Tale "Bird tongue": a summary

"Bird tongue" is a fairy tale known to every child. A fantastic story about a man who, from a small age, understood the speech of birds, has several versions. Their stories are similar. About what differences exist in the most famous versions of the tale "Bird's tongue", is told in the article.

Afanasyev

For the first time the Russian folk tale "Bird's tongue" was recorded by a collector of folklore of the eighteenth century. This was the name of the literary critic and researcher of spiritual culture Alexander Nikolaevich Afanasyev. The fairy tale in question is folk. But Afanasyev wrote down and gave it a literary form. Therefore, it is customary to assume that it is the famous Russian folklorist and historian who is its author.

"Bird tongue": a summary

In one Russian merchant family lived a boy who was capable and intelligent beyond his years. His name was Basil. In the merchant's house, as it should be, a nightingale lived in a gilded cage. The bird sang gaily from morning to evening. The owner of the house once suddenly thought about what the nightingale broadcasts. On this day, the parents discovered Vasily's rare gift: the boy understood the bird's tongue. What was the nightingale singing about?

Prediction

However, when Vasya translated the meaning of the nightingale song into a human language, the parents were much upset. A six-year-old boy with tears in his eyes declared to the merchant and his wife that in many years they would serve him. The nightingale allegedly predicted that Father Vasily would have water to carry water, and his mother to serve a towel. Vasili's parents were visited by fear and despair when they heard a bird's prophecy. And in order not to go into the service of his own son, on the deep night they transferred the child to a boat and sent to free swimming.

Meeting with the ship-owner

The nightingale followed the boy. Fortunately, towards the boat, in which Vasya and his faithful feathered friend were sailing, a ship flew on all sails. The captain of this ship took pity on the boy, took him aboard and decided to raise him as his own son.

Nightingale and the sea did not stop. The bird sang to Vasily that a terrible storm would soon take place, the mast and sails would be torn, and that's why the shipman should be turned into a stanovishche. Vasily reported on the nightingale prediction. However, the new father, unlike the previous one, did not believe that the boy understands the bird language. The boatman did not listen to Vasily, which almost cost him his life. The next day a terrible storm really began. The mast was broken, the sails were torn.

When a few days later the adoptive son told that twelve robber ships were coming toward him, his father did not hesitate, but turned to the island. Prediction and this time came true. The robber ships soon sailed past.

In Khvalynsk

The shipkeeper waited a while and started off again. For a long time they roamed the seas. Once arrived in the city called Khvalynsk. Basil by that time grew up, matured.

At the local king for twelve years under the windows shouted crows. Nobody could protect the tsar's people from loud bird shouts with any means. The crows did not give rest day or night.

In Khvalynsk, the ability to recognize the bird's tongue was useful to Vasily again. He went to the king and offered help. He promised in place of half the kingdom and one of his daughters as a wife. If Vasily does not manage to rid the royal family of crow's presence, do not take his head off him. The hero of the tale coped with the task and received the reward due to him.

The fact is that the crow and the raven all these years argued about who owns the chick. The king only had to answer, whose son is a twelve-year-old. Which was done. The king did not hear crow's cries anymore. Equally, like his big family. And the son-in-law of the king was a man extraordinarily gifted, able to understand the language of a nightingale, a crow and other birds.

King

"Bird tongue" is a fairy tale, and therefore the end in it is happy. Vasili began to reign. In his spare time from his royal affairs traveled a lot. Once he arrived in an unfamiliar city, where he was hospitably received by a merchant with a merchant. The next morning the owner and his wife gave the king and water, and a towel. Needless to say, that these people were the parents of a connoisseur of bird speech?

Vasily did not begin to remember the betrayal that was once committed by the father and mother. The heroes of this story, in accordance with the laws of the fairy-tale genre, began to live, live, and make good.

Other versions

The fairy tale has several interpretations. According to the version of Khudyakov, the gift of the hero was strengthened as the snakes were eaten. In the tales of other peoples of the world, similar motives are also encountered. A character who can understand the speech of birds and animals is present, for example, in Zlatovlask. The plot, reminiscent of Afanasyev's tale, is present in legends and legends of the Crimean Tatars. And the motive of the predicted fate takes its roots from the ancient Greek mythology. Suffice it to recall the legend of Paris.