The wise minnow retelling. Saltykov-Shchedrin M. E. The Wise Minnow read online text

Once upon a time there lived a minnow. Both his father and mother were smart; Little by little, the arid eyelids lived in the river and did not get caught either in the fish soup or in the pike. They ordered the same for my son. “Look, son,” said the old minnow, dying, “if you want to chew your life, then keep your eyes open!”

And the young minnow had a mind. He began to use this mind and saw: no matter where he turned, he was cursed. All around, in the water, everything big fish they swim, and he is the least of them all; Any fish can swallow him, but he cannot swallow anyone. And he doesn’t understand: why swallow? Cancer can cut it in half with its claws, water flea- to dig into the spine and torture to death. Even his brother the gudgeon - and when he sees that he has caught a mosquito, the whole herd will rush to take it away. They’ll take it away and start fighting with each other, only they’ll crush a mosquito for nothing.

And the man? - what kind of malicious creature is this! no matter what tricks he came up with so that he, the minnow, death in vain destroy! And the seine, and the nets, and the tops, and the trap, and, finally... the fish! It seems that what could be more stupid than oud? - A thread, a hook on a thread, a worm or a fly on a hook... And how are they put on?.. in fact, one might say, unnatural position! Meanwhile, it is on the fishing rod that most minnows are caught!

His old father warned him more than once about uda. “Most of all, beware of the oud! - he said, - because even though this is the stupidest projectile, but with us minnows, what is stupid is more accurate. They will throw a fly at us, as if they want to take advantage of us; If you grab it, it’s death in a fly!”

The old man also told how he once almost hit his ear. At that time they were caught by a whole artel, the net was stretched across the entire width of the river, and they were dragged along the bottom for about two miles. Passion, how many fish were caught then! And pikes, and perches, and chubs, and roaches, and loaches - even couch potato bream were lifted from the mud from the bottom! And we lost count of the minnows. And what fears he, the old minnow, suffered while he was being dragged along the river - this cannot be said in a fairy tale, nor described with a pen. He feels that he is being taken, but does not know where. He sees that he has a pike on one side and a perch on the other; thinks: just about now, either one or the other will eat him, but they don’t touch him... “There was no time for food at that time, brother!” Everyone has one thing on their mind: death has come! but how and why she came - no one understands. Finally they began to close the wings of the seine, dragged it to the shore and began to throw fish from the reel into the grass. It was then that he learned what ukha was. Something red flutters on the sand; gray clouds run upward from him; and it was so hot that he immediately became limp. It’s already sickening without water, and then they give in... He hears “a fire,” they say. And on the “bonfire” something black is placed on this one, and in it the water, like in a lake, shakes during a storm. This is a “cauldron”, they say. And in the end they began to say: put fish in the “cauldron” - there will be “fish soup”! And they started throwing our brother there. When a fisherman slams a fish, it will first plunge, then jump out like crazy, then plunge again and become quiet. “Uhi” means she tasted it. They kicked and kicked at first indiscriminately, and then one old man looked at him and said: “What good is he, a kid, for fish soup! let it grow in the river!” He took him by the gills and let him into free water. And he, don’t be stupid, goes home with all his might! He came running, and his minnow was looking out of the hole, neither alive nor dead...

And what! No matter how much the old man explained at that time what fish soup was and what it consisted of, however, even when brought into the river, rarely did anyone have a sound understanding of fish soup!

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

That's what he did. At night he exercised, swam in the moonlight, and during the day he climbed into a hole and trembled. Only at noon will he run out to grab something - but what can you do at noon! At this time, a mosquito hides under a leaf from the heat, and a bug buries itself under the bark. Absorbs water - and the Sabbath!

He lies in the hole day and day, doesn’t get enough sleep at night, doesn’t finish eating, and still thinks: “Does it seem like I’m alive? oh, will there be something tomorrow?

He falls asleep, sinfully, and in his sleep he dreams that he has winning ticket and he won two hundred thousand with it. Not remembering himself with delight, he will turn over on the other side - and lo and behold, half of his snout has stuck out of the hole... What if at that time the little puppy was nearby! After all, he would have pulled him out of the hole!

