Saint Petersburg State University

Faculty of Philology

Program "Linguistics and Intercultural Communication"

Control work on the topic:

Heroes of Russian folk tales about animals and their role in the formation of a national character

St. Petersburg

Introduction

For many centuries, in the process of the formation of the current images of animals in Russian folk tales, literature was created that explored and described the folklore features of the heroes of fairy tales from various regions, countries, etc.

In such works, V.Ya. Propp as "Historical roots of a fairy tale", "Russian fairy tale" and "Morphology of a fairy tale", E.V. Pomerantseva "The Fate of a Russian Fairy Tale", V.P. Anikin "Russian folk tale" gives an idea of ​​the structure of a fairy tale, its types, a large number of different types of heroes of a fairy tale. Books by O.M. Ivanova-Kazas "Mythological Zoology (Dictionary)" and E. A. Kostyukhina "Types and Forms of the Animal Epic" help to consider in detail the most famous heroes of fairy tales about animals and create their collective image based on a comparative analysis of these heroes and their actions.

The heroes of fairy tales very often become animals, personifying people with different characters. Enough attention is paid to the consideration of such characters, but there is not enough literature explaining the role of their existence in fairy tales about animals, which is due to the relevance of the topic of the course work.

Purpose: To describe the heroes of Russian folk tales about animals.

Research of the Russian folk fairy tale and its animal characters.

Creation of a comparative analysis of the data of heroes and their actions.

To prove the educational role of a fairy tale through the necessity of the existence of animal characters.

Subject of study.

Object of study.

Heroes-animals of Russian folk tales.

Theoretical Method

Analysis method

Poll/questionnaire method

Comparative method

Research material.

Russian folk tales about animals.

The choice of this literature is due to the fact that in Russian folk tales about animals, the characters of animal heroes and their features are especially pronounced. And such books as A.N. Afanasyeva "Russian Folk Tales: a complete edition in one volume", "Tales about animals", "Tales about hares", "Tales about a fox" give a complete picture of the heroes of fairy tales about animals, describe their character traits, appearance and actions.

Tales about animals, their features and varieties

In fairy tales about animals, certain characters can be traced in different time frames. Therefore, one of the most important issues is the problem of differentiation of fairy tales about animals and fairy tales of other genres in which animals take part.

The key to solving this problem is the definition of fairy tales about animals proposed by V.Ya. Propp: Tales about animals will be understood as such fairy tales in which the animal is the main object or subject of the narrative. On this basis, fairy tales about animals can be distinguished from others, where animals play only an auxiliary role and are not heroes of the story.

Tales about animals, of course, include fairy tales where only animals act ( Fox and crane , Fox, hare and rooster , midwife fox , fox and thrush , fool wolf etc.). Of the tales about the relationship between man and animals, this genre should include those in which animals are the main characters, and people are the objects of their action and the narration in which is conducted from the point of view of animals, and not a person ( Wolf at the hole , dog and wolf , Man, bear and fox, etc.).

Tales about animals bear little resemblance to stories from the life of animals. Animals in fairy tales only to some extent act in accordance with their nature, and to a much greater extent act as carriers of this or that character and producers of these or those actions, which should be attributed primarily to man. Therefore, the world of animals in fairy tales is complemented by human imagination, it is a form of expression of thoughts and feelings of a person, his views on life.

Animals that speak, reason and behave like people are just a poetic convention: "The adventures of animals are projected onto human life - and they are interesting in human terms." Hence the main themes of Russian fairy tales about animals - human characters, virtues and vices of people, types of human relationships in everyday life, in society, sometimes these images even look satirical.

Most researchers note the problem of classification of fairy tales about animals due to their diversity. V.Ya. Propp, noting the following varieties: fairy tales about animals that exist in a cumulative form ( Teremok , Kolobok , Cockerel and bean seed etc.); fairy tales about animals, close in structure to fairy tales ( The wolf and the seven Young goats , cat, rooster and fox and etc.); fairy tales about animals, close in their structure to the fable ( wolf and fox ); animal tales approaching literary works and taking the form of a political pamphlet ( The Tale of Ersh Ershovich).

Developing a classification of Russian fairy tales about animals based on texts collected by A.N. Afanasiev, V.Ya. Propp distinguishes the following groups: Tales about wild animals ( Animals in the pit , Fox and wolf , midwife fox , Fox and crane , Fox Confessor and etc.); Tales of wild and domestic animals dog and wolf , The wolf and the seven Young goats , cat, fox and rooster and etc.); Tales of man and wild animals Fox and her tail , man and bear , Old bread and salt is forgotten , Bear - fake foot , Fox with a rolling pin and etc.); Pet Tales ( goat shelled , Horse and dog and etc.); Tales of Birds and Fishes Crane and heron , Cockerel and bean seed , Hen Ryaba and etc.); Tales about other animals, plants, mushrooms and elements ( fox and cancer , Teremok , Kolobok , Sun, frost and wind , War of mushrooms, etc.).

The characters of the Russian folk tale about animals are usually represented by images of wild and domestic animals. The images of wild animals clearly predominate over the images of domestic animals: these are the fox, wolf, bear, hare, birds - crane, heron, thrush, woodpecker, sparrow, raven, etc. Domestic animals are much less common, and they do not appear as independent or leading characters, but only in conjunction with the forest: a dog, a cat, a goat, a ram, a horse, a pig, a bull, from domestic birds - a goose, a duck and a rooster. There are no fairy tales only about domestic animals in Russian folklore. Each of the characters is an image of a very specific animal or bird, behind which there is one or another human character, therefore, the characterization of the characters is based on observing the habits, demeanor of the beast, and its appearance. The difference in characters is especially clearly and definitely expressed in the images of wild animals: for example, the fox is drawn primarily as a flattering, cunning deceiver, charming robber; wolf - how greedy and slow-witted gray fool , always getting into a mess; bear - like a stupid ruler, forest oppression who uses his strength not according to reason; a hare, a frog, a mouse, forest birds - like weak, harmless creatures, always serving on parcels. The ambiguity of assessments is also preserved in the description of domestic animals: for example, a dog is depicted as an intelligent animal devoted to man; a paradoxical combination of courage with laziness is noted in the cat; the rooster is noisy, self-confident and curious.

To understand the meaning of Russian folk tales about animals, it is necessary to work on their plot organization and composition. The plot of animalistic tales is characterized by clarity, clarity and simplicity: “Fairy tales about animals are built on elementary actions that underlie the narrative, representing a more or less expected or unexpected end, prepared in a certain way. These simplest actions are phenomena of a psychological order ... ". Animalistic tales are notable for their small volume, persistence of the plot scheme and laconism of artistic means of expression.

The composition of Russian fairy tales about animals is also distinguished by simplicity and transparency. Often they are one-episode (“The Fox and the Crane”, “The Crane and the Heron”, etc.). In this case, they are characterized by hyperbolization of the main properties and traits of the character, which determines the unusual, fantastic nature of their actions. However, fairy tales with plots based on the sequential linking of single-theme plot links-motifs are much more common. The events in them are connected by similar actions of through characters: for example, in the fairy tale "The Fox and the Wolf" there are three plot motifs - "The fox steals fish from the sleigh", "The wolf at the hole", "The beaten unbeaten one is lucky". The multi-episode nature, as a rule, does not complicate the compositions, since we are usually talking about the same type of actions of characters performed in different plot situations.

In this work, we will study two negative heroes of Russian folk tales about animals - the fox and the wolf. This choice is due not only to their popularity, but also to the fact that, using the example of these heroes, one can clearly see what vices are ridiculed and condemned in fairy tales, thereby influencing the formation of the national character of readers. Both characters are found both in different fairy tales separately, and in one together. And despite the fact that both the wolf and the fox are negative characters, and it seems that they have a lot in common: they live in the same forests, attack the same animals, are also afraid of the same opponents, in fairy tales they endowed with different human qualities, which is quite interesting. It is also interesting that one negative male character and, it turns out, is endowed with male negative character traits, and the other female hero, endowed with female traits, respectively, from which the methods of achieving their goals are different, despite the fact that these goals are the same. Thus, based on the analysis of various Russian folk tales about animals, one can consider these heroes from the same positions: their appearance, features, actions, determine which of them is smarter, smarter or more cunning, and who is stupid and naive. A comparative analysis of the wolf and the fox will also help to identify the main human vices ridiculed in society and find out how the presence of these heroes in Russian folk tales affects the formation of a national character, which is the purpose of this work.

