It was a fable and the little casket just opened to read. And the casket just opened

Were borrowed from literary works. Some of them came to us from famous fables Ivan Andreevich Krylov. For example, the phraseological unit “and the box just opened.”

In this article we will look at this quote from Krylov's fable, determine its meaning and moral.

The meaning of the phraseological unit “and the casket just opened”

To define the expression, we turn to various dictionaries. The intelligent I. S. Ozhegova gives the following interpretation to this stable phrase: “About what seemed complex, but in fact was completely simple.” The linguist noted that the expression is used in a conversational style.

Let's consider what definition the dictionary of I. A. Bunin, edited by A. I. Vasiliev, gives to the stable phrase “and the casket just opened.” The meaning of the phraseological unit in it is as follows. “It is used when talking about some matter, an issue in the resolution of which there was nothing to be clever about.”

The phraseological dictionary of Rose T.V. contains the following interpretation: “A simple way out of a seemingly difficult situation.”

As we see, all definitions are expressed in different words, but have a common meaning.

Origin story

As already noted, it came to us from the 1808 fable “Larchik” by I. A. Krylov. It begins with the author’s main idea. What follows is the story of how one mechanic tries to unravel the secret of a chest without a lock: how it opens.

He turns it this way and that, racks his brain, presses on different places. But the casket does not budge, and the audience laughs. The mechanic tried, sweated, got tired and gave up. But the casket opened simply, it was not locked.

Moral of the phrase

There is such a thing as “breaking into open door" It perfectly conveys the meaning of the phraseological unit “and the casket just opened.” The author of the quote from the fable we are considering conveys to readers the idea that often seemingly complex situations have a completely simple way out.

The phrase from this work instantly became a catchphrase. It is popular among writers and journalists. The former often use it in dialogues, while the latter often use it in titles. They use this expression to show that everything is actually simpler and clearer than it seems.

The meaning of the fable passage is relevant to all of us. After all, we often find things complicated that sometimes actually have a simple solution. In such cases, it is worth remembering Krylov’s fable “The Casket”. She perfectly shows us how people complicate something that has a simple solution.

It often happens to us
And work and wisdom to see there,
Where you just have to guess
Just get down to business.

A Casket was brought to someone from the master.
The decoration and cleanliness of the Casket caught my eye;
Well, everyone admired the beautiful Casket.
Here a sage enters the mechanics room.
Looking at the Casket, he said: “A casket with a secret,
So; it doesn't even have a lock;
And I undertake to open it; yes, yes, I'm sure of it;
Don't laugh so secretly!
I will find the secret and I will reveal the little chest to you:
In mechanics, I’m also worth something.”
So he set to work on the Casket:
Turns him from all sides
And he breaks his head;
First a carnation, then another, then a bracket.
Here, looking at him, another
Shakes his head;
They whisper, and they laugh among themselves.
The only thing that rings in my ears is:
“Not here, not like that, not there!” The mechanic is even more eager.
Sweated, sweated; but finally got tired
I left Larchik behind
And I couldn’t figure out how to open it:
And the casket simply opened.

Heroes

Mechanic

One day a mechanic found himself in the workshop. There he happened to see a beautiful and skillfully made casket. There was no lock on this chest. The hero claimed that he would definitely unravel the secret of the mechanism and open the casket. The mechanic tried various methods to open the casket. However, all attempts remained unsuccessful. People crowded around him and laughed at him. As a result, the mechanic got tired and backed down. But as it turned out, the casket opened simply.

Morality

Quite often a person tries to find complicated ways to solve a problem when it can actually be solved quite easily.

Fable Analysis

History of creation

The fable “The Casket” was first read by I. A. Krylov at Prince Shakhovsky’s in May 1807. The work was published in the Dramatic Bulletin magazine for 1808.

Meaning of the name

Casket (or casket) is an outdated name for a small box, a chest, which often had some kind of ingenious lock with a secret.

Main theme

The main theme of the work is a mockery of unnecessary physical and mental effort in the simplest matter.

Until the sage appears, it never occurs to anyone that the Casket might have some kind of secret. People simply admire the master’s wonderful work.

The sage is far from understanding beauty; he is impatient to demonstrate his deep knowledge of Mechanics. The lack of a lock on the Casket only increases his suspicions about the secret. However, all the knowledge and skills of the sage do not bring him any success. The sweaty hero cannot open the Casket and admits defeat.

The final, proverbial phrase (“And the Casket just opened”) contains caustic irony about people who overly praise their intelligence and find themselves at a dead end in everyday situations.

Issues

The main problem inherent in the fable is the deliberate complication of obvious things and concepts. The author gives the most obvious example, but this problem occurs in almost all areas of human activity.

