The best Ostap Bender. Actors who played Bender: Sergei Yursky, Frank Langella, Archil Gomiashvili, Andrei Mironov. The image of Ostap Bender in the work of I. Ilf and E. Petrov “12 chairs”

27.04.2019

Some of my favorite books are “12 Chairs” and “The Golden Calf”. And I suspect that I’m not the only one who likes these books. The main characters are brilliantly written, wonderful dialogues, no excesses in detail. It's a pleasure to read.
I first read these books when I was 12-13 years old. Then, of course, I re-read it. I re-read it several times. And every time I was carried away geographical names. In this post I will try to collect all the settlements where the action of the book “12 Chairs” takes place.
The whole story begins in a certain mysterious county townN. Essentially this collective image all the tiny towns of the USSR. But then the action moves to Stargorod. A city with such a name has never existed in our country. But it existed in the works of N. Leskov and V. Likhachev. Well, and accordingly Ilf and Petrova.
There are several versions about the prototype. The main one says that Stargorod is Starobelsk. By the way, I was surprised to discover that in the community Russiantowns There is not a single post from there. I had to pull a photo from the Internet.

Other versions seem completely fantastic to me, but not without meaning. So on one of the forums there is speculation that Voronezh can be considered the prototype of Stargorod. This theory is supported by the fact that the tram was opened. The time matches. Although, by the way, in those same years the tram was opened in Tula, and in Zlatoust, and in Perm, and in Noginsk...
In my opinion, by the way, Noginsk is also a logical option. The scene where the film crew arrives from Moscow seems to hint that the cameramen had to travel relatively close. And it was for this reason that they were delayed on the way to film the sunset. Excellent texture. It would be strange to go to Starobelsk from the capital. Too far.

If one can speculate ad infinitum with the first two settlements appearing in the work “12 Chairs,” then the plot then leads the reader to Moscow. Delivers by train. There are very interesting descriptions of the stations, passengers, and the atmosphere of railway transport.
Due to Ippolit Matveyevich's indecency in the capital, the heroes miss out on the treasured chairs and are forced to continue their journey. Again by train. This time to Nizhny Novgorod. There they manage to get a job at Scriabin for a while. And the further journey develops by water.
The ship makes its first stop in a settlement called Barmino. This Nizhny Novgorod region. There are no mysteries here. But with the next one the questions begin again. Remember the famous interplanetary chess congress? Yes, yes. We are talking specifically about Vasyuki. Such a settlement does not exist on the Volga (but it does exist in the Smolensk region and in Belarus), but the opinions of researchers agree on two options. The prototype of the legendary Vasyuki is either Vasilsursk or Kozmodemyansk.

I took the photos from magazines zorych And glazelki accordingly.

After escaping by boat from Vasyuki, professional tourists Kisa and Osya end up in Cheboksary. The city is famous and widely represented on the Internet. I liked the photo chronograph

And already from Cheboksary our heroes end up in Stalingrad. Again by water, this time on the motor ship "Uritsky". Yes, the photograph has nothing to do with the city that Ilf and Petrov had in mind, but, alas. After the Great Patriotic War almost nothing remains of the city of Tsaritsyn and today it is associated exclusively with similar monuments and the feat of our heroic people.

Having found out that the theater will not play in Stalingrad, and therefore the companions will not see chairs, they go to the Caucasus. The route runs through Rostov-on-Don to Mineralnye Vody again by train.

Along the way, the diamond seekers part ways for a while. Ostap is kicked out of the train at Tikhoretskaya station. However, in the evening he catches up with Kisa, and together they arrive in Pyatigorsk on a dacha train.

I won’t remind you about the legendary fitter Mechnikov, the begging scene and other beauties unfolding in Pyatigorsk. Let's move straight to the next route. The theater leaves for Tbilisi via Makhachkala and Baku by rail, and adventurers take strategic decision get to Vladikavkaz and from there move along the Georgian military road to Tbilisi.

The concessionaires again travel separately to Vladikavkaz. Ostap is kicked out of the train in Beslan, and he gets to Vladikavkaz on another train. And already here they make a strategic decision to walk along the Georgian military road.

The village of Balta appears here (today it has been absorbed by Vladikavkaz), Lars station, the village of Sioni, Mtskheta, and in the evening of the next day of their wanderings they enter Tiflis (now Tbilisi) on a cart.

It would seem that the journey could end here, but tireless writers transfer the heroes first to Batumi (apparently by train), and then on the steamship “Pestel” to Yalta. According to the plot, the ship was heading to Odessa, but due to a storm, bypassing Anapa, it ends up in Yalta. This is where the heroes' wanderings end.

The finale of the book “12 Chairs” takes place in Moscow. Diamond seekers never find the treasure. There is also Kisa’s vile betrayal, disappointment and tragedy. However, all this has nothing to do with geography.

The body movements of Father Fyodor deserve special attention. He begins his journey from county town N, then comes Stargorod and on this path they diverge from the main characters of the novel. Father Fedor goes along the route Kharkov, Rostov-on-Don, Baku, Cape Verde, Makhinjauri, Batumi, Tiflis, and the Georgian military road itself.
The only thing that confuses me about Father Fyodor’s route is the presence of such a settlement as Cape Verde.

So let's summarize where the events of the book unfold:
1. County townN
2. Stargorod
3. Moscow +
4. Nizhny Novgorod +
5. Barmino
6. Vasyuki
7. Cheboksary
8. Stalingrad
9. Rostov-on-Don
10. Mineral waters +
11. Tikhoretsk
12. Pyatigorsk +
13. Vladikavkaz +
14. Beslan
15. Makhachkala
16. Baku +
17. Tbilisi +
18. Mtskheta
19. Sioni
20. Lars station +
21. Batumi
22. Yalta
23. Kharkov
24. Green Cape (farm in the Rostov region)
25. Makhinjauri
The book also mentions Kyiv, Morshansk, Odessa, Paris and many other settlements, but since the action does not take place there, there is no particular point in analyzing them. That seems to be it. In the next post we will analyze the geography of the book “The Golden Calf”.
Well, yes. Of course, I couldn’t help but amuse my emergency situation. I marked with pluses the places where I have been. Not much happened.

1. The aphoristic language of the novel.
2. The image of Ostap Bender.
3. The logical ending of the work.

In terms of language, as well as the influence of the work on culture, the brainchild of two of the greatest humorists of the 20th century, I. Ilf and E. Petrov, “12 Chairs” can be compared with the comedies of A. S. Griboyedov, where half of the poems, according to A. S. Pushkin, became proverbs . Many phrases invented by the authors have become firmly established in everyday speech. Without thinking about where it comes from, people say: “Congenial!”, “How much is opium for the people?”, “On a silver platter,” “Your gasoline - our ideas.” This once again proves that wit and apt phrases never lose their relevance and are very popular at all times. Many phrases have also become completely independent life. So, for example, when it comes to the “Horns and Hooves” office, hardly anyone remembers Ostap Bender, but the image of something non-existent, imaginary immediately arises. The novel “12 Chairs” still brings smiles to new generations of readers. Many of the phenomena described in the work seem to be taken from modern life, although about eighty years have passed since the creation of the novel.

According to many literary scholars, Ostap Bender is the main artistic discovery and achievement of Ilf and Petrov. The reader first meets this man only in the sixth chapter of part one, when the story of Ippolit Matveyevich is already known. However, she would never have developed so rapidly and excitingly if she had not appeared on stage new character, striking with his charm and wit. The young man, “about twenty-eight years old,” is not burdened with any property: “... he had neither money, nor an apartment where it could be stored, nor a key with which to unlock the apartment.” However, he was optimistic and could impress local young ladies with his impressive appearance: “A young man entered the city in a green waist-length suit. His powerful neck was wrapped several times in an old woolen scarf, and his feet were in patent leather boots with an orange-colored suede upper. There were no socks under the boots.” B. M. Sarnov calls Ostap Bender “the anthem of the spirit of free enterprise.” From the first meeting it is clear that new hero- this is an extraordinary personality: “The son of a Turkish subject changed many occupations during his life.

