Biography of Vera Vasilievna Chaplin. "Shepherd's Friend" and "Chance Encounters"

In a hereditary noble family in the house of his grandfather, a major heating engineer Professor Vladimir Mikhailovich Chaplin (philanthropist and educator of architect Konstantin Melnikov). Mother, Lidia Vladimirovna Chaplina, graduated from the Moscow Conservatory, father, Vasily Mikhailovich Kutyrin, is a lawyer. After the 1917 revolution, in the chaos of the Civil War, 10-year-old Vera got lost and, like a homeless child, ended up in an orphanage in Tashkent.

“Only love for animals helped me survive this first great grief,” the writer later recalled. - Even while in the orphanage, I managed to keep puppies, kittens and chicks ... During the day I took my pets to a huge garden near the house, and at night I dragged them into the bedroom and hid some in the bedside table, some under the bed, and some under the covers. Sometimes one of the educators discovered my pets, and it hit me great. ” Love for animals and responsibility for the lives of their “little brothers” brought up determination and the ability to overcome difficulties in a little girl. These character traits determined her life and creative path.

Mother managed to find Vera, and in 1923 they returned to Moscow. Soon, the 15-year-old girl began to go to the zoo and entered the circle of young biologists (KYUBZ), led by Professor P. A. Manteifel. The future writer not only fed and cared for animal cubs with a nipple, she observed animals, conducted scientific work, and strove to ensure that the animals did not particularly feel that they were in captivity.

At the age of 25, Vera Chaplina becomes one of the innovators of the Moscow Zoo. She will forever remain in its history as the initiator and leader of the site created in 1933, where "not only healthy and strong young animals were brought up, but it was also done so that different animals coexist peacefully with each other." This experiment aroused an unprecedented interest of the audience, and for many years the playground of the young animals became one of the “visiting cards” of the Moscow Zoo.

Vera Chaplina took part in the first studio recording of the Moscow Television Center: “... The first studio broadcast took place on April 4, 1938. The program, which lasted more than two hours, featured artists I. Ilyinsky, A. Redel, M. Khrustalev, chess players N. Ryumin and V. Alatortsev and others. zoo V. Chaplina: an owl, a squirrel, a dingo dog and a wolf, which she brought to the studio ... ".

In 1937, she was appointed head of the predator section. In May 1941, Vera Chaplina was commended "as the best drummer of the Moscow Zoo." At the beginning of the war, Chaplin, along with some of the most valuable animals, was sent for evacuation to the Urals, to the Sverdlovsk Zoo (Uralzoo). “There was not enough food, we had to make great efforts to feed and save them,” the writer said years later. - Without exception, all the employees of the zoo selflessly fought for the life of our pets. We shared the latter with children and ... animals. In the most difficult conditions of the war, Chaplin proves to be a skillful and decisive organizer: in the summer of 1942 she was appointed deputy director (head of the zoo) of the Uralzoo, and in the spring of 1943 she was returned to Moscow and appointed director of the production enterprises of the Moscow Zoo. In March 1944, the Executive Committee of the Moscow City Council of Workers' Deputies awards Vera Chaplin with the badge "Excellent worker in urban economy in Moscow".

Vera Chaplin devoted more than 20 years to the Moscow Zoo, and in 1946 she switched to permanent literary work. In 1947, her new collection “Four-legged friends” was published, in which, in addition to the revised text “Kinuli”, such stories as “Fomka the White Bear Cub”, “Wolf Pupil”, “Skuty”, “Shango” and others appeared for the first time. "Four-Legged Friends" was an extraordinary success: a few years later they were re-released not only in Moscow, but also in Warsaw, Prague, Bratislava, Sofia, Berlin. And when Chaplin joined the SP USSR in 1950, Samuil Marshak and Lev Kassil, who recommended her, wondered why this had not happened much earlier.

The literary co-author of Vera Chaplina since the late 1940s was the naturalist Georgy Skrebitsky. In collaboration, they create scripts for the cartoons "Forest Travelers" (1951) and "In the Forest" (1954). After a joint trip to Western Belarus, a book of essays "In Belovezhskaya Pushcha" (1949) is published. And yet the main writing material for Chaplina continues to be the life of the Moscow Zoo. In 1955, she published a collection of short stories, Zoo Pets (finally completed in 1965). Among the heroes of Chaplin's stories are such famous animals of the Moscow Zoo as the wolf Argo, the tigers Radzhi and Orphan, the bears Borets and Maryam, the condor Kuzya, the elephant Shango and others.

The works of the writer were illustrated by such masters of book graphics as Dmitry Gorlov, Georgy Nikolsky, Alexey Komarov, Vadim Trofimov, Evgeny Charushin, Veniamin Belyshev, Evgeny Rachev, Vladimir Konashevich. In addition, many famous photographers worked with Chaplin, among them - Mark Markov-Grinberg, Emmanuel Evzerikhin, Samariy Gurary, Anatoly Anzhanov, Viktor Akhlomov.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the heroes of Vera Chaplin's works, in addition to readers of the socialist countries, were introduced to France, Japan, Israel, Portugal, the United States, and her books, one of the few at that time, widely represented the image of Soviet children's literature abroad. This is quite remarkable, because it was precisely the Soviet ideology that was completely absent in them. However, this circumstance did not prevent the Publishing House of Literature in Foreign Languages, expanding the circle of its foreign readers, from publishing Four-Legged Friends and Zoo Pets in English, German, Spanish, Arabic, Korean, Hindi, Bengali, Urdu and other languages.

