Legend of the Mother I. Pankin. Content and main idea

The willingness of the mother to sacrifice everything that she has, for the sake of children's happiness, is written in literature a lot. One of the best works on this subject can rightfully be called a short story "The Legend of Mothers" by the children's writer of the second half of the 20th century, Ivan Pankin. For half a century it is a model of disinterested motherly love and selflessness, on which not one generation was brought up. And published in 1965, a collection of the same name immediately fell in love with small readers.

Briefly about the author

It can be said that the story to some extent was the result of personal experiences of I. Pankin.

He was born in 1921 in a peasant family, in early childhood he became an orphan. His path to a dream - to become a sailor - was not easy, but in the years of the Second World War he already fought in the Marine Corps. Then there was another desire - to write. Already in adulthood, Ivan Fedorovich graduated from the Literary Institute, and literary creativity became his main activity. Many works by I. Pankin ("The Legend of Mothers" among them) dedicated to children. They teach goodness and justice, they instill a sense of respect and compassion for others, touch upon problems that will always belong to the category of the eternal.

Genre peculiarity

"The Legend of Mothers" ... Pankin himself defined the genre of his work, putting his name in the title. Traditionally, the basis of the legend, folk or author's, is a story about some heroic or historical event that took place in reality, but set out in a fairy-tale form. Indeed, Ivan Fedorovich's real (in this case, the desire of young men to become sailors, as well as self-sacrifice and unselfishness of their mothers) is combined with fantastic elements. First, along with ordinary people, the heroes are Neptune and his daughters. And the strength, beauty and vigilance of mothers are transmitted in an unusual way to their sons and save them from the wrath of the sea lord.

Form of narration

The work is addressed to children. This largely explains the form in which "The Legend of Mothers" is written. The text begins and ends with direct appeals: "my dear boy," "my friend." They are repeated more than once in the course of the narrative, which brings the author closer to the reader, helps to establish trust between them. This is also facilitated by the question-answer form of small arguments containing a commentary on the story. The narrative is animated by the abundance of dialogues and colloquial vocabulary. To summarize, it can be noted that the work is more like an ordinary fairy tale, which is told to a child before going to bed.

I. Pankin "The Legend of Mothers": a string

The author's question "... do you know where the seamen came from?" Immediately attracts the attention of small readers to the plot.

Young men of one of the tribes, who lived in the Black Sea for a long time, each year, during the celebration of the end of field work, they threw arrows of happiness. So they determined their future destiny. For a long time no one dared to shoot an arrow in the direction of the sea, which greatly pleased Neptune, who constantly watched the games. He laughed and proudly said that everyone was afraid of him and he would never find a daredevil who dared to seek happiness in the sea.

But one day the young men, all to one, shot toward the sea. This caused the fury of the terrible lord. He roared and threatened to bury all in the deep sea.

The legend of the mother and her selfless love for children

The pride of this tribe has always been women - "strong, beautiful, never aging." Hearing the threats of Neptune, mothers thought about how to help their sons survive in the sea. Their decision - to give their strength to the children - was a way out of the situation, but in a flash made women weak. The young men resisted the mighty wave and did not give up their desire to devote themselves to the sea.

But on this the legend of the mother and her sacrifice does not end. Enraged Neptune threatened women that would tear their sons' veins when they go to sea. Having learned about this daughter of the lord, as ugly as the father, they themselves turned to mothers. They promised to get the Manila grass from the bottom, which would help the young men to acquire the same strength in their hands as Neptune had. In return, they asked women for their beauty. Truly inexhaustible love of children - this is the thought of the legend of the mother. Each of the women, without hesitation, agreed to give her beauty. Only Neptune learned about everything and brutally punished his daughters. He turned them into gulls, now they moan over the water, attracting the attention of sailors.

Soon the young people set out on their journey. They waited a long time for their mother to return home, until they learned from Neptune that the children were wandering in the sea. Then the women gave their eyes light to their distant stars, and they lit the ship the way to their native shore. So all attempts of the sea king to stop the young men proved unsuccessful, and the sailors have since turned into strong and invincible men. After all, mothers gave them all the best that they had. This is the story of the mother and her boundless love for children.

The idea of the work

The act of women is indeed worthy of being called heroic. They gave their health for the sake of saving the lives of their beloved children. Because that's how he called his story - "The Legend of Mothers" - Ivan Pankin. Always loving, protecting from life's troubles, ready for any donations for the sake of the happiness and well-being of her child is the mother.

As a rule, in return, it does not require anything from children. However, I. Pankin repeatedly calls on young readers to be attentive to the women living next to them. This is the only way to thank them for the great feat of life they do every day. After all, if they are weak, then their power now belongs to children. Do not differ in beauty - it means they sacrificed it for the sake of sons and daughters.