Literary relatives of “Crocodile” by Korney Chukovsky. Literary relatives of “Crocodile” by Korney Chukovsky A large crocodile walked along the streets

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Literary relatives of “Crocodile” by Korney Chukovsky

In the fairy-tale world of Korney Chukovsky, the crocodile is everywhere - both in Africa and in Petrograd. Why this image is so often found in Chukovsky’s works and what “crocodile-containing” works the poet was inspired by - Kultura.RF examines.

Vladimir Suteev. Illustration for the fairy tale “Crocodile” by Korney Chukovsky (“The Old, Old Fairy Tale”)

He walked the streets, spoke Turkish

The first Crocodile brought Chukovsky all-Union fame. The poem for children “Crocodile,” which was later published with the subtitle “An Old, Old Tale,” was written in 1915 and, according to contemporaries, revolutionized the idea of children’s poetry. “Chukovsky’s fairy tale completely abolished the previous weak and motionless fairy tale of icicle candies, cotton wool, flowers on weak legs. Children's poetry has opened up. A way has been found for further development "- wrote literary critic Yuri Tynyanov.

“I wrote twelve books and no one paid any attention to them. But as soon as I once jokingly wrote “Crocodile”, I became famous writer. I'm afraid that the whole of Russia knows "Crocodile" by heart. I'm afraid that when I die, my monument will bear the inscription “Author of Crocodile.”
Korney Chukovsky

Chukovsky said that he composed the fairy tale almost by accident. The writer was traveling on a train with his 11-year-old son Nikolai, who suddenly developed a fever. Trying to entertain a sick child, Chukovsky began to recite at random, like a shaman:

Once upon a time there was a crocodile...
He walked along Nevsky...

This is how the first part of the fairy tale appeared. “My only concern was to distract the child’s attention from the attacks of illness that tormented him. Therefore, I was in a terrible hurry: there was no time to think, select epithets, look for rhymes, it was impossible to stop for a moment. The whole emphasis was on speed, on the fastest alternation of events and images, so that the sick boy did not have time to moan or cry. That's why I chattered like a shaman.", the author recalled.

Korney Chukovsky. Photo: kartinkinaden.ru

Korney Chukovsky. Photo: ergojournal.ru

Korney Chukovsky. Photo: optim-z.ru

The first edition of "Crocodile" was different from the one we know today. In it, the Crocodile walked along Nevsky Prospect (now the streets) and spoke German, not Turkish. German During the First World War, it was almost officially banned for consumption in Russia. Chukovsky’s contemporaries recalled that in Petrograd one could see posters with the text: “It is forbidden to speak German”. Therefore, later the writer replaced German with the politically neutral Turkish language, which betrayed the exotic foreignness of the Crocodile to the city.

A big crocodile was walking through the streets

While children enthusiastically listened to an amusing fairy tale, literary scholars, critics and even politicians were looking for hidden meanings. And they found - a lot of allusions, echoes and inappropriate parodies.

The predecessors of Chukovsky’s “Crocodile” are considered to be the Crocodile from a popular street song, as well as a character in Nikolai Agnivtsev’s poem “The Crocodile and the Negress”:

Folklore city song
“I walked the streets big crocodile
She, she was green.”

Nikolay Agnivtsev, “The Crocodile and the Negress”

Surprisingly cute
Once upon a time there was a crocodile -
So four arshins, no more!..
And she lived and lived
Very nice too
A black woman named Molly.

Crocodile and Dostoevsky

Chukovsky's children's fairy tale also had older predecessors. Fyodor Dostoevsky dedicated the satirical fairy tale “Crocodile” to the unprecedented incident with the crocodile. An extraordinary event, or a Passage within a Passage.” In this work, an official who found himself in the stomach of a crocodile developed a whole theory that crocodiles were created to swallow people: “For, let’s say, for example, you have been given the opportunity to create a new crocodile - you, naturally, are presented with the question: what is the main property of a crocodile? The answer is clear: swallow people. How can you use a device to reach a crocodile so that it swallows people? The answer is even clearer: by making it empty.”. What was left for Chukovsky’s Crocodile after this? Not only in “The Old, Old Tale,” but also in other works, he effectively swallowed the watchdog, the policeman, the washcloth, Barmaley and even the Sun.

Korney Chukovsky, “Crocodile”
Crocodile grinned
And he swallowed the poor guy,
Swallowed it with boots and a saber.

Fyodor Dostoevsky, “Crocodile. An extraordinary event, or Passage within Passage"
“...Since I am dressed in cloth and have boots on my feet, the crocodile obviously cannot digest me.”

It is known for certain that Chukovsky was familiar with Dostoevsky’s work. The writer himself recalled that he once extremely annoyed Ilya Repin by reading this fairy tale. The progressive public did not like Dostoevsky’s “Crocodile” very much, because they saw in it an evil satire on Nikolai Chernyshevsky, a “martyr of the regime” exiled to Siberia.

Crocodile and "Mtsyri"

Fedor Konstantinov. Mtsyri's head. Illustration for the poem "Mtsyri". 1956

Pyotr Konchalovsky. Storm. Illustration for the poem "Mtsyri". 1920s

Mikhail Vrubel. Demon. Illustration for the poem "Mtsyri". 1890

Chukovsky himself pointed out that Lermontov’s poem “Mtsyri” was a parody in “Crocodile”. The rhythms and motifs of “Mtsyri” are recognized when the Crocodile tells his relatives about the sad fate of animals in city zoos. There are many similar fragments in the poems.

Korney Chukovsky, “Crocodile”
Oh, this garden, a terrible garden!
I would be glad to forget him.
There under the scourge of the watchmen
Many animals suffer...
Find out, dear friends,
My soul is shaken,
I saw so much grief there
That even you, Hippopotamus,
And then I would howl like a puppy,
We are every day and every hour
They called you from our prisons
And they waited, they believed that here
Liberation will come.

Mikhail Lermontov, "Mtsyri"
And at the hour of the night, terrible hour,
When the thunderstorm scared you,
When, crowded at the altar,
You were lying prostrate on the ground,
I ran away.
You listen to my confession
I came here, thank you.
Everything is better in front of someone
With words, ease my chest;
A long time ago I thought
Look at the distant fields
Find out if the earth is beautiful
Find out for freedom or prison
We are born into this world.