The liveliness of his character prevented him from devoting himself to any business. She constantly threw him to different parts of the country and now brought him to Stargorod without socks, without a key, without an apartment and without money.” Without having time to appear in the city, the young man immediately begins to act. To begin with, he sells the astrolabe device he has. After which he makes acquaintance with the local janitor, asking him if there are any brides in the city. While on at the moment in an unenviable position, Ostap Bender does not resign himself to his fate, but is actively looking for a way out of the current situation. So far, he has only two not entirely suitable options: to become a polygamist, seducing and robbing several girls, or to write and distribute the film “The Bolsheviks Write a Letter to Chamberlain.”

The first path is rejected by Bender due to the lack of a “dappled gray suit” and ten rubles, without which seduction, due to the scrupulousness of the protagonist, would look like a “low grade”. The second one could also present purely technical difficulties. Here Ostap differs sharply from his fellow swindlers in classical literature. He looks more vital and full-blooded against the background of Goncharov’s Stolz. On the other hand, Bender, unlike Chichikov, being a swindler due to misfortune, retains in himself the features of some nobility and even honor. Perhaps in a different era and under different circumstances main character I would never become a swindler. His scam was a direct product of socialism, which suppressed all initiative and creativity. Despite the fact that Ostap strives with every fiber of his soul to get a tidy sum, nevertheless, he is not a money-grubber, but a free artist. He is more interested not in the result, but in the process itself. That is why, like a chess player, he carefully thinks through his moves, develops tactics and strategy in every new situation. An exciting and clever game attracts him the more, the more opportunities he creates for the emergence of sparkling ideas and plans. It should be noted that Bender copes with seemingly incredibly difficult tasks on the fly.

The main character is an excellent psychologist. His talent for persuasion is clearly manifested both in a conversation with an old janitor and with the former leader of the nobility Ippolit Matveevich Vorobyaninov: “... having decisively cleared his throat, he told Ostap Bender, the first rogue he met, everything that he knew about diamonds from the words of his dying mother-in-law.” . The ability to communicate with different people helps the main character achieve his goals in various situations. So, for example, he was able to find common language even with the Ogress with her thirty-word reserve, exchanging an ordinary tea strainer for the coveted chair. Ostap Bender cannot be accused of cowardice either. He rushes headlong into the most difficult circumstances, sometimes without even thinking about the consequences: “Don’t think about it. When they beat you, you will cry, but for now, don’t linger! Learn to trade! Suffice it to recall the chess tournament that the great schemer organized in the city of Vasyuki, left without a livelihood. Having introduced himself as a grandmaster, Bender described the chess future of the Vasyukinites so colorfully that he easily received an advance of twenty rubles and the opportunity to earn even more at the tournament itself. As a result, Ostap has to flee, but here too, fortune favors the fearless lucky man, since the barge with his pursuers capsizes, and the scam remains without retribution. Thus, readers are presented with a rather attractive and charming figure who successfully overcomes obstacles and does not lose her natural optimism.

The death of Ostap Bender was to some extent predetermined. This man was too freedom-loving and successful not to irritate others just by his presence. There is only one chair left from the collection, which could contain Madame Petukhova’s diamonds. Ostap was in an excellent state of mind: his energy and cheerfulness were inexhaustible. The same could not be said about Vorobyaninov, who was pretty exhausted in this race for treasure: “And Ippolit Matveyevich’s gait was no longer the same, and the expression in his eyes became wild, and his grown mustache no longer stuck out in parallel.” earth's surface... Features of decisiveness and cruelty that were previously unusual for him appeared in his character ... Ippolit Matveyevich became somewhat damaged and harbored a secret hatred for his companion.” Of course, Vorobyaninov could not restrain his negative feelings to a companion. When Bender told Ippolit Matveyevich about the last chair, and even made fun of him, that was the last straw. The former leader of the nobility waited until Ostap fell asleep and took out a razor: “The great schemer died on the threshold of the happiness that he imagined for himself.” Bender actually just invented this happiness for himself, because if he had found diamonds, they would not have brought him joy, because a realized dream ceases to be a dream, and a person is drawn to new and new heights. Ilf and Petrov also developed this version, but in their other novel, “The Golden Calf.”

Here the main character achieves his cherished goal and becomes the happy owner of a whole million, but his soul is not satisfied with this. After all, on the one hand, in a socialist society he cannot spend it without being a member of at least some state institution. On the other hand, and most importantly, the exciting game ends.

In the morning, a tall, thin old man in a golden pince-nez and short, very dirty boots, stained with glue paints, was walking along Vasyuki. He pasted handwritten posters on the walls:

22 June 1927

In the premises of the "Carton Man" club there will be a lecture on the topic: "Fruitful opening idea" and a session of simultaneous chess play on 160 boards by grandmaster (senior master) O. Bender.

Everyone comes with their own boards.

Game fee - 50 kopecks. Entrance fee - 20 kopecks.

Starts exactly at 6 o'clock. evening

Administrator K. Mikhelson.

The grandmaster himself also did not waste time. Having rented a club for three rubles, he moved to the chess section, which for some reason was located in the corridor of the horse breeding management. A one-eyed man sat in the check section and read Spielhagen’s novel in Panteleev’s edition.

Grandmaster O. Bender! - said Ostap, sitting down on the table. - I’m arranging a simultaneous game session with you.

The only eye of the Vasyukin chess player opened to the limits allowed by nature.

Just a minute, comrade grandmaster! - shouted the one-eyed man. - Please sit down. Me now.

And the one-eyed man ran away. Ostap looked around the chess section. There were photographs of racing horses hanging on the walls, and on the table lay a dusty office book with the title: “Achievements of the Vasyukin Shah Section for 1925.”

One-Eye returned with a dozen citizens of varying ages. They all came up in turn to introduce themselves, named their names and respectfully shook the grandmaster’s hand.

“On our way to Kazan,” Ostap said abruptly, “yes, yes, the show is tonight, come.” And now, excuse me, I’m not in shape, I’m tired after Carlsbad tournament.

The Vasyukin chess players listened to Ostap with filial love. Ostap carried. He felt a surge of new strength and chess ideas.

“You won’t believe,” he said, “how far chess thought has moved. You know, Lasker got to the point of vulgar things, it became impossible to play with him. He smokes his opponents with cigars. And he smokes cheap ones on purpose so that the smoke is more disgusting. The chess world is in trouble.

The grandmaster switched to local topics.

Why is there no game of thought in the provinces! For example, here is your check section. That's what it's called - the Shah Section. It's boring, girls! Why don't you, in fact, call it something beautiful, truly chess-like. This would draw the union masses into the section. For example, your section could be called “Four Knights Chess Club”, or “Red Endgame”, or “Loss of Quality while Gaining Tempo”. That would be nice! Sounds great!

The idea was a success.

And in fact,” the Vasyukinites said, “why not rename our section to the four horse club?

Since the bureau of the Shah section was right there, Ostap organized, under his honorary chairmanship, a minute-long meeting, at which the section was unanimously renamed four knights chess club.

The grandmaster himself, using the lessons of Scriabin, artistically created a sign with four knights and a corresponding inscription on a sheet of cardboard. This important event promised a flowering of chess thought in Vasyuki.

Chess! - said Ostap. - Do you know what chess is? They move forward not only culture, but also the economy! Did you know that four knights chess club With the right approach, will it be able to completely transform the city of Vasyuki?

Ostap hasn't eaten anything since yesterday. Therefore, his eloquence was extraordinary.