One day he woke up and saw: a crayfish was standing right opposite his hole. He stands motionless, as if bewitched, his bony eyes staring at him. Only the whiskers move as the water flows. That's when he got scared! And for half a day, until it got completely dark, this cancer was waiting for him, and meanwhile he kept trembling, still trembling.

Another time, he had just managed to return to the hole before dawn, he had just yawned sweetly, in anticipation of sleep - he looked, out of nowhere, a pike was standing right next to the hole, clapping its teeth. And she also guarded him all day, as if she had had enough of him alone. And he fooled the pike: he didn’t come out of the hole, and it was a sabbath.

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

But this is not enough: he did not marry and had no children, although his father had big family. He reasoned like this: “Father could have lived by joking! At that time, the pike were kinder, and the perches did not covet us small fry. And although once he was about to get caught in the ear, there was an old man who rescued him! And now, as the fish in the rivers have increased, the gudgeons are in honor. So there’s no time for family here, but how to just live on your own!”

And the wise minnow lived in this way for too many hundred years. Everything was trembling, everything was trembling. He has no friends, no relatives; neither he is to anyone, nor anyone is to him. He doesn’t play cards, doesn’t drink wine, doesn’t smoke tobacco, doesn’t chase hot girls - he just trembles and thinks only one thing: “Thank God! seems to be alive!

Even the pikes, in the end, began to praise him: “If only everyone lived like this, the river would be quiet!” But they said it on purpose; they thought that he would recommend himself for praise - here, they say, I am! then bang! But he did not succumb to this trick either, and once again, with his wisdom, he defeated the machinations of his enemies.

How many years have passed since the hundred years is unknown, only the wise minnow began to die. He lies in a hole and thinks: “Thank God, I’m dying by my own death, just like my mother and father died.” And then he remembered the pike’s words: “If only everyone lived like this wise minnow lives...” Well, really, what would happen then?

He began to think about the mind that he had, and suddenly it was as if someone whispered to him: “After all, this way, perhaps, the entire piscary race would have died out long ago!”

Because, to continue the minnow family, first of all you need a family, and he doesn’t have one. But this is not enough: in order for the gudgeon family to strengthen and prosper, for its members to be healthy and vigorous, it is necessary that they be raised in their native element, and not in a hole where he is almost blind from the eternal twilight. It is necessary that the minnows receive sufficient nutrition, so that they do not alienate the public, share bread and salt with each other and borrow virtues and other excellent qualities from each other. For only such a life can improve the gudgeon breed and will not allow it to be crushed and degenerate into smelt.

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

All this seemed so clearly and clearly that suddenly a passionate hunt came to him: “I’ll crawl out of the hole and swim like a goldeneye across the entire river!” But as soon as he thought about it, he became frightened again. And he began to die, trembling. He lived and trembled, and he died - he trembled.

His whole life flashed before him instantly. What joys did he have? Who did he console? Who did you give good advice to? Who did you say a kind word to? whom did you shelter, warm, protect? who has heard of him? who will remember its existence?

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

He lived and trembled - that's all. Even now: death is on his nose, and he is still trembling, he doesn’t know why. His hole is dark, cramped, there is nowhere to turn, no Sunbeam He won’t look in there, he won’t smell any warmth. And he lies in this damp darkness, blind, exhausted, useless to anyone, lying and waiting: when will starvation finally free him from a useless existence?

He can hear other fish darting past his hole - perhaps, like him, gudgeons - and not one of them takes an interest in him. Not a single thought will come to mind: “Let me ask the wise minnow, how did he manage to live for too many hundred years without being swallowed by a pike, or killed by a crayfish with his claws, or caught by a fisherman with a hook?” They swim past, and maybe they don’t even know that in this hole the wise minnow completes its life process!