Fox in fairy tales about animals

One of the most famous fox tales is the Tale of the Fox and the Wolf.

It begins with the fact that the fox wants to eat fish, but does not know where to get it. And, to achieve her goal, she decides to lie down on the road. On the road, a man notices her and puts her in a cart with fish. While the man is riding and enjoying a good find, the fox gnaws a hole in the sleigh and lowers the fish down to the ground. The fox fishes out almost all the fish, and she runs away into the forest. When the peasant saw that there was neither a fox nor a fish, he was very upset. And the fox, meanwhile, runs to collect fish and feast on it. On the road she meets a wolf who asks her where the fish came from, how she fished it and where. In order to get rid of the wolf and not share prey with him, she tells him that the tail should be lowered into the hole and special words should be pronounced so that the fish can be better caught. So the stupid wolf ran into the hole. While he was sitting and waiting for the fish, the tail froze in the hole so that there was no way to pull it out. I saw a wolf woman with a yoke. At first she drove him, and when she realized that he was frozen, she began to beat him so that the tail of the wolf came off. And the fox at this time comes running to the hut where the woman lived, and begins to knead the dough. While she was kneading, she got dirty all over in the dough, went and lay down on the road. The wolf met her again, said that nothing came of it, and noticing that the fox was all white, he got scared, began to ask what had happened to her. The fox told him that her head was broken with a yoke. The wolf took pity on her, put her on his back and took her home. And the fox rode on his back and said smiling: “The beaten unbeaten one is lucky!”.

In Russian folk tales about animals, the fox often acts as an opponent of the wolf. This "gossip-dove" often arouses our sympathy for its dexterity, courage and resourcefulness in fooling the wolf. And in the tale presented above, the fiction and resourcefulness of the fox has no boundaries. For the sake of its own benefit, the fox deceives the wolf, the peasant, and, most likely, would be ready to deceive and substitute anyone for the sake of its own goal - food and warm housing. And, therefore, despite all the sympathy for her, it would still be a mistake to talk about her as a positive character. Cunning and ingenuity coexist with the fox with unbridled arrogance, hypocrisy and betrayal.

Among the tales about animals there are also those in which not only human, but also social vices are condemned, although there are not many of them. For example, the fairy tale "The Fox and Kotofey Ivanovich." Reverence and bribery are depicted in it with inimitable brilliance. The cat, expelled from the house, thanks to the quirky fox who allegedly marries him, becomes Kotofey Ivanych - the "boss" over all forest animals, because the fox, by deceit, gives him to everyone as a terrible beast. Even the strongest inhabitants of the forest - the bear and the wolf are forced to serve him, and the cat freely robs and presses everyone.

In Russian folk tales about animals, the fox also appears before us in the form of a sweet-voiced red-haired beauty who can speak to anyone. So, in the fairy tale "The Fox Confessor", before eating a rooster, she convinces him to confess his sins; at the same time, the hypocrisy of the clergy is wittily ridiculed. The fox addresses the rooster: “Oh, my dear child, the rooster!” She tells him a biblical parable about the publican and the Pharisee, and then eats him.

Another fairy tale, the plot of which is known to everyone - Kolobok. The tale is a chain of homogeneous episodes depicting Kolobok's meetings with various talking animals intending to eat him, but Kolobok leaves everyone except the fox. With each animal, the bun enters into a discussion, in which each time he explains his departure: "I left my grandmother, I left my grandfather, and I will leave you, bear (wolf, hare)." The fox, as usual, with the help of deceit, pretending to be partially deaf, catches Kolobok on vanity and, taking advantage of his kindness, which is expressed in the readiness to repeat the song closer to the ear and mouth of the fox, eats him.

The stupidity of the fox is described in the fairy tale The Fox and the Thrush. The thrush built a nest and brought out the chicks. The fox found out about this and began to frighten the thrush by destroying its nest. First, the fox asked the thrush to feed her. The thrush fed the fox with pies and honey. The fox then asked the thrush to give her water. The thrush made the fox drink beer. Again the fox came to the thrush and demanded to make her laugh. The thrush made the fox laugh. Again the fox came to the thrush and demanded to scare her. So the blackbird brought the fox to the pack of dogs. The fox got scared, rushed to run away from the dogs, climbed into the hole, and started talking to herself. She quarreled with the tail, stuck it out of the hole. So the dogs grabbed her by the tail and ate her. So stupidity and greed are always punished in Russian folk tales about animals.

Having considered several fairy tales with the participation of a fox, we can conclude that in most cases the fox is a negative hero, personifying cunning, deceit, deceit, cunning and selfishness. But you can also notice that if she, together with other animals, opposes the wolf, she receives a positive assessment, and if she harms others, she gets a negative one. It is quite common to see tales of the cunning fox and the stupid wolf in which the fox deceives the wolf for his own benefit. But the fox is just as predatory as the wolf. She drives the bunny out of his hut, eats thrush chicks, deceives other animals, for example, a bear, or even people, she also always wants to eat a rooster, a black grouse, a bun, a hare. And she pays dearly for her actions. After all, cunning, bordering on betrayal, cannot be justified. Even the appearance of a fox is deceiving: it is usually described as very attractive, red, with eyes that speak of its cunning.

Wolf in fairy tales about animals

fairy tale animal moral teaching

The wolf is a fairly popular character in Russian folk tales, but in the minds of Russian people, his image is endowed with mostly negative characteristics. Most often, in Russian folk tales, a wolf is a silly and rustic beast, which everyone constantly deceives and substitutes (Sister Chanterelle and Wolf, Wolf and Goat, Fool Wolf, Wintering of animals). But it should be noted that even when the wolf in fairy tales is represented as a fool, he is never vile and low, unlike a fox.

It has already been said earlier that fairy tales about animals were created not only for the edification of the little ones. Many of them, with the help of funny fiction, jokes, make fun of vices. And, for example, the embodiment of stupidity in fairy tales is often a wolf. His stupidity is the stupidity of a cruel and greedy beast. Storytellers seem to deliberately put the wolf in conditions that justify his actions, which should cause the listener to feel pity for him, but this does not happen, because there is no place in life for stupidity, cruelty and greed - this is the main thesis of fairy tales.

One of the most famous tales about the wolf is the tale of the Wolf and the seven kids. The mother goat, leaving the house, warns her kids to beware of the wolf that roams nearby. Meanwhile, the wolf, taking advantage of a good moment, knocks on the goats and declares that he is their mother. And the kids say in response that their mother's voice is soft, while his voice is rough. To soften his voice, the wolf eats a piece of honey, but the goats still do not let it in, because their mother's paws are white, not black, like those of a wolf. Then he goes to the mill and soils his paws in flour. The kids let the wolf in, who immediately eats them all, except for the smallest one, who hid in the stove. Returning home, the mother goat sees the devastation that the wolf arranged and the smallest goat that escaped, who tells her about what happened. She goes after the wolf and finds him sleeping with a full stomach, in which something is stirring. The mother goat rips open the belly of the wolf, and six kids come out alive. Instead of kids, their mother fills the belly of the wolf with stones. The next morning, the goat met the wolf and invited him to compete in jumping over the fire, the goat jumped over, the wolf also jumped, but the stones pulled him down. So the wolf burned down. Another version of the ending - the wolf, waking up with stones in his stomach, wanted to drink, went to the stream, slipped, fell into the water and drowned from the weight.

In this tale, the wolf is cruel and merciless; for the sake of his prey, he is able to deceive the little goats who were left alone at home. By deception (he speaks in the voice of a mother-goat), he tells the kids that he is their mother and asks to let him go home. And when they let him in, the wolf eats all the goats except for one, which he did not notice. It is thanks to the little goat in this tale that evil, greed and ruthlessness are punished.

In the Tale of the Wolf and the Fox, the wolf appears to readers in a slightly different way - a stupid and naive beast that is easy to deceive. The fox in his house manipulates and controls the wolf, deftly talking to him. At the very beginning of the tale, it is said that the fox lived in an ice hut, and the wolf lived in a brushwood one, and when spring came, the fox's hut melted, and she began to ask the wolf to live in the house. The wolf took pity on her and foolishly let her in. Every day the fox managed to deceive the wolf: she said that guests were coming to her and went out to them to eat his sour cream, butter, slowly changed her sleeping place so that it was closer to the stove. So, the fox moved to sleep on the stove, and the wolf moved under the stove. The tale ended with the fact that, continuing to deceive the wolf, the fox remained to live in his house forever, becoming the mistress there, and making the wolf a servant.

