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Классики и Современники
Басни Крылова. Полное собрание
Крылов считал, что басня, как и всякое произведение искусства, должна быть проста и понятна: "А ларчик просто открывался!". Вот такими "ларчиками" с сокровищами народной мудрости и были его произведения. Многие выражения из написанных из 200 басен стали крылатыми, превратились в пословицы и поговорки. Пушкин считал, что басенному творчеству Крылова присуще "весёлое лукавство", характерное для русского склада ума. А после его смерти в 1844 году другой великий писатель, Николай Васильевич Гоголь, сказал о нём так: "Его притчи - достояние народное и составляют книгу мудрости самого народа".
314 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1869
42 people are currently reading
778 people want to read
About the author
Ivan Krylov
153 books26 followersIvan Andreyevich Krylov (Russian: Иван Андреевич Крылов) is Russia's best known fabulist. Fables of Aesop and Jean de la Fontaine loosely based many of his earlier fables; later fables, original work, often satirized the incompetent bureaucracy, stifling social progress in his time.
Ivan Krylov spent his early years in Orenburg and Tver. His father, a distinguished military officer, in 1779 died, leaving the destitute family. A few years later, Krylov and his mother moved to Saint Petersburg in the expectation of securing a government pension. Krylov obtained a position in the civil service but after death of his mother in 1788 gave up this position. His literary career began in 1783, when he sold a comedy he had written to a publisher. He used the proceeds to obtain the works of Molière, Racine, and Boileau. It was probably under the influence of these writers that he produced Philomela, which gave him access to the dramatic circle of Knyazhnin.
Krylov made several attempts to start a literary magazine. All met with little success, but, together with his plays, these magazine upstarts helped Krylov make a name for himself and gain recognition in literary circles. For about four years (1797-1801) Krylov lived at the country estate of Prince Sergey Galitzine, and when the prince was appointed military governor of Livonia, he accompanied him as a secretary. Little is known of the years immediately after Krylov resigned from this position, other than the commonly accepted myth that he wandered from town to town in pursuit of card games. His first collection of fables, 23 in number, appeared in 1809 with such success that thereafter he abandoned drama for fable-writing. By the end of his career he had completed over 200, constantly revising them with each new edition. From 1812 to 1841 he was employed by the Imperial Public Library, first as an assistant, and then as head of the Russian Books Department, a not very demanding position that left him plenty of time to write.
Honors were showered on Krylov even during his lifetime: the Russian Academy of Sciences admitted him as a member in 1811, and bestowed on him its gold medal in 1823; in 1838 a great festival was held under imperial sanction to celebrate the jubilee of his first publication, and the Tsar granted him a generous pension. By the time he died in 1844, 77,000 copies of his fables had been sold in Russia, and his unique brand of wisdom and humor gained popularity. His fables were often rooted in historic events, and are easily recognizable by their style of language and engaging story. Though he began as a translator and imitator of existing fables, Krylov soon showed himself an imaginative, prolific writer, who found abundant original material in his native land. In Russia his language is considered of high quality: his words and phrases are direct, simple and idiomatic, with color and cadence varying with the theme; many of them became actual idioms. His animal fables blend naturalistic characterization of the animal with an allegorical portrayal of basic human types; they span individual foibles as well as difficult interpersonal relations.
Krylov's statue in the Summer Garden (1854–55) is one of the most notable monuments in St.Petersburg. Sculpted by Peter Clodt, it has reliefs designed by Alexander Agin on all four sides of the pedestal representing scenes from the fables. A much later monument was installed in the Patriarch's Ponds district of Moscow in 1976. This was the work of Andrei Drevin, Daniel Mitlyansky, and the architect A. Chaltykyan. The seated statue of the fabulist is surrounded by twelve metal relief sculptures of the fables in adjoining avenues.
