Who wrote "The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish" is not remembered by everyone, although its plot is familiar to everyone.
Who wrote "The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish"?
This tale was written on October 2 (14), 1833. First published in 1835 in the journal "Library for Reading"
The plot is borrowed from the collection of German fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm. Only there, the flounder fish, which was the enchanted prince, serves as a miraculous assistant to the hero, and in Pushkin's fairy tale it is a goldfish.
What is The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish about?
The old man and his wife live by the sea. The old man is fishing, and the old woman is spinning yarn. Once in the old man's net comes across a magical goldfish that can speak human language. She promises any ransom and asks to let her go to sea, but the old man releases the fish without asking for a reward. Returning home, he tells his wife about this incident. Having scolded her husband, she makes him return to the sea, call the fish and ask for at least a new trough instead of a broken one. By the sea, an old man calls a fish, which appears and promises to fulfill his desire, saying: "Do not be sad, go with God."
Returning home, he sees his wife's new trough. However, the old woman's appetites are increasing - she makes her husband return to the fish again and again, demanding for both, and then only for herself, more and more:
- get a new hut;
- to be a pillar noblewoman;
- to be a "free queen".
The sea, to which the old man comes, gradually changes from calm to stormy. The attitude of the old woman towards the old man is also changing: at first she still scolds him, then, having become a noblewoman, she sends him to the stable, and after becoming a queen, she generally kicks him out. In the end, she calls her husband back and demands that the fish make her "mistress of the sea", and the fish itself should become her servant. Rybka does not respond to the old man's next request, and when he returns home, he sees an old woman sitting in front of an old dugout near an old broken trough.
On the sea, on the ocean, on an island in Buyan, there was a small dilapidated hut: an old man and an old woman lived in that hut. They lived in great poverty; the old man made a net and began to go to the sea and fish: that was the only way he got his daily food. Once, somehow, the old man threw his net, began to pull, and it seemed to him as hard as it had never happened before: he barely pulled it out. Looks, and the network is empty; only one fish was caught, but the fish is not simple - gold. The fish prayed to him in a human voice: “Don't take me, old man! Let it be better in the blue sea; I myself will be useful to you: whatever you wish, I will do it. The old man thought and thought and said: “I don’t need anything from you: go for a walk in the sea!”
Threw a goldfish into the water and returned home. The old woman asks him: “Have you caught a lot, old man?” - “Yes, just one goldfish, and he threw it into the sea; she prayed strongly: let her go, she said, in the blue sea; I will become useful to you: whatever you wish, I will do everything! I took pity on the fish, did not take a ransom from it, let it go free for nothing. “Oh, you old devil! Great happiness fell into your hands, but you did not manage to own it.
The old woman got angry, scolds the old man from morning to evening, does not give him peace: “If only I begged for bread from her! After all, soon there will be no dry crust; what are you going to eat?" The old man could not stand it, he went to the goldfish for bread; came to the sea and shouted in a loud voice: “Fish, fish. Become a tail in the sea, head to me. The fish swam to the shore: “What do you need, old man?” - "The old woman was angry, she sent for bread." “Go home, you will have plenty of bread.” The old man came back: “Well, old woman, is there bread?” - “There is plenty of bread; Yes, that's the trouble: the trough has split, there is nothing to wash clothes in; go to the goldfish, ask for a new one.
The old man went to the sea: “Fish, fish! Become a tail in the sea, head to me. A goldfish swam: “What do you want, old man?” - "The old woman sent, she asks for a new trough." - "Well, you will have a trough." The old man came back, only through the door, and the old woman again pounced on him: “Go,” she says, “to the goldfish, ask them to build a new hut; you can’t live in ours, look what falls apart!” The old man went to the sea: “Fish, fish! Become a tail in the sea, head to me. The fish swam, became its head to him, its tail in the sea and asks: “What do you need, old man?” - “Build us a new hut; the old woman swears, does not give me peace; I don’t want, he says, to live in an old hut: it’s all going to fall apart!” "Don't worry, old man! Go home and pray to God everything will be done.”
The old man came back - in his yard there is a new hut, oak, with carved patterns. An old woman runs out to meet him, gets more angry than ever, swears more than ever: “Oh, you old dog! You do not know how to use happiness. He begged for a hut and, tea, you think - he did the job! No, go back to the goldfish and tell her: I don’t want to be a peasant woman, I want to be a governor, so that good people obey me, bow at the waist when they meet. The old man went to the sea, says in a loud voice: “Fish, fish! Become a tail in the sea, head to me. A fish swam, became its tail in the sea, head to him: “What do you need, old man?” The old man answers: “The old woman does not give me peace, she has completely lost her mind: she does not want to be a peasant woman, she wants to be a governor.” “Okay, don’t worry! Go home and pray to God everything will be done.”
