Name: Ivan the Fool (Ivanushka the Fool)

Country: Russia

Activity: peasant son

Marital status: married

Ivan the Fool: character story

Only a Russian lazy man, lying on the stove, is capable of suddenly achieving fame, having a beautiful wife and half a kingdom to boot. This is how Russians joke when remembering their favorite fairy tale hero, Ivan the Fool. But the character is not as simple as it seems. The peasant guy is dexterous and savvy, and wears the nickname “as a distraction.”

History of creation and image

The origin of the hero of Russian fairy tales still remains a mystery. Researchers folk art They are of the opinion that the image migrated from mythology, and there are many reasons for this. In legends different nations the world has its own Ivan the Fool: a lucky but narrow-minded comic hero is found in African, European, North American and even Chinese fairy tales. True, he received such grandiose fame and recognition only on Russian soil - in Slavic fairy tales Ivan is almost always in charge acting character.

The reasons for people's love are simple and understandable. Ivan the Fool plays the role of a buffoon, entertaining the audience with ridiculous behavior. In his arsenal there are magical things designed to make the image even funnier: the stove itself moves around the village, buckets move, even the club has intelligence and will - it beats the king’s messengers. Grotesque situations with a fool at the center are a typical story in folk culture of laughter.

Researchers also attribute the qualities of a priest to the character. Ivan the Fool is the youngest of three brothers, but he is the only one of the fairy-tale trinity who speaks in riddles and puzzles over them. To a young man totem animals help. And the stove on which the fool lies is a symbolic object: the center of the house, the family hearth, a “portal” to the spirits of the dead. All this suggests that the origins of the character lie in the festive rituals performed by priests in Rus'. Ivan is considered a person who easily communicates with senior and otherworldly forces, receives support from them.

The character is classified as a so-called trickster - pranksters, deceivers and jokers who bring useful things to people (for example, fire, moral values, new skills), but at the same time doing a bunch of stupid things that promise nothing but trouble.

Fool in literally Ivan's words are difficult to name. On the contrary, the character’s actions are accompanied by exceptional cunning and ingenuity. In any test he emerges victorious, soars to the pinnacle of fame, marries a maiden of royal blood, and thereby becomes rich. There are also versions about the origin of the epithet. According to one of them, the “fool” is explained by the family traditions of the times when the hero arose: the younger offspring were not entitled to an inheritance, that is, they were left with nothing.

Perhaps the prefix to the name serves as a talisman, which in ancient times was given to newborns to protect them from the evil eye and dark forces(it was believed that evil spirits they simply won’t find a person who has a “false” name).

The image of a savvy guy is not hampered by his abilities in poetry and music: in fairy tales, Ivan the Fool often sings excellently, plays the harp and pipe, and skillfully knows how to distort words, write jokes and jokes.

Biography and plot

Ivan the Fool was born into a peasant family, but, as fairy tales tell, the hero was unlucky with his mind. The youngest of three brothers is a useless person, “neither stealing nor guarding”; he also did not make a homely owner. The character whiles away his days on the stove. However, it is he who manages to find happiness and fortune due to the ability to deftly get out of troubles and achieve his goals.

In fairy tales there were originally two storylines. In the first, after the death of his father, the hero receives a magic horse, which he is forced to hide from his brothers. On horseback, the guy goes through a series of trials, solves riddles and marries the princess. After Ivan’s marriage, another batch of exploits awaits him. He gets it living water, rejuvenating apples, a pig with golden bristles and eventually ascends to the throne.

In the second plot, Ivan the Fool tries to track down a thief who visits the garden every night and tramples the grass. The prankster appears in the person of a mare or the Firebird. Ivan takes pity on the captured animal, granting it freedom, and in return receives a reward - a wonderful horse or a feather. In the case of the Firebird, the Tsar sends Ivan in search of the magical bird, promising the hand and heart of his own daughter as a reward.

These two storylines have gone through all sorts of interpretations over time, becoming new works. IN modern versions even the pike that Ivan supposedly caught appears (how the fish migrated from the fairy tale about Emelya is unclear). IN everyday tales Ivan the Fool acts as an independent character, searches for, meets with and.