However, later Chukovsky noticed that this “Lermontov” monologue of the Crocodile is completely devoid of dynamics and eventfulness, and therefore children listen to it with the least interest.

“Poor Little Lily” and Nekrasov

Nikolai Nekrasov was one of Chukovsky's favorite poets and the subject of his literary studies. It is not surprising that Nekrasov’s epic style was reflected in the poems of Chukovsky himself. In particular, dangerous adventure Contemporaries rightly compared the Lyalechki from “Crocodile” to “The Ballad of Two Great Sinners” by Nekrasov.

Korney Chukovsky, “Crocodile”
Snakes, jackals and buffalos
There are hisses and growls everywhere.
Poor, poor Lyalechka!
Run without looking back!
Lyalechka climbs a tree,
She pressed the doll to her chest.
Poor, poor Lyalechka!
What's that up ahead?
Lyalechka jumped from the tree,
The monster jumped towards her.
Got poor Lyalechka
And she ran away quickly.

Nikolai Nekrasov, “Who Lives Well in Rus'”
There were twelve thieves
There was Kudeyar - ataman,
The robbers shed a lot
The blood of honest Christians,
The hermit measured the monster:
Oak - three girths all around!
I went to work with prayer,
Cuts with a damask knife
Just now pan bloody
I fell my head on the saddle,
A huge tree collapsed,
The echo shook the whole forest.

The continuity was so clear that even Nadezhda Krupskaya noticed it. This comparison turned out to be fatal for “Crocodile”: the authorities considered it inappropriate to parody the revolutionary poet, and the fairy tale was not published for a long time.

And the furious bastard - away from Petrograd

Vladimir Kanivets. Illustration for the fairy tale “The Cockroach”.

Vladimir Suteev. Illustration for the fairy tale “Moidodyr”.

A still from the film "The Tsokotukha Fly". 1963

Just as Crocodile was persecuted and insulted in Petrograd, so the poem about him turned out to be unpopular in the Soviet Union. At first, Krupskaya branded “Crocodile” “bourgeois nonsense.” Chukovsky was presented with a number of fantastic accusations: the Crocodile turned out to be a bourgeois and a monarchist, and the poem itself was a parody of Nekrasov. Later, the tradition of looking for malicious intentions in children's fairy tales was picked up by other “guardians of pedagogical order.” "Crocodile" and "Cockroach", according to critics, disoriented children because they gave incorrect information about the life of animals; “Moidodyr” allegedly developed superstitions and fears; and “The Clapping Fly” was declared a bourgeois fairy tale.

“They treated “Crocodile” even more simply: they announced publicly (in newspapers and at crowded meetings) that I portrayed him in this fairy tale - what do you think? - rebellion of General Kornilov. The fact that “Crocodile” was written a year before the rebellion took place did not cancel this implausible legend.”, - recalled Korney Ivanovich in the book “From Two to Five.” He also said that they stood up for “Crocodile” famous writers and scientists: a letter about the “rehabilitation” of the poem to the State Academic Council was signed by Alexei Tolstoy, Konstantin Fedin, Yuri Tynyanov, Samuil Marshak, Mikhail Zoshchenko and others. Unfortunately, the protest did not affect the fate of the tale: “The Crocodile” was not published from the late 1920s to the mid-1950s. The defenders of the fairy tale were called “Chukovsky’s group,” that is, they were added to the list of unreliable ones.

Suddenly I meet my good, my beloved crocodile

The crocodile became a cross-cutting character in Chukovsky’s work; the poet even called his fairy tales “My Crocodiles.” The crocodile appeared in his other poems at least four more times, and his appearance was always spectacular and dramatically strong. Most often, the Crocodile was the main antagonist (“Stolen Sun”, “Crocodile”), but in an “episodic” role he could also become the savior of the hero (Moidodyr, “Barmaley”).

In “Barmalei” the Crocodile turns out to be the savior of children:

Glad, glad, glad, glad kids,
She danced and played by the fire:
"You us,
You us
Saved me from death
You freed us.
Have a good time
Saw us
oh good one
Crocodile!"

In “Moidodyr” the Crocodile is more respectable than ever - and again swallows something:

Suddenly, my good one comes towards me,
My favorite Crocodile.
He is with Totosha and Kokosha
Walked along the alley
And a washcloth, like a jackdaw,
Like a jackdaw, he swallowed it.

His appearance becomes turning point fairy tales: after meeting him, the dirty guy is immediately rehabilitated. The “re-education” motif is generally characteristic of Chukovsky’s “crocodile” tales.

Only once does the Crocodile appear in Chukovsky’s fairy tales as a chthonic mythological monster, equally far from both city streets and the human image - in the fairy tale “The Stolen Sun”:

And in the Big River
Crocodile
Lying down
And in his teeth
It's not the fire that burns, -
The sun is red
The sun is stolen.

He took Sudachishka off the hook and threw him into the water.
As soon as the pike perch comes down, he doesn’t say “thank you”! Lost with joy
visible.
But only from that very day did fish become noticeable in the rivers and seas
diminish.
And one day all the fish gathered for a council.
“What,” they say, “is the reason?” Then we are neither beast, nor bird, nor man
touched, but now they are dragging you not to court! Confess who taught them!
Sudachishka had to repent.
“So and so,” he says, “I, a fool, spilled the beans!” Do what to me
If you want, it's all my fault!
The fish wanted to put him to death for this, yes, thank you, Flounder -
There is no smarter fish in the world than her - she dissuaded her.
“This,” he says, “still won’t help my grief.” And now we have Sudak
the scientist will remain silent! It’s better, let’s go ahead and let’s all speak out
hold with your teeth so that neither people, nor birds, nor animals are any longer ours
They didn’t learn the fish’s tricks.
So they decided.
Since then, all the fish have taken water into their mouths, neither with people nor with
They don’t talk to animals or birds.
They only talk to each other.
And then - quietly, quietly.

