Analysis of the work “Black Hen. Moral lessons of life

« black hen» - short story Anthony Pogorelsky, written by him for his little nephew Alexei Tolstoy, a well-known future writer. In this article, we will provide an analysis of the story "The Black Hen", which will help you get to know the work better and understand its essence. It will not be superfluous to also read the summary of this story. But first, let's discuss what genre Black Hen belongs to and talk about the main character.

Genre of the work "Black Hen, or Underground Inhabitants"

The work is subtitled " Magic story for children", although it is more in line with the genre of a romantic fairy tale. Here there is a dual world characteristic of romanticism: the real world is a boarding school where he studied main character Alyosha, and the magical world - the underworld. Moreover, these two worlds are not isolated from each other. For example, Chernushka is actually an ordinary chicken, but in magical world- Distinguished Minister

With a fairy tale, the work has in common the presence of a hero who must pass the test, the presence magic items(hemp seed), motive of triple repetition. An analysis of the story "The Black Hen" clearly shows this.

The image of the protagonist of the work "Black Hen"

The main character is the boy Alyosha, who lives and studies in a boarding school in St. Petersburg.

At first, he is shown to be inquisitive and smart kid who likes teaching, he is friends with his comrades, only sad on weekends and holidays, waiting for letters "from papa and mama." Another good quality Alyosha is his kindness. He feeds the chickens in the yard, and when the cook is about to slaughter his beloved Chernushka, he rushes to protect the chicken with tears and gives his golden imperial just to save her. Considering the plot of the fairy tale, let's continue the analysis of Pogorelsky's "Black Hen".

For a good deed, the Corydalis decided to thank her savior. She showed him the underworld so that the boy would not feel his loneliness so acutely. His life becomes interesting: in the magical kingdom, he sees knights, talks with the king, walks in an unusual garden, examines beautiful trees unusual colors, wild animals on chains. Chernushka tells him in detail about the underworld and his people.

As a reward for his kindness, Alyosha receives another gift - a hemp seed, thanks to which he can answer any lesson without learning anything at all. It should be noted that the king with a sigh gives the boy such a seed: he is forced to do this, as he promised to fulfill his desire for saving Chernushka. But the ruler does not like at all that Alyosha will be lazy and receive praise without making any effort.

Conclusions in the analysis of the story "Black Hen"

Let us note that Alyosha himself at first feels awkward when he is praised for a good answer: an inner voice insists that he does not deserve praise, because “this lesson does not cost him any work.”

Pogorelsky shows how Alyosha has changed: soon he was no longer tormented by the pangs of conscience, he himself believed in his own extraordinary abilities, began to put on airs in front of other boys. As a result, the hero lost all his friends. Pogorelsky notes that in Alyosha, as in any person, there is an internal struggle. He felt that the praises were unfair, he should improve, but pride took over, and the boy became more and more selfish.

In addition, the analysis of the story "The Black Hen" reveals that in this work Pogorelsky gives a moral lesson to his readers: other people's merits will not bring happiness, undeserved success, which is not the result of labor, leads to selfishness and the loss of good qualities of character.

The culmination of the work is the moment of Alyosha's betrayal. He talks about the underworld, violating the ban, and Chernushka, along with all the inhabitants, is forced to move "far, far from these places."

Pogorelsky contrasts the generous Chernushka and Alyosha, who has become petty and cowardly. The underground minister forgives Alyosha before leaving, he remembers his salvation and is still grateful for it. He only asks the boy for one thing: to become kind and good again. Alyosha suffers for a long time because of his act, feels guilty and strives with all his might to improve. He succeeds, he becomes "obedient, kind, modest and diligent." And we also note one important thought, making an analysis of the story "The Black Hen".

Pogorelsky, using the example of Alyosha, shows his young readers that kindness, curiosity, honesty must be constantly nurtured in oneself. One of our careless cowardly act can bring misfortune to others. You can earn the love and respect of people only by doing good deeds for others.

You have read the analysis of the story "The Black Hen" by Anthony Pogorelsky. We hope that this article was interesting and understandable. Visit our blog often, because there you will find hundreds of articles with similar topics. Read also

Russian prosaic literary tale of the first half of the 19th century

Plan:

1. Fairy tale by A. Pogorelsky “The Black Hen, or Underground inhabitants". problems, ideological meaning, plot, image of the protagonist, originality of style, genre specificity.

2. The main aspects of V.F. Odoevsky.

3. Further development literary fairy tale in Russia

Literature

1. Mineralova I.G. Children's literature. - M., 2002, p. 60-61, 72-76, 92-96

2. Sharov A. Wizards come to people. - M., 1979

Romantic writers opened the fairy tale genre to "high" literature. In parallel with this, in the era of romanticism, childhood was discovered as a unique, inimitable world, the depth and value of which attracts adults.