In the collection The Shepherd's Friend (1961) and in the cycle of late stories Chance Encounters (1976), new features of Vera Chaplina's work appear. Close-ups and bright colors, which created upbeat and sometimes dramatic portraits of four-legged heroes, are being replaced by seemingly smaller scale images. But now they come as if from the reader's own life. It seems that Vera Chaplin is no longer telling some stories, but simply helps to notice and make out our not always noticeable four-legged and winged neighbors. The stories "Funny Bear", "Spoiled Vacation", "Puska", "How good!" - are full of comical situations that sometimes happen to us when we get to know the "charming" animals better. What the animals do at the same time can easily piss off even a very calm person, and Vera Chaplina talks about it witty, but without mockery. It can be seen that the writer herself has repeatedly found herself in such situations, and that the people whom she shows confused and angry, despite everything, are able to maintain a kind, human attitude towards their little "tormentors".

More than one generation of readers grew up on the works of Vera Chaplina (the total circulation of her books exceeds 20 million copies). And although Chaplina's first stories about the pets of the Moscow Zoo appeared in the distant 1930s, and their first young readers have long become grandparents, her books are reprinted again, and again they are a success.

Memory

Major works

• "Kids from the Green Playground" - a collection of short stories (1935)
• "Thrown" - a story (1937, final edition 1955)
• "My pupils" - a collection of short stories (1937)
• "Four-Legged Friends" - a collection of short stories (1947)
• "In Belovezhskaya Pushcha" - a book of essays (co-authored with Georgy Skrebitsky (1949)
• "Orlik" - a collection of short stories (1954)
• "Pets zoo" - a series of stories (1955, final version - 1965)
• "Shepherd's Friend" - a collection of short stories (1961)
• "The Obnoxious Pet" - a collection of short stories (1963)
• "Winged Alarm Clock" - Storybook (1966)
• "Chance Encounters" - Storybook (1976)

Translations into foreign languages

The works of Vera Chaplina have been repeatedly translated into the languages ​​of the peoples of the world. Her post-war collection Four-Legged Friends was a great success, only in 1949-1950 translated into German, Belarusian, Hungarian, Polish, Bulgarian, Czech and Slovak. Chaplin's books were especially popular with German readers: the Berlin children's publishing house "Der Kinderbuchverlag" reprinted "Four-Legged Friends" more than ten times (after 1955 supplemented with stories from the collection "Zoo Pets"), and taking into account the publications of the 1970s and 1980s gg. it published almost all of Chaplin's major works in German translation. In 1956, on the initiative and in the translation of the French writer and translator Marie Lachy-Hollebeck, the Parisian publishing house "Les Éditions La Farandole" published a collection of short stories by Vera Chaplina "Mes amis à quatrepattes". In the same year, a two-volume edition of Zoo Pets was published in Tokyo with a foreword by UENO Zoo Director Tadamichi Koga (Hakuyosha Publishing House).

In 1965, the story "Kinuli" was published in New York by the publishing house "Henry Z. Walck, Inc" in the translation of Ivy Litvinova, who did not look for a match for the unusual name of the lioness in English, unlike Stephen Garry, the translator of the London edition of 1939. , who gave Kinuli the not entirely accurate name "Foundling" - "Foundling". The translators of another American book by Chaplin, "True Stories from the Moscow Zoo" ("Stories from the Moscow Zoo"), published in 1970 by Prentice-Hall, Inc, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, did not find an English analogue for the name Kinuli. . One of the translators, Slavic professor at the University of Michigan Lidia Naumovna Pargment initiated this publication. In total, the works of Vera Chaplina have been published in translations into 40 languages ​​(in more than 130 editions).

Filmography

• Descendant of an Arab - feature film, Goskino film studio, 1926, director Yakov Morin, cameraman Alexander Grinberg
• Gentlemen of the Skotinins - feature film, Sovkino film studio, 1926, director Grigory Roshal, cameramen Nikolai Kozlovsky and David Schlugleit, the wolf Argo was filmed in an episode of the film, training by Vera Chaplina
• Such a woman (another name: Alien) - a feature film, film company Mezhrabpom-Rus, 1927, director Konstantin Eggert, cameraman Louis Forestier, the wolf Argo was filmed in the episode of the film, training by Vera Chaplina, she also starred as an understudy of the heroine in the episode of the attack of the wolf
• Kinuli - popular science film, part 1. Mostehfilm, 1935, director Boris Pavlov, screenwriter Vera Chaplina, cameraman Andrey Glazov, musical arrangement G. Berezovsky
• “They Threw at Chaplina’s House” - a fragment of the collection “Sovkinozhurnal” No. 16, 1936, directed by L. I. Stepanova (shooting in early March 1936 in a room in a communal apartment where the lioness Kinuli lived with Chaplina’s family)
• The Little Bear's Adventures - short feature film for children, Rot-Front Film Factory, 1936, director Taisa Arusinskaya, screenwriter Vera Chaplina, cameraman Georgy Reishof, composer Mikhail Rauhverger
• The study of instincts in predators and mammals - popular science film, 1 part. Mostehfilm, 1939, director Boris Pavlov, cameraman G. Troyanovsky, scientific consultant Vera Chaplina
• Instinct in Animal Behavior - popular science film, 2 parts. Mostehfilm, 1940, director Boris Pavlov, screenwriter Vera Chaplina, cameraman G. Troyanovsky
• Predators - popular science film, Mostehfilm, 1940, director Boris Svetozarov, cameraman Boris Filshin, scientific consultant Vera Chaplina
• Forest travelers - cartoon, Soyuzmultfilm, 1951, director Mstislav Pashchenko, screenwriters Vera Chaplina and Georgy Skrebitsky, cameraman Mikhail Druyan
• In the forest more often - cartoon, Soyuzmultfilm, 1954, director Alexander Ivanov, screenwriters Vera Chaplina and Georgy Skrebitsky, cameraman Nikolai Voinov

