Once upon a time there was a minnow. Both his father and mother were smart; Little by little, the arid eyelids lived in the river and did not get caught either in the fish soup or in the pike. They ordered the same for my son. “Look, son,” said the old minnow, dying, “if you want to chew your life, then keep your eyes open!”
And the young minnow had a mind. He began to use this mind and saw: no matter where he turned, he was cursed. All around, in the water, all the big fish are swimming, but he is the smallest of all; Any fish can swallow him, but he cannot swallow anyone. And he doesn’t understand: why swallow? A cancer can cut it in half with its claws, a water flea can bite into its spine and torture it to death. Even his brother the gudgeon - and when he sees that he has caught a mosquito, the whole herd will rush to take it away. They’ll take it away and start fighting with each other, only they’ll crush a mosquito for nothing.
And the man? - what kind of malicious creature is this! no matter what tricks he came up with to destroy him, the minnow, in vain! And the seine, and the nets, and the tops, and the net, and, finally... the fish! It seems that what could be more stupid than oud? - A thread, a hook on a thread, a worm or a fly on a hook... And how are they put on?.. in the most, one might say, unnatural position! Meanwhile, it is on the fishing rod that most minnows are caught!
His old father warned him more than once about uda. “Most of all, beware of the fish!” he said, “because even though it’s the stupidest projectile, with us minnows, what’s stupid is truer. They’ll throw a fly at us, as if they want to take advantage of us; "That's death!"
The old man also told how he once almost hit his ear. At that time they were caught by a whole artel, the net was stretched across the entire width of the river, and they were dragged along the bottom for about two miles. Passion, how many fish were caught then! And pikes, and perches, and chubs, and roaches, and loaches - even couch potato bream were lifted from the mud from the bottom! And we lost count of the minnows. And what fears he, the old minnow, suffered while he was being dragged along the river - this cannot be said in a fairy tale, nor described with a pen. He feels that he is being taken, but does not know where. He sees that he has a pike on one side and a perch on the other; he thinks: just about now, either one or the other will eat him, but they don’t touch him... “There was no time for food at that time, brother!” Everyone has one thing on their mind: death has come! but how and why she came - no one understands. Finally they began to close the wings of the seine, dragged it to the shore and began to throw fish from the reel into the grass. It was then that he learned what ukha was. Something red flutters on the sand; gray clouds run upward from him; and it was so hot that he immediately became limp. It’s already sickening without water, and then they give in... He hears a “bonfire,” they say. And on the “bonfire” something black is placed on this one, and in it the water, like in a lake, shakes during a storm. This is a "cauldron", they say. And in the end they began to say: put fish in the “cauldron” - there will be “fish soup”! And they started throwing our brother there. When a fisherman slams a fish, it will first plunge, then jump out like crazy, then plunge again and become quiet. “Uhi” means she tasted it. They tossed and tossed at first indiscriminately, and then one old man looked at him and said: “What good is this baby for fish soup? Let it grow in the river!” He took him by the gills and let him into free water. And he, don’t be stupid, goes home with all his might! He came running, and his minnow was looking out of the hole, neither alive nor dead...
And what! No matter how much the old man explained at that time what fish soup was and what it consisted of, however, even when brought into the river, rarely did anyone have a sound understanding of fish soup!
But he, the gudgeon-son, perfectly remembered the teachings of the gudgeon-father, and he even reeled it into his mustache. He was an enlightened minnow, moderately liberal, and very firmly understood that living life is not like licking a whorl. “You have to live so that no one notices,” he said to himself, “or else you’ll just disappear!” - and began to get settled. First of all, I came up with a hole for myself so that he could climb into it, but no one else could get in! He dug this hole with his nose for a whole year, and during that time he took on so much fear, spending the night either in the mud, or under the water burdock, or in the sedge. Finally, however, he dug it out to perfection. Clean, neat - just enough for one person to fit in. The second thing, about his life, he decided this way: at night, when people, animals, birds and fish are sleeping, he will exercise, and during the day he will sit in a hole and tremble. But since he still needs to drink and eat, and he doesn’t receive a salary and doesn’t keep servants, he will run out of the hole around noon, when all the fish are already full, and, God willing, maybe he’ll provide a booger or two. And if he doesn’t provide, he will lie down in a hole hungry and tremble again. For it is better not to eat or drink than to lose life with a full stomach.