Ma-Tari-Kari

Once upon a time there lived a Crocodile.
No, no, it was not at all the famous Crocodile who

WALKED ON NEVSKY! -

After all, that Crocodile, as you, of course, know, lived and was, but this one just
once upon a time. This big difference!
In addition, this Crocodile walked little (he swam more often), did not smoke any
cigarette (and rightly so, it’s very harmful!) and spoke only
in crocodile style.
In a word, this was a real Crocodile, and he lived in a real
Africa, in big river, and, as befits a real Crocodile, he has everything
it was terrible: a terrible tail and a terrible head, a terrible mouth and a VERY
SCARY TEETH! (Only his legs were short, but the Crocodile thought
that they are TERRIBLY short.)
And the worst thing: he never brushed his VERY SCARY TEETH: neither
before meals, not after meals (his appetite was also HORRIBLE!), not in the morning,
before breakfast, or in the evening, washing before bed... (Wash he, what
true, it’s true, I’ve never forgotten, but when you live in a river, it’s not like that
It’s a big achievement, right?)
And it is not surprising that one fine day (as they say, although for
Crocodile, believe me, this day was not wonderful at all!), it is not surprising that in
One fine day the Crocodile had a toothache.
And how! SCARY!
To tell the truth, only one tooth was sick, but it seemed to the Crocodile that
All my teeth hurt at once. Because the tooth was stinging and aching, and like a gimlet
drilled, and in addition shot!
The crocodile really couldn’t find a place for himself!
He threw himself into the water and dived to the very bottom, hoping that from cool water
he will feel better, and at first he seemed to feel better, but then the tooth
I started to whine twice as much!
He jumped out onto the shore like mad, onto the hot sand, in the hope that
Warmth will help him, and at first it seemed to help him, but then!..
He moaned, he groaned, he whimpered (some believe that all this
helps), but he just got worse and worse and worse!
And the worst thing was that there was no one to feel sorry for him: after all, he was
A SCARY CROCODILE, and his character was also SCARY, and he offended many
in my lifetime, and never, under any circumstances, told anyone
one GOOD WORD!
Animals and birds, however, came running from all sides, but they stood at a distance
and were only surprised to see what the Crocodile was doing. And there was nothing to be surprised about
because the Crocodile spun and rushed and hit its head on the coastal
rocks, and even tried to jump on one leg. But none of this is of any use to him.
didn't help!
And in addition, his legs were so short that he could not
even pick his teeth (although even if he could, it wouldn’t help him much!).
And finally poor Crocodile stretched out in despair under the big, big
banana (it wouldn’t fit under a small one) and roared loudly.
- Oh-oh-oh! - he cried in a deep voice. - My poor teeth! Oh-oh-oh! Poor me
Crocodile!
Here comes the fun!
Animals and birds laughed and jumped for joy; some shouted: “So should you
I need it!” - others: “Yeah, gotcha!”
The monkeys even threw stones and sand at him, and were especially happy
birds - after all, they didn’t have any teeth!
Then the Crocodile felt so hurt and offended that his eyes began to roll.
tears - TERRIBLY big tears!
- Look! Crocodile tears! - the motley parrot shouted and laughed
first.
Those who knew what these words meant laughed behind him, and that was all.
the rest, and soon there was such a noise and laughter that the little bird Tari -
a pretty little white bird, taller than a pigeon and smaller than a piglet -
I flew in to see what was the matter.
And when she found out what the matter was, she became very angry.
- Shame on you! - she shouted in her ringing voice.
And everyone immediately fell silent, and the Crocodile could be heard moaning:
- Oh-oh-oh! My poor teeth! Oh-oh-oh! How painful!
- Why should we be ashamed? - asked some Monkey.
- It's a shame to laugh at the poor Crocodile! - answered the Tari bird. - After all
his teeth hurt! He's in pain!
- You'd think you knew what teeth are! - Monkey snorted and
made a face.
- But I know very well what “hurt” means! - said the bird to Tari. - AND
I know that if you are in pain and they laugh at you, it hurts you twice as much! You
see - the Crocodile is crying!
- Crocodile tears! - Parrot repeated and laughed. But no one
did not support.
- You're a parrot! - Tari the bird said with contempt. - You say, but you don’t
you know what you're saying! These are not crocodile tears!
- How so? After all, the Crocodile is crying? - Parrot was surprised.
- Oh, you! - said the bird to Tari. - His teeth really hurt,
right? That means the tears are real! Real bitter tears!
- If only they weren’t real! - said the Crocodile in a terrible bass voice and suddenly
stopped crying. - Oh! - he continued with amazement. - It seems to me... that
It seems to me that it has become easier... No! Oh-oh-oh! It only seems to me!
And he cried even louder.
“I still don’t feel sorry for him,” said Monkey. - He himself is to blame:
why doesn't he ever brush his teeth? You should take an example from us!
And she immediately began to brush her teeth with a rough twig from the Muswaki tree -
It was she who played pranks on people.
“But I,” groaned the Crocodile, “I didn’t know that they were needed.”
clean!..
- And if you knew, would you clean it? - asked the bird Tari.
- If you knew? Of course not! - Crocodile whined. - How can I
brush my teeth when I have such TERRIBLY short legs?
- Well, if you could, would you clean it? - Tari the bird insisted.
- Of course! - said the Crocodile. - After all, I am a clean Crocodile and every
I wash my face every day. Although this is not such a big merit. For someone who lives in
river,” he added modestly.
And then the bird Tari, a small, white and black bird, barely tall
more pigeon and a little less pigtail, did such an amazing thing,
that everyone gasped. She boldly flew straight to the terrible mouth of the Crocodile, to
to his very nose, and commanded:
- Open your mouth!
The crocodile obediently opened his mouth, and everyone gasped again and took a step back.
(no less!), because the Crocodile’s mouth was (didn’t you forget?) SCARY, and
she had VERY SCARY TEETH sticking out.
But everyone gasped much louder (and many even closed their eyes!) when the bird
Tari jumped straight into the crocodile's mouth!
- Be careful not to close your mouth, otherwise we won’t succeed! -
she said, and the Crocodile, opening his mouth even wider, answered:
- O-E-O! - which should have meant: "Of course!" (Try to tell it yourself
“Of course” with your mouth open, just don’t close it under any circumstances, otherwise you’ll
nothing will work out for you...)
- What a horror! - Tari the bird shouted half a minute later. - Just
It's scary what's going on here! This is not a mouth, but some kind of... - The bird paused,
she wanted to say “swamp”, but was afraid to offend the Crocodile. - What is there?
just no! - she continued. - Even leeches! And black, and green, and with
red stripes! Yes, it was time to brush your teeth!
The crocodile, having heard about the leeches, only sighed heavily.
“Well, nothing, nothing,” continued Tari the bird, “now we’ll bring everything
in order!
And the Tari bird got to work.
- Well, here it is - a bad tooth! - she soon shouted cheerfully. - Now we
Let's pull him out! One... two... three! Ready!
The crocodile groaned.
The bird too.
- Oh! - she said. - Oh, but it turns out that a new one is growing under it! How
Interesting!
- This always happens with us! - Crocodile boasted (by the way, this is a real
true), but since he didn’t forget for a second that he couldn’t close his mouth,
all he got was: U-A-A-E-A-Y-A-E!
And not everyone understood what he wanted to say.
In five minutes everything was ready.
The animals and birds were extremely amazed to see that the Tari bird
fluttered out of the crocodile's mouth safe and sound, and seemed stronger
they could not be surprised, but still they had to be surprised even more, because
that the first words that the Crocodile uttered, finally closing his mouth, were
such:
- Thank you very, very much, good bird! I feel much, much more
much easier!
And then all the animals and birds themselves opened their mouths, as if they wanted the bird
Tari also brushed their teeth with them. But this, of course, is not so (especially since in birds,
as you know, there are no teeth!). They were just surprised to the very, very
the last extreme because a REAL SCARY CROCODILE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN YOUR LIFE
SAID A REALLY GOOD WORD!
“What nonsense,” said Tari the bird modestly. - It's not worth it
gratitude, especially since the leeches were first class! Especially these ones
red stripe! If you want, I will brush your teeth every day!
“I wouldn’t want to!” said the Crocodile.
- Agreed! - said the Tari bird, and the monkeys suddenly clapped
hands, all the other animals jumped and stamped their hooves, and the birds sang their
the most fun songs, without knowing why...
And from this very day the bird Tari is called Ma-Tari-Kari, which in
in crocodile language means: "A little bird that does big good things"
affairs"...
And if you are very lucky and go to Africa, you will be able to
see with your own eyes how Ma-Tari-Kari brushes the Crocodile’s teeth and warns him
about danger (after all, sometimes the Crocodile is in danger!).
Some, however, call her the Crocodile Watchman for this, or even
Crocodile Toothpick, but Ma-Tari-Kari is not offended: she says that, with
Since they became friends, the Crocodile's character has become different
SCARY.
Well, it's quite possible.

