This extra-genre story about a she-wolf and a puppy, written by Chekhov, an engineer of human souls, is called “White-Faced” in a very childish way. Its summary is completely straightforward: the unsuccessful hunting of an aged she-wolf, luck of a stupid puppy. He was already written by a venerable, experienced writer. This was not his first attempt at writing: Anton Pavlovich created the story at the age of 35.
It's all about the love of nature, passing through the life of a writer. And in relation to children. He, ill with tuberculosis, could not have. And a stranger, peasant, for the money he built schools. Chekhov wrote “White-faced” in his estate Melikhovo.
Manor Melikhovo. Corner that inspired the design of "Whitefin"
Chekhov's story "White-Faced" was written in 1895. The place of writing is the museum-reserve, and earlier - the writer's estate. It is located in the village of Melikhovo near the city of Chekhov, Moscow Region. The Melikhovsky period of creativity was the period of the writer’s maturity and the happiest time of his short life. The way of life of Anton Pavlovich in the estate implied being outdoors, talking with friends. The darling of the writer were two dachshunds: Hina and Brom. It is known from the memoirs that the Chekhovs were many and eagerly engaged in gardening, and everything and everything that they planted grew and fruited them. The real passion of the writer was rose bushes. Until now, the museum staff takes care of the “Walk of Love” and the garden “Corner of France”.
The plot of "Whitefin"
Why did Chekhov so call his story: “White-faced”? The summary indicates: a more worthy character is a she-wolf. She even has intelligence, thinking. However, the puppy - he is the puppy. He was sweet precisely for his stupidity.
On a cold March night, the wolf went on a hunt for the human winter hut located four miles from her hole. There were three cubs in her lair, who were as hungry as she was. It was already in years, the heyday of strength has long passed, so it was necessary to be content with medium-sized prey. The wolf went to the winter. There, an elderly watchman Ignat guarded the barn, where next to the other cattle were two sheep, possibly with lambs. One of them is her strength to drag.
Details to us retells her thoughts Chekhov. "White-faced" (a brief summary in particular) as it introduces us to its logic of thinking, with concerns and fears. She needs to feed the wolf cubs, and she herself is hungry. She is suspicious, her thoughts are confused. (As you can see, Anton Pavlovich in her description is generous with metaphors, endowing the beast with human features.) We have to be careful, the watchman has a big black dog named Arapka.
The she-wolf climbed into the barn, jumping from a snowdrift to a thatched roof and making her way through it. There was a noise in the barn, someone barked, the sheep pressed against the wall. She had to rush off urgently, fearing the guard with Arapka, grabbing the nearest lamb in her teeth.
Only after running so far away that the barking ceased to be heard, she noticed that the living lump in her teeth was clearly heavier than the lamb. It was a large black puppy with a white spot on his forehead. Natural disgust prevented her from eating this baby. She left him and ran with nothing to the hole.
However, the silly man ran after her. For a long time he lay on top of a she-wolf and played with wolf cubs. Once, after one of these games, she decided to eat it again. But the stupid creature licked her nose, the dog disgustingly smelled of him, and the she-wolf completely changed her mind.
Lovers of the works of the classic even have a version of why Chekhov, a white-faced puppy, chose this suit. Its summary is in the writer's hobby: dachshunds. Bromine was black, Hina was red, but Niter, which appeared later, had bright spots.
Let's get back to the plot. Since he was not fed like wolf cubs, White-Faced, having played enough, went on his own to the winter quarters. The wolf went there too. Re-hunting. But the stupid puppy mating behind her, returning home, joyfully raised a bark, and the she-wolf again had to flee with nothing. Ignat, believing that Whitefin had made a hole in the roof, and all the noise from behind him, in the morning asked him a bashing.
Conclusion
The story "White-faced" teaches children to understand nature, to love it. The author, ironically, hopes that they will grow smarter and thinner than the watchman Ignat, arguing with "technical categories": "full in front" or "spring in the brain burst."
Anton Pavlovich paid much attention to peasant children. In the vicinity of Melikhovo, three schools were built for his money. It was for the children that Chekhov wrote White-Faced. The main idea of ​​this work, first published by the magazine "Children's Reading": people should be more attentive to animals, trying to realize their needs, then their spiritual world will become deeper. The surrounding nature is subtle, it must be understood, and not treated mechanically, simplistically.