A monument to Petro Hulak‑Artemovsky, writer and rector of Kharkiv University (1841–1849), was unveiled on November 17, 2017, near the main building of Karazin Kharkiv National University.
Much has been written about the life and work of Pyotr Petrovich. His first poem in Ukrainian, “Pan ta sobaka,” was published in *Ukrainskyi Vestnik* in 1818. But his fables are even better known. Here is one of them:
Two Birds in a Cage
“Why are you chirping, you fool? Why are you making such a racket?
Do you want to get yourself into trouble?
What’s gotten into you? Why don’t you just ask—
for a seed, some millet, some buckwheat, or some groats?“
You have everything you could possibly want in this cage,
yet you still whine and complain about your lot,”
—
so the old bullfinch scolded the youngster
in the cage. “Oh, uncle, don’t make fun of me!” the young one replied.
“It’s not for nothing that I grieve and wash my face with tears;
it’s not for nothing that I shun millet and seeds.
You’re happy with this meager food because you grew up on it and were born into it;
I, however, was free, but now I find myself in captivity.”
(November 1, 1827)
The monument was designed by sculptor Alexander Ridny, Anna Ivanova, and architect Sergey Chechelnitsky.
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