And what’s most offensive: I haven’t even heard anyone call him wise. They simply say: “Have you heard about the dunce who doesn’t eat, doesn’t drink, doesn’t see anyone, doesn’t share bread and salt with anyone, and only saves his hateful life?” And many even simply call him a fool and a disgrace and wonder how the water tolerates such idols.

He thus scattered his mind and dozed off. That is, it wasn’t just that he was dozing, but that he had already begun to forget. Death whispers rang in his ears, and languor spread throughout his body. And here he had the same seductive dream. It’s as if he won two hundred thousand, grew by a whole half a larshin and swallows the pike himself.

And while he was dreaming about this, his snout, little by little, came out of the hole entirely and stuck out.

And suddenly he disappeared. What happened here - whether the pike swallowed him, whether the crayfish was crushed with a claw, or he himself died of his own death and floated to the surface - there were no witnesses to this case. Most likely, he died himself, because what sweetness is it for a pike to swallow a sick, dying gudgeon, and besides, wise?

On the river bottom for a long time there lived a gudgeon. From his father and mother he received instructions that he needed to take care of himself so as not to fall into trouble. fish soup or not become food for other fish. The gudgeon carefully followed the advice of his loved ones, but no matter which direction he looked, there were large fish everywhere that could have eaten him in a matter of seconds, because they were many times larger, and the gudgeon was the smallest and would not have eaten anyone on its own. Another important danger is humans. How many fishing methods a person came up with just to catch a gudgeon, this frightened the underwater inhabitant.

Most of all, my father paid warnings about the fish oud, because it was very easy to fall for it, especially if you caught it with flies, a tasty morsel for minnows. How much fear my father experienced in his life. He had been in a seine where they even lost count of the number of fish caught. Such stories did not leave the young minnow indifferent. Even in the seine it was impossible not to worry, because there was a pike on one side and a perch on the other. Both of them could eat it in an instant. But no one began to eat, since it was not before lunch. Everyone was being taken somewhere, but no one knew where.

Only thoughts of death flashed through my head. When they were dumped on the grass, my father learned for the first time what fish soup was. Like the smallest fish, the gudgeon was sent back to the river to grow up. He was not at a loss and immediately rushed home to his relatives. The younger minnow decided not to tempt fate and live his life so that no one would even notice him, so that he would not end up anywhere. The gudgeon worked for a whole year to build a hole for itself. Only he could fit in this hole. During construction, I experienced a lot of stress when it was necessary to spend the night in mud or under algae. But finally the home for one was ready.

The gudgeon has completely planned out its leisure time: when everyone is awake, it will tremble in its hole, but at night it will swim out and feed. At night there is the least danger around. I came up with a rule for myself: it’s better to be hungry than to hit someone in the belly.

The minnow had wonderful dreams about winning large quantity money, but when he woke up, he realized that his head was sticking out of the hole, this realization made the gudgeon feel uneasy, because someone could pull him out and eat him. No one even called him wise, it was only irony, pointing to a unique philosophy of life.

So the gudgeon died in its fear, but no one knows the real reason death, because no one knew about his existence. He just disappeared. In his entire life, the gudgeon has accomplished nothing, and all his ambitions were only in his dreams. Was his fear worth spending all his time alone with his anxious thoughts? He never acquired a family, friends, or a minimal social circle, and his dreams of money remained unfulfilled.

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Saltykov-Shchedrin. All works

• Ram-Nepomnyashchy
• The wise minnow
• Chizhikovo Mountain

The wise minnow. Picture for the story

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History of creation and publication

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

Criticism

According to commentators and critics, the tale is dedicated to a satirical criticism of the cowardice and cowardice that took over the public mood of part of the intelligentsia after the defeat of the Narodnaya Volya.

Writer and critic K. K. Arsenyev noted that the fairy tale “The Wise Minnow” echoes “The Fourth Evening” from “Poshekhonsky Stories”, which appeared in No. 10 of “Domestic Notes” for 1883, where the publicist Kramolnikov denounces liberals hiding from the harsh actually into the “holes”, declaring that they would still not be able to escape in this way.

