Crucian and ruff argued. Karas said that it was possible to live in the world by truth alone, and the ruff argued that it was impossible to do without it, so as not to be deceitful. What exactly the ruff meant by the expression "to be cunning" is unknown, but every time he uttered these words, the crucian exclaimed indignantly:

- But this is meanness! To which Ruff objected:

- You'll see!

Crucian carp is a quiet fish and inclined to idealism: it is not for nothing that the monks love it. It lies more at the very bottom of a river backwater (where it is quieter) or a pond, buried in silt, and selects microscopic shells from there for its food. Well, naturally, lie down, lie down, and come up with something. Sometimes even very free. But since crucian carp do not submit their thoughts to censorship, nor are they registered in the precinct, no one suspects them of political unreliability. If sometimes we see that from time to time a round-up is arranged for crucian carp, then it is by no means for freethinking, but because they are tasty.

They catch crucians mainly with a net or seine; but in order to catch successfully, you must have skill. Experienced fishermen for this, they choose the time now after the rain, when the water is cloudy, and then, winding up the seine, they begin to flap the water with a rope, sticks, and generally make noise. Hearing the noise and thinking that it heralds the triumph of free ideas, the crucian takes off from the bottom and begins to ask if it is possible for him to somehow attach himself to the celebration. It is then that he falls into a lot of junk, in order to later become a victim of human gluttony. For, I repeat, crucian carp are such a tasty dish (especially fried in sour cream) that the leaders of the nobility willingly treat even governors to them.

As for the ruffs, this is a fish already touched by skepticism and, moreover, prickly. When boiled in the ear, it produces an incomparable broth.

How it happened that the crucian with the ruff came together - I do not know; I only know that once they got together, they immediately argued. They argued once, argued another, and then they got into a taste, they began to make appointments with each other. FLOAT somewhere under the water burdock and start talking smart speeches. And the white-bellied roach frolics around them and gains mind-mind.

The crucian was always the first to bully.

“I don’t believe,” he said, “that struggle and strife are a normal law, under the influence of which everything living on earth is supposedly destined to develop. I believe in bloodless prosperity, I believe in harmony, and I am deeply convinced that happiness is not an idle fantasy of dreamy minds, but sooner or later it will become common property!

- Wait! - ironically ruff.

Ruff argued abruptly and restlessly. This fish is nervous, which, apparently, remembers a lot of grievances. Her heart boiled... ah, boiled! It has not yet reached hatred, but there is no trace of faith and naivety. Instead of a peaceful life, she sees strife everywhere; instead of progress - general savagery. And he claims that those who have a claim to live must take all this into account. Karasya, on the other hand, considers him “blissful”, although at the same time he is aware that with him only one can “take his soul away”.

- And I'll wait! - responded crucian. - And I'm not alone, everyone will wait. The darkness in which we swim is the product of a bitter historical accident; but since now, thanks to the latest research, this accident can be disassembled piece by piece, the causes that gave rise to it can no longer be considered irremovable. Darkness is a fait accompli, and light is a hoped-for future. And there will be light, there will be!

- So, in your opinion, such a time will come when there will be no pikes?

- What kind of pikes? - the crucian was surprised, which was so naive that when they said in front of him: that’s why the pike in the sea, so that the crucian doesn’t doze off, then he thought it was something like those nixes and mermaids that scare small children, and, of course , not a little afraid.

- Oh, you fofan, fofan! You want to solve world problems, but you have no idea about pikes!

Ruff contemptuously wiggled his swimming feathers and sailed away; but after a short time, the interlocutors again swam somewhere in a secluded place (it’s boring in the water) and again began to debate.

“Goodness plays a leading role in life,” the crucian ranted. - Evil is so, it was admitted by misunderstanding, and the main life force all the same, it closes in goodness.

- Keep your pocket!

- Oh, ruff, what incongruous expressions you use! "Keep your pocket"! is this the answer?

“Yeah, you really shouldn’t answer at all. You are stupid - that's the whole story for you!

No, you listen to what I tell you. That evil has never been a building force - history testifies to this. Evil choked, crushed, devastated, betrayed to the sword and fire, and only good was the building force. It rushed to the aid of the oppressed, it freed from chains and fetters, it aroused fruitful feelings in the hearts, it set in motion the hovering of the mind. Without this truly building factor of life, there would be no history. Because, after all, what is history? History is a story of liberation, it is a story about the triumph of good and reason over evil and madness.

- And you, apparently, know for sure that evil and madness are put to shame? - taunted ruff.

“They are not put to shame yet, but they will be put to shame,” I tell you right. And again I will refer to history. Compare what once was with what is, and you will easily agree that not only the external methods of evil have softened, but its very amount has noticeably decreased. Take at least our fish species. Previously, we were caught at any time, and mainly during the “move”, when we, like stupefied, climb directly into the net, but now it is precisely during the “move” that it is recognized as harmful to catch us. Before us, it can be said, they exterminated us in the most barbaric ways - in the Urals, they say, during the haystorm, the water stood red for many miles from fish blood, and now - the Sabbath. Nets, yes administer, yes uds - no more no no! Yes, and this is still discussed in the committees: what nets? on what occasion? for what subject?

- And you, apparently, do not care how you get into your ear?

- In what kind of ear? - the crucian was surprised.

- Oh, dust you take! It's called Karasem, but I haven't heard of the ear! What right do you have to talk to me after that? After all, in order to conduct disputes and defend opinions, it is necessary, at least, to get acquainted with the circumstances of the case in advance. What are you talking about, if you don’t even know such a simple truth: that an ear is prepared for each crucian in front? Shh... I'll stab you!

Ruff bristled, and the crucian quickly, as far as his clumsiness allowed, sank to the bottom. But a day later, friends-opponents again merged and started a new conversation.

“The pike looked into our backwater,” the ruff announced.

“The one you mentioned the other day?”

- She. She swam, looked in, said: something seems to be too quiet here! there must be crucian waters here? .. And with that she sailed away.

– What should I do now?

- To be made - that's all. Already, as she swims up and stares at you with her eyes, you pick up the scales and feathers more tightly, but straight and climb into her hailo!

- Why am I going? If I was guilty of anything...

You're stupid - that's your fault. Yes, and fat too. And the stupid and fat and the law commands the pike to climb into the high!

– There can be no such law! - the crucian was sincerely indignant. - And the pike has no right to swallow in vain, but must first demand an explanation. Here I will explain to her, I will lay out the whole truth. The truth is, I'll break her to the seventh sweat.

- I told you that you are a fofan, and now I will repeat the same thing: fofan! fofan! fofan!

Ruff was completely angry and made a promise to himself for the future to refrain from any communication with crucian carp. But after a few days, you see, the habit took its toll again.

- If only all the fish agreed among themselves ... - the crucian began mysteriously.

But here the ruff itself was taken aback. “What is this fofan talking about? he thought. “Look, he’ll screw up, and then a chub is walking around nearby. Look, and his eyes to the side, as if it were none of his business, squinted, but you know he listens.

“And you don’t pronounce every word that comes into your mind!” he assured the crucian. - There is nothing to open your mouth for; you can whisper what you need to say.

“I don’t want to whisper,” the crucian continued imperturbably, “but I say straight out that if all the fish would agree among themselves, then ...

But here Ruff rudely interrupted his friend.

- With you, apparently, having eaten peas, you need to talk! - he shouted at the crucian and, sharpening his skis, swam away from him.

And it was annoying for him, and it was a pity for the crucian. Though he is stupid, you can still talk with him alone to your liking. He won’t talk, he won’t sell, in whom can you find these qualities these days? It is a weak time now, such a time that one cannot hope for a father and mother. Here is a roach, although it’s impossible to say something bad about it directly, but still, look, without understanding, she will blurt out! And there is nothing to say about chub, ide, tench and other servants! Ready to take an oath for a worm under the bells! Poor crucian! not for a penny he will disappear between them!

“Look at yourself,” he said to the crucian, “well, what kind of defense can you imagine? Your belly is big, your head is small, you don't give a damn about inventions, your mouth is weird. Even the scales on you are not serious. No agility in you, no briskness - how there is a bumpkin! Anyone who wants, come to you and eat!

“Yes, why am I there, if I haven’t been guilty?” - still persisted crucian.

“Listen, stupid breed! Do they eat "for what"? Is it because they eat because they want to execute? They eat because they want to eat, that's all. And you, tea, eat. Not in vain you dig in the mud with your nose, and you catch shells. They, shells, want to live, and you, a simpleton, fill mammon with them from morning to evening. Tell me: what kind of guilt did they do to you that you execute them every minute? Do you remember how you said the other day: if only all the fish agreed among themselves ... But what if the shells agreed among themselves - would it be sweet to you, simpleton, then?

The question was so directly and so unpleasantly put that the crucian was embarrassed and slightly blushed.

“But seashells are…” he muttered, embarrassed.

- Shells are shells, and crucians are crucians. Carp eat shells, and pike eat crucian carp. And the shells are not guilty of anything, and the crucians are not to blame, and both of them must answer. Think about it for a hundred years, but you can't think of anything else.

After these ruff words, the crucian hid in the very depths of the mud and began to think at his leisure. I thought and thought and, by the way, ate shells and ate. And the more you eat, the more you want. Finally, though, I figured it out.

“I don’t eat shells because they were to blame,” you said the truth,” he explained to the ruff, “but because I eat them, they, these shells, are provided to me by nature for food.

- Who told you that?

- No one said, but I myself, by my own observation, reached. The shell does not have a soul, but steam; eat her, but she does not understand. Yes, and it is arranged in such a way that it is impossible not to swallow it. Pull the water with your snout, but in your goiter you are already apparently invisibly teeming with shells. I don’t catch them - they climb into my mouth on their own. Well, crucian is a completely different thing. Karasi, brother, there are from ten inches - so you still need to talk with a sort of old man before you eat him. It is necessary that he did a serious dirty trick - well, then, of course ...

- That's how the pike will swallow you, then you will know what you need to do for this. Until then, it would be better to remain silent.

No, I will not be silent. Although I have never seen pikes in my life, I can only judge from the stories that they, too, are not deaf to the voice of truth. Have mercy, tell me: can such villainy happen! The crucian lies, does not touch anyone, and suddenly, no matter what, it gets into the belly of a pike! I don't believe this for the rest of my life.

- Freak! but just the other day, in front of you, a monk pulled your brother’s whole two nets from the backwater ... What do you think: will he admire crucian carp, or what?

- I do not know. Only this grandmother said in two what happened to those crucian carp: some of them were eaten, some of them were planted in a planter. And they live happily ever after on monastic bread!

- Well, live, if so, and you, daredevil!

Day after day passed, and there was no end in sight to the disputes of crucian with a ruff. The place in which they lived was quiet, even covered with a little green mold, most favorable for disputes. Whatever you talk about, what dreams you ask yourself - complete impunity. This encouraged the crucian to such an extent that with each session he more and more raised the tone of his excursions to the region of the empyrean.

- It is necessary that the fish love each other! he orated. - So that each for all, and all for each - that's when real harmony will come true!

- I would like to know how you with your love for a pike will drive up! - cooled his ruff.

- I, brother, will come! - stood on his crucian. - I know such words that any pike in one minute from them will turn into crucian carp!

- Come on, tell me!

- Yes, I’ll just ask: do you know, they say, pike, what virtue is and what duties it imposes in relation to neighbors?

- Stunned, nothing to say! Do you want me to pierce your stomach with a needle for this very question?

- Oh, no! do me a favor, don't joke about it! Or:

- Only then do we, fish, realize our rights, when we are brought up in civil feelings from an early age!

