: A nine-year-old boy lives the year of his life, during which he encounters meanness, kindness, greed, generosity, death, and quickly grows up.
The story is based on the author’s biography. The action takes place at the beginning of the 20th century, before the October Socialist Revolution. The narration is conducted on behalf of a nine-year-old boy, Jura.
Yura was very young when his mother married a doctor, Alexei Mikhailovich, and settled "in the tiny county town of Chern, Tula province", more like a village. Alexei Mikhailovich it was the second marriage. The son from his first marriage, Seryozha, lived with him, and his daughter Natasha lived with his mother in Moscow.
From early childhood, Yura called his stepfather Mikhalych. This fat, funny person was the "first friend and mentor" of the boys. He taught them to fish, hunt and aroused in children a love of nature. Thanks to Mikhalych, Jura became a naturalist researcher.
The main one in the family was Yurina, mother Nadezhda. She often scolded her husband for children's tricks, Mikhalych pretended to be afraid of her, and called his wife "formidable home authorities." In fact, Hope was a small, full and good-natured woman. She treated Mihalych’s patients with conversation, ran a farm with her assistant, a strict aunt Daria, and looked after the animals that Yura dragged home.
Mikhalych was a wonderful doctor. Only growing up, Jura realized what complicated operations his stepfather had in a small provincial hospital. Patients from all over the county were brought to Mikhalych, and he treated for all illnesses, but most of all he loved surgery.
The neighboring landowners constantly invited him to their estates, but Mikhalych did not like to engage in private practice - “driving around the noble mistresses” and treating a runny nose. The paramedic was engaged in this and received a good income, while the doctor’s family lived in a rented house. Because of this, mother was often angry with Mikhalych, but she couldn’t force him to "ride the mistresses" - all his life he steadily followed his favorite saying "you won’t collect all the money."
It’s good ‹...› in the world to live for someone who knows how to enjoy life!
Often in the evenings Mikhalych read aloud to the boys Russian classics, especially he loved poetry. Under the influence of these readings, Jura decided to write poetry - why is he worse than Nekrasov or Pushkin. Yura didn’t get along with verses, he decided to switch to prose and wrote a story about the hunt for a wild, bloodthirsty badger, which ended in a bloody scene.
The story really made Mikhalych laugh. Yura realized that he had mixed up the badger with the leopard, burned the story in the stove and vowed to no longer write poetry or prose.
Mikhalych was a big fan of traveling and often dreamed of going to some wilderness where there would be good hunting and fishing. Mom did not let him do this, and Yura remained in Czerny, where the family moved from apartment to apartment. The boy’s childhood passed in a small one-story house with an old, stalled garden. There, Yura played "in the hunt" and watched the arrival of spring. Step-brother Seryozha was not up to the games - he went to the school of the terrible grandmother Liziha. That same autumn also awaited Yura.
Elizaveta Alexandrovna Sokolova was the wife of the richest merchant in Cherni. Her husband, Ivan Andreevich, a noble and pious old man, donated money only to the church. His wife, a fat, sloppy and extremely ugly old woman, "most of all resembled a huge, fat and humanoid monkey." Unlike semi-literate Ivan Andreevich, she graduated from the Smolny Institute and was fluent in several languages. Such different spouses were united by an "insatiable passion for money and touching love for each other."
So that Elizaveta Alexandrovna would not be bored, Sokolov allowed her to arrange a small elementary school in their house. There was neither a gymnasium nor a real school in Czerny, and parents gladly sent their children to this school, where grandmother Lizikha, as her students called her, mercilessly beat their wards with a thick wooden ruler.
Sokolov’s brother, Vasily Andreyevich, abandoned trade long ago and “lived on his income from his capital”. In the fall and winter, he disappeared on the hunt, and the rest of the time he sat at the window and played solitaire. Yura often came to him with Mikhalych, enjoyed listening to stories about hunting and considered him the happiest person in the world.
He envied Yuri and the son of Vasily Andreyevich, Koke, a slender young man in the form of a student-lyceum student who came to Chern for a vacation. He smoked cigarettes, was considered the best gentleman in town, hunted with his father and seemed to Yura the height of perfection. Only having matured, Yura realized that these people lived bored and meaningless, and Koka was an idler and a half-educated person.
Mikhalych was an addicted person. He caught fire with an idea, spent money on it from his small income, and then cooled down and was fond of something else. Mom was very angry that Mikhalych wasted money.
