The story of how one man fed two generals. Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin. Mikhail Saltykov-shchedrin is a story about how one man fed two generals They served all their lives in some kind of registry

"The Tale of How One Man Feeded Two Generals"

Once upon a time there were two generals, and since both were frivolous, they soon, at the behest of a pike, at my will, found themselves on a desert island.

The generals served all their lives in some kind of registry; there they were born, brought up and grew old, therefore, they did not understand anything. They didn’t even know any words, except: “Receive the assurance of my perfect respect and devotion.”

The registry was abolished as unnecessary and the generals were released into the wild.

Left behind by the state, they settled in St. Petersburg, in Podyacheskaya Street, in different apartments; each had his own cook and received a pension. Only suddenly they found themselves on a desert island, woke up and saw: both were lying under the same blanket. Of course, at first they did not understand anything and began to talk as if nothing had happened to them.

Strange, Your Excellency, I had a dream today, - said one general, - I see that I live on a desert island ...

He said this, but all of a sudden he jumps up! Another general also jumped up.

God! yes, what is it! Where are we! both of them cried out in a voice that was not their own.

And they began to feel each other, as if not in a dream, but in reality such an opportunity happened to them. However, no matter how hard they tried to convince themselves that all this was nothing more than a dream, they had to be convinced of the sad reality.

In front of them, on one side, lay the sea, on the other side lay a small piece of land, beyond which the same boundless sea spread.

The generals cried for the first time after they closed the registry.

They began to examine each other and saw that they were in nightgowns, and on their necks hung an order.

Now it would be good to drink coffee! - said one general, but he remembered what an unheard-of thing had happened to him, and for the second time he began to cry.

What shall we do, however? - he continued through tears, - if now a report is written - what good will come of it?

Here's what, - answered another general, - you, Your Excellency, go to the east, and I will go to the west, and in the evening we will meet again at this place; maybe we'll find something.

They began to look for where the east is and where the west is. They remembered how the chief once said: "If you want to find the east, then stand with your eyes to the north, and in your right hand you will get what you are looking for." They began to look for the north, stood this way and that, tried all the countries of the world, but since they served in the registry all their lives, they did not find anything.

Here's what, Your Excellency: you go to the right, and I to the left;

that way it will be better! - said one general, who, in addition to the registry, served as a calligraphy teacher at the school of military cantonists and, therefore, was smarter.

No sooner said than done. One general went to the right and saw that trees were growing, and there were all sorts of fruits on the trees. The general wants to get at least one apple, but they all hang so high that they have to climb. I tried to climb - nothing happened, I just tore my shirt. The general came to the stream, he sees: the fish there, as if in a cage on the Fontanka, are teeming and teeming.

"Here, if only some kind of fish and on Podyacheskaya!" - thought the general, and even his face changed from appetite.

The general went into the forest - and there the hazel grouse whistled, the black grouse lek, the hares ran.

God! some food! some food! - said the general, feeling that he was already starting to feel sick.

There was nothing to do, I had to return to the agreed place empty-handed. He comes, and another general is already waiting.

Well, Your Excellency, did you think of something?

Yes, I found the old issue of Moskovskie Vedomosti, and nothing more!

The generals went to bed again, but they could not sleep on an empty stomach. Either they are worried about who will receive a pension for them, or they recall the fruits they saw during the day, fish, hazel grouse, black grouse, hares.

Who would have thought, Your Excellency, that human food, in its original form, flies, swims and grows on trees? one general said.

Yes, - answered another general, - to confess, and I still thought that the rolls would be born in the same form as they are served with coffee in the morning!

So, if, for example, someone wants to eat a partridge, he must first catch it, kill it, pluck it, roast it ... But how to do all this?

How to do all this? - like an echo, repeated the other general.

They fell silent and began to try to sleep; but hunger decisively drove away sleep.

Fritillaries, turkeys, piglets flashed before my eyes, juicy, lightly browned, with cucumbers, pickles and other salad.

Now I would, it seems, eat my own boot! one general said.

Gloves are also good when they are worn for a long time! sighed the other general.

Shreds flew, there was a screech and a gasp; the general, who was a calligraphy teacher, bit off an order from his comrade and immediately swallowed it. But the sight of flowing blood seemed to bring them to their senses.

The power of the cross is with us! - they both said at once, - because that way we will eat each other! And how did we get here! who is the villain who played such a thing on us!

It is necessary, Your Excellency, to entertain ourselves with some conversation, otherwise we will have a murder here! one general said.

Get started! replied the other general.

How, for example, do you think why the sun rises first and then sets, and not vice versa?

You are a strange man, Your Excellency: but you also get up first, go to the department, write there, and then go to bed?

But why not allow such a rearrangement; first I go to bed, I see various dreams, and then I get up?

Hm ... yes ... And I, to confess, as I served in the department, always thought this way: "Now it's morning, and then it will be day, and then they will serve dinner - and it's time to sleep!"

But the mention of dinner both plunged into despondency and stopped the conversation at the very beginning.

I heard from a doctor that a person can feed on his own juices for a long time, - one general began again.

How so?

Yes, sir. Their own juices seem to produce other juices, these, in turn, still produce juices, and so on, until, finally, the juices stop altogether ...

Then what?

Then you need to eat some food ...

In a word, whatever the generals started talking about, it constantly boiled down to the recollection of food, and this irritated the appetite even more.

They decided: to stop talking, and, remembering the found number of Moskovskie Vedomosti, they eagerly began to read it.

“Yesterday,” one general read in an excited voice, “the venerable head of our ancient capital had a ceremonial dinner. The table was set for a hundred people with amazing luxury. Gifts from all countries appointed themselves, as it were, a rendezvous at this magical holiday. golden" (from a poem by G.R. Derzhavin "Invitation to Dinner"), and a pet of the Caucasian forests - a pheasant, and, so rare in our north in February, strawberries ... "

Fuck you, sir! can't you find another object, Your Excellency? - exclaimed another general in despair and, taking a newspaper from a comrade, read the following:

“They write from Tula: yesterday, on the occasion of the capture of a sturgeon in the Upa River

(an incident that even the old-timers will not remember, especially since a private bailiff B. was identified in the sturgeon), there was a festival in the local club. The hero of the occasion was brought in on a huge wooden dish, overlaid with cucumbers and holding a piece of greenery in his mouth. Dr. P., who on the same day was the foreman on duty, carefully watched that all the guests received a piece. The gravy was the most varied and even almost whimsical..."