The researcher of Russian romanticism N. Verkovsky wrote that romanticism established the cult of the child and the cult of childhood. In search of the ideal of romance, they turned to the uncomplicated children's view of the world, opposing it at times to the egoistic, grossly material world of adults. The world of childhood and the world of a fairy tale are ideally combined in the work of A. Pogorelsky. His magical story "The Black Hen, or the Underground Inhabitants" became a classic originally addressed to young readers.

Anthony Pogorelsky is the pseudonym of Alexei Alekseevich Perovsky, the late son of the noble Catherine's grandee A.K. Razumovsky. As a child, A. Perovsky received a versatile home education, then in a little over two years he graduated from Moscow University. He left the university with the title of Doctor of Philosophy and Literary Sciences, received by him for lectures on the natural science content. During the war of 1812, Perovsky was a military officer, participated in the battles of Dresden, Kulm, served in Saxony. Here he met the famous non-German musician and romantic writer T. Amadeus Hoffmann. Communication with Hoffmann left an imprint on the nature of Perovsky's work.

The ironic pseudonym "Anthony Pogorelsky" is associated with the name of the estate of the writer Pogoreltsy in the Chernigov province and the name of St. Anthony of the Caves, who once retired from the world in Chernigov. Anthony Pogorelsky is one of the most enigmatic figures in Russian literature. Friends called him the St. Petersburg Byron: he was just as smart, talented, recklessly bold and even outwardly resembled the famous English poet.

A. Pogorelsky wrote poetry, articles on literature, in prose he largely anticipated the appearance of Gogol, stood at the origins of a fantastic trend in Russian literature. The collection of short stories The Double, or My Evenings in Little Russia (1828) attracted the mystery of sometimes mysterious, sometimes touching stories told with a fair amount of clever irony; the novel "Monastyrka" (1 hour - 1830, 2 hours - 1833) was once seen as the first successful work about the Russian provincial nobility, and finally, the magic story for children "The Black Hen, or Underground Inhabitants" (1829) throughout For more than a hundred years, it has been captivating children with a fairy tale plot, without edification convincing them of the true value of kindness, truth, honesty and diligence. Pogorelsky contributed to the development of Russian literature and by the fact that he contributed to the education, literary development his nephew, Alexei Konstantinovich Tolstoy.

"The Black Hen, or Underground Dwellers" (1828).

Problematic, ideological meaning. The story is subtitled "A Magical Tale for Children". There are two lines of narration in it - real and fabulous-fantastic. Their bizarre combination determines the plot, style, imagery of the work. Pogorelsky wrote a story for a ten-year-old nephew. Alyosha he calls the main character. Translated from Greek, Alexei means intercessor, so happily coincided the dedication to his nephew, his own name literary character and its essence. But in the fairy tale, echoes are felt not only of Alyosha Tolstoy's childhood, but also of the author himself (also Alexei). As a child, he was briefly placed in a closed boarding school, suffered from separation from home, fled from it, broke his leg. The high wooden fence enclosing the boarding yard, the living space of his pupils, is not only a realistic detail in The Black Hen, but also a symbolic sign of the author's "Childhood memory".

“The gates and gates that led to the lane were always locked, and therefore Alyosha never managed to visit this lane, which greatly aroused his curiosity. Whenever they allowed him to play in the yard during rest hours, his first movement was to run up to the fence.

The round holes in the fence are the only connection to the outside world. The boy is lonely, he feels this especially bitterly in "vacant time", when he is separated from his comrades.

A sad, poignant note pervades Pogorelsky's story. The narration is conducted on behalf of the author-narrator, with frequent reference to imaginary listeners, which gives special warmth and confidence. The time and place of the events that took place are specified: “Forty years ago, in St. Petersburg on Vasilevsky Island, in the First Line, there lived the owner of a men's boarding school ...” a teacher with curls, a toupee and a long braid, his wife, powdered and pomaded, with a whole greenhouse of different colors on her head. Alyosha's outfit is detailed.

All descriptions are bright, picturesque, convex, given taking into account children's perception. The child is important in the overall picture detail, detail. Once in the realm of the underground inhabitants, “Alyosha began to carefully examine the hall, which was very richly cleaned. It seemed to him that the walls were made of marble, which he saw in the mineral room of the boarding house. The panels and doors were solid gold. At the end of the hall, under a green canopy, on an elevated place, there were chairs made of gold. Alyosha admired this decoration, but it seemed strange to him that everything was in the smallest form, as if for small dolls.

Realistic objects, everyday details in fairy-tale episodes (tiny lighted candles in silver chandeliers, porcelain Chinese dolls nodding to the goalkeeper, twenty little knights in golden armor, with crimson feathers on their hats) bring the two narrative planes together, make it natural Alyosha's transition from the real world to the magical fantasy one.