Subsequently, on the basis of this similarity and considering its appearance in Russia in January 1884 as the first publication of the fairy tale, the writer Ivanov-Razumnik concluded that the idea of ​​“Gudgeon” was originally expressed in the third Poshekhon “evening”. In fact, Kramolnikov’s speech in “Poshekhonsky Stories” does not foreshadow, but repeats an idea already written and published in foreign countries. Common cause» fairy tales “The Wise Minnow”.

Plot

Oh, wise minnows of the notorious progressive “intelligentsia”! The defense of the peaceful renovationists by the intellectual radicals, the turn of the central organ of the Cadets party. to peaceful renewal immediately after the instructions about the forms, these are all typical examples of liberal tactics. The government takes one step to the right, and we take two steps to the right! Look - we are again legal and peaceful, tactful and loyal, we will adapt even without forms, we will always adapt in relation to meanness! This seems like realpolitik to the liberal bourgeoisie.

V.I. Lenin, The Government’s Forgery of the Duma and the Tasks of Social Democracy, PSS V.I.Lenin, vol. 14, p. 199. Archived from the original on November 21, 2012.

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

Film adaptations

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

Illustrations

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

Notes

The satirical fairy tale The Wise Minnow by the wonderful writer Saltykov-Shchedrin will tell children about how one cowardly minnow lived in the world. He was very afraid of being eaten by fish or getting caught. To avoid death, the gudgeon dug a hole for itself and did not come out of it.

Read online fairy tale The Wise Minnow

Once upon a time there lived a minnow. Both his father and mother were smart; Little by little, the arid eyelids lived in the river and did not get caught either in the fish soup or in the pike. They ordered the same for my son. “Look, son,” said the old gudgeon, dying, “if you want to chew your life, then keep your eyes open!”

And the young minnow had a mind. He began to use this mind and saw: no matter where he turned, he was cursed. All around, in the water, all the big fish are swimming, but he is the smallest of all; Any fish can swallow him, but he cannot swallow anyone. And he doesn’t understand: why swallow? A cancer can cut it in half with its claws, a water flea can bite into its spine and torture it to death. Even his brother the gudgeon - and when he sees that he has caught a mosquito, the whole herd will rush to take it away. They’ll take it away and start fighting with each other, only they’ll crush a mosquito for nothing.

And the man? - what kind of malicious creature is this! No matter what tricks he came up with in order to destroy him, the minnow, in vain! And the seine, and the nets, and the tops, and the burrow, and, finally... the fish! It seems that what could be more stupid than oud? A thread, a hook on a thread, a worm or a fly on a hook... And how are they put on? In a most, one might say, unnatural position! Meanwhile, it is on the fishing rod that most gudgeons are caught!

His old father warned him more than once about uda. “Most of all, beware of the fish!” he said, “because even though it’s the stupidest projectile, with us minnows, what’s stupid is truer. They’ll throw a fly at us, as if they want to take advantage of us; "That's death!"

The old man also told how he once almost hit his ear. At that time they were caught by a whole artel, the net was stretched across the entire width of the river, and they were dragged along the bottom for about two miles. Passion, how many fish were caught then! And pikes, and perches, and chubs, and roaches, and loaches - even couch potato bream were lifted from the mud from the bottom! And we lost count of the minnows. And what fears he, the old gudgeon, suffered while he was being dragged along the river - this cannot be told in a fairy tale, nor can I describe it with a pen. He feels that he is being taken, but does not know where. He sees that he has a pike on one side and a perch on the other; he thinks: just about now, either one or the other will eat him, but they don’t touch him... “There was no time for food at that time, brother!” Everyone has one thing on their mind: death has come! But how and why she came - no one understands.