Excuse me, Your Excellency, and you do not seem to be too careful in your choice of reading! - interrupted the first general and, taking, in turn, the newspaper, read:

“They write from Vyatka: one of the local old-timers invented the following original method of cooking fish soup: taking a live burbot, first carve it; when, out of chagrin, its liver will increase ...”

The generals bowed their heads. Everything they looked at was evidence of food. Their own thoughts were plotting against them, for no matter how hard they tried to drive away the ideas of steaks, these ideas fought their way in a violent way.

And suddenly the general, who was a calligraphy teacher, was inspired...

And what, Your Excellency, - he said joyfully - if we could find a peasant?

That is, how about ... a man?

Well, yes, a simple peasant ... what kind of peasants usually are! He would have given us a roll now, and he would have caught grouse, and fish!

Hm... a man... but where can I get him, this man, when he's gone?

As there is no man - the man is everywhere, you just have to look for him!

He must be hiding somewhere, slacking off work!

This thought encouraged the generals to such an extent that they jumped up as if ruffled and set off in search of the muzhik.

For a long time they wandered around the island without any success, but at last the sharp smell of chaff bread and sour sheepskin brought them to the trail. Under a tree, with his belly up and his fist under his head, a huge man was sleeping and in the most insolent way shied away from work. The indignation of the generals knew no bounds.

Sleep, couch potato! - they pounced on him, - I suppose you don’t know with your ear that here two generals are dying of hunger for the second day! now march to work!

A man got up: he sees that the generals are strict. I wanted to give them an arrow, but they just froze, clinging to him.

And he began to act before them.

First of all, he climbed a tree and picked the generals ten of the most ripe apples, and took one, sour, for himself. Then he dug in the ground - and got potatoes from there; then he took two pieces of wood, rubbed them against each other - and took out the fire. Then he made a snare out of his own hair and caught a hazel grouse. Finally, he lit a fire and baked so many different provisions that it even occurred to the generals: "Shouldn't we give the parasite a piece?"

The generals looked at these peasant efforts, and their hearts played merrily. They have already forgotten that yesterday they almost died of hunger, and they thought: "That's how good it is to be generals - you won't get lost anywhere!"

Are you satisfied, gentlemen generals? meanwhile the couch potato asked.

Satisfied, dear friend, we see your zeal! - answered the generals.

Will you let me rest now?

Take a rest, my friend, just tie the rope first.

Now a man has picked up wild hemp, soaked it in water, beat it, crushed it

And by the evening the rope was ready. With this rope, the generals tied the man to a tree so that he would not run away, but they themselves went to bed.

A day passed, another passed; the peasant was so contrived that he even began to cook soup in a handful. Our generals became cheerful, loose, well-fed, white. They began to say that here they are living on everything ready, and in St. Petersburg, meanwhile, their pensions are accumulating and accumulating.

And what do you think, Your Excellency, was there really a Babylonian pandemonium, or is it just that, one allegory? -

He used to say, one general to another, after breakfast.

I think, Your Excellency, what really happened, because otherwise how can one explain that there are different languages in the world!

So there was a flood?

And there was a flood, because, otherwise, how could the existence of antediluvian animals be explained? Moreover, in the "Moskovskie Vedomosti"

They will find a number, sit under the shade, read from board to board, as they ate in Moscow, ate in Tula, ate in Penza, ate in Ryazan - and nothing, they don’t feel sick!

How long, how short, but the generals missed. More and more often they began to recall the cooks they had left behind in St. Petersburg, and even wept quietly.

Is something being done in Podyacheskaya now, Your Excellency? -

one general asked another.

And don't speak, Your Excellency! all the heart is gone! replied the other general.

Well, it's good here - no words! and everything, you know, is somehow embarrassing for a lamb without a yar! Yes, and the uniform is also a pity!

What a pity! Especially, as the fourth grade, so look at one sewing, your head will spin!

And they began to force the peasant: imagine yes, imagine them in Podyacheskaya! And so what! it turned out that the peasant even knew Podyachkaya, that he had been there, he drank honey-beer, it flowed down his mustache, it didn’t get into his mouth!

But Podyachesky and I are generals! the generals rejoiced.

And if I saw: a man is hanging outside the house, in a box on a rope, and smears paint on the wall, or like a fly walks on the roof - this is me! - answered the peasant, And the peasant began to plant beans, how would he please his generals for the fact that they favored him, the parasite, and did not disdain his peasant labor!

And he built a ship - not a ship, but such a vessel that it was possible to cross the ocean-sea all the way to Podyacheskaya.

Look, however, scoundrels, don't drown us! - said the generals, seeing the boat rocking on the waves.

Be calm, gentlemen generals, not the first time! - answered the peasant and began to prepare for departure.

The man picked up soft swan fluff and covered the bottom of the boat with it. Having laid them down, he laid the generals on the bottom and, having crossed himself, swam. How much fear the generals gained during the journey from storms and from different winds, how much they scolded the man for his parasitism - this cannot be described with a pen, nor in a fairy tale. And the peasant rows and rows and feeds the generals with herrings.

Here, finally, is Mother Neva, here is Catherine's glorious canal, here is Bolshaya Podyacheskaya! The cooks threw up their hands, seeing how well-fed, white and cheerful their generals had become! The generals got drunk on coffee, ate buns and put on their uniforms. They went to the treasury, and how much money they raked in - that cannot be said in a fairy tale, nor described with a pen!

However, the peasant was not forgotten either; they sent him a glass of vodka and a nickel of silver: have fun, man!

Saltykov-Shchedrin - The Tale of How One Man Feeded Two Generals, read text

See also Saltykov-Shchedrin Mikhail Evgrafovich - Prose (stories, poems, novels ...):

Premonitions, divination, thoughts and concerns of modern man
November 1st. I got up unusually early this morning. Almost all night...

wise scribbler
Once upon a time there was a piskar. Both his father and mother were smart; little by little...