- And why the hell do you need civil feelings?

- Still...

- That's "all the same." Civil feelings only come to court when the space is open before them. And what are you going to do with them, lying in mud?

- Not in mud, but in general ... "

- For example?

- For example, a monk wants to boil me in the ear, and I will tell him: you have no right, father, to subject me to such a terrible punishment without trial!

- And he'll put you in a frying pan or in hot ashes for rudeness ... No, friend, to live in mud, so not civil, but you must have stupid feelings - that's right. Buried somewhere thicker, and shut up, dumbass!

“Fish should not eat fish,” the carp raved in reality. - For fish food, nature has already prepared a lot of delicious dishes. Shells, flies, worms, spiders, water fleas; finally, crayfish, snakes, frogs. And all this is good, everything is needed.

“And for pike, crucian carp are needed,” the ruff sobered him.

- No, crucian carp dominates itself. If nature has not given him defensive means, as you, for example, then this means that a special law must be issued in the ways of ensuring his personality!

What if that law is not followed?

- Then it is necessary to publish the suggestion: it is better, they say, not to publish laws at all, if not to execute them.

- And will it be okay?

“I think many will be ashamed.

I repeat: days passed after days, and the crucian kept delirious. Someone else would get a punch in the nose for that, but nothing to him. And he would have squandered his arid eyelids in this way, if he had been a little careful. But he dreamed of himself so much that he completely lost the calculation. He let it go and let it go, when suddenly a chub with a summons came to him: the next day, they say, the pike deigns to arrive in the backwater, so you, crucian carp, look! a little light answer to keep appear!

Crucian, however, was not shy. Firstly, he heard so many different reviews about the pike that he himself was curious to get to know her; and secondly, he knew that he had such a magic word, which, if you say it, will turn the most fierce pike into crucian carp. And I really hoped for this word.

Even Ruff, seeing such faith in him, wondered if he had gone too far in a negative direction. Perhaps, in fact, the pike is just waiting to be loved, to be given good advice, to enlighten her mind and heart? Maybe she's...kind? Yes, and the crucian, perhaps, is not at all such a simpleton as it seems in appearance, but, on the contrary, screw up his career with the calculation? Tomorrow he will come to the pike and straight out and blurt out to her the very real truth, which she has never heard from anyone in her life. And the pike will take it and say: because you told me the real truth, crucian carp, I favor you with this backwater; be her boss!

The pike sailed in the morning, how to drink. The crucian looks at her and marvels: no matter what gossip they told him about the pike, and she is a fish like a fish! Only the mouth to the ears and the hail is such that it’s just for him, crucian carp, to crawl through.

- I heard, - said the pike, - that you are very smart, crucian, and a master of ranting. I want to have a dispute with you. Get started.

“I think more about happiness,” the crucian answered modestly, but with dignity. - So that not only me, but everyone would be happy. So that all fish can swim freely in any water, and if any fish wants to hide in the mud, then let them lie down in the mud.

“Hm… and do you think such a thing could be possible?”

– Not only do I think, but I expect this all the time.

- For example: I am swimming, and next to me ... crucian carp?

– So what is it?

- I hear it for the first time. And if I turn around and crucian something ... eat it?

- There is no such law, your highness; the law says directly: shells, mosquitoes, flies and midges, let them serve as food for the fish. And besides, by later various decrees, water fleas, spiders, worms, beetles, frogs, crayfish and other water dwellers were included in food ... But not fish.

- Not enough for me. Golavel! does such a law exist? - the pike turned to the chub.

- In oblivion, your highness! – deftly dodged chub.

“I knew that such a law could not exist. Well, what else are you waiting for all the time, crucian carp?

“I also expect justice to prevail. The strong will not oppress the weak, the rich the poor. That such a common cause will be announced, in which all the fish will have their own interest and each will do its share. You, pike, are stronger and more dexterous of all - you will take on the task more forcefully; but to me, crucian carp, according to my modest abilities, they will indicate a modest matter. Everyone for everyone, and everything for everyone - that's how it will be. When we stand up for each other, then no one will be able to trick us. The seine somewhere else will seem, and we were tearing up! Who is under a stone, who is at the very bottom in the silt, who is in a hole or under a snag. Wow, perhaps that, apparently, will have to quit!

- I do not know. People don't really like to give up something that seems tasty to them. Well, yes, it will be sometime. And here's what: so, in your opinion, I will also have to work?

“Like others, so are you.

- I hear it for the first time. Go sleep!

Whether he overslept, whether there was a crucian, but in any case, his mind did not increase. At noon, he again appeared at the debate, and not only without any timidity, but even more cheerfully than before.

- So you think that I will work and you will feast on my labors? - the pike directly put the question.

- Everything is from each other ... from common, mutual labors ...

- I understand: “from a friend” ... and by the way, from me ... hm! I think, however, that you are talking shameful speeches. Golavel! What is the name of such speech today?

- Sicilism, your highness!

“So I knew. For a long time I already hear: rebellious, they say, crucian speaks speeches! I just think: let me listen to it myself ... But what are you like!

Having said this, the pike flicked its tail so expressively on the water that no matter how simple the crucian was, it also guessed.

“I, your highness, nothing,” he muttered in embarrassment, “it’s me in simplicity.

- Okay. Simplicity is worse than theft, they say. If fools are given free rein, then they will kill the smart ones from the world. They told me about you from three boxes, and you are crucian like crucian, that's all. And I don't talk to you for five minutes, and I'm tired of you to death.

The pike thought about it and somehow looked at the crucian so mysteriously that he completely understood. But she must have been full after yesterday's gluttony, and therefore she yawned and immediately began to snore.

But this time, the carp did not go so well. As soon as the pike fell silent, the chubs surrounded him from all sides and took them under guard.

In the evening, before the sun had set, the third time crucian came to the pike for a debate. But he appeared already in custody and, moreover, with some injuries. Namely: the perch, interrogating, bit his back and part of the tail.

But he was still cheerful, because he had a magic word in reserve.

“Although you are my adversary,” the first pike began again, “yes, it’s clear that my grief is such: I love disputes about death!” Be healthy, get started!

At these words, the crucian suddenly felt that his heart caught fire in him. In an instant, he gathered up his stomach, fluttered, snapped the remnants of his tail on the water and, looking the pike straight in the eyes, barked at the top of his lungs:

Do you know what virtue is?

The pike gaped in surprise. She automatically drew water and, not wanting to swallow the crucian at all, swallowed it.

The fish, who witnessed this incident, were dumbfounded for a moment, but immediately came to their senses and hurried to the pike to find out if she deigned to dine safely, or choked. And the ruff, who had already foreseen and predicted everything in advance, swam forward and solemnly proclaimed:

- Here they are, our disputes, what are they!

"Karas-idealist" Saltykov-Shchedrin

Crucian and ruff argued. Karas said that it was possible to live in the world by truth alone, and the ruff argued that it was impossible to do without it, so as not to be deceitful. What exactly the ruff meant by the expression "to be cunning" is unknown, but every time he uttered these words, the crucian exclaimed indignantly:

- But this is meanness!

To which Ruff objected:

- You'll see!

Crucian carp is a quiet fish and inclined to idealism: it is not for nothing that the monks love it. He lies more at the very bottom of a river backwater (where it is quieter) or a pond, buried in silt, and selects microscopic shells from there for his food. Well, naturally, lie down, lie down, and come up with something. Sometimes even very free. But since crucian carp do not submit their thoughts to censorship, nor are they registered in the precinct, no one suspects them of political unreliability. If sometimes we see that from time to time a round-up is arranged for crucian carp, then it is by no means for freethinking, but because they are tasty.

They catch crucians, for the most part, with a net or seine; but in order to catch successfully, you must have skill. Experienced fishermen choose the time for this now, after the rain, when the water is cloudy, and then, winding up the seine, they begin to flap the water with a rope, sticks, and generally make noise. Hearing the noise and thinking that it heralds the triumph of free ideas, the crucian takes off from the bottom and begins to ask if it is possible for him to somehow attach himself to the celebration. It is then that he falls into a lot of junk, in order to later become a victim of human gluttony. For, I repeat, crucian carp are such a tasty dish (especially fried in sour cream) that the leaders of the nobility willingly treat even governors to them.

As for the ruffs, this is a fish already touched by skepticism and, moreover, prickly. When boiled in the ear, it produces an incomparable broth.

How it happened that crucian carp and ruff came together, I don’t know; I only know that once, having come together, they immediately argued. They argued once, argued another, and then they got into a taste, they began to make appointments with each other. They will float somewhere under the water burdock and begin to talk clever speeches. And the white-bellied roach frolics around them and gains mind-mind.

The crucian was always the first to bully.

“I don’t believe,” he said, “that struggle and strife are a normal law, under the influence of which everything living on earth is supposedly destined to develop. I believe in bloodless prosperity, I believe in harmony, and I am deeply convinced that happiness is not an idle fantasy of dreamy minds, but sooner or later it will become common property!

— Wait! - ironic ruff.

Ruff argued abruptly and restlessly. This is a nervous fish, which, apparently, remembers a lot of insults. Her heart boiled... ah, boiled! It has not yet reached hatred, but there is no trace of faith and naivety. Instead of a peaceful life, she sees strife everywhere; instead of progress - general savagery. And he claims that those who have a claim to live must take all this into account. Karasya, on the other hand, considers him “blissful”, although at the same time he is aware that with him only one can “take his soul away”.

- And I'll wait! - answered the crucian, - and I'm not alone, everyone will wait. The darkness in which we swim is the product of a bitter historical accident; but since now, thanks to the latest research, it is possible to sort out this chance by the bones, then the causes that gave rise to it can no longer be considered irremovable. Darkness is a fait accompli, and light is a hoped-for future. And there will be light, there will be!

“So, in your opinion, such a time will come when there will be no more pikes?”

- What kind of pikes? - the crucian was surprised, which was so naive that when they said in front of him: “That’s why the pike in the sea, so that the crucian does not doze off,” he thought that this was something like those nyxes and mermaids with which they scare small children, and , of course, not a crumb was afraid.

- Oh, you fofan, fofan! You want to solve world problems, but you have no idea about pikes!

Ruff contemptuously wiggled his swimming feathers and sailed away; but, after a short time, the interlocutors again floated somewhere in a secluded place (it’s boring in the water) and again began to debate.

“Good plays a leading role in life,” the crucian ranted, “evil is so, it was admitted through a misunderstanding, but the main life force is still closed in good.

- Keep your pocket!

“Ah, ruff, what incongruous expressions you use! "Keep your pocket"! Is this the answer?

“Yes, you really shouldn’t answer at all. You are stupid - that's the whole story for you!

No, you listen to what I tell you. That evil has never been a building force - history testifies to this. Evil choked, crushed, devastated, betrayed to the sword and fire, and only good was the building force. It rushed to the aid of the oppressed, it freed from chains and fetters, it aroused fruitful feelings in the hearts, it set in motion the hovering of the mind. Without this truly building factor of life, there would be no history. Because, after all, what is history? History is a tale of liberation, a story of the triumph of good and reason over evil and madness.

- And you, apparently, know for sure that evil and madness are put to shame? Ruff teased.

“They have not yet been put to shame, but they will be put to shame—I am telling you right. And again I will refer to history. Compare what once was with what is, and you will easily agree that not only the external methods of evil have softened, but its very amount has noticeably decreased. Take at least our fish species. Previously, we were caught at any time, and mainly during the "move", when we, like stupefied, climb directly into the net; and now it is during the “move” that it is recognized as harmful to catch us. Previously, one might say, they exterminated us in the most barbaric ways - in the Urals, they say, during the haystorm, the water stood red for many miles from fish blood, and now - the Sabbath. Nets, yes, yes, yes, uds - no more, no, no! Yes, and this is still discussed in the committees: what nets? on what occasion? for what subject?

