Very brief for a reader's diary
The work “The Thirteenth Labor of Hercules” by Fazil Iskander was published in 1964. From the very beginning of the work, a certain similarity with the stories of Ancient Greece is visible. The title of the work itself tells the reader that the story will be associated with myths. Everyone knows about the twelve labors of Hercules, so it is interesting to read what the new labor of Hercules was. In the end, it turns out that this is not a feat at all.
The main idea of the work can be taken to be that laughter actually makes it possible to look at a person from different sides, to see hidden traits, and helps to admit mistakes so as not to make them in the future.
Read the summary Iskander The Thirteenth Labor of Hercules
Another school year is coming, and a new mathematics teacher, Kharlampy Diogenovich, comes to the school. This man immediately stood out among his colleagues, he was very serious and smart. During his classes, there was incredible silence and discipline in the classroom. For a long time, the director could not get used to the fact that the new teacher could calm the children so much, and that the children were in the classroom during the lesson.
The class calmed down only at the sight of the teacher at the office door, and the silence lasted until the end. Occasionally, laughter could be heard from the class; Kharlampy Diogenovich sometimes distracted the children with his jokes, laughed himself and amused the children. One day a student was late for his class, and Kharlampiy paid respect to him as the main one, gave him the way to class, and after that he came up with the nickname “Prince of Wales.” Another feature of the teacher was that he did not scold the students and did not call their parents to him.
When the time came to write tests, everyone wrote with their own minds and did not copy, because they knew that Kharlampy Diogenovich would immediately spot the cheater and, in addition, would laugh. So, one day the narrator himself became a reason for ridicule. Before one of his regular math lessons, he was unable to solve a problem. The narrator never managed to cope with the task that was given home; he went to school. There he found out that other students also did not quite succeed in the task, and not everyone’s solution coincided with the answer. This calmed the narrator a little and, forgetting about the tasks, he went to run and kick the ball.
Before the lesson, the narrator was sure that the smartest student in the class, Sakharov, certainly coped with the task. As it turned out, the boy with whom the narrator was sitting also had a solved problem. Then the lesson began and the narrator was determined that he would be called. But at the beginning of the lesson, when everyone was waiting for the survey to begin, a doctor and a nurse came into the class, they needed to find the “A” class, since they were supposed to be vaccinated. The narrator, without being confused, volunteered to help them find the class, to which the teacher agreed. While he was seeing the doctors off, he learned that they wanted to give injections to their class during the lesson, and so he told the doctor that he and the class were just getting ready to go to the museum. The narrator ran ahead of the doctor into the office and discovered that Shurik Avdeenko was standing near the board trying to solve the problem, but he was unable to give an explanation. The teacher ordered Shurik to go to his place, and praised Adolf for the correct task.
Soon the doctors came and said that the children needed to be vaccinated and asked the teacher to let them leave the lesson. Avdeenko was the first to undergo the procedure. Everything went well, the boy was not afraid, but on the contrary, he was happy, because instead of the task, he went for an injection. Adolf Komarov turned pale, he was scared, and despite the consolations of his desk neighbor, he could not calm down. After the injection, he became even worse, and the doctors were even forced to give the boy ammonia. The narrator at this time was proud of himself and boasted that he did not feel pain at all, but this was only boasting. After the vaccinations, the doctors left.
There was still time before the end of the lesson and the teacher decided to tell the children about the exploits of Hercules, and another person who decided to add a thirteenth feat, thereby changing the mythology of Greece. The teacher only explained that the feat was due to cowardice, and for what purpose, he asked the main character to tell. And then the teacher calls the boy to the board and asks him to give an explanation of how he solved his homework. The narrator kept trying to stall for time, but it didn’t help; on the contrary, he looked ridiculous and funny.
This incident had a positive impact on the student, after which he became more flexible and responsible in doing his work. Reasoning, the boy realized that it is bad when a person ceases to be afraid of seeming funny. After all, this may not affect him in the best way.
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The story “The 13th Labor of Hercules” by Iskander was written and published in 1964. The main characters of the book are fifth-graders of a Georgian school who have to make a choice between friendship and betrayal, honor and dishonor, dignity and cowardice.
