In front of us is a book that resembles an old box, from which we take out, one after another, vintage postcards with messages, clippings from old newspapers and various household details. In "Elephant" we dive into a story told by Alexander Kuprin and illustrated worldwide famous artist Gennady Spirin.

The name Kuprin immediately brings to mind stories about unrequited love and difficult destinies: « Garnet bracelet", "Olesya", "Duel". But at the same time, the writer loved to write about animals. Their presence encourages us to be more merciful, kinder and livelier. In the story for children “Elephant,” a sick girl Nadya was brought back to life by a big, kind, wrinkled giant.

The girl Nadya is sick, and her life is fading away: no appetite, no strength, no desires - complete apathy. The doctor tells her parents that the only way to cure her is to cheer her up.

And then one day a dream about an elephant awakens in Nadya a shadow of interest in life. She has a dream - to see an elephant, and not a toy, not a drawing, but a living one.

My dear girl, I am glad to do everything for you, but I cannot do this. After all, it’s the same as if you suddenly told me: Dad, get me the sun from the sky.

The father walks from corner to corner, trying to figure out what to do. Suddenly an idea struck him, he resolutely went to talk to the director of the circus, where the elephants performed, and beg him to bring the elephant home to his daughter for one day.

Amazing kindness unites people in this story of Kuprin. The girl is sick, but tries her best not to upset her parents. The father does everything possible and impossible to please his daughter. The owner of the menagerie where the elephant lives comes to meet them and allows him to be brought to the girl’s house.

In full accordance with the realistic style of the writer, Gennady Spirin depicted an elephant. Realistic, touching, detailed illustrations are consistent with the text in everything. It’s really not a painted elephant, but a real one, looking at us from the pages of a book, as the girl Nadya asked. “The ears are big, like mugs, and hang down. The eyes are very tiny, but smart and kind.”

The elephant shook the girl's hand when they met and was very happy about the sweet rolls that they treated him to. The girl drinks tea, and Tommy the elephant drinks sugar water. Nadya introduces him to her dolls, talks with him, and then falls asleep next to him. She has a dream that she “married Tommy, and they have many children, small, cheerful elephants.” The elephant is taken away to his menagerie in the morning, and the girl wakes up cheerful. Happy, she asks to tell Tommy that she is already completely healthy.

Here it is ordinary miracle Kuprin described what could happen in everyone’s life, and the reason for this is kindness. Contemporaries called Kuprin “a writer without fiction,” because he practically did not depart from reality, and sometimes even oversaturated the text with naturalistic details. For a writer, a miracle is the ability not to break down in the face of illness or other difficulties and to retain all that is best, kind, and sincere in oneself. As you know, the artist reflects himself in his work. In the writer’s life there was a thirst for adventure, self-knowledge, a constant struggle with external circumstances and internal limitations, therefore Kuprin drew themes for his stories not from fairy tales and legends, but from real life.

The illustrations in the story “Elephant” are restrained in color, in a brown tones, almost monochrome, as if covered with varnish, yellowed with time at the beginning of the book and increasingly brighter, illuminated by the sun as vitality returns to the girl Nadya.

With the work “Elephant” by Alexander Kuprin, the Ripol publishing house opens the author’s series of illustrator Gennady Spirin, which will include both previously unpublished and his famous hits.

The artist has been living in the USA for many years, but he creative path began in Moscow in 1979, when he began working as an illustrator. His watercolor works for children's books have won numerous awards and he is one of the world's top internationally recognized illustrators.

Gennady Spirin in his work uses the technique of stylizing illustrations to resemble paintings by ancient masters of the Renaissance. This move is fascinating, as if Bruegel himself, Botticelli, Raphael, Titian continue to create their canvases for us. Drawings in a children's book become not just pictures for the text, but a collection of masterpieces that illustrate the story.

This book contains historical information about the life of that time, about the antics of elephants, about the building of the circus, about the toys that were popular then. All this also enhances the feeling of antiquity and the reality of the story that the author told. Kuprin is characterized by a leisurely conversation with the reader, clear, simple story line and a detailed image of the surrounding world. And, of course, the main thing that the author glorifies is devotion, selfless help and friendship. When a person stands on the brink of life and death, it becomes clear what is worth fighting for. All the best comes from love and must win.

This ringing, touching sermon of love is still relevant today. After reading this book, a child may think about how important it is to be kind and sympathetic, about how and why a feat is accomplished, and what he himself dreams of.

