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Read the full stories of Boris Zhitkov. Boris Zhitkov - stories about animals

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Petya lived with his mother and sisters on the top floor, and the teacher lived on the bottom floor. That time my mother went to swim with the girls. And Petya was left alone to guard the apartment.

When everyone left, Petya began to try his homemade cannon. She was from an iron tube. Petya filled the middle with gunpowder, and there was a hole in the back to light the gunpowder. But no matter how hard Petya tried, he could not set it on fire in any way. Petya was very angry. He went into the kitchen. He put chips into the stove, poured them with kerosene, put a cannon on top and lit it: “Now it will probably shoot!”

The fire flared up, buzzed in the stove - and suddenly, how a shot would bang! Yes, such that all the fire was thrown out of the stove.

Petya got scared and ran out of the house. Nobody was at home, nobody heard anything. Petya ran away. He thought that maybe everything would go out on its own. And nothing faded. And it flared up even more.

The teacher was walking home and saw smoke coming from the upper windows. He ran to the post, where a button was made behind the glass. This is a call to the fire department.

The teacher broke the glass and pressed the button.

The fire brigade rang. They quickly rushed to their fire trucks and rushed at full speed. They drove up to the pole, and there the teacher showed them where the fire was burning. The firefighters had a pump on the car. The pump began to pump water, and firefighters began to fill the fire with water from rubber pipes. Firefighters put ladders to the windows and climbed into the house to find out if there were people left in the house. There was no one in the house. The firemen began to take things out.

Petya's mother came running when the whole apartment was already on fire. The policeman did not let anyone close, so as not to interfere with the firefighters. The most necessary things did not have time to burn down, and the firemen brought them to Petya's mother.

And Petya's mother kept crying and saying that, probably, Petya burned down, because he was nowhere to be seen.

And Petya was ashamed, and he was afraid to approach his mother. The boys saw him and forcibly brought him.

The firefighters put out the fire so well that nothing on the lower floor burned down. The firefighters got into their cars and drove away. And the teacher let Petya's mother live with him until the house was repaired.

On an ice floe

In winter, the sea is frozen. The fishermen of the collective farm gathered on the ice to fish. We took the nets and rode on a sledge on the ice. Andrey the fisherman also went, and with him his son Volodya. We went far, far away. And wherever you look, everything is ice and ice: the sea is so frozen. Andrei and his comrades drove the farthest. They made holes in the ice and began to launch nets through them. The day was sunny and everyone had fun. Volodya helped untangle the fish from the nets and was very happy that a lot was being caught.

Already large heaps of frozen fish lay on the ice. Volodin's father said:

"That's enough, it's time to go home."

But everyone began to ask to stay overnight and catch again in the morning. In the evening they ate, wrapped themselves more tightly in sheepskin coats, and went to bed in the sleigh. Volodya snuggled up to his father to keep him warm, and fell asleep soundly.

Suddenly at night the father jumped up and shouted:

Comrades, get up! Look, what a wind! There would be no trouble!

Everyone jumped up and ran.

- Why are we rocking? Volodya shouted.

And the father shouted:

- Trouble! We were torn off and carried on an ice floe into the sea.

All the fishermen ran on the ice floe and shouted:

- Tore off, tore off!

And someone shouted:

- Gone!

Volodya cried. During the day, the wind became even stronger, the waves splashed on the ice floe, and all around was only the sea. Papa Volodin tied a mast out of two poles, tied a red shirt at the end and set it up like a flag. Everyone looked to see if there was a steamer anywhere. From fear, no one wanted to eat or drink. And Volodya lay in the sleigh and looked into the sky: if the sun would peep. And suddenly, in a clearing between the clouds, Volodya saw a plane and shouted:

- Airplane! Airplane!

Everyone started shouting and waving their hats. A bag fell off the plane. It contained food and a note: “Hold on! Help is coming! An hour later, a steamboat arrived and reloaded people, sledges, horses and fish. It was the head of the port who found out that eight fishermen were carried away on the ice floe. He sent a ship and a plane to help them. The pilot found the fishermen and on the radio told the captain of the ship where to go.

The girl Valya was eating fish and suddenly choked on a bone. Mom screamed:

- Eat the peel soon!

But nothing helped. Tears flowed from Vali's eyes. She could not speak, but only wheezed, waving her arms.

Mom got scared and ran to call the doctor. And the doctor lived forty kilometers away. Mom told him on the phone to come as soon as possible.

The doctor immediately gathered his tweezers, got into the car and drove to Valya. The road ran along the coast. On one side there was the sea, and on the other side there were steep cliffs. The car raced at full speed.

The doctor was very afraid for Valya.

Suddenly, ahead of one rock crumbled into stones and covered the road. It became impossible to go. It was still far away. But the doctor still wanted to walk.

Suddenly a horn sounded from behind. The driver looked back and said:

“Wait, doctor, help is coming!”

And it was a truck in a hurry. He drove up to the rubble. People jumped out of the truck. They removed the pump machine and rubber pipes from the truck and ran the pipe into the sea.

The pump worked. He sucked water from the sea through a pipe, and then drove it into another pipe. From this pipe, water flew out from terrible force. It flew out with such force that people could not hold the end of the pipe: it shook and thrashed so. It was screwed to an iron stand and the water was directed straight at the collapse. It turned out as if they were shooting water from a cannon. The water hit the landslide so hard that it knocked clay and stones and carried them into the sea.

The entire collapse was washed away by water from the road.

- Hurry, let's go! the doctor shouted to the driver.

The driver started the car. The doctor came to Valya, took out his tweezers and removed a bone from his throat.

And then he sat down and told Valya how the road had blocked up and how the hydroram pump had washed away the landslide.

How one boy drowned

One boy went fishing. He was eight years old. He saw logs on the water and thought it was a raft: they lay so tightly one to the other. “I’ll sit on a raft,” the boy thought, “and from the raft you can cast a fishing rod far!”

The postman walked by and saw that the boy was walking towards the water.

The boy took two steps along the logs, the logs parted, and the boy could not resist, fell into the water between the logs. And the logs converged again and closed over him like a ceiling.

The postman grabbed his bag and ran with all his might to the shore.

He kept looking at the place where the boy had fallen, so that he knew where to look.

I saw that the postman was running headlong, and I remembered that the boy was walking, and I see that he was gone.

At the same moment I set off to where the postman was running. The postman stood at the very water's edge and pointed in one place with his finger.

Current page: 1 (total book has 3 pages)

Boris Stepanovich Zhitkov
Children's stories

Fire

Petya lived with his mother and sisters on the top floor, and the teacher lived on the bottom floor. That time my mother went to swim with the girls. And Petya was left alone to guard the apartment.

The fire flared up, buzzed in the stove - and suddenly, how a shot would bang! Yes, such that all the fire was thrown out of the stove.

The teacher was walking home and saw smoke coming from the upper windows. He ran to the post, where a button was made behind the glass. This is a call to the fire department.

The teacher broke the glass and pressed the button.

And Petya's mother kept crying and saying that, probably, Petya burned down, because he was nowhere to be seen.

And Petya was ashamed, and he was afraid to approach his mother. The boys saw him and forcibly brought him.

On an ice floe

Already large heaps of frozen fish lay on the ice. Volodin's father said:

"That's enough, it's time to go home."

Suddenly at night the father jumped up and shouted:

Comrades, get up! Look, what a wind! There would be no trouble!

Everyone jumped up and ran.

- Why are we rocking? Volodya shouted.

And the father shouted:

- Trouble! We were torn off and carried on an ice floe into the sea.

