Episode Details

The Fables of Ivan Krylov — Episode Nineteen

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

The Leaves and the Roots (Листы и Корни, Book IV, No. 2) — On a fine summer day the Leaves, whispering with the zephyrs, boast that they alone are the valley's pride: they shade the shepherd, draw the shepherd girls to dance, and host the nightingale. Then a humble voice answers from underground — the Roots, burrowing in darkness, who feed them all, and who have one difference to point out about spring.

The Liar (Лжец, Book II, No. 13) — Home from distant travels, a nobleman tells his friend of a paradise where no one sows or plants — and of a cucumber he saw in Rome, truly as big as a mountain. His friend replies with a wonder of his own: the bridge ahead, which no liar can cross. Watch the cucumber shrink, step by step, as the bridge comes nearer.

The Lion (Лев, Book VIII, No. 22) — Grown feeble and old, the Lion finds his stony bed too hard and asks his boyars — the Bears and Wolves — how to gather wool without burdening rich or poor. Their zeal is boundless: they seize the stags, goats and does, shave them clean to the skin, keep every hair of their own, and stock themselves mattresses for the winter out of the same tribute.

The Lion and the Fox (Лев и Лисица, Book V, No. 17) — A Fox who has never seen a Lion meets him once, and is left scarce alive with fright. She meets him a second time, and he seems not quite so terrible. The third time, she falls into conversation with him. Krylov's two-line moral is for everything we fear at a distance.

The Lion and the Leopard (Лев и Барс, Book II, No. 2) — Tired of their long war over the disputed woods, the Lion and the Leopard agree to settle by law and appoint secretaries. The Leopard names his honest Cat — and warmly urges the Lion to name the Donkey, praising the beast above the Lion's whole court. The Lion approves the plan, and sends the Fox instead, murmuring a proverb the world taught him.

Krylov Fables.

Intermission: "La Partenza" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.