In Russian literature, the genre of fable was addressed by M. V. Lomonosov, V. K. Trediakovsky, A. P. Sumarokov, M. M. Kheraskov, I. I. Chemnitzer, and I. I. Dmitriev. But both classicists and sentimentalists spoke of the fable as a genre "neglected", in the words of N. V. Gogol. The former denied the fable full recognition due to its lack of artistry, since it was a genre of "low", not adapted to express the world of feelings of the individual.

And only thanks to I. A. Krylov, the fable found a full-fledged place in Russian literature. It was she who became the literary genre in which Krylov's bright personality was most fully and successfully expressed.

Krylov is a "calm sage" who observes, not corrects, life and morals. In his works, vice seems to expose itself, being shown impartially, objectively. According to P. A. Vyazemsky, "Dmitriev writes his fables; Krylov tells them" (Vyazemsky P. A. Poly. collected Works of T. I. St. Petersburg, 1878, p. 157).

A. S. Pushkin believed that Krylov was a fabulist who "surpassed all those known to us" (Pushkin A. S. Poly. collected works: In 10 vols. Vol. 10. L., 1978. p. 15). It was Pushkin, who sought to combine the" average " Karamzin style with the bright element of folk speech and imagery, who fully understood Krylov's talent, unlike Vyazemsky, who believed that the genre form of the fabulist contains elements of "a dramatized epigram for such a case, for such a person" (Vyazemsky P. A. Poly. collected Works Vol. I. St. Petersburg, 1878, p. 157), in other words, develops into satire. Meanwhile, the fable, in his opinion, should contain "a moral truth common to humanity, and not a local, personal, conditional truth" (Vyazemsky P. A. Decree. soch. T. I. St. Petersburg, 1878, p. 176).

By the last third of the 18th century, the fable genre was undergoing changes towards a greater presence of the" personal " element. And since at this time Romanticism begins to strengthen in literature with its interest in national history, national character, life and customs of the people, the entire genre system is imbued with this theme. And Krylov's fables are a natural step of poetry in the direction of the general movement of literature towards knowledge in man not only of the "world", but also of the "national".

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Krylov was at the origin of a new artistic method - realism. Starting from the classicist tendency of enlightenment, he at the same time did not accept the views of sentimentalists, who believed that the subject of the image in art should be only a "private"person. That is why Krylov's works are not "didactic" or "satirical", but fables, in which life is reflected in the form of genre scenes, as if sketches "from nature". The dialogue in his works is based on the principles of dramatic art, as is usually the case in comedies, and the fabulist was also a wonderful comedian!

The vividness and veracity of his fables proves that many of the episodes that formed their basis were not composed by him "for edification", but taken from life. Above all, he is a brilliant genre writer who captures life in its typical forms; the moralist is obscured by the artist. "For the first time in his Russian fable work, the moral and psychological differentiation of the speech of heroes was convincingly implemented" (Lebedev E. I. Krylov / / History of World Literature, Vol. 6. Moscow, 1989, p. 306). The characters of his fables are depicted so vividly and truthfully that it is impossible not to see in Krylov a great realist artist, the closest predecessor of N. V. Gogol.

Krylov is much stronger in those works that represent allegorical satire or genre pictures written with unkind humor and a fine knowledge of Russian life. Nationality is a feature of creativity, which also involves using the means of folk speech, which helps to convey characters and situations taken from Russian life. Creating his allegories, he uses images of folklore. Thus, the lower classes, who suffered from those in power, were often depicted as "sheep", "fish" - "dumb creatures", and their abusers-mainly in the form of a wolf (a rude predator who brazenly violates the laws of socially correct behavior) or a fox, which cunningly covers its affairs with hypocrisy. How much vitality Krylov achieves in portraying the predator-judge (a type created by Russian life and which has become an indispensable object of Russian satire since the XVII century, from the story "Shemyakin's Court"), is evident from the fable "The Fox and the Marmot". The fox, who was "a judge in the chicken coop", "lost her health and peace in business" and was expelled from the service for bribes, according to Surk, often had "a snout in the down". So are many contemporary officials of the poet:

Some people sigh like that when they're in the right place,
As if the ruble is the last to survive.
And truly, the whole city knows,
What does he have behind him,
Not for my wife;
Oh, you're watching, little by little
Then he will build a house, then buy a village!
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It retains the usual structure of the fable - "story" and "moral", a moralizing conclusion at the end. But, perhaps, it is the "story" that is brighter, since it allows Krylov's talent to best manifest itself - an artist of morals, a chronicler-satirist, whose highest dignity is the people's vision of the world. It is reflected in the choice of plot, and in the character of that sly, simple-minded irony that is so characteristic of the popular idea of the ridiculous.

The amazing richness of Russian colloquial speech was also reflected in Krylov's choice of language tools for his fables. He made extensive use of the possibilities of the Russian verb, conveying a completed/incomplete action, its one-time / multiple nature, momentary nature or the possibility of performing an action using a system of vide-temporal forms and moods, as well as adverbs:

How suddenly out of the woods shat
There's a bear on them...
Here, with the help of the truncated shape "shast", a common people's color is created. Subsequently, A. S. Pushkin will fight for the use of such forms in literary speech, as well as verbal nouns of a colloquial nature such as "horse's top" and "human rumor".

I trudged slowly back to my smoky shack,
Groaning and groaning under the heavy load of firewood...
a weighty boulder in his paws scooped up...
If a fly happened to be here. How can I not help my grief?
I stood up: well, I can buzz at the top of my lungs;
There's a commotion around the cart...
In this passage, different forms of the verb are presented - from the infinitive to the gerund. This gives the picture dynamism, allows you to feel the slightest shades of the "flow of life" reproduced in Krylov's fables. "Their main advantages are a beautiful language, compressed and expressive, deep and subtle knowledge of the human heart, the ability to draw their characteristic, typical features only with the help of words and conversations of actors..." (Sipovsky V. V. I. A. Krylov / / History of Russian Literature. St. Petersburg, 1911, p. 269). Krylov is the creator of a new type of fable, deep in content and written in a lively language enriched with colloquial speech.

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