All the fishermen ran on the ice floe and shouted:

- Tore off, tore off!

And someone shouted:

- Gone!

- Airplane! Airplane!

collapse

The girl Valya was eating fish and suddenly choked on a bone. Mom screamed:

- Eat the peel soon!

But nothing helped. Tears flowed from Vali's eyes. She could not speak, but only wheezed, waving her arms.

Mom got scared and ran to call the doctor. And the doctor lived forty kilometers away. Mom told him on the phone to come as soon as possible.

The doctor was very afraid for Valya.

Suddenly, ahead of one rock crumbled into stones and covered the road. It became impossible to go. It was still far away. But the doctor still wanted to walk.

Suddenly a horn sounded from behind. The driver looked back and said:

“Wait, doctor, help is coming!”

And it was a truck in a hurry. He drove up to the rubble. People jumped out of the truck. They removed the pump machine and rubber pipes from the truck and ran the pipe into the sea.

The pump worked. He sucked water from the sea through a pipe, and then drove it into another pipe. From this pipe, water flew out with terrible force. It flew out with such force that people could not hold the end of the pipe: it shook and thrashed so. It was screwed to an iron stand and the water was directed straight at the collapse. It turned out as if they were shooting water from a cannon. The water hit the landslide so hard that it knocked clay and stones and carried them into the sea.

The entire collapse was washed away by water from the road.

- Hurry, let's go! the doctor shouted to the driver.

The driver started the car. The doctor came to Valya, took out his tweezers and removed a bone from his throat.

And then he sat down and told Valya how the road had blocked up and how the hydroram pump had washed away the landslide.

How one boy drowned

The postman walked by and saw that the boy was walking towards the water.

The boy took two steps along the logs, the logs parted, and the boy could not resist, fell into the water between the logs. And the logs converged again and closed over him like a ceiling.

The postman grabbed his bag and ran with all his might to the shore.

He kept looking at the place where the boy had fallen, so that he knew where to look.

I saw that the postman was running headlong, and I remembered that the boy was walking, and I see that he was gone.

At the same moment I set off to where the postman was running. The postman stood at the very water's edge and pointed in one place with his finger.

He did not take his eyes off the logs. And he just said:

- Here he is!

I took the postman by the hand, lay down on the logs and put my hand where the postman was pointing. And just there, under the water, small fingers began to grab me. The boy couldn't get out. He banged his head on the logs and looked for help with his hands. I grabbed his hand and shouted to the postman:

We got the boy out. He almost choked. We began to shake him up, and he came to his senses. And as soon as he came to, he roared.

The postman raised his fishing rod and said:

- Here is your rod. What are you crying for? You are on the coast. Here is the sun!

- Well, yes, but where is my cap?

The postman waved his hand.

- Why are you shedding tears? And so wet ... And without a cap, your mother will be delighted with you. Run home.

And the boy was standing.

“Well, find him a cap,” said the postman, “but I have to go.”

I took a fishing rod from the boy and began to fumble under the water. Suddenly something caught on, I took it out, it was a bast shoe.

I fiddled around for a long time. Finally pulled out some rag. The boy immediately recognized that it was a cap. We squeezed the water out of it. The boy laughed and said:

- Nothing, it will dry on your head!

Smoke

Nobody believes it. And the firemen say:

“Smoke is worse than fire. A person runs away from fire, but is not afraid of smoke and climbs into it. And there it suffocates. And one more thing: nothing is visible in the smoke. It is not clear where to run, where are the doors, where are the windows. Smoke eats eyes, bites in the throat, stings in the nose.

And firefighters put masks on their faces, and air enters the mask through a tube. In such a mask, you can be in smoke for a long time, but you still can’t see anything.

And once firefighters extinguished the house. Residents ran out into the street.

The chief fireman called out:

- Well, count, is it all?

One tenant was missing. And the man shouted:

- Our Petka stayed in the room!

The senior firefighter sent a man in a mask to find Petka. The man entered the room.

There was no fire in the room yet, but it was full of smoke.

The masked man searched the whole room, all the walls and shouted with all his might through the mask:

- Petka, Petka! Come out, you'll burn! Give voice.

But no one answered.

The man heard that the roof was falling, got scared and left.

Then the head fireman got angry:

- And where is Petka?

“I searched all the walls,” the man said.

- Get the mask! the elder shouted.

The man began to take off his mask. The elder sees - the ceiling is already on fire. No time to wait.

And the elder did not wait - he dipped his mitten into the bucket, stuffed it in his mouth and threw himself into the smoke.

He immediately threw himself on the floor and began to fumble. I stumbled on the sofa and thought: “Probably, he huddled there, there is less smoke.”

He reached under the sofa and felt for his legs. He grabbed them and pulled them out of the room.

He pulled the man out onto the porch. This was Petka. And the fireman stood and staggered. So the smoke caught him.

Just then the ceiling collapsed and the whole room caught fire.

Petka was taken aside and brought to his senses. He said that he hid under the sofa with fear, plugged his ears and closed his eyes. And then he doesn't remember what happened.

And the senior fireman put his mitten in his mouth in order to breathe easier through a wet rag in the smoke.

After the fire, the elder said to the fireman:

- Why did you rummage around the walls! He will not be waiting for you at the wall. If he is silent, it means that he has suffocated and is lying on the floor. I would have searched the floor and the beds, I would have found it right away.

Razinya

The girl Sasha was sent by her mother to the cooperative. Sasha took the basket and went. Her mother called after her:

“Look, don’t forget to take change.” Be careful not to take out your wallet!

So Sasha paid at the cash desk, put her wallet in the basket at the very bottom, and on top they poured potatoes into the basket. They put cabbage, onions - the basket is full. Come on, get your wallet out of there! Sasha, how cunningly came up with from thieves! I left the cooperative and then suddenly became afraid: oh, it seems that I forgot to take the change again, and the basket is heavy! Well, for one minute Sasha put the basket at the door, jumped to the checkout:

“Aunty, you don’t seem to have given me back.”

And the cashier to her from the window:

I can't remember everyone.

And in line shout:

- Don't delay!

Sasha wanted to take the basket and go home without change. Look, there is no basket. Sasha got scared! She cried and screamed at the top of her voice:

- Oh, they stole, they stole! My basket was stolen! Potatoes, cabbage!

People surrounded Sasha, gasp and scold her:

“Who leaves their things like that!” Serves you right!

And the manager jumped out into the street, took out a whistle and began to whistle: call the police. Sasha thought that now she would be taken to the police because she was open, and she roared even louder. The policeman came.

- What's the matter here? Why is the girl screaming?

Then the policeman was told how Sasha had been robbed.

Policeman says:

“Now we’ll arrange it, don’t cry.”

And he started talking on the phone.

Sasha was afraid to go home without her wallet and basket. And she was also afraid to stand there. Well, how will a policeman bring you to the police? And the policeman came and said:

- Don't go anywhere, stay here!

And then a man with a dog on a chain comes to the store. The policeman showed Sasha:

“It was stolen from her, from this girl.

Everyone parted, the man led the dog to Sasha. Sasha thought that the dog would start biting her now. But the dog only sniffed and snorted. And the policeman at that time asked Sasha where she lives. Sasha asked the policeman not to tell her mother anything. He laughed and everyone around him laughed too. And the man with the dog had already left.

The policeman also left. And Sasha was afraid to go home. She sat in a corner on the floor. Sitting - waiting for what will happen.

She sat there for a long time. Suddenly he hears - mother screams:

- Sasha, Sashenka, are you here, or what?

