The main idea of the story is a scarecrow. Composition based on the story by V. Zheleznikov "Scarecrow"

Summary Grandfather Nikolai Nikolaevich Bessoltsev dreamed of returning to his home, which was his life and cradle. And after 30 years, he still managed to fulfill his dream. The main value of the Bessoltsev family was their collection of paintings. N.N. he collected some paintings himself, bought one from a neighbor for 300 rubles, which caused public bewilderment. The old man's nickname was "The Patchmaker" because all his clothes were patched. But N.N. said that for him the events associated with the same torn coat are much more important than the appearance of the thing. And so his granddaughter Lena Bessoltseva was brought to his grandfather. She was a clumsy, lanky teenager. A mobile face was adorned with a large mouth, which almost never left a benevolent smile. She looked with curiosity in all four directions of the world. When Lena comes to her new 6th grade, classmates, although they smile in her face, make it clear by their behavior that they despise her, laugh at her eccentricity. The class gives her the nickname "Scarecrow", which Lena tries not to be offended by.

The teacher Margarita Ivanovna - she has all the thoughts about the wedding and the groom. She almost does not notice what is happening in Mironov's "Iron Button" class - the girl, in fact, the leader of the class, never retreats, always steadfastly goes towards her goal. She has everything according to the law and one account for everyone: you do not live by the truth - retribution, no one will escape the answer. “Shaggy” is a strongman of the class, who believes that the most important thing in a person is strength. Shmakova - the first beauty in the class, an intriguer, never does what is unprofitable for her. Popov - Shmakova's henpecked, looking into her mouth Valka - a boy from a poor family, so I'm sure that happiness is a lot of money. For a ruble, he carries stray dogs to the knacker. Once, when Lena and Dima noticed him and released the puppy, Valka called for help from his brother Petka, from whom Dima got a hard hit. Red - a boy who does not have his own opinion. “Everyone beats and he beats, everyone laughs and laughs.” But in fact, he dreams of breaking out to Moscow to his father. Vasiliev is the quietest boy in the class, who constantly gets hit by the guys. He is the only one who does not mock Lena. Dima Somov is a boy from a wealthy family, with whom almost all the girls in the class are in love, enjoying great prestige in the class. Only Dima Somov provides newcomer support. Dima saved Lena from his classmates more than once. Therefore, now it has become like this: where Dima goes, Lena goes there, what Dima does, Lenka does too. Soon friendship develops into love. And everything would be fine if not for Dima's cowardice.

For the autumn holidays, the children had to go to Moscow. Everyone approved Dima's proposal to earn money for the trip, and soon the amount was collected. But on the last day of school, instead of the last lesson, the children decided to go to the cinema. Dima was against it at first, but realizing that his authority could fall, he himself led the escape. When everyone secretly goes outside, it turns out that Dima left a piggy bank in the classroom, in which money for the trip was kept. Lena volunteers to bring it, but she stumbles and falls. Dimka, calling her a fool, rushes to school. Lena follows him, but at the door of the classroom she hears their class teacher Margarita Ivanovna asking Dima where they all fled. At some point, she calls him a coward, and Dima, unable to stand it, betrays the secret. Lena hears all this, hiding behind the door, but neither she nor Dima know that at that moment Shmakova and Popov are hiding in the classroom under the desk, but then they will prefer not to interfere in the disassembly of the guys, but to see what will happen next. As punishment for absenteeism, the guys canceled a trip to Moscow. The guys decide to find and punish the culprit, and Lena, seeing Dima's indecision, wants to help him and takes the blame, as a result of which she becomes an outcast. All the students boycott her, mock her at every opportunity, chase her around like a hare. One evening, when Lenka was alone, Dimka was forced to scare her with a bear's head. But Lena forgave him. Then, when the dress was stolen from her, Dima promised to return it and confess everything, but when the guys threw the dress in a circle and it was Dima's turn, he, smiling in the face of Lena, standing with outstretched hand, threw the dress to the next ...

Finally, Lena's hope, faith and love for Dima are shattered when he joins his classmates in order to protect himself, and participates in the burning of an effigy symbolizing Lena. This fire was the last straw. Lena shaves her head to prove that she is no longer afraid of anyone and nothing, and goes to Dima's birthday party. The children are amazed at her appearance, they believed that they defeated her. It also reveals that Valka is a flayer and that Shaggy's father was beaten up by a gang of Valko's brother. The children were angry with each other. And Popov, seeing that things have gone too far, betrays Dima. The attitude towards Dima and Lena has changed dramatically: Dima is hated because he is twice a traitor, and Lenka is loved and respected. But she doesn't want to go to that school anymore, she doesn't want to see these people. On the offer of the Iron Button to arrange a boycott of Dima, Lena refuses. She knows what it's like to be an outcast and wouldn't wish that on anyone. In this, Lena was supported at first only by Red, and then by the whole class. Lena's grandfather left his collection of paintings as a gift to the city, and gave the school his favorite painting "Masha", which depicts a girl, very similar to Lena. The Bessoltsevs left on the ship. When they began to sort out this whole conflict, the children told the teacher about everything. Margarita Ivanovna suddenly realized that a monstrous story had happened, that Lena was counting on her help. And she forgot everything. Her own insignificance - that's what now occupied her imagination ... What a stupid, petty egoist she turned out to be. I forgot everything because of my own happiness. In conclusion, when they see the portrait, the children write on the blackboard: “Scarecrow, forgive us!”.

Problems of the story Betrayal: why is a person able to betray a friend? Dima Somov, afraid to answer for his offense before the class and lose authority, betrayed his only true friend - Lena Bessoltseva. Cowardice Relationships between children: why are children cruel to each other? Lena Bessoltseva stood out from the rest of the children. She was not as embittered and vile as the rest, did not plot. Therefore, the children wanted to assert themselves by humiliating Lena Intergenerational relationships: why does the younger generation disrespect the older one? Children called N. N. "Patcher", were rude to him, stole apples from him

What suffering people go through... Lena endured a lot of humiliation and suffering, but thanks to this, she became stronger in spirit and realized that instead of running away, you always need to fight. Irresponsibility of the teacher: why does the teacher, because of his own happiness, not notice anything around? Due to the fact that all the thoughts of Margarita Ivanovna were occupied by one groom, she could not keep track of what was going on in her class. Margarita Ivanovna's thoughts were occupied only by the groom. Therefore, Lena's hope for her help flew to pieces. Love for the native land N.N.'s family home was not just a home for the old man, but his life and cradle. Preservation of memory N. for many years collected paintings created by his ancestors. For Bessoltsev, they were the most important value.