Ekaterina Plaksina, especially for

Routing literary reading lesson

A. Kuprin “Elephant”

Chuprina Svetlana Leonidovna
Academic subject: literary reading Class: 3 B grade School: GBOU secondary school No. 145 UMK: Educational system “School of Russia” Teacher: Chuprina Svetlana Leonidovna A. I. KUPRIN “ELEPHANT” (textbook, pp. 25-40; workbook, With. 57) Lesson type: mastering new material Pedagogical tasks: create conditions for familiarization with the biography and work of A. I. Kuprin, his work “Elephant”; contribute to the formation of reading competence, the ability to predict content readable text, based on illustrations; enriching vocabulary through working with an explanatory dictionary; developing the ability to determine the genre of a work; to promote a sense of compassion for one's neighbor. Basic concepts The main idea of ​​the work. Interdisciplinary connections The world. Technologies Elements of productive reading, critical thinking, health-saving Planned results Subject: get acquainted with the work of A. I. Kuprin; will learn to read aloud fluently, consciously, without distortion, expressively, conveying their attitude to what they read, highlighting important words when reading, observing pauses between sentences and parts of the text; ask questions about a work read, find answers to them in the text Meta-subject: cognitive: analyze a literary text based on the teacher’s (textbook) system of questions, identify the main idea of ​​the work, formulate it at the level of generalization in a joint collective activity; regulative: formulate the educational task of the lesson in a mini-group (pair), accept it, maintain it throughout the lesson, periodically checking their learning actions with the proposed task; draw up a work plan to solve the educational task of the lesson; communicative: aware of the purpose of their statement; build a dialogue in a pair or group, ask questions for comprehension moral problem Personal: evaluate the actions of the heroes of the work and their own under the guidance of the teacher from the point of view of moral values ​​Educational resources: Ozhegov S. I., Shvedova N. Yu. Dictionary Russian language...Textbook ““ Literary reading", author. L. F. Klimanova, 3rd grade, part 2. Compiled by: L.F. Klimanova, V.G. Goretsky, M.V. Golovanov. Education, 2016 2. Presentation for the lesson. 3. Self-esteem cards 4. Signal cubes 5. Cards for group work. The technological map of the lesson was compiled in accordance with the requirements of the Federal State Educational Standard. The content of the lesson is aimed at developing speech and improving expressive reading skills, developing sensory perception of the world around us. The lesson captivates children, makes them think, analyze, compare, and fosters love for family and loved ones. The topic of the lesson is easily perceived by students, since the perception and comprehension of the material is based on the subjective experience of students. Selected lesson content, lesson equipment, organization of active mental activity of students at all stages of the lesson, individual, group and frontal forms of organization educational activities schoolchildren, the use of verbal, visual methods, working with a textbook, contribute to the achievement of the educational goals of the lesson, stimulate the cognitive interests of students. Pupils are presented with feasible problems in order to cognitive interest became the motive for students’ cognitive activity. To activate students’ thinking, a system of questions is used along the plot line of the works based on their subjective experience, problem situations are created, and work with the textbook is actively used to reproduce the material  Stages of the lesson teacher student equipment Organizational moment. Emotional mood - It’s so good that we are all together today. We are calm, kind, friendly, affectionate. Take a deep breath and exhale. Exhale yesterday's resentment, anger, anxiety. Inhale freshness today. I wish you Have a good mood And careful attitude to each other. - Now close your eyes and speak after me the last word phrases. During the lesson, our eyes look carefully and see everything. The ears listen carefully and hear everything. The head thinks well. -Open your eyes. -Check if everything is ready for the lesson. (Diary, textbook) -Okay. Then we begin. repeat Updating knowledge Work in pairs: Speech warm-up Challenge stage Problem. Predicting the content of the story Work in pairs. Checking the assignment 1) -What work did we get acquainted with in the last lesson? -Did you like the fairy tale? How did it make you feel? -What does it make you think about? -What proverbs are suitable for this work? -Remove the unnecessary ones -Explain how proverbs are understood. 1. This means that happiness must be sought within, and not in external factors. 2. If a person strives for happiness, then it will come. 3. If you treat a person well, he will treat you the same.) -What awaits us today in literature class? - Read the riddle, guess it and try to determine the topic of our lesson. It draws water with its nose, like a hose and a pump. Put up a barrier with umbrellas: Everyone is about to be doused... (Elephant) - Who is this? - Read the words spelling - Read the words spelling - Read sadly. - Read it fun. -Name the answer -What do you know about elephants? -Have any of you seen a live elephant? — Where in St. Petersburg can you see the hero mentioned in the answer and seen in the illustration? -Why? - “Do you believe..” Do you believe” Teacher: Do you believe that each of you is talented and unique? Teacher: Do you believe that an elephant can spend the night in the same room with a person? Teacher: Do you believe that an animal can become a member of the family? friend? Teacher: Do you believe in miracles? Teacher: Do you believe that miracles can be done with your own hands? Teacher: Do you believe that parents are capable of doing anything for the sake of their child? Teacher: Do you believe that loving parents can bring an elephant into their home for the sake of their child’s recovery? - And today we will meet an amazing elephant. The story is called “Elephant”. ? -Open the textbook page 25, read the title, author, leaf through and look at the illustration for the text. -Who is author? -What books have you read by this author? -Can you guess what the work will be about? -What is the topic of the lesson? Tree of "Predictions". Will it work out or not? -What is the topic of the lesson? Let's determine the objectives of the lesson, putting them in order 4-Express your point of view. 3 -Work on competent expressive reading. 1-Get acquainted with the content of the story "Elephant". 