Krylov shares yet another monument with the poet Alexander Pushkin in the city of Pushkino's Soviet Square. The two were friends and Pushkin modified Krylov's description of 'an ass of most honest principles' (The Ass and the P
Ivan Krylov spent his early years in Orenburg and Tver. His father, a distinguished military officer, in 1779 died, leaving the destitute family. A few years later, Krylov and his mother moved to Saint Petersburg in the expectation of securing a government pension. Krylov obtained a position in the civil service but after death of his mother in 1788 gave up this position. His literary career began in 1783, when he sold a comedy he had written to a publisher. He used the proceeds to obtain the works of Molière, Racine, and Boileau. It was probably under the influence of these writers that he produced Philomela, which gave him access to the dramatic circle of Knyazhnin.
Krylov made several attempts to start a literary magazine. All met with little success, but, together with his plays, these magazine upstarts helped Krylov make a name for himself and gain recognition in literary circles. For about four years (1797-1801) Krylov lived at the country estate of Prince Sergey Galitzine, and when the prince was appointed military governor of Livonia, he accompanied him as a secretary. Little is known of the years immediately after Krylov resigned from this position, other than the commonly accepted myth that he wandered from town to town in pursuit of card games. His first collection of fables, 23 in number, appeared in 1809 with such success that thereafter he abandoned drama for fable-writing. By the end of his career he had completed over 200, constantly revising them with each new edition. From 1812 to 1841 he was employed by the Imperial Public Library, first as an assistant, and then as head of the Russian Books Department, a not very demanding position that left him plenty of time to write.
Honors were showered on Krylov even during his lifetime: the Russian Academy of Sciences admitted him as a member in 1811, and bestowed on him its gold medal in 1823; in 1838 a great festival was held under imperial sanction to celebrate the jubilee of his first publication, and the Tsar granted him a generous pension. By the time he died in 1844, 77,000 copies of his fables had been sold in Russia, and his unique brand of wisdom and humor gained popularity. His fables were often rooted in historic events, and are easily recognizable by their style of language and engaging story. Though he began as a translator and imitator of existing fables, Krylov soon showed himself an imaginative, prolific writer, who found abundant original material in his native land. In Russia his language is considered of high quality: his words and phrases are direct, simple and idiomatic, with color and cadence varying with the theme; many of them became actual idioms. His animal fables blend naturalistic characterization of the animal with an allegorical portrayal of basic human types; they span individual foibles as well as difficult interpersonal relations.
Krylov's statue in the Summer Garden (1854–55) is one of the most notable monuments in St.Petersburg. Sculpted by Peter Clodt, it has reliefs designed by Alexander Agin on all four sides of the pedestal representing scenes from the fables. A much later monument was installed in the Patriarch's Ponds district of Moscow in 1976. This was the work of Andrei Drevin, Daniel Mitlyansky, and the architect A. Chaltykyan. The seated statue of the fabulist is surrounded by twelve metal relief sculptures of the fables in adjoining avenues.
Krylov shares yet another monument with the poet Alexander Pushkin in the city of Pushkino's Soviet Square. The two were friends and Pushkin modified Krylov's description of 'an ass of most honest principles' (The Ass and the P
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
December 14, 2019
I recently read Being There, where the Russian ambassador asks Chance if he has read Kriloff. "There is something Krilovian about you."
Chance nods and smiles, as he can neither read nor write, but the ambassador files a report that the mystery man is conversant in Russian, and well read in the Russian classics.
There is something Krilovian about that, too.
My rating is for the version here, in English verse, which must have some flavor of the original, (I can't judge on that), but is rather strange as English.
XIX THE COCK AND THE PEARL
A COCK that on a heap was scratching,
Said, when he found, 'mongst rubbish, a fine pearl,
"What's this? " and, with contemptuous twirl.
Passed it, as not worth snatching.
Oh, madly they behave, who value baubles high!
I would less eagerly for such a plaything sigh
Than for a grain of wheat which calls for action hasty.
Is tasty."
The ignorant have soon enough
Of what is past their ken; pronounce it wretched stuff.
I wanted to say, as other reviewers have, that middle-aged men may miss the point of some of these fables, let alone children. From the notes at the end, I gather that some of these fables had particular bearing on events of the Napoleonic wars, but knowing or not knowing this did not make the fables more or less enjoyable.