- And you, apparently, do not care in what way to get into your ear?

- In what kind of ear? - the crucian was surprised.

- Oh, take the dust! It's called Karasem, but I haven't heard of the ear! What right do you have to talk to me after that? After all, in order to conduct disputes and defend opinions, it is necessary, at least, to get acquainted with the circumstances of the case in advance. What are you talking about, if you don’t even know such a simple truth that an ear is prepared for each crucian in front? Shh... I'll stab you!

Ruff bristled, and the crucian quickly, as far as his clumsiness allowed, sank to the bottom. But a day later, friends-opponents again merged and started a new conversation.

“Come on in our backwater, a pike looked in,” the ruff announced.

“The one you mentioned the other day?”

- She. She swam, looked in, said: “Something seems to be too quiet here! There must be crucians of the water here? And she sailed with it.

- What should I do now?

- To be made - that's all. Already, as she swims up and stares at you with her eyes, you pick up the scales and feathers more tightly, but straight and climb into her hailo!

- Why am I going? If I was guilty of anything...

You're stupid - that's your fault. Yes, and fat too. And the stupid and fat and the law commands the pike to climb into the high!

There can be no such law! - the crucian was sincerely indignant. - And the pike has no right to swallow in vain, but must first demand an explanation. Here I will explain to her, I will lay out the whole truth. The truth is, I'll break her to the seventh sweat.

- I told you that you are a fofan, and now I will repeat the same thing: fofan! fofan! fofan!

Ruff was completely angry and made a promise to himself for the future to refrain from any communication with crucian carp. But after a few days, you see, the habit took its toll again.

- If only all the fish agreed among themselves ... - the crucian began mysteriously.

But here the ruff itself was taken aback. “What is this fofan talking about? - he thought, - just look, he will lie, and then a goblel is walking around nearby. Look, and his eyes to the side, as if it were none of his business, squinted, but you know he listens.

“And you don’t pronounce every word that comes into your mind!” - he convinced the crucian, - there is no reason to open your mouth: you can say what you need in a whisper.

“I don’t want to whisper,” the crucian continued imperturbably, “but I say straight out that if all the fish agreed among themselves, then ...

But here Ruff rudely interrupted his friend.

- With you, apparently, having eaten peas, you need to talk! he shouted at the crucian and, sharpening his skis, swam away from him.

And it was annoying for him, and it was a pity for the crucian. Though he is stupid, you can still talk with him alone to your liking. He will not blather, he will not betray - in whom today can you find these qualities? It is a weak time now, such a time that one cannot hope for a father and mother. Here is a roach, although it’s impossible to say something bad about it directly, but still, look, without understanding, she will blurt out! And there is nothing to say about chubs, ides, tenches and other servants! Ready to take an oath for a worm under the bells! Poor crucian! Not for a penny he will disappear between them!

“Look at yourself,” he said to the crucian, “well, what kind of defense can you imagine? Your belly is big, your head is small, you don't give a damn about inventions, your mouth is weird. Even the scales on you are not serious. No agility in you, no briskness - how there is a bumpkin! Anyone who wants, come to you and eat!

“What am I to eat for, if I haven’t done anything wrong?” - still persisted crucian.

“Listen, stupid breed! Do they eat "for what"? Is it because they eat because they want to execute? They eat because they want to eat - that's all. And you, tea, eat. Not in vain you dig in the mud with your nose, and you catch shells. They, shells, want to live, and you, a simpleton, fill mammon with them from morning to evening. Tell me: what kind of guilt did they do to you that you execute them every minute? Do you remember how the other day you said: “If only all the fish agreed among themselves ...” But what if the shells agreed among themselves - would it be sweet for you, simpleton, then?

The question was so directly and so unpleasantly put that the crucian was embarrassed and slightly blushed.

“But shells—that’s…” he muttered, embarrassed.

- Shells are shells, and crucians are crucians. Carp eat shells, and pike eat crucian carp. And the shells are not guilty of anything, and the crucians are not to blame, but both of them must answer. Think about it for a hundred years, but you can't think of anything else.

After these ruff words, the crucian hid in the very depths of the mud and began to think at his leisure. I thought and thought and, by the way, ate shells and ate. And the more you eat, the more you want. Finally, though, I figured it out.

“I don’t eat shells because they were to blame - you said the truth,” he explained to the ruff, “but because I eat them, these shells are provided to me by nature for food.

- Who told you that?

- No one said, but I myself, by my own observation, reached. The shell does not have a soul, but steam; eat her, but she does not understand. Yes, and it is arranged in such a way that it is impossible not to swallow it. Pull the water with your snout, but in your goiter you are already apparently invisibly teeming with shells. I don’t catch them - they climb into my mouth. Well, crucian is a completely different thing. Karasi, brother, there are from ten inches - so you still need to talk with a sort of old man before you eat him. It is necessary that he did a serious dirty trick - well, then, of course ...

- That's how the pike will swallow you, then you will know what you need to do for this. Until then, it would be better to remain silent.

No, I won't be silent. Although I have never seen pikes in my life, I can only judge from the stories that they, too, are not deaf to the voice of truth. Have mercy, tell me: can such villainy happen! The crucian lies, does not touch anyone, and suddenly, no matter what, it gets into the belly of a pike! I don't believe this for the rest of my life.

- Freak! Why, the other day, in front of you, a monk pulled your brother out of the backwater for two whole nets ... What do you think: will he admire crucian carp, or what?

- I do not know. Only this grandmother said in two what happened to those crucian carp: they ate them, and they put them in a planter. And they live happily ever after on monastic bread!

- Well, live, if so, and you, daredevil!

Day after day passed, and there was no end in sight to the disputes of crucian with a ruff. The place in which they lived was quiet, even covered with a little green mold, most favorable for disputes. Whatever you scribble about, whatever dreams you ask yourself, there is complete impunity. This encouraged the crucian to such an extent that with each session he more and more raised the tone of his excursions to the region of the empyrean.

“It is necessary that the fish love each other!” - he orated, - so that each for all, and all for each - that's when real harmony will come true!

- I would like to know how you with your love for a pike will drive up! - the ruff discouraged him.

- I, brother, will come! - the crucian stood on its own, - I know such words that any pike in one minute from them will turn into a crucian!

- Come on, tell me!

- Yes, I’ll just ask: do you know, they say, pike, what virtue is and what duties it imposes in relation to neighbors?

“Stunned, there’s nothing to say! Do you want me to pierce your stomach with a needle for this very question?

— Ah, no! Do me a favor, don't joke about it!

- Only then we, fish, realize our rights, when we, from an early age, will be brought up in civic feelings!

- And why the hell do you need civil feelings?

- Still...

- That's "all the same." Civil feelings only come to court when the space is open before them. And what are you going to do with them, lying in mud?

- Not in mud, but in general ...

- For example?

- For example, a monk wants to boil me in the ear, and I will tell him: “You have no right, father, to subject me to such a terrible punishment without trial!”

- And he put you, for being rude, in a frying pan, or in hot ashes ... No, friend, to live in mud, so not civil, but you must have stupid feelings - that's right. Buried somewhere thicker and shut up, dumbass!

“Fish should not eat fish,” the carp raved in reality. - For fish food, nature has already prepared a lot of delicious dishes. Shells, flies, worms, spiders, water fleas; finally, crayfish, snakes, frogs. And all this is good, everything is needed.

“And for pikes, crucian carp are needed,” the ruff sobered him.

- No, the crucian is self-sufficient. If nature has not given him defensive means, as you, for example, then this means that a special law must be issued in the form of ensuring his personality!

What if that law is not followed?

- Then it is necessary to publish the suggestion: it is better, they say, not to publish laws at all, if not to execute them.

- And will it be okay?

“I think many will be ashamed.

I repeat: days passed after days, and the crucian kept delirious. Someone else would get a punch in the nose for that, but nothing to him. And he would have squandered his arid eyelids in this way, if he had been a little careful. But he dreamed of himself so much that he completely lost the calculation. He let it go and let it go, when all of a sudden a golovel came to him with a summons: the next day, they say, the pike deigns to arrive in the backwater, so you, crucian carp, look! A little light answer to keep appear!

Crucian, however, was not shy. Firstly, he heard so many different reviews about the pike that he himself was curious to get to know her; and secondly, he knew that he had such a magic word, which, if you say it, will turn the most fierce pike into crucian carp. And I really hoped for this word.

Even Ruff, seeing such faith in him, wondered if he had gone too far in a negative direction. Perhaps, in fact, the pike is just waiting to be loved, to be given good advice, to enlighten her mind and heart? Maybe she's...kind? Yes, and the crucian, perhaps, is not at all such a simpleton as it seems in appearance, but, on the contrary, screw up his career with a calculated one? Tomorrow he will come to the pike and straight out and blurt out to her the very real truth, which she has never heard from anyone in her life. And the pike will take it and say: “For the fact that you told me, crucian, the very real truth, I pity you with this backwater; be your boss over her!”

The pike sailed in the morning, how to drink. The crucian looks at her and marvels: no matter what gossip they told him about the pike, and she is a fish like a fish! Only the mouth to the ears and the hail is such that it’s just for him, crucian carp, to crawl through.

- I heard, - said the pike, - that you are very smart, crucian, and a master of ranting. I want to have a dispute with you. Get started.

“I think more about happiness,” the crucian answered modestly, but with dignity. - So that not only me, but everyone would be happy. So that all fish in any water can swim freely, and if one wants to hide in the mud, then let them lie down in the mud.

“Hm… and do you think such a thing could be possible?”

Not only do I think, but I expect it all the time.

- For example: I am swimming, and next to me ... crucian carp?

“So what is it?”

- I hear it for the first time. And if I turn around and crucian something ... eat it?

“There is no such law, your highness; the law says directly: shells, mosquitoes, flies and midges, let them serve as food for the fish. And besides, by later various decrees, water fleas, spiders, worms, beetles, frogs, crayfish and other water inhabitants were included in food. But not fish.

- Not enough for me. Golovel, is there really such a law? - the pike turned to the chub.

- In oblivion, your highness! - deftly wriggled out the goblet.

“I knew that such a law could not exist. Well, what else are you waiting for all the time, crucian carp?

“I also expect justice to prevail. The strong will not oppress the weak, the rich the poor. That such a common cause will be announced, in which all the fish will have their own interest and each will do its share. You, pike, are stronger and more dexterous of all - you will take on the task more forcefully; but to me, crucian carp, according to my modest abilities, they will indicate a modest matter. Everyone for everyone, and everything for everyone - that's how it will be. When we stand up for each other, then no one will be able to trick us. The seine somewhere else will seem, and we were tearing up! Who is under a stone, who is at the very bottom in the silt, who is in a hole or under a snag. Wow, perhaps that, apparently, will have to quit!

- I do not know. People don't really like to give up something that seems tasty to them. Well, yes, it will be sometime. And here's what: so, in your opinion, I will also have to work?

“Like others, so are you.

- I hear it for the first time. Go sleep!

Whether he overslept, whether there was a crucian, but his mind, in any case, did not increase. At noon, he again appeared at the debate, and not only without any timidity, but even more cheerfully than before.

- So you think that I will work, and you will feast on my labors? - the pike directly put the question.

- Everything is from each other ... from common, mutual labors ...