The most popular Russian folk tales introducing this resourceful hero include:

"Horse, tablecloth and horn"
"Sivka-Burka"
"Ivan - the peasant's son and Miracle Yudo"

Folklore stylization of a fairy tale with Ivan in leading role introduced in 1834. They say that after reading the work of the Tobolsk writer, he exclaimed:

“Now I can leave this type of writing to me!”

Ershovsky Ivan the Fool is lazy, simple, but brave and smart. With the help of animals, including , the young man catches the Firebird, delivers the Tsar Maiden to the royal court, and finds her ring at the bottom of the sea. And in the end it reaches dizzying successes- marries a girl and becomes a king himself.

Film adaptations

Ivan the Fool often appears in films. In 1941, he gave a fairy tale based on Ershov's work to Soviet children. The main role was played by actor Pyotr Aleinikov.

A year earlier, the film “Vasilisa the Beautiful” by the same director was successfully shown in cinemas across the country. There he was reincarnated as Ivan.

Another Russian film “How Ivan the Fool Followed a Miracle” became a brilliant adaptation of folk tales. In the color film released in 1977, the hero fights for the love of the merchant’s daughter Nastya.

Director Nadezhda Kosheverova involved famous actors in her work - (Nastenka), (grandmother Varvara), ().

Relatively recently, another film adaptation with Ivan the Fool in the title role was released - “A Real Fairy Tale” (2011). Fairytale image tried it on.

In Russian folk art there lives a character close to Ivan the Fool -. The hero is also the third son in the family, his lack of intelligence is replaced by oppression from his brothers. Ivan Tsarevich has to look for rejuvenating apples, living water and the Firebird. The young man also passes the test and eventually takes the throne. IN fairy world modern children are captivated by the cartoon “Ivan Tsarevich and gray wolf", which was filmed in three parts, the last one was released in 2016.

To this day, the image of Ivan the Fool continues to be exploited by directors, writers and poets, as well as home-grown authors. Modern interpretation presents folk art stories theatrical production“The Tale of Ivan the Fool, Baba Yaga and the Flying Felt Boot,” and at adult corporate parties they like to act out a skit called “How Ivan the Fool Decided to Get Married.”

In the creativity of every nation there is its own fool. The French analogue of Ivan the Fool, Jean the Simpleton, communicates with a statue of a saint; in the Netherlands, the narrow-minded hero of fairy tales bargains with a crucifix. In the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm, a character appears who argues with frogs over money.

Quotes

“Hut, hut, stand with your back to the forest, and with your front to me!”

“Come together, gray wolves, come together, black crows, King Geston is for you.” fresh meat sent."

“This apple tree is not for sale, but treasured, and this is the covenant: if you chop off a finger from your hand and give them to me, then I will give you the apple trees too.”

“They put me in the voivodeship to judge and dress, but I can neither judge nor dress!”

“Look, brothers, an unknown person got attached to me on the way and ate everything!”

“Well, the horse has four legs and the table also has four, so the table itself will run.”

“Cook, stew, and I’ll go look after the children!”

Ivan the Fool - the meaning of fairy tales and the strategy of Ivan the Fool!

Plan:
— Meaning of the name “fool”
— An example of Ivan’s actions (in fairy tales)
— Ivan always acts stupidly (and towards himself too)
— Alternative logic of Ivanushka the Fool
— The essence of strategy is not in logic, but in intuition!
— The moral of the fairy tales about Ivanushka the fool (why does he always win)?
— The secret is simplicity
— Application in everyday life tactics of Ivan the Fool

— Meaning of the name “fool”

Eat different versions origin of this name:

1) Due to the fact that the third son does not receive an inheritance
When the time will come to divide the inheritance, it will go to the older brothers, and the younger one will be left with his nose, in the fool. If we adhere to this version, it turns out that Ivan’s nickname is assigned not so much to his intelligence as to his property status.

2) Name-amulet
Offensive nicknames were in use among the people: Ivan the Fool, or Mishka Oblique, or some other Crooked, and so on. Moreover, the parents themselves gave the child offensive nicknames, and not at all because they wanted to mock him. They had their own logic. According to her, the unsightly name helped protect the child from evil spirits, who were eager to spoil everything beautiful and good. What can you ruin when the child is already a fool? And the evil spirit switched to someone else.

It turns out that the prefix “fool” could not refer to the mental abilities of Ivan the Fool, but simply protected him from the evil eye and damage. And then this custom was forgotten, and in the fairy tale everything remained as it was.