Sasha screams:

- Tuta! and jumped to her feet.

Mom grabbed her by the hand and brought her home.

And at home in the kitchen there is a basket with potatoes, cabbage and onions. Mom said that the dog led the man along the scent after the thief, caught up with the thief and grabbed his hand with his teeth. The thief was taken to the police, the basket was taken from him and brought to his mother. But the wallet was not found, so he disappeared with the money together.

And it didn't disappear at all! Sasha said and turned the basket over. The potatoes spilled out, and the wallet fell out of the bottom.

- That's how smart I am! Sasha says.

And her mother:

- Clever, but razin.

white house

We lived on the sea, and my dad had a good boat with sails. I knew how to walk on it perfectly - both on oars and under sails. And still, my dad never let me into the sea alone. And I was twelve years old.

One day, my sister Nina and I found out that my father was leaving home for two days, and we started to go on a boat to the other side; and on the other side of the bay stood a very pretty house: little white, with a red roof. A grove grew around the house. We have never been there and thought it was very good. Probably, a kind old man and an old woman live. And Nina says that they certainly have a dog and also kind. And the old people, probably, eat yogurt and they will be delighted and they will give us yogurt.

And so we began to save up bread and water bottles. In the sea, after all, the water is salty, but what if you want to drink on the way?

So my father left in the evening, and we immediately poured water into bottles slowly from my mother. And then he asks: why? – and then everything was gone.

As soon as it dawned, Nina and I quietly climbed out of the window, took our bread and bottles with us into the boat. I set sail and we put out to sea. I sat like a captain, and Nina listened to me like a sailor.

The wind was light, and the waves were small, and it turned out with Nina that we were on big ship, we have supplies of water and food, and we are going to another country. I ruled straight for the red-roofed house. Then I told my sister to cook breakfast. She broke small pieces of bread and uncorked a bottle of water. She was still sitting at the bottom of the boat, and then, as she got up to give me something, and as she looked back at our shore, she screamed so much that I even shuddered:

- Oh, our house is barely visible! and wanted to cry.

I said:

- Roar, but the old people's house is close.

She looked ahead and screamed even worse:

- And the old people's house is far away: we did not drive up at all. And they left our house!

She began to roar, and out of spite I began to eat bread as if nothing had happened. She roared, and I said:

- If you want to go back, jump overboard and swim home, and I'm going to the old people.

Then she drank from the bottle and fell asleep. And I'm still sitting at the helm, and the wind does not change and blows evenly. The boat runs smoothly and the water gurgles astern. The sun was already high.

And now I see that we are very close to the other side and the house is clearly visible. Now let Ninka wake up and take a look - she will be delighted! I looked where the dog was. But there were no dogs or old men to be seen.

Suddenly the boat stumbled, stopped and leaned on its side. I quickly lowered the sail so as not to capsize at all. Nina jumped up. Waking up, she did not know where she was, and stared, wide-eyed. I said:

- Stuck in the sand. Ran aground. Now I'm going to sleep. And over there is the house.

But she was not happy with the house, but even more frightened. I undressed, jumped into the water and began to push.

I am exhausted, but the boat does not move. I leaned her on one side, then on the other side. I lowered the sails, but nothing helped.

Nina started screaming for the old man to help us. But it was far away, and no one came out. I ordered Ninka to jump out, but this did not make the boat any easier: the boat dug firmly into the sand. I tried to wade to the shore. But in all directions it was deep, no matter where you turn. And there was nowhere to go. And so far away that you can't swim.

And no one came out of the house. I ate bread, drank water and did not speak to Nina. And she was crying and saying:

“I brought it in, now no one will find us here.” Grounded in the middle of the sea. Captain! Mom will go crazy. You will see. Mom told me so: "If anything happens to you, I'll go crazy."

And I was silent. The wind has stopped completely. I took it and fell asleep.

When I woke up, it was completely dark. Ninka whimpered, huddled in her very nose, under the bench. I got to my feet, and the boat rocked easily and freely under my feet. I deliberately shook her harder. The boat is free. Here I am happy! Hooray! We got afloat. It was the wind that changed, caught up with the water, lifted the boat, and she went aground.

I looked around. In the distance, lights shone - many, many. It's on our shore: tiny, like sparks. I rushed to raise the sails. Nina jumped up and thought at first that I had lost my mind. But I didn't say anything. And when he had already sent the boat to the lights, he said to her:

- What, roar? Here we go home. And there is nothing to roar.

We walked all night. In the morning the wind stopped. But we were already under the shore. We rowed to the house. Mom was both angry and happy at once. But we begged her not to tell her father.

And then we found out that in that house whole year Nobody lives.

How do I catch people

When I was little, I was taken to live with my grandmother. My grandmother had a shelf above the table. And on the shelf is a steamboat. I have never seen this. He was quite real, only small. He had a trumpet: yellow and had two black belts on it. And two masts. And from the masts, rope ladders went to the sides. At the stern stood a booth, like a house. Polished, with windows and a door. And quite aft - a copper steering wheel. Below the stern is the steering wheel. And the propeller shone in front of the steering wheel like a copper rosette. There are two anchors on the bow. Ah, how wonderful! If only I had one!

I immediately asked my grandmother to play with a steamboat. My grandmother allowed me everything. And then suddenly she frowned:

- Don't ask for that. Not to play - do not dare to touch. Never! This is a treasured memory for me.

I saw that crying wouldn't help.

And the steamboat stood importantly on a shelf on lacquered stands. I couldn't take my eyes off him.

And grandma:

“Give me your word of honor that you won’t touch it.” And then I'd better hide from sin.

And went to the shelf.

“Honest, honest, grandma. - And grabbed the grandmother by the skirt.

Grandma didn't take the steamer away.

I kept looking at the boat. I climbed into a chair to see better. And more and more he seemed real to me. And by all means, the door in the booth should open. And maybe people live in it. Small, just the size of a steamboat. It turned out that they should be just below the match. I waited to see if any of them would look out the window. They're probably watching. And when no one is at home, they go out on deck. They probably climb the ladders on the masts.

And a little noise - like mice: yurk into the cabin. Down - and hide. I looked for a long time when I was alone in the room. Nobody looked out. I hid behind the door and looked through the crack. And they are cunning, damned little men, they know that I am peeping. Aha! They work at night when no one can frighten them away. Tricky.

I began to quickly swallow tea. And asked to sleep.

Grandma says:

- What is this? You can’t force yourself into bed, but here it’s so early and you ask to sleep.

And so, when they had settled down, the grandmother turned off the light. And you can't see the boat. I tossed and turned on purpose, so that the bed creaked.

– Why are you all tossing and turning?

- And I'm afraid to sleep without light. There is always a night light at home.

I lied that: it's dark at night at home.

Grandmother cursed, but got up. I poked around for a long time and arranged a night light. He burned badly. But you could still see how the steamboat gleamed on the shelf.

I covered my head with a blanket, made myself a house and a small hole. And from the hole he looked without moving. Soon I looked so closely that I could see everything perfectly well on the steamboat. I looked for a long time. The room was completely quiet. Only the clock was ticking. Suddenly, something rustled softly. I was alert - this rustle on the steamer. And just like that, the door opened. My breath hitched. I moved forward a little. The damn bed creaked. I scared the man!

Now there was nothing to look forward to, and I fell asleep. I fell asleep with grief.

