granddaughter Lena— the granddaughter came to a small town to live with her grandfather.
grandfather Nikolai Nikolaevich He lives by collecting and spends all his savings on paintings. His dream is to open a museum. Once his great-grandfather was a serf artist, and he decided to find and collect all the paintings of his great-grandfather. In the town they call him "the patcher". He always walks around in an old, worn coat.

"I, Scarecrow" - it's so much fun

Lena comes to study at new class. The class greets the newcomer with ridicule. And when the children find out that she is the granddaughter of the "Patcher", they begin to call her the Scarecrow. The girl thinks that this is such a joke and that everyone is having fun. So she laughs at herself too.

There is a tight-knit group in the class. The leader of this group is Mironova. The girl has a strong will and is very principled. For this, she was nicknamed the Iron Button. Mironova is merciless to those who, she believes, act cowardly. Valya (boy) is also included in this company.

He believes that nothing in life is more important than money. They can be mined using any means. Shaggy is the strongest boy in the group. He believes only in physical influence. There is in the group and the one over whom everyone laughs. His name is "Red". The boy is indeed red. Shmakova is a recognized beauty of the class. Her main features are resourcefulness, cunning and coquetry. She surrounds herself with "slaves". Her main "slave" is Popov. He was big and narrow-minded.

Dima Somov also walked with this company. But he was not subordinate to Mironova. Being the smartest in the class, he tried to carry himself independently. Shmakova, as she did not want to, could not make him her "slave". Lena Bessoltseva sat down with him. She liked him immediately. And Dimka immediately stood up for Lena. Real knight. The kids had a great teacher. Her name was Margarita Ivanovna. The woman was busy with her personal affairs and was going to get married. She had no time to delve into children's problems.

To Moscow, to Moscow

Margarita Ivanovna said that during the holidays there was an opportunity to go to Moscow with the whole class. Dima Somov suggested that they would not take money from their parents, but would earn it on their own. Everyone liked the idea. The class went together to pick apples, the children swept the streets and went to the local factory, where they glued toys.

Somov bathed in the rays of glory. He found a large piggy bank where the guys put all the money they could earn. Bessoltseva was admitted to the group and she became friends with Dima.

An unpleasant incident happened to Lena at the factory. She decided to try on the head of a hare. Classmates also put on animal muzzles and surrounded the naive Bessoltseva. She became very scared. Dima saved her and drove everyone away.

Dima and Lena were walking and saw Valka, who was busy with a disgusting business. He rented stray dogs for a ruble. Somov took away the unfortunate animal from the little bastard and threatened that he would tell everyone about what he was doing. His brother stood up for the flayer.

He was older than the guys and had already served in the army. Lena suddenly realized that Dima, about whom she thought that he was not afraid of anyone, was very frightened. His face literally turned upside down with fear.

Autumn came soon. The piggy bank could already be broken. According to the schedule, there should be a physics lesson in the classroom. The children came to it and saw that it was written on the blackboard about replacing physics with literature. Dima told everyone that they had to go to kindergarten to do their patronage work. The guys did not want to work for free. Valka shouted the loudest.

Somov decided that he would tell everyone about this flayer. He was prevented by Valka's brother, who unexpectedly entered the classroom. Dima was again afraid of his threats. And then Valka's brother took a rag and before he left, he erased the inscription on the replacement of lessons from the board. Everyone decided that they were now free and fled to the cinema.

Shmakova and her "slave" Popov remained in the classroom. Lena, leaving the school, injured her knee. This made her return to visit the infirmary. Dima forgot the piggy bank and returned to the classroom to pick it up. And then Margarita Ivanovna came. She was shocked that no one came to class.

And she called Dima a coward. Then the boy decided to tell her the truth. Shmakova, Popov (under the desk) and Lena (outside the door) heard everything. Lena thought that Dima would tell her everything. He was silent. Shmakova will also remain silent.

In the morning the school was filled with joyful children. Everyone wanted to go to Moscow. Margarita Ivanovna stated that there would be no excursion for the 6th grade. So they decided to punish them for disrupting the lesson of literature.

The class teacher was reprimanded for this case. But they let her go to the capital. She had a fiancé living there. Everyone began to resent, Margarita Ivanovna in her hearts jumped out of the office and slammed the piggy bank on the floor. We decided to share the money.

Scarecrow is boycotted

Iron Button decided to find out who betrayed the class. She decided that it was Dima, who returned to pick up the piggy bank. The boy was very scared. Lena waited for him to say how everything was.

The tension in the class grew. And then, seeing how scared Dima was, Lena decided to take the blow. Only Vasiliev did not believe it. All the rest, led by Mironova, announced a boycott of Bessoltseva. Class heard the word "boycott". But she had no time to delve into the essence. She was waiting for a meeting with her fiancé in Moscow.

The class began to poison the girl. She began to be persecuted and humiliated. When Dima tried to stand up for her, he was also boycotted. Scarecrow, they didn’t call her otherwise.

Lena told Dima that she heard everything and therefore took the blame on herself. The boy promised her that he would confess. But he lacked the courage. Shmakova conceived her game and told Popov to keep quiet.

Grandfather, when the girl cut her hair bald, was amazed at her resemblance to the girl that her great-grandfather depicted in the picture. Fascinated by his own affairs, Nikolai Nikolaevich did not understand what was happening to his granddaughter.

But they scared her with a bear's head. When the old man pulled off the mask, it turned out that Dima was under it. Lena was very worried that he was forced to. And the grandfather did not notice any persecution.

When the hunted Lena, in a soiled dress, went home, she decided to look at Dima. He had the whole company. And no one tortured him. Sat and watched TV. Drank tea. Lena began to realize that Dima would never confess.

Another sad day has come. Lena washed her dress and wanted to hang it up. She was in the yard. Dima came and unexpectedly said that he was a vile coward. And if she suffers a little, then he will tell everyone the truth. And then he kissed Lena. Valka saw everything. He stole the dress and ran away.

The scene ended in a barn. Everyone has gathered here. Dimka, as if in jest, confessed. Everyone rejoiced. Now he will be the object of harassment. Somov once again had to pretend that he was joking.

No need to be afraid of anyone

Again the girl saved him. She took over again. And the boy remained silent. When Lena was not given the dress and played with it, passing it to each other, Dima also threw the dress over without giving it to her. Then she came up and punched him in the face. Then everyone decided that the Scarecrow should be burned.

The guys found somewhere a stuffed animal on a stick. They put Lena's dress on him, wrote a sign "Scarecrow of a traitor" and forced Dima to set fire to it. Lena rushed to extinguish the dress, as if she herself was on fire. And in the soul of the girl there was a change. She was no longer afraid of anyone.