Once upon a time there were two generals, and since both were frivolous, they soon, at the behest of a pike, at my will, found themselves on a desert island.

The registry was abolished as unnecessary and the generals were released into the wild. Left behind by the state, they settled in St. Petersburg, in Podyacheskaya Street, in different apartments; each had his own cook, and received a pension. Only suddenly they found themselves on a desert island, woke up and saw: both were lying under the same blanket. Of course, at first they did not understand anything and began to talk as if nothing had happened to them.

Strange, Your Excellency, I had a dream today, - said one general, - I see that I live on a desert island ...

He said this, but all of a sudden he jumps up! Another general also jumped up.

God! yes, what is it! Where are we! both of them cried out in a voice that was not their own.

In front of them on one side was the sea, on the other side lay a small piece of land, behind which was the same boundless sea. The generals cried for the first time after they closed the registry.

They began to examine each other and saw that they were in nightgowns, and on their necks hung an order.

Now it would be good to drink coffee! - said one general, but he remembered what an unheard-of thing had happened to him, and for the second time he began to cry.

What shall we do, however? - he continued through tears, - if now a report is written - what good will come of it?

Here's what, - answered another general, - you, Your Excellency, go to the east, and I will go to the west, and in the evening we will meet again at this place; maybe we'll find something.

Here's what, Your Excellency: you go to the right, and I to the left; that way it will be better! - said one general, who, in addition to the registrar, served as a teacher of calligraphy at the school of military cantonists and, therefore, was smarter.

"Here, if only some kind of fish and on Podyacheskaya!" - thought the general, and even his face changed from appetite. The general went into the forest - and there the hazel grouse whistled, the black grouse lek, the hares ran.

God! some food! some food! - said the general, feeling that he was already starting to feel sick.

There was nothing to do, I had to return to the agreed place empty-handed. He comes, and another general is already waiting.

Well, what, Your Excellency, did you provide something?

Yes, I found the old issue of Moskovskie Vedomosti, and nothing more!

Who would have thought, Your Excellency, that human food, in its original form, flies, swims and grows on trees? one general said.

Yes, - answered another general, - to confess, and I still thought that the rolls would be born in the same form as they are served with coffee in the morning.

So, if, for example, someone wants to eat a partridge, he must first catch it, kill it, pluck it, roast it ... But how to do all this?

How to do all this? - like an echo, repeated the other general.

They fell silent and began to try to sleep; but hunger decisively drove away sleep. Fritillaries, turkeys, piglets flashed before my eyes, juicy, lightly browned, with cucumbers, pickles and other salad.

Now I would, it seems, eat my own boot! one general said.

Gloves are also good when they are worn for a long time! sighed the other general.

Suddenly, both generals looked at each other: an ominous fire shone in their eyes, their teeth chattered, a dull growl flew out of their chests. They began to slowly crawl towards each other and in the blink of an eye went berserk. Shreds flew, there was a screech and a gasp; the general, who was a calligraphy teacher, bit off an order from his comrade and immediately swallowed it. But the sight of flowing blood seemed to bring them to their senses.

The power of the cross is with us! - they both said at once, - because that way we will eat each other!

And how did we get here! who is the villain who played such a thing on us!

It is necessary, Your Excellency, to entertain ourselves with some conversation, otherwise we will have a murder here! one general said.

Get started! replied the other general.

How, for example, do you think why the sun rises first and then sets, and not vice versa?

You are a strange man, Your Excellency; but you also get up first, go to the department, write there, and then go to bed?

But why not allow such a rearrangement: first I go to bed, I see various dreams, and then I get up?

Hm... yes... And I, to be honest, as I served in the department, I always thought so. "Now it's morning, and then it will be day, and then supper will be served - and it's time to sleep!"

But the mention of dinner both plunged into despondency and stopped the conversation at the very beginning.

I heard from a doctor that a person can feed on his own juices for a long time, - one general began again.

How so?

Yes, sir. Their own juices seem to produce other juices, these, in turn, still produce juices, and so on, until, finally, the juices stop altogether ...

Then what?

Then you need to eat some food ...

In a word, whatever the generals started talking about, it constantly boiled down to the recollection of food, and this irritated the appetite even more. They decided: to stop talking, and, remembering the found number of Moskovskie Vedomosti, they eagerly began to read it.

“Yesterday,” one general read in an excited voice, “the venerable head of our ancient capital had a ceremonial dinner. The table was served for a hundred people with amazing luxury. Gifts from all countries appointed themselves, as it were, a rendezvous at this magical holiday. golden", and a pet of the Caucasian forests - a pheasant, and strawberries so rare in our north in February ..."

Fuck you, sir! can't you find another object, Your Excellency? - exclaimed another general in despair and, taking a newspaper from a comrade, read the following:

“They write from Tula: yesterday, on the occasion of the capture of a sturgeon in the Upa River (an incident that even the old-timers will not remember, especially since a private bailiff B. was identified in the sturgeon), there was a festival in the local club. The hero of the occasion was brought in on a huge wooden platter , overlaid with cucumbers and holding a piece of greenery in his mouth. Dr. P., who was on duty on the same day, carefully watched that all the guests received a piece. The gravy was the most varied and even almost whimsical ... "

Excuse me, Your Excellency, and you do not seem to be too careful in your choice of reading! - interrupted the first general and, taking, in turn, the newspaper, read:

And suddenly the general, who was a calligraphy teacher, was inspired...

And what, Your Excellency, - he said joyfully - if we could find a peasant?

That is, how about ... a man?

Well, yes, a simple peasant ... what kind of peasants usually are! He would have given us a roll now, and he would have caught grouse, and fish!

Hm... a man... but where can I get him, this man, when he's gone?

As there is no man - the man is everywhere, you just have to look for him! He must be hiding somewhere, slacking off work!

This thought encouraged the generals to such an extent that they jumped up as if ruffled and set off in search of the muzhik.

For a long time they wandered about the island without any success, but at last the sharp smell of chaff bread and sour sheepskin brought them to the trail. Under a tree, with his belly up and his fist under his head, a huge man was sleeping and in the most insolent way shied away from work. The indignation of the generals knew no bounds.