That's what he did. At night he exercised, swam in the moonlight, and during the day he climbed into a hole and trembled. Only at noon will he run out to grab something - but what can you do at noon! At this time, a mosquito hides under a leaf from the heat, and a bug buries itself under the bark. Absorbs water - and the Sabbath!
He lies in the hole day and day, doesn’t get enough sleep at night, doesn’t finish eating, and still thinks: “It seems that I’m alive? Oh, something will happen tomorrow?”
He falls asleep, sinfully, and in his sleep he dreams that he has a winning ticket and he won two hundred thousand with it. Not remembering himself with delight, he will turn over on the other side - and lo and behold, half of his snout has stuck out of the hole... What if at that time the little puppy was nearby! After all, he would have pulled him out of the hole!
One day he woke up and saw: a crayfish was standing right opposite his hole. He stands motionless, as if bewitched, his bony eyes staring at him. Only the whiskers move as the water flows. That's when he got scared! And for half a day, until it got completely dark, this cancer was waiting for him, and meanwhile he kept trembling, still trembling.
Another time, he had just managed to return to the hole before dawn, he had just yawned sweetly, in anticipation of sleep - he looked, out of nowhere, a pike was standing right next to the hole, clapping its teeth. And she also guarded him all day, as if she had had enough of him alone. And he fooled the pike: he didn’t come out of the bark, and it was a sabbath.
And this happened to him more than once, not twice, but almost every day. And every day he, trembling, won victories and victories, every day he exclaimed: “Glory to you, Lord! Alive!”
But this is not enough: he did not marry and did not have children, although his father had a large family. He reasoned like this: “Father could have lived by joking! At that time, the pikes were kinder, and the perches did not covet us small fry. And although he once got into the ear, there was an old man who rescued him! "Nowadays, as the fish in the rivers have increased, and the gudgeons are in honor. So there’s no time for family here, but how to just live for yourself!"
And the wise minnow lived in this way for more than a hundred years. Everything was trembling, everything was trembling. He has no friends, no relatives; neither he is to anyone, nor anyone is to him. He doesn’t play cards, doesn’t drink wine, doesn’t smoke tobacco, doesn’t chase red girls - he just trembles and thinks one thing: “Thank God! I think he’s alive!”
Even the pikes, in the end, began to praise him: “If only everyone lived like this, the river would be quiet!” But they said it on purpose; they thought that he would recommend himself for praise - here, they say, I am! then bang! But he did not succumb to this trick either, and once again, with his wisdom, he defeated the machinations of his enemies.
How many years have passed since the hundred years is unknown, only the wise minnow began to die. He lies in a hole and thinks: “Thank God, I am dying by my own death, just like my mother and father died.” And then he remembered the pike’s words: “If only everyone lived like this wise minnow lives...” Well, really, what would happen then?
He began to think about the mind that he had, and suddenly it was as if someone whispered to him: “After all, this way, perhaps, the entire piscary race would have died out long ago!”
Because, to continue the minnow family, first of all you need a family, and he doesn’t have one. But this is not enough: in order for the gudgeon family to strengthen and prosper, for its members to be healthy and vigorous, it is necessary that they be raised in their native element, and not in a hole where he is almost blind from the eternal twilight. It is necessary that the minnows receive sufficient nutrition, so that they do not alienate the public, share bread and salt with each other and borrow virtues and other excellent qualities from each other. For only such a life can improve the gudgeon breed and will not allow it to be crushed and degenerate into smelt.
Those who think that only those minnows can be considered worthy citizens who, mad with fear, sit in holes and tremble, believe incorrectly. No, these are not citizens, but at least useless minnows. They give no warmth or cold to anyone, no honor, no dishonor, no glory, no infamy... they live, take up space for nothing and eat food.
All this seemed so clearly and clearly that suddenly a passionate hunt came to him: “I’ll crawl out of the hole and swim like a goldeneye across the entire river!” But as soon as he thought about it, he became frightened again. And he began to die, trembling. He lived and trembled, and he died - he trembled.
His whole life flashed before him instantly. What joys did he have? Who did he console? Who did you give good advice to? Who did you say a kind word to? whom did you shelter, warm, protect? who has heard of him? who will remember its existence?