Main characters
Narrator- the main character, a student of grade 5-B.
Kharlampy Diogenovich– a mathematics teacher, a neat, demanding, strict teacher.
Other characters
Sakharov- a diligent student, an excellent student.
Adolf Komarov (Alik)– the protagonist’s desk neighbor, a quiet, inconspicuous boy.
Shurik Avdeenko– one of the weakest students in the class.
With the beginning of the new school year, a new mathematics teacher appeared at the school - Kharlampy Diogenovich, “Greek by origin.” He stood out from his colleagues with his neat appearance and strong, strong-willed character.
From the first lesson, he managed to establish exemplary silence in the “class.” Strict discipline was achieved by the teacher not through punishments or threats - he managed to make fun of the troublemaker so subtly and wittily that he became a real laughing stock. This role was often played by Shurik Avdeenko, a frankly weak student and a big fan of cheating.
The main weapon of a mathematician is “to make a person funny.” A student who did not want to study was in his eyes not only ridiculous, but offensively funny. The children understood this and always tried to prepare thoroughly for the subject.
The main character - the narrator - also did not escape the fate of being in the role of a funny person. He was unable to solve “some kind of confusing and stupid” problem about an artillery shell. Already before the lesson, the hero learned that the problem was successfully solved not only by the excellent student Sakharov, but even by his quiet and inconspicuous desk neighbor - Adolf Komarov or Alik, as he liked to call himself.
The boy can hardly contain his excitement - he is completely unprepared for the lesson. Hope for salvation appears in the form of a doctor and nurse who were supposed to vaccinate the class against typhus. They are looking for 5-“A”, and the hero asks permission to take the doctors to the office of a parallel class, located “in one of the outbuildings in the school yard.”
On the way, he convinces the doctor to start vaccinating their class, thereby disrupting the math lesson. He succeeds, and in 5-B they begin to vaccinate against typhus. Alik noticeably turns pale from fear, and immediately after the injection he faints.
The hero is about to run after the ambulance, but the nurse quickly brings Alik to his senses. There is very little time left until the end of the lesson, and Kharlampy Diogenovich, fingering the yellow rosary in his hands, begins to talk about the twelve labors of Hercules and a certain young man who decided to perform the thirteenth labor of the mythical hero, but not out of courage, but out of cowardice.
The hero feels “that there is some kind of danger in the air” - he is called to the board to solve a problem assigned for home, and he is embarrassed in front of the whole class.
Having matured, the hero realized that the mathematics teacher, with his ridicule, tempered the “crafty children’s souls”, and taught his students to treat themselves with a fair amount of humor.
Conclusion
With his work, Fazil Iskander wanted to convey to children and teenagers a simple idea - you need to work on your weaknesses, fight them, so that in the future they do not become a habit.
A brief retelling of “The 13th Labor of Hercules” will be especially useful for the reader’s diary. After reading it, we recommend reading the story in its entirety.
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Retelling rating
Average rating: 4.1. Total ratings received: 987.
Fazil Abdulovich Iskander in his work often talks about philosophical issues that actually determine our lives and set a certain value system for each person. In his story “The Thirteenth Labor of Hercules” (1964), under a seemingly quite ordinary story from school life, a whole complex of meanings is hidden.
The story takes place during the Great Patriotic War. The life of an ordinary school is depicted before the reader. The main character is a student of grade 5 “B” who was unable to complete his homework in the form of solving a math problem. The boy is afraid of his teacher and decides in every possible way to prevent the lesson from taking place.
Just for a walk? No, it was impossible to miss Kharlampy Diogenovich’s classes. Therefore, the hero decides to persuade the school doctor and nurse to carry out vaccinations in their class, taking up most of the lesson. His idea is successfully implemented, but the teacher unravels his student’s selfish plans and calls his tricks “the thirteenth labor of Hercules.”
The plot composition is based on the technique of retrospection. The reader gets acquainted with the events of the work from the words of an already adult narrator, who is the main character and thus the boy who did not solve the notorious math problem. It turns out that the whole story is a memory that, to some extent, determined the real life of the former student.
