Wise scribbler. Saltykov-shchedrin - the wise minnow The main characters of the fairy tale the wise minnow

Year: 1883 Genre: fairy tale

Main characters: lonely little minnow

The wise minnow lived all his life in a hole that he built himself. He was afraid for his life, and considered himself wise. He remembered the stories of his father and mother about the dangers.

Minnow was proud that they died a natural death, he also wanted to. He did not leave the hole, he did not have a family. And so death came. Thinking about his life, he remembered the words of one pike: “If all minnows lived like this, then it would become quieter in the river.”

The meaning of her words is this: to live like this - the whole family of minnows will die out. After all, such an existence is not possible to continue the race. I wanted to appear like a fish face from the house, so the trembling seized. He was completely exhausted from hunger. Do not rush like lightning through the water, but between the stones.

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

Fairy tale teaches the reader to the fact that life without a noble risk is meaningless, it is empty. To live life is not a field to cross. Dangers and difficulties both temper the character, make it stronger, wiser, and deprive it. Everyone chooses.

Lived - there was a gudgeon. He considered himself wise, the chamber of brains. He lived a long, but not calm life in a hole. Be mindful of the dangers that outside the burrow awaited. Mother and father remembered history - about oud, ear. I wanted them to die their own death.

He also had a dream, as if he won 200 thousand, grew up and became a predator himself - the pike swallows. 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, that he did not end up in his ear. And now ... I would like to save myself, and not start a family.

But closer to his death, the minnow thought about the words of one pike, which said that if all the minnows lived like him, then it would become calmer in the river. The minnow understood what the pike meant. After all, to live like this - the minnow family will die out, cease to exist. And the family to continue - to acquire a family. In order for the offspring to be healthy and the gudgeon not to grind, you need to grow in your native element, and not in a hole where there is no place, and you can lose your sight. I spread it with my mind, because there was a lot of it, I thought for a long time. He began to ask what good he did, whom he helped with a deed or a word, with practical advice, and the only answer was “No one, nothing and never.” The life of such a minnow is useless - there is no harm or benefit to those around them, only in vain they occupy places in minks, they take food from other fish. I thought - thought the gudgeon, but I so wanted to get out of the hole, swim past everyone, rush like an arrow along the river bottom, but the fear of getting caught and being eaten, swallowed did not appeal at all. The gudgeon was afraid.

Death approached, found the gudgeon in his small mink, in which he himself could barely fit, trembling in it and saying: “Oh, Lord, he’s alive.” He lived - he trembled, and death is close - he trembles even more than before. And one should be proud that he dies his death, but there is nothing ...

He lies, trembling with fear and hunger, which haunted him all his life. After all, he was looking for food only during the day in the heat, when each goat hides in the mud, under the stones. So, having swallowed water, he returned to his hole - again shaking with a large tremble.

And outside, life is in full swing, various fish swim past his hole, no one will take an interest in how he lives, what tricks he learned, that he lived up to a hundred years and did not get caught by anyone. And is he considered wise? No, but some shamed him, called him a fool. How else can water hold such idols.

And again the minnow fell into a slumber, the slender little body relaxed. I had the same dream - I won, as if 200 thousand and became big, swallowing different fish.

She wrapped the fish body in a sweet dream, and his head kept sticking out of the mink and sticking out ... Suddenly the gudgeon was gone. Whether he died or who ate it is not known.

But who will eat his decrepit, bony, and even wise one?

A picture or drawing of a wise gudgeon

Other retellings and reviews for the reader's diary

• Summary of Mice and Men Steinbeck

  The main characters come to the farm in search of work. George is small, smart and cynical, and Leni is a child in the body of an adult, strong man who dreams of breeding rabbits. A wonderful story about two mischievous boys who believed in miracles. Two friends Vadik and Vovka once sat at Vadik's house and painted a picture.

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

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

Foreword

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

Here is a summary of "The Wise Gudgeon". It is worth noting that reading the original will not take much time and will bring a lot of aesthetic pleasure, as it is written by a true master of the word, so do not limit yourself to acquaintance with the "recycled" work.

Once upon a time there was a minnow, he was lucky with his parents, they were smart and gave the right attitudes in life. For many years ("arid eyelids") they lived, 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, it is necessary to look at both, not to yawn.

Minnow himself was not stupid, or rather, he had a "mind chamber". I decided that the surest recipe for longevity is not to provoke trouble, to live in such a way that no one notices. During the year he hollowed out a hole with his nose, such that he could only fit himself, took exercise at night, at noon, when everyone was full and hiding from the heat, he ran out in search of food. I didn’t get enough sleep at night, the wise minnow was malnourished, he was afraid ... Every day he was shaking with fear that he was gaping and would not be able to save his precious life, as his father punished. What did Shchedrin want to say with this work?

"Wise Gudgeon": a summary - the main idea

Having lived "more than a hundred years", the minnow at his deathbed wondered what would happen if everyone, like him, led a smart life? And he made a disappointing conclusion - the gudgeon family would be interrupted. No family, no friends... Only unflattering epithets: dumbass, fool and asshole - that's all he deserved for his hermit life. He lived and trembled - that's all, not a citizen, a useless unit that only takes up space for nothing ... This is how the author spoke about his hero in the text.

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

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

Afterword

The representative of the fish community, the main character, refusing to benefit, left behind the glory of a trembling creature. The minnow, whom the author satirically called wise, chose a meaningless life, filled only with fear and deprivation, and as a result, a punishment followed for a criminally inactive life lived - death in the insight of his worthlessness and uselessness.

