Valentin Petrovich Kataev (January 16 (28), 1897, Odessa - April 12, 1986, Moscow) - Russian Soviet writer, playwright, poet; brother of the writer E.P. Petrov

Born into a teacher's family. While still a high school student, he began to write; He made his debut in print in 1910. During the First World War, without graduating from high school, in 1915 he volunteered to join the army and was at the front until 1917. Served in the artillery.

There is no such grief that would not give way to life. And this is great happiness... Otherwise, how would we all live?

Kataev Valentin Petrovich

During the Civil War, he was mobilized into the Red Army, participated in battles against the troops of A.I. Denikin, and worked at YugROSTA (Russian Telegraph Agency).

In 1922 he moved to Moscow, where from 1923 he worked for the newspaper Gudok and collaborated with many publications as a “topical” humorist. He signed his newspaper and magazine humoresques with the pseudonyms Old Sabbakin, Ol. Twist, Mitrofan Mustard.

Founder and in 1955-1961. editor-in-chief of the magazine "Youth". Hero Socialist Labor(1974). He was awarded two Orders of Lenin, other orders and medals. In 1958 he joined the CPSU.

Friendship between poets is nothing more than enmity turned inside out.

Kataev Valentin Petrovich

Valentin Kataev returned to his native Odessa with books, a memorial plaque on the facade of house No. 4 on Bazarnaya Street (b. Kirova), where he was born, a lane named after him and a museum exhibition dedicated to him.

Son-in-law of V.P. Kataev is a famous Jewish Soviet poet, editor and public figure Aron Alterovich Vergelis.

Creation
He made his debut in print in 1910. In the 1920s he wrote stories about the Civil War and satirical stories. Since 1923 he collaborated with the newspaper Gudok, the magazine Krokodil and other periodicals.

His story “The Embezzlers” (1926; play of the same name, 1928) and the comedy “Squaring the Circle” (1928) are dedicated to the fight against philistinism. Author of the novel “Time, Forward!” (1932, filmed in 1965). The story “The Lonely Sail Whitens” (1936) brought wide popularity; a film of the same name was made based on it - 1937.

The short story “I, the son of the working people...” (1937) talked about tragic story, which occurred in one of the Ukrainian villages during the civil war. The story was published, filmed, and on its basis the play “A Soldier Walked from the Front” was written, which was staged at the Vakhtangov Theater and on other stages in the country.

For the story “Son of the Regiment” (1945) he received Stalin Prize 2nd degree (1946; film of the same name - 1946).

We are surrounded by more objects than are necessary for existence.
(Quotes from the book "My Diamond Crown", 1978)

Kataev Valentin Petrovich

After the war, he continued “The Lonely Sail Whitens” with the stories “A Farm in the Steppe” (1956; film of the same name - 1970), “Winter Wind” (1960–1961), “For the Power of the Soviets” (1948; another name: “Catacombs”, 1951; film of the same name film - 1956), forming a tetralogy with the idea of ​​continuity of revolutionary traditions.

Later, all four works (“A Lonely Sail Whitens,” “A Farm in the Steppe,” “Winter Wind” and “For the Power of the Soviets” (“Catacombs”) were published as a single epic, “Waves of the Black Sea.”

Author of the journalistic story “The Little Iron Door in the Wall” (1964). Starting with this work, I changed my writing style and themes. Mine a new style called “movism” (from the French mauvais “bad, evil”), implicitly contrasting it with the smooth writing of official Soviet literature.

We all had the stolen Mona Lisa in our souls.
(Quotes from the book "My Diamond Crown", 1978)

Kataev Valentin Petrovich

The lyrical and philosophical memoir stories “Holy Well” (1967), “The Grass of Oblivion” (1967), and the story “Cube” (1969) were written in this manner. The novel “My Diamond Crown” (1978) aroused wide resonance and abundant commentary. In the novel, Kataev recalls literary life countries of the 1920s, without naming virtually any real names or pseudonyms.

“Here it is appropriate to explain to the reader why I avoid proper names and do not even come up with fictitious ones, as is customary in novels. Well, first of all, this is not a novel. The novel is a compote. I prefer to eat fruit fresh, straight from the tree, spitting out the seeds, of course. And, secondly, I will refer to Pushkin:

“Those who scolded me for not naming my Finn, not finding a single proper name, will, of course, consider this an unforgivable impudence - it is true that most of my readers have no need for names and that I am not afraid of any confusion in my story" (letter to Gnedich dated April 29, 1822; from early editions).

