Year of publication of the book: 1922

Alexei Tolstoy’s book “Nikita’s Childhood” was first published in 1922 and was dedicated to the writer’s son. The work was adequately appreciated by both critics and readers. This allowed the work to be included in the modern school curriculum, and also contributed to the film adaptation of the book “Nikita’s Childhood”. The film of the same name was filmed in 1992.

The story "Nikita's Childhood" summary

Nikita woke up and remembered that yesterday a guy he knew named Pakhom had built a special bench for him on which he could slide down the slide. The boy was very happy and was about to run outside when teacher Arkady Ivanovich intercepted him. Therefore, Nikita had to go to breakfast and then do his homework. He sat for a long time studying mathematics and penmanship, when it was announced that Arkady Ivanovich had received mail. The man left the room, and Nikita immediately slipped behind him and ran to his friends.

The main character of Tolstoy’s work “Nikita’s Childhood” instantly found himself in the courtyard, where he was already met by his comrades from his end of the village, and not far away their enemies were playing - the “Konchansky” guys who lived on the edge of the village. Nikita immediately began to climb the hill in order to slide down it, when he saw that the teacher was already running after him. Arkady Ivanovich told the student that one of the letters that arrived in the morning was from his father. It said that he was preparing a huge gift for Nikita. And also the fact that a mother’s friend and her children will come to visit them for the holidays. The second letter the teacher received was from his fiancée.

When Nikita went to bed, he had a very strange dream. It seemed to him that someone wanted to stop the wall clock. Wanting to prevent this, the boy pushed off and took off. On one of the top shelves he saw a beautiful vase, looking into which he wanted to take its contents for himself. However, the old woman from the picture did not allow him to do this. Here the boy’s dream ended. Opening his eyes, Nikita saw that Arkady Ivanovich was standing next to him.

Further in Tolstoy’s story “Nikita’s Childhood” we can read that the next day after this dream the boy was allowed out for a walk, since the Christmas holidays had begun. On the street, a fight began between Nikita’s comrades and the “Konchansky” guys. The latter began to win, when the main character attacked the leader of the opponents named Styopa. Then other boys joined in. They drove the “Konchanskys” into several more households. Styopa was amazed by Nikita’s courage, and the guys became friends.

In the evening, guests arrived - Anna Apollosovna with her children - a second-grade student at the gymnasium, Viktor, and a nine-year-old girl named Lilya. I really liked the girl in Nikita. Even when they were walking in the yard, he noticed that the girl was watching him from the window, and this gave him courage. So the story “Nikita’s Childhood” tells how once, in front of Lily’s eyes, he even managed to stop a ferocious bull. A little later, the boy received a gift from his father - a large boat with two oars. For several days, the whole family was intensively preparing for Christmas - decorating the Christmas tree, preparing various dishes. The holiday was very emotional - the children danced in a round dance to the accompaniment of Nikita's mother, Alexandra Leontyevna. Everyone received their gifts and sat down at a large table. After dinner, Nikita even managed to kiss Lilya.

Throughout the entire time that Anna Apollosovna was staying here with her children, Nikita spent time with Lilya. He wasn't even interested in what the other boys were doing there. Victor, on the contrary, liked walking with the guys in the yard more. They built barricades and fought various battles. But for some reason Nikita was not interested in them. He focused all his attention on the girl. And then one day the main character of Tolstoy’s story “Nikita’s Childhood” told Lila about his strange dream. She asked if they had the kind of vase at home that the boy had dreamed about. After thinking, Nikita remembered that something similar was in his grandfather’s office. Entering the room, the children saw that in the vase there was a ring with a small stone. Nikita immediately put it on Lila’s finger.

When the guests left, Nikita really missed Lila. What added to his sadness was the fact that the holidays were over, and therefore he had to start studying again. The boy didn’t particularly like algebra, but there was nothing to do - he had to sit at his textbooks. Nikita's father Vasily Nikitievich wrote that he would be delayed and would come home only for Lent. The fact is that for several months now he has been trying to receive an inheritance in Samara, but the matter is moving terribly slowly, and the man urgently needs to leave for Moscow. Alexandra Leontyevna was worried about this. It seemed to her that because her husband had been away from home for so long, Nikita would forget her father. But this is not so - the boy perfectly remembered his cheerful and smiling dad and was waiting for him.

Nikita often remembered Lilya. He walked around so sad that Alexandra Leontievna thought that her son was sick. She canceled classes and began giving him medications. As soon as it got warmer outside and the rooks arrived, Nikita felt much better.

Later in the story "Nikita's Childhood" a brief summary tells how one day he heard the news that his father was drowning under the ice. The boy was very scared, but everything ended well - by evening Vasily Nikitievich was at home. But the incident did not pass without a trace - the man suffered from fever for several days. But there was no time to be sick for a long time - work was in full swing at home, everyone was preparing for Easter. The main character's parents were so tired while cleaning and preparing holiday dishes that they could not go to the service. Arkady Ivanovich was also not eager to go to matins, because he was upset by the lack of a letter from the bride.

Therefore, Nikita went to serve in the neighboring village alone. There he was allowed to stay with his father's friend Pyotr Devyatov. Having reached his destination, the boy quickly became friends with the six sons of Pyotr Petrovich. A little later he met his daughter Anna. The girl's brothers complained to Nikita about her and called their sister a sneak. After the service, Anna did not leave Nikita’s side. He realized that she felt the same for him as he felt for Lila. But the boy could not reciprocate.

