A. I. Kuprin, a famous Russian writer of the last century, who presented the world with many works, which later were considered masterpieces of Russian literature. Among them is the fairy tale "Blue Star". For the first time, the work was published in 1927 in Paris under the name “The ugly princess” and in the same year was included in the collection “Brave Runaways” as a fairy tale legend “Blue Star”.
Summary (220 words): The plot of the work is very simple and accessible. The story begins with a beautiful legend about a peaceful people who knew no troubles, no wars, no weapons. Once the warriors of the south wandered into these lands. Patient residents and an extremely warm climate attracted strangers, so they decided to settle in these territories. Having married local girls, the wanderers placed at the head of the tribe their king Ern the Great, who was famous for nobleness, kindness and wisdom. The people revered him, even despite the outward ugliness.
Years passed, the descendants of Ern succeeded him on the throne and ruled just as competently and fairly as their great ancestor. And so the incredibly kind, open, and sincere Princess Erna was born, but, to everyone's grief, she was selfish. The king and queen ordered to remove all the mirrors in the kingdom so that the princess would never know about her outrage. But as they say, you won’t run away from fate. Seeing herself once in the mirror, Erna could not hold back her tears, she ran away from the kingdom as far away from all this lies. On the way, she met a stranger in distress. When Erna cured the stranger, love arose between them. Having left together in the lands of their future husband Charles, who turned out to be the king of France, they lived in love and harmony. With the advent of a child, Erna understood one big wisdom: everyone has their own concept of beauty, so no one can judge your appearance. Indeed, in the lands of her husband, she was famous as an unusually beautiful queen with a kind heart and a pure soul.
Review (207 words): The tale is suitable for reading not only for children but also for adults, because it leads readers to the idea that everyone has their own idea of beauty, but not everyone can see a rich inner world behind their ugliness. The correlation of beauty internal and external is a very important topic that remains relevant at all times. Legend shows us that a pure and bright soul is much more valuable than a pleasant appearance.
According to the law of the genre, this work has magic, mysticism and, of course, love. In this fairy tale, several semantic lines can be traced: against the background of a harsh real life, the story of the wonderful “transformation” of the main character Erna, the birth of pure and sincere love, as well as the reverent attitude of parents to their child, sounds. Thus, the author provides a wide scope for the reader's thoughts.
The legend-tale ends with a very vivid and philosophical phrase by Ern the Wise, the first ruler of Ernoterra: “The men of my country are smart, loyal and hardworking: women are honest, kind and understanding. But - God forgive them - both of them are ugly. " It is with this episode that A. Kuprin generalizes the main ideas of the whole work into one. The author calls us to the fact that the pursuit of externally imposed standards of society is meaningless if a person needs to sacrifice his soul. Being who you really are is the main value of every person. Ideal external data is not necessary to remain sensitive, kind and sincere.
Clarissa
