Tamara Gabbe: A story about a difficult fate and a good heart. Biography Read Comedy Long Distance Gabbe Follow

Tamara G. Gabbe

City of masters. Fairy tale plays

CITY OF MASTERS

CHARACTERS

The Duke de Malicorne is the viceroy of a foreign king who has captured the City of Masters.

Guillaume Gottschalk, nicknamed Big Guillaume, is the Duke's adviser.

Nanasse Moucheron the Elder - foreman of the workshop of jewelers and watchmakers, burgomaster of the city.

Nanass Moucheron the Younger, nicknamed "Klik-Klyak", is his son.

Master Firen the Elder is the foreman of the gold embroidery workshop.

Firen the Younger is his son.

Veronica is his daughter.

Master Martin, nicknamed "Little Martin", is the foreman of the armory.

Master Timolle - foreman of the cutting shop.

Timolle the Lesser is his grandson.

Master Ninosh - foreman of the cake shop.

Gilbert, nicknamed Caracol, is a sweeper.

Grandma Tafaro is an old fortune teller.

Traders:

Mother Marley‚

Aunt Mimil

Veronica's friends:

Margarita.

One-eyed man.

Lapiders, gunsmiths, shoemakers and other residents of the City of Masters.

Armored men and bodyguards of the viceroy.

The curtain is down. It depicts the coat of arms of the fabulous city. In the middle of the shield, on a silver field, a maned lion clutches a snake that has entangled him in his claws. In the upper corners of the shield are the heads of a hare and a bear. Below, under the feet of the lion, is a snail that has stuck its horns out of its shell.

A lion and a bear come out from behind a curtain on the right. A hare and a snail appear on the left.

BEAR. Do you know what will be presented today?

ZAYATSZ. Now I'll take a look. I have a flyer with me. Well, what is written there? City of Masters, or the Tale of Two Hunchbacks.

BEAR. About two hunchbacks? So it's about people. Why, then, have we been called here?

A LION. Dear bear, you talk like a three-month-old bear cub! Well, what's so amazing? It's a fairy tale, isn't it? And what kind of fairy tale does without us, animals? Take me: in my lifetime I have been in so many fairy tales that it is difficult to count them - at least in a thousand and one. It's true, and today there is a role for me, even the smallest one, and for you too. No wonder they painted us all on the curtain! Look for yourself: this is me, this is you, and this is a snail and a hare. Maybe we are not too similar here, but even more beautiful than on the grandfather. And it's worth something!

HARE. You're right. Here it is impossible to demand complete similarity. The drawing on the coat of arms is not a portrait, and certainly not a photograph. For example, it doesn't bother me at all that in this image I have one ear in gold and the other in silver. I even like it. I'm proud of it. Agree yourself - not every hare manages to get on the city coat of arms.

BEAR. Far from everyone. In all my life, it seems, I have never seen either hares or snails on coats of arms. Here are eagles, leopards, deer, bears - sometimes such an honor falls out. And there is nothing to say about the lion - for him this is a common thing. That's why he's a lion!

A LION. Well, be that as it may, we all occupy a worthy place on this shield, and I hope that we will find a place in today's presentation.

BEAR. There is only one thing I cannot understand: what will the snail do on the stage? In the theater they sing, play, dance, talk, but, as far as I know, the snail can neither dance, nor sing, nor speak.

snail (pokes its head out of its shell). Everyone speaks in their own way. Don't just listen.

BEAR. Tell me, I've spoken! Why were you silent for so long?

SNAIL. Waiting for the right opportunity. In today's performance, I have the biggest role.

HARE. More of my role?

SNAIL. More.

BEAR. And longer than mine?

SNAIL. Much longer.

A LION. And more important than mine?

SNAIL. Perhaps. I can say without false modesty - in this performance I have the main role, although I will not participate in it at all and will never even appear on stage.

BEAR. Is that how it is?

Snail (slowly and calmly). Very simple. I will explain to you now, the fact is that in our area the snail is called "Karakol". And from us this nickname passed to those people who, like us, have been carrying a heavy burden on their shoulders for a century. Just count how many times this word "Karakol" will be repeated today, then you will see who got the most honorable place in today's performance.