And so in the work “Nikita’s Childhood” May came. The month when Nikita celebrated his birthday. On this occasion, Vasily Nikitievich launched a boat given for Christmas. Together they hung a flag on her, after which her father declared Nikita an admiral. Warm weather arrived, and the boy was often allowed to walk all day. On one of these walks, he picked up a small starling, which he later named Zheltukhin. He took him to his house and began to train him. The lessons bore fruit - after some time the chick recognized Nikita, constantly spent the night in his house and even learned to speak a little. So until autumn Zheltukhin lived in the boy’s house. But with the onset of cold weather, he flew away to warmer climes along with other starlings.

While autumn had not yet arrived, Nikita enjoyed his free time. Moreover, his parents decided to teach him to ride. At first, Alexandra Leontyevna, of course, was worried about her son. But Vasily Nikitievich persuaded his wife. A little later, Nikita’s father gave Nikita his own horse, which was named Klopik. The summer turned out to be so hot that the grain harvest was in jeopardy. This worried the boy's parents very much. Moreover, the teacher was sad because his bride would not be able to come, and they would be able to see each other all the way in Samara. One day Zheltukhin flew into the house and shouted: “Storm!” Indeed, a few hours later the village was covered with thick clouds and it began to rain.

But in the work “Nikita’s Childhood” the author says that with the advent of Klopik, Nikita also had a new job - he had to go to the neighboring village to pick up fresh mail. One day he saw that he had received a letter from Lily. In it, the girl wrote that she still remembers Nikita and keeps his gift - a ring with a blue stone. The boy felt so warm at heart. He remembered the Christmas holidays and couldn't help but smile.

Arriving home, Nikita saw that his parents were quarreling. The fact is that Vasily Nikitievich wanted to go to the fair and sell one of the mares there. But his wife was against such an idea - she was afraid that the man would spend too much money there and buy something unnecessary. Nikita's father often behaved this way. They came to a compromise, and Vasily Nikitievich set off. After the fair, he told his son that he had made a rash purchase - he had purchased several camels.

With the onset of autumn, Vasily Nikitievich again went to Samara. From there he wrote to his wife that the inheritance matter had not been resolved. Therefore, he will again have to spend the winter in the city. But now he no longer wanted to live separately from his family. The man invited Alexandra Leontyevna to move to the city and promised to buy her two vases. The woman reluctantly agreed. Arkady Ivanovich was also happy about this news - after all, he was about to meet his bride in Samara.

In the city, the family was met by a friend of Alexandra Leontievna and her children. Nikita noticed that Lilya was angry with him for some unknown reason. The girl said that she was offended because she did not receive a response to her letter. Nikita was terribly ashamed that he forgot to write. He asked for forgiveness, and Lilya forgave him. Since then, as told in the story “Nikita’s Childhood,” the heroes began a new life. The boy was not used to life in the city and at first it seemed to him that he was in a cage. But within a week he was able to pass the exams well and was accepted into the gymnasium.

The story “Nikita’s Childhood” on the Top books website

Tolstoy’s story “Nikita’s Childhood” is popular to read largely due to the presence of the work in the school curriculum. This allowed the book to take a high place among. And although interest in the story is seasonal, we will probably see it more than once among

How long have I been waiting for a high-quality re-release of this wonderful story! It is based on the memories of Alexei Nikolaevich Tolstoy about his own childhood, and the author dedicated it to his son. It begins with a touching dedication: “I dedicate it to my son Nikita Alekseevich Tolstoy with deep respect.” It is the writer’s deep respect for the inner world of the little man and his feelings that we observe in the book. He managed to penetrate into the essence of the child’s experiences, into the very depths of the child’s soul, to find such simple, but the most correct words that were able to convey the fragile, touching world of childhood, filled to the brim with feelings and sensations, vivid events and impressions.
This is a wonderful, kind and bright story about one year in the life of a little nine-year-old boy Nikita. It is about childhood joys and sorrows, discoveries and adventures, about growing up, doubts and overcoming one’s own fears, about the first manifestation of feelings. In one of the chapters, the boy had just turned ten, and the father gave his son a “sea” holiday, congratulating him so playfully and sweetly: “I have the honor, Your Excellency, to inform you that according to the Gregorian calendar, as well as according to the calculation of astronomers around the globe , today you are ten years old, in fulfillment of which I have to give you this penknife with twelve blades, very suitable for maritime affairs, and also for losing it.”

The language of the narrative is clean and easy, the style is beautiful - it is magnificent prose, permeated with a lyrical, poetic sense of beauty. And how magical Tolstoy’s descriptions of nature are! Nikita is very attentive to the changes taking place in nature, he feels like an integral part of it, it fascinates him and makes him happy. This is how Tolstoy describes the moment when Nikita went to accompany the village children home who were celebrating Christmas in their house: “Nikita went to accompany the children to the dam. When he returned home alone, the moon was burning high in the sky, in a rainbow-colored pale circle. The trees on the dam and in the garden stood huge and white and seemed to have grown and stretched out under the moonlight. To the right the white desert stretched into the incredible frosty darkness. A long, big-headed shadow was moving its legs at Nikita’s side. It seemed to Nikita that he was walking in a dream, in an enchanted kingdom. Only in an enchanted kingdom can it be so strange and so happy in the soul.”
The book so interestingly and wonderfully describes the life of the estate, the celebration of Easter, Christmas Eve and the children's Christmas tree in a noble house, the fun and games of the village children with whom Nikita is friends. Reading is a pleasure!

Illustrations by Nina Alekseevna Noskovich are a good visual representation of the story. They are unusual, dim, they use shades of only three colors - yellow, blue and brown. But they are so intelligent and modest, delicate and romantic. In my opinion, the drawings wonderfully convey the lyrical mood of the story and emphasize the difference between the modern world and the world of a noble estate of the 19th century, the perception of people of that culture and the present - nature, the passage of time, life in general.

