Analysis: The man fed 2 generals. Analysis “How one man fed two generals. e) a condensed retelling of the denouement of “The Tale...”
What is the main idea of Saltykov-Shchedrin's work - the story of how one man fed two generals? and got the best answer
Reply from Kk pke[newbie]
Reply from Lyosha Avsetsin[newbie]
1. Once upon a time there were two generals, and since both were frivolous, they soon, at the behest of a pike, at my will, found themselves on a desert island.
2. - Lord! what the hell is this! where are we? - both exclaimed in a voice that was not their own.
3. “That’s it,” answered the other general, “you, Your Excellency, go to the east.” and I will go west... ; maybe we'll find something.
4. One general went to the right and saw trees growing, and all sorts of fruits on the trees. The general came to the stream and saw: the fish were teeming there, just teeming.
5. - Who would have thought that human food, in its original form, flies, swims and grows on trees?
6. Suddenly both generals looked at each other: an ominous fire shone in their eyes, their teeth chattered, and a dull growl came out of their chests.
7.The generals bowed their heads. Everything they looked at was evidence of food.
8.- .the man is everywhere, you just have to look for him! He's probably hidden somewhere, shirking work!
9. - Sleep, couch potato! - they pounced on him, “you probably wouldn’t even realize that two generals have been dying of hunger here for two days now!” Now go to work! .
10. The generals looked at the peasants’ efforts, and their hearts played merrily.
11.By evening the rope was ready. The generals tied the man to a tree with this rope so that he would not run away.
12....the man got so clever that he even started cooking soup in a handful
Reply from Nikita Bogatov[newbie]
about the fact that the generals are slackers and that’s all
Reply from Ѝduard Alekseenko[expert]
There are several of them:
1. Generals can get through everywhere without soap
2. Generals don’t have the impudence
3. The generals are fattening at the expense of the people
4.If you are not a general, then it sucks.
..Oh, how good it is to be a general...
Reply from Anna Simonyan[newbie]
Thanks a lot
Reply from Alena Kuznetsova[newbie]
1. Once upon a time there were two generals, and since both were frivolous, they soon, at the behest of a pike, at my will, found themselves on a desert island.
2. - Lord! what the hell is this! where are we? - both exclaimed in a voice that was not their own.
3. “That’s it,” answered the other general, “you, Your Excellency, go to the east.” and I will go west... ; maybe we'll find something.
4. One general went to the right and saw trees growing, and all sorts of fruits on the trees. The general came to the stream and saw: the fish were teeming there, just teeming.
5. - Who would have thought that human food, in its original form, flies, swims and grows on trees?
6. Suddenly both generals looked at each other: an ominous fire shone in their eyes, their teeth chattered, and a dull growl came out of their chests.
7.The generals bowed their heads. Everything they looked at was evidence of food.
8.- .the man is everywhere, you just have to look for him! He's probably hidden somewhere, shirking work!
9. - Sleep, couch potato! - they pounced on him, “you probably wouldn’t even realize that two generals have been dying of hunger here for two days now!” Now go to work! .
10. The generals looked at the peasants’ efforts, and their hearts played merrily.
11.By evening the rope was ready. The generals tied the man to a tree with this rope so that he would not run away.
12....the man got so clever that he even started cooking soup in a handful
In the story “The Tale of How One Man Fed Two Generals,” Saltykov-Shchedrin contrasts the ignorance and helplessness of the ruling circles with the ingenuity and activity of the common people.
COMPOSITION AND STORY
The fairy tale is built on the contrast of positive (in the person of a man) and negative (using the example of two generals).
Issues:
⦁ relationships between different layers of society, people and authorities;
⦁ oppression and fleecing of the peasantry by tsarist officials and landowners even after the abolition of serfdom.
Fairy tale beginning:
"Once upon a time there were two generals..."
Tie:
Two generals find themselves on a desert island.
Climax:
Meeting of generals with a man. He feeds them, builds a ship on which all three sail to St. Petersburg.
Interchange:
“Happy” ending: the generals return to their wealthy life in St. Petersburg, receive a large sum of money, and the man -
“a glass of vodka and a nickel of silver.”
MAIN IMAGES
IDEAL AND THEMATIC CONTENT
This situation will continue until the people stop voluntarily shackling themselves, but their consciousness
not quite ready for freedom yet.
GENRE ORIGINALITY
⦁ Social and political content is hidden in the form of a satirical tale.
⦁ A positive hero - a hardworking man - is also ridiculed.
