For more than 150 years, the literary creation of Anthony Pogorelsky, the Black Tale, or Underground Inhabitants, has lived without losing its relevance. Summary The works and plan given below will allow readers to pay attention to the fact that universal human values ​​are very important to the author. It is about them that he tries to speak in the language of a fairy tale to the younger generation.

A magical fairy tale about underground inhabitants was written specifically for Alyosha Tolstoy, a student of Alexei Alekseevich Perovsky. This is the real name of the author of the story. He was the uncle of the future famous writer, playwright, public figure Alexey Konstantinovich Tolstoy.

In 1829, the fairy tale was published and immediately received enthusiastic responses from readers, critics, and teachers. Children's audiences also loved the fairy tale The Black Hen, or Underground Inhabitants. A summary and reviews of those who read the fairy tale were often published in the press of those times. Even then, the work was repeatedly republished as a separate book, and was also included in best collections for children's reading.

Fairy tale black chicken plan - detailed

Anthony Pogorelsky's fairy tale The Black Hen is a rather voluminous work and it is difficult to retell it in detail and in all details, so we will limit ourselves to a more general plan:

1. Boarding house for children. Alyosha. Likes to read books, waits for a sorceress, feeds chickens.
2. Alyosha is asked to catch a chicken, but he hides
3. Alyosha hears the captured Chernushka cackling and, running into the cook, asks to let her pet go. Alyosha gives the imperial to the cook. Chernushka is saved.
4. The arrival of the director, observations of the bald “knight” - the director.
5. Alyosha thought he heard Chernushka's voice
6. At night, a chicken called Alyosha and he followed her. The doors opened as if by magic. Old ladies' parrot screams "Fool"
7. The knights jumped off the wall. Battle of Chernushka with the knights. Chernushka is the winner.
8. Alyosha wakes up in his room and hears that Chernushka is missing.
9. At night Chernushka comes again and reprimands Alyosha that he woke up the parrot, and the parrot woke up the knights.
10. A new night journey, porcelain dolls, the same knights, but now peace-loving ones, a hall with golden armchairs.
11. The king appears and announces to Alyosha that he saved his minister - little man in which Alyosha recognizes Chernushka
12. The king offers Alyosha a reward. He asks to make sure that he always knows all the lessons.
13. They give him a hemp seed and demand complete silence about what he saw.
14. Alyosha visits the underground garden and diamond paths and menagerie, then ends up on a rat hunt
15. Alyosha talks with Chernushka the Minister and wakes up in bed
16. He finds a hemp seed in his pocket and it turns out that he knows all the lessons
17. Alyosha became proud and began to play pranks a lot, because he didn’t have to learn his homework, he already knew everything
18. But at one point Alyosha suddenly could not answer the teacher and he was locked up as punishment, he lost the grain.
19. Alyosha calls Chernushka, who comes at night and reprimands Alyosha that he does not recognize him. Chernushka returns the hemp seed to him.
20. Alyosha proudly answers the lesson, but cannot answer when he managed to learn 20 pages
21. They decided to punish Alyosha with rods. In fear, he talks about the black chicken, but they don’t believe him and whip him
22. Chernushka comes to say goodbye, because Alyosha revealed the secret of the underground inhabitants.
23. Alyosha fell ill, and after recovery everything began to seem like a dream to him. He could no longer learn 20 pages, but his comrades loved him.

Fairy tale black chicken outline - short

1. Alyosha saves Chernushka.
2. Chernushka leads Alyosha to the Underground City through the old women's room.
3. Meet the King underground city. Chernushka is a minister.
4. A gift to Alyosha in gratitude for saving Chernushka - the fulfillment of a wish. Magic grain.
5. Tour of the Underground City.
6. Alyosha tries the effect of the magic grain. Alyosha is a celebrity.
7. Alyosha becomes impudent and proud. Loss of grain. Alyosha's punishment.
8. Alyosha broke his word, betrayal.
9. Last Meeting with Chernushka. Residents leave the Underground City.
10. Alyosha becomes the same.

Summary of the tale The Black Hen

About forty years ago, in St. Petersburg on Vasilievsky Island, there lived the owner of a men's boarding house. Among the thirty or forty children studying at that boarding school, there was one boy named Alyosha, who was then no more than 9 or 10 years old.

His parents, who lived far, far from St. Petersburg, had brought him to the capital two years before, sent him to a boarding school and returned home, paying the teacher the agreed upon fee several years in advance. Alyosha was a smart, cute boy, he studied well, and everyone loved and caressed him.

The days of study passed quickly and pleasantly for him, but when Saturday came and all his comrades hurried home to their relatives, then Alyosha bitterly felt his loneliness. Alyosha fed the chickens, who lived near the fence in a house specially built for them and played and ran around in the yard all day. He especially loved the black crested one, named Chernushka. Chernushka was more affectionate to him than others.

One day, during the holiday, the cook was catching a chicken, and Alyosha, throwing himself on her neck, prevented Chernushka from being killed. For this he gave the cook an imperial - a gold coin, a gift from his grandmother.

After the holiday, he went to bed, almost fell asleep, but heard someone calling him. A little black girl came to him and said in a human voice: follow me, I’ll show you something nice. Get dressed quickly! And he boldly followed her. It was as if rays came out of her eyes and illuminated everything around them, although not as brightly as small candles. They walked through the hall.

“The door is locked with a key,” said Alyosha; but the chicken did not answer him: she flapped her wings, and the door opened by itself.

Then, having passed through the entryway, they turned to the rooms where hundred-year-old Dutch women lived. Alyosha had never visited them. The chicken flapped her wings again, and the door to the old woman’s chambers opened. We went into the second room, and Alyosha saw a gray parrot in a golden cage. Chernushka said not to touch anything.

Passing by the cat, Alyosha asked her for her paws... Suddenly she meowed loudly, the parrot ruffled its feathers and began shouting loudly: “Fool! fool! Chernushka hurriedly left, and Alyosha ran after her, the door slamming hard behind them...

Suddenly they entered the hall. On both sides hung knights in shining armor on the walls. Chernushka walked ahead on tiptoe and ordered Alyosha to follow her quietly and quietly... At the end of the hall there was a large door. As soon as they approached her, two knights jumped off the walls and rushed at the black chicken.

Chernushka raised her crest, spread her wings and suddenly became big, tall, taller than the knights, and began to fight with them! The knights advanced heavily on her, and she defended herself with her wings and nose. Alyosha became scared, his heart began to tremble violently, and he fainted.

The next night Chernushka came again. They went again, but this time Alyosha didn’t touch anything.

They entered another room. Chernushka left. Here a lot of little people came in, no more than half an arshin tall, in elegant colorful dresses. They didn't notice Alyosha. Then the king entered. Because Alyosha saved his minister, Alyosha now knew the lesson without teaching. The king gave him hemp seeds. And they asked not to tell anyone anything about them.

Classes began, and Alyosha knew every lesson. Chernushka did not come. At first Alyosha was ashamed, but then he got used to it.

Moreover, Alyosha became a terrible naughty man. One day the teacher, not knowing what to do with him, asked him to memorize twenty pages by the next morning and hoped that he would at least be more subdued that day. But on this day Alyosha was deliberately more naughty than usual. The next day I couldn’t utter a word because there were no seeds. He was taken to the bedroom and told to learn a lesson. But by lunchtime Alyosha still didn’t know the lesson. They left him there again. By nightfall Chernushka appeared and returned the grain to him, but asked him to improve.

The next day the lesson answered. The teacher asked when Alyosha learned his lesson. Alyosha was confused, they ordered him to bring rods. The teacher said that he would not spank him if Alyosha told him when he had learned his lesson. And Alyosha told everything, forgetting about the promise given to the dungeon king and his minister. The teacher did not believe it, and Alyosha was whipped.

Chernushka came to say goodbye. She was chained. She said that people will now have to move far away. I asked Alyosha to correct himself again.

The minister shook Alyosha's hand and disappeared under the next bed. The next morning Alyosha had a fever. After six weeks, Alyosha recovered and tried to be obedient, kind, modest and diligent. Everyone loved him again and began to caress him, and he became an example for his comrades, although he could no longer suddenly learn by heart twenty printed pages, which, however, were not assigned to him.

Tale of the Black Hen, or Underground Inhabitants, summary in parts

Antony Pogorelsky did not identify individual chapters in the tale. But the work is presented in such a way that the reader can easily find the semantic parts himself.

The first of them is dedicated, as mentioned above, to introducing the reader to the main characters of the events - the boy Alyosha and the chicken Chernukha. The story began after Alyosha persuaded the cook to let her beloved chicken live. He saved Chernushka by giving Trinushka an imperial - the most expensive thing he owned.

It soon becomes clear that the black chicken is very unusual. She is a minister to the king, who rules the people who have been living in these places underground for many, many years. Chernushka, in gratitude to the boy, wished to introduce him to a fantastic country.

After passing several tests, Alyosha ends up at a reception with the king. All the residents and the ruler himself are very grateful to Alyosha for the noble deed he performed in saving their minister. Everyone wants to thank the boy. After a conversation with the king, Alyosha receives a magical hemp seed as a gift, which made the boy, without any effort of his own, turn into best student schools. So that the grain does not lose its magical power, its owner should not have told anyone about the existence magical land. The secret must also be kept because after its announcement, all residents of the underground kingdom were obliged to leave their homeland forever, which would make them unhappy.

Return of Alyosha from the underground kingdom

This is exactly how the next part of the work The Black Chicken, or Underground Inhabitants can be titled. A chapter-by-chapter summary leads the reader to the events that will happen to the boy in real life.

Alyosha's school teachers and friends began to notice his unique learning abilities. The rumor about this quickly spread throughout the city. The boy's talent was noticed by everyone. And Alyosha himself quickly got used to signs of attention.

At first, he always remembered Chernushka, thanks to whom he gained popularity. But gradually he began to forget about his favorite chicken. He remembered her when he lost the hemp seed, and with it the ability to answer lessons without learning them.

The minister of the underground inhabitants immediately came to the aid of his friend. But, returning the lost treasure to the boy, he strongly advised him to think about what kind of person he had become. Alyosha was once again reminded of the need to keep the secrets of the underground inhabitants.

Final parts

The narrative of The Black Hen, or Underground Inhabitants, a summary of which is conveyed in the article, ends in an unusual way for a work of this genre.

The reader learns that the boy begins to be haunted by failures. He loses the trust of the boarding house teachers and his comrades. And most importantly, Alyosha realizes that he betrayed an entire people led by their king and the chicken minister. After all, he failed to keep the secret. All this leads the main character to difficult psychological experiences. But it was they who changed the boy, making him stronger.

Residents of the fairy tale black chicken

The tale of the Black Hen, or Underground Inhabitants, a summary of which is presented in the article, is no different big amount characters. All the events described in the work happen to a little boy Alyosha, who is 9-10 years old. He lives in St. Petersburg, in a boarding house for children. Here the boy receives an education.

One of the young pupil’s favorite pastimes was reading books, which he took from the personal library of his German teacher. Most it was composed chivalric novels. The stories described in them made a huge impression on Alyosha.

There was one more activity that gave the boy great pleasure. While walking around the yard, he loved to feed the chickens who lived here in a special building.

Among the birds was a chicken named Chernushka. She allowed Alyosha to come close to her and even stroke her feathers. This amused and surprised the boy. The chicken became another main character of the story.

Alyosha from the fairy tale Black Hen

Formation of Alyosha's character. Anthony Pogorelsky, who wrote the fairy tale The Black Hen, or the Underground Inhabitants, a summary of which is given here, along with the plot, repeatedly points to the character traits that his main character possessed.

