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Abstract.

“The Tale of the Shepherd Boy Petya...” belongs to the genre of literary fairy tale, this is already partially emphasized in the title. It was written in the last year of Esenin’s life and, probably, was addressed to his own children. The work tells about rural life in the Soviet state, about social changes, and the picture of the new way of life with aftersound of the former patriarchy is given through the eyes of a shepherd boy. Reality intertwines with the boy’s dream, causing him to change his dreams and view his childhood in a new way. A textual analysis is carried out, possible proto-sources are examined, handwritten and printed sources of the text are indicated, the poetics of the work and its linguistic components are studied, and the few responses of contemporaries are considered. Folklore adaptations and works of other genres based on “The Tale of the Shepherd Boy Petya...” are also analyzed. The result is a comprehensive analysis of the work in the contexts of its creation and existence, right up to the present day.