The next day, here's what I came up with. The humans must be eating something. If you give them candy, it's a whole load for them. It is necessary to break off a piece of candy and put it on the steamer, near the booth. Right next to the doors. But such a piece, so as not to immediately crawl into their doors. Here they will open the doors at night, look out through the crack. Wow! Candy! For them, it's like a box. Now they will jump out, rather drag the confectionery to themselves. They are at the door, but she does not climb! Now they run away, bring axes - small, small, but quite real - and they will start baling with these hatchets: bale-bale! bale bale! bale bale! And quickly swipe the confectionery through the door. They are cunning, they just want everything to be nimble. Not to be caught. Here they are imported with confectionery. Here, even if I creak, they still won’t be in time: the confetti will get stuck in the door - neither here nor there. Let them run away, but it will still be visible how they dragged confectionery. Or maybe someone will miss the hatchet out of fright. Where will they pick up! And I will find a tiny real hatchet on the deck of the steamboat, sharp, very sharp.

And so, secretly from my grandmother, I chopped off a piece of candy, just what I wanted. I waited a minute while my grandmother was fiddling in the kitchen, once or twice - on the table with her feet and put the lollipop at the very door on the steamer. Theirs half a step from the door to the lollipop. He got down from the table, wiped with his sleeve what he had inherited with his feet. Grandma didn't notice.

During the day I secretly glanced at the steamboat. My grandmother took me for a walk. I was afraid that during this time the little men would pull away the candy and I would not catch them. On the way, I deliberately sniffed that I was cold, and we returned soon. The first thing I looked at was the steamboat! The lollipop, as it was, is in place. Well, yes! They are fools to undertake such a thing during the day!

At night, when my grandmother fell asleep, I settled myself in a house made of a blanket and began to look. This time the night-light burned wonderfully, and the lollipop shone like an icicle in the sun with a sharp flame. I looked, looked at this light and fell asleep, as luck would have it! The humans outsmarted me. I looked in the morning - there was no candy, but I got up before everyone else, in one shirt I ran to look. Then he looked from the chair - of course, there was no hatchet. But why did they have to give up: they worked slowly, without interference, and not even a crumb was lying anywhere - they picked everything up.

Another time I put bread. I even heard some fuss at night. The damned night light barely smoked, I could not see anything. But in the morning there was no bread. Just a few crumbs left. Well, of course, they don’t particularly feel sorry for bread, not sweets: there every crumb is a lollipop for them.

I decided that they had shops on both sides of the steamboat. Full length. And they sit there in a row during the day and whisper softly. About your business. And at night, when everyone is asleep, they have work here.

I thought about people all the time. I wanted to take a cloth, like a small rug, and put it near the door. Wet a cloth with ink. They will run out, they will not notice right away, their legs will get dirty and they will leave their legacy all over the steamer. At least I can see what kind of legs they have. Maybe some barefoot, to quieter steps. No, they are terribly cunning and will only laugh at all my things.

I couldn't take it anymore.

And so - I decided to definitely take a steamboat and see and catch little men. At least one. You just need to arrange so that you stay alone at home. My grandmother dragged me everywhere with her, to all the guests. All to some old women. Sit down and don't touch anything. You can only stroke the cat. And the grandmother whispers with them for half a day.

So I see - my grandmother is getting ready: she began to collect cookies in a box for these old women - to drink tea there. I ran into the hallway, took out my knitted mittens and rubbed my forehead and cheeks - my whole face, in a word. No regrets. And quietly lay down on the bed.

Grandmother suddenly missed:

- Borya, Boryushka, where are you?

I remain silent and close my eyes. Grandma to me:

- What are you lying down?

- My head hurts.

She touched her forehead.

– Look at me! Sit at home. I'll go back - I'll take raspberries at the pharmacy. I'll be back soon. I won't sit for long. And you undress and go to bed. Lie down, lie down without talking.

She began to help me, laid me down, covered me with a blanket and kept saying: "I'll be right back, in a living spirit."

Grandma locked me up. I waited five minutes: what if he comes back? Have you forgotten something there?

And then I jumped out of bed as I was in a shirt. I jumped up on the table and took the steamboat from the shelf. Immediately, with my hands I realized that he was iron, very real. I pressed it to my ear and began to listen: are they moving? But, of course, they fell silent. They understood that I had seized their steamer. Aha! Sit there on a bench and be silent like mice. I got down from the table and began to shake the steamer. They will shake themselves off, not sit on the benches, and I will hear how they hang out there. But it was quiet inside.

I understood: they were sitting on the benches, their legs were tucked up and their hands clung to the seats with all their might. They sit like glued on.

Aha! So wait. I'll tuck in and raise the deck. And I will cover you all there. I began to get a table knife from the cupboard, but I did not take my eyes off the steamer, so that the little men would not jump out. I began to pick up the deck. Wow, what a tight fit!

Finally managed to slip the knife a little. But the masts went up with the deck. And the masts were not allowed to rise these rope ladders that went from the masts to the sides. They had to be cut off - otherwise nothing. I stopped for a moment. Just for a moment. But now, with a hurried hand, he began to cut these ladders. Sawed them with a dull knife. Done, they are all hung, the masts are free. I began to raise the deck with a knife. I was afraid to immediately give a big gap. They will rush all at once and run away. I left a crack to climb through alone. He will climb, and I will clap him! - and slam it shut like a bug in the palm of your hand.

I waited and kept my hand ready to grab.

Not one climbs! I then decided to immediately turn the deck away and slam it in the middle with my hand. At least one will fit. You just need to do it right away: they probably got ready there - you open it, and the little men squirt all to the sides. I quickly opened the deck and slammed the inside with my hand. Nothing. Nothing at all! There weren't even benches. Bare sides. Like in a saucepan. I raised my hand. At hand, of course, nothing.

My hands were trembling as I put the deck back on. Everything was getting crooked. And no ladders can be attached. They chatted at random. Somehow I pushed the deck back into place and put the steamboat on the shelf. Now everything is gone!

I quickly threw myself into bed, wrapped myself up in my head.

I hear the key in the door.

- Grandmother! I whispered under the covers. - Grandmother, dear, dear, what have I done!

And my grandmother stood over me and stroked my head:

- Why are you crying, why are you crying? You are my dear, Boryushka! See how soon I am?

FLOWER

The girl Nastya lived with her mother. Once Nastya was presented in a pot
flower. Nastya brought home and put it on the window.
“Ugh, what an ugly flower!” Mom said. - Its leaves are like tongues,
Yes, even with thorns. Probably poisonous. I won't water it.
Nastya said:
- I'll water it myself. Maybe he will have beautiful flowers.
The flower grew big, big, but did not think to bloom.
- It must be thrown away, - said my mother, - from him there is no beauty, no joy.
When Nastya fell ill, she was very afraid that her mother would throw away the flower or
will not water and it will dry out.
Mom called the doctor to Nastya and said:
“Look, doctor, my girl is still ill and has completely fallen ill.
The doctor examined Nastya and said:
- If you took out the leaves of one plant. They are like puffed up and with spikes.
- Mommy! Nastya screamed. - This is my flower. Here he is!
The doctor looked and said:
- He is. Boil the leaves from it, and let Nastya drink. And she
get better.
“But I wanted to throw it away,” my mother said.
Mom began to give these leaves to Nastya, and soon Nastya got out of bed.
“Here,” said Nastya, “I took care of him, my flower, and he
saved
And since then, my mother has spread a lot of these flowers and always gave Nastya a drink.
of them medicine.