Chance nods and smiles, as he can neither read nor write, but the ambassador files a report that the mystery man is conversant in Russian, and well read in the Russian classics.
There is something Krilovian about that, too.
My rating is for the version here, in English verse, which must have some flavor of the original, (I can't judge on that), but is rather strange as English.
XIX THE COCK AND THE PEARL
A COCK that on a heap was scratching,
Said, when he found, 'mongst rubbish, a fine pearl,
"What's this? " and, with contemptuous twirl.
Passed it, as not worth snatching.
Oh, madly they behave, who value baubles high!
I would less eagerly for such a plaything sigh
Than for a grain of wheat which calls for action hasty.
Is tasty."
The ignorant have soon enough
Of what is past their ken; pronounce it wretched stuff.
I wanted to say, as other reviewers have, that middle-aged men may miss the point of some of these fables, let alone children. From the notes at the end, I gather that some of these fables had particular bearing on events of the Napoleonic wars, but knowing or not knowing this did not make the fables more or less enjoyable.
February 1, 2016
Мудрость веков over9000. Некоторые басни я не понял (в чем мораль), но в основном очень понравились. Немного утомпляет слушать много басен подряд, потому что они все в некотором таком ритме похожем между собой, поэтому идеально будет иметь книжку и иногда возвращаться к ней, чтобы поразбросить мозгами и повздыхать со взглядом мудреца.
Лань и дервиш
Младая Лань, своих лишась любезных чад,
Еще сосцы млеком имея отягчении,
Нашла в лесу двух малых волченят
И стала выполнять долг матери священный,
Своим питая их млеком.
В лесу живущий с ней одном,
Дервиш, ее поступком изумленный:
"О безрассудная! - сказал, - к кому любовь,
Кому свое млеко ты расточаешь?
Иль благодарности от их ты роду чаешь?
Быть может, некогда (иль злости их не знаешь?)
Они прольют твою же кровь".
"Быть может, - Лань на это отвечала, -
Но я о том не помышляла
И не желаю помышлять:
Мне чувство матери одно теперь лишь мило,
И молоко мое меня бы тяготило,
Когда б не стала я питать".
Так, истинная благость
Без всякой мзды добро творит:
Кто добр, тому избытки в тягость,
Коль он их с ближним не делит.
January 16, 2018
Создав достаточно творений, не зная, чем себя ещё занять, успеха толком не имея, о чём мог Иван Крылов ещё мечтать? О славе баснописца только. Но почему же не писать ему сатиры, коли правду он всегда искал? Испытано достаточно, судьбы ударам место в прошлом, для театра он писать устал. Пример Эзопа им усвоен, он Лафонтена уважал, теперь за переводом басен Иван всё время коротал. А где рука просила сотворить своё — там твёрдо строчки зазвучали, и жизнь Крылова расцвела, все современники о нём узнали. Но память коротка, не помнит потомок двух сотен басен Крылова. Если и знакомо ему, то афоризм некий, и то произносимый для красного слова. Такое отношение неверное, да его не изменить, каждому угодно в собственное удовольствие жизнь осознавать: с собственным осознанием жить. Посему, опустив детали повествования, не учитывая оригинальность и прочие творческие изыскания, остановимся на дошедшем до нас сквозь века. Благо, рифма у Крылова легка.
(c) Trounin
(c) Trounin
July 5, 2022
Eh, ovo su basne!
March 10, 2020
Fifteen Ivan Krylov fables translated by Guy Daniels and illustrated David Pascal.. A Russian best selling author who died in 1844, but whose monument in St Petersburg shows his popularity.
Each fable is on one or two pages with black line drawing illustrations that are often minimal. For example in "the Elephant in Favor", there is just one character that is not finely drawn and one can just make out that it is an elephant. Leo, king of the beasts took Elephant as his favorite, but the other animals could not figure it out and criticized the elephant for not having what they had, a fox with a bushy tail, long claws said the bear. The donkey saw the king liked the elephant since he had long ears. The moral of the story is"If people looked more closely, they would find that often they praise others with themselves in mind". The last story is "The Swan, the Crab, and the Pike", about these three creatures who were trying to pull a cart. They each tried in their own way, the swan to fly, the Pike flopping toward a pond and the crab went backward. Who was right and who was wrong? Krylov doesn't say, but the cart is still there.
