Konstantin Georgievich Paustovsky wrote many interesting stories about animals. These are "Disheveled Sparrow", "Hare Paws", "Badger Nose" and others. A summary of the fairy tale “Cat-thief” you can read right now.
A bit about the author
This work was written for children and adults by Konstantin Georgievich Paustovsky, who loved animals, nature, people. Before you find out the summary of the story "Cat Thief", it would be nice to talk a little about the author.
Konstantin Georgievich was born on May 19, 1892, lived 76 years. When he started working in the newspaper "Sailor", he traveled a lot around Russia, gaining invaluable experience. He had a chance to see the beauty of his native land, communicate with interesting people, listen to their stories. All this is reflected in the work of the writer.
When you read Paustovsky’s story “Cat Thief”, you will see that one of the author’s friends is Reuben. Indeed, Konstantin Georgievich had a friend, Reuben Fraerman. And many of the characters that the writer talked about are real. This applies not only to humans, but also to animals.
Meet the protagonist
The work is written in the second person. The narrator begins the story by introducing himself to the main character. This is a homeless cat who stole food in search of food. Therefore, people nicknamed him Thief.
The animal had a rather deplorable appearance. The tip of his dirty tail was chopped off and his ear was torn. The storyteller and his friends managed to see him only a week after the daily robbery. Rather, the cat made its sorties at night, and did it so deftly that only the next morning it was possible to detect the loss.
It is from this that the story of The Cat Thief begins. The summary goes on to describe what exactly the stray animal managed to steal . He stole meat, fish, bread, sour cream. Once I found a can of worms in a closet. The red tomboy did not eat them, but the hens saw the prey, and destroyed what was prepared for fishing.
It took people a whole month to track down the thief. You will learn about this by reading the summary below.
Thief cat
Paustovsky further says that the village boys helped to track the cat. They said that they saw a cat dragging kukan with perch in its teeth (kukan is a special device for transferring and storing fish made from a wire loop and a strong cord).
The fishermen rushed into the cellar and saw that 10 fatty perches were lost, which they caught in the river Prorve. People could not forgive this, they wanted to catch the cat and punish him for the tricks. That same evening, the animal stole a piece of liverwurst from them and climbed with it on a birch. People began to shake the tree. The cat held on tightly itself, but dropped a piece of sausage on Reuben's head (it was one of the fishermen), after which the thief nevertheless tore off the birch and ran away under the house.
The fishermen laid the hole and began to wait for the thief wants to go outside. But the animal did not show. Then it was decided to call the boy Lenka - the son of a village cobbler, agile and fearless. He was asked to lure the cat. The boy tied a piece of fishing line to the fish and threw it into the hole. The hungry cat grabbed his fish head with a stranglehold. The boy pulled on the fishing line. Together with her, a thief cat was pulled out. The summary will introduce the reader to further developments.
Feed or punish?
People managed to see the cat. It was a very thin fiery-red animal. Reuben asked what to do with him. At first they wanted to tear out the cat, but Lenya gave smart advice. He said that it’s better to just feed the animal. And this is correct, since the cat was stealing not because he had a bad character, but because of hunger, and good deeds can work wonders. This is the main idea.
The thief cat, fed to the dump with pork, curd cheese with sour cream, aspic from perch, became completely different. First, he rubbed his head on the floor, fell asleep, and the next morning he began to perform noble deeds. So he wanted to thank people for their kindness.
Cock fight
After people fed the cat, treated him kindly, he stopped stealing food and began to help them. Once the hens climbed onto the table in the garden and began to peck the porridge left on the plates. The cat crept up and jumped onto the table. The chickens began to gasp and rushed to flee.
A rooster ran ahead, the cat raced after him and hit him on the back with his paw. At the same time, there was such a sound as if a Thief was hitting a rubber ball. The rooster fell, rolled its eyes, and lay there, moaning softly, until it was doused with cold water. But after this incident, the hens ceased to go beyond what was permitted. When they saw the cat, they ran away from him and hid under the house. He felt like a real master and watchman, so it was decided to give him a new name. So the Thief cat became a policeman. The summary in the next chapter tells about the place where people lived.
House
To make it easier to mentally move to where the work took place, we will tell you more about the house in which people lived. As we recall, the cat fell from a birch tree and screamed out to the house. This building was in an abandoned garden and was small. But people here lived well. At night, apples fell on the roof, the house was littered with them, shot and fishing rods. So, friends not only fished, but also hunted. Perhaps they took a gun to the forest for self-defense, since dangerous animals could be found there.
In this house, people spent only nights, and all days were on the banks of lakes, rivers, where bonfires were made, and fish. One can feel how lovingly the author describes nature, calling fragrant grass, telling how the corollas of tall plants swayed over their heads and covered their shoulders with yellow flower dust. So the summary has come to an end.
The Cat Thief, Paustovsky. What the story teaches
After reading Paustovsky’s work, you come to the conclusion that goodness and compassion can work miracles. At first, people were very angry, as the cat dragged their provisions. They began to hunt for the mischievous, tracked him down. When the animal was caught, it is good that people showed enough wisdom and did not punish him. If they had done so, the thief cat would have become even more embittered. The summary brings the reader an important thought.
The punished animal would still continue to steal food, since it did not have a master, he constantly wanted to eat. Lenya suggested a great way out of this situation, and the cat was well fed. The animal became kind and wanted to help its saviors.
Why do children need to read such works
For the young reader, the story “Cat-thief” will be very useful. They can read the summary with their parents, get acquainted with the work, conclusions, supplement them with their thoughts. Then the guys will understand that feeding a hungry animal is very good. And if they have a cat in their family, they, like adults, are responsible for it and should provide all possible assistance - to feed, wash bowls, and clean up for the animal. Such skills teach not only kindness, but also responsibility, and this is very useful for children in adulthood. Therefore, they simply need to read stories about animals, learn how to relate to our smaller brothers, and grow up as good, responsible people who can sympathize and help the weak.