A LION. Why are you so honored?

SNAIL. And for the fact that I, so small, can lift more weight than myself. Here, you big beasts, try to carry a house on your back that is bigger than you, and at the same time do your job, and not complain to anyone, and maintain peace of mind.

A LION. Yes, it hasn't crossed my mind until now.

SNAIL. So it always happens. You live, you live and suddenly you learn something new.

BEAR. Well, now it’s completely impossible to understand what kind of performance it will be, what this fairy tale is about! That is, I understand, I am an old theatrical bear, but the public probably does not understand anything.

SNAIL. Well, we'll tell her, and then we'll show her. Listen, dear guests!

We got off today
From the city coat of arms
To tell you about
Like in our city
The fight was raging
Like two hunchbacks
Fate judged
But the first hunchback
There was a hunchback without a hump,
And the second was a hunchback
With a hump.

When it was?
Which side?

It's wise to say this:
Both numbers and letters
On our wall
Long gone from time.

But if from time to time
The carving has worn off
The years couldn't erase
A story where there is both love and struggle,
Where people and animals from the coat of arms met -
And a hare, and a lion, and a bear.

STEP ONE

Picture one

Early morning. Square of the old town. All windows and doors are still closed. You can’t see the inhabitants, but you can guess who lives here by the guild coats of arms and signs: there is a pretzel flaunting over the shoemaker’s window in a huge shoe; a skein of golden yarn and a huge needle indicate the home of a gold seamstress. In the depths of the square - the gates of the castle. An armored man with a halberd stands motionless in front of them. Against the castle rises an old statue depicting the founder of the city and the first foreman of the weapons workshop - Big Martin. On Martin's belt is a sword, in his hands is a blacksmith's hammer. On the square, except for the sentry, only one person. This is the hunchback Gilbert, nicknamed "Caracol", - a sweeper. He is young, moves easily and swiftly, despite his hump. His face is cheerful and beautiful. He handles the hump as if it were a familiar burden that does little to hinder him. Several colorful feathers are stuck into his hat. The jacket is decorated with a branch of a blossoming apple tree. Caracol sweeps the square and sings.

Translator, literary editor, playwright Tamara Grigorievna Gabbe (1903-1960) received an excellent education in the humanities: she graduated from the women's gymnasium in Vyborg, where she thoroughly studied European languages, then the verbal department of the Institute of Art History in Leningrad.

In 1937, Tamara Grigorievna and other editorial staff were arrested on charges of sabotage. Thanks to the intercession of the famous children's poet Marshak, repressions were avoided.

Such an unusual fact is known: when the “competent authorities” began to persuade her to cooperate, they say, they need literate and educated people, she confirmed that she saw the protocol that the investigator kept and wrote down: “It was a completely illiterate record.” And she offered to study grammar and syntax with employees. Further persuasion was meaningless, and she was released.

During the blockade of Leningrad, Tamara Gabbe selflessly endured the hardships of the war, helped her relatives and friends as much as she could, went down to the shelter during the bombing and told fairy tales and stories to the children gathered there in order to somehow entertain and encourage them.

"She did what other Leningraders did - she worked in the fire brigade, was on duty in attics, cleared the streets ... She also did something for the radio ..."

Tamara Grigorievna was highly valued as a talented literary editor. She knew how to see the advantages and disadvantages in the work and, without imposing her opinion, push the authors to continue working on the book.

In collaboration with A.I. Lyubarskaya Gabbe retold the fairy tales of Charles Perrault, the Brothers Grimm, Andersen. It is in her treatment that we read Defoe's story about Gulliver's journey to Lilliput.

But the writer created her own original plays: "Avdotya Ryazanochka", "Crystal Slipper", "City of Masters, or the Tale of Two Hunchbacks" (1965 film "City of Masters"), "Tin Rings" (1977 film "Almanzor's Rings") .

In a dramatic tale about two hunchbacks, the author turned to a medieval legend about the liberation of a free city captured by foreigners. The hunchback, nicknamed Karakol (which means "snail") is loved by the people, he is cheerful, brave and dexterous: "When Karakol makes noise, we laugh. And when we laugh, we stop being afraid." Everyone is happy for him, and they didn’t forget about his birthday, they give him modest and tasteful gifts with whatever they can: a peach, a pie, and even a happy prediction.