And he had to answer all these questions: “No one, no one.”
He lived and trembled - that's all. Even now: death is on his nose, and he is still trembling, he doesn’t know why. In his hole it is dark, cramped, there is nowhere to turn, not a ray of sunlight can look in, and there is no smell of warmth. And he lies in this damp darkness, blind, exhausted, useless to anyone, lying and waiting: when will starvation finally free him from a useless existence?
He can hear other fish darting past his hole - perhaps, like him, gudgeons - and not one of them takes an interest in him. Not a single thought will come to mind: “Let me ask the wise minnow, how did he manage to live for more than a hundred years, and not be swallowed by a pike, not crushed by a crayfish with his claws, not caught by a fisherman with a hook?” They swim past, and maybe they don’t even know that in this hole the wise minnow completes its life process!
And what’s most offensive: I haven’t even heard anyone call him wise. They simply say: “Have you heard about the dunce who doesn’t eat, doesn’t drink, doesn’t see anyone, doesn’t share bread and salt with anyone, and only saves his hateful life?” And many even simply call him a fool and a disgrace and wonder how the water tolerates such idols.
He thus scattered his mind and dozed off. That is, it wasn’t just that he was dozing, but that he had already begun to forget. Death whispers rang in his ears, and languor spread throughout his body. And here he had the same seductive dream. It’s as if he won two hundred thousand, grew by as much as half an arshin and swallows the pike himself.
And while he was dreaming about this, his snout, little by little, came out of the hole entirely and stuck out.
And suddenly he disappeared. What happened here - whether the pike swallowed him, whether the crayfish was crushed with a claw, or he himself died of his own death and floated to the surface - there were no witnesses to this case. Most likely, he died himself, because what sweetness is it for a pike to swallow a sick, dying gudgeon, and what’s more, a “wise” one?
This article will examine one of the pages of the work of the famous Russian writer Mikhail Efgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin - the story “The Wise Minnow”. The summary of this work will be considered in conjunction with its
historical context.
Saltykov-Shchedrin is a famous writer and satirist who created his literary creations in an interesting style - in the form of fairy tales. “The Wise Minnow” is no exception, the summary of which can be told in two sentences. However, it raises acute socio-political problems. This story was written in 1883, during the period of the beginning of the emperor’s repressions directed against the intensified opponents of the tsarist regime. At that time, many progressive-minded people already understood the depth of the problems of the existing system and tried to convey this to the masses. However, unlike the anarchist students who dreamed of a violent coup, the progressive intelligentsia tried to find a way out of the situation through peaceful means, with the help of appropriate reforms. Only with the support of the entire public could it be possible to influence the situation and prevent the existing disorder, Saltykov-Shchedrin believed. “The Wise Minnow,” a brief summary of which will be given below, sarcastically tells us about a certain part of the Russian intelligentsia who avoid social activities in every possible way for fear of punishment for freethinking.
"The Wise Minnow": summary
Once upon a time there was a gudgeon, but not a simple one, but an enlightened, moderately liberal one. From childhood, his father instructed him: “Beware of the dangers that await you in the river, there are plenty of enemies all around.” The gudgeon decided: “Indeed, at any moment you will either be hooked
will be caught, or the pike will eat it. But you yourself can’t harm anyone.” And he decided to outwit everyone: he built himself a hole where he lived constantly, “lived and trembled,” he came to the surface only at noon to catch some midge, which was not always possible . But the gudgeon was not upset, the main thing was that he was safe. And he lived his whole life like this, and he had neither family nor friends, and he lived in constant fear for his life, but he was very proud of the knowledge that he would not die in ear or in the mouth of a fish, but by his death, like his venerable parents. And here the gudgeon lies in his hole, dying of old age, lazy thoughts run through his head, and suddenly it’s as if someone whispered to him: “But you’re in vain.” lived, did nothing either useful or harmful... He only transferred food. If you die, no one will remember about you. For some reason no one even calls you wise, only a fool and a dunce. “And then the gudgeon realized that he had deprived himself of all joys, that his place was not in this artificially dug dark hole, but in the natural environment. But it was too late, he lay and fell asleep. And suddenly the gudgeon disappeared, no one knows how Most likely, he died and floated to the surface, because no one would eat him - old, and even “wise.”
