One of the most popular works of the famous English writer and animator Gerald Darrell is My Family and Animals. A brief summary of this autobiographical story will help you better know how the author’s world works, to which he pays close attention. In translations into Russian, this book is also known under the names "My family and other animals", "My family and other animals."
Corfu Trilogy
The first work of the famous trilogy of Corfu Darrell is the story "My Family and Other Beasts." The summary will introduce you in detail to the topics that were most important to the author.
This story was first published in 1956, when the author turned 31 years old. He recalls his childhood spent with his parents on the Greek island of Corfu. His first impressions that he received when meeting with the animal world.
A continuation of this trilogy is the story "Birds, Beasts and Relatives" and "Garden of the Gods."
10 year old boy
The main character of the story is Darrell himself, when he was ten years old. The narration is conducted in the first person, so the reader is quickly drawn into an exciting journey through the pages of the book "My Family and Animals." The summary begins with a description of how the family of the future animal writer comes from England to the Greek island of Corfu.
Among them, the mother of the protagonist, who became a widow, and three of his brothers and sisters. This is 23-year-old novice writer Larry, 19-year-old Leslie, who loves hunting, 18-year-old Margot and the smallest - ten-year-old Jerry. Since childhood, he has a passion for animals.
In England, the entire family was constantly suffering from humid climates and mists. In Corfu, they hope to improve their health.
On this Greek island, they are met by a driver named Spiro, who is respected by the entire local population. In a short time he becomes a devoted friend of the family. Spiro helps to solve almost all domestic issues, how to rent a house, how to fix problems at customs, where their luggage is stuck, how to arrange a relationship in a new place with the bank.
Darrells like Corfu. Jerry's mother runs the farm. Larry, as he dreamed, writes his first books, Leslie goes hunting almost every day, the frivolous Margo flirts with the guys, and Jerry, with his faithful dog named Roger, studies the nature of this island.
For him, the garden of his home becomes a real magical country. Darrell in My Family and the Beasts (summarized in this article) describes in detail how he spends his days studying insects.
One day a little boy discovers an earwig nest. For him, this becomes a serious discovery. He sets up protection around so that no one inadvertently destroys it and begins to observe. The impressions of the protagonist from the outside world are the main value of the story "My Family and Other Animals". The summary allows you to get acquainted closely with the characters of the story, to learn their habits and character traits.
While observing the nest, the boy fails. Chicks appear at night, he can not see the most interesting.
Children's experiences and disappointments from a missed discovery - the main thing that is in the story "My Family and Beasts". A brief summary on Briefley will give you a complete picture of this work. But still it is better to read it in its entirety.
Island exploration
Every morning, Jerry and his faithful dog set off to explore Corfu. Locals like this curious Englishman. They invite him to visit and treat him with various goodies.
Somehow a boy buys a little turtle, which gives the nickname Achilles. His relatives are well treated for his new hobby, until this turtle begins to scratch everyone who goes to sunbathe in the garden.
Under pressure from relatives, Jerry has to keep the pet under lock and key. Now he lets him out for a walk only under supervision. But still, after a while, the turtle disappears. Even in a very brief summary of "My family and animals", attention is paid to how all households are worried.
As a result, the pet is found dead in an old well. He is buried under a bush of wild strawberry, to which he has always been partial.
New acquaintances
Soon, Jerry has a new pet. This is a dove, which for its ugly appearance is nicknamed Quasimodo. The story "My family and animals", a summary of which is in this article, is mainly devoted to the pets of the future writer. It turns out that the pigeon is a big fan of music.
To give the boy a good and high-quality education, he is hired by an experienced tutor. He becomes a friend of Larry, also a novice writer. He begins to teach Jerry mathematics, geography, and French. But the boy is only interested in animals.
Darrell briefly describes a case in My Family and the Beasts that has an important influence on the fate of the boy. He meets with the scientist Theodore Stefanides. The same enthusiastic zoologist. They have a big age difference, but common interests. On this basis, they come closer. A strong friendship is established between them. Jerry has another companion in the exploration of the island.
Guests in the house
The next important episode of the short story “My Family and the Beasts” in brief is the arrival of Larry's friends. To accommodate everyone, you have to move to a large mansion for a while.
Jerry with his mother goes to the city, where on that day the relics of St. Spyridon, who is considered the patron saint of Corfu, are put on public display.
The frivolous Margo, after numerous pilgrims, kisses the saint's feet, asking to free her from acne. But instead, it gets infected with the flu.