ART MEDIA
⦁ Combination of real and fantastic: a copy of Moskovskie Vedomosti is found on a desert island, and a man is cooking soup in a handful.
⦁ Irony: the man worries whether he pleased the generals; a strong “man” meekly submits to weak and stupid generals; Having picked them “ten of the ripest apples,” he takes “one sour one” for himself; considers low pay for work fair.
⦁ Mixed speech style: folklore phrases, colloquial and clerical words.
⦁ Alogism: the generals don’t know that buns are baked from flour.
In their dialogues, the generals talk about food and the simplest things: that “human food, in its original form, flies, swims and grows on trees,” “why the sun rises first and then sets, and not vice versa,” how to find west and east. The generals' conversations show their complete ignorance.
Having found a man who was “shirking from work,” they first attacked him with abuse: “There was no limit to the indignation of the generals,” but then they changed their anger to mercy. The writer speaks about this mercy with bitter irony: “... he baked so many different provisions that the generals even thought: “Shouldn’t I give the parasite a piece?”
The generals’ joy at the “zeal” of their “dear friend” gave way to new mercy: they tied the man with a rope to a tree “so that he would not run away.” And finally, the greatest mercy they were capable of - they sent the peasant “a glass of vodka and a nickel of silver: have fun, man!”
The author laughs at both the generals and the peasant, but this laughter is different, it expresses the author’s different attitude towards his heroes. The writer laughs evilly at the generals, even mocks them at their helplessness, inability to act, and at the same time at their self-conceit, at their awareness of the importance of their own existence.
Saltykov-Shchedrin shows how close under the thin layer of civilization lies their animal instinct.
The author’s attitude towards the “man” is completely different. Saltykov-Shchedrin admires his ability to do any work in the most difficult conditions, his ingenuity and perseverance, and at the same time seems perplexed, looking at his humility and resignation: how can you allow yourself to be tied with the rope that you made yourself?
TBykova E.S., teacher of Russian language and literature, Municipal Educational Institution MOSH No. 4
Lesson topic: M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin.
“The story of how one man fed two generals”
(analysis of the work).
Lesson objectives:
educational: to help students understand the features of M.E.’s allegorical artistic style. Saltykov-Shchedrin and reveal the enduring significance of his works using the example of “The Tale of How One Man Fed Two Generals”;
developing: develop the skill of expressive reading, role-based reading; oral and written monologue speech;
educational: to cultivate respect for a person, for his skill; cultivate a sensitive attitude to the artistic word.
Equipment: materials from the “Today in Lesson” stand, an exhibition of books, a portrait of the writer, student workbooks on literature, a textbook on literature.
^ Lesson progress:
Organizational moment: check the readiness of the class for the lesson, students check their workplace.
Activation of students' knowledge. Introduction to the topic of the lesson.
- Is it true! True, always alone! Twice two makes four both in life and in art. Good and evil, truth and lies, loyalty and betrayal are the same in the book and in life. Remembering your life experience, you can cite popular sayings as confirmation: “The word of truth will outweigh the whole world”; “Stand boldly for a just cause”; “The truth stings the eyes”; “Everything is a blowjob, only the truth remains.”
Yes, yes, there is only one truth. But! True, there is one, but the paths to it are different.
– What do you think these paths are?!
– Why did I talk about this concept – “truth” – in literature class today?
^ Lesson topic message.
– Every writer, like any person about whom we know nothing, is like a closed book for us. To understand M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin as a person, it is not enough to look at his portrait, it is not enough to get acquainted with the facts of his biography. A real writer is a huge and inexhaustible world. Of course, works will help to open it.
So, we will analyze the fairy tale by M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin “The Tale of How One Man Fed Two Generals” to answer the following questions:
What did M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin want to say with his work?
Why was Shchedrin able to tell this truth?
^ Analysis of the work:
a) initial impression;
– Did you read the fairy tale to the end, what did you find funny and what did you find sad?
– What is the main problem that the author poses with this tale?
The relationship between government and people.
– What do you know about the reforms of the 1860s? (First of all, students name the abolition of serfdom) From this point of view, what are the problems of the work?
Liberation of the oppressed masses from all types of slavery.
b) vocabulary work;
– Look through your text and name the elements of the Russian fairy tale in the text (underline the houses with a pencil).
