The reading program for elementary school provides that children in the 4th grade get acquainted with the work of Leo Tolstoy, reflect on the human actions of the heroes of the fable “Two Comrades” and look for the answer to the question of what is the main idea of the fable “How did a man remove a stone”. These works are small in volume, but deep in content, they teach children to think about how to do the right thing.
The moral of this fable is this
Why are fables studied? What it is? Explanatory Dictionary S.I. Ozhegova defines the fable as "a brief allegorical moralizing story." Getting acquainted with this genre, children learn to understand its features, the main of which is the presence of morality. What is it and what is meant by this word?
The fable not only ridicules shortcomings and vices, but also makes some kind of instructive conclusion about how to (or should not) be done. A story about some rules of behavior or communication, copyright instructions constitute morality. For example, children of grade 4, in search of morality, must answer the question of what is the essence of L. Tolstoy’s fable “How a man removed a stone” or “Two comrades”.
Features of the fable genre
The fable can be recognized not only by the presence of morality, it also has other distinctive features. This is always a short story, which is an interesting interesting story. The author manages to present in an easy short form a deep instructive narrative. For example, the events themselves and the main idea of Tolstoy's fable “How a man removed a stone” are expressed in only eight sentences. The small volume makes the work accessible to children; they read, analyze and retell it. Tolstoy uses the genre form of a fable to express his thoughts; morality is expressed not by concrete teachings, but allegorically. The conclusion should be made by the reader for himself.
Fables have few descriptions and many dialogs. This is how the “vitality” of the situation is achieved. The main idea of the fable “How a man removed a stone” lies in three statements by different people on the same issue. Each of the characters gave the answer that he considered necessary, and the conclusion was prompted to the reader by the author in the last sentence.
In a fable there are usually several heroes, each of which carries some kind of semantic load. In one of the fables studied by fourth-graders, these are two comrades, in the other - two learned engineers and one simple peasant. The behavior or utterance of one of the heroes usually expresses the main idea. Tolstoy’s fables “How a Man Took a Stone” and “Two Comrades” are a vivid example of this.
The main idea of one of the fables was expressed by a comrade thrown into trouble against his “friend”, who at a difficult moment preferred to flee, leaving his partner in danger. The main idea of the fable “How a man removed a stone” was expressed by the author, but the bearer of the original idea of getting rid of a stone is a simple man who, incidentally, embodies this idea, for which he receives a well-deserved reward.
The difference between the fables of Krylov and Tolstoy
In his works, Ivan Andreevich Krylov more often makes heroes of animals, fish, birds, ridiculing human vices through their behavior. Of course, there are human characters in his fables. Leo Tolstoy sets forth his teachings through the mouths of people; his fables are like small stories, cases taken from life.
For his fables, Ivan Andreevich Krylov chose a poetic form, with Leo Tolstoy the main idea of the fable “How a man removed a stone” and the fable “Two Comrades” are expressed in prose. Krylov’s fables present comic situations to our attention; humorous characters fall into ridiculous situations because of their shortcomings.
Leo Tolstoy, without departing from the natural tone of the narrator of the everyday situation, creates for the readers a terrible picture of a comrade left to be eaten by a bear or a city street, in the middle of which there is a stone that only a savvy man can remove.
Do you need fables today?
Fables were written by Leo Tolstoy a long time ago, many years ago. Do they need modern people today who use cranes, navigators, computers and mobile phones? Does their main idea teach something? Fables “How a man removed a stone” and “Two comrades” make you think and be smart, be kind and value friendship, and don't leave your comrade in trouble. And in our century there are many human vices, therefore instructive stories - fables - are more relevant than ever, a person needs them for self-development in order to become better, to get rid of bad qualities. A fable is an opportunity to see yourself from the outside and to work on your shortcomings.
Everything ingenious is simple
Tolstoy's fables are like folk tales, they are close to folk wisdom expressed in short sayings, proverbs. You can pick up sayings in Russian folklore explaining what the main idea of the fable “How a man removed a stone” lies. For example, "Wherever an ax takes, there will take a savvy."
Leo Tolstoy, with the help of a short story, conveys to the reader the idea that in any business you need to be smart, then the most difficult task will become easily feasible.
Reading Lev Tolstoy’s fable “How a man removed a stone,” a person understands that in any business, several solutions must be considered. These methods can be costly and unsafe. For example, one of the engineers proposed a rational scientific method: to explode a stone, and yet city buildings could be damaged.
A simple man turned out to be smarter than learned engineers, suggesting a simple way - to dig a hole in the square. Contrasting folk wit and everyday experience with rational-scientific methods, Tolstoy shows that sometimes you should not complicate the task too much and you should pay attention to the search for the shortest and easiest way to solve the problem.