SOAP

One boy kept wanting to know if soap floats. That's when he came to
kitchen. And in the kitchen there was a bucket full of water, and next to it was a new bar of soap.
The boy looked around and saw that no one was there. He took soap, put it in water and let it go.
Soap - yurk! And under the water. The boy was frightened that he drowned the soap. Ran out of the kitchen
and didn't tell anyone.
Everyone went to bed, and no one missed the new soap.
The next morning, mother began to put the samovar. He sees: there is not enough water in the bucket.
She threw everything into the samovar and quickly into the water to top up the samovar.
Everyone sat down at the table to drink tea. Mother brought the samovar to the table.
The samovar boils. Everyone is looking - what a miracle! Bubbles are bubbling from under the lid, and
more and more. Look - and the whole samovar is in foam.
Suddenly the boy began to cry and shouted:
I thought it was floating! And he told me how it all happened.
- Oh, - said my mother, - this means I'm with soap and water in the samovar
splashed out and then topped up fresh.
The father said to the boy:
- You'd better try it in a plate than drown it in a bucket. And cry
nothing. Now I have to go to work without tea, but you see, I don't cry.
The father patted his son on the shoulder and went to work.

IN THE MOUNTAINS

Three brothers were walking in the mountains along the road. They were going down. It was evening, and below they
have already seen how the window in their house lit up.
Suddenly clouds gathered, it immediately became dark, thunder boomed, and it began to rain.
The rain was so heavy that water flowed down the road, like in a river.
Senior said:
- Wait, here is a rock, it will cover us a little from the rain.
All three sat down under a rock and waited.
The youngest, Akhmet, was tired of sitting, he said:
- I will go. Why be afraid? Close to home. I don't want to be here with you
get wet. I will have supper and sleep in a dry bed.
“Don’t go, you’ll be lost,” said the elder.
- I'm not a coward, - said Akhmet and stepped out from under the rock.
He boldly walked along the road - he did not care about water.
And the water was already tossing stones and rolling them down after itself. The stones were catching up with
Akhmet was beaten on the legs during dispersal. He started to run.
He wanted to see the light in the house ahead, but the rain was so pouring that nothing
was not visible ahead.
"Won't you come back?" thought Ahmed. But I felt ashamed: I boasted - now
his brothers laugh.
Then lightning flashed, and such thunder struck, as if all the mountains were cracked and
fell down. When the lightning flashed, Ahmet didn't know where he was.
"Oh, I think I'm lost," thought Akhmet and got scared.
His legs were beaten with stones, and he walked more quietly.
He walked very quietly and was afraid to stumble. Suddenly hit again
lightning, and Ahmet saw that right in front of him was a cliff and a black abyss.
Ahmet just sat down on the ground out of fear.
“Here,” thought Akhmet, “if I took another step, I would fall down and
I'd be crushed to death."
Now he was afraid to go back. And suddenly there is a break again and
abyss.
He sat on the wet ground, and cold rain poured down on him from above.
Ahmed thought:
“It’s good that I didn’t take another step: I would have disappeared altogether.”
And when morning came and a thunderstorm passed, the brothers found Akhmet. He was sitting on
edge of the abyss and all numb from the cold.
The brothers did not say anything to him, but picked him up and took him home.

HOW SASHA SCARED MOM

Mom went to the market, and she told me:
- Lock yourself on the hook and don't let anyone in, otherwise, look, thieves-robbers
will come.
I didn’t lock myself up, but when my mother left, I took a washcloth, ruffled it and tied it up -
came out like a beard.
Then he took out coal from the stove and smeared his mustache under his nose. On my head
I put on my dad's shirt. I looked in the mirror and see that I have become very scary.
Then I put a stool in the passage. He put boots in front of the stool, himself
I put on my father's sheepskin coat, I took an ax in my hand and climbed onto a stool.
I waited for a long time, suddenly I hear: my mother is coming. She pulled the door, the door and
opened. As she saw that she was so big and with an ax, she became
doors.
I raised my ax hand and said:
- I'm a robber.
Suddenly my mother laughed and said:
- You are not a robber at all, but Sasha. And she pushed me off the stool. - Ugh,
how frightened!
And this is why she found out that I have a thin voice. Then she said to
I didn’t dare anymore, but it means that I was frightened.

BEARD

One old man was walking through the ice at night. And it was quite approaching the shore, as
suddenly the ice broke, and the old man fell into the water. And there was a steamer at the shore, and with
of the steamer, an iron chain went into the water to the anchor.
The old man reached the chain and began to climb it. Got out a bit, tired and
began to shout: "Save!"
The sailor on the ship heard, looked, and on the anchor chain someone
clinging and screaming.
The sailor did not think for a long time, found the rope, grabbed the end in his teeth and
climbed down the chain to save the old man.
“Here,” says the sailor, “tie the rope, grandfather, I will pull you out.”
And grandpa says:
- You can’t pull me: my beard is frozen to the iron.
The sailor took out a knife.
- Cut off, - he says, - grandfather, beard.
“No,” says the grandfather. How can I be without a beard?
“You won’t hang on your beard until spring,” said the sailor, snatched
stabbed his beard, tied the old man around and pulled him out with a rope.
Then the sailor brought him to a warm cabin and said:
- Undress, grandfather, go to bed, and I will warm you tea.
- What tea, - says the grandfather, - if I am now without a beard. - And he cried.
“You are funny, grandfather,” said the sailor. - You almost disappeared completely, but
why spare a beard if it grows.
The old man pulled off his wet clothes and lay down in a warm bed.
And in the morning he said to the sailor:
- Your truth: a beard will grow, and without you I would be lost.

HOW THE BOY DRONKED

I walked along the shore and watched the carpenters build the pier. huge
logs floated in the water tightly one to one. They were taken out of the water and slaughtered
into the bottom, so that a whole log fence stuck out of the water. Suddenly it seemed to me
that where the piles floated, something flashed. I didn't know what, but I ran there.
I kept my eyes on this place and ran with all my might.
And from the side I saw out of the corner of my eye: just there the telegraph operator was running. Runs with
all legs and holding on to the stomach. He had a bag with telegrams on his belt, and
he was afraid they would fall out.
The telegraph operator also looked in the same place where I looked. The earth is scree there
descended to the water, and piles floated on the water - tightly, like a raft. telegraph operator
he didn’t say a word to me, but only pointed his finger, put his feet on the scree and
extended his hand. I didn't say a word either, but took the telegraph operator firmly by the
hand, and he lay down on the piles and put his hand between them - in the very place where
we both watched without taking our eyes off it.
I began to fumble with my hand in the water. And suddenly little fingers caught me and
gripped my hand tightly. I grabbed too. And then the telegraph operator pulled
me to the shore. The piles parted, and after my hand a small hand came out,
and behind it is a head, and we pulled the boy out. He was red, seven years old. He blinked
eyes and said nothing. The carpenters arrived. One took the boy, picked it up and
shook above the ground. The boy poured out water from his mouth. They put him on his feet and
asked: how did he drown? The boy said that he wanted to walk on the piles, and they
underfoot parted, and he fell with his head between them. And then they got together
above him like a ceiling. And now he cried:
- Where's my hat? Where is the rod! I won't go home without a hat.
Everyone began to laugh: say thank you for staying alive, and you about the hat
crying.
I found his fishing rod and began to look for his hat in the water. Grabbed and pulled out.
But it was an old bast shoe. Then he hooked it again, and it was a wet cap.
The boy began to feel sorry for her that she was wet. I went. And when I looked back, boy
kept holding his cap and crying.
The telegraph operator waved his hand, looked to see if there were any telegrams, and hurried
away.