We hope that the summary of the "Wise Gudgeon" in this presentation will be useful to you.

There lived a gudgeon. Both his father and mother were smart; little by little, but slowly, the arid eyelids (for many years. - Ed.) lived in the river and did not get into the ear or the pike in the hailo. 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 ... Yes, and how are they worn? .. 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! but no one understands how and why she came. 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?

Read the plot of the fairy tale The Wise Gudgeon

There lived a smart gudgeon in the world. He well remembered the stories and teachings of his father, who in his youth almost got into his ear. Realizing that danger awaits him from all sides, he decided to protect himself and dug a hole of such a size that only one could fit there. During the day he sat in it and shivered, and at night he swam out for a walk. He looked for food at noon, when all living beings were full. Often he had to be malnourished and sleep deprived. However, most of all he was worried about his life.

Both cancer and pike lay in wait for him. But they failed to lure the wise minnow out of the hole. He was so preoccupied with saving his own life that he did not even marry and did not have children. I didn't drink wine, I didn't smoke, I didn't play cards. He had no friends, did not communicate with relatives.
The minnow lived in this way for more than a hundred years. It's time for him to die. He thought and thought and realized that if all minnows behaved the way he did, then their family would have been transferred long ago. He wanted to get out of the hole and swim along the river. But he was frightened by the thought and began to tremble again.

The fairy tale “The Wise Minnow”, intended for adults, demonstrates typical features 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 exaggerating 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 concerned not so much with revolutionary ideas as with the moral problems of 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 because within the framework of allegory one can afford to draw any parallels with objective reality and the real figures of 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 not called smart, not wise, not intellectual, but “wise”, in the best traditions of the fairy tale genre (it is enough 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 was not life itself in its entirety, namely the preservation of life, that acquired the greatest significance, turned into 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 an 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 the water world around him was 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 a 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 topic - the meaning of life.

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

With the help of the grotesque image of a minnow, Saltykov-Shchedrin tries to convey this idea to the reader, to warn the younger generation against choosing the wrong path, and to the older one he suggests thinking about a worthy end to 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 on this subject. In the future, the literature repeatedly raised the problem of a small person - a "trembling creature", and his place in society.

But with all this, a fair part of the generation of Saltykov-Shchedrin's contemporaries - familiar with the literary heritage of their ancestors, educated, and moderately liberal, did not draw the necessary conclusions, therefore, in their many, they were just such minnows, who had neither a civil position nor social responsibility, nor the desire 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.

In any case, before his death, the protagonist 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"

Saltykov-Shchedrin, "The Wise Minnow", let's start the analysis of the tale with the personality of the writer.

Mikhail Evgrafovich was born in 1826 (in January) in the Tver province. On the side of his father, he belonged to a very old and rich family of nobles, and on the side of his mother, to the class of merchants. Saltykov-Shchedrin successfully graduated and then took the post of an official in the military department. Unfortunately, the service interested him very little.

In 1847, his first literary works, "A Tangled Case" and "Contradictions", saw the light of day. Despite this, only in 1856 did they start talking about him seriously as a writer. At this time, he began to publish his "Provincial Essays".

The writer tried to open the eyes of readers to the lawlessness happening in the country, to ignorance, stupidity, and bureaucracy.

Let us dwell in more detail on the cycle of fairy tales written by the writer in 1869. It was a kind of synthesis of the ideological and creative searches of Saltykov-Shchedrin, a kind of result.

Mikhail Evgrafovich could not fully expose all the vices of society and the failure of management due to the censorship that existed at that time. That is why the writer chose the form of a fairy tale. So he was able to sharply criticize the existing order, without fear of prohibitions.

The fairy tale "The Wise Gudgeon", the analysis of which we are doing, is quite rich from the artistic side. The author resorts to the use of the grotesque, antithesis, hyperbole. It also plays an important role. It is these techniques that helped to hide the true meaning of what is written.

The fairy tale appeared in 1883, it is famous to this day, it has even become a textbook. Its plot is known to everyone: there lived a minnow, who was quite ordinary. His only difference was cowardice, which was so strong that the gudgeon decided to spend his whole life in a hole without protruding from there. There he sat, afraid of every rustle, every shadow. And so his life passed, no family, no friends. The question arises, well, what kind of life is this. What did he do well in life? Nothing. Lived, trembled, died.

That's the whole plot, but it's just the surface.

Analysis of the fairy tale "The Wise Gudgeon" implies a deeper study of its meaning.

Saltykov-Shchedrin depicts the mores of contemporary petty-bourgeois Russia. In fact, minnow does not mean a fish, but a cowardly layman who is afraid and trembles only for his own skin. The writer set himself the task of combining the features of both fish and man.

The tale depicts philistine alienation and isolation in oneself. The author is offended and bitter for the Russian people.

Reading the works of Saltykov-Shchedrin is not very easy, which is why not everyone was able to comprehend the true intention of his fairy tales. Unfortunately, the level of thinking and development of modern people is not very appropriate.

I would like to draw attention to the fact that the thoughts expressed by the writer are relevant to this day.

Read the tale “The Wise Minnow” again, analyze it based on what you have now learned. Look deeper into the idea of ​​the works, try to read between the lines, then you will be able to analyze not only the fairy tale "The Wise Gudgeon" yourself, but also all works of art.