Sleep, couch potato! - they pounced on him, - I suppose you don’t know with your ear that here two generals are dying of hunger for the second day! now march to work!

A man got up: he sees that the generals are strict. I wanted to give them an arrow, but they just froze, clinging to him.

And he began to act before them.

Are you satisfied, gentlemen generals? meanwhile the couch potato asked.

Satisfied, dear friend, we see your zeal! - answered the generals.

Will you let me rest now?

Take a rest, my friend, just tie the rope first.

Now the man picked up wild hemp, soaked it in water, beat it, crushed it - and by the evening the rope was ready. With this rope, the generals tied the man to a tree so that he would not run away, but they themselves went to bed.

And what do you think, Your Excellency, was there really a Babylonian pandemonium, or is it just that, one allegory? - says, it happened, one general to another, after breakfast.

I think, Your Excellency, what really happened, because otherwise how can one explain that there are different languages in the world!

So there was a flood?

And there was a flood, because, otherwise, how could the existence of antediluvian animals be explained? Moreover, in the "Moskovskie Vedomosti" they tell ...

They will find a number, sit under the shade, read from board to board, as they ate in Moscow, ate in Tula, ate in Penza, ate in Ryazan - and nothing, they don’t feel sick!

How long, how short, but the generals missed. More and more often they began to recall the cooks they had left behind in St. Petersburg, and even wept quietly.

Is something being done in Podyacheskaya now, Your Excellency? one general asked another.

And don't speak, Your Excellency! All hearts are gone! replied another general.

Well, it's good here - no words! and everything, you know, is somehow embarrassing for a lamb without a yar! Yes, and the uniform is also a pity!

What a pity! Especially, as the fourth grade, so look at one sewing, your head will spin!

But Podyachesky and I are generals! the generals rejoiced.

And I, if you saw: a man is hanging outside the house in a box on a rope, and he smears paint on the wall, or like a fly walks on the roof - this is who I am! - answered the man.

And the peasant began to breed beans, how would he please his generals for the fact that they favored him, the parasite, and did not disdain his peasant labor! And he built a ship - not a ship, but such a vessel that it was possible to cross the ocean-sea right up to Podyacheskaya itself.

Look, however, scoundrels, don't drown us! - said the generals, seeing the boat rocking on the waves.

Be calm, gentlemen generals, not the first time! - answered the peasant and began to prepare for departure.

However, the peasant was not forgotten either; they sent him a glass of vodka and a nickel of silver: have fun, man! That's

Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin

The story of how one man fed two generals

Once upon a time there were two generals, and since both were frivolous, they soon, at the behest of a pike, at my will, found themselves on a desert island.

The generals served all their lives in some kind of registry; there they were born, brought up and grew old, therefore, they did not understand anything. They didn’t even know any words, except: “accept the assurance of my perfect respect and devotion.”

The registry was abolished as unnecessary and the generals were released into the wild. Left behind by the state, they settled in St. Petersburg, in Podyacheskaya Street, in different apartments; each had his own cook and received a pension. Only suddenly they found themselves on a desert island, woke up and saw: both were lying under the same blanket. Of course, at first they did not understand anything and began to talk as if nothing had happened to them.

Strange, Your Excellency, I had a dream today, - said one general, - I see that I live on a desert island ...

He said it and all of a sudden he jumps up! Another general also jumped up.

God! yes, what is it! Where are we! both of them cried out in a voice that was not their own.

In front of them on one side was the sea, on the other side lay a small piece of land, behind which was the same boundless sea. The generals cried for the first time after they closed the registry.

They began to examine each other and saw that they were in nightgowns, and on their necks hung an order.

Now it would be good to drink coffee! - said one general, but he remembered what an unheard-of thing had happened to him, and for the second time he began to cry.

What shall we do, however? he continued through tears. - If you now write a report - what good will come of it?

Here's what, - answered another general, - you, your excellency, go to the east, and I will go to the west, and in the evening we will meet again at this place; maybe we'll find something.

They began to look for where the east is and where the west is. They remembered how the chief once said: if you want to find the east, then stand with your eyes to the north, and in your right hand you will get what you are looking for. They began to look for the north, stood this way and that, tried all the countries of the world, but since they had served in the registry all their lives, they did not find anything.

That's it, Your Excellency; you go to the right, and I to the left; that way it will be better! - said one general, who, in addition to the registrar, served as a teacher of calligraphy at the school of military cantonists and, therefore, was smarter.

“Here, if only some kind of fish and on Podyacheskaya!” - thought the general, and even his face changed from appetite.

The general went into the forest - and there the hazel grouse whistled, the black grouse lek, the hares ran.

God! some food! some food! - said the general, feeling that he was already starting to feel sick.

There was nothing to do, I had to return to the agreed place empty-handed. He comes, and another general is already waiting.

Well, Your Excellency, have you provided something?

Yes, I found the old issue of Moskovskie Vedomosti, and nothing more!

Who would have thought, Your Excellency, that human food in its original form flies, swims and grows on trees? one general said.

Yes, - answered another general, - to confess, and I still thought that the rolls would be born in the same form as they are served with coffee in the morning.

Therefore, if, for example, someone wants to eat a partridge, he must first catch it, kill it, pluck it, roast it ... But how to do all this?

How to do all this? - like an echo repeated another general.

Now I would, it seems, eat my own boot! one general said.

Gloves are also good when they are worn for a long time! sighed the other general.

The power of the cross is with us! they both said at the same time. - After all, we will eat each other!

And how did we get here! who is the villain who played such a thing on us!

It is necessary, Your Excellency, to entertain ourselves with some conversation, otherwise we will have a murder here! one general said.

Get started! replied the other general.

How, for example, do you think why the sun rises first and then sets, and not vice versa?

You are a strange man, Your Excellency; but you also get up first, go to the department, write there, and then go to bed?

But why not allow such a rearrangement: first I go to bed, I see various dreams, and then I get up?

Hm ... yes ... And I, to confess, as I served in the department, always thought so: now it's morning, and then it will be day, and then they will serve dinner - and it's time to sleep!

