Fable “The Mirror and the Monkey”: analysis of the work. Why should godmothers work hard? Isn’t it better for yourself, godfather, to turn around Mirror and winged monkey

The fabulist Krylov was always able to clearly and clearly show the shortcomings of people using the example of animals, ridiculing their vices, and the author has many such works, among them Krylov’s fable The Mirror and the Monkey, and in order to understand the essence of the fable, we suggest you get acquainted with its text.

Krylov Mirror and Monkey

It all starts with the fact that the monkey accidentally saw his reflection in the mirror, but the whole point is that the monkey does not understand only one thing, he sees himself, so he so easily criticizes the “face” and even shares his observations with the bear that was near. The monkey tells him that if he had such a face, with some kind of “snuggles”, “antics”, he would “hang himself out of boredom.” At the same time, she tells the bear that she has such gossips. To which the clubfoot advised her not to count other monkeys, but to look at herself. But since the bear did not directly tell the monkey that it was his reflection in the mirror, the advice went unnoticed.

Krylov Mirror and the monkey main idea

The moral of Krylov’s fable is: “No one likes to recognize himself in satire.” Krylov in the fable The Mirror and the Monkey was able to show us the ignorance of people, people who tend to see the shortcomings of others, but they do not notice their own, they do not notice that they act in exactly the same way, or even worse. Probably, in Krylov’s fable “The Mirror and the Monkey” this is the main idea.

Listen to Krylov's fable

The Monkey, seeing himself in the mirror, told the Bear that there was some kind of face in the mirror. She really doesn’t like her, she knows about five or six of these monkeys, and she would hang herself with boredom if she looked like her! The bear replied that before considering a gossip, you need to look at yourself first. But Monkey did not listen to his advice. The author says that there are many such people around, for example, the bribe-taker Klimych, although he himself is not clean, but blames Peter for this.

Read the fable The Mirror and the Monkey online

Monkey, seeing his image in the Mirror,
Quietly push Bear with his foot:
“Look,” he says, “my dear godfather!
What kind of face is that there?
What antics and jumps she has!
I would hang myself from boredom
If only she was even a little like her.
But, admit it, there is
Of my gossips, there are five or six such crooks:
I can even count them on my fingers.” —
“Why should a gossip consider working,
Isn’t it better to turn on yourself, godfather?” —
Mishka answered her.
But Mishenka’s advice was wasted.

There are many such examples in the world:
No one likes to recognize themselves in satire.
I even saw this yesterday:
Everyone knows that Klimych is dishonest;
They read about bribes to Klimych.
And he furtively nods at Peter.

(Illustration by Irina Petelina)

Moral of the story: The Mirror and the Monkey

People easily notice flaws in others, but have difficulty recognizing their own negative traits.
The author encourages all those who are accustomed to judging the actions of others to look at themselves from the outside. Moreover, with the help of this fable, Krylov is trying to force a specific bribe-taker to do this, for which purpose he inserts his name into the text.

Monkey, seeing his image in the Mirror,
Quietly push Bear with his foot:
“Look,” he says, “my dear godfather!
What kind of face is that there?
What antics and jumps she has!
I would hang myself from boredom
If only she was even a little like her.
But, admit it, there is
Of my gossips, there are five or six such crooks:
I can even count them on my fingers." -
"Why should gossips consider working,
Isn’t it better to turn on yourself, godfather?” -
Mishka answered her.
But Mishenka’s advice was wasted.

Moral of the fable "The Mirror and the Monkey"

The moral of the fable about the monkey, who condemned his own reflection, seen in the mirror, but did not recognize himself, is contained in the lines of creation that “No one likes to recognize himself in satire.”

Indeed, many of us very clearly distinguish other people's shortcomings, and can talk about what is “good” and what is “bad”, about right or wrong actions when it comes to other people.

But few of us are able to admit our own shortcomings and mistakes.

With this fable, Ivan Krylov teaches us, before condemning the bad habits or incorrect behavior of another person, first analyze our own behavior and correct the mistakes we have made.

Many of us remember lines from rhyming stories about various animals from childhood. The author of these works, Ivan Andreevich Krylov, is a famous Russian fabulist, the fame of whose poems has long gone beyond the borders of his homeland. It's no secret that by ridiculing the actions of animals, this author revealed various things for which he was more than once condemned by critics, and the fable “The Mirror and the Monkey” is just such a work. Let's take a closer look at this fascinating story and try to understand its meaning.

