Heroes and their wonderful doctor Kuprin. "The Wonderful Doctor": Key Thoughts, Images and Characters of the Story by A.I.

So I want to feel the atmosphere of a fairy tale on the eve of New Year's holidays ... Home alone, Irony of fate - all this has already become overgrown with moss. The heart desires a new, unknown ...

I never expected to find such a mood in fiction.

Moreover, not at all modern, but in the classical one.

I remained indifferent to the work of this Russian writer until the moment when I came across his story Garnet Bracelet. I was surprised by the emotional intensity of the narrative, and therefore I became interested in his other works.

A story that will not leave anyone indifferent. Emotional intensity is at the limit, the reader plunges into the narrative and lives all the incidents and situations with the hero.

At first, the Christmas atmosphere does not seem at all what the average reader would like to see. However, I will note that there is a place for a good deed, which, as it might seem at first glance, is close to a real miracle.

Kiev, winter, frost more than twenty degrees. A festive Christmas atmosphere reigns on the street, shops are full of goodies and delicacies, but two boys - Grisha and Volodya Mertsalovs, can only admire the mouth-watering goods in the windows.

The guys live in a dungeon - in a terrible dirty basement of a rickety house. Their father fell ill with typhus more than a year ago, and all the family's meager savings went to his treatment. While the head of the family was being treated for a fatal illness, his place as a house manager (for only 25 rubles a month) was taken by someone else. The man lost his job, and therefore the whole family was forced to move to poor housing.

There was no money, the guys were used to the fact that their stomachs are empty. Sour cabbage soup in the morning will be intercepted, and then mostly cold - there is nothing to warm up.

On this joyful day for many, the mother sent the boys to the master with a request to lend money, but the doorman did not even let them on the doorstep. I drove away, although the children were begging for help.

Poor living conditions negatively impacted children's health. The girl died of a long illness about three months ago, now Mashutka lies in a fever. And the family also has a newborn ...

The head of the family, having come home, found out that the master had not given money, and when he saw that his daughter was leaving the house at death, he promised to go beg for alms. However, he is possessed by a desire for suicide.

An old man walked along the alley. Passing by, he told Mertsalov that he had bought gifts for the children. In a fit of anger, the hero shouted that his daughter was dying, and the children had nothing to eat.

The old man went into the house, examined the child, wrote out a prescription and left a decent amount of money, doing it unnoticed.

The family bought medicines and learned from the pharmacy label that it was Dr. Pirogov.

After such an incident, everything in the family's life is getting better - there is a decent job, the children stop getting sick, and the boys go to the gymnasium.

Consider the main characters.

Emelyan Mertsalov - father, head of the family. He worked as a manager of a house, however, due to a long and serious illness, he lost his job, which doomed his family to a miserable existence.

Professor Pirogov is the same old man whom the main character met. The doctor who prescribed the prescription for the patient and helped the family financially.

Elizaveta Ivanovna is the wife of the protagonist, mother of children.

Grisha is a boy of ten years old, the eldest son.

Volodya is the youngest son, age is not specified.

Mashutka is a girl who was dying. An old doctor helped her by writing a prescription with medicines.

In his work, Kuprin wants to show two sides of joyful holidays - the fun and pampering of the rich and the beggarly miserable existence of people deprived of material resources.

Video review

AI Kuprin's story "The Wonderful Doctor", a summary of which is offered in the article, is an example of a literary genre popular in the century before last - Christmas or Yuletide stories.

These were small works published in the issues of newspapers and magazines that were published before the New Year and Christmas - hence the name. These stories tell of the events that took place on Christmas Eve, and all of them must surely have a happy ending.

The main idea of ​​the Christmastide stories is that in a difficult life situation you can never lose hope for the best.

About the work of A. I. Kuprin "The Wonderful Doctor"

Questions on the subject of his works were included in the examination tests in literature of the main state exam (OGE) for a nine-year course in 2019, so all 9th ​​grade graduates should be familiar with it.

Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin (1870 - 1938) - Russian writer, translator.

