Stories about Denis have been translated into many languages of the world and even into Japanese. Victor Dragunsky wrote a sincere and cheerful preface to the Japanese collection: “I was born quite a long time ago and quite far away, one might even say, in another part of the world. As a child, I loved to fight and never let myself get hurt. As you understand, my hero was Tom Sawyer, and never, under any circumstances, Sid. I'm sure you share my point of view. I studied at school, frankly speaking, not well... From early childhood I fell deeply in love with the circus and still love it. I was a clown. I wrote a story about the circus, “Today and Everyday.” Besides the circus I really love little children. I write about children and for children. This is my whole life, its meaning.”
“Deniska’s stories” are funny stories with a sensitive vision of important details; they are instructive, but without moralizing. If you haven’t read them yet, start with the most touching stories, and the best story for this role is “Childhood Friend.”
Deniska's stories: Childhood friend
When I was six or six and a half years old, I had absolutely no idea who I would ultimately be in this world. I really liked all the people around me and all the work too. At that time there was a terrible confusion in my head, I was kind of confused and could not really decide what to do.
Either I wanted to be an astronomer, so I could stay awake at night and watch distant stars through a telescope, and then I dreamed of becoming a sea captain, so that I could stand with my legs apart on the captain’s bridge, and visit distant Singapore, and buy a funny monkey there. Otherwise, I was dying to turn into a subway driver or a station master and walk around in a red cap and shout in a thick voice:- Go-o-tov!
Or my appetite was whetted to learn to become an artist who paints white stripes on the street asphalt for speeding cars. Otherwise it seemed to me that it would be nice to become a brave traveler like Alain Bombard and sail across all the oceans on a fragile shuttle, eating only raw fish. True, this Bomber lost twenty-five kilograms after his trip, and I only weighed twenty-six, so it turned out that if I also swam like him, then I would have absolutely no way to lose weight, I would weigh only one thing at the end of the trip kilo. What if I don’t catch a fish or two somewhere and lose a little more weight? Then I’ll probably just melt into the air like smoke, that’s all.When I calculated all this, I decided to abandon this idea, and the next day I was already impatient to become a boxer, because I saw the European Boxing Championship on TV. The way they threshed each other was simply terrifying! And then they showed them training, and here they were hitting a heavy leather “bag” - such an oblong heavy ball, you need to hit it with all your might, hit it as hard as you can in order to develop the power of hitting. And I looked at all this so much that I also decided to become the strongest person in the yard so that I could beat everyone, if anything happened.
I told dad:- Dad, buy me a pear!
- It’s January now, there are no pears. Eat your carrots for now.
I laughed:- No, dad, not like that! Not an edible pear! Please buy me an ordinary leather punching bag!
- And why do you need it? - said dad.“Practice,” I said. - Because I will be a boxer and I will beat everyone. Buy it, huh?
- How much does such a pear cost? – Dad asked.“It’s just nothing,” I said. - Ten or fifty rubles.
“You’re crazy, brother,” said dad. - Get by somehow without a pear. Nothing will happen to you. And he got dressed and went to work. And I was offended by him because he refused me so laughingly. And my mother immediately noticed that I was offended, and immediately said:- Wait a minute, I think I came up with something. Come on, come on, wait a minute.
And she bent down and pulled out a large wicker basket from under the sofa; It contained old toys that I no longer played with. Because I had already grown up and in the fall I was supposed to buy a school uniform and a cap with a shiny visor.Mom started digging in this basket, and while she was digging, I saw my old tram without wheels and on a string, a plastic pipe, a dented top, one arrow with a rubber blotch, a piece of sail from a boat, and several rattles, and many other toy items. scrap. And suddenly mom took out a healthy teddy bear from the bottom of the basket.
She threw it on my sofa and said:- Here. This is the same one that Aunt Mila gave you. You were two years old then. Good Mishka, excellent. Look how tight it is! What a fat belly! Look how it rolled out! Why not a pear? Better! And you don't need to buy! Let's train as much as you like! Get started!
And then they called her to the phone, and she went out into the corridor.And I was very happy that my mother came up with such a great idea. And I made Mishka comfortable on the sofa, so that it would be easier for me to train against him and develop the power of the blow.
He sat in front of me, so chocolate-colored, but very shabby, and he had different eyes: one of his own - yellow glass, and the other large white - from a button from a pillowcase; I didn't even remember when he appeared. But it didn’t matter, because Mishka looked at me quite cheerfully with his different eyes, and he spread his legs and stuck his stomach out towards me, and raised both hands up, as if he was joking that he was already giving up in advance...
And I looked at him like that and suddenly remembered how a long time ago I never parted with this Mishka for a minute, dragged him everywhere with me, and nursed him, and sat him at the table next to me for dinner, and fed him with a spoon semolina porridge, and he got such a funny little face when I smeared him with something, even the same porridge or jam, then he got such a funny, cute little face, just like he was alive, and I put him to bed with me, and rocked him to sleep , like a little brother, and whispered different tales to him right into his velvety hard ears, and I loved him then, loved him with all my soul, I would give my life for him then. And here he is now sitting on the sofa, my former best friend, a true childhood friend. Here he sits, laughing with different eyes, and I want to train the strength of my blow against him...
“What are you talking about,” said mom, she had already returned from the corridor. - What happened to you?But I didn’t know what was wrong with me, I was silent for a long time and turned away from my mother so that she wouldn’t guess by her voice or lips what was wrong with me, and I lifted my head to the ceiling so that the tears would roll back, and then, when I had strengthened myself a little , I said:
-What are you talking about, mom? Nothing wrong with me... I just changed my mind. I'll just never be a boxer.About the author.