At the beginning of the fairy tale, everyone sees a kind, shy boy who is loved by those around him. Then a magical gift, obtained in a simple way, changes Alyosha’s character. He becomes arrogant and disobedient. Loses friends, self-respect. But up to a certain point this doesn’t bother him much.

The author of the fairy tale The Black Hen, or Underground Inhabitants, warns young readers about the consequences of such behavior. The summary, the main characters of the work, and the plot lead to the conclusion that a person can obtain everything useful for the soul only through his own labor.

Listen to the tale of the black hen

Fairy tale Black chicken or Underground inhabitants read

About forty years ago in St. Petersburg, on Vasilyevsky Island, in the First Line, there lived the owner of a men's boarding house, which to this day, probably, remains in the fresh memory of many, although the house where the boarding house was located has long been has already given way to another, not at all similar to the previous one. At that time, our St. Petersburg was already famous throughout Europe for its beauty, although it was still nowhere near what it is now.

At that time, there were no cheerful shady alleys on the avenues of Vasilyevsky Island: wooden stages, often knocked together from rotten boards, took the place of today’s beautiful sidewalks. Isaac's Bridge - narrow and uneven at that time - presented a completely different appearance than it does now; and St. Isaac's Square itself was not like that at all.

Then the monument to Peter the Great was separated from St. Isaac's Church by a ditch; The Admiralty was not surrounded by trees; The Horse Guards riding arena did not decorate the square with its beautiful current façade; in a word, Petersburg then was not the same as it is now. Cities have, by the way, the advantage over people that they sometimes become more beautiful with age... however, that’s not what we’re talking about now.

Another time and on another occasion, perhaps I will talk to you at greater length about the changes that have taken place in St. Petersburg during my century, but now let’s turn again to the boarding house, which, about forty years ago, was located on Vasilyevsky Island, in the First Line .

The house, which now - as I already told you - you will not find, was about two floors, covered with Dutch tiles. The porch along which one entered it was wooden and overlooked the street... From the entryway a rather steep staircase led to the upper housing, which consisted of eight or nine rooms, in which the owner of the boarding house lived on one side, and on the other there were classrooms.

The dormitories, or children's bedrooms, were located on the lower floor, on the right side of the entryway, and on the left lived two old women, Dutch women, each of whom was more than a hundred years old and who saw Peter the Great with their own eyes and even spoke to him.

At the present time, it is unlikely that in all of Russia you will meet a person who would have seen Peter the Great: the time will come when our traces will be erased from the face of the earth! Everything passes, everything disappears in our mortal world... But that’s not what we’re talking about now!

Among the thirty or forty children studying at that boarding school, there was one boy named Alyosha, who was then no more than nine or ten years old. His parents, who lived far, far from St. Petersburg, had brought him to the capital two years earlier, sent him to a boarding school and returned home, paying the teacher the agreed upon fee several years in advance.

Alyosha was a smart, cute boy, he studied well, and everyone loved and caressed him; however, despite this, he was often bored at the boarding house, and sometimes even sad. Especially at first, he could not get used to the idea that he was separated from his family; but then, little by little, he began to get used to his situation, and there were even moments when, playing with his comrades, he thought that it was much more fun in the boarding house than in parental home.

In general, the days of study passed quickly and pleasantly for him; but when Saturday came and all his comrades hurried home to their relatives, then Alyosha bitterly felt his loneliness. On Sundays and holidays he was left alone all day, and then his only consolation was reading books that the teacher allowed him to take from his small library.

The teacher was a German by birth, and at that time in German literature the fashion for knightly novels and fairy tales prevailed, and the library that our Alyosha used consisted mostly of books of this kind.

So, Alyosha, while still ten years old, already knew by heart the deeds of the most glorious knights, at least as they were described in the novels. His favorite pastime during long periods of time winter evenings, on Sundays and others holidays, it was mentally transported to ancient, long-past centuries...

Especially during vacant times - such as Christmas or Easter Sunday - when he was separated for a long time from his comrades, when he often sat in solitude for whole days - his young imagination wandered through knightly castles, through terrible ruins or through dark dense forests.

I forgot to tell you that this house had a fairly spacious courtyard, separated from the alley by a wooden fence made of baroque planks. The gate and gate that led to the alley were always locked, and therefore Alyosha never had the opportunity to visit this alley, which greatly aroused his curiosity.

Whenever they allowed him to play in the yard during rest hours, his first movement was to run up to the fence. Here he stood on tiptoe and looked intently into the round holes with which the fence was dotted.

Alyosha did not know that these holes came from the wooden nails with which the barges had previously been knocked together, and it seemed to him that some kind sorceress had drilled these holes on purpose for him. He kept expecting that someday this sorceress would appear in the alley and through the hole would give him a toy, or a talisman, or a letter from daddy or mummy, from whom he had not received any news for a long time. But, to his extreme regret, no one even resembling the sorceress appeared.

Alyosha’s other occupation was to feed the chickens, who lived near the fence in a house specially built for them and played and ran around in the yard all day long. Alyosha got to know them very briefly, knew everyone by name, broke up their fights, and the bully punished them by sometimes not giving them anything from the crumbs for several days in a row, which he always collected from the tablecloth after lunch and dinner.

Among the chickens, he especially loved one black crested one, named Chernushka. Chernushka was more affectionate to him than others; she even sometimes allowed herself to be stroked, and therefore Alyosha brought her the best pieces. She was of a quiet disposition; she rarely walked with others and seemed to love Alyosha more than her friends.

One day (it was during the holidays between New Year and Epiphany - the day was beautiful and unusually warm, no more than three or four degrees below zero) Alyosha was allowed to play in the yard. That day the teacher and his wife were in great trouble. They gave lunch to the director of the schools, and the day before, from morning until late evening, they washed the floors everywhere in the house, wiped the dust and waxed the mahogany tables and chests of drawers.

The teacher himself went to buy provisions for the table: Arkhangelsk veal, a huge ham and Kiev jam from the Milyutin shops. Alyosha also, to the best of his ability, contributed to the preparations: he was forced to cut out a beautiful mesh for a ham from white paper and decorate with paper carvings the specially purchased six wax candles.

On the appointed day, early in the morning, the hairdresser appeared and showed his art on the teacher’s curls, toupee and long braid. Then he set to work on his wife, pomaded and powdered her curls and hairpiece, and piled a whole greenhouse on her head. different colors, between which shone skillfully placed two diamond rings, once given to her husband by her students’ parents.

After finishing the headdress, she threw on an old, worn-out robe and went to work on the housework, watching strictly so that her hair would not somehow get damaged; and for this reason she herself did not enter the kitchen, but gave her orders to the cook, standing in the doorway. When necessary, she sent her husband there, whose hair was not so high.

During all these worries, our Alyosha was completely forgotten, and he took advantage of this to play in the yard in the open space. As was his custom, he first approached the plank fence and looked through the hole for a long time; but even on this day almost no one passed along the alley, and with a sigh he turned to his kind chickens.

Before he had time to sit down on the log and had just begun to beckon them to him, he suddenly saw a cook next to him with a large knife. Alyosha never liked this cook - an angry and scolding little girl; but since he noticed that she was the reason that the number of his chickens was decreasing from time to time, he began to love her even less.

When one day he accidentally saw in the kitchen a pretty, very beloved cockerel, hanging by the legs with its throat cut, he felt horror and disgust for her. Seeing her now with a knife, he immediately guessed what it meant - and, feeling with grief that he was unable to help his friends, he jumped up and ran far away.

- Alyosha, Alyosha! Help me catch the chicken! - the cook shouted.

But Alyosha began to run even faster, hid behind the fence and did not notice how tears rolled out of his eyes one after another and fell to the ground.

He stood by the chicken coop for quite a long time, and his heart was beating strongly, while the cook ran around the yard, either beckoning to the chickens: “Chick, chick, chick!”, or scolding them in Chukhon.

Suddenly Alyosha’s heart began to beat even faster... he thought he heard the voice of his beloved Chernushka!

She cackled in the most desperate way, and it seemed to him that she was shouting:

Where, where, where, where, where

Alyosha, save Chernukha!

Kuduhu, kuduhu,

Chernukha, Chernukha!

Alyosha could not remain in his place any longer... he, sobbing loudly, ran to the cook and threw himself on her neck at the very moment she caught Chernushka by the wing.

- Dear, dear Trinushka! - he cried, shedding tears. - Please don’t touch my Chernukha!

Alyosha threw himself so suddenly on the cook’s neck that she lost Chernushka from her hands, who, taking advantage of this, flew out of fear onto the roof of the barn and continued cackling there. But Alyosha now heard as if she were teasing the cook and shouting:

Where, where, where, where, where

You didn't catch Chernukha!

Kuduhu, kuduhu,

Chernukha, Chernukha!

Meanwhile, the cook was beside herself with frustration!

- Rummal pois! [A stupid boy! (Finnish)] - she shouted. “Now I’ll fall into cassain and fool around.” Shorna kuris nada cut... He's lazy... he doesn't do anything, he doesn't sit still.

Then she wanted to run to the teacher, but Alyosha did not allow her. He clung to the hem of her dress and began to beg so touchingly that she stopped.

- Darling, Trinushka! - he said. - You are so pretty, clean, kind... Please leave my Chernushka! Look what I'll give you if you're kind!

Alyosha took out of his pocket an imperial coin, which made up his entire estate, which he cherished more than his own eyes, because it was a gift from his kind grandmother... The cook looked at the gold coin, looked around the windows of the house to make sure that no one saw them, and extended hand for the imperial... Alyosha was very, very sorry for the imperial, but he remembered Chernushka - and with firmness he gave the precious gift to the Chukhonka.

Thus Chernushka was saved from cruel and inevitable death.

As soon as the cook retired into the house, Chernushka flew off the roof and ran up to Alyosha. She seemed to know that he was her savior: she circled around him, flapping her wings and clucking in a cheerful voice. All morning she followed him around the yard like a dog, and it seemed as if she wanted to tell him something, but couldn’t. At least he couldn't make out her cackling sounds.

About two hours before dinner, guests began to gather. Alyosha was called upstairs, they put on a shirt with a round collar and cambric cuffs with small folds, white trousers and a wide blue silk sash. His long brown hair, which hung almost to his waist, was thoroughly combed, divided into two even parts and placed in front on both sides of his chest. This is how children were dressed up back then.

Then they taught him how he should shuffle his foot when the director enters the room, and what he should answer if any questions are asked of him.

At another time, Alyosha would have been very happy about the arrival of the director, whom he had long wanted to see, because, judging by the respect with which the teacher and teacher spoke of him, he imagined that this must be some famous knight in shiny armor and helmet with large feathers. But that time, this curiosity gave way to the thought that exclusively occupied him then - about the black chicken.

He kept imagining how the cook was running after her with a knife and how Chernushka was cackling in different voices. Moreover, he was very annoyed that he could not make out what she wanted to tell him - and he was drawn to the chicken coop... But there was nothing to do: he had to wait until lunch was over!

Finally the director arrived. His arrival was announced by the teacher, who had been sitting by the window for a long time, looking intently in the direction from which they were waiting for him. Everything was in motion: the teacher rushed headlong out of the door to meet him below at the porch; the guests got up from their places, and even Alyosha forgot about his chicken for a minute and went to the window to watch the knight get off his zealous horse.

But he did not manage to see him, for he had already entered the house; at the porch, instead of a zealous horse, there stood an ordinary carriage sleigh. Alyosha was very surprised by this! “If I were a knight,” he thought, “I would never drive a cab - but always on horseback!”