"Scarecrow, forgive us!"

The teacher arrived with her husband. She didn't even remember that terrible word "boycott". While the girl was telling her grandfather everything, everyone was having fun at Somov's. The Bessoltsevs prepared to leave.

Vasilyev found out about this and accused Lena of being a coward. Lena cut her hair bald, put on a burnt dress and, really looking like a stuffed animal, came to the house where everyone was having fun. She told everyone what she thought of them, proudly turned around and left.

The company was not up to fun. Everyone dispersed. Shmakova and Popov remained. And then the girl laid everything out to Dima that they were also in the class when he admitted that everyone had gone to the movies.

Shmakova calculated everything exactly. Now Dima Somov, handsome and smart, will become her faithful slave. Popov could not bear such a betrayal. He, beside himself with what he heard and saw, told the Iron Button everything.

Nikolai Nikolaevich decided that he and his granddaughter should leave the town. He decided to give all the paintings to the local museum. For free. Lena came to the pier and saw how the company she knew was driving another outcast - Dima Somov. The boy ran away in fear, clinging to the fence.

Bessoltseva returned to class. She was greeted with a measure of friendliness. When Margarita Ivanovna came, the boycott was already announced to Somov. Lena did not participate in this. The teacher enthusiastically spoke about Bessoltsev's act. Everyone so gasped.

At this time, grandfather entered the classroom. He decided to give the school a picture of "Mashka", it was very similar to Lena, their distant relative. Previously, he wanted to keep this picture for himself, but now he has changed his mind.

And no one else wanted to arrange a boycott. And on the board they wrote in large letters: “Scarecrow, forgive us!”.

Scarecrow Quiz

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Vladimir Karpovich Zheleznikov

"Scarecrow"

A small old town on the banks of the Oka. The elderly Nikolai Nikolaevich Bessoltsev has been living alone for several years in a century-old family house with a mezzanine and four balconies.

He moved there after the death of his aunt. Having become a widower, he was ill for a long time and often recalled the paintings of his great-grandfather, a serf artist, a whole collection of which was collected by generations of the Bessoltsevs. Nikolai Nikolaevich continued this tradition, deciding to collect all the works of his great-grandfather. He spent all his money on it, and he went around in a coat with patches on his elbows, for which the children called him the Patchmaker.

One day, his granddaughter Lenka came to visit him - a clumsy, long-legged teenager with a moving face, which was decorated with a large, always smiling mouth. She was immediately fascinated by the house with four balconies, but soon the same story happened.

Lenka rushed home in tears and began to collect things. She wanted to leave town forever. Persuasion did not help - Nikolai Nikolaevich had to buy a ticket for the ship. At the box office of the river shipping company, Lenka was met by a group of classmates. They started calling the girl Scarecrow, and in the evening Lenka told her grandfather about everything that had happened to her.

The sixth grade greeted Lenka with ridicule. Having learned that the new girl is the Patcher's granddaughter, the guys were no longer shy and called Lenka the Scarecrow - "mouth to ear, at least sew on the strings." Lenka thought that her new friends were just joking, and laughed along with everyone. Of the whole class, a close-knit group headed by Mironova stood out in particular. For her strong will and adherence to principles, this girl was called the Iron Button. She mercilessly punished everyone who acted, in her opinion, wrong. There was also a boy Valya in this company, who believes that the main thing in life is money. He wanted to get them at any cost. Shaggy believed that everything could be solved by force - he was the strongest boy in the class, the son of a forester. Everyone laughed at Ginger just because he was red. Red himself was afraid to go against the group and laughed the loudest. Shmakova's girl was the most beautiful and elegant in the class. Cunning, flirtatious and dodgy, she observed only her own interests and loved to get herself “slaves”. Popov was such a "slave". He followed Shmakova, as if he was attached to her, and carried out any of her whims. Another boy, Vasiliev, was not evil, but, like everyone else, he obeyed the Iron Button.

Dimka Somov also joined this company, but Mironova did not obey. The smartest boy in the class, he held himself independently, and did not even get into the "slaves" of Shmakova. Lenka sat next to him. She liked Dima - he looked like a sculpture in a local park called "Sleeping Boy". Besides, he was the only one standing up for her. Their classy Margarita Ivanovna was getting married at that time, was in love and did not notice anything around her.

On that day, Margarita Ivanovna announced that the class would go on an excursion to Moscow, and she would go with them - her fiancé lived in Moscow. Then Dimka came up with the idea not to take money from his parents, but to earn money for the excursion himself. The class picked up the idea, and the kids started doing odd jobs, picking apples, sweeping the streets, and even gluing toys at a local factory. Now the group was run by Dimka Somov. Somewhere he got hold of a huge porcelain piggy bank and put the money he earned into it. Lenka was allowed to join the group, she even became friends with Dimka.

Dima saved Lenka at the toy factory. Children glued the muzzles of animals, and Lenka tried on a hare's head. Then the others also put on muzzles and surrounded the girl. She was surrounded by strange and terrible animals, got scared and called Dima. He dispersed his classmates, but for a long time it seemed to Lenka that Shaggy was a bear, Valka was a wolf, Shmakova was a fox, and she herself was a poor hare.

One day, she and Dima caught a classmate Valka doing a shameful deed - he caught ownerless dogs in the streets and took them to the knacker, for a ruble apiece. Dima took away the unfortunate little dog from Valka and threatened that he would tell everyone about his "living" trade. His older brother stood up for Valka. He recently came from the army and also caught dogs. And then Lenka saw for the first time how Dima, so correct and brave, was frightened, how his face “turned over” from fear.

came autumn vacation. It's time to break the piggy bank. The last lesson of the quarter was physics. Bursting into the classroom, the guys saw a message written by the class on the blackboard that the physics lesson was replaced by a lesson in Russian literature. After the lessons, Dima planned "boss" work in kindergarten but no one wanted to work for free. One of the first to refuse the patronage of Valk. Dima wanted to tell everyone about that. that Valka is a flayer, but then his brother entered the class. He threatened Dimka, and he got scared again. Then Valkin's brother erased the inscription from the board and left. The class considered themselves free - someone erased the ad, and they did not read it.

The guys went to the cinema. Only Shmakova remained in the class with her faithful "slave". On the way to the cinema, Lenka fell, broke her knee and went to the school first-aid post, and Dimka remembered that he had left a piggy bank in the class and returned for it. Here Margarita Ivanovna found him. She asked where the others were, why not at the lesson, began to scold Dimka, called him a coward, and the boy could not stand it - he told the whole truth. This was heard by Shmakova and Popov, who hid under the desk, and Lenka, who was passing by the class. All evening Lenka waited for Dimka to tell her about it, but he was silent. Silent and Shmakova.