— An example of Ivan’s actions (in fairy tales)

Ivan’s brains are really, how to put it, not very good. He is given some simple instructions, for example, to go to the fair and return with new clothes, and he takes and throws the things on the road. Here's what one of the fairy tales says about it:
“Ivanushka bought everything: he bought a table, and spoons, and cups, and salt; a whole cartload of all sorts of things. He was going home, and the horse was like that, you know, unlucky, lucky or unlucky!

“What,” Ivanushka thinks to himself, “the horse has four legs, and the table also has four; so the table will run by itself.” He took the table and put it on the road.

He drives and drives, whether close or far, and the crows hover over him and keep cawing. “You know, the sisters are hungry to eat, they shouted so much!” thought the fool; He put the dishes with food on the ground and began to regale: “Little sisters, eat to your health!”

— Ivan always acts stupidly (and towards himself too)

He reacts this way not only to other people’s orders. He treats his interests in exactly the same way. In one of the fairy tales, Ivan the Fool labored for the priest for three years, and when he offered him a choice of pay, a bag of coins or a bag of sand, the fool took the sand. Well, who is he after this, you ask?

— Alternative logic of Ivanushka the Fool

On the other hand, the strange logic of Ivan the Fool’s actions is striking. The impression is that the hero is not just stupid, but even completely out of his mind. And yet, at the end of the fairy tale, this madman always wins: either he achieves to be left alone, or suddenly acquires a huge fortune, or marries the king’s daughter or a sorceress.

This happened exactly in that fairy tale, where Ivan the Fool took not a bag of money, but a bag of sand for his three years of work. When he was walking home with this ridiculous salary, he saw a fire in the forest in which a beautiful maiden was burning. Ivan covered the fire with sand, and the girl, who turned out to be a witch, married him and began to help in business.

How can it be that she chose not a hero, not a prince, but a complete fool? Because he's not such a fool. He simply acts, completely ignoring all existing rules.

— The essence of strategy is not in logic, but in intuition!

A fool is guided not by logic, but by intuition, which a mere mortal, surrounded by hundreds of frames, does not and will not have, or a smart person who knows exactly what costs, and that is why miracles never happen to him.

Ivan is completely open to miracles, and miracles happen to him all the time. Another Russian proverb - “God loves fools” (or “fools are lucky”) - is about exactly this. Fools give themselves over to chance and are not afraid of consequences, because they simply do not think about them.

— The moral of the fairy tales about Ivanushka the fool (why does he always win)?

The fairy tale says: don’t be afraid, just take a step forward, trust your inner voice, even if it says stupid things, and everything will turn out better than you expect. Then it turns out that the fairy tale about the fool is a story about how you need to forget your excessive rationality if you want to win.

Then the explanation for the popularity of fairy tale fools is that they are actually wise men in disguise. Some researchers compared Ivan the Fool with Socrates, who exclaimed: “I only know that I know nothing,” or with Lao Tzu, who said: “Smart people are not scientists, scientists are not smart.”

The fool is a philosophical figure who calls for abandoning any ideas about the world in order to freely gain the experience of merging with it, to gain knowledge about it, but not from books, but during the game.

— The secret is simplicity

And finally, the last secret The popularity of fools is that they are extremely rarely consciously evil or cruel.

— Application of Ivan the Fool’s tactics in everyday life

This is very important question! I was convinced by personal example of the great practical value of actions in the style of “Ivanushka the Little Fool.”

Algorithm of actions:
1) Set yourself days when you do only what you want to do (what your intuition tells you). Not intelligence, not logic, not personal gain, but INTUITION. On this day you live by feelings!
2) Do senseless (illogical) actions. For example, write with your left hand (if you are right-handed). Go for a walk (to the store) along the “stupid” route. Those. along a longer and longer route.
3) Walk “back to front” (at least a few steps).

What will all this give?
The mind and psyche calms down. New sensations and thoughts appear. Stupid actions suppress logic and sharpen our intuition (our subconscious).
I started to feel much better! Therefore, I always try to use the “Ivan the Fool strategy” when walking. And, from time to time, I arrange days for myself that I completely spend like Ivan the Fool!

I advise you to do the same!