2-answer questions on the content, confirming with excerpts from the text (focus on the text) (I attach it to the board - you get a lesson plan) children’s answers The author wanted to convey the idea that in ordinary life there is a place for magic. How else can you explain the fact that the bird understood the girl’s experiences and helped her in difficult times? Do good to others and it will come back to you in difficult times. -Happiness is in us, and not around the bush. -Whoever fights for happiness is where it tends - To a kind greeting there is a kind answer. - - I feel sorry for my friend, but not for myself. the elephant is reading the answer. Lives in Africa, very large, etc., This is a large animal, has a trunk... -In the zoo, in the circus. -Children answer Assumptions -Introduction to Alexander Kuprin’s work “Elephant” answer slide.Image of a sparrow slide proverbs (one extra, pop up in turn) slide slide Illustration - book cover. cubes Inscription Tree of “Predictions”. -The teacher briefly writes down the children's statements on the board, slide cards on the board Primary reading Listening to the text Conversation Vocabulary work -Let's check the assumptions by listening to part of the work. You follow the text as you listen to prepare for competent expressive reading. Listen carefully. Reading “Tugboat” (Reading the first part of the story, p. 25, up to the words “In 2 hours...” -29 (4th paragraph) - Did you like the excerpt of the work? Why? - How did you feel when listening? - Pay attention to the board where your assumptions were written down before reading. Were they confirmed? - Since the story was written at the beginning of the twentieth century in 1907, there are many in it. old words that require explanation. -Where can we find an explanation of the words. - Try to explain the meaning of these words yourself, based on the hint.. Explanatory dictionary Living room A room for receiving guests. Maid A worker in a private home who cleans rooms. Indifferent Indifferent, indifferent to people, to others. madam Polite address to a woman menagerie A place where animals are kept for display front hallway -I typed the lexical meaning of some words. - We didn’t work in vain. Yours lexicon replenished with new words. Read with me (follow) Children's answers - It was very sad and alarming at the beginning of the text. The girl is sick, they cannot understand why she is sick and how to treat her 1. We did not have information about the heroes and their actions 2. We did not read to the end Ozhegov’s Explanatory Dictionary Read and explain physical minute Work with the text I. Physical minute. Visual gymnastics. We worked together, we need to rest a little. Let's stand up together, sit quietly and close all our eyes. (Continued in a whisper) It comes, it comes, Silence comes. - Does Kuprin’s work describe real or fictitious fantastic events? - On whose behalf is the story being told? Part 1 (pp. 25-29 to the words “In two hours......) Answer? - Who main character works? - What did you find out about the girl? Read - How long has Nadya been sick? Read it. - What did the doctor advise the parents? Confirm. - Find evidence that something is wrong with the girl. - So what is Nadya’s illness, what was the doctor’s diagnosis? -In other words, Nadina’s illness is not physical, but soul origin. As we can see, this is dangerous. -How can I help the girl? !!- What advice would you give to Nadya’s parents? -What other questions about the content of this part would you like to ask the author? - The story may have happened in reality. author's reading girl Nadya has been unwell for a long time. The main thing is not to let her get bored. Fulfill all her whims - “doesn’t answer...”, “motionless, cheerless eyes...”, “losing weight and weakening every day...”, “nothing needed...”, “no fever, no pain. ...”, “lies all days and nights...”, “quiet, sad...”, “does not sleep, dozes for half an hour...”, “grey, long, boring dreams...” Sick of indifference to life and nothing more - She is sick not physically, but mentally. She is not interested in living. Friend, move more 2 questions, leaflets with questions? on the sheets in advance for which you need to find the answer Work in a group Work in groups (repeat the rule) Group 1,5,4: - Alive or just like alive - is there a difference? How does Nadya see the difference? Find and read how Nadya reacted to the elephant toy? Groups 2 and 3: - How did Nadya’s dad initially react to his daughter’s request to bring a real elephant? Support with words from the text. -Defense—Who was looking for the answer to this? -Do you have another answer? - Think: can a living elephant heal a girl? - Do you think dad will bring a live elephant? - We will read and learn about this in the next lesson. - The commander reads the task Defending his speech Envelopes with tasks Creative work. compiling a Sikwine Lesson summary Reflection -I propose to compose a mini-essay Sinkwine about the girl Nadya. How we saw her at the beginning of the story. Today in class I read... I was surprised... I want to say thank you... for... - - Do you want to please the girl Nadya? We can give our elephants to Nadya. Maybe this will cheer her up. If you enjoyed working in class today and are satisfied with your work, attach a pink elephant; if you are not very happy with your work, then attach a blue one. And I want to evaluate the work of my assistants in the lesson and give them marks of 5. Make up, read out the Slide Offer the guests (sheets) a self-esteem scale on the board to please Nadya Homework Expressive reading by role of the passage - basic level Prepare brief retelling piece of history. - higher level Drawing A girl's dream. - optional display with cubes - Guys, you worked together, unitedly, and this helped you learn a lot and complete tasks correctly. Thank you for the lesson! Appendix 1 Happiness is in us, and not around the bush. Whoever fights for happiness is where it tends. To a good hello there is a good answer. I feel sorry for my friend, but not for myself. ____________________________________________ Happiness is in us, and not around the bush. Whoever fights for happiness is where it tends. To a good hello there is a good answer. I feel sorry for my friend, but not for myself. ______________________________________________ Happiness is in us, and not around the bush. Whoever fights for happiness is where it tends. To a good hello, a good answer. I feel sorry for my friend, but not for myself. Appendix 2 Explanatory dictionary Living room A room for receiving guests. Maid A worker in a private home who cleans rooms. Indifferent Indifferent, indifferent to people, to others. Madam Polite address to a woman Menagerie A place where animals are kept for display Front Hallway Dictionary Living room Room for receiving guests. Maid A worker in a private home who cleans rooms. Indifferent Indifferent, indifferent to people, to others. Madam Polite address to a woman Menagerie A place where animals are kept for display Front Hallway Appendix 3 Group 1: - Alive or just like alive - is there a difference? How does Nadya see the difference? Find and read how Nadya reacted to the elephant toy? Group 5: - Alive or just like alive - is there a difference? How does Nadya see the difference? Find and read how Nadya reacted to the elephant toy? Group 4: - Alive or just like alive - is there a difference? How does Nadya see the difference? Find and read how Nadya reacted to the elephant toy? Group 2: - How did Nadya’s dad initially react to his daughter’s request to bring a real elephant? Support with words from the text. Group 3: - How did Nadya’s dad initially react to his daughter’s request to bring a real elephant? Support with words from the text. Appendix 4 4- Express your point of view. 3 - Work on competent expressive reading. 1- Get acquainted with the content of the story “Elephant”. 2- Answer questions about the content, confirming with excerpts from the text (the ability to navigate the text).

