The mischievous stories of V. Yu. Dragunsky became classics of children's prose. It was readily read in Soviet times and is now read with pleasure. The works are not only funny, kind, but also instructive. One of them is Dragunsky’s story “Chicken Broth”, with a brief summary and heroes of which you will meet in this article.
about the author
Victor Dragunsky was born into a family of emigrants from Belarus in 1913 in New York. Six months after his birth, the family left for Gomel, where Viktor Yuzefovich’s childhood passed. His father died when his son was four years old. The stepfather of the future writer was an actor in the Vaudeville theater and had a great influence on the boy. Together with his parents, Viktor Yuzefovich often moved, absorbing the spirit of creativity behind the curtains.
In 1924, brother Leonid was born, the family settled in Moscow. In the late 1920s, the stepfather became the director of the Trilling Theater and emigrated to the United States. Dragunsky visited the “Theater Workshops” in Moscow, unlearned for five years and entered the Transport Theater. For some time, the future author of "Denisky Tales" and "Chicken Broth" Dragunsky was a circus worker and served in the Satire Theater, but he always attracted literary activity - he wrote feuilleton and humoresque, scenes and circus clowns.
In 1940, his creations were first published. Due to poor health, Viktor Yuzefovich was not taken to the front, he defended the country in the militia, in 1943 his brother died near Kaluga.
"Blue Bird"
In 1945, Dragunsky was invited to the film actor Studio, in 1947 the film "Russian Question" was released with his participation. As an aspiring actor, he did not count on constant roles and created in 1948 the Theater of the parody "Blue Bird". Famous actors R. Bykov, E. Morgunov, Y. Kostyukovsky and others joined his troupe. For many productions, Viktor Yuzefovich wrote songs himself, one of them entered the repertoire of L. Utesov. "Blue Bird" was famous in Moscow and they were invited to Mosestrada. In 1958, the theater collapsed. Dragunsky collected humoresques written all the time in the collection “Iron Character”, which was published in 1960.
Deniskins Stories
Popularity came with the Denisky Tales, published in 1966. The collection also included the story of Dragunsky "Chicken Broth". At the same time, Dragunsky pleased the little readers with another book - “The Dog Thief”. Dragunsky’s works were published in millions of copies, the instructive stories of Viktor Yuzefovich found a way to the children's heart.
The prototype of funny stories about Korablev was the son of the writer Denis and, as the author himself said, many stories were taken from real life. Dragunsky’s works have been repeatedly filmed, based on the films “The Girl on the Ball”, “Captain” and, of course, “The Adventures of Denis Korablev” with instructive stories, including “Chicken Broth”.
In the center of all the works of the collection is Denis, his relatives and friend Mishka. With the main character of these funny, but instructive stories, ridiculous and funny situations constantly occur. Deniska does not make any efforts to this and is trying to fix everything. To get out of trouble helps a friend Bear. Denis knows the world and people, and every story teaches him something. All his adventures end well, and he remains a cheerful, cheerful little guy.
Creativity and personal life
In the mid-30s, the writer married. His son Leonid also became a writer. In the second marriage with A. Semichastnaya, a son Denis and a daughter Ksenia were born. The prototype of the main character of Dragunsky’s short story “Chicken Broth” - the son of Denis - became a philologist and writer, Ksenia became famous as a playwright and children's writer. Viktor Yuzefovich died of illness in his sixtieth year of life in Moscow. In 1990, his widow published a collection of poems by Dragoon.
Viktor Yuzefovich’s pen belongs to the novels “He Fell on the Grass” and “Today and Daily,” the stories “Far Shura”, “A Real Poet”, “For Memory”, “Old Women”, “The Magic Power of Art”. He became the screenwriter of the films “Girl on the Ball”, “Deniskins Tales”, “Magic Power”, “Fun Stories”, “The Big Wick”, “The Clown.” More than a hundred stories by Dragunsky, “Chicken Broth” were included in the famous cycle about Denis Korablev.
Dragunsky wrote the script for the comedy “The Magic Power of Art”, in which such famous actors as N. Urgant, A. Raikin, N. Trofimov starred. On the basis of his story “Clown” a melodrama was released with the participation of N. Varley, A. Marchevsky, R. Bykova. For adult readers, he created two stories about the war and the life of circus artists.
Easy peasy!
The heroes of Dragunsky’s unpretentious story “Chicken Broth” are Deniska and his parents. Denis sat at the table and drew when mom brought a bony and bluish chicken with a huge red scallop from the store and hung it out the window. Going to work, she punished her son so that his father, if he came earlier from work, prepared dinner. When he returned from work, his father asked: "What do we have and lunch?" and heard from Denis mother's command: "Cook chicken for lunch."
"Nonsense!" - he said and began to tell his son how many nutritious dishes can be prepared from chicken. This they will do now! Boil chicken stock as easy as shelling pears. Victor Dragunsky juicyly describes the dishes that Pope Deniskin was going to cook. In anticipation of a delicious dinner with the hero of the story “even his eyes shone”, he confidently set to work and called his son: “Help!”
"An assistant is needed!"
Deniska asked what should he do? To which dad told him to cut off the hairs from the chicken, since there is not much desire to eat “shaggy broth”. The boy tried hard, but the hairs did not give in. Father slapped his forehead: "We must singe them!" He said to Denis: "Finish the haircut and follow me." They lit a gas burner and began to “burn the chicken on fire”, in the hope that the chicken would be “clean and white.” There it was — the bird was becoming charred and black.
Denis suggested that it should be washed, because it was sooty. But the chicken did not wash. Denis had to take soap and a brush. Soapy chicken jumped out of Denis's hands and flew out of the closet. Father and son for a long and painfully retrieved the slipped chicken. They thoroughly washed it, placed it in a pot of water and set it on fire. At that very moment, mom entered and saw a half-ruined kitchen: “What is happening?” Hearing in response that her men are cooking chicken, she sighed, put on her apron and began to gut the chicken.
Morality
The story of Victor Dragunsky “Chicken Broth” teaches that you don’t need to take on an unfamiliar business without preliminary preparation. The heroes of the story were sure that cooking the broth was “easy” and did not bother to find out how to cook chicken properly. High conceit and boasting will not lead to anything good. You need to consult knowledgeable people so that you don’t have to redo everything. There are things that cannot be fixed. The main idea in Dragunsky’s “Chicken Broth” is nothing to be ashamed of if you don’t know something and seek advice from more experienced people. It is important to admit this to yourself, and it is never too late to learn.