Meanwhile, all the doors were opened wide, and the teacher began to curtsey in anticipation of such an honorable guest, who soon appeared. At first it was impossible to see him behind the fat teacher who stood right in the doorway; but when she, having finished her long greeting, sat down lower than usual, Alyosha, to extreme surprise, saw from behind her... not a feathered helmet, but just a small bald head, whitely powdered, the only decoration of which, as Alyosha later noticed, was a small bun !

When he entered the living room, Alyosha was even more surprised to see that, despite the simple gray tailcoat that the director wore instead of shiny armor, everyone treated him with unusual respect.

No matter how strange all this seemed to Alyosha, no matter how much at another time he would have been delighted by the unusual decoration of the table, on which the ham decorated with it also paraded, but on that day he did not pay much attention to it. The morning incident with Chernushka kept wandering through his head.

Dessert was served: various kinds jams, apples, bergamots, dates, wine berries and walnuts; but even here he did not stop thinking about his chicken for a single moment, and they had just gotten up from the table when, with his heart trembling with fear and hope, he approached the teacher and asked if he could go play in the yard.

“Come,” answered the teacher, “just be there for a short time; it will soon become dark.

Alyosha hastily put on his red cap with squirrel fur and a green velvet cap with a sable band and ran to the fence. When he arrived there, the chickens had already begun to gather for the night and, sleepy, were not very happy about the crumbs he had brought.

Only Chernushka seemed to have no desire to sleep: she ran up to him cheerfully, flapped her wings and began to cackle again. Alyosha played with her for a long time; Finally, when it became dark and it was time to go home, he himself closed the chicken coop, making sure in advance that his dear chicken sat on the pole. When he left the chicken coop, it seemed to him that Chernushka’s eyes glowed in the dark like stars, and that she quietly said to him:

- Alyosha, Alyosha! Stay with me!

Alyosha returned to the house and sat alone in the classrooms all evening, while at the other half of the hour until eleven the guests stayed and played whist at several tables. Before they parted, Alyosha went to the bedroom downstairs, undressed, went to bed and put out the fire. For a long time he could not fall asleep; Finally, sleep overcame him, and he had just managed to talk with Chernushka in his sleep when, unfortunately, he was awakened by the noise of the guests leaving.

A little later, the teacher, who was seeing off the director with a candle, entered his room, looked to see if everything was in order, and went out, locking the door with the key.

It was a month's night, and through the shutters, which were not tightly closed, a pale ray of moonlight fell into the room. Alyosha was lying with with open eyes and listened for a long time as in the upper dwelling, above his head, they walked from room to room and put chairs and tables in order. Finally everything calmed down...

He looked at the bed next to him, slightly illuminated by the monthly glow, and noticed that white sheet hanging almost to the floor, moved easily. He began to peer more closely... he heard as if something was scratching under the bed, and a little later it seemed that someone was calling him in a quiet voice:

- Alyosha, Alyosha!

Alyosha was scared!.. He was alone in the room, and the thought immediately occurred to him that there must be a thief under the bed. But then, judging that the thief would not have called him by name, he became somewhat encouraged, although his heart was trembling. He rose a little in bed and saw even more clearly that the sheet was moving... he heard even more clearly that someone was saying:

- Alyosha, Alyosha!

Suddenly the white sheet lifted, and out from under it came... a black chicken!

- Ah! It's you, Chernushka! - Alyosha cried out involuntarily. - How did you come here?

Chernushka flapped her wings, flew up to his bed and said in a human voice:

- It's me, Alyosha! You're not afraid of me, are you?

- Why should I be afraid of you? - he answered. - I love you; It’s only strange for me that you speak so well: I didn’t know at all that you could speak!

“If you are not afraid of me,” the hen continued, “then follow me; I'll show you something nice. Get dressed quickly!

- How funny you are, Chernushka! - said Alyosha. - How can I get dressed in the dark? Now I won’t find my dress; I can hardly see you too!

“I’ll try to help,” said the chicken.

Then she cackled in a strange voice, and suddenly, out of nowhere, small candles appeared in silver chandeliers, no bigger than Alyosha’s little finger. These sandals ended up on the floor, on the chairs, on the windows, even on the washstand, and the room became as light as if it were daytime. Alyosha began to dress, and the hen handed him a dress, and thus he was soon completely dressed.

When Alyosha was ready, Chernushka cackled again, and all the candles disappeared.

“Follow me,” she told him, and he boldly followed her. It was as if rays came out of her eyes and illuminated everything around them, although not as brightly as small candles. They walked through the front...

“The door is locked with a key,” said Alyosha; but the chicken did not answer him: she flapped her wings, and the door opened by itself...

Then, having passed through the hallway, they turned to the rooms where hundred-year-old Dutch women lived. Alyosha had never visited them, but he had heard that their rooms were decorated in the old-fashioned way, that one of them had a large gray parrot, and the other had a gray cat, very smart, who knew how to jump through a hoop and give her paw.

He had long wanted to see all this, and therefore he was very happy when the chicken flapped its wings again and the door to the old woman’s chambers opened. In the first room Alyosha saw all sorts of strange furniture: carved chairs, armchairs, tables and chests of drawers.

The large couch was made of Dutch tiles, on which people and animals were painted in blue. Alyosha wanted to stop to look at the furniture, and especially the figures on the couch, but Chernushka did not allow him.

They entered the second room - and then Alyosha was happy! A large gray parrot with a red tail sat in a beautiful golden cage. Alyosha immediately wanted to run up to him. Chernushka again did not allow him.

“Don’t touch anything here,” she said. - Be careful not to wake up the old ladies!

Only then did Alyosha notice that next to the parrot there was a bed with white muslin curtains, through which he could make out an old woman lying with eyes closed: she seemed to him like wax.

In another corner there was an identical bed where another old woman was sleeping, and next to her sat a gray cat and washed itself with its front paws. Passing by her, Alyosha could not resist asking her for her paws...

Suddenly she meowed loudly, the parrot ruffled its feathers and began shouting loudly: “Stupid! Stupid!” At that very time, it was visible through the muslin curtains that the old women sat up in bed... Chernushka hurriedly left, Alyosha ran after her, the door slammed hard behind them... and for a long time the parrot could be heard shouting: “Stupid! Stupid!”

- Aren `t you ashamed! - said Chernushka when they moved away from the old women’s rooms. - You probably woke up the knights...

- Which knights? - asked Alyosha.

“You will see,” answered the chicken. - Don’t be afraid, however, nothing, follow me boldly.

They went down the stairs, as if into a cellar, and walked for a long, long time along various passages and corridors that Alyosha had never seen before. Sometimes these corridors were so low and narrow that Alyosha was forced to bend down.

Suddenly they entered a hall illuminated by three large crystal chandeliers. The hall had no windows, and on both sides hung on the walls knights in shiny armor, with large feathers on their helmets, with spears and shields in iron hands. Chernushka walked forward on tiptoe and ordered Alyosha to follow her quietly, quietly...

At the end of the hall there was a large door made of light yellow copper. As soon as they approached her, two knights jumped from the walls, struck their spears on their shields and rushed at the black chicken. Chernushka raised her crest and spread her wings...

Suddenly she became big, big, taller than the knights, and began to fight with them! The knights advanced heavily on her, and she defended herself with her wings and nose. Alyosha became scared, his heart began to flutter violently - and he fainted.

When he came to his senses again, the sun was illuminating the room through the shutters, and he was lying in his bed: neither Chernushka nor the knights were visible. For a long time Alyosha could not come to his senses.

He did not understand what happened to him at night: did he see everything in a dream or did it really happen? He got dressed and went upstairs, but he could not get out of his head what he had seen the previous night.

He was looking forward to the moment when he could go play in the yard, but all that day, as if on purpose, it was snowing heavily, and it was impossible to even think about leaving the house.

During lunch, the teacher, among other conversations, announced to her husband that the black chicken had hidden in some unknown place.

“However,” she added, “it wouldn’t be a big problem even if she disappeared; she had long been assigned to the kitchen. Imagine, my dear, that since she has been in our house, she has not laid a single egg.

Alyosha almost began to cry, although the thought occurred to him that it would be better for her not to be found anywhere than for her to end up in the kitchen.

After lunch, Alyosha was again left alone in the classrooms. He constantly thought about what happened the previous night, and could not console himself about the loss of his dear Chernushka. Sometimes it seemed to him that he must certainly see her the next night, despite the fact that she had disappeared from the hen house; but then it seemed to him that this was an impossible task, and he again plunged into sadness.

It was time to go to bed, and Alyosha impatiently undressed and went to bed. Before he had time to look at the next bed, again illuminated by a quiet moonlight, as the white sheet moved - just like the day before... Again he heard a voice calling him: “Alyosha, Alyosha!” - and a little later Chernushka came out from under the bed and flew up to his bed.

- Ah! Hello, Chernushka! - he cried beside himself with joy. “I was afraid that I would never see you; are you healthy?

“I’m healthy,” answered the hen, “but I almost fell ill due to your mercy.”

- How is it, Chernushka? - Alyosha asked, frightened.

“You are a good boy,” the hen continued, “but at the same time you are flighty and never obey the first word, and this is not good!” Yesterday I told you not to touch anything in the old women’s rooms, despite the fact that you couldn’t resist asking the cat for a paw. The cat woke up the parrot, the old women's parrot, the old women's knights - and I managed to cope with them!

“I’m sorry, dear Chernushka, I won’t go forward!” Please take me there again today. You will see that I will be obedient.

“Okay,” said the chicken, “we’ll see!”

The hen cackled as the day before, and the same small candles appeared in the same silver chandeliers. Alyosha got dressed again and went to get the chicken. Again they entered the old women's chambers, but this time he did not touch anything.

When they passed through the first room, it seemed to him that the people and animals drawn on the couch were making various funny faces and beckoning him to them, but he deliberately turned away from them. In the second room, the old Dutch women, just like the day before, lay in beds like wax; the parrot looked at Alyosha and blinked his eyes; The gray cat was washing itself with its paws again.

On the dressing table in front of the mirror, Alyosha saw two porcelain Chinese dolls, which he had not noticed yesterday. They nodded their heads to him, but he remembered Chernushka’s order and walked on without stopping, but he could not resist bowing to them in passing.

The dolls immediately jumped off the table and ran after him, all nodding their heads. He almost stopped - they seemed so funny to him; but Chernushka looked back at him with an angry look, and he came to his senses.

The dolls accompanied them to the door and, seeing that Alyosha was not looking at them, returned to their places.

They again went down the stairs, walked along passages and corridors and came to the same hall, illuminated by three crystal chandeliers. The same knights were hanging on the walls, and again - when they approached the door made of yellow copper - two knights came down from the wall and blocked their way. It seemed, however, that they were not as angry as the day before; they barely dragged their feet, like autumn flies, and it was clear that they held their spears with force...

Chernushka became big and ruffled; but as soon as she hit them with her wings, they fell apart - and Alyosha saw that they were empty armor! The copper door opened of its own accord, and they moved on. A little later they entered another hall, spacious, but low, so that Alyosha could reach the ceiling with his hand.

This hall was lit by the same small candles that he had seen in his room, but the candlesticks were not silver, but gold. Here Chernushka left Alyosha.

“Stay here a little,” she told him, “I’ll come back soon.” Today you were smart, although you acted carelessly by worshiping porcelain dolls. If you had not bowed to them, the knights would have remained on the wall. However, you didn’t wake up the old ladies today, and that’s why the knights had no power. - After this, Chernushka left the hall.

Left alone, Alyosha began to carefully examine the hall, which was very richly decorated. It seemed to him that the walls were made of Labradorite, such as he had seen in the mineral cabinet available in the boarding house; the panels and doors were of pure gold. At the end of the hall, under a green canopy, on an elevated place, there were armchairs made of gold.

Alyosha really admired this decoration, but it seemed strange to him that everything was in the smallest form, as if for small dolls.