Victor Dragunsky lived a long, interesting life. But not everyone knows that before becoming a writer, in his early youth he changed many occupations and at the same time succeeded in each: turner, saddler, actor, director, author of small plays, “red-haired” clown in the arena of the Moscow circus. He treated every job he did in his life with equal respect. He loved children very much, and the children were drawn to him, feeling in him a kind elder comrade and friend. When he was an actor, he enjoyed performing for children, usually as Santa Claus during the winter holidays. He was a kind, cheerful person, but irreconcilable with injustice and lies.
Victor Yuzefovich Dragunsky is a man of amazing destiny. He was born on November 30, 1913 in New York into a family of emigrants from Russia. However, already in 1914, shortly before the start of the First World War, the family returned and settled in Gomel, where Dragunsky spent his childhood. Together with his stepfather, actor Mikhail Rubin, at the age of ten he began performing on provincial stages: he recited couplets, tap danced and parodied. In his youth he worked as a boatman on the Moscow River, as a turner at a factory, and as a saddler in a sports workshop. By a lucky coincidence, in 1930, Viktor Dragunsky entered the literary and theater workshop of Alexei Dikiy, and here an interesting stage of his biography began - acting. In 1935 he began performing as an actor. Since 1940, he has been publishing feuilletons and humorous stories, writing songs, sideshows, clowning, skits for the stage and circus. During the Great Patriotic War, Dragunsky was in the militia, and then performed at the fronts with concert brigades. For a little over a year he worked as a clown in the circus, but returned to the theater again. At the Film Actor's Theater he organized a literary and theatrical parody ensemble, uniting young, underemployed actors into the amateur troupe "Blue Bird". Dragunsky played several roles in films. He was almost fifty when his books for children with strange titles began to appear: “Twenty Years Under the Bed,” “No Bang, No Bang,” “The Professor of Sour Cabbage Cabbage”... Deniskin’s first Dragunsky stories instantly became popular. Books from this series were printed in large editions.
However, Victor Dragunsky wrote prose works for adults as well. In 1961, the story “He Fell on the Grass” about the very first days of the war was published. In 1964, the story “Today and Everyday” was published, telling about the life of circus workers. The main character of this book is a clown.
Viktor Yuzefovich Dragunsky died in Moscow on May 6, 1972. The Dragunsky writing dynasty was continued by his son Denis, who became a quite successful writer, and his daughter Ksenia Dragunskaya, a brilliant children's writer and playwright.Dragunsky’s close friend, children’s poet Yakov Akim, once said: “A young man needs all the vitamins, including all the moral vitamins. Vitamins of kindness, nobility, honesty, decency, courage. Viktor Dragunsky generously and talentedly gave all these vitamins to our children.”
Page 1 of 60
"HE IS ALIVE AND GLOWING..."
One evening I sat in the yard, near the sand, and waited for my mother. She probably stayed late at the institute, or at the store, or maybe stood at the bus stop for a long time. Don't know. Only all the parents in our yard had already arrived, and all the kids went home with them and were probably already drinking tea with bagels and cheese, but my mother was still not there...
And now the lights began to light up in the windows, and the radio started playing music, and dark clouds moved in the sky - they looked like bearded old men...
And I wanted to eat, but my mother was still not there, and I thought that if I knew that my mother was hungry and was waiting for me somewhere at the end of the world, I would immediately run to her, and would not be late and not made her sit on the sand and get bored.
And at that time Mishka came out into the yard. He said:
- Great!
And I said:
- Great!
Mishka sat down with me and picked up the dump truck.
- Wow! - said Mishka. - Where did you get it? Does he pick up sand himself? Not yourself? And he leaves on his own? Yes? What about the pen? What is it for? Can it be rotated? Yes? A? Wow! Will you give it to me at home?
I said:
- No I will not give. Present. Dad gave it to me before he left.
The bear pouted and moved away from me. It became even darker outside.
I looked at the gate so as not to miss when my mother came. But she still didn’t go. Apparently, I met Aunt Rosa, and they stand and talk and don’t even think about me. I lay down on the sand.
Here Mishka says:
- Can you give me a dump truck?
- Get off it, Mishka.
Then Mishka says:
- I can give you one Guatemala and two Barbados for it!
I speak:
- Compared Barbados to a dump truck...
And Mishka:
- Well, do you want me to give you a swimming ring?
I speak:
- It's burst.
And Mishka:
- You will seal it!
I even got angry:
- Where to swim? In the bathroom? On Tuesdays?
And Mishka pouted again. And then he says:
- Well, it was not! Know my kindness! On the!
And he handed me a box of matches. I took it in my hands.
“You open it,” said Mishka, “then you will see!”
I opened the box and at first I didn’t see anything, and then I saw a small light green light, as if somewhere far, far away from me a tiny star was burning, and at the same time I myself was holding it in my hands.
“What is this, Mishka,” I said in a whisper, “what is this?”
“This is a firefly,” said Mishka. - What, good? He's alive, don't think about it.
“Bear,” I said, “take my dump truck, would you like it?” Take it forever, forever! Give me this star, I’ll take it home...
And Mishka grabbed my dump truck and ran home. And I stayed with my firefly, looked at it, looked and couldn’t get enough of it: how green it was, as if in a fairy tale, and how close it was, in the palm of my hand, but shining as if from afar... And I couldn’t breathe evenly , and I heard my heart beating, and there was a slight tingling in my nose, as if I wanted to cry.
