The main character, Professor Preobrazhensky, picks up a hungry dog ​​on the street, whom he names Sharik. After some time, together with his assistant Bormenthal, he performs an operation on the dog - a pituitary gland transplant from the recently deceased alcoholic Klim Chugunkin. At the same time, proletarians and a new house headed by Shvonder move into the professor’s house, even trying to take 2 rooms from Philip Philipich, but he enlists the support of his patient, the big boss. After the operation, Sharik quickly turns into a person, albeit a very bad one, similar to Chugunkin. Shvonder begins to help Sharik, and knocks out documents for him in the name of Sharikov Poligraf Poligrafych, and also gets him a job as a boss in a cat-catching organization. Sharikov begins to become impudent, either stealing, drinking, or trying to rape the servant Zina. Preobrazhensky and Bormenthal decide to carry out the reverse operation. When a few days later Shvonder and the police came to look for Sharikov, they were shown a half-dog, half-man. And after some time, Sharikov finally turned back into a dog.

Summary (in detail by chapter)

Chapter 1

The action takes place in Moscow in the winter of 1924/25. In a snow-covered gateway, a homeless dog Sharik, who was offended by the canteen cook, is suffering from pain and hunger. He scalded the poor fellow's side, and now the dog was afraid to ask anyone for food, although he knew that people come across different people. He lay against the cold wall and meekly waited in the wings. Suddenly, from around the corner, there was a whiff of Krakow sausage. With the last of his strength, he stood up and crawled out onto the sidewalk. From this smell he seemed to perk up and become bolder. Sharik approached the mysterious gentleman, who treated him to a piece of sausage. The dog was ready to thank his savior endlessly. He followed him and demonstrated his devotion in every possible way. For this, the gentleman gave him a second piece of sausage. Soon they reached a decent house and entered it. To Sharik's surprise, the doorman named Fedor let him in too. Turning to Sharik’s benefactor, Philip Philipovich, he said that new residents, representatives of the house committee, had moved into one of the apartments and would draw up a new plan for moving in.

Chapter 2

Sharik was an unusually smart dog. He knew how to read and thought that every dog ​​could do it. He read mainly by colors. For example, he knew for sure that under a blue-green sign with the inscription MSPO they were selling meat. But after, guided by colors, he ended up in an electrical appliance store, Sharik decided to learn the letters. I quickly remembered the “a” and “b” in the word “fish”, or rather “Glavryba” on Mokhovaya. This is how he learned to navigate the city streets.

The benefactor led him to his apartment, where the door was opened for them by a young and very pretty girl in a white apron. Sharik was struck by the decoration of the apartment, especially the electric lamp under the ceiling and the long mirror in the hallway. After examining the wound on his side, the mysterious gentleman decided to take him to the examination room. The dog immediately did not like this dazzling room. He tried to run and even grabbed some man in a robe, but it was all in vain. Something sickening was brought to his nose, causing him to immediately fall onto his side.

When he woke up, the wound did not hurt at all and was bandaged. He listened to the conversation between the professor and the man he had bitten. Philip Phillipovich said something about animals and how nothing can be achieved by terror, no matter what stage of development they are at. Then he sent Zina to get another portion of sausage for Sharik. When the dog recovered, he followed with unsteady steps to the room of his benefactor, to whom various patients soon began to come one after another. The dog realized that this was not a simple room, but a place where people came with various diseases.

This continued until late in the evening. The last to arrive were 4 guests, different from the previous ones. These were young representatives of the house management: Shvonder, Pestrukhin, Sharovkin and Vyazemskaya. They wanted to take away two rooms from Philip Philipovich. Then the professor called some influential person and demanded assistance. After this conversation, the new chairman of the house committee, Shvonder, retreated from his claims and left with his group. Sharik liked this and he respected the professor for his ability to put down impudent people.

Chapter 3

Immediately after the guests left, a luxurious dinner awaited Sharik. Having eaten his fill of a large piece of sturgeon and roast beef, he could no longer look at the food, which had never happened to him before. Philip Philipovich talked about old times and new orders. The dog, meanwhile, was dozing blissfully, but the thought still haunted him that it was all a dream. He was afraid of waking up one day and finding himself again in the cold and without food. But nothing terrible happened. Every day he became prettier and healthier; in the mirror he saw a well-fed dog happy with life. He ate as much as he wanted, did what he wanted, and they never scolded him for anything; they even bought a beautiful collar for the neighbors’ dogs to make them jealous.

But one terrible day, Sharik immediately sensed something was wrong. After the doctor’s call, everyone began to fuss, Bormental arrived with a briefcase filled with something, Philip Philipovich was worried, Sharik was forbidden to eat and drink, and was locked in the bathroom. In a word, terrible turmoil. Soon Zina dragged him into the examination room, where, from the false eyes of Bormental, whom he had previously grabbed, he realized that something terrible was about to happen. A rag with a nasty smell was again brought to Sharik’s nose, after which he lost consciousness.

Chapter 4

The ball lay spread out on a narrow operating table. A clump of hair was cut off from his head and stomach. First, Professor Preobrazhensky removed his testes and inserted some others that were drooping. Then he opened Sharik's skull and performed a brain appendage transplant. When Bormenthal felt that the dog’s pulse was rapidly falling, becoming thread-like, he gave some kind of injection to the heart area. After the operation, neither the doctor nor the professor hoped to see Sharik alive.

Chapter 5

Despite the complexity of the operation, the dog came to his senses. From the professor’s diary it was clear that an experimental operation to transplant the pituitary gland was carried out in order to determine the effect of such a procedure on the rejuvenation of the human body. Yes, the dog was recovering, but he was behaving rather strangely. The hair fell out of his body in clumps, his pulse and temperature changed, and he began to resemble a person. Soon Bormenthal noticed that instead of the usual barking, Sharik was trying to pronounce some word from the letters “a-b-y-r”. They concluded that it was a “fish”.

On January 1, the professor wrote in his diary that the dog could already laugh and bark happily, and sometimes said “abyr-valg,” which apparently meant “Glavryba.” Gradually he stood on two legs and walked like a man. So far he was able to hold out in this position for half an hour. Also, he began to swear at his mother.

On January 5, his tail fell off and he pronounced the word “beerhouse.” From that moment on, he began to often resort to obscene speech. Meanwhile, rumors about a strange creature were circulating around the city. One newspaper published a myth about a miracle. The professor realized his mistake. Now he knew that a pituitary gland transplant does not lead to rejuvenation, but to humanization. Bormenthal recommended taking up the education of Sharik and the development of his personality. But Preobrazhensky already knew that the dog behaved like a person whose pituitary gland was transplanted to him. It was the organ of the late Klim Chugunkin, a conditionally convicted repeat thief, alcoholic, rowdy and hooligan.

Chapter 6

As a result, Sharik turned into an ordinary man of short stature, began to wear patent leather boots, a poison-blue tie, made an acquaintance with comrade Shvonder and shocked Preobrazhensky and Bormental day by day. The behavior of the new creature was impudent and boorish. He could spit on the floor, scare Zina in the dark, come drunk, fall asleep on the floor in the kitchen, etc.

When the professor tried to talk to him, the situation only got worse. The creature demanded a passport in the name of Polygraph Poligrafovich Sharikov. Shvonder demanded that a new tenant be registered in the apartment. Preobrazhensky initially objected. After all, Sharikov could not be a full-fledged person from the point of view of science. But they still had to register it, since formally the law was on their side.

The dog’s habits made themselves felt when a cat sneaked into the apartment unnoticed. Sharikov rushed after him into the bathroom like crazy. The safety latched. So he found himself trapped. The cat managed to escape out the window, and the professor canceled all the patients in order to save him together with Bormenthal and Zina. It turned out that while chasing the cat, he turned off all the taps, causing water to flood the entire floor. When the door was opened, everyone began to clean up the water, but Sharikov used obscene words, for which he was kicked out by the professor. Neighbors complained that he broke their windows and ran after the cooks.

Chapter 7

During lunch, the professor tried to teach Sharikov proper manners, but all in vain. He, like Klim Chugunkin, had a craving for alcohol and bad manners. He did not like to read books or go to the theater, but only to the circus. After another skirmish, Bormenthal went with him to the circus so that temporary peace could reign in the house. At this time, the professor was thinking about some kind of plan. He walked into the office and spent a long time looking at a glass jar containing a dog’s pituitary gland.

