Introduction
Chapter I Theoretical basis study of the shadow motif in literature
1 general characteristics literary fairy tale
2 Shadow motif
Chapter II. The study of the motive for the loss of the shadow in the fairy tale by G.Kh. Andersen "Shadow" and Shamisso's fairy tale "The Amazing Adventures of Peter Schlemel"
1 The motif of the loss of the shadow in the fairy tale by G.Kh. Andersen "Shadow"
2 The motif of the loss of the shadow in Chamisso's fairy tale "The Amazing Adventures of Peter Schlemel"
Conclusion
Introduction
The fairy tale is one of the most popular and favorite genres in the folklore and literature of the peoples of the world.
A fairy tale in its origins goes back to the methods of magical rites, to the totality of mythical views of the world; such is the idea of the existence of the underworld, other worlds, etc. However, the coincidence of many wonderful motifs with magical rites does not mean their identity. In fairy tales, people dreamed of overcoming real power external forces nature and society, depicted an imaginary victory over them, and the performance of a magical rite accustomed a person to passive expectation. Then fiction in fairy tales became a poetic convention - they embodied the people's dreams of a different, bright life, in which justice reigns, and the heroes - carriers of a positive beginning - invariably turn out to be winners in the struggle of life.
The theme of the most common fairy tales is the fate of the persecuted and humiliated. For loyalty, kindness, disinterestedness, the troubles of such heroes are replaced by well-being. Heroes owe this turn in fate to the intervention of supernatural forces, the acquisition of a magical object, knowledge or skill. In fairy tales, a whole galaxy of wonderful helpers arose: a horse, a frog, a kind old woman, a sorceress wife, etc. They counteract enemies: witches, a whirlwind kidnapper, Koshchei, a many-headed beast, etc. Fairy tales taught to be firm in life's trials, not to put up with evil , not true. The storytellers dreamed of a miraculous way to alleviate the difficult physical work master the forces of nature.
Fairy tales express the credo of a sincere soul and direct feeling, they speak of the deeds of small and inconspicuous creatures, and they explain to us that life is richer and wider than our limited ideas of good and evil, it is inexhaustible.
Naturally, this philosophy has attracted many hearts and brought comfort to many people. It is also addressed to the modern reader. But the stories don't end there. If you read them more carefully and try to draw conclusions, they are more disturbing than they bring consolation.
Fairy tales are far from harmless and innocent reading. In someone who can read between the lines, they inspire anxiety. The writer's human insight and life wisdom go far beyond the ordinary.
A literary (author's) fairy tale is closely connected with a folk theme, plot, motif, and often style. In the work of writers, the fairy tale gained independence and artistic originality, although it retained a number of folklore features: in genre devices, in the interpretation of miracles. The emergence of author's fairy tales marked the high rise of professional literature and its movement on the path of the people to national identity.
Based on the above facts, we formulated the topic of our study: “The motif of the loss of the shadow in the fairy tale by G.Kh. Andersen “Shadow” and the fairy tale by Chamisso “The Amazing Adventures of Peter Schlemel””.
The object of our study is the motif of the loss of the shadow.
The subject of the study is the fairy tale by G.Kh. Andersen "Shadow" and the fairy tale by Chamisso "The Amazing Adventures of Peter Schlemel".
The purpose of the study is to characterize the motif of the loss of the shadow in the fairy tale "Shadow" by H.H. Andersen and the fairy tale "The Amazing Adventures of Peter Schlemel" by Chamisso
Research objectives:
1.Analyze the literature on the research topic. 2.Describe the main concepts. .To characterize the motif of the loss of the shadow in the fairy tale by G.Kh. Andersen "The Shadow" and the fairy tale by Shamisso "The Amazing Adventures of Peter Schlemel" Chapter I. Theoretical foundations for studying the shadow motif in literature
.1 General characteristics of a literary tale
Ozhegov's dictionary [Ozhegov 1989] records the following general definition fairy tale genre: “A fairy tale is a narrative, usually folk poetic work about fictitious persons and events, mainly with the participation of magical, fantastic forces. As noted in the Brief Literary Encyclopedia, there are four main types of fairy tales within the genre of fairy tales: “tales about animals, fairy tales, adventurous novelistic tales, everyday fairy tales”. In the framework of our study, fairy tales are considered. The object of the study is literary fairy tales, while folklore fairy tales are studied to identify the basic laws of the fairy tale structure, the transformations of which make up the originality of the literary fairy tale genre. Magic type selection explained the following reasons: firstly, it is the fairy tale that is the “main” type, it is it that best reflects the reader’s concept of a “real” fairy tale (the words “magic” and “fabulous” are often used as synonyms); secondly, folklore fairy tales are distinguished by a rather strict and rigid structure and, therefore, using the example of a literary fairy tale, starting from the traditions of a fairy tale, it is easiest to trace the differences that arise when the author reworks a fairy tale plot or when writing an independent work with a fairy tale plot. A folklore (folk) fairy tale is defined in Le dictionnaire du litteraire as follows: “A fairy tale is characterized by three main criteria: it tells about fictional, magical events; its purpose is to entertain, and at the same time often teach a moral lesson; it reflects a centuries-old oral tradition and has a certain universality. More detailed definition given in the "Reallexicon der Deutschen Literaturwissenschaft": "Oral or written, based on a set of motives common in different countries, prose story, in which the conditions of reality seem to be canceled ... The name "fairy tale" is given to stories of various types, which, however, satisfy at least the following criteria: the author, time, place and purpose of creating the work are unknown; the story varies in the process of oral transmission - both of these features distinguish a folk tale from a literary one; the story tells about the magical (partial abolition of the laws of nature) as a matter of course, but does not claim to be reliable - this feature distinguishes a fairy tale from other types wonderful stories. So, myth, legend, saga tell about outstanding events and have a claim to reality. So, all definitions call the element of "magic" as the main feature of a fairy tale. The last definition also emphasizes the special status of magical fairy tale events: on the one hand, the fairy tale does not pretend to be reality, and on the other hand, the “magical” in the fairy tale is presented as a matter of course. Petit Robert defines the concept of "magic" as follows: magical - that which surprises with supernatural, magical, miraculous properties. However, researchers such as J. Jean and E. Sinaer note that the word "supernatural" is not quite suitable for defining the magic of fairy tales, since magical events take place in a familiar, everyday environment and, since the supernatural in fairy tales is not surprising, is accepted as such. In other words, the magical can enchant, make you dream, take you to other lands, but it surprises you a little. The concept of a mystery is foreign to a fairy tale, since the mysterious event is not explained, but can be explained. P.-M. Shul, Ts. Todorov and other researchers draw attention to the difference between "fantastic" and "magic": in a fantastic narrative, the possibility of a rational explanation must always accompany mysterious events. The magical phenomena of fairy tales can be subject to many interpretations, but these interpretations will never be rational explanations. Nevertheless, as J. Jean notes, the world of folklore fairy tales is the real world, since fairy tales reflect everyday life. The repetitive and even sometimes monotonous nature of fairy tales, which describe such moments in a person's life as birth, wedding, death, hunting, war, food, sleep, etc., was often noted. “It can be said that one of the most obvious differences between myth and fairy tale is that in fairy tales the sacred is replaced by some kind of realism. This realism does not conflict with the magical, on the contrary, the charm of fairy tales lies in this meeting of the impossible and the everyday. There are several hypotheses about the origin of a folk tale: for example, M. Luti believed that fairy tales are constantly developing on the way to perfect shape which is in the future. The founder of the Indianist theory of the origin of fairy tales, T. Benfey, believed that the fairy tale precedes the myth, which subsequently develops from it. A. Lang, who laid the foundations of ethnographic theory, argued that the fairy tale, on the contrary, developed from myth. This point of view is shared by many scientists (Propp, Meletinsky, Levi-Strauss). So, E.M. Meletinsky develops the thesis proposed by Propp about the origin fairy tale from myth and from rituals associated with initiation [Meletinsky 1977, 1995, 2001]. J. Dumézil explores the transformations through which myths with sacred content were desacralized and turned into secular works. Folk fairy tales, these folklorists argue, date back to a pre-class society. Initially, they were associated with myth and had a magical meaning, but over time, only separate elements of mythical thinking were preserved in them. “Many fairy-tale motifs go back to ancient myths and rituals: ritual motifs associated with initiation, totemic myths, myths and legends about the shaman’s search for a lost soul or the search for a bride in a remote place” [Meletinsky 2001: 49]. Often in fairy tales there are heroes similar to the heroes of myth. But there is a significant difference - a magical assistant rarely has divine origin. In this regard, M. Eliade argues that in archaic cultures, a myth, devoid of sacred meaning, becomes a legend or a fairy tale. However, one cannot speak of a complete desacralization of the myth, since mythical characters and motifs are present in the tale in a "disguised" form. In fairy tales, the gods do not give their names, but their features are guessed in the images of the donors, helpers and opponents of the hero. Their faces are hidden, but they continue to perform their function. As many researchers note, a fairy tale differs from a myth in that it tells about the personal fate of the hero, and not about the fate of the world. “All functions describe the course of events one-sidedly - from the point of view of the hero. There are well-known fundamental reasons for this, since fairy tales, unlike myth, are purely “hero-centric” [Meletinsky 2001: 28]. Thus, initiatory motives are connected with the very essence of the folklore fairy tale genre, since it reflects the formation of the personality and fate of the character, his transformation into a real man and hero, which leads to an increase in his social status. “Wedding as a rite itself historically grew out of initiation: wedding and wedding symbols are widely present in the fairy tale as a reflection of the ancient rites of initiation” [Meletinsky 1995: 329]. EAT. Meletinsky notes that in a classic fairy tale, a special specific role the family theme plays, other researchers emphasize the same property: “A fairy tale is a story of marriage as a means necessary for entering society.” The origin of the fairy tale from the myth, the desacralization of the ritual and the loss of the meaning of the images are connected with the main formal feature of the folklore fairy tale - its isolation. "Having its own laws, its own vision of things and beings, the fairy tale closes on itself." Fairy tales do not provide viewers or readers with any opportunity to continue events and actions. V.Ya. Propp was the first to formulate the laws of the fabulous structure. In The Morphology of a Fairy Tale, he states that "Fairy tales have a very special structure, which is immediately felt and determines the category, although we are not aware of it." For him, a folklore fairy tale "is a story built on the correct alternation of functions in various types, in the absence of some of them for each story and in the repetition of others" [Propp 1998: 75-76]. T.B. Putilova, analyzing the structure of Schwartz's play "Shadow", written based on Andersen's work, notes an interesting pattern: Andersen's "Shadow" practically does not obey fairy-tale laws (the scheme derived by Propp), while the work created by Schwartz follows these laws. "Schwartz subordinated him to the laws, about which he could only have an intuitive concept and which in his time had already been formulated scientifically - the laws of a fairy tale" [Putilova 1977: 76]. Such an intuitive design of a literary