And I sat like that for a long time, a very long time. And there was no one around. And I forgot about everyone in this world.
But then my mother came, and I was very happy, and we went home. And when they started drinking tea with bagels and feta cheese, my mother asked:
- Well, how's your dump truck?
And I said:
- I, mom, exchanged it.
Mom said:
- Interesting! And for what?
I answered:
- To the firefly! Here he is, living in a box. Turn out the light!
And mom turned off the light, and the room became dark, and the two of us began to look at the pale green star.
Then mom turned on the light.
“Yes,” she said, “it’s magic!” But still, how did you decide to give such a valuable thing as a dump truck for this worm?
“I’ve been waiting for you for so long,” I said, “and I was so bored, but this firefly, it turned out to be better than any dump truck in the world.”
Mom looked at me intently and asked:
- And why, why exactly is it better?
I said:
- How come you don’t understand?! After all, he is alive! And it glows!..
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Victor Dragunsky
Deniska's funniest stories (collection)
© Dragunsky V. Yu., inheritance, 2016
© Il., Popovich O. V., 2016
© AST Publishing House LLC, 2016
* * *
Girl on the Ball
Once we went to the circus as a whole class. I was very happy when I went there, because I was almost eight years old, and I had only been to the circus once, and that was a very long time ago. The main thing is that Alyonka is only six years old, but she has already managed to visit the circus three times. This is very disappointing. And now the whole class went to the circus, and I thought how good it was that I was already big and that now, this time, I would see everything properly. And at that time I was little, I did not understand what a circus was.
That time, when the acrobats entered the arena and one climbed on the head of the other, I laughed terribly, because I thought that they were doing this on purpose, for laughs, because at home I had never seen grown men climbing on each other. And this didn’t happen on the street either. So I laughed out loud. I didn’t understand that these were artists showing their dexterity. And even at that time I looked more and more at the orchestra, how they played - some on the drum, some on the trumpet - and the conductor waves his baton, and no one looks at him, but everyone plays as they want. I really liked it, but while I was looking at these musicians, there were artists performing in the middle of the arena. And I didn’t see them and missed the most interesting thing. Of course, I was still completely stupid that time.
And so we came as a whole class to the circus. I immediately liked that it smelled like something special, and that there were bright paintings hanging on the walls, and there was light all around, and in the middle there was a beautiful carpet, and the ceiling was high, and there were various shiny swings tied there. And at that time the music started playing, and everyone rushed to sit down, and then they bought a popsicle and began to eat.
And suddenly, from behind the red curtain, a whole squad of people came out, dressed very beautifully - in red suits with yellow stripes. They stood on the sides of the curtain, and their boss in a black suit walked between them. He shouted something loudly and a little incomprehensibly, and the music started playing quickly, quickly and loudly, and a juggler jumped into the arena, and the fun began. He threw balls, ten or a hundred at a time, and caught them back. And then he grabbed a striped ball and began to play with it... He bounced it with his head, and with the back of his head, and with his forehead, and rolled it on his back, and pushed it with his heel, and the ball rolled all over his body as if magnetized. It was very beautiful. And suddenly the juggler threw this ball towards us in the audience, and then real turmoil began, because I caught this ball and threw it at Valerka, and Valerka threw it at Mishka, and Mishka suddenly took aim and, for no apparent reason, flashed it right at conductor, but didn’t hit him, but hit the drum! Bamm! The drummer got angry and threw the ball back to the juggler, but the ball didn’t get there, it just hit one beautiful woman in her hair, and she didn’t end up with a hairstyle, but a fringe. And we all laughed so hard that we almost died.
And when the juggler ran behind the curtain, we couldn’t calm down for a long time. But then a huge blue ball was rolled out into the arena, and the guy who was announcing came to the middle and shouted something in an unintelligible voice. It was impossible to understand anything, and the orchestra again started playing something very cheerful, only not as fast as before.
And suddenly a little girl ran into the arena. I have never seen such small and beautiful ones. She had blue, blue eyes and long eyelashes around them. She wore a silver dress with an airy cloak, and she had long arms; she flapped them like a bird and jumped onto this huge blue ball that was rolled out for her. She stood on the ball. And then she suddenly ran, as if she wanted to jump off it, but the ball spun under her feet, and she rode it like she was running, but in fact she was riding around the arena. I have never seen such girls. They were all ordinary, but this one was something special. She ran around the ball with her little legs, as if on a flat floor, and the blue ball carried her on itself: she could ride it straight, and backward, and to the left, and wherever you wanted! She laughed merrily when she ran like she was swimming, and I thought that she was probably Thumbelina, she was so small, sweet and extraordinary. At this time she stopped, and someone handed her various bell-shaped bracelets, and she put them on her shoes and hands and again began to slowly spin around on the ball, as if dancing. And the orchestra began to play quiet music, and one could hear the golden bells on the girls’ long arms ringing subtly. And it was all like in a fairy tale. And then they turned off the light, and it turned out that the girl, in addition, could glow in the dark, and she slowly floated in a circle, and glowed, and rang, and it was amazing - I have never seen anything like that in my entire life.
