I.A. Krylov: Basni

Abstract

This is a very pleasant contemporary rendition of Krylov. The artistic style combines contemporary sensibility with traditional Russian approaches. Thus the fox addressing the crow with cheese in its beak -- and a babuschka on its head -- has an umbrella to protect her from the sun and wears a flowing robe over an underskirt (4). Surprisingly, the same scene is slightly differently rendered on the book's front cover. As the T of C on 94 makes clear, there are here thirty-eight fables on 93 pages. Typical of this book's approach to the fables is The Cat and the Cook on 36 and again on 38. This cat is having a good time! The fox pondering the grapes on 47 is a refined lady with a bonnet and -- again -- a parasol. One is reminded in a good fable book like this book that the same fables tend to recur in various editions of the same fabulist. And so it is here. These are fun to look at!