The fairytale beginning: “once upon a time there were two generals,” the movement of generals from comfortable St. Petersburg apartments to an uninhabited island “at the behest of the pike, at my will” - from the famous Russian fairy tale about Emelya and the magic pike; fairy-tale expressions: “no sooner said than done”, “this cannot be described with a pen, nor can it be said in a fairy tale”, “I drank chalk and beer, it ran down my mustache, but it didn’t get into my mouth.”
^ Printout of expressions:
Once upon a time there were two generals, and both were frivolous. Then soon, at the behest of the pike, at my will, we found ourselves on a desert island.
No sooner said than done. One general went to the right and saw trees growing, and all sorts of fruits on the trees...
How much fear the generals gained during the journey from storms and from different winds, how much they scolded the man for his parasitism - this cannot be described with a pen, nor in a fairy tale.
It turned out that the man even knew Podyacheskaya, because he was there, drank chalk and beer, it was running down his mustache, but it didn’t get into his mouth!
They went to the treasury, and how much money they raked in here - it’s impossible to say in a fairy tale, not to describe with a pen!
In folk tales, all these expressions serve as a kind of sayings and are used to accompany magic. Here they carry an ironic meaning, ridicule.
c) active conversation, checking homework;
– Which event does not fit into the fairy tale plot?
The reason why the strange event of moving to the island occurred. The generals “both were frivolous,” that is, not serious, and for this unexpected thing they were punished.
– What analogies can you name in connection with the generals ending up on a desert island? What work comes to mind?
I remember Daniel Defoe's novel about Robinson Crusoe. A simple shipwrecked sailor did not lose heart, but showed will and courage and in a few years turned the island into a blooming garden, making his home cozy and safe.
- “The Tale of How One Man Fed Two Generals” was written a century and a half after “Robinson Crusoe.” The novel was published many times in Russia. How do you see the differences between the situation of the novel and “The Tale...”?
Robinson withstands all adversity with honor and wins, he has been fighting since day one. From the first steps, the generals discover complete helplessness and almost die. They cannot determine the parts of the world, climb a tree and pick “all sorts of fruits,” or catch fish and all kinds of game that inhabit the uninhabited island in abundance.
Confusion, surprise, despair.
– Remember: what is special about the texts in the newspaper found by the generals?
Found scraps of newspapers report only about luxurious, sophisticated feasts
+ “so that all guests receive a piece.”
– This is not a feast, this is a celebration of life for the chosen few.
They were accustomed to living on the labor of others; finding themselves on a desert island without servants, they discovered the habits of hungry wild animals.
– Support your statements with text (page 239)
– Let’s try to determine what literary device the author uses? Open your workbooks, re-read the main techniques in the works of M.E. Salykov-Shchedrin.
This is grotesque.
- “... took a bite out of his comrade’s medal and immediately swallowed it,” what kind of technique is this?
Hyperbola.
– What is the meaning of artistic exaggeration?
Show the image more funny; show its essence; "execute him with laughter."
- “Who is the villain who played such a joke on us!”?
Man, Russian man.
- How is a man different from generals? You can read a fragment of the text (p. 242)
+ “Under a tree, with his belly up and his fist under his head, a huge man was sleeping and in the most impudent manner avoided work.”
The man is completely calm - he is resting from his work.
– How do the generals perceive this? How do you address a man?
+ “Slounger!”
– Is it possible to assume that not only the generals attack the Russian peasant, but also the author?! We understand why the generals are indignant, but why the author...?
The most enormous man is a jack of all trades, but he is so accustomed to his slave position that even where no law obliges him to work, he acts according to the established order of things. The man only makes an attempt to “give a blow” and immediately obeys.
– What labor skills of a man help generals not only survive on a desert island, but also return home?
He took an apple from a tree, got potatoes from the ground, made a snare for catching hazel grouse, made a fire, baked various provisions, collected swan down, built a boat, skillfully weaved a rope from wild hemp.
- “... and by evening the rope was ready,” - who is the rope for?! What is the meaning of this moment?
The author once again emphasizes that the Russian peasant has lost his human dignity. He is filled with servile joy that he managed to please the generals. The generals are convinced of the firmness of their rights to exploit the labor of others.
– Define a literary device (hyperbole). Hyperbole is like a magnifying glass; it helps to take a closer look at the phenomena of life, at its contradictions.
– I made a snare out of my own hair and caught hazel grouse – what kind of literary device is this?
Grotesque.
- Why did the man, with all the abundance on the island, take one apple for himself? And even that is sour? Why didn’t he eat his fill himself, at least after he had prepared a lot of everything, but waited until the generals came to the idea: “Shouldn’t I give the parasite a piece too?”