Humor in the work
Episodes associated with laughter turn out to be important for understanding the author’s artistic intent. There are quite a lot of them and most of them are created using the image of Kharlampy Diogenovich and his students. The school teacher masterfully uses humor for educational purposes.
The combination of children's and adult views on life not only adds amazing lightness to the story, but also makes the issues raised more objective. Combining the main character and the narrator into one person makes it possible to more accurately convey what happened and, most importantly, to evaluate it all. We feel a certain respect for the teacher, a grateful attitude towards him and his educational techniques, designed to ridicule the wrong actions of schoolchildren.
For example, in the episode with a student being late, he compares him to the Prince of Wales, showing that coming to class later than the teacher is a sign of disrespect and one's own promiscuity. When the main character’s cunning is revealed, the teacher kindly and naturally asks: “Did you swallow an artillery shell?” His next phrase is even more anecdotal: “Then ask the military commander to clear the mines for you.”
Irony and laughter allow us to expose negative aspects in the behavior of not only specific students, but also all other people. The world of a work of art becomes a kind of projection onto the entire society. After all, we all have friends who like to be late, hide cowardice with imaginary courage, and rely not on their own strength, but on the help of others.
A simple plot, the irony of many events in the narrative and vivid images concentrate the reader’s attention on the philosophical issues of the work. These are questions of honor, cowardice and courage, truth and lies. Another important point is to be able to look at yourself from the outside and after time be able to evaluate yourself, other people and everything that happens. The narrator and the main character definitely succeeded.
Characteristics of the characters “The Thirteenth Labor of Hercules”
Already at the very beginning of the story, we understand that one of the main characters is the mathematics teacher Kharlampy Diogenovich. There is something in his image from the hero of the era of romanticism. We know neither his past nor his future. He is not like other teachers who “were sloppy, weak-willed people.”
Kharlampy Diogenovich was highly respected. He never raised his voice at his students or threatened them with calling their parents. However, in his lessons, the guys always behaved quietly and disciplined. The thing is that the teacher could easily use laughter, with the help of which he showed how ridiculous or unworthy the student’s behavior was.
Kharlampy Diogenovich not only gave excellent knowledge on his subject, but also constantly told his students something instructive from mythology, expanding their horizons. The teacher was Greek by origin, although he had a Russian name. His patronymic contains a reference to Ancient Greece - Diogenovich is reminiscent of the philosopher Diogenes.
Do children get offended by their teacher for ridicule? No. Firstly, they are always fair and quite tactful. Secondly, their goal is not to humiliate a person, but to show only the discrepancy between his capabilities, talent and the way he behaves now. Nobody wants to be funny and Kharlampy Diogenovich was well aware of this. As the narrator himself notes, he thereby “tempered our crafty children’s souls” and exposed serious problems - be it human cowardice or the tendency to live at the expense of others.
Another main character of the work is the narrator himself. He appears at two ages. Firstly, this is the same boy whose cunning was brought to light by the mathematics teacher. Secondly, this is an adult storyteller, taught by life experience and telling us this story.
The hero of the story is an ordinary schoolboy who is very observant, quite smart and even cunning. He easily and skillfully used circumstances (the arrival of medical workers) in order to avoid checking his homework, which he himself had not completed. Couldn't he really solve this projectile problem? Most likely, the hero was simply lazy at home and did not even ask for help from his classmates, going to play football.
Thanks to a perspicacious and attentive teacher, he subsequently not only “began to take homework more seriously,” but also realized that an act committed for selfish purposes and out of cowardice cannot in any way deserve respect, much less be heroic . This is just the “thirteenth labor of Hercules.”
The main idea of the story
Every reader, regardless of age, can discover the meaning of this work. The author tells a simple school story very briefly and at the same time interestingly. He doesn’t read morals to us, doesn’t tell us how to act, doesn’t hold anyone up as an example. However, this gives the work even more instructive context.
First, we understand that you need to take what you do seriously. If you are a student, then it is important to approach the learning process in a timely and responsible manner. If you are already an adult, then it never hurts to remember everything that your parents, educators and teachers invested in you. The narrator and the main character did not forget the efforts of Kharlampy Diogenovich, who, thanks to his genius and laughter, successfully instilled in his charges the foundations of morality.