Yes! - he shouted. - Chess enriches the country! If you agree to my project, then you will go down from the city to the pier along marble stairs! Vasyuki will become the center of ten provinces! What have you heard about the city of Semmering before? Nothing! And now this little town is rich and famous only because an international tournament was organized there. That’s why I say: an international chess tournament should be organized in Vasyuki!

How? - everyone shouted.

“It’s a very real thing,” the grandmaster answered, “my personal connections and your initiative are everything necessary and sufficient for organizing an international Vasyukinsky tournament. Think about how beautiful the “International Vasyukin Tournament of 1927” will sound. The arrival of Jose-Raoul Capablanca, Emmanuel Lasker, Alekhine, Nimzowitsch, Reti, Rubinstein, Maroczy, Tarrasch, Vidmar and Dr. Grigoriev is guaranteed. In addition, my participation is guaranteed!

But money! - the Vasyukinites groaned. - They all need to be paid money! Many thousands of money! Where can I get them?

All taken into account by the mighty hurricane! - said O. Bender. - Money will come from fees!

Who will pay such crazy money? Vasyukinites...

What kind of Vasyukins are there! The Vasyukin residents will not pay any money. They will get them! It's all extremely simple. After all, chess lovers from all over the world will come to the tournament with the participation of such greatest Veltmeisters. Hundreds of thousands of people, richly wealthy people, will flock to Vasyuki. Firstly, river transport It won’t be able to raise that many people. Consequently, the NKPS will build the Moscow - Vasyuki railway. This is one time. Two are hotels and skyscrapers to accommodate guests. Three - This raising agriculture within a radius of thousand kilometers: guests need to be supplied - vegetables, fruits, caviar, chocolate sweets. The palace in which the tournament will take place is four. Five - construction of garages for guest vehicles. To broadcast the sensational results of the tournament to the whole world, a super-powerful radio station will have to be built. This is sixth. Now regarding the Moscow - Vasyuki railway. Undoubtedly, it will not have the capacity to transport everyone to Vasyuki. From here flows the Bolshie Vasyuki airport - regular departures of mail planes and airships to all parts of the world, including Los Angeles and Melbourne.

Dazzling prospects unfolded before the Vasyukin amateurs. The boundaries of the room expanded. The rotten walls of the horse breeding nest collapsed, and instead of them, a thirty-three-story glass palace of chess thought went into the blue sky. In every hall, in every room, and even in bullet-swept elevators, thoughtful people sat and played chess on boards inlaid with malachite. Marble stairs really fell into the blue Volga. There were ocean steamers on the river. Big-faced foreigners, chess ladies, Australian fans of the Indian defense, Indians in white turbans - adherents of the Spanish party, Germans, French, New Zealanders, residents of the Amazon River basin and, envious of the Vasyukinites - Muscovites, Leningraders, Kievites, Siberians and Odessans came up to the city along the funiculars. . Cars moved like a conveyor belt among the marble hotels. But then everything stopped. World champion Jose Raul Capablanca y Graupera emerged from the fashionable Passed Pawn Hotel. He was surrounded by ladies. The policeman, dressed in a special chess uniform (checked riding breeches and bishops on the buttonholes), saluted politely. The one-eyed chairman of Vasyukinsky approached the champion with dignity. four horse club. A conversation between two luminaries, conducted on English, was interrupted by the arrival of Dr. Grigoriev and the future world champion Alekhine. The cheers shook the city. Jose Raul Capablanca y Graupera winced. With a wave of the one-eyed man's hand, a marble staircase was brought up to the airplane. Doctor Grigoriev ran down it, waving in greeting new hat and commenting as you go possible error Capablanca in the coming match with Alekhine.

Suddenly a black dot was seen on the horizon. It quickly approached and grew, turning into a large emerald parachute. A man with a suitcase was hanging from the parachute ring like a big radish.

It's him! - the one-eyed man shouted. - Hooray! Hooray! Hooray! I recognize the great chess philosopher, old man Lasker. He's the only one in the whole world who wears such green socks.

Jose Raul Capablanca y Graupera winced again.

A marble staircase was quickly presented to Lasker, and the cheerful ex-champion, blowing off from his left sleeve a speck of dust that had landed on him during a flight over Silesia, fell into the arms of the one-eyed man. One-Eye took Lasker by the waist, led him to the champion and said:

Make peace! I ask you about this on behalf of the broad Vasyukin masses! Make peace! Jose Raul sighed noisily and, shaking the old veteran’s hand, said:

I have always admired your idea of moving the bishop in the Spanish game from b5 to c4!

Hooray! - exclaimed the one-eyed man. - Simple and convincing, in the style of a champion! And the entire vast crowd echoed:

Hooray! Vivat! Banzai! Simple and convincing, in the style of a champion! ! !

Enthusiasm reached its peak. Seeing Maestro Duza-Khotimirsky and Maestro Perekatov floating above the city in an egg-shaped orange airship, the one-eyed man waved his hand. Two and a half million people sang in one inspired outburst:

The law of chess is wonderful and immutable: Whoever gains an advantage, even an insignificant one, In space, mass, time, pressure of forces - Only for that a direct path to victory is possible.

Express trains rolled up to twelve Vasyukino stations, disembarking more and more crowds of chess lovers. A walker ran up to the one-eyed man.

- Confusion at the high-power radio station. Your help is needed. At the radio station, engineers greeted the one-eyed man with shouts:

- Distress signals! Distress signals! One-Eye put on his radio headphones and listened.

- Wow! Wow, wow! - Desperate screams were heard on the air. - SOS! SOS! SOS! Save our souls!

-Who are you, begging for salvation? - the one-eyed man shouted sternly into the air.

- I'm a young Mexican! - reported the air waves. - Save my soul!

- What do you have to do with the four knights chess club?

- Lowest request!..

- What's the matter?

- I am a young Mexican Torre! I have just been discharged from a mental hospital. Let me into the tournament! Let me go!

- Ah! I don't have time for that! - answered the one-eyed man.

- SOS! SOS! SOS! - the broadcast squealed.

- OK then! Come already!

- I have no de-e-neg! - came from the shores of the Gulf of Mexico.

- Oh! These are young chess players for me! - the one-eyed man sighed. - Send a motor-air trolley for him already. Let him go!

The sky was already ablaze with luminous advertisements when a white horse was led through the streets of the city. This was the only horse that survived the mechanization of Vasyukin transport. By a special decree she was renamed a horse, although she was considered a mare all her life. Chess fans greeted her, waving palm branches and chess boards...

Don’t worry,” said Ostap, “my project will guarantee your city an unprecedented flowering of productive forces.” Think about what will happen when the tournament is over and when all the guests have left. Residents of Moscow, constrained by the housing crisis, will rush to your magnificent city. The capital automatically moves to Vasyuki. Here moves government. Vasyuki is renamed New Moscow, and Moscow is renamed Old Vasyuki. Leningraders and Kharkovites are gnashing their teeth, but they can’t do anything. New Moscow is becoming the most elegant center of Europe, and soon the whole world.

Whole world! ! ! - the stunned Vasyukin residents groaned.

Yes! And subsequently the universe. The chess idea that turned a county town into the capital of the globe will turn into applied science and invent methods of interplanetary communication. Signals will fly from Vasyuki to Mars, Jupiter and Neptune. Communication with Venus will become as easy as moving from Rybinsk to Yaroslavl. And there, who knows, maybe in eight years the first interplanetary chess match in the history of the universe will take place in Vasyuki tournament!

Ostap wiped his noble forehead. He was hungry to such an extent that he would willingly eat a roasted chess knight.

Yes,” the one-eyed man squeezed out, looking around the dusty room with a crazy gaze, “but how to practically carry out the event, to lay down the basis, so to speak?..

Those present looked intensely at the grandmaster.

I repeat that practically the matter depends only on your initiative. I repeat, I take charge of the entire organization. Material costs none, except for the costs of telegrams.