Everything that happened to the hero makes the reader think about many serious questions. How to deal with success? How not to be proud of the unexpected good luck? What can happen if you do not listen to the voice of conscience? What is word loyalty? Is it easy to overcome the bad in yourself? After all, "vices usually enter through the door, and out through the crack." Complex moral problems puts the author, condescending neither to the age of the hero, nor to the age of the reader. Children's life is not a toy version of an adult: everything in life happens once and seriously.

Is The Black Hen Didactic? The educational pathos is obvious. If we ignore the artistic fabric of the narrative, it can be expressed in words: be honest, hardworking, modest. But Pogorelsky managed to clothe the educational idea in such a romantically elevated and at the same time vitally convincing, truly magical and fabulous form that the child reader perceives the moral lesson with his heart.

The plot of the story. The serious problems of Pogorelsky's story are easily assimilated by children thanks to the fascinating fairy tale plot and the very successful central image of the hero, the reader's peer.

An analysis of the plot of the story convinces us that in terms of genre the work is not so unambiguous, which additionally informs its content of artistic completeness and pedagogical depth.

The story begins with exposure (prehistory of events unfolding directly within the framework of the artistic time of the work).

tie- Alyosha's intercession for Chernushka.

climax (highest point tension of all problematic lines), a kind of eventful "knot" of the conflict - the choice of Alyosha in the magical gardens of the underground inhabitants of the hemp seed , and not other cultivated beautiful flowers and fruits . This choice is accompanied by seduction(it's hard to resist the temptation to easily know everything perfectly). But, having once yielded to his thought, which seems harmless to others, already small man gets on the path at first very small, and then more and more growing lies. So, it seems, forgetfulness of the rules also magically comes to him. and promises. Then, in a kind and compassionate boy, pride begins to speak, an unjustified feeling of superiority over others. From a magical remedy - hemp seeds, dope grass - this pride grows.

Moreover, the loss of a hemp seed by the hero is not yet the denouement, the boy is twice given a chance to get out of this situation without moral losses, but, having again found a hemp seed, he embarks on the same disastrous path.

denouement there will be an exposure of deceit, a “betrayal” of the underground inhabitants, and their departure is already an epilogue (events that will surely follow, and no one can change them). Lyrically, the denouement is Alyosha's repentance, a bitter, irreplaceable feeling of loss, pity for the heroes with whom he must part, and nothing can be changed either in his actions or in the actions of others. The event side is the reason for the beginning of the “work of the soul.

Intuitively, the reader comes to the conclusion, albeit not verbally formalized: pride, arrogance are defeated by repentance, repentance, complicity, compassion, pity for others. Moral conclusions sound aphoristic: “people correct the wicked, angels correct the evil ones, and the Lord GOD himself”(St. John of the Ladder)

The image of the main character

The image of Alyosha, a nine-year-old pupil of an old St. Petersburg boarding school, was developed by the writer with special attention to his inner life. For the first time in a Russian children's book, a living boy appeared here, each mental movement of which speaks of the author's deep knowledge of child psychology. Alyosha is endowed with features characteristic of a child of his age. He is emotional, impressionable, observant, inquisitive; reading old chivalric romances (a typical eighteenth-century boy's reading repertoire) developed his naturally rich imagination. He is kind, brave, responsive. And at the same time, nothing childish is alien to him. He is playful, restless, easily tempted not to learn a boring lesson, to be cunning, to hide his childhood secrets from adults.

Like most children, fairy tale and reality are merged into one in his mind. In the real world, the boy clearly sees traces of the miraculous, elusive for adults, and himself continuously every minute in Everyday life creates a fairy tale. So it seems to him that the holes in the fence, knocked together from old boards, were made by a sorceress, and, of course, there is nothing surprising if she brings news from home or a toy. An ordinary chicken, escaping from the persecution of the cook, suddenly can easily speak and ask for help. Therefore, so naturally enter the life of the hero, and at the same time the plot of the story, and magic knights, and reviving porcelain dolls, and the mysterious underworld with its peaceful and kind people, and possessing magic power a grain, and other wonders of a fairy tale with all rights and laws.

How easily the fairy tale intrudes into the life of the hero Pogorelsky, how freely, in turn, the methods of realistic writing are introduced into the narration about the mysterious: accuracy in the description of everyday details and elements of psychological analysis unusual for a fairy tale.

The details of everyday life in the fairy-tale episodes of the story seemed to be prompted to the artist by a child, performed naive faith into the reality of all that is wonderful. Tiny lit candles in silver chandeliers, the size of Alyosha's little finger, appear on the chairs, the washstand and on the floor of the dark room, the hen Chernushka comes for Alyosha; a large couch made of Dutch tiles, on which people and animals are painted with blue glaze, is found on their way to the underworld. They also see old beds with white muslin curtains. It is not difficult to see that all these objects came into the story not from an unknown magical land, but from an ordinary St. Petersburg mansion of the 18th century. Thus, the writer together with the hero, as it were, “revive” the fairy tale, convincing the reader of the authenticity of the plot fiction.

