Fairy tale the wise gudgeon - saltykov-shchedrin. Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin

Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin is a writer, journalist and critic. Literary work combined with public service: v different time vice-governor of Ryazan and Tver, headed the Treasury chambers in the cities of Penza, Tula and Ryazan.

Mikhail Evgrafovich perfectly wielded a formidable weapon - a word. Life observations formed the basis of his creations, from the pen of the genius of journalism, many texts appeared on the topic of the day. Today we will get acquainted with the work created by Saltykov, "The Wise Gudgeon". A summary will be presented in this article.

Foreword

The work "The Wise Piskar" (in modern interpretation- "The Wise Gudgeon"), which is included in the cycle "Fairy Tales for Children fair age", was first published in 1883. It mocks cowardice, touches on the age-old philosophical question of what is the meaning of life.

Here is summary"The Wise Gudgeon". It is worth noting that reading the original will not take much time and will bring a lot of aesthetic pleasure, since it was written by a real master of the word, so do not limit yourself to acquaintance with the "revised" work.

Once upon a time there was a gudgeon, he was lucky with his parents, they were smart and gave the right attitude in life. Long years("Aridian eyelids") they have lived, avoiding numerous dangers that may lie in wait for small representatives of the underwater world. His father, dying, instructed his son - in order to live a long life, you need to look both ways, not to yawn.

Gudgeon himself was not stupid, or rather, he had a "ward". I decided that the surest recipe for longevity is not to provoke trouble, to live in such a way that no one will notice. During the year, he gouged a hole with his nose, such that he could only fit himself, he exercised at night, at noon, when everyone was full and hid from the heat, he ran out in search of food. I didn’t sleep enough at night, I didn’t eat a piece wise minnow, I was afraid ... Every day I was shaking with fear that he would gape and would not be able to save his precious life as the father punished. What did Shchedrin want to say with this work?

"The Wise Gudgeon": a summary - the main idea

Having lived "more than a hundred years," the gudgeon at his deathbed wondered what would have happened if everyone, like him, led a smart life? And he made a disappointing conclusion - the gudgeon genus would have been interrupted. No family, no friends ... Only hard-hitting epithets: a dunce, a fool and a fool - that's all that he deserved for his hermit life. He lived and trembled - that's all, not a citizen, a useless unit that only takes a place for nothing ... This is how the author spoke about his hero in the text.

The wise gudgeon died, disappeared, and how it happened - whether it was natural or who helped, no one noticed, and no one was interested.

This is the summary of "The Wise Gudgeon" - a fairy tale that the author wrote, ridiculing the mores of a society of bygone times. But it has not lost its relevance in our time.

Afterword

The representative of the fish community, the main character, having renounced the benefits, left behind him the glory of the trembling creature. The gudgeon, whom the author satirically called wise, chose a meaningless life filled only with fear and hardship, and as a result, a life that was criminally ineffective was followed by the punishment - death in the epiphany of his worthlessness and uselessness.

We hope that the summary "The Wise Gudgeon" in this presentation will be useful to you.

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Summary: Main character fairy tale The wise gudgeon tries to save his existence and his life at any, every possible cost. He fears everything in the world, hides from everyone, from large and small fish, colorful crayfish, tiny water fleas and of course from humans. From a very young age, he often listened to stories from his father about the cruelty and deceit of man. They can put a worm, fly or other bait on their fishing rod, or they can stretch a large and long seine along the entire river, thereby raking in all living things that fall into these nets.
I thought for a long time and made up and wrote for myself a gudgeon, how it is possible to avoid this or that trick and danger. I made for myself such a narrow hole that no one but himself could get there. I decided to leave the hole and look for food for myself only at night or during the day, when life towards the river freezes and calms down a little. He often dreamed that he had won a lot of money and that he had grown very much, that even an insidious and big toothy pike was not terrible and dangerous for him. And so it took a whole hundred years. By his old age, he did not start a family, he had no friends, no children. The author censures this main character, since his whole life was useless and could not bring any benefit to anyone and could not make the minnows his kind a little more perfect. You can read the tale The Wise Gudgeon online for free on our website here. You can listen to it in audio recording. Leave your feedback and comments.

