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REPRESENTATION OF WISDOM AND GOOD IN FOREIGN FOLKLORE
VALIYEVA ZEMFIRA RINATOVNA
Doctoral student of Dulaty University Faculty of Philology and Humanities Master of pedagogical sciences Taraz, Qazaqstan
Annotation: The research touches upon the actual scientific problems of archetypal images in foreign folklore, which has been attracting the attention of researchers for a long time. In the article, the author draws information from documentary sources, the results of linguistic and ethnographic research and examines the genre specifics of foreign fairy tales from the standpoint of the presence of the archetype of the sage in them. As a result, the author comes to the conclusion about the significant content of the archetypal layer in foreign folklore. Based on the information from the article, you can create a course of lectures on literary studies.
Key words: folklore, fairy tale, old sage, wisdom, clever, advice.
Introduction
The past is the prototype of the golden age showing the best traditions of everyday life, norms of behavior and communication of mankind. They are embodied in archetypes, elements of the collective unconscious that are found in literature. The values come from folklore.
The concept of folklore is very broad. Itincludes beliefs, customs, rituals, and some forms of knowledge [1, p. 18].Folklore is the source of all the arts. Folk art is a real art that people of all ages like. Folklore is an indicator of the spiritual state and spiritual development of each nation. From ancient times, folk oral creations are considered folk art pedagogy. Folklore was a form of preservation and transmission of encyclopedic information covering all sides and facets of the people's life. This is a centuries -old experience, polished and carefully guarded by the people, both great and small in number[2, p. 3-4]. The appeal to folklore opens up wide opportunities for deeper development of the culture of the people, which has formed its unique features over many centuries. Folklore through the centuries as an invisible connecting thread that unites, unites, and ensures the continuity of people of the past with modern ones. In the works of folklore, we go into a "different", conditional world, with a conditional time of events in it. This makes folklore sharply different from works of realistic art, in which time is always "open" and passes beyond the boundaries of the plot into a single stream of historical time [3].
One of the main folklore genres is a fairy tale. The fairy tale reflects the thoughts and dreams of ordinary people, the life of the people as a whole, their worldview and psychology [4].
A fairy tale is most often understood as a folk work that was created and transmitted orally. Later, the genre of literary fairy tales appeared. Such a work has one author, it is fixed in writing, and its plot is often associated with a folk tale. Characteristic features: the plot is based on the confrontation of good and evil; positive characters (sleeping beauty, Ivan the fool, Ivan Tsarevich, batyr, Aldar-kos) embody people's idea of high morality, justice, true beauty, etc.; negative characters (the evil stepmother, Kashchei the Immortal, Zheztyrnak, Albasts, etc.) usually symbolize dark forces alien to man; stable phrases are used such as "Once upon a time...", "In a certain kingdom, in a certain state ...", "They began to live, live and make good money", "A fairy tale is a lie, but there is a hint in it, a lesson to good fellows"; the events are filled with magic; often the main character or his assistants are endowed with special abilities[5].
In the given article we investigated the foreign fairy tales in order to find the old sage archetypical image in them.
Materials and methods
The methodological apparatus was made up of methods of psychoanalytic and cognitive literary criticism, working with the consciousness and unconscious of the author, his characters, the reader. Statistical analysis is the identification of an archetype among the heroes of a work, the creation of comparative graphs and diagrams based on synchronization and diachrony of the studied material, data processing.
Ivanov N.N. writes in his scientific article that Remizov A., Gorky M., and Prishvin M. discovered in sages a closeness to otherworldly forces, mystical correspondences of spirit and elements, man and the invisible world. In the works of Gorky and Prishvin, sage archetype is superimposed on the development of plot motifs of the road, wandering, fortune telling, sleep, and searches for another kingdom, acquiring wonderful gifts [6, p.17].
Maxim Gorky's sages are "wanderers in holy places" [7, vol. 1, p. 359], "intoxicated by the wide expanse of rich land,""captives of the Russian passion for vagrancy" [8, T. 4, p. 406, 407], "inconspicuous but talented people from the people," in life ordinary people,evil or good smart old people who gravitate towards the images of a holy man or sorcerer,own secrets of craftsmanship, crafts, know specific secretwords. They are often vagabonds who appear inthe most important places in the story, overcome social and tribal hardships. Sages' wisdom is in obvious or hidden signs, ordinary events, accidentally dropped words, strange or deliberately stupid phrases, scraps of songs, pieces of lyceum.