The old man returned, and instead of the hut, a stone house stands, built on three floors; servants run around the yard, cooks knock in the kitchen, and an old woman in an expensive brocade dress sits on high chairs and gives orders. "Hello wife!" says the old man. "Oh, you ignoramus! How dare you call me, the warlord, your wife? Hey people! Take this little man to the stable and whip him as hard as possible. At once the servant came running, seized the old man by the scruff of the neck, and dragged him into the stable; the grooms began to treat him with whips, and they treated him so much that he barely got to his feet. After that, the old woman appointed the old man as a janitor; ordered to give him a broom, so that the yard cleans, and feed and water him in the kitchen. A bad life for an old man: clean the yard all day, and a little unclean somewhere - now to the stable! "What a witch! the old man thinks. “Happiness was given to her, but she buried herself like a pig, she doesn’t even consider me a husband!”
Neither more nor less time passed, the old woman was tired of being a governor, she demanded an old man and orders: “Go, old devil, to a goldfish, tell her: I don’t want to be a governor, I want to be a queen.” The old man went to the sea: “Fish, fish! Become a tail in the sea, head to me. A goldfish swam: “What do you need, old man?” - "Why, my old woman was more mad than ever: she doesn't want to be a governor, she wants to be a queen." - "Don't worry! Go home and pray to God everything will be done.” The old man returned, and instead of the former house, a high palace stands under a golden roof; all around the sentries walk and throw out their guns; behind a large garden stretched out, and in front of the palace - a green meadow; troops are gathered in the meadow. The old woman dressed up as a queen, stepped onto the balcony with the generals and the boyars, and began to review and divorce those troops: the drums beat, the music rumbles, the soldiers shout “Hurrah!”
Neither more nor less time passed, bored the old woman to be a queen, ordered to find the old man and present bright before her eyes. There was a commotion, the generals were fussing, the boyars were running around: “What kind of old man?” They forcibly found him in the backyard, took him to the queen. "Listen, you old devil! the old woman tells him. Go to the golden fish and tell her: I don’t want to be a queen, I want to be a mistress of the sea, so that all the seas and all the fish obey me. The old man was to make excuses; where are you! If you don't go, head off! Reluctantly, the old man went to the sea, came and said: “Fish, fish! Become a tail in the sea, head to me. There is no goldfish! The old man calls another time - again no! He calls for the third time - suddenly the sea rustled, agitated; it was bright, clean, but here it turned completely black. A fish swims to the shore: “What do you need, old man?” - “The old woman was even more foolish; she no longer wants to be a queen, she wants to be the mistress of the sea, to rule over all the waters, to command all the fish.
The goldfish said nothing to the old man, turned and went into the depths of the sea. The old man turned back, looks and does not believe his eyes: the palace is as if it had not happened, and in its place stands a small dilapidated hut, and in the hut sits an old woman in a tattered sundress. They began to live as before, the old man again began to fish; but no matter how often he threw his nets into the sea, he could not catch more goldfish.
An old man lived with his old woman
By the very blue sea;
They lived in a dilapidated dugout
Exactly thirty years and three years.
The old man was fishing with a net,
The old woman was spinning her yarn.
Once he threw a net into the sea -
The net came with one slime.
He threw a seine another time -
A seine came with sea grass.
For the third time he threw a net -
A seine came with one fish,
With not a simple fish - gold.
How the goldfish will beg!
He says in a human voice:
"Let me go, old man, into the sea!
Dear for myself, I will give a ransom:
I'll buy whatever you want."
The old man was surprised, frightened:
He fished for thirty years and three years
And I never heard the fish speak.
He released the goldfish
And he said to her a kind word:
"God be with you, goldfish!
I don't need your ransom;
Step into the blue sea
Walk there for yourself in the open."
The old man returned to the old woman,
He told her a great miracle:
"Today I caught a fish,
Goldfish, not simple;
In our opinion, the fish spoke,
The blue asked for a home in the sea,
Paid off at a high price:
Buy off whatever you want
I did not dare to take a ransom from her;
So he let her into the blue sea."
The old woman scolded the old man:
"You fool, you fool!
You did not know how to take a ransom from a fish!
If only you took a trough from her,
Ours is completely broken."