Ivan the Fool appears. At first glance it seems that some village lazy and incompetent serendipity receives not only the princess as his wife, but also half of the kingdom. If you look more closely, it becomes clear that moral qualities Ivan the Fool is not so simple. In fact, he is only pretending to be a fool, and ingenuity and dexterity are almost his main features.

How the image appeared

It is still not known exactly where the tales about Ivan the Fool came from. Folklorists who are closely involved in the study of folk art believe that this colorful image came into our fairy tales from ancient myths.

Agree, a successful, but at the same time narrow-minded and funny character is in the legends of almost all peoples of the world, but this image is so popular only in our culture. Any child knows who the hero of fairy tales is - Ivan the Fool.

Why do they love Vanya?

People's love for this character is quite easy to explain: the funnier the hero, the more readers love him. And since children are most often carried away by fairy tales, Vanya is made even more attractive to them by the stove that carries him, the buckets that independently walk around the village, and the baton that distributes blows left and right.

Ivan's magical qualities

Some experts argue that Ivan has some qualities of a priest. He is the youngest of three brothers, the most stupid and lazy, but at the same time only he has the ability to speak in riddles. And not only talk - he also solves them quite successfully.

And why all? Not only does a totem animal (for example, a pike) help Ivan the Fool, but also the stove is not just a means of transportation, but a symbol of family comfort, a hearth in the house, a “portal” to deceased ancestors.

Ivan's character has similar traits to the priests Ancient Rus': he easily communicates with otherworldly forces, they help him quite willingly. Such characters are called tricksters. These are jokers, liars and pranksters who, oddly enough, benefit people. They do a lot of stupid things, but that's what gives them a certain charm.

Why "fool"?

It is very difficult to call Vanya stupid, since he often uses cunning and ingenuity in his actions. From anyone, even the most difficult situation Ivan the Fool emerges victorious, and at the end of the tale he marries the king’s daughter and takes on the title of ruler of the state.

There are several explanations for this offensive nickname.

By family traditions those times youngest child they did not leave an inheritance, that is, he remained offended and deprived.
The fool is a kind of amulet. In ancient times, children were given a second, “false” name so that the spirits would not find it. No one will even look for a child with the nickname “fool.”

The most interesting thing is that a person with such an offensive nickname most often sings beautifully, speaks musical instruments and makes up rhyming jokes.

Image in fairy tales

One can only speculate about the real origin of the character. Experts in this field have not come to a consensus, but the main version, as mentioned above, is this: the authors of fairy tales about Ivan the Fool borrowed the image from ancient mythology.

Vanya is the youngest of three brothers. He was born into a peasant family, and this fact implies a lot of work, but our hero is usually lazy and does nothing. But his older brothers are homely, hard-working, real masters.

The whole paradox of the fairy tales about Ivan the Fool is that the older brothers remain simple peasants, while the younger one becomes rich and happy.

The first fairy tales began to appear in those distant times when people believed in pagan gods. Back then, each hero represented a dark or light side. Ivan the Fool is undoubtedly a representative of good.

How Ivan is perceived in Russia

In fairy tales, foolish heroes most often ridiculed not their own stupidity, but that of others, especially the lack of intelligence of those in power. From time immemorial, it was the buffoons and holy fools that rumor put on a pedestal. It was the unsightly people who managed to accomplish the feat for which they were canonized. Take, for example, the famous Novgorod epic “Vavilo the buffoon.” It is in this legend that the phrase “But buffoons are not simple people - buffoons are holy people” is found.

But all this does not mean at all that the Russian people have a special love for stupidity. IN real life narrow-minded people are not at all honored, only it is customary to speak well of the fairy-tale fool. It is believed that he only pretends to be stupid for the sake of intrigue.

There are several types of fools.

Fool-ignorant. “You can’t drag it!” - quote from Ivan the Fool. Only it was said completely out of place - at a funeral. Such a hero is not particularly literate, and his actions, as a rule, only cause laughter.
Lazy fool. This character does not leave the stove for days on end, does nothing, but he is incredibly lucky. For once, I went into the water and immediately caught a magic pike. And from the stump, which he foolishly lashed, gold suddenly fell out. From this moment on, Vanya receives all the desired benefits: beauty, wealth, and a smart, beautiful bride. A good beginning is hidden in such a hero. His positive qualities They wake up only when the time comes for this.
An executive fool. They even made up a proverb about such characters. “Force a fool to pray to God, he will break his forehead.” Here the hero immediately comes to mind, who guarded the door, separate from the house.
An ordinary fool. Every nation has such a character. Against the background of such characters, anyone feels smart enough, so both storytellers and listeners love to laugh at this hero.