Finally they began to close the wings of the seine, dragged it to the shore and began to throw fish from the reel into the grass. It was then that he learned what ukha was. Something red flutters on the sand; gray clouds run upward from him; and it was so hot that he immediately became limp. It’s already sickening without water, and then they give in... He hears a “bonfire,” they say. And on the “bonfire” something black is placed on this one, and in it the water, like in a lake, shakes during a storm. This is a "cauldron", they say. And in the end they began to say: put fish in the “cauldron” - there will be “fish soup”! And they started throwing our brother there. When a fisherman slams a fish, it will first plunge, then jump out like crazy, then plunge again and become quiet. “Uhi” means she tasted it. At first they felled and felled indiscriminately, and then one old man looked at him and said: “What good is he, a baby, for fish soup! Let him grow in the river!” He took him by the gills and let him into free water. And he, don’t be stupid, goes home with all his might! He came running, and his minnow was looking out of the hole, neither alive nor dead...

And what! No matter how much the old man explained at that time what fish soup was and what it consisted of, however, even when brought into the river, rarely did anyone have a sound understanding of fish soup!

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

That's what he did. At night he exercised, swam in the moonlight, and during the day he climbed into a hole and trembled. Only at noon will he run out to grab something - but what can you do at noon! At this time, a mosquito hides under a leaf from the heat, and a bug buries itself under the bark. Absorbs water - and the Sabbath!

He lies in the hole day and day, doesn’t get enough sleep at night, doesn’t finish eating, and still thinks: “It seems that I’m alive? Oh, something will happen tomorrow?”

He falls asleep, sinfully, and in his sleep he dreams that he has a winning ticket and he won two hundred thousand with it. Not remembering himself with delight, he will turn over on the other side - and lo and behold, half of his snout has stuck out of the hole... What if at that time the little puppy was nearby! After all, he would have pulled him out of the hole!

One day he woke up and saw: a crayfish was standing right opposite his hole. He stands motionless, as if bewitched, his bony eyes staring at him. Only the whiskers move as the water flows. That's when he got scared! And for half a day, until it got completely dark, this cancer was waiting for him, and meanwhile he kept trembling, still trembling.

Another time, he had just managed to return to the hole before dawn, he had just yawned sweetly, in anticipation of sleep - he looked, out of nowhere, a pike was standing right next to the hole, clapping its teeth. And she also guarded him all day, as if she had had enough of him alone. And he fooled the pike: he didn’t come out of the bark, and it was a sabbath.

And this happened to him more than once, not twice, but almost every day. And every day he, trembling, won victories and victories, every day he exclaimed: “Glory to you, Lord! Alive!”

But this is not enough: he did not marry and did not have children, although his father had a large family. He reasoned like this: “Father could have lived by joking! At that time, the pikes were kinder, and the perches did not covet us small fry. And although he once got into the ear, there was an old man who rescued him! "Nowadays, as the fish in the rivers have increased, and the gudgeons are in honor. So there’s no time for family here, but how to just live for yourself!"

And he lived wise minnow it's been like this for over a hundred years. Everything was trembling, everything was trembling. He has no friends, no relatives; neither he is to anyone, nor anyone is to him. He doesn’t play cards, doesn’t drink wine, doesn’t smoke tobacco, doesn’t chase red girls - he just trembles and thinks one thing: “Thank God! It seems he’s alive!”

Even the pikes, in the end, began to praise him: “If only everyone lived like this, the river would be quiet!” But they said it on purpose; they thought that he would recommend himself for praise - here, they say, I am! Then bang! But he did not succumb to this trick either, and once again, with his wisdom, he defeated the machinations of his enemies.

How many years have passed since the hundred years is unknown, only the wise gudgeon began to die. He lies in a hole and thinks: “Thank God, I am dying by my own death, just like my mother and father died.” And then he remembered the pike’s words: “If only everyone lived like this wise minnow lives...” Well, really, what would happen then?

He began to think about the mind that he had, and suddenly it was as if someone whispered to him: “After all, this way, perhaps, the entire piscary race would have died out long ago!”