About books by Vladimir Zheleznikov

There are children's books in which only kids or teenagers act, and dads and mothers, grandparents, educators and teachers are completely absent, as if they were not in sight. You read such works and wonder: where did the authors see the children's world existing in complete isolation from parents and relatives, from the whole big world?! Even during quarantine in a kindergarten or boarding school, children do not live apart from adults, because they cannot do without the help of doctors and educators, without parental care. And it is completely in vain that some people believe that one should talk with a small reader only about small, purely childish activities and experiences.

“To live life is not to cross a field,” says folk wisdom. Many different surprises, joyful and sad, lie in wait for yesterday's schoolboy, setting off on his first independent journey, and woe to those who are accustomed to looking at the big world as a smooth and even platform for entertainment, have about it a light bookish and, I would say, operetta performance. We must be ready to rebuff everything that interferes with justice, happiness.

This is what a truly kind and smart children's book teaches its reader, truthfully revealing to a teenager the complexities and contradictions of life, warning him against possible troubles and mistakes.

It is these books that many children's writers write, who in their work strive in all truthfulness, without embellishment and simplification, openly and honestly, in living images, to show the young reader the organic relationship of the world of children with the world of adults, where life does not always flow so blissfully and harmoniously. , as we would like, and where it is necessary on both sides to constantly show maximum reasonable efforts, mutual understanding and sensitivity.

Among these writers is Vladimir Karpovich Zheleznikov. His first book, Colored Stories, was published in 1960. Having experienced a difficult life fate, scorched by the flames of war, the writer freshly and soulfully reproduced in his stories what he experienced and learned personally, led a bold and frank conversation with the reader about the ideological and moral development of a child’s personality, about the ability to defend honor and justice in any conditions, to feel only his own, but also someone else's pain. As an epigraph to Zheleznikov's stories, the words of Lev Kassil would be very suitable: “Remember - you are not alone. There are other people in the world besides you, and they need your kindness, understanding, courage, your protection and help.”

In fact, this writer's call - to live in good conscience, to stand up for the weak and undeservedly offended - has become the leitmotif of all the work of Vladimir Zheleznikov. In his second collection, Good Morning to Good People (1961), he sounded especially strong and impressive. The author reveals to the reader the core of the still unsettled character of the boy Vasil, the son of Jehovist Magda: with the help of his older Komsomol comrades, Vasil decisively breaks with the religious sect and becomes a pioneer (the story "May a man help!"). It shows in all its complexity the fate of another young hero - little Tolik, whose father died at the front, and he fearlessly defends his father's honor from false slander, strictly defining his attitude towards people according to one principle: “Whoever believes in dad is good, who doesn’t is bad (story "Good morning to good people"). It introduces us to young characters who find themselves in a serious and seemingly hopeless situation, but who find the strength and courage to suppress fear and cowardice in themselves, to overcome temporary spiritual weakness, their delusions (the stories "Lost" and "Leader"). Each story is permeated with faith in a person, in his good inclinations and opportunities. It is noteworthy in this collection, as well as in the books published later - "Traveling with Luggage" (1963), "White Steamboats" (1964), "Everyone Dreams of a Dog" (1968), the author's ability to pose and artistically solve the most complex problems that cause interest not only for children, but also for adults.

These books seem to have two layers. One is for the young reader, the other is for the adult. They do not oppose each other, but form a single, integral narrative basis. At the same time, the work does not lose its children's specificity, the distinctive properties inherent only in children's literature. The writer tells the teenage reader about difficult things very simply, intelligibly and truthfully, conducts a serious conversation without humiliating himself in front of the child, artistically deeply reveals the essence of phenomena, the inconsistency of other human characters and dramatic events.

Young readers absorb from Zheleznikov's books what is new, necessary and instructive for them, will help to find the answer to the most difficult questions, and adults pay attention primarily to the peculiarity of child psychology, with the utmost accuracy, subtly and nakedly conveyed by the author, draw in the work broad knowledge about the secrets of adolescence, wanting not only to understand the peculiarity of the behavior and mentality of a teenager, but also to learn the ability to find a common language with him.

In "The Eccentric from the Sixth" B "" - the most cheerful pioneer story by Vladimir Zheleznikov - there is a serious discussion not only about how children should grow up, but also how adults should act in this or that case, the theme of human relations is posed and deeply developed in family, at school, in everyday life.

But, perhaps, the writer explores this problem with the greatest completeness and strength in the story Scarecrow (1981), where the drama of the events described reaches its highest intensity, involving children and adults in an acute conflict situation.

Completely devoid of any artificial plot constructions, to the limit reliable and genuine, the story uncompromisingly, severely and directly reveals to the young reader the complex spiritual world, the tragic fate of the sixth grader Lenka Bessoltseva, who came to live with her grandfather in an old Russian town on the banks of the Oka.

So the girl ended up in a new school where no one knew her. But on the other hand, everyone knew her grandfather, Nikolai Nikolaevich, selflessly devoted to art. He spent his last savings and pension on the purchase of paintings by his ancestor, a serf artist, while he himself wore an old, patched overcoat and received for this from the boys the offensive nickname Patchworker. Only a little later will they understand that Bessoltsev-grandfather, whom everyone considered an eccentric poor man, actually possessed innumerable spiritual riches, was an excellent connoisseur of painting, history, lived an intense life filled with high patriotic aspirations. The guys will reconsider their attitude towards Bessoltseva, the granddaughter, whom they themselves once gave with frivolous haste an even more offensive and undeserved nickname - Scarecrow. They will understand their mistake only when events, having heated up to the limit, suddenly take a completely unexpected turn, and the one who was considered a traitor turns out to be right, and the main blame will fall on a person with an impeccable, it would seem, reputation, who was, in the language of lawyers, "beyond suspicion."

Reading the finale of the story, we will certainly remember its beginning, open the first page again and read the words that immediately, at the first reading, filled our hearts with anxiety, the expectation of some terrible events, a keen desire to quickly understand the situation that plunged Lenka Bessoltseva into despair that forced her to flee from her grandfather's city, from her classmates:

“Lenka rushed along the narrow, intricately humpbacked streets of the town, not noticing anything in her path.