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The mathematician Kharlampiy Diogenovich was noticeably different from his sloppy colleagues. With his appearance, strict discipline was established in the class. The lessons were so quiet that the school principal could not believe that the students were in their places and not in the stadium. Silence reigned as soon as the teacher entered the classroom and lasted until the end of the lesson. Sometimes laughter was heard. Kharlampy Diogenovich allowed himself to joke, and the guys had fun laughing. For example, he could show the greatest respect to a late student by giving him way to class and calling him after him the Prince of Wales. The teacher never swore or called parents to school. The guys didn’t cheat on the tests because they knew that Kharlampy Diogenovich would immediately recognize such work and make fun of the careless student. The narrator did not escape the fate of being funny in front of the whole class.
One day he couldn't solve a problem. Having not completed his homework, he came to school. After making sure that the other guys also didn’t agree with the answer, the boy ran off to play football. Just before the start of the lesson, he learned that the excellent student Sakharov had completed the task. And Adolf Komarov’s desk neighbor also had his problem solved. The narrator froze in anticipation of being asked. A doctor and a nurse came into the classroom. They were looking for the fifth "A" class to vaccinate. Out of fear, the boy volunteered to show where this class was and the teacher gave him permission. Along the way, he learns that their class is scheduled to be vaccinated at the next lesson and informs the doctors that the class will go to the museum. Running into the classroom in front of the doctor, the narrator saw that Shurik Avdeenko was solving the problem at the blackboard, but he could not explain the solution. The teacher sent him to his place, and praised Adolf for the solved problem.
The doctors returned and said that the children needed to be vaccinated and the teacher allowed them to take the lesson. Avdeenko was the first to be called for vaccination. He did it without fear, because the vaccination saved him from a possible failure. Adolf Komarov was pale. His desk neighbor consoled him, but it had no effect. The injection made Alik even paler, and the doctor had to give him ammonia. The narrator was proud to Alik that he did not feel the injection, although this was not true. The doctors left.
There was little time left until the end of the lesson. Kharlampy Diogenovich, thoughtfully, began a story about the twelve labors of Hercules and about a certain young man who decided to correct Greek mythology with his thirteenth labor. The teacher said that this feat was accomplished out of cowardice, and why it was done, he asked the narrator to explain, calling him to the board. Kharlampy Diogenovich asked the boy to tell how he solved a homework problem. The student tried to stall for time, but he looked more and more ridiculous. Since then, the boy began to take his homework more seriously. Reasoning, he came to the conclusion that the worst thing is that a person ceases to be afraid of being funny. This could bring him bad luck. The arrogant Roman emperors did not see in time how ridiculous they really were, and that is why the great empire perished.
“The Thirteenth Labor of Hercules” the main characters of the story by Faziliy Iskander
"The 13th Labor of Hercules" main characters
- Narrator— the main character, a student of grade 5-B
- Kharlampy Diogenovich— math teacher
- Shurik Avdeenko- studies poorly. When the teacher laughs at him, calling him a “black swan,” Avdeenko “sits, furiously bending over his notebook, showing the powerful efforts of mind and will thrown into solving the problem.” He has a sullen, tanned face and is long and gangly. Shurik is not even happy when he finally gets the injection. The narrator calls him "the darkest man of our class."
- Alik Komarov- Most of all he is afraid of injections. Alik's name is actually Adolf, but the war began, the boy began to be teased, and he wrote “Alik” on a notebook. He is a "quiet and modest student." The narrator says about him: “He sat over his open notebook, neat, thin and quiet, and because his hands were lying on a blotter, he seemed even quieter. He had this stupid habit of keeping his hands on the blotter, which I couldn’t wean him off.” While Alik is receiving the injection, freckles appear on his face. He is red-haired, and the narrator thinks that the boy would probably have been teased as a red-head if there had not been a real red-haired person in the class.
- Sakharov- excellent student. Even while laughing, he tries not to stop being an excellent student. The narrator says about him this way: “Correct,” he nods his head at me with such disgusting confidence on his smart, conscientious face that I immediately hated him for his well-being.”.