The image of Ivan the Fool in fairy tales of the peoples of the world

Of course, the folklore of each nation is original and has its own national flavor, but if you look closely, in the legends different countries you can find very similar heroes. The most interesting thing is that in other countries our hero is also called Ivan. The English fool's name is John, the French one is Jean, the Spanish one is Juan, the German one is Hans, the Italian one is Giovanni.

French Jean- simply a standard of hopeless stupidity. He firmly believes that the pig he bought will run home on its own if he shows it the way. Here the fool serves as an example of ordinary human stupidity, which can be laughed at for a long time.

English fairy tales are different in that they are more like cautionary tales. The main features of the hero are decency and kindness, but at the same time he is not particularly savvy. He is very efficient, so he takes orders given as a joke literally, which is why he often finds himself in ridiculous funny situations.

If we take closer foreign countries, that is, the countries of the former Soviet Union, whose fairy tales are similar not only in the same names of the characters, but also in overlapping plot lines.

There is probably not a single Russian-speaking person who could not immediately remember at least one of which - Ivan the Fool. And everyone can also describe this hero: Ivan is the youngest son in the family, unlucky, lazy and good-natured. It’s better not to ask him for anything, otherwise, and only after much persuasion, Ivanushka will make everything worse than ever! But why then is it he who, at the end of the fairy tale, gets all the best and half the kingdom to boot? Let's try to figure this out.

Tales of Ivan the Fool: list

The best way to help us understand the character of the hero is the fairy tales themselves, or rather, their retelling. Let's take only three of them, the most typical, so to speak.

"Salt". A tale about the merchant's son Ivan, who once set off on a ship with planks and planks, found himself in an unknown land during a storm and, having discovered salt there, set off to trade it. Having successfully sold everything, he managed to take away the Tsar’s daughter as well. But the older brothers did not yawn, they threw Ivan into the ocean, and they themselves divided his spoils. But the good hero was lucky here too: he took him home, right behind festive table, giant. And the father, having learned about misbehavior The older brothers drove them out of sight, and married the younger brothers to the princess.
"The Tale of Ivan the Fool." In this tale, Ivan the Fool tracks down three horses who are trampling the grass in the royal garden. The mouse helps him in this good fellow generously fed. Three horses - silver, gold and diamond - become the property of Ivanushka. But! Just as he was a fool for everyone behind the stove, he remained so: he didn’t admit to anyone about his prey! Later, when, on the king’s orders, he had to jump to the princess’s balcony, he began to do this in turn, on each horse. And again he returned to the stove: what can you do, you fool?! Only when they found him and brought him in did Ivan the Fool and the princess begin to live together. True, not in the chambers themselves, but in the goose barn. And only three wars, which Ivan won riding on his magic horses, proved to the whole kingdom that he was no fool, but simply very modest and A real hero! For this Ivan became king.
"The Fool and the Birch." In this fairy tale, the fool is a real one, because he tried to sell an inherited bull to an old dry birch tree he found in the forest. And he lent it to her! And I went for two days to get the money, still waiting for it to come back. And only on the third - I couldn’t resist, I hit the trunk with an ax, and there was a treasure hidden by robbers! Well, happy fools!

There are also fairy tales about Ivan the Fool, their names can be continued endlessly: “The Horse, the Tablecloth and the Horn”, “Ivan Bykovich”, “The Little Humpbacked Horse”, “Sivka-Burka”, “ Ivan the peasant son and Miracle Yudo”, etc.

Why did people like Ivan’s image so much?

Why is Ivan the Fool a hero of fairy tales? Why do the Russian people feel such love for him? Is it because the Slavs are generally characterized by sympathy for the orphaned and wretched, a kind of Christian pity? We can talk about this for a long time.

After all, the people who lived for many centuries in poverty and hopelessness probably felt the same unloved youngest son- Ivan the Fool, deceived by fate. Although, in defiance of this, not only the fairy tale, but also life itself taught - not the truly fool who, sitting on the stove, measures the ashes with a hat, spits at the ceiling or sells a bull to a birch tree, but the one who, arrogant, does not hear the world around him, is not connected with it together. Pride is a sin, and it will be punished!