One-Eye pushed his companions.

Well? - he asked. - What do you say?

Let's arrange it! Let's arrange it! - galdeli Vasyukinites.

How much money do you need for... these... telegrams?

A funny figure,” said Ostap, “one hundred rubles.”

We only have twenty-one rubles and sixteen kopecks in our cash register. This, of course, we understand, is far from enough...

But the grandmaster turned out to be an accommodating organizer.

Okay,” he said, “give me your twenty rubles.”

Is that enough? - asked the one-eyed man.

Enough for initial telegrams. And then an influx of donations will begin, and there will be nowhere to put the money!..

Having hidden the money in a green field jacket, the grandmaster reminded the audience about his lecture and a session of simultaneous play on 160 boards, kindly said goodbye until the evening and went to the “Carton Man” club for a date with Ippolit Matveevich.

I'm starving! - Vorobyaninov said in a crackling voice.

He was already sitting at the cash register window, but had not yet collected a single penny and could not buy even a pound of bread. In front of him lay a green wire basket intended for collecting. Knives and forks are placed in such baskets in middle-class homes.

Listen, Vorobyaninov,” shouted Ostap, “stop cash transactions for an hour and a half.” Let's go have lunch at Narpit. I'll outline the situation along the way. By the way, you need to shave and clean up. You just look like a tramp. A grandmaster cannot have such suspicious acquaintances.

“I didn’t sell a single ticket,” said Ippolit Matveevich.

No problem. By evening they will come. The city has already donated twenty rubles to me to organize an international chess tournament.

So why do we need a simultaneous game? - the administrator whispered. - After all, they can beat you. And with twenty rubles we can immediately board the ship, just as the Karl Liebknecht arrived from above, calmly go to Stalingrad and wait for the theater to arrive there. Maybe in Stalingrad it will be possible to open the chairs. Then we are rich and everything belongs to us.

You can't say such stupid things on an empty stomach. This has a negative effect on the brain. For twenty rubles we might get to Stalingrad. How much money do you have to eat with? Vitamins, dear comrade leader, are not given to anyone for nothing. But from the expansive Vasyukin residents you can charge thirty rubles for a lecture and session.

They'll beat you! - Vorobyaninov said bitterly.

Of course, there is a risk. They can fill the tanks. However, I have one thought that will protect you, in any case. But more on that later. For now, let's go try some local dishes.

By six o'clock in the evening, the well-fed, shaved and smelling of cologne grandmaster entered the box office of the Cardboard Club. Well-fed and shaven, Vorobyaninov was briskly selling tickets.

Well, how? - the grandmaster asked quietly.

There are thirty entrance fees and twenty for the game,” the administrator answered.

Sixteen rubles. Weak, weak!

What are you, Bender, look at the queue! They will inevitably beat you!

Don't think about it. When they beat you, you will cry, but for now, don’t linger! Learn to trade!

An hour later there were thirty-five rubles in the cash register. The audience was worried in the hall.

Close the window! Give me money! - said Ostap. - Now here's what. Here you have five rubles, go to the pier, hire a boat for two hours and wait for me on the shore below the barn. We will do it with you evening walk. Don't worry about me. I'm in shape today.

The grandmaster entered the hall. He felt cheerful and knew for sure that the first move e2 - e4 did not threaten him with any complications. The rest of the moves, however, were drawn in complete fog, but this did not bother the great schemer at all. He had a completely unexpected way out to save even the most hopeless party.

The grandmaster was met applause. The small club room was hung with colorful paper flags. A week ago was evening of the “Water Rescue Society”, as evidenced by the slogan on the wall: “The work of helping drowning people is the work of the drowning people themselves.”

Ostap bowed, extended his hands forward, as if rejecting the applause he did not deserve, and walked onto the stage.

Comrades! - he said beautiful voice. - Comrades and brothers in chess, the subject of my lecture today is what I read about and, I must admit, not without success in Nizhny Novgorod a week ago. The subject of my lecture is a fruitful opening idea. What, comrades, is a debut and what, comrades, is an idea? The debut, comrades, is Quasi una fantasia. And what, comrades, does an idea mean? An idea, comrades, is a human thought, clothed in a logical chess form. Even with insignificant forces you can master the entire board. It all depends on each individual. For example, that blonde guy in the third row. Let's say he plays well...

The blond man in the third row blushed.

And that brunette over there, let’s say, is worse.

Everyone turned and examined the brunette as well.

What do we see, comrades? We see that the blond plays well, and the brunette plays poorly. And no lectures will change this balance of forces if each individual does not constantly train in checkers... that is, I wanted to say - in chess... And now, comrades, I will tell you several instructive stories from the practice of our respected hypermodernists Capablanca, Lasker and Dr. Grigoriev.

Ostap told the audience several Old Testament anecdotes, gleaned from the Blue Journal as a child, and thus ended the interlude.

Everyone was slightly surprised by the brevity of the lecture. And the one-eyed man did not take his only eye off the grandmaster’s shoes.

However, the beginning of a simultaneous game delayed the growing suspicion of the one-eyed chess player. Together with everyone else, he arranged the tables in peace. In total, thirty amateurs sat down to play against the grandmaster. Many of them were completely confused and constantly looked at chess textbooks, refreshing their memory of complex variations, with the help of which they hoped to surrender to the grandmaster at least after the twenty-second move.

Ostap glanced at the ranks of “blacks” that surrounded him on all sides, at the closed door, and fearlessly set to work. He approached the one-eyed man sitting at the first board and moved the king's pawn from square e2 to square e4.

One-Eye immediately grabbed his ears with his hands and began to think intensely. The following rustled through the ranks of lovers:

The grandmaster played e2 - e4.

Ostap did not spoil his opponents with a variety of openings. On the remaining twenty-nine boards he performed the same operation: he moved the king's pawn from e2 to e4. One after another, the lovers grabbed their hair and plunged into feverish reasoning. The non-players turned their gaze to the grandmaster. The only one in the city amateur photographer He was already perched on a chair and was about to set fire to the magnesium, but Ostap angrily waved his hands and, interrupting his flow along the boards, shouted loudly:

Remove the photographer! He interferes with my chess thoughts!

“Why on earth would you leave your photograph in this miserable little town. “I don’t like dealing with the police,” he decided to himself.

The indignant hissing of the amateurs forced the photographer to abandon his attempt. The outrage was so great that the photographer was even kicked out of the room.

On the third move it turned out that the grandmaster was playing eighteen Spanish games. In the remaining twelve, Black used the outdated, but quite correct Philidor Defense. If Ostap had learned that he was playing such tricky games and facing such a proven defense, he would have been extremely surprised. The fact is that the great schemer played chess for the second time in his life.

At first the lovers, and the first among them, the one-eyed man, were horrified. The grandmaster's cunning was undeniable. With extraordinary ease and, of course, being sarcastic in his heart at the backward amateurs of the city of Vasyuki, the grandmaster sacrificed pawns, heavy and light pieces to the right and left. He even sacrificed his queen to the brunette who was being bullied at the lecture. The brunette was horrified and wanted to give up immediately, but only with a terrible effort of will he forced himself to continue the game.

Thunder out of the blue came five minutes later.

Mat! - the frightened brunette stammered. - Checkmate, comrade grandmaster!

Ostap analyzed the situation, shamefully called the “queen” “queen” and pompously congratulated the brunette on his win. A rumble ran through the rows of amateurs.

"It's time tear claws!“- thought Ostap, calmly walking among the tables and carelessly rearranging the pieces.

“You have placed the knight incorrectly, comrade grandmaster,” the one-eyed man began to cry. - A horse doesn’t walk like that.

Sorry, sorry, I’m sorry,” the grandmaster replied, “after the lecture I was a little tired!” Over the next ten minutes, the grandmaster lost ten more games.

