Kestner Erich

Emil and the detectives

Erich Kaestner

Emil and the detectives

Translation by L. Lungina

IT'S NOT STARTED YET

I can frankly admit to you: I composed the story about Emil and the detectives completely by accident. The thing is, I was going to write a completely different book. A book in which tigers would clang their fangs in fear and coconuts would fall from date palms. And of course, there would be a black-and-white checkered cannibal girl, and she would swim across the Great or Pacific Ocean to get a free toothbrush from Dringwater and Company when she got to San Francisco. And this girl’s name would be Petrosilla, but this, of course, is not a surname, but a first name.

In a word, I wanted to write a real adventure novel, because one bearded gentleman told me that you guys love to read books like this more than anything else in the world.

Three chapters were already completely ready. I stopped just as the leader named the Great Raven, also nicknamed the Swift Walker, threw off a baked apple impaled on the blade of his penknife and, maintaining complete composure, quickly counted to three hundred and ninety-seven...

And suddenly everything stopped because I forgot how many legs a whale has. I immediately lay down on the floor - and I must tell you that I think best while lying on the floor - and began to remember, but I still didn’t remember anything. Then I began to leaf through the explanatory dictionary - first to the letter “K”, and then, out of good faith, to the letter “R” - “Whale Fish”, but not a word was said anywhere about whale legs. And I couldn’t write further without knowing exactly how many legs a whale has. Absolutely right!

The fact is that if the whale had gotten up on the wrong foot that morning, then the leader named the Great Raven, also called the Swift Walker, would never have met him in the jungle. And if he had not met the whale at the very moment when the blade of his penknife was on; If a baked apple was stabbed, then the checkered cannibal girl, whose name was Petrosilla, would never have seen the diamond washer Frau Lehmann, and if Petrosilla had not encountered Frau Lehmann, she would never have received the precious coupon, according to which the company "Dringwater and Company" in San Francisco gives out a completely new toothbrush for free, and then...

In short, my adventure novel - and I was so happy writing it - tripped, so to speak, on a whale's foot. I was very upset. And when I told Fräulein Fidelbogen about this, she became so desperate that she almost cried. But she had no time to cry, because she was just setting the table for dinner, and she put off her tears for later, and then forgot that she was going to cry. That's how women are!

I wanted to call the book “Petrozilla from the Jungle.” World title, right? And now the three finished chapters lie under the leg of my desk so that it does not wobble. But is this appropriate place for an adventure novel set in the tropics rather than somewhere else?

The head waiter Nitenfuhr, with whom I sometimes talk about my work, asked me a few days later if I had ever been there.

Where exactly? - I didn’t understand.

Well, in these very tropics, in the southern seas, in Australia, Sumatra, Borneo and the like?

No, I answered. - But why are you asking?

Because you can only write about those things that you know well, that you have seen with your own eyes.

But allow me, my dear Mr. Nitenfur...

“Yes, it’s as clear as two,” he said. - The Neugebauers - they often come to our restaurant - had a servant who had never seen how a bird was fried. And last Christmas, when she was told to cook a goose, the hostess, returning home with purchases, found the following picture: the goose was roasting in the oven in the same form as it was bought at the market. Not plucked, not singed, not gutted. Well, there was a stench, I’ll tell you!

What does the goose have to do with it? - I was surprised. - You won’t argue that roasting geese is the same as writing books. Don’t be offended by me, dear Nitenfur, but this is simply ridiculous.

He let me laugh to my heart’s content, however, I didn’t laugh for that long, and said:

And the tropical sea, and your cannibals, and coral reefs, and all other crap - this is your goose. And the novel is yours; - this is the baking sheet on which you are going to fry the Pacific Ocean, and Petrosilla, and all these strange animals. And if you don’t know how to fry such game, then the result will be such game that you will not be embarrassed. Exactly like the Neugebauers' servants.

But that's exactly what most writers do! - I exclaimed.

Enjoy your meal! That's all he said to me in response. For some time I was silent and thought. Then he resumed the conversation:

Mr. Nietenfuhr, do you know Schiller?

Schiller? Do you mean the Schiller who works as a manager at a brewery?

No! - I say. - The writer Friedrich Schiller, who wrote a lot of plays more than a hundred years ago.

Ah, that's it! That Schiller to whom they erect monuments?

Exactly! He composed a drama set in Switzerland. It's called "William Tell". Previously, children in schools were always forced to write an essay on this topic...