Because, to continue the gudgeon family, first of all you need a family, and he doesn’t have one. But this is not enough: in order for the gudgeon family to strengthen and prosper, so that its members are healthy and vigorous, it is necessary that they are raised in their native element, and not in a hole where he is almost blind from the eternal twilight. It is necessary that the minnows receive sufficient nutrition, so that they do not alienate the public, share bread and salt with each other and borrow virtues and other excellent qualities from each other. For only such a life can improve the gudgeon breed and will not allow it to be crushed and degenerate into smelt.

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

All this seemed so clearly and clearly that suddenly a passionate hunt came to him: “I’ll crawl out of the hole and swim like a goldeneye across the entire river!” But as soon as he thought about it, he became frightened again. And he began to die, trembling. He lived and trembled, and he died - he trembled.

His whole life flashed before him instantly. What joys did he have? Who did he console? Who did you give good advice to? Who did you say a kind word to? Whom did you shelter, warm, protect? Who has heard of him? Who will remember its existence?

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

He lived and trembled - that's all. Even now: death is on his nose, and he is still trembling, he doesn’t know why. His hole is dark, cramped, there is nowhere to turn, not a ray of sunlight can look in, and there is no smell of warmth. And he lies in this damp darkness, blind, exhausted, useless to anyone, lying and waiting: when will starvation finally free him from a useless existence?

He can hear other fish darting past his hole - perhaps, like him, gudgeons - and not one of them takes an interest in him. Not a single thought will come to mind: “Let me ask the wise minnow, how did he manage to live for more than a hundred years, and not be swallowed by a pike, not crushed by a crayfish with his claws, not caught by a fisherman with a hook?” They swim past, and maybe they don’t even know that in this hole the wise gudgeon completes its life process!

And what’s most offensive: I haven’t even heard anyone call him wise. They simply say: “Have you heard about the dunce who doesn’t eat, doesn’t drink, doesn’t see anyone, doesn’t share bread and salt with anyone, and only saves his hateful life?” And many even simply call him a fool and a disgrace and wonder how the water tolerates such idols.

He thus scattered his mind and dozed off. That is, it wasn’t just that he was dozing, but that he had already begun to forget. Death whispers rang in his ears, and languor spread throughout his body. And here he had the same seductive dream. It’s as if he won two hundred thousand, grew by as much as half an arshin and swallows the pike himself.

And while he was dreaming about this, his snout, little by little, came out of the hole entirely and stuck out.

And suddenly he disappeared. What happened here - whether the pike swallowed him, whether the crayfish was crushed with a claw, or he himself died of his own death and floated to the surface - there were no witnesses to this case. Most likely, he died himself, because what sweetness is it for a pike to swallow a sick, dying gudgeon, and what’s more, a “wise” one?

Once upon a time there lived a minnow. Both his father and mother were smart; little by little, and little by little, arid eyelids ( long years. - Ed.) lived in the river and didn’t hit the fish soup or the pike. They ordered the same for my son. “Look, son,” said the old gudgeon, dying, “if you want to chew your life, then keep your eyes open!”

And the young minnow had a mind. He began to use this mind and saw: no matter where he turned, he was cursed. All around, in the water, all the big fish are swimming, and he is the smallest of all; Any fish can swallow him, but he cannot swallow anyone. And he doesn’t understand: why swallow? A cancer can cut it in half with its claws, a water flea can bite into its spine and torture it to death. Even his brother the gudgeon - and when he sees that he has caught a mosquito, the whole herd will rush to take it away. They’ll take it away and start fighting with each other, only they’ll crush a mosquito for nothing.

And the man? - what kind of malicious creature is this! no matter what tricks he came up with in order to destroy him, the minnow, in vain! And the seine, and the nets, and the tops, and the net, and, finally... the fishing rod! It seems that what could be more stupid than oud? - A thread, a hook on a thread, a worm or a fly on a hook... And how are they put on?.. in the most, one might say, unnatural position! Meanwhile, it is on the fishing rod that most gudgeons are caught!

His old father warned him more than once about uda. “Most of all, beware of the oud! - he said, - because even though this is the stupidest projectile, but with us minnows, what is stupid is more accurate. They will throw a fly at us, as if they want to take advantage of us; If you grab it, it’s death in a fly!”

