Edith nesbit biography. The kindest book "The Railway Children", Edith Nesbit, translation A

Edith Nesbit

Railway children

PREFACE FROM THE PUBLISHER

The famous English writer and poet Edith Nesbit (1858-1924) was born in the family of agricultural chemist John Collis Nesbit. The family moved constantly for several years - the Nesbits lived not only in England, but also in France, Spain and Germany.

Then the family spent three years at home, in England - in the north-west of Kent, in a town called Halsted. This place was later described in the novel "The Railway Children". In 1875 the Nesbits moved again, this time to London.

In 1880, Edith married bank clerk Hubert Bland. This marriage gave the writer three children, to whom the most famous works were dedicated - “Children of the Railway”, “Five Children and a Monster”, “Treasure Seekers”.

Literary fame did not come to Edith immediately, but over time her books became widely known. The writer left her readers more than 60 works of fiction for children, some of which were adapted for film and television.

Nesbit's novel "The Railway Children" is best known for its numerous film adaptations (one of the last films based on the novel was shot in the UK in 2000).

Roberta, Peter and Phyllis were quite happy children. They lived with their parents and nanny in London, without needing anything. Overnight, the children's lives changed - their father suddenly disappeared, and he and his mother had to move to a tiny house in the village and learn to live on the little money that she managed to earn by writing stories.

Now the guys spend all their free time near the railway. Here they manage to make friends with both the express passenger and the station master. The brother and sisters prevent a train crash and willingly help many people. It is not surprising that those around them strive to help children, including in finding their father.

HOW IT ALL STARTED

At first they were not children of the railroad at all. They didn’t even think about trains and rails, and if they did, it was only as a means of getting to Cook’s office, to the pantomime, to the zoo or to Madame Tussauds*. They were just kids from the suburbs. They lived with their father and mother in a villa: a red brick facade, colored glass on the front door, a corridor that they called a hall, a bathroom with hot and cold water, electric bells, casement windows, an abundance of white and everything that is in the language housing officials call modern amenities.

There were three of them. The eldest is Roberta. Of course, mothers don’t have obvious preferences for their children, but if they did, Roberta would be the one. The next oldest was Peter, who passionately wanted to be an engineer when he grew up. And the youngest and most obedient was Phyllis.

Their mother did not waste time, did not make meaningless visits to various boring ladies and did not sit idle, waiting for these ladies to pay a return visit. She was almost always at home, ready to play with the children, read a book to them, and help them prepare their homework. And besides, while the children were at school, she wrote stories that were read aloud after tea. She also wrote funny rhymes for birthdays and other special occasions, such as when a kitten was adopted and named, or when a doll's house was rearranged, or when children recovered from measles or mumps.

These three had everything you could want: beautiful clothes, all sorts of good things, a charming nursery, littered with toys and wallpapered with scenes from the life of Mother Goose*. They also had a nanny, a cheerful, kind woman, and a dog named James, who was equally devoted to them all. And their dad was perfection - he never got angry, decided everything fairly and was always ready to play with them, and even if he couldn’t, then there was a good reason for this, the essence of which he outlined in such an interesting and funny way that it was it was like a game.

You will think now that they were probably happy. Yes, they, of course, were happy, but they could not realize it until their comfortable life in the red villa ended and until they all had to start leading a completely different life.

The terrible change happened completely unexpectedly.

It was Peter's birthday - he was ten years old. Among other gifts was a model of a locomotive, the most advanced of all that could be obtained at that time. Many of the gifts he received were delightful, but still none could compare with the locomotive.