Hermit and Rose

I

In the Blue Sea there lived a little Cancer. And life was very bad for him, so
it’s bad that he couldn’t understand why the sea is called Blue - he likes it
It seemed completely, completely gray...
Yes, it was very strange!
After all, the sea was really blue, and it was so much fun to live in it
and interesting! Pisces (it was only before that people thought that they could not
talk!) They even composed a funny song about how good life is at sea:

Nobody and nowhere!
Nobody and nowhere!
I haven't lived more joyfully
Like fish in water!
Neither people
Neither animals
Not a bird
Not a snake -
No one lives more fun anywhere!
Yes, no one and nowhere!
No, no one and nowhere
I have never lived more joyfully than fish in water! -

And they sang it from morning to night. Starfish so they shone, wise ones
The dolphins also frolicked like children, and poor Cancer sat huddled in
some crack, and grieved.
But he had everything that a real cancer needs to be completely
happiness: ten legs and bulging eyes, long, very long mustache and powerful
claws But he didn’t have a shell - his body was completely soft...
Maybe that’s why everyone who had such a shell, and many others,
they offended him, pinched him, bit him, and even tried to eat him...
And he sang a sad, sad song:

Ah, there is a lot of space in the sea,
And there is a lot of water in it,
But there is no less grief in him,
There is no less trouble in it!

“All the trouble is that you lack firmness,” he once said to him.
his distant relative Uncle Crab, who always walks sideways. - In our
It's time to be so soft!
And to prove it, he pinched poor Cancer hard.
- Oh! - Cancer shouted. - Hurt!
“This is for your own good,” said Uncle Crab, very pleased. - My
it's a different matter, of course, but if I were you, I'd try to get
some decent shell.
And he quickly - sideways - moved away to the side. After all, the claws
The hermit's were like those of a real crayfish and perhaps even stronger...
Yes, I forgot to tell you that the cancer was nicknamed the Hermit, just
because, as you know, he was always hiding in caves, then in holes, then under
pebbles so that they don't pinch him as much.
The first called him the Hermit Seahorse - he is a famous mocker -
and the Parrot Fish (there are such!) picked up his words, and soon throughout the Blue
the sea and even on land no one called our cancer anything else than the Hermit Crab.
“Well,” thought the Hermit when the pain calmed down a little, “a pinch
was not bad, but the advice, perhaps, was not bad either! Perhaps I really should
think about it carefully."
As you can see, the Hermit knew how not only to grieve, but also to think, and this
means that he was a very, very smart cancer!
And there were many shells lying around. And so, after thinking carefully,
he decided this: “The most suitable place for cancer is, of course, the sink; and
the most suitable tenant for a shell is, of course, cancer. And when the cancer creeps in
into the sink, no one will pinch him anymore, or I don’t understand anything about either
others!"
And so he knocked on the first sink he came across and tried to explain
all this to her owner, but an angry Mollusk looked out from there and, without listening to him,
said:
- Nonsense! I'm busy! - and slammed the doors of his
shells.
“The most suitable place for cancer is the sink,” continued
The hermit knocked on the second sink, but also looked out from there
the angry, angry Mollusk said:
- Nonsense!
And he also slammed the door in his face (although crayfish have noses like you
you know, it doesn't happen).
And when he knocked on the third sink, no one looked out,
because there was no one there, and - oh joy! - it turned out to be just
the right sink: not too big and not too small - well, just
just right!
“Yes, we are truly made for each other,” thought the Hermit, putting his
soft body into the shell. - What's better! Now you can't pinch me!"
And he wasn’t even offended when the Seahorse circling nearby
neighed thinly (which meant that he was going to make a joke) and said:
- Igi-gi-gi! Our Hermit has completely retreated into his shell!
And the Parrotfish, which, to tell the truth, is nothing in this joke
understood, picked it up and carried it across the Blue Sea...
Well, when you have everything you need for complete happiness, you can
tolerate even a joke. Right?

II

But strange thing! Although no one (not even Uncle Crab), no one could do anything else
pinch or bite our Hermit (even for his own benefit), he, apparently,
still, something was missing for complete happiness... Otherwise, why not the sea
still seemed completely, completely gray to him? And why would he keep singing
your sad song:

Ah, there is a lot of space in the sea,
But can't find it
No place like this
Where would Cancer be happy!..