work vividly demonstrates the stability of the structure of a fairy tale in our minds. A literary (author's) tale, unlike a folk tale, is told by a specific author, reflects his vision of the world, and this is its main feature; as a consequence, other differences between the literary fairy tale and folklore stem from this feature, which can be reflected both in minor deviations from the folklore tradition (for example, most of the fairy tales of A. de Regnier, some works of C. Pino), and in their almost complete violation while maintaining only some signs of "fabulousness" (fairy tales by J. Supervielle, some fairy tale short stories by M. Aimé). A literary tale is also often addressed to a specific reader - to the author's contemporaries. M. Luthi gives the following definition of a literary fairy tale: "A literary fairy tale is composed by a conscious, freely creative artistic mind and has not adapted to super-individual needs, expectations and storytelling skills by word of mouth." This definition emphasizes the role of the author's fantasy in the genre of a literary fairy tale: due to the fact that a literary fairy tale is an individual work, the "super-individual" rules of the genre are often not observed or deliberately violated in it. As already noted, we are considering fairy tales. As E.N. Kovtun notes, fairy tales of the 20th century cannot always be confidently attributed to one type or another, since they often carry the features of both a fairy tale and adventurous everyday and other types of fairy tales, as well as features of other genres, not related to the fairy tale [Kovtun 1999: 136]. Nevertheless, it is possible to single out a group of fairy tales in which the features of a fairy tale predominate. Most complete definition We find a literary fairy tale of a magical type in L.Yu. Braude: “A literary fairy tale is an author's, artistic, prose or poetic work, based either on folklore sources, or purely original; a work predominantly fantastic, magical, depicting the wonderful adventures of fictional or traditional fairy tale characters...; a work in which magic, a miracle play the role of a plot-forming factor, serves as the starting point for the characterization of characters" [Braude 1977: 234]. So, a magical literary tale does not necessarily have the rigid structure that is characteristic of a folk tale: on the contrary, the violation of the traditional structure is the main creative potential of this genre. As J. Jean notes, the potential of a fairy tale is revealed when the author dares to break Propp's construction and construct something new, completely unexpected. So, in our study, special attention is paid to fairy tales, which are not just given literary form while maintaining all the main fairy-tale canons, but the very content of which is creatively reworked in order to create an independent artwork reflecting the idea of the author. This property is extremely characteristic of the literary fairy tale of the 20th century. 1.2 Shadow motif
The concept of the shadow as an archetypal image exists in all cultures. In ancient times, the shadow of a person was considered his soul, a double (V. Dahl gives an example of a shadow as a “canopy”, the absence of a direct sunlight, and as the souls of the deceased, ghosts). The loss of the shadow was tantamount to the loss of life. Stepping on a shadow meant harming a person (children still tease each other like that). The word "shadow" in Russian corresponds to the English dialect "teen" - "harm", "damage", "death", with the name of the Greek god of death Thanatos. The riddles record, on the one hand, the frightening similarity of the shadow to a person (“Walks without legs, sleeves - without arms, mouth without speech”), and on the other hand, the fantastic inhuman possibilities of the shadow (“Walks on straw - does not rustle, walks on water - does not sink. Walks through the fire - does not burn", "I can’t catch up with the Black Raven, if I catch up - I can’t catch", "Wherever you go - she is everywhere with you", "Whatever you do - and she is the same, but don’t expect help from her - she will never help”) and her relative independence (“Metu, meta - I can’t sweep, I carry, I carry - I can’t stand it, it’s time to come - she will leave”). In many cultural traditions there is a theater of shadows, games with shadows. In Russian folklore, there is a game of "sighted blind man's buff", in which water must recognize the players by the shadow on the wall (screen) (the driver sits facing the screen and with his back to the players, who walk in a line between him and the light source; to make the task more difficult, the children used various details of clothing and any movements - limped, hunched over, backed away, etc.). The image of a shadow like dark side human soul is very interestingly interpreted in a number of literary works. In the tale of G.Kh. Andersen's “Shadow”, the hero Scientist dies as a result of the fact that, due to his kindness and short-sightedness, he gradually gives way to the Shadow of the Human prerogative - voluntarily releases the Shadow, addresses it as “you”, agrees to the role of a shadow with his own Shadow, etc. In the fairy tale play “Shadow” by E. Schwartz, in order to defeat a shadow, one must not only remember the magic formula “Shadow, know your place”, but also sacrifice your life (“to win, you must go to death” and what is most difficult is to understand your delusions and weaknesses). In the novel English writer Ursula Le Guin "Wizard of Earthsea" the young wizard Ged in the battle with the shadow "did not lose and did not win, but by naming the Shadow of Death own name, as if he connected the two halves of his soul - he became a person who, having known his own "I", cannot be in the power of another force and himself commands his soul, and therefore spends his life only for the sake of life and never - for the sake of destruction, pain, hatred or reign of darkness." In literature, the prototype of the Shadow often takes the form of a double, and it is precisely for this kind of secondary image that it is easier to search in the endless labyrinth of the world and domestic literature. Here they will stand in a row and "Nose" N.V. Gogol, and "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by O. Wilde, and "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" by R.L. Stevenson and many others. In the context of world artistic culture, the archetype of the shadow can be considered in conjunction with the bipolarity of the world, with the oppositions "light - darkness", "day and night", "existence - non-existence". The most famous in this regard is the Chinese symbol yin / yang, which carries the idea of dialectical unity and the struggle of light and dark principles. No less significant for the Slavs was the alternation of black and white beads, indicating the passage of time, and for the Egyptians, the change in the light of the courtyards and the mysterious darkness of the premises on the path of the Sun in the temples of Karnak and Luxor. Even in the desacralized "chiaroscuro" of European painting of the new time, metaphorical meaning and symbolism remained, not without reason the face of Judas on Leonardo's fresco is "dark", shaded, and Christ sits in the "halo" of a bright aperture. Analysis of works of architecture and painting from the point of view of the presence of Light and Darkness/Shadow in them can introduce additional nuances into the understanding of both styles and the author's position. Chapter II. The study of the motive for the loss of the shadow in the fairy tale by G.Kh. Andersen "Shadow" and Shamisso's fairy tale "The Amazing Adventures of Peter Schlemel" .1 The motif of the loss of the shadow in the fairy tale by G.Kh. Andersen "Shadow"
Even without writing a single fairy tale, Andersen would have been a writer famous in his time throughout Europe, a writer who is read even today, at least in Denmark. But fairy tales became the crown of his work. The irony of fate, because at first the writer, greedy for fame, did not suspect that it was they who would spread his name the farthest around the world. The idea of retelling folk tales and writing in the same genre was by no means original - European writers had been doing this for over a hundred years; in Denmark, for example, his older contemporaries Elenschleger and Ingeman. Why shouldn't an aspiring young writer try the same thing? After all, he always loved this kind of folklore. Actually, who could be closer to him than he, a child of the people? He made his first attempt back in 1829 with the fairy tale "Ghost", which concludes a collection of poems released for the new year, 1830. “As a child, I loved listening to fairy tales most of all,” he writes in the form of a preface, “almost are still alive in my memory, and some of them are known very little or completely unknown; I retold one, and if it is well received, I will take it and for others and someday I will create a cycle of children's folk tales. But Molbeck and other reviewers did not recommend the author to continue in the same spirit, and they can be understood, knowing the uncertain style and the quotations from Andersen's extensive reading circle and references to various literary phenomena that are encountered every now and then in the course of the story and are poorly suited to the popular race. He wrote for both children and adults. It was a work of two floors, to put it in Andersen's way: he retained the language and the fabulous environment, but the ideas behind them were intended for the father and mother, who listened with the children. However, this poetic achievement was not entirely new. Already "The Little Mermaid" and "Galoshes of Happiness" are not intended only for children, but in children's fairy tales here and there there is "food for thought", hardly perceived by children. What was new was that after 1843 the writer consciously addressed the adult reader. Children can be amused by The Snow Queen, The Nightingale, and many other tales, but they are unlikely to understand their depth, and such tales as The Bell, The Story of a Mother, or The Shadow are generally inaccessible to children. . The simple, pseudo-childish style of storytelling is just a spicy mask, a subtle naivety that emphasizes irony or seriousness. This original form of fairy tale narration developed gradually in Andersen, reaching perfection after 1843. All his masterpieces: "Bride and Groom", " ugly duck", "Spruce", "Girl with Matches", "Collar" and others - were created during this period. In 1849, all his fairy tales written by that time came out as a separate large edition, which became a monument to the artistic talent of the writer, who was not yet forty five years. The fairy tale genre became for Andersen a universal form of aesthetic comprehension of reality. It was he who introduced the fairy tale into the system of "high" genres. "Tales told to children" (1835-1842) are based on a rethinking of folk motives ("Flint", "Wild Swans", "Swineherd", etc.), and "Stories told to children" (1852) - on a rethinking of history and modern reality. At the same time, even Arabic, Greek, Spanish and other subjects acquired from Andersen the flavor of the Danish folk life. The fantasy of the storyteller in its richness argues with the folk fantasy. Relying on folk stories and images, Andersen did not often resort to fantastic fiction. In his view, life is full of miracles that you only need to see and hear. Any thing, even a very insignificant one - a darning needle, a barrel - can have its own amazing story. There are enough reasons for the triumphant march of fairy tales. Many of them have already been named, but one more remains: their universal wisdom of life. It was probably she who, to a large extent, carried them intact through the purgatory of translations and adaptations. In fairy tales, however, there is no consistent and thoughtful philosophy. The few general or abstract ideas that occur there (for example, about faith and knowledge, or about the relationship of poetry to science) are not original and are hardly of interest today. It is also rare for any fairy tale to have a clear and definite moral. The Red Shoes are one of the few exceptions that proves the rule. But in the motley variety of fabulous events, thoughts about people, about the world and life in general, are hidden, which can give food for thought to the modern reader. First, Andersen persistently repeats which people are worthy of respect and which are not. The one who accepts the gifts of life with gratitude and does not try to be and seem something more than he is, is always described with sympathy. The one who has a good heart, who goes through life cheerfully and spits on formalities, ultimately triumphs over a prudent person. Loving Gerda freed Kai from the cold palace of reason snow queen, the merrily singing nightingale turned out to be stronger than Death at the bedside of the emperor, and Hans the Chump got the princess. On the contrary, the well-fed bourgeois, who does not see beyond his own nose and self-satisfiedly judges everything according to his limited experience, is mercilessly