Filmstrips

see also

Notes

1. V. V. Chaplin. Autobiographical notes. RGALI, Fund No. 3460 (Chaplina Vera Vasilievna)
2. Essays on the history of Soviet broadcasting and television // Television and radio broadcasting in the USSR (under the general editorship of A.P. Bolgarev). M., 1979. S. 31.
3. Order No. 141 for the Moscow Zoo dated November 10, 1937 (V. V. Chaplina's work book // RGALI, fund No. 3460)

Current page: 1 (total book has 3 pages)

Vera Vasilievna Chaplina
Orlik

Vera Vasilievna Chaplina was born in 1908 in the city of Moscow, in the family of an employee. She was left without a father early and was brought up in an orphanage for several years. From childhood she loved animals and from the age of fifteen she entered the circle of young biologists of the Zoo. In this circle she studied, made observations of animals, studied their habits.

The mother's illness and the need for a family forced Vera Vasilievna to go to work from the age of sixteen. She entered the Zoo of an animal care worker, and devoted all her free time to replenishing her knowledge.

In 1927, she completed courses at the Zoo and began working as a laboratory assistant. In 1932, V. Chaplin was already a guide, while continuing to work with animals.

In 1933, V.V. Chaplina organized the first experimental site for young animals, where a wide variety of animals were brought up together.

In 1937, Vera Vasilievna was transferred to work as the head of the section of predators, which, in addition to the young animals, included all the predatory animals of the Zoo.

During her work at the Zoo, V. V. Chaplin raised many animals. She had accumulated an interesting obscene observation and education of wild animals, and she began to write stories. In 1937, her first book was published, entitled "Kids from the Green Playground", then books were published: "My pupils", "Four-legged friends", "Bear Cub Rychik and his comrades", "Naya", "Orlik" and many others . The story “Thrown” was repeatedly published, which tells how V.V. Chaplin took a small, helpless lion cub, raised it at home and how a huge lioness grew out of it, who still loved and remembered her teacher.

Since 1946, V. V. Chaplin completely switched to literary work. She traveled a lot around the country, especially often visited Karelin and the Kandalaksha region, where she studied the animals living there.

In 1941, V. V. Chaplin joined the ranks of the members of the Communist Party; she is a member of the Writers' Union and takes an active part in its work.

ORLYK

I sat on a small wooden pier and waited for the steamer.

For the last time I admired Lake Onega, the places where I spent this summer. Over there, on the other side of the bay, you can also see the village in which I lived, and closer here - the islands.

How beautifully they spread across the bay! And I looked at them, trying to remember their wild beauty. But then a boat caught my attention. It appeared from behind a small island, and in it, as if rooted to the spot, slightly turning its head, stood a horse. I didn't even notice the person. He sat a little ahead and slowly paddled with oars.

I was surprised by such a calm behavior of the horse. “Probably tied,” I thought, and began to watch the approach of the boat.

Here she comes very close. The old man sitting in it braked with oars and quietly brought the boat to the shore. Then he got out and, supporting the board, said, addressing the horse:

- But, but, Orlik, go!

And then I saw that Orlik was not tied at all. Hearing the owner's order, he obediently stepped over the side, went ashore, and while the old man was pulling the boat out onto dry land, patiently waited for him. I went up to the old man and asked how he was not afraid to carry a horse in such a shaky boat, and even without a leash.

“If there was another, maybe I would have been afraid,” he said. - And our Orlik is accustomed to everything. After all, he came to us from the front. After the war, by distribution, our collective farm got it. As I came to choose horses, I immediately liked him. And the fighter also advised me to take it. “Take,” he says, “father, our Orlik is a good horse, you won’t regret it. Yes, take care of him, he saved his master from death.

How did he save him? I asked.

The old man lit his pipe, sat down on a stone and slowly told me everything he knew.

* * *

It was on the Karelian front. Antonov served as a liaison officer there. His horse was beautiful, stately and fast on the move.

In addition, the horse turned out to be very smart. Like a dog, she followed her master: he went to the kitchen - and she followed him, he went to the commander - and she was waiting by the dugout.

Then she still knew how to take off her hat. Probably, her children were brought up on the collective farm and taught this. From the very first day he fell in love with her.

It used to come up to a fighter, take off his hat with his teeth and wait for a treat for this. Here, of course, laughter, fun, who will give her sugar, who will give her bread. So I got used to it. Antonov will tell her: “Take off your hat, hat!” - she only waved her mane and galloped to the fighters. He will run up, take off someone's earflaps and carry them to the owner.

And after all, what a quick-witted one she was: she won’t drop her on the way, and she won’t give herself into the wrong hands. He will bring it and put it near Antonov.

- Well, smart! the fighters were talking about her. You won't get lost with a horse like that.

Indeed, their words soon came true.

Once in the winter it was necessary to urgently deliver a report to the headquarters. It was impossible to drive through the taiga: impassable thickets all around, windbreak. It took too long to walk on foot, and the only road was shelled by enemies for the second day.

“We must slip through and urgently deliver a report to the headquarters,” the commander said, passing the package to Antonov.

- There is a slip and urgently deliver a report to the headquarters! - repeated Antonov, hid the package on his chest, jumped on his horse and rushed off.

Many times he had to travel along this front road, but now, in these two days, it has changed a lot: deep shell craters and fallen trees were visible everywhere.

