V.F. Odoevsky, "Poor Gnedko": a summary. "Poor Gnedko": the main characters

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

To convey the whole meaning of a literary work, sometimes even its summary helps. "Poor Gnedko" is a story by Vladimir Fedorovich Odoevsky, in which he addresses the topic of cruelty to animals. The story is told on behalf of the author. The work is written for children in a language they understand. In it, he encourages young people to treat animals humanely, whether it be a cat, dog or horse. After all, cruel treatment of “our smaller brothers” is not only bad, immoral, but can also be dangerous to human he alth and life.

A few facts from the author's biography

Vladimir Fedorovich Odoevsky is a famous Russian writer, musicologist and music critic, philosopher and active public figure. He was born in Moscow on August 1, 1803 into a family of noble origin. His father was the grandson of Prince Ivan Vasilyevich. Vladimir was orphaned early. The boy was brought up in the house of the paternal guardian. He developed an early interest in music and literature. The whole life and work of this person can be conditionally divided into three periods: the first Moscow, St. Petersburg and the second Moscow.

All this time he is fond of philosophy, mysticism, music criticism, writes novels and stories, creates literary circles, attracting like-minded people. It was during the St. Petersburg period, in 1841, that V. F. Odoevsky "Poor Gnedko". A summary of the work is given below.

The main characters of the fairy tale

• Author walking along the Neva embankment. It is he who observes the picture of the neglectful and sometimes very cruel treatment of animals.
• Carrier. Boy driving a horse. He was hired by the owner of the stallion Gnedko.
• Fat gentleman with glasses. Sits in a britzka driven by Gnedko.
• Vanyusha with Dasha. Children of the first owner of the stallion Gnedko. They knew this horse as a foal, they loved her very much and took care of her.

Who else is told about in the story "Poor Gnedko"? The main characters in it are not only people, but also animals, for example, a cab horse, little dog Charlot.

Sick Gnedko

A horse with a cart runs along the embankment of the Neva River. A young driver sits on the goats and drives her. Today is a holiday, the streets are crowded. The driver is in a hurry to get as much money as possible on this day.

After all, today they travel a lot and pay well. The reckless driver did not notice how his horselost a horseshoe, slipped and hurt her leg. Poor Gnedko (that's the stallion's name) walks and limps. The driver ignores this and urges the horse on.

A passer-by, the author, reprimands him, pointing out that the animal can no longer run. But the boy on the goats brushes it off. The owner who hired him will probably ask him for a good profit in the evening. And after Gnedko the boys run and tease him. They find it amusing that a horse walks and stumbles. The driver is angry with them and takes out all his irritation on the poor animal, whipping him harder and harder.

And in the chaise driven by Gnedko, sits a fat gentleman with glasses. He wrapped himself in a fur coat from the cold and pulled his cap over his eyes. This gentleman is in a hurry to someone for dinner, and he absolutely does not care about the sick horse carrying him. He argues like this: “The horse is not mine. Let the driver at least kill her, I don’t care about that.” How will the suffering of a sick animal end? Further, the story "Poor Gnedko" tells about the time when this stallion was still small.

Gnedko - foal

The horse has a hard life now. But once, when she was little, everything was different. Spring is in the yard, the grass is green, the birds are chirping, and the foal Gnedko frolics near his mother, the mare Serko, who is plowing the land.

And in the evening, when the horses return to the corral, Vanyusha and Dasha, the master's children, will meet Gnedko. They will comb his short mane, wipe him with straw, give him fresh juicy grass picked especially for him.in advance. At night, the children drag their bedding to their ward so that he can lie softly.

How their foal loved! A little jealous of Vanyusha and Dasha, he rushes towards them on his frisky legs. He will come running and stretch his neck trustingly. And they feed him bread. Gnedko soon grew up and turned into a stately stallion.

The owner decided to sell him, having figured out what good money you can get for such a horse. How the children cried when Gnedko was taken to Konnaya, how they asked the buyer not to torture their glorious horse, not to force it to carry heavy things. To convey all the bitterness of loss, the disappointment of children described in the work, even its summary can. "Poor Gnedko" is a story that can cause pity even in the most callous person. This is exactly what the author of the story was hoping for.

Desperate situation

People crowded on the embankment. What happened? Poor Gnedko, unable to run any longer, fell, burying his muzzle in the snow from pain. His leg was swollen. The driver bustles around him, trying to pick up a sick horse. Passers-by help him. But the stallion only snores, but cannot stand up. The driver is ready to cry. Now he will get for a spoiled horse from the owner. The fat gentleman who was sitting in the britzka got angry and left without paying the boy a penny. How to be? A compassionate passer-by, the author of the story, gives money to a cab driver to call a comrade with a horse and sleigh to take the poor stallion home. The unlucky coachman learned a lesson - not to ride a sick horse and not to torment it, because nothing goodit won't end.

This is an instructive story told by M. F. Odoevsky. “Poor Gnedko”, a summary of which is given here, is a story that is read in one breath. Surely the kids will love it.

Don't torture the poor animals

In conclusion, the author gives another instructive story. It is about a little dog, Charlot, who lost his owner. This defenseless animal, left without supervision, clung to the wall and looked at everyone frowningly. She was surrounded by street boys who teased her, dragged her by the tail and threw stones.

Poor Charlot couldn't take it anymore and jumped on some of them and bit them. What happened to the dog? Nothing. But the bitten boys fell ill with rabies. It is known that this is a terrible insidious disease, often ending in the death of the patient. This is where the story ends. How would we like to end the story (its summary)? Poor Gnedko probably recovered and began to transport people again, the cab driver became more attentive to him, and the dog Charlot found his owners … This is perhaps the most desired end of this work.

The moral of the author's creation

In the collection of stories by V. F. Odoevsky under the title "Tales of Grandfather Iriney" included the fairy tale "Poor Gnedko". Its summary may well convey what the author wanted to convey to his young readers. Vladimir Fedorovich urges children not to mock animals and not to tease them. After all, even the smallest dog, defending itself, canbite your offenders. And this is already very dangerous for he alth, since the disease rabies, transmitted to humans from animals, is fatal.

And, finally, the cruel treatment of "our smaller brothers" suggests that such a person is angry and immoral. It is unlikely that anyone will ever want to be friends with him or communicate. There is even a proverb for the story "Poor Gnedko". It sounds like this: “Through force, the horse does not jump.” And there are a few more proverbs about horses, for example, this one: “Do not drive a horse with a whip, but drive a horse with oats.” And another one: “Either spare the stern, or the horse.”

We read the work of V. F. Odoevsky from the collection "Tales of Grandfather Iriney", or rather its summary. "Poor Gnedko" is a story about how not to treat animals.