The current young readers, perhaps, do not remember such a name - Arkady Gaidar. And the children of the Land of Soviets once selflessly played Timur and his team, cried over Military Secret and rejoiced with Chuk and Hek. Among the author’s popular works was the story “The Blue Cup”.
A small work first appeared in the journal "Pioneer" in 1936. A few months later, a separate edition of the story was released. Gaidar’s work is very “cinematic”. It easily breaks up into separate scenes and as if specially created for the film adaptation. We turn over its pages.
The Blue Cup, Gaidar. Summary (introduction)
The story begins with an accurate description of the place and time of events. A small family - dad (32 years old), mother Marusya (29 years old) and daughter Svetlana (6.5 years old) rent a summer cottage in the Moscow Region at the end of summer. It is there that they are going to spend the long-awaited vacation. Dad and daughter dreamed of a free-village village with fishing, swimming in the river and hiking in the forest for mushrooms. But the cottage was in a dilapidated state, and my mother constantly found household chores that needed to be completed.
The Blue Cup, Gaidar. Summary (tie)
After 3 days, things are finally redone, and you can go for a joint walk. But it was not there! Mom has unexpected guests - her old friend, a polar pilot. They talk in the cherry orchard, and the annoyed dad and Svetlanka make a spinner with their own hands. Maroussia, setting off to accompany her comrade to the station, demands that her daughter go to bed. But Papa and Sveta finish the craft and go to the attic - screw the turntable. The returned mother stops this "disgrace".
The next day, she discovers her broken blue cup in the closet and demands recognition from the household: “Who broke?” However, neither dad nor Svetlanka did this! The conflict that arose the day before has matured completely. Dissatisfied Maroussia sets off for the city. And the offended father decides to escape with his daughter. “Is this a good life? he asks. “Let’s leave this house, where our eyes look.”
The Blue Cup, Gaidar. Summary (hiking)
The subsequent narrative details the journey for us that the “conspirators” set out on. Each event takes on significance. The summary of the Blue Cup (Gaidar remains true to himself) is still reminiscent of a play broken down into scenes and acts.
Heroes go to the nearest mill and meet a running neighbor boy - Sanka Karjakin. Following him, lumps of earth fly. Sanka claims that he is “undeservedly offended by the“ pioneer Pashka Bukamashkin ”.
Further events unfold at the mill. The heroes get acquainted with the pugnacious pioneer and find out that Sanka is punished for the cause: during the game of siskin, he not only cheated, but also offended the Jewish girl Bert, who had recently moved with her father from Germany captured by the Nazis.
Then the heroes observe the military exercises, get acquainted with the Red Army man and the bearded collective farm guard and the formidable dog Polkan, watch how the stone is being mined.
A broken blue cup remained far behind. Gaidar (a brief retelling is unlikely to be able to fully convey this) paints a world full of details. Travelers carefully observe the life of a small village, a herd of horses, a cemetery, a tree, a siskin. The heroes also get acquainted with the family of a collective farm watchman - his daughter Valentina and grandson, a funny four-year-old Fedor. Father and daughter nearly drowned in a swamp, bought a swim in the river and received a tiny kitten as a present. In a word, the day turned out to be extremely busy.
The Blue Cup, Gaidar. Summary (interchange)
There is no clear climax in the story. Perhaps the turning point occurs when the father tells, at the request of Svetlana, the story of his meeting with his wife. Heroes understand that they love Marusya, and forgive her for accidentally inflicting an insult. They go home and see that mom has already attached yesterday's pinwheel to the roof of the house. And this act brighter than any words indicates that she understood her guilt. Peace in the family has been restored. Late in the evening, dad, mom and daughter sit in the garden under cherries, retell each other's events of the day and understand that "... life, comrades ... is really good!".