Despite his outward ugliness, the sweeper Gilbert is morally pure and noble, sociable and kind, proud and independent, while the other hunchback, the Duke de Malicorne, is an insidious hypocrite, cruel, prudent, unfair, domineering, he is afraid of ridicule, therefore he constantly hides behind the canopy of a stretcher , and on his back he has a huge hump - twice as large as that of Karakol.

Let's imagine an old city, walk along its narrow streets with intricate signs: here is a fruit vendor's shop, and there - look: the pie-maker Ninosh is already bringing out his freshly baked pies, the gold seamstresses are laying out yarn, the lapidary and gunsmith do not rest for a minute ... And only the gates are locked the castle, where the governor is hiding from the townspeople, the man at arms with a halberd does not let anyone in to him, except for the new burgomaster - the cunning and cautious Moucheron the Elder.

Although the son of the burgomaster Klik-Klyak was born on the same day as Karakol, he is completely different: he is stupid, boasts of his wealth, speaks arrogantly and rudely, without reasoning is ready to take off his hats to the governor from the castle, because he is afraid of Guillaume's magic sword.

And on the square there is a stone statue of Big Martin, the founder of the city of artisans. He is wearing a hat, holding a blacksmith's hammer and a shield in his hands, a sword hanging from his belt. These items indicate his direct connection with the workers and craftsmen of the formerly free City of Masters. The resourceful sweeper shows by example how one can remain true to honor and not end up in jail, and hangs the hats of proud townspeople on a tree.

“Letting a bird nest in my hat, but for now I look like without a hat. Well, what will you take from me? He who does not have a hat does not take it off in front of anyone!

A conflict is brewing between the authorities and the people, the duke understands this and seeks to get rid of the sweeper by proxy: "I have never been afraid and am not afraid of human stupidity. It has always served me faithfully, my faithful servant Guillaume. I am much more afraid of the mind." For his purpose, he uses the ingenuous Klik-Klyak and promises to give him the most beautiful girl in the city - Veronika, the daughter of Master Firen, the foreman of the gold embroidery workshop, the former burgomaster.

Having received such a responsible task - to dig a hole in the forest for Karakol, the younger Moucheron follows him, but because of his forgetfulness, he falls into a trap, and even together with the governor. The cunning duke, without naming himself, asks the sweeper for help in exchange for a seal ring. And gullible Gilbert, hoping to give the city freedom for at least three days, agrees to help them out. However, the governor, having got to the surface, calls the guards and accuses his savior of stealing the ring.

Duke de Malicorne orders to arrange a trial of Karakol according to the old traditions that once existed in the free city of Masters: with the participation of all shop foremen. He fears a riot and longs for a guilty verdict in order to teach a lesson to those who do not like the new order and who are hiding in the forest with this example. The townspeople do not believe that an honest sweeper could steal the seal: "There is no man more direct than our hunchbacked Karakol. He is more direct than all of us. He can be trusted in everything and everyone can be tested on him."

Of course, the governor has power, strength, he is dissatisfied with the acquittal and threatens to destroy the city. It is difficult to fight against armed warriors, and help comes from the forest, where for the time being everyone who was objectionable to the ruler was hiding. And now the governor is killed, and Caracol dies from the sword of Great Guillaume. Here the heroic and the ridiculous are bizarrely intertwined, the prophecy comes true, the magic sword revives the slain hero.

In the plays of Tamara Gabbe, eternal and therefore modern themes are raised: honor, human dignity, loyalty to the word and native land. Mind, courage, disinterestedness, work always triumph over stupidity, cowardice, greed and laziness.

Tamara Grigorievna was always condescending to the weaknesses of others, she lived according to her immutable moral charter. According to S.Ya. Marshak, she was alien to the admiration for a big name or a high position in society, she never sought popularity and thought little about her material affairs.

Literature

1. Gabbe / http://www.chukfamily.ru/Humanitaria/Gabbe/gabbe.htm

2. Neshcheret N.V. The study of the fairy tale play by T.G. Gabbe "The City of Masters, or the Tale of the Two Hunchbacks". Grade V / Literature at school. - 2005. - No. 11. - S. 38-43.

