Episode Details

The Fables of Ivan Krylov — Episode Thirty

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

The Pig (Свинья, Book III, No. 16) — A Pig wanders onto a lordly manor's yard, rolls in the filth around the stables and kitchens, bathes in the slops up to her ears, and comes home a pig through and through. The herdsman asks what she saw among the rich, where everything is said to be pearls and beads. Khavronya rooted up the whole back yard — and saw nothing but dung and dirt. Krylov's closing moral is for every critic with the same gift.

The Pig under the Oak (Свинья под Дубом, Book VII, No. 7) — Beneath an ancient Oak the Pig eats acorns to her fill, sleeps, and then sets her snout to undermining the Oak's own roots. The Raven warns her the tree may die; the Pig answers that she sees no use in it, so long as there are acorns to grow fat on. Then the Oak itself replies. Krylov's closing moral is for every ignoramus who reviles the learning whose fruits he tastes.

The Pike (Щука, Book VIII, No. 5) — A charge is laid against the Pike: life in the pond has become impossible because of her. A cartload of evidence is produced, and the culprit is carried to court in a great tub, before two Donkeys, two ancient Mares and two or three Goats, with the Fox as prosecutor — though rumour says the Pike supplies the Fox's fish-table. The court condemns her to hang, until the Fox proposes a punishment more terrible still.

The Pike and the Cat (Щука и Кот, Book II, No. 16) — Krylov opens with the woe that comes when a cobbler bakes the pies and a pastry-cook stitches the boots. The toothy Pike takes it into her head to try the cat's trade, and begs Vaska the Cat to take her mouse-hunting in the barn. Vaska warns her that work fears the master; the Pike answers that she has caught ruffe-fish before now. The hunt ends with the rats at her tail, and her gossip dragging her back to the pond.

The Pond and the River (Пруд и Река, Book IV, No. 7) — The neighbouring Pond marvels at the River: her waters never stop flowing, and she is forever carrying heavy ships, tall rafts and boats without count. How much pleasanter is the Pond's own lot — lying like a great lady on feather beds in his silty banks, philosophising through sleep. The River answers with the law that only moving water stays fresh, and Krylov's closing moral tells what becomes of a talent that laziness has seized.

Krylov Fables.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.