But the mention of dinner both plunged into despondency and stopped the conversation at the very beginning.

I heard from a doctor that a person can feed on his own juices for a long time, - one general began again.

How so?

Yes, sir. Their own juices seem to produce other juices, these, in turn, still produce juices, and so on, until, finally, the juices stop altogether ...

Then what?

Then you need to eat some food ...

In a word, whatever the generals started talking about, it constantly boiled down to the recollection of food, and this irritated the appetite even more. They decided to stop talking and, remembering the found number of Moskovskie Vedomosti, eagerly began to read it.

In this lesson, you will get acquainted with the concepts of "irony", "hyperbole", "grotesque", "antithesis", analyze and analyze the tale of M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin "The Tale of How One Man Feeded Two Generals."

"The generals cried for the first time after they closed the registry." “They began to look for where the east is and where the west is. They remembered how the chief once said: “If you want to find the east, then stand with your eyes to the north, and in your right hand you will get what you are looking for.” Since the generals served all their lives in the registry (Fig. 2), Saltykov-Shchedrin once again emphasizes, they did not find anything, simply because they did not know how to do anything. One of them had previously served as a calligraphy teacher, therefore, the author notes, he was smarter. And calligraphy is just the art of writing beautifully and clearly. How smarter one of the generals was, judge for yourself.

Rice. 2. Generals in the service, a fairy tale by M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. "The story of how one man fed two generals" ()

And again the fabulous element: “It is said and done”. An acute feeling of hunger forced the generals to go in search of food. “One general went to the right and saw that trees were growing, and there were all sorts of fruits on the trees. The general wants to get at least one apple, but they all hang so high that they have to climb. I tried to climb - nothing happened, I just tore my shirt. The general came to the stream, he sees: the fish there, as if in a cage on the Fontanka, are teeming and teeming. Pay attention to the illustration created by the artists Kukryniksy (Fig. 3).

Rice. 3. Kukryniksy. Illustration for the fairy tale M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. "The story of how one man fed two generals" ()

“The general went into the forest - and there the hazel grouses whistle, the black grouse lek, the hares run.

God! Food something! Food something! - said the general, feeling that he was already starting to feel sick. The generals seem to find themselves in a lost earthly paradise. But this paradise cannot help them in any way, despite the abundance surrounding them: living creatures and fruits.

A conversation begins between the generals: “- Who would have thought, Your Excellency, that human food, in its original form, flies, swims and grows on trees? one general said.

Yes, - answered another general, - to confess, and I still thought that the rolls would be born in the same form as they are served with coffee in the morning!

So, if, for example, someone wants to eat a partridge, he must first catch it, kill it, pluck it, roast it ... But how to do all this? (Fig. 4).

Rice. 4. The generals are trying to get food. Illustration for the fairy tale M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. "The story of how one man fed two generals" ()

Items from the world of civilization, details of clothing that distinguish a person from an animal, turn into coveted dishes in the minds of generals. For example, one of them says: “Now I think I would eat my own boot!”. And the second one seriously begins to talk about what wonderful nutritional properties gloves have: “Gloves are also good when they are worn for a long time!”

Finally, hunger drives the generals to the point of brutality. “Suddenly, both generals looked at each other: an ominous fire shone in their eyes, their teeth chattered, a dull growl flew out of their chests. They began to slowly crawl towards each other and in the blink of an eye went berserk. Shreds flew, there was a screech and a gasp; the general, who was a calligraphy teacher, bit off an order from his comrade and immediately swallowed it. But the sight of flowing blood seemed to bring them to their senses.” Surprisingly, the violation of semantic compatibility that the writer offers us: the association between the award and part of the body - the order became, as it were, an accessory, part of the general, can be understood in such a way that blood flowed from the wound left in the place of the bitten off order. But in the natural world on a desert island, insignia and indications of hierarchy do not make any sense, and you will not be fed up with a bitten off order.

Whatever the generals began to talk about, each time the conversation came down to the fact that they returned to food. And here the heroes remembered the found issue of "Moskovskie Vedomosti". Interesting facts are presented by Saltykov-Shchedrin in the newspaper. Fact one: “Yesterday ... the venerable head of our ancient capital had a ceremonial dinner. The table was set for a hundred people with amazing luxury. The gifts of all countries have appointed themselves, as it were, a rendezvous at this magical holiday. There was also a “shekspins gold sterlet”, and ... a pheasant, and ... strawberries ... ”Fact two: “They write from Tula: yesterday, on the occasion of the capture of sturgeon in the Upa River, there was a festival in the local club. The hero of the occasion was brought in on a huge wooden dish, overlaid with cucumbers and holding a piece of greenery in his mouth. Dr. P., who on the same day was the foreman on duty, carefully watched that all the guests received a piece. The gravy was the most varied and even almost whimsical...” Third fact: “They write from Vyatka: one of the local old-timers invented the following original method of cooking fish soup: taking a live burbot, carve it first; when, from chagrin, his liver will increase ... "The generals bowed their heads."

The fact of Saltykov-Shchedrin's appeal to the Moskovskie Vedomosti newspaper is very important. The author speaks of a reactionary newspaper, which was known for its lack of content, state-of-the-art enthusiasm, therefore, apart from facts about food, the generals find nothing. Yes, they, in fact, do not need anything else.

“And suddenly the general, who was a teacher of calligraphy, was lit up with inspiration…” Saves the situation, at first glance, the stupid idea of the general to find a peasant on a desert island to feed them. Surprisingly, the man on the island is really found. The comedy and parody of the peasant are obvious. Saltykov-Shchedrin seems to alter the image of a wonderful helper, characteristic of folk tales. A man found on the island is endowed with supernatural powers. “The generals jumped up as if disheveled and set off to look for the peasant. Under a tree, with his belly up and his fist under his head, a huge man was sleeping and in the most insolent way shied away from work. The indignation of the generals knew no bounds.

Sleep, couch potato! - they pounced on him, - I suppose you don’t know with your ear that here two generals are dying of hunger for the second day! Now march to work!” (Fig. 5).

Rice. 5. Generals and a peasant. Illustration for the fairy tale M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. "The story of how one man fed two generals" ()

It is interesting that the peasant does not even try to contradict the generals, but immediately responsively fulfills their demands.

