Episode Details

Five fables by Ivan Krylov (1769–1844), in new English verse translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

The Curious (Любопытный, Book IV, No. 15) — Three hours inside the Kunstkamera: butterflies, beetles, and ladybirds smaller than a pinhead, all catalogued in endless rapture — until his friend asks the one simple question: and did you see the elephant?

Demian's Fish Soup (Демьянова уха, Book V, No. 1) — Demian's ukha is cooked to glory, and no guest shall escape it: plate follows plate and spoon follows spoon while poor Foka sweats, and eats, and eats again — and Krylov's closing words are addressed to writers who do not know when to stop.

The Divers (Водолазы, Book V, No. 4) — An ancient king, tormented by the question whether learning does more harm than good, puts it to councils and assemblies and receives no answer — until a grey-bearded hermit, met in a field, replies with a parable: three brothers who went down to the sea for pearls, each choosing his own depth.

Division (Раздел, Book II, No. 6) — The trade is done and the partners are dividing the profits when the cry goes up: fire in the house! But nobody stirs — first pay out my thousand, first settle my two — and the reckoning is still unfinished when the smoke closes over them all.

The Doe and the Dervish (Лань и Дервиш, Book III, No. 19) — A young doe who has lost her own fawns suckles two wolf-cubs in the forest; the dervish warns her whose blood those cubs may one day spill. Her answer, and Krylov's closing stanza, say what true kindness is.

Krylov Fables.

Intermission: "Luminous Springs" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.