In the morning the school was filled with well-dressed children - everyone was going to Moscow. Margarita Ivanovna entered the class and said that for them the excursion was canceled "for deliberate disruption of the lesson." The coolest director announced a reprimand, but let him go to Moscow. The class began to resent such injustice, forgetting that Margarita was their teacher. The class girl left the class offended, finally slamming a piggy bank on the floor.

The money was divided among themselves. Then the Iron Button began to find out who had betrayed them, and remembered that Dimka was returning for a piggy bank. He was frightened, but Popov soon began to suspect - his pulse was increased. And then Popov hinted that he knew something interesting, and Dimka again “turned over” from fear. Lenka kept waiting for Dima to confess, but when she saw his fear, the girl took the blame. Vasiliev did not believe Lenka, but Mironova believed immediately and announced a boycott to Scarecrow. Margarita, who suddenly returned, heard this word, but did not delve into it - mentally she was already in Moscow with her fiancé.

The bullying started right after school. They chased Lenka around the city shouting “Burn the Scarecrow!”, trying to humiliate him. Only Vasiliev did not want to beat the girl, but he did not go against the Iron Button either. Dimka also got it - he dared to stand up for Scarecrow and also fell under the boycott. In the evening of the same day, Lenka confessed to Dima that she had heard his conversation with the classroom, and she took the blame on herself because she wanted to protect him. Dimka promised to confess, but time passed, and he still could not muster up the courage. Only Shmakova and Popov knew about Lenka's innocence, but they were silent - Shmakova was playing her own game. She was wondering how the recalcitrant Dimka would get out, but she could not understand Lenka's act.

Listening to his granddaughter, Nikolai Nikolaevich remembered the evening when he brought the painting “Mashka” into the house. On it, great-grandfather Bessoltsev depicted his younger sister. It turned out that the shaved girl from the picture is very similar to Lenka. Nikolai Nikolaevich was pleased with this picture and did not notice what was happening to his granddaughter. He remembered how Lenka was frightened through the window by wearing a bear's head. Nikolai Nikolayevich managed to pull off his mask, and under it was Dima Somov. Lenka also saw him, decided that Dima was forced, and flew to save her - her grandfather did not have time to stop her. Then he vaguely heard screams, but did not even suggest that it was classmates who were poisoning Lenka like a pack of wolves.

The girl returned home in a dirty dress, exhausted and very disappointed. She looked into the window of Dimka's house and saw that her friend was not being tortured at all. There, in a bright, clean room, Dimka had the whole company as a guest, headed by Mironova. They drank tea and watched TV. In the depths of her soul, Lenka began to understand that Somov was not going to confess. The girl grabbed a stone and threw it out the window. Having broken the glass, the stone fell into a puddle and splashed Lenkino's dress with mud.

The next day, Lenka was hanging a washed dress in the yard when Dimka approached her. He called himself a vile coward, asked Lenka to wait a little longer and kissed her. Valka saw it. He ran into the yard, grabbed a washed dress and rushed off to tell the news to the Iron Button. Dimka rushed after him, Lenka followed. Dimka went "into the shed where the Mironov company had gathered." They laughed at Ryzhiy, who had put on Lenkino's dress. First they attacked Dimka, and he bravely defended himself, even trying to take the dress from Ryzhy. And then Dimka told Mironova that he was to blame, but it sounded not like a statement, but like an assumption. The company buzzed with joy: a new object for persecution appeared, and Dimka could not stand it, got scared, turned his confession into a joke, said that he simply felt sorry for the unfortunate Bessoltseva.

They did not believe him, and Lenka rushed to help. Looking into Dimka's eyes, she once again took on his guilt. And Dima was silent. Lenka demanded back her dress. The redhead took it off, and the guys began throwing the dress over to each other, and Lenka was spinning between them, "like a squirrel in a wheel." Finally, the dress fell into Dimka's hands, but he did not give it to Lenka, but threw it over to Mironova. And then Lenka hit Somov in the face. Classmates fell on the girl, twisted her, and with cries of "Burn the Scarecrow" they dragged her into the garden.

From somewhere Iron Button and Shmakova dragged a scarecrow on a long stick, dressed in Lenkino's dress, with big eyes and a mouth to the ears. Around his neck hung a sign that read "Scarecrow Traitor". The stick was stuck in the ground, and then Mironova forced Dimka to set fire to the stuffed Lenka. When it caught fire, the girl escaped from the hands holding her and rushed to put out the fire - it seemed to her that she herself was on fire. After that, Lenka felt a change in herself - she stopped being afraid.

In the morning came the last day of vacation. Lenka was waiting on the pier for Margarita Ivanovna. The girl hoped that the class would tell everyone the truth, since Dimka could not. She met Margarita, but she came with her young husband. Finally noticing Lenka, the teacher did not even remember the terrible word "boycott" she had heard in class before leaving. Lenka came to class only to say goodbye.

All the time while Lenka's story lasted, the Somovs had fun - Dimka was celebrating his birthday. Lenka finished the story, and then Vasilyev entered the room. He saw the packed suitcases and accused the girl of cowardice. And then Lenka decided. She put on a burnt dress and cut her hair bald to really look like a stuffed animal. In this form, she appeared to Dimka for the holiday. By that time, Somov had only close friends left - the Mironov company. Seeing the unexpected guest, "everyone silently gasped," and Dimka was warped with fear. She looked into the eyes of everyone who poisoned and offended her, told everyone what she had to say. She told the whole company about Valka the flayer, and then turned around and left.

Immediately after that, Valka also wanted to fade away, but Shaggy delayed him. Out of fear, Valka let it slip that it was his brother and his friends who once wounded the forester - Shaggy's father. No one stood up for Valka. Gradually, everyone dispersed, except for Shmakova and Popov. It was then that Shmakova told Dimka that she had known everything for a long time. She expected that Somov, the son of the chief surgeon, would become her "slave". And then Popov could not stand it. He ran out of the house, caught up with Iron Button and told her the whole truth about Dimka.

Waking up in the morning, Nikolai Nikolaevich decided that he would leave with Lenka and donate his priceless paintings to the local museum. Bessoltsev decided to keep only Masha for himself. On the pier, Lenka saw how the Mironov company was chasing Dimka, and he was running away, cowardly clinging to the fences. Lenka followed. Somov was driven into the classroom, Lenka entered after everyone else. She was surrounded in a friendly way, and the Iron Button herself smiled at her - she was delighted, because "justice has prevailed."