And when the lights came on, everyone clapped and shouted “bravo”, and I also shouted “bravo”. And the girl jumped off her ball and ran forward, closer to us, and suddenly, as she ran, she turned over her head like lightning, and again, and again, and ever forward and forward. And it seemed to me that she was about to break against the barrier, and I suddenly got very scared, and jumped to my feet, and wanted to run to her to pick her up and save her, but the girl suddenly stopped dead in her tracks, spread out her long arms, the orchestra fell silent, and she stood and smiled. And everyone clapped with all their might and even stamped their feet. And at that moment this girl looked at me, and I saw that she saw that I saw her and that I also saw that she saw me, and she waved her hand at me and smiled. She waved and smiled at me alone. And again I wanted to run up to her, and I stretched out my hands to her. And she suddenly blew a kiss to everyone and ran away behind the red curtain, where all the artists were running away.
And a clown with his rooster entered the arena and began to sneeze and fall, but I had no time for him. I kept thinking about the girl on the ball, how amazing she was and how she waved her hand and smiled at me, and I didn’t want to look at anything else. On the contrary, I closed my eyes tightly so as not to see this stupid clown with his red nose, because he was spoiling my girl for me: she still seemed to me on her blue ball.
And then they announced an intermission, and everyone ran to the buffet to drink lemonade, and I quietly went downstairs and approached the curtain from where the artists were coming out.
I wanted to look at this girl again, and I stood by the curtain and looked - what if she came out? But she didn't come out.
And after the intermission, the lions performed, and I didn’t like that the tamer kept dragging them by their tails, as if they were not lions, but dead cats. He forced them to move from place to place or laid them on the floor in a row and walked over the lions with his feet, as if on a carpet, and they looked as if they were not allowed to lie down quietly. This was not interesting, because the lion had to hunt and chase the bison in the endless pampas and announce the surroundings with a menacing roar, terrifying the native population.
And so it turns out not a lion, but I just don’t know what.
And when it was over and we went home, I kept thinking about the girl on the ball.
And in the evening dad asked:
- Well, how? Did you like the circus?
I said:
- Dad! There's a girl at the circus. She is dancing on a blue ball. So nice, the best! She smiled at me and waved her hand! To me alone, honestly! Do you understand, dad? Let's go to the circus next Sunday! I'll show it to you!
Dad said:
- We'll definitely go. I love the circus!
And mom looked at both of us as if she was seeing us for the first time.
...And a long week began, and I ate, studied, got up and went to bed, played and even fought, and still every day I thought when Sunday would come, and my dad and I would go to the circus, and I would see the girl in the ball again, and I’ll show it to dad, and maybe dad will invite her to visit us, and I’ll give her a Browning pistol and draw a ship with full sails.
But on Sunday dad couldn't go.
His comrades came to him, they delved into some drawings, and shouted, and smoked, and drank tea, and sat until late, and after them my mother had a headache, and my father said to me:
– Next Sunday... I take an oath of Loyalty and Honor.
And I was so looking forward to the next Sunday that I don’t even remember how I lived another week. And dad kept his word: he went with me to the circus and bought tickets to the second row, and I was glad that we were sitting so close, and the performance began, and I began to wait for the girl to appear on the ball. But the person who announces kept announcing various other artists, and they came out and performed in different ways, but the girl still did not appear. And I was literally trembling with impatience, I really wanted dad to see how extraordinary she was in her silver suit with an airy cape and how deftly she ran around the blue ball. And every time the announcer came out, I whispered to dad:
- Now he will announce it!
But, as luck would have it, he announced someone else, and I even began to hate him, and I kept telling dad:
- Come on! This is nonsense on vegetable oil! This is not it!
And dad said, without looking at me:
- Don't interfere, please. It is very interesting! That's it!
I thought that dad apparently doesn’t know much about the circus, since it’s interesting to him. Let's see what he sings when he sees the girl on the ball. Probably he will jump two meters in height on his chair...
But then the announcer came out and shouted in his deaf-mute voice:
- Ant-rra-kt!
I just couldn’t believe my ears! Intermission? And why? After all, in the second section there will only be lions! Where is my girl on the ball? Where is she? Why doesn't she perform? Maybe she got sick? Maybe she fell and had a concussion?
I said:
- Dad, let's go quickly and find out where the girl is on the ball!
Dad replied:
- Yes Yes! Where is your tightrope walker? Something is missing! Let's go buy some software!..
He was cheerful and happy. He looked around, laughed and said:
- Oh, I love... I love the circus! This very smell... It makes my head spin...
And we went into the corridor. There were a lot of people milling around there, and they were selling candies and waffles, and there were photographs of different tiger faces on the walls, and we wandered around a little and finally found the controller with the programs. Dad bought one from her and began looking through it. But I couldn’t stand it and asked the controller:
– Tell me, please, when will the girl perform in the ball?
- Which girl?
Dad said:
– The program shows tightrope walker T. Vorontsova. Where is she?
I stood and was silent.
The controller said:
- Oh, are you talking about Tanechka Vorontsova? She left. She left. Why are you late?
I stood and was silent.
Dad said:
“We haven’t known peace for two weeks now.” We want to see tightrope walker T. Vorontsova, but she’s not there.
The controller said:
- Yes, she left... Together with her parents... Her parents are “Bronze People - Two-Yavors”. Maybe you've heard? It's a pity. We just left yesterday.
I said:
- You see, dad...
“I didn’t know she would leave.” What a pity... Oh my God!.. Well... Nothing can be done...
I asked the controller:
- Does this mean it’s true?
She said:
I said:
- Where, no one knows?
She said:
- To Vladivostok.
There you go. Far. Vladivostok.
I know it is located at the very end of the map, from Moscow to the right.
I said:
- What a distance.
The controller suddenly hurried:
- Well, go, go to your seats, the lights are already turning off!