This is the summary. “The Wise Minnow” tells us about people who are useless to society, who live their whole lives in fear, avoiding struggle in every possible way, while arrogantly considering themselves enlightened. Saltykov-Shchedrin once again cruelly ridicules the pitiful life and way of thinking of such people, calling not to hide in a hole, but to boldly fight for a place in the sun for themselves and their descendants. The wise minnow does not evoke not only respect, but even pity or sympathy in the reader, a brief summary of whose existence can be expressed in two words: “lived and trembled.”
Once upon a time there lived an “enlightened, moderately liberal” minnow. Smart parents, dying, bequeathed to him to live, looking at both. The gudgeon realized that he was in danger of trouble from everywhere: from big fish, from neighboring minnows, from a man (his own father was once almost boiled in his ear). The gudgeon built a hole for himself, where no one but him could fit, swam out at night for food, and during the day “trembled” in the hole, lacked sleep, was malnourished, but took care of his life with all his might. The minnow has a dream about a winning ticket worth 200 thousand. Crayfish and pike lie in wait for him, but he avoids death.
The gudgeon has no family: “he could live on his own.” “And the wise gudgeon lived in this way for more than a hundred years. Everything was trembling, everything was trembling. He has no friends, no relatives; neither he is to anyone, nor anyone is to him. He doesn’t play cards, doesn’t drink wine, doesn’t smoke tobacco, doesn’t chase hot girls – he just trembles and thinks only one thing: “Thank God! seems to be alive!” Even pikes praise the gudgeon for its calm behavior, hoping that it will relax and they will eat it. The gudgeon does not succumb to any provocation.
The gudgeon lived for a hundred years. Reflecting on the pike’s words, he understands that if everyone lived like him, the minnows would disappear (you can’t live in a hole and not in your native element; you need to eat normally, have a family, communicate with your neighbors). The life he leads contributes to degeneration. He belongs to the “useless minnows”. “They give no one warmth or cold, no one receives honor or dishonor, no glory or infamy... they live, take up space for nothing and eat food.” The gudgeon decides once in its life to crawl out of its hole and swim normally along the river, but gets scared. Even when dying, the gudgeon trembles. No one cares about him, no one asks his advice on how to live a hundred years, no one calls him wise, but rather a “dumb” and “hateful.” In the end, the gudgeon disappears to God knows where: after all, even the pikes don’t need it, sick, dying, and even wise.
Option 2
Once upon a time there lived a smart minnow. This minnow's parents were smart, and when the time came for them to die, they bequeathed to him to live, but to keep an eye out. He realized that he was in danger of trouble all around and everywhere.
Then the gudgeon decided to build himself a hole so that, out of curiosity, no one would fit there except the gudgeon. It just so happened that at night he swam out to feed, and during the day he stayed in the hole and rested. So the gudgeon didn’t get enough sleep, didn’t finish eating, and tried to protect its life.
He has no family, but the wise gudgeon lived for more than a hundred years. He was alone in the whole world and trembling. And he had neither friends nor relatives. He doesn't play cards, doesn't drink wine, doesn't smoke tobacco, and doesn't chase girls. The gudgeon trembles and is glad that he is alive.
The pikes praise the gudgeon for its calm behavior and wait for it to relax, then they will eat it. But the gudgeon does not give in to any persuasion. The gudgeon thinks that if everyone lived like him, there would be no gudgeons. He belongs to the useless minnows. From such minnows there is no benefit to anyone, no dishonor, no disgrace, they only live and eat food for nothing.
The gudgeon decided to crawl out of the hole and swim along the river. But it's scary. Nobody cares about him. And no one calls him wise. The gudgeon suddenly disappears to God knows where, and the pikes don’t need him, sick and dying, but still wise.
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Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin - writer, journalist, critic. He combined literary work with public service: at different times he was the vice-governor of Ryazan and Tver, and headed the State Chambers in the cities of Penza, Tula and Ryazan.
Mikhail Evgrafovich perfectly mastered a formidable weapon - the word. Life observations formed the basis of his creations; many texts on the topic of the day appeared from the pen of the genius of journalism. Today we will get acquainted with the work that Saltykov created, “The Wise Minnow”. A summary will be presented in this article.