The little girl is unwell. Doctor Mikhail Petrovich, whom she has known for a long, long time, visits her every day. And sometimes he brings with him two more doctors, strangers. They turn the girl over on her back and stomach, listen to something, putting her ear to her body, pull down her lower eyelid and watch. At the same time, they snort somehow importantly, their faces are stern, and they speak to each other in an incomprehensible language.

Then they move from the nursery to the living room, where their mother is waiting for them. Most chief doctor- tall, gray-haired, wearing gold glasses - tells her about something seriously and for a long time. The door is not closed, and the girl can see and hear everything from her bed. There is a lot she doesn’t understand, but she knows that this is about her. Mom looks at the doctor with big, tired, tear-stained eyes.

Saying goodbye, the chief doctor says loudly:

The main thing is not to let her get bored. Fulfill all her whims.

Ah, doctor, but she doesn’t want anything!

Well, I don’t know... remember what she liked before, before her illness. Toys... some treats...

No, no, doctor, she doesn’t want anything...

Well, try to entertain her somehow... Well, at least with something... I give you my word of honor that if you manage to make her laugh, cheer her up, then this will be the best medicine. Understand that your daughter is sick with indifference to life, and nothing else... Goodbye, madam!

“Dear Nadya, my dear girl,” says my mother, “would you like anything?”

No, mom, I don’t want anything.

If you want, I’ll put all your dolls on your bed. We will supply an armchair, a sofa, a table and a tea set. The dolls will drink tea and talk about the weather and the health of their children.

Thank you, mom... I don’t feel like it... I’m bored...

Well, okay, my girl, no need for dolls. Or maybe I should invite Katya or Zhenechka to come to you? You love them so much.

No need, mom. Really, it's not necessary. I don't want anything, nothing. I am so bored!

Would you like me to bring you some chocolate?

But the girl does not answer and looks at the ceiling with motionless, cheerless eyes. She doesn't have any pain and doesn't even have a fever. But she is losing weight and weakening every day. No matter what they do to her, she doesn’t care, and she doesn’t need anything. She lies like that all days and whole nights, quiet, sad. Sometimes she dozes off for half an hour, but even in her dreams she sees something gray, long, boring, like autumn rain.

When the door to the living room is open from the nursery, and from the living room further into the office, the girl sees her dad. Dad walks quickly from corner to corner and smokes and smokes. Sometimes he comes to the nursery, sits on the edge of the bed and quietly strokes Nadya’s legs. Then he suddenly gets up and goes to the window. He whistles something, looking down at the street, but his shoulders are shaking. Then he hastily applies a handkerchief to one eye, then to the other, and, as if angry, goes to his office. Then he again runs from corner to corner and everything... smokes, smokes, smokes... And the office turns all blue from tobacco smoke.