A low level of citizenship, self-awareness, and the ability to stand up for one’s own, albeit limited, but still rights.
d) work in notebooks;
– Formulate written answers to the questions: how does M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin relate to the peasant? What is the point of contrasting the peasant and the generals?
– Let us again turn to the monograph of Alexei Sergeevich Bushmin: “Shchedrin was a great lover of the people. He loved the people without blind admiration for them, since he understood the strengths of the masses, but no less vigilantly saw their weaknesses...” A two-way attitude towards the people – loving and critical.
- To show that the man is poor in all respects and, above all, poor in consciousness.
e) a condensed retelling of the denouement of “The Tale...”;
– The denouement is designed in a folklore manner. In Russian fairy tales, the hero is always rewarded for good deeds. However, a satirical beginning is clearly felt. The generals, having become rich, remembered their savior, but did not go to him themselves, but sent him their grace with one of the servants: “... a glass of vodka and a nickel of silver: have fun, man!”
^ Homework:
– What would have happened to the generals on a desert island if they had not met a man? (express their opinions)
We can find the answer to this question in the fairy tale “The Wild Landowner”.
Summing up the lesson. Assessing the work of the class and students.
– Let's go back to the beginning of our lesson and look at the questions:
What did M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin want to say with his work?
Why was Shchedrin able to tell this truth?
M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin wanted to say that...
Firstly, the generals are stupid, but the man is smart.
Thirdly, those who do not work eat.
Fourthly, the man himself is to blame: why does he obey the generals? At heart he remains a slave, and that is why he lives poorly.
- This is true? Yes, it's all true. Why was the author able to tell this truth?
But it was the “untruth” that showed the most important thing: life is often unfair.
Bykova E.S., teacher of Russian language and literature, Municipal Educational Institution MOSH No. 4
Lesson topic: M.E.Saltykov-Shchedrin.
“The story of how one man fed two generals”
( analysis of the work).
Lesson objectives:
- educational: to help students understand the features of M.E.’s allegorical artistic style. Saltykov-Shchedrin and reveal the enduring significance of his works using the example of “The Tale of How One Man Fed Two Generals”;
- developing: develop the skill of expressive reading, role reading; oral and written monologue speech;
- educational: cultivate respect for a person and his skill; cultivate a sensitive attitude to the artistic word.
Equipment: materials from the “Today in Lesson” stand, an exhibition of books, a portrait of the writer, student workbooks on literature, a textbook on literature.
Lesson progress:
- Organizational moment: check the readiness of the class for the lesson, students check their workplace.
- Activation of students' knowledge. Introduction to the topic of the lesson.
Yes, yes, there is only one truth. But! True, there is one, but the paths to it are different.
– What do you think these paths are?!
– Why did I talk about this concept – “truth” – in literature class today?
- Lesson topic message.
So, we will analyze the fairy tale by M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin “The Tale of How One Man Fed Two Generals” to answer the following questions:
What did M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin want to say with his work?
Why was Shchedrin able to tell this truth?
- Analysis of the work:
– Did you read the fairy tale to the end, what did you find funny and what did you find sad?
– What is the main problem that the author poses with this tale?
The relationship between government and people.
– What do you know about the reforms of the 1860s? (First of all, students call abolition of serfdom) From this point of view, what are the problems of the work?
Liberation of the oppressed masses from all types of slavery.
b) vocabulary work;
– Look through your text and name the elements of the Russian fairy tale in the text (underline the houses with a pencil).
The fairytale beginning: “once upon a time there were two generals,” the movement of generals from comfortable St. Petersburg apartments to an uninhabited island “at the behest of the pike, at my will” - from the famous Russian fairy tale about Emelya and the magic pike; fairy-tale expressions: “no sooner said than done”, “this cannot be described with a pen, nor can it be said in a fairy tale”, “I drank chalk and beer, it ran down my mustache, but it didn’t get into my mouth.”
Printing expressions:
- Once upon a time there were two generals, and both were frivolous. Then soon at the behest of the pike, at my will, found ourselves on a desert island.
- No sooner said than done. One general went to the right and saw trees growing, and all sorts of fruits on the trees...
- How much fear the generals gained during the journey from storms and from various winds, how much they scolded the man for his parasitism - This cannot be described with a pen, nor said in a fairy tale.
- It turned out that the man even knew Podyacheskaya, because he was there, drank chalk and beer, it was running down his mustache, but it didn’t get into his mouth!