HARMONIC

One uncle had an accordion. He played it very well, and I
came to listen. He hid it and did not give it to anyone. The accordion was very
good, and he was afraid that they would break it. And I really wanted to try.
Once I came when my uncle was having dinner. He finished eating, and I became
ask to play. And he said:
- What game! I want to sleep.
I began to beg and even cried. Then the uncle said:
- Okay, just a little.
And he took out an accordion from the chest. Played a little, put the accordion on the table,
and he himself fell asleep on the bench.
I thought: "That's when happiness came to me. I'll quietly take the accordion and
I'll try it in the yard."
I got used to it, grabbed the accordion by the handle and pulled. And how she barks at
all voices are alive. Frightened, I withdrew my hand. Then the uncle jumped up.
“You,” he says, “what is it!
And to me, yes, by the hand.
Then I cried and told the whole truth.
“Well,” said the uncle, “don’t cry: if you have such a desire, come, I
I will teach you.
I came, and my uncle showed me how to play. I have learned and now
I play very well.

FIRE

Petya lived with his mother and sisters on the top floor, and lived on the bottom floor.
teacher. That time my mother went to swim with the girls. And Petya was left alone
guard the apartment.
When everyone left, Petya began to try his homemade cannon. She was from
iron tube. Petya stuffed gunpowder in the middle, and there was a hole in the back so that
ignite gunpowder. But no matter how hard Petya tried, he could not set it on fire in any way. Peter
very angry. He went into the kitchen. He put chips in the Stove, watered them
kerosene, put a cannon on top and lit it. "Now it will probably shoot!"
The fire flared up, buzzed in the stove - and suddenly, how a shot would bang! Yes
such that all the fire from the stove was thrown out.
Petya got scared and ran out of the house. Nobody was at home, nobody did anything
heard. Petya ran away. He thought that maybe everything would go out on its own.
And nothing faded. And it flared up even more.
The teacher was walking home and saw smoke coming from the upper windows. He ran to
a column where a button was made behind the glass. This is a call to the fire department. Teacher
broke the glass and pressed the button.
The fire brigade rang. They quickly rushed to their fire trucks
and ran at full speed. They drove up to the post, and there the teacher showed them
where it burns The firefighters had a pump in their cars. The pump started to pump water, and
firefighters began to fill the fire with water from rubber pipes. Firefighters assigned
stairs to the windows and climbed into the house to find out if there were people left in the house.
There was no one in the house. The firemen began to take things out.
Petya's mother came running when the whole apartment was already on fire. Policeman
He didn’t let anyone close so as not to interfere with the firefighters.
The most necessary things did not have time to burn down, and the firemen brought them to Petina
mom.
And Petya's mother was crying and saying that, probably, Petya burned down,
because it is nowhere to be seen.
And Petya was ashamed, and he was afraid to approach his mother. The boys saw him
forcibly brought.
The firefighters put out the fire so well that nothing on the lower floor burned down.
The firefighters got into their cars and drove away. And the teacher let Petya's mother go
live at home until the house is repaired.

FLOOD

In our country there are such rivers that do not flow all the time in one place.
Such a river will either rush to the right, flow to the right, then after a while,
as if she was tired of leaking here, suddenly crawls to the left and floods her left
shore. And if the bank is high, the water will wash it away. The steep bank will collapse into
river, and if there was a house on the cliff, then the house will fly into the water.
A tugboat was sailing along such a river and pulling two barges. steamer
stopped at the pier to leave one barge there, and then to him from the shore
the chief came and said:
“Captain, you will move on. Be careful not to run aground: the river
has gone strongly to the right and is now flowing along a completely different bottom. And now she's coming
more and more to the right and floods and washes away the shore.
“Oh,” said the captain, “my house is on the right bank, almost by the water's edge.
His wife and son remained there. Why didn't they manage to escape?
The captain ordered the machine to be launched at full speed. He hurried to
home and was very angry that the heavy barge was delaying the move.
The steamer sailed a little, when suddenly they demanded it to the shore with a signal.
The captain anchored the barge and steered the ship ashore.
He saw that on the shore there were thousands of people with shovels, with wheelbarrows in a hurry -
they carry earth, pour a wall to prevent the river from flooding the shore. Carry on
camels wooden logs to drive them into the shore and strengthen the wall. A
a machine with a high iron hand walks along the wall and scoops it up with a bucket
earth.
People ran up to the captain and asked:
- What's in the barge?
"Stone," said the captain.
Everyone shouted:
- Oh, how good! Let's come here! And then look out, now the river will break through
wall and blur all our work. The river will rush to the fields and wash away all the crops.
There will be hunger. Hurry, hurry, let's stone!
Then the captain forgot about his wife and son. He started the steamer that is
spirit and brought the barge under the very shore.
People began to drag the stone and strengthened the wall. The river has stopped
didn't go. Then the captain asked:
Do you know how it is at my house?
The chief sent a telegram, and soon the answer came. They also worked there
all the people that they were, and saved the house where the captain's wife lived with her son.
“Here,” said the chief, “here you helped ours, and there comrades
saved yours.

HOW THE STEAMBOAT sank

There was a war. People were afraid that the enemies would not sail to their land on military
ships. Warships from cannons can smash everything on the shore. And then
can bring soldiers with them and land them ashore.
So, so that warships are afraid to approach the shore, at sea
they let in big round iron boxes. This box is designed in such a way that if
a steamer touches it, it will immediately explode. Yes, with such force that
will certainly make a hole in the steamer. And the steamer will begin to fill with water, and
then he might drown.
These boxes are called mines. So that the mines do not take away anywhere and that they
stood near the shore in the water, they are tied with a wire rope to heavy
anchors. Anchors lie firmly on the bottom and hold mines. To not have them on top
it can be seen that the wire rope is made shorter, so that the mine sits under water, but
not very deep. The steamer will not pass over it, it will certainly hook it with the bottom. When
fought, many warships ran into mines. Mines exploded and
sunk ships.
But now the war is over. The mines were taken out of the water. And when they calculated
it turned out that not all were taken out. A few mines still remain in the sea. They couldn't
find. Simple steamships, not military ones, began to sail on the sea. Simple steamers
transported people and goods from port to port, from country to country.
One ship was carrying cargo. It was summer and the weather was calm.
The steamer passed by the fishermen, and from the steamer everyone watched how the fishermen
they raise nets and see if there are many fish caught.
Suddenly there was such a blow, like thunder. The ship shook, and from under the side
soared into the air a sheaf of water above the mast. It was the ship that pushed the mine, and it
exploded. The ship began to sink rapidly.
The fishermen left their nets, sailed in boats to the steamer and took all the people.
The captain did not want to leave for a long time. He felt sorry for the ship. He thought that
maybe the steamer can somehow be saved and it won't sink. But everyone saw
that the ship would still sink. And the captain was taken by force into the boat.
The ship went to the bottom along with the cargo.

HOW THE STEAMBOAT IS RAISE FROM THE BOTTOM

The ship sank to the bottom and lay down, leaning on its side. He had a big
hole, and it was all filled with water.
The water was where the car is; water was in the cabins where people lived;
water was in the holds where the goods lay. Little fish came in to look, no
whether to profit.
The captain knew very well the place where his ship sank. There was not
very deep: divers could go down there. The ship decided to raise!
A rescue ship came and began to lower the divers under the water.
Divers are all dressed in rubber suits: water does not pass through them. chest and
the collar of this suit is copper. The diver's head is covered with copper
cap. This cap is screwed onto the collar. And in a copper cap there is
glass window - for the diver to look. And it goes into this cap
rubber pipe, air is pumped into it from above so that a diver under water can
breathe.
Divers tied huge cans - pontoons to the steamer. In these pontoons
let air through the pipes. The pontoons floated up, pulling the steamer with them.
When the ship surfaced, everyone rejoiced, and most of all the captain. steamer
taken in tow for repairs. There was only one person on it. This is the captain
I wanted to get on my ship as soon as possible. Twenty days they repaired the steamer - and
made a hole.

