Episode Details

The Fables of Ivan Krylov — Episode Twenty-Six

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

The Owl and the Donkey (Филин и Осёл, Book VIII, No. 17) — A blind Donkey loses his road in the night forest and cannot move forward or back, until an Owl — sharp-eyed in the dark — guides him out to the smooth highway by morning. The Donkey begs so good a guide never to leave him, and the Owl rides like a lord on his back. But the sun rises, the daylight guide goes blind, and his stubborn directions end in a ravine.

The Paper Kite (Бумажный Змей, Book IV, No. 4) — Launched beneath the clouds, the Paper Kite looks down on a Moth in the valley and calls on him to confess his envy of so lofty a flight. The Moth confesses nothing. High the Kite may fly — but he flies upon a string, rattling all his life for another's empty amusement, while the lowly Moth flies exactly where he wishes.

The Parishioner (Прихожанин, Book VII, No. 26) — Krylov opens with the people who call you a genius the moment you are their friend, and fear even to feel the beauty in anyone else. Then comes his true tale: a preacher whose honeyed sermon lifts a whole congregation to tears — every listener but one, whose dry eyes have the plainest explanation of all. He is not of this parish.

Parnassus (Парнас, Book I, No. 8) — When the gods are driven out of Greece and their estates are shared among mortals, Parnassus falls to an owner who grazes his Donkeys on it. The Donkeys conclude the world is tired of the Muses and wants them to sing instead: they found a choir, rule that no voice without donkey charm shall be admitted, and raise a din like a thousand unoiled wheels. Krylov's closing moral is the old saying about the empty head.

Passersby and the Dogs (Прохожие и Собаки, Book II, No. 11) — Two friends walk in earnest talk at evening when a cur yaps from a gateway — then another, then fifty Dogs from every yard. One friend snatches up a stone; the wiser one stops him: walk on, and know their nature. A few dozen steps and the barking dies away by itself. Krylov's closing moral is for the enviers of this world, and for everyone they bark at.

Krylov Fables.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.