Soyuzmultfilm
The Wise Gudgeon
Based on a story by M.E.Salvykov-Shchedrin narrator - A.Zaytsev
Screenplay ... V.Merezhko Director ... V.Karavayev
Art-directors: S.Alimov, G.Arkadyev
Camera... B.Kotov. Composer... V.Martynov Sound engineer ... V.Kutuzov
Animators: Yu.Kuzyurin, Ye.Malashenkova, L.Lobanova, V.Palchikov, A.Gorlenko
Animators: I.Kuroyan, T.Fadeyeva, G.Zolotovskaya
Assistant director ... G.Chikina Assistant camera ... M.Popova
Montage: I.Gerasimova Script editor: Ye.Nikitkina
Backgrounds: I.Troyanova, Z.Plehanova, O.Apanasova, N.Barkovskaya
Production director: L.Butyrina (C) Soyuzmultfilm Studio, 1979.
Once upon a time, there lived a gudgeon.
His mother and father were clever,
so he grew up a very clever gudgeon.
He started to think and he realized:
whenever he looked, everywhere he was checkmated.
Big fishes all around him,
and he is the smallest.
Any fish can swallow him,
but he can't swallow anyone.
And he couldn't understand, why swallow anyone?
Life all around was amazing and beautiful.
So amazing, that sometimes it was unbelievable.
- Thank God! It seems I'm alive!
said the gudgeon to himself, and decided to dig a hole.
What a fearful state he was in when he heard:
- Beware, son!
- To live life
is not like licking a spoon.
- Keep your eyes open!
The gudgeon was satisfied
that he had beaten the crafty designs of his enemies, and survived.
And he had a most alluring dream.
The gudgeon took a deep breath, and decided:
during the day, he would sit in his hole,
and at night, when everyone's asleep, he would swim.
And suddenly he wanted
to strut around the whole river.
- Thank God! It seems I'm alive.
- Ah, what's going to happen tomorrow...
The gudgeon never married, and never had kids.
Although his father had a big family.
The gudgeon explained this in his own way.
At that time, you could easily live a life.
The pikes were kinder,
and perches were not hungry for us fries.
But now, with the rivers emptying of fish,
even gudgeons are in demand.
No time to think about a family - hard to keep yourself alive.
This little gudgeon was very patient.
But here he grew bold, and shouted to his offender:
- When will gudgeons finally receive enough feed?
- If nothing changes, we could degenerate to smelt...
Now, if everybody was living like this wise gudgeon,
it would be so peaceful in the river.
And the wise gudgeon now clearly realized,
that you need to spend your life so that no-one ever notices you.
This way he lived 100 years and more.
No friends, no relatives.
He visited nobody, nobody visited him.
Then the gudgeon marshalled his intellect, which he had in abundance, and thought:
- Thank God I'm dying a natural death,
like my mother and father.
And he had a very last dream.
- This is for your unremarkable, wise life
said the pike.
And for a long time after, these words rang in the gudgeon's ears.
What pleasures did he have?
Whom did he comfort?
To whom did he give good advice?
To whom did he say a kind word?
Who will remember his existence?
THE END
Subtitles by IDBoris, corrections by Kurosuke & Niffiwan