Chapter 8

Soon they brought Sharikov's documents. Since then, he began to behave even more cheekily, demanding a room in the apartment. When the professor threatened that he would no longer feed him, he calmed down for a while. One evening, with two unknown men, Sharikov robbed the professor, stealing from him a couple of ducats, a commemorative cane, a malachite ashtray and a hat. Until recently he did not admit to what he had done. By evening he felt bad and everyone was treating him like he was a little boy. The professor and Bormenthal were deciding what to do with him next. Bormenthal was even ready to strangle the insolent man, but the professor promised to fix everything himself.

The next day Sharikov disappeared with the documents. The house committee said that they had not seen him. Then they decided to contact the police, but this was not necessary. Poligraf Poligrafovich himself showed up and announced that he had been hired for the position of head of the department for cleaning the city from stray animals. Bormenthal forced him to apologize to Zina and Daria Petrovna, and also to not make noise in the apartment and show respect to the professor.

A couple of days later a lady in cream stockings came. It turned out that this is Sharikov’s fiancee, he intends to marry her, and demands his share in the apartment. The professor told her about Sharikov’s origins, which greatly upset her. After all, he was lying to her all this time. The insolent man's wedding was upset.

Chapter 9

One of his patients came to the doctor in a police uniform. He brought a denunciation drawn up by Sharikov, Shvonder and Pestrukhin. The matter was not set in motion, but the professor realized that he could not delay any longer. When Sharikov returned, the professor told him to pack his things and get out, to which Sharikov responded in his usual boorish manner and even took out a revolver. By this he further convinced Preobrazhensky that it was time to act. With Bormenthal's help, the head of the cleaning department was soon lying on the couch. The professor canceled all his appointments, turned off the bell and asked not to disturb him. The doctor and the professor performed the operation.

Epilogue

A few days later, the police showed up at the professor’s apartment, followed by representatives of the house committee, led by Shvonder. Everyone unanimously accused Philip Philipovich of killing Sharikov, to which the professor and Bormenthal showed them their dog. Although the dog looked strange, walked on two legs, was bald in places, and covered in patches of fur in places, it was quite obvious that it was a dog. The professor called it an atavism and added that it is impossible to make a man out of a beast. After all this nightmare, Sharik again sat happily at the feet of his owner, did not remember anything and only sometimes suffered from a headache.

