The plot of many works is eternal. They were relevant in ancient times, and have not lost their relevance now. These include "The Wolf and the Lamb". The ancient Greek fabulist Aesop first spoke about them. The lamb, suffering from thirst, went to the stream on a hot summer day and began to drink the cold water. The wolf decided to eat him. Wanting to justify his action, he brought the accusation that the lamb is why the predator now cannot get drunk. The lamb replied that this could not be, because he barely touched the water with his lips, and was located further downstream. Then the Wolf said that

last year he insulted his father. And here the baby found arguments, because then he had not yet been born and even if he wanted to, he could not do it. The Wolf noticed that the Lamb knows a lot about excuses, but he will still be eaten. If someone decides to commit an evil deed, then nothing will stop him. This is the moral. Then Lafontaine, Sumarokov, and Derzhavin created fables based on the same plot. At the beginning of the 19th century, Krylov wrote a fable of the same name.

Moral of the fable "The Wolf and the Lamb"

The work has two main characters, whose images are important and unthinkable without each other. The fabulist immediately begins with morality, loudly declaring that when the strong and the powerless collide, the latter will be the one to blame in any case. He further assures the reader that there are many historical examples confirming this conclusion, and cites the already well-known episode of the meeting of the Wolf and the Lamb at the stream.

The moral of the work, however, is that the predator was already hungry and immediately had the intention of eating someone. The kid was unlucky that he was the one who got in his way. If there had been a bunny or a duckling in his place, they would have suffered. The moral of the fable "The Wolf and the Lamb" is about the hopelessness of the weak. However, the Wolf wants to justify his action and says that the Lamb himself is to blame, since he prevented him from drinking clean water. In refined terms, the Lamb replies that this cannot be, since he is 100 meters downstream. The wolf is clearly not satisfied with this reasonable and polite answer. He begins to shout that last year the Lamb was rude to him in the same place. Therefore, the Wolf could not forgive such an insult all year, and now he can take revenge on him. Having learned that this could not have happened, since the Lamb had not yet been born last year, he replies that it was one of his relatives or acquaintances. The lamb reasonably asks, what does he have to do with it, exactly? The wolf exclaims that he is guilty of the fact that the wolf wants to eat. Then he stops talking to his victim and drags him into the dark forest.

"Wolf and Lamb". Analysis

There is an opinion that this fable shows the lack of rights of the common man before those in power. It becomes clear that the one who is stronger wins, and not the one on whose side justice is. The wolf behaves rudely, realizing his complete impunity. After all, often those who have more power and authority do not even have to explain anything and look for excuses for themselves. Krylov understands how difficult it is to stop those whose side has an advantageous position. This is the moral of the fable "The Wolf and the Lamb."

The powerful are always to blame for the powerless:
We hear countless examples of this in history.
But we don't write history,
But what they say in fables...

On a hot day, a lamb went to a stream to drink:
And something must happen,
That a hungry Wolf was prowling around those places.
He sees a lamb and strives for the prey;
But, to give the matter at least a legal look and feel,
Shouts: “How dare you, insolent, with an unclean snout
Here is the pure muddying of my drink
With sand and silt?
For such insolence
I'll rip your head off." —
“When the brightest Wolf allows,
I dare say that down the stream
From the Lordship of his steps I drink a hundred;
And he deigns to be angry in vain:
There’s no way I can make him drink worse.” —
“That's why I'm lying!
Waste! Never heard of such insolence in the world!
Yes, I remember that you were still last summer
Somehow he was rude to me here;
I haven’t forgotten this, buddy!” —
“For mercy, I’m not even a year old yet.” —
The lamb speaks. - “So it was your brother.” —
"I have no brothers." - “So this is godfather or matchmaker.
And, in a word, someone from your own family.
You yourself, your dogs and your shepherds,
You all want me harm
And if you can, then you always harm me;
But I will clear out their sins with you.” —
“Oh, what’s my fault?” - “Be quiet! I'm tired of listening.
It’s time for me to sort through your faults, puppy!
It’s your fault that I want to eat.”
He said and dragged the Lamb into the dark forest.

Fable The Wolf and the Lamb listen online:

Krylov's fable The Wolf and the Lamb in mp3 format - listen or download for free.

The powerful are always to blame for the powerless:
We hear countless examples of this in History,
But we don’t write History;
But this is how they talk about it in Fables.

On a hot day, a lamb went to a stream to drink;
And something must happen,
That a hungry Wolf was prowling around those places.
He sees a lamb and strives for the prey;
But, to give the matter at least a legal look and feel,
Shouts: “How dare you, insolent, with an unclean snout
Here's a clean drink
My
With sand and silt?
For such insolence
I'll rip your head off." —
“When the brightest Wolf allows,
I dare say that down the stream
From the Lordship of his steps I drink a hundred;
And he deigns to be angry in vain:
There’s no way I can make him drink worse.” —
“That's why I'm lying!
Waste! Such insolence has never been heard of in the world!
Yes, I remember that you were still last summer
Here he was somehow rude to me:
I haven’t forgotten this, buddy!” —
“For mercy, I’m not even a year old yet,”
The lamb speaks. "So it was your brother." —
"I have no brothers." - “So this is godfather or matchmaker
And, in a word, someone from your own family.
You yourself, your dogs and your shepherds,
You all want me harm
And if you can, then you always harm me,
But I will clear out their sins with you.” —
“Oh, what’s my fault?” - “Be quiet! I'm tired of listening
It’s time for me to sort through your faults, puppy!
It’s your fault that I want to eat.” —
He said and dragged the Lamb into the dark forest.

