Arkady Timofeevich Averchenko, "In the Evening": a summary

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

In this article we will consider the story "In the Evening" by Averchenko. This small work of the writer is widely known, especially among children of primary school age. We will present in this article a summary of the story and reviews about it.

About the author

Arkady Averchenko is a well-known Russian writer, playwright, satirist and journalist who lived and worked in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Best known for his humorous stories and novels.

He was the editor of the "Satyricon" and gathered under his supervision the best feuilletonists, humorists and satirists. The writer's own style has often been compared to Chekhov's early work. And since 1912, his fellow writers have proclaimed him the king of laughter. At this time, real fame comes to Averchenko, they retell him, quote him, they talk about him.

But after the revolution, the writer had to emigrate. He spent the last years of his life in Prague, where he died in 1925.

Averchenko, "In the Evening": a summary. Home

The protagonist enthusiastically reads the "History of the Frenchrevolution." Then someone creeps up to him and starts pulling on his jacket, scratching his back, then a wooden cow's muzzle is pushed under his arm. But the hero pretends not to notice anything. The one standing behind him is trying to move our character's chair, but the attempt is unsuccessful. Only after that a voice was heard - "Uncle".

This time, Arkady Averchenko chose a little heroine to describe. Our character was disturbed by Lidochka, his niece. The girl asks her uncle what he is doing, and in response she hears that he is reading about the Girondins. Lidochka is silent. And then the hero decides to explain - he does this in order to clarify the then conjuncture.

The girl asks why. He replies that to broaden his horizons. Lidochka asks her question again. The hero loses his temper and asks what she needs. The girl sighs and says she wants to look at the pictures and the story. The hero replies that she has more demand than supply, and then offers to tell her something. Then Lida gets on his knees and kisses his neck.

Fairy tale

Averchenko's childish spontaneity and adult seriousness are excellently portrayed. “In the Evening” (a summary is presented in this article) is a story about how adults and children look at the world differently.

So, Lidochka busily asks her uncle if he knows about Little Red Riding Hood. The hero makes a look of astonishment and replies that he hears about such a tale for the first time. Then the girl begins her story.

Lida starts, then the hero asks her to indicate the exact place of residence of Little Red Riding Hood. The girl names the only city she knows - Simferopol. Linda continues. But the hero interrupts her again - was the forest through which Little Red Riding Hood walked privately owned or state-owned? The girl dryly answers - state-owned. And so, a wolf comes out to meet Little Riding Hood and speaks, but then her uncle interrupts again - the animals do not know how to talk. Then Lida bites her lip and refuses to continue telling fairy tales, as she is ashamed.

The hero begins his story about a boy who lived in the Urals and accidentally ate a toad, confusing it with an apple. The narrator himself understands that his story is stupid, but it makes a big impression on the girl.

After that, the hero sits Lidochka down and sends her to play, while he returns to reading. But only 20 minutes pass, as they again scratch it with a fingernail, and then a whisper is heard: “I know a fairy tale.”

Decoupling

Averchenko's story "In the Evening" is coming to an end (summary). Our hero cannot refuse the niece's request to tell a fairy tale, since her eyes are shining and her lips are funny "bumping". And he allows her to “pour out her sore soul.”

Lidochka tells about a girl that her mother once took to the garden. The heroine of the fairy tale ate a pear, and then asks her mother if the pear has paws. And when she said no, she said she ate the chicken.

The hero exclaims in amazement that this is his fairy tale, but instead of a boy, a girl, and instead of an apple, a pear. But Lida, delighted, replies that this is her story and that shecompletely different. Uncle jokingly accuses niece of plagiarism and calls to be ashamed.

Then the girl decides to change the subject and asks to see the pictures. The hero agrees and promises to find a groom in the magazine for the girl. He selects Wii's images and points to him. Lida, offended, takes the magazine and starts looking for a bride for her uncle.

She leafs through the magazine for a long time, then calls her uncle and uncertainly points to the old willow. The hero asks to search better and find a scarier woman. The girl leafs through the magazine again, and then her thin cry is heard. Uncle asks what's wrong with her. Then Lidochka, already sobbing out loud, says that she cannot find him a terrible bride.

The hero shrugs his shoulders and goes back to reading. After some time, he turns around and sees that the girl is already keen on new entertainment - she is examining it in the old key. She wonders why, if you look through his hole close, you see the whole uncle, but if you take the key away, then only part of it.

This is how Averchenko's work “In the Evening” ends. The brief content presented here makes it possible to get an impression of the author's idea. However, the real pleasure of the story can only be obtained by reading it in the original.

Reviews

So let's talk about what readers think. Many people like this work of Averchenko. “In the Evening” (reviews confirm this) is a fairly popular story among both adults and young readers. In addition, the author raises quitea hot topic that has no time limits. Relations between adults and children will always remain the way Averchenko describes them. This is the main charm of the work, according to readers.

Averchenko, "In the Evening": the main characters

The main characters are collective images: Lidochka embodies children, and her uncle embodies adults. The girl contains all the childish spontaneity, lightness and attractiveness. The hero is a representative of a serious and more rational beginning. And, despite their dissimilarity, they find a common language.