Preface
The work "The Wise Minnow" (in the modern interpretation - "The Wise Minnow"), which is part of the cycle "Fairy Tales for Children of a Fair Age", was first published in 1883. It ridicules cowardice and touches on the age-old philosophical question of what is the meaning of life.
Here is a summary of "The Wise Minnow". It is worth noting that reading the original will not take much time and will bring a lot of aesthetic pleasure, since it was written by a real master of the word, so do not limit yourself to getting to know the “reworked” work.
Once upon a time there was a gudgeon, he was lucky with his parents, they were smart and gave the right life guidelines. They lived for many years (“arid centuries”), avoiding numerous dangers that may lie in wait for small representatives of the underwater world. The father, dying, instructed his son - in order to live a long life, you need to keep your eyes open and not yawn.
The gudgeon himself was not stupid, or rather, he was “smart.” I decided that the surest recipe for longevity is not to provoke trouble, to live without anyone noticing. For a year, he dug a hole with his nose, just large enough for himself to fit in, exercised at night, and at midday, when everyone was full and hiding from the heat, he ran out in search of food. He didn’t get enough sleep at night, the wise minnow wasn’t eating enough, he was afraid... Every day he shook with fear that he would gape and not be able to save his precious life, as his father punished. What did Shchedrin want to say with this work?
"The Wise Minnow": summary - main idea
Having lived “more than a hundred years,” the gudgeon at his deathbed asked himself the question of what would happen if everyone, like him, led a smart life? And he made a disappointing conclusion - the gudgeon race would have been interrupted. No family, no friends... Only impartial epithets: dunce, fool and disgrace - that's all he deserved for his hermit life. He lived and trembled - that’s all, not a citizen, a useless unit who only takes up space for nothing... This is how the author spoke about his hero in the text.
The wise gudgeon died, disappeared, and how this happened - whether naturally or who helped, no one noticed, and no one was interested in it.
This is the summary of “The Wise Minnow” - a fairy tale that the author wrote, ridiculing the mores of society of bygone times. But it has not lost its relevance in our time.
Afterword
A representative of the fishing community, the main character, having refused the benefits, left behind him the glory of a trembling creature. The gudgeon, whom the author satirically called wise, chose a meaningless life, filled only with fear and deprivation, and as a result, for a criminally ineffective life lived, punishment followed - death in the insight of his worthlessness and uselessness.
We hope that the summary of “The Wise Minnow” in this presentation will be useful to you.
Once upon a time there lived a minnow. Both his father and mother were smart; Little by little, and little by little, the arid eyelids (for many years. - Ed.) lived in the river and did not get caught either in the fish soup or in the pike. They ordered the same for my son. “Look, son,” said the old gudgeon, dying, “if you want to chew your life, then keep your eyes open!”
And the young minnow had a mind. He began to use this mind and saw: no matter where he turned, he was cursed. All around, in the water, all the big fish are swimming, and he is the smallest of all; Any fish can swallow him, but he cannot swallow anyone. And he doesn’t understand: why swallow? A cancer can cut it in half with its claws, a water flea can bite into its spine and torture it to death. Even his brother the gudgeon - and when he sees that he has caught a mosquito, the whole herd will rush to take it away. They’ll take it away and start fighting with each other, only they’ll crush a mosquito for nothing.
And the man? - what kind of malicious creature is this! no matter what tricks he came up with in order to destroy him, the minnow, in vain! And the seine, and the nets, and the tops, and the net, and, finally... the fish! It seems that what could be more stupid than oud? - A thread, a hook on a thread, a worm or a fly on a hook... And how are they put on?.. in the most, one might say, unnatural position! Meanwhile, it is on the fishing rod that most gudgeons are caught!
His old father warned him more than once about uda. “Most of all, beware of the fish!” he said, “because even though it’s the stupidest projectile, with us minnows, what’s stupid is truer. They’ll throw a fly at us, as if they want to take advantage of us; "That's death!"