Text of the fairy tale Wise gudgeon

Once upon a time there was a gudgeon. Both his father and mother were smart; Little by little, little by little, Arid's eyelids lived in the river and did not hit the khailo either in the ear or in the pike. And they ordered the same for my son. "Look, sonny," said the old gudgeon, dying, "if you want to chew on life, then look at both!"

And the young squeaker had a ward. He began to scatter with this mind and saw: wherever he turned, everywhere he was mate. All around, in the water, all the big fish swim, and he is the smallest; any fish can swallow him, but he cannot swallow anyone. Yes, and does not understand: why swallow? A cancer can cut it in half with its claw, a water flea can dig into its ridge and torture it to death. Even his brother a gudgeon - and he, as he sees that he has caught a mosquito, will rush to take away a whole herd. They will take it away and start fighting with each other, only they will ruffle the mosquito for free.

And the man? - what kind of snide creature is this! What tricks he has invented, so that he, the squeaker, should be ruined by death in vain! And seine, and nets, and traps, and noreth, and, finally ... It seems that there could be more stupid than Uda? A thread, a hook on a thread, a worm or a fly on a hook ... And how are they worn? In the most, one might say, unnatural situation! And meanwhile, it is on the oudu that the gudgeon is most caught!

The old father warned him about uda more than once. “Most of all, beware of the ouds! - he said, - because although this is the stupidest shell, but with us, squeakers, what is more stupid is more correct. They will throw us a fly, as if they want to nip us; you cling to it - but death is in the fly! "

The old man also told how he once missed the ear just a little. At that time, they were caught by a whole artel, they stretched a net across the entire width of the river, and so they dragged them about two miles along the bottom and dragged them. Passion, how many fish then caught! And pikes, and perches, and big heads, and roach, and loaches - even the slobber bream were raised from the mud from the bottom! And they lost count to the piscars. And what fears he, an old gudgeon, endured while dragging him along the river - it is neither in a fairy tale, nor to describe with a pen. Feels that he is being taken, but does not know where. He sees that he has a pike on one side, a perch on the other; thinks: just about, now, either one or the other will eat him, but they - do not touch ... "At that time, there was no time for food, brother!" Everyone has one thing in their minds: death has come! And how and why she came - no one understands.

Finally, they began to lower the wings of the seine, dragged it to the shore and began to cut the fish from the net into the grass. It was then that he learned what an ear is. Something red flutters in the sand; gray clouds run upwards from him; and the heat is such that he immediately crushed. And without that it’s sickening without water, but here they still give in ... He hears - "fire", they say. And on the "fire" on this black something is laid, and there is water in it, as if in a lake, during a storm, shaking. This is the "cauldron", they say. And in the end they began to say: put the fish in the "pot" - there will be "ear"! And they began to blame our brother there. A fisherman will crackle a fish - it will first plunge, then, like a madman, jump out, then plunge again - and calm down. "Ears", then, tasted. They fired and felled at first indiscriminately, and then one old man looked at him and said: “What good is he, from a baby, to fish soup! Let it grow in the river! " He took him under the gills, and let him into free water. And he, do not be stupid, at full blades - home! He came running, and his piskarikha peeps out of his hole neither alive nor dead ...

And what! No matter how much the old man interpreted at that time what an ear is and what it consists of, however, even ascend in the river, rarely does anyone have a sound idea of ​​an ear!

But he, the gudgeon-son, perfectly remembered the teachings of the gudgeon-father, and he wrapped it around himself. He was an enlightened gudgeon, moderately liberal, and very firmly understood that living life is not like licking a whorl. “You have to live in such a way that no one will notice,” he said to himself, “otherwise you’ll just disappear!” - and began to settle down. First of all, I came up with such a hole for myself, so that he could get into it, and no one else could get in! He pounded this hole with his nose whole year, and how much fear he took at this time, sleeping in the mud, now under a water burdock, now in sedge. Finally, however, he hollowed out wonderfully. Clean, tidy - only one fits just right. Secondly, about his life, he decided this: at night, when people, animals, birds and fish are asleep, he will exercise, and during the day, he will sit in a hole and tremble. But since you still need to drink and eat, and he does not receive a salary and does not keep a servant, he will run out of the hole at about noon, when all the fish are already full, and, God willing, maybe a booger or two and will hunt. And if he does not provide, then the hungry man will lie down in the hole and tremble again. For it is better not to eat or drink than to lose life with a full stomach.