Surprised screams were heard in the premises of the Cardboard Club. A conflict was brewing. Ostap lost fifteen games in a row, and soon three more. There was only one one-eyed man left. At the beginning of the game, he made many mistakes out of fear and now with difficulty led the game to a victorious end. Ostap, unnoticed by those around him, stole a black rook from the board and hid it in his pocket.

The crowd closed tightly around the players.

Just now my boat was standing in this place! - the one-eyed man shouted, looking around. - And now she’s gone.

No, that means it didn’t happen! - Ostap said rudely.

How could it not be? I remember clearly!

Of course it wasn't.

Where did she go? Did you win it?

Won.

When? On what course?

Why are you fooling me with your rook? If you give up, then say so!

Excuse me, comrade, I have all the moves written down.

The office writes! - said Ostap.

This is outrageous! - the one-eyed man yelled. - Give me back my boat!

Give up, give up, what kind of cat and mouse is this!

Give up the rook!

- Shall I give you a boat? Maybe I should give you another key to the apartment where the money is?

With these words, the grandmaster, realizing that delay was like death, scooped up several pieces into a handful and threw them at the head of his one-eyed opponent.

Comrades! - the one-eyed man squealed. - Look, everyone! An amateur is beaten. The chess players of the city of Vasyuki were taken aback.

Without wasting precious time, Ostap threw chess board in kerosene lamp and, hitting someone’s jaws and foreheads in the ensuing darkness, ran out into the street. The Vasyukin lovers, falling on top of each other, rushed after him.

It was a moonlit evening. Ostap rushed along the silver street easily, like an angel, pushing off from the sinful earth. Due to the failed transformation of Vasyuki into the center of the universe, it was necessary to flee not among palaces, but among log houses with external shutters. Chess amateurs rushed behind.

Hold the grandmaster! - the one-eyed man roared.

Crook! - the others supported.

Dudes! - the grandmaster snapped, increasing his speed.

Guard! - the offended chess players shouted.

Ostap jumped up the stairs leading to the pier. He had to run four hundred steps. At the sixth site, two amateurs were already waiting for him, having made their way here along a roundabout path right along the slope. Ostap looked around. A close group of angry fans of Philidor's defense rolled from above like a pack of dogs. There was no retreat. So Ostap ran forward.

Here I am now, you bastard! - he barked at the brave scouts, rushing from the fifth platform. The frightened plastuns gasped, tipped over the railings, and rolled somewhere into the darkness of the hillocks and

slopes The path was clear.

Hold the grandmaster! - rolled from above.

The pursuers ran, clattering down the wooden stairs like falling skittles. Running ashore, Ostap dodged to the right, looking for the boat with his faithful administrator.

Ippolit Matveyevich sat idyllically in the boat. Ostap fell onto the bench and furiously began to row away from the shore. A minute later, stones flew into the boat. One of them was shot down by Ippolit Matveevich. A dark nodule has grown a little higher than the volcanic pimple. Ippolit Matveyevich buried his head in his shoulders and whined.

Here's another hat! They almost tore my head off. AND I - nothing. B sleepy and cheerful. And if you take into account another fifty rubles of net profit, then for one ghoul on your head the fee is quite decent.

Meanwhile, the pursuers, who only now realized that the plan to transform Vasyuki into New Moscow had collapsed and that the grandmaster was taking fifty of Vasyukin’s hard-earned rubles out of the city, loaded into a large boat and screamed raked out to the middle of the river. About thirty people crammed into the boat. Everyone wanted to take a personal part in the reprisal against the grandmaster. The expedition was commanded by a one-eyed man. His only eye sparkled in the night like a beacon.

Hold the grandmaster! - they screamed in the overloaded barge.

Let's go, Kisa! - said Ostap. - If they catch up with us, I cannot vouch for the integrity of your pince-nez.

Both boats were heading downstream. The distance between them was decreasing. Ostap was exhausted.

Don't leave, you bastards! - they shouted from the barge.

Ostap did not answer. B there was no time. The oars were pulled out of the water. Water flew out in streams from under the frantic oars and fell into the boat.

Go ahead! - Ostap whispered to himself.

Ippolit Matveyevich was toiling. The barge was triumphant. Her tall body was already going around the concessionaires' boat with her left hand in order to press the grandmaster to the shore. A pitiful fate awaited the concessionaires. The joy on the barge was so great that all the chess players moved to the starboard side so that, having caught up with the boat, they could attack the villainous grandmaster with superior forces.

Take care of your pince-nez, Kisa,” Ostap shouted in despair, throwing away the oars, “it’s about to start!”

Gentlemen! - Ippolit Matveevich suddenly exclaimed in a rooster’s voice. - Are you really going to beat us?!

How! - the Vasyukin lovers thundered, getting ready to jump into the boat.

But at this time, an extremely offensive incident occurred for honest chess players around the world. Barge tilted and scooped up water on the starboard side.

“Be careful,” the one-eyed captain squeaked.

But it was already too late. Too many amateurs have accumulated on the starboard side of the Vasyukin dreadnought. Having changed the center of gravity, the barge did not hesitate and, in full accordance with the laws of physics, capsized.

A general cry disturbed the calm of the river.

Wow! - the chess players moaned protractedly.

As many as thirty amateurs found themselves in the water. They quickly swam to the surface and, one after another, clung to the overturned barge. The last one to land was the one-eyed one.

Dudes! - Ostap shouted in delight. - Why don’t you beat your grandmaster? If I'm not mistaken, you wanted to beat me?

Ostap described a circle around the castaways.

You understand, Vasyukin individuals, that I could drown you one by one, but I will give you life. Live, citizens! Just, for the sake of the creator, don’t play chess! You just don't know how to play! Eh, you dudes, dudes!.. Let's go, Ippolit Matveevich, further! Farewell, one-eyed lovers! I'm afraid that Vasyuki will not become the center of the universe! I don’t think that chess masters would come to such fools as you, even if I asked them to do so! Farewell, lovers of strong chess sensations! Long live four horse club!

1. The aphoristic language of the novel.
2. The image of Ostap Bender.
3. The logical ending of the work.

In terms of language, as well as the influence of the work on culture, the brainchild of two of the greatest humorists of the 20th century, I. Ilf and E. Petrov, “12 Chairs” can be compared with the comedies of A. S. Griboyedov, where half of the poems, according to A. S. Pushkin, became proverbs . Many phrases invented by the authors have become firmly established in everyday speech. Without thinking about where it comes from, people say: “Congenial!”, “How much is opium for the people?”, “On a silver platter,” “Your gasoline - our ideas.” This once again proves that wit and apt phrases never lose their relevance and are very popular at all times. Many phrases have also acquired a completely independent life. So, for example, when it comes to the “Horns and Hooves” office, hardly anyone remembers Ostap Bender, but the image of something non-existent, imaginary immediately arises. The novel “12 Chairs” still brings smiles to new generations of readers. Many of the phenomena described in the work seem to be taken from modern life, although about eighty years have passed since the creation of the novel.

According to many literary scholars, Ostap Bender is the main artistic discovery and achievement of Ilf and Petrov. The reader first meets this man only in the sixth chapter of part one, when the story of Ippolit Matveyevich is already known. However, it would never have developed so rapidly and excitingly if a new character had not appeared on the stage, striking with his charm and wit. The young man, “about twenty-eight years old,” is not burdened with any property: “... he had neither money, nor an apartment where it could be stored, nor a key with which to unlock the apartment.” However, he was optimistic and could impress local young ladies with his impressive appearance: “A young man entered the city in a green waist-length suit. His powerful neck was wrapped several times in an old woolen scarf, and his feet were in patent leather boots with an orange-colored suede upper. There were no socks under the boots.” B. M. Sarnov calls Ostap Bender “the anthem of the spirit of free enterprise.” From the first acquaintance it is clear that the new hero is an extraordinary person: “The son of a Turkish subject changed many occupations during his life.