But one morning the girl wakes up a little more cheerful than usual. She saw something in a dream, but she can’t remember what exactly, and looks long and carefully into her mother’s eyes.

Do you need something? - asks mom.

But the girl suddenly remembers her dream and says in a whisper, as if in secret:

Mom... can I have... an elephant? Just not the one drawn in the picture... Is it possible?

Of course, my girl, of course you can.

She goes to the office and tells dad that the girl wants an elephant. Dad immediately puts on his coat and hat and leaves somewhere. Half an hour later he returns on his way, beautiful toy. This is a large gray elephant, which itself shakes its head and wags its tail; there is a red saddle on the elephant, and on the saddle there is a golden tent and three little men are sitting in it. But the girl looks at the toy as indifferently as at the ceiling and walls, and says listlessly:

No. This is not the same at all. I wanted a real, living elephant, but this one is dead.

Just look, Nadya,” says dad. “We’ll start him up now, and he’ll be just, just like alive.”

The elephant is wound with a key, and he, shaking his head and wagging his tail, begins to step with his feet and slowly walks along the table. The girl is not at all interested in this and is even bored, but in order not to upset her father, she whispers meekly:

I thank you very, very much, dear dad. I think no one has such an interesting toy... Only... remember... you promised for a long time to take me to the menagerie to look at a real elephant... and you never got lucky...

But listen, my dear girl, understand that this is impossible. The elephant is very big, it reaches the ceiling, it won’t fit in our rooms... And then, where can I get it?

Dad, I don’t need such a big one... Bring me at least a small one, just a living one. Well, at least this one... Even a baby elephant.

Dear girl, I am glad to do everything for you, but I cannot do this. After all, it’s the same as if you suddenly told me: Dad, get me the sun from the sky.

The girl smiles sadly.

How stupid you are, dad. Don't I know that the sun cannot be reached because it burns. And the moon is also not allowed. No, I would like an elephant... a real one.

And she quietly closes her eyes and whispers:

I'm tired... Excuse me, dad...

Dad grabs his hair and runs into the office. There he flashes from corner to corner for some time. Then he decisively throws the half-smoked cigarette on the floor (for which he always gets it from his mother) and shouts to the maid:

Olga! Coat and hat!

The wife comes out into the hall.

Where are you going, Sasha? - she asks.

He breathes heavily, buttoning his coat.

I myself, Mashenka, don’t know where... but it seems that this evening I will actually bring a real elephant here, to us.
His wife looks at him worriedly.

Honey, are you okay? Do you have a headache? Maybe you didn't sleep well today?

“I didn’t sleep at all,” he replies angrily. “I see you want to ask if I’ve gone crazy?” Not yet. Goodbye! In the evening everything will be visible.

And he disappears, loudly slamming the front door.

Two hours later, he sits in the menagerie, in the first row, and watches how the learned animals, on the orders of the owner, make various things. Smart dogs jump, tumble, dance, sing to music, and form words from large cardboard letters. Monkeys - some in red skirts, others in blue pants - walk on a tightrope and ride on a large poodle. Huge red lions jump through burning hoops. A clumsy seal shoots from a pistol. At the end the elephants are brought out. There are three of them: one big, two very small, dwarfs, but still much taller than a horse. It’s strange to watch how these huge animals, so clumsy and heavy in appearance, perform the most difficult tricks that even a very dexterous person cannot do. The largest elephant is especially distinctive. He first stands on hind legs, sits down, stands on his head, feet up, walks on wooden bottles, walks on a rolling barrel, turns over the pages of a large cardboard book with his trunk and, finally, sits down at the table and, tied with a napkin, has dinner, just like a well-bred boy.

The show ends. The spectators disperse. Nadya's father approaches the fat German, the owner of the menagerie. The owner stands behind a plank partition and holds a large black cigar in his mouth.

Excuse me, please,” Nadya’s father says. - Can you let your elephant go to my house for a while?

The German opens his eyes and even his mouth wide in surprise, causing the cigar to fall to the ground. Groaning, he bends down, picks up the cigar, puts it back in his mouth and only then says:

Let go? An elephant? Home? I do not understand.

It’s clear from the German’s eyes that he also wants to ask if Nadya’s father has a headache... But the father hastily explains what’s wrong: his only daughter, Nadya, she’s kind of sick strange disease, which even doctors don’t understand properly. She has been lying in her crib for a month now, losing weight, getting weaker every day, not interested in anything, bored and slowly fading away. The doctors tell her to entertain her, but she doesn't like anything; They tell her to fulfill all her wishes, but she has no desires. Today she wanted to see a live elephant. Is it really impossible to do this?