As Korolenko C.P. and Dmitrieva N.V consider, the archetype of the old sage has the attributes of the Higher Power, all-knowing, all-understanding,omnipotence. Sage has superhuman capabilities, his thoughtsare of exceptional importance to others and to the fate of the world as a whole. Everything he invents, is the truth. Sometimes he is a messenger of the Higher Power. The Old Sage archetype has a strong charismatic effect on the surrounding people. Others believe him as a prophet, as a leader[9, p.18].
According to Jung C.G. the archetype "Sage" or thinker is the one for whom the spiritual contains more sense than things. Sage is serene and collected, focused. Asceticism and simplicity are relevant to him. Outside, philosophers seem hiddenand insular people, but they are in fact not so. They don't like to waste time on emptyconversations, for pointless fun [10].
Results and discussion
The English folk fairy tales as well as Brothers Grimm tales were researched in order to define the old sage archetype in them.
The results are shown in Table 1.
Table 1 - Old sage in foreign folklore
Author The name of the tale Old sage character Actions
English folk Jack and the beanstalk Old funny man Swopped the beans which brought happiness to a chap and his mother
English folk The old woman and her pig Cat Solved the vital problem
English folk The history of Tom Thumb Old magician Merlin Put a spell on a couple and they had a son who made them rich
Brothers Grimm Rapunzel Old witch Made a woman bear a child and made her happy
Brothers Grimm Hansel and Gretel Old woman She created a tasty house and allured children into the house
Brothers Grimm The golden bird Old fox Gave good advices, made the chap happy and rich
Jack and the beanstalk is a fairy tale about a chap who lived with his mother-widow very poor. They had a cow Milky-white who gave them their only living. In the morning, they gathered milk and went to the market to sell it. However, one day the cow refused to give milk and mother decided to sell it. She wanted to start a business like a shop or something like that instead of keeping a cow. Jack took a cow and went to the market. On his way he met an old funny man. The character is the archetype of old sage. He knew the name of the chap. Therefore, he was a clairvoyant. He started his conversation with his puzzle. Such a way he showed his wisdom. The puzzle was how many beans make five? Jack said that one bean in his mouth, two in each of his hands make five beans. Then the old man offered him a swop, asked his cow for the beans. The beans were magic and were able to reach the sky. The man was old and respected. Jack believed him and followed his advice. However, at home mother punished him for such a silly deal. She did not let the guy eat supper, threw the beans out of the window. In the morning, there was a beanstalk reaching the sky above on the place where mother had thrown the beans. The magician was not a liar but was a presenter as the old sage archetype should be. Those five beans made the guy and his poor mother rich. Jack climbed up the stalk and met an ogre's family. At first, he got home a bag of gold to live on. Then he managed to steal a hen which lay golden eggs. At last Jack stole a golden harp. Consequently, he and his mother became rich and Jack married a princess. Such a way old sages used to enrich people in folklores simultaneously showing their impeccable wisdom and magic.
In another English tale The old woman and her pig a woman was sweeping the floor and found a sixpence. She decided to buy a pig. So, she went to the market and bought a pig. However, it refused to go with her. Then the woman decided to ask the dog to bite it. The dog refused. Then the woman asked the stick to beat the dog. The stick refused, and the woman asked the fire to burn it. The fire refused to do that, and the woman had to ask the water to quench the fire. The water refused, and the woman had to ask an ox to drink the water. The ox refused, and the woman asked the butcher to kill the ox. The butcher wouldn't do it, and the woman had to ask a rope to hang the butcher. The rope refused, and she then asked the rat to gnaw the rope. The rat refused to do that. Then the woman asked the cat to kill the rat. The cat in this fairy tale represents the archetype of old sage. It showed wisdom and authority. It gave the woman advice to give it milk. The woman followed the advice. She gave hay to the cow and it gave her milk. The cat lapped the milk and started killing the rat. Then the rat started gnawing the rope. The rope started hanging the butcher. The butcher started killing the ox. The ox started drinking the water. The water started quenching the fire. The fire started burning the stick. The stick started beating the dog. The dog started biting the cow and it went home with the woman. Such a way the wise cat solved the difficult problem.