Chapter 1

Woo-hoo-hoo-goo-goo-goo! Oh look at me, I'm dying. The blizzard in the gateway howls at me, and I howl with it. I'm lost, I'm lost. A scoundrel in a dirty cap - a cook in the canteen for normal meals for employees of the Central Council of the National Economy - splashed boiling water and scalded my left side.
What a reptile, and also a proletarian. Lord, my God - how painful it is! It was eaten to the bones by boiling water. Now I’m howling, howling, but howling can I help?
How did I bother him? Will I really eat the council of the national economy if I rummage through the trash? Greedy creature! Just look at his face someday: he’s wider across himself. Thief with a copper face. Ah, people, people. At noon the cap treated me to boiling water, and now it’s dark, about four o’clock in the afternoon, judging by the smell of onions from the Prechistensky fire brigade. Firemen eat porridge for dinner, as you know. But this is the last thing, like mushrooms. Familiar dogs from Prechistenka, however, told me that in the Neglinny restaurant “bar” they eat the standard dish - mushrooms, pican sauce for 3 rubles. 75 k. per serving. This is an amateurish thing, like licking a galosh... Oooh-ooh-ooh...
My side hurts unbearably, and the distance of my career is visible to me quite clearly: tomorrow ulcers will appear and, one wonders, how will I treat them?
In the summer you can go to Sokolniki, there is special, very good grass there, and besides, you will get free sausage heads, the citizens will throw greasy paper on them, you will get hydrated. And if it weren’t for some grimza that sings in the meadow under the moon - “Dear Aida” - so that your heart falls, it would be great. Now where will you go? Did they hit you with a boot? They beat me. Did you get hit in the ribs with a brick? There is enough food. I have experienced everything, I am at peace with my fate, and if I cry now, it is only from physical pain and cold, because my spirit has not yet died out... The spirit of a dog is tenacious.
But my body is broken, beaten, people have abused it enough. After all, the main thing is that when he hit it with boiling water, it was eaten under the fur, and, therefore, there is no protection for the left side. I can very easily get pneumonia, and if I get it, I, citizens, will die of hunger. With pneumonia, one is supposed to lie on the front door under the stairs, but who, instead of me, a lying single dog, will run through the trash bins in search of food? It will grab my lung, I will crawl on my stomach, I will weaken, and any specialist will beat me to death with a stick. And the wipers with plaques will grab me by the legs and throw me onto the cart...
Janitors are the most vile scum of all proletarians. Human cleaning is the lowest category. The cook is different. For example, the late Vlas from Prechistenka. How many lives did he save? Because the most important thing during illness is to intercept the bite. And so, it happened, the old dogs say, Vlas would wave a bone, and on it there would be an eighth of meat on it. May he rest in heaven for being a real person, the lordly cook of Count Tolstoy, and not from the Council of Normal Nutrition. What they are doing there in Normal nutrition is incomprehensible to a dog’s mind. After all, they, the bastards, cook cabbage soup from stinking corned beef, and those poor fellows don’t know anything. They run, eat, lap.
Some typist receives four and a half chervonets for the IX category, well, however, her lover will give her fildepers stockings. Why, how much abuse does she have to endure for this phildepers? After all, he does not expose her in any ordinary way, but exposes her to French love. With... these French, just between you and me. Although they eat it richly, and all with red wine. Yes…
The typist will come running, because you can’t go to the bar for 4.5 chervonets. She doesn’t even have enough for cinema, and cinema is the only consolation in life for a woman. He trembles, winces, and eats... Just think: 40 kopecks from two dishes, and both of these dishes are not worth five kopecks, because the caretaker stole the remaining 25 kopecks. Does she really need such a table? The top of her right lung is also out of order and she has a female disease on French soil, she was deducted from the service, fed rotten meat in the canteen, here she is, here she is...
Runs into the gateway in lover's stockings. Her feet are cold, there is a draft in her stomach, because the fur on her is like mine, and she wears cold pants, just a lace appearance. Rubbish for a lover. Put her on flannel, try it, he’ll yell: how ungraceful you are! I'm tired of my Matryona, I'm tired of flannel pants, now my time has come. I am now the chairman, and no matter how much I steal, it’s all on the female body, on cancerous cervixes, on Abrau-Durso. Because I was hungry enough when I was young, it will be enough for me, but there is no afterlife.
I feel sorry for her, sorry! But I feel even more sorry for myself. I’m not saying this out of selfishness, oh no, but because we really are not on an equal footing. At least she’s warm at home, but for me, but for me... Where am I going to go? Woo-oo-oo-oo!..
- Kut, kut, kut! A ball, and a ball... Why are you whining, poor thing? Who hurt you? Uh...
The witch, a dry blizzard, rattled the gates and hit the young lady on the ear with a broom. She fluffed up her skirt to her knees, exposed her cream stockings and a narrow strip of poorly washed lace underwear, strangled her words and covered up the dog.
My God... What is the weather... Wow... And my stomach hurts. It's corned beef! And when will this all end?
Bowing her head, the young lady rushed to the attack, broke through the gate, and on the street she began to twist, twist, throw, then screwed in with a snow screw, and she disappeared.
But the dog remained in the gateway and, suffering from a disfigured side, pressed himself against the cold wall, suffocated and firmly decided that he would not go anywhere else from here, and then he would die in the gateway. Despair overwhelmed him. His soul was so painful and bitter, so lonely and scary, that small dog tears, like pimples, crawled out of his eyes and immediately dried up.
The damaged side stuck out in matted, frozen lumps, and between them were red, ominous spots of scald. How senseless, stupid, and cruel the cooks are. “She called him “Sharik”... What the hell is “Sharik”? Sharik means round, well-fed, stupid, eats oatmeal, the son of noble parents, but he is shaggy, lanky and ragged, a lean little guy, a homeless dog. However, thank you for your kind words.
The door across the street in a brightly lit store slammed and a citizen emerged. It is a citizen, and not a comrade, and even, most likely, a master. Closer - clearer - sir. Do you think I judge by my coat? Nonsense. Nowadays, many proletarians wear coats. True, the collars are not the same, there’s nothing to say about that, but from afar they can still be confused. But by the eyes, you can’t confuse them both up close and from a distance. Oh, eyes are a significant thing. Like a barometer. You can see who has a great dryness in their soul, who can poke the toe of a boot into their ribs for no reason, and who is afraid of everyone. It’s the last lackey who feels good when he’s tugging on the ankle. If you're afraid, get it. If you’re afraid, that means you’re standing... Rrrr...
Gow-gow...
The gentleman confidently crossed the street in the blizzard and moved into the gateway. Yes, yes, this one can see everything. This rotten corned beef will not eat, and if it is served to him somewhere, he will raise such a scandal and write in the newspapers: they fed me, Philip Philipovich.
Here he is getting closer and closer. This one eats abundantly and does not steal, this one will not kick, but he himself is not afraid of anyone, and he is not afraid because he is always full. He is a gentleman of mental labor, with a French pointed beard and a gray, fluffy and dashing mustache, like those of French knights, but the smell he gives off in the snowstorm is foul, like a hospital. And a cigar.
What the hell, one might ask, brought him to the Tsentrokhoz cooperative?
Here he is nearby... What is he waiting for? Oooh... What could he buy in a crappy store, isn't there enough of a willing row for him? What's happened? Sausage. Sir, if you had seen what this sausage is made from, you would not have come near the store. Give it to me.
The dog gathered the rest of his strength and crawled madly out of the gateway onto the sidewalk.
The blizzard flapped the gun overhead, throwing up the huge letters of the linen poster “Is rejuvenation possible?”
Naturally, perhaps. The smell rejuvenated me, lifted me from my belly, and with burning waves it filled my empty stomach for two days, a smell that conquered the hospital, the heavenly smell of chopped mare with garlic and pepper. I feel, I know - he has sausage in the right pocket of his fur coat. He's above me. Oh my lord! Look at me. I'm dying. Our soul is a slave, a vile lot!
The dog crawled like a snake on its belly, shedding tears. Pay attention to the chef's work. But you won’t give it for anything. Oh, I know rich people very well! But in essence - why do you need it? What do you need a rotten horse for? Nowhere else will you get such poison as in Mosselprom. And you had breakfast today, you, a figure of world significance, thanks to the male sex glands. Oooh... What in the world is this being done? Apparently, it’s still too early to die, but despair is truly a sin. To lick his hands, there is nothing else left to do.
The mysterious gentleman leaned towards the dog, flashed his golden eye rims and pulled out a white oblong package from his right pocket. Without taking off his brown gloves, he unwound the paper, which was immediately taken over by the snowstorm, and broke off a piece of sausage called “special Krakow.” And this piece for the dog.
Oh, selfless person! Woohoo!
“Fuck-fuck,” the gentleman whistled and added in a stern voice:
- Take it!
Sharik, Sharik!
Sharik again. Baptized. Yes, call it what you want. For such an exceptional act of yours.
The dog instantly tore off the peel, bit into the Krakow one with a sob and devoured it in no time. At the same time, he choked on sausage and snow to the point of tears, because from greed he almost swallowed the rope. I'll lick your hand again.
I kiss my pants, my benefactor!
“It will be for now...” the gentleman spoke so abruptly, as if he was commanding. He leaned over to Sharikov, looked inquisitively into his eyes and unexpectedly ran his gloved hand intimately and affectionately over Sharikov’s stomach.
“Aha,” he said meaningfully, “there’s no collar, well, that’s great, it’s you that I need.” Follow me. – He snapped his fingers. - Fuck-fuck!
Should I follow you? Yes, to the ends of the world. Kick me with your felt boots, I won’t say a word.
Lanterns were removed throughout Prechistenka. His side hurt unbearably, but Sharik at times forgot about it, absorbed in one thought - how not to lose the wonderful vision in the fur coat in the commotion and somehow express his love and devotion to him. And seven times along Prechistenka to Obukhov Lane he expressed it. He kissed his boot near Dead Lane, clearing the way, and with a wild howl he frightened some lady so much that she sat down on a curbstone, and howled twice to maintain self-pity.
Some kind of bastard, Siberian-looking stray cat emerged from behind a drainpipe and, despite the blizzard, smelled the Krakow one. The ball of light did not see the thought that the rich eccentric, picking up wounded dogs in the gateway, would take this thief with him, and he would have to share the Mosselprom product. Therefore, he clanged his teeth at the cat so much that with a hiss similar to the hiss of a leaky hose, he climbed up the pipe to the second floor. - F-r-r-r... gah... y! Out! Mosselprom can't get enough of all the trash hanging around Prechistenka.
The gentleman appreciated the devotion and at the fire brigade itself, at the window from which the pleasant grumbling of a French horn could be heard, he rewarded the dog with a second smaller piece, five spools worth.
Eh, weirdo. Luring me. Do not worry! I won't go anywhere myself.
I will follow you wherever you order.
- Fuck-fuck-fuck! Here!
To Obukhov? Do me a favor. We know this lane very well.
Fuck-fuck! Here? With pleasure... Eh, no, excuse me. No. There's a doorman here. And there is nothing worse than this in the world. Many times more dangerous than a janitor. Absolutely hateful breed. Nasty cats. Flayer in braid.
- Don’t be afraid, go.
– I wish you good health, Philip Philipovich.
- Hello, Fedor.
This is personality. My God, who did you inflict on me, my dog’s lot! What kind of person is this who can lead dogs from the street past the doormen into the house of a housing association? Look, this scoundrel - not a sound, not a movement! True, his eyes are cloudy, but, in general, he is indifferent under the band with gold braid. As if that's how it's supposed to be. Respects, gentlemen, how much he respects! Well, sir, I’m with him and behind him. What, touched? Take a bite.
I wish I could tug at the proletarian calloused foot. For all your brother's bullying. How many times have you disfigured my face with a brush, huh?
- Go, go.
We understand, we understand, don’t worry. Where you go, we go. You just show the path, and I won’t lag behind, despite my desperate side.
From the stairs down:
– There were no letters to me, Fedor?
From below to the stairs respectfully:
“No way, Philip Philipovich (intimately, in an undertone, after him),” and the tenants were moved into the third apartment.
The important canine benefactor turned around abruptly on the step and, leaning over the railing, asked in horror:
- Well?
His eyes widened and his mustache stood on end.
The doorman from below raised his head, put his hand to his lips and confirmed:
- That's right, four of them.
- My God! I imagine what will happen in the apartment now. So what are they?
- Nothing, sir.
- And Fyodor Pavlovich?
“We went for screens and bricks.” Partitions will be installed.
- The devil knows what it is!
- They will move into all the apartments, Philip Philipovich, except yours.
Now there was a meeting, a new partnership was chosen, and the old ones were killed.
- What is being done? Ay-yay-yay... Fuck-fuck.
I'm going, sir, I'll keep up. Bok, if you please, is making itself felt. Let me lick the boot.
The doorman's braid disappeared below. On the marble platform there was a whiff of warmth from the pipes, they turned it again and behold - the mezzanine.