Well... I, of course, hope that my girl will recover. But... God forbid... what if her illness ends badly... what if the girl dies?.. Just think: all my life I will be tormented by the thought that I did not fulfill her last wish!..

The German frowns and scratches his left eyebrow with his little finger in thought. Finally he asks:

Hm... How old is your girl?

Hm... My Lisa is also six. Hm... But, you know, it will cost you a lot. You will have to bring the elephant at night and only take it back the next night. During the day you can't. The public will gather and there will be a scandal... So it turns out that I am losing a whole day, and you must return the loss to me.

Oh, of course, of course... don't worry about it...

Then: will the police allow one elephant into one house?

I'll arrange it. Will allow.

One more question: will the owner of your house allow one elephant into his house?

Will allow. I am the owner of this house myself.

Yeah! This is even better. And then one more question: on which floor do you live?

In the second.

Hmm... This is not so good... Do you have a wide staircase, a high ceiling, a large room, wide doors and a very strong floor in your home? Because my Tommy is three arshins and four inches high, and four arshins long. In addition, it weighs one hundred and twelve pounds.

Nadya's father thinks for a minute.

Do you know what? - he says. - Let's go to my place now and look at everything on the spot. If necessary, I will order the passage in the walls to be widened.

Very good! - the owner of the menagerie agrees.

At night, an elephant is taken to visit a sick girl.

In a white blanket, he strides importantly along the very middle of the street, shaking his head and twisting and then developing his trunk. There is a large crowd around him, despite the late hour. But the elephant does not pay attention to her: every day he sees hundreds of people in the menagerie. Only once did he get a little angry.

Some street boy ran up to his very feet and began to make faces for the amusement of onlookers.

Then the elephant calmly took off his hat with its trunk and threw it over a nearby fence studded with nails.

The policeman walks among the crowd and persuades her:

Gentlemen, please leave. And what do you find so unusual here? I'm surprised! It’s as if we’ve never seen a live elephant on the street.

They approach the house. On the stairs, as well as along the entire path of the elephant, all the way to the dining room, all the doors were wide open, for which it was necessary to beat off the door latches with a hammer. The same thing was done once when a large miraculous icon was brought into the house.

But in front of the stairs, the elephant stops, restless and stubborn.

We need to give him some treat... - says the German. - Some sweet bun or something... But... Tommy!.. Wow!.. Tommy!

Nadine's father runs to a nearby bakery and buys a large round pistachio cake. The elephant discovers a desire to swallow it whole along with the cardboard box, but the German only gives him a quarter. Tommy likes the cake and reaches out with his trunk for a second slice. However, the German turns out to be more cunning. Holding a delicacy in his hand, he rises up from step to step, and the elephant with an outstretched trunk and outstretched ears inevitably follows him. On the set, Tommy gets his second piece.

Thus, he is brought to the dining room, from where all the furniture has been removed in advance, and the floor is thickly covered with straw... The elephant is tied by the leg to a ring screwed into the floor. Fresh carrots, cabbage and turnips are placed in front of him. The German is located nearby, on the sofa. The lights are turned off and everyone goes to bed.

The next day the girl wakes up at dawn and first of all asks:

What about the elephant? He came?

“He came,” my mother answers, “but he only ordered Nadya to wash herself first, and then eat a soft-boiled egg and drink hot milk.”

Is he kind?

He is kind. Eat up, girl. Now we will go to him.

Is he funny?

A little bit. Put on a warm blouse.

The egg is quickly eaten and the milk is drunk. Nadya is put in the same stroller in which she rode when she was still so small that she could not walk at all, and they take her to the dining room.

The elephant turns out to be much larger than Nadya thought when she looked at it in the picture. He is only slightly taller than the door, and in length he occupies half the dining room. The skin on it is rough, in heavy folds. The legs are thick, like pillars. A long tail with something like a broom at the end. The head is full of big bumps. The ears are large, like mugs, and hang down. The eyes are very tiny, but smart and kind. The fangs are trimmed. The trunk is like a long snake and ends with two nostrils, and between them a movable, flexible finger. If the elephant had stretched out its trunk to its full length, it would probably have reached the window.

The girl is not scared at all. She is only a little amazed by the enormous size of the animal. But the nanny, sixteen-year-old Polya, begins to squeal in fear.

The owner of the elephant, a German, comes up to the stroller and says:

Good morning, young lady. Please don't be afraid. Tommy is very kind and loves children.

The girl extends her small pale hand to the German.

Hello. How are you? - she answers. - I'm not at all afraid. And what is his name?

“Hello, Tommy,” the girl says and bows her head. Because the elephant is so big, she does not dare to speak to him on a first name basis. - How did you sleep last night?