... Just think what they did to her! And for what?!”

The reader, alarmed by the tragedy of the girl from the opening pages of the story, closely follows the development of the action, trying, like Lenka, to find the answer to this desperate question: “For what?” The narrative brings the reader back, gradually, day after day, resurrecting the story of Lenka's life in a small town "somewhere between Kaluga and Serpukhov", introducing us to the participants in unhappy events, the echo of which, "like a bell ringing, still hovered over the town for a long time, responding to in different ways in the lives of those people who were involved in them.

The conflict, which abruptly changed Lenka's fate, makes the reader think about many important problems of moral life, first of all, human honor and justice. Lenka was out of favor with her classmates. They, without any reason, accused the girl of betrayal, declared a boycott on her and even threatened to beat her, humiliated her dignity in every possible way. And she, driven to a frenzy by ridicule, takes someone else's guilt upon herself, saves her faithful, as it seemed to her, friend Dimka Somov from dishonor. In her heart, she hoped that the smart, fair Dimka himself would confess everything, restore justice in relation to her. But the friend turned out to be a cowardly and cowardly person. He did not have the courage to immediately confess his misdeed, to save Lenka from malicious slander. He was silent for too long, and when events took a critical turn, he committed a dirtier betrayal - he went over to the side of the girl's enemies. And this led to the collapse of Lena's last hopes, the loss of trust in Dimka, in the entire team. In the end, classmates will find out who is right and who is wrong, they will understand and highly appreciate the nobility of Lenka Bessoltseva and express their contempt for Dimka Somov - for his spiritual cowardice, for duplicity. The truth will prevail, but it's too late. The pain caused by human injustice and cruelty will not subside in the girl's heart. This is not forgotten.

Sharp, sometimes even heated to a deep tragedy, the story "Scarecrow" warns the young reader against haste in judgments about this or that member of the team, teaches a careful, sensitive attitude towards each person. The writer condemns cruelty and unscrupulousness, heartlessness and callousness, resolutely defends the high moral laws of human nobility and compassion, chivalrous attitude towards people.

“And longing, such a desperate longing for human purity, for selfless courage and nobility, captured their hearts more and more and demanded a way out,” the author says at the end of the story about his young heroes, for whom the events described in the book were serious moral lesson for life.

The same good feelings awaken in the reader not only the story "Scarecrow", but also all other books by Vladimir Zheleznikov. They learn to feel someone else's pain as their own.

V. L. Razumnevich

Scarecrow
Tale

Chapter first

Lenka rushed along the narrow, intricately humpbacked streets of the town, not noticing anything in her path.

Past one-story houses with lace curtains on the windows and high crosses of television antennas - up! ..

Past long fences and gates, with cats on their ledges and angry dogs at the gates - down!..

The jacket was unbuttoned, in the eyes of despair, an almost indistinct whisper flew from the lips:

- Grandfather! .. Dear! .. Let's leave! Let's go! Let's go! .. - She sobbed as she walked. – Forever!.. From evil people!.. Let them gnaw each other!.. Wolves!.. Jackals!.. Foxes!.. Grandpa!..

- That's abnormal! the people she knocked down shouted after her. - It flies like a motorcycle!

Lenka ran up the street in one breath, as if she was taking a run to take off into the sky. She really would like to immediately fly over this town - and away from here, away! Somewhere where joy and peace awaited her.

Then she quickly rolled down, as if she wanted to blow her head off. She really was ready for some desperate act, not sparing herself.

Just think what they did to her! And for what?!

Chapter Two

Lenkin's grandfather, Nikolai Nikolayevich Bessoltsev, had been living for several years in his own house in an old Russian town on the banks of the Oka, somewhere between Kaluga and Serpukhov.

It was a town, of which there are only a few dozen left on our land. He was over eight hundred years old. Nikolai Nikolaevich knew well, highly appreciated and loved his history, which, as if alive, rose before him when he wandered along its streets, along the steep banks of the river, along the picturesque surroundings with ancient mounds overgrown with dense bushes of honeysuckle and birch.

The town has experienced more than one disaster in its history.

Here, just above the river, on the ruins of an old settlement, there used to be a princely court, and the Russian squad fought to the death with countless hordes of khan's soldiers, armed with bows and curved sabers, who shouted: “That Rus! That Russia! .. ”- on their undersized strong horses they tried to cross from the opposite bank to this one in order to defeat the squad and break through to Moscow.

And the Patriotic War of 1812 touched the town with its sharp corner. Kutuzov's army then crossed it with a string of soldiers and refugees, wagons, horses, light and heavy artillery with all kinds of mortars and howitzers, with spare carriages and field forges, turning the already thin local roads into a continuous mess. And then, along the same roads, Russian soldiers with incredible, almost inhuman courage, not sparing their lives, day and night, without rest, drove the exhausted French back, although it was completely incomprehensible where they got their strength from. After such a long retreat, famine and epidemics.

And the reflection of the conquest of the Caucasus by the Russians touched the town - somewhere here in great sorrow lived the captive Shamil and the highlanders who accompanied him. They loitered along the narrow streets, and their insane yearning gaze searched in vain for a range of mountains on the horizon.

And the first imperialist one, like a storm, took away all the men from the town and returned them half crippled - armless, legless, but angry and fearless. Freedom was dearer to them than their own lives. It was they who brought the revolution to this quiet, small town.

Then, many years later, the Nazis came - and a wave of fires, gallows, executions and brutal devastation swept through.

But time passed, the war ended, and the town was reborn again. He now stood, as before, sweepingly and freely on several hills, which, in steep precipices, approached the wide bend of the river.

On one of these hills stood the house of Nikolai Nikolaevich - an old one, built of strong logs, completely blackened with time. Its austere, simple mezzanine with rectangular windows was intricately decorated with four balconies overlooking all directions of the world.

The black house, with its spacious, windswept terrace, was nothing like the gay, multicolored houses of the neighbors. He stood out on this street, as if a stern gray-haired raven had fallen into a flock of canaries or bullfinches.

The Bessoltsevs' house had long stood in the town. Maybe over a hundred years.

In dashing years, it was not burned.

