Krylov's fable Cuckoo and Rooster humorously describes the scene of communication between two mediocre "singers" Cuckoo and Rooster, vying to praise each other for no reason.

Fable cuckoo and rooster read

"How, dear Cockerel, you sing loudly, it's important!" -
"And you, Cuckoo, my light,
How do you pull smoothly and lingeringly:
We don't have such a singer in the whole forest!"
"You, my kumanek, I'm ready to listen to you forever." -
"And you, beauty, I swear,
As soon as you shut up, then I can't wait,
To start again...
Where does this voice come from?
And clean, and gentle, and high! ..
Yes, you are already born like this: you are small,
And the songs are like your nightingale!" -
"Thank you, godfather; but, according to my conscience,
You eat better than a bird of paradise.
I refer to all of them in this."

Then Sparrow happened to say to them: "Friends!
Though you hoarse, praising each other, -
All your music is bad!.."

Why, without fear of sin,
The cuckoo praises the Rooster?
Because he praises the Cuckoo.

Moral of the fable The cuckoo and the rooster

Why, without fear of sin,
The cuckoo praises the Rooster?
Because he praises the Cuckoo.

The moral of the fable The Cuckoo and the Rooster is traditionally indicated by Krylov at the very end of the work. Sparrow, who flew past, understands that talent will not appear from boasting, saying to flatterers: “even though you hoarse, praising each other, all your music is bad!”.

Fable The Cuckoo and the Rooster - Analysis

The fable of the Cuckoo and the Rooster was published in 1841, although it was written a little earlier. The testimonies of many authors and critics unambiguously attribute the main roles in this fable to Bulgarin and Grech - writers who praised each other with or without reason. They say they praised each other nowhere else.

Krylov, using their example, very humorously showed that no matter how much people praise one another for no particular reason, this will not change the attitude of others towards their work. In Krylov's fable, the Cuckoo and the Rooster, two birds vying to praise each other's singing. The rooster compares the singing of the Cuckoo with the nightingale, and she, in turn, considers the singing of the Rooster better than that of the bird of paradise. Only a simple Sparrow tells them frankly that they can at least hoarse from their eulogies, but at the same time everyone will remain with the voice that they have.

Ivan Andreevich Krylov was born on February 2 (13), 1769 in Moscow into a military family, a Russian publicist, publisher of the satirical magazine Spirits Mail, author of comedies and tragedies, and since 1841 an academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. But he became famous for writing fables, which were distinguished by apt and sharp satire. The French fabulist Jean de Lafontaine (July 8, 1621 - April 13, 1695) had a great influence on the work of I.A. Krylov, who, in turn, borrowed plots and ideas mainly from the great ancient Greek fabulist Aesop, who lived approximately in 600- e years BC, as well as the Roman poet Phaedrus (20s BC-50s AD). For all the time, I.A. Krylov wrote 236 fables. Many expressions and quotations from these fables became winged and went to the people. Some phraseological units that we use in ordinary colloquial speech have not ceased to be relevant today.

Mention should be made of the writer and teacher of the Russian language and literature Vladislav Feofilovich Kenevich (1831-1879), who researched and systematized the works of I.A. Krylov in the literary field, writing a treatise "Bibliographic and historical notes to Krylov's fables."

The meaning and origin of the phraseological unit "the cuckoo praises the rooster for praising the cuckoo"

Phraseologism "the cuckoo praises the rooster for praising the cuckoo" originates in I.A. Krylov's fable "The Cuckoo and the Rooster", written in 1834. The first publication of this fable was carried out by the publishing house of the famous bookseller Alexander Filippovich Smirdin (1795-1857) "One Hundred Russian Writers" in 1841.

“How, dear Cockerel, you sing loudly, it’s important!” —

“And you, Cuckoo, my light,

How do you pull smoothly and lingeringly:

We don’t have such a singer in the whole forest!” —

"You, my kumanek, I'm ready to listen to you forever."—

"And you, beauty, I swear,

As soon as you shut up, then I'll wait, I won't wait,

To start again...