- They went to the treasury, and how much money they raked in - This cannot be said in a fairy tale, nor described with a pen!
c) active conversation, checking homework;
– Which event does not fit into the fairy tale plot?
The reason why the strange event of moving to the island occurred. The generals “both were frivolous,” that is, not serious, and for this unexpected thing they were punished.
– What analogies can you name in connection with the generals ending up on a desert island? What work comes to mind?
I remember Daniel Defoe's novel about Robinson Crusoe. A simple shipwrecked sailor did not lose heart, but showed will and courage and in a few years turned the island into a blooming garden, making his home cozy and safe.
- “The Tale of How One Man Fed Two Generals” was written a century and a half after “Robinson Crusoe.” The novel was published many times in Russia. How do you see the differences between the situation of the novel and “The Tale...”?
Robinson withstands all adversity with honor and wins, he has been fighting since day one. From the first steps, the generals discover complete helplessness and almost die. They cannot determine the parts of the world, climb a tree and pick “all sorts of fruits,” or catch fish and all kinds of game that inhabit the uninhabited island in abundance.
Confusion, surprise, despair.
– Remember: what is special about the texts in the newspaper found by the generals?
Found scraps of newspapers report only about luxurious, sophisticated feasts
+ “so that all guests receive a piece.”
- This is not a feast, this is a celebration of life for the chosen few.
They were accustomed to living on the labor of others; finding themselves on a desert island without servants, they discovered the habits of hungry wild animals.
– Support your statements with text (page 239)
– Let’s try to determine what literary device the author uses? Open your workbooks, re-read the main techniques in the works of M.E. Salykov-Shchedrin.
This is grotesque.
- “... took a bite out of his comrade’s medal and immediately swallowed it,” what kind of technique is this?
Hyperbola.
– What is the meaning of artistic exaggeration?
+ Show the image more funny; show its essence; "execute him with laughter."
- “Who is the villain who played such a joke on us!”?
Man, Russian man.
- How is a man different from generals? You can read a fragment of the text (p. 242)
+ “Under a tree, with his belly up and his fist under his head, a huge man was sleeping and in the most impudent manner avoided work.”
The man is completely calm - he is resting from his work.
– How do the generals perceive this? How do you address a man?
+ “Slounger!”
– Is it possible to assume that not only the generals attack the Russian peasant, but also the author?! We understand why the generals are indignant, but why the author...?
The most enormous man is a jack of all trades, but he is so accustomed to his slave position that even where no law obliges him to work, he acts according to the established order of things. The man only makes an attempt to “give a blow” and immediately obeys.
– What labor skills of a man help generals not only survive on a desert island, but also return home?
+ He took an apple from a tree, got potatoes from the ground, made a snare for catching hazel grouse, made a fire, baked various provisions, collected swan down, built a boat, skillfully weaved a rope from wild hemp.
– “... and by evening the rope was ready,” - who is the rope for?! What is the meaning of this moment?
The author once again emphasizes that the Russian peasant has lost his human dignity. He is filled with servile joy that he managed to please the generals. The generals are convinced of the firmness of their rights to exploit the labor of others.
– Define a literary device (hyperbole). Hyperbole is like a magnifying glass; it helps to take a closer look at the phenomena of life, at its contradictions.
– I made a snare out of my own hair and caught hazel grouse – what kind of literary device is this?
Grotesque.
- Why did the man, with all the abundance on the island, take one apple for himself? And even that is sour? Why didn’t he eat his fill himself, at least after he had prepared a lot of everything, but waited until the generals came to the idea: “Shouldn’t I give the parasite a piece too?”
Low level of citizenship, self-awareness, ability to stand up for one’s own, albeit limited, but still rights.
d) work in notebooks;
– Formulate written answers to the questions: how does M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin relate to the peasant? What is the point of contrasting the peasant and the generals?
– Let us again turn to the monograph of Alexei Sergeevich Bushmin: “Shchedrin was a great lover of the people. He loved the people without blind admiration for them, since he understood the strengths of the masses, but no less vigilantly saw their weaknesses...” A two-way attitude towards the people – loving and critical.
- To show that the man is poor in all respects and, above all, poor in consciousness.
e) a condensed retelling of the denouement of “The Tale...”;
– The denouement is designed in a folklore manner. In Russian fairy tales, the hero is always rewarded for good deeds. However, a satirical beginning is clearly felt. The generals, having become rich, remembered their savior, but did not go to him themselves, but sent him their grace with one of the servants: “... a glass of vodka and a nickel of silver: have fun, man!”