Dad picked up:
- Let's go, Deniska! Now there will be lions! Shaggy, growling - horror! Let's run and watch!
I said:
- Let's go home, dad.
He said:
- Just like that...
The controller laughed. But we went to the wardrobe, and I handed over the number, and we got dressed and left the circus.
We walked along the boulevard and walked like this for quite a long time, then I said:
– Vladivostok is at the very end of the map. If you travel there by train, it will take you a whole month...
Dad was silent. Apparently he had no time for me. We walked a little more, and I suddenly remembered about airplanes and said:
- And on the TU-104 in three hours - and there!
But dad still didn’t answer. He held my hand tightly. When we went out onto Gorky Street, he said:
- Let's go to an ice cream parlor. Let's make two servings each, shall we?
I said:
- I don’t want something, dad.
– They serve water there, it’s called “Kakhetinskaya”. I have never drank better water anywhere in the world.
I said:
- I don’t want to, dad.
He didn't try to persuade me. He quickened his pace and squeezed my hand tightly. It even hurt me. He walked very quickly, and I could barely keep up with him. Why was he walking so fast? Why didn't he talk to me? I wanted to look at him. I raised my head. He had a very serious and sad face.
“It’s alive and glowing...”
One evening I sat in the yard, near the sand, and waited for my mother. She probably stayed late at the institute, or at the store, or maybe stood at the bus stop for a long time. Don't know. Only all the parents in our yard had already arrived, and all the kids went home with them and were probably already drinking tea with bagels and cheese, but my mother was still not there...
And now the lights began to light up in the windows, and the radio began to play music, and dark clouds moved in the sky - they looked like bearded old men...
And I wanted to eat, but my mother was still not there, and I thought that if I knew that my mother was hungry and was waiting for me somewhere at the end of the world, I would immediately run to her, and would not be late and not made her sit on the sand and get bored.
And at that time Mishka came out into the yard. He said:
- Great!
And I said:
- Great!
Mishka sat down with me and picked up the dump truck.
“Wow,” said Mishka. - Where did you get it?
Does he pick up sand himself? Not yourself? And he leaves on his own? Yes? What about the pen? What is it for? Can it be rotated? Yes? A? Wow! Will you give it to me at home?
I said:
- No I will not give. Present. Dad gave it to me before he left.
The bear pouted and moved away from me. It became even darker outside.
I looked at the gate so as not to miss when my mother came. But she still didn’t go. Apparently, I met Aunt Rosa, and they stand and talk and don’t even think about me. I lay down on the sand.
Here Mishka says:
- Can you give me a dump truck?
- Get off it, Mishka.
Then Mishka says:
– I can give you one Guatemala and two Barbados for it!
I speak:
– Compared Barbados to a dump truck...
- Well, do you want me to give you a swimming ring?
I speak:
- It's broken.
- You will seal it!
I even got angry:
- Where to swim? In the bathroom? On Tuesdays?
And Mishka pouted again. And then he says:
- Well, it wasn’t. Know my kindness. On the!
And he handed me a box of matches. I took it in my hands.
“You open it,” said Mishka, “then you will see!”
I opened the box and at first I didn’t see anything, and then I saw a small light green light, as if somewhere far, far away from me a tiny star was burning, and at the same time I was holding it in my hands.
“What is this, Mishka,” I said in a whisper, “what is this?”
“This is a firefly,” said Mishka. - What, good? He's alive, don't think about it.
“Bear,” I said, “take my dump truck, would you like it?” Take it forever, forever. Give me this star, I’ll take it home...
And Mishka grabbed my dump truck and ran home. And I stayed with my firefly, looked at it, looked and couldn’t get enough of it: how green it was, as if in a fairy tale, and how close it was, in the palm of my hand, but shining as if from afar... And I couldn’t breathe evenly, and I heard my heart beating and there was a slight tingling in my nose, as if I wanted to cry.
And I sat like that for a long time, a very long time.
And there was no one around. And I forgot about everyone in this world.
But then my mother came, and I was very happy, and we went home.
And when they started drinking tea with bagels and feta cheese, my mother asked:
- Well, how is your dump truck?
And I said:
- I, mom, exchanged it.
Mom said:
- Interesting. And for what?
I answered:
- To the firefly. Here he is, living in a box. Turn out the light!
And mom turned off the light, and the room became dark, and the two of us began to look at the pale green star.
Then mom turned on the light.
“Yes,” she said, “it’s magic.” But still, how did you decide to give such a valuable thing as a dump truck for this worm?
“I’ve been waiting for you for so long,” I said, “and I was so bored, but this firefly, it turned out to be better than any dump truck in the world.”
Mom looked at me intently and asked:
- And in what way, in what way is it better?
I said:
- How come you don’t understand?.. After all, he’s alive! And it glows!..
From top to bottom, diagonally!
That summer, when I was not yet going to school, our yard was being renovated. Bricks and boards lay everywhere, and in the middle of the yard there was a huge pile of sand. And we played “defeat the fascists near Moscow” on this sand, or made Easter cakes, or just played nothing.
We had a lot of fun, and we made friends with the workers and even helped them repair the house: once I brought the mechanic Uncle Grisha a full kettle of boiling water, and the second time Alyonka showed the fitters where our back door was. And we helped a lot more, but now I don’t remember everything.
And then somehow, imperceptibly, the repairs began to end, the workers left one after another, Uncle Grisha said goodbye to us by hand, gave me a heavy piece of iron and also left.
