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The collection of Ivan Franko's fairy tales entitled When Animals Spoke was first published in 1899, and the second edition appeared in 1903. To this collection, Franko added a preface in which he wrote: "These fables collected in this book are old folklore... They best suit the taste of children from 6 to 12 years old, make them laugh and think, awaken their curiosity and attention to the phenomena of nature."

In Ivan Franko's tales, under the images of animals, people with their shortcomings are ridiculed: greed, ingratitude, cruelty and impoliteness, cunning and laziness. In fairy tales, animals with these character traits are always punished. The hard-working Donkey, the wise Hedgehog, the weak Hare always defeat the strong and cunning Lion, Wolf, and Bear. The slobbering Hedgehog punished the cunning Fox for her treachery, and the kind and clever Blackbird found a way out of the threatening situation and taught the Fox a lesson.

The fairy tales ridicule evil, envy, rudeness, ill-manneredness and stupidity. The little birds, the Queens, did not allow the Bear to insult their dignity and make him ask for forgiveness; the good-natured Crane taught the cunning godmother Fox the same lesson. People never appreciate people who live by tricks, deceit, and at someone else's expense. No matter how they disguise their cunning, the truth will always come out, and then the swindler will be in trouble.

• The performer: Lucia Svetlaya
Duration: 3 hours 50 minutes 05 seconds

The book is available in the Yakaboo app for free reading in the PrivatBank library