Works written several centuries ago, touching on human feelings and relationships, have not lost their relevance to this day. And one of these works is, oddly enough, a fairy tale. This is a work by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin about the golden cockerel. Some art critics believe that this fairy tale was not intended for children, although it was written in a light, humorous, poetic form. Created by the poet in 1834, and is his last work in this style. Currently recommended for fourth grade students. ...
Content
In one kingdom lived King Dadon, a formidable ruler; he often went to war against his neighbors, inflicting numerous insults on them.
But time passes, and Dadon became old and wanted peace and rest from military affairs. However, the vengeful neighbors did not forget the old grievances, and annoyed the king with numerous and unexpected attacks, and the army, although ready for defense, often expected a blow from the other side. The governors are expecting an attack from the south, the enemy is attacking from the west or from the sea.
The king turns to a famous sage, astrologer and eunuch for help. The sage agreed to help and offered Dadon the Golden Cockerel , which would warn the king in advance about the impending attack. As a reward for the Golden Cockerel, Dadon made a promise that he would fulfill any will of the sage.
From then on, the Golden Cockerel regularly performed its service, warning Dadon about the warlike thoughts of his neighbors. Dadon directed the army in the right direction, and the enemy, who did not expect resistance, was defeated. Over time, all the wars subsided, and a year or two pass quietly. But then, the Golden Cockerel began to beat again and crowed, sitting on his knitting needle, and pointed to the east.
Dadon gathers an army, and the eldest son leads him to the east. Eight days have passed, but there is no news from my son. The king equips a new army and sends his youngest son to help the eldest. Eight days have passed again, and still there is no news, and the Golden Cockerel again points to the east. Dadon gathers an army and sets off himself.
The army marches for eight days, and finally reaches the mountains, on the top of which stands a luxurious tent. The king hurries to the tent and sees that both of his sons are dead, they killed each other.
Suddenly the tent opened, the Shamakhan queen came out, smiling and taking Dadon into her tent. For seven days the ruler remains in the queen's tent and, struck by her beauty, forgets about his sons. Seven days later, the king and the maiden return home, where he is greeted by joyful people.
Unexpectedly, in the crowd Dadon notices a wise man who declares that the time for reckoning has come. In exchange for the Golden Cockerel, he asks to give him the Shamakhan Queen. Dadon offers the sage gold, a horse, and a position, but the sage asks for a maiden. Angry, Dadon hits the sage with a rod, and the spirit is knocked out of him. And here all the people shuddered, only the queen, without fear of sin, everyone hee-hee and ha-ha.
Dadon enters the capital, and the Golden Cockerel flies from its place, flies up to the king and hits him in the crown with its beak. Dadon falls dead, and the Shamakhan queen disappears, as if she never existed.
Pushkin “The Tale of the Golden Cockerel”, analysis for the reader’s diary
author: Ekaterina 01/13/2020 3 Comments
book reviews
fairy tales, school curriculum
In the article you will find an analysis (one might even say an analysis) of “The Tale of the Golden Cockerel,” especially for the reader’s diary. We included a list of the main characters, plot (summary), retelling plan, main idea and conclusion.
Author: Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin
Genre: Fairy tale (in verse)
Year of writing: 1834
The content of “The Tale of the Golden Cockerel” talks about how a ruler can be let down by his reckless decisions and belief in his own importance. All this leads to the death of the royal family of Dadon and his state.
Main characters:
Dadon, the old ruler of the distant kingdom, wishes for peace. In dictionaries, “dadons” are called clumsy and awkward people.
A sage is a person who has a lot of knowledge. He is devoted to science, magic and renounces vanity in order to serve higher goals.
The Golden Cockerel is the magical guardian of the thirtieth kingdom, a symbol of foresight, truth and justice. It is presented to Dadon by the astrologer.
Voivode is an important person in Dadon’s entourage; he rules the sovereign’s army.
The sons of Dadon, descendants of King Dadon, die at the hands of each other.
The Shamakhan queen is the seductress of Dadon and his sons. The sage also wants to get her.
Plot (summary of the tale):
In a distant state, the old king Dadon rules. He is annoyed by his neighbors, whose lands the king often devastated with terrible raids in his youth.
Dadon wants peace. He turns to the “astrogazer and eunuch” for help. The sage presents the elderly sovereign with a magical guard. For this service, he demands that the king fulfill any request whenever the astrologer himself wants it. Dadon agrees.
The kingdom is faithfully guarded by a cockerel who sits on the spokes of a tall building. He warns of any danger. Soon the neighbors begin to fear Dadon again.
But one day the sovereign is awakened by the terrible crow of a rooster. The golden bird turns to the east and freezes. The Voevoda reports the alarm to the sovereign. Dadon gathers an army and sends his eldest son to pacify the enemy.
Eight days pass. Dadon receives no news from his son. The cockerel crows again. The youngest royal son sets off with the army. Eight days also pass.
The crow of a rooster announces that a new army needs to be assembled and on the ninth day Dadon himself must set off on the road. For eight days the sovereign moves with the army to the east. On the ninth day, Dadon discovers a beaten army and both sons, who killed each other near a beautiful silk tent. While the father is grieving, a beautiful maiden emerges from the tent. She takes Dadon to her place. With the beauty, he forgets about his parental grief.
The Shamakhan queen goes with Dadon to the capital. The astrologer meets them there. He demands that the king give him the beauty in payment for his services.
