I really like the iridescent, eye-adorned peacock feathers. In fairy tales there is a similar bird - the Firebird. In our work we compared these birds.

The male peacock from the pheasant family is very beautiful. It has a metallic turquoise neck, indigo chest feathers and a shiny green tail. When courting a female, the peacock spreads it like a fan, displaying dozens of beautiful eye-like spots.

The peacock we usually see at the zoo is a common one. There is also a blue-winged peacock, native to Asia, and an African one. Wild peacocks live in bushes, forest clearings, and along river banks.

In India, peacocks are now kept as semi-domestic birds. Peacocks were exported from their homeland - from India, from the Hindustan Peninsula - and kept in Europe and here, in Russia, “for beauty” - as decorative birds.

The peacock chatters as if with the consciousness of its unconditional irresistibility. He waits, showing off, for the approach and respectful attention of females, of whom there are few in his environment. Peahens are gray and inconspicuous. When tokuyuya, the peacock spreads a huge “hundred-eyed” tail like a fan - up to 130 cm long. More precisely, this is the upper tail, and the peacock’s tail itself is small, up to 45 cm. The peacock turns proudly, as if in front of a mirror: look what I am like! .

I read several Russian folk tales in which there is a character - the Firebird. In these tales, the description of the Firebird is similar to the description of the peacock.

In “The Tale of Ivan the Tsarevich, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf,” “the firebird began to fly to Tsar Slav’s garden; she has golden feathers, and her eyes are like oriental crystal. The Firebird flew in and illuminated the whole garden as if it were illuminated by many lights: it sat on an apple tree and began to pluck apples.”

In the fairy tale “The Firebird and Vasilisa the Princess,” “the golden feather of the firebird: the feather glows like fire.”

Peacocks, with their magnificent tails shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow, belong to the order Gallinae and feed on cereal plants.

In the fairy tale “The Firebird and Vasilisa the Princess,” the Firebird flew in, descended to the ground and began to peck the wheat.

Peacock birds are large, almost the size of a goose. These birds spend most of their lives on the ground: they fly reluctantly, only when absolutely necessary.

And in the fairy tale “The Tsar is a Maiden,” “Ivan was playing the trumpet and birds flew in and the Firebird flew in. She put Ivan on top of her and flew away, but Baba Yaga grabbed the firebird by the tail and pulled out some feathers."

In many fairy tales, heroes find or tear off the feather of the firebird, which “illuminated the dark room as if a great many candles were lit in that chamber or as if the fire was glowing.”

One of the ancient verses says that the beauty of the peacock reflected the greatness of the gods. No wonder it adorns the Indian national emblem. Apparently, due to the fact that the peacock was and is a sacred bird, there is such a widespread belief that keeping peacock feathers in the house is a bad omen. After all, in order to get feathers, you need to kill a bird, and in ancient India this was punishable by death.

And in fairy tales, when the heroes pick up and bring home the feather of the Firebird, they have difficulties that must be overcome. So in the fairy tale “The Firebird and Vasilisa the Princess,” the archer had to get the Firebird itself for the king, Vasilisa the princess, and then a wedding dress, and then take a swim in hot water.

These magnificent birds are protected not only by government laws, but also by ancient religious customs. According to ancient legends, the peacock is the companion of the goddess of wisdom, the god of war and the god of strength of yogis. At one time, the great commander Alexander the Great ordered 200 peacocks to be delivered to Greece from India. From there these birds spread throughout Europe, Africa and North America.

In the fairy tales “The Firebird and Vasilisa the Princess”, “The Tale of Ivan the Tsarevich, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf,” the king orders to find the Firebird and bring her alive.

The only thing about the peacock that doesn’t fit with its magnificent appearance is its voice. The cry of a peacock is like the creaking of a poorly oiled cart wheel. He is sharp and abrupt. So the peacock singer is useless.

The results of our work: having studied the scientific literature, we learned:

The peacock we usually see at the zoo is an ordinary one. There is also a blue-winged peacock, native to Asia, and an African one.

During mating games, the peacock spreads feathers that shimmer and the feathers decorated with eyes dazzle. In Russian folk tales, the description of the Firebird is similar to the description of a peacock.

In India, the peacock was and is a sacred bird, apparently, which is why the belief is so widespread that keeping peacock feathers in the house is a bad omen. And in fairy tales, when heroes pick up and bring home the feather of the Firebird, they have difficulties that must be overcome.

Based on the results of the student survey, we can conclude that many of the children think that the Firebird is like a peacock.

The firebird looks like a peacock, which means that storytellers have heard about a peacock or even seen it.

Similar articles

Newfoundland or diver

French bulldogs are very loyal, in...

Keeping the red Vaska at home

Below we will consider the main ways to...