And instead of Uncle Grisha, three girls came into the yard. They were all very beautifully dressed: they wore men's long pants, smeared with different colors and completely hard. When these girls walked, their pants rattled like iron on a roof. And on their heads the girls wore hats made of newspapers. These girls were painters and were called the brigade. They were very cheerful and dexterous, loved to laugh and always sang the song “Lilies of the valley, lilies of the valley.” But I don't like this song. And Alyonka.
And Mishka doesn’t like it either. But we all loved watching how the girl painters worked and how everything turned out smoothly and neatly. We knew the entire brigade by name. Their names were Sanka, Raechka and Nellie.
And one day we approached them, and Aunt Sanya said:
- Guys, someone run and find out what time it is.
I ran, found out and said:
- Five minutes to twelve, Aunt Sanya...
She said:
- Sabbath, girls! I'm off to the dining room! - and left the yard.
And Aunt Rayechka and Aunt Nellie followed her to dinner.
And they left the barrel of paint. And a rubber hose too.
We immediately came closer and began to look at that part of the house where they were just now painting. It was very cool: smooth and brown, with a little redness. Mishka looked and looked, then said:
– I wonder if if I pump the pump, will the paint come out?
Alyonka says:
- I bet it won't work!
Then I say:
- But we bet it will go!
Here Mishka says:
- No need to argue. I'll try now. Deniska, hold the hose, and I’ll pump it.
And let's download. He pumped it two or three times, and suddenly paint started running out of the hose. She hissed like a snake, because at the end of the hose there was a cap with holes, like a watering can. Only the holes were very small, and the paint went on like cologne in a hairdresser's, you could barely see it.
The bear was delighted and shouted:
- Paint quickly! Hurry up and paint something!
I immediately took it and pointed the hose at a clean wall. The paint began to splatter, and immediately there was a light brown spot that looked like a spider.
- Hooray! - Alyonka screamed. - Let's go! Let's go! – and put her foot under the paint.
I immediately painted her leg from the knee to the toes. Right there, right before our eyes, no bruises or scratches became visible on the leg. On the contrary, Alyonka’s leg became smooth, brown, and shiny, like a brand new skittle.
The bear shouts:
- It’s working out great! Substitute the second one, quickly!
And Alyonka quickly put up her other leg, and I instantly painted her from top to bottom twice.
Then Mishka says:
- Good people, how beautiful! Legs just like a real Indian! Paint it quickly!
- All of it? Paint everything? From head to toe?
Here Alyonka squealed with delight:
- Come on, good people! Color from head to toe! I'll be a real turkey.
Then Mishka leaned on the pump and began pumping it all the way to Ivanovo, and I began pouring paint on Alyonka. I painted her wonderfully: her back, her legs, her arms, her shoulders, her stomach, and her panties. And she became all brown, only her white hair was sticking out.
I'm asking:
- Bear, what do you think, should I dye my hair?
Mishka answers:
- Well, of course! Paint quickly! Come on quickly!
And Alyonka hurries:
- Come on, come on! And come on the hair! And ears!
I quickly finished painting it and said:
- Go, Alyonka, dry off in the sun. Eh, what else could I paint?
– Do you see our laundry drying? Hurry up, let's paint!
Well, I dealt with this matter quickly! In just a minute I finished two towels and Mishka’s shirt in such a way that it was a joy to watch!
And Mishka got really excited, pumping the pump like a clockwork one. And he just shouts:
- Come on, paint! Come on quickly! There's a new door on the front door, come on, come on, paint it quickly!
And I moved to the door. Top down! Down up! From top to bottom, diagonally!
And then the door suddenly opened, and our house manager Alexey Akimych came out in a white suit.
He was completely dumbfounded. And me too. We both felt like we were under a spell. The main thing is that I water it and, in my fright, I can’t even think of moving the hose to the side, but just swing it from top to bottom, from bottom to top. And his eyes widened, and it didn’t occur to him to move even one step to the right or left...
And Mishka rocks and knows how to get along:
- Come on, paint, come on quickly!
And Alyonka dances from the side:
- I'm Indian! I'm Indian!
...Yes, we had a great time then. Bear washed his clothes for two weeks. Alyonka was washed in seven waters with turpentine...
They bought Alexey Akimych a new suit. But my mother didn’t want to let me into the yard at all. But I still went out, and Aunts Sanya, Raechka and Nelly said:
– Grow up, Denis, quickly, we’ll take you to our team. You will be a painter!
And since then I have been trying to grow faster.
Attention! This is an introductory fragment of the book.
If you liked the beginning of the book, then the full version can be purchased from our partner - the distributor of legal content, LitRes LLC.
Year of first publication: 1959
Since its first publication in 1959, Deniska’s Stories have been read by children throughout the then-huge country. These stories enchant not only children, but also adults with their simplicity and childlike spontaneity. Thanks to this, many of the stories in the series were filmed, and the main character of the stories, Denis Korablev, became the main character of several more films not based on Dragunsky’s stories.
The plot of the book "Deniska's Stories"
Victor Dragunsky's stories about Denis Korablev did not appear by chance. Just at the time the first stories were published, Dragunsky’s son, Denis, was 9 years old, and the author was fascinated by childhood using the example of his son. It was for him that he wrote most of the stories, and it was his son who was the main reviewer of all the works in the “Deniska’s Stories” series.
In a series of stories later collected in the collection “Deniska’s Stories”, the main character is first a preschooler, and then a junior school student - Deniska Korablev with his friend Mishka Slonov. They live in Moscow in the 60s. Thanks to their spontaneity and keen children's interest, they constantly get involved in various funny and interesting stories. Then Deniska will throw the semolina porridge out the window so that she and her mother can go to the Kremlin faster. Either he switches places with a boy at the circus and then flies with a clown under the circus big top, or even gives advice to his mother on how to cope with household chores. And many more, and many more interesting and funny stories.