“We also wrote,” Nietenfur interrupts me. - I know this Tell very well. That's right, a world-class play - Schiller is strong, you can't say anything. What's true is true. But writing essays is just terrible. I still remember one topic: “Why didn’t William Tell flinch when he shot at the apple?” I then received a pair. In general, I must admit, I have never really been able to...

Let me finish,” I say. - So, although Schiller has never been to Switzerland, in his play “William Tell” everything is pure truth, down to the smallest detail...

And this is because, Niteyfür objects, he first read cookbooks.

Cookbooks?

Well, yes. Cookbooks for your specialty. You can learn a lot of useful things from them: how high the mountains are in Switzerland, and when the snow melts there, and how it was when the peasants rebelled against Governor Gesler.

“You are undoubtedly right,” I agree. - Schiller, of course, read all this.

Well, you see! - Nitenfur picks up and kills a fly with a towel. You see, if you do like Schiller and read books, then maybe you will be able to complete your story about these same Australian kangaroos.

The book Emil and the detectives" is worth reading just because of how this boy treated his mother.
"You see, he just loves his mother and would die of shame if he were to waste his time when she works hard and saves literally every pfennig. That's why he can't go to school without learning his lessons...Or skip classes. He sees how his mother is exhausted so that he can have everything that other children have. Is it possible to deceive her and upset her in return?”
Gold words!
And despite the very interesting detective plot and exciting events, the story from beginning to end is permeated with Emil’s love for his mother.
The boy Emil Tyshbein lives with his mother in the small provincial town of Neustadt. During the holidays, the mother decided to send her son to visit his grandmother in Berlin, providing him with 140 marks. On the way, the boy fell asleep and was robbed by a thief. Emil understands how hard this money was earned. And he decides to find the thief and take his money from him. Therefore, leaving the train ahead of time, he begins surveillance in a large and unfamiliar city. Unexpectedly, Emil finds help in the form of local Berlin guys who really want to take part in catching the thief. From this moment on, Operation Emil proceeds according to a strictly developed plan and with iron discipline)). Such a plot, in my opinion, will be interesting not only to every boy, but also to girls.
Very reasonable and appropriate behavior of children. The ability to be friends and come to each other’s aid is perhaps the most valuable thing the book teaches.
The reasoning and dialogues of children are sometimes simply surprising. In one of the reviews they already quoted part of the dialogue about money. I'd like to quote a little more. Emil talks about his mother:
-And even when she allows me to go out of town with Pretsch - he lives in our house on the first floor - and walk until nine o’clock in the evening, I return by seven. Because I don't want her to have dinner in the kitchen alone. And my mother even insists that I go out with everyone until late. And you know, I somehow tried to stay longer. But it turned out that pleasure no longer gives me pleasure. And I see that she is still happy when I come home early.....
- You probably love each other very much?
“Very,” Emil answered.

I repeat once again, the book is very dynamic and exciting in its plot.
The thief was eventually caught. And it turned out to be not just a road thief, but...read it)).
Age audience 7-10 years. Although we are only in our seventh year, we have already read the book “Emil and the Detectives” twice.
The introduction and Emil's dream on the train, which previous reviewers wrote about, really fall out of the plot and clearly contrast with the story. I will not hide that it was also quite difficult for me to read these fantasies of the Author to my child. But I do not rule out, and most likely it will be, that children, especially older ones, will find the Author’s fantastic visions interesting and very funny. To be fair, it must be said that the number of pages of crazy fantasies is negligible. And they are by no means the main argument not to buy this wonderful book.

German with Erich Kästner

Emil und die Detektive (Emil and the detectives)

von Erich Kastner

Ilya Frank's reading method

Text prepared by Ilya Frank

annotation

This book is structured as follows: the text is divided into small passages, each of which is repeated twice: first there is a German text with “tips” - interspersed with a literal Russian translation and a lexical and grammatical commentary (i.e.

adapted), and then the same text, but not adapted, “without

hints."

Beginners to master German can read it first

text with hints, and then the same text - without hints. Those improving their German can do the opposite: read the text without hints, peeking at the hints as necessary.

Memorization of words and expressions occurs during such reading due to their repetition, without cramming. In addition, the reader gets used to the logic

German language, begins to “feel” it.

This book will save you from the stress of the first stage of language acquisition - from a mechanical search for every word in the dictionary and from fruitless guessing what the phrase means, all the words from which you already

How to read this book

Dear readers! Please open any page of this book. You see that the text is divided into passages. First comes

adapted passage - text with verbatim interspersed into it

Russian translation and a small lexical and grammatical commentary. Then follows the same text, but unadapted, without prompts.