And so he did. I did exercise at night, in moonlight swam, and in the afternoon climbed into a hole and trembled. Only at noon will he run out to grab something - but what can you do at noon! At this time, the mosquito hides under the leaf from the heat, and the insect is buried under the bark. Swallows water - and the Sabbath!

He lies day-and-day in a hole, does not sleep at night, does not eat up a piece, and still thinks: “It seems that I am alive? Oh, will there be something tomorrow? "

Doze off, a sinful deed, and in a dream he dreams that he has winning ticket and he won two hundred thousand on it. Not remembering himself with delight, he would turn over on the other side - lo and behold, he had a whole half-wing protruding out of the hole ... What if at that time the puppy was nearby! after all, he would have pulled him out of the hole!

One day he woke up and saw: there was a cancer right in front of his hole. He stands motionless, as if bewitched, goggling bony eyes at him. Only the whiskers move with the flow of water. That's when he got scared! And for half a day, until it got completely dark, this cancer was waiting for him, and meanwhile he was trembling all the time, all trembling.

Another time, just before he had time to go back into the hole before the dawn, he just yawned sweetly, in anticipation of sleep, - he looks, out of nowhere, at the very hole a pike is standing and clapping its teeth. And she also guarded him all day, as if she was fed up with the sight of him. And he puffed up the pike: he did not come out of the bark, and even the Sabbath.

And more than once, and not twice it happened to him, but the honor that every day. And every day, trembling, he won victories and victories, every day he exclaimed: “Glory to you, Lord! Alive! "

But this is not enough: he did not marry and did not have children, although his father had big family... He reasoned like this: “Father could have lived in jest! At that time, the pikes were kinder, and the perches on us, small fry, did not shave. And although one day he was in the ear, and then there was an old man who rescued him! And now, like a fish, something in the rivers has risen, and piscari have got in honor. So it's not up to the family here, but how to live it yourself! "

And the wise gudgeon lived in this way for more than a hundred years. Everything was trembling, everything was trembling. He had no friends or relatives; neither he to anyone, nor who to him. He does not play cards, does not drink wine, does not smoke tobacco, does not chase after red girls - only trembles and thinks to one thought: “Thank God! Seems to be alive! "

Even the pikes, in the end, and they began to praise him: "Well, if everyone lived like this, it would be quiet in the river!" They only said it on purpose; they thought that he would recommend him for praise - here, they say, I am! Here is it and bang! But he did not succumb to this thing either, and once again, with his wisdom, defeated the intrigues of his enemies.

How many years have passed after a hundred years is unknown, only the wise minnow began to die. Lies in a hole and thinks: "Thank God, I am dying with my death, just as my mother and father died." And here he remembered the pike words: "Well, if everyone lived the way this wise gudgeon lives ..." Well, really, what would have happened then?

He began to scatter the mind, which he had a ward, and suddenly it was as if someone whispered to him: "After all, that way, perhaps, the whole Piscari family would have been transferred long ago!"

Because, in order to continue the gudgeon family, first of all, a family is needed, but he does not have one. But this is not enough: in order for the gudgeon's family to strengthen and prosper, so that its members are healthy and vigorous, it is necessary that they be brought up in their native element, and not in a hole, where he is almost blind from the eternal twilight. It is necessary that the piscari receive sufficient food, so that they do not shy away from the public, they take bread and salt with each other and borrow from each other by virtues and other excellent qualities. For only such a life can improve the gudgeon breed and will not allow it to grind and degenerate into smelt.

Wrongly believe those who think that only those piscari can be considered worthy citizens, who, mad with fear, sit in holes and tremble. No, these are not citizens, but at least useless piscari. No one is warm or cold from them, no honor, no dishonor, no glory, no dishonor ... they live, they take a place for nothing and eat food.

All this was presented so clearly and distinctly that suddenly a passionate hunt came to him: "I’ll crawl out of the hole and swim along the whole river with a goggle!" But as soon as he thought about it, he was again frightened. And he began, trembling, to die. Lived - trembled, and died - trembled.

All life instantly flashed before him. What were his joys? Whom did he comfort? Whom did you give good advice to? To whom kind word said? Whom did he shelter, warm, protect? Who has heard of him? Who will remember its existence?

And to all these questions he had to answer: "Nobody, nobody."