ridiculed in fairy tales, directly or indirectly, it is impossible to make a mistake in his assessment. The narrow-mindedness of the philistine was worse for the author than the plague. Secondly, fairy tales contain very accurate ideas about the universe and about the perception and evaluation of its phenomena. They are not always expressed directly. But it is striking that the heroes of fairy tales perceive the universe differently. Each group of beings lives in its own environment, which is the world for the members of this group. Nor do they have a uniform opinion about life and about what is good and what is bad. The same differences exist between people. The little match girl has some common thoughts with the princess and the pea, and children and adults each live in their own world. The fairy tale "Shadow" is in the highest degree a realistic story, with only some fabulous features: the shadow is freed from its master and begins its own existence; no one is surprised that one can suffer from an annoying disease - an overly brisk look; and that a rich and eccentric gentleman dressing up his shadow as a man is no more surprising than that he undergoes a course of treatment with waters so that he grows a beard. But do particulars only outline the course of events in a stunning drama about a brave and benevolent scientist who is forced to endure when he is rendered helpless by his own shadow, a former servant and companion who, not shunning any means, even the meanest ones, strives to exalt himself in society and achieves his goal. These two characters are uncomfortably believable; the same can be said about the third character, the princess, who is intelligent, but not so intelligent as to recognize the deceiver, although he is only a shadow that she can pierce with glances, as ironically it is said about her when she looks at the shadow with loving eyes. The bitter philosophy of the tale is such that smart people strive for good, but their mind and kindness do not help them, but to own benefit shameless people strive, and it is they who win. There are no comforting moments in this tale. "Such is the light, and so it will remain," says Shadow. Anyone who is afraid of the ruthlessness of existence and human meanness cannot find solace in this terrible story. Telling in his autobiography the story of one of the fairy tales he wrote, Andersen wrote: "... An alien plot, as it were, entered my blood and flesh, I recreated it and then only released it to the world." Betrayal, cynicism, heartlessness - the sources of any evil - are concentrated in the image of the Shadow. The shadow could have stolen the name of the Scientist, appearance, his fiancee, his works, she could hate him with an acute hatred of an imitator - but for all that, she could not do without the Scientist, and therefore Schwartz's end in the play is fundamentally different than in Andersen's fairy tale. If Andersen's Shadow defeated the Scientist, then Schwartz's Shadow could not emerge victorious. "The shadow can only win for a while," he argued. Andersen's "Shadow" is usually called a "philosophical fairy tale". Andersen's scientist is full of vain trust and sympathy for a person in whose guise his own shadow appears. The scientist and his shadow went on a journey together, and one day the scientist said to the shadow: “We are traveling together, and besides, we have known each other since childhood, so why not have a drink on“ you ”? This way we will feel much freer with each other.” - "You said it very frankly, wishing both of us well," replied the shadow, which, in essence, was now the master. - And I will answer you just as frankly, wishing you only the best. You, as a scientist, should know: some people cannot stand the touch of rough paper, others shudder when they hear how they drive a nail on glass. The same unpleasant feeling I feel when you say "you" to me. It’s as if I’m pressed to the ground, as at the time when I occupied my former position with you. ” It turns out that a joint “journey” through life does not in itself make people friends; haughty hostility to each other, a vain and evil desire to dominate, to enjoy privileges, to parade their fraudulently acquired superiority still nest in human souls. In Andersen's fairy tale psychological evil embodied in the personality of the pompous and mediocre Shadow, it is in no way connected with that social environment and public relations, thanks to which the Shadow manages to triumph over the Scientist. And, starting from Andersen's fairy tale, developing and concretizing its complex psychological conflict, Schwartz changed its ideological and philosophical meaning. Andersen's short fairy tale is a European novel of the 19th century in miniature. Her theme is the career of an impudent, unprincipled shadow, the story of her way up: through blackmail, deceit, to the royal throne. The Shadow's attempt to persuade the Scientist to become his shadow is just one of her many paths to the top. The disagreement of the Scientist does not lead to anything, it is no coincidence that he was not even allowed to go anywhere after refusing to serve as a shadow, no one knew about his death. In Schwartz's play, all stages of the scientist's negotiations with the shadow are especially accentuated, they have a fundamental importance revealing the independence and strength of the scientist. In Andersen's fairy tale, the shadow is practically invulnerable, she has achieved a lot, she herself has become rich, everyone is afraid of her. In Andersen, the Shadow itself strives for power, stepping over a person, occupies the royal throne But even if life, both in fairy tales and in reality, is cruel and unfair, and grief is usually more than joy, the reader has no doubt that life is still worth living. Life just needs to be accepted as it is. Grief is hard, but if you see it as one of the manifestations of life, it also brings us a blessing (as they say in the fairy tale "The Last Pearl"). Everything depends on ourselves. If our eyes are open and the mind is receptive, we will find that life is bright and beautiful, rich in events large and small; that the world is full of people and other creatures, completely different, original in their own way, and therefore we will not have to be bored, there would be a desire to watch and listen. 2.2 The motif of the loss of the shadow in Chamisso's fairy tale "The Amazing Adventures of Peter Schlemel" fairy tale shadow andersen chamisso The amazing story of Peter Schlemil is a novel whose hero Peter Schlemil, a poor man, unable to resist the temptation, sells his shadow to the devil for a magical purse that never runs out of money. However, wealth does not bring him happiness. The surrounding people resolutely do not want to deal with a person without a shadow. Shlemil breaks the alliance with the devil and throws away the purse. And he finds happiness in communion with nature, traveling the world in the seven-league boots he found. drawing hard life his hero, a noble and honest man, who is expelled from the environment of officials, merchants and philistines, Chamisso shows the profound insignificance of this environment. The originality of the work is in the combination of a fantastic plot and realistic sketches of everyday life in Germany early XIX in. The hero of the story is an eccentric, unadapted to life guy, which abounded in German romantic literature. He is one of those "unfortunate people" who, according to Chamisso, "breaks his finger, putting it in his vest pocket", "falls on his back and manages to break the bridge of his nose in the process." Peter Schlemil departs with letter of recommendation to the rich Thomas John, who calls everyone "hungry" who does not have at least half a million fortune. A successful Englishman is surrounded by a crowd of smartly dressed gentlemen and ladies. Among them, Shlemil was struck by a lean and long, "like a thread that slipped out of a tailor's needle," "a man in a gray tailcoat." He has the ability to work miracles. From his pocket, at the request of the public, he gradually removes a telescope, a large carpet, a tent, a pair of horses, etc. It becomes clear that the mysterious guest of Mr. John is Satan himself, personifying the mystical nature and miraculous power of money in the story. Like all German romantics, Chamisso writes about the supernatural, demonic origin of wealth. The bourgeois order for him is the fruit of an abnormal development. However, unlike other romantic writers, Chamisso, introducing fantastic motifs into the narrative, does not break with life, depicts it quite widely. Fantasy in his work acts not so much as an element of worldview, but as a stylistic device that makes it possible in a conditional romantic form to reveal the real contradictions of the era, in particular the destructive power of gold. It is characteristic that the “man in gray”, embodying his nature and his power, serves a privileged society, and here (Chamisso emphasizes this circumstance many times) no one pays attention to his miracles. Wealthy circles are accustomed to the fantastic power of money. It strikes the attention only of the poor Schlemiel, who wears a turned suit and lives in a hotel room under the very roof. The possibility of enrichment turned his head, "gold sparkled before his eyes," and he decides for Fortunat's purse, which never dries up, to give up his shadow to the demon-tempter. AT further action switches to the moral-psychological plan. The story raises the question, is wealth, especially bought at such a high price, capable of giving happiness to a person? Chamisso gives a negative answer to this. Schlemil's tragic experiences began immediately after the conclusion of the deal. The first to notice the absence of a shadow in Shlemil were the poor - an unfamiliar old woman, a watchman, compassionate gossips - and sympathized with him. Wealthy burghers, on the other hand, gloat over Shlemiel's inferiority. All this makes us think that, having sold the shadow, the hero of the story lost some very important human qualities, valuable in social terms. A careful reading of the work leads to the conclusion that Shlemiel's shadow is associated with human dignity. This is such a property of a person that gives her the opportunity to appear openly in the sun, that is, to be the subject of public viewing. On the contrary, the loss of the shadow involuntarily drives the victim into darkness, for he is ashamed to appear in society. The owners of a good shadow in the story are, as a rule, honest people, not corrupted by the morality of the mercantile world. Such, above all, is Schlemil himself. Before meeting the “man in gray,” he had a “strikingly beautiful shadow,” which he cast from himself, “without noticing it.” Last words are especially noteworthy. Genuine human dignity, according to Shamisso, is possessed by modest people with a clear conscience. And it is characteristic that the poor, young girls, children react especially sharply to the lack of a shadow in Schlemil - those who are most sensitive to questions of a moral nature. With such a decoding of the essence of the shadow, the interest in it of the “man in gray”, personifying the fantastic nature and social power of wealth, becomes clear. Rich people who make their fortunes through dirty tricks need a good shadow, i.e. they need to hide behind human dignity so that their commercial nature is invisible. Therefore, in the story they also cast a shadow, which, however, does not reflect, but, on the contrary, hides their true content. They do not have a shadow of their own, but bought with gold, it allows them to maintain a reputation for honest people. Chamisso's story depicts the tragedy of a man who sold his human dignity for wealth. Schlemil quickly becomes convinced of the fallacy of his step. His love for Fanny collapses, Minna leaves him. Wealth, bought at the cost of the loss of human dignity, brings him nothing but misfortune. Chamisso, like other romantics, asserts with his work the superiority of "spirit" over "matter", internal, spiritual values over external position person. Shlemil finds the strength to break the hated treaty with Satan. He strongly rejects a new deal in which the "man in gray" promises to return the shadow in exchange for a soul. In the event of a treaty, Schlemil would become like Thomas John, who, having sold out completely to the devil, lost everything. human features. Having lost spirituality, the English businessman became like a dead man. His complete dependence on the "man in gray" is emphasized by the fact that he lives in his pocket. Thomas John, everyone who sold himself to the devil, is opposed in the story by the spiritually rich, honest people. This is Schlemil's fiancee Minna, his servant Bendel. Upon learning of Schlemil's misfortune, Bendel does not leave him. His actions are driven by considerations of a humane order. Schlemil finds the strength to give up wealth. But for perfect mistake he bears a heavy punishment: he is deprived of his human dignity and thereby loses the right to the respect of people. Having accidentally bought seven-league boots at the fair, Schlemiel gets the opportunity to go