The old man also told how he once almost hit his ear. At that time they were caught by a whole artel, the net was stretched across the entire width of the river, and they were dragged along the bottom for about two miles. Passion, how many fish were caught then! And pikes, and perches, and chubs, and roaches, and loaches - even couch potato bream were lifted from the mud from the bottom! And we lost count of the minnows. And what fears he, the old gudgeon, suffered while he was being dragged along the river - this cannot be told in a fairy tale, nor can I describe it with a pen. He feels that he is being taken, but does not know where. He sees that he has a pike on one side and a perch on the other; thinks: just about now, either one or the other will eat him, but they don’t touch him... “There was no time for food at that time, brother!” Everyone has one thing on their mind: death has come! but how and why she came - no one understands... Finally they began to close the wings of the net, dragged it to the shore and began to throw fish from the reel into the grass. It was then that he learned what ukha was. Something red flutters on the sand; gray clouds run upward from him; and it was so hot that he immediately became limp. It’s already sickening without water, and then they give in... He hears “a fire,” they say. And on the “bonfire” something black is placed on this one, and in it the water, like in a lake, shakes during a storm. This is a “cauldron”, they say. And in the end they began to say: put fish in the “cauldron” - there will be “fish soup”! And they started throwing our brother there. When a fisherman slams a fish, it will first plunge, then jump out like crazy, then plunge again and become quiet. “Uhi” means she tasted it. They kicked and kicked at first indiscriminately, and then one old man looked at him and said: “What good is he, a kid, for fish soup! let it grow in the river!” He took him by the gills and let him into free water. And he, don’t be stupid, goes home with all his might! He came running, and his gudgeon was looking out of the hole, neither alive nor dead...

And what! No matter how much the old man explained at that time what fish soup was and what it consisted of, however, even when brought into the river, rarely did anyone have a sound understanding of fish soup!

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

That's what he did. At night he exercised, swam in the moonlight, and during the day he climbed into a hole and trembled. Only at noon will he run out to grab something - but what can you do at noon! At this time, a mosquito hides under a leaf from the heat, and a bug buries itself under the bark. Absorbs water - and the Sabbath!

He lies in the hole day and day, doesn’t get enough sleep at night, doesn’t finish eating, and still thinks: “Does it seem like I’m alive? oh, will there be something tomorrow?

He falls asleep, sinfully, and in his sleep he dreams that he has a winning ticket and he won two hundred thousand with it. Not remembering himself with delight, he will turn over on the other side - lo and behold, he has half a snout sticking out of the hole... What if at that time the little puppy was nearby! After all, he would have pulled him out of the hole!

One day he woke up and saw: a crayfish was standing right opposite his hole. He stands motionless, as if bewitched, his bony eyes staring at him. Only the whiskers move as the water flows. That's when he got scared! And for half a day, until it got completely dark, this cancer was waiting for him, and meanwhile he kept trembling, still trembling.

Another time, he had just managed to return to the hole before dawn, he had just yawned sweetly, in anticipation of sleep - he looked, out of nowhere, a pike was standing right next to the hole, clapping its teeth. And she also guarded him all day, as if she had had enough of him alone. And he fooled the pike: he didn’t come out of the hole, and it was a sabbath.

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

But this is not enough: he did not marry and did not have children, although his father had a large family. He reasoned like this:

“Father could have lived by joking! At that time, the pike were kinder, and the perches did not covet us small fry. And although once he was about to get caught in the ear, there was an old man who rescued him! And now, as the fish in the rivers have increased, the minnows are in honor. So there’s no time for family here, but how to just live on your own!”

And the wise gudgeon lived in this way for more than a hundred years. Everything was trembling, everything was trembling. He has no friends, no relatives; neither he is to anyone, nor anyone is to him. He doesn’t play cards, doesn’t drink wine, doesn’t smoke tobacco, doesn’t chase hot girls - he just trembles and thinks only one thing: “Thank God! seems to be alive!

