In this article we will consider the story “In the Evening” by Averchenko. This small work of the writer is widely known, especially among primary school children. We will present in this article a brief summary of the story and reviews about it.
about the author
Arkady Averchenko is a rather famous Russian writer, playwright, satirist and journalist who lived and worked in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Best known for his humorous stories and short stories.
He was the editor of Satyricon and gathered under his leadership the best feuilletonists, comedians and satirists. The style of the writer himself was often compared with the early works of Chekhov. And since 1912, fellow writers proclaimed him king of laughter. At this time, real fame comes to Averchenko, he is retold, quoted, and talked about.
But after the revolution, the writer had to emigrate. He spent the last years of his life in Prague, where he died in 1925.
Averchenko, "In the Evening": a summary. Start
The protagonist enthusiastically reads The History of the French Revolution. Then someone sneaks up to him and starts pulling on his jacket, scratching his back, then they poke the face of a wooden cow under his arm. But the hero pretends not to notice anything. The one behind him tries to move our character’s chair, but the attempt is unsuccessful. Only after that a voice came - "Uncle."
This time, Arkady Averchenko chose a little heroine to describe. Our character was disturbed by Lidochka, his niece. The girl asks his uncle what he is doing, and in response he hears that he is reading about the Girondins. Lidochka is silent. And then the hero decides to explain - he does this in order to clarify the then conjuncture.
The girl asks "why." He replies to broaden his horizons. Lidochka asks her question again. The hero loses his temper and asks what she needs. The girl sighs and says she wants to watch pictures and a fairy tale. The hero answers, her demand is higher than the offer, and then offers to tell her something. Then Lidochka climbs onto his knees and kisses him on the neck.
Fairy tale
Averchenko is perfectly able to portray children's immediacy and adult seriousness. “In the evening” (a brief summary is presented in this article) is a story about how adults and children look at the world differently.
So, Lidochka busily asks her uncle if he knows about Little Red Riding Hood. The hero makes an amazed look and answers that he is hearing about such a fairy tale for the first time. Then the girl begins her story.
Lida begins, then the hero asks her to indicate the exact place of residence of Little Red Riding Hood. The girl calls the only city that she knows - Simferopol. Lida continues. But the hero interrupts her again - was the forest through which Little Red Riding Hood was going, privately owned or state-owned? The girl replies dryly - official. And now, a wolf comes out to meet Little Riding Hood and speaks, but here the uncle interrupts again - the animals cannot talk. Then Lida bites her lip and refuses to continue to tell tales, as she is ashamed.
The hero begins his story about a boy who lived in the Urals and accidentally ate a toad, confusing it with an apple. The narrator himself understands that his story is stupid, but she makes a great impression on the girl.
After that, the hero sits Lidochka and sends her to play, and he returns to reading. But only 20 minutes pass, when they scratch him again with a fingernail, and then there is a whisper: “I know a fairy tale.”
Denouement
Averchenko’s story “In the Evening” (summary) comes to an end. Our hero cannot refuse the request of her niece to tell a fairy tale, as her eyes shine and her lips are funny “swirling”. And he allows her to "pour out his sore soul."
Lidochka is talking about a girl whom her mother once took to the garden. The fairy-tale heroine ate a pear, and then asks her mother if the pear has legs. And when she answered no, she said she ate a chicken.
The hero exclaims with amazement that this is his fairy tale, only a girl instead of a boy, and a pear instead of an apple. But Lida enthusiastically answers that this is her story and that she is completely different. Uncle jokingly accuses his niece of plagiarism and calls for shame.
Then the girl decides to change the subject and asks to show pictures. The hero agrees and promises to find the girl in the magazine of the groom. He selects the image of Wii and points to it. Offended, Lida takes the magazine and starts looking for a bride for her uncle.
She leafs through the magazine for a long time, then calls out to her uncle and hesitantly points to the old willow. The hero asks to look for a better one and find a woman more terrible. The girl flips through the magazine again, and then her subtle cry is heard. Uncle asks what is wrong with her. Then Lidochka, already sobbing with a sob, says that she cannot find him a terrible bride.
The hero shrugs and returns to reading. After some time, he turns around and sees that the girl is already passionate about new entertainment - she considers it in the old key. She wonders why, if you look closely through his hole, your uncle sees the whole, and if you take the key away, then only part of it.
Thus ends the work of Averchenko, "In the Evening." The summary presented here makes it possible to make an impression of the author’s idea. However, real pleasure from the story can be obtained only by reading it in the original.
Reviews
So, let's talk about what readers think. Many people like this work of Averchenko. “In the evening” (reviews confirm this) is a fairly popular story among both adults and young readers. In addition, the author raises a rather topical topic, which has no time limits. Relations between adults and children will always remain as Averchenko describes them. This is the main charm of the work, according to readers.
Averchenko, “In the Evening”: the main characters
The main characters are collective images: Lidochka embodies children, and her uncle - adults. The girl contains all the childish immediacy, lightness and attractiveness. The hero is a representative of a serious and more rational beginning. And, despite their dissimilarity, they find a common language.