For three days the brother and sisters enjoyed the gift. But then, either because of Peter's inexperience or because Phyllis pressed the wrong button, the locomotive suddenly exploded. James was so frightened that he ran away from home and did not return until nightfall. The colorful little men in the tender* all scattered into the corners, but nothing in the house was damaged except the locomotive and the feelings of the poor teenager. They said that he cried over the locomotive, but, of course, ten-year-old boys do not cry, no matter what terrible tragedies befall them. And he explained that his eyes were red by saying that he had caught a cold. This, to Peter’s own surprise, turned out to be true, and he had to spend the entire next day in bed. Mom thought with horror that he must have fallen ill with measles, when suddenly the boy sat up in bed and announced:

- I can’t stand porridge! I hate pearl barley! Take away the bread and milk! I want to get up and have a real lunch!

- How is this for real? - Mom asked.

- I want a big, fat pie! – Peter demanded impatiently.

Mom immediately ordered the cook to bake a big, fat pie. She kneaded the dough, rolled it out, made a pie and put it in the oven. When the pie was ready, Peter tasted it. And after that he quickly began to recover from his cold. In the meantime, while the pie was baking, mother, in order to calm and entertain Peter, wrote several quatrains. At the beginning it was said that Peter is a good boy, but he is often unlucky, and then his mother told a sad story:

My good comrade died,

Big locomotive!

Ah, Peter is ready to give everything,

So that he could be alive again.

Here, listen, my friends!

An evil of evils happened.

“Save!” - the driver shouted,

And exploded I boiler.

Poor Peter turned pale

And rushed to his mother -

He had never encountered before

With things like that.

He left the driver

And dying people

Because I valued one

With his toy.

And then Peter got sick

And he was very sad

And tried to eat the pie

Remorseful fervor.

Wrapped in five blankets,

He sleeps without his hind legs,

Now on one, then on the other

Falling sideways.

His eyes are red-red,

And the flu is to blame

But he will recover soon

Hot pie!

Dad was in the village at the time of the accident and was expected to return only after three or four days. Peter placed all his hopes for restoring the locomotive solely on his dad, who had an inventive mind and deft hands. There wasn't a problem that he couldn't fix. For the wooden horse Peter, he was a real veterinarian. When this horse was ready to be thrown away because it was unfit for use, dad picked it up and fixed it, although even the carpenter said that he could do nothing to help the poor thing. And the doll’s cradle, which no one could fix, dad managed to put in order. And when Noah’s Ark broke, he, with the help of a small bottle of glue, several pieces of wood and a penknife, pinned all the animals so well that it couldn’t have been stronger.

You may not believe this whole story that I am about to tell you.
But I advise you to believe it, because it is true.
Sometimes it happens that the truth looks much stranger than the fairy tale.
When you grow up, this truth will be repeated to you so many times that it will be sickening to listen to it.
Then you might want to write a weird, weird fairy tale just to prove
that after all, some of them may be more surprising than any truth.
Edith Nesbit

It’s always interesting to trace where it all began... The history of children’s literature itself is not so great, only in the 19th century folk tales, carefully collected and retold, were replaced by literary fairy tales, author’s tales. And at the origins of this genre, just like adventure children's prose, was the English writer Edith Nesbit (1858-1924).

Her own life is almost as dramatic as her strange fairy tales and adventure stories.

Edith Nesbit was born on August 15, 1858 in the English county of Surrey and was the sixth and last child in the family of John Collies and Sarah Nesbit. The father, a chemist by profession and a fertilizer specialist, founded a small agricultural college, but when young Edith (or Daisy, as she was called in the family) was not yet four years old, he died. The determined mother, Sarah Nesbit, managed to save the school, but all her thoughts were aimed at saving Edith’s older sister, Maria, who was seriously ill with tuberculosis. From that moment on, the family constantly changes their place of residence, trying to find the climate that will suit their sick daughter. Constant moving, England, France, Germany, Spain, boarding schools, new houses - all this will later be reflected in the work of the future writer. After the death of her elder sister, the family finally settled in Kent, and here young Edith Nesbit began writing her first poems, which would be published in Sunday Magazine. And behind the house where the Nesbit family lived, a railway was being laid, which, like a magnet, attracted Edith and her two brothers, Alfred and Harry. These childhood memories will later be included in her most famous book - “The Railway children”.