And clean, and gentle, and high! ..

Yes, you are already born like that, you are small,

And the songs, what is your nightingale! —

“Thank you, godfather; but, according to my conscience,

You sing better than a bird of paradise

I refer to all of them in this."

Then Sparrow happened to say to them: “Friends!

Though you hoarse, praising each other, -

All your music is bad!”

Why, without fear of sin,

The cuckoo praises the Rooster?

Because he praises the Cuckoo.

The fable describes a dialogue between two birds - a cuckoo and a rooster. Not possessing at least some singing talents, the birds praise and admire each other's voices, although there is actually nothing to praise. Nothing brings people together like mutual flattery. This is how the birds, mediocre in relation to singing, hypocritize in front of each other, convincing themselves that their voices are beautiful.

A sparrow flying by tells them the truth. No matter how the cuckoo and the rooster praise each other, they will not sing better, and for everyone around them they will remain ordinary gray mediocrity without any outstanding qualities. Well, the moral is stated at the end of the fable.

The expression "the cuckoo praises the rooster for praising the cuckoo" implies mutual flattery, sycophancy and hypocrisy.

In the future, this phrase began to be pronounced when compliments and praises sound false and raise great doubts about the sincerity of what was heard.

As many critics and authors of that time testify, I.A. Krylov in the fable "The Cuckoo and the Rooster" ridiculed two specific writers who praised each other in every possible way with or without reason in their notes on the pages of the literary newspaper "Northern Bee" and the magazine " Son of the Fatherland”, which they were the publishers and editors. Here are their names: Faddey Venediktovich Bulgarin (1789-1859) - writer, critic and journalist; and Nikolai Ivanovich Grech (1787-1869) - writer, journalist and translator. Earlier, literary critic Vissarion Grigorievich Belinsky (1811-1848), publicist and teacher Alexander Ivanovich Herzen spoke out on the topic of mutual praise of these gentlemen. The great Russian poet Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin (1799-1837) did not ignore this topic:

“In the midst of the controversy tearing apart our poor literature, N.I. Grech and F.V. Bulgarin has been setting a comforting example of consent based on mutual respect, similarity of souls and civil and literary occupations for more than ten years. This instructive union is marked by venerable monuments. Faddey Venediktovich modestly acknowledged himself as a student of Nikolai Ivanovich; N.I. hastily proclaimed Faddey Venediktovich his clever comrade. F.V. dedicated to Nikolai Ivanovich his "Demetrius the Pretender"; N.I. dedicated his "Journey to Germany" to Faddey Venediktovich. F. V. wrote a laudatory foreword for Nikolai Ivanovich's Grammar; N.I. in Severnaya pchela (published by Messrs. Grech and Bulgarin) published a laudatory ad about Ivan Vyzhigin. The unanimity is truly touching!”

A.S. Pushkin, “The Triumph of Friendship, or the Justified Alexander Anfimovich Orlov”, 1831

Here are the memories of a friend I.A. Krylov:

"The cuckoo and the Rooster, praising themselves in a fable, depict N. I. Grech and his friend F. V. Bulgarin. These faces in the magazines of the thirties praised each other to oblivion or, as they say, to insensibility. I heard this explanation from myself I. A. Krylov".

N. M. Kalmykov, Russian Archive, 1865

It is worth mentioning the poet and critic Pyotr Aleksandrovich Pletnev (1791-1866) and his witty version of the ending of I.A. Krylov's fable, where I.A. Krylov himself most likely plays the role of the nightingale:

“No matter how the cuckoo cock praises,

No matter how you praise the cuckoo cock,

They are far from the Nightingale.

