Fairy Tales is one of the most striking creations of M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. In the literary heritage of the satirist, they are distinguished by a wealth of ideas and images, the sharpness and subtlety of the satirical outline of social types, the originality of style, high perfection and the originality of an artistic form that does not have a close correspondence either in Russian or in world literature. Naturally, therefore, from the time of their appearance to the present day, Shchedrinsky fairy tales do not cease to attract the attention of literary scholars both in themselves and as works that make it possible to pose and highlight a number of problems that are of fundamental importance in general for studying the heritage of the great satirist, for characterizing him as a thinker, public figure and artist.