The book is made with high quality: hard cover, stitched binding, thick offset, medium-sized but easy to read font. Obsolete words are explained in the footnotes at the bottom of the page.
I was somewhat upset by the typos, because you always expect only impeccable quality from Rech. On page 43, an unnecessary letter “p” crept into the word “runners”, turning them into “crawlers,” and on page 13, somehow the proofreader didn’t work out at all - there were two errors there at once:
“But there’s no glass in the case...”
“There are two frosty windows in the room; Through the glass one can see a strange moon, larger than usual.”
Because of this, I have to lower my rating for the book.

Nikita sighed, waking up, and opened his eyes. The sun was shining through the frosty patterns on the windows, through the wonderfully painted stars and palmate leaves. The light in the room was snowy white. A bunny slithered from the wash cup and trembled on the wall.

Opening his eyes, Nikita remembered what the carpenter Pakhom told him last night:

So I’ll lubricate it and water it thoroughly, and when you get up in the morning, sit down and go.

Yesterday evening, Pakhom, a crooked and pockmarked man, made Nikita, at his special request, a bench. It was done like this:

In the carriage house, on the workbench, among the ring-twisted, odorous shavings, Pakhom planed two boards and four legs; the bottom board from the front edge - from the nose - is cut off so that it does not get stuck in the snow; turned legs; There are two cutouts for the legs in the top board to make it easier to sit. The lower board was coated with cow dung and watered three times in the cold - after that it was made like a mirror, a rope was tied to the upper board - to carry the bench, and when going down the mountain, to straighten it.

Now the bench, of course, is ready and stands by the porch. Pakhom is such a person: “If, he says, what I said is the law, I will do it.”

Nikita sat down on the edge of the bed and listened - the house was quiet, no one must have gotten up yet. If you get dressed in a minute, without, of course, washing or brushing your teeth, then you can escape through the back door into the yard, and from the yard - to the river. There are snowdrifts on the steep banks - sit down and fly...

Nikita crawled out of bed and tiptoed across the hot, sunny squares on the floor...

At this time, the door opened slightly, and a head with glasses, protruding red eyebrows, and a bright red beard poked its head into the room. The head winked and said:

Are you getting up, robber?

ARKADY IVANOVICH

The man with the red beard, Nikitin’s teacher, Arkady Ivanovich, got wind of everything in the evening and purposely got up early. This Arkady Ivanovich was an amazingly efficient and cunning man. He entered Nikita's room, laughing, stopped at the window, breathed on the glass, and when it became transparent, he adjusted his glasses and looked out at the yard.

There is, he said, a wonderful bench by the porch.

Nikita remained silent and frowned. I had to get dressed and brush my teeth, and wash not only my face, but also my ears and even my neck. After that, Arkady Ivanovich put his arm around Nikita’s shoulders and led him to the dining room. Mother sat at the table at the samovar in a warm gray dress. She took Nikita by the face, looked into his eyes with clear eyes and kissed him.

Did you sleep well, Nikita?

Then she extended her hand to Arkady Ivanovich and asked affectionately:

How did you sleep, Arkady Ivanovich?

“I slept well,” he answered, smiling for some reason, with a red mustache, sat down at the table, poured cream into the tea, threw a piece of sugar into his mouth, grabbed it with his white teeth and winked at Nikita through his glasses.

Arkady Ivanovich was an unbearable person: he always had fun, always winked, never spoke directly, but in such a way that his heart skipped a beat. For example, my mother seems to have clearly asked: “How did you sleep?” He replied: “I slept well,” which means this needs to be understood: “But Nikita wanted to escape to the river from tea and studies, but yesterday Nikita, instead of translating German, sat for two hours at Pakhom’s workbench.”

Arkady Ivanovich never complained, that’s true, but Nikita had to keep his ear to the ground all the time.

Over tea, mother said that it had been very frosty at night, the water in the tub in the entryway had frozen, and when they went for a walk, Nikita needed to put on a cap.

Mom, honestly, it’s terrible heat,” Nikita said.

I ask you to put on your hood.

My cheeks are stinging and suffocating, I, mother, will catch a worse cold in my head.

Mother silently looked at Arkady Ivanovich, at Nikita, her voice trembled:

I don’t know who you have become unheard of.

“Let’s go study,” said Arkady Ivanovich, stood up decisively and quickly rubbed his hands, as if there was no greater pleasure in the world than solving arithmetic problems and dictating proverbs and sayings that make your eyes stick together.

In a large empty and white room, where a map of the two hemispheres hung on the wall, Nikita sat down at the table, covered in ink stains and drawn faces. Arkady Ivanovich opened the problem book.

“Well,” he said cheerfully, “where did you stop?” - And with a sharpened pencil he underlined the task number.

“The merchant sold several arshins of blue cloth at 3 rubles 64 kopecks per arshin and black cloth...” Nikita read. And now, as always, this merchant from the problem book introduced himself to him. He was in a long, dusty frock coat, with a yellow, sad face, all dull and flat, withered. His shop was as dark as a crack; on a dusty flat shelf lay two pieces of cloth; the merchant stretched out his skinny hands to them, took pieces from the shelf and looked at Nikita with dull, lifeless eyes.

Well, what do you think, Nikita? - asked Arkady Ivanovich. - In total, the merchant sold eighteen arshins. How much blue cloth was sold and how much black cloth?

Nikita wrinkled his face, the merchant completely flattened himself, both pieces of cloth entered the wall and were covered in dust...

Arkady Ivanovich said: “Ai-ai!” - and began to explain, quickly writing numbers in pencil, multiplying them and dividing them, repeating: “One in the mind, two in the mind.” It seemed to Nikita that during multiplication, “one in the mind” or “two in the mind” quickly jumped from the paper to the head and were tickled there so that they would not be forgotten. It was very unpleasant. And the sun sparkled in the two frosty windows of the classroom, luring: “Let's go to the river.”