But they loved reading Deniska’s stories largely for their kindness and instructiveness. After all, all of them end well, and after each of these adventures Deniska found a new rule for himself. All this is especially relevant in the current aggressive world, so it is not surprising that many parents read Dragunsky’s stories for their children.
“Deniska’s stories” on the Top books website
The presence of Deniska's Stories in the school curriculum further raises interest in the works. Such interest allowed the stories to take their rightful place in our rating, as well as to be represented among. And given that interest in the work has not yet waned, we will see Deniska’s Stories more than once in our book ratings. You can find out more about the stories collected in the collection “Deniska’s Stories” below.
All Deniska's stories
- Englishman Paul
- Watermelon Lane
- White finches
- Main rivers
- Goose throat
- Where has this been seen, where has this been heard...
- Twenty years under the bed
- Deniska is daydreaming
- Dymka and Anton
- Uncle Pavel the stoker
- Pets' corner
- Enchanted letter
- The smell of heaven and shag
- Healthy thought
- Green leopards
- And we!
- When I was a child
- Puss in Boots
- Red ball in the blue sky
- Chicken bouillon
- Motorcycle racing on a vertical wall
- My friend the bear
- There is a lot of traffic on Sadovaya
- You must have a sense of humor
- No bang, no bang!
- No worse than you circus people
- Independent Gorbushka
- Nothing can be changed
- One drop kills a horse
- It is alive and glowing...
- First day
- Before bedtime
- Spyglass
- A fire in the outbuilding, or a feat in the ice...
- Dog Thief
- The wheels sing - tra-ta-ta
- Adventure
- Professor of sour cabbage soup
- Workers crushing stone
- Talking Ham
- Tell me about Singapore
- Exactly 25 kilos
- Knights
- From top to bottom, diagonally!
- My sister Ksenia
- Blue dagger
- Glory to Ivan Kozlovsky
- Elephant and radio
- Lyalka the Elephant
- Death of the spy Gadyukin
- Battle of the Clear River
- The Ancient Mariner
- The secret becomes clear
- Quiet Ukrainian night...
- Third place in butterfly style
- C in behavior
- Amazing day
- teacher
- Fantômas
- Tricky way
- Man with blue face
- Chicky kick
- What does Mishka like?
- That I love…
- ...And what I don’t like!
- Grandmaster hat
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Deniskin's stories, Deniskin's stories watch
literary cycle
Victor Dragunsky
"Deniska's stories"- a series of stories by Soviet writer Viktor Dragunsky, dedicated to incidents from the life of a preschooler, and then a junior school student, Denis Korablev. Appearing in print since 1959, the stories became classics of Soviet children's literature, were republished many times and filmed several times. They were included in the list of “100 books for schoolchildren” compiled in 2012.
The prototype of the main character of the stories was the writer’s son Denis, and one of the stories mentions the birth of Denis’s younger sister Ksenia. As Yuri Nagibin wrote in his anniversary essay about Dragunsky, “Deniska’s Stories grew out of his immense love for his son, out of greedy attention to the world of childhood that opened up before him.”
- 1 Plot
- 2 Main characters
- 3 List of stories
- 4 Film adaptations
- 5 Productions
- 6 Exhibitions
- 7 See also
- 8 Notes
- 9 Links
Plot
The stories take place in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Moscow (for example, the events of the story “Amazing Day” occur on the day of German Titov’s flight into space).
Denis lives with his parents in the center of Moscow, on Karetny Ryad (“Adventure”), not far from the Circus (“No worse than you circus people”). This is an ordinary boy, with whom funny or curious incidents happen every now and then. So he pours his porridge out of the window in order to quickly go with his mother to the Kremlin, and when a citizen with a policeman comes to them, covered in porridge, he understands what his mother’s words “The secret becomes clear” (“The secret becomes clear”) mean. One day, while going to the circus, he sees an amazing girl on a ball, but the next time, when he brings his dad to look at her, he finds out that she went with her parents to Vladivostok (“Girl on a Ball”). another time at the circus, he accidentally changes places with another boy, as a result of which the clown Pencil grabs him and, swinging on a swing, takes him with him under the circus dome (“No worse than you circus people”). During a trip to the zoo, Shango the elephant almost eats his brand new radio. At a children's party at the Metalist club, Denis drinks a bottle of citro to gain up to 25 kilograms of weight and win a subscription to the Murzilka magazine, which he shares with his friend Mishka (“Exactly 25 kilos”). He begins to paint the entrance door with a hose left by the painters and gets so carried away that he paints not only the door, but also his neighbor Alyonka, and the suit of the house manager Alexei Akimych (“Top to bottom, diagonally!”). While playing hide and seek in a communal apartment, he climbs under the bed of his grandmother-neighbor, and when she closes and goes to bed, he is afraid that he will spend the rest of his life there (“Twenty Years Under the Bed”). He suggests that the mother, who complains about the mountains of dishes, wash only one utensil a day, and everyone will eat from it in turn (“The Tricky Way”).