While he was looking at everything with curiosity, a side door, previously unnoticed by him, opened, and a lot of small people, no more than half an arshin tall, in elegant multi-colored dresses, entered. Their appearance was important: some looked like military men by their attire, others looked like civil officials.

They all wore round hats with feathers, like the Spanish ones. They did not notice Alyosha, walked sedately through the rooms and spoke loudly to each other, but he could not understand what they were saying. He looked at them silently for a long time and just wanted to approach one of them with a question, when a large door opened at the end of the hall...

Everyone fell silent, stood in two rows against the walls and took off their hats. In an instant the room became even brighter; all the small candles lit up even brighter - and Alyosha saw twenty little knights, in golden armor, with crimson feathers on their helmets, who entered in pairs in a quiet march. Then, in deep silence, they stood on both sides of the chairs.

A little later a man with a majestic posture entered the hall, wearing a shining crown on his head. precious stones. He wore a light green robe, lined with mouse fur, with a long train carried by twenty little pages in crimson dresses. Alyosha immediately guessed that it must be the king.

He bowed low to him. The king responded to his bow very affectionately and sat down in the golden chairs. Then he ordered something to one of the knights standing next to him, who approached Alyosha and told him to come closer to the chairs. Alyosha obeyed.

“I have known for a long time,” said the king, “that you are a good boy; but the day before yesterday you rendered a great service to my people and for that you deserve a reward. My chief minister informed me that you saved him from inevitable and cruel death.

- When? - Alyosha asked in surprise.

“It’s yesterday,” answered the king. - This is the one who owes his life to you.

Alyosha looked at the one to whom the king was pointing, and then only noticed that between the courtiers stood small man, dressed all in black. On his head he had a special kind of crimson-colored cap, with teeth at the top, worn slightly to one side; and on his neck there was a scarf, very starched, which made it look a little bluish.

He smiled touchingly, looking at Alyosha, to whom his face seemed familiar, although he could not remember where he had seen him.

No matter how flattering it was for Alyosha that such a noble deed was attributed to him, he loved the truth and therefore, bowing deeply, said:

- Mister King! I can't take it personally for something I've never done. The other day I had the good fortune to save from death not your minister, but our black hen, which the cook did not like because she did not lay a single egg...

- What are you saying? - the king interrupted him with anger. - My minister is not a chicken, but an honored official!

Then the minister came closer, and Alyosha saw that in fact it was his dear Chernushka. He was very happy and asked the king for an apology, although he could not understand what this meant.

- Tell me what do you want? - continued the king. “If I am able, I will certainly fulfill your demand.”

- Speak boldly, Alyosha! - the minister whispered in his ear.

Alyosha became thoughtful and didn’t know what to wish. If they had given him more time, he might have come up with something good; but since it seemed discourteous to him to make him wait for the king, he hastened to answer.

“I would like,” he said, “that, without studying, I would always know my lesson, no matter what I was given.”

“I didn’t think you were such a sloth,” answered the king, shaking his head. - But there is nothing to do: I must fulfill my promise.

He waved his hand, and the page brought a golden dish on which lay one hemp seed.

“Take this seed,” said the king. “As long as you have it, you will always know your lesson, no matter what you are given, with the condition, however, that under no pretext do you say a single word to anyone about what you saw here or will see in the future.” The slightest immodesty will deprive you of our favors forever, and will cause us a lot of trouble and trouble.

Alyosha took the hemp grain, wrapped it in a piece of paper and put it in his pocket, promising to be silent and modest. The king then got up from his chair and left the hall in the same order, first ordering the minister to treat Alyosha as best he could.

As soon as the king left, all the courtiers surrounded Alyosha and began to caress him in every possible way, expressing their gratitude for the fact that he had saved the minister. They all offered him their services: some asked if he wanted to take a walk in the garden or see the royal menagerie; others invited him to hunt.

Alyosha didn’t know what to decide. Finally, the minister announced that he himself would show the underground rarities to his dear guest.

First he took him to the garden, arranged in English style. The paths were strewn with large multi-colored reeds, reflecting the light from countless small lamps with which the trees were hung. Alyosha really liked this shine.

“You call these stones,” said the minister, “precious.” These are all diamonds, yachts, emeralds and amethysts.

- Oh, if only our paths were strewn with this! - Alyosha cried.

“Then they would be just as valuable to you as they are here,” answered the minister.

The trees also seemed extremely beautiful to Alyosha, although at the same time very strange. They were different color: red, green, brown, white, blue and purple. When he looked at them with attention, he saw that they were nothing more than various kinds of moss, only taller and thicker than usual. The minister told him that this moss was ordered by the king for a lot of money from distant countries and from the very depths of the globe.

From the garden they went to the menagerie. There they showed Alyosha wild animals that were tied on golden chains. Peering more closely, he, to his surprise, saw that these wild animals were nothing more than large rats, moles, ferrets and similar animals living in the ground and under floors. He found this very funny, but out of politeness he did not say a word.

Returning to the rooms after the walk, Alyosha big hall I found a set table on which all sorts of sweets, pies, pates and fruits were placed. The dishes were all made of pure gold, and the bottles and glasses were carved from solid diamonds, yachts and emeralds.

“Eat whatever you want,” said the minister, “you are not allowed to take anything with you.”

Alyosha had a very good dinner that day, and therefore he did not feel like eating at all.

“You promised to take me hunting with you,” he said.

“Very good,” answered the minister. “I think the horses are already saddled.”

Then he whistled, and the grooms came in, leading with reins - sticks, the knobs of which were carved and represented horses' heads. The minister jumped onto his horse with great dexterity; Alyosha was let down much more than others.

“Be careful,” said the minister, “that the horse doesn’t throw you off: it’s not one of the quietest.”

Alyosha laughed internally at this, but when he took the stick between his legs, he saw that the minister’s advice was not useless. The stick began to dodge and maneuver under him, like a real horse, and he could barely sit up.

Meanwhile, the horns were blown, and the hunters began to gallop at full speed along various passages and corridors. They galloped like this for a long time, and Alyosha did not lag behind them, although he could hardly restrain his mad stick...

Suddenly, several rats jumped out from one side corridor, the largest rats Alyosha had ever seen. They wanted to run past, but when the minister ordered them to be surrounded, they stopped and began to defend themselves bravely.

Despite this, however, they were defeated by the courage and skill of the hunters. Eight rats lay down on the spot, three took flight, and the minister ordered one, quite seriously wounded, to be cured and taken to the menagerie.

At the end of the hunt, Alyosha was so tired that his eyes involuntarily closed... with all that, he wanted to talk about many things with Chernushka, and he asked permission to return to the hall from which they left for the hunt.

The minister agreed to this; They rode back at a fast trot and, upon arriving in the hall, handed the horses over to the grooms, bowed to the courtiers and hunters, and sat down next to each other on the chairs brought to them.

“Tell me, please,” Alyosha began, “why did you kill the poor rats that don’t bother you and live so far from your home?”

“If we had not exterminated them,” said the minister, “they would soon have kicked us out of our rooms and destroyed all our food supplies.” In addition, mice and rat furs have a high price in our country because of their lightness and softness. Some noble persons are allowed to use them here.

- Tell me, please, who are you? - Alyosha continued.

“Have you never heard that our people live underground?” - answered the minister. - True, not many people manage to see us, but there were examples, especially in the old days, of us coming out into the world and showing ourselves to people. Now this rarely happens because people have become very immodest.

And we have a law that if the one to whom we have appeared does not keep this a secret, then we are forced to immediately leave our location and go far, far away to other countries. You can easily imagine that it would be sad for our king to leave all the local establishments and move with the whole people to unknown lands.

And therefore I earnestly ask you to be as modest as possible, because otherwise you will make us all unhappy, and especially me. Out of gratitude, I begged the king to call you here; but he will never forgive me if, due to your immodesty, we are forced to leave this region...

- I'm giving you honestly“that I will never talk about you to anyone,” Alyosha interrupted him. “I now remember that I read in one book about gnomes who live underground. They write that in a certain city a shoemaker became very rich at the very a short time, so no one understood where his wealth came from. Finally, somehow they found out that he sewed boots and shoes for the gnomes, who paid him very dearly for it.

“Perhaps this is true,” answered the minister.

“But,” Alyosha said to him, “explain to me, dear Chernushka, why do you, being a minister, appear in the world in the form of a chicken and what connection do you have with the old Dutch women?”

Chernushka, wanting to satisfy his curiosity, began to tell him in detail about many things; but at the very beginning of her story, Aleshina’s eyes closed and he fell fast asleep. When he woke up the next morning, he was lying in his bed.

For a long time he could not come to his senses and did not know what to think... Blackie and the minister, the king and the knights, the Dutch women and the rats - all this was mixed up in his head, and he mentally put in order everything he had seen the previous night.

Remembering that the king had given him hemp seed, he hastily rushed to his dress and actually found in his pocket a piece of paper in which the hemp seed was wrapped. “We’ll see,” he thought, whether the king will keep his word! Classes start tomorrow, and I haven’t learned all my lessons yet.”

The history lesson particularly bothered him: he was asked to memorize several pages from Shrek's " World history“, and he didn’t know a single word yet! Monday came, the boarders arrived, and classes began. From ten o'clock to twelve o'clock the owner of the boarding house taught history.

Alyosha’s heart was beating fast...

Until it was his turn, he several times felt the piece of paper with a hemp seed in his pocket...

Finally he was called. With trepidation, he approached the teacher, opened his mouth, not yet knowing what to say, and - unmistakably, without stopping, he said what was asked. The teacher praised him very much, but Alyosha did not accept his praise with the pleasure that he had previously felt in similar cases. An inner voice told him that he did not deserve this praise, because this lesson did not cost him any work.

For several weeks, the teachers could not praise Alyosha enough. Without exception, he knew all the lessons perfectly, all the translations from one language to another were without errors, so one could not be surprised at his extraordinary successes. Alyosha was internally ashamed of these praises: he was ashamed that they were setting him up as an example to his comrades, when he did not deserve it at all.

During this time, Chernushka did not come to him, despite the fact that Alyosha, especially in the first weeks after receiving the hemp seed, did not miss almost a single day without calling her when he went to bed.

At first he was very sad about it, but then he calmed down with the thought that she was probably busy important matters according to his rank. Subsequently, the praise that everyone showered on him occupied him so much that he rarely remembered her.

Meanwhile, rumors about his extraordinary abilities soon spread throughout the whole of St. Petersburg. The director of the schools himself came to the boarding school several times and admired Alyosha. The teacher carried him in his arms, for through him the boarding house entered into glory.

Parents came from all over the city and pestered him to take their children into his home, in the hope that they too would be scientists like Alyosha. Soon the boarding house was so full that there was no longer room for new boarders, and the teacher and teacher began to think about renting a house, much larger than the one in which they lived.

Alyosha, as I said above, at first was ashamed of the praise, feeling that he did not deserve it at all, but little by little he began to get used to it, and finally his pride reached the point that he accepted, without blushing, the praise that was showered on him .

He began to think a lot about himself, put on airs in front of other boys and imagined that he was much better and smarter than all of them. As a result, Aleshin’s character completely deteriorated: from a kind, sweet and modest boy, he became proud and disobedient.

His conscience often reproached him for this, and his inner voice said to him:

“Alyosha, don’t be proud! Do not attribute to yourself what does not belong to you; thank fate for giving you advantages against other children, but do not think that you are better than them. If you don’t improve, then no one will love you, and then you, with all your learning, will be the most unfortunate child!”

Sometimes he even intended to improve; but, unfortunately, his pride was so strong that it drowned out the voice of his conscience, and he became worse day by day, and day by day his comrades loved him less.