The further Alyosha and Chernushka go into the mysterious world of underground inhabitants, the less historical and everyday flavor becomes in the text. But the clarity of a child's vision, child's vigilance and concreteness of ideas remain: twenty knights in gold armor, with crimson feathers on armor, quietly march in pairs into the hall, twenty small pages in crimson dresses carry the royal mantle. The clothes of the courtiers, the decoration of the palace chambers - everything was written out by Pogorelsky with a thoroughness that captivates the child, creating the illusion of “realness”, which he appreciates so much both in the game and in the fairy tale.

Almost all the events of a fairy-tale plan can be explained, say, by the propensity of the hero to daydreaming, to fantasizing. He loves chivalric romances and is often ready to see the ordinary in a fantastic light. The director of schools, for whose reception they are anxiously preparing at the boarding school, in his imagination appears to be “a famous knight in brilliant armor and a helmet with brilliant feathers”, but, to his surprise, instead of a “feathered helmet”, Alyosha sees “ just a small bald head, white powdered, the only decoration of which ... was a small bun. But the author does not seek to destroy the delicate balance between fairy tale and life, leaving unsaid, for example, why Chernushka, being a minister, appears in the form of a chicken and what connection the underground inhabitants have with the old Dutch women.

Developed imagination, the ability to dream, fantasize make up the wealth of the personality of a growing person. Therefore, the main character of the story is so charming. This is the first living, non-schematic image of a child, a boy in children's literature. Alyosha, like any ten-year-old child, is inquisitive, mobile, and impressionable. His kindness and responsiveness were manifested in the rescue of his beloved chicken Chernushka, which served as the plot of a fairy tale plot. It was a decisive and courageous act: the little boy threw himself on the neck of the cook, who instilled in him "horror and disgust" with her cruelty (the cook at that moment, with a knife in her hands, grabbed Chernushka by the wing). Alyosha parted without hesitation with the imperial, precious to him, presented by his kind grandmother. To the author of the sentimental children's story this episode would be quite enough to reward the hero a hundredfold for kind heart. But Pogorelsky draws a living boy, childishly direct, playful, who could not resist the temptation of idleness and vanity.

Alyosha takes the first step towards his troubles unintentionally. To the tempting offer of the king to name his desire, Alyosha “hurried to answer” and said the first thing that could come to the mind of almost any schoolchild: “I would like that, without studying, I always knew my lesson, no matter what I was asked.”

The denouement of the story is the scene of Chernushka's farewell to Alyosha, the noise of leaving his kingdom little people, Alyosha's despair from the irreparability of his reckless act - is perceived by the reader as an emotional shock. For the first time, perhaps, in his life, he experiences the drama of betrayal together with the hero. Without exaggeration, one can speak in catharsis - the exaltation of the enlightened soul of a young reader who succumbed to the magic of Pogorelsky's story-tale.

Style Features

The originality of the thinking of the child, the hero of the story, through whose eyes, as it were, many events of the story are seen, prompted the writer to select visual means. Therefore, each line of The Black Hen resonates with readers who are the same age as the hero.

The writer, inventive in fantastic fiction, is attentive to the careful re-creation of real life. Accurate full of details, as if drawn from nature, landscapes of old Petersburg, more precisely, one of its oldest streets - the First Line of Vasilyevsky Island, with its wooden sidewalks, small mansions covered with Dutch tiles, and spacious courtyards fenced with baroque boards. Pogorelsky and Alyosha's clothes, decoration holiday table, and the complicated hairstyle of the teacher's wife, made in the fashion of that time, and many other sub-6s of life in St. Petersburg in the 18th century.

Everyday scenes of the story are marked by a slightly mocking smile of the author. This is how the pages are made, depicting a funny bustle in the teacher's house before the arrival of the headmaster.

The vocabulary and style of the story is extremely interesting. The syllable of the "Black Hen" is free, varied. In an effort to make the story entertaining for the child, Pogorelsky does not allow simplification, does not strive for such accessibility, which is achieved by impoverishing the text. Encountering in the work with thoughts and images that are complex and not fully understood, the child learns their context in a generalized way, not being able to approach them analytically. But the assimilation of a text that requires certain mental efforts from the reader, calculated "for growth," is always more fruitful than light reading.

"Black Hen" is easily perceived by the modern reader. There is practically no archaic vocabulary, obsolete turns of speech. And at the same time, the story is built stylistically diverse. There is an epic leisurely exposition, an emotional story about the rescue of Chernushka, about miraculous incidents associated with underground inhabitants. Often the author resorts to a lively, unconstrained dialogue.