Analysis / moral of the fable “The Wolf and the Lamb” by Krylov

The work “The Wolf and the Lamb” by Ivan Andreevich Krylov refers to a translated fable, whose plot was borrowed from La Fontaine.

The fable was written around 1808. Its author was 39 years old at this time, he is known as a playwright, and serves in the Coinage Department. The meter is free iambic with inclusive and adjacent rhymes. The fable relates to both social and everyday, and philosophical and moral ones. The moral precedes the story itself: for the powerful, the powerless are always to blame. “History” is another, albeit silent, character here, just like the Fable. The Wolf and the Lamb are heroes straight out of folk tales. Here they are quite consistent with the features that traditionally endow them with in the popular consciousness. The Wolf is angry, the Lamb is meek. In the heat, the lamb came “to the stream to drink.” The wolf, seeing him, “seeks prey” (here the emphasis is placed according to the rules of the old spelling). “Give the matter a legal appearance”: prosaism. Recognizable judicial terminology. The irony is that the Wolf organizes a whole trial over the victim, as sometimes happens in human society. He pathetically shouts at the frightened sheep: insolent! And even from afar he sees that the Lamb drinks with an “unclean snout.” Effective breakdown of words and inversion in a line: pure muddying of the drink. "I'll rip your head off." However! It seems that the Wolf was in earnest. The victim does not seem to notice that the villain is laying claim to the stream, although it does not belong to him. There is no lawyer, and the well-mannered Lamb defends himself. His speech contrasts with the rudeness of the accuser. He calls him “blessed,” “lordship,” as a noble beast, endowed with power and influence. The Lamb rightly notes that he is one hundred steps away (a numeral to enhance plausibility) from the angry Wolf, which means he cannot stir up the water next to him. However, the Wolf has already jumped on his horse: worthless! (another undeserved epithet). “Last summer” the Lamb, it turns out, was discourteous to the Wolf. The victim objects that she is not even a year old. Consistently rejects lies about a non-existent brother, sister and other relatives. Finally, he has to answer for the shepherds and their dogs. “You all want to harm me”: The wolf takes on the role of avenger for sins before the entire wolf community. To this the Lamb babbles a little: oh, what is my fault? (interjection). Calling the sheep a puppy, the Wolf drags it “into the dark forest.” He readily names the main fault: I want to eat. It’s the same with people: hiding behind the rules of the law, sometimes they persecute the innocent, the poor, the orphan.

For the first time, I. Krylov published “The Wolf and the Lamb” on the pages of the “Dramatic Bulletin”.

The fable “The Wolf and the Lamb,” written at the beginning of the 19th century, never lost its relevance or poignancy for even a minute, and all because there is no social equality in our society. And while he is not there, the strong, endowed with power, will always have the weak to blame, as in this work.

Fable "The Wolf and the Lamb"

The powerful are always to blame for the powerless:
We hear countless examples of this in history.
But we don't write history,
But what they say in fables...

On a hot day, a lamb went to a stream to drink:
And something must happen,
That a hungry Wolf was prowling around those places.
He sees a lamb and strives for the prey;
But, to give the matter at least a legal look and feel,
Shouts: “How dare you, insolent, with an unclean snout
Here is the pure muddying of my drink
With sand and silt?
For such insolence
I'll rip your head off." –
“When the brightest Wolf allows,
I dare say that down the stream
From the Lordship of his steps I drink a hundred;
And he deigns to be angry in vain:
There’s no way I can make him drink worse.” –
“That's why I'm lying!
Waste! Never heard of such insolence in the world!
Yes, I remember that you were still last summer
Somehow he was rude to me here;
I haven’t forgotten this, buddy!” –
“For mercy, I’m not even a year old yet.” –
The lamb speaks. - “So it was your brother.” –
"I have no brothers." - “So this is godfather or matchmaker.
And, in a word, someone from your own family.
You yourself, your dogs and your shepherds,
You all want me harm
And if you can, then you always harm me;
But I will clear out their sins with you.” –
“Oh, what is my fault?” - “Be quiet! I'm tired of listening.
It’s time for me to sort through your faults, puppy!
It’s your fault that I want to eat.”
He said and dragged the Lamb into the dark forest.

Moral of Krylov's fable “The Wolf and the Lamb”

The moral of the instructive fable “The Wolf and the Lamb” is revealed to the reader in its very first line: in clashes between the strong and the powerless, the first always wins, no matter on whose side the truth is.

Analysis of the fable “The Wolf and the Lamb”

The fable “The Wolf and the Lamb” has a structure that is rare for Krylov’s works: firstly, it begins with a moral, and secondly, both heroes present in it are equally important for the narrative and cannot exist in it without the other.

The first of them - the Wolf - is the personification of a strong, powerful person. He perfectly understands the level of his power and impunity, but still tries to first give the matter a “legitimate look and feel,” and when he fails, the predator stops looking for an excuse and names the true reason for his nagging, and then grabs the Lamb by force and takes him away him into the forest for reprisals.

The second hero is the innocent Lamb, who became a victim of circumstances. He, as a people, powerless and powerless, is trying to appeal to justice, and his arguments remain irrefutable. The only pity is that the force acting as it pleases, in the person of the Wolf, does not want to reckon with this justice, since its personal interest is completely different.

The same thing happens in our lives: it doesn’t matter who is right, who is wrong, on whose side the power is – the winner is. And this is the main vice of society.

Winged expressions from the fable “The Wolf and the Lamb”

• “Give the matter... a legitimate look and feel” - this expression in the fable “The Wolf and the Lamb” means an imitation of justice, justice.
• “The strong are always to blame for the powerless” - is used as a mockery of those who, instead of admitting their mistakes, make others extreme - those who cannot defend their rights due to their younger age, lower position, etc.