He lived and trembled - that's all. Even now: death is on his nose, but he is still trembling, he does not know why. In his hole it is dark, cramped, there is nowhere to turn, neither a sunbeam will look there, nor does it smell of warmth. And he lies in this damp darkness, blind, haggard, useless, lies and waits: when will starvation finally free him from his useless existence?

He hears other fish darting past his hole - maybe, like him, piscari - and none of them will take an interest in him. Not a single one will think of: “Come on, I’ll ask wise squeaker, in what manner did he manage to live for more than a hundred years, and neither a pike swallowed him, nor a cancer with a claw, nor a fisherman caught him? " They are swimming by themselves, and maybe they do not know that in this hole the wise gudgeon is completing his life process!

And what is most offensive: not even to hear that someone called him wise. They just say: "Have you heard about the dunce who does not eat, does not drink, does not see anyone, does not drive bread and salt with anyone, but protects everything just spreading his life?" And many even just call him a fool and a shame and wonder how the water tolerates such idols.

He threw his mind in this way and dozed. That is, not just dozing, but already began to forget. Death whispers rang out in his ears, languor spread throughout his body. And here he dreamed of the old seductive dream. As if he won two hundred thousand, grew by as much as half an arshin and swallows pike himself.

And while he dreamed of this, his snout, little by little, little by little, completely out of the hole and stuck out.

And suddenly he disappeared. What happened here - whether the pike swallowed him, the cancer broke with a claw, or he himself died by his own death and floated to the surface - there were no witnesses to this case. Most likely - he himself died, because what sweetness is it for a pike to swallow a sick, dying squeak, and besides, also a "wise" one?

Listen to the fairy tale Wise Gudgeon online

Watch the tale of the Wise Gudgeon online

Once upon a time there was a squeaker. Both his father and mother were smart; Little by little, little by little, Arid's eyelids lived in the river and did not hit the khailo either in the ear or in the pike. And they ordered the same for my son. "Look, sonny," said the old squeaker, dying, "if you want to chew on life, then look at both!"

And the young squeaker had a ward. He began to scatter with this mind and saw: wherever he turned, everywhere he was mate. All around, in the water, all the big fish are swimming, and he is the smallest of all; any fish can swallow him, but he cannot swallow anyone. Yes, and does not understand: why swallow? A cancer can cut it in half with its claw, a water flea can dig into its ridge and torture it to death. Even his brother is a squeaker - and when he sees that he has caught a mosquito, they will rush to take away a whole herd. They will take it away and start fighting with each other, only they will ruffle the mosquito for free.

And the man? - what kind of snide creature is this! what tricks he has invented, so that he, squealer, in vain death to ruin! And seine, and nets, and traps, and noreth, and, finally ... It seems that there could be more stupid than Uda? - A thread, a hook on a thread, a worm or a fly on the hook ... And how are they worn? ... in the most, one might say, unnatural position! And yet it is on the whisk that the most squeaky is caught!

The old father warned him about uda more than once. “Most of all, beware of the ouds! - he said. - Because, although this is the stupidest shell, but with us, squeakers, what is more stupid is more correct. They will throw us a fly, as if they want to nip us; you cling to it - but death is in the fly! "

The old man also told how he once missed the ear just a little. At that time, they were caught by a whole artel, they stretched a net across the entire width of the river, and so they dragged them about two miles along the bottom and dragged them. Passion, how many fish then caught! And pikes, and perches, and big heads, and roach, and loaches - even the slobber bream were raised from the mud from the bottom! And they lost count to the piscars. And what fears he, the old squeaker, endured, while he was being dragged along the river - this is neither to tell in a fairy tale, nor to describe with a pen. Feels that he is being taken, but does not know where. He sees that he has a pike on one side, a perch on the other; thinks: just about now, either one or the other will eat him, but they - do not touch ... "At that time it was not time to eat, brother, it was!" Everyone has one thing in their minds: death has come! and how and why she came - no one understands. Finally, they began to lower the wings of the seine, dragged it to the shore and began to cut the fish from the net into the grass. It was then that he learned what an ear is. Something red flutters in the sand; gray clouds run upwards from him; and the heat is such that he immediately crushed. And without that it’s sickening without water, but here they still give in ... He hears - "fire", they say. And on the "fire" on this black something is laid, and there is water in it, as if in a lake, during a storm, shaking. This is the "cauldron", they say. And in the end they began to say: put the fish in the "pot" - there will be "ear"! And they began to blame our brother there. A fisherman will crackle a fish - it will first plunge, then, like a madman, jump out, then plunge again - and calm down. "Ears", then, tasted. They fired and felled at first indiscriminately, and then one old man looked at him and said: “What good is he, from a baby, to fish soup! let it grow in the river! " He took him under the gills, and let him into free water. And he, do not be stupid, at full blades - home! He came running, and his piskarikha peeps out of his hole neither alive nor dead ...

