In Krasicki's fairy tales, published during the poet's lifetime, in the volume entitled "Fairy tales and parables” short epigrammatic works predominate, while in “New fairy tales", published in 1802, a year after the author's death, there are fairy tales of a narrative nature.
Both collections are an excellent mirror of human relations and relationships of timeless value, because even today we will find in them our knowledge about life and people of our time, and the warnings contained in them and the wisdom of morals can always serve as a weapon against the effects of human stupidity and the surprises of everyday life.
In this text you will read:
“Introduction to fairy tales”
"Introduction to fairy tales" reveals the poet's critical attitude to the world, where there are good, temperate, honest and kind people, but there are so few of them that they are more often heroes of fairy tales than characters shaping our reality.
Fairy Tale "Painters"
The fairy tale "The Painters" proves that human vanity and lack of reasonable self-esteem provide opportunities for doing good business for all kinds of dodgers. An excellent portrait painter, Piotr, barely earns his bread with his work, and Jan, although he "did little and badly", was doing splendidly.
“Why did these painters have such a different fate?
Piotr painted similar, Jan more beautiful faces.
Fairy tale "The raven and the fox"
The above thoughts are complemented by the fairy tale “The Raven and the Fox”. A few flattery and false admiration for the raven's charms were enough for the raven, believing in his singing talent, to open his beak and let out a piece of cheese, which the clever fox was waiting for. When the cheese fell out, "the fox took it and left the raven." “He who likes to be praised is often deceived,” concludes the poet.
Fairy tale "The rat and the cat"
"The Rat and the Cat" warns against pride, which causes people to believe in their infallibility, in their indestructible strength, which makes them lose their sense of reality and fail to see the dangers. It only takes a moment to lose a position or even a life. A rat, delighted with himself, sitting on the altar during the service, fell victim to the cat when, convinced that "he was being incense", "he choked on the smoke of unnecessary incense".
Fairy tale "Ox Minister"
"When the ox was a minister and ruled wisely,
Things were going slowly, true, but they were going well.
Bored with monotony, the monarch throws him off his post, giving it to a monkey, and then to a fox. It soon turned out that the stupidity of the first minister and the cunning of the second could lead to ruin. Fortunately, reason prevailed and "again the ox was a minister and fixed everything." Krasicki's fairy tales entertain and teach at the same time.
The author himself says that this is their task:
“If they don't make good learning
Then they only shine with empty brilliance
And, like decay, they glow, not heat.
Other fairy tales by Krasicki
Krasicki's fairy tales express the poet's philosophy. In them he included his view of the world, the essence of human nature and relations between people. His fairy tales can be considered as a painful satire on society, but they can also be seen as an expression of reflection on the complicated system of interpersonal relations, on the proper meaning of truth in life, manifested in moral, social and political issues.
Other cartoons:
"Devotee” – reproach for false piety, hypocrisy. During the prayer, she beat the maid. "God, keep such piety." "Peas by the road" - greed, stinginess, excessive caution. “When he planted peas by the road, they ate him. When he later planted it in the corn, they trampled the corn and ate the peas too.”
"Shepherd and sheep- duplicity. The shepherd wept not because the sheep had died, but because he had lost the meat.
"Lamb and wolves” – force prevails over equity and law. The wolves ate a lonely lamb in the forest because it was weaker than them. "By what right?" – “Tasty, weak and in the forest!” They ate it soon.
"Friends” – selfishness and cowardice. No one wanted to help the hare when the dogs were chasing him, although he had been assured of their friendship beforehand. “Among true friends, the dogs ate the hare.”
"Birds in a cage” – patriotic character, teaches the price of freedom. "You were born in her (cage) ... I was free ... and that's why I cry."
As an expression of the philosophy of life, Krasicki's fairy tales praise common sense, moderation and modesty. They teach criticism and skepticism. They tell us to look at the world carefully so as not to take the appearances of the truth for the real truth.
So fairy tales, like satires, have the task of drawing people's attention to evil phenomena and condemning them. Fairy tales and satires, with their characteristic feature of easy communication through laughter, are best suited for this.
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