Gdańsk (skips from 1577 to 1734) one sentence on the 2nd partition of poland.

Danzig law needs unbiased causes of the thirteen years war.

Teutonic Order#Against Poland linking Polish nationalism with the 2nd partition of poland.

Ignacy Krasicki Polish archbishop that published fables that reflect common people.

Adding to Ignacy Krasicki:

Literary Reflection:

Scholars have viewed Krasicki's Fables and Satires as adaptive to the culture for which they were written, and politically charged.[1] Characterizations were not written based on reconstructions of individuals from direct observation, but were fictional constructs that embodied the values of society. Krasicki argued that Poles and in general humanity were governed by greed, desire, fault, or vice.[2]

Target Audience

Evidence of this can be seen in the preface entitled, "To the Children," which targeted not children, but villagers, congregation, and commoners. The satires were meant to bring to the surface the issues of the day, and push Krasicki's nationalist concerns and push social reform.[3] Although Bajki nowe, the sequel to Fables was published posthumously in 1803, the individual stories of Fables met their audience between 1735 till Krasicki's death in 1801. Most of them being published after the first partition of Poland in 1772. Many of the fables get their meaning in the last line of the story and through the symbology of the tale instead of complex conveyance of ideology, making they key morale and Enlightenment ideal easily conveyable even to the illiterate classes.

To The Children

You who have cast aside every good grace,

Chasing a toy at a tremendous pace,

Chasing a toy flying too high in the air,

Listen my children to the fables I bear.

You who have never learned how to be true,

Scampering after each trifle that's new,

Which your greed then disfigures, stains and tears,

Listen my children to the fables I bear.

You who have taken some evil shape or other,

You who use fairy tales to deceive your brother,

Fairy tales born of a mind without care,

Listen my children to the fables I bear.

Successes of Krasicki's Enlightenment Contributions

Katraynza Zechenter of the University of Kansas, states that Krasicki's works have generally been overlooked by Western historians in The Polish Review, and the publisher of Polish Fables overlooked the importance of the, "political and social context contributing to their[fables] origin."[4] However, it is easy to see the impact on Krasicki's contemporaries and influence he had on early 19th century, such as Gabriela Puzynina, a Polish princess, poet, and diarist. In 1846 she started a newspaper for the intelligentsia of Vilnius and Warsaw, and furthered the establishment of Krasicki's Fables in suppressed political life. Puzynina focuses on the fable of Birds in a Cage, in her work Diary of the Years 1815-1843, as reflecting commentary on the partitioning of Poland. Zechenter argues that Krasicki's works are still relevant today, to more than just Poland, they have just not been as explored scholarly since the Polish Enlightenment.

Birds in a Cage

A young finch ask an old one, "Why is it that you cry?

You have more comfort in this cage when you were outside."

"You were born inside this cage, so you I can forgive;

But I was free and now am caged and do not wish to live."

  1. ^ Shaffer, E. S. (2002). Comparative Criticism, Vol24, Fantastic Currencies in Comparative Literature: Gothic to Postmodern. Cambridge University Press. p. 73. ISBN 0521818699.
  2. ^ Welsh, David (1961). "Krascki's Satires in the Polish Review". Jstor. The Polish Review.
  3. ^ Kapolka, Gerard (1978). "KRASICKI'S FABLES". Jstor. The Polish Review.
  4. ^ Zechenter, Katarzyna (1999). "Review: Polish Fables". The Polish Review.