The rural idyll lasted less than four years, when shaky financial affairs forced the family to move to London. Soon after the move, young Miss Nesbit became engaged to bank clerk Stuart Smith, but this did not last long. In the groom's office, Edith meets his colleague Hubert Bland. Being three years older than the girl, tall, handsome, lively, with an excellent sense of humor, the young man made a strong impression and a whirlwind romance began, ending with marriage on April 22, 1880, and the bride was already heavily pregnant - the couple’s first son was born two months after the wedding . That is why Sarah Nesbit refused to attend her daughter’s wedding, and in the future the mother-in-law-son-in-law relationship did not develop very well. This marriage was not too easy for young Edith either. The newly-made husband rented a small house for his wife and son, where they barely made ends meet, and retired to his mother, who for a long time did not suspect about her son’s marriage, since Hubert seemed to have another bride in his father’s house, his mother’s companion Maggie Doran, with whom he also had a child. The situation was more or less resolved only with the birth of Edith Nesbit’s second child.

By this time, the family had experienced significant financial difficulties, but Edith turned out to be talented enough to earn money through literary work. Perhaps this is the first woman writer who almost supported her family with income from her writing. So Edith did not shy away from any literary work: she wrote texts for postcards and captions for illustrated children’s books, retold Shakespeare for children or biographies of English kings. She was published a lot, but success fully came when Edith was already over forty, while many of her books became bestsellers and brought in a solid income (for example, she received £ 1,100 for the book The Wouldbegoods, a continuation of “Treasure Hunters”), although the money for a family living beyond their means and often hosting noisy gatherings in a large house, there was always not enough.
The husband also began to engage in journalism. In many ways, the spouses were brought together by their active involvement in politics. Having experienced a brief fascination with socialism, the couple joined the organized Fabian Society, the forerunner of the Labor Party. Edith gave public lectures, together with her husband edited a public magazine, wrote social texts, leaflets, theses, etc.

Edith Nesbit's first husband was Hubert Bland.

In 1882, at the editorial office of Sylvia's Home Journal, Edith met Alice Hoatson, who became a secretary, housekeeper and family friend. However, it soon turns out that Alice is pregnant, and the child's father was Hubert Bland. After a small scandal (and her husband's ultimatum), Edith accepts a new member of the family, little Rosalind, registering the child on herself (the truth would become clear many years later), as well as her brother John, also born to Alice Hoatson, who remained to work and live in this family.Edith had three of her own children: son Paul Bland (1880-1940), to whom The Railway Children were dedicated; daughter Iris Bland (1881-1950) and son Fabian Bland (1885-1900), who died at the age of 15 after tonsil surgery, and to whom she dedicated the books " Five Children and a Monster", "Treasure Seekers".
Despite everything that happened, the couple maintained a good relationship, continued to live together, participated in political activities, and raised children - the writer’s biographers called it a “free marriage.” So Edith herself indulged in numerous hobbies; in particular, biographers attributed to her an affair with the playwright Bernard Shaw.

The Bland-Nesbit house was famous for its hospitality and entertainment; guests were warmly received, games of charades and dancing were organized. The hostess was a sporty woman, loved to play badminton and at the same time smoked desperately a lot.

In 1914, Hubert Bland died and after the death of her husband, Edith Nesbit never wrote children's books, although she would create two more large adult novels. In 1917, she married marine engineer Thomas Tucker, whom she knew through party affairs.
The writer died in 1924 from lung cancer.