3. Russian children's writers of the twentieth century: a bio-bibliographic dictionary. - M.: Flint, Science. - 1997. - S. 111-113.

I don't remember if I told you, but I'll tell you again.
I have a friend Tina. She is an American, and also the great-niece of Tamara Gabbe. Remember - "City of Masters", "Rings of Almanzor"?
Today she picked me up, took me to her place and showed me the Tamara Gabbe Museum, which occupies a room on the second floor of her villa.
The family has an interesting history. Two sisters, daughters of the doctor Gabbe, who converted to Christianity for the sake of his studies, grew up under the tsar. Both graduated from the gymnasium in Vyborg, and then the eldest (Tina's grandmother) fell in love with a Finn and went with him to Finland. And Tamara moved to St. Petersburg. Tamara was arrested as a member of a Trotskyist group, and her sister and her husband left Finland, first for Switzerland, then for America. She had children who spoke Finnish, English, but not Russian.
Remembering her Jewish roots, Tina came to Israel. Her son now serves in the Golani division. And Tina is collecting a museum of her great aunt.
I saw documents there about the graduation of the writer's father from the Medical Academy, the verdict of the trial of the Trotskyists, old bureaus, a secretary, a piano, and family photographs on the walls. All these things have traveled all over the world. Tina even showed me the plates that Marshak gave to Tamara.
I took pictures, promised to tell about the museum.
Here, I'm telling you.

Lydia Chukovskaya(Notes about Anna Akhmatova. T. 1. - M .: Consent, 1997, p. 315):

« Tamara G. Gabbe(1903-1960), playwright and folklorist. The most famous were her children's plays, which were published as separate books; they were staged more than once and with great success in Moscow and other theaters of the country: "The City of Masters, or the Tale of Two Hunchbacks", "Crystal Slipper", "Avdotya Ryazanochka".

Of her folklore works, the most significant is the book “Fact and Fable. Russian folk tales, legends, parables. The book was published posthumously in 1966, in Novosibirsk, with two afterwords - by S. Marshak and V. Smirnova; before her, but also posthumously published the collection "On the Roads of a Fairy Tale" (co-authored with A. Lyubarskaya, M., 1962). During the life of Tamara Grigoryevna, French folk tales, fairy tales of Perrault, fairy tales of Andersen, the Grimm brothers (Jacob and Wilhelm), and others were published more than once in her translations and retellings.

All her life, even after leaving the State Publishing House, she remained an editor - a mentor of writers.

“Dear Samuil Yakovlevich.

I feel a little better, and I hasten to write at least a few words. Because of my stupid shyness, I could never tell Tamara Grigorievna at the top of my voice how I, an old literary rat who has seen hundreds of talents, semi-talents, celebrities of all kinds, admire the beauty of her personality, her unmistakable taste, her talent, her humor, her erudition and - above all - her heroic nobility, her ingenious ability to love. And how many patented celebrities immediately go out in my memory, retreat to the back rows, as soon as I remember her image - the tragic image of Failure, which, in spite of everything, was happy precisely with her ability to love life, literature, friends.

To this letter S. Marshak answered:

“My dear Korney Ivanovich. Thank you for the kind letter in which I hear the best that is in your voice and heart.

Everything that is written by Tamara Grigorievna (and she wrote wonderful things) should be supplemented by pages dedicated to herself, her personality, so complete and special.

She went through life with an easy step, maintaining grace until the very last minutes of her consciousness. There was not a shadow of hypocrisy in her. She was a secular and free person, condescending to the weaknesses of others, and she herself was subject to some kind of strict and immutable internal charter. And how much patience, steadfastness, courage she had - only those who were with her in her last weeks and days really know this.

And, of course, you are right: her main talent, surpassing all other human talents, was love. Love is kind and strict, without any admixture of self-interest, jealousy, dependence on another person. She was alien to admiration for a big name or a high position in society. And she herself never sought popularity and thought little about her material affairs.

She was to the liking and character of Milton's poems (sonnet "On Blindness"):

But, perhaps, he serves no less

High will, who stands and waits.