around the whole world. He devotes all his time to the study of nature. Schlemil sees the only goal in life in serving science. The way out, which Chamisso points out of the contradictions of reality, does not testify to the active revolutionary position of the writer. His ideal is associated with an escape from society, and not with attempts to effectively overcome its contradictions. Romantic protest against bourgeois acquisitiveness is clearly expressed by Chamisso in the fairy tale-short story "The Amazing Story of Peter Schlemil" (1814), which brought the author wide popularity. In terms of genre, it is close to such fairy tales by Hoffmann as "The Golden Pot", "Little Tsakhes"; it is a tale of the fatal power of gold. Damn serving here in traditional role seducer and seducer precisely with the help of gold, Chamisso gives a prosaic and everyday look. The devil in "Schlemil" - a silent gentleman in years, dressed in an old-fashioned gray silk coat - looks like a provincial usurer. There are many interpretations of the main plot move: the hero's loss of his shadow. Some contemporaries identified the hero with the author, and the shadow with the homeland. T. Mann in this "fantastic story", as he defines its genre, the shadow seemed to be "a symbol of everything solid, a symbol of a strong position in society and belonging to the latter." But it is most likely to assume that Chamisso did not identify the shadow with any particular concept. As a romantic, he only raised the question that for the sake of gold, enrichment, a person should not sacrifice the slightest part of his being, even such a seemingly insignificant property as the ability to cast a shadow. Breaking off the romantic story about a deal between a man and the devil, Shamisso ends the tale with an apotheosis scientific knowledge peace. In contrast to the romantic perception of nature (Novalis, Schelling), in the finale of Chamisso's tale, nature is depicted in all its reality. material existence as an object of observation and study. This ending, as it were, anticipates the future scientific career of the writer, who became the director of the botanical garden in Berlin, but also outlines the path artistic development Chamisso-poet - from romanticism to realism. Conclusion
The story is a work of art. As B. Betelheim emphasizes, the meaning of a fairy tale is different for each person and even for the same person at different moments of his life. And like almost every kind of art, a fairy tale becomes a kind of psychotherapy, because every person (every child) discovers his own in it. own decision urgent life problems. On the other side, cultural heritage humanity is reflected in the fairy tale, and through the fairy tale it is communicated to the child. Particularly important is folk tale because it is passed down from mouth to mouth, from generation to generation. It is undergoing changes brought in by so many people. But it's not just change. They are introduced by the narrator, based on the reactions of the listener. These are the changes that a person considers most important for himself. Wonderful is the very life of man - from childhood to old age; all seasons are wonderful; a miracle lives in a chamomile, in a nightingale, in an elder bush or in a mighty oak, in every house, not to mention palaces. Faith in the original beauty and harmony of being, in the victory of good over evil, gives special charm to Andersen's fairy tales and stories. The storyteller developed his own style of narration - directly naive, mildly ironic. His narrator knows how to admire everything that children like, while remaining an adult. Reflections on one's own extraordinary fate determined the character of many Andersen's heroes - small, defenseless in wide world, among the nooks and crannies of which it is so easy to get lost. Occasionally, the writer turned to stories from childhood, much more often his characters are tested by adult life and adult feelings. The impetus for the development of the conflict is often the mention of some special “meta” of the hero, which distinguishes him from others and predetermines his difficult fate (“The Ugly Duckling”, “Resistant tin soldier”, “The Little Mermaid”, etc.). Andersen does not take on the mission of a moralizer, although his tales and stories are highly instructive. They develop in the reader an unchanging love for life, wisdom in relation to evil, form that harmonious state of mind, which is the key to happiness. The philosophy of life is expressed in the words of the storyteller: “There is no such person in the world who has not smiled at least once in his life with happiness. Only for the time being, this happiness is hidden where it is least expected to be found. List of used literature
1.Andersen G.H. Fairy tales. - M., 1983. 2.Bakhtin M.M. Aesthetics of verbal creativity. - M., 1979 .Veselovsky A.N. Poetics of plots//Veselovsky A.N. Sobr. op. SPb., 1913. Ser. 1 (Poetics). T. 2. Issue. 1. S. 1-133. .Western European and American Romanticism. - M., 2002. .History of World Literature: In 9 volumes // Ed. THEM. Fradkin. - M., 1990. - V.7. .History of Western European Literature: In 3 volumes - M., 1987. - V.2. .History of foreign literature of the XIX century. - M., 1991 .History of foreign literature of the XIX century: Proc. for universities // Ed. ON THE. Solovieva. - 2nd ed., Spanish. and additional - M.: Higher school; Publishing Center "Academy", 2000. 9.History of German Literature. In 5 t. M., 1966. T. 3. .History of German literature//Composition. ON THE. Gulyaev, I.P. Shibanov, V.S. Bunyaev and others - M .: Higher School, 1975 11.The Extraordinary Adventures of Peter Schlemil / Per. I. Tatarinova; Intro. Art. G. Slobodkina. - M.: Goslitizdat, 1955.- 72 p. .Propp V.Ya. Morphology of a fairy tale. - M., 1969. - 278 p. .Slobodskaya L. Literary views of A. Chamisso. - In the book: Problems of German literature late XVIII- the beginning of the XIX century, Kuibyshev, 1974, no. 2, p. 60-67. .Khrapovitskaya T.N., Korovin A.V. History of foreign literature - M., 2001.
Information for parents: The Shadow is a magical and instructive fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. It tells about the shadow and its owner, who switched places. The fairy tale is recommended for reading to children aged 8 to 11 years. The text of the fairy tale "Shadow" is written in a fascinating way. Happy reading to you and your kids.
Read the fairy tale Shadow
That's where the sun burns - it's in hot countries! People sunbathe there to the point that they become red-skinned, and in the hottest countries - black, like negros. But for now we will only talk about hot countries. A scientist came here from cold countries. At first he thought about running around the city here, as in his homeland, but he soon weaned himself from this and, like all prudent people, began to sit at home all day with tightly closed shutters and doors. One might have thought that the whole house was asleep, or that no one was there. Narrow street, built up high houses, roasted in the sun from morning to evening; there was simply no strength to endure this heat! To a scientist who came from cold countries - he was a smart and still young man - it seemed as if he was sitting in a red-hot stove. The heat greatly affected his health; he lost weight, and even his shadow somehow shrank all over, became much smaller than it was in cold countries; the heat had taken its toll on her. Both of them - both the scientist and the shadow - came to life only with the onset of evening.
And, really, it was nice to look at them! As soon as candles were brought into the room, the shadow stretched across the entire wall, even capturing part of the ceiling - after all, she had to stretch well in order to straighten herself and gain strength again. The scientist went out onto the balcony and also stretched to stretch himself, admired the clear evening sky, in which golden stars lit up, and felt that he was reborn to life again. On all other balconies - and in hot countries there is a balcony in front of every window - people were also visible; it is still necessary to breathe air - even for those whom the sun has made red-skinned.
Animation reigned both below, on the sidewalks of the street, and above, on the balconies. Shoemakers, tailors and other working people - all poured out into the street, carried out tables and chairs and lit candles. Life boiled everywhere; the streets were illuminated by thousands of lights, people - who sang, who talked with a neighbor, a mass of walkers moved along the sidewalks, carriages rolled along the pavement, here pack donkeys made their way, ringing bells, there a funeral procession stretched with the singing of psalms, the crackle of firecrackers thrown on the pavement was heard street boys, the ringing of bells was heard ... Yes, life was in full swing everywhere! It was quiet only in one house, which stood just opposite the one where the scientist lived. The house, however, was not uninhabited: wonderful flowers flaunted on the balcony; without watering, they could not have bloomed so magnificently, someone had watered them - therefore, someone lived in the house. The door leading to the balcony also opened in the evenings, but it was always dark in the rooms themselves, at least in the first one. Music was heard from the back rooms. The scientist found her wonderfully beautiful, but it may turn out that it only seemed so to him: in his opinion, here, in hot countries, everything was beautiful; one problem - the sun! The owner of the house where the scientist lived said that he did not know who lived in the neighboring house: not a single living soul had ever been shown there; as for music, he found it terribly boring.
As if someone is sitting and hammering all the same play. Things are not going well; and he continues, they say, - "I will achieve my goal!" In vain, however, he tries, nothing comes of it!
One night the scientist woke up; the door to the balcony stood open, and the wind flung open the curtains; the scientist looked at the opposite house, and it seemed to him that the balcony was illuminated by some strange radiance; the flowers burned with wondrous multicolored lights, and between the flowers stood a slender, lovely girl, who also seemed to be surrounded by radiance. All this brilliance and light stung the eyes of the scientist, wide open from sleep. He jumped up and quietly approached the door, but the girl had already disappeared, the glitter and light too. The flowers no longer burned with fires, but stood calmly, as always. The door from the front room to the balcony was half-open, and gentle, enchanting sounds of music rushed from the depths of the house, which could carry anyone into the realm of sweet dreams and dreams! ..
It all looked like some kind of witchcraft! Who lived there? Where exactly was the entrance to the house? The entire lower floor was occupied by shops - the tenants did not constantly go through them!
One evening the scientist was sitting on his balcony; a candle was burning in the room behind him, and it was only natural that his shadow should be placed on the wall of the house opposite; she even fit on the balcony itself between the flowers; as soon as the scientist moved, the shadow moved, too - she knows how.
With these words, the scientist stood up, his shadow, sitting on the opposite balcony, too. The scientist turned - the shadow also turned, and if someone had been carefully watching them at that time, they would have seen how the shadow slid into the half-open balcony door of the mysterious house, when the scientist left the balcony into the room and pulled the curtain behind him.
In the morning, the scientist went to the confectionery to drink coffee and read newspapers.
What does it mean? he said as he stepped out into the sun. - I don't have a shadow! So she really went out last night and didn't come back? Pretty bad story!
And he became angry not so much because the shadow had gone, but because he remembered the well-known story about a man without a shadow, which everyone knew in his homeland, in cold countries: if he now returned there and told his story, everyone would say that he set out to imitate others, and he did not need it at all. So he decided not to even stutter about the incident with the shadow and smartly did.
In the evening he again went out onto the balcony and put a candle behind him, knowing that the shadow always tries to block the light from its master; however, he failed to lure out the shadow with this maneuver. He sat down and straightened up to his full height - the shadow still did not appear. He chuckled thoughtfully, but that didn't help either.
It was annoying, but, fortunately, in hot countries everything grows and ripens unusually quickly, and now a week later the scientist, going out into the sun, noticed to his greatest pleasure that a new shadow began to grow from his feet - must be roots of something old remained. Three weeks later, he already had a fairly tolerable shadow, which, during the return journey of the scientist to his homeland, grew even more and in the end became already so big and long that at least take it down.