The liveliness of his character prevented him from devoting himself to any business. She constantly threw him to different parts of the country and now brought him to Stargorod without socks, without a key, without an apartment and without money.” Without having time to appear in the city, the young man immediately begins to act. To begin with, he sells the astrolabe device he has. After which he makes acquaintance with the local janitor, asking him if there are any brides in the city. Being currently in an unenviable position, Ostap Bender does not resign himself to his fate, but is actively looking for ways out of the current situation. So far, he has only two not entirely suitable options: to become a polygamist, seducing and robbing several girls, or to write and distribute the film “The Bolsheviks Write a Letter to Chamberlain.”

The first path is rejected by Bender due to the lack of a “dappled gray suit” and ten rubles, without which seduction, due to the scrupulousness of the protagonist, would look like a “low grade”. The second one could also present purely technical difficulties. Here Ostap differs sharply from his fellow swindlers in classical literature. He looks more vital and full-blooded against the background of Goncharov’s Stolz. On the other hand, Bender, unlike Chichikov, being a swindler due to misfortune, retains in himself the features of some nobility and even honor. Perhaps in another era and under other circumstances, the main character would never have become a swindler. His scam was a direct product of socialism, which suppressed all initiative and creativity. Despite the fact that Ostap strives with every fiber of his soul to get a tidy sum, nevertheless, he is not a money-grubber, but a free artist. He is more interested not in the result, but in the process itself. That is why, like a chess player, he carefully thinks through his moves, develops tactics and strategy in every new situation. An exciting and clever game attracts him the more, the more opportunities he creates for the emergence of sparkling ideas and plans. It should be noted that Bender copes with seemingly incredibly difficult tasks on the fly.

The main character is an excellent psychologist. His talent for persuasion is clearly manifested both in a conversation with an old janitor and with the former leader of the nobility Ippolit Matveevich Vorobyaninov: “... having decisively cleared his throat, he told Ostap Bender, the first rogue he met, everything that he knew about diamonds from the words of his dying mother-in-law.” . The ability to communicate with different people helps the main character achieve his goals in various situations. So, for example, he was able to find a common language even with the Ogress with her thirty-word reserve, exchanging an ordinary tea strainer for the coveted chair. Ostap Bender cannot be accused of cowardice either. He rushes headlong into the most difficult circumstances, sometimes without even thinking about the consequences: “Don’t think about it. When they beat you, you will cry, but for now, don’t linger! Learn to trade! Suffice it to recall the chess tournament that the great schemer organized in the city of Vasyuki, left without a livelihood. Having introduced himself as a grandmaster, Bender described the chess future of the Vasyukinites so colorfully that he easily received an advance of twenty rubles and the opportunity to earn even more at the tournament itself. As a result, Ostap has to flee, but here too, fortune favors the fearless lucky man, since the barge with his pursuers capsizes, and the scam remains without retribution. Thus, readers are presented with a rather attractive and charming figure who successfully overcomes obstacles and does not lose her natural optimism.

The death of Ostap Bender was to some extent predetermined. This man was too freedom-loving and successful not to irritate others just by his presence. There is only one chair left from the collection, which could contain Madame Petukhova’s diamonds. Ostap was in an excellent state of mind: his energy and cheerfulness were inexhaustible. The same could not be said about Vorobyaninov, who was pretty exhausted in this race for treasures: “And Ippolit Matveevich’s gait was no longer the same, and the expression of his eyes became wild, and the grown mustache no longer stuck out parallel to the earth’s surface... Something unusual for him appeared in his character. before the traits of determination and cruelty... Ippolit Matveyevich became somewhat damaged and harbored a secret hatred for his companion.” Of course, Vorobyaninov could not restrain his negative feelings towards his companion for long. When Bender told Ippolit Matveyevich about the last chair, and even made fun of him, that was the last straw. The former leader of the nobility waited until Ostap fell asleep and took out a razor: “The great schemer died on the threshold of the happiness that he imagined for himself.” Bender actually just invented this happiness for himself, because if he had found diamonds, they would not have brought him joy, because a realized dream ceases to be a dream, and a person is drawn to new and new heights. Ilf and Petrov also developed this version, but in their other novel, “The Golden Calf.”

I was about to write an indignant letter to the coach of my new/old team Sorrento - why, they say, there are still no previews and generally no reaction to today's match, but then, to my amazement :-), I discovered that we had a problem in the game pause until Saturday. And even until Sunday.

And so that the local brains do not turn sour, I decided to offer you a kind of test. Not for a big fan, of course. For those who are not interested in such things or don’t like to read at all, please don’t strain yourself, pass by and mind your own business :-). But I hope that among the almost 400 signatories of our blog there will be at least 20-30 people who will be interested in this, who will take it as a challenge and as an opportunity to show their erudition. Well, if someone on this topic re-reads the novel again (or even reads this absolute literary masterpiece for the first time), it will be simply wonderful.

I started writing test questions for “12 chairs” a long time ago, but I still couldn’t get it right - either there were few of them, or they were too simple. And just a couple of weeks ago I finally designed them according to my mood.

There were 35 questions in total - 30 basic ones, which are based solely on knowledge of the text and the ability to analyze it, and 5 additional ones of a general nature (history and film adaptation). The questions are different. There are some that can and should be answered immediately, almost without hesitation. There are some that require you to go through the entire novel to answer. Answer them right here in the comments. At the same time, you can argue or not argue, confer or not confer, quarrel or come to an agreement.

I will give the answers (if nothing prevents this) on Friday evening. Then I will sum up the results of the test/competition. For the correct answer - FIRST IN TIME - the participant will receive 3 points. For a simple correct answer - 1 point. An accurate quote or fact that supports your answer will earn you 1 more point per question. That's all the rules. But I count much more on your interest, and not on the desire to definitely win... (I almost forgot... I urge Andrew Thompson not to participate in the competition. Andrey, you saw these questions 10 days ago, so you have a serious head start compared to the others.)

Are you ready?.. Let's go!..