It was not confiscated during the revolution, because it was protected by the name of Dr. Bessoltsev, father of Nikolai Nikolaevich. He, like almost every doctor from the old Russian town, was a respected person here. Under the Nazis, he set up a hospital for German soldiers in the house, and at that time the wounded Russians lay in the basement, and the doctor treated them with German medicines. For this, Dr. Bessoltsev was shot, right here, in the middle of his wide courtyard.

This time the house was saved by the swift offensive of the Soviet Army.

So the house stood for itself and stood, always crowded with people, although the men of the Bessoltsevs, as was customary, went to different wars and did not always return.

Many of them remained lying somewhere in obscure mass graves, which are scattered like mournful hills everywhere in Central Russia, and in the Far East, and in Siberia, and in many other places of our earth.

Before the arrival of Nikolai Nikolaevich, a lonely old woman lived in the house, one of the Bessoltsevs, to whom relatives came less and less often - no matter how insulting it was, the Bessoltsev family partly scattered across Russia, and partly died in the struggle for freedom. But nevertheless, the house continued to live its own life, until one day all its doors opened at once and several men silently, slowly and awkwardly carried out of it in their arms the coffin with the body of a dry old woman and carried it to the local cemetery. After that, the neighbors boarded up the doors and windows of the Bessoltsevo house, clogged the vents so that the house would not become damp in winter, nailed two planks to the gate with a cross, and left.

For the first time the house was deaf and blind.

It was then that Nikolai Nikolaevich appeared, who had not been in the town for more than thirty years.

He had only recently buried his wife, and after that he himself fell seriously ill.

Nikolai Nikolaevich was not afraid of death and treated it naturally and simply, but he wanted to get to his home without fail. And this passionate desire helped him overcome the disease, get back on his feet in order to move on. Nikolai Nikolaevich dreamed of being surrounded by old walls, where long, sleepless nights, strings of long-forgotten and ever-memorable faces would flash before him.

But was it worth it to come back for the sake of it, to see and hear it all for a moment, and then lose it forever?

"How else?" - he thought and went to his native land.

In the terrible hours of his last illness, in this loneliness, and also in those days when he was literally dying from military wounds, when there was no strength to move his tongue, and a temporary strip of alienation appeared between him and people, Nikolai Nikolayevich’s head worked distinctly and purposefully. He somehow especially acutely felt how important it was for him not to break the thin thread connecting him with the past, that is, with eternity ...

For a whole year before his arrival, the house stood boarded up. It was poured with rain, there was snow on the roof, and no one cleaned it off, so the roof, which had not been painted for a long time, was leaky and rusted in many places. And the steps of the main porch are completely rotten.

When Nikolai Nikolayevich saw his street and his house, his heart began to pound so hard that he was afraid that he would not make it. He stood for several minutes, caught his breath, crossed the street with a firm military step, resolutely tore the cross from the gate, entered the yard, found an ax in the shed and began to tear the boards from the boarded up windows with it.

Furiously working with an ax, forgetting for the first time about a sick heart, he thought: the main thing is to chop off the boards, open the doors, open the windows so that the house begins to live its permanent life.

Nikolai Nikolaevich finished his work, looked around and saw that behind him, mournfully folded their arms on their chests, stood several women discussing him, wondering which of the Bessoltsevs it could be. But they were all still so young that they could not know Nikolai Nikolayevich. Catching his eye, the women smiled, burning with curiosity and the desire to talk to him, but he silently nodded to everyone, took the suitcase and hid in the doorway.

Nikolai Nikolaevich didn’t speak to anyone, not because he was so unsociable, it was just that every vein trembled inside him when he met the house, which was not just a house for him, but his life and cradle.

From memory, the house always seemed to him large, spacious, smelling of warm oven air, hot bread, fresh milk, and freshly washed floors. And even when Nikolai Nikolayevich was a little boy, he always thought that not only “living people” lived in their house, not only grandmother, grandfather, father, mother, brothers and sisters, countless uncles and aunts coming and going, but also and those that were in the pictures hanging on the walls in all five rooms.

They were women and men in homespun clothes, with calm and stern faces.

Ladies and gentlemen in fancy costumes.

Women in dresses embroidered with gold with trains, with sparkling diadems in high hairstyles. Men in dazzling white, blue, green uniforms with high standing collars, boots with gold and silver spurs.

A portrait of the famous General Raevsky, in full dress uniform, with numerous orders, hung in the most prominent place.

And this feeling that "people from the pictures" actually live in their house never left him, even when he became an adult, although it may be strange.

It is difficult to explain why this happened, but, being in the most difficult alterations, in death agony, on the hard bloody work of the war, he, remembering the house, thought not only about his relatives who inhabited it, but also about “people from the pictures”, whom he never knew.

The fact is that the great-great-grandfather of Nikolai Nikolayevich was an artist, and his father, Dr. Bessoltsev, gave many years of his life to collect his paintings. And for as long as Nikolay Nikolaevich could remember himself, these paintings always occupied the main place in their house.

Nikolai Nikolayevich opened the door with some apprehension: what if something irreparably changed there? And he was right - the walls of the house were empty, all the pictures disappeared!

The house smelled of dampness and mustiness. There were cobwebs on the ceiling and in the corners. Numerous spiders and spiders, paying no attention to him, continued their painstaking skillful work.

The field mouse, having found shelter in an abandoned house, like a circus tightrope walker, several times merrily ran along the wire, which remained on the window from the curtains.

The furniture was shifted from its usual places and covered with old covers.

Fear and horror took possession of Nikolai Nikolaevich to an extreme degree - just think, the pictures disappeared! He tried to take a step, but slipped and barely stood: the floor was covered with a thin layer of light frost. Then he glided on, as if on skis, leaving long tracks all over the house.

Another room!

There were no pictures anywhere!

And only then did Nikolai Nikolayevich remember: his sister had written to him in one of her last letters that she had taken all the pictures, wrapped them in sackcloth and folded them on the mezzanine in the driest room.

Nikolai Nikolaevich, restraining himself, entered this room, climbed onto the mezzanine and with trembling hands began to pull out one picture after another, fearing that they were dead, frozen or damp.

But a miracle happened - the paintings were alive.

He thought of his sister with great tenderness, imagining how she took pictures, hid them to keep. How she, weak, shriveled over the years, neatly packed each picture. Apparently, she worked all day long for more than one month, pierced all her hands with a needle, while sewing up a coarse burlap. Once she fell off the bed - yes, she wrote to him about this too - she lay down and packed again until she finished her last work in her life.