Moreover, Alyosha became a terrible naughty man. Having no need to repeat the lessons that were assigned to him, he was engaged in pranks while other children were preparing for classes, and this idleness spoiled his character even more.

Finally, everyone was so tired of him with his bad temper that the teacher started seriously think about ways to correct this bad boy- and for this purpose he gave him lessons twice and three times greater than others; but this didn’t help at all. Alyosha did not study at all, but still knew the lesson from beginning to end, without the slightest mistake.

One day the teacher, not knowing what to do with him, asked him to memorize twenty pages by the next morning and hoped that he would at least be more subdued that day. Where! Our Alyosha didn’t even think about the lesson! On this day he deliberately played more naughty than usual, and the teacher vainly threatened him with punishment if he did not know his lesson the next morning.

Alyosha laughed internally at these threats, being sure that the hemp seed would certainly help him. The next day, at the appointed hour, the teacher picked up the book from which Alyosha’s lesson was assigned, called him over and ordered him to say what was assigned.

All the children turned their attention to Alyosha with curiosity, and the teacher himself did not know what to think when Alyosha, despite the fact that he had not taught the lesson at all the day before, boldly stood up from the bench and approached him. Alyosha had no doubt that this time he would be able to show his extraordinary ability: He opened his mouth... and could not utter a word!

- Why are you silent? - the teacher told him. - Say a lesson.

Alyosha blushed, then turned pale, blushed again, began to wring his hands, tears welled up in his eyes from fear... everything was in vain! He could not utter a single word, because, hoping for hemp grain, he did not even look into the book.

- What does this mean, Alyosha? - the teacher shouted. - Why don’t you want to talk?

Alyosha himself didn’t know what to attribute such strangeness to; he stuck his hand into his pocket to feel the seed... but how can one describe his despair when he didn’t find it! Tears poured out of his eyes like hail... he cried bitterly and still could not say a word.

Meanwhile, the teacher was losing patience. Accustomed to the fact that Alyosha always answered accurately and without hesitating, it seemed impossible to him that he did not at least know the beginning of the lesson, and therefore attributed the silence to his stubbornness.

“Go to the bedroom,” he said, “and stay there until you know the lesson completely.”

Alyosha was taken to the lower floor, given a book and locked the door with a key.

As soon as he was left alone, he began to look everywhere for hemp seeds. He rummaged in his pockets for a long time, crawled on the floor, looked under the bed, sorted through the blanket, pillows, sheets - all in vain! There was no trace of the dear grain anywhere!

He tried to remember where he could have lost it, and finally became convinced that he had dropped it the day before while playing in the yard. But how to find it?

He was locked in the room, and even if he had been allowed to go out into the yard, it probably would have been of no use, for he knew that chickens were greedy for hemp, and probably one of them managed to get a grain of it. peck! Desperate to find him, he decided to call Chernushka to his aid.

- Dear Chernushka! - he said. - Dear Minister! Please appear to me and give me another grain! I really will be more careful going forward...

But no one answered his requests, and he finally sat down on a chair and again began to cry bitterly.

Meanwhile, it was time for dinner; the door opened and the teacher entered.

- Do you know the lesson now? - he asked Alyosha.

Alyosha, sobbing loudly, was forced to say that he didn’t know.

- Well, stay here while you learn! - said the teacher, ordered to give him a glass of water and a piece of rye bread and left him alone again.

Alyosha began to repeat it by heart, but nothing entered his head. He has long been unaccustomed to studying, and how can he proofread twenty printed pages! No matter how much he worked, no matter how much he strained his memory, but when evening came, he did not know more than two or three pages, and even then poorly. When it was time for the other children to go to bed, all his comrades rushed into the room at once, and the teacher came with them again.

- Alyosha! Do you know the lesson? - he asked.

And poor Alyosha answered through tears:

- I only know two pages.

“So it seems that tomorrow you will have to sit here on bread and water,” said the teacher, wished the other children a good night’s sleep and left.

Alyosha stayed with his comrades. Then, when he was a kind and modest child, everyone loved him, and if he happened to be punished, then everyone felt sorry for him, and this served him as a consolation; but now no one paid attention to him: everyone looked at him with contempt and did not say a word to him.

He decided to start a conversation with one boy, with whom he had previously been very friendly, but he turned away from him without answering. Alyosha turned to another, but he didn’t want to talk to him either and even pushed him away when he spoke to him again.

Then unfortunate Alyosha felt that he deserved such treatment from his comrades. Shedding tears, he lay down in his bed, but could not sleep.

He lay like this for a long time and remembered with sorrow the past. happy days. All the children were already enjoying a sweet sleep, only he could not fall asleep! “And Chernushka left me,” thought Alyosha, and tears flowed from his eyes again.

Suddenly... the sheet next to him began to move, just like on the first day when the black chicken came to him. His heart began to beat faster... he wanted Chernushka to come out from under the bed again; but he did not dare hope that his wish would come true.

- Chernushka, Chernushka! - he finally said in an undertone... The sheet lifted, and a black chicken flew onto his bed.

- Oh, Chernushka! - said Alyosha, beside himself with joy. “I didn’t dare hope that I’d see you!” Have you forgotten me?

“No,” she answered, “I cannot forget the service you provided, although the Alyosha who saved me from death is not at all like the one I see before me now.” You were a kind boy then, modest and courteous, and everyone loved you, but now... I don’t recognize you!

Alyosha cried bitterly, and Chernushka continued to give him instructions. She talked to him for a long time and with tears begged him to improve. Finally, when daylight was already beginning to appear, the hen said to him:

- Now I have to leave you, Alyosha! Here is the hemp seed that you dropped in the yard. It was in vain that you thought that you had lost him forever. Our king is too generous to deprive you of it for your carelessness. Remember, however, that you gave your word of honor to keep everything you know about us secret... Alyosha! To your current bad qualities, do not add even worse - ingratitude!

Alyosha took his kind seed from the chicken’s feet with admiration and promised to use all his strength to improve!

“You will see, dear Chernushka,” he said, “that today I will be completely different...

“Don’t think,” answered Chernushka, “that it is so easy to recover from vices when they have already taken over us.” Vices usually enter through the door and exit through a crack, and therefore, if you want to improve, you must constantly and strictly look after yourself. But goodbye!.. It's time for us to part!

Alyosha, left alone, began to examine his grain and could not stop admiring it. Now he was completely calm about the lesson, and yesterday’s grief did not leave any traces on him. He thought with joy how everyone would be surprised when he spoke twenty pages without a mistake, and the thought that he would again prevail over his comrades who did not want to talk to him caressed his vanity.

Although he did not forget about correcting himself, he thought that it could not be as difficult as Chernushka said. “As if it’s not up to me to improve! - he thought. “You just have to want it, and everyone will love me again...”

Alas! Poor Alyosha did not know that in order to correct himself, he must begin by putting aside pride and excessive arrogance.

When the children gathered in their classes in the morning, Alyosha was called upstairs. He entered with a cheerful and triumphant look.

- Do you know your lesson? - asked the teacher, looking at him sternly.

“I know,” Alyosha answered boldly.

He began to speak and spoke all twenty pages without the slightest error or stop. The teacher was beside himself with surprise, and Alyosha looked proudly at his comrades.

Aleshin’s proud appearance did not hide from the teacher’s eyes.

“You know your lesson,” he told him, “it’s true,” but why didn’t you want to say it yesterday?

“I didn’t know him yesterday,” Alyosha answered.

“It can’t be,” the teacher interrupted him. “Yesterday evening you told me that you only knew two pages, and even then poorly, but now you’ve spoken all twenty without a mistake!” When did you learn it?

- I learned it this morning!

But then suddenly all the children, upset by his arrogance, shouted in one voice:

- He is telling lies; He didn’t even pick up a book this morning!

Alyosha shuddered, lowered his eyes to the ground and did not say a word.

- Answer me! - the teacher continued, - when did you learn your lesson?

But Alyosha did not break the silence: he was so amazed by this unexpected question and the hostility that all his comrades showed him that he could not come to his senses.

Meanwhile, the teacher, believing that the day before he did not want to teach the lesson out of stubbornness, considered it necessary to punish him severely.

“The more natural abilities and gifts you have,” he said to Alyosha, “the more modest and obedient you should be.” God did not give you a mind so that you could use it for evil. You deserve punishment for yesterday’s stubbornness, and today you have increased your guilt by lying. Gentlemen! - the teacher continued, turning to the boarders. “I forbid all of you to talk to Alyosha until he completely reforms.” And since this is probably a small punishment for him, order the rod to be brought.

They brought rods... Alyosha was in despair! For the first time since the boarding school existed, they were punished with canes, and who - Alyosha, who thought so much about himself, who considered himself better and smarter than everyone else! What a shame!..

He, sobbing, rushed to the teacher and promised to completely improve...

“You should have thought about this before,” was the answer.

Alyosha's tears and repentance touched his comrades, and they began to ask for him; and Alyosha, feeling that he did not deserve their compassion, began to cry even more bitterly! Finally the teacher was brought to pity.

- Fine! - he said. “I will forgive you for the sake of the request of your comrades, but so that you admit your guilt in front of everyone and announce when you learned the given lesson?”

Alyosha completely lost his head... he forgot the promise he made to the dungeon king and his minister, and began to talk about the black chicken, about knights, about little people...

The teacher did not let him finish...

- How! - he cried with anger. -Instead of repenting bad behavior yours, are you still thinking of fooling me by telling me a fairy tale about a black hen?.. This is too much. No, children! You see for yourself that he cannot but be punished!

And poor Alyosha was whipped!!

With his head bowed and his heart torn, Alyosha went to the lower floor, to the bedrooms. He felt like he was dead... shame and remorse filled his soul! When, after a few hours, he calmed down a little and put his hand in his pocket... there was no hemp seed in it! Alyosha cried bitterly, feeling that he had lost him irrevocably!

In the evening, when the other children came to bed, he also went to bed, but could not sleep! How he repented of his bad behavior! He resolutely accepted the intention to improve, although he felt that it was impossible to return the hemp seed!

Around midnight, the sheet next to the bed moved again... Alyosha, who had been happy about this the day before, now closed his eyes... he was afraid to see Chernushka! His conscience tormented him. He remembered that just yesterday evening he had so confidently told Chernushka that he would certainly improve, and instead... What would he tell her now?

For some time he lay with his eyes closed. He heard the rustle of a sheet rising... Someone approached his bed - and a voice, a familiar voice, called him by name:

- Alyosha, Alyosha!

But he was ashamed to open his eyes, and meanwhile tears rolled out of them and flowed down his cheeks...

Suddenly, someone pulled the blanket... Alyosha involuntarily looked out, and Chernushka stood in front of him - not in the form of a chicken, but in a black dress, in a crimson cap with teeth and in a white starched neckerchief, just as he had seen her in the underground hall.

- Alyosha! - said the minister. - I see that you are not sleeping... Goodbye! I came to say goodbye to you, we won’t see each other again!..

Alyosha sobbed loudly.

- Goodbye! - he exclaimed. - Goodbye! And, if you can, forgive me! I know that I am guilty before you, but I am severely punished for it!

- Alyosha! - the minister said through tears. - I forgive you; I can’t forget that you saved my life, and I still love you, although you made me unhappy, perhaps forever!.. Farewell! I am allowed to see you for the shortest possible time. Even during this night, the king and his entire people must move far, far from these places! Everyone is in despair, everyone is shedding tears. We lived here so happily, so peacefully for several centuries!..

Alyosha rushed to kiss the minister’s little hands. Grabbing his hand, he saw something shiny on it, and at the same time some extraordinary sound struck his ear...