The meaning and origin of the phraseological unit “and you, friends, no matter how you sit down, you are not good at musicians”, “to be a musician, you need skill”

We owe the appearance of phraseological units “and you, friends, no matter how you sit down, you are all not good at musicians” and “to be a musician, you need skill” we owe to I.A. Krylov and his fable “The Quartet”, written and printed in 1811.

"Quartet"

The naughty Monkey, the Donkey, the Goat and the clumsy Bear

They decided to play a quartet.

Got notes, bass, viola, two violins

And sat down on the meadow under the lindens -

Captivate the world with your art.

They hit the bows, they tear, but there is no sense.

“Stop, brothers, stop!” Monkey shouts. “Wait a minute!

How does the music go? You don't sit like that.

You are with the bass, Mishenka, sit down against the viola,

I, prima, will sit against the second;

Then the music will go wrong:

Our forests and mountains will dance!"

They sat down, began the Quartet;

He still doesn't get along.

"Wait a minute, I found a secret, -

The Donkey shouts, - we, surely, will get along,

Let's sit next to each other."

They obeyed the Donkey: they sat down decorously in a row,

And yet the Quartet is not going well.

Here, more than ever, their analysis went

And disputes over who and how to sit.

It happened to the Nightingale to fly to their noise.

Here with a request all to him to solve their doubts:

“Perhaps,” they say, “take patience for an hour,

To put our Quartet in order:

And we have notes, and we have instruments;

Just tell us how to sit down!"

"To be a musician, you need the ability

And your ears are softer, -

Nightingale answers them. —

And you, friends, no matter how you sit down,

Everyone is no good as a musician."

The fable describes how a monkey, a donkey, a goat and a bear decided to play a quartet and what came of it. As it turned out, the presence of musical instruments and desire is not enough to become a full-fledged musical group. And as soon as the heroes of the fable did not try to change places, so that at least something happened.

But, alas, all their efforts were in vain. The sounds coming from the musical instruments were terrible. A nightingale flying past summed up their disputes and discord: "to be a musician, you need skill." For any business to be argued, one desire is not enough, experience, skill and knowledge are needed, which the heroes of the fable did not have. This phrase explains a lot and it is not surprising that it has become a phraseological unit.

So they began to talk about a self-confident and boastful person who considers himself a master in any business, or a group of people who are trying to do something (although they have never done it before) without the appropriate training and knowledge, fail.

I.A. Krylov ends the fable with the expression: “and you, friends, no matter how you sit down, you are all no good as musicians,” where he hints at the futility of efforts, the futility and stupidity of all the undertakings of the heroes of the fable. In the future, they began to talk like this about a poorly working team due to a lack of professionalism and mutual understanding.

According to I.A. Krylov's contemporaries, the Quartet fable was written in connection with the reform in the State Council. In 1810, Emperor Alexander I divided this state body into 4 departments, headed by Count N.S. Mordvinov, Count A.A. Arakcheev, Count P.V. Zavadovsky and Prince P.V. Lopukhin. These gentlemen became the prototypes of the main characters of the fable. Under the monkey was meant N.S. Mordvinov, under the donkey - P.V. Zavadovsky, under the goat - P.V. Lopukhin, and under the bear - A.A. Arakcheev.

Here is what A.S. Pushkin's lyceum fellow student Modest Andreevich Korf (1800-1876) wrote about this in his memoirs:

“It is known that we owe the witty fable of Krylov's Quartet to the lengthy debate on how to seat them, and even to several transplants that followed.

“I keep wanting to arrange my outer life, I am this way and that, and all this fuss with my own person will end with some strict X saying: No matter how you sit down, everyone is not fit to be a musician!”

The meaning and origin of the phraseological unit "Demyanova's ear"

The fable "Demyanov's Ear" was written by I.A. Krylov in 1813.

"Demyanov's ear"

"Neighbor, my light!

Please eat."

"Neighbor, I'm fed up." - "There is no need

Another plate; Listen:

Ushitsa, she-she-she, cooked to glory! ”-

"I ate three plates." - "And full, what for the scores:

If only it would become a hunt -

And then in health: eat to the bottom!