Now that the paintings were found, Nikolai Nikolaevich took up the house. First of all, he fired up the stoves, and when the glass of the windows fogged up, he opened them wide so that the dampness would come out of the house. And he himself put everything and put firewood in the stove, enchanted by the flame and the roar of fire. Then he washed the walls, brought a stepladder, reached the ceilings, and finally, changing the water several times, carefully scraped the floors, floorboard after floorboard.

Gradually, with all his being, Nikolai Nikolayevich felt the warmth of his native stoves and the familiar smell of his native home - he joyfully turned his head.

For the first time in recent years, Nikolai Nikolayevich sighed with relief and bliss.

It was then that he removed the covers from the furniture and arranged it. And finally hung the pictures... Each in its place.

Nikolai Nikolaevich looked around, thought: what else can I do? - and suddenly realized that he most of all wanted to sit in his father's old armchair, which was called by the magic word "Voltaire". As a child, he was not allowed to do this, but how he wanted to climb on it with his feet! ..

Nikolai Nikolaevich slowly sank into an armchair, leaned back against the soft back, leaned on the armrests, and sat like that for who knows how long. Maybe an hour, maybe three, maybe the rest of the day and all night...

The house came to life, spoke, sang, sobbed ... Many people entered the room and surrounded Nikolai Nikolayevich with a ring.

Nikolai Nikolaevich thought about different things, but each time he returned to his secret dream. He thought that when he died, his son and his family would live here.

And I saw with my own eyes how the son enters the house. And of course, invisible particles of the past will pierce and warm his body, pulsate with blood, and he will never be able to forget his home. Even if he goes on one of his expeditions, where he will look for the rarest flowers, climbing high into the mountains and risking falling into the abyss, only to look at a barely noticeable pale blue flower on a thin stem that grows on the very edge of a sheer cliff.

No, Nikolai Nikolaevich just understood: one must certainly risk one's life, otherwise what kind of life is this - it's some kind of senseless sleeping and eating. But still, he dreamed that his son would return home or return to leave again, as the other Bessoltsevs did in different years on different occasions.

When he woke up, the rays of the sun swirled like a rainbow cloud in the house and fell on the portrait of General Raevsky. And then Nikolai Nikolaevich remembered how in his childhood he caught the first rays of the sun in the same picture, and laughed sadly and cheerfully, thinking that life had irrevocably passed.

Nikolai Nikolaevich went out onto the porch and saw that the sun had illuminated the balcony, which faced east, and moved to make another ring around the house.

He took an ax, found a planer and a saw, selected some boards to repair the porch. How long he had not done this, although it is clear that this work firmly “sat” in his hands. He did everything not very skillfully, but with great willingness: he liked to hold an ordinary board, he liked to slide along it with a planer, and the bustle of the city of many recent years invisibly left his consciousness.

The house will thank him for this, thought Nikolai Nikolayevich, and he will thank the house.

Then Nikolai Nikolaevich climbed onto the roof, and a sheet of iron, lifted by the wind, hit him on the back so hard that he almost knocked him off the roof - he miraculously resisted ...

Here for the first time he felt an acute hunger, such he had only in his youth, when he could lose consciousness from hunger. And no wonder. Nikolai Nikolaevich did not know how much time had passed, how he arrived, did not remember what he ate and whether he went to bed. He worked around the house and did not notice the flashing of short winter days. He did not distinguish early morning from late evening.

Nikolai Nikolaevich went to the market, bought sauerkraut, potatoes, dry black mushrooms and cooked sour mushroom cabbage soup. Ate two plates and went to bed.

He got up, still not feeling the time, ate again, laughed loudly, catching himself thinking that he recognized his father’s laughter in the intonations of his laughter, and for some reason went to bed again ...

Several years have passed since then, and Nikolai Nikolayevich forgot about his illnesses. He lived, lived, and felt that he had become hardy, like a strong old tree well watered by spring rain.

Every now and then he was seen, beyond his age, swiftly running along the crooked streets of the town, first in one direction, then in the other, apparently without any business, although sometimes he carried something wrapped in cloth - then his face glowed with inspiration and younger.

Those who were considered knowledgeable gossiped that he was looking for some paintings. He spends a lot of money on them, and gives the rest, all without a trace, for firewood. And drowns - just think! - all ovens every day, and in frosts and twice, so that these paintings of his do not become damp. And always for some reason at night, turning on the light in all the rooms.

How much money did he waste in vain: a light smoke through the chimneys into the sky, a bright light of electricity at night, and most importantly, on new paintings - he had few of his own!

That's why the goal is like a falcon.

In the town they treated Nikolai Nikolaevich with wary attention.

The way he lived was incomprehensible and inaccessible to the townspeople, but many aroused respect. And by the way, people got used to the fact that the Bessoltsevs' house shone at night and became a kind of beacon in the town, a guide for belated travelers returning home from afar in the dark.

At night, the house was like a candle in an impenetrable darkness.

Neighbors might think about Nikolai Nikolaevich that he was terribly lonely and therefore unhappy. He always wandered around the town alone, in the unchanged cap, which he wore, pushed low on his forehead, and in a shabby overcoat with large, neat patches on the elbows.

For this, the children teased him as a “patcher”, but it seems that he did not even notice them. Rarely, rarely, he suddenly turned around and looked after them with undisguised surprise. Then they swiftly rushed away from him, although he never cursed or chased after them.

If they entered into idle conversations with him, he answered in monosyllables and quickly walked away, ruffling like a bird in the cold.

But once Nikolai Nikolaevich appeared on the streets of the town not alone. He was accompanied by a girl of about twelve, some unusually important and proud, unlike himself. He stopped with every cross-counter and uttered the same phrase, pointing to the girl: "And this is Lena ... - And after an impressive pause, he added: - My granddaughter." Well, as if next to him was not a girl, but some world-famous figure.

And his granddaughter, Lenka, every time was desperately embarrassed and did not know where to go.

She was an awkward teenager, still a calf on long legs, with the same long ridiculous arms. Her shoulder blades protruded from her back like wings. A mobile face was adorned with a large mouth, from which a benevolent smile almost never left. And her hair was braided into two tight ropes.

On the very first day of her appearance in the town, Lenka appeared a hundred times on each of the four balconies and looked with curiosity at all four cardinal points. She was equally interested in north and south, east and west.