- What it is? he asked in amazement.

The minister raised both hands up, and Alyosha saw that they were chained gold chain... He was horrified!..

“Your immodesty is the reason that I am condemned to wear these chains,” said the minister with a deep sigh, “but don’t cry, Alyosha!” Your tears can't help me. You can only console me in my misfortune: try to improve and be again the same kind boy as you were before. Goodbye for the last time!

The minister shook Alyosha's hand and disappeared under the next bed.

- Chernushka, Chernushka! - Alyosha shouted after him, but Chernushka did not answer.

The whole night he could not close his eyes for a minute. An hour before dawn, he heard something rustling under the floor. He got out of bed, put his ear to the floor and for a long time heard the sound of small wheels and noise, as if many small people were passing by. Between this noise one could also hear the crying of women and children and the voice of Minister Chernushka, who shouted to him:

- Goodbye, Alyosha! Goodbye forever!..

The next morning, the children woke up and saw Alyosha lying on the floor, unconscious. They raised him up, put him to bed, and sent for the doctor, who declared that he had a violent fever.

Six weeks later Alyosha, with the help of God, recovered, and everything that happened to him before his illness seemed to him heavy sleep. Neither the teacher nor his comrades reminded him a word about the black chicken or the punishment he had suffered.

Alyosha himself was ashamed to talk about it and tried to be obedient, kind, modest and diligent. Everyone loved him again and began to caress him, and he became an example for his comrades, although he could no longer suddenly learn twenty printed pages by heart - which, however, he was not asked to do.

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Black chicken, or Underground inhabitants

About forty years ago, in St. Petersburg on Vasilievsky Island, in the First Line, there lived the owner of a men's boarding house, which to this day, probably, remains in the fresh memory of many, although the house where the boarding house was located has long been gave way to another, not at all similar to the previous one. At that time, our St. Petersburg was already famous throughout Europe for its beauty, although it was still far from what it is now. At that time, there were no cheerful shady alleys on the avenues of Vasilyevsky Island: wooden stages, often knocked together from rotten boards, took the place of today’s beautiful sidewalks. Isaac's Bridge, narrow and uneven at that time, presented a completely different appearance than it does now; and St. Isaac's Square itself was not like that at all. Then the monument to Peter the Great was separated from St. Isaac's Square by a ditch; The Admiralty was not surrounded by trees, the Horse Guards Manege did not decorate the square with the beautiful façade it now has - in a word, the Petersburg of that time was not the same as it is now. Cities have, by the way, the advantage over people that they sometimes become more beautiful with age... However, that’s not what we’re talking about now. Another time and on another occasion, perhaps I will talk with you at greater length about the changes that have taken place in St. Petersburg during my century, but now let’s turn again to the boarding house, which about forty years ago was located on Vasilyevsky Island, in the First Line.
The house, which you now - as I already told you - will not find, was about two floors, covered with Dutch tiles. The porch along which one entered it was wooden and overlooked the street. From the vestibule, a rather steep staircase led to the upper housing, which consisted of eight or nine rooms, in which the keeper of the boarding house lived on one side, and classrooms on the other. The dormitories, or children's bedrooms, were located on the lower floor, on the right side of the entryway, and on the left lived two old Dutch women, each of whom was more than a hundred years old and who saw Peter the Great with their own eyes and even spoke to him. Nowadays, it is unlikely that in all of Russia you will meet a person who has seen Peter the Great; the time will come when our traces will be erased from the face of the earth! Everything passes, everything disappears in our mortal world... but that’s not what we’re talking about now.
Among the thirty or forty children studying at that boarding school, there was one boy named Alyosha, who was then no more than 9 or 10 years old. His parents, who lived far, far from St. Petersburg, had brought him to the capital two years before, sent him to a boarding school and returned home, paying the teacher the agreed fee for several years in advance. Alyosha was a smart, cute boy, he studied well, and everyone loved and caressed him. However, despite this, he was often bored at the boarding house, and sometimes even sad. Especially at first, he could not get used to the idea that he was separated from his family. But then, little by little, he began to get used to his situation, and there were even moments when, playing with his friends, he thought that it was much more fun in the boarding house than in his parents' house. In general, the days of study passed quickly and pleasantly for him, but when Saturday came and all his comrades hurried home to their relatives, then Alyosha bitterly felt his loneliness. On Sundays and holidays he was left alone all day, and then his only consolation was reading books that the teacher allowed him to take from his small library. The teacher was a German by birth; at that time, the fashion for chivalric novels and fairy tales dominated in German literature, and this library mostly consisted of books of this kind.
So, Alyosha, while still ten years old, already knew by heart the deeds of the most glorious knights, at least as they were described in the novels. His favorite pastime on long winter evenings, on Sundays and other holidays was to mentally transport himself to ancient, long-past centuries... Especially during vacant times, such as Christmas or Easter Sunday, when he was separated for a long time from his comrades , when he often sat for whole days in solitude, his young imagination wandered through knightly castles, through terrible ruins or through dark, dense forests.
I forgot to tell you that this house had a fairly spacious courtyard, separated from the alley by a wooden fence made of baroque planks. The gate and gate that led to the alley were always locked, and therefore Alyosha never had the opportunity to visit this alley, which greatly aroused his curiosity. Whenever they allowed him to play in the yard during rest hours, his first movement was to run up to the fence. Here he stood on tiptoe and looked intently into the round holes with which the fence was dotted. Alyosha did not know that these holes came from the wooden nails with which the barges had previously been knocked together, and it seemed to him that some kind sorceress had drilled these holes on purpose for him. He kept expecting that someday this sorceress would appear in the alley and through the hole would give him a toy, or a talisman, or a letter from daddy or mummy, from whom he had not received any news for a long time. But, to his extreme regret, no one even resembling the sorceress appeared.

Alyosha’s other occupation was to feed the chickens, who lived near the fence in a house specially built for them and played and ran around in the yard all day long. Alyosha got to know them very briefly, knew everyone by name, broke up their fights, and the bully punished them by sometimes not giving them anything from the crumbs for several days in a row, which he always collected from the tablecloth after lunch and dinner. Among the chickens, he especially loved the black crested one, called Chernushka. Chernushka was more affectionate to him than others; she even sometimes allowed herself to be stroked, and therefore Alyosha brought her the best pieces. She was of a quiet disposition; she rarely walked with others and seemed to love Alyosha more than her friends.
One day (it was during the holidays, between New Year and Epiphany - the day was beautiful and unusually warm, no more than three or four degrees below zero) Alyosha was allowed to play in the yard. That day the teacher and his wife were in great trouble. They gave lunch to the director of the schools, and even the day before, from morning until late evening, they washed the floors everywhere in the house, wiped the dust and waxed the mahogany tables and chests of drawers. The teacher himself went to buy provisions for the table: white Arkhangelsk veal, a huge ham and Kiev jam from the Milyutin shops. Alyosha also contributed to the preparations to the best of his ability: he was forced to cut out a beautiful mesh for a ham from white paper and decorate six wax candles that had been specially purchased with paper carvings. On the appointed day, the hairdresser appeared in the morning and showed his art on the teacher’s curls, toupee and long braid. Then he set to work on his wife, pomaded and powdered her curls and chignon, and piled a whole greenhouse of different flowers on her head, between which sparkled skillfully placed two diamond rings, once given to her husband by her students’ parents. After finishing the headdress, she threw on an old, worn-out robe and went to work on the housework, watching strictly so that her hair would not get damaged in any way; and for this reason she herself did not enter the kitchen, but gave orders to her cook, standing in the doorway. In necessary cases, she sent her husband there, whose hair was not so high.
During all these worries, our Alyosha was completely forgotten, and he took advantage of this to play in the yard in the open space. As was his custom, he first went up to the plank fence and looked through the hole for a long time; but even on this day almost no one passed along the alley, and with a sigh he turned to his kind chickens. Before he had time to sit down on the log and had just begun to beckon them to him, he suddenly saw a cook next to him with a large knife. Alyosha never liked this cook - an angry and scolding little girl. But since he noticed that she was the reason that the number of his chickens was decreasing from time to time, he began to love her even less. When one day he accidentally saw in the kitchen a pretty, very beloved cockerel, hanging by the legs with its throat cut, he felt horror and disgust for her. Seeing her now with a knife, he immediately guessed what it meant, and, feeling with sorrow that he was unable to help his friends, he jumped up and ran far away.
- Alyosha, Alyosha! Help me catch the chicken! - the cook shouted, but Alyosha began to run even faster, hid by the fence behind the chicken coop and did not notice how the tears rolled out of his eyes one after another and fell to the ground.
He stood by the chicken coop for quite a long time, and his heart was beating strongly, while the cook ran around the yard, beckoning to the chickens: “Chick, chick, chick!” - she scolded them in Chukhon.
Suddenly Alyosha’s heart began to beat even faster: he heard the voice of his beloved Chernushka! She cackled in the most desperate way, and it seemed to him that she was shouting:

Where? x, where? x, where?
Alyosha, save Chernukha!
Where? hu, where? hu,
Chernukha, Chernukha!

Alyosha could not remain in his place any longer. Sobbing loudly, he ran to the cook and threw himself on her neck at the very moment she caught Chernushka by the wing.
- Dear, dear Trinushka! – he cried, shedding tears. – Please don’t touch my Chernukha!
Alyosha so suddenly threw himself on the cook’s neck that she lost Chernushka from her hands, who, taking advantage of this, flew out of fear onto the roof of the barn and there continued to cackle. But Alyosha now heard as if she was teasing the cook and shouting:

Where? x, where? x, where?
You didn't catch Chernukha!
Where? Whoo, where? Whoo!
Chernukha, Chernukha!