So he went to the blue sea;
Sees - the sea is slightly played out.
A fish swam up to him and asked;
"What do you want, old man?"
"Have mercy, sovereign fish,
My old woman scolded me
Does not give the old man peace to me:
She needs a new trough;
Ours is completely broken."
The goldfish replies:
"Do not be sad, go with God.
You will have a new trough."
The old man returned to the old woman,
The old woman has a new trough.
The old woman scolds even more:
"You fool, you fool!
Begged, fool, trough!
Is there a lot of self-interest in the trough?
Come back, fool, you are to the fish;
Bow to her, ask for a hut."
Here he went to the blue sea
(The blue sea is clouded).
He began to call the goldfish.
"What do you want, old man?"
"Have mercy, lady fish!
The old woman scolds even more,
Does not give the old man peace to me:
A grumpy woman asks for a hut."
The goldfish replies:
"Do not be sad, go with God,
So be it: you will have a hut."
He went to his dugout,
And there is no trace of the dugout;
In front of him is a hut with a light,
With a brick, whitewashed pipe,
With oak, plank gates.
The old woman sits under the window,
On what light is the husband scolds:
"You fool, you straight-forward fool!
Begged, simpleton, a hut!
Come back, bow to the fish:
I don't want to be a black peasant
I want to be a pillar noblewoman."
The old man went to the blue sea
(Restless blue sea).
He began to call the goldfish.
A fish swam up to him and asked:
"What do you want, old man?"
The old man replies to her with a bow:
"Have mercy, lady fish!
More than ever, the old woman freaked out,
Does not give the old man peace to me:
She doesn't want to be a peasant
Wants to be a pillar noblewoman."
The goldfish replies:
"Do not be sad, go with God."
The old man returned to the old woman,
What does he see? High tower.
On the porch stands his old woman
In an expensive sable shower jacket,
Brocade on the top of the kichka,
Pearls weighed down the neck,
On the hands of gold rings,
On her feet are red boots.
Before her are zealous servants;
She beats them, drags them by the chuprun.
The old man says to his old woman:
"Hello, mistress-madame noblewoman!
Tea, now your darling is satisfied."
The old woman yelled at him
She sent him to serve at the stable.
Here's a week, another one goes by
The old woman became even more furious;
Again he sends the old man to the fish:
"Go back, bow to the fish:
I don't want to be a pillar noblewoman.
And I want to be a free queen."
The old man was frightened, he begged:
"What are you, woman, ate too much henbane?
You can neither step nor speak.
You will make the whole kingdom laugh."
The old woman got more angry,
She hit her husband on the cheek.
"How dare you, man, argue with me,
With me, a pillar noblewoman?
Go to the sea, they tell you with honor;
If you don’t go, they will lead you involuntarily.”
The old man went to the sea
(Blackened blue sea).
He began to call the goldfish.
A fish swam up to him and asked:
"What do you want, old man?"
The old man replies to her with a bow:
"Have mercy, lady fish!
Again my old woman rebels:
She no longer wants to be a noblewoman,
Wants to be a free queen."
The goldfish replies:
"Do not be sad, go with God!
Good! the old woman will be queen!
The old man returned to the old woman,
Well? before him are the royal chambers,
In the wards he sees his old woman,
She sits at the table like a queen,
Boyars and nobles serve her,
They pour her overseas wines;
She eats a printed gingerbread;
Around her stands a formidable guard,
They hold axes on their shoulders.
As the old man saw, he was frightened!
He bowed at the feet of the old woman,
He said: "Hello, formidable queen!
Well, is your darling happy now?"
The old woman did not look at him,
She only ordered him to be driven out of sight.
The boyars and nobles ran up,
They pushed the old man with you.
And at the door, the guard ran up,
I almost chopped it with axes,
And the people laughed at him:
"Serve you right, you old bastard!
Henceforth you, ignoramus, science:
Don't get in your sleigh!"
Here's a week, another one goes by
Even worse, the old woman was furious:
He sends courtiers for her husband.
They found the old man, brought him to her.
The old woman says to the old man:
"Come back, bow to the fish.
I don't want to be a free queen
I want to be the mistress of the sea,
To live for me in the ocean-sea,
To serve me a goldfish
And I would have been on the parcels."
The old man did not dare to argue,
He did not dare to say across the word.
Here he goes to the blue sea,
He sees a black storm on the sea:
So angry waves swelled,
So they walk, so they howl and howl.
He began to call the goldfish.
A fish swam up to him and asked:
"What do you want, old man?"
