Literature of antiquity and the Middle Ages - Summary - 2019
Panchatantra
Bhasa (III-IV centuries ?)
The Five Book is a world-famous collection of Indian fairy tales, fables, tales and parables. Insert stories "Panchatantra" (about 100 in different versions), penetrated into the literature and folklore of many peoples, are united by the framework stories that have one or another didactic installation.
There were three stupid and lazy sons in the king of Amarashcati. To awaken their minds, the tsar summoned the wise man Vishnusharman, and he took six months to teach the princes the science of correct behavior. To this end, he wrote five books, which alternately told his disciples.
Book One: "Disengagement of Friends"
A merchant leaves Sandjika in the woods of a dying bull. The bull is gradually gaining from the spring water and the juicy grass, and soon his mighty roar begins to scare the king of the forest beasts of the lion Pingalak. Adventurers of Pingalgaki, Jackals of Damanak and Karataka, are looking for a bull and conclude a union between him and the lion. In due course, the Sandjiki and Pingalgaki friendship becomes so strong and close that the king begins to neglect his former environment. Then the jackals that are left behind do not quarrel. They slander a lion on a bull, accusing Sandiwaka of the fact that he intended to seize the royal power, and the bull, in turn, warned that Pingalak would want to eat his meat. Deceived by jackals, Pingalak and Sandjika are attacking each other, and the lion kills a bull.
Book Two: "Buying Friends"
The pigeons enter the network set by the hunter, but they manage to take off with the network and fly to the hole of the mouse Hiraniyah, which breaks the net and frees pigeons. All this sees the raven of Labhupa Tanaka and, admired by the mind and skill of the mouse, enters into her friendship. In the country, meanwhile, there is a drought, and the raven, having planted Hiranya on his back, flies with her to the lake, where a friend of the mouse lives in the turtle of Mantharak. Shortly after escaping from the hunter, Chitranga was joined to them, and all four, sincerely attaching themselves to each other, are being harvested together and spend time in wise conversations. One day, however, the gaiter got confused in the squeaks, and when Hiranna released her, a slow turtle, who did not manage to escape with her friends, fell into the hands of the hunter. Then the doe pretends to be dead, the raven, so that the hunter has no doubts about her death, pretends to peck out her eyes, but barely one, leaving the turtle in a hurry for easy prey, four friends run away and henceforth live serenely and happily.
Book Three: "About the Crows and Owls"
On the big banyan tree there live crows, and in the mountain cave of the fortress near the uncountable number of owls. More powerful and cruel owls are constantly killing ravens, and they are gathering for a council on which one of the ministers of the fortunate king, the name of Sthradzhivin, proposes to resort to military cunning. He portrays a quarrel with his king, after which the ravens, having covered it with blood, throw at the foot of the tree. The Owls accept ostensibly injured by their relatives of Sthradzhivin as a defector and settle in the nest at the entrance to the cave. Sthadrazhivin gradually fills his nest with tree branches, and then he informs the ravens that they can fly and fire the nest along with the cave. That's what they do and thus they are struggling with their enemies, who perish in the fire.
Book Four: "Lost Purchased"
А palm tree around the sea grows on which the Rakamatukha monkey lives. She gets acquainted with the dolphin Vikaralamukha, who sinks daily to the tree and talks friendlyly with the monkey. This is the jealousy of the wife of a dolphin, and she requires her husband to bring her to the dinner heart of a monkey. No matter how hard it is for a dolphin, he is forced to submit to the demand of his wife due to the weakness of his character. To get the monkey's heart, the Viralalamukha invites her to her home and floats with her on her back along the bottomless sea. Realizing that the monkeys are nowhere to go, he admits to her in his design. Preserving the presence of the spirit, Rakamatukha exclaims: "What did you not tell me before? Then I would not leave my heart in the hollow of the tree. " The stupid dolphin returns to the shore, the monkey jumps on the palm tree and thus saves his life.
Book 5: "Reckless acts."
A certain hermit gives four luminaries to the four poor brahmanas and promises that if they go to the Himalayan mountains, each one of them will find a lantern where his lamp falls. In the first brahmana, the lamp falls to the treasure of copper, the second to the treasure of silver, and the third to the treasure of gold, and he proposes to the fourth to stay with him and to divide the gold equally. But in hopes that he will probably get more expensive than gold, diamonds, he goes further and soon encounters a person whose head is rolling an acute wheel, shaking it with blood. The wheel immediately jumps to the head of the fourth brahmana, and now, as explained by the stranger who got rid of suffering, it will remain in the brahmana until another overly greedy seeker of wealth comes.