Each hero of this story is remembered for a long time, because the author highlights the main, basic features of the hero’s appearance and character, and places emphasis on them, emphasizing several times Avdeenko’s gloominess, Sakharov’s well-being and Alik’s modesty and invisibility.
“The 13th Labor of Hercules” characteristics of the main character
The main character of the story is a nimble, mischievous and crafty boy. He, like many boys, loves to play football, sometimes he cannot cope with the task, he laughs with everyone at his classmates, whom Kharlampy Diogenovich puts in a funny position.
The hero treats his classmates in a friendly manner, with irony. The narrator is observant and accurately describes the main characteristics of his friends. He notices the constant well-being of Sakharov, who, even laughing, tries to remain an excellent student, notices the modesty and invisibility of Alik Komarov and the gloominess of Shurik Avdeenko. But Kharlampy Diogenovich has no favorites in his class. Anyone can be funny. And now the moment comes. when the class laughs at the main character.
The main character failed the math task. Instead of asking his friends for help, he played football before class, convincing himself that the answer in the textbook was wrong. Then he tried to evade responsibility for his actions by tricking and deceiving doctors into giving injections during a math lesson. When he finds himself at the blackboard and cannot find the strength to honestly admit that he has not solved the problem, Kharlampy Diogenovich understands why the doctors came specifically to the mathematics lesson. The teacher does not punish the student with laughter, but his cowardice. He says that the narrator performed the “thirteenth labor of Hercules,” that is, a feat that actually did not happen, which is not a feat at all. Yes, he changed the situation, but he changed it not out of noble intentions, but out of cowardice.
The hero experiences a variety of feelings during the development of events. At first he is indignant at the “wrong” task. Then his conscience calmed down. After talking with Sakharov, he got scared: “I got scared and scolded myself for first agreeing with the football player that the task was wrong, and then disagreeing with the excellent student that it was correct. And now Kharlampy Diogenovich probably noticed my excitement and will be the first to call me.” After calling the duty officer, the hero breathed a sigh of relief, grateful to the teacher for the respite. Then he experienced cowardly hope and disappointment when “the sudden hope that illuminated our class with its snow-white robe disappeared.” He became insolent with fear and boldly offered to show where the fifth “A” was, also inventing an excuse for himself. Then he lied to the doctor that their class was going to the museum, and, cunningly, convinced them to return to the fifth "B". He himself cowardly ran forward in order to “eliminate the connection between himself and their arrival.” The hero felt some gloating when the nurse rubbed his back with cotton wool after the injection. After the doctor left, the boy became alarmed when the teacher began to click the beads of his rosary: “I felt that there was some kind of danger in the air.” From Kharlampy Diogenovich’s gaze, “my heart slammed into my back,” says the narrator. He did not go to the board, but “trudged” towards it. The hero never wanted to become funny, but the teacher proved that cowardice and lies are actually funny, and no tricks will help hide these bad qualities.
In conclusion, the narrator says: “Since then, I began to take my homework more seriously and never bothered with the football players with unsolved problems.”
The author has a philosophical attitude towards his hero: a little detached and ironic. At the end of the story, the author no longer speaks on behalf of a fifth-grader, but on behalf of a person who has already become an adult, and says that Kharlampy Diogenovich’s method taught him a lot: “With laughter, of course, he tempered our crafty children’s souls and taught us to treat our own a person with a sufficient sense of humor."
Teacher characteristics
Math teacher — «<…>There was one mathematician in our school who was different from all the others.<…>
His name was Kharlampy Diogenovich. Like Pythagoras, he was Greek by birth.”
Kharlampy Diogenovich’s main weapon is to make a person funny, to educate with laughter. Nobody wants to be funny.
The teacher, in front of the whole class, revealed what the main character was hiding from himself: all his cunning actions were dictated by cowardice. And there was nothing to object to. The deuce, which he so diligently tried to avoid, would have been simply salvation for him, but this was also unrealistic. Better a bad grade than the laughter of the whole class. “The long-awaited bell, like a funeral bell, rang through the laughter of the whole class.”