The scientist returned home and began to write books that spoke about truth, goodness and beauty. So days and years passed, many years passed.
One evening, when he was sitting at home, there was a soft knock at the door.
Sign in! he said, but no one entered; then he opened the door himself - in front of him stood an incredibly thin man; he was dressed, however, very elegantly, like a nobleman.
With whom do I have the honor of speaking? - asked the scientist.
I thought so, - said the elegant gentleman, - that you do not recognize me! I gained physicality, acquired flesh and dress! You, of course, did not expect to meet me someday so prosperous. But do you still not recognize your former shadow? Yes, you probably thought that I would not return anymore? I have been very lucky since I left you. I have won a firm position in the world in every way, and I can pay off my service whenever I want!
At these words, he rattled a whole bunch of expensive charms hanging on a watch chain, and then began to play with a thick golden chain which he wore around his neck. His fingers shone with diamond rings! And the gold and stones were real, not fake!
I just can't get over my surprise! - said the scientist. - What it is?
Yes, the phenomenon is not quite ordinary, it's true! said the shadow. “But you yourself do not belong to the number of ordinary people, and I, as you know, have followed in your footsteps since childhood. As soon as you found that I was mature enough to live on my own, I went my own way, achieved, as you see, complete prosperity, but something got sad without you, I wanted to see you before you died - you must die! - and, by the way, take another look at these edges. After all, you always keep love for your homeland! .. I know that you now have a new shadow; tell me if I owe her or you anything? Just say the word and I will cry.
No, is it really you? - exclaimed the scientist. - It's a miracle, it's a miracle! I would never have believed that my old shadow would return to me, and even as a man!
Tell me, don't I owe you? the shadow asked again. I don't want to be in anyone's debt!
What talk! - said the scientist. - What there debt! You are completely free! I am overjoyed at your happiness! Sit down, old friend, and tell me how it all happened and what did you see in that house opposite?
Now I'll tell you! - said the shadow and sat down. - But on the condition that you give me your word not to tell anyone here in the city - wherever you meet me - that I was once your shadow! I'm going to get married! I am able to support more than one family!
Stay calm! - said the scientist. - No one will know who you really are! Here is my hand! I give you my word! But the word is man...
The word is a shadow! - finished the shadow - otherwise she could not express herself.
In general, the scientist could only wonder how much human was in her, starting from the dress itself: a black pair of thin cloth, varnished boots on her feet, and in her hands a cylinder that could fold, so that only the bottom and fields remained from it; we have already talked about key rings, a gold chain and diamond rings. Yes, the shadow was beautifully dressed, and that, in fact, gave her the appearance of a real person.
Now I will tell! - said the shadow and pressed down with her feet in patent leather boots the sleeve of the new shadow of the scientist, which, like a dog, lay at his feet.
Why she did this, whether out of arrogance, or perhaps in the hope of gluing her to her feet, is unknown. The shadow, lying on the floor, did not even move, everything turned into a rumor: she really wanted to know how it was possible to achieve freedom and become her own mistress.
Do you know who lived in that house? - asked the former shadow. “The most beautiful thing in the world is Poetry itself!” I spent three weeks there, and it's like living in the world for three thousand years and reading everything that is composed and written by poets - I assure you! I have seen everything and I know everything - and this is the absolute truth!
Poetry! - exclaimed the scientist. - Yes Yes! She often lives as a hermit in big cities! Poetry! I saw her only briefly, and even then I was still sleepy! She stood on the balcony and sparkled like Northern Lights! Tell me, tell me! You were on the balcony, walked in the door and...?
And hit the front! - picked up the shadow. - You always sat and looked at the front. It was not illuminated, and there was some twilight in it, but through the open door one could see a whole suite of illuminated chambers. This light would completely destroy me if I went in to the virgin right away, but I was prudent and waited for the time. This is how you should always do it!
And what did you see there? - asked the scientist.
Everything, and I will tell you about everything, but ... You see, I am not out of pride, but ... in view of the freedom and knowledge that I have, not to mention my position in the world ... I would very much like you to contact me on you.
Ah, please excuse me! - said the scientist. - This is me out of an old habit! .. You are absolutely right! And I will try to remember it! But tell me, what did you see there?
Everything! replied the shadow. I have seen everything and I know everything!
What did these remind inner chambers? - asked the scientist. - Is the green forest fresh? Or a holy temple? Or did your eyes open starry sky visible only from the heights?
Everything was there! said the shadow. - I, however, did not enter the chambers themselves, I remained in the hallway, in the twilight, but there I was fine, I saw everything, and I know everything! After all, I spent so much time in the hall at the court of Poetry.
But what did you see there? The majestic processions of the ancient gods? The struggle of the heroes of hoary antiquity? Games of cute children, babbling about their wonderful dreams? ..
I tell you, I was there, therefore, I saw everything that could be seen! If you had appeared there, you would not have become a man, but I have become one! I learned there my own nature, my natural affinity for poetry. Yes, in those days when I was with you, I still did not think about anything like that. But just remember how I have always grown amazingly at sunrise and sunset! In the moonlight, I was almost more noticeable than you! But at that time I still did not understand my nature, it dawned on me only in the hallway! There I became a man, fully matured. But you were no longer in hot countries; meanwhile, as a person, I was embarrassed to show myself in my former form: I needed boots, a decent dress, in a word, I needed all this outward human gloss, by which they recognize you as a person. And so I found refuge for myself ... Yes, I confess this to you, you won’t print this: I found refuge under the skirt of a sweets dealer! The woman had no idea what she was hiding! I went out only in the evenings, ran in the moonlight through the streets, stretched out in full length on the walls - it tickles my back so pleasantly! He ran up the walls, ran down, looked into the windows of the highest floors, looked into the halls and attics, looked into places where no one could look, saw what no one should have seen! And I learned how, in essence, the light is low! Indeed, I did not even want to be a man, unless it was accepted once and for all to consider it something special! I noticed the most incredible things in women, in men, in parents, even in sweet, incomparable children. I saw something, - the shadow added, - that no one should have, but that everyone so wanted to see - the secret vices and sins of people. If I wrote in the newspapers, they would read me! But I wrote directly to the interested persons themselves and caught up with everyone and everywhere, wherever it appeared, such fear! Everyone was so afraid of me and loved me so much! Professors recognized me as their colleague, tailors dressed me - I now have plenty of dresses - coiners minted coins for me, and women admired my beauty! And so I became what I am. And now I will say goodbye to you; here is my card. I live on sunny side and in rainy weather always at home!
With these words, the shadow left.
How strange it is! - said the scientist.
Days and years passed; suddenly the shadow again appeared to the scientist.
Well how are you? she asked.
Alas! - answered the scientist. - I write about truth, goodness and beauty, but no one cares about that. I'm just desperate; it makes me so sad!
And here I am not! said the shadow. - Therefore, I'm getting fat, and this is the most important thing! Yes, you do not know how to live in the world! You'll probably get sick too. You need to travel a little. I'm just about to do a little trip this summer - would you like to come with me? I need company on the road, so will you go ... as my shadow? Indeed, your company would give me great pleasure; Of course, I will take care of all the expenses!
No, it's too much! - the scientist got angry.
But how to look at the matter! said the shadow. - The trip would bring you great benefits! And if you agree to be my shadow, - and you will go with everything ready!
- It's out of hand! - exclaimed the scientist.
Such is the light, said the shadow. - So he will remain!
And the shadow is gone. The scientist felt bad, but grief and worries still haunted him: he wrote about truth, goodness and beauty, and people understood all this as much as cows in roses. Finally, he fell completely ill.
You are unrecognizable, you have become just a shadow! - people said to the scientist, and a shiver ran through his body from the thought that came into his head at these words.
You should go somewhere on the water! - said the shadow, which again turned to him. - You have nothing else to do! I am ready to take you with me for the sake of an old acquaintance. I take care of all the expenses of the trip, and you will describe our trip and you will pleasantly entertain me on the road. I'm going to the waters; my beard does not grow as it should, and this is a kind of disease - you must have a beard! Well, be prudent, accept my offer; because we will go as comrades.
And they went. The shadow became the master, and the master became the shadow. They were inseparable: they rode, and talked, and always walked together - either side by side, then the shadow in front of the scientist, then behind, looking at the position of the sun. But the shadow perfectly knew how to hold on to the master, and the scientist, out of the kindness of his heart, did not even notice this. In general, he was such a nice, warm-hearted person, and once you somehow take it and tell the shadow:
After all, we are now comrades, and we grew up together - let's drink on you, it will be friendly!
There is indeed a lot of sincere goodwill in your words! - said the shadow - now she was the master, in fact. And I also want to be honest with you. You, as a scientist, probably know what strange things human nature is! For some, for example, it is unpleasant to touch gray paper, others shudder all over if they are in front of them with a nail on the glass. This is the same feeling that comes over me when you say you to me. I feel completely depressed, as if reduced to my former position. You see it's simple painful feeling and not pride on my part. I cannot let you tell me you, but I myself will gladly tell you you; thus, your desire will be fulfilled at least half.
And so the shadow began to speak to its former master you.
“This, however, is out of hand,” thought the scientist. “I have to address him as you, and he pokes me.” But there was nothing to be done.
Finally they arrived at the water. There was a big congress of foreigners on the waters. Among the visitors there was also one beauty - the princess, who suffered from an overly sharp-sighted look, and this is not a joke, at least it will scare anyone.
She immediately noticed that the newly arrived foreigner was completely different from all other people.
- Although they say that he came here in order to grow his beard, but you won’t fool me: I see that he simply cannot cast shadows!
Her curiosity was stimulated, and without thinking twice, she approached a stranger on a walk and entered into a conversation with him. In her capacity as princess, she, without further ado, told him:
Your disease is that you cannot cast shadows from yourself!
And yours royal highness, must be already close to recovery! said the shadow. - I know that you suffered from too sharp-sighted eyes - now, apparently, you have recovered from your illness! I just have a very unusual shadow. Or have you not noticed the person who constantly follows me? All other people have ordinary shadows, but in general I am an enemy of everything ordinary, and just as others dress their servants in liveries of finer cloth than they themselves wear, so I dressed up my shadow as a real person and even put a shadow on it, as you see. ! All this costs me, of course, not cheaply, but in such cases I do not stand behind the costs!
“That's how! thought the princess. - Am I really cured? Yes, these waters are the best in the world! It must be admitted that the waters in our time have a truly amazing power. But I won't leave yet - now it will be even more interesting here. I really like this foreigner. If only his beard didn’t grow, otherwise he will leave!”