Kuprin was also a master of short storytelling. Among his other works, he wrote the story "The Wonderful Doctor", which was published in 1897. The work was published in the newspaper "Kievskoe Slovo" on December 25 of the same year and immediately received positive reviews from critics and rave reviews from readers.

In its first lines, the writer shares with the reader the story of the creation of his work, warning that the plot of the story is not a fairy tale, but a description of real events that took place in Kiev three decades before, that is, in the late 60s of the XIX century.

The main characters and their characteristics

Despite the small volume, there are two rows of characters in the story - the main and the secondary ones.

Among the main characters in the narrative are:

1. EmelyanMertsalov- the father of the family, who worked as a manager in a rich man's house. Judging by the hero's speech, he was an educated person, and the Mertsalov family, although they did not live well, did not feel much need. But everything changed when Emelyan fell ill with typhoid fever and the money he had accumulated with difficulty was spent on treatment. He survived, but lost his job, tk. a replacement was quickly found for him. As a result, a large family was left without a livelihood. All attempts to find a new job are unsuccessful, Mertsalov, his wife and children are starving. One of the two daughters dies, the other becomes seriously ill. The father falls into despair, even tries to beg for alms, but no one gives him.
2. Elizaveta Ivanovna, wife of Mertsalov... Besides her two sons, she has a sick daughter and a baby in her arms. From hunger, the mother is so weak that her milk has disappeared, and the baby is starving just like the rest of the family. She, like her husband, is looking for a job - she goes to the other end of the city to wash clothes for a meager fee, but this money is not even enough for firewood. Trying to help the family to survive, Mertsalova writes letters, asking for help from the former owner of her husband, but she does not receive any answer.
3. Volodya and Grisha - sons of the spouses Mertsalov, 8 and 10 years old. They carry letters from their mother around the city, along the way watching how residents prepare for Christmas. The boys look with hungry eyes at the luxurious shop windows full of expensive food, while empty cabbage soup awaits them at home, and besides, they are cold - there is no firewood to heat the food.
4. Mashutka, their little sister. The girl is seriously ill, she is coughing, breathing with difficulty, tossing about in the heat, delirious. She needs urgent medical attention, but her parents do not have money for a doctor and medicine.

All the Mertsalovs take an active part in the events described, with the exception of Mashutka, although the storyline of the story is twisted around her illness.

Another main character is the professor of medicine Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov, the same wonderful doctor, in whose honor the story got its name.

This is not only an excellent doctor, but also a very kind and sympathetic person, always ready to sincerely sympathize even with a stranger. He expresses his sympathy not only in words, but also in deeds.

Minor characters

There are only two of them in the story, and it becomes known about them only from the words of the main characters.

One of them - doorman in a rich house, whom the boys asked to give the owner of the house a letter written by their mother, calling for help. But the doorman does not take the letter and drives the boys away.

Another minor character is a certain the gentleman in the raccoon coat, met by Mertsalov Sr. on the street. In response to the latter's request for alms, the master advises him to go to work.

From the story you can learn about the author's attitude to his characters. So, throughout the story, the writer calls the father of the family by his last name - the reader learns about his name only after meeting the narrator, the very boy Grisha, who grew up and became Grigory Yemelyanovich.

He calls Mertsalov's wife Elizaveta Ivanovna. Thus, Kuprin emphasizes that the stubborn character of this woman causes great respect in him.

Saying that the gentleman in a raccoon coat refused alms to Mertsalov, he makes it clear that he was a very wealthy person - a coat with a raccoon collar was very expensive at that time.

With this small touch, the author shows his attitude towards people who, having not experienced any difficulties in their own lives, have a habit of teaching those who are in a difficult life situation, instead of just helping them. In this case, the well-known proverb comes to mind that the well-fed does not understand the hungry.

The summary of the summary of Kuprin's story can be presented in the form of a synopsis drawn up according to a certain plan.

Such a plan, recorded in the reader's diary, will facilitate retelling the work in the form of excerpts:

• the Mertsalov brothers at the shop window;
• homecoming;
• unfulfilled order;
• father's despair;
• in the winter garden;
• meeting with a doctor;
• Mertsalov's story;
• unexpected help;
• recipe from Pirogov;
• everything is changing for the better.