Dadon gets angry, orders the sage to be seized and beats him with a rod. Stargazer falls dead. The Shamakhan queen laughs.
When the sovereign enters the city, a cockerel flies from the knitting needle. It pecks at Dadon's crown and flies away when he dies. Following the cockerel, the mysterious beauty evaporates.
Retelling plan:
- The old king Dadon dreams of peaceful rule of a distant state.
- The Emperor asks for help from the eastern astrologer.
- The sage gives Dadon a golden cockerel.
- The cockerel warns the king of any danger. The neighbors are again afraid to attack Dadon's country.
- The alarming crowing of a rooster and the bird turning to the east.
- The first son of Dadon sets off with the army.
- Eight days later, the golden guard again warns of danger. Dadon’s second son hurries to help his older brother.
- On the eighth day after the departure of the youngest son, the third warning from the cockerel sounds.
- Dadon himself leads the army. Eight days later he comes across a tent. The beaten troops lie in front of him. The king discovers that his sons have killed each other.
- Dadon is grieving.
- A seductive beauty emerges from the tent. Dadon forgets about the death of the army and his children and is consoled by the charms of the Shamakhan queen.
- Together with the beauty, Dadon goes home.
- An astrologer meets him in the capital. He demands that the Shamakhan queen be given to him for his services.
- Dadon is angry. He kills the astrologer with one blow of his wand. The queen laughs.
- In the capital, a golden cockerel descends from a knitting needle to the king. He pecks Dadon in the crown, the king dies. The cockerel flies away. The Shamakhan queen evaporates.
The main idea:
You should respect your neighbors and remember that you will have to answer for every action.
Conclusion:
King Dadon loses his family, state and life in a short time. All because he refuses his own word, succumbs to the charms of the Shamakhan queen and too soon forgets about the death of his sons. The fairy tale shows that one cannot break promises, succumb to temptations and refuse the redemption offered by life.
Analysis of the fairy tale for the reader's diary was provided by vesnushka07.
I advise you to look:
Pushkin, “The Tale of Tsar Saltan”, summary
Epithets in Russian fairy tales
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Morality
The moral of the story of the golden cockerel is simple. Experts who study the work of Pushkin , for the most part, believe that the poet, highlighting human vices, in this tale wanted to convey to readers the following:
- You should keep this word, or not give it if you are not sure of fulfillment
- There's a price to pay for breaking your oath
- You should always have your priorities right
- The internal enemy can be much more dangerous than the external one
Analysis of the poem “The Tale of the Golden Cockerel” by Alexander Pushkin
Poem “The Tale of the Golden Cockerel” by Alexander Pushkin
“The Tale of the Golden Cockerel” was the last fairy tale written by Pushkin. He created it in 1834 in Boldino. There were many versions about the source of the work. The most convincing version was A. Akhmatova’s. She proved that Pushkin used V. Irving’s work “The Legend of the Arab Stargazer,” which is included in the collection “Tales of the Alhambra.” The main storyline is very similar. Pushkin took the image of the Shamakhan queen from the fairy tale “Princess Milusha”. The name of Dadon is mentioned in the extremely popular Tale of Bova the Prince in Tsarist Russia.
Despite the borrowing of the main plot and main images, Pushkin created a completely original work, imbuing it with the spirit of Russian folk tales. In Irving's "Legend..." the cockerel is not golden, but copper. He is not an independent character and serves only as a symbol. Pushkin's cockerel lives his own special life; at the end of the fairy tale he becomes the astrologer's instrument of revenge.
Pushkin's fairy tale, unlike “The Legend...”, has a significant instructive character. The king dies from the golden cockerel not simply because he undeservedly offended and killed the astrologer. His death is a natural retribution of fate for the fact that the king consigned his sons to oblivion, seduced by the Shamakhan queen. Another crime was failure to fulfill one’s own word, and the royal word was considered holy and infallible.
The work contains attacks on the royal power. During publication, the censorship crossed out the line “reign while lying on your side” and the final moralizing conclusion: “The fairy tale is a lie, but there is a hint in it.” In Pushkin’s draft, the comparisons with the political situation were more transparent: instead of “there is a hint in it” - “there is a lesson for us”, “it is costly to quarrel with others” - “it is bad to quarrel with the kings.” Amendments were made by Pushkin to soften the sharp anti-tsarist thrust of “The Tale of the Golden Cockerel”.
Among Pushkin's other fairy tales, this work is more divorced from the original folklore source than others. The magical elements are designed to hide the real meaning, which is the violation of the royal word. This theme is not found in Russian fairy tales and legends. In the traditional confrontation between good and evil, the king either represents good or symbolizes the highest justice. In “The Tale of the Golden Cockerel,” the king himself violates the highest law by breaking his word. His death symbolizes just punishment, which cannot be avoided either with the help of power or wealth.
Reviews
An interesting fairy tale for children, instructive.
Igor, Peza
I read the fairy tale to my son and realized that the poet wrote it for adults and wanted to convey his thoughts about duty and family values.
Maria, Moscow
A talented work, like all of Pushkin’s works. It’s easy to guess what the fairy tale about the golden cockerel teaches - be honest, keep your promises.
Ksenia, Tula
I analyzed the fairy tale with my daughter, and she correctly understood why Dadon was punished - he did not keep his word.
My daughter really liked the story. Svetlana, Balakovo