Once he wrote out a workbench from Moscow with a set of tools, but Mikhalych was not given the carpentry - he could not even make a regiment. Of the remnants of the boards, Mikhalych hardly made butterfly straighteners. So buying a workbench led to the idea of collecting a collection of insects. The collection began in mid-April, when the first butterflies appeared.
In the evenings, Mikhalych prepared to hunt for woodcock - he filled ammunition and cleaned his gun. Once, after the first thunderstorm, Mykhalych took Yura to hunt. He was not a skilled hunter, but that evening he managed to shoot one woodcock.
Soon, Jura had a neighbor - a pretty girl Katya, who came to Chern to her uncle. The children became friends and played "father and mother" until Sergey returned from Moscow. Seeing an older boy, Katya switched to him. During the game of napkins, Sergei forbade opening the window so that his brother would not catch a cold. Yura heard this and felt "somehow small, unnecessary and funny." This was the end of Yura’s friendship with the first girl in his life.
Katya was taken away from Czerny, Yura made peace with his brother and calmed down. Seryozha was two years older than Yura, and soon a “feeling of envy and sad recognition of his superiority” began to mix with their friendship. Seryozha was in full command of his brother and emphasized his seniority. He often told Yura about the horrors of the school of bloodthirsty grandmother Liziha, and the boy could not sleep for a long time. In May, Seryozha passed the transitional exams to the gymnasium of the city of Serpukhov and went all summer to his mother. Yura didn’t miss for long - “summer came ... the most troublesome time”.
Mikhalych and Yura were carried away by a new business - they arranged a garden "in the latest science" in a corner of the garden. They managed to dig up the beds only with the help of Aunt Daria, who was sure that nothing would grow in the garden, “beside nettles and burdocks”. The greenery in the garden still grew, but it was not enough, and Daria still bought vegetables at the market. Cucumbers grown by autumn turned out to be terribly bitter, and then the garden died - it was eaten by a cow.
In the summer, Natasha arrived, becoming an adult and a beautiful girl. After lunch, she and Yura went to visit Koku Sokolov, who was expelled from the lyceum for poor performance. Having met, they went to the city garden, where they got off of Jura by cunning - they pretended to be catching bats, and sent the boy for a white sheet on which the mice should have flocked.
When Yura returned to the garden with a sheet, the young people were no longer there. He realized that he was redundant again because of his young age.
In the meantime, there was only one thing left: to step aside again and observe from afar how other, happy people, happy that they are older than me, are friends with each other.
Natasha spent all the time with friends and Koka. She stayed for a short time, and soon returned to her mother.
Different animals constantly appeared in the house of Jura. Once, my mother bought a hare in the bazaar. The animal turned out to be very shy and even hid from the fat and lazy cat Ivanitch. Just at that time, the Murka cat, which had nailed to the house, lost kittens. Seeing a hare, Murka mistook him for a kitten and adopted. The animal quickly got used to it, and the cat was surprised why her “son” did not want to play with the mice that she brought him.
Soon, a dash dropped out of the nest joined this company. The chick had an excellent appetite, and Yura spent all day collecting caterpillars and worms for him. Galchonok lived with Yura all summer, turned into an adult jackdaw and in the fall flew south.
Once Mykhalych came home from work upset and said that the youngest daughter of a beggar and large official Ivanov fell ill with pneumonia. There was nothing to feed or treat the girl Tatyanka.
Mom decided to ask the Sokolovs for money for the girl’s treatment, but the greedy Ivan Andreevich gave only the ruble. The remaining money Hope collected by subscription from those who are poorer. The Tatyana recovered, but this incident aroused “sad, disturbing” and not childish thoughts about poverty, inequality and injustice in Yura.
The boy began to take a closer look at what was surrounding him. Once a beggar came into their yard with a small son. These were the fire victims, whom no one wanted to help build up and acquire an economy. Nadezhda fed them, gave away the old clothes, and Yura presented the poor child with his favorite toy - a teddy bear, the first and last “in his wandering, joyless childhood.” This incident also left a mark in the memory of Yura - he could not understand why no one wants to help these poor people.
Once, Mikhalych had to treat an unusual patient - a manual talking starling with a broken paw. The veterinarian refused to treat the bird, and the owner of the starling, the poor old tailor Pyotr Ivanovich, brought it to Mikhalych.
A week later, Yura, together with his stepfather, went to see a birdhouse and met Peter Ivanovich. His little house was full of birds in cages, and the tailor himself looked like a big old bird.