I’m also not afraid of any entanglements...”

Hidden under pseudonyms, writers and poets, however, are easily identified: the prince is Sergei Yesenin, the bird catcher is Eduard Bagritsky, the key is Yuri Olesha, the blue-eyed one is Mikhail Bulgakov, the Commander is Vladimir Mayakovsky, the mulatto is Boris Pasternak, the brother is Evgeniy Petrov , friend - Ilya Ilf, staff captain - Mikhail Zoshchenko, cavalryman - Isaac Babel, lame - Vladimir Narbut, nutcracker - Osip Mandelstam

Kataev's works have been repeatedly translated into foreign languages.

Productions of works
* 1928 - “Squaring the Circle” - Moscow art theater, staged by N. M. Gorchakov under the direction of V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko.
* 1957 - “Squaring the Circle”, Moscow academic theater Satires, staged by G. Zelinsky.
* 2008, September 25 - “Squaring the Circle”, Perm Academic Theatre, staged by V. Gurfinkel.
* 1940, June 23 - “Semyon Kotko” (1939), opera by S. Prokofiev in 5 acts, 7 scenes based on the story “I, Son of the Working People...” by V. Kataev. Libretto by V. Kataev and S. Prokofiev, Moscow Academic Musical Theatre named after K. S. Stanislavsky and V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko, under the direction of M. Zhukova.

Essays
* Sir Henry and the Devil, Berlin, 1923
* Embezzlers, 1927
* Squaring the circle, 1928
* Time, forward!, 1932
* A lonely sail turns white, 1936
* I am the son of the working people, 1937
* Wife, 1944
* Son of the regiment, 1945
* For Soviet power, 1949, new ed. - 1951, 2nd ed. and under the name “Catacombs” as the 4th part of the tetralogy “Waves of the Black Sea”, 1961
* Farm in the steppe, 1956
* Winter wind, 1960
* Waves of the Black Sea. Tetralogy, 1961
* Holy Well, 1965 (“from a chronologically sequential narrative, the author proceeds to in a new way, returns to his own past experiments in the field of form ("Sir Henry and the Devil", 1920; "The Iron Ring", 1923); here, telling about his American impressions, he uses associative transitions from half-real to half-fairytale; at the same time, Kataev partly strives to convey an inconsistent stream of consciousness, and partly demonstrates to the reader his own game artistic techniques»)
* Grass of Oblivion, 1967
* Kubik, 1969
* Broken life, or Oberon's Magic Horn, 1972 ("a record of about 250 childhood memories; the plots themselves seem almost secondary to the process of remembering")
* Violet. Play, 1974
* Cemetery in Skulany, 1975
* My Diamond Crown, 1979
*Already written by Werther, 1980
* Dry Estuary, 1986

Valentin Petrovich Kataev - photo

One of the most prominent representatives of the southwestern school was born in Odessa on January 28, 1897 in a house on Bazarnaya Street, 4. His father, Pyotr Vasilyevich Kataev, is the son of a priest from Vyatka, his mother, Evgenia Ivanovna, is the daughter of Colonel Bachei (according to the family version, Bachei were relatives of N.V. Gogol). In 1902, a second son, Evgeniy (the future Evgeniy Petrov), was born into the Kataev family. In 1903, her mother died, and she helped raise the children younger sister, Elizaveta Bachey. The family changed apartments several times; they lived on the street. Kanatnaya, 85; Pirogovskaya, 3; Uyutnaya, 7 (new numbering – 8); Otradnaya, 10 (the building has not survived); Uspenskaya, 2.

Kataev studied at the Fifth Men's Gymnasium, began writing poetry at the age of 9, the first poem was published in 1910. In 1911, the Kataev family traveled abroad - to Italy. A year later, in 1912, the first small book was published - a story about the Easter kiss. In 1915, Kataev volunteered for the active army, until the summer of 1917 he served in the 64th artillery brigade, was wounded twice, and was awarded the Order of St. Anne, IV degree.