The old man replies to her with a bow:
"Have mercy, lady fish!
What am I to do with the damn woman?
She doesn't want to be queen
Wants to be the mistress of the sea:
To live for her in the ocean-sea,
For you to serve her
And she would have been on the parcels."
The fish didn't say anything.
Just splashed her tail on the water
And she went into the deep sea.
For a long time by the sea he waited for an answer,
I did not wait, I returned to the old woman
Look: again in front of him is a dugout;
On the threshold sits his old woman,
And in front of her is a broken trough.
An old man lived with his old woman
By the very blue sea;
They lived in a dilapidated dugout
Exactly thirty years and three years.
The old man was fishing with a net,
The old woman was spinning her yarn.
Once he threw a net into the sea -
The net came with one slime.
He threw a seine another time -
A seine came with sea grass.
For the third time he threw a net -
A seine came with one fish,
With not a simple fish - gold.
How the goldfish will beg!
He says in a human voice:
“Let me go, old man, into the sea!
Dear for myself, I will give a ransom:
I'll buy whatever you want."
The old man was surprised, frightened:
He fished for thirty years and three years
And I never heard the fish speak.
He released the goldfish
And he said to her a kind word:
“God be with you, goldfish!
I don't need your ransom;
Step into the blue sea
Walk there for yourself in the open."
The old man returned to the old woman,
He told her a great miracle:
“Today I caught a fish,
Goldfish, not simple;
In our opinion, the fish spoke,
The blue asked for a home in the sea,
Paid off at a high price:
Buy off whatever you want
I did not dare to take a ransom from her;
So he let her into the blue sea.
The old woman scolded the old man:
"You fool, you fool!
You did not know how to take a ransom from a fish!
If only you took a trough from her,
Ours is completely broken."
So he went to the blue sea;
He sees that the sea is slightly roaring.
A fish swam up to him and asked;
"What do you want, old man?"
"Have mercy, sovereign fish,
My old woman scolded me
Does not give the old man peace to me:
She needs a new trough;
Ours is completely broken."
The goldfish replies:
“Do not be sad, go with God.
You will have a new trough."
The old man returned to the old woman,
The old woman has a new trough.
The old woman scolds even more:
"You fool, you fool!
Begged, fool, trough!
Is there a lot of self-interest in the trough?
Come back, fool, you are to the fish;
Bow to her, ask for a hut already.
Here he went to the blue sea
(The blue sea is clouded).
He began to call the goldfish.
"What do you want, old man?"
“Have mercy, empress fish!
The old woman scolds even more,
Does not give the old man peace to me:
A grumpy woman asks for a hut.
The goldfish replies:
"Do not be sad, go with God,
So be it: you will already have a hut.
He went to his dugout,
And there is no trace of the dugout;
In front of him is a hut with a light,
With a brick, whitewashed pipe,
With oak, plank gates.
The old woman sits under the window,
On what light is the husband scolds:
"You fool, you straight-forward fool!
Begged, simpleton, a hut!
Come back, bow to the fish:
I don't want to be a black peasant
I want to be a noblewoman."
The old man went to the blue sea
(Restless blue sea).
He began to call the goldfish.
A fish swam up to him and asked:
"What do you want, old man?"
The old man replies to her with a bow:
“Have mercy, empress fish!
More than ever, the old woman freaked out,
Does not give the old man peace to me:
She doesn't want to be a peasant
Wants to be a pillar noblewoman.
The goldfish replies:
"Do not be sad, go with God."
The old man returned to the old woman,
What does he see? High tower.
On the porch stands his old woman
In an expensive sable shower jacket,
Brocade on the top of the kichka,
Pearls weighed down the neck,
On the hands of gold rings,
On her feet are red boots.
Before her are zealous servants;
She beats them, drags them by the chuprun.
The old man says to his old woman:
“Hello, lady-madame noblewoman!
Tea, now your darling is satisfied.
The old woman yelled at him
She sent him to serve at the stable.
Here's a week, another one goes by
The old woman became even more furious;
Again he sends the old man to the fish:
“Come back, bow to the fish:
I don't want to be a pillar noblewoman.
And I want to be a free queen.
The old man was frightened, he begged:
“What are you, woman, overeating with henbane?
You can neither step nor speak.
You will make the whole kingdom laugh."
The old woman got more angry,
She hit her husband on the cheek.
"How dare you, man, argue with me,
With me, a pillar noblewoman?
Go to the sea, they tell you with honor;
If you don’t go, they will lead you involuntarily.”
The old man went to the sea
(Blackened blue sea).