Chapter 2

There is absolutely no point in learning to read when you can already smell meat a mile away. Nevertheless (if you live in Moscow and have at least some brains in your head), you will, willy-nilly, learn to read and write, and without any courses. Of the forty thousand Moscow dogs, perhaps some complete idiot will not be able to form the word “sausage” from letters.
Sharik began to learn by colors. As soon as he was four months old, green and blue signs were hung all over Moscow with the inscription MSPO - meat trade. We repeat, all this is useless, because you can already hear the meat. And once a confusion occurred: matching the bluish acrid color, Sharik, whose sense of smell was clogged with gasoline smoke from the engine, drove into the Golubizner brothers’ electrical accessories store on Myasnitskaya Street instead of a meat shop. There, at the brothers' house, the dog tasted insulated wire; it would be cleaner than a cab driver's whip. This famous moment should be considered the beginning of Sharikov’s education. Already on the sidewalk, Sharik immediately began to realize that “blue” does not always mean “meat” and, clutching his tail between his hind legs from the burning pain and howling, he remembered that at all meat stalls, the first on the left was a golden or red raskoryak, similar to a sled.
Further, things went even more successfully. He learned “A” at the “Glavryba” on the corner of Mokhovaya, then “b” - it was more convenient for him to run up from the tail of the word “fish”, because at the beginning of the word there was a policeman.
The tiled squares that lined the corner places in Moscow always and inevitably meant “cheese.” The black faucet from the samovar, which headed the word, denoted the former owner of "Chichkin", mountains of Dutch red, animals of clerks who hated dogs, sawdust on the floor and the most vile, foul-smelling backstein.
If they played the accordion, which was little better than “Dear Aida,” and smelled of sausages, the first letters on the white posters extremely conveniently formed the word “Neprili...”, which meant “do not use indecent words and do not give for tea.” Here, sometimes fights broke out, people were hit in the face with a fist, - sometimes, in rare cases - with napkins or boots.
If there were stale hams hanging in the windows and tangerines lying...
Gow-gow... ha... astronomy. If dark bottles with bad liquid...
Ve-i-vi-na-a-vina... Elisha's former brothers.
The unknown gentleman, who had dragged the dog to the door of his luxurious apartment located on the mezzanine, rang the bell, and the dog immediately looked up at a large, black card with gold letters hanging on the side of the wide door, glazed with wavy and pink glass. He put together the first three letters at once: pe-er-o “pro”. But then there was pot-bellied, two-sided rubbish that didn’t know what it meant. “Really a proletarian”? - Sharik thought with surprise... - “This can’t be.” He raised his nose up, sniffed the fur coat again and thought confidently: “No, it doesn’t smell like the proletariat here. It’s a learned word, but God knows what it means.”
An unexpected and joyful light flashed behind the pink glass, shading the black card even more. The door swung open completely silently, and a young beautiful woman in a white apron and lace headdress appeared before the dog and his master. The first of them was enveloped in divine warmth, and the woman’s skirt smelled like lily of the valley.
“Wow, I understand that,” thought the dog.
“Please, Mr. Sharik,” the gentleman invited ironically, and Sharik reverently greeted him, wagging his tail.
A great variety of objects piled up the rich hallway. I immediately remembered a mirror reaching to the floor, which immediately reflected the second worn and torn Sharik, terrible deer antlers in the air, countless fur coats and galoshes and an opal tulip with electricity under the ceiling.
– Where did you get this, Philip Philipovich? – the woman asked, smiling and helped take off the heavy fur coat on a black-brown fox with a bluish sparkle. - Fathers! How lousy!
- You're talking nonsense. Where's the lousy one? – the gentleman asked sternly and abruptly.
After taking off his fur coat, he found himself in a black suit of English cloth, and a gold chain sparkled joyfully and dimly on his stomach.
- Wait a minute, don’t turn around, damn... Don’t turn around, fool. Hm!.. This is not scab... Just stop, damn... Hm! Ahh. This is a burn. What scoundrel scalded you? A? Yes, stand still!..
“Cook, convict cook!” – the dog said with pitiful eyes and howled slightly.
“Zina,” the gentleman commanded, “get him into the examination room right away and give me a robe.”
The woman whistled, snapped her fingers, and the dog, after hesitating a little, followed her. The two of them found themselves in a narrow, dimly lit corridor, passed one lacquered door, came to the end, and then turned left and found themselves in a dark closet, which the dog instantly disliked for its ominous smell. The darkness clicked and turned into a dazzling day, and from all sides it sparkled, shone and turned white.
“Eh, no,” the dog howled mentally, “Sorry, I won’t give in!” I understand, damn them and their sausage. It was me who was lured to the dog hospital. Now they will force you to eat castor oil and cut your whole side with knives, but you can’t touch it anyway.”
- Eh, no, where?! - screamed the one who was called Zina.
The dog twisted, sprang up and suddenly hit the door with his good side so that it rattled throughout the entire apartment. Then, he flew back, spun in place like a head over heels under a whip, and turned a white bucket onto the floor, from which clumps of cotton wool scattered. While he was spinning, walls lined with cabinets with shiny tools fluttered around him, a white apron and a distorted woman’s face jumped up and down.
“Where are you going, you shaggy devil?” Zina shouted desperately, “you damned one!”
“Where is their back staircase?..” the dog wondered. He swung and hit the glass at random with a lump, hoping that it was the second door. A cloud of fragments flew out with thunder and ringing, a pot-bellied jar with red muck jumped out, which instantly flooded the entire floor and stank. The real door swung open.
“Stop, you brute,” the gentleman shouted, jumping in his robe, worn over one sleeve, and grabbing the dog by the legs, “Zina, hold him by the collar, you bastard.”
- Ba... fathers, that’s the dog!
The door opened even wider and another male person in a robe burst in. Crushing broken glass, she rushed not to the dog, but to the closet, opened it and filled the whole room with a sweet and sickening smell. Then the person fell on top of the dog with his stomach, and the dog enthusiastically bit at her above the laces on his shoe. The personality gasped, but did not get lost.
The sickening liquid took the dog’s breath away and his head started spinning, then his legs fell off and he went somewhere crooked to the side.
“Thank you, it’s over,” he thought dreamily, falling straight onto the sharp glass:
- “Farewell, Moscow! I will no longer see Chichkin and the proletarians and Krakow sausage. I'm going to heaven for a dog's patience. Brothers, flayers, why are you getting me?
And then he finally fell on his side and died.

* * *

When he resurrected, he was slightly dizzy and slightly sick in his stomach, but it was as if his side was not there, his side was sweetly silent. The dog opened his right languid eye and out of the corner of it saw that it was tightly bandaged across the sides and stomach. “Still, they got away with it, sons of bitches,” he thought vaguely, “but cleverly, we must give them justice.”
“From Seville to Grenada... In the quiet darkness of the night,” sang an absent-minded and false voice above him.
The dog was surprised, completely opened both eyes and two steps away he saw a man’s leg on a white stool. Her trouser leg and underpants were pulled up, and her bare yellow shin was smeared with dried blood and iodine.
"Pleasers!" – the dog thought, “It means I bit him. My job. Well, they’ll fight!”
- “R-serenades are heard, the sound of swords is heard!” Why did you bite the doctor, tramp? A? Why did you break the glass? A?
“Oooh,” the dog whined pitifully.
- Well, okay, come to your senses and lie down, you idiot.
- How did you manage, Philip Philipovich, to lure such a nervous dog? – asked a pleasant male voice and the jersey underpants rolled down. There was a smell of tobacco and bottles clanked in the closet.
- Caress, sir. The only way that is possible in dealing with a living being. Terror cannot do anything with an animal, no matter what stage of development it is at. This is what I have asserted, am asserting, and will continue to assert. They are in vain to think that terror will help them. No, no, no, it won’t help, no matter what it is: white, red and even brown! Terror completely paralyzes the nervous system. Zina! I bought this scoundrel Krakow sausage for one ruble and forty kopecks. Make the effort to feed him when he stops vomiting.
Swept glass crunched and a female voice coquettishly remarked:
- Krakow! Lord, he had to buy two kopecks worth of scraps from the meat shop. I'd rather eat Krakow sausage myself.
- Just try it. I'll eat for you! It is poison for the human stomach.
She’s a grown girl, but like a child you put all sorts of nasty things into your mouth. Don't you dare!
I warn you: neither I nor Dr. Bormenthal will mess with you when your stomach gets a headache... “Everyone who says that the other one here will be equal to you...”.
At this time, soft, fractional bells were falling throughout the apartment, and in the distance from the hallway voices were heard every now and then. The phone rang. Zina disappeared.
Philip Philipovich threw the cigarette butt into the bucket, buttoned up his robe, straightened his fluffy mustache in front of the mirror on the wall and called out to the dog:
- Fuck, fuck. Well, nothing, nothing. Let's go take it.
The dog rose to unsteady legs, swayed and trembled, but quickly recovered and followed the fluttering coat of Philip Philipovich. Again the dog crossed the narrow corridor, but now he saw that it was brightly lit from above by a socket. When the lacquered door opened, he entered the office with Philip Philipovich, and he blinded the dog with his decoration. First of all, it was all ablaze with light: it was burning under the stucco ceiling, it was burning on the table, it was burning on the wall, in the glass of the cabinets. The light flooded a whole abyss of objects, of which the most interesting was a huge owl sitting on a branch on the wall.
“Lie down,” ordered Philip Philipovich.
The opposite carved door opened, he came in, bitten, now in the bright light he turned out to be very handsome, young with a sharp beard, handed over a sheet and said:
- Former...
He immediately disappeared silently, and Philip Philipovich, spreading out his robe, sat down at the huge desk and immediately became unusually important and representative.
“No, this is not a hospital, I ended up somewhere else,” the dog thought in confusion and fell on the patterned carpet next to the heavy leather sofa, “and we’ll explain this owl...”
The door opened softly and someone entered, striking the dog so much that he yelped, but very timidly...
- Be silent! Ba-ba, you’re impossible to recognize, my dear.
The man who entered bowed very respectfully and embarrassedly to Philip Philipovich.
- Hee hee! “You are a magician and sorcerer, professor,” he said in confusion.
“Take off your pants, my dear,” Philip Philipovich commanded and stood up.
“Lord Jesus,” thought the dog, “that’s a fruit!”
The fruit had completely green hair growing on its head, and on the back of its head it was a rusty tobacco color. Wrinkles spread across the fruit’s face, but its complexion was pink, like a baby’s. The left leg did not bend, it had to be dragged along the carpet, but the right leg jumped like a child’s clicker. On the side of the most magnificent jacket, a precious stone stuck out like an eye.
The dog’s interest even made him feel nauseous.
Tew, tew!.. – he barked lightly.
- Be silent! How's your sleep, darling?
- Heh heh. Are we alone, professor? “This is indescribable,” the visitor spoke embarrassedly. “Password Dionner - 25 years, nothing like that,” the subject took hold of the button of his trousers, “would you believe it, professor, there are flocks of naked girls every night.” I'm positively fascinated. You are a magician.
“Hmm,” Philip Philipovich chuckled worriedly, peering into the guest’s pupils.
He finally managed to undo the buttons and took off his striped trousers. Beneath them were underpants that had never been seen before. They were cream colored, had silk black cats embroidered on them, and smelled of perfume.
The dog could not stand the cats and barked so loudly that the subject jumped.
- Ay!
- I'll tear you out! Don't be afraid, he doesn't bite.

