Ivan Andreevich wrote the fable “Quartet” at the very beginning of the 19th century. It is based on an original plot. Before Krylov, no one introduced animal musicians into their works.
Let us consider everything that happens in the fable in more detail. Lived in the forest were Goat, Monkey, Bear and Donkey. And then one day they decided to organize a musical group of four people. Sheet music and instruments were found for this purpose, but no music was produced. Then the Monkey realized the reason for their failure - the wrong location. The animals swapped places, but this did not bring any significant benefit. They decided to change seats again. And again to no avail.
The musicians were nervous and arguing. They made such a noise in the forest that the Nightingale heard it. The animals asked the talented singer to seat them so that the music would flow. To which the bird with a wonderful voice answered: in order to play even the simplest melody, you need skill and hearing. And all these movements in space have no meaning. Real musicians don't care where or how to sit.
There are several versions of writing the fable “Quartet”. Scientists argue what was the impetus for its creation. Although now these disputes are not important for us. Since the fable is valuable even in modern times, it has long gone far beyond the event that once formed its basis.
The four musicians, changing places and continuing to discordantly and ineptly each play their role, constantly appear in our memory when we meet people trying to do something that is not their job, deciding to fix everything with some kind of pretentious action and window dressing.
If we think even deeper, we can come to the following thought: people who blindly believe in their abilities most often believe that they can perform perfectly any task they undertake. You don't need to put in any significant effort to do this. Everything, as in the fable “Quartet,” seems to happen by itself. And if, God forbid, some inconsistency arises, we should blame everything, but not ourselves.
The musicians believed that there would be enough instruments to conquer all the forest animals with their singing. And they naively believed that it was simply the wrong arrangement that was hindering them. But no matter how you change the numbers, the amount will remain the same. This is the law. And you won't go against him. Success can only be achieved through daily and hard work. One desire is not enough. You also need to make an effort.
While still very young, we already loved listening to fairy tales and gave books to our parents to read to us before bed. We really enjoyed learning about interesting and educational stories and looking at beautiful and colorful illustrations. Then, when we had already learned to read on our own, we began to study literature, and at school we learned the works of famous authors.
What does a book mean to a person?
Books are a storehouse of wisdom. It is from them that we learn about the world around us and get acquainted with the rules of behavior. Remember how in the children's poem: “What is good? What is bad? We use the same principle to learn from other books.
Now we have become quite adults, graduated from school, and someone decided to connect their field of activity with the Russian language and literature. And now we are going through all the works, novels, poems, fables that we studied in childhood. Only now we carefully analyze them and determine the meaning of what was written, reflecting on what the author tried to convey to us.
By the way, about fables. In this article we will talk to you about famous works. Specifically, we are interested in Krylov’s fable “Quartet”.
About the author
There is probably no person who does not know who Ivan Andreevich Krylov is and what contribution he made to literature. His fables are included in the compulsory study program and are part of the first half of the nineteenth century.
Krylov himself considered fables a folk genre. He said that both children and servants could read them. The fables reflected the thinking of the people and were written in a humorous, aphoristic form. It can be noted that most of the author’s works were created on topics that he took directly from life.
History of creation
Krylov’s fable “Quartet” was not created by chance. After reading it, we see that four animals decide to play a quartet, but they never succeed. The reason for writing was the author’s desire to ridicule the state body of Russia, that is, the State Council. It was created a year earlier than Krylov’s fable “Quartet” was published. The Council consisted of four departments. At their head were the nobles Mordvinov, Lopukhin, Zavadovsky and Arakcheev.
Analysis of Krylov’s fable “Quartet”
So, we have already found out that there are four characters in the fable, whom Krylov presented as follows: by Monkey he meant Mordvinov, by Donkey he meant Zavadovsky, by Bear he meant Arakcheev, and by Goat he meant Lopukhin. They could not agree among themselves and divide responsibilities, so they decided to switch places. Krylov's fable "Quartet" presents us with the same picture. The animals do not have the ability to make music, but they decided at all costs to “capture the light with art.” They consider themselves experienced craftsmen and professionals, although in reality they are nothing of the kind. Changing places does not change anything, and they are also haunted by failure. The moral of this fable is the words of the nightingale, whom the animals called for help. He said that in order to do any business, you must first have some knowledge and skills. But they (animals) are not fit to be musicians.
Krylov’s fable “Quartet,” the text of which is very easy to read, ends with the following words:
“To be a musician, you need skill
And your ears are gentler..."