- I understand: “from a friend” ... and by the way, from me too ... hm! I think, however, that you are talking shameful speeches. Golovel, what are such speeches called today?

“Sicilism, your highness!”

“So I knew. I've been hearing for a while. “Rebellious, they say, the crucian speaks speeches!” I just think: “Let me listen to it myself ...” But what are you like!

Having said this, the pike flicked its tail so expressively on the water that no matter how simple the crucian was, it also guessed.

“I, your highness, nothing,” he muttered in embarrassment, “it’s me in simplicity ...

- Okay. Simplicity is worse than theft, they say. If fools are given free rein, then they will kill the smart ones from the world. They told me about you from three boxes, and you - crucian carp like crucian - that's all. And I don't talk to you for five minutes, and I'm tired of you to death.

The pike thought about it and somehow looked at the crucian so mysteriously that he completely understood. But she must have been full after yesterday's gluttony, and therefore she yawned and immediately began to snore.

But this time, the carp did not go so well. As soon as the pike fell silent, the chubs surrounded him from all sides and took him under guard.

In the evening, before the sun had set, the third time crucian came to the pike for a debate. But he appeared already in custody and, moreover, with some injuries. Namely: the perch, interrogating, bit his back and part of the tail.

But he was still cheerful, because he had a magic word in reserve.

“Although you are my adversary,” the first pike began again, “yes, it’s clear that my grief is such: I love disputes about death!” Be healthy, get started!

At these words, the crucian suddenly felt that his heart caught fire in him. In an instant, he gathered up his stomach, fluttered, snapped the remnants of his tail on the water and, looking the pike straight in the eyes, barked at the top of his lungs:

Do you know what virtue is?

The pike gaped in surprise. She automatically drew water and, not wanting to swallow the crucian at all, swallowed it.

The fish who witnessed this incident were dumbfounded for a moment, but immediately came to their senses and hurried to the pike - to find out if she deigned to dine safely, or choked. And the ruff, who had already foreseen and predicted everything in advance, swam forward and solemnly proclaimed: - Here they are, our disputes, what are they!

Karas-idealist

Crucian and ruff argued. Karas said that it was possible to live in the world by truth alone, and the ruff argued that it was impossible to do without it, so as not to be deceitful. What exactly the ruff meant by the expression "to be cunning" is unknown, but every time he uttered these words, the crucian exclaimed indignantly:
- But this is meanness! To which Ruff objected:
- You'll see!
Crucian carp is a quiet fish and inclined to idealism: it is not for nothing that the monks love it. It lies more at the very bottom of a river backwater (where it is quieter) or a pond, buried in silt, and selects microscopic shells from there for its food. Well, naturally, lie down, lie down, and come up with something. Sometimes even very free. But since crucian carp do not submit their thoughts to censorship, nor are they registered in the precinct, no one suspects them of political unreliability. If sometimes we see that from time to time a round-up is arranged for crucian carp, then it is by no means for freethinking, but because they are tasty.
They catch crucians mainly with a net or seine; but in order to catch successfully, you must have skill. Experienced fishermen choose the time for this now, after the rain, when the water is cloudy, and then, winding up the seine, they begin to flap the water with a rope, sticks, and generally make noise. Hearing the noise and thinking that it heralds the triumph of free ideas, the crucian takes off from the bottom and begins to ask if it is possible for him to somehow attach himself to the celebration. It is then that he falls into a lot of junk, in order to later become a victim of human gluttony. For, I repeat, crucian carp are such a tasty dish (especially fried in sour cream) that the leaders of the nobility willingly treat even governors to them.
As for the ruffs, this is a fish already touched by skepticism and, moreover, prickly. When boiled in the ear, it produces an incomparable broth.
How it happened that crucian carp and ruff came together, I don’t know; I only know that once they got together, they immediately argued. They argued once, argued another, and then they got into a taste, they began to make appointments with each other. FLOAT somewhere under the water burdock and start talking smart speeches. And the white-bellied roach frolics around them and gains mind-mind.
The crucian was always the first to bully.
“I don’t believe,” he said, “that struggle and strife are a normal law, under the influence of which everything living on earth is supposedly destined to develop. I believe in bloodless prosperity, I believe in harmony, and I am deeply convinced that happiness is not an idle fantasy of dreamy minds, but sooner or later it will become common property!
— Wait! - ironic ruff.
Ruff argued abruptly and restlessly. This fish is nervous, which, apparently, remembers a lot of grievances. Her heart boiled... ah, boiled! It has not yet reached hatred, but there is no trace of faith and naivety. Instead of a peaceful life, she sees strife everywhere; instead of progress - general savagery. And he claims that those who have a claim to live must take all this into account. Karasya, on the other hand, considers him “blissful”, although at the same time he is aware that with him only one can “take his soul away”.
- And I'll wait! the crucian responded. - And I'm not alone, everyone will wait. The darkness in which we swim is the product of a bitter historical accident; but since now, thanks to the latest research, this accident can be disassembled piece by piece, the causes that gave rise to it can no longer be considered irremovable. Darkness is a fait accompli, and light is a hoped-for future. And there will be light, there will be!
“So, in your opinion, such a time will come when there will be no more pikes?”
- What kind of pikes? - the crucian was surprised, which was so naive that when they said in front of him: that's the pike in the sea, so that the crucian does not doze off, then he thought that this was something like those nixes and mermaids with which they scare small children, and, of course , not a little afraid.
- Oh, you fofan, fofan! You want to solve world problems, but you have no idea about pikes!
Ruff contemptuously wiggled his swimming feathers and sailed away; but after a short time, the interlocutors again swam somewhere in a secluded place (it’s boring in the water) and again began to debate.
“Goodness plays a leading role in life,” the crucian ranted. “Evil is so, it was admitted through a misunderstanding, but the main life force is still closed in goodness.
- Keep your pocket!
“Ah, ruff, what incongruous expressions you use! "Keep your pocket"! is this the answer?
“Yes, you really and completely should not answer. You are stupid - that's the whole story for you!
No, you listen to what I tell you. That evil has never been a building force - history testifies to this. Evil choked, crushed, devastated, betrayed to the sword and fire, and only good was the building force. It rushed to the aid of the oppressed, it freed from chains and fetters, it aroused fruitful feelings in the hearts, it set in motion the hovering of the mind. Without this truly building factor of life, there would be no history. Because, after all, what is history? History is a tale of liberation, a story of the triumph of good and reason over evil and madness.
- And you, apparently, know for sure that evil and madness are put to shame? Ruff teased.
“They are not put to shame yet, but they will be put to shame,” I tell you right. And again I will refer to history. Compare what once was with what is, and you will easily agree that not only the external methods of evil have softened, but its very amount has noticeably decreased. Take at least our fish species. Previously, we were caught at any time, and mainly during the “move”, when we, like stupefied, climb directly into the net, but now it is precisely during the “move” that it is recognized as harmful to catch us. Before, one might say, they exterminated us in the most barbaric ways - in the Urals, they say, during the haystorm, the water stood red for many miles from fish blood, and now - the Sabbath. Nets, yes, yes, yes, uds - no more, no, no! Yes, and this is still discussed in the committees: what nets? on what occasion? for what subject?
- And you, apparently, do not care in what way to get into your ear?
- In what kind of ear? - the crucian was surprised.
- Oh, take the dust! It's called Karasem, but I haven't heard of the ear! What right do you have to talk to me after that? After all, in order to conduct disputes and defend opinions, it is necessary, at least, to get acquainted with the circumstances of the case in advance. What are you talking about, if you don’t even know such a simple truth: that an ear is prepared for each crucian in front? Shh... I'll stab you!
Ruff bristled, and the crucian quickly, as far as his clumsiness allowed, sank to the bottom. But a day later, friends-opponents again merged and started a new conversation.
“Come on in our backwater, a pike looked in,” the ruff announced.
“The one you mentioned the other day?”
- She. She swam, looked in, said: something seems to be too quiet here! there must be crucian waters here? .. And with that she sailed away.
- What should I do now?
- To be made - that's all. Already, as she swims up and stares at you with her eyes, you pick up the scales and feathers more tightly, but straight and climb into her hailo!
- Why am I going? If I was guilty of anything...
You're stupid - that's your fault. Yes, and fat too. And the stupid and fat and the law commands the pike to climb into the high!
There can be no such law! - the crucian was sincerely indignant. - And the pike has no right to swallow in vain, but must first demand an explanation. Here I will explain to her, I will lay out the whole truth. The truth is, I'll break her to the seventh sweat.
- I told you that you are a fofan, and now I will repeat the same thing: fofan! fofan! fofan!
Ruff was completely angry and made a promise to himself for the future to refrain from any communication with crucian carp. But after a few days, you see, the habit took its toll again.
- If only all the fish agreed among themselves ... - the crucian began mysteriously.
But here the ruff itself was taken aback. “What is this fofan talking about? he thought. “Look, he’ll screw up, and here a chub is walking around nearby. Look, and his eyes to the side, as if it were none of his business, squinted, but you know he listens.
“And you don’t pronounce every word that comes into your mind!” he assured the crucian. - There is nothing to open your mouth for; you can whisper what you need to say.
“I don’t want to whisper,” the crucian continued imperturbably, “but I say straight out that if all the fish agreed among themselves, then ...
But here Ruff rudely interrupted his friend.
- With you, apparently, having eaten peas, you need to talk! he shouted at the crucian and, sharpening his skis, swam away from him.
And it was annoying for him, and it was a pity for the crucian. Though he is stupid, you can still talk with him alone to your liking. He won’t talk, he won’t sell, in whom can you find these qualities these days? It is a weak time now, such a time that one cannot hope for a father and mother. Here is a roach, although it’s impossible to say something bad about it directly, but still, look, without understanding, she will blurt out! And there is nothing to say about chub, ide, tench and other servants! Ready to take an oath for a worm under the bells! Poor crucian! not for a penny he will disappear between them!
“Look at yourself,” he said to the crucian, “well, what kind of defense can you imagine? Your belly is big, your head is small, you don't give a damn about inventions, your mouth is weird. Even the scales on you are not serious. No agility in you, no briskness - how there is a bumpkin! Anyone who wants, come to you and eat!
“What am I to eat for, if I haven’t done anything wrong?” - still persisted crucian.
“Listen, stupid breed! Do they eat "for what"? Is it because they eat because they want to execute? They eat because they want to eat, that's all. And you, tea, eat. Not in vain you dig in the mud with your nose, and you catch shells. They, shells, want to live, and you, a simpleton, fill mammon with them from morning to evening. Tell me: what kind of guilt did they do to you that you execute them every minute? Do you remember how you said the other day: if all the fish agreed among themselves ... But what if the shells agreed among themselves - would it be sweet for you, simpleton, then?
The question was so directly and so unpleasantly put that the crucian was embarrassed and slightly blushed.
“But shells—that’s…” he muttered, embarrassed.
- Shells are shells, and crucians are crucians. Carp eat shells, and pike eat crucian carp. And the shells are not guilty of anything, and the crucians are not to blame, and both of them must answer. Think about it for a hundred years, but you can't think of anything else.
After these ruff words, the crucian hid in the very depths of the mud and began to think at his leisure. I thought and thought and, by the way, ate shells and ate. And the more you eat, the more you want. Finally, though, I figured it out.
“I don’t eat shells because they were to blame,” you said the truth,” he explained to the ruff, “but because I eat them, these shells are provided to me by nature for food.
- Who told you that?
- No one said, but I myself, by my own observation, reached. The shell does not have a soul, but steam; eat her, but she does not understand. Yes, and it is arranged in such a way that it is impossible not to swallow it. Pull the water with your snout, but in your goiter you are already apparently invisibly teeming with shells. I don’t catch them - they climb into my mouth. Well, crucian is a completely different thing. Karasi, brother, there are from ten inches - so you still need to talk with a sort of old man before you eat him. It is necessary that he did a serious dirty trick, - well, then, of course ...
- That's how the pike will swallow you, then you will know what you need to do for this. Until then, it would be better to remain silent.
No, I won't be silent. Although I have never seen pikes in my life, I can only judge from the stories that they, too, are not deaf to the voice of truth. Have mercy, tell me: can such villainy happen! The crucian lies, does not touch anyone, and suddenly, no matter what, it gets into the belly of a pike! I don't believe this for the rest of my life.
- Freak! but just the other day, in front of you, a monk pulled your brother’s whole two nets from the backwater ... What do you think: will he admire crucian carp, or what?
- I do not know. Only this grandmother said in two what happened to those crucian carp: some of them were eaten, some of them were planted in a planter. And they live happily ever after on monastic bread!
- Well, live, if so, and you, daredevil!
Day after day passed, and there was no end in sight to the disputes of crucian with a ruff. The place in which they lived was quiet, even covered with a little green mold, most favorable for disputes. Whatever you talk about, whatever dreams you ask yourself - complete impunity. This encouraged the crucian to such an extent that with each session he more and more raised the tone of his excursions to the region of the empyrean.
“It is necessary that the fish love each other!” he orated. - So that each for all, and all for each - that's when real harmony will come true!
“I wish I knew how you and your love would drive up to the pike!” - the ruff discouraged him.
- I, brother, will come! — stood on his crucian. - I know such words that any pike in one minute from them will turn into crucian carp!
- Come on, tell me!
- Yes, I’ll just ask: do you know, they say, pike, what virtue is and what duties it imposes in relation to neighbors?
“Stunned, there’s nothing to say! Do you want me to pierce your stomach with a needle for this very question?
— Ah, no! do me a favor, don't joke about it! Or:
“Only then do we, fish, realize our rights, when we will be brought up in civic feelings from an early age!”
- And why the hell do you need civil feelings?
- Still...
- That's "all the same." Civil feelings only come to court when the space is open before them. And what are you going to do with them, lying in mud?
- Not in mud, but in general ... "
- For example?
- For example, a monk wants to boil me in the ear, and I will tell him: you have no right, father, to subject me to such a terrible punishment without trial!
“And he’ll put you in a frying pan or in hot ashes for rudeness ... No, friend, to live in mud, so it’s not civil, but you must have stupid feelings - that’s right.” Buried somewhere thicker, and shut up, dumbass!
Or more:
“Fish should not eat fish,” the carp raved in reality. - For fish food, nature has already prepared a lot of delicious dishes. Shells, flies, worms, spiders, water fleas; finally, crayfish, snakes, frogs. And all this is good, everything is needed.
“And for pikes, crucian carp are needed,” the ruff sobered him.
- No, the crucian is self-sufficient. If nature has not given him defensive means, as you, for example, then this means that a special law must be issued in the ways of ensuring his personality!
What if that law is not followed?
- Then it is necessary to publish the suggestion: it is better, they say, not to publish laws at all, if not to execute them.
- And will it be okay?
“I think many will be ashamed.
I repeat: days passed after days, and the crucian kept delirious. Someone else would get a punch in the nose for that, but nothing to him. And he would have squandered his arid eyelids in this way, if he had been a little careful. But he dreamed of himself so much that he completely lost the calculation. He let it go and let it go, when suddenly a chub with a summons came to him: the next day, they say, the pike deigns to arrive in the backwater, so you, crucian carp, look! a little light answer to keep appear!
Crucian, however, was not shy. Firstly, he heard so many different reviews about the pike that he himself was curious to get to know her; and secondly, he knew that he had such a magic word, which, if you say it, will turn the most fierce pike into crucian carp. And I really hoped for this word.
Even Ruff, seeing such faith in him, wondered if he had gone too far in a negative direction. Perhaps, in fact, the pike is just waiting to be loved, to be given good advice, to enlighten her mind and heart? Maybe she's...kind? Yes, and the crucian, perhaps, is not at all such a simpleton as it seems in appearance, but, on the contrary, screw up his career with the calculation? Tomorrow he will come to the pike and straight out and blurt out to her the very real truth, which she has never heard from anyone in her life. And the pike will take it and say: because you told me the real truth, crucian carp, I favor you with this backwater; be her boss!
The pike sailed in the morning, how to drink. The crucian looks at her and marvels: no matter what gossip they told him about the pike, and she is a fish like a fish! Only the mouth to the ears and the hail is such that it’s just for him, crucian carp, to crawl through.
- I heard, - said the pike, - that you are very smart, crucian, and a master of ranting. I want to have a dispute with you. Get started.
“I think more about happiness,” the crucian answered modestly, but with dignity. - So that not only me, but everyone would be happy. So that all fish can swim freely in any water, and if any fish wants to hide in the mud, then let them lie down in the mud.
“Hm… and do you think such a thing could be possible?”
Not only do I think, but I expect it all the time.
- For example: I am swimming, and next to me ... crucian carp?
“So what is it?”
- I hear it for the first time. And if I turn around and crucian something ... eat it?
“There is no such law, your highness; the law says directly: shells, mosquitoes, flies and midges, let them serve as food for the fish. And besides, by later various decrees, water fleas, spiders, worms, beetles, frogs, crayfish and other water dwellers were included in food ... But not fish.
- Not enough for me. Golavel! does such a law exist? the pike turned to the chub.
- In oblivion, your highness! the chub deftly wriggled out.
“I knew that such a law could not exist. Well, what else are you waiting for all the time, crucian carp?
“I also expect justice to prevail. The strong will not oppress the weak, the rich the poor. That such a common cause will be announced, in which all the fish will have their own interest and each will do its share. You, pike, are stronger and more dexterous of all - you will take on the task more forcefully; but to me, crucian carp, according to my modest abilities, they will indicate a modest matter. Everyone for everyone, and everything for everyone - that's how it will be. When we stand up for each other, then no one will be able to trick us. The seine somewhere else will seem, and we were tearing up! Who is under a stone, who is at the very bottom in the silt, who is in a hole or under a snag. Wow, perhaps that, apparently, will have to quit!
- I do not know. People don't really like to give up something that seems tasty to them. Well, yes, it will be sometime. And here's what: so, in your opinion, I will also have to work?
“Like others, so are you.
- I hear it for the first time. Go sleep!
Whether he overslept, whether there was a crucian, but in any case, his mind did not increase. At noon, he again appeared at the debate, and not only without any timidity, but even more cheerfully than before.
“So you think that I will work and you will feast on my labors?” - the pike directly put the question.
- Everything is from each other ... from common, mutual labors ...
- I understand: “from a friend” ... and by the way, from me too ... hm! I think, however, that you are talking shameful speeches. Golavel! What is the name of such speech today?
“Sicilism, your highness!”
“So I knew. For a long time I already hear: rebellious, they say, crucian speaks speeches! I just think: let me listen to it myself ... But what are you like!
Having said this, the pike flicked its tail so expressively on the water that no matter how simple the crucian was, it also guessed.
“I, your highness, nothing,” he muttered in embarrassment, “it’s me in simplicity.
- Okay. Simplicity is worse than theft, they say. If fools are given free rein, then they will kill the smart ones from the world. They told me about you from three boxes, and you are crucian like crucian, that's all. And I don't talk to you for five minutes, and I'm tired of you to death.
The pike thought about it and somehow looked at the crucian so mysteriously that he completely understood. But she must have been full after yesterday's gluttony, and therefore she yawned and immediately began to snore.
But this time, the carp did not go so well. As soon as the pike fell silent, the chubs surrounded him from all sides and took them under guard.
In the evening, before the sun had set, the third time crucian came to the pike for a debate. But he appeared already in custody and, moreover, with some injuries. Namely: the perch, interrogating, bit his back and part of the tail.
But he was still cheerful, because he had a magic word in reserve.
“Although you are my adversary,” the first pike began again, “yes, it’s clear that my grief is such: I love disputes about death!” Be healthy, get started!
At these words, the crucian suddenly felt that his heart caught fire in him. In an instant, he gathered up his stomach, fluttered, snapped the remnants of his tail on the water and, looking the pike straight in the eyes, barked at the top of his lungs:
Do you know what virtue is?
The pike gaped in surprise. She automatically drew water and, not wanting to swallow the crucian at all, swallowed it.
The fish, who witnessed this incident, were dumbfounded for a moment, but immediately came to their senses and hurried to the pike to find out if she deigned to dine safely, or choked. And the ruff, who had already foreseen and predicted everything in advance, swam forward and solemnly proclaimed:
- Here they are, our disputes, what are they!