If you have just started learning German, then you first need

If you forgot the meaning of a word, but in general everything is clear, then

It is not necessary to look for this word in the passage with clues. You will meet it again. The meaning of the unadapted text is precisely that some

time - albeit short - you are “swimming without a board.” After you read the unadapted text, you need to read the following

First, a stream of unknown words and forms will rush at you. Don't be afraid: you

no one examines them. As you read (even if it happens in the middle or even at the end of the book), everything will “settle down”, and you will,

perhaps you will be surprised: “Well, why is the translation given again, why is the original form of the word given again, everything is already clear!” When such a moment comes, “when it’s clear anyway,” you can read

on the contrary: first the unadapted part, and then look into the adapted one. (The same method of reading can be recommended for those

who does not learn a language from scratch.)

Language by its nature is a means, not an end, so it is best learned not when it is specially taught, but when it is naturally used - either in live communication or immersed in

entertaining reading. Then he learns by himself, latently.

Our memory is closely related to what we feel at any particular moment, depends on our internal state, on how “awake” we are now (and not on, for example, how many times

we will repeat a phrase or how many exercises we will do). Memorizing requires not sleepy, mechanical cramming or the development of some skills, but novelty of impressions. Than a few

repeat a word once, it is better to encounter it in different combinations and in

different semantic contexts. The bulk of commonly used vocabulary in the reading that is offered to you is remembered without

cramming, of course - due to the repetition of words. That's why,

After reading the text, there is no need to try to memorize the words from it. „Not yet

matter, quantity will turn into quality. Thus, all that is required of you is just to read, not thinking about foreign

a language that for some reason has to be learned, but about the contents of the book.

This is not suitable for me, you might think. I won't remember anything like that. Believe me, if you actually read this book

intensively, then the method will work. If you read it for more than one month, then nothing will really come of it. After all, you will use the item in violation of the instructions.

The main problem of all those who study one language for many years is that they study it little by little, and do not immerse themselves headlong. Language -

It’s not mathematics, you don’t have to teach it, you have to get used to it. This is not a matter of logic or memory, but of skill. In this sense it is rather similar to

a sport that needs to be practiced in a certain mode, otherwise there will be no result. If you read a lot at once, then fluent reading in German is a matter of three to four months (starting

"from scratch"). And if you learn little by little, then you will only torture yourself and stall in place. Language in this sense is like an ice slide - like

she needs to run up quickly. Until you run up, you will slide down. If you have reached the point where you can read fluently, then you will not lose this skill and will not forget vocabulary, even if you resume

reading in this language only after a few years. And if you haven’t completed your studies, then everything will disappear.

What to do with grammar? In fact, to understand a text provided with such hints, knowledge of grammar is no longer necessary - and everything will be clear. And then one gets used to certain forms - and the grammar is also acquired latently. After all, people master a language who never learned its grammar, but simply

found themselves in the appropriate language environment. This is not what is being said

interesting thing, do it too), but what to start

You can read this book without any grammatical knowledge.

This book will help you overcome an important barrier: you will gain vocabulary

and get used to the logic of the language, saving a lot of time and effort. But

After reading it, you don’t need to stop, continue reading in German (now, really, just by looking in the dictionary)!

Erich Kaestner

EMIL AND THE DETECTIVES

I can frankly admit to you: I composed the story about Emil and the detectives completely by accident. The thing is, I was going to write a completely different book. A book in which tigers would clang their fangs in fear and coconuts would fall from date palms. And of course, there would be a black-and-white checkered cannibal girl, and she would swim across the Great or Pacific Ocean to get a free toothbrush from Dringwater and Company when she got to San Francisco. And this girl’s name would be Petrosilla, but this, of course, is not a surname, but a first name.

In a word, I wanted to write a real adventure novel, because one bearded gentleman told me that you guys love to read books like this more than anything else in the world.

Three chapters were already completely ready. I stopped just as the leader named the Great Raven, also nicknamed the Swift Walker, threw off a baked apple impaled on the blade of his penknife and, maintaining complete composure, quickly counted to three hundred and ninety-seven...

And suddenly everything stopped because I forgot how many legs a whale has. I immediately lay down on the floor - and I must tell you that I think best while lying on the floor - and began to remember, but I still didn’t remember anything. Then I began to leaf through the explanatory dictionary - first to the letter “K”, and then, out of good faith, to the letter “R” - “Whale Fish”, but not a word was said anywhere about whale legs. And I couldn’t write further without knowing exactly how many legs a whale has. Absolutely right!