The stupidity of the wolf is also described in the fairy tale How the fox sewed a fur coat for the wolf. The stupid wolf asked the cunning fox to sew a fur coat for him. The fox received sheep from the wolf: she ate meat and sold wool. And when the wolf ran out of patience, and he asked for his fur coat, the fox ruined him by deceit.

So, from the tales discussed above, we can conclude that the wolf is often stupid, but this is not its main feature: it is cruel, ferocious, angry, greedy - these are its main qualities. He eats the poor old man's horse, breaks into the winter quarters of the animals and disturbs their peaceful life, wants to eat the goats, deceiving them with a song. But such qualities are never encouraged in fairy tales, so the wolf always gets what he deserves.

The role of fairy tales about animals in the formation of a national character

Russian folk tales about animals show what the people condemned in society, their enemies, and even in themselves. Cruelty, boasting, flattery, venality and much more were ridiculed. And, often, therefore, in fairy tales, it is precisely due to the presence of animals, in simple content, that ideas are hidden that make up the essence of the moral code of the people. Those plots that unfold in fairy tales about animals are a kind of staging of real life situations. It is not without reason that such tales have a moral and instructive role, because their heroes personify certain human qualities, and that is why they call a cunning person a fox, a cowardly hare, a stupid wolf. Tales about animals are parables that show the reader what is held in high esteem and what is not.

The character of each person is made up of emotional, strong-willed and moral traits, the foundations of which are laid in early childhood. Parents read fairy tales to their children, with the help of which they learn about the world. Therefore, it is fairy tales that have an educational role, because a fairy tale is a centuries-old folk wisdom. Through it, the child learns the world around him and his place in this world, receives the first ideas about good and evil, friendship and betrayal, courage and cowardice. These representations appear precisely through the images of the heroes of fairy tales, including animals, because sometimes animals at the end of a fairy tale become more moral, passing through certain moral tests, and sometimes it is animals who are those “moral teachers” in a fairy tale, with the help of which morality is determined. . In Russian folk tales, there are many similar characters, the consideration of which led to very interesting results. The identification of similar features in animals and humans (speech - cry, behavior - habits) served as the basis for combining their qualities in the images of animals with the qualities of a person: animals speak and behave like people. This combination led to the typification of the characters of animals, which became the embodiment of certain qualities: the fox - cunning, the wolf - stupidity and greed, the bear - gullibility, and the hare - cowardice. So fairy tales acquired an allegorical meaning: animals began to mean people of certain characters. Images of animals became a means of moral teaching, and then social satire, which led to the development of a national character, because in fairy tales about animals, not only negative qualities (stupidity, laziness, talkativeness) are ridiculed, but oppression of the weak, greed, and deceit for profit are also condemned. .

Bibliography

1.Afanasiev A.N. "Folk Russian fairy tales: a complete edition in one volume", M., 2010.

2.Anikin V.P. Russian folktale. M., 1984.

.Vedernikova N.M. Russian folktale. M., 1975.

.Ivanova-Kazas O.M. Mythological zoology (dictionary), St. Petersburg, Faculty of Philology, 2004.

.Kostyukhin E. A. Types and forms of the animal epic. Moscow, 1987

.Nikiforov A.I. Folk children's fairy tale of dramatic genre. L., 1928.

.Propp V.Ya. The historical roots of fairy tales.<#"justify">8.Propp V.Ya. Morphology of a fairy tale. M., 98.

.Propp V.Ya. Russian fairy tale. L., 1984.

.Pomerantseva E.V. The fate of the Russian fairy tale, M., 1965.

.Tales about animals, Tula, 2000.

.Tales about hares, Tyumen, 1959.

.Tales about the fox, retold by O. Kapitsa and A. Tolstoy for preschool children, L., 1970.

.Fundamental electronic library. Russian literature and folklore. http://feb-web.ru/feb/feb/atindex/atindx01.htm#Afanasiev A.N.

Tutoring

Need help learning a topic?

Our experts will advise or provide tutoring services on topics of interest to you.
Submit an application indicating the topic right now to find out about the possibility of obtaining a consultation.

Entries tagged "characteristics of animals in a fairy tale"

Positive animal characters in Russian folk tales

Animal characters of Russian folk tales represent a whole gallery of various characters. Of course, all these characters metaphorically reflect the world of people - their actions, the fears of the weak before the strong, resourcefulness and kindness. In fairy tales about animals, man plays a secondary role or is absent altogether. It is worth noting that characteristics of animals in a fairy tale is distinguished by a tendency to typify the image, that is, the hero is clearly distinguished by some one quality inherent in a person. For example, a hare is always cowardly, and a cat personifies justice. In Russian fairy tales, positive animal characters are represented very widely. They always prevail thanks to their intelligence and resourcefulness.

Often cat in fairy tales openly demonstrates his playful disposition, in many stories he turns out to be a robber or even a thief. But at the same time, the cat is distinguished by justice and a lively dodgy mind. Thanks to his eloquence, he gets out of any difficult situations, helps the offended, protects his friends. Moreover, the cat does not have obvious power, its true power is in the word. The wise words of a cat can strike fear into animals many times larger than him. For example, in the fairy tale "" the cat calls himself the Governor and makes even such strong animal characters as a bear and a wolf tremble. You can also remember the fairy tale "", in which the cat and his friends deftly deceive the wolves.

Rooster in fairy tales appears before us in two forms. In many fairy tales, the rooster is portrayed as frivolous and very self-confident. Sometimes he shows disobedience, violates any prohibition, and as a result is stolen. As in a fairy tale "" - a fox steals a rooster, and his friends come to the rescue of the hero. This is the hypostasis of a weak hero, however, there is another side. The rooster in fairy tales acts as a wise helper to his friends or people, as it was in the fairy tales "" and "". He manifests himself as truly fearless and strong positive characters of Russian fairy tales.

Hare- the hero is weak, but cunning. He often acts as the personification of cowardice, however, thanks to his dexterity and resourcefulness, he easily gets out of difficult situations. For example, in the fairy tale "" the hero helps save the crow. An obvious evolution of the image of a hare in fairy tales: at first it appears to us as a symbol of cowardice and timidity (“The Fox and the Hare”), but in the course of the story we see how this cowardly hero is transformed. He can even outwit a wolf and save his friends.

Hedgehog in a fairy tale– the animal character is smart and careful. He expresses kindness and friendliness, and often reconciles animal characters among themselves, resolves their dispute, finds justice. In fairy tales, the appearance of thorns in a hedgehog is sometimes explained, with the help of which it can not only defend itself, but also resist larger animals. Heroic glory can even go about him (the fairy tale "Hedgehog").

Mouse in fairy tales hardworking and kind, although it is often emphasized that "there is less than a pea in the head of a mouse brain." She often acts as a savior, and the reward for this does not ask for much at all - only a spoonful of porridge, for example. The mouse often helps people - it carries water in the fairy tale "" and can even save a life (""). This is a strong animal character, which sometimes plays a decisive role in the development of the plot of a fairy tale - and helps to pull out a turnip (""), and does something completely impossible and beyond the power of people - it breaks a golden egg ("Hen"). Despite its small size, the role of the mouse in fairy tales is very significant.

Animal characters in Russian folk tales

Animal tales are the oldest group of tales based on totemic and animistic cults. These tales are connected with archaic worlds, in which animal characters stood at the origins of the creation of the world. In the stories that have come down to us, these mythological elements are rethought differently. The tale shows that earlier people tried to explain the phenomena occurring in nature, and experienced awe of animals, symbolizing strength. This is how the negative characters of Russian fairy tales appeared. Each of these characters has its own individual character and unique traits. Characteristics of animals in a fairy tale includes several pronounced characters, personifying strength and cunning, malice and brute force.