The old man also told how he once almost hit his ear. At that time they were caught by a whole artel, the net was stretched across the entire width of the river, and they were dragged along the bottom for about two miles. Passion, how many fish were caught then! And pikes, and perches, and chubs, and roaches, and loaches - even couch potato bream were lifted from the mud from the bottom! And we lost count of the minnows. And what fears he, the old gudgeon, suffered while he was being dragged along the river - this cannot be told in a fairy tale, nor can I describe it with a pen. He feels that he is being taken, but does not know where. He sees that he has a pike on one side and a perch on the other; he thinks: just about now, either one or the other will eat him, but they don’t touch him... “There was no time for food at that time, brother!” Everyone has one thing on their mind: death has come! but how and why she came - no one understands... Finally they began to close the wings of the net, dragged it to the shore and began to throw fish from the reel into the grass. It was then that he learned what ukha was. Something red flutters on the sand; gray clouds run upward from him; and it was so hot that he immediately became limp. It’s already sickening without water, and then they give in... He hears a “bonfire,” they say. And on the “bonfire” something black is placed on this one, and in it the water, like in a lake, shakes during a storm. This is a "cauldron", they say. And in the end they began to say: put fish in the “cauldron” - there will be “fish soup”! And they started throwing our brother there. When a fisherman slams a fish, it will first plunge, then jump out like crazy, then plunge again and become quiet. “Uhi” means she tasted it. They tossed and tossed at first indiscriminately, and then one old man looked at him and said: “What good is this baby for fish soup? Let it grow in the river!” He took him by the gills and let him into free water. And he, don’t be stupid, goes home with all his might! He came running, and his gudgeon was looking out of the hole, neither alive nor dead...
And what! No matter how much the old man explained at that time what fish soup was and what it consisted of, however, even when brought into the river, rarely did anyone have a sound understanding of fish soup!
But he, the gudgeon-son, perfectly remembered the teachings of the gudgeon-father, and even reeled it into his mustache. He was an enlightened minnow, moderately liberal, and very firmly understood that living life is not like licking a whorl. “You have to live so that no one notices,” he said to himself, “or else you’ll just disappear!” - and began to get settled. First of all, I came up with a hole for myself so that he could climb into it, but no one else could get in! He dug this hole with his nose for a whole year, and during that time he took on so much fear, spending the night either in the mud, or under the water burdock, or in the sedge. Finally, however, he dug it out to perfection. Clean, neat - just enough for one person to fit in. The second thing, about his life, he decided this way: at night, when people, animals, birds and fish are sleeping, he will exercise, and during the day he will sit in a hole and tremble. But since he still needs to drink and eat, and he doesn’t receive a salary and doesn’t keep servants, he will run out of the hole around noon, when all the fish are already full, and, God willing, maybe he’ll provide a booger or two. And if he doesn’t provide, the hungry one will lie down in a hole and tremble again. For it is better not to eat or drink than to lose life with a full stomach.
That's what he did. At night he exercised, swam in the moonlight, and during the day he climbed into a hole and trembled. Only at noon will he run out to grab something - but what can you do at noon! At this time, a mosquito hides under a leaf from the heat, and a bug buries itself under the bark. Absorbs water - and the Sabbath!
He lies in the hole day and day, doesn’t get enough sleep at night, doesn’t finish eating, and still thinks: “It seems that I’m alive? Oh, something will happen tomorrow?”
He falls asleep, sinfully, and in his sleep he dreams that he has a winning ticket and he won two hundred thousand with it. Not remembering himself with delight, he will turn over on the other side - and lo and behold, he has half a snout sticking out of the hole... What if at that time the little puppy was nearby! After all, he would have pulled him out of the hole!
One day he woke up and saw: a crayfish was standing right opposite his hole. He stands motionless, as if bewitched, his bony eyes staring at him. Only the whiskers move as the water flows. That's when he got scared! And for half a day, until it got completely dark, this cancer was waiting for him, and meanwhile he kept trembling, still trembling.
Another time, he had just managed to return to the hole before dawn, he had just yawned sweetly, in anticipation of sleep - he looked, out of nowhere, a pike was standing right next to the hole, clapping its teeth. And she also guarded him all day, as if she had had enough of him alone. And he fooled the pike: he didn’t come out of the hole, and it was a sabbath.
And this happened to him more than once, not twice, but almost every day. And every day he, trembling, won victories and victories, every day he exclaimed: “Glory to you, Lord! Alive!”
But this is not enough: he did not marry and did not have children, although his father had a large family. He reasoned like this:
“My father could have lived by joking! At that time, the pikes were kinder, and the perches didn’t bother with us small fry. And although he once got into the ear, there was an old man who rescued him! And now, like a fish "It hatched in the rivers, and the minnows were taken in honor. So there's no time for family here, but how to just live for yourself!"