Margarita Ivanovna came in at the moment when Somov was being boycotted by everyone except Lenka. She saw the girl's shorn head, but did not understand, but told the news that Lenka did not yet know: Bessoltsev donated his paintings and the old house to the museum. The class gasped, and Valka was confused - he could not imagine that an expensive thing can simply be presented. And then Nikolai Nikolayevich entered the class and did something that he had never intended to do before: he gave Mashka to the school.

The Bessoltsevs were late for the ship and quickly left, Margarita went to see them off, and the whole company attacked Dimka - because of him they offended "such people!" The suddenly returned classy Iron Button scornfully laid out everything that had happened. Margarita felt ashamed - because of her personal happiness, she did not notice how the class lives. Mironova again spoke about the boycott, but no one supported her, even Shaggy realized that the world is not always ruled by force. Mironova's company was falling apart. Seeing this, the Iron Button burst into tears - she became so “iron”, obsessed with justice, because of her mother, who believed that everything was possible for everyone, as long as it was “sewn and covered”.

And then they unfolded the picture donated by Bessoltsev, and everyone saw how Masha looked like Lenka. “And longing, such a desperate longing for human purity, for selfless courage and nobility, more and more captured their hearts and demanded a way out.” The redhead went up to the blackboard and wrote in huge letters: “Scarecrow, forgive us!”. retold Yulia Peskovaya

Nikolai Nikolaevich Bessoltsev lives alone in an old house in a small town on the banks of the Oka. An elderly widower, following tradition, collects a family collection of works by his great-grandfather, an artist. All savings are spent on paintings. The pensioner wears an old coat, for which the local kids nicknamed him the Patchmaker.

Granddaughter Lenka comes to visit his grandfather. She is delighted with the estate with a mezzanine and balconies. The ever-smiling girl brings a fresh stream to the old man's life. For a big mouth, sixth-graders immediately call the Patchmaker's granddaughter Scarecrow. Lenka does not understand mockery and laughs with everyone.

A group of guys stands out in the class, headed by Mironova - the Iron Button, as she was nicknamed for her integrity. Personalities in the company are different: for Vali's student, the most important thing in life is money, Shaggy believes that everything is decided by strength. Red is the object of ridicule, but does not go against the group and laughs at himself louder than others. The coquettish Shmakova pursues personal interests and gets "slaves" who fulfill her whims. Verzila Popov follows Shmakova as if tied. Vasiliev is a kind man, but obeys the Button in everything. Only Dimka Somov, the smartest in the class, stays in the group independently. He stands up for the new one, and Lenka sits at his desk.

Margarita Ivanovna is going to get married, she does not delve into the life of the wards. The groom is from the capital, so the class message about the upcoming excursion to Moscow is met with enthusiasm. Dimka offers not to take money from his parents, but to earn money himself. The guys pick up the idea of a common piggy bank. They sweep the streets, pick apples, glue toys in the factory.

Somehow, Lenka and Dima see how Valka catches dogs and sells them to the flayer. Dima threatens to tell the guys, but the adult brother of a classmate does not advise doing this. Dimka is clearly scared.

On the eve of the holidays, the guys skip the last lesson. The announcement written on the blackboard about the replacement of physics with literature is erased by Valka's brother who has appeared. The students consider themselves free and go home. Dimka returns for the piggy bank and Margarita enters. She asks where the guys have gone. At first, he bustles, but still admits about going to the movies. At that moment, Shmakova and her “slave” Popov were hiding under the desk. Lenka, who was walking along the corridor, also heard about Dimka's revelation. She hopes that the friend will tell about the conversation with the classroom, but the boy is silent. Shmakova and Popov also do not share what they have heard with anyone.

The next morning, Margarita reports: the tour is canceled due to the antics of the guys. Iron Button is trying to figure out who betrayed. Lenka, seeing the fear in Dimka's eyes, takes the blame. For this, they boycott her and start persecuting her, shouting: “Burn the Scarecrow!” In private, the girl reproaches her friend for cowardice, he promises to confess. Time is running but the boy is silent. Gradually, he begins to shun his girlfriend. Somehow Lenka sees through the window how the whole company is sitting at Dima's and talking cheerfully. She understands: Somov betrayed her and is not going to confess.

Bessoltsev got hold of the painting Masha. The shaved bald girl from the canvas is very similar to her granddaughter. Lenka at this time is subjected to humiliation: peers burn a home-made stuffed animal, putting her dress on it. Among the executors was Dimka.

Lenka shaved her head, put on a dress that had been burned the day before, and appeared in the form of a stuffed animal for Dima's birthday. The guests were in a hurry. The girl told about Valka the flayer, reproached them for cruelty and proudly left. The group began to squabble. Shmakova tried to blackmail Somov into a "slave". Popov could not stand it and laid out the truth about the traitor to Button.

Bessoltsev decided to leave the city with his granddaughter. Standing on the pier, Lenka saw how the whole company was chasing Dima. He was herded into the classroom, and then Lenka appeared. The guys surrounded the girl in a friendly manner, making it clear: justice has triumphed.

Somov was being boycotted when the classroom came in with the news: Bessoltsev donated the collected paintings and the house to the museum. The guys were confused by the generosity of the Patchmaker. Nikolai Nikolaevich left the school "Mashka" as a keepsake...

Something broke in the souls of the guys, the company was disintegrating before our eyes. The courage and nobility of the girl captured the hearts. The redhead went up to the blackboard and wrote: “Scarecrow, forgive us!”

All rights reserved. No part of the electronic version of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including posting on the Internet and corporate networks, for private and public use, without the written permission of the copyright owner.

From the author

My friend! Your parents bought you my book. Do not throw it into a far corner, do not hide it in a secret place to forget about it. Read it and you will see that there is much to ponder here.

This book was first published 36 years ago. I then wrote a lot about teenagers and, not without sadness, began to notice that they often lack simple human features. Those features that in the old days were called "noble": selflessness, kindness, concern for loved ones, mercy, devotion to friends, at least the simplest concepts of honor.

On the contrary, more and more I came across in children's hearts self-love, selfishness, indifference and even cruelty.

And I was able to tell about all these problems in one story that a case from my life gave me.

One day my sister called me from another city.

And she told me about what happened to her daughter, my niece, at that time. The whole class unfairly accused her of betrayal and began to poison her. I sympathized with my sister, and we parted ways.

But from that day on, I began to follow the development of an event that seemed to be far from me. And then I realized that this story is a finished script.

I wrote it and took it to the film studio.

About two months later, a big boss called me to his place, clapped his hand on my script and said: “These fascist children will never be on our screen. We don't have kids like that."

By this time, the story of the Scarecrow was so dear to me, captured my heart so much that, returning home, I sat down at my desk and began to write the story.