The story “Heart of a Dog” was written by Bulgakov in 1925, but due to censorship it was not published during the writer’s lifetime. Although, she was known in literary circles of that time. Bulgakov read “The Heart of a Dog” for the first time at the Nikitsky Subbotniks in the same 1925. The reading took 2 evenings, and the work immediately received admiring reviews from those present.

They noted the courage of the author, the artistry and humor of the story. An agreement has already been concluded with the Moscow Art Theater to stage “Heart of a Dog” on stage. However, after the story was assessed by an OGPU agent who was secretly present at the meetings, it was banned from publication. The general public was able to read “Heart of a Dog” only in 1968. The story was first published in London and only in 1987 became available to residents of the USSR.

Historical background for writing the story

Why was “Heart of a Dog” so harshly criticized by the censors? The story describes the time immediately after the 1917 revolution. This is a sharply satirical work, ridiculing the class of “new people” that emerged after the overthrow of tsarism. The bad manners, rudeness, and narrow-mindedness of the ruling class, the proletariat, became the object of the writer’s denunciation and ridicule.

Bulgakov, like many enlightened people of that time, believed that creating a personality by force was a path to nowhere.

A summary of the chapters will help you better understand “Heart of a Dog.” Conventionally, the story can be divided into two parts: the first talks about the dog Sharik, and the second talks about Sharikov, a man created from a dog.

Chapter 1. Introduction

The Moscow life of the stray dog ​​Sharik is described. Let's give a brief summary. “The Heart of a Dog” begins with the dog talking about how his side was scalded with boiling water near the dining room: the cook poured hot water and it fell on the dog (the reader’s name is not yet revealed).

The animal reflects on its fate and says that although it experiences unbearable pain, its spirit is not broken.

Desperate, the dog decided to stay in the gateway to die, he was crying. And then he sees the “master,” the dog paid special attention to the stranger’s eyes. And then, just by appearance, he gives a very accurate portrait of this man: confident, “he won’t kick, but he himself is not afraid of anyone,” a man of mental work. In addition, the stranger smells of hospital and cigar.

The dog smelled the sausage in the man’s pocket and “crawled” after him. Oddly enough, the dog gets a treat and gets a name: Sharik. This is exactly how the stranger began to address him. The dog follows his new friend, who calls him. Finally, they reach the house of Philip Philipovich (we learn the stranger's name from the mouth of the doorman). Sharik's new acquaintance is very polite to the gatekeeper. The dog and Philip Philipovich enter the mezzanine.

Chapter 2. First day in a new apartment

In the second and third chapters, the action of the first part of the story “Heart of a Dog” develops.

The second chapter begins with Sharik's memories of his childhood, how he learned to read and distinguish colors by the names of stores. I remember his first unsuccessful experience, when instead of meat, having mixed it up, the then young dog tasted insulated wire.

The dog and his new acquaintance enter the apartment: Sharik immediately notices the wealth of Philip Philipovich’s house. They are met by a young lady who helps the gentleman take off his outerwear. Then Philip Philipovich notices Sharik’s wound and urgently asks the girl Zina to prepare the operating room. Sharik is against treatment, he dodges, tries to escape, commits a pogrom in the apartment. Zina and Philip Philipovich cannot cope, then another “male personality” comes to their aid. With the help of a “sickening liquid” the dog is pacified - he thinks he is dead.

After some time, Sharik comes to his senses. His sore side was treated and bandaged. The dog hears a conversation between two doctors, where Philip Philipovich knows that only with affection it is possible to change a living being, but in no case with terror, he emphasizes that this applies to animals and people (“red” and “white”) .

Philip Philipovich orders Zina to feed the dog Krakow sausage, and he himself goes to receive visitors, from whose conversations it becomes clear that Philip Philipovich is a professor of medicine. He treats delicate problems of wealthy people who are afraid of publicity.

Sharik dozed off. He woke up only when four young men, all modestly dressed, entered the apartment. It is clear that the professor is not happy with them. It turns out that the young people are the new house management: Shvonder (chairman), Vyazemskaya, Pestrukhin and Sharovkin. They came to notify Philip Philipovich about the possible “densification” of his seven-room apartment. The professor makes a phone call to Pyotr Alexandrovich. From the conversation it follows that this is his very influential patient. Preobrazhensky says that due to the possible reduction of rooms, he will have nowhere to operate. Pyotr Aleksandrovich talks with Shvonder, after which the company of young people, disgraced, leaves.

Chapter 3. The professor’s well-fed life

Let's continue with the summary. “Heart of a Dog” - Chapter 3. It all starts with a rich dinner served to Philip Philipovich and Dr. Bormenthal, his assistant. Something falls from the table to Sharik.

During the afternoon rest, “mournful singing” is heard - a meeting of Bolshevik tenants has begun. Preobrazhensky says that, most likely, the new government will lead this beautiful house into desolation: theft is already evident. Shvonder wears Preobrazhensky's missing galoshes. During a conversation with Bormenthal, the professor utters one of the key phrases that reveals to the reader the story “Heart of a Dog” what the work is about: “Devastation is not in closets, but in heads.” Next, Philip Philipovich reflects on how the uneducated proletariat can accomplish the great things for which it positions itself. He says that nothing will change for the better as long as there is such a dominant class in society, engaged only in choral singing.

Sharik has been living in Preobrazhensky’s apartment for a week now: he eats plenty, the owner pampers him, feeding him during dinners, he is forgiven for his pranks (the torn owl in the professor’s office).

Sharik's favorite place in the house is the kitchen, the kingdom of Daria Petrovna, the cook. The dog considers Preobrazhensky a deity. The only thing that is unpleasant for him to watch is how Philip Philipovich delves into human brains in the evenings.

On that ill-fated day, Sharik was not himself. It happened on Tuesday, when the professor usually does not have an appointment. Philip Philipovich receives a strange phone call, and commotion begins in the house. The professor behaves unnaturally, he is clearly nervous. Gives instructions to close the door and not let anyone in. Sharik is locked in the bathroom - there he is tormented by bad premonitions.

A few hours later the dog is brought into a very bright room, where he recognizes the face of the “priest” as Philip Philipovich. The dog pays attention to the eyes of Bormental and Zina: false, filled with something bad. Sharik is given anesthesia and placed on the operating table.

Chapter 4. Operation

In the fourth chapter, M. Bulgakov puts the climax of the first part. “Heart of a Dog” here undergoes the first of its two semantic peaks - Sharik’s operation.

The dog lies on the operating table, Dr. Bormenthal trims the hair on his belly, and at this time the professor gives recommendations that all manipulations with the internal organs should take place instantly. Preobrazhensky sincerely feels sorry for the animal, but, according to the professor, he has no chance of survival.

After the head and belly of the “ill-fated dog” are shaved, the operation begins: after ripping open the belly, they exchange Sharik’s seminal glands for “some other ones.” Afterwards, the dog almost dies, but a faint life still glimmers in it. Philip Philipovich, penetrating into the depths of the brain, changed the “white lump”. Surprisingly, the dog showed a thread-like pulse. Tired Preobrazhensky does not believe that Sharik will survive.

