About the Elephant: Stories about Animals

Boris Stepanovich Zitkov 1882-1938 - a famous children's writer, educator, traveler, and researcher. He was born in Veliky Novgorod into the family of a mathematics teacher and a pianist. The future writer spent his childhood in Odessa, where he befriended K.I. Chukovsky during his gymnasium years. After graduating from the Imperial Novorossiysk University in 1906, B.S. Zitkov embarked on his first voyage, and in 1912 he was fortunate to be a participant in a round-the-world trip. B.S. Zitkov began writing quite late; his first book The Evil Sea was published in 1924. Writing increasingly captivated him, and he wrote numerous adventure stories and novellas Sea Stories, Tales of Technology. What I Saw. Stories about Animals 1935 - a collection of amusing and entertaining stories about the relationships between humans and animals. These stories are written in a simple and understandable language, from which the reader learns about the events that happened to the writer during his travels. The author tells about animals, their habits, character, how they can be loyal, help, and sometimes even save a person's life. However, people do not always reciprocate their helpers - in the story About the Elephant, the exhausting and strenuous labor of elephants in India is described. The author genuinely admires the intelligence, bravery, and nobility of animals and condemns the lack of care and gratitude from humans. After all, it is so important not just to love animals and admire them, but also to be able to communicate with them, understand them, and take responsibility for them.