And the wise gudgeon lived in this way for more than a hundred years. Everything was trembling, everything was trembling. He has no friends, no relatives; neither he is to anyone, nor anyone is to him. He doesn’t play cards, doesn’t drink wine, doesn’t smoke tobacco, doesn’t chase red girls - he just trembles and thinks one thing: “Thank God! I think he’s alive!”
Even the pikes, in the end, began to praise him: “If only everyone lived like this, the river would be quiet!” But they said it on purpose; they thought that he would recommend himself for praise - so, they say, I’ll slap him here! But he did not succumb to this trick either, and once again, with his wisdom, he defeated the machinations of his enemies.
How many years have passed since the hundred years is unknown, only the wise gudgeon began to die. He lies in a hole and thinks: “Thank God, I am dying by my own death, just like my mother and father died.” And then he remembered the pike’s words: “If only everyone lived like this wise minnow lives...” Well, really, what would happen then?
He began to think about the mind he had, and suddenly it was as if someone whispered to him: “After all, this way, perhaps, the entire gudgeon race would have died out long ago!”
Because to continue the gudgeon family, first of all, you need a family, and he doesn’t have one. But this is not enough: in order for the gudgeon family to strengthen and prosper, so that its members are healthy and vigorous, it is necessary that they are raised in their native element, and not in a hole where he is almost blind from the eternal twilight. It is necessary that the minnows receive sufficient nutrition, so that they do not alienate the public, share bread and salt with each other and borrow virtues and other excellent qualities from each other. For only such a life can improve the gudgeon breed and will not allow it to be crushed and degenerate into smelt.
Those who think that only those minnows can be considered worthy citizens are those who, mad with fear, sit in holes and tremble, believe incorrectly. No, these are not citizens, but at least useless minnows. They give no warmth or cold to anyone, no honor, no dishonor, no glory, no infamy... they live, take up space for nothing and eat food.
All this seemed so clearly and clearly that suddenly a passionate hunt came to him: “I’ll crawl out of the hole and swim like a goldeneye across the entire river!” But as soon as he thought about it, he became frightened again. And he began to die, trembling. He lived and trembled, and he died - he trembled.
His whole life flashed before him instantly. What joys did he have? Who did he console? Who did you give good advice to? Who did you say a kind word to? whom did you shelter, warm, protect? who has heard of him? who will remember its existence?
And he had to answer all these questions: “No one, no one.”
He lived and trembled - that's all. Even now: death is on his nose, and he is still trembling, he doesn’t know why. His hole is dark, cramped, and there is nowhere to turn; Not a ray of sunshine can look in there, nor does it smell of warmth. And he lies in this damp darkness, blind, exhausted, useless to anyone, lying and waiting: when will starvation finally free him from a useless existence?
He can hear other fish darting past his hole - perhaps, like him, minnows - and not one of them takes an interest in him. Not a single thought will come to mind: let me ask the wise minnow, how did he manage to live for more than a hundred years, and not be swallowed by a pike, not crushed by a crayfish with his claws, not caught by a fisherman with a hook? They swim past, and maybe they don’t even know that in this hole the wise gudgeon completes its life process!
And what’s most offensive: I haven’t even heard anyone call him wise. They simply say: “Have you heard about the dunce who doesn’t eat, doesn’t drink, doesn’t see anyone, doesn’t share bread and salt with anyone, and only saves his hateful life?” And many even simply call him a fool and a disgrace and wonder how the water tolerates such idols.
He thus scattered his mind and dozed off. That is, it wasn’t just that he was dozing, but that he had already begun to forget. Death whispers rang in his ears, and languor spread throughout his body. And here he had the same seductive dream. It’s as if he won two hundred thousand, grew by as much as half an arshin and swallows the pike himself.
And while he was dreaming about this, his snout, little by little, came out of the hole entirely and stuck out.
And suddenly he disappeared. What happened here - whether a pike swallowed him, or crushed the crayfish with a claw, or he himself died of his own death and floated to the surface - there were no witnesses to this case. Most likely, he himself died, because what sweetness is it for a pike to swallow a sick, dying gudgeon, and a wise one at that? That's