Chapter 5. Bormenthal's Diary

The summary of the story “Heart of a Dog,” the fifth chapter, is a prologue to the second part of the story. From Dr. Bormenthal's diary we learn that the operation took place on December 23 (Christmas Eve). The gist of it is that Sharik was transplanted with the ovaries and pituitary gland of a 28-year-old man. The purpose of the operation: to trace the effect of the pituitary gland on the human body. Until December 28, periods of improvement alternate with critical moments.

The condition stabilizes on December 29, “suddenly.” Hair loss is noted, further changes occur every day:

• 12/30 barking changes, limbs stretch, and weight gains.
• 31.12 the syllables (“abyr”) are pronounced.
• 01.01 says “Abyrvalg”.
• 02.01 stands on his hind legs, swears.
• 06.01 the tail disappears, says “beer house”.
• 01/07 takes on a strange appearance, becoming like a man. Rumors begin to spread around the city.
• 01/08 they stated that replacing the pituitary gland did not lead to rejuvenation, but to humanization. Sharik is a short man, rude, swearing, calling everyone “bourgeois.” Preobrazhensky is furious.
• 12.01 Bormental assumes that the replacement of the pituitary gland has led to the revitalization of the brain, so Sharik whistles, speaks, swears and reads. The reader also learns that the person from whom the pituitary gland was taken is Klim Chugunkin, an asocial element, convicted three times.
• January 17 marked the complete humanization of Sharik.

Chapter 6. Polygraph Polygraphovich Sharikov

In the 6th chapter, the reader first gets acquainted in absentia with the person who turned out after Preobrazhensky’s experiment - this is how Bulgakov introduces us to the story. “The Heart of a Dog,” a summary of which is presented in our article, in the sixth chapter experiences the development of the second part of the narrative.

It all starts with the rules that are written on paper by doctors. They say about maintaining good manners when in the house.

Finally, the created man appears before Philip Philipovich: he is “short in stature and unattractive in appearance,” dressed unkemptly, even comically. Their conversation turns into a quarrel. The man behaves arrogantly, speaks unflatteringly about the servants, refuses to observe the rules of decency, and notes of Bolshevism creep into his conversation.

The man asks Philip Philipovich to register him in the apartment, chooses his first name and patronymic (takes it from the calendar). From now on he is Polygraph Poligrafovich Sharikov. It is obvious to Preobrazhensky that the new manager of the house has a great influence on this person.

Shvonder in the professor's office. Sharikov is registered in the apartment (the ID is written by the professor under the dictation of the house committee). Shvonder considers himself a winner; he calls on Sharikov to register for military service. The polygraph refuses.

Left alone with Bormenthal afterwards, Preobrazhensky admits that he is very tired of this situation. They are interrupted by noise in the apartment. It turned out that a cat had run in, and Sharikov was still hunting for them. Having locked himself with the hated creature in the bathroom, he causes a flood in the apartment by breaking the tap. Because of this, the professor has to cancel appointments with patients.

After eliminating the flood, Preobrazhensky learns that he still needs to pay for the glass Sharikov broke. Polygraph's impudence reaches its limit: not only does he not apologize to the professor for the complete mess, but he also behaves impudently after learning that Preobrazhensky paid money for the glass.

Chapter 7. Attempts at education

Let's continue with the summary. “The Heart of a Dog” in the 7th chapter tells about the attempts of Doctor Bormental and the professor to instill decent manners in Sharikov.

The chapter begins with lunch. Sharikov is taught proper table manners and is denied drinks. However, he still drinks a glass of vodka. Philip Philipovich comes to the conclusion that Klim Chugunkin is visible more and more clearly.

Sharikov is offered to attend an evening performance at the theater. He refuses under the pretext that this is “one counter-revolution.” Sharikov chooses to go to the circus.

It's about reading. The polygraph admits that he is reading the correspondence between Engels and Kautsky, which Shvonder gave him. Sharikov even tries to reflect on what he read. He says that everything should be divided, including Preobrazhensky’s apartment. To this, the professor asks to pay his penalty for the flood caused the day before. After all, 39 patients were refused.

Philip Philipovich calls on Sharikov, instead of “giving advice on a cosmic scale and cosmic stupidity,” to listen and heed what people with a university education teach him.

After lunch, Ivan Arnoldovich and Sharikov leave for the circus, having first made sure that there are no cats in the program.

Left alone, Preobrazhensky reflects on his experiment. He almost decided to return Sharikov to his dog form by replacing the dog’s pituitary gland.

Chapter 8. “The New Man”

For six days after the flood incident, life went on as usual. However, after delivering the documents to Sharikov, he demands that Preobrazhensky give him a room. The professor notes that this is “Shvonder’s work.” In contrast to Sharikov’s words, Philip Philipovich says that he will leave him without food. This pacified Polygraph.

Late in the evening, after a clash with Sharikov, Preobrazhensky and Bormenthal talk for a long time in the office. We are talking about the latest antics of the man they created: how he showed up at the house with two drunken friends and accused Zina of theft.

Ivan Arnoldovich proposes to do the terrible thing: eliminate Sharikov. Preobrazhensky is strongly against it. He may get out of such a story due to his fame, but Bormental will definitely be arrested.

Further, Preobrazhensky admits that in his opinion the experiment was a failure, and not because they got a “new man” - Sharikov. Yes, he agrees that in terms of theory, experiment has no equal, but there is no practical value. And they ended up with a creature with a human heart “the lousiest of all.”

The conversation is interrupted by Daria Petrovna, she brought Sharikov to the doctors. He pestered Zina. Bormental tries to kill him, Philip Philipovich stops the attempt.

Chapter 9. Climax and denouement

Chapter 9 is the culmination and denouement of the story. Let's continue with the summary. "Heart of a Dog" is coming to an end - this is the last chapter.

Everyone is concerned about Sharikov's disappearance. He left home, taking the documents. On the third day the Polygraph appears.

It turns out that, under the patronage of Shvonder, Sharikov received the position of head of the “food department for cleaning the city from stray animals.” Bormenthal forces Polygraph to apologize to Zina and Daria Petrovna.

Two days later, Sharikov brings a woman home, declaring that she will live with him and the wedding will soon take place. After a conversation with Preobrazhensky, she leaves, saying that Polygraph is a scoundrel. He threatens to fire the woman (she works as a typist in his department), but Bormenthal threatens, and Sharikov refuses his plans.

A few days later, Preobrazhensky learns from his patient that Sharikov had filed a denunciation against him.

Upon returning home, Polygraph is invited to the professor's procedural room. Preobrazhensky tells Sharikov to take his personal belongings and move out. Polygraph does not agree, he takes out a revolver. Bormenthal disarms Sharikov, strangles him and puts him on the couch. Having locked the doors and cut the lock, he returns to the operating room.

Chapter 10. Epilogue of the story

Ten days have passed since the incident. The criminal police, accompanied by Shvonder, appear at Preobrazhensky’s apartment. They intend to search and arrest the professor. The police believe that Sharikov was killed. Preobrazhensky says that there is no Sharikov, there is an operated dog named Sharik. Yes, he spoke, but that does not mean that the dog was a person.

Visitors see a dog with a scar on its forehead. He turns to a representative of the authorities, who loses consciousness. The visitors leave the apartment.

In the last scene we see Sharik lying in the professor’s office and reflecting on how lucky he was to meet such a person as Philip Philipovich.

Bulgakov wrote the story “Heart of a Dog” in 1925. At this time, ideas of improving the human race with the help of advanced scientific achievements were very popular. Bulgakov's hero, the world-famous professor Preobrazhensky, in an attempt to unravel the secret of eternal youth, accidentally makes a discovery that allows him to surgically transform an animal into a human. However, an experiment to transplant a human pituitary gland into a dog gives a completely unexpected result.

To get acquainted with the most important details of the work, we suggest reading a summary of Bulgakov’s story “The Heart of a Dog” chapter by chapter online on our website.

Main characters

Ball- a stray dog. To some extent a philosopher, not stupid in everyday life, observant and even learned to read signs.

Polygraph Poligrafovich Sharikov– A ball after an operation to implant a human pituitary gland into the brain, taken from the drunkard and rowdy Klim Chugunkin, who died in a tavern fight.

Professor Philip Preobrazhensky- a medical genius, an elderly intellectual of the old school, extremely dissatisfied with the advent of a new era and hating its hero - the proletarian for his lack of education and unfounded ambitions.

Ivan Arnoldovich Bormental- a young doctor, a student of Preobrazhensky, who deifies his teacher and shares his beliefs.

Shvonder- Chairman of the house committee at Preobrazhensky’s place of residence, bearer and disseminator of the communist ideas so disliked by the professor. He is trying to educate Sharikov in the spirit of these ideas.