He began to call the goldfish.
A fish swam up to him and asked:
"What do you want, old man?"
The old man replies to her with a bow:
“Have mercy, empress fish!
Again my old woman rebels:
She no longer wants to be a noblewoman,
Wants to be a free queen.
The goldfish replies:
“Do not be sad, go with God!
Good! the old woman will be queen!
The old man returned to the old woman,
Well? before him are the royal chambers,
In the wards he sees his old woman,
She sits at the table like a queen,
Boyars and nobles serve her,
They pour her overseas wines;
She eats a printed gingerbread;
Around her stands a formidable guard,
They hold axes on their shoulders.
As the old man saw, he was frightened!
He bowed at the feet of the old woman,
He said: “Hello, formidable queen!
Well, now your darling is happy?
The old woman did not look at him,
She only ordered him to be driven out of sight.
The boyars and nobles ran up,
They pushed the old man with you.
And at the door, the guard ran up,
I almost chopped it with axes,
And the people laughed at him:
“To serve you, old ignoramus!
Henceforth you, ignoramus, science:
Don't get in your sleigh!"
Here's a week, another one goes by
Even worse, the old woman was furious:
He sends courtiers for her husband.
They found the old man, brought him to her.
The old woman says to the old man:
“Come back, bow to the fish.
I don't want to be a free queen
I want to be the mistress of the sea,
To live for me in the ocean-sea,
To serve me a goldfish
And I would have been on the parcels.
The old man did not dare to argue,
He did not dare to say across the word.
Here he goes to the blue sea,
He sees a black storm on the sea:
So angry waves swelled,
So they walk, so they howl and howl.
He began to call the goldfish.
A fish swam up to him and asked:
"What do you want, old man?"
The old man replies to her with a bow:
“Have mercy, empress fish!
What am I to do with the damn woman?
She doesn't want to be queen
Wants to be the mistress of the sea:
To live for her in the ocean-sea,
For you to serve her
And she would have been on the parcels.
The fish didn't say anything.
Just splashed her tail on the water
And she went into the deep sea.
For a long time by the sea he waited for an answer,
I did not wait, I returned to the old woman
Look: again in front of him is a dugout;
On the threshold sits his old woman,
And in front of her is a broken trough.
Lived with his wife by the sea. Once in the old man's network comes across not simple, but. She speaks to the fisherman in a human voice and asks to be released. The old man does this and does not ask for any reward for himself.
Returning to his old hut, he talks about what happened to his wife. She scolds her husband and eventually forces her to return to in order to demand a reward from a wonderful fish - at least a new trough to replace the old, broken one. By the sea, an old man calls a fish, she appears and advises the fisherman not to be sad, but to go home calmly. At home, the old man sees the old woman has a new trough. However, she is still unhappy with what she has and demands to find a more useful use for the magic of the fish.
In the future, the old woman begins to demand more and more and sends the old man to the fish again and again so that he asks for a new hut as a reward, then the nobility, and then the royal title. The old man every time goes to the blue sea and calls out a fish.
As the demands of the old woman grow, the sea becomes more and more dark, stormy, restless.
The fish fulfills all requests for the time being. Having become the queen, the old woman sends her husband’s “simple” away from herself, ordering him to be driven out of her palace, but soon she again demands to bring him to her. She intends to continue to use him as leverage on the goldfish. She no longer wants to be a queen, but wants to be a mistress of the sea, so that the goldfish herself will serve her and be on her parcels. The goldfish did not answer this request, but silently swam away into the blue sea. Returning home, the old man found his wife in his old dugout, and in front of her was a broken trough.
By the way, it was thanks to this fairy tale that the common catchphrase entered the Russian colloquial culture - “to be left with nothing”, that is, to end up with nothing.
The origins of the fairy tale
Like most of Pushkin's fairy tales, “The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish is based on a folklore plot and contains a certain allegorical meaning. So, she has the same storyline with the Pomeranian "About a Fisherman and His Wife" as presented by the Brothers Grimm. In addition, some motifs echo the story from the Russian "Greedy Old Woman". True, in this story, instead of a goldfish, a magic tree acted as a source of magic.
Interestingly, in the fairy tale narrated by the Brothers Grimm, the old woman eventually wished to become the pope. This can be seen as an allusion to Popess Joan, the only female pope who succeeded in taking this office by deceit. In one of the first known editions of Pushkin's fairy tale, the old woman also asked for a papal tiara and received it before claiming the post of mistress of the sea. However, this episode was subsequently deleted by the author.