Faith in miracles gives birth to miracles

Ivan is guided in his actions not by logic, but only by intuition. Where does a person who always knows what, where and how much get intuition from? How can it develop within the narrow framework of decency and canons? For a fool, the law is not written, and if it is written, it is not read, and so on... This means that our Ivan, of all the options, will choose the most illogical, the most “wild”, but necessarily, as it turns out later, leading to success. After all, nothing prevents him from listening to his intuition, and most importantly, hearing it!

Remember the fairy tale where Ivan worked for three years as a priest, and when he was offered the choice of a bag of coins or a bag of sand for his labor, our hero, based on a logic only understandable to him, chose sand? A fool, and nothing more!

But on the way home, he came across a fire in the forest, in which a beautiful girl was burning, and that’s where the sand came in handy! Ivan poured fire on them, saved the girl, and she, turning out to be a witch, became his devoted wife and assistant.

By the way, why do you think the sorceress chose Ivan for herself? Yes, probably for the same reason: this person knows how to act not by the rules, but by listening to his heart. Who, if not a sorceress, can appreciate such talent!

Features of the character of a fairy-tale hero

Pay attention to the important character traits of our main character. All Russian fairy tales about Ivan the Fool describe him not just as stupid, but as naive. For him, every new day is an opportunity to live anew, that is, not to reproach himself endlessly for voluntary and involuntary previous mistakes (and he doesn’t even remember them!), but to start all over again. Isn’t this what followers of all kinds of philosophical and religious movements strive for?

In other words, Ivan the Fool proves every time that human knowledge and skills in life depend very little, that is, they are secondary and cannot play the main, decisive role in a person’s fate. Remember the saying of the greatest Lao Tzu: “Smart people are not scientists, and scientists are not smart.”

And Ivan in fairy tales is always absolutely open to higher knowledge. Even when he sets out on a journey, as a rule, he “goes wherever his feet take him” or “wherever his eyes look.” He thus immediately discards common sense(with whom his older brothers do not part until the end of the fairy tale) and this only results in a win. It turns out that not everything in our lives obeys this very common sense!

Reflection of pagan traditions in the image of Ivan the Fool

Some researchers closely linked the image of Ivan with pagan traditions preserved in folklore. For example, A. A. Durov in his dissertation emphasized that Ivan the Fool adorns Russian folk tales not only because of his narrow-mindedness, but because the pagans, it turns out, called everyone undergoing the initiation rite that way.

And the point here was precisely in the peculiarities of the neophyte’s behavior: he had to forget his old life, abandon rationality in actions. It was this “stupidity” that became the distinctive quality of a person who wanted to turn from a “baked oaf” into a real man.

Remember: in the fairy tale, at the beginning of it, Ivan is a laughing stock, who, sitting at the stove, excuse the quote, “twists snot on his fist.” And in the end he is a successful, lucky young man. So, the initiation has been completed!

But what if you look at it from the other side?

Perhaps the image of the simpleton Ivan the Fool reveals only the people's dream of supernatural forces who can help anyone? And some researchers believe that Ivanushka is a poetic dream, reflecting a dream of a carefree, cheerful life, which will still lead to happiness and wealth.

In the essay “Ivan the Fool. The roots of the Russian folk faith" A. Sinyavsky even grieves about the people who chose such a main character. After all, fools in fairy tales are dirty, ragged, unwashed, without a penny to their name, and lazy to the point of insanity. But they are good at playing the pipe or composing songs. This total laziness frightens the author of the essay, because it supposedly proves that the Russian person, expecting the blessings of life from above, forgets about his personal responsibility.

Evg. Trubetskoy, in his discussion of the fairy-tale Fool, argues that the habit of shifting responsibility onto the “broad shoulders of Nikola Ugodnik” is the scourge of the Slavic character, lulling his energy and robbing him of the will to win.

The attitude of living creatures to Ivan the Fool in a fairy tale

But it should be noted that it is not laziness or narrow-mindedness that has attracted loyal admirers to Ivan for so many centuries, but his kindness, gullibility and straightforwardness. This hero doesn't skimp on kind word and the thing is: he will release, having saved a living creature from trouble, he will take pity on the wanderer or old woman, and they will all subsequently repay him in the same coin.