She was outwardly motionless and inwardly active. I am talking about immobility only in the sense that it cost her great effort to walk around the editorial offices or theaters where there was talk of staging her plays, but on the other hand she could wander around the city or outside the city all day long, completely alone, or rather, alone with her friends. thoughts. She was sharp-sighted - she saw and knew a lot in nature, she was very fond of architecture. On Aeroportovskaya, her little apartment was furnished with incomparably greater taste than all the other apartments for which so much money had been spent.

If Shakespeare speaks of his poetry

And it seems to call by name

Any word can me in poetry, -

then in her rooms, each shelf, lamp or bookcase could name its mistress by name. In all this was her lightness, her friendliness, her taste and feminine grace.

It is sad to think that now these bright, comfortable, not cluttered with furniture and always open for friends and students rooms will go to someone else. It is bitter to realize that we, who knew her price, cannot convince the housing cooperative and the Writers' Union that these few meters of the square, where a wonderful writer lived and died, a friend and adviser of so many young and old writers, should be preserved intact.

literary critic Vera Smirnova(article "About this book and its author"):

“She was a gifted person, with great charm, with absolute pitch in art, with various abilities in literature: in addition to plays for the theater, she wrote critical articles and lyric poems, which, due to the depth of feeling and musicality of the verse, would do honor to a great poet. Courage, perseverance in beliefs and relationships, an outstanding mind, amazing tact, kindness, sensitivity to people - these are the qualities with which she has always attracted hearts to herself. But her greatest human talent would be the gift of complete and reckless self-giving. “The beauty of self-giving is understandable to all people. The cultivation of this beauty is religion,” she once said [ approx. compiler See biographical note. The "religion" of her whole life was the complete devotion of herself to people - to everyone who needed her.

She had a hard life: she had to go through a lot in the years 1937-1939; during the Great Patriotic War, she lived in besieged Leningrad, lost her house and loved ones there; for seven difficult years she was a nurse at the bedside of her hopelessly ill mother. In recent years, she herself was ill with an incurable disease - and she knew it. And for all that, she always seemed to carry light and peace with her, loved life and all living things, was full of amazing patience, endurance, firmness - and charming femininity.

For thirty years she was the first editor of S.Ya. Marshak, an unofficial, unofficial editor, a friend whose hearing and eyes the poet needed every day, without whose "sanction" he would not publish a single line. I have witnessed their joint work more than once. First - a student of Samuil Yakovlevich, one of the closest associates in the famous "Leningrad edition" of children's literature, in the 30s Tamara Grigoryevna became the most demanding editor of the poet himself.

Bio note:

Yesterday, March 2, was the day of memory of Tamara Grigorievna Gabbe - 48 years from the date of death. L.K. wrote wonderfully about her. Chukovskaya, S.Ya. Marshak and many others.

At first I thought to give a few short quotes and poems, but it did not work out briefly.

Recently in site updates S.Ya. Marshak flashed two passages about Tamara Gabba, which I read and then re-read several times.

So, from a letter from S.Ya. Marshak G.I. Zinchenko dated March 29, 1960:

“Dear Galina Ilyinichna!
Sorry for answering you so late. I had very difficult weeks - my best friend was dying before my eyes - a wonderful person. Thirty years of common work, a commonality of thoughts and feelings connected me with this man. I don't know if you ever had a chance to read plays, critical articles or fairy tales by Tamara Grigorievna Gabbe? All this was very talented, deep and at the same time unusually elegant. But most of all talent, depth, grace was in this man himself, completely devoid of any kind of ambition and self-interest. Perhaps her main talent was kindness, especially precious and effective, combined with a sharp mind and rare powers of observation. She knew the shortcomings of the people she loved, and this did not prevent her from loving them unfailingly and generously.
At the same time, she was proud, independent and courageous.
A light, cheerful person, to whom both nature and the city street spoke so much, she patiently endured the illness that chained her to bed, did not complain, did not show fear and despair.
A few days before her death, she said that one must live right and die right.
After several months of the most intense struggle for the life of Tamara Grigorievna and after the loss of her, I hardly come to my senses ... "