Crucian and ruff argued. Karas said that it was possible to live in the world by truth alone, and the ruff argued that it was impossible to do without it, so as not to be deceitful. What exactly the ruff meant by the expression "dissemble" is unknown, but every time he uttered these words, the crucian exclaimed indignantly:

But this is meanness!

To which Ruff objected:

Here you will see!

Crucian is a quiet fish and inclined to idealism: it is not for nothing that the monks love it. He lies more at the very bottom of a river backwater (where it is quieter) or a pond, buried in silt, and selects microscopic shells from there for his food. Well, naturally, lie down, lie down, and come up with something. Sometimes even very free. But since crucian carp do not submit their thoughts to censorship, nor are they registered in the precinct, no one suspects them of political unreliability. If sometimes we see that from time to time a round-up is arranged for crucian carp, then it is by no means for freethinking, but because they are tasty.

They catch crucians, for the most part, with a net or seine; but in order to catch successfully, you must have skill. Experienced fishermen choose the time for this now, after the rain, when the water is cloudy, and then, winding up the seine, they begin to flap the water with a rope, sticks, and generally make noise. Hearing the noise and thinking that it heralds the triumph of free ideas, the crucian takes off from the bottom and begins to ask if it is possible for him to somehow attach himself to the celebration. It is then that he falls into a lot of junk, in order to later become a victim of human gluttony. For, I repeat, crucian carp are such a tasty dish (especially fried in sour cream) that the leaders of the nobility willingly treat even governors to them.

As for the ruffs, this is a fish already touched by skepticism and, moreover, prickly. When boiled in the ear, it produces an incomparable broth.

How it happened that the crucian with the ruff came together - I do not know; I only know that once, having come together, they immediately argued. They argued once, argued another, and then they got into a taste, they began to make appointments with each other. They will float somewhere under the water burdock and begin to talk clever speeches. And the white-bellied roach frolics around them and gains mind-mind.

The crucian was always the first to bully.

I do not believe, - he said, - that struggle and strife are a normal law, under the influence of which everything living on earth is supposedly destined to develop. I believe in bloodless prosperity, I believe in harmony, and I am deeply convinced that happiness is not an idle fantasy of dreamy minds, but sooner or later it will become common property!

Wait! - ironically ruff.

Ruff argued abruptly and restlessly. This is a nervous fish, which, apparently, remembers a lot of insults. Her heart boiled... oh, boiled! It has not yet reached hatred, but there is no trace of faith and naivety. Instead of a peaceful life, she sees strife everywhere; instead of progress - general savagery. And he claims that those who have a claim to live must take all this into account. Karasya, on the other hand, considers him "blissful", although at the same time he is aware that with him only one can "take one's soul away".