What an ear! Yes, how fat;

As if she was covered with amber.

Have fun, little friend!

Here is a bream, offal, here is a piece of sterlet!

Just one more spoon! Bow down, wife!"

This is how neighbor Demyan regaled neighbor Foka

And gave him neither rest nor time;

And sweat had been rolling down from Foka for a long time.

However, he still takes a plate,

Gathering with the last strength

And it cleans everything.

"Here's a friend I love! —

Demyan screamed. “But I can’t stand arrogant people.

Well, eat another plate, my dear!"

Here is my poor Foka,

No matter how much he loved the ear, but from such a misfortune,

Grabbing in an armful

Sash and hat

Hurry home without memory -

And from that time on, not a foot to Demyan.

Writer, happy are you, since you have a direct gift;

But if you don't know how to be silent in time

And you do not spare your neighbor's ears,

Then know that your prose and poetry

All Demyanova's soup will be more nauseating.

The fable describes a common everyday situation when one neighbor came to visit another for lunch. The hospitable host Demyan carefully treated his neighbor Fok with his delicious fish soup. The satiated Foka no longer wanted to eat, but it was also not part of his plans to offend the owner.

And the obliging Demyan offered everything and offered to try the ears again. Delicate Foka, not wanting to seem impolite, ate another plate of fish soup. Demyan was delighted and ... offered another portion of fish soup. Fock could not stand such pressure and, not knowing how to refuse the owner, he simply ran away.

For the first time, I.A. Krylov read the fable "Demyan's Ear" at a meeting of the literary society "Conversation of Russian Language Lovers" in 1813. This society arose thanks to the initiative of the Russian poet and statesman Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin (1743-1816) and the Russian writer, admiral and statesman Alexander Semenovich Shishkov (1754-1841) and existed until the death of G.R. Derzhavin in 1816 year. For the entire period of activity of the “Conversations of Russian Language Lovers”, 19 books were published with the works of members of the society, which was I.A. Krylov.

It was possible to get to the meetings of the society only by invitation cards. Meetings were held about once a month in the house of the same G.R. Derzhavin, at which the authors read out their literary works. Quite often, young authors who did not differ in literary talents spoke at such meetings. I.A. Krylov and all those present had to listen to these most boring literary "masterpieces".

So the fabulist decided to ridicule such mediocre writers. And at one of these meetings, a rather funny story happened. As always, the members of "Conversations" listened to some regular work of the young author. The literary creation was nothing particularly unremarkable, extremely long, boring and tedious. When the tedious reading nevertheless ended, I.A. Krylov was offered to speak, who read out the fable "Demyan's ear". The plot of the fable was so close to the events that all those present burst into genuine laughter, paying tribute to the author's wit and timeliness of reading.

Here is how the Russian poet and translator, member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Mikhail Evstafievich Lobanov (1787-1846) describes this moment:

“Ivan Andreevich, knowing the full power of his literary weapon, that is, satire, sometimes chose cases so as not to miss and hit the target accurately; here is the proof. him to read one of his new fables, which were then a dainty dish of every literary feast and treat. He promised, but he did not appear for the preliminary reading, but arrived at the "Conversation" during the reading itself, and quite late. They were reading some extremely long a play; he sat down at the table. The chairman of the department, A. S. Khvostov, who was sitting opposite him at the table, asked him in an undertone: "Ivan Andreevich, what, have you brought it?" - "Brought it." , after. "The reading continued, the audience got tired, they began to get bored, yawning took hold of many. Finally, the play was finished. Then Ivan Andreevich put his hand in his pocket, pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and began:" Demyanov's ear. "The content of the fable miraculously corresponded to the circumstances, and the adaptation was so clever, so, by the way, that the audience with loud laughter from the bottom of their hearts rewarded the author for the fable, with which he repaid her boredom and amused her with the charm of his story.