The story begins with a conversation between two boys - Volodya and Grisha Mertsalovs, who, returning home, gazed at the festive showcase of the deli. They were instructed to deliver a letter asking for help to the former owner of their father, but the order remained unfulfilled.

In the basement of a dilapidated house, which looks more like a dungeon, a mother with a sick sister and a nursing baby are waiting for them. As soon as the sons crossed the threshold, Elizaveta Ivanovna asks if they took the letter.

Volodya, the eldest of the boys, says that they did everything as she taught: he spoke about their plight, promised to thank the master's doorman as soon as his father found a job. But he remained deaf to all these arguments - he drove the boys away, giving the youngest a slap on the head. Then the boy took a crumpled envelope from his pocket.

Soon my father returned, frozen through and through in the December frost in a frayed light coat and a rumpled summer hat, without gloves and galoshes, thin, pale, with sunken cheeks, like a dead man. Unable to endure the spectacle of desperate need and the hungry eyes of his wife and children, he again leaves home.

Without remembering how, Mertsalov wanders into the winter garden, where, against the background of trees covered with snow, peace and quiet, thoughts of suicide come to him.

But then an old man in a warm fur coat comes up to him, sits down next to him on a bench and begins to tell what gifts he bought to the children he knew. The unhappy father screams that he does not care about other people's children when his own are dying of hunger and disease.

The stranger asks to tell everything in detail, and the desperate man excitedly tells him about the painful one. Having listened, the stranger jumps up from the bench and offers to immediately go to the Mertsalovs. On the way, he gives the head of the family three rubles to buy food.

Entering the basement where the parents and children lived, he tells the elder to light the samovar, borrowing firewood from the neighbors, and he himself examines the sick girl and puts a warming compress on her. Father returns - he brings tea, sugar, white bread and hot dishes from a nearby inn.

The doctor writes out a prescription, indicating how to take the medicine, and recommends that you see an experienced doctor tomorrow, whom he promises to warn about them. Then he leaves. An agitated Mertsalov asks him to identify himself so that he knows whom to pray for, but the stranger shrugs it off.

After the stranger leaves, the family discovers several large banknotes under the recipe sheet. Arriving at the pharmacy for the medicine, Mertsalov learns from the pharmacist that the prescription was written by Pirogov himself.

The great surgeon remained in the memory of the Mertsalovs as a kind messenger from heaven: after his visit, their life began to gradually improve. The sick girl recovered, her father found a job, her mother got stronger, and the family became prosperous. They managed to send the boys to the gymnasium at public expense.

And thirty years later, Grisha, whom the doorman once drove away from the front entrance of a rich house, became a wealthy and respected person, Grigory Yemelyanovich.

Analysis of the work "The Wonderful Doctor"

The story is built in full accordance with the laws of the genre of Christmastide stories, the main principle of which is the contrast of descriptions.

In its first lines, the reader sees the heroes in a state of complete hopelessness, especially pronounced against the background of the pre-holiday Christmas Eve, when it seems that not only people, but also nature freezes in anticipation of something unusually bright and wonderful.

The contrast becomes even deeper when Mertsalov, who has reached an extreme degree of despair, decides to end his life, wanting only one thing - the same peace as the trees surrounding him, covered with sparkling snow.

And here a decisive turning point occurs in the plot - he meets a wonderful doctor who, like a kind angel, quickly and irrevocably changes everything for the better.

Fate finally begins to smile at the heroes, and the story ends happily, as befits a Christmas story.

The basic idea

The Wonderful Doctor is very short: in the book it takes just over two pages of printed text, but this short Christmas story is filled with deep Christian meaning, it embodies the eternal hope of a person for the best, which helps to survive even when life seems unbearable.

No one can lose hope, says the writer, because everything can literally change in one moment.

As the readers' reviews confirm, the story of Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin is full of such a bright life-affirming force that it can be called a kind of literary antidepressant that helps a person to survive the most difficult moments and not fall into despair.

