pikes don’t need it, sick, dying, and even wise.

Saltykov-Shchedrin is a writer who very often resorted to such a genre as a fairy tale, because with its help, in an allegorical form, it was always possible to reveal the vices of humanity, while his creative activity was surrounded by unfavorable conditions. With the help of this genre, he was able to write during the difficult years of reaction and censorship. Thanks to fairy tales, Saltykov-Shchedrin continued to write, despite the fear of liberal editors. Despite censorship, he gets the opportunity to scourge reaction. And we got acquainted with one of his fairy tales called The Wise Minnow in class and now we will make a short one according to plan.

Brief analysis of the fairy tale The Wise Minnow

Analyzing Saltykov-Shchedrin's fairy tale The Wise Minnow, we see that the main character is an allegorical image. The fairy tale begins, as usual, with the words Once upon a time. Next we see advice from the minnow's parents, followed by a description of the life of this little fish and its death.

Reading Shchedrin's work and analyzing it, we trace a parallel between life in the real world and the plot of a fairy tale. We meet the main character, a minnow, who lived at first as usual. After the death of his parents, who left him parting words and asked him to take care of himself and keep his eyes open, he became pitiful and cowardly, but considered himself wise.

At first we see in the fish a thinking creature, enlightened, with moderately liberal views, and his parents were not at all stupid, and managed to live to their natural death. But after the death of his parents, he hid in his little hole. He trembled all the time as soon as someone swam past his hole. He swam out from there only at night, sometimes during the day for a snack, but immediately hid. I didn’t finish eating and didn’t get enough sleep. His whole life was spent in fear, and thus Gudgeon lived until he was a hundred years old. No salary, no servants, no playing cards, no fun. Without family, without procreation. There were somehow thoughts of swimming out of the shelter, living a full life, but then fear conquered his intentions and he abandoned this idea. So he lived, seeing nothing and knowing nothing. Most likely, the wise Minnow died a natural death, because even a pike would not covet a sick minnow.

All his life the gudgeon considered himself wise, and only closer to death he saw a life lived aimlessly. The author managed to show us how dull and miserable life becomes if you live by the wisdom of a coward.

Conclusion

In his fairy tale The Wise Minnow, a brief analysis of which we have just done, Saltykov-Shchedrin depicts the political life of the country in past years. In the image of a minnow, we see the liberals of the inhabitants of the era of reaction, who only saved their skins by sitting in holes and caring only about their own welfare. They don’t try to change anything, they don’t want to direct their strength in the right direction. They only had thoughts about their own salvation, and none of them was going to fight for a just cause. And at that time there were a lot of such minnows among the intelligentsia, so when reading Shchedrin’s fairy tale at one time, the reader could draw an analogy with officials who worked in the office, with editors of liberal newspapers, with employees of banks, offices and other people who did nothing , fearing everyone who is higher and more powerful.

This article will examine one of the pages of the work of the famous Russian writer Mikhail Efgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin - the story “The Wise Minnow”. A summary of this work will be considered in conjunction with its historical context.

Saltykov-Shchedrin is a famous writer and satirist who created his literary creations in an interesting style - in the form of fairy tales. “The Wise Minnow” is no exception, the summary of which can be told in two sentences. However, it raises acute socio-political problems. This story was written in 1883, during the period of the beginning of the repressions of Emperor Alexander III, directed against the intensified opponents of the tsarist regime. At that time, many progressive-minded people already understood the depth of the problems of the existing system and tried to convey this to the masses. However, unlike the anarchist students who dreamed of a violent coup, the progressive intelligentsia tried to find a way out of the situation through peaceful means, with the help of appropriate reforms. Only with the support of the entire public could it be possible to influence the situation and prevent the existing disorder, Saltykov-Shchedrin believed. “The Wise Minnow,” a brief summary of which will be given below, sarcastically tells us about a certain part of the Russian intelligentsia who avoid social activities in every possible way for fear of punishment for freethinking.

"The Wise Minnow": summary

Once upon a time there was a gudgeon, but not a simple one, but an enlightened, moderately liberal one. From childhood, his father instructed him: “Beware of the dangers that await you in the river, there are plenty of enemies all around.” The gudgeon decided: “Indeed, at any moment you will either be hooked will be caught, or the pike will eat it. But you yourself can’t harm anyone.” And he decided to outwit everyone: he built himself a hole where he lived constantly, “lived and trembled,” he came to the surface only at noon to catch some midge, which was not always possible But the gudgeon was not upset, the main thing was that he was safe. And he lived his whole life like this, and he had neither family nor friends, and he lived in constant fear for his life, but he was very proud of the knowledge that he would not die. ear or in the mouth of a fish, but by his death, like his venerable parents. And here the gudgeon lies in his hole, dying of old age, lazy thoughts run through his head, and suddenly it’s as if someone whispered to him: “But you’re in vain.” lived, did nothing either useful or harmful... He only transferred food. If you die, no one will remember about you. For some reason no one even calls you wise, only a fool and a dunce. “And then the gudgeon realized that he had deprived himself of all joys, that his place was not in this artificially dug dark hole, but in the natural environment. But it was too late, he lay and fell asleep. And suddenly the gudgeon disappeared, no one knows how Most likely, he died and floated to the surface, because no one would eat him - old, and even “wise.”

This is the summary. “The Wise Minnow” tells us about people who are useless to society, who live their whole lives in fear, avoiding struggle in every possible way, while arrogantly considering themselves enlightened. Saltykov-Shchedrin once again cruelly ridicules the pitiful life and way of thinking of such people, calling not to hide in a hole, but to boldly fight for a place in the sun for themselves and their descendants. The wise minnow does not evoke not only respect, but even pity or sympathy in the reader, a brief summary of whose existence can be expressed in two words: “lived and trembled.”