The muffled sounds of explosions were heard more and more often. Antonov was in a hurry to get to the narrow forest path, which ran sideways from the road, and hastily urged on the horse.

But the smart animal was in a hurry anyway. One might think that she understands and is in a hurry to slip through the dangerous place herself.

You could already see a fallen tree and a turn onto the path. Here she is very close. Obedient to the occasion, the horse jumped over the road ditch and, knocking snow off the branches, galloped along the path.

A stray shell exploded somewhere very close by, but Antonov no longer heard the explosion. Wounded by a shrapnel in the chest, he still held on in the saddle for some time, then swayed and gently slid into the snow.

Antonov woke up because someone slightly touched him. He opened his eyes. His horse stood next to him and, bending its head, quietly grabbed his cheek with its lips.

Antonov wanted to get up, but a sharp pain made him lower himself with a groan.

The horse became alert and, impatiently stepping its feet, neighed. She could not understand why her master was lying and did not want to get up.

Several times Antonov lost consciousness and again came to his senses. But each time, opening his eyes, he saw a horse standing next to him.

He was pleased to see his four-legged friend near him, but it would be better if the horse left. He would probably return to the unit; if they saw a horse, they would immediately guess that something had happened to the messenger, and they would go looking for him. And the main thing that tormented Antonov was the undelivered report.

He lay there, unable to even turn around. And the thought of how to drive the horse away from him and make her leave did not leave him.

The shelling of the road, apparently, ended, and, as always after the shelling, there was some unusual silence all around.

But what is it? Why did his horse suddenly start up and, throwing up its head, neighed softly? This is how he behaved if he felt horses. Antonov listened. Somewhere off the road came the creak of skids and voices.

Antonov knew that the enemy could not be here, so this is his own. We need to shout to them, to call ... And, overpowering the pain, he rose to his elbows, but instead of a scream, he let out a groan.

There was only one hope left - for the horse, for his faithful horse. But how do you get her to leave?

Bring a hat, bring a hat, bring a hat! - Antonov whispers through the power of words familiar to her.

She understood, became alert, took a few steps towards the road and stopped hesitantly. Then she shook her mane, neighed, and, increasing her step more and more, disappeared around the bend in the path.

She returned with a hat. A few minutes later, people spoke, and three fighters leaned over Antonov, one of whom was without a hat. They carefully lifted the wounded signalman and carefully carried him.

“This is how Orlik saved his master,” the old man finished his story and affectionately patted Orlik on his steep neck.

At that moment, the whistle of an approaching steamer rang out. Boarding has begun. I said goodbye to my grandfather and hurried after the other passengers to the ship.

JULBARS

Dzhulbars was presented to Kolya as a very small puppy. Kolya was very happy with such a gift: he had long dreamed of getting himself a good, thoroughbred shepherd dog.

Kohl put a lot of work while he raised Dzhulbars. After all, there was a lot of fuss with such a small puppy. It was necessary to feed him several times a day, clean him, take him out for a walk.

And how much he gnawed Kolya's toys, things! .. He dragged everything he could get to.

He especially liked to chew on shoes. Once Kolya forgot to hide his shoes for the night, and when he got up in the morning, only rags were left of them.

But this was only as long as Dzhulbars was small. But when he grew up, Kolya was envied by many boys - he had such a beautiful and smart dog.

In the morning, Dzhulbars woke up Kolya: barking, dragging a blanket from him, and when Kolya opened his eyes, he hurried to bring him clothes. True, sometimes Dzhulbars was mistaken and instead of Kolya's clothes he brought father's galoshes or grandmother's skirt, but he was in such a funny hurry, he tried so hard to collect everything as soon as possible, that no one was angry with him for this.

Then Dzhulbars accompanied Kolya to school. It is important, slowly, he walked near his young master and carried him a knapsack with books. Sometimes it happened that the guys, playing around, threw snowballs at Kolya. Then Dzhulbars blocked it with himself and bared his teeth. And his teeth were so big that at the sight of them the boys immediately stopped rushing.

On weekends, Kolya took Dzhulbars with him and went skiing with his comrades. But he did not ride like all the guys. Kolya put a harness on Dzhulbars, tied a rope to it, and took the other end in his hands and commanded Dzhulbars: “Forward!” Dzhulbars ran forward and carried his young master behind him.

PARTING

Dzhulbars never parted with Kolya. They were always together, and if Kolya left alone, Dzhulbars lay down near the door, listened to every rustle and whined.

All acquaintances called them "lovebirds", and no one could even think that Kolya would ever voluntarily part with his pet. However, this happened on the second day after the declaration of war.

Kolya could not sleep for a long time that night, tossed and turned from side to side, turned on the light several times and kept looking at the dog lying next to his bed.

In the morning Kolya got up earlier than usual. He carefully cleaned Dzhulbars, then put on a new collar for him and went out of the house with him. Kolya returned alone. The room was somehow empty, uncomfortable, and on the rug, where Dzhulbars always slept, lay an old collar. Kolya took the collar, and tears welled up in his eyes. He was very sorry for Dzhulbars, but at the same time he so wanted to do something big, good for the Red Army ...

IN A NEW PLACE

When Kolya left Dzhulbars and left, he did not even realize that he had parted with his master forever. At first, he looked curiously at the dogs sitting next to him. Then he began to look to see if Kolya was coming. But Kolya did not go. Unfamiliar people were walking around, doing something, talking, bringing new dogs, but Dzhulbars seemed to notice nothing and no one. He did not even touch the food that was placed in front of him, and kept looking and looking in the direction where Kolya had disappeared behind the turn.

Several days have passed.

