The Monster Cockroach

The Monster Cockroach
The Monster Cockroach on a Russian postage stamp, 1993

The Monster Cockroach, also known either as Giant Cockroach or Cock-The-Roach, also popularly known by its Russian name Tarakanishche (lit. 'Тараканище'), is a popular Russian children's fairy tale poem written by poet Korney Chukovsky in 1921.^[1] The poem was later published by Raduga Publishers in 1923^[2][3] and is regarded as a cultural poetic heritage among Russophones. It tells the story of an overgrown cockroach who assumed power over mankind and animals by bullying and threatening them, only to fall prey to a sparrow in the end.^[4]

Poem (incomplete)[]

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Bears went to the hike

A-riding on a bike

And behind them the Tom cat

Back to front

And behind him are mosquitoes

On a balloon

And behind them crayfish

On a lame dog

Wolves on a mare

Lions in the car

Here comes the Cockroach

"Bring me, animals, your kids, I'll eat them today at dinner"

Legacy[]

The poem became popular during the 2020-2021 Belarusian protests, where protesters referred to incumbent president Alexander Lukashenko as the titular insect, chanting "Stop the Cockroach". Protests in Belarus broke out before and after the disputed 2020 Belarusian presidential election, and the moment calling for the so-called Slipper Revolution, also known as the Anti-Cockroach Revolution, was initiated by businessman and blogger Sergei Tikhanovsky, referring to the poem. He compared Lukashenko to the cockroach. The demonstrators also called for killing the cockroach with a slipper in a metaphorical reference to the poem.^[5]

References[]