Необыкновенные рассказчики. Каковы секреты их мастерства?

(Великая сказительница Арина Родионовна)

I like to read fairy tales written by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin a lot. They are similar to Russian folk tales with their plot and style. There are some features of folk tales, such as, good always triumphs over the evil, awards go to main positive character. Readers can find an entertaining plot, magical adventures, humor, jokes and instructive conclusions in fairy tales, written by Pushkin.

For the first time he heard Russian folk tales from his nanny Arina Rodionovna Jakovleva. The child was fond of listening to her stories. She was just a simple Russian woman, a peasant. She was a master of telling fairy-tales, knew a lot of folk beliefs, songs, sayings.

Arina Rodionovna was a very close person to Pushkin from early childhood. He grew on her hands. His nanny also loved him a lot. So that she put heart and soul in his upbringing.

Arina Rodionovna encouraged Alexander Sergeevich to love and remember folk tales. Scholars suppose that the character of Finn in poem «Ruslan and Ljudmila» appeared under the impression of the nanny`s story which he had heard in his childhood.

As an adult, being in exile in the village Mikhailovskoe, poet met her old nanny again. They parted when Pushkin was 12. He went to study in the lyceum. But at that time he was 26 and was already known as a famous poet and Arina Rodionovna got old.

I Think, it was so.

It is winter outside. «The storm covers the sky with a haze…» It is semidarkness in the room the Elderly woman, who was dressed in a simple sundress and a scarf tells Pushkin something with enthusiasm. The poet forgetting everything attentively listens to her and look at the nanny`s intelligent face, at her wrinkles on the forehead and cheeks, bright eyes with cunning. Alexander Sergeevich is interested in her story and asks himself such questions as. «What is it about?», «Is it song about how the tomtit hatching safe beyond the ocean blue?», «Or is it about how the maiden fetching water at the morning dew?», «Maybe, this story is about tsar Saltan?», «Or is it the tale of the Priest and his workman Balda?»

 Pushkin being involved quickly takes the goose feather, a sheet of paper and writes dawn the nanny`s story. Asking over and over, he gets author`s answers to incomprehensive questions.

According to the words of Arina Rodionovna, the poet wrote seven fairy-tales in Mikhailovskoe. He was so inspired by their folk plot, that he creator such masterpieces without which we can`t imagine our Russian literature, such as, «The tale of the Priest and his workman Balda», «The tale of tsar Saltan » and «The tale of the Dead Princess and seven Bogatyrs». He also presented the plot of «The tale of tsar Berendei» to his second self and teacher – Vasiliy Andreevich  Zhukovskiy, who gave a poetic form to it.

Curious, what was attracting for Pushkin in nanny`s fairy-tales.

Probably, Arina Rodionovna was an unusual story-teller. For sure, narrator adds distinctive features and on individual shape. Fairy-tale is a magic, what means that the persons, who tells the story, is wizard in some way, too. Appositely, Arina Rodionovna had been telling stories for f long time. Probably, she could covey magic.

A plenty of characters came to Pushkin from Russian folk tales for instance, the workman Balda, an old Bies, imp, tsar Saltan, the fairest Princess Swan, the uncle Chernomor and others.                                                                                     

Pushkin took from nanny plenty of folk sayings, proverbs, jokes and endings.

«There once was I, and drank of sweet mead at my leisure…» («Ruslan and Ljudmila»)

«I drank beer and mead there – yet

Only got my whiskers wet.» («The tale of tsar Saltan » and «The tale of the Dead Princess and seven Bogatyrs»).

Common speech sooner or later appeared in his works: poems, tales, prose and letters. The tsar Koshey «withers», the tsar Saltan stood «beyond» the fence, the princess flourishes «on the sly», old woman flew into a rage. «You are so restless, as my nanny says».

What a wonderful lines the poet dedicated to Arina Rodionovna in his poems «Winter evening», «To nanny», «I have visited again…» 

Her simple speech and her advice

And blame, which`s full of fondness

My tired heard they cheered up

With consolation noiseless…

Her name appears in letters, autobiographical notes, poems many more times. Even emperor Pavel chidl the nanny and ordered to take off  Alexander`s peaked cap. God knows whether it was or not. But this fact is more important that Pushkin considers the nanny as the closest person at that moment between the emperor and himself.

 Alexander Sergeevich gave features of Arina Rodionovna to many literary characters. «All the fairy-tales, which the maid Kirilovna could remember, were retold me», - wrote the author of the narrative «Shot». Or the nanny of Vladimir Dubrovsky Orina Egorovna Buzyreva is «faithful slave, nanny». It is wroth to note that dictated in Mikhailovskoe addressed from Arina Rodionovna to Pushkin letters are similar with letters written by nanny of  Dubrovsky.

An ordinary Russian peasant Arina Rodionovna influenced our Russian literature. On the one hand, she gave poets different plots of fairy-tales. On the other hand, thanks to her, common speech and archaic words became a part of literary language with Pushkin works.

There can`t be any doubt that Alexander`s nanny was an extraordinary story-taller. She was the best narrator, who could gain everyone`s attention and fascinate them with her stories. Arina Rodionovna conveyed to readers all her love to Pushkin with her stories. 

Использованная литература

1.       Вересаев В.В. Пушкин в жизни. // Вересаев В.В. Собрание сочинений в 4 томах. М., Правда, 1984, т. 2.

2.       Друзья Пушкина: Переписка; Воспоминания; Дневники. В 2 томах. М., Правда, 1984, т. 1.

3.       Переписка А.С. Пушкина в 2 томах. М., Художественна литература, 1982.

Пушкин А.С., Собрание сочинений в 10 томах. М., Правда, 1981