The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish

The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish

"The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish" ( _ru. Сказка о рыбаке и рыбке; Skazka o rybake i rybke) is a fairy tale in verse by Alexander Pushkin. Pushkin wrote the tale in autumn 1833 and it was first published in literary magazine "Biblioteka dlya chteniya" in May 1835. The tale is about a fisherman who managed to catch a "Golden Fish" which promised to fulfill any wish of his in exchange for letting it go. The storyline is similar to the Russian fairy tale "Greedy Old Wife" (according to Vladimir Propp) and to Brothers Grimm's tale "The Fisherman and His Wife".

Plot summary

In Pushkin's poem, an old man and woman have been living poorly for many years. They have a small hut, and every day the man goes out to fish. One day, he throws in his net and pulls out seaweed two times in succession, but on the third time he pulls out a golden fish. The fish pleads for its life, promising any wish in return. However, the old man does not want anything, and lets the fish go. When he returns and tells his wife about the golden fish, she gets angry and tells her husband to go ask the fish for a new washboard (their washboard is broken), and the fish happily grants this small request. The next day, the wife asks for a new house, and the fish grants this also. Then, in succession, the wife asks for a palace, to become the ruler of her province, to become the tsarina, and finally to become the Ruler of Sea, to subjugate the golden fish completely to her boundless will. As the man goes to ask for each item, the sea becomes more and more stormy, until the last request, where the man can hardly hear himself think. When he asks that his wife be made the Ruler of the Sea, the fish cures her greed by putting her back in the old cottage and giving back the broken washboard. The moral of the story is: do not get too greedy, or you will end up with nothing.

Adaptations

*1866 - "Le Poisson d'or" ("The Golden Fish"), "fantastic ballet", choreography by Arthur Saint-Léon, the music by Ludwig Minkus.
*1937 - "The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish", USSR, animated film by Aleksandr Ptushko. [http://www.animator.ru/db/?ver=eng&p=show_film&fid=2491]
*1950 - "The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish", USSR, traditionally-animated film by Mikhail Tsekhanovsky. [http://www.animator.ru/db/?ver=eng&p=show_film&fid=3005]

References

* Alexander Pushkin: A Critical Study by A.D.P. Briggs, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1982.

External links

*ru icon " [http://www.rvb.ru/pushkin/01text/03fables/01fables/0799.htm Сказка о рыбаке и рыбке] " available at "Russian Virtual Library"
* [http://home.freeuk.com/russica4/books/goldfish/gfish.html "The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish"] , transl. by Louis Zellikoff
* [http://kinejo.blogsome.com/2007/06/06/p13/ "The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish" (1950 film)] available online in Russian with Esperanto subtitles

__NOTOC__


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • The Fish and the Ring — is an English fairy tale collected by Joseph Jacobs in English Fairy Tales . This tale has has several parallels in the literature and folklore of various cultures.ynopsisA baron who was a magician learned that his son was fated to marry a girl… …   Wikipedia

  • The Fisherman and His Wife — is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale no. 19. It is Aarne Thompson type 555, the fisherman and his wife. Its theme is similar to that of The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish , an 1835 poem by Aleksandr… …   Wikipedia

  • The Gold-Children — is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 85. It is Aarne Thompson type 555, the fisherman and his wife, followed by type 303, blood brothers.ynopsisA fisherman caught a golden fish, who gave him and his wife a rich… …   Wikipedia

  • The Stonecutter — is a Japanese folklore of unknown authorship. It is closely related to the themes of The Fisherman and His Wife , a well known fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm. Plot synopsis Once upon a time a stonecutter was working near the side of a …   Wikipedia

  • The Golden Fish — may refer to:* Histoire d un poisson rouge (1959), aka The Golden Fish (film) ( [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052855/ IMDB] ) *Le Poisson d or (1867), ballet in 4 acts by Arthur Saint Léon * The Golden Fish (1925), a painting by Paul Klee *The… …   Wikipedia

  • fish story — {n. phr.} An unlikely or improbable tale. * /Hunters and fishermen often exaggerate their successes by telling fish stories./ …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • fish story — {n. phr.} An unlikely or improbable tale. * /Hunters and fishermen often exaggerate their successes by telling fish stories./ …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • The Three Princesses of Whiteland — is a Norwegian fairy tale, collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe. Andrew Lang collected it in The Red Fairy Book.A fisherman caught nothing one day, and near evening, a head popped up from the water, to make a bargain for him:… …   Wikipedia

  • fish story — AND fish tale n. a great big lie. (Like the fisherman who exaggerates the size of the fish that got away.) □ That’s just a fish story. Tell me another! □ He’s a master at the fish tale. Maybe he should be a politician …   Dictionary of American slang and colloquial expressions

  • The Enchanted Doe — is an Italian literary fairy tale written by Giambattista Basile in his 1634 work, the Pentamerone .ynopsisA king wished for a child; to incline the gods toward him, he was charitable to beggars. When he had spent all his money this way without… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”