One day he, unable to resist, said to a flying woman floating nearby
To the fish:
- How strange it is to live in the Gray Sea! I heard that there is White in the world
sea, and Black, and Yellow, and even Red, but no one has ever heard of
Gray sea...
- Gray! - the Flying Fish laughed. - How gray is it? It
azure, turquoise, emerald, blue, cornflower blue! It's bluer blue!
The bluest thing in the world!
And she hurried after her friends, who fluttered out onto
surface to once again admire the blue waves with white crests.
- No matter who you ask, they all say “blue.” Strange! - muttered about
yourself a Hermit. - Why am I the only one who doesn’t see this? Only me alone!
“That’s why,” someone’s voice suddenly rang out, and the Hermit,
shuddering, he hid in his shell for a moment.
And looking out from there, he saw... - who do you think? - best wishes,
the wisest of all sea wizards. Yes, yes, you were not mistaken: it was
Dolphin.
- Precisely because you are alone! - said Dolphin. - Find yourself a friend - and
then you will see! I wish you good luck and think about my words!
And the Dolphin (like all wizards, he loved to speak in riddles) swerved
tail and swam about his business.
And the Hermit (as you remember, he knew how not only to be sad, but also to think)
started thinking...
And he thought:
“The dolphin said: “Precisely because you are alone.” Well, of course, when I
I’ll find a friend, I won’t be alone anymore... And what will I see?.. Well, of course, I’ll see,
that the sea will turn blue... And probably then everything will be absolutely fine!
So, you need to look for a friend. The trouble is that I don't know who they are
friends, and where they live, and what they look like... Well, when I find
a true friend, I will recognize it immediately, because the sea will become
blue-blue!"
With these words the Hermit went to look for a friend, and, speaking in
In fact, this is where our fairy tale began!

III

And I have to tell you that finding a true friend is not so easy,
even at the bottom of the sea. Especially if you don't know what he looks like...
The hermit visited both the shallows and the depths, and he saw many
strange creatures, creatures and even monsters, but he did not find a friend among them.
On the sandbank he met Skat and asked him if he was a friend. And Skat,
who lies at the bottom all day and lies in wait for unwary fish, said
to him:
- Oh, of course, of course, I’m your friend! Come to me quickly and we will never
Let's part! - and opened a monstrous mouth...
Fortunately, our Hermit, as you well know, was very smart, he
realized that Skat was looking not for a friend, but for prey, and quickly swam away, but
Disappointed Skat hummed a terrible song to himself:

Where to rush at the bottom of the sea?
Here you can move at a crawl.
Friends, moderate your agility:
It's calmer to crawl than to swim...

He was right in his own way, because it is much easier for Stingray to catch that prey
one that crawls than one that swims...
In the depths of the sea, where eternal darkness reigns, the Hermit saw some
a bright point, and he, delighted, swam towards it, and it turned out to be
a deep-sea fish with such a difficult name that she herself doesn’t know it.
And, seeing the Hermit, she began to lure him with her luminous fishing rod, and
he would have to if he were tempted by the bait, because the mouth of this
there were no less fish than Skat...
He met Holothuria and tried to talk to her, but the cowardly
The sea cucumber turned inside out in fright and shot at him with its own
entrails, because she mistook the Hermit for an enemy, and Holothuria
This is how they always pay off their enemies...
He tried to make friends with beautiful Medusa, but she turned out to be completely
stupid, and poisonous at that, and he barely had time to dodge her poisonous
tentacles
In a word, no matter how much he searched, he found nothing: some were afraid of him,
others laughed at him, and still others tried to eat him, and, of course, neither
those, neither the others, nor the third cannot be considered true friends!
And finally, very tired and very, very sad, he sat down to rest and
said:
- So I walked around the entire bottom of the sea and did not find a friend anywhere. And the sea
still grey. It will probably always be gray for me. Oh, if only I
I could have drowned myself!..

IV

And then he heard someone, with a heavy sigh, like an echo, repeat
his words:
- Oh, if I could, I would drown myself...
The hermit looked around (or rather, he simply looked around with his eyes - after all,
he has them, as you remember, on stalks) and didn’t see anyone. Nobody but
Roses, Sea Roses. But Sea Roses ( learned people call them
sea anemones), although they are not flowers, they cannot sigh!
But the sigh was repeated, and then a sob was heard. But all around
there was no one there except Rose, the Sea Rose.
- Are you crying? - The Hermit asked in surprise.
He almost added: “Can you really?” - but he stopped himself in time.
Rose did not answer, but as she began to cry even louder,
In fact, no answer was required.
- Why are you crying? Has anyone offended you? - asked the Hermit
(after all, not only his body, but also his heart was soft).
- Nobody dares to offend me! - said Rose. - No one in the whole sea
dare to touch me!
And she stood up proudly and even stopped crying.
- Then why are you crying? - the Hermit asked her so affectionately that
Rose also softened and answered him:
- I'm just sad. And I'm sad because this sea is so gray,
gray! Now, if I had found a friend, everything would have been different. But I don't know how
walk, and all I can do is stand here and grieve...
The hermit wanted to tell her that he had walked around the entire bottom of the sea and nowhere
found a friend, but he felt sorry for upsetting poor Rose, especially since she was
so beautiful.
And he said to her:
- I’m also walking along the bottom of the sea and looking for a friend. If you want, let's go
together, and maybe, if we are very, very lucky, everyone will find themselves
friend, and then the sea will turn blue, and we will not be sad at all.
“But I don’t know how to walk,” said Rose, and her petals sadly
drooped.
“Well, this is a small grief,” said the good Hermit. - If you want,
I can carry you! I will only be pleased!
Rosa was scared to leave her home, even though she felt bad
lived there... It always happens!
But the Hermit spoke to her so kindly and seemed so kind to her that
she agreed.
And so the Hermit helped her get off the stone and sit on his shell, and
they set off!
Oh, how Rose’s head was spinning - after all, she didn’t know before that
means to move, and it seemed to her that everything was rushing around her madly
round dance: stones, algae, oysters attached to the bottom, and sea urchins.
She even turned pale, but out of pride she did not make a sound - yes, she was very,
very proud!
And after a few minutes she got used to it (especially since the Hermit, to say
in all honesty, he was not walking that fast) and began to loudly admire everything that
I saw around.
- Oh, how good! - she admired. - How easy it is to breathe when you don’t
you stand still! Oh, what colorful fish! What are their names? Who is that shining like that?
Starfish, that's how! I didn't think they were so beautiful! What is this? And this
Who? Oh, how good it is to travel!..
And the Hermit barely had time to answer her questions. True, he many times
I saw everything that she admired so much, but (after all, he was very kind) he thought about
herself: “Let her rejoice, poor thing! Soon she will get tired of all this, just like me...
To tell the truth, I am very pleased to hear how happy she is! Interesting,
If I found a friend, would we rejoice together or not?
And he thought about how sad it was that he would never, never find
friend; and suddenly Rose, who had been silent for a minute, asked as if
guessing his thoughts:
- When will we go looking for friends?
And then the Hermit could not resist and told her the whole truth; how he searched
friend along the entire bottom of the sea and saw creatures, creatures and even monsters, but
I couldn't find my friend anywhere...
“Perhaps there are no friends at all in the world,” he said
sad - and it’s better not to look for them?