Other characters

Zina- Preobrazhensky’s maid, a young impressionable girl. Combines housework duties with nursing duties.

Daria Petrovna- Preobrazhensky's cook, a middle-aged woman.

Young lady typist- Sharikov’s subordinate and failed wife.

Chapter first

The stray dog ​​Sharik freezes to death in a Moscow gateway. Suffering from pain in his side, on which the evil cook splashed boiling water, he ironically and philosophically describes his unhappy life, Moscow life and types of people, of which, in his opinion, the most vile are janitors and doormen. A certain gentleman in a fur coat appears in the dog’s field of vision and feeds him cheap sausage. Sharik faithfully follows him, along the way wondering who his benefactor is, since even the doorman in a rich house, the terror of stray dogs, talks to him obsequiously.

From a conversation with the doorman, the gentleman in a fur coat learns that “tenants have been moved into the third apartment,” and he perceives the news with horror, although his personal living space will not be affected by the upcoming “densification.”

Chapter two

Brought to a rich, warm apartment, Sharik, who decided to make a scandal out of fear, is euthanized with chloroform and treated. After this, the dog, no longer bothered by his side, watches with curiosity as he sees patients. There is an elderly womanizer and an elderly rich lady in love with a handsome young gambler. And everyone wants one thing - rejuvenation. Preobrazhensky is ready to help them - for good money.
In the evening, the professor is visited by members of the house committee, led by Shvonder - they want Preobrazhensky to give away two of his seven rooms in order to “compact”. The professor calls one of his influential patients with a complaint about the arbitrariness and invites him, if so, to undergo surgery with Shvonder, and he himself will leave for Sochi. As they leave, members of the house committee accuse Preobrazhensky of hating the proletariat.

Chapter Three

Over lunch, Preobrazhensky rants about food culture and the proletariat, recommending not reading Soviet newspapers before lunch to avoid digestive problems. He is sincerely perplexed and indignant at how it is possible to stand up for the rights of workers all over the world and steal galoshes at the same time. Hearing a meeting of fellow tenants behind the wall singing revolutionary songs, the professor comes to the conclusion: “If, instead of operating every evening, I start singing in chorus in my apartment, I will be in ruins. If, entering the restroom, I start, excuse the expression, urinating past the toilet and Zina and Daria Petrovna do the same, devastation will begin in the restroom. Consequently, the devastation is not in the closets, but in the heads. This means that when these baritones shout “beat the destruction!” - I am laughing. I swear to you, I find it funny! This means that each of them must hit himself in the back of the head! .

There is also talk about Sharik’s future, and the intrigue has not yet been revealed, but the pathologists familiar to Bormental promised to immediately inform him about the appearance of a “suitable corpse”, and for now the dog will be observed.

They buy Sharik a status collar, he eats deliciously, and his side is finally healing. The dog is playing pranks, but when the indignant Zina offers to tear him out, the professor strictly forbids this: “You can’t tear anyone up, you can influence a person and an animal only by suggestion.”

As soon as Sharik has settled down in the apartment, suddenly after the phone call there is a rush of running around, the professor demands lunch earlier. Sharik, deprived of food, is locked in the bathroom, after which he is dragged into the examination room and given anesthesia.

Chapter Four

Preobrazhensky and Bormental operate on Sharik. He is implanted with testes and a pituitary gland taken from a fresh human corpse. This should, according to doctors, open new horizons in their research into the mechanism of rejuvenation.

The professor, not without sadness, assumes that the dog will definitely not survive after such an operation, just like those animals that came before him.

Chapter Five

Dr. Bormental's diary is a history of Sharik's illness, which describes the changes occurring in the dog that was operated on and still survived. His hair falls out, the shape of his skull changes, his barking becomes like a human voice, and his bones grow quickly. He utters strange words - it turns out that as a street dog he learned to read signs, but he read some from the end. The young doctor makes an enthusiastic conclusion - changing the pituitary gland does not give rejuvenation, but complete humanization - and emotionally calls his teacher a genius. However, the professor himself gloomily sits over the medical history of the man whose pituitary gland was transplanted to Sharik.

Chapter Six

Doctors are trying to nurture their creation, instill the necessary skills, and educate. Sharik's taste in clothes, his speech and habits unnerve the intelligent Preobrazhensky. There are posters hanging around the apartment prohibiting swearing, spitting, throwing cigarette butts, and gnawing seeds. Sharik himself has a passive-aggressive attitude towards education: “They grabbed the animal, slashed its head with a knife, and now they abhor it.” After talking with the house committee, the former dog confidently uses clerical terms and demands to issue him an identity card. He chooses the name “Poligraf Poligrafovich” for himself, and takes the “hereditary” surname - Sharikov.

The professor expresses a desire to buy any room in the house and evict Poligraf Poligrafovich there, but Shvonder gloatingly refuses him, recalling their ideological conflict. Soon a communal disaster occurs in the professor's apartment: Sharikov chased the cat and caused a flood in the bathroom.

Chapter Seven

Sharikov drinks vodka at dinner, like an experienced alcoholic. Looking at this, the professor sighs incomprehensibly: “Nothing can be done - Klim.” In the evening, Sharikov wants to go to the circus, but when Preobrazhensky offers him a more cultural entertainment - the theater, he refuses, because this is “one counter-revolution.” The professor is going to give Sharikov something to read, at least Robinson, but he is already reading the correspondence between Engels and Kautsky, given to him by Shvonder. True, he manages to understand little - except perhaps “take everything and divide it.” Hearing this, the professor invites him to “share” the lost profit from the fact that on the day of the flood the appointment of patients was disrupted - to pay 130 rubles “for the faucet and for the cat,” and orders Zina to burn the book.

Having sent Sharikov, accompanied by Bormental, to the circus, Preobrazhensky looks for a long time at the preserved pituitary gland of the dog Sharik and says: “By God, I think I’ll make up my mind.”

Chapter Eight

A new scandal - Sharikov, waving documents, claims living space in the professor’s apartment. He promises to shoot Shvonder and, in exchange for eviction, threatens Polygraph with deprivation of food. Sharikov quiets down, but not for long - he stole two ducats from the professor’s office, and tried to blame the theft on Zina, got drunk and brought drinking buddies into the house, after whose expulsion Preobrazhensky lost his malachite ashtray, beaver hat and favorite cane.

Over cognac, Bormental confesses his love and respect to Preobrazhensky and offers to personally feed Sharikov arsenic. The professor objects - he, a world-famous scientist, will be able to avoid responsibility for murder, but the young doctor is unlikely. He sadly admits his scientific mistake: “I sat for five years, picking out appendages from brains... And now, the question arises - why? To one day turn the sweetest dog into such scum that it makes your hair stand on end. […] Two criminal records, alcoholism, “divide everything,” a hat and two ducats are missing, a boor and a pig... In a word, the pituitary gland is a closed chamber that defines a given human person. Given!” Meanwhile, the pituitary gland for Sharikov was taken from a certain Klim Chugunkin, a repeat offender, alcoholic and rowdy, who played the balalaika in taverns and was stabbed to death in a drunken brawl. Doctors gloomily imagine what kind of nightmare, given such “heredity,” Sharikov could get out of under the influence of Shvonder.

At night, Daria Petrovna kicks the drunken Polygraph out of the kitchen, Bormenthal promises to make a scandal with him in the morning, but Sharikov disappears, and upon returning, he reports that he has got a job - the head of the department for clearing Moscow of stray animals.

A young lady typist appears in the apartment, whom Sharikov introduces as his bride. They open her eyes to Polygraph’s lies - he is not the commander of the Red Army at all and was not wounded at all in battles with the whites, as he claimed in a conversation with the girl. Sharikov, exposed, threatens the typist with layoffs; Bormental takes the girl under protection and promises to shoot Sharikov.

Chapter Nine

His former patient, an influential man in military uniform, comes to the professor. From his story, Preobrazhensky learns that Sharikov wrote a denunciation against him and Bormental - they allegedly made death threats against Poligraf and Shvonder, made counter-revolutionary speeches, illegally stored weapons, etc. After this, Sharikov is categorically asked to get out of the apartment, but he first becomes stubborn, then becomes impudent, and in the end even pulls out a gun. The doctors subdue him, disarm him and sedate him with chloroform, after which a ban on anyone entering or leaving the apartment sounds and some activity begins in the examination room.

Chapter Ten (Epilogue)

The police come to the professor’s apartment on a tip from Shvonder. They have a search warrant and, based on the results, an arrest on charges of murdering Sharikov.