The moral lies in these words.
Naughty Monkey,
Yes, clubfooted Mishka
We decided to play a Quartet.
We got sheet music, bass, viola, two violins
And they sat down on the meadow under the sticky trees, -
Captivate the world with your art.
They hit the bows, they fight, but there’s no point.
“Stop, brothers, stop!” Monkey shouts. “Wait!”
How should the music go? That's not how you sit.
You and the bass, Mishenka, sit opposite the viola,
I, the prima, will sit opposite the second;
Then the music will be different:
Our forest and mountains will dance!"
We settled down and began the Quartet;
He's still not getting along.
“Wait, I found a secret!”
The Donkey shouts, “We’ll probably 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.
Now they're getting even more intense than ever
Who should sit and how?
The Nightingale happened to fly to their noise.
Here everyone asks him to resolve 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 skill
And your ears are gentler, -
The Nightingale answers them, -
You're still not fit to be musicians."
Krylov's Fable Quartet
Moral of the fable Quartet
And you, friends, no matter how you sit down,
Everyone is not fit to be musicians.
Fable Quartet – analysis
It is not enough to pick up musical instruments; you also need to know how to use them. This is exactly what Krylov talks about in his fable “Quartet”. And he also subtly hints that everyone should do the work that they can handle. The nightingale is to sing and entertain others, the monkey is to eat bananas and make faces, the donkey and goat are to graze in the meadow, and the bear is to sleep in the den. But for some reason the funny quartet decided that they knew better - they just had to pick up the violins and the enchanting sounds of music would not keep them waiting.
This fable ridicules all boasters and talkers, generous in words, but not in actions and deeds. If you take on something, you need to be an ace in this area. Otherwise, it will turn out like in a fable - noise and din, but there is no point.
Winged expressions of Krylov's fable Quartet:
- To be a musician, you need skill.
- And you, friends, no matter how you sit down, you are not fit to be musicians.
No matter how you present yourself, no matter how much you praise, if you don’t have the necessary skills, the matter will not be argued. The Goat, Donkey, Bear and Monkey from the fable “Quartet” by I. A. Krylov is another confirmation of this.
Fable "Quartet"
The Naughty Monkey, the Donkey, the Goat and the clumsy Bear
We decided to play a Quartet.
We got sheet music, bass, viola, two violins
And they sat down on the meadow under the sticky trees -
Captivate the world with your art.
They hit the bows, they fight, but there’s no point.
“Stop, brothers, stop! - Monkey shouts. - Wait!
How should the music go? That's not how you sit.
You and the bass, Mishenka, sit opposite the viola,
I, the prima, will sit opposite the second;
Then the music will be different:
Our forest and mountains will dance!”
We settled down and began the Quartet;
He's still not getting along.
“Wait, I found a secret,”
The Donkey shouts, “We’ll probably get along,”
If we sit next to each other."
They listened to the Donkey: they sat down decorously in a row,
And yet the Quartet is not going well.
Now they're getting even more intense than ever
And disputes about who should sit and how.
The Nightingale happened to fly to their noise.
Here everyone asks him to resolve 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 skill
And your ears are softer, -
The Nightingale answers them. –
And you, friends, no matter how you sit down,
Everyone is not fit to be a musician.”
Moral of Krylov's fable "Quartet"
The author conveys the moral from the fable “Quartet” to the young reader at the end of the work in the words of Nightingale, that any skill is the result of long, painstaking work (training), and not a reflection of the self-esteem and boasting of the one who decided to demonstrate this very skill.
Analysis of the fable "Quartet"
At first glance, it may seem that the fable “Quartet” makes fun of self-taught musicians who, while bringing their “art” to the masses, do not want to notice that they are not at all ready for this: either they have no talent, or the proper experience or knowledge.
And indeed, four friends, who had nothing to do with music at all, decided to play a quartet. They took notes and musical instruments, sat down and began to play, but nothing came of it. Deciding that it was all a matter of seating, the animals changed their position in different ways: sometimes they sat in a row, sometimes opposite each other - but, as one would expect, nothing changed from this. The situation was saved by a nightingale - a recognized musician in the forest, a master of his craft - who flew in response to the noise coming from his quarreling comrades. It was he who explained to the braggarts that in order to play well, you need to be able to do it, and not just sit beautifully with the instrument.