M.E. Lobanov, “The life and works of I. A. Krylov”, 1847, p. 55.

After such a triumph, the fable became very popular, and the expression "Demyanov's ear" became a phraseological unit, meaning the excessive imposition of something on a person that he does not want. In the fable, young authors act as Demyan, who “treated” listeners, including I.A. Krylov, with their tedious, viscous, boring works. The last lines of the fable are an appeal to such writers:

“Then know that your prose and poetry

All Demyanova's soup will be more nauseating.

In the fable, there was a clash of such human qualities as delicacy and hospitality, only with a pronounced extreme degree of neglect. And so these good human qualities grew into weakness and obsession. One "stuck like a bath leaf to one place," and the other cannot refuse what he does not want. There must be a sense of proportion in everything.

Good deeds offered to a person too zealously and persistently lose their value and significance at times, and cause only negative emotions. Kindness should be restrained and unobtrusive. And the inability to say “no” leads to situations where you have to do what you don’t want. When necessary, learn to say “no”, excessive care and obsession are signs of bad taste that should be got rid of.

The meaning and origin of the phraseological unit "the stigma in your cannon"

For the first time, the expression “your snout is in the cannon” was used by I.A. Krylov in the fable “The Fox and the Marmot”, written in 1813. The fable was published in the collection “Reading in the Conversation of Russian Language Lovers”, published in 1811-1816 under the guidance of Admiral and statesman A.S. Shishkov.

Fox and Marmot

"Where, gossip, are you running without looking back?" —

The groundhog asked the fox.

"Oh, my dear kumanek!

I endure slander and was expelled for bribes.

You know I was the judge in the chicken coop

Lost health and peace in business,

In the labors of a piece I was malnourished,

Sleepless nights:

And I fell under anger for that;

And all by slander. Well, think for yourself:

Who in the world will be right if you listen to slander?

Should I take bribes? yes, I'm pissed off!

Well, have you seen, I will send for you,

That I was involved in this sin?

Think, remember well."

What a stigma you have in fluff. "

Another sighs at the same place,

As if the last ruble survives:

And truly, the whole city knows

What he has for himself

Not for a wife

And look, little by little

Either he will build a house, or he will buy a village.

Now, how to reduce his income with expenses,

Even if you can't prove it in court

But if you don't sin, you won't say

That he has fluff on the stigma.

The fable describes a conversation between a fox and a marmot. The fox, who worked as a judge in the chicken coop, was accused of bribery. And now she, hoping for the support of the groundhog, complains to him about her difficult life. After all, doing her job, she was malnourished, lacked sleep, tore her health. She is still accused of something bad, although she was not seen in anything like that. The marmot confirmed that the fox was indeed not seen in anything bad, however, as I.A. Krylov wrote:

"No, gossip; but I saw often,

What is your stigma down ".

The expression “your snout is in the gun” is an appeal used for a person related to some illegal or dishonorable act, but, as they say, “not caught by the hand.” That is, to prove his guilt is problematic, almost impossible, although many believe that a person is probably involved in something bad. Moreover, the feeling of guilt is not based on facts, but is felt intuitively.

It is possible that the person himself gives a reason to think so about him. For example, a furtive and sly look, tension in movements, trembling of the voice, etc., in a word, unnatural behavior. Or such a relevant topic for our time as bribery. Some high-ranking officials and bosses have prestigious cars, luxurious houses, real estate around the world, expensive clothes, etc., which in itself is not illegal.

But the size of their official income does not correspond to such a standard of living. From which questions arise: “How? Where? ". The answer suggests itself. But no one caught them on something unseemly and the accounting is in perfect order - you can’t find fault. But it seems that the person is unambiguously involved in something illegal, like a fox from the fable of I.A. Krylov with a fluff on the stigma.