An additional strength to the work is given by the fact that its plot is not the fruit of the writer's fantasy, but an incident from life.

Why the story is called "The Wonderful Doctor"

Kuprin heard this story from one of its participants, who told an incident from his biography.

The writer retold the events, changing only the names and surnames of the characters - all, with the exception of Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov - the great Russian scientist, the brilliant surgeon, whose surname is inscribed in golden letters in the history of world and Russian medicine.

Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov (1810 - 1881) - Russian surgeon and anatomical scientist, naturalist and teacher, professor, creator of the first atlas of topographic anatomy, founder of Russian military field surgery, founder of the Russian school of anesthesia.

Pirogov, distinguished by his extraordinary kindness and sympathy for people, became the prototype of the wonderful doctor, or rather, he was.

The meaning of the name is that the famous doctor really performed a miracle - he saved the life of not only the sick girl, but also her entire family, helped to overcome the most difficult life crisis.

What the story teaches

The essence of the story "The Wonderful Doctor" by A. I. Kuprin is to remind the reader once again that miracles can be performed not only by fairy wizards, but also by the most ordinary people, including any of us.

As another Russian writer Alexander Green said: "If a person's soul longs for a miracle, give him this miracle - he will have another soul, and you will have another." And the person who performed a miracle for another will certainly get a spark of happiness from the person for whom he performed it.

Kuprin's work "The Magic Doctor", based on real events, looks like a good fairy tale. In the story "The Wonderful Doctor", the characters found themselves in a difficult life situation: the father of the Mertsalov family lost his job, the children fell ill, and the youngest girl died. A beautiful well-fed life is boiling around, and the family is begging. On the eve of the Christmas holiday, despair reaches its limit, Mertsalov thinks about suicide, unable to withstand the trials that befell his family. It is then that the main character meets the “guardian angel”.

Characteristics of the characters "The Wonderful Doctor"

main characters

Minor characters

The main characters of The Wonderful Doctor are ordinary people who, due to circumstances, are in a desperate situation. The names of the characters play the role of characteristics in the work. The description of the life and life of the Mertsalov family at the beginning and at the end of the story is in sharp contrast, which creates the effect of a magical reincarnation. The materials of the article can be useful for compiling a reader's diary or writing creative works on the work of Kuprin.

Product test

The story "The Wonderful Doctor" by Kuprin was written in 1897 and, according to the author, is based on real events. Literary critics note the signs of a Christmas story in the work.

main characters

Mertsalov Emelyan- the father of the family. He worked as a house manager, but after an illness he lost his job, and his family was left without means of subsistence.

Professor Pirogov- the doctor, whom Mertsalov met in a public garden, helped the Mertsalov family. The real prototype of the hero is the great Russian physician N.I.Pirogov.

Other characters

Elizaveta Ivanovna- the wife of Mertsalov.

Grisha (Grigory)- the eldest son of Mertsalov, he is 10 years old.

Volodya- the youngest son of Mertsalov.

Mashutka- daughter of Mertsalov, "a girl of about seven".

Kiev, "about thirty years ago." Twenty-degree frost. Two boys, the Mertsalovs Volodya and Grisha, stood for "more than five minutes" looking at the window of a grocery store. In the morning they themselves ate only empty cabbage soup. Sighing, the guys hurriedly ran home.

Their mother sent them to the city with an assignment - to ask for money from the master, whom their father had previously served. However, the master's doorman drove the boys away.

The Mertsalov family, suffering from poverty, lived for more than a year in the basement of a dilapidated rickety house. The youngest daughter Mashutka was very ill, and the exhausted mother, Elizaveta Ivanovna, was torn between the girl and her baby.

"In this terrible, fatal year, misfortune after misfortune persistently and mercilessly poured down on Mertsalov and his family." At first, Mertsalov himself fell ill with typhoid fever. While he was undergoing treatment, he was fired from his job. Children started to get sick. Their youngest daughter died three months ago. And so, in order to find money for the medicine for Masutka, Mertsalov ran around the city "begging and humiliating himself." But everyone found reasons to refuse or were simply kicked out.