At the end of 1917, Valentin Kataev returned to Odessa and became one of the most active participants in literary life. According to the memoirs of contemporaries, it was he who organized one of the most famous literary circles of that time - the “Green Lamp”. During the changes of government in 1919, he had to fight in both the Red (summer) and Volunteer (autumn) armies. As Kataev himself later recalled, he had to serve both in counterintelligence and in the emergency department. In the spring of 1920, Kataev and his younger brother were arrested by the Cheka and released in the summer of that year (according to recollections, they were saved by the writer Andrei Sobol). After his release, Kataev worked at YugROSTA, and then, following V. Narbut, who led YugROSTA, Kataev and Olesha moved to Kharkov (in those years the capital of Ukraine) in 1921.

Since 1922 he lived in Moscow. Kataev worked in the newspaper of railway workers “Gudok”, his feuilletons were published under numerous pseudonyms (one of them “Old Man Sabbakin” became a humorous nickname). At first, all Odessa residents who moved to Moscow found shelter in Kataev’s room in Mylnikov Lane.

E. Bagritsky, V. Kataev, Y. Belsky. Odessa, 1925

Kataev was published in the newspapers Pravda, Trud, Nakanune, Rabochaya Gazeta, and the Krokodil magazine. Books of his stories were published, the story “The Embezzlers” (1926), he became a playwright - the plays “Squaring the Circle” and “The Embezzlers” (based on the story), written in 1928, were performed on the stage of the Moscow Art Theater and abroad. In 1932 he was at the construction of Magnitogorsk, described in the story “Time, Forward!” The story “The Lonely Sail Whitens” (the first part of the epic tetralogy “Waves of the Black Sea”) was written in 1936. This is the first of the books in the autobiographical “Odessa cycle”. Its heroes are the Kataev family; in the book he uses his mother’s surname – Bachey. As the author himself later wrote, he wanted to “cross Pinkerton with Bunin” - an entertaining plot with a polished literary language. Kataev was one of the most successful writers of the Odessa school in the 1930s. One of his most famous works in those years was the story about the Civil War in Ukraine “I, Son of the Working People...”, written in 1937. S. Prokofiev’s opera “Semyon Kotko” was written based on it.

During Patriotic War Kataev worked at the Radio Committee and at the Sovinformburo, and was a war correspondent for Pravda and Krasnaya Zvezda. In 1946 he received the Stalin (State) Prize for the story “Son of the Regiment.” In 1948, he wrote a sequel to “The Lonely Sail Whitens” - the story “For the Power of the Soviets” (“Catacombs”) (4th part of the tetralogy “Waves of the Black Sea”) - about the occupation of Odessa and the struggle of the underground. The story was sharply criticized, including for the insufficiently pronounced role of the party in leading the underground. In 1951, Kataev wrote the second version of the story. The second part of the tetralogy “Hutorok in the Steppe”, where they again used real events from the life of the Kataev family (a trip to Italy) was published in 1956, the third - “Winter Wind” - about the Civil War, with a description of the affair with Irene Aleksinskaya - was published in 1961.

In 1955-1961 Kataev was the editor-in-chief of the magazine “Youth”. Left the post of editor-in-chief at will to work without interference literary work. It was Kataev’s “Youth” that became the launching pad for young poets and prose writers—the sixties.

Starting with the story “The Little Iron Door in the Wall” (1964), V. Kataev uses a style he called “movism” (from French word"bad").

At the heart of it next books real events in the biography of the writer and his ancestors were used.

Surreal shifts - time, freedom of association.

Irene Aleksinskaya

This is how they wrote “The Holy Well” (1965), “The Grass of Oblivion” (1967) - about meetings with I. Bunin and V. Mayakovsky, “Cube” (1969), “The Broken Life or the Magic Horn of Oberon” (1972) - about childhood and Odessa at the beginning of the century, “Cemetery in Skulany” (1975). In the story “My Diamond Crown” (1978), Odessa and Moscow writers and events in the literary life of Odessa and Moscow in the 1910s and 1920s are depicted under transparent pseudonyms. One of the most famous works– “Werther has already been written” (1980). For the first time since the 1920s, scenes of executions by the Cheka appear in Soviet literature. During Kataev’s lifetime, the story was published only once - in the magazine “ New world”, and was not included in the collected works. “The Youth Novel of My Friend Sasha Pchelkin, Told by Himself” (1982) again describes (without politicization) the story of the affair with Irene Aleksinskaya. V. Kataev’s latest stories “Sleeping” (1984) are about Odessa during the Civil War, “Dry Estuary” (1986).