And I'll wait! - answered the crucian, - and I'm not alone, everyone will wait. The darkness in which we swim is the product of a bitter historical accident; but since now, thanks to the latest research, it is possible to sort out this chance by the bones, then the causes that gave rise to it can no longer be considered irremovable. Darkness is a fait accompli, and light is an expected future. And there will be light, there will be!

So, in your opinion, such a time will come when there will be no pikes?

What kind of pike? - the crucian was surprised, which was so naive that when they said in front of him: "That's why the pike in the sea, so that the crucian does not doze off," he thought that this was something like those nyxes and mermaids with which they scare small children, and , of course, not a crumb was afraid.

Oh, you fofan, fofan! You want to solve world problems, but you have no idea about pikes!

Ruff contemptuously wiggled his swimming feathers and sailed away; but, after a short time, the interlocutors again floated somewhere in a secluded place (it’s boring in the water) and again began to debate.

In life, good plays a leading role, - the crucian ranted, - evil - this is so, due to a misunderstanding it was admitted, but the main life force is still closed in good.

Keep your pocket!

Oh, ruff, what incongruous expressions you use! "Keep your pocket"! is this the answer?

Yes, you really shouldn't answer at all. Stupid you - that's the whole tale for you!

No, you listen to what I tell you. That evil has never been a building force - history testifies to this. Evil choked, crushed, devastated, betrayed to the sword and fire, and only good was the building force. It rushed to the aid of the oppressed, it freed from chains and fetters, it aroused fruitful feelings in the hearts, it set in motion the hovering of the mind. Without this truly building factor of life, there would be no history. Because, after all, what is history? History is a story of liberation, it is a story about the triumph of good and reason over evil and madness.

And you, apparently, know for certain that evil and madness are put to shame? - taunted ruff.

They are not put to shame yet, but they will be put to shame - I tell you rightly. And again I will refer to history. Compare what once was with what is, and you will easily agree that not only the external methods of evil have softened, but its very amount has noticeably decreased. Take at least our fish species. Previously, we were caught at any time, and mainly during the "move", when we, like stupefied, climb directly into the net; and now it is precisely during the "move" that it is recognized as harmful to catch us. Before us, one might say, they exterminated us in the most barbaric ways - in the Urals, they say, during the haystorm, the water stood red for many miles from fish blood, and now - the Sabbath. Nets, yes administer, yes uds - no more no no! Yes, and this is still discussed in the committees: what nets? on what occasion? for what subject?

And you, apparently, do not care how you get into your ear?

In what kind of ear? - the crucian was surprised.

Ah, dust take you! It's called Karasem, but I haven't heard of the ear! What right do you have to talk to me after that? After all, in order to conduct disputes and defend opinions, it is necessary, at least, to get acquainted with the circumstances of the case in advance. What are you talking about, if you don’t even know such a simple truth that an ear is prepared for each crucian in front? Get out... I'll stab you!

Ruff bristled, and the crucian quickly, as far as his clumsiness allowed, sank to the bottom. But a day later, friends-opponents again merged and started a new conversation.

The other day, a pike looked into our backwater, - the ruff announced.

The one you mentioned the other day?

She. She swam, looked in, said: “It’s like it’s too quiet here! Must be crucians of the waters here?” And she sailed with it.

What am I to do now?

To be made - only and only. Already, as she swims up and stares at you with her eyes, you pick up the scales and feathers more tightly, but straight and climb into her hailo!

Why am I going? If I was guilty of anything...

You're stupid - that's your fault. Yes, and fat too. And the stupid and fat and the law commands the pike to climb into the high!

There can be no such law! - the crucian was sincerely indignant. - And the pike has no right to swallow in vain, but must first demand an explanation. Here I will explain to her, I will lay out the whole truth. The truth is, I'll break her to the seventh sweat.

I told you that you are a fofan, and now I will repeat the same thing: fofan! fofan! fofan!

Ruff was finally angry and gave himself a word for the future to refrain from any communication with crucian carp. But after a few days, you see, the habit took its toll again.

If only all the fish agreed among themselves ... - the crucian began mysteriously.

But here the ruff itself was taken aback. "What is this fofan talking about?" he thought.

And you don’t pronounce every word that comes into your mind! - he convinced the crucian, - there is nothing to open your mouth for: you can say in a whisper what you need to say.

I don’t want to whisper, - the crucian continued imperturbably, - but I say directly that if all the fish agreed among themselves, then ...

But here Ruff rudely interrupted his friend.

With you, apparently, having eaten peas, you need to talk! - he shouted at the crucian and, sharpening his skis, swam away from him.

And it was annoying for him, and it was a pity for the crucian. Though he is stupid, you can still talk with him alone to your liking. He won’t talk, he won’t betray - in whom can you find these qualities these days? It is a weak time now, such a time that one cannot hope for a father and mother. Here is a roach, although it’s impossible to say something bad about it directly, but still, look, without understanding, she will blurt out! And there is nothing to say about chubs, ides, tenches and other servants! Ready to take an oath for a worm under the bells! Poor crucian! not for a penny he will disappear between them!

Look at yourself, - he said to the crucian, - well, what kind of defense can you imagine? Your belly is big, your head is small, you don't give a damn about inventions, your mouth is weird. Even the scales on you are not serious. Neither agility in you, nor briskness - how there is a bumpkin! Anyone who wants, come to you and eat!

But what am I to eat, if I have not been guilty? - still persisted crucian.

Listen, stupid breed! Do they eat "for what"? Is it because they eat because they want to execute? They eat because they want to eat - that's all. And you, tea, eat. Not in vain you dig in the mud with your nose, and you catch shells. They, shells, want to live, and you, a simpleton, fill mammon with them from morning to evening. Tell me: what kind of guilt did they do to you that you execute them every minute? Do you remember how you said the other day: "If only all the fish agreed among themselves ..." But what if the shells agreed among themselves - would it be sweet to you, simpleton, then?

The question was so directly and so unpleasantly put that the crucian was embarrassed and slightly blushed.

But seashells - after all, this is ... - he muttered embarrassedly.

Shells are shells, and crucians are crucians. Carp eat shells, and pike eat crucian carp. And the shells are not guilty of anything, and the crucians are not to blame, but both of them must answer. Think about it for a hundred years, but you can't think of anything else.

After these ruff words, the crucian hid in the very depths of the mud and began to think at his leisure. I thought and thought and, by the way, ate shells and ate. And the more you eat, the more you want. Finally, though, I figured it out.

I don’t eat shells because they were to blame - you said the truth, ”he explained to the ruff,“ but because I eat them, these shells are provided to me by nature for food.

Who told you this?

No one said, but I myself, by my own observation, reached. The shell does not have a soul, but steam; eat her, but she does not understand. Yes, and it is arranged in such a way that it is impossible not to swallow it. Pull the water with your snout, but in your goiter you are already apparently invisibly teeming with shells. I don’t catch them - they climb into my mouth. Well, crucian carp is completely different. Karasi, brother, there are from ten inches - so you still need to talk with a sort of old man before you eat him. It is necessary that he did a serious dirty trick - well, then, of course ...

This is how the pike will swallow you, then you will know what you need to do for this. Until then, it would be better to remain silent.

No, I will not be silent. Although I have never seen pikes in my life, I can only judge from the stories that they, too, are not deaf to the voice of truth. Have mercy, tell me: can such villainy happen! The crucian lies, does not touch anyone, and suddenly, for whatever reason, it gets into the belly of a pike! I don't believe this for the rest of my life.

Freak! but just the other day, in front of you, a monk pulled your brother’s whole two nets from the backwater ... What do you think: will he admire crucian carp, or what?

Do not know. Only this grandmother said in two what happened to those crucian carp: sometimes they ate them, sometimes they put them in a planter. And they live happily ever after on monastic bread!

Well, live, if so, and you, daredevil!

Day after day passed, and there was no end in sight to the disputes of crucian with a ruff. The place in which they lived was quiet, even covered with a little green mold, most favorable for disputes. Whatever you talk about, whatever dreams you ask yourself - complete impunity. This encouraged the crucian to such an extent that with each session he more and more raised the tone of his excursions to the region of the empyrean.

It is necessary that the fish love each other! - he orated, - so that each for all, and all for each - that's when real harmony will come true!

I would like to know how you and your love will drive up to the pike! - cooled his ruff.

I, brother, will come! - the crucian stood on its own, - I know such words that any pike in one minute from them will turn into a crucian!

Well, tell me!

Yes, I’ll just ask: do you know, they say, pike, what virtue is and what duties it imposes in relation to neighbors?

Confused, nothing to say! Do you want me to pierce your stomach with a needle for this very question?

Oh no! do me a favor, don't joke about it!

Only then do we, fish, realize our rights, when we, from an early age, will be brought up in civic feelings!

Why the hell do you need civic feelings?

Still...

That's "still". Civil feelings only come to court when the space is open before them. And what are you going to do with them, lying in mud?

Not in the mud, but in general ...

For example?

For example, a monk wants to boil me in the ear, and I will tell him: “You have no right, father, to subject me to such a terrible punishment without trial!”

And he, for rudeness, put you in a frying pan, or in hot ashes ... No, friend, to live in mud, so not civil, but you must have stupid feelings - that's right. Buried somewhere thicker and shut up, dumbass!

Fish should not eat fish, - crucian carp raved in reality. - For fish food, nature has already prepared a lot of delicious dishes. Shells, flies, worms, spiders, water fleas; finally, crayfish, snakes, frogs. And all this is good, all is needed.

And for pike, crucian carp need it, - the ruff sobered him.

No, crucian carp dominates itself. If nature has not given him defensive means, as you, for example, then this means that a special law must be issued in the form of ensuring his personality!

What if that law is not followed?

Then it is necessary to publish the suggestion: it is better, they say, not to publish laws at all, if not to execute them.

And will it be okay?

I believe that many will be ashamed.

I repeat: days passed after days, and the crucian kept delirious. For this, they would give at least a click in the nose to another, but nothing to him. And he would have squandered his arid eyelids in this way, if he had been a little careful. But he dreamed of himself so much that he completely lost the calculation. He let it go and let it go, when all of a sudden a golovel came to him with a summons: the next day, they say, the pike deigns to arrive in the backwater, so you, crucian carp, look! a little light answer to keep appear!

Crucian, however, did not grow shy. Firstly, he heard so many different reviews about the pike that he himself was curious to get to know her; and secondly, he knew that he had such a magic word, which, if you say it, will turn the most fierce pike into crucian carp. And I really hoped for this word.

Even Ruff, seeing such faith in him, wondered if he had gone too far in a negative direction. Perhaps, in fact, the pike is just waiting to be loved, to be given good advice, to enlighten her mind and heart? Maybe she's... kind? Yes, and the crucian, perhaps, is not at all such a simpleton as it seems in appearance, but, on the contrary, screw up his career with the calculation? Tomorrow he will come to the pike and straight out and blurt out to her the very real truth, which she has never heard from anyone in her life. And the pike will take it and say: "Because you told me the real truth, crucian carp, I pity you with this backwater; be you the boss over it!"

The pike sailed in the morning, how to drink. The crucian looks at her and marvels: no matter what gossip they told him about the pike, and she is a fish like a fish! Only the mouth to the ears and the hail is such that it’s just for him, crucian carp, to crawl through.

I heard, - said the pike, - that you, crucian carp, are very smart and a master of ranting. I want to have a dispute with you. Get started.

I think more about happiness, - the crucian answered modestly, but with dignity. - So that not just me, but everyone would be happy. So that all fish in any water can swim freely, and if one wants to hide in the mud, then let them lie down in the mud.

Um... and you think such a thing could be possible?