Story by A.N. Tolstoy's The Childhood of Nikita (originally titled A Tale of Many Excellent Things) was first published in a separate edition in 1922. The story was written in 1919–1920. In the fall of 1918, he emigrated abroad. In 1920, the writer was still in exile and was very homesick for Russia. Living in Paris and Berlin, Tolstoy alienated the emigrant environment and began to delve more deeply into the meaning of historical events. Memories of the homeland, of the irrevocable days of childhood, of Russian nature caused the appearance of the story. “Nikita’s Childhood” is a work full of captivating lyricism, irresistible charm and truth, high poetry of folk life, a vivid perception of nature, and the beauty of the native language. The author devotes all his attention to the embodiment of the poetic principles of the charm of the irrevocable time of childhood. The writer said: “I will give all my previous novels and plays for this book! The book is Russian and written in Russian!” The story was written for the Parisian magazine “Green Stick” - for emigrant children who, like the son of A.N. Tolstoy's Nikita, to whom the work is dedicated and after whom the main character is named, was in dire need of Russian impressions. He was interested in real life, he wanted to rely on the experience of his personal observations: “I began - and it was as if a window opened into the distant past with all the charm, gentle sadness and acute perceptions of nature that occur in childhood” (Complete collected works, vol. 13, p. 563). Unlike most of A. Tolstoy’s works, the plot, the sequential chain of events, plays almost no role here, because everything in the world is excellent. Children's writer K. Chukovsky wrote about this in 1924: “This is the Book of Happiness, it seems, the only Russian book in which the author does not preach happiness, does not promise it in the future, but immediately exudes it from himself.”

"Nikita's Childhood" is an autobiographical story. The location of the action quite accurately reproduces the setting of the small estate of the writer’s stepfather A. A. Bostrom, where Tolstoy grew up. Even the name of the estate is preserved in the story - Sosnovka. Childhood impressions and A. Tolstoy’s memories of his early life in the Samara province were included in the content of his work. In one of his autobiographical notes, A. Tolstoy wrote about himself this way: “I grew up alone, in contemplation, in dissolution, among the great phenomena of earth and sky. July lightning over a dark garden; autumn mists like milk; a dry twig sliding in the wind on the first ice of the pond; winter blizzards, covering huts with snowdrifts right up to the chimneys; the sound of spring waters; the cry of rooks flying to last year's nests; people in the cycle of seasons; birth and death, like the rising and setting of the sun, like the fate of grain; animals, birds ; boogers with red faces living in the cracks of the earth; the smell of a ripe apple, the smell of a fire in a twilight hollow; my friend Mishka Koryashonok and his stories; winter evenings under the lamp, books, daydreaming...” (Poln. sobr. soch., vol. 13 , pp. 557–558). Pictures of the Russian winter, vast snowy plains, ringing spring days, summer harvest, golden autumn replace one another naturally, like the movement of time itself, conveyed in living images. The change of seasons is depicted not as a passive contemplative movement, but as an active one, affecting all aspects of people’s existence and activity. It is in such an atmosphere that the little hero of A. Tolstoy’s story, Nikita, grows and is formed. Nikita's parents largely repeat the real traits of the writer's stepfather and mother. Nikita's mother's name is the same as the writer's mother - Alexandra Leontyevna. For the image of the teacher, the prototype was a seminarian-tutor, Arkady Ivanovich Slovokhotov, who prepared the future writer for admission to a secondary educational institution. Nikita's relationship with the village children - Mishka Koryashonok and Styopka Karnaushkin, their friendship and friendly games are also autobiographical, as well as a number of other details. It should be noted that the narration is not told in the first person, which allows the author to really, after many years, evaluate the happy time of his childhood.
Chapter 2. Formation of Nikita’s character in the story “Nikita’s Childhood”
§ 2.1. Parental love is the basis of raising a child
“Nikita’s Childhood” tells about the childhood of a Russian boy from a noble landowner family, once rich and noble, but already on the verge of ruin, living out his last days in the village. In depicting the development of the character of the main character A.N. Tolstoy puts the reality surrounding the child in the first place.

Already from the first pages of the story, we see what a friendly, normal atmosphere surrounded Nikita, how his first ideas about life took shape. “It was so quiet in the warm office that a barely audible ringing began in my ears. What extraordinary stories could be invented alone, on the sofa, to the sound of this ringing. White light poured through the frozen glass. Nikita was reading Cooper...” So we plunge into the world of Nikita’s childhood, into a world surrounded by books, classes with a teacher, in an atmosphere of kindness and care for a nine-year-old boy. Nikita's relationships with his mother, father, and teacher are of such a nature that they instill in the boy a sound mind, directness and honesty.