After the colorless prose of the thirties and fifties, Valentin Kataev again, as in the twenties, proved that he is a brilliant stylist, a great Russian writer.

V.P. Kataev - Hero of Socialist Labor (1974), awarded three Orders of Lenin, orders, and medals. Since 1973 he has been a corresponding member of the Mainz Academy (Germany), since 1976 - a member of the Goncourt Academy (Paris).

Only in 2009, V. Kataev’s book was published in Moscow.

One of the alleys in Odessa is named after Valentin Kataev.

On the house on the street. Bazarnaya, 4, where Valentin Petrovich was born, a memorial plaque was installed.

On April 12, 2013, on the facade of the Odessa Agrarian University (Panteleimonovskaya St., 13), a memorial plaque was unveiled to the Kataev brothers - Valentin and Evgeniy (aka Evgeniy Petrov) - this is where the 5th men's gymnasium, where the writers studied, was located.

The board was installed on the initiative of 7th grade students at boarding school No. 2.

Alena Yavorskaya,
Deputy Director for Research
Odessa Literary Museum

“The Lonely Sail Whitens”, excerpt, read by V.P. Kataev

On September 2, 2017, on the occasion of the 223rd anniversary of the founding of Odessa, a new star- in honor of Valentin Petrovich Kataev.

Soviet literature

Valentin Petrovich Kataev

Biography

Kataev Valentin Petrovich (1897 - 1986), prose writer. Born on January 16 (29 NS) in Odessa in the family of a teacher. He studied at the Odessa gymnasium. At the age of nine he began to write poetry, some of them were published in Odessa newspapers, and in 1914 Kataev’s poems were first published in St. Petersburg in the magazine “The Whole World”. With the outbreak of the First World War, he volunteered to serve in the active army, in an artillery brigade, where he remained until the summer of 1917. He met the October Revolution in the Odessa infirmary, where he was treated after being wounded on the Romanian front. After demobilization, he made his first attempts to write prose. In 1919 he was drafted into the Red Army, served as a battery commander, then was recalled from the army and appointed head of the satire windows in Odessa ROSTA: he wrote texts for propaganda posters, ditties, slogans, leaflets. In 1921 he was sent to establish similar work in Kharkov. In 1922 he moved to Moscow, published his feuilletons in the newspapers Gudok, Trud, and Rabochaya Gazeta, without leaving work on fiction. In 1925 he published the story “The Embezzlers,” which was noticed by both critics and readers. This story was dramatized, and the play was successfully staged since 1928 on the stage of the Moscow Art Theater. Inspired by the recognition, Kataev wrote the comedy “Squaring the Circle,” which also had a resounding success. Since then he has constantly written for the theater. In 1932, having traveled to the construction of Magnitogorsk, Kataev wrote the chronicle novel “Time, Forward!”, which became an important milestone in his work. In 1936 he published the novel “The Lonely Sail Whitens”; works a lot for Pravda: writes feuilletons, essays, notes, articles. In 1937 the story “I am the son of the working people” was published. During World War II he worked in the Radio Committee and in the Sovinformburo abroad. He was a war correspondent for Pravda and Krasnaya Zvezda, where his essays from the front were published. During this period, the stories “The Third Tank”, “Flag”, the stories “Wife”, “Son of the Regiment”, the plays “Father’s House”, “The Blue Handkerchief” were written. In 1949 the novel “For the Power of the Soviets” was published. In 1955, the magazine “Youth” was created, with V. Kataev becoming its editor-in-chief. Here in 1956 the novel “A Farm in the Steppe” was published. In the 1960s, “The Grass of Oblivion”, “Holy Well”, and “Cube” were written. In 1978 - “My Diamond Crown”, in 1980 - “Werther has already been written.” V. Kataev died in 1986 in Moscow.

Valentin Petrovich Kataev (1897 -1986) - a famous Soviet poet and prose writer was born on January 16 (29 n.s.) in Odessa. His father was a teacher. Kataev studied at the Odessa gymnasium. He started writing poetry at the age of 9. In 1914, the St. Petersburg magazine “The Whole World” published poems by the young poet. During the First World War, Kataev volunteered in the active army. When it broke out October Revolution, he was healing his wounds in the Odessa infirmary. After demobilization, he writes prose. After he was drafted into the Red Army in 1919, he served as battery commander. Afterwards he was recalled from the army and appointed head of the satire windows at ROSTA in Odessa. First he moved to Kharkov, and then to Moscow, where he published his humorous works in the newspapers Gudok, Trud, and Rabochaya Gazeta, and at the same time wrote fiction.