Not only do I think, but I expect it all the time.

For example: I am swimming, and next to me ... crucian carp?

So what is it?

First time I hear. And if I turn around and crucian something ... eat it?

There is no such law, your highness; the law says directly: shells, mosquitoes, flies and midges, let them serve as food for the fish. And besides, by later various decrees, water fleas, spiders, worms, beetles, frogs, crayfish and other water inhabitants were included in food. But not fish.

Not enough for me. Golovel! does such a law exist? - the pike turned to the chub.

In oblivion, your highness! - deftly wriggled out the goblet.

I knew that such a law could not exist. Well, what else are you waiting for all the time, crucian carp?

And I expect that justice will prevail. The strong will not oppress the weak, the rich the poor. That such a common cause will be announced, in which all the fish will have their own interest and each will do its share. You, pike, are stronger and more dexterous than everyone - you will take on the task more forcefully; but to me, crucian carp, according to my modest abilities, they will indicate a modest matter. Everyone for everyone, and everything for everyone - that's how it will be. When we stand up for each other, then no one will be able to trick us. The seine somewhere else will seem, and we were tearing up! Who is under a stone, who is at the very bottom in the silt, who is in a hole or under a snag. Wow, perhaps that, apparently, will have to quit!

Do not know. People don't really like to give up something that seems tasty to them. Well, yes, it will be sometime. And here's what: so, in your opinion, I will also have to work?

As others, so do you.

First time I hear. Go sleep!

Whether he overslept, whether there was a crucian, but his mind, in any case, did not increase. At noon, he again appeared at the debate, and not only without any timidity, but even more cheerfully than before.

So you think that I will work, and you will feast on my labors? - the pike directly put the question.

Everything is from each other ... from common, mutual labors ...

I understand: "a friend from a friend" ... and by the way, from me too ... hm! I think, however, that you are talking shameful speeches. Golovel! What is the name of such speech today?

Sicilism, higher rank!

So I knew. For a long time I already hear: "Rebellious, they say, crucian speaks speeches!" I just think: "I'd better listen to myself ..." What are you like!

Having said this, the pike flicked its tail so expressively on the water that no matter how simple the crucian was, it also guessed.

I, your highness, nothing, - he muttered in embarrassment, - it's me in simplicity ...

OK. Simplicity is worse than theft, they say. If fools are given free rein, then they will kill the smart ones from the world. They told me about you from three boxes, and you - crucian carp like crucian - that's all. And I don't talk to you for five minutes, and I'm tired of you to death.

The pike thought about it and somehow looked at the crucian so mysteriously that he completely understood. But she must have been full after yesterday's gluttony, and therefore she yawned and immediately began to snore.

But this time, the carp did not go so well. As soon as the pike fell silent, the chubs surrounded him from all sides and took him under guard.

In the evening, before the sun had set, the third time crucian came to the pike for a debate. But he appeared already in custody and, moreover, with some injuries. Namely: the perch, interrogating, bit his back and part of the tail.

But he was still cheerful, because he had a magic word in reserve.

Even though you are my opponent, - the first pike began again, - yes, it’s clear that my grief is this: I love disputes about death! Be healthy, get started!

At these words, the crucian suddenly felt that his heart caught fire in him. In an instant, he gathered up his stomach, fluttered, snapped the remnants of his tail on the water and, looking the pike straight in the eyes, barked at the top of his lungs:

Do you know what virtue is?

The pike gaped in surprise. She automatically drew water and, not wanting to swallow the crucian at all, swallowed it.

The fish who witnessed this incident were dumbfounded for a moment, but immediately came to their senses and hurried to the pike - to find out if she deigned to dine safely, or choked. And the ruff, who had already foreseen and predicted everything in advance, swam forward and solemnly proclaimed:

Here they are, our disputes, what are they!

Young lover of literature, we are firmly convinced that you will be pleased to read the fairy tale "Karas the Idealist" by Saltykov-Shchedrin M.E. and you will be able to learn a lesson and benefit from it. Despite the fact that all fairy tales are fantasy, however, they often retain the logic and sequence of events. Main character always wins not by deceit and cunning, but by kindness, gentleness and love - this is the main quality of children's characters. Loyalty, friendship and self-sacrifice and other positive feelings overcome everything that opposes them: malice, deceit, lies and hypocrisy. All descriptions of the environment are created and presented with a feeling of deepest love and appreciation for the object of presentation and creation. The story takes place in ancient times or "Once upon a time" as the people say, but those difficulties, those obstacles and difficulties are close to our contemporaries. Charm, admiration and indescribable inner joy are produced by pictures drawn by our imagination when reading such works. The fairy tale "Karas-idealist" by Saltykov-Shchedrin M.E. should be read for free online thoughtfully, explaining to young readers or listeners the details and words that are incomprehensible to them and new to them.

Karas argued with a ruff. Karas said that it was possible to live in the world by truth alone, and the ruff argued that it was impossible to do without it, so as not to be deceitful. What exactly the ruff meant by the expression "to be cunning" is unknown, but every time he uttered these words, the crucian exclaimed indignantly:

- But this is meanness!

To which Ruff objected:

- You'll see!

Crucian carp is a quiet fish and inclined to idealism: it is not for nothing that the monks love it. He lies more at the very bottom of a river backwater (where it is quieter) or a pond, buried in silt, and selects microscopic shells from there for his food. Well, naturally, lie down, lie down, and come up with something. Sometimes even very free. But since crucian carp do not submit their thoughts to censorship, nor are they registered in the precinct, no one suspects them of political unreliability. If sometimes we see that from time to time a round-up is arranged for crucian carp, then it is by no means for freethinking, but because they are tasty.

They catch crucians, for the most part, with a net or seine; but in order to catch successfully, you must have skill. Experienced fishermen choose the time for this now, after the rain, when the water is cloudy, and then, winding up the seine, they begin to flap the water with a rope, sticks, and generally make noise. Hearing the noise and thinking that it heralds the triumph of free ideas, the crucian takes off from the bottom and begins to ask if it is possible for him to somehow attach himself to the celebration. It is then that he falls into a lot of junk, in order to later become a victim of human gluttony. For, I repeat, crucian carp are such a tasty dish (especially fried in sour cream) that the leaders of the nobility willingly treat even governors to them.

As for the ruffs, this is a fish already touched by skepticism and, moreover, prickly. When boiled in the ear, it produces an incomparable broth.

How it happened that crucian carp and ruff came together, I don’t know; I only know that once, having come together, they immediately argued. They argued once, argued another, and then they got into a taste, they began to make appointments with each other. They will float somewhere under the water burdock and begin to talk clever speeches. And the white-bellied roach frolics around them and gains mind-mind.

The crucian was always the first to bully.

“I don’t believe,” he said, “that struggle and strife are a normal law, under the influence of which everything living on earth is supposedly destined to develop. I believe in bloodless prosperity, I believe in harmony, and I am deeply convinced that happiness is not an idle fantasy of dreamy minds, but sooner or later it will become common property!

— Wait! - ironic ruff.

Ruff argued abruptly and restlessly. This is a nervous fish, which, apparently, remembers a lot of insults. Her heart boiled... ah, boiled! It has not yet reached hatred, but there is no trace of faith and naivety. Instead of a peaceful life, she sees strife everywhere; instead of progress - general savagery. And he claims that those who have a claim to live must take all this into account. Karasya, on the other hand, considers him “blissful”, although at the same time he is aware that with him only one can “take his soul away”.

- And I'll wait! - answered the crucian, - and I'm not alone, everyone will wait. The darkness in which we swim is the product of a bitter historical accident; but since now, thanks to the latest research, it is possible to sort out this chance by the bones, then the causes that gave rise to it can no longer be considered irremovable. Darkness is a fait accompli, and light is a hoped-for future. And there will be light, there will be!

“So, in your opinion, such a time will come when there will be no more pikes?”

- What kind of pikes? - the crucian was surprised, which was so naive that when they said in front of him: “That’s why the pike in the sea, so that the crucian does not doze off,” he thought that this was something like those nyxes and mermaids with which they scare small children, and , of course, not a crumb was afraid.

- Oh, you fofan, fofan! You want to solve world problems, but you have no idea about pikes!

Ruff contemptuously wiggled his swimming feathers and sailed away; but, after a short time, the interlocutors again floated somewhere in a secluded place (it’s boring in the water) and again began to debate.

“Good plays a leading role in life,” the crucian ranted, “evil is so, it was admitted through a misunderstanding, but the main life force is still closed in good.

- Keep your pocket!

“Ah, ruff, what incongruous expressions you use! "Keep your pocket"! is this the answer?

“Yes, you really shouldn’t answer at all. You are stupid - that's the whole story for you!

No, you listen to what I tell you. That evil has never been a building force - history testifies to this. Evil choked, crushed, devastated, betrayed to the sword and fire, and only good was the building force. It rushed to the aid of the oppressed, it freed from chains and fetters, it aroused fruitful feelings in the hearts, it set in motion the hovering of the mind. Without this truly building factor of life, there would be no history. Because, after all, what is history? History is a tale of liberation, a story of the triumph of good and reason over evil and madness.

- And you, apparently, know for sure that evil and madness are put to shame? Ruff teased.

“They have not yet been put to shame, but they will be put to shame—I am telling you right. And again I will refer to history. Compare what once was with what is, and you will easily agree that not only the external methods of evil have softened, but its very amount has noticeably decreased. Take at least our fish species. Previously, we were caught at any time, and mainly during the "move", when we, like stupefied, climb directly into the net; and now it is precisely during the "move" that it is recognized as harmful to catch us. Previously, one might say, they exterminated us in the most barbaric ways - in the Urals, they say, during the haystorm, the water stood red for many miles from fish blood, and now - the Sabbath. Nets, yes, yes, yes, uds - no more, no, no! Yes, and this is still discussed in the committees: what nets? on what occasion? for what subject?

- And you, apparently, do not care in what way to get into your ear?

- In what kind of ear? - the crucian was surprised.

- Oh, take the dust! It's called Karasem, but I haven't heard of the ear! What right do you have to talk to me after that? After all, in order to conduct disputes and defend opinions, it is necessary, at least, to get acquainted with the circumstances of the case in advance. What are you talking about, if you don’t even know such a simple truth that an ear is prepared for each crucian in front? Shh... I'll stab you!

Ruff bristled, and the crucian quickly, as far as his clumsiness allowed, sank to the bottom. But a day later, friends-opponents again merged and started a new conversation.

“Come on in our backwater, a pike looked in,” the ruff announced.

“The one you mentioned the other day?”

- She. She swam, looked in, said: “Something seems to be too quiet here! there must be crucian carp here?” And she sailed with it.

- What should I do now?

- To be made - that's all. Already, as she swims up and stares at you with her eyes, you pick up the scales and feathers more tightly, but straight and climb into her hailo!

- Why am I going? If I was guilty of anything...

You're stupid - that's your fault. Yes, and fat too. And the stupid and fat and the law commands the pike to climb into the high!

There can be no such law! - the crucian was sincerely indignant. - And the pike has no right to swallow in vain, but must first demand an explanation. Here I will explain to her, I will lay out the whole truth. The truth is, I'll break her to the seventh sweat.

- I told you that you are a fofan, and now I will repeat the same thing: fofan! fofan! fofan!

Ruff was finally angry and gave himself a word for the future to refrain from any communication with crucian carp. But after a few days, you see, the habit took its toll again.

- If only all the fish agreed among themselves ... - the crucian began mysteriously.