Returning home, Mertsalov learns that the master did not help in any way, and soon leaves again, explaining that he will at least try to ask for alms. "He was seized by an uncontrollable desire to run anywhere, to run without looking back, so as not to see the silent despair of a hungry family." Sitting on a bench in a public garden, Mertsalov, in despair, was already thinking about suicide, but noticed an old man walking along the alley. The stranger sat down next to Mertsalov and began to tell that he had bought gifts for the guys he knew, but decided to go into the garden on the way. Suddenly Mertsalov was seized by a "tide of desperate anger." He began waving his arms and yelled that his children were dying of hunger while the stranger was talking about gifts.

The old man did not get angry, but asked to tell everything in more detail. "There was something calm and trusting in the stranger's extraordinary face." After listening to Mertsalov, the old man explained that he was a doctor and asked to take him to the sick girl.

The doctor examined Mashutka, ordered that they bring firewood and light the stove. Having written out the prescription, the stranger quickly left. Running out into the corridor, Mertsalov asked the name of the benefactor, but he answered so that the man did not invent trifles and returned home. A pleasant surprise was the money that the doctor would leave under the tea saucer along with the recipe. Buying the medicine, Mertsalov found out the doctor's name, it was indicated on the pharmacy label: Professor Pirogov.

The narrator heard this story from Grishka himself, who now "occupies a major, responsible post in one of the banks." Each time, telling about this incident, Gregory adds: "From that time on, it was as if a beneficent angel descended into our family." His father found a job, Mashutka recovered, the brothers began to study at the gymnasium. Since then, they have seen the doctor only once - "when he was transported dead to his own estate, Cherry."

Conclusion

In The Miraculous Doctor, the personality of the doctor comes to the fore, the “holy man” who saves the entire Mertsalov family from starvation. Pirogov's words: “never lose heart” become the key idea of ​​the story.

The proposed retelling of "The Wonderful Doctor" will be useful to schoolchildren in preparation for literature lessons and tests.

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Retelling rating

Average rating: 4.2. Total ratings received: 2065.

“This story happened in reality,” the author says from the first lines of his story. Let us give a brief summary of it. The Wonderful Doctor is notable for its capacious meaning and vivid language. The documentary basis gives the narration a special intriguing flavor. The finale reveals the mystery.

A summary of the story "The Wonderful Doctor". Hungry children

In front of the showcase with gastronomic abundance, two boys stopped and, swallowing the rising saliva, lively discuss what they saw. They are amused by the look of ruddy with a sprig of greenery in their mouth. The author gives the story of the "still life" behind glass in the highest degree aesthetically pleasing and appetizing. There are “garlands of sausages” and “pyramids of soft golden tangerines”. And the hungry children cast "love-greedy" glances at them. Kiev, preparing for the Christmas holidays, looks too contrasting in comparison with the pathetic thin figures of beggar children.

Fatal year

Grisha and Volodya went on behalf of their mother with a letter of help. Yes, only the doorman of the influential addressee drove away the little rags with abuse. And so they returned to their dwelling - a basement with "walls weeping from dampness." The description of the Mertsalov family evokes keen compassion. A seven-year-old sister is lying in a fever, a hungry baby is straining from screaming in a cradle nearby. An emaciated woman "with a face blackened with grief" gives the boys the remains of a cold soup, which there is nothing to reheat. The father appears with his hands "swollen" from frost. We learn that in this fateful year, having contracted typhus, he lost his job as manager, which brought in a modest income. One after another, misfortunes rained down: the children began to get sick, all their savings were gone, the daughter died, and now another was seriously ill. Nobody gave alms, and there was no one to beg. Here is a description of the misfortunes, their summary.