However, Preobrazhensky is calm - he says that his laboratory creature suddenly and inexplicably degraded from a human back into a dog, and shows the police and the investigator a strange creature in which the features of Poligraf Poligrafovich are still recognizable.

The dog Sharik, who had his canine pituitary gland returned through a second operation, remains to live and blissfully live in the professor’s apartment, never understanding why he was “slashed all over his head.”

Conclusion

In the story “The Heart of a Dog,” Bulgakov, in addition to the philosophical motive of punishment for interfering in the affairs of nature, outlined themes characteristic of it, branding ignorance, cruelty, abuse of power and stupidity. The carriers of these shortcomings for him are the new “masters of life” who want to change the world, but do not have the wisdom and humanism necessary for this. The main idea of ​​the work is “the devastation is not in the closets, but in the heads.”

A brief chapter-by-chapter retelling of “The Heart of a Dog” is not enough to fully appreciate the artistic merits of this work, so we recommend taking the time to read this short story in its entirety. We also advise you to familiarize yourself with the two-part film of the same name by Vladimir Bortko from 1988, which is quite close to the literary original.

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Michael Bulgakov

dog's heart

Woo-hoo-hoo-goo-goo-goo! Oh look at me, I'm dying. The blizzard in the gateway howls at me, and I howl with it. I'm lost, I'm lost. A scoundrel in a dirty cap - a cook in the canteen for normal meals for employees of the Central Council of the National Economy - splashed boiling water and scalded my left side.

What a reptile, and also a proletarian. Lord, my God - how painful it is! It was eaten to the bones by boiling water. Now I’m howling, howling, but howling can I help?

How did I bother him? Will I really eat the council of the national economy if I rummage through the trash? Greedy creature! Just look at his face someday: he’s wider across himself. Thief with a copper face. Ah, people, people. At noon the cap treated me to boiling water, and now it’s dark, about four o’clock in the afternoon, judging by the smell of onions from the Prechistensky fire brigade. Firemen eat porridge for dinner, as you know. But this is the last thing, like mushrooms. Familiar dogs from Prechistenka, however, told me that in the Neglinny restaurant “bar” they eat the standard dish - mushrooms, pican sauce for 3 rubles. 75 k. per serving. This is an amateurish thing, like licking a galosh... Oooh-ooh-ooh...

My side hurts unbearably, and the distance of my career is visible to me quite clearly: tomorrow ulcers will appear and, one wonders, how will I treat them?

In the summer you can go to Sokolniki, there is special, very good grass there, and besides, you will get free sausage heads, the citizens will throw greasy paper on them, you will get hydrated. And if it weren’t for some grimza that sings in the meadow under the moon - “Dear Aida” - so that your heart falls, it would be great. Now where will you go? Did they hit you with a boot? They beat me. Did you get hit in the ribs with a brick? There is enough food. I have experienced everything, I am at peace with my fate, and if I cry now, it is only from physical pain and cold, because my spirit has not yet died out... The spirit of a dog is tenacious.

But my body is broken, beaten, people have abused it enough. After all, the main thing is that when he hit it with boiling water, it was eaten under the fur, and, therefore, there is no protection for the left side. I can very easily get pneumonia, and if I get it, I, citizens, will die of hunger. With pneumonia, one is supposed to lie on the front door under the stairs, but who, instead of me, a lying single dog, will run through the trash bins in search of food? It will grab my lung, I will crawl on my stomach, I will weaken, and any specialist will beat me to death with a stick. And the wipers with plaques will grab me by the legs and throw me onto the cart...

Janitors are the most vile scum of all proletarians. Human cleaning is the lowest category. The cook is different. For example, the late Vlas from Prechistenka. How many lives did he save? Because the most important thing during illness is to intercept the bite. And so, it happened, the old dogs say, Vlas would wave a bone, and on it there would be an eighth of meat on it. May he rest in heaven for being a real person, the lordly cook of Count Tolstoy, and not from the Council of Normal Nutrition. What they are doing there in Normal nutrition is incomprehensible to a dog’s mind. After all, they, the bastards, cook cabbage soup from stinking corned beef, and those poor fellows don’t know anything. They run, eat, lap.

Some typist receives four and a half chervonets for the IX category, well, however, her lover will give her fildepers stockings. Why, how much abuse does she have to endure for this phildepers? After all, he does not expose her in any ordinary way, but exposes her to French love. With... these French, just between you and me. Although they eat it richly, and all with red wine. Yes…

The typist will come running, because you can’t go to the bar for 4.5 chervonets. She doesn’t even have enough for cinema, and cinema is the only consolation in life for a woman. He trembles, winces, and eats... Just think: 40 kopecks from two dishes, and both of these dishes are not worth five kopecks, because the caretaker stole the remaining 25 kopecks. Does she really need such a table? The top of her right lung is also out of order and she has a female disease on French soil, she was deducted from the service, fed rotten meat in the canteen, here she is, here she is...

Runs into the gateway in lover's stockings. Her feet are cold, there is a draft in her stomach, because the fur on her is like mine, and she wears cold pants, just a lace appearance. Rubbish for a lover. Put her on flannel, try it, he’ll yell: how ungraceful you are! I'm tired of my Matryona, I'm tired of flannel pants, now my time has come. I am now the chairman, and no matter how much I steal, it’s all on the female body, on cancerous cervixes, on Abrau-Durso. Because I was hungry enough when I was young, it will be enough for me, but there is no afterlife.

I feel sorry for her, sorry! But I feel even more sorry for myself. I’m not saying this out of selfishness, oh no, but because we really are not on an equal footing. At least she’s warm at home, but for me, but for me... Where am I going to go? Woo-oo-oo-oo!..

- Kut, kut, kut! A ball, and a ball... Why are you whining, poor thing? Who hurt you? Uh...

The witch, a dry blizzard, rattled the gates and hit the young lady on the ear with a broom. She fluffed up her skirt to her knees, exposed her cream stockings and a narrow strip of poorly washed lace underwear, strangled her words and covered up the dog.

My God... What is the weather... Wow... And my stomach hurts. It's corned beef! And when will this all end?

Bowing her head, the young lady rushed to the attack, broke through the gate, and on the street she began to twist, twist, throw, then screwed in with a snow screw, and she disappeared.

But the dog remained in the gateway and, suffering from a disfigured side, pressed himself against the cold wall, suffocated and firmly decided that he would not go anywhere else from here, and then he would die in the gateway. Despair overwhelmed him. His soul was so painful and bitter, so lonely and scary, that small dog tears, like pimples, crawled out of his eyes and immediately dried up.

The damaged side stuck out in matted, frozen lumps, and between them were red, ominous spots of scald. How senseless, stupid, and cruel the cooks are. “She called him “Sharik”... What the hell is “Sharik”? Sharik means round, well-fed, stupid, eats oatmeal, the son of noble parents, but he is shaggy, lanky and ragged, a lean little guy, a homeless dog. However, thank you for your kind words.

The door across the street in a brightly lit store slammed and a citizen emerged. It is a citizen, and not a comrade, and even, most likely, a master. Closer - clearer - sir. Do you think I judge by my coat? Nonsense. Nowadays, many proletarians wear coats. True, the collars are not the same, there’s nothing to say about that, but from afar they can still be confused. But by the eyes, you can’t confuse them both up close and from a distance. Oh, eyes are a significant thing. Like a barometer. You can see who has a great dryness in their soul, who can poke the toe of a boot into their ribs for no reason, and who is afraid of everyone. It’s the last lackey who feels good when he’s tugging on the ankle. If you're afraid, get it. If you’re afraid, that means you’re standing... Rrrr...

Gow-gow...

The gentleman confidently crossed the street in the blizzard and moved into the gateway. Yes, yes, this one can see everything. This rotten corned beef will not eat, and if it is served to him somewhere, he will raise such a scandal and write in the newspapers: they fed me, Philip Philipovich.

Here he is getting closer and closer. This one eats abundantly and does not steal, this one will not kick, but he himself is not afraid of anyone, and he is not afraid because he is always full. He is a gentleman of mental labor, with a French pointed beard and a gray, fluffy and dashing mustache, like those of French knights, but the smell he gives off in the snowstorm is foul, like a hospital. And a cigar.

What the hell, one might ask, brought him to the Tsentrokhoz cooperative?

Here he is nearby... What is he waiting for? Oooh... What could he buy in a crappy store, isn't there enough of a willing row for him? What's happened? Sausage. Sir, if you had seen what this sausage is made from, you would not have come near the store. Give it to me.