In the animal world of fairy tales, there is a special type of hero - a trickster, a rogue and a deceiver. Fox in fairy tales acts as the main trickster. This is a stable image, which is dominated by cunning, a tendency to deceit and tricks. The fox will do anything to get her own - she will pretend to be weak and helpless, use all her charm and eloquence. In Russian fairy tales, the trickster is opposed to a simpleton character. It can be a wolf, which the fox successfully fools, a rooster (""), or a weak hare, whom she drives out of her hut (""). Initially, in myth, it was his unusual behavior that contributed to the creation of the world and the acquisition of knowledge. Unlike the myth, the trickster fox is often punished for its antics, especially when it attacks weak, helpless heroes. For example, the Fox in the fairy tale "The Chanterelle with a Rolling Pin" flees and hides in a hole.

wolf in fairy tales traditionally represents greed and malice. He is often portrayed as stupid, so he is often fooled by characters in fairy tales more cunning, such as the Fox. The opposition of these two strong animal characters is found in many fairy tales, and in almost all the wolf, being slow-witted and short-sighted, again and again allows itself to be deceived. However, in ancient cultures, the image of a wolf was associated with death, therefore, in fairy tales, this animal character often eats someone (“Wolf and seven kids”) or disturbs the calm life of animals (“”). But in the end, the good fairy-tale characters of Russian fairy tales always deceive or defeat the wolf. For example, the wolf in the fairy tale "" remains without a tail.

Bear in fairy tales is the epitome of brute force. Sometimes he is fierce, sometimes he is naive and kind. Being the owner of the forest, he has power over other animals, but, nevertheless, his character is rustic. The presence of physical strength in this animal character practically excludes the mind - the bear in fairy tales is stupid and turns out to be fooled by weak animals. One can see a parallel between the image of a bear and the image of wealthy landowners during serfdom. Therefore, people and other animals, symbolizing the free and cunning Russian people in fairy tales, often try to outwit and fool the bear. For example, a bear is left with nothing (a fairy tale "") or is completely eaten by a crowd of people (""). In some fairy tales, the bear is lazy, calm and appreciates his peace very much. There are also fairy tales in which the bear manifests itself as a kind animal character helping people. For example, the bear gives gifts to Masha, thus acting as a symbol of the good forces of nature, who love hard work and honesty.

Page 1 of 1 1

All over the world, people tell stories to entertain each other. Sometimes fairy tales help to understand what is bad in life and what is good. Fairy tales appeared long before the invention of books, and even writing.

Scholars have interpreted the story in different ways. A number of folklore researchers called everything that “affected” a fairy tale. The well-known fairy tale historian E. V. Pomerantseva accepted this point of view: “A folk tale is an epic oral work of art, mostly prose, magical or everyday in nature with a setting for fiction.”

Tales about animals differ significantly from other types of fairy tales. The appearance of fairy tales about animals was preceded by stories directly related to beliefs about animals. The Russian fairy tale epic about animals is not very rich: according to N. P. Andreev (an ethnographer, art critic), there are 67 types of fairy tales about animals. They make up less than 10% of the entire Russian fairy tale repertoire, but at the same time this material is distinguished by great originality. In fairy tales about animals, animals implausibly argue, talk, quarrel, love, make friends, and quarrel: the cunning “fox is beautiful in conversation”, the stupid and greedy “wolf-wolf is a grabber from under a bush”, “a mouse-gnawing”, “cowardly bunny - bow-legged, lope up the hill. All this is unbelievable, fantastic.

The appearance of various characters in Russian fairy tales about animals was originally due to the circle of representatives of the animal world that is characteristic of our territory. Therefore, it is natural that in fairy tales about animals we meet with the inhabitants of forests, fields, steppe expanses (bear, wolf, fox, wild boar, hare, hedgehog, etc.). In fairy tales about animals, animals themselves are the main characters, and the relationship between them determines the nature of the fairy tale conflict.

The purpose of my research work is to compare the images of wild animals from Russian folk tales with the habits of real animals.

Hypothesis - my hypothetical judgment that the images of wild animals, their characters correspond to the habits of their prototypes.

1. Characters in the animal epic.

Observing the composition of animals acting as acting characters in the animal epic, I note the predominance of wild, forest animals. These are a fox, a wolf, a bear, a hare, and birds: a crane, a heron, a thrush, a woodpecker, a crow. Domestic animals appear in conjunction with forest animals, and not as independent or leading characters. Examples: cat, rooster and fox; sheep, fox and wolf; dog and woodpecker and others. The leading characters, as a rule, are forest animals, while domestic animals play a supporting role.

Tales about animals are built on elementary actions. The tales are built on an ending unexpected for the partner, but expected by the listeners. Hence the comic character of animal tales and the need for a cunning and treacherous character, such as the fox, and stupid and foolish, such as the wolf is usually with us. So, fairy tales about animals will mean such fairy tales in which the animal is the main object. The characters are only one animal.

The fox became the favorite hero of Russian fairy tales: Lisa Patrikeevna, the Fox is a beauty, the fox is an oil lip, the gossip fox, Lisafya. Here she lies on the road with glazed eyes. She was dead, the man decided, he kicked her, she wouldn’t stir. The man was delighted, took the fox, put it in a cart with fish: “The old woman will have a collar on her fur coat” - and touched the horse, he himself went ahead. The fox threw out all the fish and left. When the fox began to dine, the wolf came running. Why would a fox feed a wolf! Let him catch it. The fox instantly overshadows: “You, kumanek, go to the river, lower your tail into the hole - the fish itself clings to the tail, sit and say: “Catch, fish”

The proposal is absurd, wild, and the stranger it is, the more readily one believes in it. But the wolf obeyed. The fox feels complete superiority over the gullible and stupid godfather. The image of the fox is completed by other fairy tales. Infinitely deceitful, she uses gullibility, plays on the weak strings of friends and foes. There are many tricks and pranks in the memory of the fox. She drives a hare out of a bast hut, carries away a rooster, luring him out with a song, by deceit she changes a rolling pin for a goose, a goose for a turkey, etc., up to a bull. The fox is a pretender, a thief, a deceiver, evil, flattering, dexterous, cunning, prudent. In fairy tales, she is everywhere true to these traits of her character. Her cunning is conveyed in the proverb: "When you look for a fox in front, it is behind." She is resourceful and lies recklessly until the time when it is no longer possible to lie, but even in this case she often indulges in the most incredible fiction. The fox thinks only of its own benefit.

If the deal does not promise her acquisitions, she will not give up anything of her own. The fox is vindictive and vindictive.

In fairy tales about animals, one of the main characters is the wolf. This is the exact opposite of the image of the fox. In fairy tales, the wolf is stupid, it is easy to deceive him. There seems to be no such trouble, no matter what this unlucky, eternally beaten beast got into. So, the fox advises the wolf to fish by dipping his tail into the hole. The goat offers the wolf to open its mouth and stand downhill so that it can jump into the mouth. The goat knocks over the wolf and runs away (the fairy tale "The Fool Wolf"). The image of a wolf in fairy tales is always hungry and lonely. He always finds himself in a ridiculous, ridiculous position.

In numerous fairy tales, a bear is also bred: “A man, a bear and a fox”, “A bear, a dog and a cat” and others. The image of the bear, remaining as before the main figure of the forest kingdom, appears before us as a slow, gullible loser, often stupid and clumsy, clubfoot. He constantly boasts of his exorbitant strength, although he can not always use it properly. He crushes everything that gets under his feet. The fragile teremok, a house in which a variety of forest animals lived peacefully, could not stand its weight either. In fairy tales, the bear is not smart, but stupid, he embodies a great, but not smart power.

Tales in which small animals act (hare, frog, mouse, hedgehog) are mostly humorous. The hare in fairy tales is quick on the foot, unintelligent, cowardly and timid. The hedgehog is slow, but reasonable, does not give in to the most ingenious tricks of his opponents.

The idea of ​​fairy tales about animals turns into proverbs. The fox with its fabulous traits of a cheat, a sly rogue appeared in the proverbs: “The fox does not mess up its tail”, “The fox was hired to protect the poultry yard from the kite, from the hawk”. The stupid and greedy wolf also moved from fairy tales to proverbs: “Don’t put your finger in the wolf’s mouth”, “Be a wolf for your sheep’s simplicity.” And here are the proverbs about the bear: “The bear is strong, but it lies in the swamp”, “There is a lot of thought in the bear, but it won’t go out.” And here the bear is endowed with enormous, but unreasonable power.

In fairy tales, there is a constant struggle and rivalry between animals. The struggle, as a rule, ends with a cruel reprisal against the enemy or an evil mockery of him. The condemned animal often finds itself in a ridiculous, absurd position.

Prototypes of fairy tale characters.

