Episode Details

The Fables of Ivan Krylov — Episode Thirty-Eight

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

The Wild Goats (Дикие Козы, Book VII, No. 14) — In winter a Shepherd finds Wild Goats in a cave and thanks the gods through tears of joy: no treasure needed, his flock will double. He will go short of food and sleep to lure the darling little Goats to him and live like a lord — for a shepherd's flocks are as an estate to a lord. So he hauls feed from his own sheep to his guests, pets them a hundred times a day, and cuts his own flock's share down to a wisp of hay and a push. Then spring comes. Krylov's closing address to the Shepherd is the moral, spoken straight to him.

The Wolf and the Cat (Волк и Кот, Book VIII, No. 19) — A Wolf runs from the forest into a village, not on a visit but saving his life, trembling for his skin, with hunters and a pack of hounds behind him. Every gate is bolted. On a fence sits a Cat, and the Wolf begs him: Vasenka, my friend, who here is the kindest peasant, to hide me? The Cat names Stepan — but the Wolf flayed his ram. Demyan — he carried off his kid. Trofim — since spring he has threatened him for a lamb. Klim — he slaughtered his calf. The Cat's closing verdict ends with the folk proverb the whole fable is built on.

The Wolf and the Crane (Волк и Журавль, Book VI, No. 12) — That wolves are greedy, everyone knows: a Wolf eating never sorts his bones. So trouble falls on one of them — he nearly chokes on a bone, and can neither groan nor sigh. By luck a Crane happens to be near. The Wolf beckons him by signs to help, and the Crane puts his beak, up to his neck, into the Wolf's jaws, pulls the bone out with great difficulty — and asks for pay for his labour. There is no separate moral stanza: the cunning beast's answer is the whole point, and it ends with a warning to keep out of his way.

The Wolf and the Cub (Волк и Волчонок, Book III, No. 5) — The Wolf, little by little training his Cub to feed by his father's trade, sends him along the forest's edge to watch for a chance — even taking on a sin, at the shepherd's expense — at breakfast or dinner. The pupil comes home delighted: dinner is ready under the hill, sheep one fatter than another, a flock too great to count, and dogs that are not fat at all, poor and quiet. The old Wolf is not lured: first he must know what the shepherd is like. There is no separate moral stanza — the lesson is carried in the old Wolf's closing lines, where he leads the Cub to a very different flock.

The Wolf and the Cuckoo (Волк и Кукушка, Book II, No. 17) — "Farewell, neighbour!" the Wolf tells the Cuckoo: in vain he lured himself with peace here, for the people and the dogs are all the same, one worse than the other, and even an angel would not avoid a fight with them. He is going straight to the forests of happy Arcadia, where they know no war, men are gentle as lambs, rivers flow with milk, and even the dogs do not bark, let alone bite. The Cuckoo wishes him a happy journey — and asks one question about his temper and his teeth. Krylov's closing quatrain follows, for everyone who sees no good folk anywhere he turns.

Krylov Fables.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.