The fact is that if the whale had gotten up on the wrong foot that morning, then the leader named the Great Raven, also called the Swift Walker, would never have met him in the jungle. And if he had not met the whale at the very moment when the blade of his penknife was on; If the baked apple was stabbed, then the checkered cannibal girl, whose name was Petrosilla, would never have seen the diamond washer Frau Lehmann, and if Petrosilla had not encountered Frau Lehmann, she would never have received the precious coupon, according to which the company "Dringwater and Company" in San Francisco gives out a completely new toothbrush for free, and then...

In short, my adventure novel - and I was so happy writing it - tripped, so to speak, on a whale's foot. I was very upset. And when I told Fräulein Fidelbogen about this, she became so desperate that she almost cried. But she had no time to cry, because she was just setting the table for dinner, and she put off her tears for later, and then forgot that she was going to cry. That's how women are!

I wanted to call the book “Petrozilla from the Jungle.” World title, right? And now the three finished chapters lie under the leg of my desk so that it does not wobble. But is this a suitable setting for an adventure novel set in the tropics rather than somewhere else?

The head waiter Nitenfuhr, with whom I sometimes talk about my work, asked me a few days later if I had ever been there.

Where exactly? - I didn’t understand.

Well, in these very tropics, in the southern seas, in Australia, Sumatra, Borneo and the like?

No, I answered. - But why are you asking?

Because you can only write about those things that you know well, that you have seen with your own eyes.

But allow me, my dear Mr. Nitenfur...

“Yes, it’s as clear as two,” he said. - The Neugebauers - they often come to our restaurant - had a servant who had never seen how a bird was fried. And last Christmas, when she was told to cook a goose, the hostess, returning home with purchases, found the following picture: the goose was roasting in the oven in the same form as it was bought at the market. Not plucked, not singed, not gutted. Well, there was a stench, I’ll tell you!

What does the goose have to do with it? - I was surprised. - You won’t argue that roasting geese is the same as writing books. Don’t be offended by me, dear Nitenfur, but this is simply ridiculous.

He let me laugh to my heart’s content, however, I didn’t laugh for that long, and said:

And the tropical sea, and your cannibals, and coral reefs, and all other crap - this is your goose. And the novel is yours; - this is the baking sheet on which you are going to fry the Pacific Ocean, and Petrosilla, and all these strange animals. And if you don’t know how to fry such game, then the result will be such game that you will not be embarrassed. Exactly like the Neugebauers' servants.

But that's exactly what most writers do! - I exclaimed.

Enjoy your meal! That's all he said to me in response. For some time I was silent and thought. Then he resumed the conversation:

Mr. Nietenfuhr, do you know Schiller?

Schiller? Do you mean the Schiller who works as a manager at a brewery?

No! - I say. - The writer Friedrich Schiller, who wrote a lot of plays more than a hundred years ago.

Ah, that's it! That Schiller to whom they erect monuments?

Exactly! He composed a drama set in Switzerland. It's called "William Tell". Previously, children in schools were always forced to write an essay on this topic...

“We also wrote,” Nietenfur interrupts me. - I know this Tell very well. That's right, a world-class play - Schiller is strong, you can't say anything. What's true is true. But writing essays is just terrible. I still remember one topic: “Why didn’t William Tell flinch when he shot at the apple?” I then received a pair. In general, I must admit, I have never really been able to...

Let me finish,” I say. - So, although Schiller has never been to Switzerland, in his play “William Tell” everything is pure truth, down to the smallest detail...

And this is because, Niteyfür objects, he first read cookbooks.

Cookbooks?

Well, yes. Cookbooks for your specialty. You can learn a lot of useful things from them: how high the mountains are in Switzerland, and when the snow melts there, and how it was when the peasants rebelled against Governor Gesler.

“You are undoubtedly right,” I agree. - Schiller, of course, read all this.

Well, you see! - Nitenfur picks up and kills a fly with a towel. You see, if you do like Schiller and read books, then maybe you will be able to complete your story about these same Australian kangaroos.

Then I will give you one piece of advice,” he says, “write about things that you know well.” About the subway, about hotels and the like, and about children, of course, who always get under our feet. And how long have we been children ourselves?

But the bearded gentleman, this greatest expert on children - he assures that he knows them like the back of his hand - explained to me that all this does not interest them.