“... he picked the ten most ripe apples for the generals, and took one, sour, for himself. Then he dug in the ground - and got potatoes from there; then he took two pieces of wood, rubbed them against each other - and took out the fire. Then he made a snare out of his own hair and caught a hazel grouse. Finally, he lit a fire and baked so many different provisions that it even occurred to the generals: “Shouldn’t we give the parasite a piece?” (Fig. 6).

Rice. 6. A man is preparing dinner for the generals. Illustration for the fairy tale M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. "The story of how one man fed two generals" ()

The peasant had just appeared in the fairy tale, and the generals had already called him both a parasite and a couch potato. A parasite is a person who lives at the expense of others, a loafer. Can a man be considered a parasite? The generals believe that a man, a healthy fellow, shirks from work, and strives to escape, they scold him for laziness. But despite this, he is satisfied with his life. See for yourself: the generals picked ten of the ripest apples, and took one for himself, sour, eats chaff bread. While the generals are looking for the peasant, they are led to the trail by the sharp smell of chaff bread and sour sheepskin. Chaff bread was made from the remains of ears, bran and other waste. And this is on an island where abundance reigns! Saltykov-Shchedrin in every possible way exposes both the stupidity of the generals, on the one hand, and the slavish subordination of the peasant, on the other.

“Relax, my friend ...” - the generals allow the peasant, - “just put on the rope first. Now the man picked up wild hemp, soaked it in water, beat it, crushed it - and by the evening the rope was ready. With this rope, the generals tied the man to a tree so that he would not run away, but they themselves went to bed. A day passed, another passed; the peasant was so contrived that he even began to cook soup in a handful. The generals lived well on the island, they just got bored (Fig. 7).

Rice. 7. Generals on the island. Illustration for the fairy tale M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. "The story of how one man fed two generals" ()

Every day, Moskovskiye Vedomosti is reread. “... they will sit under the shade, read from board to board, as they ate in Moscow, ate in Tula, ate in Penza, ate in Ryazan - and nothing, they don’t feel sick!”

They wanted to go to Petersburg. “And they began to force the peasant: imagine yes, imagine them in Podyacheskaya!” And again, Saltykov-Shchedrin uses the phrase “And the peasant began to breed on beans”, which is characteristic of the folk tale, that is, wondering, “how could he please his generals for the fact that they favored him, the parasite, and did not disdain his muzhik labor! And he built a ship - not a ship, but such a vessel so that it was possible to cross the ocean-sea all the way to Podyacheskaya.

The peasant looks after the generals with trepidation. “The man picked up soft swan fluff and covered the bottom of the boat with it. Having laid them down, he laid the generals on the bottom and, having crossed himself, swam. How much fear the generals gained during the journey from storms and from various winds, how much they scolded the man for his parasitism - this cannot be described with a pen, nor can be said in a fairy tale ”(Fig. 8).

Rice. 8. The generals are sailing in a boat. Illustration for the fairy tale M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. "The story of how one man fed two generals" ()

And again, the author uses a characteristic fairy-tale turn "neither to describe with a pen, nor to tell in a fairy tale." “Here, finally, is Mother Neva, here is Catherine’s glorious canal, here is Bolshaya Podyacheskaya! The cooks threw up their hands, seeing how well-fed, white and cheerful their generals had become! The generals got drunk on coffee, ate buns and put on their uniforms. They went to the treasury, and how much money they raked in - that cannot be said in a fairy tale, nor described with a pen! After all, the pension that was accrued to the generals was collected while the generals were on the island.

Saltykov-Shchedrin ends his fairy tale like this: “However, they did not forget about the peasant either; they sent him a glass of vodka and a nickel of silver: have fun, man!

In fact, the author is outraged not only by the behavior of the generals, their lives at the expense of others, but also by the slavish obedience of the peasant. Laughter causes passivity, resignation of the peasant, but this laughter is bitter, mixed with pity. The generals are physically weaker than the peasant, but he obeys resignedly: he twists a rope for himself, he ties himself up, he could run away, but he will never do it. The generals are wholly dependent on the muzhik, he does not depend on them, but wholly obeys, and the masters rule—even on a desert island, the generals remain generals for the muzhik. The author laughs at the long-suffering of the peasant, and in the image of the peasant, of course, at the patience of the Russian people, servilely serving their masters.

The satirical sound of the tale is emphasized by such means of artistic expression as irony, hyperbole, grotesque, and antithesis. Let's get acquainted with these terms and find them in the text.

Important for understanding the meaning of the tale is the author's irony. Irony- this is a turn of phrase, pretending to assert the opposite of what is thought about the subject. Shchedrin writes about the generals with caustic irony: “The generals served all their lives in some kind of registry; there they were born, brought up and grew old, therefore, they did not understand anything. They didn't even know the words...

Saltykov-Shchedrin actively uses hyperbole. Hyperbola- this is an excessive exaggeration of the properties of an object or phenomenon. For example, both the dexterity of the peasant and the ignorance of the generals are extremely exaggerated. It is unlikely that the generals did not know where the rolls come from, and thought that they grow on trees, and a skilled peasant cooked soup in a handful.

The general swallows his friend's order, not realizing that orders are not eaten. The order that one general bit off from another is a grotesque detail. You can bite off a part of the body, but here is the order ... Grotesque- a combination of real and fantastic in order to depict an object or phenomenon in an ugly comic way.

And of course, many fairy tales by Saltykov-Shchedrin, including “The Tale of How One Man Feeded Two Generals,” are built on antithesis, that is, in opposition. The end is especially characteristic: the generals "how much money they raked in here - you can’t tell in a fairy tale or describe it with a pen!", And the peasant received "a glass of vodka and a nickel of silver."

Bibliography

Korovina V.Ya. etc. Literature. 8th grade. Textbook in 2 hours - 8th ed. - M.: Education, 2009.
Merkin G.S. Literature. 8th grade. Tutorial in 2 parts. - 9th ed. - M.: 2013.
Kritarova Zh.N. Analysis of works of Russian literature. 8th grade. - 2nd ed., corrected. - M.: 2014.