By demonstrating their “abstruseness,” people strive to elevate themselves, artificially increase their authority and gain respect from others. But often their mental efforts turn out to be not only useless, but also downright stupid.

“Larchik” is one of Krylov’s first original fables. Krylov's fable Chest tells the story of an experienced mechanic who tried unsuccessfully to open a casket. Despite the efforts of the master and the hints of the assembled spectators, the casket was never opened - it turned out that there was simply no lock in it.

Fable Chest read

It often happens to us
And work and wisdom to see there,
Where you just have to guess
Just get down to business.

A Casket was brought to someone from the master.
The decoration and cleanliness of the Casket caught my eye;
Well, everyone admired the beautiful Casket.
Here a sage enters the mechanics room.
Looking at the Casket, he said: “A casket with a secret,
So; it doesn't even have a lock;
And I undertake to open it; yes, yes, I'm sure of it;
Don't laugh so secretly!
I will find the secret and I will reveal the little chest to you:
In mechanics, I’m also worth something.”
So he set to work on the Casket:
Turns him from all sides
And he breaks his head;
First a carnation, then another, then a bracket.
Here, looking at him, another
Shakes his head;
They whisper, and they laugh among themselves.
The only thing that rings in my ears is:
"Not here, not like that, not there!" The mechanic is even more eager.
Sweated, sweated; but finally got tired
I left Larchik behind
And I couldn’t figure out how to open it:
And the casket simply opened.

Moral of the fable Larchik

It often happens to us
And work and wisdom to see there,
Where you just have to guess
Just get down to business.

Fable Larchik - analysis

“The Casket” is a landmark work for the great fabulist. The analysis of Krylov's fable Casket usually begins from the end, with the phrase “And the casket just opened.” With these words, Krylov says that you should not complicate the tasks too much without trying to solve them in the simplest way.

But in this context, the long-term efforts of an experienced master and the absurd hints of the public are also of considerable importance. This is the personification of attempts to understand Krylov himself. The writer claims that there is no need to carefully select the key to his fables - most often, it lies right on the surface!

There is another way to read this work. The writer never gave the reader a concrete understanding of how exactly the casket was opened? Another moral of Krylov’s fable Larchik follows from this - not a single problem has the only correct solution, each case requires a special approach. The reader must understand for himself whether the casket really did not have a lock, or whether the mechanic simply could not find it.

The fable “Larchik” by Krylov will tell little listeners how a mechanic tried to find complexity where there was none.

Read the text of the fable:

It often happens to us

And work and wisdom to see there,

Where you just have to guess

Just get down to business.

A Casket was brought to someone from the master.

The decoration and cleanliness of the Casket caught my eye;

Well, everyone admired the beautiful Casket.

Here a sage enters the mechanics room.

Looking at the Casket, he said: “A casket with a secret,

So; it doesn't even have a lock;

And I undertake to open it; yes, yes, I'm sure of it;

Don't laugh so secretly!

I will find the secret and I will reveal the little chest to you:

In mechanics, I’m also worth something.”

So he set to work on the Casket:

Turns him from all sides

And he breaks his head;

First a carnation, then another, then a bracket.

Here, looking at him, another

Shakes his head;

They whisper, and they laugh among themselves.

The only thing that rings in my ears is:

"Not here, not like that, not there!" The mechanic is even more eager.

Sweated, sweated; but finally got tired

I left Larchik behind

And I couldn’t figure out how to open it:

And the casket simply opened.

Moral of Larchik's fable:

The moral of the fable is that you should not look for complexities and hidden meanings where they do not and cannot exist. Often, like this master, people try to come up with their own facts for any situation. But in this way they only complicate what is actually simple and understandable. Certainly, main character fables - a mechanic - was an experienced craftsman. However, he was not smart enough to understand: there was nothing complicated in this casket. The fabulist teaches that looking for a secret meaning in such cases simply means complicating life for yourself and others.

Marina Serova

And the casket just opened

Tarasov is an ordinary provincial town with a million inhabitants. No better and no worse than others. It has everything that other Russian cities have: cinemas and shopping centers, stadiums and universities, restaurants, casinos, nightclubs. There is also an airport, museums, theaters, large areas and beautiful cathedrals. In general, there is everything.

And life in Tarasov proceeds the same way as everywhere else - there is both good and bad. There are snowstorms and floods, landslides and hurricanes, inflation and privatization. There are elections and re-elections, revelations of unscrupulous politicians and contract killings.

By the way, Tarasov does not lag behind the capital in terms of contract killings. First, they kill some crime boss in his own office, and with him, God knows how many other people. Then they blow up an entrepreneur along with his car, poison a local politician, and kill the president of some society with a pistol at the entrance of his house. Then a former mayor dies a mysterious death, or under strange circumstances a major industrialist commits suicide... This list goes on and on.