It turned out to be not such an easy job. Winter passed, and in the spring I went to the small town of Tarusa, where, in an old gazebo on the edge of a cliff descending to a noisy river, I finished my story by autumn. Here, in Tarusa, I found a house where Lena Bessoltseva could live. It still stands dilapidated.

And the surname was found for Lenka on our street. And the story with picturesque canvases was prompted by the fact that artists lived and live in Tarusa from time immemorial.

I worked hard, and in my free time I liked to walk along the humpbacked streets of the town overgrown with greenery. Or he went to the river and walked far, far along the Oka, always surrounded by a gang of my imaginary heroes. I never left them for a minute. It seemed to me that I know these boys and girls as the closest people to me. I felt what they like or don't like, I visited their houses, I watched their games. But, of course, Lenka has always remained the closest and dearest person to me. A rare creature, gentle and courageous at the same time.

Autumn came, and I took the story to Moscow - to the publishing house. Months passed with no response. I began to think that the Scarecrow story would never see the light of day.

This sad time lasted two years. And I kept waiting and waiting, and finally I stopped waiting.

And suddenly a call from the publisher. They still print my story!

Since then, many publishers have released Scarecrow in large editions, even in a million copies. The story was published in Japan, the USA and other countries.

Five years later, the story "Scarecrow" was read by the famous actor and director Rolan Bykov. And then I decided to make a film.

Again, the same big boss called me to him. He slapped my script again and said, “We're going to shoot. During this time, my grandson grew up ... The same ... ”I looked at him. He looked frightened.

Many years have passed since then. But when you nevertheless read this story, you will see that our world has changed in many ways, but people have not ... And you can easily find many heroes of the Scarecrow around you. And meanness, and cowardice, and betrayal are found even now. But I really want you to meet much more often on life path such bright personalities as Lenka Bessoltseva. Then your life will be easier and brighter.

Good luck.

Chapter first

Lenka rushed along the narrow, intricately humpbacked streets of the town, not noticing anything in her path.

Past one-story houses with lace hangings on the windows and high crosses of television antennas - up! ..

Past long fences and gates, with cats on their ledges and angry dogs at the gates - down!..

The jacket was unbuttoned, in the eyes of despair, an almost indistinct whisper flew from the lips:

- Grandfather! .. Dear! .. Let's leave! Let's go! Let's go! .. - She sobbed as she walked. – Forever!.. From evil people!.. Let them gnaw each other!.. Wolves!.. Jackals!.. Foxes!.. Grandfather!..

- That's abnormal! the people she knocked down shouted after her. - It flies like a motorcycle!

Lenka ran up the street in one breath, as if she was taking a run to take off into the sky. She really would like to immediately fly over this town - and away from here, away! Somewhere where joy and peace awaited her.

Then she quickly rolled down, as if she wanted to blow her head off. She really was ready for some desperate act, not sparing herself.

Just think what they did to her! And for what?!

Chapter Two

Lenkin's grandfather, Nikolai Nikolaevich Bessoltsev, had been living for several years in his own house in an old Russian town on the banks of the Oka, somewhere between Kaluga and Serpukhov.

It was a town, of which there are only a few dozen left on our land. He was over eight hundred years old. Nikolai Nikolaevich knew well, highly appreciated and loved his history, which rose before him as if alive when he wandered along its streets, along the steep banks of the river, along the picturesque surroundings with ancient mounds overgrown with dense bushes of honeysuckle and birch.

The town has experienced more than one disaster in its history.

Here, just above the river, on the ruins of an old settlement, there used to be a princely court, and the Russian squad fought to the death with countless hordes of khan's soldiers, armed with bows and curved sabers, who shouted: “That Rus! That Rus!..”, on their undersized strong horses, they tried to cross from the opposite bank to this one in order to defeat the squad and break through to Moscow.

AND Patriotic War 1812 touched the town with its sharp corner. Kutuzov's army then crossed it with a string of soldiers and refugees, carts, horses, light and heavy artillery with all kinds of mortars and howitzers, with spare carriages and field forges, turning the already thin local roads into a continuous mess. And then, along these same roads, Russian soldiers with incredible, almost inhuman courage, not sparing their lives, day and night, without rest, drove the exhausted French back, although it was completely incomprehensible where they got their strength from. After such a long retreat, famine and epidemics.

And the reflection of the conquest of the Caucasus by the Russians touched the town - somewhere here in great sorrow lived the captive Shamil and the highlanders who accompanied him. They loitered along the narrow streets, and their insane yearning gaze searched in vain for a range of mountains on the horizon.

And the first imperialist one, like a storm, took away all the men from the town and returned them half crippled - armless, legless, but angry and fearless. Freedom was dearer to them own life. It was they who brought the revolution to this quiet, small town.

Then, many years later, the Nazis came - and a wave of fires, gallows, executions and brutal devastation swept through.

But time passed, the war ended, and the town was reborn again. He now stood, as before, sweepingly and freely on several hills, which, in steep precipices, approached the wide bend of the river.

On one of these hills stood the house of Nikolai Nikolaevich - an old one, built of strong logs, completely blackened with time. Its austere, simple mezzanine with rectangular windows was intricately decorated with four balconies overlooking all directions of the world.

The black house, with its spacious, windswept terrace, was nothing like the gay, multicolored houses of the neighbors. He stood out on this street, as if a stern gray-haired raven had fallen into a flock of canaries or bullfinches.

The Bessoltsevs' house had long stood in the town. Maybe over a hundred years.

In dashing years, it was not burned.

It was not confiscated during the revolution, because it was protected by the name of Dr. Bessoltsev, father of Nikolai Nikolaevich. He, like almost every doctor from the old Russian town, was a respected person here. Under the Nazis, he set up a hospital in the house for German soldiers, and in the basement at that time there were wounded Russians, and the doctor treated them with German medicines. For this, Dr. Bessoltsev was shot, right here, in the middle of his wide courtyard.

This time the house was saved by the swift offensive of the Soviet Army.

So the house stood for itself and stood, always crowded with people, although the men of the Bessoltsevs, as was customary, went to different wars and did not always return.

Many of them remained lying somewhere in the unknown mass graves, which are scattered with sad hills throughout Central Russia, and on Far East, and in Siberia, and in many other places of our earth.

Before the arrival of Nikolai Nikolaevich, a lonely old woman lived in the house, one of the Bessoltsevs, to whom relatives came less and less often - no matter how insulting it was, the Bessoltsev family partly scattered across Russia, and partly died in the struggle for freedom. But nevertheless, the house continued to live its own life, until one day all its doors opened at once and several men silently, slowly and awkwardly carried the coffin with the body of a dry old woman out of it in their arms and took it to the local cemetery. After that, the neighbors boarded up the doors and windows of the Bessoltsevo house, clogged up the vents so that the house would not become damp in winter, nailed two planks to the gate with a cross, and left.