// November 3, 2010 // Hits: 19,927

Boris Stepanovich Zhitkov(1882-1938)

Since childhood, Zhitkov was surrounded by ocean steamers, barges, and boats. And as his sister recalled, “Boris ran around all the ships, went down to the engine room, played with the children, the children of sailors. In the evenings I went boating with my father. He was not even ten years old, and he was already a great swimmer, diver, one went on a boat far into the sea, causing the envy of the neighboring boys. None of his classmates could knit sea knots better and faster than him, row, predict the weather, recognize insects and birds. He always liked simple and courageous people who are not afraid of any difficulties and dangers. When he became an adult, will and perseverance helped him master many professions, but he never forgot about the sea. Zhitkov worked as a chemist, shipbuilder and even as a sea navigator. He fulfilled his dream and went to trip around the world: traveled to many cities and countries of the world, on scientific expeditions. But Boris Zhitkov was not going to become a writer. He was simply famous among his acquaintances as a wonderful storyteller. Once, at the request of his friend K. I. Chukovsky, Zhitkov wrote down one of his stories. This sealed his fate.

B.S. Zhitkov published his first stories for children in 1924. By this time he had a large life path, full of hard and exciting work on the development of many sciences and professions. He then taught children chemistry and mathematics, then. having studied flying, he received aircraft engines for Russian aircraft in England, then he built ships, and then sailed on them as a navigator. This rich life experience gave Zhitkov the material for creativity. After the publication of his first stories, he completely immersed himself in literary activity - he became the author and editor of children's books, an employee of the Sparrow, Chizh and Pioneer magazines, and a playwright at the Theater for Young Spectators.

More than a hundred works for children were created by Zhitkov in 15 years. He talked about different professions, but his love for the sea, travel and adventure was an inexhaustible source of inspiration. Passing on truly encyclopedic knowledge to young readers and sharing life experience, the writer filled his works with high moral content. His stories are dedicated to human courage, courage, kindness, they convey a romantic passion for business.

The question of courage, of its very nature, was especially interesting for Zhitkov: “I thought about it a lot. Especially in childhood. It's good to be brave: everyone is respected, while others are afraid. And most importantly, I thought, there is never that vile trembling in the soul, when the legs themselves reach out to run ... And I was not so much afraid of the danger itself, but of the fear itself, because of which so many mean things are done in the world. How many friends, comrades, how much the most priceless truth was betrayed because of cowardice: there was not enough air to say! This was written in 1927, and shortly before his death - in 1937 - he writes an article called "Bravery". In it, the writer relies on examples from own life, and the authenticity of what has been said gives particular credibility to the conclusion: it is cowardice that is the source of all meanness. And a brave person is not the one who commits a bold act out of vanity or fear of being branded a coward, but the one who knows why he goes to the feat, overcoming natural fear.

Already in his first story "Squall" ( 1924, another name - "On the Water"), the writer draws a courageous man who saved the crew of a sailboat. Sailor Kovalev barely manages to get out from under the overturned ship to the surface and finally take a deep breath. However, he makes a return painful journey to save the rest. It is not for nothing that the girl Nastya thinks he is the “most important thing” on board: with the perspicacity characteristic of children, she notes a person who is outstanding in moral virtues. This story opens Zhitkov's book "Sea stories" (1925). In each of his works - an example of human courage, overcoming fear, selfless help a noble deed.

Courage is the touchstone for Zhitkov's heroes. Extreme circumstances reveal in a person the hidden qualities of his nature. So, the unfortunate bullfighter, once frightened of the bull and now working as a coal miner on a ship, a passportless tramp, behaves with dignity during the crash and is ready to blow up the captain, the culprit of this disaster. He decided for himself: “Now I don’t dare to be afraid of anything all my life.” ("Death").

Outlining principle actors Zhitkov's is to single out their main features, which are manifested in actions. Collected to the limit, the captain of the ship is concentrated in the story "Mechanic of Salerno". He knows that his ship can perish every minute, because a fire has started in the hold, and he heroically fights for the lives of people. When he manages to save everyone, it turns out that the person responsible for the catastrophe is not among them. The engineer Solerno had confessed to the captain earlier that he had placed the dangerous cargo in the hold for money. And now he has disappeared, i.e. died. His confession is also a certain act of courage, and the reader already feels sorry for the mechanic.

The stories of the first collections - "Evil Sea" (1924) and " Sea stories”- introduce the reader into a world with which the author is well acquainted. In addition to life authenticity, they capture with sharp drama, fascinating stories. After all, a person in the sea is dependent on the capricious elements, extremely tense and ready to courageously meet any surprise.

Zhitkov paid much attention to scientific and educational literature for children. He wrote many books and essays on the history of science and technology. In the magazine "Sparrow" the writer led the departments "How People Work", "Traveling Photographer", "Craftsman". These publications were part of his first educational books: "Through Smoke and Fire" (1926), "Cinema in a Box" (1927), "Telegram" (1927). From them, the children learned about how people work different professions how to make one or another thing yourself. Zhitkov told about telegraph, radio, electricity...

To captivate young readers by the very process of scientific and technical research, to show the romance of overcoming difficulties, the rise of thought - this is what inspired the writer when creating such works. “I have no doubt,” he said, “that the guys can be led point-blank to the most radical questions, up to Einstein’s theory, and it’s good if this makes them dizzy ...” At the center of his scientific and artistic works is always stands the creator of science and technology - man. And Zhitkov forced his reader to go along with the researcher or inventor all their way to the unknown, showing how difficult the road to the heights of human thought is.

The writer created most of his educational books for children. younger age. He was more and more captivated by the idea of writing an encyclopedic work for very young readers - from three to six years old. As a result, in 1939, posthumously, appeared famous book “What did I see? Stories about things "(" Why "), on which more than one generation of children grew up. A subtle connoisseur of child psychology, Zhitkov decided that in order to assimilate and memorize various information, it is best to tell a story on behalf of a reader's peer. Four-year-old Alyosha, called "Why," not only tells about something, but also reports his impressions of things and events. Thanks to this, a huge educational material does not suppress the baby, but excites his curiosity: after all, a peer is talking. “His feelings, the reasons that gave rise to them, will be the closest, clearest to the little reader,” the author was sure.

In order to talk about unfamiliar things, Alyosha has to explain what he has seen with the help of concepts he has already mastered. This is how the well-known didactic principle “from simple to complex” is implemented in “Why”. “The horses carried the stove on wheels. She has a thin tube. And the military uncle said that the kitchen was coming”; “The anchor is very large and iron. And it is made of large hooks” - this is how the first “scientific” information is given. And not only does the kid get knowledge about things from this book, but also lessons in communicating with people. In addition to Alyosha, there are such characters as a military uncle, mother, grandmother, and friends. Each of them is individual, each has its own actions, and main character gradually begins to understand what exactly he needs to educate in himself.