But in fact, the moral of the fable is much deeper than simply ridiculing “incompetent” musicians. The author simply used them to show how stupid braggarts and idle talkers look, regardless of their age and status: a child or a statesman, such as Arakcheev, Lopukhin, Mordvinov and Zavadovsky, who head 4 departments of the State Council formed by Alexander I, through the year of which Krylov wrote his fable.
Winged expressions from the fable “Quartet”
“And you, friends, no matter how you sit down, you are not fit to be musicians” - is used in the fable “Quartet” as a reproach to a poorly working team, when it cannot achieve its goal due to the lack of agreement among its members, understanding of general and individual tasks, professionalism and unity.
Naughty Monkey,
Donkey,
Goat
Yes, clubfooted Mishka
We decided to play a Quartet.
We got sheet music, bass, viola, two violins
And they sat down on the meadow under the sticky trees, -
Captivate the world with your art.
They hit the bows, they fight, but there’s no point.
“Stop, brothers, stop! - Monkey shouts. —
Wait!
How should the music go? That's not how you sit.
You and the bass, Mishenka, sit opposite the viola,
I, the prima, will sit opposite the second;
Then the music will be different:
Our forest and mountains will dance!”
We settled down and began the Quartet;
He's still not getting along.
“Wait, did I find the secret?”
The Donkey shouts, “We’ll probably get along,”
If we sit next to each other."
They obeyed the Donkey: they sat down decorously in a row;
And yet the Quartet is not going well.
Now they're getting even more intense than ever
And disputes
Who should sit and how?
The Nightingale happened to fly to their noise.
Here everyone asks him to resolve 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 skill
And your ears are gentler, -
The Nightingale answers them, -
_____________
“To be a musician, you need skill
And your ears are gentler, -
The Nightingale answers them, -
And you, friends, no matter how you sit down;
You’re still not fit to be musicians.”
Analysis/moral of the fable “Quartet” by Krylov
Ivan Andreevich Krylov placed the “Quartet” on the pages of his “New Fables”.
The fable was written in 1811. Its author turned 42 at this time and continues to work at the Imperial Public Library. His fame as a fabulist by that time was already indisputable. The meter is iambic in different feet with an intricate rhyme scheme, with a predominance of adjacent ones. It can be called a political satire, although the moral of this fable is eternal and is not related to the immediate context. It is believed that the reason for the creation of the work was the reform of the State Council, which led to the division into four departments. The members of the Council did not immediately master the new principle of work; only as a result of disputes they built a hierarchy that finally satisfied everyone. Another version, much closer to the activities of I. Krylov himself, is the opening of the society “Conversation of Lovers of the Russian Word,” which usually met in the house of G. Derzhavin. There were also grievances within its ranks over the distribution of seats. There are five heroes, the most colorful of them are, perhaps, the Monkey (the prankster) and the Donkey. Actually, the rest of the quartet members were never given a chance to speak. The nightingale here is an edifying character, an exponent of the author’s position. The title refers to an ensemble of 4 musicians. “Clubfooted Bear”: a folklore epithet and quite an anthroponym (a calendar, human name for an animal). “They started to play”: the impulse was spontaneous. It was decided to play based on inspiration. Well-known musical instruments reveal themselves in the enumerative gradation: bass, viola, violin. The concert was meant to be without entrance tickets, and subsequently a tour was also possible. So, they “fight”, but to no avail. It turns out that desire and effort alone are not enough. You also need to sit correctly. Naturally, Monkey was the first to guess about this. The address “brothers” is another touch to humanize the heroes. The refrain is “stop.” She modestly calls herself “prima” (the main one), transplants “Mishenka” and herself. “The forest and mountains will dance!”: the monkey’s optimism develops not just into personification, but into shameless hyperbole. “It’s not going well”: there is no harmonious sound (here there is also an outdated form of the verb). Then it dawned on Donkey. He puts everyone in a row. Again the refrain “nothing”. A verbal altercation began. The Nightingale appeared at the noise. The animals ask him to become a judge in the dispute. Nightingale graciously agrees. And here is his verdict: you need your skill and gentler ears. That is, he did not simply deny them skills and experience, but specifically abilities. This means that the ensemble was doomed from the very beginning. It turns out that seating will not make them musicians. In the finale there is also a warning not to mind your own business, to soberly evaluate your talents.
In I. Krylov’s “Quartet,” the writer’s contemporaries saw a satire on the topic of the day.