KEY QUESTIONS

1. How old was Kise Vorobyaninov?
2. How old was Ostap Bender?
3. Name exact date and the day of the death of Vorobyaninov’s mother-in-law Klavdia Ivanovna Petukhova.
4. How many years older than Ippolit Matveyevich was his mother-in-law?
5. For how long (specify as accurately as possible) did a curse written in chalk appear on the back of the bust of the poet Zhukovsky, installed on Staropanskaya Square in the district town of N?
6. The priest of the Church of Frol and Lavra, Father Fyodor, studied at the university at the Faculty of Law in his youth. In what year did he enter university?
7. How many gold tens did Father Fyodor manage to save thanks to his commercial endeavors?
8. How much did Ostap Bender sell for the cunning device, the astrolabe, which “measures itself, there would be something to measure”?
9. Name the exact date Vorobyaninov and Bender met.
10. What was the main activity of the Stargorod enterprises “Odessa bagel artel “Moskovskie Baranki” and “Bystropack”?
11. What was it main mistake Father Fyodor when he visited Bartholomew Korobeinikov, after which all the misadventures of the priest began, which eventually led him to a psychiatric hospital?
12. What numbers were assigned to the first cars of the Stargorod tram?
13. What amount did Elena Stanislavovna Bour donate to the “Union of Sword and Ploughshare” at the first meeting of this organization?
14. Which Moscow station did people arrive from Kyiv and Odessa at the end of the 20s?
15. Name full name, patronymic and surname of the wife of the “vegetarian” Kolya, from whom the unlucky womanizer Vorobyaninov received a punch in the face.
16. Where is the error hidden in the announcement that Gritsatsuev’s widow gave to Stargorodskaya Pravda: “I beg those who know the location. Comrade Bender left home, 25 - 30 years old. Dressed in a green suit, yellow boots and a blue vest. Brunette. Indicated please message for decent remuneration St. Plekhanova, 15, Gritsatsueva"?
17. As you know, on the main platform of the station in Kharkov there is a monument to Father Fedor with a kettle in his hand. What is the free interpretation of the text of the novel by the authors of the monument, except for the fact that the face of Father Fyodor is given the features of Mikhail Pugovkin, who played him?
18. For what amount was the bill submitted to Vorobyaninov in the “exemplary canteen of MSPO Prague”, where he invited Lisa?
19. What was the real name of engineer Shchukin’s wife, Ellochka, the “cannibal”?
20. Indicate the actual author’s “flaw” in the phrase: “Maestro Sudeikin no longer fought for Neunyvako’s lovely sketch. He tried to preserve at least the solutions to the problems. After a struggle more intense than his fight with Lasker at the San Sebastian tournament, the maestro won a place for himself at the expense of “Court and Life”…” (Chapter 24, “Motorists’ Club”).
21. Another “problem” is hidden in the phrase “Reporter Persitsky was actively preparing for the bicentennial anniversary of the great mathematician Isaac Newton” (Chapter 28, “The Hen and the Pacific Cockerel”). Where exactly?
22. Where and when was Ostap Bender in prison?
23. How old was the Gambs living room set that Bender and Vorobyaninov were hunting for?
24. How many nails were required to upholster the seat of one Gumbs chair?
25. As you know, in Vasyuki Ostap Bender gave a session of simultaneous play on 30 boards. What openings and how many were played?
26. And one more author’s “puncture”. In chapter 36 (“View of a malachite puddle”) it is said: “On the sixth day, Ostap managed to make acquaintance with the fitter Mechnikov, the head of the hydraulic press...” What’s wrong here?
27. What was the last amount that Father Fyodor offered to engineer Bruns for General Popova’s suite, after which the bargaining on his part was stopped?
28. How long did Father Fyodor sit on the cliff opposite Queen Tamara’s castle?
29. How much money in total did Ostap Bender siphon from the chairman of the Odessa Bagel Artel (as well as the Stargorod Exchange Committee :-)), citizen Kislyarsky?
30. How much money did Vorobyaninov earn on his own during all his adventures in the company of Ostap Bender?

ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS

31. What were the real names of Ilf and Petrov?
32. In what way was the fate of Ostap Bender decided by the authors before writing last chapter"Twelve chairs"?
33. What famous actors Have you read the text from the author in the Soviet film adaptations of “12 Chairs” in 1971 and 1976? (Hint: Their last names are five letters long and end with a "t.")
34. What turned out to be the main (but still overcome) obstacle on Mikhail Pugovkin’s path to playing the role of Father Fyodor?
35. What are the similarities between: a) the one-eyed chess player and the mechanic Polesov; b) fitter Mechnikov and undertaker Bezenchuk; c) the “blue thief” Alchen and the editor of the newspaper “Stanok”?

Alas, the competition was clearly not a success, so there is no point in summing up the results. Only answers.

ANSWERS.