But here the ruff itself was taken aback. “What is this fofan talking about? - he thought, - just look, he will lie, and then a goblel is walking around nearby. Look, and his eyes to the side, as if it were none of his business, squinted, but you know he listens.

“And you don’t pronounce every word that comes into your mind!” - he convinced the crucian, - there is no reason to open your mouth: you can say what you need in a whisper.

“I don’t want to whisper,” the crucian continued imperturbably, “but I say straight out that if all the fish agreed among themselves, then ...

But here Ruff rudely interrupted his friend.

- With you, apparently, having eaten peas, you need to talk! he shouted at the crucian and, sharpening his skis, swam away from him.

And it was annoying for him, and it was a pity for the crucian. Though he is stupid, you can still talk with him alone to your liking. He will not blather, he will not betray - in whom today can you find these qualities? It is a weak time now, such a time that one cannot hope for a father and mother. Here is a roach, although it’s impossible to say something bad about it directly, but still, look, without understanding, she will blurt out! And there is nothing to say about chubs, ides, tenches and other servants! Ready to take an oath for a worm under the bells! Poor crucian! not for a penny he will disappear between them!

“Look at yourself,” he said to the crucian, “well, what kind of defense can you imagine? Your belly is big, your head is small, you don't give a damn about inventions, your mouth is weird. Even the scales on you are not serious. No agility in you, no briskness - how there is a bumpkin! Anyone who wants, come to you and eat!

“What am I to eat for, if I haven’t done anything wrong?” - still persisted crucian.

“Listen, stupid breed! Do they eat "for what"? Is it because they eat because they want to execute? They eat because they want to eat - that's all. And you, tea, eat. Not in vain you dig in the mud with your nose, and you catch shells. They, shells, want to live, and you, a simpleton, fill mammon with them from morning to evening. Tell me: what kind of guilt did they do to you that you execute them every minute? Do you remember how the other day you said: “If only all the fish agreed among themselves ...” But what if the shells agreed among themselves - would it be sweet for you, simpleton, then?

The question was so directly and so unpleasantly put that the crucian was embarrassed and slightly blushed.

“But shells—that’s…” he muttered, embarrassed.

- Shells are shells, and crucians are crucians. Carp eat shells, and pike eat crucian carp. And the shells are not guilty of anything, and the crucians are not to blame, but both of them must answer. Think about it for a hundred years, but you can't think of anything else.

After these ruff words, the crucian hid in the very depths of the mud and began to think at his leisure. I thought and thought and, by the way, ate shells and ate. And the more you eat, the more you want. Finally, though, I figured it out.

“I don’t eat shells because they were to blame - you said the truth,” he explained to the ruff, “but because I eat them, these shells are provided to me by nature for food.

- Who told you that?

- No one said, but I myself, by my own observation, reached. The shell does not have a soul, but steam; eat her, but she does not understand. Yes, and it is arranged in such a way that it is impossible not to swallow it. Pull the water with your snout, but in your goiter you are already apparently invisibly teeming with shells. I don’t catch them - they climb into my mouth. Well, crucian is a completely different thing. Karasi, brother, there are from ten inches - so you still need to talk with a sort of old man before you eat him. It is necessary that he did a serious dirty trick - well, then, of course ...

- That's how the pike will swallow you, then you will know what you need to do for this. Until then, it would be better to remain silent.

No, I won't be silent. Although I have never seen pikes in my life, I can only judge from the stories that they, too, are not deaf to the voice of truth. Have mercy, tell me: can such villainy happen! The crucian lies, does not touch anyone, and suddenly, for whatever reason, it gets into the belly of a pike! I don't believe this for the rest of my life.

- Freak! but just the other day, in front of you, a monk pulled your brother’s whole two nets from the backwater ... What do you think: will he admire crucian carp, or what?

- I do not know. Only this grandmother said in two what happened to those crucian carp: sometimes they ate them, sometimes they put them in a planter. And they live happily ever after on monastic bread!

- Well, live, if so, and you, daredevil!

Day after day passed, and there was no end in sight to the disputes of crucian with a ruff. The place in which they lived was quiet, even covered with a little green mold, most favorable for disputes. Whatever you scribble about, whatever dreams you ask yourself, there is complete impunity. This encouraged the crucian to such an extent that with each session he more and more raised the tone of his excursions to the region of the empyrean.

“It is necessary that the fish love each other!” - he orated, - so that each for all, and all for each - that's when real harmony will come true!

“I wish I knew how you and your love would drive up to the pike!” - the ruff discouraged him.

- I, brother, will come! - the crucian stood on its own, - I know such words that any pike in one minute from them will turn into a crucian!

- Come on, tell me!

- Yes, I’ll just ask: do you know, they say, pike, what virtue is and what duties it imposes in relation to neighbors?

“Stunned, there’s nothing to say! Do you want me to pierce your stomach with a needle for this very question?

— Ah, no! do me a favor, don't joke about it!

- Only then we, fish, realize our rights, when we, from an early age, will be brought up in civic feelings!

- And why the hell do you need civil feelings?

- Still...

- That's "all the same." Civil feelings only come to court when the space is open before them. And what are you going to do with them, lying in mud?

- Not in mud, but in general ...

- For example?

- For example, a monk wants to boil me in the ear, and I will tell him: “You have no right, father, to subject me to such a terrible punishment without trial!”

- And he put you, for being rude, in a frying pan, or in hot ashes ... No, friend, to live in mud, so not civil, but you must have stupid feelings - that's right. Buried somewhere thicker and shut up, dumbass!

“Fish should not eat fish,” the carp raved in reality. - For fish food, nature has already prepared a lot of delicious dishes. Shells, flies, worms, spiders, water fleas; finally, crayfish, snakes, frogs. And all this is good, all is needed.

“And for pikes, crucian carp are needed,” the ruff sobered him.

- No, the crucian is self-sufficient. If nature has not given him defensive means, as you, for example, then this means that a special law must be issued in the form of ensuring his personality!

What if that law is not followed?

- Then it is necessary to publish the suggestion: it is better, they say, not to publish laws at all, if not to execute them.

- And will it be okay?

“I think many will be ashamed.

I repeat: days passed after days, and the crucian kept delirious. Someone else would get a punch in the nose for that, but nothing to him. And he would have squandered his arid eyelids in this way, if he had been a little careful. But he dreamed of himself so much that he completely lost the calculation. He let it go and let it go, when all of a sudden a golovel came to him with a summons: the next day, they say, the pike deigns to arrive in the backwater, so you, crucian carp, look! a little light answer to keep appear!

Crucian, however, did not grow shy. Firstly, he heard so many different reviews about the pike that he himself was curious to get to know her; and secondly, he knew that he had such a magic word, which, if you say it, will turn the most fierce pike into crucian carp. And I really hoped for this word.

Even Ruff, seeing such faith in him, wondered if he had gone too far in a negative direction. Perhaps, in fact, the pike is just waiting to be loved, to be given good advice, to enlighten her mind and heart? Maybe she's...kind? Yes, and the crucian, perhaps, is not at all such a simpleton as it seems in appearance, but, on the contrary, screw up his career with the calculation? Tomorrow he will come to the pike and straight out and blurt out to her the very real truth, which she has never heard from anyone in her life. And the pike will take it and say: “For the fact that you told me, crucian, the very real truth, I pity you with this backwater; be your boss over her!”

The pike sailed in the morning, how to drink. The crucian looks at her and marvels: no matter what gossip they told him about the pike, and she is a fish like a fish! Only the mouth to the ears and the hail is such that it’s just for him, crucian carp, to crawl through.

- I heard, - said the pike, - that you are very smart, crucian, and a master of ranting. I want to have a dispute with you. Get started.

“I think more about happiness,” the crucian answered modestly, but with dignity. - So that not only me, but everyone would be happy. So that all fish in any water can swim freely, and if one wants to hide in the mud, then let them lie down in the mud.

“Hm… and do you think such a thing could be possible?”

Not only do I think, but I expect it all the time.

- For example: I am swimming, and next to me ... crucian carp?

“So what is it?”

- I hear it for the first time. And if I turn around and crucian something ... eat it?

“There is no such law, your highness; the law says directly: shells, mosquitoes, flies and midges, let them serve as food for the fish. And besides, by later various decrees, water fleas, spiders, worms, beetles, frogs, crayfish and other water inhabitants were included in food. But not fish.

- Not enough for me. Golovel! does such a law exist? - the pike turned to the chub.

- In oblivion, your highness! - deftly wriggled out the goblet.

“I knew that such a law could not exist. Well, what else are you waiting for all the time, crucian carp?

“I also expect justice to prevail. The strong will not oppress the weak, the rich the poor. That such a common cause will be announced, in which all the fish will have their own interest and each will do its share. You, pike, are stronger and more dexterous of all - you will take on the task more forcefully; but to me, crucian carp, according to my modest abilities, they will indicate a modest matter. Everyone for everyone, and everything for everyone - that's how it will be. When we stand up for each other, then no one will be able to trick us. The seine somewhere else will seem, and we were tearing up! Who is under a stone, who is at the very bottom in the silt, who is in a hole or under a snag. Wow, perhaps that, apparently, will have to quit!

- I do not know. People don't really like to give up something that seems tasty to them. Well, yes, it will be sometime. And here's what: so, in your opinion, I will also have to work?

“Like others, so are you.

- I hear it for the first time. Go sleep!

Whether he overslept, whether there was a crucian, but his mind, in any case, did not increase. At noon, he again appeared at the debate, and not only without any timidity, but even more cheerfully than before.

- So you think that I will work, and you will feast on my labors? - the pike directly put the question.

- Everything is from each other ... from common, mutual labors ...

- I understand: “from a friend” ... and by the way, from me too ... hm! I think, however, that you are talking shameful speeches. Golovel! What is the name of such speech today?

- Sicilism, higher rank!

“So I knew. For a long time I already hear: “Rebellious, they say, crucian speaks speeches!” I just think: “Let me listen to it myself ...” But what are you like!

Having said this, the pike flicked its tail so expressively on the water that no matter how simple the crucian was, it also guessed.

“I, your highness, nothing,” he muttered in embarrassment, “it’s me in simplicity ...

- Okay. Simplicity is worse than theft, they say. If fools are given free rein, then they will kill the smart ones from the world. They told me about you from three boxes, and you - crucian carp like crucian - that's all. And I don't talk to you for five minutes, and I'm tired of you to death.

The pike thought about it and somehow looked at the crucian so mysteriously that he completely understood. But she must have been full after yesterday's gluttony, and therefore she yawned and immediately began to snore.

But this time, the carp did not go so well. As soon as the pike fell silent, the chubs surrounded him from all sides and took him under guard.

In the evening, before the sun had set, the third time crucian came to the pike for a debate. But he appeared already in custody and, moreover, with some injuries. Namely: the perch, interrogating, bit his back and part of the tail.

But he was still cheerful, because he had a magic word in reserve.

“Although you are my adversary,” the first pike began again, “yes, it’s clear that my grief is such: I love disputes about death!” Be healthy, get started!

At these words, the crucian suddenly felt that his heart caught fire in him. In an instant, he gathered up his stomach, fluttered, snapped the remnants of his tail on the water and, looking the pike straight in the eyes, barked at the top of his lungs:

Do you know what virtue is?

The pike gaped in surprise. She automatically drew water and, not wanting to swallow the crucian at all, swallowed it.

The fish who witnessed this incident were dumbfounded for a moment, but immediately came to their senses and hurried to the pike - to find out if she deigned to dine safely, or choked. And the ruff, who had already foreseen and predicted everything in advance, swam forward and solemnly proclaimed:

- Here they are, our disputes, what are they!