V

Not true! - said Rose. - There are friends in the world, I’m sure, but not
you found them only because you didn’t know where to look for them.
- Do you know? - asked the Hermit.
- I know! True friends live in Scarlet City. They built it themselves
and they live there and are friends, and for them the sea is always, always blue! And you know
they say that these friends are my sisters or brothers, or any
relatives, so we should go to them, and they will be very happy with us!
- And they won’t pinch us... for our own good? - asked
A hermit who, when he heard the word “relatives,” remembered Uncle Crab.
“I hope not,” said Rose proudly, “after all, I told you that
no one dares to touch me! If I don't want it, she added,
remembering that the Hermit touched her when he helped her climb
on the sink.
The hermit wanted to say that this consoles him very much, although he himself,
alas, they pinched many times, but did not have time, because at that moment in front of them
Uncle Crab himself appeared.
- Good morning“, nephew,” he said casually and wanted to pass
sideways about his business (crabs always have a lot to do), but then he noticed Rose
and his eyes widened in surprise. - What else is this? - he asked and waved
with his thick claw towards Rose.
This is not to say that he was too well brought up!
- It's not what, but who! This is Rose,” explained the Hermit. - She and I are going to
The scarlet city is looking for friends!
Uncle Crab was even more surprised - his eyes were long and long.
The stems have completely come out.
“My business, of course, is a side,” he said, “but still I owe you
something to say. First of all, Scarlet City is beyond the seven seas, so you
you won't get there! Secondly, its real name is not Scarlet City, but
somehow differently, so you won't find it! Thirdly, there are also no
friends, so you're looking for him in vain! In short, you're about to do something stupid.
deed! And it’s even more stupid to carry such a burden with you. - And he showed again
at Rose with his thick claw.
The rose turned pale with offense, and its petals shrank.
And then Uncle Crab had to be surprised even more, because the Hermit
(after all, you haven’t forgotten that he was very kind) for the first time in his life he became angry.
- Don’t you dare offend Rose! - he shouted and rushed at Uncle Crab.
Uncle Crab barely managed to dodge. But still I managed.

No, no, it was not at all the famous Crocodile that walked along Nevsky! - after all, that Crocodile, as you, of course, know, lived and lived, but this one simply lived and lived. That's a big difference!

In addition, this Crocodile walked little (he swam more often), did not smoke any cigarettes (and he did the right thing, it is very harmful!) and spoke only crocodile.

In a word, this was a real Crocodile, and he lived in the very real Africa, in a big river, and, as befits a real Crocodile, everything about him was scary: a terrible tail and a terrible head, a terrible mouth and VERY SCARY TEETH! (Only his legs were short, but the Crocodile thought that they were TERRIBLY short.)

And the worst thing: he never brushed his VERY SCARY TEETH: neither before meals, nor after meals (his appetite was also HORRIBLE!), nor in the morning, before breakfast, nor in the evening, when washing his face before going to bed (He washed his face, which is true, then True, I never forgot, but when you live in a river, this is not such a big merit, right?)

And it is not surprising that one fine day (so they say, although for the Crocodile, believe me, this day was not at all wonderful!), it is not surprising that one fine day the Crocodile had a toothache.

And how! SCARY!

To tell the truth, only one tooth hurt, but it seemed to the Crocodile that all his teeth hurt at once. Because it stung and ached in the tooth, and it felt like it was drilling like a gimlet and, in addition, it was shooting!

The crocodile really couldn’t find a place for himself!

He threw himself into the water and dived to the very bottom, hoping that the cool water would make him feel better, and at first he seemed to feel better, but then his tooth began to ache twice as much!

Like mad he jumped out onto the shore, onto the hot sand, in the hope that the warmth would help him, and in the first minute it seemed to help him, but then!..

He moaned, he groaned, he whimpered (some people think that all this helps), but he just got worse and worse and worse!

And the worst thing was that there was no one to feel sorry for him: after all, he was a SCARY CROCODILE, and his character was also SCARY, and he offended many in his lifetime, and never, under any circumstances, said a single GOOD WORD to anyone!

Animals and birds, however, came running from all sides, but they stood at a distance and were only surprised to see what the Crocodile was doing. And there was something to be surprised about, because the Crocodile spun, and rushed, and hit its head on the coastal rocks, and even tried to jump on one leg. But all this didn’t help him one bit!

And in addition, his legs were so short that he could not even pick his teeth (although even if he could, it would not have helped him much!).

And finally, poor Crocodile, in despair, stretched out under a large, large banana (he would not have fit under a small one) and roared loudly.

Oh-oh-oh! - he cried in a deep voice. - My poor teeth! Oh-oh-oh! Poor me Crocodile!

Here comes the fun!

Animals and birds laughed and jumped for joy: some shouted: “Serves you right!” - others: “Yeah, gotcha!”

The monkeys even threw stones and sand at him, and the birds were especially happy: after all, they didn’t have any teeth!

Then the Crocodile felt so hurt and offended that tears rolled out of his eyes - TERRIBLY big tears!

Look! Crocodile tears! - the motley parrot shouted and was the first to laugh.

Behind him, those who knew what these words meant, and then everyone else, laughed, and soon there was such a noise and laughter that the little bird Tari - a pretty white bird, a little smaller in height - flew in to see what was the matter.