For the first time the house was deaf and blind.

It was then that Nikolai Nikolayevich appeared, who had not been in the town for more than thirty years.

He had only recently buried his wife, and after that he himself fell seriously ill.

Nikolai Nikolayevich was not afraid of death and treated it naturally and simply, but he wanted to get to his home without fail. And this passionate desire helped him overcome the disease, get back on his feet in order to move on. Nikolai Nikolaevich dreamed of being surrounded by old walls, where long, sleepless nights, strings of long-forgotten and ever-memorable faces would flash before him.

But was it worth it to come back for the sake of it, to see and hear it all for a moment, and then lose it forever?

"How else?" - he thought and went to his native land.

In the terrible hours of his last illness, in this loneliness, and also in those days when he was literally dying from military wounds, when there was no strength to move his tongue, and a temporary strip of alienation appeared between him and people, Nikolai Nikolayevich’s head worked distinctly and purposefully. He somehow especially acutely felt how important it was for him not to break the thin thread connecting him with the past, that is, with eternity ...

For a whole year before his arrival, the house stood boarded up. It was poured with rain, there was snow on the roof, and no one cleaned it off, so the roof, which had not been painted for a long time, was leaky and rusted in many places. And the steps of the main porch are completely rotten.

When Nikolai Nikolayevich saw his street and his house, his heart began to pound so hard that he was afraid that he would not make it. He stood for several minutes, caught his breath, crossed the street with a firm military step, resolutely tore the cross from the gate, entered the yard, found an ax in the shed and began to tear the boards from the boarded up windows with it.

Furiously working with an ax, forgetting for the first time about a sick heart, he thought: the main thing is to chop off the boards, open the doors, open the windows so that the house begins to live its permanent life.

Nikolai Nikolaevich finished his work, looked around and saw that behind him, mournfully folded his arms on his chest, stood several women discussing him, wondering which of the Bessoltsevs it could be. But they were all still so young that they could not know Nikolai Nikolayevich. Catching his eye, the women smiled, burning with curiosity and the desire to talk to him, but he silently nodded to everyone, took the suitcase and hid in the doorway.

Nikolai Nikolayevich did not speak to anyone, not because he was so unsociable, it was just that every vein trembled inside him when he met the house, which was not just a house for him, but his life and cradle.

From memory, the house always seemed to him large, spacious, smelling warm air ovens, hot bread, fresh milk and freshly washed floors. And even when Nikolai Nikolaevich was a little boy, he always thought that not only “living people” lived in their house, not only grandmother, grandfather, father, mother, brothers and sisters, countless uncles and aunts coming and going, but also and those that were in the pictures hanging on the walls in all five rooms.

They were women and men in homespun clothes, with calm and stern faces.

Ladies and gentlemen in fancy costumes.

Women in dresses embroidered with gold with trains, with sparkling diadems in high hairstyles. Men in dazzling white, blue, green uniforms with high standing collars, boots with gold and silver spurs.

A portrait of the famous General Raevsky, in full dress uniform, with numerous orders, hung in the most prominent place.

And this feeling that "people from the pictures" actually live in their house never left him, even when he became an adult, although it may be strange.

It is difficult to explain why this happened, but, being in the most difficult alterations, in death agony, on the hard bloody work of the war, he, remembering the house, thought not only about his relatives who inhabited it, but also about "people from pictures", whom he never knew.

The fact is that the great-great-grandfather of Nikolai Nikolayevich was an artist, and his father, Dr. Bessoltsev, gave many years of his life to collect his paintings. And for as long as Nikolay Nikolaevich could remember himself, these paintings always occupied the main place in their house.

Nikolai Nikolayevich opened the door with some apprehension. All of a sudden, something irrevocably changed. And he was right - the walls of the house were empty, all the pictures disappeared!

The house smelled of dampness and mustiness. There were cobwebs on the ceiling and in the corners. Numerous spiders and spiders, paying no attention to him, continued their painstaking skillful work.

The field mouse, having found shelter in an abandoned house, like a circus tightrope walker, several times merrily ran along the wire, which remained on the window from the curtains.

The furniture was shifted from its usual places and covered with old covers.

Fear and horror took possession of Nikolai Nikolaevich to an extreme degree - just think, the pictures disappeared! He tried to take a step, but slipped and barely stood - the floor was covered with a thin layer of light frost. Then he glided on, as if on skis, leaving long tracks all over the house.

Another room!

There were no pictures anywhere!

And only then did Nikolai Nikolayevich remember: his sister had written to him in one of her last letters that she had taken all the pictures, wrapped them in burlap and folded them on the mezzanine in the driest room.

Nikolai Nikolaevich, restraining himself, entered this room, climbed onto the mezzanine and with trembling hands began to pull out one picture after another, fearing that they were dead, frozen or damp.

But a miracle happened - the paintings were alive.

He thought of his sister with great tenderness, imagining how she took pictures, hid them to keep. How she, weak, shriveled over the years, neatly packed each picture. Apparently, she worked all day long for more than one month, stabbed all her hands with a needle, while sewing up a coarse burlap. Once she fell off the bed - yes, she wrote to him about this too - she lay down and packed again until she finished her last work in her life.

Now that the paintings were found, Nikolai Nikolaevich took up the house. First of all, he fired up the stoves, and when the glass of the windows fogged up, he opened them wide so that the dampness would come out of the house. And he himself put everything and put firewood in the stove, enchanted by the flame and the roar of fire. Then he washed the walls, brought a stepladder, reached the ceilings, and finally, changing the water several times, carefully scraped the floors, floorboard after floorboard.

Gradually, with all his being, Nikolai Nikolayevich felt the warmth of his native stoves and the familiar smell of his native home - he joyfully turned his head.

For the first time in recent years, Nikolai Nikolayevich sighed with relief and bliss.

It was then that he removed the covers from the furniture and arranged it. And finally hung the pictures... Each in its place.

Nikolai Nikolayevich looked around, thought about what else to do, and suddenly realized that what he wanted most of all was to sit in his father's old armchair, which was called by the magic word "Voltaire". As a child, he was not allowed to do this, but how he wanted to climb on it with his feet! ..

Nikolai Nikolaevich slowly sank into an armchair, leaned back against the soft back, leaned on the armrests, and sat like that for who knows how long. Maybe an hour, maybe three, maybe the rest of the day and all night...

The house came to life, spoke, sang, sobbed ... Many people entered the room and surrounded Nikolai Nikolayevich with a ring.