In the style of the story, a significant role belongs to the writer's reproduction of children's thoughts and speech. Pogorelsky was one of the first to draw attention to its specificity and used it as a means of artistic representation. “If I were a knight,” Alyosha reflects, “I would never ride a cab.” Or: "She (the old Dutch woman) seemed to him (Alyosha) as if wax." So childish intonation is used by Pogorelsky for speech characteristics hero, and in the author's speech. Stylistic diversity, a bold appeal to lexical layers of varying degrees of complexity, and at the same time attention to the peculiarities of the perception of a child reader made Pogorelsky's story a classic children's book.

Title of the work: "The Black Hen, or Underground Inhabitants".

Number of pages: 45.

Genre of the work: fairy tale.

Main characters: the boy Alyosha, the hen Chernushka, the Underground King, the Teacher.

Characteristics of the main characters:

Alyosha- a dreamy, lonely and windy boy.

He made friends with Chernushka and began to know the lessons well, but then everything changed.

Nigella- a chicken that could speak and was a minister.

Kind and sympathetic, but strict.

King- kind, wise and grateful.

He endowed Alyosha with a special gift.

Summary of the tale "The Black Hen, or Underground Inhabitants" for the reader's diary

Alyosha's parents lived far from Petersburg.

It was here that they brought the boy and left him for several years in a men's boarding house.

Alyosha liked to study among other boys, but he did not like weekends.

Indeed, on such days he felt lonely: his comrades went home, and he remained alone.

So he made friends with the chickens that were found in the household yard. He was especially fond of chicken Chernushka.

Once a holiday was planned in the boarding house and the cook wanted to slaughter Chernushka, but the boy saved her by giving the woman a gold coin.

At night, this same hen appeared to the boy and ordered Alyosha to follow her.

They walked through huge and dark chambers and chambers, but Alyosha was not allowed to touch anything.

In one of the wards, he took the cat by the paw and immediately a noise arose.

The chicken disappeared and Alyosha followed her.

When they came to the high doors, two knights jumped down from them and began to fight with the bird.

From such a picture, the boy lost consciousness.

The next night Alyosha quietly followed Chernushka.

The hen led him into a spacious hall, where small people began to appear.

The boy was thanked by the Underking himself for saving his minister from death.

He gave Alyosha a hemp seed and asked him not to tell anyone anything.

For some time Alyosha did not see the hen.

He began to know all the lessons that the teacher asked them, but his behavior became terrible.

When the teacher asked the guy to learn twenty pages of the textbook, Lesha lost his grain and could not say anything.

The hen returned the grain to him and asked him to correct himself.

The teacher decides to flog the boy because he cannot say how he learned the lesson and Alyosha tells him about the chicken and the King.

That night Chernushka comes to the boy and says goodbye to him.

After a long illness, Alyosha begins to study well and even sets an example for others.

The plan for retelling the work "Black Hen, or Underground Inhabitants" by A. Pogorelsky

1. Parents bring Alyosha to the men's boarding school.

2. Weekends alone.

3. Favorite chicken Nigella.

4. Alyosha saves a chicken from the cook.

5. Chernushka leads Alyosha through the chambers.

6. The knights from the door fight the chicken.

7. Alyosha faints.

8. At night the boy follows the bird again.

9. A lesson learned and a hemp seed from the king.

10. Alyosha is a spoiler.

11. The teacher sets a lesson and Alyosha can't cope.

12. Lost grain and the appearance of Nigella.

13. Alyosha betrays the secret of the King, but the teacher does not believe him.

14. The hen comes to say goodbye to the boy.

15. Alyosha is sick.

16. The boy corrects himself and becomes a diligent student.

The main idea of the fairy tale "The Black Hen, or Underground Inhabitants"

the main idea fairy tale lies in the fact that a person begins to behave badly when he receives everything for nothing.

The main character was an obedient boy, but as soon as he received a magic seed, he stopped trying and being an exemplary student.

Another main idea of the tale is that one must be able to keep one's word and be responsible for one's actions.

After all, one wrong step can ruin everything.

What does the work "The Black Hen, or the Underground Dwellers" teach?

A. Pogorelsky's tale teaches several things:

1. Appreciate what you already have.

2. Learn to keep your word and promise, be responsible for your actions.

3. Do not be arrogant and not proud, be modest and honest.

4. Be obedient, kind and smart.

5. Understand what is good and what is bad in relation to others.

A brief review of the fairy tale "The Black Hen, or Underground Inhabitants" for the reader's diary

The fairy tale "The Black Hen, or the Underground People" is an instructive and magical story about the boy Alyosha, who saved the chicken Chernushka.

The main character of the work is the boy Alyosha, whom his parents sent to study at a boarding school.

One day he saves a chicken from death and the animal leads him to the Underking.