And when she found out what the matter was, she became very angry.

Shame on you! - she shouted in her ringing voice.

And everyone immediately fell silent, and the Crocodile could be heard moaning:

‑‑ Oh-oh-oh! My poor teeth! Oh-oh-oh! How painful!

-Why should we be ashamed? - asked some Monkey.

‑‑ It’s a shame to laugh at the poor Crocodile! - answered the Tari bird. - After all, his teeth hurt! He's in pain!

‑‑ You'd think you knew what teeth are! - Monkey snorted and made a face.

-But I know very well what “hurt” means! - said the bird to Tari. - And I know that if you are in pain, and they laugh at you, it hurts you twice as much! You see - the Crocodile is crying!

‑‑ Crocodile tears! - Parrot repeated and laughed. But no one supported him.

‑‑ You parrot! - Tari the bird said with contempt. “His teeth really hurt, right?” So the tears are real! Real bitter tears!

Still not real! - said the Crocodile in a terrible bass voice and suddenly stopped crying. - Oh! - he continued with amazement. - It seems to me that I seem to feel better. No! Oh-oh-oh! It only seems to me!

And he cried even louder.

“I don’t feel sorry for him anyway,” said Monkey. “It’s his own fault, why doesn’t he ever brush his teeth?” You should take an example from us!

And she immediately began to brush her teeth with a rough twig from the Mswaki tree - it was she who was playing tricks on people.

“But I,” groaned the Crocodile, “I didn’t know.”

that they need to be cleaned!..

-And if you knew, would you clean it? - asked the bird Tari.

‑‑ If you knew? Of course not! - Crocodile whined. “How can I brush my teeth when I have such TERRIBLY short legs?”

-Well, if you could, would you clean it? - Tari the bird insisted.

‑‑ Of course! - said the Crocodile. - After all, I am a clean Crocodile and I wash my face every day. Although this is not such a big merit. For someone who lives in a river,” he added modestly.

And then the Tari bird, a small white and black bird, a little taller than a dove and a little smaller than a pigtail, did such an amazing thing that everyone gasped. She boldly flew straight up to the Crocodile’s terrible mouth, right up to his nose, and commanded:

Open your mouth!

The Crocodile obediently opened his mouth, and everyone gasped again and retreated a step (no less!), because the Crocodile’s mouth was (didn’t you forget?) SCARY, and VERY SCARY TEETH stuck out in it.

But everyone gasped much louder (and many even closed their eyes!) when the Tari bird jumped straight into the crocodile’s mouth!

Be careful not to close your mouth, otherwise we won’t succeed! - she said, and the Crocodile, opening his mouth even wider, answered:

‑‑ O-E-O! - which should have meant: “Of course!” (Try to say “of course” with your mouth open, but don’t close it under any circumstances, otherwise you won’t succeed)

‑‑ What a horror! - Tari the bird shouted half a minute later. “It’s just scary what’s going on here!” This is not a mouth, but some kind of thing. - The bird paused, she wanted to say “swamp”, but was afraid to offend the Crocodile. - What’s not there! - she continued. - Even leeches! And black, and green, and with red stripes! Yes, it was time to brush your teeth!

The crocodile, having heard about the leeches, only sighed heavily.

Well, nothing, nothing,” continued the Tari bird, “now we’ll put everything in order!”

And the Tari bird got to work.

Well, here it is - a bad tooth! - she soon shouted cheerfully. “Now we’ll pull him out!” One two three! Ready!

The crocodile groaned. The bird too.

-- Oh! - she said. “Oh, but under it, it turns out, a new one is growing.” How interesting!

‑‑ This always happens with us! - the Crocodile boasted (by the way, this is the absolute truth), but since he did not forget for a second that he should not close his mouth, he only managed to say: U-A-A-E-A-Y-A-E!

And not everyone understood what he wanted to say.

In five minutes everything was ready.

The animals and birds were extremely amazed to see that the Tari bird had fluttered out of the crocodile’s mouth safe and sound, and it seemed that they could not have been more surprised, but still they had to be surprised even more, because the first words that the Crocodile uttered, closing finally fell, there were these:

Thank you very, very much, kind bird! It's much, much, much easier for me!

And then all the animals and birds opened their mouths, as if they wanted the Tari bird to brush their teeth too. But this, of course, is not true (especially since birds, as you know, do not have any teeth!). They were simply surprised to the very, very last extreme because a REAL SCARY CROCODILE SAID A REAL GOOD WORD FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HIS LIFE!

“What nonsense,” said Tari the bird modestly. “There’s no need for gratitude, especially since the leeches were first grade!” Especially these ones with red stripes! If you want, I will brush your teeth every day!

“I wouldn’t want to!” said the Crocodile.

-- Agreed! - said the Tari bird, and the monkeys suddenly clapped their hands, all the other animals jumped and stamped their hooves, and the birds sang their most cheerful songs, without knowing why.

And from this very day the Tari bird is called Ma-Tari-Kari, which in crocodile language means: “A small bird that makes big things.” good works»

And if you go to Africa, you will be able to see with your own eyes how Ma-Tari-Kari brushes the Crocodile’s teeth and warns him of danger (after all, sometimes the Crocodile is in danger!..)

Some, however, call her the Crocodile Watchman, or even the Crocodile Toothpick, for this, but Ma-Tari-Kari is not offended: she says that since they became friends, the Crocodile’s character has become not so SCARY.

Well, it's quite possible.

Once upon a time there lived a Crocodile.

No, no, it was not at all the famous Crocodile who

WALKED ON NEVSKY! —

after all, that Crocodile, as you, of course, know, lived and lived, but this one simply lived and lived. That's a big difference!

In addition, this Crocodile walked little (he swam more often), did not smoke any cigarettes (and he did the right thing, it is very harmful!) and spoke only crocodile.

In a word, this was a real Crocodile, and he lived in a real Africa, in a big river, and, as befits a real Crocodile, everything about him was terrible: a terrible tail and a terrible head, a terrible mouth and VERY SCARY TEETH! (Only his legs were short, but the Crocodile thought that they were TERRIBLY short.)

And the worst thing: he never brushed his VERY SCARY TEETH: neither before meals, nor after meals (his appetite was also HORRIBLE!), nor in the morning, before breakfast, nor in the evening, when washing his face before going to bed... (He washed his face, which is true, it’s true, I never forgot, but when you live in a river, this is not such a big merit, right?)