Saltykov-Shchedrin is a writer who very often resorted to such a genre as a fairy tale, because with its help in an allegorical form it was always possible to reveal the vices of humanity, while his creative activity was surrounded by unfavorable conditions. By using this genre he could write during the difficult years of reaction and censorship. Thanks to fairy tales, Saltykov-Shchedrin continued to write, despite the fear of liberal editors. Despite the censorship, he gets the opportunity to scourge the reaction. And now we met one of his fairy tales called The Wise Gudgeon in the lesson and now we will make a short one according to the plan.

A brief analysis of the tale the Wise Gudgeon

Analyzing the tale of Saltykov-Shchedrin the Wise Gudgeon, we see that the main character is an allegorical way. The tale begins, as usual, with the words of Once upon a time. Further, we see the advice of the gudgeon's parents, followed by a description of the life of this little fish and its death.

Reading Shchedrin's work and analyzing it, we trace a parallel between life in real world and the plot of a fairy tale. We meet the main character, the gudgeon, who at first lived as usual. After the death of his parents, who left him parting words and asked to take care of himself and look both ways, he became pitiful and cowardly, but he considered himself wise.

At first we see in the fish a thinking creature, enlightened, of moderately liberal views, and his parents were not at all stupid, and managed to live to their natural death. But after the death of his parents, he hid in his little burrow. He trembled all the time as soon as someone swam past his hole. I swam out of there only at night, sometimes during the day for a snack, but immediately hid. I didn’t finish eating and didn’t get enough sleep. His whole life was spent in fear, and thus Gudgeon lived up to a hundred years. No salary, no servants, no cards, no fun. No family, no procreation. There were somehow thoughts to swim out of the shelter, to heal full life, but then fear overcame intentions and he left this venture. So he lived without seeing anything and knowing nothing. Most likely, the wise gudgeon died a natural death, because even a pike would not covet a sick gudgeon.

All his life the gudgeon considered himself wise, and only closer to death he saw a life spent aimlessly. The author was able to show us how dull and miserable life becomes if you live the wisdom of a coward.

Output

In his tale, the Wise Gudgeon, brief analysis which we have just done, Saltykov-Shchedrin depicts political life countries of the past. In the image of a gudgeon, we see the liberals of the inhabitants of the era of reaction, who only saved their skins, sitting in holes and caring only about their own good. They do not try to change something, do not want to direct their forces in the right direction. They had only thoughts about their own salvation, and none of them was going to fight for a just cause. And at that time there were a lot of such minnows among the intelligentsia, so when reading Shchedrin's tale at one time, the reader could draw an analogy with officials who worked in the chancellery, with the editors of liberal newspapers, with employees of banks, offices and other people who did nothing. fearing everyone who is taller and more influential.

The tales of M. Saltykov-Shchedrin are addressed primarily to adults, because under the guise of his characters the author skillfully hid the vices of society. Nevertheless, the works of Mikhail Evgrafovich are also interesting for children of average school age... They teach adolescents to analyze their behavior, suggest “ the right way". Schoolchildren study the fairy tale "Wise Gudgeon" in the 7th grade. Getting to know her, you need to consider historical and cultural context its creation. We offer a brief analysis of the tale, which will facilitate the search for what is hidden between the lines, and will also become an assistant in preparing for the exam.

Brief analysis

History of creation- The creation of M. Saltykov-Shchedrin's fairy tale was prompted by social and political events. Liberal-minded intellectuals tried to "hide" from the authorities' reaction so as not to risk their lives. The analyzed work is a criticism of this position.

Theme- You can perceive a fairy tale both directly and in figuratively, therefore, several themes can be distinguished in it: the life of a wise gudgeon; inaction due to fear of danger.