Denis has a lot of adventures at school. She and Mishka are late for class, but they tell such different stories about the reason for their lateness that their cunning is immediately revealed (“A fire in the outbuilding, or a feat in the ice...”). At the carnival, Denis, with the help of Mishka, dresses up in a Puss in Boots costume, and then shares the prize with Mishka for the best costume (“Puss in Boots”). During a school trip to the cinema to see a film about the Reds and Whites, he encourages the boys of the class to “attack”, shooting from a toy pistol (“Battle of the Clear River”). During music lessons, he loves to sing and tries to do it as loudly as possible (“Glory to Ivan Kozlovsky”). He takes part in a school play behind the scenes, but loses the bell, and instead of hitting the chair with a board (pretending to be shot), he hits the cat (“Death of the Spy Gadyukin”). He forgets to study his lessons, as a result of which he cannot recite Nekrasov’s poem about a small peasant, and pronounces the name of the main river of America as Misi-pisi (“Main Rivers”)...
Main characters
| External images | |
|---|---|
| Victor Dragunsky with his son Denis | |
- Denis Korablev is a Moscow boy, in some stories he is still a preschooler, in some he is a student of 1st, 2nd or 3rd grade “B” (first an October boy, and then a pioneer).
- Denis's dad.
- Denis's mother.
- Mishka Slonov is Denis's classmate and best friend, his companion in most adventures.
- Kostya is a friend of Denis and Mishka.
- Alyonka is a girl younger than Denis and Mishka, Denis’s neighbor.
- Raisa Ivanovna is a school literature teacher.
- Boris Sergeevich is a school music teacher.
List of stories
- Englishman Paul
- Watermelon Lane
- White finches
- Main rivers
- Goose throat
- Where has this been seen, where has this been heard...
- Twenty years under the bed
- Girl on the Ball
- Deniska is daydreaming
- childhood friend
- Dymka and Anton
- Uncle Pavel the stoker
- Pets' corner
- Enchanted letter
- The smell of heaven and shag
- Healthy thought
- Green leopards
- And we!
- When I was a child
- Puss in Boots
- Red ball in the blue sky
- Chicken bouillon
- Motorcycle racing on a vertical wall
- My friend the bear
- There is a lot of traffic on Sadovaya
- You must have a sense of humor
- No bang, no bang!
- No worse than you circus people
- Independent Gorbushka
- Nothing can be changed
- One drop kills a horse
- It is alive and glowing...
- First day
- Before bedtime
- Spyglass
- A fire in the outbuilding, or a feat in the ice...
- Dog Thief
- The wheels sing - tra-ta-ta
- Adventure
- Professor of sour cabbage soup
- Workers crushing stone
- Talking Ham
- Tell me about Singapore
- Exactly 25 kilos
- Knights
- From top to bottom, diagonally!
- My sister Ksenia (New Year's gift)
- Blue dagger
- Glory to Ivan Kozlovsky
- Elephant and radio
- Lyalka the Elephant
- Death of the spy Gadyukin
- Battle of the Clear River
- The Ancient Mariner
- The secret becomes clear
- Quiet Ukrainian night...
- Third place in butterfly style
- C in behavior
- Amazing day
- teacher
- Fantômas
- Tricky way
- Man with blue face
- Chicky kick
- What does Mishka like?
- That I love…
- ...And what I don’t like!
- Grandmaster hat
Film adaptations
Several films were made based on Deniska's Stories in the 1960s and 1970s, including two two-part television films:
- 1962 - Funny stories
- 1966 - Girl on the ball
- 1970 - Magic power (short story “Avengers from 2nd B”)
- 1970 - Deniska’s stories (from four short stories)
- 1973 - Where has it been seen, where has it been heard (short film)
- 1973 - Captain (short)
- 1973 - Spyglass (short film)
- 1973 - Fire in the outbuilding (short film)
- 1974 - Glory of Ivan Kozlovsky (short film, in the film magazine “Yeralash”)
- 1976 - In secret around the world (2 episodes)
- 1979 - The amazing adventures of Denis Korablev (2 episodes)
Productions
Performances based on the stories of the cycle were repeatedly staged in theaters. In addition, in 1993, the Ural composer Maxim Basok created the children's musical “Deniska's Stories” (more than 20 versions of productions with different combinations of four stories, libretto by Boris Borodin). On April 5, 2014, the premiere of the play “Deniska’s Stories” took place, staged by the Theater Company “KrisArt”, on the stage of the Palace of Culture named after. Zueva.
Exhibitions
- In January-February 2013, the State Literary Museum hosted an exhibition “Denis Korablev and others” about the family and books of Victor Dragunsky, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the author. The exhibition was attended by Denis and Ksenia Dragunsky, more than 50 works by the permanent illustrator of Dragunsky’s books and his friend Veniamin Losin were presented.
see also
- “Little Nicolas” - a French series of funny stories about a schoolboy boy
Notes
- V. I. Abramova. DRAGUNSKY, Viktor Yuzefovich // Brief literary encyclopedia: 9 volumes - T. 2: Gavrilyuk - Zulfigar Shirvani / Ch. ed. A. A. Surkov. - M.: Sov. encycl., 1964.
- Alla Dragunskaya. About Victor Dragunsky. Life, creativity, memories of friends. M.: “Chemistry and Life”, 1999. - P. 102.
- Works for musical theater: operas, musicals
- The author of Deniska's Stories, composer Maxim Basok, celebrates his anniversary
- Gala evening dedicated to the exhibition “Denis Korablev and others”
- “Denis Korablev and others” To the 100th anniversary of Victor Dragunsky
Links
- Website dedicated to stories about Denis Korablev
- A selection of illustrations for stories by various artists
- Deniska's stories - He's alive... (excerpt from the musical by M. A. Bask, mp3)
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