And how! SCARY!

The crocodile really couldn’t find a place for himself!

Like mad he jumped out onto the shore, onto the hot sand, in the hope that the warmth would help him, and in the first minute it seemed to help him, but then!..

He moaned, he groaned, he whimpered (some people think that all this helps), but he just got worse and worse and worse!

And in addition, his legs were so short that he could not even pick his teeth (although even if he could, it would not have helped him much!).

And finally, poor Crocodile, in despair, stretched out under a large, large banana (he would not have fit under a small one) and roared loudly.

- Oh-oh-oh! - he cried in a deep voice. - My poor teeth! Oh-oh-oh! Poor me Crocodile!

Here comes the fun!

Animals and birds laughed and jumped for joy; some shouted: “Serves you right!” - others: “Yeah, gotcha!”

The monkeys even threw stones and sand at him, and the birds were especially happy - after all, they didn’t have any teeth!

Then the Crocodile felt so hurt and offended that tears rolled out of his eyes - TERRIBLY big tears!

- Look! Crocodile tears! - the motley parrot shouted and was the first to laugh.

Those who knew what these words meant, and then everyone else, laughed behind him, and soon there was such a noise and laughter that the little Tari bird - a pretty white bird, larger than a dove and smaller than a pigeon - flew in to see what was the matter.

And when she found out what the matter was, she became very angry.

- Shame on you! - she shouted in her ringing voice.

And everyone immediately fell silent, and the Crocodile could be heard moaning:

- Oh-oh-oh! My poor teeth! Oh-oh-oh! How painful!

- Why should we be ashamed? - asked some Monkey.

- It's a shame to laugh at the poor Crocodile! - answered the Tari bird. - After all, his teeth hurt! He's in pain!

- You'd think you knew what teeth are! - Monkey snorted and made a face.

- But I know very well what “hurt” means! - said the bird to Tari. “And I know that if you’re in pain and they laugh at you, it hurts you twice as much!” You see - the Crocodile is crying!

- Crocodile tears! - Parrot repeated and laughed. But no one supported him.

- You're a parrot! - Tari the bird said with contempt. - You talk, but you don’t understand what you’re saying! These are not crocodile tears!

- How so? After all, the Crocodile is crying? - Parrot was surprised.

- Oh, you! - said the bird to Tari. - His teeth really hurt, right? That means the tears are real! Real bitter tears!

- If only they weren’t real! - said the Crocodile in a terrible bass voice and suddenly stopped crying. - Oh! - he continued with amazement. - It seems to me... that it seems to me that it has become easier... No! Oh-oh-oh! It only seems to me!

And he cried even louder.

“I still don’t feel sorry for him,” said Monkey. “It’s his own fault: why doesn’t he ever brush his teeth?” You should take an example from us!

And she immediately began to brush her teeth with a rough twig of the Muswaki tree - she was the one playing pranks on people.

“But I,” groaned the Crocodile, “I didn’t know that they needed to be cleaned!”

- And if you knew, would you clean it? - asked the bird Tari.

- If you knew? Of course not! - Crocodile whined. - How can I brush my teeth when I have such TERRIBLY short legs?

- Well, if you could, would you clean it? - Tari the bird insisted.

- Of course! - said the Crocodile. - After all, I am a clean Crocodile and I wash my face every day. Although this is not such a big merit. For someone who lives in the river,” he added modestly.

And then the bird Tari, a small, white and black bird, a little taller than a dove and a little smaller than a pigtail, did such an amazing thing that everyone gasped. She boldly flew straight up to the Crocodile’s terrible mouth, right up to his nose, and commanded:

- Open your mouth!

But everyone gasped much louder (and many even closed their eyes!) when the Tari bird jumped straight into the crocodile’s mouth!

- Be careful not to close your mouth, otherwise we won’t succeed! - she said, and the Crocodile, opening his mouth even wider, answered:

- O-E-O! - which should have meant: “Of course!” (Try to say “of course” with your mouth open, but don’t close it under any circumstances, otherwise you won’t succeed...)

- What a horror! - Tari the bird shouted half a minute later. “It’s just scary what’s going on here!” This is not a mouth, but some kind of ... - The bird paused, she wanted to say “swamp”, but was afraid to offend the Crocodile. - What’s not here! - she continued. - Even leeches! And black, and green, and with red stripes! Yes, it was time to brush your teeth!

The crocodile, having heard about the leeches, only sighed heavily.

“Well, nothing, nothing,” continued the Tari bird, “now we’ll put everything in order!”

And the Tari bird got to work.

- Well, here it is - a bad tooth! - she soon shouted cheerfully. - Now we'll pull him out! One... two... three! Ready!

The crocodile groaned.

The bird too.

- Oh! - she said. - Oh, but it turns out a new one is growing under it! How interesting!

- This always happens with us! - Crocodile boasted (by the way, this is the absolute truth), but since he did not forget for a second that he should not close his mouth, he only managed to say: U-A-A-E-A-Y-A-E!

And not everyone understood what he wanted to say.

In five minutes everything was ready.

The animals and birds were extremely amazed to see that the Tari bird had fluttered out of the crocodile's mouth safe and sound, and it seemed that they could not have been more surprised, but still they had to be surprised even more, because the first words that the Crocodile uttered, closing finally fell, there were these:

- Thank you very, very much, good bird! It's much, much, much easier for me!

“What nonsense,” said Tari the bird modestly. - There is no need for gratitude, especially since the leeches were first grade! Especially these ones with red stripes! If you want, I will brush your teeth every day!

“I wouldn’t want to!” said the Crocodile.

- Agreed! - said the Tari bird, and the monkeys suddenly clapped their hands, all the other animals jumped and stamped their hooves, and the birds sang their most cheerful songs, without knowing why...

And from this very day the bird Tari is called Ma-Tari-Kari, which in crocodile language means: “A little bird that does great good deeds”...

And if you are very lucky and go to Africa, you will be able to see with your own eyes how Ma-Tari-Kari brushes the Crocodile’s teeth and warns him of danger (after all, sometimes the Crocodile is in danger!).

Some, however, call her the Crocodile Watchman for this, or even the Crocodile Toothpick, but Ma-Tari-Kari is not offended: she says that since they became friends, the Crocodile’s character has become not so SCARY.

Well, it's quite possible.