Nikolai Nikolaevich thought about different things, but each time he returned to his secret dream. He thought that when he died, his son and his family would live here.

And I saw with my own eyes how the son enters the house. And, of course, invisible particles of the past will pierce and warm his body, pulsate with blood, and he will never be able to forget his home. Even if he goes on one of his expeditions, where he will look for the rarest flowers, climbing high into the mountains and risking falling into the abyss, only to look at a barely noticeable pale blue flower on a thin stem that grows on the very edge of a sheer cliff.

No, Nikolai Nikolaevich just understood: one must certainly risk one's life, otherwise what kind of life is this, this is some kind of senseless sleeping and gorging. But still, he dreamed that his son would return home or return to leave again, as the other Bessoltsevs did in different years for various reasons.

When he woke up, the rays of the sun swirled like a rainbow cloud in the house and fell on the portrait of General Raevsky. And then Nikolai Nikolaevich remembered how in his childhood he caught the first rays of the sun in the same picture, and laughed sadly and cheerfully, thinking that life had irrevocably passed.

Nikolai Nikolaevich went out onto the porch and saw that the sun had illuminated the balcony, which faced east, and moved to make another ring around the house.

He took an ax, found a planer and a saw, selected some boards to repair the porch. How long he had not done this, although it is clear that this work firmly “sat” in his hands. He did everything not very cleverly, but with great willingness - he liked to hold an ordinary board, he liked to slide on it with a planer, and the city bustle of many recent years slipped out of his mind invisibly.

The house will thank him for this, thought Nikolai Nikolayevich, and he will thank the house.

Then Nikolai Nikolaevich climbed onto the roof, and a sheet of iron, lifted by the wind, hit him on the back so hard that he almost knocked him off the roof - he miraculously resisted ...

Here for the first time he felt an acute hunger, such he had only in his youth, when he could lose consciousness from hunger. And no wonder. Nikolai Nikolaevich did not know how much time had passed, how he arrived, did not remember what he ate and whether he went to bed. He worked around the house and did not notice the flashing of short winter days. He did not distinguish early morning from late evening.

Nikolai Nikolaevich went to the market, bought sauerkraut, potatoes, dry black mushrooms and cooked sour mushroom cabbage soup. Ate two plates and went to bed.

He got up, still not feeling the time, ate again, laughed loudly, catching himself thinking that he recognized his father’s laughter in the intonations of his laughter, and for some reason went to bed again ...

Several years have passed since then, and Nikolai Nikolayevich forgot about his illnesses. He lived, lived, and felt that he had become hardy, like a strong old tree well watered by spring rain.

Every now and then he was seen, beyond his age, swiftly running along the crooked streets of the town, first in one direction, then in the other, apparently without any business, although sometimes he carried something wrapped in cloth - then his face glowed with inspiration and became younger.

Those who were considered knowledgeable gossiped that he was looking for some paintings. He spends a lot of money on them, and gives the rest, all without a trace, for firewood. And drowns - just think! - all ovens every day, and in frosts and twice, so that these paintings of his do not become damp. And always for some reason at night, turning on the light in all the rooms.

How much money did he waste in vain: a light smoke through the chimneys into the sky, a bright light of electricity at night, and most importantly, on new paintings - he had few of his own!

That's why the goal is like a falcon.

In the town they treated Nikolai Nikolaevich with wary attention.

The way he lived was incomprehensible and inaccessible to the townspeople, but many aroused respect. And, by the way, people got used to the fact that the Bessoltsevs' house shone at night and became a kind of beacon in the town, a guide for belated travelers returning home from afar in the dark.

At night, the house was like a candle in an impenetrable darkness.

Neighbors might think about Nikolai Nikolaevich that he was terribly lonely and therefore unhappy. He always wandered around the town alone, in the unchanged cap, which he wore, pushed low on his forehead, and in a shabby overcoat with large, neat patches on the elbows.

For this, the children teased him as a “patcher”, but it seems that he did not even notice them. Rarely, rarely, he suddenly turned around and looked after them with undisguised surprise. Then they swiftly rushed away from him, although he never cursed or chased after them.

If they entered into idle conversations with him, he answered in monosyllables and quickly walked away, ruffling like a bird in the cold.

But once Nikolai Nikolaevich appeared on the streets of the town not alone. He was accompanied by a girl of about twelve, some unusually important and proud, unlike himself. He stopped with every counter-cross and uttered the same phrase, pointing to the girl:

“And this is Lena…” And, after an impressive pause, he added: “My granddaughter.” Well, as if next to him was not a girl, but some world-famous figure.

And his granddaughter, Lenka, every time was desperately embarrassed and did not know where to go.

She was an awkward teenager, still a calf on long legs, with the same long ridiculous arms. Her shoulder blades protruded from her back like wings. A mobile face was adorned with a large mouth, from which a benevolent smile almost never left. And her hair was braided into two tight cords.

On the very first day of her appearance in the town, Lenka appeared a hundred times on each of the four balconies and looked with curiosity at all four cardinal points. She was equally interested in north and south, east and west.

The life of Nikolai Nikolaevich after the arrival of Lenka almost did not change. True, now Lenka ran to the store for cottage cheese and milk, and he himself occasionally bought meat at the bazaar, which he had never bought before.

In autumn, Lenka went to the sixth grade.

It was then that this story happened, which forever made the Bessoltsevs - Nikolai Nikolaevich and Lenka - famous people. The echo of these events, like the ringing of bells, hovered over the town for a long time, reverberating differently in the lives of those people who were involved in them.

In 1981, a story was published that shocked Soviet readers, because the events described in it looked like real nonsense: young Leninist pioneers rot a new student. The author of the work is Vladimir Zheleznikov. "Scarecrow" ( summary given below) - this is how he called his story, the idea of which he took from life: similar events happened to his granddaughter. The work so shocked the actor and director that already in 1983 the screens of Soviet cinemas were shot by him. Feature Film with the same name.

So, a summary of "Scarecrow". The action takes place in a small provincial town. The local eccentric old man Nikolai Nikolaevich Bessoltsev, who collects paintings, is visited by his 12-year-old granddaughter Lena. She enters local school sincerely hoping to make new friends here. But classmates almost immediately begin to mock her. They are amused by her spontaneity and naivety, combined with her awkward appearance: long, thin arms and legs, a big mouth with an eternal smile and two pigtails. Before she even spent five minutes in a new class, she gets the nickname "Scarecrow". The summary of this story is not able to convey those negative emotions, which caused the schoolchildren to their new classmate.