A hero like Ivan the Fool will be helped by a gray wolf, a pike, a dog, and a cat. All obstacles give way to him - after all, he is not afraid that this may not happen!

Remember the path to success indicated in the movie “The Magicians”: “I see the goal - I see no obstacles”? This is exactly what happens to Ivanushka in every fairy tale. He sees no obstacles to cutting off twelve heads of the Serpent Gorynych or turning into beautiful prince, plunging into a vessel with rejuvenating water. He trusts in God and receives according to his faith!

There are other options for the origin of Ivan’s offensive nickname

Or maybe Ivan was known as a fool not because of the peculiarities of his mind? The guy was just unlucky - he was born third in the family, which means that all the inheritance left from his father will be taken by the eldest sons, and the youngest will be left with nothing. Isn’t it because Ivan is a fool that he was already passed over from a young age?

There is another option as to why Ivanushka bears such an offensive nickname. The fact is that in Ancient Rus' children were given two names. One, received at baptism, was kept secret (remember the proverb: “the name is called a duck, but the name is a duck”?), and the second was deliberately unsightly, even frightening, so that evil spirits would not want to take the child away or do something bad to him: after all, it’s like that The baby is no longer good! And there lived in Russian villages children who were up to 13 years old strange names: Scary, Ailment, Rottooth, Blackmouth, etc.

Children were often named in order of birth: Pervak (or First), Drugak (Second, Other), Tretyak, Chetvertak and so on, according to the number of heirs. So, some researchers believe that Fool is a transformed, modified name Drugak. Well, perhaps Fools were such only by birth order...

The image of Ivan the Fool in child psychology

Speaking about such a controversial image in Russian culture, it is important to note that fairy tales about Ivan the Fool are also effective method child psychotherapy. After all, a child naturally feels timid about the future: how will he fit into adult life? After all, he knows and can do so little! And the fairy tale calms him down: “Don’t be afraid, those who ended up at the top weren’t the same!” The fairy tale says: “The main thing is to take the first step, trusting your inner voice, and then you will get even more than you expect!”

And the child, pushed by the success of such a hero as Ivan the Fool, goes, no longer afraid, into adulthood, equipped with important experience: there is no such bottom from which one cannot rise, there is no such trouble that cannot be overcome.

By the way, both every child and the fabulous Ivan are always open to miracles. Maybe that's why miracles constantly happen to them? And the fairy tale about the Fool is actually also about how to forget being too “clever” if you strive to win.

So who is this beloved

Researchers believe that fairy tales about Ivan the Fool contain a certain strategy that does not proceed from standard postulates calling for always acting wisely, but, on the contrary, is based on the search for original, illogical and unexpected decisions. But they are successful!

Hidden in Ivan the Fool is an ideal person - true to his word, honest and devoid of personal interest. After all, he has a negative attitude towards wealth (received as an addition to his wife), despite the fact that at the end of the fairy tale he always owns it.

This state of affairs is quite explainable by the fact that the desire for wealth is, from the point of view of the Russian people, always a sign of self-interest, greed, and therefore cannot be a quality positive person. And since Ivanushka is the embodiment of something ideal, then he simply must be unmercenary, not knowing the value of money and not striving to make it.

Why does God love fools?

Although the statement given in the subtitle seems illogical at first glance, there is still logic in it. Judge for yourself: the Fool has no one else to rely on! Nobody can help him anymore! And he won't help himself either. There remains only hope in God's providence.

In addition, Ivan the Fool, no matter what fairy tales he appears in, is always filled with extraordinary trust only in this. He does not listen to human advice and does not learn anything from his own experience, but he is absolutely open to Providence - and it never fails such a hero!

And not only Fools, but also quite reasonable heroes fairy tales The Lord brings them out of a difficult situation for them as soon as they find themselves at a crossroads - they don’t know where to go. That is, behind each of them there is an invisible image of Ivan the Fool, his passive, open-to-perception state, which helps to make the only right choice and win the struggle for life.

The image of the Fool in literature and cinema

Ivan the fool, capable of “breaking” with himself all the boundaries and decency that surrounded him so closely ordinary person, took deep roots in Russian literature and cinema. F. M. Dostoevsky, A. N. Ostrovsky, N. S. Leskov, M. Gorky, and many others took advantage of this image in their time. famous writers and poets.