Critics and readers noticed the story “The Embezzlers” (1925), and a dramatization followed for the Moscow Art Theater. The performance turned out to be quite successful. Then there was the successful comedy “Squaring the Circle.” Since then, Kataev writes regularly for the theater.

In 1932, impressed by the construction of Magnitogorsk, the writer created the chronicle novel “Time, Forward!” In 1936, the novel “The Lonely Sail Whitens” was published. Kataev writes for the newspaper Pravda humorous stories and articles. In 1937, the story “I am the son of the working people” was published. During the Second World War he worked as a war correspondent for Pravda and Krasnaya Zvezda. The story “Son of the Regiment” and the plays “Father’s House” and “The Blue Handkerchief” belong to this period.

In the post-war period, Kataev wrote the novel “For the Power of the Soviets” (1949) and created the magazine “Youth”, in which all the works written by the writer in the post-war period are published.

Valentin Petrovich Kataev was born on January 16 (28), 1897 in the city of Odessa.
Russian Soviet writer, playwright, poet.
Born into a teacher's family. He began writing from a young age and made his debut in print at the age of 13. During the First World War, he served at the front as a volunteer. Was in the artillery. During the Civil War, he was mobilized into the Red Army, participated in battles against the troops of A.I. Denikin, and worked at YugROSTA (Russian Telegraph Agency).
In the 1920s he wrote stories about the Civil War and satirical stories. Since 1923 he collaborated with the newspaper Gudok, the magazine Krokodil and other periodicals.
In 1922 he moved to Moscow, where from 1923 he worked for the newspaper Gudok and collaborated with many publications as a “topical” humorist. Known aliases Old man Sabbakin, Ol. Twist, Mitrofan Mustard.
In 1955-1961 editor-in-chief of the magazine "Youth". Hero of Socialist Labor (1974). He was awarded two Orders of Lenin, other orders and medals.
His story “The Embezzlers” (1926) and the comedy “Squaring the Circle” (1928) are dedicated to the fight against philistinism. Author of the novel “Time, Forward!” (1932), the story “I am the son of the working people” (1937). The story “The Lonely Sail Is White” (1936) brought great popularity to Valentin Petrovich Kataev; a film was made based on the story (1937). For the story “Son of the Regiment” (1945) he received the Stalin Prize.
After the war, he continued “The Lonely Sail Whitens” with the stories “A Farm in the Steppe” (1956), “Winter Wind” (1960-1961), “For the Power of the Soviets” (1948; another name is “Catacombs”, 1951; film of the same name 1956), forming tetralogy with the idea of ​​continuity of revolutionary traditions.
Kataev's works have been repeatedly translated into foreign languages.

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PIPE AND JUG

The strawberries are ripe in the forest.
Dad took the mug, mom took the cup, the girl Zhenya took the jug, and little Pavlik was given a saucer.
They came to the forest and began to pick berries; who will dial first?
Mom chose a better clearing for Zhenya and said:
“Here’s a great place for you, daughter.” There are a lot of countrywomen here. Go collect.
Zhenya wiped the jug with burdock and began to walk.
She walked and walked, looked and looked, found nothing and returned with an empty jug.
He sees that everyone has strawberries, Dad has a quarter of a mug. Mom has half a cup. And little Pavlik has two berries on his plate.
- Mom, mom, why do you all have something, but I have nothing? You probably chose the worst clearing for me.
-Have you looked hard enough?
- Good. There are not a single berry there, only leaves.
-Have you looked under the leaves?
- I didn’t look.
- Here you see! We need to look.
- Why doesn’t Pavlik look in?
- Pavlik is small. He himself is as tall as a strawberry, he doesn’t even need to look, and you’re already a pretty tall girl.
And dad says:
- Berries are tricky. They always hide from people. You need to be able to get them. Look how I do.
Then dad sat down, bent down to the ground, looked under the leaves and began to look for berry after berry, saying:
“I take one berry, look at another, notice a third, and see a fourth.”
“Okay,” said Zhenya. “Thank you, daddy.” I will do this.