Nikita's family and the home environment in the house were always very kind and dear; it was clear how all family members took care of Nikita and everyone tried to give a piece of their love to the boy, to raise him as a good person. All family members are very different in character, temperament, many have different views on life, but despite this, this is a friendly, loving family. Using the example of Nikita’s parents, who sincerely love each other, one can see how much family upbringing means for the formation of a child’s character. Nikita's father is cheerful, with a subtle sense of humor, combined with extraordinary intelligence, kindness and spiritual nobility, happy with his wife, who is very different from him. She is a well-mannered, intelligent, stately woman with gentle beauty, who, in the spirit of folk traditions, embodies the image of the keeper of the family hearth. The prototype of this image was A. Tolstoy’s mother. Nikita's mother misses her husband very much when he leaves, worries about him with all her heart and is worried that Nikita might forget him. One day, my father’s life hung in the balance when he almost died in a ravine during a spring flood. This misfortune showed the cohesion of the family, caring for each other, the common thing that unites a real family - love. Sometimes conflicts arose between the boy’s parents over the extravagance of her husband, sometimes there were disagreements in Nikita’s upbringing, the mother was very kind to her son and was too worried about him and saw him only as a little boy, and the father insisted on raising the child as a man - brave, strong , hardened. But at the same time, they met each other halfway and found a common solution that did not harm Nikita, but, on the contrary, developed it. For example, the episode with Klopik. His mother was very afraid that it was too early for Nikita to ride a horse on his own: he might crash, he might not be able to cope with an unbroken horse. My father, on the contrary, was convinced that only in this way, by introducing Nikita to independence, closeness to the life of the people, and participation in the common cause, could a strong, strong man be raised.

Nikita's family was always very hospitable and happy to have guests. One of these visits of guests became a real event in Nikita’s life, then he met his first love. The house has always loved holidays. One of the brightest was the wonderful New Year. In the description of preparations for the holiday, homemade crafts, decorations, long-awaited pine needles, waiting for long-awaited gifts, a lush table with treats, round dances around the Christmas tree with invited village children, one can feel the author’s love for the traditions of the ancient noble way of life. So brightly, visibly noticed by A.N. Thick details of children's preparations for the New Year.

In this house, even simple workers are treated very well, despite the fact that there are masters and peasants. Nikita's father is a very simple person in communication and behavior, he was friendly towards the servants, and they respected their owners, tried to please them, and paid them with loyalty and care. The carpenter Pakhom, who makes Nikita’s bench, the sensible boy, the assistant shepherd Mishka Koryashonok, and the teacher Arkady Ivanovich evoke sympathy. Nikita considers Mishka Koryashonka, a shepherd who works in the barnyard, to be the most authoritative person. This is a serious and reasonable guy who, in imitation of adults, speaks with feigned indifference. "Nikita looked at Koryashonok with great respect." Although Mishka is small, the Russian mentality and Russian character are already clearly visible in his comments, advice and actions. Another acquaintance of Nikita is the curly-haired, snub-nosed and large-mouthed Styopa Karnaushkin with a “charmed fist”. Nikita's company of village friends is completed by Semka, Lenka, Artamoshka the smaller, Nil, Vanka Black Ears and Bobylev's nephew Petrushka. All day long Nikita spins around in the yard, at the well, in the carriage house, in the servants' room, on the threshing floor... For him, Mishka Koryashonok's judgments are most understandable. But less important is what the carpenter Pakhom, the worker Vasily, and the stooped Artem said or did. Nikita is curious about the life of the village, peasant children, peasant activities, not understanding the difficulties and hardships of village life, but at the same time spontaneously, instinctively, not separating himself from it, feeling himself somehow inextricably linked with the village.

§ 2.2. Friendship with village kids

Nikita communicated with the village children, and in the traditions of village childhood there was always confrontation between one courtyard and another, fights, snow battles, games of war - all this also made up his childhood, a happy childhood, it strengthened his character and put him to the test.

Nikita never had problems communicating due to different social status; on the contrary, he believed that his village friends would never replace a single noble boy for him, which he became convinced of after communicating with a second-grade high school student, Victor, who was visiting Nikita on Christmas. Victor also made friends with the villagers, tried to be one of them, but never did. But Nikita was one of the guys, he wasn’t afraid to walk

All-Russian scientific and practical video conference

“The Theme of Childhood in World Literature”

Section: literary studies

Research

Formation of Nikita's character

(based on A.N. Tolstoy’s story “Nikita’s Childhood”)

Completed by: Grishina Polina,

9th grade student

Oryol region; Livny

Scientific supervisor: Svechnikova O.N.,

Oryol region; Livny

MBOU "Lyceum named after. S. N. Bulgakov"

Content

Chapter 1. Autobiographical story about the childhood of A.N. Tolstoy

Story by A.N. Tolstoy's The Childhood of Nikita (originally titled A Tale of Many Excellent Things) was first published in a separate edition in 1922. The story was written in 1919–1920. In the fall of 1918, he emigrated abroad. In 1920, the writer was still in exile and was very homesick for Russia. Living in Paris and Berlin, Tolstoy alienated the emigrant environment and began to delve more deeply into the meaning of historical events. Memories of the homeland, of the irrevocable days of childhood, of Russian nature caused the appearance of the story. “Nikita’s Childhood” is a work full of captivating lyricism, irresistible charm and truth, high poetry of folk life, a vivid perception of nature, and the beauty of the native language. The author devotes all his attention to the embodiment of the poetic principles of the charm of the irrevocable time of childhood. The writer said: “I will give all my previous novels and plays for this book! The book is Russian and written in Russian!” The story was written for the Parisian magazine “Green Stick” - for emigrant children who, like the son of A.N. Tolstoy's Nikita, to whom the work is dedicated and after whom the main character is named, was in dire need of Russian impressions. He was interested in real life, he wanted to rely on the experience of his personal observations: “I began - and it was as if a window opened into the distant past with all the charm, gentle sadness and acute perceptions of nature that occur in childhood” (Complete collected works, vol. 13, p. 563). Unlike most of A. Tolstoy’s works, the plot, the sequential chain of events, plays almost no role here, because everything in the world is excellent. Children's writer K. Chukovsky wrote about this in 1924: “This is the Book of Happiness, it seems, the only Russian book in which the author does not preach happiness, does not promise it in the future, but immediately exudes it from himself.”