Only one boy did not laugh at her. It was Dima Somov, who enjoyed the authority of the whole class, since he was considered handsome and smart, and was also the son of wealthy parents. But Lena Bessoltseva is alien to any selfish thoughts. She just wants to be friends. Dima accepts her friendship and tries to protect her as much as possible from the attacks of her classmates. And when he saved the dog that Valka's classmate wanted to hand over to the knacker, he became a real hero for the girl. But soon the friendship cracked because of Somov's act. He told the teacher that the whole class ran away to the cinema. Lena heard this conversation, but she was firmly convinced that Dima would admit to his classmates that it was because of him that now they would all not go on vacation to Moscow. But he did not confess, and the girl took his guilt upon herself. Somov's conversation with the teacher was heard by two more classmates, but they preferred to remain silent in order to see how he would get out. Lena, as a traitor, has been boycotted.

Once Valka the flayer ran into the courtyard of the house where the Scarecrow lived (the summary is not able to convey all the details), and stole her dress from the clothesline. In addition, he saw Somov there. He chased after Valka to take away the dress. Lena ran after them and ended up at a dilapidated church, near which the whole class had gathered. The boys and girls made a scarecrow out of straw (the summary does not allow describing the whole enormity of the further action), put a stolen dress on him and arranged for him to be burned. Bessoltseva rushes to a burning branch with a dress and, having untied it from a pole, disperses her blasphemous classmates with it. She understands that everyone hates her for the betrayal that she did not commit, but continues to remain silent.

Somov betrays one of his classmates who heard his confession to the teacher, but

Lena doesn't care anymore. She wants to leave this town and persuades her grandfather to let her go or go with her. Grandpa hesitates. Lena comes to Somov's birthday, shaved bald, and in the very charred dress that was put on the scarecrow. A brief summary will never convey all the emotions, so it would be better to read a book or watch a movie. The girl defiantly plays the fool and with a fake smile proclaims herself a scarecrow, a freak and a nonentity. Classmates are shocked, but everyone suddenly understands in the depths of their souls that each of them is a freak and a nonentity. They leave Somov's house, and the next day they are finally convinced that he is the traitor. They are ready to ask for forgiveness from Lena, but it's too late: she's leaving. Her grandfather travels with her, but before leaving, he donates his house, along with a priceless collection of paintings, to the city. He presented the school with a portrait of his grandmother. When the children saw the picture, they were stunned: from an old portrait, more like an icon, a young woman looked at them, exactly like Bessoltseva.

"Scarecrow"- a story (1981) by Vladimir Zheleznikov, which he wrote on the basis of an incident with his granddaughter, who, just like Lena Bessoltseva, took on someone else's fault and the whole class at once declared a boycott on her.

Summary of "Scarecrow" by chapter

"Scarecrow" Zheleznikov summary by chapter should only be if you do not have enough time to read the story in full. "Scarecrow" in abbreviation will not be able to convey all the small details from the life of the heroes, will not immerse you in the atmosphere of that time. "Scarecrow" a summary of the chapters is presented below, and is read in 5-10 minutes.

A new student Lena Bessoltseva comes to a provincial school somewhere between Kaluga and Serpukhov. She settles in the house of her grandfather Nikolai Nikolaevich, a former military man who collects paintings in order to equip an art gallery in his house. In the town, grandfather is disliked for his secluded lifestyle.

When Lena arrives at her new 6th grade, her classmates, although they smile in her face, make it clear by their behavior that they despise her. The students in the class are the most stereotypical: Mironova, nicknamed "Iron Button" (a girl, in fact, the leader of the class, with iron convictions, always steadfastly moving towards her goal), "Shaggy" (a class strongman who believes that the most important thing in a person - strength), Shmakova (the first beauty in the class, never doing what is unprofitable for her), Popov (henpecked Shmakova, looking into her mouth), Valka (a boy from a poor family, and therefore convinced that happiness is a lot of money), Marina (who dreams of breaking away from her mother’s care and going to her father in Moscow), Vasiliev (the quietest boy in the class and the only one who does not fawn over Lena) and Somov (a boy from rich family, which enjoys great prestige in the class). The reason for the dislike for Lena lies in the fact that everyone considers her as eccentric as her grandfather, who is called the “Patcher” in the town, since he is so passionate about collecting paintings that he has been walking for a long time in one coat, which has gone from old age rags. Wanting to somehow win the respect of the guys, Lena tries to smile at all their barbs about her and her grandfather and agrees with them in everything, but achieves the opposite effect. Her behavior seems completely stupid to the class, and therefore she is given the nickname "Scarecrow", which Lena tries not to be offended by. And only Dima Somov, a boy with whom almost all the girls in the class are in love, provides support to the newcomer. Their friendship, which has grown into falling in love, soon cracks due to Dima's next cowardly act.

The guys decided to skip class and go to the cinema. When everyone secretly goes out into the street, it turns out that Dima left a piggy bank in the classroom, in which he kept money for a trip to Moscow (in fact, preparing for this trip, the guys worked so hard that they decided to skip the lesson). Lena volunteers to bring it, but stumbles, and Dima, calling her a klutz - “Well, you really are some kind of klutz!” , rushes forward. Lena follows him and at the door of the class she hears their class teacher Margarita Ivanovna asking Dima where they all fled. At some point, she calls him a coward, and Dima, unable to stand it, betrays the secret. Lena hears all this, hiding behind the door, but neither she nor Dima know that at that moment Shmakova and Popov are hiding under the desk in the classroom.

As punishment for absenteeism, the children are canceled a trip to Moscow during the autumn holidays, for which everyone has been preparing for a very long time and reverently. The guys decide to find and punish the culprit, and Lena, seeing Dima's indecision, takes the blame, as a result of which she becomes an outcast. All the students boycott her, bully her at every opportunity, and even beat her severely several times.

Lena has been hoping for a long time that Dima is about to confess his guilt, but he still does not dare. Partly because he is afraid of losing authority, partly because he believes that classmates will decide that he is protecting Lena and will not believe him. Two more people know the truth: Shmakova and Popov, who hid under the desk during Dima's conversation with the teacher, but they prefer not to interfere, but to see how Somov will suffer.

Lena's hope, faith and love for Dima are shattered when he joins his classmates to protect himself and participates in the burning of an effigy representing Lena.

Seeing that things have gone too far, Dima is betrayed by Popov.

However, Lena is forced to leave the city because she does not want to study at this school anymore.

Lena's grandfather leaves his collection of paintings as a gift to the city and leaves with her on a boat. They are escorted by the Suvorov military band, whose playing accompanies the events throughout the film.

In parting, Lena's grandfather gives the school a picture of his grandmother, who is very similar to his granddaughter. In the final scene, the children write over the abandoned portrait on the blackboard: "Scarecrow, forgive us!".