Peter Ivanovich did not see much cruelty in keeping free birds in their cages - he fed them, let them fly, and many pets returned to him themselves. Yura made friends with the old man, he gave him a hand carduel and took him to catch birds. Since then, the boy often ran to Pyotr Ivanovich and helped him take care of the birds.
Mikhalych did not like to save money "for a rainy day." Once he won a large sum in the lottery. Mom hid half, and Mikhalych bought a motorcycle for the rest of the money. He studied its structure for a long time, tried to learn how to ride it, but the obstinate motorcycle did not obey him, and Mikhalych sold “this stupid car” for nothing.
In autumn, Jura and his parents went to a nearby village for mushrooms. Once the owner of the house where they left the horse asked Mikhalych for help - his wife could not give birth. The baby was born healthy, and the doctor received an embroidered towel and a loaf of fragrant bread as a reward. After this incident, Yura decided to become a doctor.
So on this day I learned that the greatest miracle — the birth of a new life — brings with it not only joy, but also suffering.
Once Mikhalych had to go over forty miles to cure the daughter of an old landowner from constipation. In gratitude, the hostess handed the cockatoo to the doctor, and Mikhalych paid for the cage.
Parrot Popka turned out to be a terrible bird, he screamed wildly in the mornings and devastated three apple trees in the garden, eating grain from apples and throwing spoiled fruits. Finally, Hope could not stand it and sent Ass back.The landowner accepted him without much joy, and did not return the money for the cage.
In August, tanned and matured Seryozha returned. He showed Yura that he knows how to smoke, but the boy did not find it very tempting - what an adult he is if he secretly carries cigarettes from his father. Better grow up and smoke without being embarrassed.
Soon, a dog appeared in the house of Yura - Mikhalych bought a cop dog Jack for bird hunting. Jack turned out to be a very well-mannered dog, he willingly played with the boys, did not touch the animals living in the house, considering them “his”, and enthusiastically searched for game on the hunt. He lived in the Jura family until he was very old.
In the last summer days, Mikhalych gave a surprise to the children - he bought a small single-barrel gun for them. Now the boys also went hunting and shot in turn. Yura quickly learned to shoot and even once shot a woodcock. Mikhalych tried to make a scarecrow out of the jackdaw killed by Sergei, but it turned out so scary that he was thrust away on the cabinet.
On the first of September, Yura went to school and became closely acquainted with the pedagogical methods of grandmother Lizikhi. Elizaveta Alexandrovna did not explain anything to the students, the training was based on ordinary cramming. Grandmother Lizikha forced to memorize subjects in full voice, so in the classroom it was always very noisy.
Yura already knew how to read - his mother was engaged with him, but grandmother Lizikha considered herself a great master of education and did not like when children who could read came to her. That is why she constantly found fault with the teacher’s son, the best prepared in the class. In addition to him, Lizikha disliked Vasya Komarov, the son of the washerwoman, who studied with her for free, the poor Kolka, who had somehow added salt to her tea, and her distant relative Boris, the son of the owner of the city bakery.
Grandmother Lizikha punished the guilty with a ruler on her back, placed a “pillar” near her and forced her to cram. She also had a favorite - Mitenka, a gray-eyed, angel-like boy, a liar, a sneak and a sneak. Mitya shamelessly used cheat sheets, but Lizikha did not want to notice this.
The lessons lasted from nine to two, and at five the children returned to school - the grandmother Lizikha did not allow to learn lessons at home. Yura in the class was very scared, but his parents did not take him and Seryozhyna seriously. Mikhalych only laughed, and mother considered grandmother Lizikhu a saint. The boy was only able to rest on Sunday, when the merchant Sokolov, who could not stand the hum of children's voices, remained at home.
Once Lizikha asked Mitenka to help Vasya in mathematics, but he couldn’t explain and slipped a cheat sheet to his classmate. Vasya showed the cheat sheet to Lizikha and was beaten for "slandering Mitenka." Soon, they threw a stone at Mitenka and cut an eyebrow, and then hid his shoe in the sleeve of his coat. Lizikha tore Vasya and Kolka, but did not know who did it.
On Sundays, Yura still visited Pyotr Ivanovich, helped him repair equipment for catching winter birds and to collect rowan berries and viburnum for bait in the forest. Once Mikhalych decided to go fishing himself. First, he and Yura, not without the help of a carpenter, built a large enclosure, swearing to their mother that they would clean it themselves.