“Here is a fox running ... The make-up is magnificent: even a snout in a cannon. She looks honey, speaks in tenor, with tears in her eyes. If you listen to her, then she is a victim of human intrigue, tricks, ingratitude. She seeks sympathy, begs to be understood, whines, tears. Listen to her, but don't fall into her clutches. She will clean it, make it look like a nut, let it go without a shirt, for she is an entrepreneur.

A.P. Chekhov, The Mummers, 1883-1884

“- Pretend to be a detective. He won't last. He has a snout in down. I myself bought from him books stolen from the Historical Museum.

K. G. Paustovsky, "The Tale of Life" (The Beginning of an Unknown Age), 1956

Ivan Andreevich Krylov - Russian poet, playwright, translator and academician - is well known all over the world. The genre in which he is especially famous is the fable. Rooster and Cuckoo, Fox and Crow, Dragonfly and Ant, Donkey and Nightingale - these and many other images, allegorically exposing various human vices, have been familiar to us since childhood.

How Krylov became a fabulist

The poet began to compose fables almost by accident: he translated several works of the Frenchman Lafontaine, whom he loved from early youth, the experience turned out to be successful. Krylov's natural wit, subtle linguistic flair and a penchant for apt folk words coincided perfectly with his passion for this genre. The vast majority of more than two hundred Krylov's fables are original, created on the basis of personal experience and observations and have no analogues among the works of other fabulists.

Each nation has its own more or less famous author, who has enriched the national treasury with fables and parables. In Germany, these are Lessing and Saks, in Italy - Faerno and Verdicotti, in France - Odan and La Fontaine. The ancient Greek author Aesop plays a special role in the emergence and development of the genre. Wherever it was required to ridicule, scathingly and precisely, the phenomena that distort and distort life, a fable came to the rescue. The Rooster and the Cuckoo in Aesop or another poet may appear in the guise of other animals, insects or things, but the essence of the fable will remain unchanged: it cures immorality with satire.

Fable "Cuckoo and Rooster"

The plot is based on the dialogue of two badly singing birds. This is a very funny fable. The Rooster and the Cuckoo vied with each other to praise each other's singing. Everyone knows that the cry of a kochet is not at all melodic, it’s not for nothing that there is an expression “give a rooster” when it comes to a broken voice. The voice of the cuckoo is also difficult to call euphonious. Nevertheless, the Rooster favors the Cuckoo as the first singer of the forest, and she says that he sings "better than the bird of paradise." A Sparrow flying past points out to intimate interlocutors that no matter how sophisticated they are in praise, the truth is that their "music is bad."

But maybe the author laughs at them in vain, and the fable is unfair? The Rooster and the Cuckoo are good friends and support each other with a pleasant word - what's wrong with that? Let's look at the dynamics of the plot. At first, the Cuckoo is not far from the truth, she says that the Rooster sings loudly and importantly. He responds with more elaborate praise. The cuckoo favorably accepts flattering words, she is ready to “listen to them for a century”. The interlocutor's praises become even more colorful and do not correspond to reality at all, although the Rooster swears that the Cuckoo sings "what is your nightingale." She thanks, is zealous in mutual praise, and also “in good conscience” assures that everyone will confirm her words. And just at this moment, Sparrow refutes the immoderate speeches of both birds. The author skillfully emphasizes that the obsequious praise of the heroes is insincere, that in fact neither one nor the other feels the admiration that they talk about. Why do they do it? The moral of the fable "The Cuckoo and the Rooster" is obvious: only because they receive reciprocal flattery.

How did the work come about?

The fable was published in the popular collection "One Hundred Russian Writers" and provided with a caricature depicting two of Krylov's contemporaries - the novelist Nikolai Grech and the writer Faddey Bulgarin - in the form of Cuckoo and Rooster. This duet was known for the fact that both writers tirelessly praised each other in print publications. In the original version of the fable, the hint at real events looks brighter, and in morality the idea sounds that no matter how much the characters “cense” each other, their talent will not increase. In the final version, however, the idea is taken out of the scope of a special case. Thanks to this, this fable of Krylov became so relevant. The Rooster and the Cuckoo are often seen in each of us when we hypocritically praise someone in the hope of getting flattering words addressed to us.

