The main character of the tale - Emelya - absorbed both the negative and positive qualities of an ordinary Russian guy of his time.
Unknown author
Some tales appear on their own, others come up with writers. How did a story called "At the command of a pike" appear? The tale, the author of which is still not known, is a product of folk art. It had several variations and was told differently in different regions.
The Russian ethnographer Afanasyev, following the example of the Brothers Grimm or Charles Perrault, decided to organize a voyage around the country and collect disparate legends into one voluminous work, so to speak, to systematize the public heritage. He slightly changed the name of the story and summarized individual elements that differed depending on the region. Thanks to this, the tale "Emelya and Pike" has gained popularity.
The next who undertook to cut a familiar plot was Alexei Tolstoy. He added literary beauty to the folk epos and restored the work to its old name “By the Pike Command”. The fairy tale, the author of which tried to make it more interesting for children, quickly spread throughout Moscow and St. Petersburg, and local theaters even added a new performance to their repertoire.
Main characters
The main character of this legend is a certain not too quick young guy Emelya. It contains those negative qualities that prevent him from leading a good life:
laziness;
self-interest;
frivolity;
indifference.
Nevertheless, when he shows his mind and kindness, he comes across real luck - a pike from an ice hole.
The second character, literally the antipode of Emely, is a pike. She is smart and fair. Fish is designed to help the young man in his personal formation, to direct his thoughts in the right direction. As expected in such situations, Emelya and pike became friends.
The third hero appears as a villain. The tsar is a busy man, leading a multi-million state, which Emelya forces with his antics to descend to a commoner. The tale "About Emelya and the pike" endowed him with an envious character.
The Tsar’s daughter is a prize for the protagonist for taking the path of correction.
History
The tale "Emelya and Pike" begins with an introduction to the main character. He is so thoughtless and extremely lazy that everything entrusted to him has to be redone by other people.
The daughter-in-law of Emely was questioned by him for much persuasion. Nevertheless, as soon as someone promises him a reward for what he does, he will immediately begin to work with double power.
And suddenly one day Emelya takes out a magic pike from an ice-hole. She offers him his service in exchange for life. The guy immediately agrees.
Magical help
After the pike becomes his magical subordinate, Emele lives even better than before. Now he does not even have to carry out very simple tasks.
Magical forces chop wood, walk on water and even beat his enemies. Emelya is very pleased with what is happening. He was so lazy that he didn’t want to get up from the oven either. Pike helps him in this, turning the furnace into the first prototype of a mechanical vehicle.
During such walks riding on it, Emelya can crush several peasants who will fall along the road. He justifies himself by the fact that people themselves jumped under his stove.
It seems that in the deed he does not repent a bit. The tale "About Emelya and Pike" contains hidden morality.
King and Emelya
Hearing about an unprecedented miracle, a self-propelled stove, and even about the abrupt temper of its owner, the king decides to call Emelya to him.
Reluctantly, the "hero" is to look at the mansions of the lords. But this trip changes the guy’s whole life.
In the royal palace, he meets the royal. At first, it also seems quite wayward and enthralled. But Emelya decides that it is time for him to settle down, and wants to call her to his wife.
The gentleman's daughter does not agree at first. The monarch himself opposes such an alliance, hoping that his daughter will only marry a noble man or a foreign king.
Emelya asks the pike to enchant the naughty queen. As a result, the young man achieves his. The girl gives consent. They are getting married.
The angry king locks the couple in love forever in a barrel and throws them into the sea. Emelya asks the pike to save them. She makes the barrel arrive to the shore, they get out of it.
The guy asks the pike to build himself a huge palace, and to turn himself into a handsome man. Magic fish fulfills a desire.
Happy newlyweds live happily ever after until the angry king is declared to them. His palace is much smaller than that of Emelya. The protagonist graciously forgives the emperor the whole past. He invites him to dine with them. During the banquet, Emelya confesses to him who he really is. The king remains amazed at the dexterity and intelligence of the young man. Now he understands that it was such a guy who should have married his daughter.
"At the pike's command" - a fairy tale kind and instructive. Its end leaves no concrete guide to action. On the contrary, everyone should think for himself and decide for himself what is right in life and what is not worth doing.
“At the Pike's Command” (Russian Tale): Analysis
This story is somewhat reminiscent of the dream of the Slavic peoples with the help of magical powers to get everything desired, without much straining.
At the same time, Emel was only able to catch the pike on his own, when he nevertheless began to do at least something in good faith.
The finished idler in front of readers evolves into a hardworking, decent person. Having received sufficient motivation in the form of love for the princess, he forgets about the desire to remain a bummer, to live only for his pleasure and gets to work.
If the pike does not make a big impression on him, he initially takes it for granted, then the girl’s first refusal arouses feelings in him.
At that moment, when Emelya begins to crush passers-by on the stove, according to many researchers of the tale, the boy shows royal features. After this incident, even the monarch turned his attention to him.
It is possible that our ancestors, who created the fairy tale, saw in the last external transformation of Emelya and internal changes for the better.
When he became more beautiful, he managed to forgive and understand the king, became kinder and more attentive to others. People with visible decals on their faces were usually considered bad or even familiar with evil spirits.
While Emelya looked like an ordinary, not too nice guy, he could not become king. With the acquisition of inner beauty, everything immediately changed.
Traditional Russian tales always ended hopefully. Most likely, the peasants of that time imagined the happiest day that way.
"By pike command"
The catchphrase of the whole tale is "At the command of the pike, according to my desire." This is a kind of spell that causes a magic pike. Speaking these words, Emelya gets everything he wants. "At the command of the pike," that is, just like that. Without putting any effort into it. Despite the fact that the tale is called "Emelya and Pike", it was popularly renamed in honor of these magic words.
If you read the meaning of this phrase, it turns out that nevertheless it is the magic fish that commands, in the fins of which the real power lies.
Pike teaches a guy this secret spell. And as soon as it sounds, magic begins to act, wherever Emelya is. At least on the stove, even under water. In the barrel he is saved by the phrase "at the command of the pike." A fairy tale holds its main thread.
These words immediately became a proverb among the people. They mean an attempt to do something not with their own hands, but for someone else's, most often magical, account.
A fairy tale in pop culture
When the story was first printed in a large print run and could be read by many, it immediately became popular.
The tale "Emelya and Pike" even became the basis for the film of the same name. The children's film was shot in 1938. For directing, the then-famous Alexander Rowe was responsible. Some elements of the script were taken from the play by Elizabeth Tarakhovskaya "Emelya and Pike." The tale in its interpretation was adapted to modern realities, but the moral remained the same.
Director Ivanov-Vano shot a cartoon for the same fiction in 1957. And once again the play Tarakhovskaya was taken in 1970, on a new film adaptation of Vladimir Pekar.
The third cartoon was created by Valery Fomin, already in 1984.
The tale "Emelya and Pike" was immortalized on the marks of the GDR in 1973. Each of the six stamps depicts one of the plots were.
The very mention of Emelya became popular. The protagonist of the legend began to be associated with a lazy person striving to obtain wealth without doing anything at the same time.
"Emelya and Pike" - a fairy tale, the author of which is not known, did not want to perpetuate himself and remain in the memory of his descendants, who did not seek fame, wealth, fame. Nevertheless, his image perfectly demonstrates what a good person should be.