"Nikita's Childhood" is an autobiographical story. The location of the action quite accurately reproduces the setting of the small estate of the writer’s stepfather A. A. Bostrom, where Tolstoy grew up. Even the name of the estate is preserved in the story - Sosnovka. Childhood impressions and A. Tolstoy’s memories of his early life in the Samara province were included in the content of his work. In one of his autobiographical notes, A. Tolstoy wrote about himself this way: “I grew up alone, in contemplation, in dissolution, among the great phenomena of earth and sky. July lightning over a dark garden; autumn mists like milk; a dry twig sliding in the wind on the first ice of the pond; winter blizzards, covering huts with snowdrifts right up to the chimneys; the sound of spring waters; the cry of rooks flying to last year's nests; people in the cycle of seasons; birth and death, like the rising and setting of the sun, like the fate of grain; animals, birds ; boogers with red faces living in the cracks of the earth; the smell of a ripe apple, the smell of a fire in a twilight hollow; my friend Mishka Koryashonok and his stories; winter evenings under the lamp, books, daydreaming...” (Poln. sobr. soch., vol. 13 , pp. 557–558). Pictures of the Russian winter, vast snowy plains, ringing spring days, summer harvest, golden autumn replace one another naturally, like the movement of time itself, conveyed in living images. The change of seasons is depicted not as a passive contemplative movement, but as an active one, affecting all aspects of people’s existence and activity. It is in such an atmosphere that the little hero of A. Tolstoy’s story, Nikita, grows and is formed. Nikita's parents largely repeat the real traits of the writer's stepfather and mother. Nikita's mother's name is the same as the writer's mother - Alexandra Leontyevna. For the image of the teacher, the prototype was a seminarian-tutor, Arkady Ivanovich Slovokhotov, who prepared the future writer for admission to a secondary educational institution. Nikita's relationship with the village children - Mishka Koryashonok and Styopka Karnaushkin, their friendship and friendly games are also autobiographical, as well as a number of other details. It should be noted that the narration is not told in the first person, which allows the author to really, after many years, evaluate the happy time of his childhood.
Chapter 2. Formation of Nikita’s character in the story “Nikita’s Childhood”
§ 2.1. Parental love is the basis of raising a child
“Nikita’s Childhood” tells about the childhood of a Russian boy from a noble landowner family, once rich and noble, but already on the verge of ruin, living out his last days in the village. In depicting the development of the character of the main character A.N. Tolstoy puts the reality surrounding the child in the first place.

Already from the first pages of the story, we see what a friendly, normal atmosphere surrounded Nikita, how his first ideas about life took shape. “It was so quiet in the warm office that a barely audible ringing began in my ears. What extraordinary stories could be invented alone, on the sofa, to the sound of this ringing. White light poured through the frozen glass. Nikita was reading Cooper...” So we plunge into the world of Nikita’s childhood, into a world surrounded by books, classes with a teacher, in an atmosphere of kindness and care for a nine-year-old boy. Nikita's relationships with his mother, father, and teacher are of such a nature that they instill in the boy a sound mind, directness and honesty.

Nikita's family and the home environment in the house were always very kind and dear; it was clear how all family members took care of Nikita and everyone tried to give a piece of their love to the boy, to raise him as a good person. All family members are very different in character, temperament, many have different views on life, but despite this, this is a friendly, loving family. Using the example of Nikita’s parents, who sincerely love each other, one can see how much family upbringing means for the formation of a child’s character. Nikita's father is cheerful, with a subtle sense of humor, combined with extraordinary intelligence, kindness and spiritual nobility, happy with his wife, who is very different from him. She is a well-mannered, intelligent, stately woman with gentle beauty, who, in the spirit of folk traditions, embodies the image of the keeper of the family hearth. The prototype of this image was A. Tolstoy’s mother. Nikita's mother misses her husband very much when he leaves, worries about him with all her heart and is worried that Nikita might forget him. One day, my father’s life hung in the balance when he almost died in a ravine during a spring flood. This misfortune showed the cohesion of the family, caring for each other, the common thing that unites a real family - love. Sometimes conflicts arose between the boy’s parents over the extravagance of her husband, sometimes there were disagreements in Nikita’s upbringing, the mother was very kind to her son and was too worried about him and saw him only as a little boy, and the father insisted on raising the child as a man - brave, strong , hardened. But at the same time, they met each other halfway and found a common solution that did not harm Nikita, but, on the contrary, developed it. For example, the episode with Klopik. His mother was very afraid that it was too early for Nikita to ride a horse on his own: he might crash, he might not be able to cope with an unbroken horse. My father, on the contrary, was convinced that only in this way, by introducing Nikita to independence, closeness to the life of the people, and participation in the common cause, could a strong, strong man be raised.

Nikita's family was always very hospitable and happy to have guests. One of these visits of guests became a real event in Nikita’s life, then he met his first love. The house has always loved holidays. One of the brightest was the wonderful New Year. In the description of preparations for the holiday, homemade crafts, decorations, long-awaited pine needles, waiting for long-awaited gifts, a lush table with treats, round dances around the Christmas tree with invited village children, one can feel the author’s love for the traditions of the ancient noble way of life. So brightly, visibly noticed by A.N. Thick details of children's preparations for the New Year.