The boy is given a magic seed with which he will know all the lessons.

I think that having got the seed, Alyosha just relaxed and stopped trying.

And why, because you already know all the lessons.

But this carefree period did not last long for him and the secret comes out.

For me, the main meaning of the fairy tale is that you need to achieve everything yourself and not wait for a wonderful pill or seed.

Such gifts only harm a person and spoil him: he begins to behave ugly, because he will be sure that nothing will be done to him for this.

However, from the fairy tale, I also understood that you can’t think only about yourself and give out other people’s secrets.

What proverbs are suitable for the fairy tale "Black Hen, or Underground Dwellers"

"A bad deed will not lead to a good one."

"One bad deed gives birth to another.

"Where there are many words, there are few deeds."

"Give the word, keep the word."

"One has sinned, and all are responsible."

The passage that struck me the most:

Lord King! I can't take personally what I've never done.

On the third day, I had the good fortune to save from death not your minister, but our black hen, which the cook did not like because she did not lay a single egg ...

What are you saying? interrupted the king in anger.

My minister is not a chicken, but an honored official!

Here the Minister came closer, and Alyosha saw that it was indeed his dear Chernushka.

He was very happy and asked the king for an apology, although he could not understand what it meant.

Unknown words and their meaning:

Pension - educational institution with hostel.

Arshin is a measure of length.

Rods - a bunch of willow or birch branches.

How the book was created

Many schoolchildren liked the fairy tale "The Black Hen, or Underground Inhabitants". Reviews about this book from readers are very positive. However, not everyone knows for what purpose the fairy tale was originally created. This work was a gift to A. Tolstoy, to whom Pogorelsky replaced his father. Alexei Tolstoy was a relative paternal line of the great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy. It is known that over time, Alexei Nikolayevich also became a popular writer and even contributed to the creation of the famous image of Kozma Prutkov.

However, this awaited him only in the future, but for now the lad brought a lot of difficulties to Pogorelsky due to the fact that he did not want to study. That is why Pogorelsky decided to compose a fairy tale that would inspire his pupil to work in school. Over time, the book gained more and more popularity, and already every schoolchild could write a review about it. "Black Hen, or Underground Dwellers" has become a classic for every student. Perhaps it will be interesting for fans of the fairy tale to know that the surname Pogorelsky is actually a pseudonym. In fact, the writer's name was Alexei Alekseevich Perovsky.

The protagonist of the fairy tale, the scene

The protagonist of The Black Hen, or Underground Inhabitants is the boy Alyosha. The story begins with a story about the main character. The boy studies in a private boarding school and often suffers from his loneliness. He is tormented by longing for his parents, who, having paid money for education, live with their worries far from St. Petersburg. The emptiness in the soul and communication with loved ones Alyosha is replaced by books. The child's fantasy takes him to distant lands, where he imagines himself to be a valiant knight. Other children are taken by parents for weekends and holidays. But for Alyosha, books remain the only consolation. The scene of the fairy tale, as indicated, is a small private boarding house in St. Petersburg, where parents send their children to study. Having paid money for the education of their child for several years in advance, they, in fact, disappear from his life completely.

The beginning of the story

The main characters of The Black Hen, or Underground Residents are the boy Alyosha and Chernushka, a character whom Alyosha meets in the poultry yard. It is there that the boy spends a significant part of his free time. He really likes to watch how the birds live. In particular, he liked the chicken Chernushka. It seems to Alyosha that Chernushka is silently trying to tell him something and has a meaningful look. One day Alyosha wakes up from Chernushka's screams and saves a chicken from the cook's hands. And with this act, the boy discovers an unusual, fairy-tale world. This is how it starts fairy tale"Black Hen, or Underground Inhabitants" by Anthony Pogorelsky.

Introduction to the underworld

At night, Chernushka comes to the boy and starts talking to him in a human voice. Alyosha was very surprised, but decided to follow Chernushka to the magical underworld where little people live. The king of this unusual people offers Alyosha any reward for the fact that he managed to save their minister, Chernushka, from death. But Alyosha could not think of anything better than asking the king for a magical ability - to be able to answer correctly in any lesson, even without preparation. The king of the underground inhabitants did not like this idea, because it spoke of Alyosha's laziness and negligence.

lazy student's dream

However, the word is the word, and he had to fulfill his promise. Alyosha received a special hemp seed, which he always had to carry with him in order to answer his homework. In parting, Alyosha was ordered not to tell anyone about what he saw in the underworld. Otherwise, its inhabitants will have to leave their places in order to leave forever, and begin to equip their lives in unknown lands. Alyosha swore that he would not break this promise.

Since then, the hero of the fairy tale "The Black Hen, or Underground Inhabitants" has become the best student in all of St. Petersburg. He is awkward at first as the teachers praise him completely undeserved. But soon Alyosha himself begins to believe that he is chosen and exceptional. He begins to be proud, often naughty. His character is getting worse and worse. Alyosha becomes more and more lazy, becomes angry, shows impudence.