Meanwhile, the cook was beside herself with frustration.
- Rummal sing! - she shouted. “That’s it, I’ll fall to the cassai and plow.” Shorna kuris nada cut... He's lazy... He doesn't do anything, he doesn't sit down.
Then she wanted to run to the teacher, but Alyosha did not let her in. He clung to the hem of her dress and began to beg so touchingly that she stopped.
- Darling, Trinushka! - he said. - You are so pretty, clean, kind... Please leave my Chernushka! Look what I'll give you if you're kind!
Alyosha took out of his pocket the imperial coin that made up his entire estate, which he treasured more than his own eyes, because it was a gift from his kind grandmother. The cook looked at the gold coin, glanced around the windows of the house to make sure that no one saw them, and extended her hand for the imperial. Alyosha was very, very sorry for the imperial, but he remembered Chernushka - and firmly gave the precious gift.
Thus Chernushka was saved from cruel and inevitable death.
As soon as the cook retired into the house, Chernushka flew off the roof and ran up to Alyosha. She seemed to know that he was her savior: she circled around him, flapping her wings and clucking in a cheerful voice. All morning she followed him around the yard like a dog, and it seemed as if she wanted to tell him something, but couldn’t. At least he couldn't make out her cackling.
About two hours before dinner, guests began to gather. Alyosha was called upstairs, they put on a shirt with a round collar and cambric cuffs with small folds, white trousers and a wide blue silk sash. His long brown hair, which hung almost to his waist, was thoroughly combed, divided into two even parts and placed in front - on both sides of his chest. This is how children were dressed up back then. Then they taught him how he should shuffle his foot when the director enters the room, and what he should answer if any questions are asked of him. At another time, Alyosha would have been very happy about the arrival of the director, whom he had long wanted to see, because, judging by the respect with which the teacher and teacher spoke of him, he imagined that this must be some famous knight in shiny armor and helmet with large feathers. But this time this curiosity gave way to the thought that exclusively occupied him then: about the black chicken. He kept imagining how the cook ran after her with a knife and how Chernushka cackled in different voices. Moreover, he was very annoyed that he could not make out what? she wanted to tell him, and he was drawn to the chicken coop... But there was nothing to do: he had to wait until lunch was over!
Finally the director arrived. His arrival was announced by the teacher, who had been sitting by the window for a long time, looking intently in the direction from which they were waiting for him.
Everything was in motion: the teacher rushed headlong out of the door to meet him below, at the porch; the guests rose from their places. And even Alyosha forgot about his chicken for a minute and went to the window to watch the knight get off his zealous horse. But he was unable to see him: the director had already entered the house. At the porch, instead of a zealous horse, there stood an ordinary carriage sleigh. Alyosha was very surprised by this. “If I were a knight,” he thought, “then I would never drive a cab, but always on horseback!”
Meanwhile, all the doors were opened wide; and the teacher began to curtsy in anticipation of such an honorable guest, who soon appeared. At first it was impossible to see him behind the fat teacher who stood right in the doorway; but when she, having finished her long greeting, sat down lower than usual, Alyosha, to extreme surprise, saw from behind her... not a feathered helmet, but just a small bald head, whitely powdered, the only decoration of which, as Alyosha later noticed, was a small bun ! When he entered the living room, Alyosha was even more surprised to see that, despite the simple gray tailcoat that the director wore instead of shiny armor, everyone treated him with unusual respect.
No matter how strange all this seemed to Alyosha, no matter how much at another time he would have been delighted by the unusual decoration of the table, on that day he did not pay much attention to it. The morning incident with Chernushka kept wandering through his head. Dessert was served: various kinds of preserves, apples, bergamots, dates, wine berries and walnuts; but even here he never stopped thinking about his chicken for a single moment. And they had just gotten up from the table when, with his heart trembling with fear and hope, he approached the teacher and asked if he could go play in the yard.
“Come,” answered the teacher, “just don’t stay there for long, it will soon become dark.”
Alyosha hastily put on his red cap with squirrel fur and a green velvet cap with a sable band and ran to the fence. When he arrived there, the chickens had already begun to gather for the night and, sleepy, were not very happy about the crumbs he had brought. Only Chernushka seemed to have no desire to sleep: she ran up to him cheerfully, flapped her wings and began to cackle again. Alyosha played with her for a long time; Finally, when it became dark and it was time to go home, he himself closed the chicken coop, making sure in advance that his dear chicken sat on the pole. When he left the chicken coop, it seemed to him that Chernushka’s eyes glowed in the dark like stars, and that she quietly said to him:
- Alyosha, Alyosha! Stay with me!
Alyosha returned to the house and sat alone in the classrooms all evening, while at the other half of the hour until eleven the guests stayed and played whist on several tables. Before they parted, Alyosha went to the lower floor, to the bedroom, undressed, went to bed and put out the fire. For a long time he could not fall asleep. Finally, sleep overcame him, and he had just managed to talk with Chernushka in his sleep, when, unfortunately, he was awakened by the noise of the guests leaving.
A little later, the teacher, who was seeing off the director with a candle, entered his room, looked to see if everything was in order, and went out, locking the door with the key.
It was a month's night, and through the shutters, which were not tightly closed, a pale ray of moonlight fell into the room. Alyosha lay with his eyes open and listened for a long time as in the upper dwelling, above his head, they walked from room to room and put chairs and tables in order.
Finally everything calmed down. He looked at the bed next to him, slightly illuminated by the monthly glow, and noticed that the white sheet, hanging almost to the floor, moved easily. He began to peer more closely: he heard as if something was scratching under the bed, and a little later it seemed that someone was calling him in a quiet voice:
- Alyosha, Alyosha!
Alyosha was scared! He was alone in the room, and the thought immediately occurred to him that there must be a thief under the bed. But then, judging that the thief would not have called him by name, he became somewhat encouraged, although his heart trembled.
He stood up a little in bed and saw even more clearly that the sheet was moving, and even more clearly heard someone say:
- Alyosha, Alyosha!

Suddenly the white sheet lifted and came out from under it... black chicken!
- Ah! it's you, Chernushka! - Alyosha cried out involuntarily. - How did you come here?
Chernushka flapped her wings, flew up to his bed and said in a human voice:
- It's me, Alyosha! You're not afraid of me, are you?
- Why should I be afraid of you? - he answered. - I love you; It’s only strange for me that you speak so well: I didn’t know at all that you could speak!
“If you’re not afraid of me,” the hen continued, “then follow me: I’ll show you something nice.” Get dressed quickly!
- How funny you are, Chernushka! - said Alyosha. - How can I get dressed in the dark? Now I can’t find my dress, I can’t even see you!
“I’ll try to help,” said the chicken.
Then she cackled in a strange voice, and suddenly small candles in silver chandeliers, no bigger than Alyosha’s small finger, appeared from somewhere. These sandals ended up on the floor, on the chairs, on the windows, even on the washstand, and the room became so bright, so bright, as if it were daytime. Alyosha began to dress, and the hen handed him a dress, and thus he was soon completely dressed.
When Alyosha was ready, Chernushka cackled again, and all the candles disappeared.
- Follow me! - she told him.
And he boldly followed her. It was as if rays came out of her eyes and illuminated everything around them, although not as brightly as small candles. They walked through the hall.
“The door is locked with a key,” said Alyosha.
But the chicken did not answer him: she flapped her wings, and the door opened by itself... Then, passing through the hallway, they turned to the rooms where hundred-year-old Dutch women lived. Alyosha had never visited them, but he had heard that their rooms were decorated in the old-fashioned way, that one of them had a large gray parrot, and the other had a gray cat, very smart, who knew how to jump through a hoop and give a paw. He had long wanted to see all this, and therefore he was very happy when the chicken flapped its wings again and the door to the old woman’s chambers opened.
In the first room Alyosha saw all kinds of antique furniture: carved chairs, armchairs, tables and chests of drawers. The large couch was made of Dutch tiles, on which people and animals were painted in blue. Alyosha wanted to stop to look at the furniture, and especially the figures on the couch, but Chernushka did not allow him.

They entered the second room, and then Alyosha was happy! A large gray parrot with a red tail sat in a beautiful golden cage. Alyosha immediately wanted to run up to him. Chernushka again did not allow him.
“Don’t touch anything here,” she said. - Be careful not to wake up the old ladies!
Only then did Alyosha notice that next to the parrot there was a bed with white muslin curtains, through which he could make out an old woman lying with her eyes closed; it seemed to him as if it were waxy. In another corner there was an identical bed where another old woman was sleeping, and next to her sat a gray cat and washed itself with its front paws. Passing by her, Alyosha could not resist asking her for her paws... Suddenly she meowed loudly, the parrot became ruffled and began to shout loudly: “Fool! fool! At that very time it was visible through the muslin curtains that the old women sat up in bed. Chernushka hurriedly left, and Alyosha ran after her, the door slammed hard behind them... And for a long time the parrot could be heard shouting: “Fool! fool!
- Aren `t you ashamed! - said Chernushka when they moved away from the old women’s rooms. - You probably woke up the knights...
- Which knights? - asked Alyosha.
“You will see,” answered the chicken. - Don’t be afraid, however, nothing, follow me boldly.
They went down the stairs, as if into a cellar, and walked for a long, long time along various passages and corridors that Alyosha had never seen before. Sometimes these corridors were so low and narrow that Alyosha was forced to bend down. Suddenly they entered a hall illuminated by three large crystal chandeliers. The hall had no windows, and on both sides hung on the walls knights in shiny armor, with large feathers on their helmets, with spears and shields in iron hands.
Chernushka walked ahead on tiptoe and ordered Alyosha to follow her quietly, quietly...
At the end of the hall there was a large door made of light yellow copper. As soon as they approached her, two knights jumped from the walls, struck their spears on their shields and rushed at the black chicken.

Chernushka raised her crest, spread her wings and suddenly became big, tall, taller than the knights, and began to fight with them!
The knights advanced heavily on her, and she defended herself with her wings and nose. Alyosha became scared, his heart fluttered violently, and he fainted.
When he came to his senses again, the sun was shining through the shutters into the room and he was lying in his bed. Neither Chernushka nor the knights were visible. Alyosha couldn’t come to his senses for a long time. He did not understand what happened to him at night: did he see everything in a dream or did it really happen? He got dressed and went upstairs, but he could not get out of his head what he had seen the previous night. He was looking forward to the moment when he could go play in the yard, but all that day, as if on purpose, it was snowing heavily, and it was impossible to even think about leaving the house.
During lunch, the teacher, among other conversations, announced to her husband that the black chicken had hidden in some unknown place.
“However,” she added, “it wouldn’t be a big problem even if she disappeared: she was assigned to the kitchen a long time ago.” Imagine, darling, that since she has been in our house, she has not laid a single egg.
Alyosha almost began to cry, although the thought occurred to him that it would be better for her not to be found anywhere than for her to end up in the kitchen.
After lunch, Alyosha was again left alone in the classrooms. He constantly thought about what happened the previous night, and could not in any way console himself with the loss of his dear Chernushka. Sometimes it seemed to him that he would definitely see her the next night, despite the fact that she had disappeared from the coop. But then it seemed to him that this was an impossible task, and he again plunged into sadness.
It was time to go to bed, and Alyosha eagerly undressed and went to bed. Before he had time to look at the next bed, again illuminated by a quiet moonlight, the white sheet began to move, just like the day before... Again he heard a voice calling him: “Alyosha, Alyosha!” - and a little later Chernushka came out from under the bed and flew up to his bed.
- Oh, hello, Chernushka! – he cried beside himself with joy. “I was afraid that I would never see you.” Are you healthy?
“I’m healthy,” answered the hen, “but I almost fell ill due to your mercy.”
- How is it, Chernushka? - Alyosha asked, frightened.
“You are a good boy,” the hen continued, “but at the same time you are flighty and never obey the first word, and this is not good!” Yesterday I told you not to touch anything in the old ladies’ rooms, despite the fact that you couldn’t resist asking the cat for a paw. The cat woke up the parrot, the old women's parrot, the old women's knights - and I managed to cope with them!
“I’m sorry, dear Chernushka, I won’t go forward!” Please take me there again today; you will see that I will be obedient.

Anthony Pogorelsky

(Alexey Alekseevich Perovsky)

Black chicken, or Underground inhabitants

About forty years ago in St. Petersburg, on Vasilyevsky Island, in the First Line, there lived the owner of a men's boarding house, which to this day, probably, remains in the fresh memory of many, although the house where the boarding house was located has long been has already given way to another, not at all similar to the previous one. At that time, our St. Petersburg was already famous throughout Europe for its beauty, although it was still far from what it is now. At that time, there were no cheerful shady alleys on the avenues of Vasilyevsky Island: wooden stages, often knocked together from rotten boards, took the place of today’s beautiful sidewalks. Isaac's Bridge, narrow and uneven at that time, presented a completely different appearance than it does now; and St. Isaac's Square itself was not like that at all. Then the monument to Peter the Great was separated from St. Isaac's Church by a ditch; The Admiralty was not surrounded by trees; The Horse Guards Manege did not decorate the square with the beautiful façade it now has - in a word, the Petersburg of that time was not the same as it is now. Cities have, by the way, the advantage over people that they sometimes become more beautiful with age... However, that’s not what we’re talking about now. Another time and on another occasion, perhaps I will talk to you at greater length about the changes that have taken place in St. Petersburg during my century - but now let’s turn again to the boarding house, which about forty years ago was located on Vasilyevsky Island, in the First Line.