Wonderful Doctor

Despair grips Mertsalov, he leaves home, wanders around the city, not hoping for anything. Tired, he sits down on a bench in the city garden and feels the urge to commit suicide. At this moment, a stranger appears in the alley. He sits down next to him and starts a friendly conversation. When the old man mentions the gifts he bought for the children he knows, Mertsalov breaks down and starts shouting hotly and viciously that his children are "dying of hunger." The old man listens attentively to the confused story and offers help: it turns out that he is a doctor. Mertsalov leads him to himself. The doctor examines the sick girl, writes out a prescription, gives money to buy firewood, medicine and food. On the same evening, Mertsalov, from a label on a bottle with a mixture, learns the name of his benefactor - this is Professor Pirogov, an outstanding Russian physician. Since then, like an "angel descended" on the family, and her affairs went uphill. This is what Kuprin says. The wonderful doctor (we will summarize this conclusion to the end) acted very humanely, and this changed not only the circumstances, but also the worldview of the heroes of the story. The boys grew up, one of them took up a major position in the bank and was always especially sensitive to the needs of poor people.

AI Kuprin's story "The Wonderful Doctor" about how poor people live. How they are brought to the brink of misery and poverty. And there is no light at the end. And also that there is always a place for a miracle. That one meeting can change the lives of several people.

The story teaches goodness and mercy. Teaches you not to get angry. In The Miracle Doctor, a miracle is performed by one person, with the warmth of his heart and the riches of his soul. There would be more such doctors, maybe the world would be kinder.

Read Briefly Kuprin The Wonderful Doctor

Life is often not as beautiful as they say in fairy tales. That is why many people become extremely angry.

Volodya and Grishka are two boys who are not very neatly dressed at the moment. They are brothers who stood and looked at the shop window. And the showcase was just gorgeous. No wonder they stood beside her as if spellbound. There were so many goodies in the window. There were sausages of all kinds, and overseas fruits - tangerines and oranges, which seemed and probably were so juicy, and fish - pickled and smoked, and also, even a piglet baked with herbs in his mouth.

All these extraordinary things, simply amazed the children, who were stuck for some time near the store with a beautiful and magical showcase. The poor children wanted to eat, but then they had to go to the master, whom they wanted to ask for help, because their family had no money at all, and even their sister was sick. But the doorman did not take the letter from them, and simply drove them out. When the poor children came and told their mother about this, she was not surprised in principle, although the ray of hope in her eyes went out immediately.

The children came to the basement of some old house - this was their place of residence. The basement smelled of an unpleasant smell of damp and musty. It was very cold, and in the corner there was a girl lying on some rags, who had been sick for some time. After the children, the father came in almost immediately - who, as the mother also understood, did not bring anything to feed the children and save the sick girl, who could even die. The father of the family was in despair, so he went out into the street, and after walking a little, sat down on a bench.

Soon the thought of suicide crept into his head. He did not want to see despair on the face of his wife, and his sick daughter Masha. But then someone sat down next to him, it was an elderly man who, out of the simplicity of his soul, decided to start a conversation and said that he had bought gifts for his children, and very successful ones. The poor father simply shouted at him, and then told him how hard it was for him. The man turned out to be a doctor who wanted to examine the girl. It was he who helped them with the money. And it was he who brought happiness to their family.

Read the summary of the story The Wonderful Doctor

The story begins with two boys looking at the window of a large store. They are poor and hungry, but still children, they have fun looking at the pig behind the glass. The shop window is lined with various foods. A gastronomic paradise behind the glass. Poor children cannot even dream of such an abundance of food. The boys look at the food display for a long time, and then rush home.

The city's vibrant landscape gives way to dull slums. The boys run across the city, to the very outskirts. The place where a family of boys has been forced to live for more than a year can only be called a slum. Dirty courtyard, basement rooms with dark corridors and rotten doors. A place that decently dressed people try to avoid.

A family of boys lives behind one of these doors. Mother exhausted by hunger and lack of money, sick sister, baby and father. A sick little girl is lying on the bed in a dark, cold room. Her intermittent breathing and the cry of a baby are only depressing. Nearby, in a cradle, a baby sways and cries from hunger. The emaciated mother is kneeling by the patient's bed and at the same time shaking the cradle. The mother no longer even has the strength to despair. She automatically wipes the girl's forehead and rocks the cradle. She understands the gravity of the family's situation, but is powerless to change anything.