And now we will consider the habits and lifestyle of real animals. I was guided by the book Animal Life by the German zoologist Alfred Brehm. Through vivid descriptions of the "way of life" and the "character" of animals, Brehm's work has become for many generations the best popular guide to zoology. So he denies the primary cunning of the fox and affirms the exceptional cunning of the wolf. Wolves do not hunt alone, but together. They usually roam in small flocks of 10-15 individuals. The pack has a strict hierarchy. The leader of the pack is almost always male (wolf-"alpha"). In the pack, it can be recognized by its raised tail. Among the females, there is also a she-wolf - "alpha", which usually goes ahead of the leader. In moments of danger or hunting, the leader becomes the head of the pack. Further on the hierarchical ladder are the adult members of the pack and solitary wolves. The lowest of all are the grown wolf cubs, which the pack accepts only for the second year. Adult wolves test the strength of the superior wolves all the time. As a result, young wolves, growing up, rise higher in the hierarchical ladder, and aging wolves fall lower and lower. Such a developed social structure significantly increases the efficiency of hunting. Wolves never lie in wait for prey, they drive it. Pursuing prey, wolves are divided into small groups. Prey is divided among members of the pack according to rank. Old wolves, unable to participate in a joint hunt, follow the pack at a distance and are content with the remnants of its prey. The wolf buries the remnants of food in the snow, and in the summer it hides in reserve in a secluded place, where it returns later to finish eating the uneaten food. Wolves have a very keen sense of smell, picking up the smell at a distance of 1.5 km. The wolf is a predatory, cunning, clever, resourceful, evil creature.

When I studied the material about the habits of the fox, I found some similarities with the fabulous fox. For example, a real fox, like a fabulous one, loves to visit the chicken coop. She avoids dense taiga forests, preferring forests in the area of ​​agricultural land. And he is looking for a ready-made mink for himself. It can occupy the hole of a badger, arctic fox, marmot. The tail of the fox is also mentioned in fairy tales. Indeed, a fluffy tail can be considered its feature. The fox acts as a rudder, making sharp turns during pursuit. And she also hides with him, curling up in a ball during rest and sticking her nose into its base. It turns out that in this place there is a fragrant gland that emits the smell of violets. It is believed that this odorous organ favorably affects the charm of the fox, but its exact purpose remains unclear.

6 The mother fox guards the cubs and does not let anyone near. If, for example, a dog or a person appears near the hole, then the fox resorts to “cunning” - it tries to take them away from its home, enticing

But the heroes of fairy tales are the crane and the heron. About a non-fabulous, real gray or common crane in A. Brem's book "The Life of Animals" it is said: "The crane is very sensitive to affection and resentment - he can remember the offense for months and even years." The fairy-tale crane is endowed with the features of a real bird: he is bored, he is memory for insults. About the heron in the same book it is said that she is vicious and greedy. This explains why the heron in the folk tale thinks first of all about what the crane will feed her. She is angry, like a real, not a fairy-tale heron: she unkindly accepted the matchmaking, scolds the wooing groom: “Go away, lanky!”

In fairy tales, sayings say - "cowardly, like a hare." Meanwhile, hares are not so much cowardly as cautious. They need this caution, because it is their salvation. Natural instinct and the ability to quickly run away with large jumps, combined with the techniques of obfuscating their tracks, compensate for their defenselessness. However, the hare is able to fight back: if a feathered predator overtakes it, it lies on its back and fights off with strong kicks. The mother hare feeds not only her cubs, but in general all the discovered rabbits. When a person appears, the hare takes him away from the hare, pretending to be wounded, sick, trying to attract attention to herself, knocking her feet on the ground.

The bear in fairy tales appears to us as slow, clumsy. Meanwhile, the clumsy-looking bear runs exceptionally fast - at a speed of over 55 km / h, swims excellently and climbs trees well in his youth (he does this reluctantly in old age). And it turns out that the bear is active throughout the day, but more often in the mornings and evenings. They have a well-developed sense of smell, and their eyesight and hearing are rather weak. In fairy tales, the bear embodies great strength and its prototype with one blow of its paw is able to break the back of a bull or a buffalo.

In studying animal tales, we must beware of the very common misconception that animal tales are really animal stories. Before researching this topic, I also adhered to this judgment. As a rule, they have very little in common with the actual life and habits of animals. True, to some extent, animals act according to their nature: the horse kicks, the rooster sings, the fox lives in a hole (however, not always), the bear is slow and sleepy, the hare is cowardly, etc. All this gives the fairy tales the character of realism.

The depiction of animals in fairy tales is sometimes so convincing that since childhood we have become accustomed to subconsciously determine the characters of animals from fairy tales. This includes the notion that the fox is an exceptionally cunning animal. However, every zoologist knows that this opinion is based on nothing. Each animal is cunning in its own way.

The animals enter into a commonwealth and lead a company that is impossible in nature.

But still, I want to note that in fairy tales there are many such details in the depiction of animals and birds that people spied from the life of real animals.

After reading the literature about fairy tales, about the life and behavior of animals and comparing the images and their prototypes, I came up with two versions. On the one hand, the images of animals are similar to their prototypes (an evil wolf, a clumsy bear, a fox that drags chickens, etc.). On the other hand, having studied the observations of zoologists, I can say that the images and their prototypes have little in common with the actual habits of animals.

The art of the folk tale consists in a subtle rethinking of the true habits of birds and animals.

And one more thing: having studied the history of fairy tales about animals, I came to the conclusion that fairy tales about animals most often take the form of stories about people disguised as animals. In the animal epic, human life is widely reflected, with its passions, greed, greed, deceit, stupidity and cunning, and at the same time with friendship, loyalty, gratitude, that is, a wide range of human feelings and characters.

Tales about animals are the "encyclopedia of life" of the people. Animal tales are the childhood of humanity itself!

But it is impossible to be the best in absolutely everything.

Different types of animals living on our planet have acquired many abilities that allow them to live and develop in various conditions.

10. Strength

People consider themselves the strongest. But whatever our strength, tiny creatures like bugs and ants can make us feel ashamed. For example, a dung beetle is able to move objects weighing 1141 times the weight of its own body! In appearance, such objects may seem small to us, since the beetles are very small, but if a person had the same capabilities, we would be able to lift almost 73 tons.

If we talk about absolute weight, then African elephants will be in the first place. These huge, cute creatures can move loads of over 9,000 kilograms. To do this, they use their powerful trunks. Their trunks are made up of tens of thousands of muscle fibers, which allows elephants, including young ones, to lift huge objects and suck up an incredible amount of water, which is necessary for their survival.

Small creatures, such as ants and beetles, have such specific strength because in the animal kingdom there is a law according to which, as the size of the body of a living being decreases, its mass decreases in proportion to the length of the body to the third power, and the cross-sectional area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe muscles to the second.

In practice, this means that if you halve the length of a living organism, then its volume and weight will decrease by a factor of eight, while the cross section of muscles will decrease by only four. That is, the shorter the length of a living being, the greater the ratio of the lifted load to its own weight.

9. Speed

Human intelligence is incredibly developed. We can sing, write, talk, explain wonderful things and build space shuttles. However, our seemingly less intelligent neighbors are able to break us into many categories.

For example, carrier pigeons. No, not from Harry Potter, real live pigeons. These cool kids can fly over 1770 kilometers and find their way home without any navigators and beacons. The most amazing thing is that they can use magnetite crystals located between the muscle fibers of their head and neck to determine their geographic location relative to the Earth's magnetic field.

Elephants do not seem too smart to us, but they are also able to surprise. According to researchers from the University of St. Andrews, elephants can use scent to identify their family members. In addition, elephants are able to distinguish people who pose a threat to them by their smell and the color of their clothes.

Farmanchuk Artyom

Enough attention is paid to the consideration of such characters ...

Download:

Preview:

MUNICIPAL NON-TYPICAL BUDGET

GENERAL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION
"LYCEUM №76"

Animals - carriers of certain human qualities in fairy tales and fables

Fulfilled

Student 5 "A" class

Farmanchuk Artem

Supervisor

Biology teacher

Fedosova Elena

Nikolaevna

Novokuznetsk

2015

I Introduction 3

II Tales about animals, their features and varieties 5

III Negative animal characters in Russian folk tales 8

III.I Fox in animal tales 9

III.II Wolf in animal tales 12

III.III Bear in fairy tales about animals 14

IV Positive animal characters in Russian folk tales 15

V The role of fairy tales and fables about animals in the formation of a national character 17

Bibliography 19

I Introduction

For many centuries, in the process of the formation of the current images of animals in Russian folk tales, literature was created that explored and described the folklore features of the heroes of fairy tales from various regions, countries, etc.