The house, which now - as I already told you - you will not find, was about two floors, covered with Dutch tiles. The porch along which one entered it was wooden and overlooked the street... From the entryway a rather steep staircase led to the upper housing, which consisted of eight or nine rooms, in which the owner of the boarding house lived on one side, and on the other there were classrooms. The dormitories, or children's bedrooms, were located on the lower floor, on the right side of the entryway, and on the left lived two old women, Dutch women, each of whom was more than a hundred years old and who saw Peter the Great with their own eyes and even spoke to him...

Among the thirty or forty children studying at that boarding school, there was one boy named Alyosha, who was then no more than nine or ten years old. His parents, who lived far, far from St. Petersburg, had brought him to the capital two years earlier, sent him to a boarding school and returned home, paying the teacher the agreed upon fee several years in advance. Alyosha was a smart, cute boy, he studied well, and everyone loved and caressed him. However, despite this, he was often bored at the boarding house, and sometimes even sad. Especially at first, he could not get used to the idea that he was separated from his family. But then, little by little, he began to get used to his situation, and there were even moments when, playing with his friends, he thought that it was much more fun in the boarding house than in his parents' house.

In general, the days of study passed quickly and pleasantly for him; but when Saturday came and all his comrades hurried home to their relatives, then Alyosha bitterly felt his loneliness. On Sundays and holidays he was left alone all day, and then his only consolation was reading books that the teacher allowed him to take from his small library. The teacher was a German by birth, and at that time the fashion for knightly novels and fairy tales dominated in German literature, and the library that our Alyosha used consisted mostly of books of this kind.

So, Alyosha, while still ten years old, already knew by heart the deeds of the most glorious knights, at least as they were described in the novels. His favorite pastime on long winter evenings, on Sundays and other holidays, was to be mentally transported to ancient, long-past centuries... Especially during the vacant time, when he was separated for a long time from his comrades, when he often sat for whole days in solitude, his youthful imagination wandered through knights' castles, through terrible ruins or through dark, dense forests.

I forgot to tell you that this house had a fairly spacious courtyard, separated from the alley by a wooden fence made of baroque planks. The gate and gate that led to the alley were always locked, and therefore Alyosha never had the opportunity to visit this alley, which greatly aroused his curiosity. Whenever they allowed him to play in the yard during rest hours, his first movement was to run up to the fence. Here he stood on tiptoe and looked intently into the round holes with which the fence was dotted. Alyosha did not know that these holes came from the wooden nails with which the barges had previously been nailed together, and it seemed to him that some kind sorceress had drilled these holes on purpose for him. He kept expecting that someday this sorceress would appear in the alley and through the hole would give him a toy, or a talisman, or a letter from daddy or mummy, from whom he had not received any news for a long time. But, to his extreme regret, no one even resembling the sorceress appeared.

Alyosha’s other occupation was to feed the chickens, who lived near the fence in a house specially built for them and played and ran around in the yard all day long. Alyosha got to know them very briefly, knew everyone by name, broke up their fights, and the bully punished them by sometimes not giving them anything from the crumbs for several days in a row, which he always collected from the tablecloth after lunch and dinner. Among the chickens, he especially loved one black crested one, named Chernushka. Chernushka was more affectionate to him than others; she even sometimes allowed herself to be stroked, and therefore Alyosha brought her the best pieces. She was of a quiet disposition; she rarely walked with others and seemed to love Alyosha more than her friends.

One day (it was during the winter vacation - the day was beautiful and unusually warm, no more than three or four degrees below zero) Alyosha was allowed to play in the yard. That day the teacher and his wife were in great trouble. They gave lunch to the director of the schools, and the day before, from morning until late evening, they washed the floors everywhere in the house, wiped the dust and waxed the mahogany tables and chests of drawers. The teacher himself went to buy provisions for the table: white Arkhangelsk veal, a huge ham and Kiev jam. Alyosha also contributed to the preparations to the best of his ability: he was forced to cut out a beautiful mesh for a ham from white paper and decorate six wax candles that had been specially purchased with paper carvings. On the appointed day, early in the morning, the hairdresser appeared and showed his art on the teacher’s curls, toupee and long braid. Then he set to work on his wife, pomaded and powdered her curls and chignon, and piled a whole greenhouse of different flowers on her head, between which sparkled skillfully placed two diamond rings, once given to her husband by the parents of his students. After finishing the headdress, she threw on an old, worn-out robe and went to work on the housework, watching strictly so that her hair would not somehow get damaged; and for this reason she herself did not enter the kitchen, but gave orders to her cook, standing in the doorway. When necessary, she sent her husband there, whose hair was not so high.

During all these worries, our Alyosha was completely forgotten, and he took advantage of this to play in the yard in the open space. As was his custom, he first approached the plank fence and looked through the hole for a long time; but even on this day almost no one passed along the alley, and with a sigh he turned to his kind chickens. Before he had time to sit down on the log and had just begun to beckon them to him, he suddenly saw a cook next to him with a large knife. Alyosha never liked this cook - angry and scolding. But since he noticed that she was the reason that the number of his chickens was decreasing from time to time, he began to love her even less. When one day he accidentally saw in the kitchen a pretty, very beloved cockerel, hanging by the legs with its throat cut, he felt horror and disgust for her. Seeing her now with a knife, he immediately guessed what it meant, and, feeling with sorrow that he was unable to help his friends, he jumped up and ran far away.

- Alyosha, Alyosha, help me catch the chicken! - the cook shouted.

But Alyosha began to run even faster, hid by the fence behind the chicken coop and did not notice how tears rolled out of his eyes one after another and fell to the ground.

He stood by the chicken coop for quite a long time, and his heart was beating strongly, while the cook ran around the yard, either beckoning to the chickens: “Chick, chick, chick!”, or scolding them.

Suddenly Alyosha’s heart began to beat even faster: he heard the voice of his beloved Chernushka! She cackled in the most desperate way, and it seemed to him that she was shouting:

Where, where, where, where! Alyosha, save Churnukha! Kuduhu, kuduhu, Chernukha, Chernukha!

Alyosha could not remain in his place any longer. Sobbing loudly, he ran to the cook and threw himself on her neck at the very moment she caught Chernushka by the wing.

- Dear, dear Trinushka! – he cried, shedding tears. – Please don’t touch my Chernukha!

Alyosha threw himself so suddenly on the cook’s neck that she lost Chernushka from her hands, who, taking advantage of this, flew out of fear onto the roof of the barn and continued cackling there.

But Alyosha now heard as if she were teasing the cook and shouting:

Where, where, where, where! You didn't catch Chernukha! Kuduhu, kuduhu, Chernukha, Chernukha!

Meanwhile, the cook was beside herself with frustration and wanted to run to the teacher, but Alyosha did not allow her. He clung to the hem of her dress and began to beg so touchingly that she stopped.

- Darling, Trinushka! - he said. - You are so pretty, clean, kind... Please leave my Chernushka! Look what I'll give you if you're kind.

Alyosha took out of his pocket the imperial coin that made up his entire estate, which he treasured more than his own eyes, because it was a gift...

For more than 150 years, the literary creation of Anthony Pogorelsky, “The Black Hen, or the Underground Inhabitants,” has lived without losing its relevance. The summary of the work, given below, will allow readers to draw attention to the fact that universal human values ​​are very important to the author. It is about them that he tries to speak in the language of a fairy tale to the younger generation.

From the history of writing the work

A magical fairy tale about underground inhabitants was written specifically for Alyosha Tolstoy, a student of Alexei Alekseevich Perovsky. This is the real name of the author of the story. He was the uncle of the future famous writer, playwright, and public figure Alexei Konstantinovich Tolstoy.

In 1829, the fairy tale was published and immediately received enthusiastic responses from readers, critics, and teachers. Children's audiences also loved the book "The Black Hen, or the Underground Inhabitants." A summary and reviews of those who read the fairy tale were often published in the press of those times. Even then, the work was repeatedly republished as a separate book, and was also included in the best collections for children's reading.

The main characters of the fairy tale

The fairy tale “The Black Hen, or the Underground Inhabitants,” a summary of which is presented in the article, is not distinguished by a large number of characters. All the events described in the work happen to a little boy Alyosha, who is 9-10 years old. He lives in St. Petersburg, in a boarding house for children. Here the boy receives an education.

One of the young pupil’s favorite pastimes was reading books, which he took from the personal library of his German teacher. Most of it consisted of chivalric romances. The stories described in them made a huge impression on Alyosha.

There was one more activity that gave the boy great pleasure. While walking around the yard, he loved to feed the chickens who lived here in a special building.

Among the birds was a chicken named Chernushka. She allowed Alyosha to come close to her and even stroke her feathers. This amused and surprised the boy. The chicken became another main character of the story.

“Black Hen, or Underground Inhabitants”: a summary in parts

Antony Pogorelsky did not identify individual chapters in the tale. But the work is presented in such a way that the reader can easily find the semantic parts himself.

The first of them is dedicated, as mentioned above, to introducing the reader to the main characters of the events - the boy Alyosha and the chicken Chernukha. The story began after Alyosha persuaded the cook to let her beloved chicken live. He saved Chernushka by giving Trinushka an imperial - the most expensive thing he owned.

It soon becomes clear that the black chicken is very unusual. She is a minister to the king, who rules the people who have been living in these places underground for many, many years. Chernushka, in gratitude to the boy, wished to introduce him to a fantastic country.

After passing several tests, Alyosha and the chicken find themselves at a reception with the king. All the residents and the ruler himself are very grateful to Alyosha for the noble deed he performed in saving their minister. Everyone wants to thank the boy. After a conversation with the king, Alyosha receives a magical hemp seed as a gift, which made the boy, without any effort of his own, turn into the best student at the school. To prevent the grain from losing its magical power, its owner should not tell anyone about the existence of a magical country. The secret must also be kept because after its announcement, all residents of the underground kingdom were obliged to leave their homeland forever, which would make them unhappy.

Return of Alyosha from the underground kingdom

This is exactly how the next part of the work “Black Chicken, or Underground Inhabitants” can be titled. A summary of the chapters leads the reader to the events that will happen to the boy in real life.

Alyosha's school teachers and friends began to notice his unique learning abilities. The rumor about this quickly spread throughout the city. The boy's talent was noticed by everyone. And Alyosha himself quickly got used to signs of attention.

At first, he always remembered Chernushka, thanks to whom he gained popularity. But gradually he began to forget about his favorite chicken. He remembered her when he lost the hemp seed, and with it the ability to answer lessons without learning them.

The minister of the underground inhabitants immediately came to the aid of his friend. But, returning the lost treasure to the boy, he strongly advised him to think about what kind of person he had become. Alyosha was once again reminded of the need to keep the secrets of the underground inhabitants.

Final parts

The narrative of “The Black Hen, or the Underground Inhabitants,” a summary of which is presented in the article, ends in an unusual way for a work of this genre.

The reader learns that the boy begins to be haunted by failures. He loses the trust of the boarding house teachers and his comrades. And most importantly, Alyosha realizes that he betrayed an entire people led by their king and the chicken minister. After all, he failed to keep the secret. All this leads the main character to difficult psychological experiences. But it was they who changed the boy, making him stronger.

Formation of Alyosha's character

Anthony Pogorelsky, who wrote the fairy tale “The Black Hen, or the Underground Inhabitants,” a summary of which is given here, along with the presentation of the plot, repeatedly points to the character traits that his main character possessed.

At the beginning of the fairy tale, everyone sees a kind, shy boy who is loved by those around him. Then a magical gift, obtained in a simple way, changes Alyosha’s character. He becomes arrogant and disobedient. Loses friends, self-respect. But up to a certain point this doesn’t bother him much.

The author of the fairy tale “The Black Hen, or the Underground Inhabitants” warns young readers about the consequences of such behavior. The summary, the main characters of the work, and the plot lead to the conclusion that a person can obtain everything useful for the soul only through his own labor.