Reviews

Margarita! I am from a generation born before the war. And now I remember the kindness of relations among the people of that difficult time. There is a slight correction to your statement about "free education in the USSR." I went to the first grade in 1946 and in 1953 I finished the seventh grade. Yes, a seven-year education was free, but you had to pay for education in grades 8, 9, 10. And I had a dream to enter the Leningrad Higher Naval School named after Frunze. But the family was poor, and there was nothing to pay for high school. So the navy lost one admiral. There will be a desire, look:

Ku-ku not crow, the river has two banks. There are also among the rich - kind and generous, there are evil and greedy poor people. You can't buy talent with money, you can only distribute it, in this respect Pushkin was lucky, but he died young. Before a person the choice is to live long or earn a lot. OR not "AND". The rich become slaves to their money, guarding it. A rich man does not have to live long, there are exceptions, as in everything. But you turned right back, Margarita, and you have not forgotten how it all happened. A bright future awaits those born in the USSR.
Letters were taught in the church, God was understood through appearances. Churches were destroyed and letters began to be taught for human communication, finding the hostel as a common one. Poverty was not afraid, they were looking for equality in everything, not understanding the essence of "e".
Scientists, like saints, have been given a gift from above. The voice is also a gift from above, but it is not given, but sold. Pugacheva is a little scared, has gone into a different role, but the truth will prevail anyway. Margarita, if we live to be two hundred, we will be able to lead how to bloom and row without sadness. We started with Nicholas II - the holy essence, turning into a scientist. The hard sign was removed from the end of the words, and "ё" was not approved, they only repeated, without being hard at the same time. The purpose of our spruce, turned into a Christmas tree, without understanding. The spruce forerunner of eternal life on earth, the birth of Christ, spoke of eternity. Christmas tree like a crucifix - felled spruce. I am a lechovezha, I take off my term as the fate of a man-century and live without it. Lechovezha treats people with courtesy, taking a needle from a hedgehog. Eternal life-logic is stored in the needle, and eternal death is stored in memory.
Logic and memory are two sisters, logic has freed itself from memory and does not need it.
There is no death, the soul has eternal life and does not want to take off this burden-body.
The body is to the soul as the sun is to the earth.

“How, dear Cockerel, you sing loudly, it’s important!” -
“And you, Cuckoo, my light,
How do you pull smoothly and lingeringly:
We don’t have such a singer in the whole forest!” -

"I'm ready to listen to you, my kumanek, for a century."
"And you, beauty, I swear,
As soon as you shut up, then I'll wait, I won't wait,
To start again...

“Thank you, godfather; but, according to my conscience,
You sing better than a bird of paradise
I refer to all of them in this."

Then Sparrow happened to say to them: “Friends!
Though you hoarse, praising each other, -
All your music is bad!”

***
Why, without fear of sin,
The cuckoo praises the Rooster?
For the fact that he praises the Cuckoo *

* In the almanac “One Hundred Russian Writers” (T. 2. St. Petersburg, 1841), where the fable of the Cuckoo and the Rooster was first printed, it was accompanied by a caricature by Desarno, in which the figures of F. V. Bulgarin and N. I. Grech, depicted with the heads of a Rooster and a Cuckoo.
Pushkin wrote about the mutual praise of these writers in the pamphlet The Triumph of Friendship, or the Justified Alexander Anfimovich Orlov (1831).

Sound filmstrip Cuckoo and rooster

Sound filmstrip The cuckoo and the rooster based on Krylov's fable from the ninth book. Date of creation: 1834, published: "One Hundred Russian Writers", 1841, vol. II, St. Petersburg, pp. 15-16.