In such works, V.Ya. Propp as "Historical roots of a fairy tale", "Russian fairy tale" and "Morphology of a fairy tale", E.V. Pomerantseva "The Fate of a Russian Fairy Tale", V.P. Anikin "Russian folk tale" gives an idea of ​​the structure of a fairy tale, its types, a large number of different types of heroes of a fairy tale. Books by O.M. Ivanova-Kazas "Mythological Zoology" (dictionary) and E. A. Kostyukhina "Types and Forms of the Animal Epic" help to consider in detail the most famous heroes of fairy tales about animals and create their collective image based on a comparative analysis of these heroes and their actions.

The heroes of fairy tales very often become animals, personifying people with different characters.

It is also worth noting that Russian literature includes not only Russian folk tales about animals. It is also rich in fables. Animals in these works have such qualities of people as cowardice, kindness, stupidity, envy.

Enough attention is paid to the consideration of such characters, but there is not enough literature explaining the role of their existence in fairy tales about animals, which is due to the relevance of the topic of the course work.

Purpose: To describe the heroes of Russian folk tales and fables about animals.

Tasks:

Research of the Russian folk fairy tale and its animal characters.

Creation of a comparative analysis of the data of heroes and their actions.

To prove the educational role of a fairy tale, a fable through the necessity of the existence of animal heroes.

Subject of study:

Object of study:

Heroes-animals of Russian folk tales, fables.

Methods:

Theoretical Method

Analysis method

Questionnaire method

Comparative method

Research material:

Russian folk tales and fables about animals.

II Tales about animals, their features and varieties

In fairy tales about animals, certain characters can be traced in different time frames. Therefore, one of the most important issues is the problem of the difference between fairy tales about animals and fairy tales of other genres in which animals take part.

The key to solving this problem is the definition of fairy tales about animals proposed by V.Ya. Propp: “Fairy tales about animals will mean such fairy tales in which the animal is the main object or subject of the narrative. On this basis, fairy tales about animals can be distinguished from others where animals play only an auxiliary role and are not the heroes of the story.

Tales about animals, of course, include fairy tales where only animals act (“The Fox and the Crane”, “The Fox, the Hare and the Rooster”, “The Midwife Fox”, “The Fox and the Thrush”, “The Fool Wolf”, etc.). d.). Of the tales about the relationship between man and animals, this genre should include those in which animals are the main characters, and people are the objects of their action and the narration in which is conducted from the point of view of animals, and not a person (“Wolf at the Hole”, “Dog and wolf”, “Man, bear and fox”, etc.).

Tales about animals bear little resemblance to stories from the life of animals. Animals in fairy tales only to some extent act in accordance with their nature, and to a much greater extent act as carriers of this or that character and producers of these or those actions, which should be attributed primarily to man. Therefore, the world of animals in fairy tales is complemented by human imagination, it is a form of expression of thoughts and feelings of a person, his views on life.

Animals that speak, reason and behave like people are just a poetic convention: "The adventures of animals are projected onto human life - and they are interesting in human terms." Hence the main themes of Russian fairy tales about animals - human characters, virtues and vices of people, types of human relationships in everyday life, in society, sometimes these images even look satirical.

Most researchers note the problem of classification of fairy tales about animals due to their diversity. V.Ya. wrote about the complexity of types of fairy tales about animals. Propp, noting the following varieties: fairy tales about animals that exist in a cumulative form ("Teremok", "Gingerbread Man", "Cockerel and Bean Seed", etc.); fairy tales about animals, close in structure to magical ones (“The Wolf and the Seven Kids”, “The Cat, the Rooster and the Fox”, etc.); fairy tales about animals, close in their structure to the fable (“The Wolf and the Fox”); fairy tales about animals, approaching literary works and having a political form ("The Tale of Ersh Ershovich").

Developing a classification of Russian fairy tales about animals based on texts collected by A.N. Afanasiev, V.Ya. Propp distinguishes the following groups: Tales about wild animals ("Beasts in the Pit", "The Fox and the Wolf", "The Midwife Fox", "The Fox and the Crane", "The Fox Confessor", etc.); Tales about wild and domestic animals (“Dog and Wolf”, “Wolf and Seven Kids”, “Cat, Fox and Rooster”, etc.); Tales about a man and wild animals ("The Fox and her Tail", "The Man and the Bear", "The Bear - a Linden Leg", "The Chanterelle with a Rolling Pin", etc.); Fairy tales about domestic animals (“Pulled Goat”, “Horse and Dog”, etc.); Tales about birds and fishes (“Crane and Heron”, “Cockerel and Bean Seed”, “Ryaba Hen”, etc.); Tales about other animals, plants, mushrooms and elements ("Fox and Cancer", "Teremok", "Kolobok", "Sun, Frost and Wind", "Mushroom War", etc.).

The characters of the Russian folk tale about animals are usually represented by images of wild and domestic animals. The images of wild animals clearly predominate over the images of domestic animals: these are the fox, wolf, bear, hare, birds - crane, heron, thrush, woodpecker, sparrow, raven, etc. Domestic animals are much less common, and they do not appear as independent or leading characters, but only in conjunction with the forest: a dog, a cat, a goat, a ram, a horse, a pig, a bull, from domestic birds - a goose, a duck and a rooster. There are no fairy tales only about domestic animals in Russian folklore. Each of the characters is an image of a very specific animal or bird, behind which there is one or another human character, therefore, the characterization of the characters is based on observing the habits, demeanor of the beast, and its appearance. The difference in characters is especially clearly and definitely expressed in the images of wild animals: for example, the fox is drawn primarily as a flattering, cunning deceiver, charming robber; the wolf is like a greedy and slow-witted gray fool, always getting into trouble; a bear - like a stupid ruler, forest oppression, using its strength not according to reason; a hare, a frog, a mouse, forest birds - like weak, harmless creatures, always serving on parcels. The ambiguity of assessments is also preserved in the description of domestic animals: for example, a dog is depicted as an intelligent animal devoted to man; a combination of courage with laziness is noted in the cat; the rooster is noisy, self-confident and curious.

To understand the meaning of Russian folk tales about animals, it is necessary to work on their plot organization and composition, which is distinguished by clarity, clarity and simplicity: “Fairy tales about animals are built on elementary actions that underlie the narrative, which are more or less expected or unexpected prepared in a manner. These simplest actions are phenomena of a psychological order ... ". Often they are one-episode (“The Fox and the Crane”, “The Crane and the Heron”, etc.). However, fairy tales with plots based on the sequential linking of single-theme plot links-motifs are much more common. The events in them are connected by similar actions of through characters: for example, in the fairy tale "The Fox and the Wolf" there are three plot motifs - "The fox steals fish from the sleigh", "The wolf at the hole", "The beaten unbeaten one is lucky". The multi-episode nature, as a rule, does not complicate the compositions, since we are usually talking about the same type of actions of characters performed in different plot situations.

III Negative animal characters in Russian folk tales

In this work, I conducted a study of two negative heroes of Russian folk tales about animals - the fox and the wolf. This choice is due not only to their popularity, but also to the fact that, using the example of these heroes, one can clearly see what vices are ridiculed and condemned in fairy tales, thereby influencing the formation of the national character of readers. Both characters are found both in different fairy tales separately, and in one together. And despite the fact that both the wolf and the fox are negative characters, and it seems that they have a lot in common: they live in the same forests, attack the same animals, are also afraid of the same opponents, in fairy tales they endowed with different human qualities, which is quite interesting. It is also interesting that one negative male character and, it turns out, is endowed with male negative character traits, and the other female hero, endowed with female traits, respectively, from which the methods of achieving their goals are different, despite the fact that these goals are the same.

Thus, based on the analysis of various Russian folk tales about animals, one can consider these heroes from the same positions: their appearance, features, actions, determine which of them is smarter, smarter or more cunning, and who is stupid and naive. A comparative analysis of the wolf and the fox will also help to identify the main human vices ridiculed in society and find out how the presence of these heroes in Russian folk tales affects the formation of a national character, which is the purpose of this work.

III.I Fox in fairy tales about animals

One of the most famous fox tales is The Tale of the Fox and the Wolf.