As soon as the first snow fell, Yura and Pyotr Ivanovich went fishing and the boy brought home the first inhabitants of the aviary - a couple of bullfinches. Then Yura and Mikhalych arranged a bird hunt in their garden. Soon the aviary was full, but of course, Nadezhda removed it.
At the school, meanwhile, a "bad story" occurred - someone stole a wallet from Lizikhi. Before that, Vasya asked his classmates for money for a sick mother, and then the wallet was found in the pocket of his coat. Lizikha did not believe in innocence, severely beat him and drove him out of school, although Mitenka tried to intercede for him.
After that, the guys began to treat Mitenka better, only Kolka and Boris stubbornly did not want to see anything good in him and thought that he just wanted to show off.After Vasya’s exile, Boris became the scapegoat for Lizikh, he got it almost every day.
In winter, a Bazaar opened in Czerny on Fridays. Elizaveta Alexandrovna left to help her husband, leaving a young relative in her place. These days the guys were playing the fool, because the punishment of Liziha depended not on “the presence of guilt”, but on the amount of proceeds.
The whole room immediately turned into a barn, a pigsty, a bird's yard ... into anything, but not into a classroom.
Once, in the heat of fun, the guys did not notice that Lizikha was back, Boris crashed into her at full speed, and Elizaveta Alexandrovna sent the joyful Mitenka for the guard with reins - to flog Borka. Friends Boris and Kolka decided to take revenge on Mitenka.
At a dictation, children fenced off each other with books. Kolka noticed that Mitenka was writing off the dictation from the book, which had fenced off him, and drew Lizikhi's attention to this. Mitenka vowed that he took this book by accident and did not copy it at all. A little bewildered Lizikha believed him.
Before the Christmas holidays, Lizikha decided to teach children dancing. Now Yura had to come to school on Sundays. Elizaveta Alexandrovna undertook to personally teach the waltz of fat Boris. Looking at this strange couple, Yura recalled the dance of a bear with a pig, seen by him in a circus. Fortunately, Sokolov did not approve of dancing in his house, and Sundays were again freed.
After the exposure, Mitenka began to make many mistakes in dictations, for which Kolka teased him. Once, during a difficult control Kolka, he went out into the canopy to “freshen up” and saw Mitenka putting a grandmother Lizikh’s watch in the pocket of his fur coat. Then Kolka realized that he also threw Vasya’s wallet.
Mitenka admitted everything, and the shocked Elizabeth Alexandrovna drove him out of school. Then she sent her mother for Vasya, with the whole class she asked for forgiveness and offered to teach Vasya again for free. The woman accepted the apology, but refused to return her son to school and did not take any sweets for Vasya from Lizikh.
The long-awaited vacation has come. Seryozha went to his mother in Moscow, and Yura and Nadezhda took out boxes with Christmas tree decorations.
Some special world peeped out of the boxes cheerfully - the world of holidays.
At Christmas, parents gave Yura a camera with all the accessories for making photo cards, and Pyotr Ivanovich - a hand-made squirrel in a cage. The next day, Mikhalych and Yura tried to photograph Daria. The woman was going to send a picture to her family in the village and was terribly angry when she learned that the photo did not work.
Yura was so busy that he visited Pyotr Ivanovich only at the end of the holidays and found that the old man was sick. Arriving at the old tailor a week later, the boy discovered that he had released all the birds, leaving only a tame starling.
Mikhalych tried to persuade the old man to go to his hospital, but he refused. Every day Pyotr Ivanovich lost weight more and more - apparently, a tumor grew in his throat, because of which he could not eat. The old man was no longer working and spent all day in a cold hut. Hope began to carry him food every day, and then Daria took a vacation to brighten up the last days of a lonely old man.
It’s a must to conduct a person, on the last journey. So that he doesn’t get sick when she herself comes for him ...
Yura visited him every Sunday. The old man was awake, dreamed of how he would catch quails together with the boy in the spring, and faded away. He asked the boy after his death to take a hand-held starling himself.
Pyotr Ivanovich was buried on a “warm and sunny spring day”. Yura went behind the coffin with his parents and aunt Daria and thought that spring had come, and he no longer had anyone to catch birds with. The boy first saw death closely and could not believe that Pyotr Ivanovich was no more, and his mother, Mikhalych and he, too, someday would die.
In the tenth spring of his life, Yura greatly matured, "as if he had left his cozy children's room and wandered in search of new meetings, new joys, disappointments and hopes." The boy forever said goodbye to childhood.