The hope was in the boys, but this hope was very weak. Such a picture appears before the eyes of the running boys. They were sent to take a letter to the master, for whom the father of the family, Mertsalov, had previously worked. But the boys were not allowed to see the master and the letters were not taken. For a year my father could not find a job. The boys told their mother how the doorman had kicked them out and did not even listen to their requests. The woman offers the boys cold borscht, the family has nothing to warm up the food with. At this time, the elder Mertsalov returns.

He never found a job. Mertsalov is dressed like a summer, he doesn't even have galoshes on. Remembering a difficult year for the whole family oppresses him. Typhoid fever took him out of his job. Interrupting odd jobs, the family could barely make ends meet. Then the children began to get sick. One girl had died, and now Mashutka was also in a fever. Mertsalov leaves the house in search of at least some kind of earnings, he is even ready to ask for alms. Mashutka needs medicine and he must find money. In search of earnings, Mertsalov turns into the garden, where, sitting on a bench, he thinks about his life. He even has the thought of suicide.

At the same time, a stranger is walking in the park. After asking permission to sit on the bench, the stranger starts a conversation. Mertsalov's nerves are at the limit, his despair is so enormous that he cannot contain himself. The stranger listens to the unfortunate man without interrupting, and then asks to take him to the sick girl. He gives money to buy food, asks the boys to run to neighbors for firewood. While Mertsalov is buying food, a stranger, who introduced himself as a doctor, examines the girl. After completing the examination, the wonderful doctor writes out a prescription for the medicine and explains how and where to buy it, and then how to give it to the girl.

Returning with hot food, Mertsalov finds the wonderful doctor leaving. He tries to find out the name of the benefactor, but the doctor only politely says goodbye. Returning to the room under the saucer, along with the recipe, Mertsalov discovers the money left by the guest. Turning to the pharmacy with a prescription written by a doctor, Mertsalov learns the name of the doctor. The pharmacist clearly wrote that the medicine was prescribed according to the prescription of Professor Pirogov. The author heard this story from one of the participants in those events. From Grigory Mertsalov, one of the boys. After meeting with the wonderful doctor, things in the Mertsalov family began to improve. Father found a job, the boys were placed in a gymnasium, Mashutka recovered, mother also got to her feet. They never saw their wonderful doctor again. We saw only the body of Professor Pirogov, which was transported to his estate. But this was no longer a wonderful doctor, but only a shell.

Despair is not a helper in trouble. A lot can happen in life. Today's rich man can become poor. An absolutely healthy person - suddenly die or become seriously ill. But there is a family, there is a responsibility to oneself. You have to fight for your life. After all, good is always rewarded. One conversation on a snow-covered bench can change the fate of several people. If there is an opportunity, you need to help. After all, someday you will have to ask for help.

1. Professor Pirogov- the famous doctor. He was very kind and helpful.
2. The Mertsalov family- poor people who did not have the money to buy medicines for children.

The plight of the Mertsalovs

This story took place in Kiev, in the second half of the 19th century on Christmas Eve. For a year now, the Mertsalov family has been living in the damp basement of an old house. Yemelyan Mertsalov was laid off from work and his relatives began to live in poverty. The youngest child who is still in the cradle wants to eat and therefore he screams loudly. His sister, who is a little older than him, has a high fever, but her parents have no money to buy medicines.

The mother of the family sends her two eldest sons to the manager, whom her husband used to work for, in the hope that he will help them. But the poor boys are driven away without giving them a dime. It should be explained why Mertsalov lost his job. He contracted typhus. While the man was being treated, another person was taken in his place. All savings were spent on medicines, so the Mertsalovs had to move to the basement.

One after another, the children began to get sick. One of their girls died 3 months ago, and now Masha is also sick. Their father tried to get money: he walked all over the city, begged, humiliated himself, but no one helped him in any way. When the sons returned from the manager with nothing, Mertsalov leaves. He is possessed by an agonizing desire to run away, to hide somewhere, so as not to see the torment of his relatives.