Nonsense! - Mr. Nitenfur mutters. - You can trust me. After all, I also have children: two boys and a girl. And on my free days I tell them what is happening here in the restaurant. But in our country there is never a day without stories: someone gets shortchanged, or - there was a recent case - one tipsy visitor swung his hand to slap a guy selling cigarettes, but instead hit an elegant lady passing by in the neck. And my guys, I’ll tell you a secret, listen to these stories with open ears.

Are you sure about this, Mr. Nietenfuhr? - I ask.

Still would! I give you my head to be cut off! - he exclaims and runs away, because at the next table some gentleman is knocking on a glass with a knife, asking for the bill.

And only because the senior waiter Nitenfür demanded it, I decided to write a story about what we all - both you and I - know very well.

I returned home, sat down on the windowsill and began to look at Prague Street in the hope that the History I was looking for would pass just under my windows. Then I would call out to her and say: “Please come up to me for a minute. I really want to write to you!”

But History did not go on and on, and I began to freeze. Then I slammed the window in irritation and ran around the desk fifty-three times, but that didn’t help either. Finally, as before, I lay down on the floor and began to think.

When you lie on the floor for so long, the world looks completely different. You see chair legs, slippers, flowers on the carpet, ashes, dust, desk cabinets, and under the sofa you suddenly find the glove from your left hand, which the day before yesterday you searched in vain in the closet.

So, I looked at my room with curiosity, now looked at everything not from top to bottom, but from bottom to top, and was surprised to discover that the legs of the chairs, it turns out, had calves, yes, real tight dark calves, as if they were the calves of some black child or schoolchildren in brown knee socks.

And so, when I began to count the legs of the chairs to find out how many black children or schoolchildren in brown socks were standing on the carpet, the story about Emil came to my mind. Perhaps because I was just thinking about schoolchildren in brown socks, or perhaps because Emil’s last name is Tyshbain, which translated into Russian means “table leg.”

Kestner "Emil and the Detectives" brief retelling A children's detective story can be read in 5 minutes.

"Emil and the Detectives" summary

The story begins in the small provincial German town of Neustadt. Schoolboy Emil Tischbein lives in this city. Emil is a student, the best in the class. His father died when he was 5 years old, and his mother raises him on her own, working as a hairdresser. They did not live richly, but happily. Emil helped his mother in everything.

School ended, and during the holidays his mother sent Emil to her sister, who lived in Berlin with her husband and daughter Pony. Emil's grandmother also lived with them. Emil's mother gave her 140 marks; this was her monthly salary as a hairdresser. The boy had to give 120 marks to his grandmother, and keep the rest for expenses and the return trip. The mother asks her son to be very careful with the money, and Emil decides to nail the money to the backing of his jacket.

On the train, Emil meets the passengers of his compartment, but soon finds himself alone with a strange man in a hat, who called himself Mr. Grundeis. The guy falls asleep, he dreams of vivid horrors, and he wakes up on the floor, without money. Emil didn't know what to do because his mother had been earning this money for so long.
Emil decides to try to return the money by finding this Grundeis.

He gets off at the Zoo station, noticing a black hat in the crowd. The grandmother was supposed to wait for him at the Friedrichstrasse stop, but the guy didn’t want to go to her without money. Pony and his aunt were also waiting for Emil, but he did not appear. They couldn't call his mom because people didn't have phones back then.

The schoolboy did not dare to turn to the police for help, because at home, in Neustadt, a local policeman caught him painting a monument to Grand Duke Charles, and the guy was afraid that the police would arrest him for this. With a suitcase and flowers for his grandmother, Emil ran after the thief. They both boarded tram 177, where a certain Mr. Kästner paid for Emil’s ticket.

The guy was lucky to meet Gustav. Emil told him his story, and Gustav decided to help him. He gathered familiar children from nearby yards to help Emil track the thief and return the money. These young detectives developed an entire operation for this purpose. Emil sent his grandmother a telegram in which he said that he would arrive later.

Emil and the detectives followed the thief Grundeis to the hotel, and the next day they followed him to the bank, where the thief wanted to exchange the stolen banknotes for smaller bills. Emil managed to prove that the money was his. The police detained the thief and found out that Grundeis had participated in a recent bank robbery. Emil’s action was even written about in the newspaper, and he received a reward of 1000 marks. Emil treated all his new friends and invited his mother to come to the city, because now she can afford not to work for a week. The story ends with Emil's grandmother concluding that "Money should always be sent by mail."