Sep 8, 2014
Krylov’s fables follow the form of La Fontaine’s, but are Russian to the core. Even his verse, ostensibly conventional iambic or trochaic lines of changing length and varied rhyme patterns„ often take on the rhythm of folk verse (сказовый стих).
The ethos of his fables are that of a conservative middlebrow Russian: wary of academic learning and highfalutin rhetoric; suspicious of foreign ideas and manners; resentful of bureaucratic and police tyranny; supporting of common civic virtues, simple good sense, and a quiet patriotism; and fond of life’s simple pleasures.
His language is vigorous, precise, and idiomatic - and his fables remain among the top achievements of Russian literature.