In one more English folk tale The history of Tom Thumb the action takes place when Prince Arthur ruled England. When Prince Arthur ruled England there lived a magician, Merlin. He was a mighty, learned and skillful enchanter as the old sage archetype should be. He was able to change his appearance when he entered the house of a ploughman. The ploughman and his wife complained to Merlin that they did not have children. Due to the fact that the wife treated the magician very well, he put a good spell on the couple. As a result of this magic when the enchanter left away the husband and his wife had a little child. The boy was as little as a thumb. The godmother named him "Tom thumb". Therefore, Merlin is an old sage archetype in the given fairy tale. First, he is old and respected due to his age. People follow his advices and treat him well. Second, he is a presenter who shows magical abilities. The little boy, Merlin's gift, brought happiness to his parents. He became the knight of Prince Arthur, served in the royal court and made his parents rich by the permission of Prince Arthur.However, he made problems to his parents when he suddenly got into the batter, then fish. Nevertheless, he was a lucky guy who brought more good than bad. He was a present from a real magician, old sage[11].
In addition to this, one could find old sage in the fairy tales of Brothers Grimm. For example, in the tale "Rapunzel" the old sage archetype is expressed in a woman.She was a witch who lived near the house of a couple and had her garden. Once a woman was ill and wanted to eat rapunzels from the garden of a witch. She asked her husband to bring them to her. However, the witch wanted
something back for her plants. She asked the child of the ill woman whom she would bear soon. So, this all happened. The magic woman took a daughter from the woman who had got her rapunzel. The child was named Rapunzel and was kept in a tower. The wisdom of old woman lies in the fact that she hid her child from the outer cruel world. However later, when Rapunzel grew up and a handsome man was enchanted with her beautiful singing, she was let to live out of the tower. That made her happy too. She found love. Such a way old sage archetype is expressed in a woman who is clever and powerful, the heroine of a Brothers Grimm tale.
In the fairy tale "Hansel and Gretel" two children were forced out of the house because of the hunger. However, they were able to feed themselves. They found a house made of sweets in the forest. It was created by the skill and magic of an old witch who symbolizes the old sage archetype in the tale. She knows how to influence children and can put her spell on people. People believe her and respect her old age.
In another fairy tale by Grimm Brothers "The golden bird" the reader gets to know about a king who had a tree in a beautiful garden. The tree bore golden apples and every night somebody stole one apple from that tree. The gardener had three sons who spent a night under the tree to catch a thief one by one. However, two sons fell asleep and saw nobody under the tree. However, the third son was able to notice a bird stealing one golden apple from the tree. He shot an arrow at the stealing bird and it lost one feather while escaping. The bird was golden and the feather was of pure gold too. However, the king wanted the whole bird. Therefore, the son set out on a journey to find the golden bird. On his way he met an old fox who tried to help him. He advised him not to shoot while looking for a bird. The fox character is the old sage archetype. It reflects a special wisdom and acts as a conductor for the youth.One of the fox's advices for the chap was to go straight and choose poor inn instead of rich one when he comes upon them. So the chap did that and then he got more directions. He had to go forth until the castle, pass by the sleeping soldiers, find the room in the castle with the golden bird and let it stay in a wooden cage. However, the guy disrespected the fox's advice and put the bird into a golden cage. Consequently, the guy was arrested and not to be killed he got the task to find a golden horse for the king. Again the old clever fox appeared on his way as a magician. He advised him to steal the horse from a groom but to put a leathern saddle on the horse instead of a golden one. Again the chap disobeyed and was arrested. In order to escape the death sentence he had to bring a thither for the beautiful princess. The old fox's advice was not to behave bad with the princess. However, the chap disobeyed. Again the magic did not work and he was arrested. At last his task was to dig the hill which hid the view from the window of the king. The fox helped the guy and they both coped with the task. The guy got the golden bird, the golden horse, and the princess. However, when the chap came home, his brothers tried to kill him and robbed him. The magic of the old fox helped the chap to get out of the water. He returned all his wealth and became the heir of the kingdom. All that good happened through the help of the old fox who was the magician, youth guide and old sage archetype in this fairy tale [12].
Conclusion
Thus we see that the old sage archetype expresses an unusual wisdom and magic abilities in folklore. The archetype can be either a man or a woman. Nevertheless, the character leads the youth to the truth, gives them right advices, and often demonstrates extreme magic.
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