1. 52 years old.“...What was said upon awakening, “gut morgen,” usually meant that the liver was playing tricks, that fifty-two years was not a joke, and that the weather today was damp...” (Chapter 1, “Bezenchuk and the “nymphs”). In addition, in the chapter “A Lively Boy”, which was not included in the final version of the novel and was published as a separate story entitled “The Past of the Registrar’s Office”, it is directly written: “Ippolit Matveevich Vorobyaninov was born in 1875 in Stargorod district on the estate of his father Matvey Alexandrovich... ", and as you know, the action of the novel begins in 1927.
2. 27 years old. In chapter 35 (“And others”), Bender speaks about himself like this: “...They would write something completely different about me. They would write about me like this: “The second corpse belongs to a twenty-seven-year-old man. He loved and suffered..."
3. April 15, 1927, Friday.“...On Friday, April 15, 1927, Ippolit Matveevich, as usual, woke up at half past seven...” (Chapter 1, “Bezenchuk and the “nymphs”). From the same chapter it follows that on the same day Claudia Ivanovna had a stroke and died in the evening.
4. For seven years.“...registered with his own hand the death of Claudia Ivanovna Petukhova, fifty-nine years old, housewife, non-party member...” (Chapter 4, “Muse of Distant Travels”).
5. 29 years and 10 months.“...For the first time such an inscription appeared on a bust on June 15, 1897, on the night immediately after the opening of the monument. And no matter how hard the representatives of the police, and subsequently the police, tried, the blasphemous inscription was carefully renewed every day...” (Chapter 2, “The Death of Madame Petukhova”). Since, as we found out, the events of the novel begin on April 15, 1927, the calculations are not difficult to make.
6. In 1912.“... Having moved from seminary to university and having studied at the Faculty of Law for three years, Vostrikov in 1915 was afraid of possible mobilization and again took the spiritual path...” (Chapter 3, “Mirror of a Sinner”).
7. 20. “...tearing the lace and stitching, I took out a heavy linen sausage from the hood. The sausage contained twenty gold tens - all that remained from the commercial adventures of Father Fyodor...” (Chapter 3, “Mirror of a Sinner”).
8. For three rubles.“...By lunchtime the astrolabe was sold to a mechanic for three rubles...” (Chapter 5, “The Great Schemer”).
9. April 25, 1927. In Chapter 6 (“Brilliant Smoke”), on the very first day of their acquaintance, after concluding a “small agreement” on a joint search for Madame Petukhova’s treasure and an unsuccessful interrogation of the drunken janitor Tikhon, Ostap Bender bargained a bright blue garous vest from his companion for eight rubles. “...Ippolit Matveyevich blushed even more, took out a small notebook and wrote down in calligraphy: “25/IV27 - issued to Comrade Bender b. - 8...”
10. Speculation in manufactures.“...Despite the noticeable difference in signage and size working capital, both of these disparate enterprises were engaged in the same thing - they speculated in manufactures of all kinds...” (Chapter 10, “The Locksmith, the Parrot and the Fortune Teller”).
11. In chapter 11 (“Alphabet “Mirror of Life”), defrauded by Bender, Korobeinikov decided to take it out on the next visitor and handed Father Fyodor orders for a furniture set of General’s wife Popova - note the set of 12 chairs. “...-Everything in one place?” - the buyer exclaimed enthusiastically. “- One to one. Everyone is standing there. The set is wonderful. You'll lick your fingers..." Korobeinikov, of course, did not know that the day before Father Fyodor and Vorobyaninov had already gutted one chair, but why Father Fyodor himself forgot about this fact or did not attach importance to the fact that there were 12 chairs again is unclear.
12. 701 - 710. “...in which stood ten light green cars, numbered from 701 to 710...” (Chapter 13, “Breathe Deeply - You're Excited!”).
13. 12 rubles.“...- In total,” Ostap announced, “four hundred eighty-eight rubles. Eh! Twelve rubles are not enough for an even count..." Elena Stanislavovna, who had been bracing herself for a long time, went into the bedroom and took out the twelve rubles she was looking for in her reticule..." (Chapter 14, "The Union of the Sword and the Ploughshare")... By the way, the number 12 appears several times in the novel. These are 12 chairs, and 12 rubles of Elena Stanislavovna, and the same 12 rubles that Vorobyaninov had left after the “night of pleasures and pleasures” on the eve of the auction...
14. Bryansk.“...Representatives of Kyiv and Odessa enter the capital through the Bryansk station...” (Chapter 16, “The hostel named after the monk Berthold Schwartz”).
15. Elizaveta Petrovna Kalachova.“... when he was left alone for a minute with the charming citizen Kalachova, he wanted to tell her about all the sorrows and worries. “Yes,” he said, looking tenderly at his interlocutor, “that’s how it is.” How are you doing, Elizabeth..." “- Petrovna. What’s your name?..” (Chapter 18, “Museum of Furniture”).
16. Shoe color. In Chapter 12 (“A sultry woman is a poet’s dream”), Ostap Bender’s new clothes are repeatedly mentioned - crimson shoes that he purchased before his wedding with Gritsatsueva. It must be assumed that the widow suffered from a unique form of color blindness :-).
17. In chapter 20 (“From Seville to Grenada”) it is said: “...Father Fedor disappeared. It was not easy to wrap him around. They say that We saw him at the Popasnaya station, Donetsk roads. He ran along the platform with a kettle of boiling water..." So Kharkov is a little far-fetched here, although it was from the Kharkov station that Father Fyodor wrote his first letter to his wife.
18. 9 rubles 20 kopecks.“Ippolit Matveevich looked at the score for a long time, rocking on his chair... “Nine rubles and twenty kopecks? - he muttered. “Maybe I should give you the key to the apartment where the money is?” (Chapter 20, “From Seville to Grenada”).
19. Elena.“...Ernest Pavlovich tied his things in a large bundle, wrapped his boots in newspaper and turned to the door... “Your whole back is white,” Ellochka said in a gramophone voice...” “- Goodbye, Elena...” (Chapter 22 “Ellochka the Ogress”).
20. Of course, the surname Sudeikin is fictitious, but it can be assumed that underneath it hides a certain chess master who actually lived in those years. The author's mistake is that two representative tournaments were held in San Sebastian - in 1911 and 1912, but the then world champion Emanuel Lasker did not participate in either of them. Just like his namesake, American chess player Eduard Lasker... By the way, Ostap Bender, unlike his creators :-) had broader knowledge in this area. In Chapter 34 (“Interplanetary Chess Congress”) he asks the Vasyukinites: “What have you heard about the city of Semmering before? Nothing! And now this little town is rich and famous only because an international tournament was organized there.” Surprisingly, the person who “played chess for the second time in his life” in Vasyuki knows very well that the largest tournament of the year took place in Austrian Semmering in March 1926 with the participation of 18 famous chess players (prize-winners - R. Shpilman, A. Alekhine , M. Vidmar)…
21. The years of Isaac Newton's life are 1642 - 1727. Therefore, we are talking about the bicentenary of his death. Let us assume that such a day can be considered an anniversary, which should be celebrated in some way. But the great English physicist, mathematician, mechanic and astronomer died March 31 (or March 20 old style). Since the action of the novel begins on April 15, Persitsky was clearly late with “active preparations.”
22. “...When all the passes were issued and the light in the foyer was dimmed, Yakov Menelaevich remembered: he saw these clean eyes, this confident look in Taganskaya prison in 1922, when he himself was sitting there on a trivial matter..." (Chapter 30, "At the Columbus Theater").
23. 62 years old. In the chair that the partners stole and opened on the ship Scriabin, they found a greenish copper plate with the inscription “With this half-chair, Master Gumbs is starting a new desk.”і yu furniture. 1865 St. Petersburg" (Chapter 33, "Expulsion from Paradise").
24. Also 62 :-).“...Ippolit Matveyevich sat down on the floor, grabbed the chair with his sinewy legs and, with the composure of a dentist, began to pull copper nails out of the chair, not missing a single one. On the sixty-second nail his work ended... “(Chapter 40, “Treasure”).
25. “...On the third move it turned out that the grandmaster was playing eighteen Spanish parties. In the remaining twelve, black used, although outdated, but quite correct, the Philidor Defense..."(Chapter 34, "Interplanetary Chess Congress"). By the way, Philidor’s defense is determined already on Black’s second move (1. e2-e4 e7-e5 2. Kg1- f3 d7-d6).
26. In chapter 31 (“Magic night on the Volga”), that is five chapters earlier, the following is said: “Ostap, while still on the train, managed to talk with the head of the hydropress, fitter Mechnikov, and learned everything from him" This happened even before the companions sailed along the Volga on the Scriabin. Thus, Bender knew the fitter well long before Pyatigorsk, and, therefore, Ostap had no need to make acquaintance with him a second time in Pyatigorsk.
27. 141 rubles.“...And a minute later his voice came from the direction of Dumbasov’s dacha. “One hundred and forty-one,” suggested Father Fyodor, “not for the sake of self-interest, Mr. Bruns, but just…” Finally, the engineer could not stand it, went out into the middle of the veranda and, peering into the darkness, began to shout measuredly: “To hell with you!” Two hundred rubles! Just get rid of it..." The rustling of disturbed bamboos, a quiet groan and retreating steps were heard..."
28. 10 days.“...Ten days later, a fire brigade arrived from Vladikavkaz with the proper supply and supplies and removed Fyodor’s father...” (Chapter 38, “Under the Clouds”).
29. 800 rubles. 200 - in Stargorod, at the first meeting of the “Union of Sword and Ploughshare”, 500 in Tiflis (“...We will give you parabellum!..”) and the last 100 in Yalta.
30. According to facts that are accurate confirmed by text - 10 rubles 07 kopecks. Absalom Iznurenkov gave Vorobyaninov 50 kopecks “for his efforts” back in Moscow. By begging for alms, Ippolit Matveevich earned 7 rubles 29 kopecks in Pyatigorsk, 2 rubles in MinVody and 13 kopecks in Vladikavkaz. (Probably in Vladikavkaz there are more, because on the eve of leaving for Tiflis, Bender says to Vorobyaninov: “You need money for bread and amateur sausage. You can add a few Italian phrases to your vocabulary, but by the evening you must collect at least two rubles!..” However, It is not further said whether Kisa managed to earn the required amount.) Finally, Vorobyaninov received another 15 kopecks for dancing in front of the bus on the Georgian Military Road.
31. Ilya Arnoldovich Fainzilberg (1897-1937) and Evgeny Petrovich Kataev (1902-1942). It is interesting that the co-authors of “12 Chairs” and “The Golden Calf” lived approximately the same: Ilf - 39 years 5 months and 28 days (died of tuberculosis), Petrov - 39 years 5 months and 19 days (was a war correspondent and died returning from front on an airplane).
32. By lot. In the preface to “The Golden Calf,” the authors write about a major quarrel that arose between them before writing the last chapter of “12 Chairs” over whether to kill Ostap Bender or leave him alive: “... the fate of the hero was decided by lot. Two pieces of paper were placed in the sugar bowl, on one of which a skull and two chicken bones were depicted with a trembling hand. The skull came out - and half an hour later the great schemer was gone. He was cut with a razor..."
33. Rostislav Plyatt (1971) and Zinovy Gerdt (1976). It is curious that in the first film adaptation Plyatt could play Kisa Vorobyaninov, since Sergei Filippov began to have severe headaches due to a brain tumor, which he was diagnosed with back in 1965, and the filmmakers believed that the actor would not cope with the role. However, Plyatt categorically refused the role and insisted that it be left to Filippov. By the way, immediately after filming he underwent a course of treatment, after which he lived for another 20 years.
34. Mikhail Pugovkin's mother was a deeply religious person, and therefore Leonid Gaidai had to wait three weeks until she gave permission for her son to play a mischievous priest.
35. In two Soviet film adaptations these roles were played by the same actor: a) Savely Kramarov; b) Georgy Vitsin; c) Grigory Shpigel. In total, by the way, double appearances in the films of 1971 and 1976. 10 actors appeared in different roles at once. In addition to those mentioned, these are Eduard Bredun, Yuri Medvedev, Anatoly Kalabulin, Anatoly Obukhov, Vyacheslav Voinarovsky, Vladimir Ferapontov, and Pavel Vinnik turned out to be unique among them, since he managed to play a waiter twice, with a break of five years, in the Prague restaurant, where Vorobyaninov and Lisa were drinking .