She extends her hand to him too. The elephant carefully takes and shakes her thin fingers with his mobile strong finger and does it much more tenderly than Doctor Mikhail Petrovich. At the same time, the elephant shakes its head, and its small eyes are completely narrowed, as if laughing.

Surely he understands everything? - the girl asks the German.

Oh, absolutely everything, young lady!

But he's the only one who doesn't speak?

Yes, but he doesn't speak. You know, I also have one daughter, just as small as you. Her name is Liza. Tommy is a great, great friend of hers.

Have you, Tommy, already had tea? - the girl asks the elephant.

The elephant again stretches out its trunk and blows warm, strong breath right into the girl’s face, causing the light hairs on the girl’s head to fly in all directions.

Nadya laughs and claps her hands. The German laughs loudly. He himself is as big, fat and good-natured as an elephant, and Nadya thinks that they both look alike. Maybe they are related?

No, he didn't drink tea, young lady. But he happily drinks sugar water. He also loves buns very much.

They bring a tray of bread rolls. A girl treats an elephant. He deftly grabs the bun with his finger and, bending his trunk into a ring, hides it somewhere down under his head, where his funny, triangular, furry lower lip moves. You can hear the roll rustling against dry skin. Tommy does the same with another bun, and with a third, and with a fourth, and with a fifth, and nods his head in gratitude, and his small eyes narrow even more with pleasure. And the girl laughs joyfully.

When all the buns are eaten, Nadya introduces the elephant to her dolls:

Look, Tommy, this elegant doll is Sonya. She is very kind child, but she’s a little capricious and doesn’t want to eat soup. And this is Natasha - Sonya's daughter. She is already starting to learn and knows almost all the letters. And this is Matryoshka. This is my very first doll. You see, she has no nose, and her head is glued on, and there is no more hair. But still, you can’t kick the old woman out of the house. Really, Tommy? She used to be Sonya’s mother, and now she serves as our cook. Well, let's play, Tommy: you will be the dad, and I will be the mom, and these will be our children.

Tommy agrees. He laughs, takes Matryoshka by the neck and drags it into his mouth. But this is just a joke. After lightly chewing the doll, he again places it on the girl’s lap, albeit a little wet and dented.

Then Nadya shows him a large book with pictures and explains:

This is a horse, this is a canary, this is a gun... Here is a cage with a bird, here is a bucket, a mirror, a stove, a shovel, a crow... And this, look, this is an elephant! It really doesn't look like it at all? Are elephants really that small, Tommy?

Tommy finds that there are never such small elephants in the world. In general, he doesn’t like this picture. He grabs the edge of the page with his finger and turns it over.

It's time for lunch, but the girl can't be torn away from the elephant. A German comes to the rescue:

Let me arrange all this. They will have lunch together.

He orders the elephant to sit down. The elephant obediently sits down, causing the floor in the entire apartment to shake and the dishes in the closet to rattle, and the plaster falls from the ceiling of the lower residents. A girl sits opposite him. A table is placed between them. A tablecloth is tied around the elephant's neck, and the new friends begin to dine. The girl eats chicken soup and cutlet, and the elephant eats various vegetables and salad. The girl is given a tiny glass of sherry, and the elephant is given warm water with a glass of rum, and he happily pulls this drink out of the bowl with his trunk. Then they get sweets - the girl gets a cup of cocoa, and the elephant gets half a cake, this time a nut one. At this time, the German is sitting with his dad in the living room and drinking beer with the same pleasure as an elephant, only in larger quantities.

After lunch, some of my father’s friends come, and they are warned in the hallway about the elephant so that they don’t get scared. At first they don’t believe it, and then, seeing Tommy, they crowd towards the door.

Don't be afraid, he is kind! - the girl calms them down.

But the acquaintances hastily go into the living room and, without sitting for even five minutes, leave.

Evening is coming. Late. It's time for the girl to go to bed. However, it is impossible to pull her away from the elephant. She falls asleep next to him, and they take her, already sleepy, to the nursery. She doesn't even hear how they undress her.

That night Nadya dreams that she married Tommy, and they have many children, small, cheerful elephants. The elephant, which was taken to the menagerie at night, also sees a sweet, affectionate girl in a dream. In addition, he dreams of large cakes, walnut and pistachio, the size of gates...

In the morning the girl wakes up cheerful, fresh and, as in the old days, when she was still healthy, shouts to the whole house, loudly and impatiently:

Mo-loch-ka!

Hearing this cry, my mother joyfully crosses herself in her bedroom.

But the girl immediately remembers yesterday and asks:

They explain to her that the elephant went home on business, that he has children who cannot be left alone, that he asked to bow to Nadya and that he is waiting for her to visit him when she is healthy.

The girl smiles slyly and says:

Tell Tommy that I'm completely healthy!

other presentations on the topic “The Story of A.I. Kuprin "Elephant"

“Kuprin's story Elephant” - Like an elephant. Russian geologist, explorer of Kamchatka. What's the best medicine? Force parental love. A dream come true. Prepare a retelling of the story from another person. Karl Ditmar. Idioms: To make mountains out of molehills. Analysis fiction story Alexandra Kuprin "Elephant". Strengthen selective reading skills.