Meeting with a kind professor

The man just wanders around the city and finds himself in a public garden. There was no one there and silence reigned. Mertsalov wanted to find peace and the thought of suicide arose in his head. He has almost gathered his strength, but suddenly an unfamiliar old man in a fur coat sits down on him. He starts a conversation with him about New Year's gifts, and from his words Mertsalov is seized with a fit of anger. His interlocutor does not take offense at what he said, but only asks to tell him everything in order.

After 10 minutes, Mertsalov returns home with a mysterious old man who turns out to be a doctor. With his arrival, firewood and food appear in the house. The good doctor writes out a free prescription for the medicine, leaves the family a few large bills and leaves. The Mertsalovs find the identity of their savior, Professor Pirogov, on a label attached to the medicine.

After meeting with Pirogov, as if grace descends into the Mertsalovs' house. The father of the family finds himself a new good job, and the children are on the mend. With their benefactor, Dr. Pirogov, they meet only once - at his funeral. The narrator is told this amazing and truly magical story by one of the Mertsalov brothers, who holds an important position in the bank.

Kuprin's work "The Magic Doctor", based on real events, looks like a good fairy tale. In the story "The Wonderful Doctor", the characters found themselves in a difficult life situation: the father of the Mertsalov family lost his job, the children fell ill, and the youngest girl died. A beautiful well-fed life is boiling around, and the family is begging. On the eve of the Christmas holiday, despair reaches its limit, Mertsalov thinks about suicide, unable to withstand the trials that befell his family. It is then that the main character meets the “guardian angel”.

Characteristics of the characters "The Wonderful Doctor"

main characters

Minor characters

The main characters of The Wonderful Doctor are ordinary people who, due to circumstances, are in a desperate situation. The names of the characters play the role of characteristics in the work. The description of the life and life of the Mertsalov family at the beginning and at the end of the story is in sharp contrast, which creates the effect of a magical reincarnation. The materials of the article can be useful for compiling a reader's diary or writing creative works on the work of Kuprin.

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A short story "The Wonderful Doctor", written by Kuprin, based on a real fact. The main character of the work is Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov, who lived in 1810-1881, a famous surgeon, naturalist and professor.

The main characters of the story:

Wonderful Doctor- a wonderful person, an angel in the flesh, as they perceived him in the Flicker family. He loves people, believes in goodness, and devoted his life to the most humane profession - the profession of a doctor. He met Mertsalov at the most desperate moment for him, when he wanted to commit suicide. With some inner instinct, the doctor felt that the person needed help, did not pass by. To Mertsalov's aggression, he responded calmly, even friendly. He examined the sick daughter, and not only did not ask for money, but also left his money for medicine for the sick girl.

Emelyan Mertsalov- the head of the family, a desperate person. He served as a manager in a landlord's house. And when he fell ill, another was taken in his place. Mertsalov was left without work. For several months he tried unsuccessfully to get a job somewhere, but unsuccessfully. The modest fortune accumulated during his service with the landowner was spent on the treatment and nutrition of the children. He tried to beg, but they drove him away everywhere. The tsarist government introduced a ban on alms.

Mertsalov's wife- an exhausted, sick woman, struggling for children, went to earn money, washed clothes at some lady's.

Landlord's doorman was, most likely, not evil, but an indifferent and overly zealous servant. He did not take the letter from the children of Mertsalov, and knocking the younger Volodenka, drove the children away.

Grisha and Volodya- sons of Mertsalov. Boys are smart, obedient. They understood the plight of the family. Grisha, when he grew up, began to occupy a large, responsible post in one of the banks, reputed to be a model of honesty and responsiveness to the needs of poverty. He told Kuprin this story.

The further fate of the main characters of The Wonderful Doctor turned out well. Soon after visiting Doctor Pirogov, Mertsalov got a job, his wife recovered, and the children managed to get a job at the gymnasium at the state expense.

Gregory, having learned about the death of the famous doctor, went to the funeral in the village of Vishnya, where he was buried.