Zhenya went to her clearing, squatted down, bent down to the very ground and looked under the leaves. And under the leaves of the berries it is visible and invisible. My eyes widen. Zhenya began to pick berries and throw them into a jug. He vomits and says:
However, Zhenya soon got tired of squatting. “I’ve had enough,” he thinks. “I’ve probably gained a lot already.”
Zhenya stood up and looked into the jug. And there are only four berries. Not enough! You have to squat down again. It's nothing you can do.
Zhenya squatted down again, began to pick berries, and said:
“I take one berry, look at another, notice a third, and see a fourth.”
Zhenya looked into the jug, and there were only eight berries - the bottom was not even closed yet.
“Well,” he thinks, “I don’t like collecting like this at all. Bend over and bend over all the time. By the time you get a full jug, well, you might get tired. I’d better go and look for another clearing.”

Zhenya went through the forest to look for a clearing where the strawberries do not hide under the leaves, but climb into view and ask to be put into the jug.
I walked and walked, I couldn’t find such a clearing, I got tired and sat down on a tree stump to rest. He sits, having nothing better to do, takes berries out of the jug and puts them in his mouth. She ate all eight berries, looked into the empty jug and thought: “What should I do now? At least someone could help me?”
As soon as she thought this, the moss began to move, the grass parted, and a small, strong old man crawled out from under the stump: a white coat, a gray beard, a velvet hat and a dry blade of grass across the hat.
“Hello, girl,” she says.
- Hello, uncle.
- I'm not an uncle, but a grandfather. Didn't you recognize Al? I am an old boletus grower, a native forester, the main boss over all mushrooms and berries. What are you sighing about? Who hurt you?
- The berries offended me, grandfather.
- Don't know. They are quiet to me. How did they hurt you?
“They don’t want to show themselves, they hide under the leaves.” You can't see anything from above. Bend over and bend over. By the time you get a full jug, well, you might get tired.
The old boletus farmer, a native forest farmer, stroked his gray beard, grinned through his mustache and said:
- Pure nonsense! I have a special pipe for this. As soon as it starts playing, all the berries will appear from under the leaves...
The old boletus farmer, the indigenous forest farmer, took a pipe out of his pocket and said:
- Play, little pipe.
The pipe began to play by itself, and as soon as it began to play, berries peeked out from under the leaves everywhere.
- Stop it, little pipe.
The pipe stopped, and the berries hid. Zhenya was delighted:
- Grandfather, grandfather, give me this pipe!
- I can’t give it as a gift. Let's change: I'll give you a pipe, and you give me a jug: I really liked it.
- Fine. With great pleasure.

Zhenya gave the jug to the old boletus farmer, a native woodsman, took the pipe from him and quickly ran to her clearing. She came running, stood in the middle, and said: “Play, little pipe.”
The pipe began to play, and at the same moment all the leaves in the clearing began to move, began to turn, as if the wind was blowing on them.
First, the youngest curious berries, still completely green, peeked out from under the leaves. Behind them, the heads of older berries poked out - one cheek was pink, the other was white. Then the berries, quite ripe, appeared - large and red. And finally, from the very bottom, old berries appeared, almost black, wet, fragrant, covered with yellow seeds.
And soon the entire clearing around Zhenya was strewn with berries, which burned brightly in the sun and reached out to the pipe.
- Play, little pipe, play! - Zhenya shouted. - Play faster! The pipe played faster, and even more berries poured out -
so many that the leaves were no longer visible underneath them. But Zhenya did not let up:
- Play, little pipe, play! Play even faster.
The pipe played even faster, and the forest was filled with such a pleasant, agile ringing, as if it were not a forest, but a music box.
The bees stopped pushing the butterfly off the flower; the butterfly closed its wings like a book; the robin chicks looked out from their light nest, which began in the branches of the elderberry, and opened their yellow mouths in admiration; the mushrooms stood on tiptoe so as not to utter a single sound, and even the old bug-eyed dragonfly, known for its grumpy character, stopped in the air, deeply delighted by the wonderful music.
“Now I’ll start collecting!” - Zhenya thought and was about to reach out to the largest and reddest berry, when she suddenly remembered that she had exchanged the jug for a pipe and now she had nowhere to put the strawberries.
- Ooh, stupid pipe! - the girl shouted angrily. “I have nowhere to put the berries, and you’ve played out.” Shut up now!