During this time, the dogs were examined and sent to the distribution point. There they were checked again, put in cages, and the next day fighters walked around them and each one chose the right one for himself. Ivanov alone could not choose a dog. Several times he walked around them from the first to the last, and each time his gaze involuntarily lingered on Dzhulbars. This dog looked very sullen among the others.

But for some reason Ivanov liked her, and he went to take her passport. On the passport was the dog's number, its age, nickname, and at the very bottom, with an unsteady child's hand, a postscript was made - “Dear comrade fighter! I beg you to write to me about Dzhulbars ... ”There was something else written there, but Ivanov could not make out what exactly. He took out a blank piece of paper, wrote down the address, folded it neatly, and put it in the pocket of his wallet where he kept pictures of his wife and kids. Then Ivanov went up to the dog, put on a leash and loudly, resolutely said: “Dzhulbars, let's go!”

Dzhulbars shuddered, jumped up and whined softly, quite softly. For the first time since the day of separation from Kolya, he heard his nickname.

A lot of work cost the fighter Ivanov to accustom a dog to him. And how much patience he put in to train her! It was necessary to teach Dzhulbars to find a mine, sit next to it and show the trainer where it is. Not every dog ​​is up to the job. Here you need a good instinct, obedience and diligence - just what Dzhulbars had.

At first, dogs were taught to find specially buried mines that could not explode, and for each found they were given a piece of meat. But Dzhulbars did not work for meat. Sometimes he would find a mine, sit down next to it, and look at Ivanov so tenderly, wag his tail and wait for him to praise him.

FIRST TASK

Everyone was surprised at the intuition and understanding of Dzhulbars. There was no case that he made a mistake or missed a mine. And where they just didn’t hide it: they buried it in the ground, hung it up, put it in a room among things, and covered it with blankets on top in several rows, and still Dzhulbars found it. Ivanov was very proud of his student. And not in vain. Soon Dzhulbars became the pride not only of Ivanov, but of the whole unit. And it happened like this.

An order came to their unit: "Urgently select the best mine-detecting dog and transfer it by plane to its destination."

Ivanov recently graduated from Dzhulbars, and yet the unit commander sent him.

As soon as the plane landed and Ivanov got out of the cockpit, he was immediately ordered to go with the dog to the airfield.

Ivanov never worried as much as he did this first combat mission.

The task was very responsible. Retreating, the enemies mined the airfield. Before that, it had rained, then frost hit immediately, and the airfield was covered with a thick ice crust; under this crust were mines. Special devices for finding mines could not help. The probes did not enter the frozen ground, and the mine detectors did not work because the mines were buried in wooden shells.

Together with the miners accompanying him, Ivanov approached a small peg sticking out of the ground. On the peg was nailed a board with a short black inscription: "Mineed."

Ivanov stopped, called Dzhulbars and said loudly, distinctly: “Look!”

Dzhulbars pulled the reins and led Ivanov. Dzhulbars walked slowly, slowly, sniffing out every centimeter of the earth of this huge field. He walked and led the owner for a meter ... two ... three ... ten, not stopping anywhere, not lingering.

At first, Ivanov walked calmly, then he was suddenly seized with doubt: “What if ... what if Dzhulbars misses mines?” The thought made him feel terrible. Ivanov stopped.

- Seek, seek! he almost shouted, pointing to the ground. - Seek!

Dzhulbars looked at the owner in surprise and again pulled on.

Now they are already quite far from that small cheek with a black inscription. Behind them, from a distance, they were waving and shouting something and the people remaining near her. But what exactly, Ivanov cannot understand. One annoying thought does not leave him: “Does Dzhulbars miss mines?”

Suddenly Dzhulbars abruptly changed direction and sat down. He sat in the same way as he did during his studies, when he found a buried mine. He looked first at a barely noticeable mound near his paws, then at the owner. And Ivanov? Ivanov grabbed Dzhulbars' head and pressed him tightly to himself. Then over the place where the mine was buried, he stuck a red flag and went on.

Like red flowers, flags bloomed first in one place, then in another, and soon the whole field was strewn with them. And a few hours later miners were already busy around them. They pulled out and cleared the mines.

FOUR-LEGED FRIEND

Several years have passed. During this time, Dzhulbars found thousands of mines. Retreating, the Nazis mined everything: houses, things, dishes, food - in a word, everything that a person could touch. But Dzhulbars, with his instinct, unraveled the most cunning tricks of the enemy, and this saved the lives of many people. More than once he saved the life of his master.

Once, freeing houses from mines, Ivanov went into an abandoned apartment. The room he entered was small and cozy, and the remnants of food on the table indicated that its owners had left in a hurry. It was this peaceful appearance of the room that deceived Ivanov.

Forgetting caution, he wanted to go into the next room and already approached the door. But suddenly Dzhulbars got ahead of the owner. He sat down on the very threshold and blocked the passage. Ivanov did not understand the dog. He took Dzhulbars by the collar and wanted to remove him. And then the always obedient Dzhulbars suddenly snapped, wriggled out of the hands of the owner and again blocked his path.

Ivanov did not expect such an act. So that Dzhulbars snapped, did not obey? .. “No, something is not right here,” thought Ivanov.

And rightly so: under the threshold of the door he wanted to enter, there was a hidden mine.

Throughout the war, Ivanov did not part with Dzhulbars: he traveled with him to Smolensk, Belarus, and Poland. The end of the war found them in Berlin.

Ivanov did not return home alone. Next to him on the train sat his faithful assistant, Dzhulbars.

When Ivanov arrived in Moscow, he sent a letter to Kolya. He wrote to Kolya about how well his pupil worked, how many times he saved his life and that he, Ivanov, was very sorry to part with his four-legged friend.