The life of Nikolai Nikolaevich after the arrival of Lenka almost did not change. True, now Lenka ran to the store for cottage cheese and milk, and he himself occasionally bought meat at the bazaar, which he had never bought before.

In autumn, Lenka went to the sixth grade.

It was then that this story happened, which forever made the Bessoltsevs - Nikolai Nikolaevich and Lenka - famous people. The echo of these events, like the ringing of bells, hovered over the town for a long time, reverberating differently in the lives of those people who were involved in them.

Goals:

To show what child cruelty is, its origins, what it can lead to.
To form the ability to give a detailed description of a literary hero.
Cultivate kindness and compassion in students.

Equipment:

Texts of V. Zheleznikov's story "Scarecrow";
Portraits of the heroes of the story "Scarecrow" by V. Zheleznikov, illustrations for the work.
Fragments of the film R. Bykov "Scarecrow".

During the classes

I. Introduction by the teacher.

Guys, I think that, probably, every person in life has to face cruelty at least once. Children are often convinced that cruelty is only for adults. It turns out that this is not always the case. Sometimes in the younger generation there is such a force of cruelty that it becomes scary ... It is this problem, the problem of child cruelty, that is reflected in V. Zheleznikov's story "Scarecrow".

It should be noted that the writer turned to the issue of child cruelty not by chance. The story is autobiographical: a similar event occurred in the life of V. Zheleznikov's niece, to which he immediately responded and wrote the play "Boycott" - it was later the basis for the content of the story "Scarecrow". The only difference is that in the story the events last several days, while in real life the persecution of the girl lasted six months.

“In the Scarecrow, I was interested in whether one person, so small, vulnerable, unprotected, like Lena, can withstand in an extreme situation against everyone. Then, in the process of work, a desire arose to create a panorama of the life of adolescents, to understand from what grains this shoot sprouted.

V. Zheleznikov.

II.Revealing the initial impression.

What feelings, emotions, impressions did the story leave you with? (I was struck by the cruelty of teenagers, Lena's kindness, her faith in people).
What is a gallery? (Art Museum; long row, string).
I invite you to create a "Gallery of teenagers" of the story "Scarecrow". Whose portraits would you hang in it? (Mironova (Iron Button), Shmakova, Valka, Shaggy, Popov, Vasiliev). Portraits of named heroes appear on the board.
What unites these guys? (All of them are united by cruelty towards Lena Bessoltseva).
And the portrait of Dima Somov? Where will we hang it: together with everyone else or separately? Why? (The portrait of Dima should be hung separately from everyone, because he seems to be with teenagers and at the same time not with them - he stands up for Lena, whom everyone laughs at. Somov is the link between Lena and the class).

III. Analysis of the story "Scarecrow".

We have created a “Gallery of teenagers” of the story with you, determined the reason for their association - the abuse of a classmate. But these children were not born cruel, they became so.

What influenced the fact that cruelty arose in teenagers? (Family, school, the general atmosphere of city life, which was created by residents who themselves believe that the value of a person can be determined by clothing (remember what nickname they gave to a wonderful person, Lena Bessoltseva's grandfather, -Patcher ), the position in society that he achieved (father of Dima Somov)). Teenagers, like all residents of the town, see only the external, and they are not interested in the internal content of a person).
We named the factors that influenced the fact that cruelty began to emerge in children and so far we have been talking about everyone in general. Now let's take a closer look at each teenager in our gallery.

Individual reports of pre-prepared students about each representative of the Gallery of Teenagers.

Students are given the task in advance to prepare a message about each representative of the "Gallery of teenagers" on the following points:

a family;
relationships in a team of classmates;
relationship with Lena;
teenagers' statements about other characters in the story;
their actions, deeds.

-Yes, it would be better to look at all the characters of our "Gallery" from afar. The cruelty of their actions and the rigidity of their characters amazes even an adult. And yet, among them there is one person who realizes the whole horror of the state of things, awakens from sleep. Who is it? (Vasiliev).
But among these children, who do not know pity, a boy stands out, who, at first glance, is not alien to human feelings of pity and compassion. Who is it? (Dima Somov).
Why did I say that human feelings are not alien to him only at first glance? What explanation will give us a closer look at this person? (In the manifestation of his feelings, he is insincere. He shows them only in order to stand out from everyone, because Dima is the recognized leader of the team and is very afraid not to be one).

Individual messages from pre-prepared students.

The students at home are preparing messages in which Dima is shown in the struggle for leadership, his attitude towards Lena and Dima's split personality that occurs in this struggle. (The scene in the garden, the story of the cat pulled out of the fire, the fight with Valka, the confession of guilt, the scene with the mask, Dima's fate after being exposed).

What conclusion about Dima's actions can we draw? (All noble deeds are performed by Dimka in order to assert his strength, since in his soul he feels like a coward).
Let's remember the scene you named when Dimka calls Valka and Petka flayers. Fragment of the movie.
What did you not like about Dima's behavior? (He calls Valka and Petka very quietly. This is Dimka's duality: in front of Lena, he needs to be a brave man - boldly shout an offensive word after the villains, but he does not want to receive from Petka, and therefore he screams in an undertone).
In what other scene do we see the duality of Dimka's actions? (In the scene of the persecution of Lena).

Reading by roles and (or) watching a movie fragment.

What helps us understand this passage? (We read and see all Dimka's insignificance, all his cowardice, cruelty).
Do the guys - classmates see it? Who is Somov for them? (No, unfortunately, they do not see the second face of Dima Somov. For them, he is a leader, a person who is not afraid of anything or anyone, who knows a way out of any situation).
Does Somov himself want to understand himself, to see the truth? (No, Dimka does not want to see the bitter truth. He lives looking at the world through rose-colored glasses and does not want to take them off, afraid to see his essence).
And yet there is a man who opens Somov's eyes to himself, forcing Dimka to think: who is he really - a knight or an ordinary coward. Who is this healer? (Margarita Ivanovna, class teacher).
What was special about her? (She called Dimka a coward, and it was like a bolt from the blue).
What was Dima's reaction? (He shouts: “I am a coward!?” After all, the teacher touched the most painful string of his soul, showed him his true face).
From surprise, he could whisper, speechless, but Zheleznikov puts a scream into his mouth. Why is Dimka screaming? (He seems to want to drown out the truth with his cry).
Which episode most vividly characterizes Somov as a coward? (When he admits his guilt, but, seeing how this can turn out for him, he says that this is a joke, and shifts all the blame to Lena).
Yes, Lena ... We talked about everyone, but forgot about her. But no, they haven't forgotten. It simply cannot exist even in a conversation about the story next to cruelty and betrayal. She is a ray of the sun, which is not allowed to warm the earth by clouds - classmates. And who is Lena? (Granddaughter of N.N. Bessoltsev, nicknamed by the townspeople as the Patcher).