Even the pikes, in the end, began to praise him: “If only everyone lived like this, the river would be quiet!” But they said it on purpose; they thought that he would recommend himself for praise - so, they say, I’ll slap him here! But he did not succumb to this trick either, and once again, with his wisdom, he defeated the machinations of his enemies.

How many years have passed since the hundred years is unknown, only the wise gudgeon began to die. He lies in a hole and thinks: “Thank God, I’m dying by my own death, just like my mother and father died.” And then he remembered the pike’s words: “If only everyone lived like this wise minnow lives...” Well, really, what would happen then?

He began to think about the mind he had, and suddenly it was as if someone whispered to him: “After all, this way, perhaps, the entire gudgeon race would have died out long ago!”

Because to continue the gudgeon family, first of all, you need a family, and he doesn’t have one. But this is not enough: in order for the gudgeon family to strengthen and prosper, so that its members are healthy and vigorous, it is necessary that they are raised in their native element, and not in a hole where he is almost blind from the eternal twilight. It is necessary that the minnows receive sufficient nutrition, so that they do not alienate the public, share bread and salt with each other and borrow virtues and other excellent qualities from each other. For only such a life can improve the gudgeon breed and will not allow it to be crushed and degenerate into smelt.

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

All this seemed so clearly and clearly that suddenly a passionate hunt came to him: “I’ll crawl out of the hole and swim like a goldeneye across the entire river!” But as soon as he thought about it, he became frightened again. And he began to die, trembling. He lived and trembled, and he died - he trembled.

His whole life flashed before him instantly. What joys did he have? Who did he console? Who did you give good advice to? Who did you say a kind word to? whom did you shelter, warm, protect? who has heard of him? who will remember its existence?

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

He lived and trembled - that's all. Even now: death is on his nose, and he is still trembling, he doesn’t know why. His hole is dark, cramped, and there is nowhere to turn; Not a ray of sunshine can look in there, nor does it smell of warmth. And he lies in this damp darkness, blind, exhausted, useless to anyone, lying and waiting: when will starvation finally free him from a useless existence?

He can hear other fish darting past his hole - perhaps, like him, minnows - and not one of them takes an interest in him. Not a single thought will come to mind: let me ask the wise minnow, how did he manage to live for more than a hundred years, and not be swallowed by a pike, not crushed by a crayfish with his claws, not caught by a fisherman with a hook? They swim past, and maybe they don’t even know that in this hole the wise gudgeon completes its life process!

And what’s most offensive: I haven’t even heard anyone call him wise. They simply say: “Have you heard about the dunce who doesn’t eat, doesn’t drink, doesn’t see anyone, doesn’t share bread and salt with anyone, and only saves his hateful life?” And many even simply call him a fool and a disgrace and wonder how the water tolerates such idols.

He thus scattered his mind and dozed off. That is, it wasn’t just that he was dozing, but that he had already begun to forget. Death whispers rang in his ears, and languor spread throughout his body. And here he had the same seductive dream. It’s as if he won two hundred thousand, grew by as much as half an arshin and swallows the pike himself.

And while he was dreaming about this, his snout, little by little, came out of the hole entirely and stuck out.

And suddenly he disappeared. What happened here - whether a pike swallowed him, or crushed the crayfish with a claw, or he himself died of his own death and floated to the surface - there were no witnesses to this case. Most likely, he himself died, because what sweetness is it for a pike to swallow a sick, dying gudgeon, and a wise one at that?

Read the plot of the fairy tale The Wise Minnow

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

Both crayfish and pike lay in wait for him. But they failed to lure the wise gudgeon out of the hole. He was so concerned about preserving own life that he didn’t even get married and didn’t have children. He didn’t drink wine, didn’t smoke, didn’t play cards. He had no friends, did not communicate with relatives.
The gudgeon lived in this manner for more than a hundred years. The time has come for him to die. He thought and thought and realized that if all minnows behaved like him, then their race would have died out long ago. He wanted to get out of the hole and swim along the river. But he was frightened by this thought and began to tremble again.