And Kolya did not take Dzhulbars. He replied that although he loved Dzhulbars very much, he nevertheless decided to leave him to Ivanov. And Kolya will get another dog for himself, he will also call her Dzhulbars, and when she grows up, she will definitely give it back to the Soviet Army.

FRIENDSHIP

That summer I settled with a forester. His hut was large and spacious. She stood right in the forest, in a clearing, and a narrow stream ran through the estate, fenced with wattle, murmuring over pebbles.

The forester Ivan Petrovich himself was a hunter. In his free time, he took a dog, a gun and went to the forest.

His dog was large, red, with a dark, almost black back. Her name was Dagon. In the whole region there was no hound dog better than Dagon. And if he takes the trail of the fox, then no matter what tricks she indulges in, she will not run away from Dagon.

Ivan Petrovich hunted with Dagon in late autumn and winter. And in spring and summer, Dagon sat more at home, because at this time it was forbidden to hunt foxes and Ivan Petrovich put him on a chain.

“And then he’ll get spoiled,” said the forester.

Dagon did not like to sit on a chain. As soon as they lowered him, he tried to slip away unnoticed, and if he was called, he pretended not to hear.

True, sometimes, together with the forester's son Petya, we took Dagon with us to the forest, but this happened only on those rare days when his master left for the city.

But how Dagon rejoiced at these walks! He always rushed ahead, sniffing at everything, looking for something. From under his feet, now, a frightened croak, a black grouse took off, then a capercaillie rose with noise. Such a walk usually ended with Dagon running away from us. He found a trace of a fox or a hare and instantly disappeared. His loud, booming bark resounded far through the forest, and no matter how much we called Dagon, he never came.

Dagon returned by evening, tired, with sunken sides. He entered, wagging his tail somehow guiltily, and immediately climbed into his kennel.

NAKHODKA

Once, during a walk, Dagon did not have time to run away from us, as we heard his loud barking. He was barking somewhere very close, and Petya and I ran to see who he had caught.

We saw Dagon on the lawn. He barked and jumped around a large, old stump, tried to get something from under the roots, and even gnawed the bark with his teeth in anger.

- Probably found a hedgehog! - Petya shouted to me. - Now we will get him.

I grabbed Dagon by the collar and dragged him aside, and Petya took a stick and put it under the stump to pull out the hedgehog.

But before he had time to put the stick in, a small gray animal jumped out and rushed across the lawn.

The cub was still small and inexperienced. He darted under Petya's very feet, but Petya could not catch him. I, too, could not help him, as I could barely hold Dagon, who was rushing towards the animal.

Finally, Petya managed to drive the fox into the bushes and pin him down with his cap. The captured animal no longer resisted. Petya put him in a basket of berries, and on top, so that he did not jump out, he tied a scarf, and we went home.

At home, Petya's mother was not very happy with our find. She even tried to object to her, but Petya so begged to be allowed to leave the fox cub that Praskovya Dmitrievna finally agreed:

- Okay, hold on! But my father won’t let me anyway,” she said in conclusion.

But the father also allowed, and the fox remained.

First of all, we set about arranging a room for him. Petya brought a box from the shed, and we began to make a cage out of it. One side of the box was tightened with wire, and a door was cut through the other. When the cage was completely ready, they laid straw there and let the fox cub go.

But before we had time to release it, the animal immediately hid in the very corner of the box and hid in the straw. He did not even begin to eat the meat put to him, and when Petya pushed a piece with a stick, he grunted angrily and grabbed it with his teeth.

The rest of the day the fox sat in his corner. But as soon as night fell and everyone went to bed, he began to whine, yelp, and scratched the net with his paws so much that he even tore off his finger.

Petya was very upset when he saw the wounded paw of the fox in the morning, but we consoled him, saying that the fox is now marked and even if he leaves, we will immediately recognize him on the trail.

How is the rating calculated?
◊ The rating is calculated based on the points accrued in the last week
◊ Points are awarded for:
⇒ visiting pages dedicated to the star
⇒ vote for a star
⇒ star commenting

Biography, life story of Chaplina Vera Vasilievna

Origin

Vera Vasilievna Chaplina (real name Kutyrina-Mikhailova), children's writer-animalist, was born on the 24th in April 1908 in Moscow. Chaplina's father was a lawyer, his name is Vasily Mikhailovich Kutyrin, his mother, Lidia Vladimirovna Chaplina, a musician by education, graduated from the Moscow Conservatory. The maternal grandfather of the writer was a nobleman, he was very famous. His name was Vladimir Mikhailovich Chaplin. He was a professor of heat engineering, a major engineer. Grandfather was a famous philanthropist and raised the architect Konstantin Melnikov. The Kutyrin family had three children, Vera had a brother Vasya and a sister Valya.

Orphanage

In the chaos of the civil war, Vera Chaplin got lost and ended up in an orphanage. She managed to survive this great grief. She sought out her mother in 1923. Then they came to Moscow. In the orphanage, Vera saved herself by secretly caring for pets, which she found in a huge garden, from caregivers. She also rescued chicks.

Zoo

Vera in Moscow went to the zoo and to a circle of young biologists. The circle was headed by Professor Manteuffel. Vera carried out scientific work, fed animals and organized a playground for young animals. It was an innovation, the experiment of raising cubs of different animals on the same site aroused great interest of the audience. Chaplin gave work at the zoo for over 30 years. In 1937, she became head of the predator section. In 1941, she received a commendation as a zoo shock worker. During the evacuation, the zoo staff selflessly fought for the lives of the animals.