It begins with the fact that the fox wants to eat fish, but does not know where to get it. And, to achieve her goal, she decides to lie down on the road. On the road, a man notices her and puts her in a cart with fish. While the man is riding and enjoying a good find, the fox gnaws a hole in the sleigh and lowers the fish down to the ground. The fox fishes out almost all the fish, and she runs away into the forest. When the peasant saw that there was neither a fox nor a fish, he was very upset. And the fox, meanwhile, runs to collect fish and feast on it. On the road she meets a wolf who asks her where the fish came from, how she fished it and where. In order to get rid of the wolf and not share prey with him, she tells him that the tail should be lowered into the hole and special words should be pronounced so that the fish can be better caught. So the stupid wolf ran into the hole. While he was sitting and waiting for the fish, the tail froze in the hole so that there was no way to pull it out. I saw a wolf woman with a yoke. At first she drove him, and when she realized that he was frozen, she began to beat him so that the tail of the wolf came off. And the fox at this time comes running to the hut where the woman lived, and begins to knead the dough. While she was kneading, she got dirty all over in the dough, went and lay down on the road. The wolf met her again, said that nothing came of it, and noticing that the fox was all white, he got scared, began to ask what had happened to her. The fox told him that her head was broken with a yoke. The wolf took pity on her, put her on his back and took her home. And the fox rode on his back and said smiling: “The beaten unbeaten one is lucky!”.

In Russian folk tales about animals, the fox often acts as an opponent of the wolf. This "gossip-dove" often arouses our sympathy for its dexterity, courage and resourcefulness in fooling the wolf. And in the tale presented above, the fiction and resourcefulness of the fox has no boundaries. For the sake of its own benefit, the fox deceives the wolf, the peasant, and, most likely, would be ready to deceive and substitute anyone for the sake of its own goal - food and warm housing. And, therefore, despite all the sympathy for her, it would still be a mistake to talk about her as a positive character. Cunning and ingenuity coexist with the fox with unbridled arrogance, hypocrisy and betrayal.

Among the tales about animals there are also those in which not only human, but also social vices are condemned, although there are not many of them. For example, the fairy tale "The Fox and Kotofey Ivanovich." Reverence and bribery are depicted in it with inimitable brilliance. The cat, expelled from the house, thanks to the quirky fox who allegedly marries him, becomes Kotofey Ivanych - the "boss" over all forest animals, because the fox, by deceit, gives him to everyone as a terrible beast. Even the strongest inhabitants of the forest - the bear and the wolf are forced to serve him, and the cat freely robs and presses everyone.

In Russian folk tales about animals, the fox also appears before us in the form of a sweet-voiced red-haired beauty who can speak to anyone. So, in the fairy tale "The Fox Confessor", before eating a rooster, she convinces him to confess his sins; at the same time, the hypocrisy of the clergy is wittily ridiculed. The fox addresses the rooster: “Oh, my dear child, the rooster!” She tells him a biblical parable about the publican and the Pharisee, and then eats him.

Another fairy tale, the plot of which is known to everyone - "Gingerbread Man". The tale is a chain of homogeneous episodes depicting Kolobok's meetings with various talking animals intending to eat him, but Kolobok leaves everyone except the fox. With each animal, the bun enters into a discussion, in which each time he explains his departure: "I left my grandmother, I left my grandfather, and I will leave you, bear (wolf, hare)." The fox, as usual, with the help of deceit, pretending to be partially deaf, catches Kolobok on vanity and, taking advantage of his kindness, which is expressed in the readiness to repeat the song closer to the ear and mouth of the fox, eats him.

The stupidity of the fox is described in the fairy tale "The Fox and the Thrush". The thrush built a nest and brought out the chicks. The fox found out about this and began to frighten the thrush by destroying its nest. First, the fox asked the thrush to feed her. The thrush fed the fox with pies and honey. The fox then asked the thrush to give her water. The thrush made the fox drink beer. Again the fox came to the thrush and demanded to make her laugh. The thrush made the fox laugh. Again the fox came to the thrush and demanded to scare her. So the blackbird brought the fox to the pack of dogs. The fox got scared, rushed to run away from the dogs, climbed into the hole, and started talking to herself. She quarreled with the tail, stuck it out of the hole. So the dogs grabbed her by the tail and ate her. So stupidity and greed are always punished in Russian folk tales about animals.

Having considered several fairy tales with the participation of a fox, we can conclude that in most cases the fox is a negative hero, personifying cunning, deceit, deceit, cunning and selfishness. But you can also notice that if she, together with other animals, opposes the wolf, she receives a positive assessment, and if she harms others, she gets a negative one. It is quite common to see tales of the cunning fox and the stupid wolf in which the fox deceives the wolf for his own benefit. But the fox is just as predatory as the wolf. She drives the bunny out of his hut, eats thrush chicks, deceives other animals, for example, a bear, or even people, she also always wants to eat a rooster, a black grouse, a bun, a hare. And she pays dearly for her actions. After all, cunning, bordering on betrayal, cannot be justified. Even the appearance of a fox is deceiving: it is usually described as very attractive, red, with eyes that speak of its cunning.

III.II Wolf in fairy tales about animals

The wolf is a fairly popular character in Russian folk tales, but in the minds of Russian people, his image is endowed with mostly negative characteristics. Most often, in Russian folk tales, a wolf is a silly and rustic beast, which everyone constantly deceives and substitutes (“Chox-sister and Wolf”, “Wolf and Goat”, “Fool Wolf”, “Wintering of animals”). But it should be noted that even when the wolf in fairy tales is represented as a fool, he is never vile and low, unlike a fox.

It has already been said earlier that fairy tales about animals were created not only for the edification of the little ones. Many of them, with the help of funny fiction, jokes, make fun of vices. And, for example, the embodiment of stupidity in fairy tales is often a wolf. His stupidity is the stupidity of a cruel and greedy beast. Storytellers seem to deliberately put the wolf in conditions that justify his actions, which should cause the listener to feel pity for him, but this does not happen, because there is no place in life for stupidity, cruelty and greed - this is the main thesis of fairy tales.

One of the most famous fairy tales about the wolf is the fairy tale "The Wolf and the Seven Kids". The mother goat, leaving the house, warns her kids to beware of the wolf that roams nearby. Meanwhile, the wolf, taking advantage of a good moment, knocks on the goats and declares that he is their mother. And the kids say in response that their mother's voice is soft, while his voice is rough. To soften his voice, the wolf eats a piece of honey, but the goats still do not let it in, because their mother's paws are white, not black, like those of a wolf. Then he goes to the mill and soils his paws in flour. The kids let the wolf in, who immediately eats them all, except for the smallest one, who hid in the stove. Returning home, the mother goat sees the devastation that the wolf arranged and the smallest goat that escaped, who tells her about what happened. She goes after the wolf and finds him sleeping with a full stomach, in which something is stirring. The mother goat rips open the belly of the wolf, and six kids come out alive. Instead of kids, their mother fills the belly of the wolf with stones. The next morning, the goat met the wolf and invited him to compete in jumping over the fire, the goat jumped over, the wolf also jumped, but the stones pulled him down. So the wolf burned down. Another version of the ending - the wolf, waking up with stones in his stomach, wanted to drink, went to the stream, slipped, fell into the water and drowned from the weight.

In this tale, the wolf is cruel and merciless; for the sake of his prey, he is able to deceive the little goats who were left alone at home. By deception (he speaks in the voice of a mother-goat), he tells the kids that he is their mother and asks to let him go home. And when they let him in, the wolf eats all the goats except for one, which he did not notice. It is thanks to the little goat in this tale that evil, greed and ruthlessness are punished.

In "The Tale of the Wolf and the Fox," the wolf appears to readers in a slightly different way - a stupid and naive beast that is easy to deceive. The fox in his house manipulates and controls the wolf, deftly talking to him. At the very beginning of the tale, it is said that the fox lived in an ice hut, and the wolf lived in a brushwood one, and when spring came, the fox's hut melted, and she began to ask the wolf to live in the house. The wolf took pity on her and foolishly let her in. Every day the fox managed to deceive the wolf: she said that guests were coming to her and went out to them to eat his sour cream, butter, slowly changed her sleeping place so that it was closer to the stove. So, the fox moved to sleep on the stove, and the wolf moved under the stove. The tale ended with the fact that, continuing to deceive the wolf, the fox remained to live in his house forever, becoming the mistress there, and making the wolf a servant.

