Episode Details

The Fables of Ivan Krylov — Episode Seventeen

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

The Hardworking Bear (Трудолюбивый Медведь, Book VI, No. 23) — A Bear watches a peasant bend cart-bows and sell them at a profit, and resolves to live by the same trade. Soon the forest rings with cracking hazel, birch, and elm — a countless score of trees ruined, and not one bow bent. He goes to the peasant to ask where the chief skill lies, and gets a one-word answer.

The Hare on the Hunt (Заяц на ловле, Book II, No. 15) — The beasts catch a bear together and divide him on the open field — and there is the Hare, tugging at the bear's ear, though no one saw him at the hunt. His defence is magnificent: who frightened the bear out of the forest and drove him straight to them, if not he? The boasting is blatant, but so funny that he gets his scrap of ear.

The Hermit and the Bear (Пустынник и Медведь, Book IV, No. 11) — A lonely hermit befriends a great bear, and the two become inseparable. On a hot day's walk the hermit lies down to sleep while his friend stands guard — and a fly settles on the sleeper's nose, then his cheek, then his nose again. Krylov's opening moral is the famous one: an obliging fool is more dangerous than an enemy.

The Hop (Хмель, Book V, No. 18) — Twined around a dry garden stake, the Hop mocks the young oak standing in the field: rough, ill-coloured, good for nothing. Within the week the master breaks the stake for firewood and transplants the oak into the garden — and the Hop is suddenly twining around the oak instead, full of praise. Krylov closes with the flatterer, who slanders you until you rise.

The Horse and the Rider (Конь и Всадник, Book IV, No. 17) — A rider trains his horse to obey his voice alone, and, delighted with himself, rides out with the bridle removed. The horse feels his freedom by degrees — a playful step, then hot blood and a flashing eye — throws his rider, and dashes himself to death in a ravine. The closing moral weighs freedom itself: alluring, but fatal without reasonable measure.

Krylov Fables.

Intermission: "The Friend's Cello" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.