Plot development

It is not enough to know summary"Black Hen, or Underground Dwellers". This book is definitely worth reading, because it contains many useful ideas, and its plot will be of interest to everyone. The teacher tries no longer to praise Alyosha, but on the contrary, seeks to reason. And he asks him to memorize as many as 20 pages of text. However, Alyosha loses the magic seed, and therefore can no longer answer the lesson. He is locked in the bedroom until he completes the task of the teacher. But his lazy memory can no longer do this work. At night, Chernushka reappears and returns him the precious gift of the underground king. Nigella also asks him to correct himself and once again reminds him that he should be silent about the magical kingdom. Alyosha promises to do both.

The next day, the protagonist of the fairy tale "The Black Hen, or Underground Inhabitants" by Antony Pogorelsky answers the lesson with brilliance. But instead of praising his student, the teacher begins to question him when he managed to learn the assignment. If Alyosha does not tell everything, he will be flogged. Out of fear, Alyosha forgot about all his promises and told about his acquaintance with the kingdom of the underground inhabitants, their king and Chernushka. But no one believed him, and still he was punished. Already at this stage, one can understand the main idea of "The Black Hen, or Underground Dwellers". Alyosha betrayed his friends, but the main vice that caused all his troubles was banal laziness.

End of story

The inhabitants of the underworld had to leave their homes, the minister Chernushka was shackled, and the magic seed disappeared forever. Due to a painful sense of guilt, Alyosha fell ill with a fever and did not get out of bed for six weeks. After recovery, the main character becomes obedient and kind again. His relationship with the teacher and comrades becomes the same as before. Alyosha becomes a diligent student, although not the best. This is the ending of the fairy tale "The Black Hen, or the Underground Dwellers".

The main ideas of the fairy tale

Chernushka gives Alyosha a lot of advice, with the help of which he could save himself, not become angry and lazy. The Minister of the Underworld warns him that it is not so easy to get rid of vices - after all, vices "enter the door and exit through the crack". It is worth noting that Chernushka's advice coincides with the conclusions made by Alyosha's school teacher. Work, according to both the teacher and the Black Hen, is the basis of morality and the inner beauty of any person. Idleness, on the contrary, only corrupts - reminds Pogorelsky in the work "The Black Hen, or Underground Inhabitants". The main idea of the fairy tale is that there is goodness in every person, but in order for it to manifest itself, you need to make efforts, try to cultivate and manifest it. No other way. If this is not done, trouble can fall not only on the person himself, but also on those close and dear to him people who are next to him.

Story lessons

Pogorelsky's tale is interesting not only for its magical plot, but also for the morality that Pogorelsky tried to convey to his pupil. Very little of the writer's literary heritage remains, and that is why it is worth listening to those ideas that can be found in the works that have come down to our times. What does the "Black Hen, or Underground Dwellers" teach and who will benefit from these lessons? They will be useful to every student, regardless of his academic performance. After all, they teach everyone to be better. And first of all, you should not try to put yourself above other people, even if you have some outstanding talents and abilities.

The work "Black Hen or Underground Inhabitants" was written by Pogorelsky in 1829. There are facts that confirm that the tale was written for the nephew of the writer Tolstoy, the future virtuoso of Russian literature. The story of the fairy tale began with the fact that little Tolstoy told his uncle that he once played in the yard with a chicken. These words became the founders of the fairy tale, which is still relevant today.

The author assigned the subtitle "A Magic Story for Children" to the work. But, if we turn to literary criticism, then the story is a work of medium volume, in which there are several plot lines. But, in fact, this is not a story, since story line one and the volume of the work is closer to the story. This work can be attributed to the genre of a fairy tale, because in addition to real events, there are fantastic ones in it.

The author constructed the plot in such a way that it is quite easy to discern the dual world, it is always characteristic of romanticism. The reader reads about events in the real world, this is a boarding house, and also in a fictional one, in the work this is the underworld. Pogorelsky is inclined towards romanticism, perhaps this is due to the fact that he served with Hoffmann. The main theme of the tale is the adventure of Alyosha, who is looking for adventure either in the underworld or in a boarding house. The author in the work is trying to say that it is very important to keep your word, and it is also better to do something yourself. In addition, in the work you can see the idea that you can not put yourself above the rest.

From the very beginning of the work, the reader is immersed in it, because almost from the first lines the author takes the reader to the city of St. Petersburg. In almost two paragraphs, the author describes the city and the boarding house in which the events take place directly. The central character is Alyosha, as well as Chernushka, a chicken. The heroes of the second plan are the teacher, the cook and the grandmothers of Holland. In addition to these characters, there are also teams, such as the students of the boarding house and the inhabitants of the dungeon.