In the evening there was a ball, and the princess danced with a shadow. The princess danced lightly, but the shadow was even lighter; the princess never met such a dancer. She told him what country she came from, and it turned out that he knew that country and even was there, but the princess was leaving just at that time. He looked into the windows everywhere, saw something and therefore could answer all the questions of the princess and even make such hints, from which she was completely amazed and began to consider him the smartest person in the world. His knowledge simply amazed her, and she was imbued with the deepest respect for him. Having danced with him again, she finally fell in love with him, and the shadow noticed this perfectly: the princess pierced her gentleman with her eyes.
Having danced with the shadow again, the princess was ready to confess her love to her, but reason still prevailed, she thought about her country, the state and the people she had to rule. “He’s smart, he’s smart,” she said to herself, “and that’s wonderful; he dances amazingly, which is also good, but whether he has a thorough knowledge, which is also very important! He needs to be tested."
And she again struck up a conversation with him and asked him the most difficult questions, which she herself could not answer.
Shadow made a face of surprise.
You can't answer me! - said the princess.
I learned all this as a child! replied the shadow. - I think even my shadow, which stands at the door, will be able to answer you.
Your shadow?! - the princess was surprised. - That would be amazing!
You see, I'm not saying that, - said the shadow, - but I think that she can, - after all, she has been inseparable from me for so many years and has heard something from me! But, your royal highness, let me draw your attention to one circumstance. My shadow is very proud of being reputed to be a man, and if you do not want to put her in a bad mood, you should treat her like a person! Otherwise, she probably won't be able to answer properly!
Well, I like it! - answered the princess and, going up to the scientist who was standing at the door, she spoke to him about the sun, about the moon, about the external and internal aspects and properties of human nature.
The scientist answered all her questions well and intelligently.
“What kind of person must he be,” thought the princess, “if even his shadow is so clever! It will be a real boon for my people and state if I choose him as my wife. Yes, I will do it!”
And soon they settled this issue among themselves. No one, however, was to know anything until the princess returned home to her own state.
Nobody, nobody, not even my own shadow! insisted the shadow, which had its own reasons.
Finally, they arrived in the country that the princess ruled when she was at home.
Listen, buddy! - the shadow said to the scientist. - Now I have reached the highest happiness and human power and I want to do something for you too! You will stay with me, live in my palace, ride with me in the royal carriage and receive a hundred thousand riksdaler a year. But for that, you have to let anyone and everyone call you a shadow. You shouldn't even stutter that you were ever human! And once a year, on a sunny day, when I will sit on the balcony in front of all the people, you will have to lie at my feet, as befits a shadow. I must tell you that I am marrying a princess; wedding is tonight.
No, it's out of hand! - exclaimed the scientist. I don't want to and I won't! That would mean deceiving the whole country and the princess! I will say everything! I'll say that I'm a man, and you're just a disguised shadow - everything, I'll say everything!
Nobody will believe you! said the shadow. - Well, be prudent, otherwise I will call the guards!
- I'll go straight to the princess! - said the scientist.
Well, I'll get to her before you! said the shadow. - And you're going under arrest.
And so it happened: the guards obeyed the one whom, as everyone knew, the princess was marrying.
You are trembling! - said the princess, when the shadow entered her. - Something happened? Don't get sick, look! After all, tonight is our wedding!
Ah, I have now experienced a most terrible moment! said the shadow. “Think about it… How much, in fact, do the brains of some unfortunate shadow need!.. Think about it, my shadow has gone mad, imagined itself to be a man, and calls me—just think—its shadow!”
Horrible! - said the princess. I hope she got locked up.
Of course, but I'm afraid she'll never come to her senses!
Poor shadow! the princess sighed. - She is very unhappy! It would be a real boon to rid her of that particle of life that is still in her. And if you think carefully, then, in my opinion, it is even necessary to put an end to it quickly and without noise!
Still, it's cruel! said the shadow. She was my faithful servant! And the shadow sighed.
You have a noble soul! - said the princess.
In the evening the whole city was illuminated, cannon shots thundered, the soldiers saluted with their guns. That was the wedding! And the princess with a shadow went out onto the balcony to appear to the people, who once again shouted “Hurrah” to them.
The scientist did not hear this jubilation - they had already finished with him.
"People do not know the shadow side of things, namely, in the shadows, in the twilight, in the depths lies what gives sharpness to our feelings." Evgeny Schwartz "Shadow"
The Shadow is a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen written in 1847. Of course, it can hardly be called a fairy tale, it is rather a parable, like many other works of the writer. I have already said that I like to call such fairy tales “adult fairy tales”, because they contain a very deep semantic implication, because a child will not be able to fully appreciate all the charm and meaning of such a work.
The plot is probably well known to everyone: Scientist, the protagonist, becomes a servant of his own Shadow. The shadow fully assumes the powers of a person, without putting his former owner in a penny, and even woo the daughter of the king, and quite successfully woo. Here, in fact, is the whole plot. A little, right? But how much meaning lies in this small work! Classically, a fairy tale is interpreted as a struggle between good and evil, light and dark, but in my understanding there is something more hidden here. Earlier, I wrote a review of Hermann Hesse's novel "Steppenwolf" and in it I gave a brief description of the concept of K.G. Cabin boy. Now I would not like to state this theory again, I will only say that in this fairy tale-parable, in my opinion, just like in the Steppenwolf, it is about the archetype of the Shadow, which represents the personal unconscious; in other words, the Shadow includes the qualities of the Scientist denied by consciousness. Of course, Jung's concept was formulated somewhat later, but, nevertheless, the writer's views are very similar to those of a psychologist. Therefore, in my mind, in Andersen's work we are talking about the struggle of the two principles of the human soul, and not necessarily good and evil, because the Shadow is not the embodiment of bad, but only denied by consciousness, and consciousness is such a thing: it can deny a lot of things, sometimes very necessary. If we take a closer look at the image of the Scientist, we will understand that he himself allowed his Shadow to rule, he himself showed softness of character and weakness of spirit. Agree, such qualities can not always be called positive, and then argue that the image of the Scientist is an indisputable embodiment of goodness. In general, the division into “good” and “evil” is a very relative thing, because there are many tones and semitones, and it seems to me that the ending of the tale confirms this. Andersen showed that not everything is as simple as it seems at first glance, and consciousness can be defeated in internal struggle.
Only one conclusion can be drawn: the two presented beginnings of the human soul must coexist peacefully with each other, “cooperate” and nothing else, otherwise the balance will be disturbed, and this will lead to very deplorable consequences. Such a fairy tale, or maybe not a fairy tale ...
And again with great difficulty found illustrations. The first ones belong to the very famous illustrator Wilhelm Pedersen - the first illustrator of Andersen's fairy tales and stories.
The second ones were found in the bowels of the Internet and belong to the illustrator Elena Timoshenko. Weird, but I liked it.
Current page: 1 (total book has 2 pages)
Hans Christian Andersen
That's where the sun bakes - it's in hot countries! People sunbathe there until their skin becomes the color of mahogany, and in the hottest - black, like negroes.
But for now, we will only talk about hot countries: one scientist came here from cold ones. He thought about running around the city as if at home, but he soon lost the habit and, like all prudent people, began to sit at home all day with closed shutters and doors. You might think that the whole house is asleep or no one is at home. The narrow street, built up with tall houses, was located in such a way that it was roasting in the sun from morning to evening, and there was simply no strength to endure this heat! The scientist, who came from cold countries - he was a smart and young man - it seemed as if he was sitting in a red-hot furnace. The heat took a toll on his health. He lost weight, and even his shadow somehow shrank and became much smaller than it was at home: the heat affected it too. Both of them - both the scientist and the shadow - came to life only with the onset of evening.
And really, it was nice to look at them! As soon as a candle was brought into the room, the shadow stretched across the entire wall, even capturing part of the ceiling - after all, she had to stretch well in order to gain strength again.
The scientist went out onto the balcony and also stretched, and as soon as the stars lit up in the clear evening sky, he felt that he was reborn to life again. On all other balconies - and in hot countries there is a balcony in front of every window - people also went out: after all, fresh air is necessary even for those who do not care to be the color of mahogany!
Animation reigned both downstairs - on the street and upstairs - on the balconies. Shoemakers, tailors and other working people all poured out into the street, carried tables and chairs to the sidewalks and lit candles. There were hundreds of them; these candles, and people - who sang, who talked, who just walked. Carriages rolled along the pavement, donkeys minced. Ding-ding-ding! they tinkled with bells. Here a funeral procession passed singing, street boys blew crackers on the pavement, bells rang.
Yes, revival reigned everywhere. It was quiet in only one house, which stood just opposite the one where the scientist lived. And yet this house was not empty: there were flowers on the balcony in the very sun, without watering they could not have bloomed so magnificently, someone had watered them! It must have been someone living in the house. The door to the balcony was opened in the evenings, but the rooms themselves were always dark, at least in the one that overlooked the street. And somewhere in the depths of the house sounded music. The scientist heard wonderfully beautiful things in her, but, perhaps, it only seemed to him that way: in his opinion, here, in hot countries, everything was beautiful; one problem - the sun! The owner of the house where the scientist settled, also not knowing who lives in the house opposite: not a soul was ever shown there, and as for music, he found it terribly boring.
- It's like someone sits and hammers the same play, and nothing works out for him, but he keeps hammering: they say, I will achieve my goal, and still nothing works out, no matter how much I play.
One night the scientist woke up; the door to the balcony stood wide open, the wind stirred the curtains, and it seemed to him that the balcony of the house opposite was illuminated by some amazing radiance; the flowers blazed with the most wonderful colors, and between the flowers stood a slender, charming girl, who also seemed to glow. All this blinded him so much that the scientist opened his eyes even wider and only then finally woke up. He jumped up, quietly went to the door and stood behind the curtain, but the girl disappeared, the light and shine disappeared, and the flowers no longer burned, but simply stood beautiful, as always. The door to the balcony was ajar, and from the depths of the house gentle, enchanting sounds of music were heard that could carry anyone into the world of sweet dreams.
It all looked like witchcraft. Who lived there? Where exactly was the entrance to the house? The entire lower floor was occupied by shops - how could the tenants constantly enter through them!
One evening the scientist was sitting on his balcony. A candle burned in the room behind him, and quite naturally, his shadow fell on the wall of the house opposite. Moreover, she even settled down between the flowers on the balcony, and as soon as the scientist moved, the shadow moved too - she had such a property.
“Really, my shadow is the only living creature in that house,” said the scientist. - Look how cleverly settled down between the flowers. And the door is ajar. If only the shadow could guess to enter the house, look out for everything, and then come back and tell me what she saw there. Yes, you would serve me good service- as if in jest said the scientist. - Be kind, come in there! Well, are you coming?