- Homework:
We can find the answer to this question in the fairy tale “The Wild Landowner”.
- Summing up the lesson. Assessing the work of the class and students.
- What did M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin want to say with his work?
- Why was Shchedrin able to tell this truth?
Firstly, the generals are stupid, but the man is smart.
Thirdly, those who do not work eat.
Fourthly, the man himself is to blame: why does he obey the generals? At heart he remains a slave, and that is why he lives poorly.
- This is true? Yes, it's all true. Why was the author able to tell this truth?
But it was the “untruth” that showed the most important thing: life is often unfair.
The form of a fairy tale always attracted Saltykov-Shchedrin. His first tales date back to 1869. However, the vast majority of them were written between 1884 and 1886.
The attractiveness of the fairy-tale form for Saltykov-Shchedrin is easily explained. The great satirist wrote his works in “Aesopian language.” Fairy tales provide examples of universally accessible and most convincing allegories. After all, fairy tales (as well as fables) have long been created by the people themselves. And Shchedrin, as you know, cared for the people, worried about their fate, about the troubles they suffered. Experiencing similar feelings, the satirist condemned high-ranking officials, parodying them in every possible way in his works.
We find a reflection of all this in “The Tale of How One Man Fed Two Generals.” The beginning, typical of a folk tale - “once upon a time” - sets the tone for the entire subsequent narrative. Quite realistic, it is hidden behind a fantastic plot: two generals who “served... all their lives in some kind of registry; were born there, raised and grew old, therefore, did not understand anything,” they find themselves on a desert island. And since these heroes had never put their hands to anything before, they could not get food for themselves on the island. And this despite the fact that on the island “trees grow, and on the trees there are all sorts of fruits. The general wants to get at least one apple, but they all hang so high that you have to climb. I tried to climb, but nothing happened, I just tore my shirt.” So the generals remained hungry.
The only thing one of the generals found was an old issue of Moskovskie Vedomosti, which the unfortunate people began to read. A little lower Shchedrin will write: “They write from Tula: yesterday, on the occasion of the capture of a sturgeon in the Upa River... there was a festival in the local club. The hero of the occasion was brought in on a huge wooden platter, lined with cucumbers and holding a piece of greenery in his mouth. Doctor P., who was the foreman on duty that day, carefully watched so that all the guests received a piece. The gravy was very varied and even almost whimsical..."
Here one of the techniques of the poetics of the Saltykov-Shchedrin fairy tale genre manifested itself - polemics with a literary opponent.
But you won’t be full of reading! Hunger took its toll. The generals did not find anything edible around them. And then their gaze turned to each other. In the blink of an eye, these two friends turn into predators, ready to tear and eat the other. It’s good that everything ended with little bloodshed: “Shreds flew, squeals and groans were heard; the general, who was a teacher of calligraphy, bit off the order from his comrade and immediately swallowed it.”
It is unknown what would have happened to these heroes if they had not met a simple man. Feeling their class superiority, the generals ordered him to get them food. It was not difficult for the man to carry out the order. And here the contrast between the characters in the tale is obvious. The generals are caricatured by Saltykov-Shchedrin. A man is the embodiment of all the positive qualities that ordinary people possess: ingenuity, hard work, readiness for difficulties. The man “first climbed the tree and picked the generals ten of the ripest apples, and took one sour one for himself. Then he dug into the ground and pulled out potatoes; then he took two pieces of wood, rubbed them together and brought out fire. Then he made a snare from his own hair and caught the hazel grouse. Finally, he lit a fire and baked so many different provisions that the generals even thought: shouldn’t they give the parasite a piece too?”
The most amazing thing is that the man’s efforts were not appreciated by the careless generals. Even when, upon arrival in St. Petersburg, they received the money, they sent their savior, as if as a sign of gratitude, “a glass of vodka and a nickel: have fun, man!”
So, the analyzed fairy tale is built on the contrast of positive (in the person of a man) and negative (using the example of two generals). And this opposition contains a reflection of social phenomena that were inherent in reality, the existing order of Russia at that time. Here, those sincere feelings of Saltykov-Shchedrin that were characteristic of the satirist in relation to the people and the “higher” class were revealed. I think the word “highest” really should be put in quotation marks. And there is a simple explanation for this: the same generals, unadapted to life, whom Saltykov-Shchedrin denounces in “The Tale of How One Man Fed Two Generals.”
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