Internet portal "Moitvoru.ru" ()
Internet portal "Ilibrary.ru" ()
Internet portal "Reshebnik5-11.ru" ()

Homework

What are the features and techniques characteristic of the fairy tale genre that were used by the author in “The Tale of How One Man Feeded Two Generals”.
Expand the image of a man from the fairy tale "The Tale of How One Man Feeded Two Generals"
Write an essay-miniature on the topic "The Irony of Saltykov-Shchedrin".

The tale "The Tale of How One Man Feeded Two Generals" was written in 1869.

First published in OZ, 1869, No. 2 (published on February 10), pp. 591-598, under the title “The Tale of How a Muzhik Feed Two Generals. (Written from the words of collegiate adviser Rudomazin)”, with the number “I”, referring to the cycle “For Children”, along with the fairy tale “Conscience Lost” and the story “Anniversary”. Without a signature; in the table of contents: M. E. Saltykov (N. Shchedrin).

Published according to the edition: M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. Collected works in 20 t. M .: Fiction, 1974. T. 16, book. one.

Once upon a time there were two generals, and since both were frivolous, they soon, at the behest of a pike, at my will, found themselves on a desert island.

The generals served all their lives in some kind of registry (1); there they were born, brought up and grew old, therefore, they did not understand anything. They didn’t even know any words, except: “Accept the assurance of my perfect respect and devotion.”

The registry was abolished as unnecessary and the generals were released into the wild. Left behind by the state, they settled in St. Petersburg, in Podyacheskaya Street, in different apartments; each had his own cook and received a pension. Only suddenly they found themselves on a desert island, woke up and saw: both were lying under the same blanket. Of course, at first they did not understand anything and began to talk as if nothing had happened to them.

“Strange, Your Excellency, I had a dream today,” said one general, “I see that I live on a desert island ...

He said this, but all of a sudden he jumps up! Another general also jumped up.

- God! yes, what is it! Where are we! Both cried out in unnatural voices.

In front of them on one side was the sea, on the other side lay a small piece of land, behind which was the same boundless sea. The generals cried for the first time after they closed the registry.

They began to examine each other and saw that they were in nightgowns, and on their necks hung an order.

- Now it would be good to drink coffee! - said one general, but he remembered what an unheard-of thing had happened to him, and for the second time he began to cry.

- What? what shall we do, however? he continued through tears, “if you write a report now, what good will come of it?”

- Here's what, - answered another general, - you, Your Excellency, go to the east, and I will go to the west, and in the evening we will meet again at this place; maybe we'll find something.

- That's what, Your Excellency, you go to the right, and I to the left; that way it will be better! - said one general, who, in addition to the registrar, served as a calligraphy teacher at the school of military cantonists (2) and, therefore, was smarter.

No sooner said than done. One general went to the right and saw that trees were growing, and there were all sorts of fruits on the trees. The general wants to get at least one apple, but they all hang so high that they have to climb. I tried to climb - nothing happened, only tore my shirt. The general came to the stream, he sees: the fish there, as if in a cage on the Fontanka, are teeming and teeming.

“Here, if only some kind of fish and on Podyacheskaya!” thought the general, and even his face changed from appetite.

The general went into the forest - and there the hazel grouse whistled, the black grouse lek, the hares ran.

- God! some food! some food! - said the general, feeling that he was already beginning to feel sick.

There was nothing to do, I had to return to the agreed place empty-handed. He comes, and another general is already waiting.

“Well, Your Excellency, did you do something?”

- Yes, I found the old issue of Moskovskie Vedomosti, and nothing more!

“Who would have thought, Your Excellency, that human food, in its original form, flies, swims and grows on trees?” one general said.

“Yes,” answered another general, “to confess, and I still thought that rolls would be born in the same form as they are served with coffee in the morning!”

- So, if, for example, someone wants to eat a partridge, he must first catch it, kill it, pluck it, roast it ... But how to do all this?

— How to do all this? echoed the other general.

They fell silent and began to try to sleep; but hunger decisively drove away sleep. Fritillaries, turkeys, piglets flashed before my eyes, juicy, slightly browned, with cucumbers, pickles and other salad.

Now I think I would eat my own boot! one general said.

- Gloves are also good when they are worn for a long time! the other general sighed.

The power of the cross is with us! - they both said at the same time, - because that way we will eat each other! And how did we get here! who is the villain who played such a thing on us!

“It is necessary, Your Excellency, to amuse ourselves with some conversation, otherwise we will have a murder here!” one general said.

— Get started! replied another general.

- How, for example, do you think why the sun rises first and then sets, and not vice versa?

“You are a strange person, Your Excellency: but you, too, get up first, go to the department, write there, and then go to bed?”

- But why not allow such a rearrangement: first I go to bed, I see various dreams, and then I get up?

“Hm ... yes ... And I, to be honest, as I served in the department, I always thought like this: “Now it’s morning, and then it will be day, and then they will serve dinner - and it’s time to sleep!”

But the mention of dinner both plunged into despondency and stopped the conversation at the very beginning.

“I heard from a doctor that a person can feed on his own juices for a long time,” one general began again.

— How so?

- Yes, sir. Their own juices seem to produce other juices, these, in turn, still produce juices, and so on, until, finally, the juices stop altogether ...

“Then what is it?”

“Then you need to eat some food ...

In a word, whatever the generals started talking about, it constantly boiled down to the recollection of food, and this irritated the appetite even more. They decided: to stop talking, and, remembering the number of Moskovskie Vedomosti they had found, they eagerly began to read it.