Composition- Both the semantic and formal organization of the fairy tale "The Wise Gudgeon" is simple. The author begins it with the traditional "Once upon a time", introduces the fish family and gradually moves on to a story about the main events. The work ends with a rhetorical question that pushes the reader to reflect on what has been said.

genre- Fairy tale.

Direction- Satire.

History of creation

The history of the creation of the work is closely related to the socio-political situation of the second half of the XIX century. In 1881, members of the Narodnaya Volya organization made an attempt on the life of Alexander II. The death of the emperor intensified the persecution of intellectuals. Liberal intellectuals decided to take a passive position so as not to risk their freedom and life. Mikhail Evgrafovich did not share this opinion, but he could not openly criticize the liberals. This is how Saltykov-Shchedrin's fairy tale "The Wise Gudgeon" appeared. Years of writing - December 1882 - January 1883.

For a long time the Russian censorship did not allow Saltykov-Shchedrin's fairy tale "The Wise Gudgeon" to be published, so it was first published in 1883 in the emigre newspaper Obshche Delo in Geneva. “The wise gudgeon was placed under the heading“ Fairy tales for children of fair age ”, as if hinting that it is not childish motives that are revealed in it. In Russia, the Geneva newspaper with the analyzed work was distributed by members of “ Of the people's will". In 1884 the fairy tale was published by the journal Otechestvennye zapiski.

Theme

For a better understanding of the meaning of the tale "The Wise Gudgeon", its analysis should begin with a description of the motives.

There are many works in literature in which themes prohibited by the authorities are veiled. M. Saltykov-Shchedrin is one of the most famous Russian writers who worked with allegorical images. His fairy tale "The Wise Gudgeon" can be read both superficially, without thinking about the figurative sense, and taking into account the allegorical meaning, therefore two main themes: the life of a gudgeon and inaction, the cause of which is fear.

In the context of these topics, problematic... The work raises such problems: parental education and its influence on the fate of children, fear, the meaning of life, a person and society, etc.

To create allegories, the author immerses the reader in underwater world, therefore the main characters of the tale- fishes. Nevertheless, there is also a place for images of people. The work begins with a story about a family of minnows. The head of the family taught the children to be extremely careful, as danger lurks for small fish at every step. The main character Having listened to these instructions, he decided to hide from the world in order to live to old age and die a natural death.

Gudgeon dug a hole for himself, where he hid during the day. Even to eat, he swam out at night. So in loneliness and constant trembling with fear, he lived for more than a hundred years. And, indeed, he died a natural death. The hero did not understand that the essence of life is in the struggle for your happiness, in the joy that you feel in the circle of friends and relatives, in simple fun.

Only after reading the tale to the end, you can understand "Meaning of the name"... Calling the gudgeon wise, Mikhail Evgrafovich, in fact, hints at the stupidity of the hero. The prefix pre- in this case is synonymous with the word “too much”, because the minnow was too afraid for his life and therefore thought too much how to protect himself.

To hint to the reader that there are such minnows among people as well, the author introduces human realities into the story about fish: “He doesn't play cards, doesn't drink wine, doesn't smoke tobacco, doesn't chase red girls”; "It was as if he won two hundred thousand, grew by a whole half, and swallows pike himself."

Composition

The compositional features of the work are the same as those of folk tales... Its organization is extremely simple, the text begins with a traditional introduction. All elements of the plot are arranged in a logical sequence.

On display the reader gets acquainted with the main character of the tale and his family, learns about the dangers of small fish. After reading this part, you get your first impression of the gudgeon. Tie- stories and instructions of the gudgeon-father. The development of events is a story about the life of a gudgeon-son after the death of his parents, the thoughts of a fish, how his life would turn out if he lived differently.

Pronounced climax not in the tale, but the culminating points can be considered episodes where cancer and pike lie in wait for the gudgeon. Interchange works - the death of a gudgeon.

It is noteworthy that the tale ends with a rhetorical question that suggests what the writer teaches.

genre

The genre of "The Wise Gudgeon" by Saltykov-Shchedrin - satirical tale ... The work contains real and fantastic events, and human qualities and the author hides his characters under the images of fish. At the same time, the writer used satirical devices to expose the liberals. He makes fun of the gudgeon by describing his character and behavior, artistic means, for example, the constant repetition of the epithet "wise".