''The Blue Cup'' () is a 1936

Russian language Russian is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is ...

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

written by the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

author

Arkady Gaidar Arkady Petrovich Gaidar (, born Golikov, ; – 26 October 1941) was a Russian literature, Russian Soviet writer, whose stories were very popular among Soviet children, and a Red Army commander.Arkady Gaidar. Biography. Timeline. Works by Arkady ...

(1904 - 1941). The story, first published in the January 1936 issue of '' Pioneer'' magazine'','' was released by Detizdat Publishers as a book with illustrations by Boris Dekhteryov (1936). In 1940 Gaidar added "Blue Cup" into two of his compilations, ''Rasskazy'' ("Short Stories", Detizdat) and ''Moyi Tovarishchi'' ("My Friends", Sovetsky Pisatel). It seems that Gaidar rated "Blue Cup" high among his works. In his 1937 ''"Autobiography"'' he mentioned the story among his best works to date, along with short novels '' R.V.S.'', ''School'', '' Distant Lands'' and ''The Military Secret'', and another short story, "The Fourth Blindage".Ebin, F. Commentaries to Голубая чашка. Works by Arkady Gaidar in 4 volumes.

Detskaya Literatura Detskaya Literatura (, lit. "Children's Literature"), formerly Detgiz and Detizdat, is a Soviet and Russian publishing house for children's literature. It was established on September 9, 1933 by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union on the basi ...

. Moscow, 1964. Vol. 2. Pp 437-438. The story incited the heated discussion, parents, teachers and librarians participating in disputes, held by the Soviet literary and pedagogical journals and newspapers. Some found the story too abstract, its composition amorphous, the undercurrent issue (that of an implied family conflict) too 'adult' for the children's literature. According to biographer F. Ebin, though, -

The majority defended the new Gaidar's story. People wrote in, telling how young children enjoyed this atmosphere of love, sunlight and happiness pervading the story, sympathizing with Svetlana and her father who breathe in the sweet air of freedom, resent indignation at those who spoil the Soviet people's happy life, occasionally laughing at them. Adult readers certainly guessed a lyrical undercurrent… but for people of all ages the deep patriotic value of this story is obvious.

Plot summary

The protagonist and his six-year-old daughter Svetlana arrive at a

dacha A dacha (Belarusian, Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and rus, дача, p=ˈdatɕə, a=ru-dacha.ogg) is a seasonal or year-round second home, often located in the exurbs of former Soviet Union, post-Soviet countries, including Russia. A cottage (, ...

in playful moods, but their (respective) wife and mother Marusya has other ideas: she burdens them with petty tasks, then departs (apparently in a sulk) to accompany her old friend, a pilot, to the station. Next morning, before going uptown, she blames her husband and daughter for breaking her blue cup in a store-room. Taking this unjust accusation as a proverbial last straw, both leave the house and embark upon an eventful and chaotic day-long "adventure". It involves pacifying the two boys (one of whom accuses another of being 'a

fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

' for using an insult word 'jidovka' with regards to a

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish girl), walking straight into a military exercise site with a lot of shooting going on, losing their stock of

gingerbread Gingerbread refers to a broad category of baked goods, typically flavored with ginger root, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon and sweetened with honey, sugar, or molasses. Gingerbread foods vary, ranging from a moist loaf cake to forms nearly ...

to a four-year old, but getting a kitten from him as a reward, and near-drowning in a marsh. They return home at dusk, find Marusya worried and happy to see them and spend a lovely evening, with Svetlana (who initially expressed pessimism on that point) admitting that "life's a good thing, after all". The mystery of a blue cup's demise remains, though, unsolved.Gaidar, Arkady. Blue Cup (Голубая чашка). Works by Arkady Gaidar in 4 volumes.

. Moscow, 1964. Vol. 2. Pp. 273-295.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blue Cup, The 1936 short stories Short stories by Arkady Gaidar Children's short stories Russian children's books 1936 children's books