Probably every lover of children's books telling about the life of animals, read the work "Ship Hill". Its main characters are ordinary rabbits, forced to leave their usual habitats, looking for a new space for a happy, quiet life. But they will have to go through serious trials before they can achieve their goal.
History of writing a book
On the whole, Richard Adams, the author who presented the world with Ship Hill, never dreamed of becoming a writer. Just during long trips, he entertained his daughters with fictional tales of the adventures of funny, never-cheering rabbits. Those enthusiastically listened to an unusual tale. Over time, Adams realized that a fairy tale novel might interest publishers, wrote down all the invented stories, connecting them with a common plot, and proceeded to search for a company that would be interested in the work.
Alas, the path was not easy. Thirteen times he received rejections from publishers who believed that the adventures of rabbits would not interest anyone.
In the end, there was a publisher who agreed to take up the publication. But it turned out to be so poor that it could not even pay the author an advance. However, he agreed anyway. The very fact of the appearance of the book "Inhabitants of the hills" by Richard Adams flattered him. No one could have thought that the book would become a bestseller. The book was not only reprinted many times in England, but also received a number of the most prestigious awards.
Short story
The main characters of the book about the adventures of rabbits are two brothers - Walnut and Pyatik. They lived with the rest of the colony in Sandford, and were generally happy. This continued until Pyatik had the gift of foresight. In a dream, he saw that the colony would be brutally destroyed. Walnut believed his younger brother, tried to convince the head of the colony to leave the habitable places. However, he did not want to hear about it - to leave his usual, safe place due to the sleep of some youth.
Then the two brothers decided to leave the colony. They were joined by several more rabbits, who believed in a pessimistic forecast.
Subsequently, the heroes had to go through many dangers, which the work “Ship Hill” tells about. For example, they met rabbits that lived for their pleasure, frankly flourishing, not afraid of predators. But sometimes sometimes one or the other disappeared without a trace. The rest pretended that everything was in order, tried not to mention the missing. The truth was discovered by Shishak - one of the companions of Walnut. It turns out that a local farmer exterminated the predators in the area and fed rabbits with old vegetables. For this, rodents paid in blood - the farmer caught them in snares. Those did not find the courage to change a safe and satisfying place, preferring to put up with losses. A very noticeable parallel with the work of Herbert Wells "Time Machine".
Soon two more rabbits from their native Sandlford joined the heroes. It turns out that Pyatik’s predictions came true. The colony was destroyed for construction - some of the rabbits were poisoned in holes, and the rest were shot, after which the field was leveled by a tractor under the construction site.
During the wanderings, the rabbits got acquainted with the Kehaar gull, which they saved from death. She told about the whereabouts of another rabbit colony. The heroes tried to cooperate with them, but the cruel despot Datura responded with aggression, causing serious wounds to the poor wanderers. Then the rabbits decided to trick - to create their own colony they needed rabbits. They started a gamble, the purpose of which was to free the females from the kingdom of cruel Datura.
As a result, their dangerous plan was put into practice. However, the rabbits had to go through many more serious shocks, risk their lives more than once before they could just live, enjoy life in their own colony on the Watership Hills.
Adaptations
The book "Ship Hill" was surprisingly popular. Therefore, it is not surprising that soon after the release a decision was made to film it.
In 1978, a cartoon appeared based on this book. It received the name "Dangerous Journey", but in our country it was released as a "Sailing Ship". The cartoon turned out to be quite successful, received the Saturn Award in 1979, and was also nominated for a Hugo.
In 2018, a four-part animated series was released. Created by Netflix and BBC. The plot was very impressive - 20 million pounds.
Other names
The original title of the book is Watership Down. But in our country it was published under different names, which caused serious confusion. Of course, the most famous name is “Inhabitants of the Hills” by Richard Adams.
But some readers got acquainted with a book called “On Watership's Hill,” “The Great Journey of the Rabbits,” and some others.
Edition in the USSR and the Russian Federation
For the first time, our compatriots were able to get acquainted with the book shortly after its publication in the homeland - in 1975. It was then that in the British magazine "England", which was published especially for the USSR, an excerpt was published, called the WaterShip Down. The whole book was published in 1988. True, it was greatly curtailed and received a more understandable name - "The Amazing Adventures of Rabbits."
Subsequently, it was reprinted four more times. To date, the book has four publications in our country.
Conclusion
The article is drawing to a close. Now you know enough about the world famous children's book “Ship Hill”. If you have not read it yet, then it is definitely worth spending a few evenings to get acquainted with it!