But besides the negativity that modern life is rich in, Tarasov residents have a whole heap of attractions nearby - several theaters, the Sobinov Conservatory, a museum founded by Radishchev’s grandson... Chernyshevsky, Sobinov, Konstantin Fedin, Lev Kassil and many other famous people of the past lived here. The city of Tarasov is lucky with current celebrities, such as Tabakov, Yankovsky, or pop stars Alena Apina, Bari Alibasov and other nays.

Tarasov has always been famous for his love of art. There is no other city on the map that is so valued by touring musicians and actors. Therefore, it is not surprising that the incident described below occurred right here, in Tarasov...

A long-awaited event took place in everyone’s favorite Radishchev Museum - an exhibition of a unique collection of ancient icons. Tarasovites, passionate admirers and connoisseurs of “the legends of deep antiquity,” were looking forward to its opening. The director of the museum negotiated for several months with the owner of the collection, Sergei Viktorovich Godyashchev.

The collector of rarities did not object to the exhibition and agreed to show his fellow countrymen his collection, but... The unexpected happened: at the last moment, when all that remained was to sign the contract, urgent matters required Godyashchev’s presence in Moscow, and the contract remained unsigned. The director of the museum, Alexei Petrovich Belov, very upset, of course, by this circumstance, was literally besieged by journalists from television and local newspapers, and since he had no doubt at all that the agreement would be signed, he told reporters about the exhibition as a decided matter. And suddenly... such an offensive discrepancy.

In the meantime, Alexey Petrovich decided to start repairing and maintaining the museum’s security system, so that when the icons finally take their places, everything will be in order and there will be nothing to complain about.

The alarm system in the museum was, of course, quite old and left much to be desired. The director was worried that she would not be able to provide full, reliable protection of the valuable collection of icons during the exhibition that was being negotiated. But quite recently a real miracle happened: one company offered the museum to install an ultra-modern security system with video cameras and other sophisticated bells and whistles in exchange for government subsidies promised to the museum. Belov initially refused, but then he reasoned this way: he would not receive money from the state earlier than in six months, and then he would still have to seriously deal with the alarm system. Therefore, with a clear conscience, he agreed to accept the offer, which seemed quite acceptable to him. The relevant documents were signed, and the company undertook to install all the necessary devices upon request.

And now, since the exhibition was postponed, the director decided to use the services of the company. On the same day, when it became clear that Godyashchev urgently had to leave for Moscow, Belov called a team of installers. They soon arrived and began unloading the equipment. Alexey Petrovich watched them with undisguised admiration, they worked so easily and harmoniously. At the threshold of the museum, a mountain of boxes, boxes and coils of wire gradually grew. There were ladders, rope lifts and a bunch of other incomprehensible equipment. Belov opened the doors of the museum for the brigade, and the mountain from the porch just as quickly migrated inside. The installers, all of them in orange overalls, quickly and efficiently brought their equipment into working order. Alexey Petrovich could not keep up everywhere, work was carried out in several places of the building at once, every ten minutes the foreman came up to him and clarified some details. In a word, the museum has turned into an anthill.

It all ended exactly one day later, as suddenly as it began. Alexey Petrovich walked through the museum with an inspection. He expected to see some garbage, wire scraps, for example, but the halls were perfectly clean. The alarm system, as Belov used to call the security system in the old fashioned way, was installed, but there was no trace of any activity left. The director walked around the building twice, examined the doors and windows, from which the ugly wires from the old alarm had completely disappeared. In general, everything was fine.

Then he went to the former technical room, where all the museum trash had previously been dumped. Now there is a control panel for the security system. The room turned out to be filled with monitors, instruments and other boxes of unknown purpose. Alexey Petrovich carefully sat down on a chair in front of the main control panel, looking at this miracle of technology. Suddenly there was a knock on the door, and without waiting for an answer, a young tall guy in a gray suit entered the room. Taking a quick glance at everything, he turned to Alexei Petrovich:

Hello, are you the director?

Yes, I, Alexey Petrovich Belov, director of the museum.

Great! I'm Maxim Romanchenko, they sent me from the company that installed the system here. I will work for you as its operator for a month. During this time, you can find a replacement for me from your staff or hire a person, and I will train him in everything.

Amazing! - Alexey Petrovich said smiling. “I was just now thinking about what we are going to do with all this now, and, to be honest, I already wanted to call you.”

Well, since I’m here myself, let me explain to you how the system works so that you have an idea of ​​what you’ve got. “The guy put a small leather case on the table and, clicking the locks, took out a huge thick book sealed in plastic. - Here is the instruction manual, but in general only those who already know how to handle the system can use it.