All events occur in a chain, everything is logical. Alyosha meets people in a boarding house, then with a chicken, and soon saves Chernushka. Then the boy gets into the dungeon with the minister and studies with a hemp seed. Then he loses this grain, but in the end Alyosha fixed everything, and everything that was now looked like a vague dream.

Thanks to the "two worlds", the author was able to show with the help of the work many problems that are eternal, and therefore relevant today. This tale is an example of how to present eternal problems to the reader. This work is very useful to read to children, but it is equally important to read the work to adults.

Detailed Analysis

The tale of Anton Pogorelsky is not accidentally studied in school curriculum. It's wonderful literary work. Recognizable, original, Russian.

It seems to be a fairy tale, but it does not resemble any of the known to us. This story contains more real events than fiction.

The action takes place not in the third or ninth kingdom, but in St. Petersburg, on Vasilyevsky Island. Parents give the boy Alyosha to a boarding house, having paid for education several years in advance. For some worldly reasons, they completely forget about their son.

Alyosha yearns and misses his home, his parents. He feels his loneliness and abandonment especially sharply on holidays and weekends, when all his comrades go home. The teacher allows him to use his library. Alyosha reads a lot, especially novels about noble knights.

When the weather is fine and he gets tired of reading, Alyosha goes out into the yard. The space of the courtyard is limited by a fence made of baroque boards, beyond which he cannot go. He likes to observe the life of the alley through the holes made of wooden nails, which, as if specially for him, were drilled into the baroque boards by a kind sorceress.

Alyosha also made friends with chickens, especially with Chernushka. He treated her to crumbs from the dinner table and talked to her for a long time. It seemed to him that she understood him and responded with sincere affection.

Wonderful style and language of the story: detailed, figurative. What is worth, for example, the observation that people grow old over the years, while cities, on the contrary, get younger and prettier.

The characters in the tale are depicted with a few precise strokes. But they appear before the reader's imagination voluminously, realistically, vividly. These are not stereotyped heroes, these are living people, characters, birds, animals, animals.

The action in the story develops logically, sequentially. All the inhabitants of the estate, in which the boarding house is located, are waiting for the arrival of the director of schools on one of the weekends. Especially waiting for his family of teachers. They started cleaning the boarding house in the morning. Preparations are underway in the kitchen.

Alyosha is not happy with these events. He noticed that usually on such days the number of hens with whom he was accustomed to communicate decreases. Not without reason, he assumes that the cook is involved in this. So this time, she went out into the yard with the intention of catching another chicken in order to cook a meat dish from it for the festive table.

The "fighting little chick" filled the boy with horror. She chased the chickens and caught his beloved Nigella. It seemed to Alyosha that the hen was calling him for help. Without hesitation, he rushed to the rescue. The cook, in surprise, let go of the chicken from her hands, and it flew up to the roof of the shed. The angry Chukhonka shouted: “Why bother? He doesn’t make an egg, he doesn’t sit a syplatka!”

To calm the cook, Alyosha gives her a golden imperial, which was very dear to him, because his grandmother gave him a coin as a keepsake.

Then the guests arrived. Alyosha represented the director of schools as a knight in armor with a “feathered helmet” on his head. It turned out that this was a small, puny man with a bald head instead of a helmet, in a tailcoat instead of armor. He arrived in a cab, not on horseback. It was completely incomprehensible why everyone treated him with such respect.

Alyosha was dressed up and forced to portray a capable student in front of the guests. Tired of the events of the day, he finally goes to bed.

This is where the fabulous events begin. The reader can guess whether they happen in reality or in Alyosha's dream.

Nigella appears from under the sheet on the next bed. She speaks with a human voice. In gratitude for the salvation, he wants to show Alyosha a wonderful country with underground inhabitants. He warns you that you will have to go through the rooms of hundred-year-old old Dutch women who lived here, in a boarding house, and about whom Alyosha had heard a lot. When passing through their rooms, nothing can be touched and nothing can be done.

Twice the hen led the boy to the underworld, and both times he disobeyed her. The first time he said hello to the scientific cat for the paw, the second time he nodded to the doll. Therefore, the knights descended from the walls and blocked the path to the underworld, Chernushka had to fight with the knights in order to get to the king.

In gratitude for saving his beloved minister (who turned out to be Chernushka), the king of the underworld gives Alyosha a wonderful hemp seed that can fulfill any desire.

Alyosha wished to know everything from his studies, without preparing for the lessons. At first, he surprised both teachers and his comrades with his abilities, but then he had to admit that he received a wonderful gift from the king of the underworld.

Alyosha loses the grain, and with it his abilities. Nigella and the underground inhabitants do not take offense at him, although they had to leave their favorite places. Alyosha is given a chance to improve.