After all, you can put into his mouth something that a “noble” hero would never say, and his actions force the viewer to be in constant tension and continuously follow the development of the plot.

Art proves to us: it is Fools who are truly free people. They are not bound by conventions, their actions defy logic, and everything they do is the right way to the Miracle.

And thank God that Fools are indestructible! Otherwise, miracles would simply leave us, and the world, accordingly, would dry up through the efforts of “wise men” and pragmatists.

If in order for there to be a place for Magic in the world, they are necessary, then each of us can and should from time to time put on the cap of the main character of the fairy tale about Ivan the Fool. The names that we give to this action are always the same - this is life!

Once upon a time there lived Ivanushka the Fool, a handsome man, but no matter what he did, everything turned out funny for him - not like with people.

One man hired him as a worker, and he and his wife went to the city; wife and says to Ivanushka:
- You stay with the children, look after them, feed them!
- And with what? – asks Ivanushka.
- Take water, flour, potatoes, crumble and cook - there will be a stew!
The man orders:
- Guard the door so that the children don’t run away into the forest!

The man and his wife left; Ivanushka climbed onto the floor, woke up the children, dragged them to the floor, sat down behind them and said:
- Well, here I am, looking after you!
The children sat on the floor for a while and asked for food; Ivanushka dragged a tub of water into the hut, poured half a sack of flour and a measure of potatoes into it, shook it all out with a rocker and thought out loud:
- Who needs to be chopped?
The children heard it and got scared:
- He will probably crush us!
And they quietly ran away from the hut.

Ivanushka looked after them, scratched the back of his head, and thought: “How am I going to look after them now? Moreover, the door must be guarded so that she does not run away!”
He looked into the tub and said:
- Cook, stew, and I’ll go look after the children!
He took the door off its hinges, put it on his shoulders and went into the forest; suddenly the Bear steps towards him - he was surprised and growls:
- Hey, why are you carrying the tree into the forest?
Ivanushka told him what happened to him, - the Bear sat down on hind legs and laughs:
- What a fool you are! I'll eat you for this!
And Ivanushka says:
“You’d better eat the children, so that next time they listen to their father and mother and don’t run into the forest!”
The bear laughs even harder and rolls on the ground laughing!
- I’ve never seen such a stupid thing! Let's go, I'll show you to my wife!
He took him to his den. Ivanushka walks and hits the pine trees with the door.
- Leave her alone! - says the Bear.
- No, I’m true to my word: I promised to keep you safe, so I’ll keep you safe!

We came to the den. The bear says to his wife:
- Look, Masha, what a fool I brought you! Laughter!

And Ivanushka asks the Bear:
- Auntie, have you seen the kids?
- Mine are at home, sleeping.
- Come on, show me, aren’t these mine?

The Bear showed him three cubs; he says:
- Not these, I had two.
Then the Bear sees that he is stupid and laughs too:
- But you had human children!
“Well, yes,” said Ivanushka, “you can figure them out, little ones, which ones are whose!”
- That's funny! - the Bear was surprised and said to her husband: - Mikhailo Potapych, we won’t eat him, let him live among our workers!
“Okay,” agreed the Bear, “even though he’s a person, he’s too harmless!”
The Bear gave Ivanushka a basket and ordered:
- Go pick some wild raspberries, the kids will wake up, I’ll treat them to something delicious!
- Okay, I can do this! - said Ivanushka. - And you guard the door!
Ivanushka went to the forest raspberry patch, picked a basket full of raspberries, ate his fill, went back to the bears and sang at the top of his lungs:
Oh, how awkward
Ladybugs!
Is it the ants?
Or lizards!
He came to the den and shouted:
- Here it is, raspberry!
The cubs ran up to the basket, growled, pushed each other, tumbled, very happy!

And Ivanushka, looking at them, says:
- Ehma, it’s a pity that I’m not a Bear, otherwise I would have children!
The bear and his wife laugh.
- Oh, my fathers! - the Bear growls, - you can’t live with him, you’ll die of laughter!
“Tell you what,” says Ivanushka, “you guard the door here, and I’ll go look for the kids, otherwise the owner will give me trouble!”
And the Bear asks her husband:
- Misha, you should help him!
“We need to help,” agreed the Bear, “he’s very funny!”