Individual task of a pre-prepared student.

Tell about Lena's grandfather in more detail: how he got to the city, what he does, how the townspeople treat him, how he treats Lena.

Individual task prepared in advance by the student.

Tell about how Lena appears in the class, how she is received. (Lena's appearance, character, the girl's perception of the world and people). The connection of Lena's inner world with the Bessoltsev family tree.

Openness, spontaneity, sincerity, gullibility of Lena make her funny in the eyes of others, vulnerable. They laugh at her, and she, not understanding this, also bursts into laughter. After all, before that she had not had to deal with hypocrisy. She thinks that in life she is surrounded only by pure and noble people, like everyone in the Bessoltsev family was. After all, it is in the pedigree of this family that the power of goodness and courage is hidden, which allows Lena to survive, not to break under the weight of ridicule and betrayal.

Who does Lena look like? (Lena is very similar to Maria Nikolaevna Bessoltseva (Mashka), the sister of Nikolai Nikolaevich, depicted in the picture).
Is it possible to say that these two people - Lena and Masha are similar not only externally, but also internally? (Yes, these two people are similar to each other both externally and internally: Lena is the same holy soul with her utmost devotion to friendship, with her dedication to other people. Lena, like Mashka, is a sacrificial victim).
What is Lena's biggest sacrifice? (The girl sacrificed her honor, tarnished it in order to save Dimka).

Viewing a movie clip.

It becomes scary for Lena. It turns out that she is not at all protected from the cruel surrounding world. Lena does not expect such meanness from a friend as betrayal.

Viewing a movie clip. (The scene with the mask in the window, the scene of burning the effigy).

Lena faces the cruelty of her classmates... But does she become like them? (No, despite everything that happened, Lena's soul did not harden, the grains of cruelty, brought by the children among whom she is located, did not germinate in her).
What or who helps Lena to keep her soul and heart pure? What is help? (Grandfather. He explains to Lena that not all teenagers are as bad as it seems at first glance. It is he who explains to her granddaughter the concept of mercy, even in her own way. And Lena, having absorbed grandfather's truth, cannot, does not want to destroy another person, even if this person is guilty of her suffering, Lena remains a noble person to the end).
How does the story end? (Lena and her grandfather are leaving the city).
What happens in the souls of the guys when Lena leaves their class forever? (The guys, even if not all of them, but there is a longing for human purity. Let it be late, but they ask for forgiveness from Lena to atone for their guilt when she is no longer next to them).

Viewing a movie clip.

What do you think will happen next for the guys? Will this story leave a mark on their souls and what kind? (They will change, but not all. Vasilyev will grow up as a man, there will be a turning point in the soul of Red and Shaggy, but Shmakov, most likely, will never change).

“Lenka rushed along the narrow, intricately humpbacked streets of the town, not noticing anything in her path.

Past one-story houses with lace curtains on the windows and high crosses of television antennas - up! ..

Past long fences and gates, with cats on their ledges and angry dogs at the gates - down!..

The jacket was unbuttoned, in the eyes of despair, an almost indistinct whisper flew from the lips:

- Grandfather! .. Dear! .. Let's leave! Let's go! Let's go! .. - She sobbed as she walked. – Forever!.. From evil people!.. Let them gnaw each other!.. Wolves!.. Jackals!.. Foxes!.. Grandpa!..

... Just think what they did to her! And for what?!”

Lesson-dispute based on the story of V. Zheleznikov "Scarecrow"

"About indifference and cruelty, kindness and sincere generosity"

Target:

To acquaint with the work of V. Zheleznikov;

To cultivate feelings of kindness, sincere generosity, honesty, human dignity.

During the classes:

Librarian: Hello guys. Today in the lesson we will talk about the most famous story by V. Zheleznikov "Scarecrow".

As an epigraph to the lesson, we took the words of the author: “ In children's literature, the personality must be constantly singled out, because it is our human hope. This is exactly the character who is able to understand, evaluate and preserve moral and spiritual values before others before the onset of the all-powerful, well-armed barbarian, blindly carried away by jeans, all kinds of clothes, videos of bad taste.

1. Biography of the writer

Vladimir Karpovich Zheleznikov was born into a military family and spent his childhood in border towns. Graduated from the artillery school. After the war, he began to study at the Law Institute, but left it and entered the Literary Institute. M. Gorky.

Each work of Zheleznikov is a "hot pursuit confession", with a rare psychological authenticity, emotional richness.

Time changes, the writer's characters also change, but kindness as a key human principle retains its significance for the writer.

The writer is impressed by the open, benevolent, capable of “treating very well” hero. Such is Lena Bessoltseva - a "stuffed animal" - who took the blame of the boy she really liked.

Tale " Scarecrow"(1978) - the most significant. The writer's anxiety about increasingly violent teenagers and a growing gap between generations was not groundless even then, and is especially true today.

In one of the interviews, V. Zheleznikov said: “ When I got into children's literature, I thought children were wonderful creatures. So he wrote and believed that everything bad that is in children comes from adults, adults deprive them of their children's lives ... Then I saw that children also have negative character traits. They are often selfish, even egocentric, they do not take into account the world of adults, they are tactless. And then I had a desire to show the children what they really are, so that they can see themselves.”

In this story, the writer comes to the conclusion about the possibility of such cruelty in the children's team, which even adults are not capable of.

The main character - Lena Bessoltseva - emotional, romantic, naive and infinitely compassionate, "wonderful" - became the object of cruel persecution by her peers, not so much for a fictitious betrayal, but for her originality. The protracted game quickly turns into a dramatic, then into a tragic phase of the conflict, when the heroine "came to the fire as one person, and got up from the ground ... completely different." Despite all the disappointments, the pain from the loss of illusions, Lena does not harden, she is imbued with pity for her classmates who have lost their human face - "Poor you, poor people."