Zhenya ran back to the old boletus man, a native forest worker, and said:
- Grandfather, grandpa, give me back my jug! I have nowhere to pick berries.
“Okay,” answers the old boletus, a native forester, “I’ll give you your jug, just give me back my pipe.”
Zhenya gave the old boletus man, the indigenous forest man, his pipe, took her jug ​​and quickly ran back to the clearing.
I came running, and not a single berry was visible there - only leaves. What a misfortune! There is a jug, but the pipe is missing. How can we be here?

Zhenya thought, thought and decided to go again to the old boletus man, the indigenous forest man, for a pipe. He comes and says:
- Grandfather, grandfather, give me the pipe again!
- Fine. Just give me the jug again.
- I'm not giving it. I myself need a jug to put berries in.
- Well, then I won’t give you the pipe. Zhenya begged:
- Grandfather, and grandfather, how can I collect berries in my jug when, without your piper, they all sit under the leaves and don’t show up? I definitely need both a jug and a pipe.
- Look, what a cunning girl! Give her both the pipe and the jug! You can do without a pipe, just with one jug.
- I won’t get by, grandpa.
- How do other people get along?
“Other people bend down to the very ground, look under the leaves on the side, and take berry after berry. They take one berry, look at another, notice a third, and imagine a fourth. I don't like collecting this way at all. Bend over and bend over. By the time you get a full jug, you might even get tired.
- Oh, that's how it is! - said the old boletus farmer, a native forester, and he became so angry that his beard, instead of gray, became very black. - Oh, that’s how it is! It turns out you are just a lazy person! Take your jug ​​and get out of here? There will be no pipe for you!
With these words, the old boletus farmer, a native forester, stamped his foot and fell under a stump.

Zhenya looked at her empty jug, remembered that dad, mom and little Pavlik were waiting for her, she quickly ran to her clearing, squatted down, looked under the leaves and began to quickly take berry after berry.
He takes one, looks at another, notices the third, and imagines the fourth...
Soon Zhenya filled the jug full and returned to dad, mom and little Pavlik.
“Here’s a clever girl,” Dad said to Zhenya, “she brought a full jug.” Are you tired?
- Nothing, daddy. The jug helped me.
And everyone went home - dad with a full mug, mom with a full cup. Zhenya with a full jug, and little Pavlik with a full saucer.
But Zhenya didn’t say anything to anyone about the pipe.

Kataev Valentin Petrovich born on January 28 (new style) 1897 in Odessa in the family of a teacher. Kataev published his first poem “Autumn” while still a high school student in 1910 in the newspaper “Odessa Bulletin”. He was also published in “Southern Thought”, “Odessa List”, “Awakening”, “Lukomorye”, etc. In 1915, without graduating from high school, he volunteered for the front, was wounded twice, and was poisoned with gases. He delivered correspondence and essays about the “trench” life of soldiers, full of sympathy for the ordinary person in the war.

In 1919 Kataev was mobilized into the Red Army and commanded an artillery battery on the Don Front. Returning to Odessa, he worked at YugROSTA, attended various literary circles and associations. He became close to Yu.K. Olesha and E.G. Bagritsky, with whom he composed propaganda texts for posters.

From 1922 he lived in Moscow, was a permanent contributor to the newspaper Gudok (since 1923), published humoresques and feuilletons in Pravda, Rabochaya Gazeta, Truda (pseudonyms: Old Man Sabbakin, Ol. Twist, Mitrofan Gorchitsa). IN early work Kataev’s peculiar fusion of realism, keen everyday observation, irony, reaching the point of sarcasm, romantic elation and daring fantasy manifested itself in stories about the Civil War (“Krantz Experience”, 1919; “Golden Pen”, 1920; “Notes on the Civil War”, 1924, where there is a tendentiously contrasting “black and white” image of what is happening, with a sublime description of the “red” heroes and a satirical depiction of the White Guards). During this period, adventurous utopian novels about the world revolution were written (Ehrendorf Island, The Lord of Iron, both 1924).

Kataev was fascinated by experiments in the field of form, strange characters appeared in his prose - the mysterious Oxford student Sir Henry, the devil in a dark jacket and white cuffs and other figures that make one remember E. T. A. Hoffmann and E. Poe (“Sir Henry and the devil", 1920; "The Iron Ring", 1923).