At this time, Jerry, along with the dog, begins to develop a new garden in the story "My Family and the Beasts." In a brief summary for the reader’s diary, it is imperative to pay attention to the swallows that the boy is watching and evaluates their behavior.
He has a whole island at his disposal. Once in front of his eyes, a turtle comes out of hibernation, and he gets a turtle egg.
Insect world
In a brief summary of My Family and the Beasts, Jerry discovers an almost destroyed wall in the garden. Insects live in its many cracks. For him, this is a new unexplored world. He watches how geckos and toads hunt them. But most of all he is attracted to scorpions.
One day, Jerry catches a small female with a cub and hides it in a matchbox. When guests of Larry find her, a real commotion begins in the house.
New tutor
Jerry soon has a new tutor. French language is taught by the Belgian consul, a big fan of cats. True, this love is strange. He often shoots from the window at abandoned and homeless animals, because he believes that they can no longer be helped.
Jerry continues to bring home new animals. Domestic animals welcome the owl chick. Swimming in the bay, the boy meets a flock of dolphins. On his birthday, he receives a boat as a present. Now he can explore the surroundings of Corfu - small islands. Also, the birthday man receives two little puppies as a gift.
Winter came
In winter, many representatives of the animal world hibernate, life freezes. But not for Leslie. For him, the hunting season begins.
The Darrells are again moving to a new place. This time in a small snow-white house. Here Jerry begins to study mantis living in the garden. With enthusiasm, he follows the war between them and the geckos, which is described in detail in the story "My Family and Beasts." A chapter summary even tells how one of the geckos settles in his bedroom. And even brings a girlfriend.
But their family idyll does not last long. Jerry brings home two toads. One of which eats a female gecko.
Bird lover
Meanwhile, the boy is finding a new tutor. A great lover of birds, an elderly man with a hump that makes him look like a gnome.
In the teacher’s house there is a room that is hung from floor to ceiling with cages with a variety of birds. Jerry seems like he is in paradise.
At the same time, the new tutor takes seriously his education. For the boy, the lessons are uninteresting and painful. He comes to life only in those moments when the teacher calls him to help him in the room with the birds.
It soon turns out that his mentor lives with his mother. A passionate lover of home flowers and other plants. At the same time, she is convinced that they are talking, so she communicates with them for a long time.
Suspicious Magpies
Jerry's new pets are magpie chicks. Unlike his previous animals, most of these domestic animals are wary of these. After all, it is believed that magpies steal jewelry and money.
Soon, the chicks begin to walk freely around the house. They are especially attracted to Larry's room, which they are categorically not allowed into. When in the absence of the owner they nevertheless penetrate there, they turn everything upside down.
To prevent this from happening again, Jerry builds a cage for them. In this he is helped by his new tutor, who likes to tell the most incredible and ridiculous stories. In most of them, he saves an unknown lady from all sorts of troubles and misfortunes. For one of these stories, he admits that he owns the methods of struggle. Jerry immediately asks to teach him. During training, the boy awkwardly pushes the teacher, he falls and breaks his ribs.
Not only Jerry brings pets to the house. Once his mother sheltered a terrier. The dog turns out to be incredibly stupid, and even with a sore hind paw. Periodically, it falls out of the joint, then the dog whines mournfully.
She is literally on the heels of Mrs. Darrell. And when she leaves home, she just howls. Soon a puppy is born. Now she has to be torn between love for her cub and mistress. Mrs. Darrell now necessarily goes with four dogs for a walk.
Menagerie jerry
Menagerie Jerry replenished with new animals almost every day. Somehow, with a walk, he brings water snakes. When he caught them, he met a prisoner who is serving a sentence for killing his wife. For exemplary behavior on the weekend he is released home.
A new friend Jerry gives him a seagull and calls for night fishing. Larry is horrified by the new acquaintance of his younger brother, as well as from the bird that he brought to the house. Larry is sure that this is not a seagull at all, but an albatross, which, according to popular belief, brings misfortune.
Jerry's new dream is goldfish. They are caught for him by Spiro in a pond located near the royal residence.
A funny episode is connected with the reception of guests by the Darrells. The day they arrived it was very hot. Oh, Jerry suffered from this, then he released them into the bath. The guests were shocked when they went to the washroom to wash their hands and found that snakes were teeming in the water.
Larry warns everyone that in their house almost every box, even the smallest, can be fraught with danger. Soon his words will be confirmed. One of the guests is bitten by a seagull, and the dogs are fighting over the terrier.
At the end of the story, the teacher tells Mrs. Darrell that he taught the boy everything he could. The family returns to England to give the main character a full education.