When the misunderstanding is cleared up, the girl's classmates will be shocked, but no repentance will change the fact that the grandfather and granddaughter - the conscience and soul of the city - will leave forever the place where the generations of their ancestors lived, leaving a reminder picture - there are people in the world who "never they won’t drive… And they will never poison anyone.”

The writer has the ability to convey the sharpness and drama of the children's worldview, when a trifling event for adults can grow in the eyes of a child to the scale of a tragedy. Indifference, criminal inattention of the surrounding elders can play the role of a detonator of the process, which will have a drastic effect on the fate of all those involved in it. A vicious circle of indifference and cruelty leads to irreparable trouble with Lena Usoltseva.

And today the story is not at all outdated, it has become even more relevant. Teenage cruelty, the division of children into "poor" and "rich", the moral deafness of many adults - these problems have become even more acute today.

2. Discussion of the story

In an interview, V. Zheleznikov said: “To be heard, you had to scream. That's why I wrote Scarecrow. What did the writer want to shout about, what excited him so much?

(He was excited by childish cruelty.)

. Why do you think Lena Bessoltseva took on someone else's fault?

(She wanted to help out Dima Somov, especially since he told her that he would soon tell the guys everything. In addition, Lena " possessed those wonderful qualities of character that certainly required her to participate in the fate of other people and pain for them.")

Talking with her grandfather, Lena admitted that she was a traitor. What did she mean?

(I, too, like Dimka ... a traitor! .. I betrayed you! .. I was ashamed of you ... that you were walking ... in patches ... in old galoshes ... You think that I rushed at Dimka with my fists when he told me that you teased by the Patchmaker? Do you think she came to your defense? Do you think she explained to him that you spend all your money on a painting? No, grandfather! On the contrary, I began to be ashamed of you ... ".)

. What motto did the guys choose for themselves?

(But the main thing is not CONSCIENCE, but POWER!.)

. Do you agree with this statement?

Describing the guys who mocked Lena, the writer draws attention to their eyes. Please find the description in the text and comment.

(“Everyone had the same eyes: angry, prickly, alien.”)

. Why didn't Dima confess to the guys that it was his fault that their trip to Moscow was interrupted?

(Dima Somov is used to being successful with others, he is an egoist and more than anything else is afraid of appearing in front of others in a disadvantageous light, in addition, he is afraid of losing his authority among classmates. He turned out to be a weak person. Therefore, he was afraid, acted low and mean. meanness.)

. What do you think, what scene in the story can be called a turning point for Lena?

(This is a scene of a fire on which a scarecrow was burned. Lena kept waiting for Dima to put an end to this monstrous act. But she was mistaken in it. At first, he did not give her the dress, accepting the game of everyone. And then he set fire to the scarecrow. “I froze - I was waiting for the last time! Well, I think he will now look back and say: “Guys, Lenka is not to blame for anything ... It’s all me!” But this did not happen, Dimka "strike a match, and the flame of fire grew over his shoulders". This scene seriously affected Lena, the veil fell from her eyes, she now understood everything about Dima. Now she will need to cope with all the difficulties on her own - she has become stronger. “I came to the fire as one person, but I got up from the ground to meet Dimka with a completely different person.”)

When the truth was revealed, why didn't Lena support the guys when they announced a boycott of Somov?

(For Lena, this whole story was a great lesson, she experienced a lot, a lot was revealed to her, she remembered the pain and betrayal of her friend, so she didn’t want revenge: “I was at the stake. And they chased me down the street. And I will never chase anyone ... And I will never poison anyone. Kill me!")

. What is the first thing Red does? And why?

(When Somov is announced, Red is against: “I personally back off. I despise Somov... But now I will not declare a boycott... If Lenka is against it, then I am against it. I have always been like everyone else. Everyone beat, and I beat. Because I'm red and I was afraid to stand out. And for the first time, maybe in my whole lifebreathed a sigh of relief.)

. Let's remember the scene that took place at the birthday party of Dima Somov. Why did Lena come to the guys?

(Having survived the scene of “burning at the stake”, she was no longer afraid of anything: “Lenka looked at the guys and first, meeting their gaze, did not flinch". At her birthday party, she told her classmates about her departure: “Rejoice ... you have achieved your goal! You are winners!.. I'm leaving tomorrow. So let's chorus: “There is no more Chu-che-la in our class!” ... She paused. Then she said seriously and sadly: “To be honest, I feel sorry for you. Poor you, poor people.")

. What gift did Lena's grandfather make to the city and school, and why did the children not understand this act?

(All his life, Nikolai Ivanovich Bessoltsev collected paintings that belonged to his family. He spent all his money on these canvases, denying himself everything.

“How much did they pay him? Valka asked with curiosity.

- I explained - he gave it all! Margarita Ivanovna said happily again.

- A gift? All for nothing?..

Valka was confused. The meaning of life lost its basis for him . He wanted to earn a lot, a lot of money, he considered this the greatest happiness, because with the money he would buy a car, a color TV, a motor boat and live happily. And suddenly “someone”, of their own free will, renounces all their wealth ...”).

. How does the story end?

(Lena and her grandfather are leaving. The guys are looking at a picture donated to the school, which depicts Masha, a former literature teacher who lived in this city 100 years ago. She was very similar to Lena. : “Head on a thin neck, early spring flower. All unprotected, but somehow bright and open. Everyone silently looked at the picture. And longing, such a desperate longing for human purity, for selfless courage and nobility, more and more captured from the heart and demanded a way out. Therefore, there was no more strength to endure ... Scarecrow, forgive us! Both the class and the city have lost their purest, best people.)

3. Closing remarks

The writer speaks about indifference and cruelty as directly and truthfully as about kindness and sincere generosity. Eccentrics make the world a better place, and Vladimir Zheleznikov is always on their side.

Sometimes it can be very easy to succumb to the general mood. Reigning in the group of your friends. It is much more difficult in such a situation to control your actions, to think about the consequences, about whether they will bring suffering to others.

The main idea of ​​the story is a scarecrow. Composition based on the story by V. Zheleznikov "Scarecrow"

Scarecrow Tale

Chapter first

Chapter Two

The main idea of the story is a scarecrow. Composition based on the story by V. Zheleznikov "Scarecrow"

Scarecrow
Tale