At the same time, Kataev moved from a mocking play on anecdotal incidents (collections of stories “The Bearded Baby”, 1924; “The Funniest”, 1927) to the accusatory pathos of debunking the cult of profit and the “beautiful” life. The writer's first significant success was the story "The Embezzlers" (1926). This is the phantasmagoric story of accountant Prokhorov and cashier Vanechka, who, wasting government money, travel around Russia in search of beautiful life. The action takes place during the NEP period, and the characters are presented with a bleak picture of wretched Soviet life and arrogant NEPmanism. The story was translated abroad and became a bestseller in the USA.

The comedy “Squaring the Circle” (1928) is marked by the severity of social and psychological satire directed against philistine vulgarity and the bourgeois cult of property. After a trip to Magnitogorsk, Kataev wrote a chronicle novel “Time, Forward!” (1932), the name of which was suggested to him by V. Mayakovsky. The book is imbued with Mayakovsky’s belief that the beginning of the first five-year plan can be perceived as the dawn new era. The main characters of the novel - engineer Margulies, Zagirov, concrete foreman Saenko - see the meaning of their lives in work that is ahead of its time and transforms life.

In the story “The Lonely Sail Whitens” (1936), the main characters of which are Odessa boys who find themselves in a whirlpool revolutionary events 1905. A fascinating plot, a picturesque, descriptive description of the “background” of what is happening - the bustle of Odessa streets, the market, the port, the beach, the incessant sea, school life, etc., a fusion of humor, lyricism and heroic pathos made this work one of the favorite children's books.

The desire to show the history of the country through the fate of a person is also marked by Kataev’s story “I, Son of the Working People” (1937), the action of which takes place during German occupation Ukraine in 1919, the main characters are folklore characters - the brave soldier Semyon Kotko and the beautiful maiden Sophia, the narrative, unfolding in the style of folk tales, is full of descriptions of Ukrainian landscapes, rituals and customs, and the sounds of Ukrainian speech.
Kataev about the Great Patriotic War

During the Great Patriotic War, war correspondent Kataev wrote feuilletons, essays, and stories. The story “Son of the Regiment” (1945; State Prize, 1946), a story about the fate of an orphan boy adopted by a combat regiment. The institution of “sons of the regiment” has since become established in the Russian army; Based on the story, a play of the same name was written and a film was made (1946, directed by V.M. Pronin). An accurate sense of modernity, authenticity of details, a witty plot, a fusion of lyricism and grotesque, like his other dramatic works, the play “A Day of Rest” (1947) was notable.
Kataev and the magazine “Youth”

In 1957-1962, as editor-in-chief of the Yunost magazine, Kataev contributed to its transformation into one of the leading periodicals in the country, the so-called mouthpiece. of the sixties, which opened the way to the reader for many prominent writers (including V.P. Aksenov and A.T. Gladilin). In 1964, the writer published an artistic and journalistic story about V.I. Lenin, “The Little Iron Door in the Wall.” In the series of memoirs by Kataev (the story “The Holy Well”, 1965; “The Grass of Oblivion”, 1967; “Broken Life, or the Magic Horn of Oberon”, 1972; “My Diamond Crown”, 1975; “Dry Liman”, 1986, where, inspired by the poetic imagination of the author, the heroes and plots of many of Kataev’s books came together), new facets of the writer’s talent were revealed: the depth of penetration into the meaning of events and the characters of people, confession and observation, combined with a living ability to artisticly shift time and space.

In the story “Werther has already been written” (1979) Kataev shows Civil War in Russia as a senseless fratricidal massacre in which the hero of the story, the sincere and pure cadet Dima, is involved, and in which commissars in black leather jackets administer their bloody judgment, shooting their victims without trial or investigation in garages.

In “Youthful Romance” (1982), Kataev told a story similar to an old romance: about the love of the young soldier Pchelkin for the general’s daughter. This is a novel in letters, building material which became archival finds.
The last years of Kataev's life

Kataev's last book, Sukhoi Liman (1986), was almost unnoticed by critics. This is a kind of epilogue to his multi-volume novel: in last time the characters came together, the plots of many books came together. Life is passed through the prism of distant memories combined with poetic fantasy.