And he nodded to the shadow, and the shadow answered him with a nod.
- Well, go, just don't get lost there! With these words, the scientist stood up, and his shadow on the opposite balcony, too. The scientist turned - the shadow turned too, and if anyone had been watching them attentively at that moment, they would have seen how the shadow slipped through the half-open balcony door of the house opposite just at the moment when the scientist left the balcony into the room and lowered a curtain.
The next morning, the scientist went to the confectionery to drink coffee and read newspapers.
- What? he said as he walked out into the sun. I don't have a shadow! So she really went out last night and didn't come back. That's a shame!
He felt uncomfortable, not so much because the shadow had gone, but because he remembered the story of a man without a shadow, known to everyone in his homeland, in cold countries. If he returned home now and tell what happened to him, everyone would say that he set off in imitation, and it was unnecessary for him. That's why he decided not to even stutter about the incident with the shadow and smartly did.
In the evening, he again went out onto the balcony and placed the candle right behind him, knowing that the shadow always tries to block the light from the owner. But he did not manage to lure out his shadow in this way. Already he sat down and straightened up - there was no shadow, the shadow did not appear. He chuckled - what's the point?
It was a pity, but in hot countries everything grows extraordinarily fast, and a week later the scientist, going out into the sun, to his greatest pleasure, noticed that a new shadow began to grow from his feet - it must be that the roots of the old remained. Three weeks later he already had a tolerable shadow, and during the return trip of the scientist to his homeland, it grew even more and in the end became so big and long that it could even be reduced.
So, the scientist returned home and began to write books about truth, goodness and beauty. Days passed, years passed... So many years passed.
And one evening he was sitting at his house, when suddenly he heard a soft knock at the door.
– Enter! he said, but no one entered. Then he opened the door himself and saw in front of him an unusually thin man, so that he even felt somehow wonderful. However, he was dressed very elegantly, in a masterly way. To whom do I have the honor of speaking? the scientist asks.
"I thought you wouldn't recognize me," said the elegant gentleman. “I gained physicality, acquired flesh and clothing. You, of course, did not expect to meet me someday so prosperous. Do you still not recognize your former shadow? Yes, you probably thought that I would never come back. I have been very lucky since I left you. I have won a firm position in the world in every way, and I can pay off my service whenever I want!
At these words, he rattled a lot of expensive charms that hung on a watch chain, and then began to play with a thick gold chain that he wore around his neck. His fingers sparkled with diamond rings! The jewelry was real, not fake.
I just can't get over my surprise! – said the scientist. – What does all this mean?
- Yes, the phenomenon is not quite ordinary, it's true, - said the shadow. “But you yourself are not among the ordinary people, and, as you know, I have followed in your footsteps since childhood. As soon as you found that I was mature enough to live on my own, I went my own way, achieved, as you see, complete well-being; yes, something felt sad for you, I wanted to see you before you died yet - you must die someday! - and, by the way, take another look at the local edges. Love for the motherland, you see, never leaves us. I know you have a new shadow now. Tell me, do I owe her or you anything? Just say the word and I will cry.
"So is it really you?" the scientist exclaimed. - This is absolutely wonderful! I would never have believed that my former shadow would return to me, and even a man!
"Tell me, don't I owe you?" the shadow asked again. I don't want to be in anyone's debt!
- What a conversation! – said the scientist. What a debt! You are completely free! I'm terribly glad you're happy! Sit down, old man, and tell me how it all happened and what did you see in the house opposite?
“Excuse me,” said the shadow, sitting down. “But promise me not to tell anyone here in the city, wherever you meet me, that I was once your shadow. I'm going to get married! I am able to support a family, and even quite well! ..
- Stay calm! – said the scientist. Nobody will know who you really are! Here is my hand! I give you my word! But the word is man...
- The word is a shadow! - inserted the shadow, because otherwise she could not say.
And the scientist could only marvel at how much humanity was in her, starting with the dress itself: a black pair of thin cloth, patent leather shoes, a top hat that could fold, so that only the bottom and fields remained; we have already talked about key rings, a gold chain around the neck and diamond rings. Yes, the shadow was beautifully dressed, and that, in fact, gave her the appearance of a real person.
Well, now to the story! - said the shadow and pressed down with its legs in patent leather boots the hand of the new shadow of the scientist, which, like a poodle, lay at his feet. Why she did this, whether out of arrogance, or in the hope of sticking it to her feet, is unknown. And the shadow lying on the floor did not even move, all turned into a rumor. She must have longed to know how she could achieve freedom and become her own master.
Do you know who lived in the house opposite? the former shadow began. “The most beautiful thing in the world is Poetry itself!” I spent three weeks there, and it's like living in the world for three thousand years and reading everything that is composed and written by poets, I assure you! I have seen everything and I know everything!
- Poetry! the scientist exclaimed. - Yes Yes! She often lives as a hermit in big cities. Poetry! I saw her only briefly, and then waking up! She stood on the balcony and shone like the northern lights. Tell me, tell me! You were on the balcony, slipped through the door and...
- And ended up in the front! the shadow took over. “You always sat and looked only at the front. It was not illuminated, it was twilight, but through the open door one could see a whole suite of illuminated chambers. This light would have completely destroyed me if I had entered the virgin at once, but I have shown prudence and bided my time. This is how you should always do it!
- And what did you see there? the scientist asked.
- I have seen everything and will tell you about everything, that's just ... You see, not out of pride, but ... in view of the freedom and knowledge that I have, not to mention my exceptional financial and public position... I would very much like you to address me as "you".
- I apologize! – said the scientist. – An old habit, not so easy to get rid of… You are absolutely right! I'll try to take care of myself ... So tell me, what did you see there?
- All! the shadow replied. I have seen everything and know everything!
What were these inner chambers like? the scientist asked. – Fresh green forest? holy temple? Or did your gaze open up to the starry sky, as it can be seen only from mountain heights?
Everything was there! said the shadow. - True, I did not go into the chambers themselves, but all the time I remained in the hallway, in the twilight, it was fine for me there, and I saw everything and I know everything! After all, I was in the hall at the court of Poetry.
But what did you see there? The majestic processions of the ancient gods? The struggle of the heroes of hoary antiquity? Cute kids games?
“I tell you, I was there, and therefore I saw everything that could be seen!” If you had appeared there, you would not have become a man, but I did! And at the same time I knew there my inner essence, everything that is innate in me, my blood affinity with Poetry. Yes, in those days when I was with you, I did not think of anything like that. But just remember how I have always grown amazingly at sunrise and sunset. And in the moonlight, I was almost more noticeable than you! But then I still did not understand my nature, it dawned on me only in the front Poetry. There I became a man, fully matured. But you were no longer in hot countries. Meanwhile, as a person, I was already embarrassed to show myself in my former form; I needed shoes, a dress, all that external human gloss by which you are recognized as a person. And so I took refuge ... yes, I can confess this to you, you won’t print this in a book ... I took refuge with a seller of sweets. She had no idea what she was hiding! I went out only in the evenings, ran in the moonlight through the streets, stretched out in full length on the walls - it tickles my back so nicely! I ran up the walls, ran down, looked into the windows of the highest floors, into the halls and attics, looked where no one could look, saw what no one else saw, and should not see! How, in essence, low light! Indeed, I would not even want to be a man, if only it were not customary once and for all to consider this something special! I noticed the most incredible things in women, in men, in parents, and even in their cute, incomparable children. I saw what no one should know, but what everyone so wants to know - the secret vices and sins of people. If I publish a newspaper, I wish they would read it! But I wrote directly to the people concerned and struck fear into them in all the cities where I happened to be. I was so feared and so loved! Professors recognized me as a colleague, tailors dressed me - now I have plenty of dresses - coiners minted coins for me, and women admired my beauty! And so I became what I am. And now I will say goodbye to you; here is my card. I live on the sunny side and in rainy weather I am always at home!
With these words, the shadow left.
- How strange it is! – said the scientist. Days and years passed, and now the shadow again appeared to him.
- Well how are you? she asked.
- Alas! replied the scientist. - I write about truth, goodness and beauty, but no one cares about this. I'm just desperate, it makes me so sad!
- I am not here, I am out! said the shadow. - I'm getting fat, and that's what we should strive for. Yes, you do not know how to live in the world. You'll probably get sick too. You need to travel. I'm just going on a little trip this summer, will you come with me? I need a companion, so won't you ride as my shadow? Indeed, your company would give me great pleasure. All costs are covered!
- Well, this is too much! – said the scientist.
- But how to look at the matter! said the shadow. - The trip would be of great benefit to you! As soon as you agree to be my shadow - and you will go with everything ready.
- You're crazy! – said the scientist.
“But such is the world,” said the shadow. - He will remain so!
And the shadow is gone.
And the scientist had a tough time, he was consumed by sadness and care. He wrote about truth, goodness and beauty, but people did not understand this at all. Finally, he fell completely ill.
- You are unrecognizable, you have become just a shadow! people said to the scientist, and he trembled all over from the thought that flashed through his mind at these words.
- You should visit the waters! said the shadow, looking up at him again. - Nothing else remains! I am ready to take you with me for the sake of an old acquaintance. I take care of all the travel expenses, and you will describe the trip and entertain me along the way. I'm going to the waters: something doesn't grow my beard, and this is a kind of illness - I need a beard! Well, be reasonable, accept my offer. After all, we will go as comrades.
And they went. The shadow became the master, the master became the shadow. They were inseparable: they rode, and talked, and always walked together, sometimes side by side, sometimes a shadow in front of the scientist, sometimes behind, looking at the position of the sun. But the shadow was perfectly able to hold on to the owner, and the scientist somehow did not notice this. In general, he was a good-natured, glorious, warm-hearted person, and just take it and tell the shadow:
“After all, we are now comrades and have grown up together, shouldn’t we have a drink for brotherhood?” It will be friendly!
“There is a lot of sincere benevolence in your words,” said the shadow-lord. And I also want to be honest with you. You are a scientist and you probably know how strange human nature is. For some, for example, it is unpleasant to touch gray paper; for others, frost breaks the skin if you run a nail over glass in their presence. That's the same feeling that comes over me when you say "you" to me. This depresses me, I feel as if reduced to my former position. You understand, it's just a feeling, there is no pride. I cannot allow you to speak "you" to me, but I myself will willingly speak "you" to you. Thus, your desire will be fulfilled at least half.
And now the shadow began to say "you" to its former master.
“This, however, is no good,” thought the scientist. “I have to address him as “you”, and he “pokes” me.”
But there was nothing to be done.
Finally they arrived at the water. Many foreigners came. Among them was one beautiful princess - her illness was that she had too keen eyesight, and this is not a joke, at least it will scare anyone.