“What kind of person the writer Tamara Grigorievna Gabbe was can be judged by at least a small excerpt from her brief autobiography.
“The first years of the war,” she writes, “I spent in Leningrad. I did what other Leningraders did, I worked in the fire brigade, was on duty in the attics, cleared the streets. The Union of Writers invited me to edit a collection about the Kirov Plant. as for the radio ... "
So - simply and restrainedly - says T.G. Gabbe about the long months of hunger, cold, artillery shelling and air raids she experienced together with all Leningraders.
But we read on:
"My work in the field of children's literature at that time took on a kind of oral form: in a bomb shelter, I gathered children of all ages and told them everything I could remember or think of in order to entertain and encourage them in these difficult times ..."
According to eyewitnesses, the oral stories of Tamara Grigoryevna so captivated the listeners that they were reluctant to leave the bomb shelter after the radio announced the long-awaited all-out.
The children did not even suspect how much courage and stamina the good storyteller needed to entertain them with intricate stories at a time when flocks of enemy bombers were circling over the city, threatening both her home and all her loved ones who were in different parts of the city.
Tamara Grigorievna knew her readers and listeners well and found a way to their hearts, not at all adapting to them.
And there can be no doubt that her tales, invented during the anxious moments of air raids, did not bear the slightest trace of haste and excitement, did not look like a raw, confused draft. For everything that Tamara Grigorievna did, she brought to the utmost harmony and completeness.
Her handwriting was elegant. The style of her letters is elegant. She loved order in her surroundings. Self-esteem so naturally combined with her friendly and respectful attitude towards people, whatever their rank, position, position.
It is difficult to find an editor more subtle and sensitive than Tamara G. Gabbe. Many young writers owed their first successes to her heartfelt care, her clever and kind advice.
After graduating from a higher educational institution (Leningrad Institute of Art History), for some time she hesitated what activity she should choose - literary or pedagogical. She became a writer, but all her life she did not stop thinking about the education of young generations.
And, in essence, her literary and editorial work was the work of a teacher in the best and highest sense of the word.
She could teach young writers a lot, because she herself did not stop learning. Possessing a rare memory, she perfectly knew Russian and world literature, classical and new. For many years she studied folklore and left behind a lot of fairy tales, collected by her and processed with the skill that returns folk poetry, which often loses a lot in recording, original liveliness and freshness.
She worked with special love on Russian fairy tales. And along with them, she translated, retold and presented to our children carefully selected fairy tales of different peoples, preserving in the Russian text the poetic originality of each language, each people. If, when publishing them, it was not indicated to which people this or that fairy tale belongs, then even then it would not be difficult to distinguish a French fairy tale from a German fairy tale, a Czech fairy tale from a Bulgarian one, by language and style.
Much more could be said about her brilliant and profound articles on and about children's literature.
But, perhaps, the best work of Tamara Grigorievna was her own life.
She was never satisfied with herself, often complained that she had little time.
Probably, indeed, she would have managed to write even more in her lifetime if she had not given so much energy, time, serious and thoughtful care to others. But that was her calling.
She passed her short life with an easy step.
Her patience and courage were especially evident during a serious and prolonged illness.
Until the last days, she managed to maintain all her friendliness, delicacy, attention to others.
As if preparing herself in advance for future difficult trials, she wrote to her friend L. Chukovskaya in the autumn of 1942:
“In that winter (we are talking about the Leningrad winter of the forty-first - forty-second years), I understood with some extraordinary clarity what inner spiritual resources mean for a person. “Intransigence and patience” can prolong a person’s life, can make him walk when legs can no longer walk, work when hands are no longer taken, smile, speak in a kind, gentle voice even in the last dying moments - cruel in their unseemliness ... "
So, as it is said in this letter, Tamara Grigorievna met her last days.
Re-reading the plays written by her at different times, you catch the features of the author himself in the images of her fairy-tale heroines. Tamara Grigoryevna had something in common with her kind and truthful Aleli, her generous fairy Melyuzina, and, perhaps, most of all, with the adamant and selfless Avdotya Ryazanochka.

And the last excerpt is from the preface to the publication of L. Chukovskaya's book "In Memory of Tamara Grigorievna Gabbe" in the Znamya magazine:

"Contemporaries highly appreciated the literary and human talents of Tamara Grigoryevna. Shortly after her funeral on May 5, 1960, Korney Chukovsky wrote to S. Marshak:

"Dear Samuil Yakovlevich.