These stories are new to me but apparently Russians loved them. I find that they are witty, have wry humor and are easy to read. The grade level would be 2 to 4. From the titles of each fable, I thought it would be more familiar to me, that they would have been translated to English, but the stories are not ones I have known. It was interesting to see what was written back then and how the verses still flow and are rhyming like poetry.
Each fable is on one or two pages with black line drawing illustrations that are often minimal. For example in "the Elephant in Favor", there is just one character that is not finely drawn and one can just make out that it is an elephant. Leo, king of the beasts took Elephant as his favorite, but the other animals could not figure it out and criticized the elephant for not having what they had, a fox with a bushy tail, long claws said the bear. The donkey saw the king liked the elephant since he had long ears. The moral of the story is"If people looked more closely, they would find that often they praise others with themselves in mind". The last story is "The Swan, the Crab, and the Pike", about these three creatures who were trying to pull a cart. They each tried in their own way, the swan to fly, the Pike flopping toward a pond and the crab went backward. Who was right and who was wrong? Krylov doesn't say, but the cart is still there.
These stories are new to me but apparently Russians loved them. I find that they are witty, have wry humor and are easy to read. The grade level would be 2 to 4. From the titles of each fable, I thought it would be more familiar to me, that they would have been translated to English, but the stories are not ones I have known. It was interesting to see what was written back then and how the verses still flow and are rhyming like poetry.
March 31, 2016
I read the fable about the swan, pike and crayfish in class. A nice poem with a lesson to boot, it encompasses that being able to an agreement in business is a highlight in all cultures, and that communication is the key. It rhymes really well in Russian and the translation is O.K but the flow and rhyme is lost, so I could not read it as fast. Thats why I am giving it a 4.
October 4, 2009
This book brings to American children, and adults, the first verse translations of 15 traditional fables. The animals in the fables are timeless in their wit and mischief.
June 14, 2010
Volk i Zhuravl 3/5
Strekoza i Muravey 4/5
Vorona i Lisitsa 5/5
Volk i Yagnonok 4/5
Lev i Mysh 5/5
Strekoza i Muravey 4/5
Vorona i Lisitsa 5/5
Volk i Yagnonok 4/5
Lev i Mysh 5/5
April 13, 2021
This turned out to be extremely short epigrams or snippets but written in a very amusing way. Mostly, it felt like a book which must be read to the children for the moralistic interest that it takes but I liked reading it too. His style of language was entertaining, and he made the book rather like an engaging story. However the magnanimity ends at that. This book was more or less a children's book for me and it had nothing else to offer in terms of Russian literature. Also, I have to mention that since it was a translated version; I was rather sceptic about the stories, but it turned out that the essence was still intact. At least that is what I felt. It was interesting to know that by the time of Krylov's death, 77,000 copies of his fables had been sold in Russia, and his unique brand of wisdom and humor remains popular ever since.
March 10, 2018
Mostly predictable and unimaginative fables. I thought they would have a Russian flavor--but they don't particularly. A few were noteworthy:
"A Little Box" (p. 30)-much like Wittgenstein's metaphor of solving a philosophical problem with a move that seems obvious in retrospect.
"The Sightseer" (p. 132)-apparently the origin of the "elephant in the room".
"The Author and the Robber" (p. 194)-a sort of appreciation of the intellect, along the lines of "the pen is mightier than the sword," in which a damaging intellectual idea is eventually far worse than a robbery.
"The Poor Rich Man" (p. 239)-a clever puzzle in which a man is offered a source of gradually increasing wealth which will end when any of it is spent. Predictably the foolish miserly man declines to spend any of it (because he always wants more) until he finally starves to death.
"A Little Box" (p. 30)-much like Wittgenstein's metaphor of solving a philosophical problem with a move that seems obvious in retrospect.
"The Sightseer" (p. 132)-apparently the origin of the "elephant in the room".