The stupidity of the wolf is also described in the fairy tale "How the fox sewed a fur coat for the wolf." The stupid wolf asked the cunning fox to sew a fur coat for him. The fox received sheep from the wolf: she ate meat and sold wool. And when the wolf ran out of patience, and he asked for his fur coat, the fox ruined him by deceit.

So, from the tales discussed above, we can conclude that the wolf is often stupid, but this is not its main feature: it is cruel, ferocious, angry, greedy - these are its main qualities. He eats the poor old man's horse, breaks into the winter quarters of the animals and disturbs their peaceful life, wants to eat the goats, deceiving them with a song. But such qualities are never encouraged in fairy tales, so the wolf always gets what he deserves.

III.III Bear in fairy tales about animals

It is impossible not to mention such a hero of fairy tales as a bear, which is the embodiment of brute force. Sometimes he is fierce, sometimes he is naive and kind. Being the owner of the forest, he has power over other animals, but, nevertheless, his character is rustic. The presence of physical strength in this animal character practically excludes the mind - the bear in fairy tales is stupid and turns out to be fooled by weak animals. One can see a parallel between the image of a bear and the image of wealthy landowners during serfdom. Therefore, people and other animals, symbolizing the free and cunning Russian people in fairy tales, often try to outwit and fool the bear. For example, the bear is left with nothing (the fairy tale "man and bear "") or even turns out to be eaten by a crowd of people ("Bear - fake leg "). In some fairy tales, the bear is lazy, calm and appreciates his peace very much. There are also fairy tales in which the bear manifests itself as a kind animal character helping people. For example, the bear gives gifts to Masha, thus acting as a symbol of the good forces of nature, who love hard work and honesty.

IV Positive animal characters in Russian folk tales

I also analyzed positive animal characters in Russian folk tales, which represent a whole gallery of various characters. Of course, all these characters metaphorically reflect the world of people - their actions, the fears of the weak before the strong, resourcefulness and kindness. In fairy tales about animals, man plays a secondary role or is absent altogether. In Russian fairy tales, positive animal characters are represented very widely. They always prevail thanks to their intelligence and resourcefulness.

Often a cat in fairy tales openly demonstrates its playful disposition, in many stories it turns out to be a robber or even a thief. But at the same time, the cat is distinguished by justice and a lively dodgy mind. Thanks to his eloquence, he gets out of any difficult situations, helps the offended, protects his friends. Moreover, the cat does not have obvious power, its true power is in the word. The wise words of a cat can strike fear into animals many times larger than him. For example, in the fairy talecat and fox » The cat calls himself the Governor and makes even such strong animal characters as a bear and a wolf tremble. You can also remember the fairy taleCat - gray forehead, goat and ram ”, in which the cat and his friends deftly deceive the wolves.

The rooster in fairy tales appears to us from two sides. In many fairy tales, the rooster is portrayed as frivolous and very self-confident. Sometimes he shows disobedience, violates any prohibition, and as a result is stolen. It's like a fairytale "Cockerel - golden comb "- the fox steals the rooster, and his friends come to the rescue of the hero. This characterizes him as a weak hero, however, there is another side. The rooster in fairy tales acts as a wise assistant to his friends or people, as it was in fairy tales "Rooster and millstones " and " Fox and hare ". He manifests himself as truly fearless and strong positive characters of Russian fairy tales.

The hare is a weak but cunning hero. He often acts as the personification of cowardice, however, thanks to his dexterity and resourcefulness, he easily gets out of difficult situations. For example, in the fairy talehare-bounce » The hero helps save the crow. An obvious change in the image of a hare in fairy tales: at first it appears to us as a symbol of cowardice and timidity (“Fox and hare ”), but in the course of the story we see how this cowardly hero is transformed. He can even outwit a wolf and save his friends.

A hedgehog in a fairy tale is an animal character smart and careful. He expresses kindness and friendliness, and often reconciles animal characters among themselves, resolves their dispute, finds justice. In fairy tales, the appearance of thorns in a hedgehog is sometimes explained, with the help of which it can not only defend itself, but also resist larger animals. Heroic glory can even go about him (the fairy tale "Hedgehog").

The mouse in fairy tales is hardworking and kind, although it is often emphasized that "there is less than a pea in the head of the mouse brain." She often acts as a savior, and the reward for this does not ask for much at all - only a spoonful of porridge, for example. The mouse often helps people - carries water in the fairy tale "Fear has big eyes and may even save a life.Daughter and stepdaughter "). This is a strong animal character, which sometimes plays a decisive role in the development of the plot of a fairy tale - and helps to pull the turnip out ("turnip ”), and does something completely impossible and beyond the power of people - breaks a golden egg (“Hen”). Despite its small size, the role of the mouse in fairy tales is very significant.

V The role of fairy tales and fables about animals in the formation of a national character

Russian folk tales about animals show what the people condemned in society, their enemies, and even in themselves. Cruelty, boasting, flattery, venality and much more were ridiculed. And, often, therefore, in fairy tales, it is precisely due to the presence of animals, in simple content, that ideas are hidden that make up the essence of the moral code of the people. Those plots that unfold in fairy tales about animals are a kind of staging of real life situations. It is not without reason that such tales have a moral and instructive role, because their heroes personify certain human qualities, and that is why they call a cunning person a fox, a cowardly hare, a stupid wolf. Tales about animals are parables that show the reader what is held in high esteem and what is not.

The character of each person is made up of emotional, strong-willed and moral traits, the foundations of which are laid in early childhood. Parents read fairy tales to their children, with the help of which they learn about the world. Therefore, it is fairy tales that have an educational role, because a fairy tale is a centuries-old folk wisdom. Through it, the child learns the world around him and his place in this world, receives the first ideas about good and evil, friendship and betrayal, courage and cowardice. These representations appear precisely through the images of the heroes of fairy tales, including animals, because sometimes animals at the end of a fairy tale become more moral, passing through certain moral tests, and sometimes it is animals who are those “moral teachers” in a fairy tale, with the help of which morality is determined. . In Russian folk tales, there are many similar characters, the consideration of which led to very interesting results. The identification of similar features in animals and humans (speech - cry, behavior - habits) served as the basis for combining their qualities in the images of animals with the qualities of a person: animals speak and behave like people. This combination led to the typification of the characters of animals, which became the embodiment of certain qualities: the fox - cunning, the wolf - stupidity and greed, the bear - gullibility, and the hare - cowardice. So fairy tales acquired an allegorical meaning: animals began to mean people of certain characters. Images of animals became a means of moral teaching, and then social satire, which led to the development of a national character, because in fairy tales about animals, not only negative qualities (stupidity, laziness, talkativeness) are ridiculed, but oppression of the weak, greed, and deceit for profit are also condemned. .

The animal plays a special role not only in folk tales, but also in fables. Turning to Krylov's fables, one can see that the animal in them sometimes causes laughter, sometimes not. In such fables as "The Wolf and the Lamb", "The Lion and the Mouse", "The Wolf in the Kennel", and in a number of other fables, animals are not funny. But let's take the fables "The Monkey and Glasses", "The Frog and the Ox", "The Quartet" and many others - and we are already having fun. In the image of a fidgeting monkey, a frog puffed up with arrogance, stupid monkeys, a donkey, a goat and a bear, we can easily recognize people with all their shortcomings.

Bibliography

1. Afanasiev A.N. "Folk Russian fairy tales: a complete edition in one volume", M., 2010.

2. Anikin V.P. Russian folktale. M., 1984.

3. Vedernikova N.M. Russian folktale. M., 1975.

4. Ivanova-Kazas O.M. Mythological zoology (dictionary), St. Petersburg, Faculty of Philology, 2004.

5. Kostyukhin E. A. Types and forms of the animal epic. Moscow, 1987

6. Nikiforov A.I. Folk children's fairy tale of dramatic genre. L., 1928.

7. Propp V.Ya. The historical roots of fairy tales.

8. Propp V.Ya. Morphology of a fairy tale. M., 98.

9. Propp V.Ya. Russian fairy tale. L., 1984.

10. Pomerantseva E.V. The fate of the Russian fairy tale, M., 1965.

11. Tales of animals, Tula, 2000.

12. Tales of hares, Tyumen, 1959.

13. Tales about the fox, retold by O. Kapitsa and A. Tolstoy for preschool children, L., 1970.

14. Fundamental electronic library. Russian literature and folklore. http://feb-web.ru/feb/feb/atindex/atindx01.htm#