I feel a little better, and I hasten to write at least a few words. Because of my stupid shyness, I could never tell Tamara Grigorievna at the top of my voice how I, an old literary rat who has seen hundreds of talents, semi-talents, celebrities of all kinds, admire the beauty of her personality, her unmistakable taste, her talent, her humor, her erudition and - above all - her heroic nobility, her ingenious ability to love. And how many patented celebrities immediately go out in my memory, retreat to the back rows, as soon as I remember her image - the tragic image of Failure, which, in spite of everything, was happy precisely with her ability to love life, literature, friends ".

S. Marshak replied to this letter:

"My dear Korney Ivanovich. Thank you for your kind letter, in which I hear the best that is in your voice and heart.

Everything that is written by Tamara Grigorievna (and she wrote wonderful things) should be supplemented by pages dedicated to herself, her personality, so complete and special.

She went through life with an easy step, maintaining grace until the very last minutes of her consciousness. There was not a shadow of hypocrisy in her. She was a secular and free person, condescending to the weaknesses of others, and she herself was subject to some kind of strict and immutable internal charter. And how much patience, steadfastness, courage she had - only those who were with her in her last weeks and days really know this.

And, of course, you are right: her main talent, surpassing all other human talents, was love. Love is kind and strict, without any admixture of self-interest, jealousy, dependence on another person. She was alien to admiration for a big name or a high position in society. And she herself never sought popularity and thought little about her material affairs.

She was to the liking and character of Milton's poems (sonnet "On Blindness"):
But, perhaps, he serves no less
High will, who stands and waits.
She was outwardly motionless and inwardly active. I am talking about immobility only in the sense that it cost her great effort to walk around the editorial offices or theaters where there was talk of staging her plays, but on the other hand she could wander around the city or outside the city all day long, completely alone, or rather, alone with her friends. thoughts. She was sharp-sighted - she saw and knew a lot in nature, she was very fond of architecture. On Aeroportovskaya, her little apartment was furnished with incomparably greater taste than all the other apartments for which so much money had been spent.

If Shakespeare speaks of his poetry

And it seems to call by name
Any word can me in poetry, -

then in her rooms, each shelf, lamp or bookcase could name its mistress by name. In all this was her lightness, her friendliness, her taste and feminine grace.

It is sad to think that now these bright, comfortable, not cluttered with furniture and always open for friends and students rooms will go to someone else. It is bitter to realize that we, who knew her price, cannot convince the housing cooperative and the Writers' Union that these few meters of the square, where a wonderful writer lived and died, a friend and adviser of so many young and old writers, should be preserved intact.

And I will finish with three poems by S.Ya. Marshak, dedicated to Tamara Grigorievna. The first is a playful inscription on the book "Cat's House", the other two were written after her death.

TAMARA GRIGORIEVNA GABBE

<>The inscription on the book "Cat's house"<>

I'm not writing in an album -
At the "Cat's House" -
And this makes me very embarrassed.
Try it lyric
write a eulogy
Under the booming fire chime!

There is no harder task
(Impromptu all the more so!)
Write a compliment in verse
Under this feline
goat, pig,
Chicken accompaniment.

Neither Shelly could
Neither Keats nor Shengeli
Neither Goethe, nor Heine, nor Fet,
Not even Firdusi
Come up for Tusi
On the "Cat's House" a sonnet.

People write, but time erases
It erases everything that it can erase.
But tell me - if the rumor dies,
Does sound have to die?

It gets quieter and quieter
He is ready to mix with silence.
And not with hearing, but with my heart I hear
This laugh, this chest voice.

THE LAST SONNET

Inspiration has its own courage
Your fearlessness, even daring.
Without it, poetry is paper
And the subtlest mastery is dead.

But if you are at the battle banner
Poetry you will see the creature
Who does not suit a cloak and a sword,
A scarf and a fan most of all.

That being whose courage and strength
So merged with kindness, simple and sweet,
And kindness, like the sun, warms the light, -

You can be proud of such a meeting
And before you say goodbye forever
Dedicate your last sonnet to her.