"Crocodile" () is a 1916-1917 fairy tale poem for children by

Korney Chukovsky Korney Ivanovich Chukovsky ( rus, Корне́й Ива́нович Чуко́вский, p=kɐrˈnʲej ɪˈvanəvʲɪtɕ tɕʊˈkofskʲɪj, a=Kornyey Ivanovich Chukovskiy.ru.vorb.oga; 31 March NS 1882 – 28 October 1969) was one of the most p ...

about a crocodile strolling along the streets of

Petrograd Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

(the contemporary name of

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

, Russia). It quickly became very popular, due to its utter nonsense, previously unseen in print, and skillful wordplay.David Kellogg, "The End of Crocodile Tears, or Child Literature as Emotional Self-Regulation", ''Journal of Language and Literacy Education'', 2010, vol.6, no. 1, 75-92 Chukovsky himself said: In 1939

Yury Tynyanov Yury Nikolaevich Tynyanov ( rus, Ю́рий Никола́евич Тыня́нов, p=ˈjʉrʲɪj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ tɨˈnʲænəf; October 18, 1894 – December 20, 1943) was a Soviet writer, literary critic, translator, scholar and scre ...

wrote that "Crocodile" opened up a completely new avenue for the development of poetry for children, whose new sounds of "a quick verse, a change of meters, a rushing song, a chorus" were cancelling "the previous weak and motionless fairy tale of icicle candies, cotton snow, flowers on weak legs". ''

Merriam-Webster Merriam-Webster, Incorporated is an list of companies of the United States by state, American company that publishes reference work, reference books and is mostly known for Webster's Dictionary, its dictionaries. It is the oldest dictionary pub ...

's Encyclopedia of Literature'' characterized "Crocodile", along with other Chukovsky's verse tales as follows, "clockwork rhythms and air of mischief and lightness in effect dispelled the plodding stodginess that had characterized pre-revolutionary children's poetry." During the surge of the Soviet ideological censorship, known as ''

Zhdanovshchina The Zhdanov Doctrine (also called Zhdanovism or Zhdanovshchina; ) was a Soviet cultural doctrine developed by Central Committee secretary Andrei Zhdanov in 1946. The main principle of the Zhdanov Doctrine was often summarized by the phrase "The ...

'', ''Crocodile'', was severely criticized along with other children's fantastic tales of Chukovsky in an ideological campaign known as "the struggle with Chukovshchina". "Crocodile" was accused of "propagating misconceptions about the animal world". It addition, the critics tried to find counter-revolutionary undertones in the poem. As Chukovsky wrote:

English translations

"Crocodile" was translated into English in 1931 by

Babette Deutsch Babette Deutsch (September 22, 1895 – November 13, 1982) was an American poet, critic, translator, and novelist. Background Babette Deutsch was born on September 22, 1895, in New York City. Her parents were of Michael Deutsch and Melanie Fish ...

in 1931 and by Richard Coe in 1964.''Reference Guide to Russian Literature''
p. 232
/ref> The two authors gave substantially different renderings of the poem. Russian original with line-by-line literal translation:

Notes

References

{{reflist Works by Korney Chukovsky Russian literary fairy tales Fictional crocodilians Fairy tales about talking animals Poems about crocodilians Poems about talking animals Anthropomorphic crocodilians Russian poems 1916 poems Children's poems