Literary works

Chaplin has been writing novels and short stories about animals since 1935. They became widely known as they were published in newspapers. Permanent employment in literary work began in 1946. Vera Chaplin released in 1947 a new collection of novels and short stories "Four-Legged Friends". In 1950, Chaplin became a member of the Writers' Union. Her works were published not only in the USSR, but also in Prague, Warsaw, Berlin, Sofia, Bratislava. The writer worked for 10 years on the book "Pets of the Zoo", the collection was published in 1965. The heroes of her books met all over the world: in Japan, France, the USA and other countries. It was published in all languages: Spanish, Hindi, Arabic and many others. New features of creativity appeared in the cycles of later stories. She talked about comical situations in which people got into a closer, closer acquaintance with charming animals. Witty and without ridicule of animals, she talked about animals that can quickly piss off even the calmest person. The total circulation of Chaplin's works exceeded 17 million copies. Since the late 1940s, Chaplin's co-author was the naturalist Georgy Skrebitsky. Together they created scripts for cartoons, books of essays. More than one generation of Soviet readers grew up on Chaplin's books, they remained favorite books and were reprinted again and again.

CONTINUED BELOW

Filmography

Many popular science films, feature films, cartoons, short films and filmstrips for young children have been created from Chaplin's books.

Awards

Chaplin received the medal "For Valiant Labor in the Second World War of 1941-1945", another medal "For Labor Distinction", as well as the medal "Veteran of Labour".

Death

The writer died in 1994 on the 19th of December.

Probably very few people can say something like that about themselves. And Vera Vasilievna said this with every right, because almost all her life - from the age of sixteen - she worked at the Moscow Zoo. And in the Zoo - it just so happened - she constantly had to deal with young animals that were either orphaned or their mothers for some reason refused to feed them. And probably, many of them would have died if it were not for the kind hands and inexhaustible patience, and most importantly, if it were not for the great love for animals of Vera Vasilievna Chaplina.

Of course, she not only fed the cubs with a nipple and took care of them - she watched the animals, conducted scientific work, and tried to ensure that the animals did not particularly feel that they were in captivity. Constantly watching the kids, Vera Vasilievna suggested organizing a playground for young animals - placing fox cubs and lion cubs, wolf cubs and lambs, cubs and kids in one large enclosure. Many doubted whether such different animals would get along with each other. But Vera Vasilievna was sure: they would get along, because they are not yet animals, but animals, they are all cheerful and kind, playful and trusting, like any cubs. And then such a platform appeared in the Moscow Zoo. How much interesting material for study this experiment gave zoologists! How much joy and merry minutes this "platform" brought to the visitors of the Zoo! But the guys who saw how the animals play, run, chase each other, did not know that not all of them immediately began to be friends, and then there were all sorts of unforeseen cases.

Vera Vasilievna noticed everything in the behavior of animals, down to the smallest detail. And then I decided to tell the guys about what is happening at the youngsters' playground. So her first book "Kids from the green area" appeared. From it, the children learned that each little animal, like any adult animal, has its own character and disposition, that an animal can be brought up both evil and kind.

Then Vera Vasilievna wrote the books "My pupils" and "Four-legged friends." The children got acquainted with the lioness Kinuli, who did not grow up in a cage, but in a city apartment, with a calf Loska, fed a nipple, with an intelligent elephant Shango, with a monkey Malyshka, with a fox Kutsy, with an otter Naya, with a dog raised by a she-wolf, and with many others animals. The children also learned about the people who work at the Zoo - they take care of animals, treat, study and feed them.

Vera Vasilievna Chaplina wrote many books in her life: “Thrown”, “Pets of the Zoo”, “Shepherd's Friend”, “Fomka the Bear”, “Chance Encounters” and others. These books were repeatedly reprinted, translated into different languages ​​both in our country and abroad, and the guys in many countries fell in love with them, fell in love not only because Vera Vasilievna's books are interesting, but also because they were written by a very kind person, a person who loves animals and considers the main business of his life - the education of kindness. And kindness, one of the most important and necessary qualities of a human character, begins with a small thing - with a kind attitude towards a kitten or a puppy, a chick or a frog.

A truly kind person is always bolder than an evil one, he is happier in life than an unkind person, and he has more joys in life. And meeting with a good book written by a kind person is also a great joy.

And here is such a book - interesting and smart, which will help you understand a lot, which will make you think, and perhaps look at something with different eyes - you are now holding in your hands.

Yuri Dmitriev

Address to readers

Dear Guys!

All my life I have been very fond of animals, and as far as I can remember, I have always brought up some chicks, puppies, hares ...

I liked it when the open mouths of jackdaws, magpies, met me at home, when the gray yellow-mouthed sparrows did not fly away from an outstretched hand, and the hares boldly jumped on my knees.

From the age of sixteen I entered the circle of young biologists of the Zoo. The well-known naturalist and great lover of nature Pyotr Aleksandrovich Manteifel led this circle. He taught us to love animals, to protect and study nature... Our circle was small and very friendly. We helped the ministers to clean the cages, feed the animals and birds, the researchers to observe the animals, write down their behavior in diaries, weigh the animal babies and monitor their growth…

I remember how many new and interesting things I learned at the Zoo: how badgers, sables, porcupines are born, how all these young animals grow, how the habits of animals change ... ending with lion cubs, wolverines!

And how delighted I was when, in 1933, I was appointed head of the young animals of the Zoo! That's when I got the idea to arrange a special area in the Zoo, where it would be possible not only to bring up healthy and strong young animals, but also to make sure that different animals get along peacefully with each other.