“Yesterday,” one general read in an excited voice, “the venerable chief of our ancient capital had a ceremonial dinner. The table was set for a hundred people with amazing luxury. The gifts of all countries have appointed themselves, as it were, a rendezvous at this magical holiday. There was also “Sheksnin’s golden sterlet” (3), and a pet of the Caucasian forests - a pheasant, and, so rare in our north in February, strawberries ... "

- Pah, sir! can't you find another object, Your Excellency? another general exclaimed in despair, and, taking a newspaper from his comrade, he read the following:

“They write from Tula: yesterday, on the occasion of the capture of a sturgeon in the Upa River (an incident that even the old-timers will not remember, especially since a private bailiff B. was identified in the sturgeon), there was a festival in the local club. The hero of the occasion was brought in on a huge wooden dish, overlaid with cucumbers and holding a piece of greenery in his mouth. Dr. P., who on the same day was the foreman on duty, carefully watched that all the guests received a piece. The gravy was the most varied and even almost whimsical ... "

“Excuse me, Your Excellency, and you do not seem to be too careful in choosing your reading!” interrupted the first general, and, taking the paper in his turn, he read:

“They write from Vyatka: one of the local old-timers invented the following original method of cooking fish soup: taking a live burbot, first carve it; when, from chagrin, his liver will increase ... "

The generals bowed their heads. Everything they looked at was evidence of food (4). Their own thoughts were plotting against them, for no matter how hard they tried to drive away the ideas of steaks, these ideas fought their way in a violent way.

And suddenly the general, who was a calligraphy teacher, was inspired...

“And what, Your Excellency,” he said joyfully, “if we could find a peasant?”

- That is, how ... a man?

- Well, yes, a simple peasant ... what kind of peasants usually are! He would have given us a roll now, and he would have caught grouse, and fish!

— Hm... a man... but where can I get him, this man, when he's gone?

- Just as there is no man, there is a man everywhere, you just have to look for him! He must be hiding somewhere, slacking off work!

This thought encouraged the generals to such an extent that they jumped up as if ruffled and set off in search of the muzhik.

- Sleep, couch potato! they pounced on him. now march to work!

A man got up: he sees that the generals are strict. I wanted to give them an arrow, but they just froze, clinging to him.

And he began to act before them.

First of all, he climbed a tree and picked the generals ten of the most ripe apples, and took one, sour, for himself. Then he dug in the ground - and got potatoes from there; then he took two pieces of wood, rubbed them together, and drew fire. Then he made a snare out of his own hair and caught a hazel grouse. Finally, he lit a fire and baked so many different provisions that the generals even thought -. "Shouldn't you give the parasite a piece?"

The generals looked at these peasant efforts, and their hearts played merrily. They have already forgotten that yesterday they almost died of hunger, and they thought: “This is how good it is to be generals - you won’t get lost anywhere!”

Are you satisfied, gentlemen generals? meanwhile the couch potato asked.

- Satisfied, dear friend, we see your zeal! the generals replied.

"Will you let me rest now?"

“Relax, my friend, just tie the rope first.”

Now the man had collected wild hemp, soaked it in water, beat it, crushed it - and by the evening the rope was ready. With this rope, the generals tied the man to a tree so that he would not run away, but they themselves went to bed.

“And what do you think, Your Excellency, was there really a Babylonian pandemonium, or is it just that, one allegory?” - said, it happened, one general to another, after breakfast.

“I think, Your Excellency, what really happened, because otherwise how can one explain that there are different languages in the world!”

“So there was a flood, too?”

- And there was a flood, because, otherwise, how would one explain the existence of antediluvian animals? Moreover, in the "Moskovskie Vedomosti" they tell ...

They will find a number, sit under the shade, read from board to board, as they ate in Moscow, ate in Tula, ate in Penza, ate in Ryazan - and nothing, they don’t feel sick!

How long, how short, but the generals missed. More and more often they began to recall the cooks they had left behind in St. Petersburg, and even wept quietly.

“Is something going on in Podyacheskaya now, Your Excellency?” one general asked another.

“Don’t speak, Your Excellency!” all the heart is gone! replied another general.

- Well, it's good here - there is no word! and everything, you know, is somehow embarrassing for a lamb without a yar! Yes, and the uniform is also a pity!

- What a pity! Especially, as the fourth grade, so look at one sewing, your head will spin!

“But Podyachesky and I are generals!” the generals rejoiced.

- And I, if you saw: a man is hanging outside the house, in a box on a rope, and smears paint on the wall, or like a fly walks on the roof - this is who I am! - answered the man.

And the peasant began to breed beans, how would he please his generals for the fact that they favored him, the parasite, and did not disdain his peasant labor! And he built a ship - not a ship, but such a vessel so that it was possible to cross the ocean-sea all the way to Podyacheskaya.

- Look, however, scoundrels, do not drown us! - said the generals, seeing the boat rocking on the waves.

- Be calm, gentlemen generals, not the first time! answered the peasant, and began to prepare for his departure.

The man picked up soft swan fluff and covered the bottom of the boat with it. Having laid them down, he laid the generals on the bottom and, having crossed himself, swam. How much fear the generals gained during the journey from storms and from various winds, how much they scolded the peasant for his parasitism - this cannot be described with a pen, nor can be said in a fairy tale. And the peasant rows and rows and feeds the generals with herrings.

Here, finally, is Mother Neva, here is Catherine's glorious canal, here is Bolshaya Podyacheskaya! The cooks threw up their hands, seeing how well-fed, white and cheerful their generals had become! The generals got drunk on coffee, ate buns and put on their uniforms. They went to the treasury, and how much money they raked in - that can not be said in a fairy tale, not described with a pen!

However, the peasant was not forgotten either; they sent him a glass of vodka and a nickel of silver: have fun, man!

Notes

1) Generals served all their lives in some kind of registry ...- We are talking about civilian "generals" (actual state councilors). In the manuscript of the tale - "Inspection Department", the appearance of which was inspired by the introduction on January 1, 1869 of the "Regulations on the Military Ministry", which abolished the Inspection Department of this ministry. By lowering the rank of the institution, removing the reference to the government decree and making his generals retired, Saltykov ensured the freedom of his satirical portrayal of them.

2) ...he served as a teacher of calligraphy at the school of military cantonists... — These schools existed until 1856. The teaching of calligraphy, as well as service in the cavalry, in Saltykov's satire is usually a sign of the character's primitiveness and spiritual poverty.

3) "Sheksniska golden sterlet"- from "Invitation to Dinner" by Derzhavin.

4) Everything they looked at was evidence of food. — The parodied correspondence is referred, by the way, not only to Moscow, but also to those cities where Saltykov once had to serve (Vyatka, Tula, Penza, Ryazan).