Lessons 30 · 1 lessons · G. T. Gasilova, Yu. Yu. Musurmanova. Russian Language, Grade 6 (for schools with Uzbek and other languages of instruction). 2nd revised edition. “O‘zbekiston milliy ensiklopediyasi”, Tashkent, 2017
30
A. S. Pushkin. “The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish”
Textbook, pp. 126–128
GoalUnderstand A. S. Pushkin’s «Сказка о рыбаке и рыбке», tell the order of events and describe the characters.
Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin (1799–1837) was a great Russian poet. He wrote «Сказка о рыбаке и рыбке» in 1833; it is a literary tale in verse based on a folk tale (литературная сказка). The story: an old man and an old woman live by the sea in a small hut for thirty-three years. The old man catches a golden fish in his net. The fish speaks like a human, begs to be released and offers a ransom (выкуп). The old man lets her go without asking for anything, but the old woman scolds him and demands more and more: a new trough, a new house, the status of a noblewoman, becoming a queen and finally ruling the sea. After each demand the sea grows darker and angrier. In the end the fish takes everything back: the old woman again sits by her broken trough. The tale shows that greed and ingratitude are punished. Key devices: repetition (the old man goes to the sea each time) and the description of the sea.
Worked examples
«Рыбка и жадность» (summary). «Старик поймал в сети золотую рыбку и отпустил её без награды. Дома старуха закричала на него и послала просить новое корыто. Рыбка выполнила просьбу. Но старухе стало мало: ей захотелось избу, потом богатство и власть. Каждый раз море темнело. Когда старуха потребовала стать владычицей морской, рыбка ничего не ответила и уплыла. Старуха снова оказалась у разбитого корыта.» (The old man caught a golden fish in his net and let her go without a reward. At home the old woman shouted at him and sent him to ask for a new trough. The fish did it. But it was not enough for the old woman: she wanted a house, then wealth and power. Each time the sea grew darker. When the old woman demanded to be ruler of the sea, the fish said nothing and swam away. The old woman again found herself at the broken trough.)
Order of demands: корыто → изба → дворянка → царица → владычица морская (trough → hut → noblewoman → queen → ruler of the sea). Idiom: «остаться у разбитого корыта» — to end up with nothing after losing everything.
Class activity
“The colour of the sea”. Draw the sea on the board. After each demand change its colour (blue → light blue → dark → black). Pupils say the demand and describe the sea: «Море потемнело.»
Practice
1
What did the old woman demand first?
новое корыто
2
How did the sea change each time? What does it show?
It got darker and angrier: it shows that the old woman’s greed knew no limit.
3
What does the idiom «остаться у разбитого корыта» mean?
To lose everything through excessive demands.
4
Describe the old man’s character and compare him with the old woman.
The old man is kind, modest but weak; the old woman is greedy, rude and selfish.