I have many pleasant and dear memories of those animal kids to whom I gave a lot of warmth, love and care. And I, guys, really want you to get to know my pupils and fall in love with them.

V. Chaplin

My pets

The smartest

For a long time I worked at the Zoo with lions, tigers, but it so happened that I was transferred to work in a monkey house.

I really didn't want to stay there. Monkeys I did not know and did not like. I stand in front of a cage with rhesus monkeys; there is a whole flock of them - about forty - running around. I look and think: “How can I distinguish between them? They are very similar to each other. Identical eyes, muzzles, hands, and even growth as if one. But it only seemed so to me at the beginning, but when I looked at them, I see that even though they are of the same breed, they do not look alike. The one who was called Vovka has a smooth head, as if combed, not like Bobrik's. Bobrik's whirlwinds stick out in all directions, well, just like Styopka the tattered one.

But the Baby was the most different. Of all the monkeys, she was the smallest, which is why she was nicknamed. The muzzle of the Baby is sharp, and she herself is dexterous, nimble. As soon as I enter the cage, all the monkeys will scatter, and Baby will step a little to the side and look at my sieve, in which I brought fruit.

It was this Baby that I decided to tame. It was no easy matter.

For a long time the coward did not dare to approach me. One had only to stretch out a hand to her, as she quickly jumped back and ran away. But I patiently sat in the cage for hours and from time to time threw her the most delicious pieces.

Every day Baby got used to me more and more. She didn’t run away when I approached, and one day she got so brave that she almost snatched a cookie from me, which I wanted to give to another monkey. Somehow she even tried to get into my pocket. She already extended her hand, but then she herself was frightened of her courage and fled. Since then, I began to deliberately put sweets in my pocket. And she did it so that Baby could see. I already knew she was a big sweetie.

The monkey watched carefully as I put a pear or a piece of sugar in my pocket, and then stretched out her mouth with a tube and screamed plaintively. And yet she decided to go into her pocket. In order not to frighten the thief, I deliberately turned away, as if I did not notice anything. And Baby quickly pulled a piece of sugar out of my pocket and, stealthily looking around, sat down just in case.

For a long time I worked at the Zoo with lions, tigers, but it so happened that I was transferred to work in a monkey house. Read...

Fomka got to Moscow not by train, not by ship, but by plane. Its route: Kotelny Island - Moscow. Read...

A she-wolf sat in one cage, and a shepherd dog in the next cage. Read...

Naya is a jerk. Naya's body is long and flexible, as if without bones; the head is flattened, like a snake, and small, like beads, eyes. Read...

Things have not gone well since morning. The milk turned sour, the meat was not brought on time. The hungry young squeaked in different voices, and then they brought a calf. Read...

When I entered the cage, the wolf cub hid in a corner and squinted his eyes in fright. With reddish hair, round-browed, I liked him immediately. Read...

This bear cub was called Kopusha because she was always digging: she was the last to go for a walk, the last she ate her lunch. Read...

It happened just at that time of spring, when the fox cubs were already squeaking in the hole, and the she-bear was wandering through the forest with her cubs, and a many-voiced bird choir was heard from everywhere. Read...

I do not want to name the publishing house where this incident took place, I will only say one thing: books were born in it, which the guys love very much. Read...

Slava and her mother recently moved to one of the new districts of the city. Their apartment was on the very last - the twelfth - floor. Slava liked that they lived so high. Read...

His name was Mukhtar. But it was not the famous Mukhtar, who was filmed in the film "Come to me, Mukhtar!". That Mukhtar was a thoroughbred shepherd and helped to look for criminals. Read...

For the third day now, it was drizzling with corrosive, cold rain. A sharp wind had long ago torn off the last leaves from the trees, and now they lay brown, faded, as if glued to the ground by rain. Read...

Marina came home from school proud and happy. Still, she has almost one five in her diary. Read...

Our birdhouse is new and beautiful. From all sides we upholstered it with birch bark, and it became like a real hollow. Read...

A small fishing collective farm is located on the very shore of the White Sea. So close that at high tide the water ran almost to the very houses, and when it left, dark green slippery algae stretched along the stones behind it. Read...

That summer I settled with a forester. His hut stood in a clearing, surrounded by forest, and a narrow stream ran through the estate, murmuring over pebbles. The forester Ivan Petrovich himself was also a hunter. Read...

Once in our country house, under the eaves of the terrace, two sparrows settled. In a large gap that had formed in the board, they diligently dragged feathers, pieces of cotton wool picked up somewhere, fluff, straws, and in general everything that was suitable for building a nest. Read...

The fact that two small gray birds chose the farthest corner of the garden for their nest, Sofia Petrovna guessed at once. However, it was not at all difficult to guess, watching how the birds diligently dragged some fluffs, feathers, bunches of thin dry blades of grass there. Read...

After returning to Moscow, Chaplin was at the zoo from early morning until late evening. Youth quickly gave way to an independent and adult life, and from a voluntary assistant to Chaplin, she soon turned into an organizer and caretaker of the site, which contained animals of the same age.

Years passed, and Vera Chaplina began to describe her experience in the book “Kids from the Green Playground”. This book was a resounding success, and a few years later the stories of Vera Chaplina about animals, collected in the book "My Pupils", saw the light. In this collection, the writer for the first time, with sadness and kindness, told readers about a lioness named Kinuli, who was brought up in a city apartment.

Stories about animals "Puska", "Spoiled vacation", "How good!" filled with comical situations that arise when you get to know your four-legged friends better. Sometimes it seems that Vera Chaplin's goal was not to tell us about some animals, but to help us notice and see them.