Zhitkov created several dozen more short stories for young children, collected in books "What happened" (1939) and "Animal Stories" (1935). In the first of these collections, the writer pursues the same goal as in works about sea adventures: he tests the morality and courage of his heroes in the face of danger. The plots here unfold more concisely: they contain one event, one life situation. The attention of the little reader is held by a sudden, unexpected twist in the plot. For example, here is a story "Blizzard": “My father and I were sitting on the floor. My father repaired the tub, and I kept it. The rivets fell apart, my father scolded me, cursed: he was annoyed, but I didn’t have enough hands. Suddenly the teacher Marya Petrovna comes in - to take her to Ulyanovsk: five miles, the road is good, rolled, - it was about Christmas time. Further, the boy, the hero of the work, is carrying the teacher and her son, and only thanks to the ingenuity and self-control of the hero, they all did not die in the snow whirlwind. The tension is created by descriptions of the struggle with the elements, and this is conveyed through the boy's story, through his impressions and experiences.

In general, Zhitkov often entrusted narration to children in his works. This technique helps the writer to show how the child's imagination begins to work, awakened by aesthetic experience. The boy Borya is delighted with the steamboat standing on the shelf: “I have never seen such a thing. It was quite real, only small ... And the screw in front of the steering wheel shone like a copper rosette. There are two anchors on the bow. Ah, how wonderful! If only I had one like this!" The dreamy hero populates the ship with tiny little men and, in a passionate desire to see them, finally breaks the toy. He weeps bitterly because he kind heart and he did not want to upset his grandmother, for whom the steamer is dear as a memory ("How I caught little men").

"Animal Stories" Boris Zhitkov, collected in one collection, were first published as a book in 1935. Full vivid descriptions stories "About the elephant", " stray cat» they tell the reader, first of all, how important it is not just to love animals and admire them, but also to understand them, and be able to communicate with them, care for them and bear responsibility for them.

Boris Stepanovich himself had a trained wolf and a cat that could "become a monkey." in the story "stray cat" The reader immediately begins to worry about whether a feral cat will get used to a person and whether it will make friends with a dog ... After all, the hunter patiently tamed it for a long time. And one day I heard the dog barking of my Ryabchik, a dog near the house, who notified the owner that the same gray cat was coming towards the house. This time, at the sight of the hunter, she did not run away, as before. From that day on, she constantly came to visit the hunter ... And such truthful and at the same time amazing and touching stories about the mercy of man to "our smaller brothers" Boris Zhitkov told readers a lot ...

“Our smaller brothers” pay a person for their care with devotion, affection (“About the wolf”, “About the elephant”, “Stray cat”). Sometimes the animal's self-sacrifice seems even conscious, for example, in the story "How the Elephant Saved the Master from the Tiger." The elephant, despite any prodding and blows, does not go into the forest, because he knows that a tiger is hiding there.

The animal depicted by the writer is always well remembered, as it is endowed with individual features that reflect its species characteristics. Almost tame mongooses savagely pounce on a snake crawling into a ship, because such is their natural purpose; in this case, it coincided with the desire of the people ("Mongoose"). The wolf living in the narrator’s apartment and already seemingly domesticated suddenly howled at night: “He was sitting in the middle of the room, raising his muzzle to the ceiling. He did not look back at the light, but brought out a note, and he brought out such a forest animal longing with his voice to the whole house, which was done terribly. No matter how hard the narrator tries, fearing the reproaches of his neighbors, to pass off his pet as a dog, he does not succeed: the animal remains the same as a wolf. He, for example, "knew how to look back, completely turning his head to the tail, and at the same time run forward" ("About the wolf").

Along with V.V. Bianchi and E.I. Charushin, Boris Zhitkov is considered the founder of the scientific and artistic genre in children's literature. His work had a significant impact on many children's writers.

Boris Stepanovich Zhitkov

Children's stories

Petya lived with his mother and sisters on the top floor, and the teacher lived on the bottom floor. That time my mother went to swim with the girls. And Petya was left alone to guard the apartment.

The fire flared up, buzzed in the stove - and suddenly, how a shot would bang! Yes, such that all the fire was thrown out of the stove.

The teacher was walking home and saw smoke coming from the upper windows. He ran to the post, where a button was made behind the glass. This is a call to the fire department.

The teacher broke the glass and pressed the button.

And Petya's mother kept crying and saying that, probably, Petya burned down, because he was nowhere to be seen.

And Petya was ashamed, and he was afraid to approach his mother. The boys saw him and forcibly brought him.

On an ice floe

Already large heaps of frozen fish lay on the ice. Volodin's father said:

"That's enough, it's time to go home."

Suddenly at night the father jumped up and shouted:

Comrades, get up! Look, what a wind! There would be no trouble!

Everyone jumped up and ran.

- Why are we rocking? Volodya shouted.

And the father shouted:

- Trouble! We were torn off and carried on an ice floe into the sea.

All the fishermen ran on the ice floe and shouted:

- Tore off, tore off!

And someone shouted:

- Gone!

- Airplane! Airplane!

The girl Valya was eating fish and suddenly choked on a bone. Mom screamed:

- Eat the peel soon!

But nothing helped. Tears flowed from Vali's eyes. She could not speak, but only wheezed, waving her arms.

Mom got scared and ran to call the doctor. And the doctor lived forty kilometers away. Mom told him on the phone to come as soon as possible.

The doctor was very afraid for Valya.

Suddenly, ahead of one rock crumbled into stones and covered the road. It became impossible to go. It was still far away. But the doctor still wanted to walk.

Suddenly a horn sounded from behind. The driver looked back and said:

“Wait, doctor, help is coming!”

And it was a truck in a hurry. He drove up to the rubble. People jumped out of the truck. They removed the pump machine and rubber pipes from the truck and ran the pipe into the sea.

The entire collapse was washed away by water from the road.

- Hurry, let's go! the doctor shouted to the driver.

The driver started the car. The doctor came to Valya, took out his tweezers and removed a bone from his throat.

And then he sat down and told Valya how the road had blocked up and how the hydroram pump had washed away the landslide.

How one boy drowned

The postman walked by and saw that the boy was walking towards the water.

The boy took two steps along the logs, the logs parted, and the boy could not resist, fell into the water between the logs. And the logs converged again and closed over him like a ceiling.

The postman grabbed his bag and ran with all his might to the shore.

He kept looking at the place where the boy had fallen, so that he knew where to look.

I saw that the postman was running headlong, and I remembered that the boy was walking, and I see that he was gone.

At the same moment I set off to where the postman was running. The postman stood at the very water's edge and pointed in one place with his finger.

He did not take his eyes off the logs. And he just said:

- Here he is!

We got the boy out. He almost choked. We began to shake him up, and he came to his senses. And as soon as he came to, he roared.

The postman raised his fishing rod and said:

- Here is your rod. What are you crying for? You are on the coast. Here is the sun!

- Well, yes, but where is my cap?

The postman waved his hand.

- Why are you shedding tears? And so wet ... And without a cap, your mother will be delighted with you. Run home.

And the boy was standing.

“Well, find him a cap,” said the postman, “but I have to go.”

I took a fishing rod from the boy and began to fumble under the water. Suddenly something caught on, I took it out, it was a bast shoe.

I fiddled around for a long time. Finally pulled out some rag. The boy immediately recognized that it was a cap. We squeezed the water out of it. The boy laughed and said:

- Nothing, it will dry on your head!

Nobody believes it. And the firemen say:

And firefighters put masks on their faces, and air enters the mask through a tube. In such a mask, you can be in smoke for a long time, but you still can’t see anything.

And once firefighters extinguished the house. Residents ran out into the street.

The chief fireman called out:

- Well, count, is it all?

One tenant was missing. And the man shouted:

- Our Petka stayed in the room!

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