In this house, even simple workers are treated very well, despite the fact that there are masters and peasants. Nikita's father is a very simple person in communication and behavior, he was friendly towards the servants, and they respected their owners, tried to please them, and paid them with loyalty and care. The carpenter Pakhom, who makes Nikita’s bench, the sensible boy, the assistant shepherd Mishka Koryashonok, and the teacher Arkady Ivanovich evoke sympathy. Nikita considers Mishka Koryashonka, a shepherd who works in the barnyard, to be the most authoritative person. This is a serious and reasonable guy who, in imitation of adults, speaks with feigned indifference. "Nikita looked at Koryashonok with great respect." Although Mishka is small, the Russian mentality and Russian character are already clearly visible in his comments, advice and actions. Another acquaintance of Nikita is the curly-haired, snub-nosed and large-mouthed Styopa Karnaushkin with a “charmed fist”. Nikita's company of village friends is completed by Semka, Lenka, Artamoshka the smaller, Nil, Vanka Black Ears and Bobylev's nephew Petrushka. All day long Nikita spins around in the yard, at the well, in the carriage house, in the servants' room, on the threshing floor... For him, Mishka Koryashonok's judgments are most understandable. But less important is what the carpenter Pakhom, the worker Vasily, and the stooped Artem said or did. Nikita is curious about the life of the village, peasant children, peasant activities, not understanding the difficulties and hardships of village life, but at the same time spontaneously, instinctively, not separating himself from it, feeling himself somehow inextricably linked with the village.

§ 2.2. Friendship with village kids

Nikita communicated with the village children, and in the traditions of village childhood there was always confrontation between one courtyard and another, fights, snow battles, games of war - all this also made up his childhood, a happy childhood, it strengthened his character and put him to the test.

Nikita never had problems communicating due to different social status; on the contrary, he believed that his village friends would never replace a single noble boy for him, which he became convinced of after communicating with a second-grade high school student, Victor, who was visiting Nikita on Christmas. Victor also made friends with the villagers, tried to be one of them, but never did. But Nikita was one of the guys, he was not afraid to go to fights and tease the villagers on the other side. Of great importance to him was his friendship with the shepherd boy Mishka Koryashonok, whose resourcefulness and courage had a special meaning, since he had to support himself. Therefore, Nikita even imitates Mishka and tries to surpass him in prowess. Nikita managed to defeat even the “bewitched” first strongman Styopka Karnaushkin, from whom the others backed away, after which both boys exchanged gifts in a friendly manner - a knife and a lead. Nikita's character is especially revealed in the scene with a bull, which from the herd suddenly rushed at a trot at him and at the second-grade schoolboy Victor, who was visiting them. Clapping his whip like a gun, Mishka Koryashonok managed to shout: “Be careful, Nikita!” Nikita, in turn, shouted: “Viktor, run!” But the schoolboy Victor screamed, fell and covered his head with his hands. Nikita rushed to the rescue and began hitting the bull in the face with his hat. Mishka ran up and drove the bull away with a whip. In this scene, the relationship between the three characters is clearly outlined. The high school student Victor, who boasted of his courage, made fun of Nikita, who looked too much at his little sister Lilya, with blue eyes, an upturned nose, curls and a lush bow on the top of her head: “... you only need to play with the girls,” - now he has lost a lot in Nikita’s eyes . Victor could not stand any comparison with his village friends. And Nikita in this scene showed himself to be an adult boy, he was not at a loss, but saved his comrade. Observing the life of the servants and connecting with the people helped him in this.

§ 2.3. Harmony with nature – formation of the child’s spiritual world

Okay, Nikita? – his cheerful father asks the boy.

Wonderful! - Nikita answers.

All images and events in this joyful book are marked with the word wonderful...

Every day of Nikita is constant discoveries and filling with happiness. Everything is good, everything makes you happy: spring rain, the spill of water, the onset of summer, “the smells of moisture, rain, rain and grass,” the sun, water, and sky take on the meaning of spiritualized essences of existence. The boy is connected by spiritual threads with the sacraments of all living things. The story has already begun: “Through the frosty patterns on the windows, through the wonderfully painted silver stars and palmate leaves, the sun was shining. The light in the room was snowy white. A bunny slipped from the wash cup and trembled on the wall” prepares us for the perception of something kind, fairy-tale, for the perception of a carefree childhood.

The story of “Nikita’s Childhood” reflected the main result of childhood years - the harmonious unity of all facets of existence: plants, animals, people, life and death; the relationship between the life of a ten-year-old child and the life of nature creates a unique lyrical flavor of the story: “Nikita swam under the stars, calmly looking at distant worlds." “All this is mine,” he thought, “someday I’ll board an airship and fly away...” This is how a boy perceives nature when he rides on a cart in the summer after threshing; Nikita is close to her, dissolves in the world around him. The author often animates natural phenomena; he creates poetic images of a starling, a cat, a horse, a hedgehog, and an oriole. “Zheltukhin sat on a bush of grass, in the sun, in the corner between the porch and the wall of the house and looked with horror at the approaching Nikita” - this description of the starling is given both by the author’s softly smiling gaze, and by some kind of intuitive poeticized vision of Nikita, and by the humanized perception of Zheltukhin.

Nikita’s close attention to everything that surrounds him is understandable; Nikita learns to understand the world around him and himself in it. It is nature that enriches Nikita’s spiritual work and develops in him the need for spiritual kinship with all living things. The author often animates natural phenomena; he creates poetic images of a starling, a cat, a horse, a hedgehog, and an oriole. Nikita's feelings for nature were especially heightened by his love for the girl with a blue bow. After the New Year's party, Nikita returns home alone, having seen off the children who were invited to visit: “It seemed to Nikita that he was walking in a dream, in an enchanted kingdom. Only in an enchanted kingdom can it be so strange and so happy in the soul.” Unity with nature, the feeling of being an integral part of it, creates in the boy’s soul an almost constant expectation of happiness, wonderful, fantastic.

