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 except him could fit, at night he swam out for food, and during the day he “trembled” in the hole, did not sleep enough, was malnourished, but did his best to protect his life. 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 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, no dishonor, no glory, no 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 him to live, but to keep an eye on him. 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.
Essay on literature on the topic: Summary of the Wise Minnow Saltykov-Shchedrin
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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 except him could fit, swam out at night for food, and during the day “trembled” in the hole, did not get enough sleep, was malnourished, but did his best to protect his life. 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 would like to 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 neighbors). The life he leads contributes to degeneration. He belongs to the “useless minnows”. “They give no one warmth or cold, no one honor or dishonor, no glory or infamy... they live, they 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.
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 him to live, but to keep an eye on him. 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 took care of its life, trying.
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.
Year of writing: 1883
Genre: fairy tale
Main characters: lonely little gudgeon
Plot
In one river there lived a gudgeon who was afraid of everything. Even before his death in the mouth of a pike, his old father taught him that minnows are small fish and should be afraid of everything and bow to everyone: pikes, crayfish, and crucian carp. So he lived according to his father’s behest, afraid of everything, did not marry, did not have children, because he was afraid of that too. He warned everyone that they needed to live with caution, carefully, as if on the sly.
And our wise gudgeon lived to be a hundred years old, because he took care of his lonely life. In his old age, he decided to commit a daring act: to swim along the river during the day, but he got scared and returned to his hole. There he dies, realizing that his life is completely useless, and if all the fish behaved like him, they would all have died out long ago. And in the end he disappears from the hole to no one knows where, because even the predatory fish no longer wanted to eat him, they called him “hateful” and a “dumb.”
Conclusion (my opinion)
In the image of the wise minnow, the author portrays a man who did not bring joy to anyone, did nothing good for society and for people. He was only afraid for his completely useless life, which did not bring him any pleasure. The gudgeon lived to be a hundred years old, but who was better off or worse off?
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 except him could fit, swam out at night for food, and during the day “trembled” in the hole, did not get enough sleep, was malnourished, but did his best to protect his life. 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 would like to 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 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, no dishonor, no glory, no 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.