"The Author and the Robber" (p. 194)-a sort of appreciation of the intellect, along the lines of "the pen is mightier than the sword," in which a damaging intellectual idea is eventually far worse than a robbery.
"The Poor Rich Man" (p. 239)-a clever puzzle in which a man is offered a source of gradually increasing wealth which will end when any of it is spent. Predictably the foolish miserly man declines to spend any of it (because he always wants more) until he finally starves to death.
August 17, 2012
Een bloemlezing van de puntige, humoristische en soms vlijmscherpe fabels die Krylov op vrolijke en doeltreffende wijze op rijm heeft gezet.
Sommige zijn naar La Fontaine, maar de beste zijn Krylovs eigen creaties. Na lezing van deze bundel hoort Krylov wat mij betreft met Gogol tot de aardsvaders van de Russische humoristische literatuur.
Sommige zijn naar La Fontaine, maar de beste zijn Krylovs eigen creaties. Na lezing van deze bundel hoort Krylov wat mij betreft met Gogol tot de aardsvaders van de Russische humoristische literatuur.
September 14, 2015
Julia, 7-years old: I liked talking about the morals with my mom. (It was fun talking about the morals.) Some of the morals were funny like the monkey and the glasses. The moral was that things have no value if you don't know how to use them.
January 6, 2016
Рассказы не интересные и нудные; хотя почти все рекомендуют.
Для маленьких детей я понимаю. Они поучительные и многие про животных, и это их интересует. Для старших, совершенна не рекомендую, особенно когда ваша учительница заставляла их учить.
Для маленьких детей я понимаю. Они поучительные и многие про животных, и это их интересует. Для старших, совершенна не рекомендую, особенно когда ваша учительница заставляла их учить.
May 25, 2018
Обязательно к прочтению!
October 4, 2021
From the wisdom of "Being There" may I present a wonder of the Court of Catherine the Great the creator of (or at least the transcriber of) Russian wisdom: If People looked more closely, they would find that often they praise others with themselves in mind; Now who was right and who was wrong in this affair I know not. But the cart is still there; I've never left off wondering (neither have you I'm sure, have you) Why, when a coward fears a thing, He figures everybody else does, too.
March 21, 2022
Aardige fabels met verrassende thema’s en mooie gravures met daarbij heel beknopt de historische aanleiding voor het schrijven en publiceren van een aantal ervan. Helaas zijn de teksten vertaald in zulk slecht rijm, dat ze bijna onleesbaar worden. Het is een soort van vrij vers waarbij noch het aantal lettergrepen op een regel, noch het rijmschema enige consequentheid vertonen. Als je niet kunt rijmen, vertaal een gedicht dan maar in gewoon proza.
August 1, 2020
Interesting easy read despite some difficulties with translation at times and repetitive nature of the fables. Glad I read it but can't recommend it.
July 6, 2021
Klassika!
September 7, 2023
Spodobały mi się te baśnie, natomiast wiele jak dla mnie się powtarzało. Ciężko było mi tez ogarnąć język bo jednak obecnie rosyjski wyglada inaczej
December 27, 2023
Bought this book for $3 at a Chicago vintage store. 10/10 purchase. Wouldn’t pay more than $5 though.
Want to read
July 10, 2024Fun read this one.
August 29, 2024
Čteno v českém překladu z r. 1886- nádherná staročeština a četné archaické výrazy. Skvělé bajky, doporučuju
August 25, 2025
A bit too schoolmasterly in the old way, but it sometimes makes me smile. Not a book to read as a novel. Rather something for the toilet library if that concept exists where you live 🙃
October 10, 2022
The multitude of different tales are phenomenal. Most of them have also a very good punch line so people will understand what is the allegory that the author used.
I liked most the one called Geese- very in line with what the Russians are feeling in the last 50 years- their ancestors have won WW2, since then they haven't achieved a single thing so all is left for them ot do is to talk about the glory days of WW2
I liked most the one called Geese- very in line with what the Russians are feeling in the last 50 years- their ancestors have won WW2, since then they haven't achieved a single thing so all is left for them ot do is to talk about the glory days of WW2
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews