In 1808, Ivan Krylov’s fable “The Dragonfly and the Ant” was published. However, Krylov was not the creator of this plot; he translated into Russian the fable “The Cicada and the Ant” by Jean de La Fontaine (1621-1695), who, in turn, borrowed the plot from the Greek fabulist of the 6th century BC. Aesop.
Aesop's prose fable "The Grasshopper and the Ant" looks like this:
In winter, the ant pulled out its supplies, which it had accumulated in the summer, from a hidden place for drying. A starving grasshopper begged him to give him food to survive. The ant asked him: “What did you do this summer?” The grasshopper replied: “I sang without resting.” The ant laughed and, putting away the supplies, said: “Dance in winter, if you sang in summer.”
Lafontaine changed this plot. Aesop's male grasshopper has turned into La Fontaine's female cicada. Since the word “ant” (la Fourmi) in French is also feminine, the plot is not about two men, like Aesop, but about two women.
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Here is a translation of La Fontaine's fable "La Cigale et la Fourmi" / The Cicada and the Ant from N. Tabatchikova:
Summer whole Cicada
I was happy to sing every day.
But the summer is leaving red,
And there are no supplies for the winter.
She didn't go hungry
She ran to Ant,
If possible, borrow food and drink from a neighbor.
“As soon as summer comes to us again,
I’m ready to return everything in full, -
Cicada promises her. —
I’ll give my word if necessary.”
Ants are extremely rare
He lends money, that’s the problem.
“What did you do in the summer?” —
She tells her neighbor.
“Day and night, don’t blame me,
I sang songs to everyone who was nearby.”
“If so, I’m very happy!
Now dance!”
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As we see, the Cicada does not just ask the Ant for food, she asks for food on credit. However, Ant is devoid of usurious inclinations and refuses her neighbor, dooming her to starvation. The fact that Lafontaine predicts the death of the cicada between the lines is clear from the fact that the cicada was chosen as the main character. In Plato’s dialogue “Phaedrus” the following legend is told about cicadas: “Cicadas were once people, even before the birth of the Muses. And when the Muses were born and singing appeared, some of the people of that time became so delighted with this pleasure that among the songs they forgot about food and drink and died in self-forgetfulness. From them later came the breed of cicadas: they received such a gift from the Muses that, having been born, they do not need food, but immediately, without food or drink, they begin to sing until they die."
Ivan Krylov, having decided to translate La Fontaine’s fable into Russian, was faced with the fact that the cicada was little known in Russia at that time and Krylov decided to replace it with another female insect - the dragonfly. However, at that time two insects were called dragonflies - the dragonfly itself and the grasshopper. That’s why Krylov’s “dragonfly” jumps and sings like a grasshopper.
Jumping Dragonfly
The red summer sang;
I didn’t have time to look back,
How winter rolls into your eyes.
The pure field has died;
There are no more bright days,
Like under every leaf
Both the table and the house were ready.
Everything has passed: with the cold winter
Need, hunger comes;
The dragonfly no longer sings:
And who cares?
Sing on a hungry stomach!
Angry melancholy,
She crawls towards the Ant:
“Don’t leave me, dear godfather!
Let me gather my strength
And only until spring days
Feed and warm! —
“Gossip, this is strange to me:
Did you work during the summer?” —
Ant tells her.
“Was it before that, my dear?
In our soft ants
Songs, playfulness every hour,
So much so that my head was turned.” —
“Oh, so you...” - “I’m without a soul
I sang all summer.” —
“Did you sing everything? this business:
So come and dance!”
Krylov's ant is much more cruel than Aesop's or La Fontaine's ants. In other stories, the Grasshopper and the Cicada ask only for food, i.e. it is implied that they still have warm shelter for the winter. From Krylov, the Dragonfly asks the Ant not just for food, but also for warm shelter. The Ant, refusing the Dragonfly, dooms it to death not only from hunger, but also from cold. This refusal looks even more cruel, considering that a man refuses a woman (Aesop and La Fontaine communicate with same-sex creatures: Aesop has men, and La Fontaine has women).
Dragonfly and ant. Artist T. Vasilyeva
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Dragonfly and ant. Artist S. Yarovoy
Dragonfly and ant. Artist O. Voronova
Dragonfly and ant. Artist Irina Petelina
Dragonfly and ant. Artist I. Semenov
Dragonfly and ant. Artist Yana Kovaleva
Dragonfly and ant. Artist Andrey Kustov
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Krylov's fable was filmed twice. The first time this happened was in 1913. Moreover, instead of a dragonfly, for the reasons already mentioned, Vladislav Starevich’s cartoon features a blacksmith.
The second time Krylov’s fable was filmed in 1961 by director Nikolai Fedorov.
Hello! The other day, the editors of “I and the World” came across an amazing essay about the well-known fable by I. A. Krylov “The Dragonfly and the Ant”. Krylov is best known as a Russian publicist, poet, fabulist and publisher of satirical and educational magazines.
The fable “The Dragonfly and the Ant” has the following moral: the very moment always comes when you have to pay for your idleness. Therefore, you need to be able to not only have fun, but also work.
Usually the person who read this work always agreed with this opinion. At school, our teachers taught us exactly this - study, work, and have fun later.
However, the child who wrote this essay saw a completely different moral in the fable and expressed it in his school work.
And here is the fable itself, in case you’ve already forgotten the text:
Fable "The Dragonfly and the Ant"
Jumping Dragonfly
The red summer sang,
I didn’t have time to look back,
How winter rolls into your eyes.
The pure field has died,
There are no more bright days,
Like under every leaf
Both the table and the house were ready.
Everything has passed: with the cold winter
Need, hunger is coming,
The dragonfly no longer sings,
And who cares?
Sing on a hungry stomach!
Angry melancholy,
She crawls towards the Ant:
Don't leave me, dear godfather!
Let me gather my strength
And only until spring days
Feed and warm!
Gossip, this is strange to me:
Did you work during the summer?
Ant tells her.
Was it before that, my dear?
In our soft ants -
Songs, playfulness every hour,
So much so that it turned my head.
Oh, so you...
I sang all summer without a soul.
Did you sing everything? This business:
So come and dance!
The same essay by a schoolboy:
The parents of this young man posted a photo of the essay on the Internet. They didn’t even suspect how much interest there would be around this school creation.
Unusual for everyone, this child’s opinion cannot be called incorrect. And it has a right to exist.
People simply need to see the beauty that surrounds us, and not just work tirelessly.
And dragonflies probably exist for this purpose, to add bright colors to the everyday life of our lives.
It is impossible to remain indifferent to the conclusion of this free-thinking student!
He showed a completely different side of the moral of this famous fable.
Be surprised with!
The fable “The Dragonfly and the Ant” by Krylov will tell children how the lazy Dragonfly was rejected by the Ant in an attempt to take advantage of the fruits of his labor.
Read the text of the fable:
Jumping Dragonfly
The red summer sang,
I didn’t have time to look back,
How winter rolls into your eyes.
The pure field has died,
There are no more bright days,
Like under every leaf
Both the table and the house were ready.
Everything has passed: with the cold winter
Need, hunger is coming,
The dragonfly no longer sings,
And who cares?
Sing on a hungry stomach!
Angry melancholy,
She crawls towards the Ant:
Don't leave me, dear godfather!
Let me gather my strength
And only until spring days
Feed and warm!
Gossip, this is strange to me:
Did you work during the summer?
Ant tells her.
Was it before that, my dear?
In our soft ants -
Songs, playfulness every hour,
So much so that it turned my head.
Oh, so you...
I sang all summer without a soul.
Did you sing everything? This business:
So come and dance!
Moral of the fable: The Dragonfly and the Ant:
The moral of the story is that a lazy person dooms himself to death. And you shouldn’t expect that someone who has worked hard for a long time will share the results of his work with a slacker. It often turns out that a person leads an idle life, squanders all his property, and after that turns to, for example, relatives for help. Should they help him? Of course not. Just as the Ant advises the Dragonfly to go dancing, you can directly show such hangers-on their place.