Episode Details

The Fables of Ivan Krylov — Episode Thirty-Two

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

The Sack (Мешок, Book III, No. 7) — An empty Sack lies in the hallway corner, good only for the lowliest servants to wipe their feet on. Then it is stuffed full of gold coins and locked in an iron-bound chest, and suddenly the whole town knows it, gazes at it fondly, pats it and marvels at whatever nonsense it utters. Krylov's closing warning is for every Sack that a million has made proud.

The Shadow and the Man (Тень и Человек, Book V, No. 12) — A wag tries to catch his own shadow: he steps toward it, it steps ahead; he runs, it runs the faster, never to be caught, like a treasure. Then he turns and runs the other way — and now the shadow chases him. Krylov's closing stanza says the very same happens with Fortune.

The Sheep and the Dogs (Овцы и Собаки, Book VI, No. 18) — To keep the Wolves from troubling the flock, it is decreed that the number of Dogs be multiplied. The Sheep are saved from the Wolves, it is true — but Dogs must eat too. First the wool goes, then, lot by lot, the skins, until of the whole flock only five or six Sheep remain. Ten lines, and the sharpest little fable in this episode.

The Shepherd (Пастух, Book IX, No. 1) — Savva the shepherd laments to everyone that a dreadful Wolf is dragging his master's sheep out of the flock and tearing them without mercy. The whole village hunts the Wolf and curses him — yet somehow it is always mutton soup, or a side of mutton with porridge, in Savva's own stove. Krylov built the fable on the old proverb, and the closing couplet delivers it.

The Shepherd and the Sea (Пастух и Море, Book VI, No. 15) — A shepherd living peacefully by the shore watches the ships unload treasures until the storehouses burst, sells his flock and his house, and puts to sea a merchant. The storm teaches him the treachery native to the Seas; by patience and labour he wins his own flock back, and when the calm Sea smiles at him again, he has an answer ready. Krylov's closing lines hold to what is sure: what is mine — is mine.

Krylov Fables.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.