She immediately noticed that the newly arrived foreigner was not at all like the others.
“Even though they say he came here to grow his beard, you can't fool me. I see that he simply cannot cast shadows.
Curiosity haunted her, and without thinking twice she approached a stranger on a walk and struck up a conversation with him. Like a princess, she unceremoniously told him:
“Your disease is that you cannot cast shadows!”
“And your royal highness must be close to recovery by now!” said the shadow. - I know that you suffered from too keen eyesight, and now, apparently, you have recovered from the disease! I just have a very unusual shadow. Or have you not noticed the person who constantly follows me? All other people have ordinary shadows, but in general I am an enemy of everything ordinary, and just as others dress their servants in liveries of finer cloth than they themselves wear, so I dressed up my shadow as a real person and, as you see, even put a shadow on it. All this costs me, of course, not cheaply, but in such cases I do not stand behind the costs!
“That's how! thought the princess. So am I really cured? Yes, there is no better water in the world. Water in our time has a truly miraculous power. But with the departure I will wait - now it will be even more interesting here. I really like this foreigner. If only his beard did not grow, otherwise he would leave!
In the evening there was a ball, and the princess danced with a shadow. The princess danced lightly, but the shadow was even lighter, such a dancer the princess had never met before. She told him what country she came from, and it turned out that he knew this country and even was there, only she was away at that time. And he looked into the windows everywhere, saw something and therefore could answer the princess to all questions and even make hints from which she was completely amazed and began to consider him the smartest person in the world. His knowledge directly amazed her, and she was imbued with the deepest respect for him. And having danced with him again, she fell in love with him, and the shadow noticed this perfectly: the princess almost pierced her through and through with her gaze. Having danced with the shadow for the third time, the princess was ready to confess her love to her, but her mind still prevailed when she thought about her country, the state and the people that she would have to rule.
"He's smart," she said to herself, "and that's wonderful. He dances admirably, which is also good, but whether he has a thorough knowledge, that's what matters! He needs to be tested."
And she again struck up a conversation with him and began to ask him such difficult questions which I myself could not answer.
Shadow made a surprised face.
So you can't answer me! the princess said.
“I learned all this as a child! the shadow replied. - I think even my shadow - there she is standing at the door! - be able to answer you.
- Your shadow? the princess asked. - That would be amazing!
“You see, I don’t confirm,” said the shadow, “but I think that she can, after all, she has been inseparable from me for so many years and has heard something from me. But, your royal highness, let me draw your attention to one circumstance. My shadow is very proud of being reputed to be a man, and if you do not want to put her in a bad mood, you should treat her like a person. Otherwise, she probably won't be able to answer properly.
- I like it! - the princess answered and, going up to the scientist who was standing at the door, she spoke to him about the sun, about the moon, about the external and internal sides and properties of human nature.
The scientist answered all her questions well and intelligently. “What should a person be like, if even his shadow is so smart! thought the princess. - A real boon for the people and the state, if I choose him as my wife. Yes, I will do that!”
And they - the princess and the shadow - soon agreed among themselves on everything. No one, however, was to know anything until the princess returned to her homeland.
“No one, not even my own shadow!” the shadow insisted, having its own reasons.
Finally, they arrived in the country that the princess ruled when she was at home.
“Listen, old man! said the shadow to the scientist. “Now I have reached the height of happiness and human power, and I want to do something for you too!” You will stay with me, you will live in my palace, ride with me in the royal carriage and receive a hundred thousand riksdaler a year. But for this, let me call you a shadow to everyone and everyone. You shouldn't even stutter that you were once human! And once a year, on a sunny day, when I sit on the balcony in front of the people, you will have to lie at my feet, as befits a shadow. I have to tell you, I'm marrying a princess. The wedding is tonight.
- No, this is too much! the scientist exclaimed. I don't want to and I won't! That would mean deceiving the whole country and the princess! I will tell everything! I'll say that I'm a man, and you're just a disguised shadow!
- Nobody will believe you! said the shadow. “Well, be prudent, or I’ll call the guards!”
"I'll go straight to the princess!" – said the scientist.
“Well, I’ll get to her before you!” said the shadow. "And you're going under arrest."
And so it happened: the guards obeyed the one whom, as everyone knew, the princess was marrying.
- You're shaking all over! said the princess as the shadow entered her. - Something happened? Look, do not get sick until the evening, because today is our wedding.
“Ah, I have now experienced the most terrible moment! said the shadow. “Just think… How much, in fact, do the brains of some unfortunate shadow need!” Just think, my shadow has gone mad, imagines itself to be a man, and calls me - just think! - with my shadow!
- Horrible! the princess said. I hope she got locked up.
“Of course, but I'm afraid she'll never come to her senses again.
- Poor shadow! the princess sighed. She is so unhappy! It would be a real blessing to rid her of that particle of life that is still in her. And to think carefully, then, in my opinion, it is even better to end it quickly and without noise!
Still, it's cruel! said the shadow. She was my faithful servant! And the shadow sighed.
You have a noble soul! the princess said. In the evening, the whole city was illuminated with lights, cannon shots thundered, soldiers took their guns on guard. That was a wedding so a wedding! The princess with a shadow went out to the people on the balcony, and the people once again shouted “Hurrah!” to them.
The scientist did not hear any of this - they had already finished with him.
That's where the sun bakes - it's in hot countries! People sunbathe there until their skin becomes the color of mahogany, and in the hottest - black, like negroes.
But for now, we will only talk about hot countries: one scientist came here from cold ones. He thought about running around the city as if at home, but he soon lost the habit and, like all prudent people, began to sit at home all day with closed shutters and doors. You might think that the whole house is asleep or no one is at home. The narrow street, built up with tall houses, was located in such a way that it was roasting in the sun from morning to evening, and there was simply no strength to endure this heat! The scientist, who came from cold countries - he was a smart and young man - it seemed as if he was sitting in a red-hot furnace. The heat took a toll on his health. He lost weight, and even his shadow somehow shrank and became much smaller than it was at home: the heat affected it too. Both of them - both the scientist and the shadow - came to life only with the onset of evening.
And really, it was nice to look at them! As soon as a candle was brought into the room, the shadow stretched across the entire wall, even capturing part of the ceiling - after all, she had to stretch well in order to gain strength again.
The scientist went out onto the balcony and also stretched, and as soon as the stars lit up in the clear evening sky, he felt that he was reborn to life again. On all other balconies - and in hot countries there is a balcony in front of every window - people also went out: after all, fresh air is necessary even for those who do not care to be the color of mahogany!
Animation reigned both downstairs - on the street and upstairs - on the balconies. Shoemakers, tailors and other working people all poured out into the street, carried tables and chairs to the sidewalks and lit candles. There were hundreds of them; these candles, and people - who sang, who talked, who just walked. Carriages rolled along the pavement, donkeys minced. Ding-ding-ding! they tinkled with bells. Here a funeral procession passed singing, street boys blew crackers on the pavement, bells rang.
Yes, revival reigned everywhere. It was quiet in only one house, which stood just opposite the one where the scientist lived. And yet this house was not empty: there were flowers on the balcony in the very sun, without watering they could not have bloomed so magnificently, someone had watered them! It must have been someone living in the house. The door to the balcony was opened in the evenings, but the rooms themselves were always dark, at least in the one that overlooked the street. And somewhere in the depths of the house sounded music. The scientist heard wonderfully beautiful things in her, but, perhaps, it only seemed to him that way: in his opinion, here, in hot countries, everything was beautiful; one problem - the sun! The owner of the house where the scientist settled, also not knowing who lives in the house opposite: not a soul was ever shown there, and as for music, he found it terribly boring.
- It's like someone sits and hammers the same play, and nothing works out for him, but he keeps hammering: they say, I will achieve my goal, and still nothing works out, no matter how much I play.
One night the scientist woke up; the door to the balcony stood wide open, the wind stirred the curtains, and it seemed to him that the balcony of the house opposite was illuminated by some amazing radiance; the flowers blazed with the most wonderful colors, and between the flowers stood a slender, charming girl, who also seemed to glow. All this blinded him so much that the scientist opened his eyes even wider and only then finally woke up. He jumped up, quietly went to the door and stood behind the curtain, but the girl disappeared, the light and shine disappeared, and the flowers no longer burned, but simply stood beautiful, as always. The door to the balcony was ajar, and from the depths of the house gentle, enchanting sounds of music were heard that could carry anyone into the world of sweet dreams.
It all looked like witchcraft. Who lived there? Where exactly was the entrance to the house? The entire lower floor was occupied by shops - how could the tenants constantly enter through them!
One evening the scientist was sitting on his balcony. A candle burned in the room behind him, and quite naturally, his shadow fell on the wall of the house opposite. Moreover, she even settled down between the flowers on the balcony, and as soon as the scientist moved, the shadow moved too - she had such a property.
“Really, my shadow is the only living creature in that house,” said the scientist. - Look how cleverly settled down between the flowers. And the door is ajar. If only the shadow could guess to enter the house, look out for everything, and then come back and tell me what she saw there. Yes, you would serve me well, - the scientist said as if in jest. - Be kind, come in there! Well, are you coming?
And he nodded to the shadow, and the shadow answered him with a nod.
- Well, go, just don't get lost there! With these words, the scientist stood up, and his shadow on the opposite balcony, too. The scientist turned - the shadow turned too, and if anyone had been watching them attentively at that moment, they would have seen how the shadow slipped through the half-open balcony door of the house opposite just at the moment when the scientist left the balcony into the room and lowered a curtain.
The next morning, the scientist went to the confectionery to drink coffee and read newspapers.
- What? he said as he walked out into the sun. I don't have a shadow! So she really went out last night and didn't come back. That's a shame!
He felt uncomfortable, not so much because the shadow had gone, but because he remembered the story of a man without a shadow, known to everyone in his homeland, in cold countries. If he returned home now and tell what happened to him, everyone would say that he set off in imitation, and it was unnecessary for him. That's why he decided not to even stutter about the incident with the shadow and smartly did.
In the evening, he again went out onto the balcony and placed the candle right behind him, knowing that the shadow always tries to block the light from the owner. But he did not manage to lure out his shadow in this way. Already he sat down and straightened up - there was no shadow, the shadow did not appear. He chuckled - what's the point?
It was a pity, but in hot countries everything grows extraordinarily fast, and a week later the scientist, going out into the sun, to his greatest pleasure, noticed that a new shadow began to grow from his feet - it must be that the roots of the old remained. Three weeks later he already had a tolerable shadow, and during the return trip of the scientist to his homeland, it grew even more and in the end became so big and long that it could even be reduced.