The fable “The Mirror and the Monkey” has a fascinating plot, the action of which begins with the fact that the monkey accidentally notices himself in the mirror and fixes his gaze on it. The poem very accurately describes all the emotions that she experiences at the same time: contempt and disgust, because the monkey has no idea that she herself is looking at her. Along the way, pushing the bear sitting next to her, the main character of the plot begins to share with him her thoughts about the person who is looking at her from the reflection, calling her a pretentious one and comparing her with her gossip friends, to which the bear did not explain to the monkey that her own face is looking at her from the other side, but only hinted at this fact, which remained completely misunderstood by the monkey.

“The Mirror and the Monkey” - Krylov’s fable, ridiculing vile people

The comparison between man and monkey is given in this work for a reason. The example of such an animal shows the behavior of vile people who notice the shortcomings of others, but do not want to see their own flaws. The main moral of the fable “The Mirror and the Monkey” is concentrated in the last lines of the work, and it is there that the exact analogy of the monkey with the man is drawn. Krylov even indicated his name. This poem probably made those people who like to collect gossip worry, because they were literally compared to an ordinary monkey, and only a child could miss such an allegory.

The difficult meaning of poems, which is not studied by schoolchildren

The most interesting thing is that in revealing the morality, the author indicated a direct situation - bribery, which became widespread precisely from the time of Krylov’s life. The fable “The Mirror and the Monkey” was written by Ivan Andreevich, as they say, on the topic of the day, so it began to be actively discussed by the residents of Russia immediately after its publication.

Today, the rhymed stories of this author are studied by schoolchildren from grades 3-5, however, their hidden meaning is not accessible to every student. That is why teachers prefer to focus their attention on a simpler interpretation of the semantic load, rather than go deeper. Ivan Krylov amazingly combined in his fables an instructive meaning for children and deep morality, which for the most part was oriented towards the holders of power: unclean officials and illiterate managers, among whom the author constantly moved. The fable “The Mirror and the Monkey” became a kind of slap in the face to some of them.

Each of us has our shortcomings. This cannot be avoided - there are no ideal people. But it’s one thing to have and admit these shortcomings, and quite another thing to deny and blame someone else for them, as we all do most often, as well as the monkey from the fable “The Mirror and the Monkey.”

Fable "The Mirror and the Monkey"

Monkey, seeing his image in the Mirror,
Quietly push Bear with his foot:
“Look,” he says, “my dear godfather!
What kind of face is that there?
What antics and jumps she has!
I would hang myself from boredom
If only she was even a little like her.
But, admit it, there is
Of my gossips, there are five or six such crooks:
I can even count them on my fingers.” –
“Why should gossips consider working,
Isn’t it better to turn on yourself, godfather?” –
Mishka answered her.
But Mishenka’s advice was wasted.

Moral of Krylov's fable “The Mirror and the Monkey”

According to the classics of the genre, Ivan Andreevich concluded the moral of the fable “The Mirror and the Monkey” in one of the last lines of his work - in a phrase that does not require explanation and has become a quotation since the publication of the instructive poem: “No one likes to recognize himself in satire.” But in order not to do this, it is enough to simply be able to admit your mistakes and shortcomings.

Analysis of the fable “The Mirror and the Monkey”

The fable “The Mirror and the Monkey” is based on Krylov’s “favorite” human vice - ignorance. It is ridiculed in literally every line of the work: where the monkey, having found a mirror, did not recognize itself in it, and where it is described with what disgust it looked at the unfamiliar reflection, and where the stupid animal compares the “creep” with its friends , and, of course, where the monkey ignores the bear’s advice and hint to look at himself.

The author encourages all those who are accustomed to judging the actions of others to look at themselves from the outside. Moreover, with the help of this fable, Krylov is trying to force a specific bribe-taker to do this, for which purpose he inserts his name into the text.

Winged expressions from the fable “The Mirror and the Monkey”

“Why should godmothers work hard? Isn’t it better to work for yourself, godfather?” - used in the fable “The Mirror and the Monkey” as a reproach to those who look for flaws in others instead of looking at themselves objectively, with the proper degree of criticism.