1. Expose the autocratic rule of the czar, satirize and laugh at the arbitrariness, parasitism and ignorance of the ruling class.
Many fables describe the arbitrariness of the strong, revealing the robber logic that the weak are always guilty in front of the strong, such as wolves and lambs, lions sharing prey, wolves and cranes, and plagues in the animal kingdom.
Elephant is an official, Bear Restaurant takes care of beehives, fox architects, villagers' meetings, and so on. Expose the rulers' tricks of oppressing the people. The hypocrisy of the legal protection of the rulers under the czar's autocratic system is revealed in works such as Dog Fish, Farmer and Sheep, Farmer and River, Crow and so on.
Foxes and groundhogs, bees and flies, monkeys and glasses, geese and mice all criticized the funny behaviors of rulers, such as corruption, bribery, parasitism, ignorance, incompetence, idolatry and nepotism.
Some fables even point the finger at the czar himself, such as mutton sheep.
2. Reflect the sense of powerlessness and exploitation of the oppressed, express sympathy for the people, and praise the people's excellent quality and confidence in their strength.
Pushkin said that krylov was "the most popular poet". Krylov chose fable as his own creative genre, precisely because this popular genre can reach the people most widely. His fables most vividly reflect the people's nature and express the people's love and hate. If krylov in the above fable expresses the people's hatred for the ruler, then in the second fable, he expresses sympathy, love and confidence for the people. Although the people have no right and are oppressed, they are hardworking and simple, and they are the real masters of life.
Bees and Flies satirizes flies that are not beneficial to human beings, while hardworking bees "live very comfortably in their own country".
"The Eagle and the Bee" eulogizes the obscure people engaged in menial labor through bees, praising them for "working for the same benefit", and does not want to highlight the lofty spirit of individual labor. Although workers are unknown and live at the bottom, they have endless vitality and creativity, and they support the whole society and rulers.
This dialectical relationship is deeply revealed in Leaves and Roots. Not only that, the weak can even retaliate against the strong (lions and mosquitoes).
A well-known fable, "A wolf falls on a dog's house", reflects the Great Patriotic War of 18 12, which not only reveals the face of the invaders, but also shows the firm determination and great strength of the Russian people to rise up and resist.
3. Reflect daily life phenomena, gain philosophy of life, and be rich in moral admonitions.
There are two kinds of fables: one is double meaning. On the one hand, they criticize and expose the rulers or express their love for the people. On the other hand, these fables have transcended the historical era at that time and have universal significance. For example, the Quartet was written for the reorganization of the government in that year, but its idea of focusing on the essence of things rather than the form has universal significance.
Caravan was originally a criticism of the rulers who were dissatisfied with Kutuzov's command of the Great Patriotic War, but today it is also very suitable for warning people not to command blindly and not to embarrass others. The other is pure moral admonition. Krylov used humor and satire to criticize and laugh at all kinds of defects in daily life, summed up life experience, and then warned people how to improve themselves. The author covers a wide range of life phenomena, such as warning people not to listen to flattery (foxes and grapes), not to be too picky and lose opportunities (picky girls get married), not to blame others (owners and mice), to be cautious about friendship (friendship between forest and fire and dogs), but to be modest and eager to learn (fish soup in Demjan), and to do good deeds requires cooperation (swans, dogfish and dogs).