Nikita's vision of the real echoes his fantastic ideas, coming from the boy's dreams, from the desire to poeticize the world around him. He infects others with this desire. So, Lilya and him are looking for a vase that Nikita once dreamed about. And in fact, this vase was found by the children on the clock in a dark room, and there was a ring in it, Nikita says with confidence: “It’s magical.” And the story is about two people who are depicted in family portraits, visible through an open door in a dimly lit suite of neighboring rooms. One is “a stern old man with a sharp nose and hawk-like, piercing eyes.” Another portrait depicts “a young woman about 25 years old... she holds a rose in her hand, but this rose does not at all suit her proud half-turn pose towards the viewer, her arrogant smile and large, cheerful, defiant eyes. The flame slides along her white dress, bare shoulders, playing on her face." The old man and the proud beauty, "coming to life in portraits," ruined each other..." This story awakened Nikita’s imagination and attracted him with its mystery; it seemed to him that the beauty looked mysteriously and saw Nikita. This is how the fantastic mixes with the real, shows the development of Nikita’s spiritual world, his fantasies, inventions, daydreaming develop the imagination, softness and sensitivity of Nikita’s nature.

The happiest, most touching pages of Nikita's childhood are associated with Christmas, with the first love in Nikita's life. Lilya, Nikita's beloved, a nine-year-old girl, Victor's sister. Lily had long curly locks and a big blue bow. Nikita immediately fell in love with his shining blue eyes and loud, playful laugh. She was very reserved and did not show her interest in Nikita. Nikita's first love, one might even say, love at first sight, pure, childish, innocent. The first kiss, which Nikita was very afraid of, Lily's response. Very touching, a little naive, but it is said simply and wonderfully:

You are a good boy, I didn’t tell you this so that no one would find out, but it’s a secret.

Nikita was very shy and constantly blushed when talking to her, afraid of saying something wrong. When Lilya was visiting, Nikita’s every day was filled with happiness and joy, Nikita told her stories, and Lilya listened to him carefully, not missing a single word. After Lily left, Nikita thought about her every day, the days dragged on, gloomy, boring, his heart and soul were warmed by memories of the girl, he saw her image before his eyes: her big blue bow, blue eyes. Nikita's growing up begins with his first love; his sometimes causeless sadness and the change in weather caused a feeling of change, a desire to hurry up time. And the letter that Nikita received from Lily! The long-awaited letter that Lilya sent with an invitation to stay with them in the summer was another happy moment in life. The ring with a blue stone given to Lilia by Nikita reminded her of him. It was such happiness that Nikita on his horse seemed to be flying home with the wind.

Lilya transformed Nikita's childhood, made him even happier, gave him priceless memories of his first kiss, his ring, his first poem, the forest, and an unforgettable Christmas Eve. She enriched his inner world and became his ideal, giving him her tenderness, casual glances, ringing laughter. Nikita even composed a poem - he was so overwhelmed with feelings of something unusual and happy.

The happy time of childhood in the steppe estate ends very prosaically. The family moves to a city where everything is not so simple, sweet and easy, and everyone is in a hurry somewhere, busy with their own affairs. Nikita feels like a stranger here, a “captured prisoner,” just like Zheltukhin.

After the words “A week later Nikita passed the entrance exam and entered the second grade,” there was also this final phrase that completed the entire story: “This event ends his childhood.”

Conclusion

The wonderful story "Nikita's Childhood", which completes the cycle of autobiographical works by A.N. Tolstoy about the life of the nobility, is rightfully considered one of the best Russian books for children. At first glance, “Nikita’s Childhood” resembles old noble family chronicles, but the story is different from them. The exciting image of the homeland, the hot breath of living poetry, the plasticity of visual means, deep lyricism and realistic colorfulness place “Nikita’s Childhood” among the best works of A.N. Tolstoy.

The unfading vitality of Tolstoy’s story is still determined by the writer’s ability to “address a person, whom it is impossible to understand without understanding the earth and the sun,” without understanding nature. A. Tolstoy’s story “Nikita’s Childhood” (in the first editions “A Tale of Many Excellent Things”) introduces the reader to the circle of unclouded, joyful impressions of a nine-year-old child. In the work of A.N. Tolstoy’s “Nikita’s Childhood” one can feel an atmosphere of love for everything around him, and the hero himself represents a kind of generalized image of a happy child, a symbol of a happy childhood. The life of the boy Nikita, growing up on a free steppe noble estate, takes place against the backdrop of a measured, strong landowner-village life, in direct communication with the lush steppe nature. Sleigh rides from the mountains, studying with a tutor, the caresses of a loving mother, games and fights with village children, preparations for the Christmas tree and meeting guests, first love - this is what shapes the character of the main character of the story. An independent, courageous, very sensitive and impressionable boy who lives in harmony with nature and loved ones. The writer's bright memories of childhood are permeated with a lyrical image of his beloved Motherland, which appears in everything: in descriptions of the nature and life of the Sosnovka farm, in stories about village children, in the pure, beautiful Russian language of the story. This is its main educational value.

“Nikita’s Childhood” is a story about the first years of human formation. The reader is presented with a chronicle of the main events in the boy’s life during the last year before the start of his studies.“Nikita’s Childhood” reflected the wonderful art of transforming the writer into a child, it was reflected in free breathing, the extraordinary relief of each thing shown, it was reflected in a passionate and restrained love for nature, for all living things, an accurate adult knowledge of them and their exact childish perception, comprehension of a child’s character.

Bibliography

1. 
   Ivanov N.N. Dialectics of the child’s soul in the works of A.N. Tolstoy // Materials of the IX All-Russian scientific and methodological conference “World literature for children and about children”. – Issue 9, 2004. – P.27-31.
2. 
   Alpatov A. Nikita’s childhood // Children’s literature. – No. 5, 1936. – P.23-25.
3. 
   Smirnova V. The Third Tolstoy in Children's Literature // Children's Literature. - No. 2, 1966. – P. 17-20.