“Writer Alexander Kuprin” - And already on May 31, 1937, Moscow met the writer. Pre-departure efforts were kept in deep secrecy by Kuprin's family. I missed my homeland very much. He was buried in Leningrad, on the Literary Bridge, next to Turgenev’s grave. Books by A.I. Kuprina. Alexander Ivanovich was very worried. Kuprin Alexander Ivanovich is a talented writer.

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"Where the Elephants Live" - A tropical forest. Parrot. Indian elephant. Nile crocodile. Hippopotamus. Savannah zebra. Savannah vegetation. Ostrich. Yellow-billed Toco. Giraffe. Monkey. Leopard. African savanna. Ferns. Residents of the savannas. African elephant. A lion. Monkey. Secretary bird. Flamingo. Baboon. Where do elephants live? Rhinoceros.

“Kuprin’s Creativity” - Comrades are rude, bosses are unkind.” A.I. Kuprin. Kuprin serves in the 46th Dnieper Infantry Regiment with the rank of second lieutenant. Start literary activity. He has been there for 4 years. A.I. Kuprin. The story "Olesya" (1898). Born on September 8, 1870 in the town of Narovchatov, Penza province.

“Where do elephants live lesson” - Elephants are very smart animals. Physical education minute. Repetition of what has been learned. Topic: “Where do elephants live?” The elephant nods its head. The most amazing thing about an elephant is its trunk. It's time to raise your hands up. Inhale deeply, exhale completely. The waves cleared up in the sea. live in Africa and India. Elephants. Elephants sleep standing and short. Let's catch a mosquito together.

• Does Kuprin's work describe real or fictitious, fantastic events? Justify your opinion. Find confirmation in the text.

I think there are both fictitious events here (the father did the unthinkable - he brought a real circus elephant into the living room) and absolutely real ones (for parents, truly, nothing is impossible when it comes to the health and life of a child).

• Think about what other questions you could ask about the content of the work. Write them down.

1. Why is little Nadya fading away?
2. Nadya’s desire to see a real elephant - is it a dream or a whim?
3. How did Nadya’s dad initially react to his daughter’s request to bring a real elephant? What made him change his mind?
4. How did the owner of the menagerie first react to Nadya’s dad’s request to bring an elephant? Why did he change his mind?
5. Why does dad choose Tommy, the largest elephant, for Nadya, since there are also two small ones in the menagerie?
6. Is it true that nothing is impossible for parental love?
7. What is this story about: about the power of parental love? About how a dream come true is the best medicine?

• The author divided the text of his work into six parts. Try to highlight these parts, and then title each part.

1. The girl is sick.
2. Nadya refuses everything.
3. The desire to see a live elephant.
4. Dad in the menagerie.
5. Night journey of an elephant.
6. The elephant is visiting Nadya.

• How do the fairy tales you read differ from oral works? folk art? Which fairy tale did you like? Why? Explain. Prove your opinion. Tell it to your mom or your friends.

Literary fairy tale – original work in contrast to the folk tale, which originated as a small epic genre as a result of collective creativity. Literary fairy tale - genre fiction, while a folk tale is one of the folklore genres, the peculiarity of which is oral retelling. A literary fairy tale can have a free plot invented by the author. In a folk tale, the plot line is strictly subordinated to a certain pattern, which the narrator must adhere to in order to maintain the outline of the story. The system of images in a literary fairy tale is arbitrary, while in a folk tale it is determined by traditions and ideas about good and evil forces. Folk tale V artistic form reflects the deep layer of collective consciousness and relates to the oldest species oral folk art. A literary fairy tale can continue national traditions, but is a figment of the author’s imagination and in genre terms is close to modern species adventure and fantasy literature.

• Look at the pictures on p. 44 textbooks. Which heroes are you familiar with? Compose and write a story about him. Make an illustration.

These are the heroes of G. Oster's fairy tales: a monkey, a baby elephant, a boa constrictor, a parrot; N. Nosov's heroes: Dunno, Pilyulkin, Znayka; E. Uspensky's hero Cheburashka; Fedora with dishes from K Chukovsky's fairy tale "Fedorino's grief."

Fedora lives in a small house, but dirt and laziness reign there. Fedora does not want to keep order in the house. And the dishes get tired of being unwashed, and she decides to run away from the careless housewife. In a conversation with the chicken, the dishes reveal the purpose of everything that is happening: since the escape seems rather pointless, because the cups and plates do not become cleaner while walking, the utensils want to scare Fedora with an imaginary escape. And she succeeds. The housewife becomes kinder, is ready to get rid of the cockroaches, and the dishes decide to return to their owner.