The creative legacy of Edith Nesbit (as a writer she kept her maiden name) includes poetry, poems, novels for adults (even horror films). But she became famous primarily as a children's writer; it was she who became one of the creators of the genre of author's fairy tales and adventure stories. Moreover, Nesbit’s heroes did not have to be transported to fairy-tale worlds, fall down a rabbit hole, fly to distant lands, no, the wonderful and magical were nearby, in the most ordinary life. This interweaving of the real with the fabulous has become a kind of calling card of the writer. Plus signature irony and self-irony. The writer's work had a strong influence on Clive Staples Lewis and his Chronicles of Narnia (in The Sorcerer's Nephew, Lewis even mentions Nesbit's heroes), on Pamela Travers and her Mary Poppins, and even, as noted, on JK Rowling.

Mostly her works for children were published in Russian:
Five children and a monster
Five children and it
Phoenix and carpet
History of the amulet
Railway children
Treasure Hunters
Let's Be Obedient Society
Enchanted Castle

Several books were published in translation by Irina Tokmakova. In her translation, a new collection of Edith Nesbit's fairy tales is published by the Rech publishing house, and some fairy tales are published in Russian for the first time.

Well, there will be a separate post about our new book itself..

) - English writer and poet. Author (co-author) of more than 60 works of fiction for children, some of which have been adapted for film and television. She is also a political activist and one of the founders of the Fabian Society, the forerunner of the modern Labor Party.

Biography

Michael Moorcock writes a series of novels with the adult Oswald Bastable (played in Nesbit's novel The Treasure Hunters) as his protagonist.

Finally, Jacqueline Wilson wrote a sequel to the Psammead trilogy, calling it Four Children and It ( Four Children and It).

In addition to children's works, Edith Nesbit wrote eleven novels, short stories and four collections of “horrible stories” for adults.

Novels for children

Cycle about Bastables

• 1899 Treasure Seekers ( The Story of the Treasure Seekers).
• 1901 The Wouldbegoods
• 1904 The New Treasure Seekers
• 1928 Complete History of the Bastable Family(posthumous edition of the Bastable trilogy)

Several stories about the Bastables are included in the collection of stories Oswald Bastable and Others ( Oswald Bastable and Others, 1905). Additionally, the Bastables act in the adult novel The Red House The Red House (1902).

On the way out, Emperor Franz only gazed intently at the face of Prince Andrei, who stood in the appointed place between the Austrian officers, and nodded his long head to him. But after leaving yesterday’s wing, the adjutant politely conveyed to Bolkonsky the emperor’s desire to give him an audience.
Emperor Franz received him, standing in the middle of the room. Before starting the conversation, Prince Andrei was struck by the fact that the emperor seemed confused, not knowing what to say, and blushed.
– Tell me, when did the battle begin? – he asked hastily.
Prince Andrei answered. This question was followed by other, equally simple questions: “Is Kutuzov healthy? How long ago did he leave Krems?” etc. The Emperor spoke with such an expression as if his whole goal was only to ask a certain number of questions. The answers to these questions, as was too obvious, could not interest him.
– At what time did the battle begin? - asked the emperor.
“I can’t tell your Majesty at what time the battle began from the front, but in Dürenstein, where I was, the army began the attack at 6 o’clock in the evening,” said Bolkonsky, perking up and at the same time assuming that he would be able to present what was already ready in his head a true description of everything that he knew and saw.
But the emperor smiled and interrupted him:
- How many miles?
- From where and to where, Your Majesty?
– From Durenstein to Krems?
- Three and a half miles, Your Majesty.
-Have the French left the left bank?
“As the scouts reported, the last ones crossed on rafts that night.
– Is there enough fodder in Krems?
– The fodder was not delivered in that quantity...
The Emperor interrupted him.
– At what time was General Schmit killed?...
- At seven o'clock, I think.
- At 7:00. Very sad! Very sad!
The Emperor said his thanks and bowed. Prince Andrei came out and was immediately surrounded on all sides by courtiers. Kind eyes looked at him from all sides and gentle words were heard. Yesterday's adjutant reproached him for not staying at the palace and offered him his home. The Minister of War approached, congratulating him on the Order of Maria Theresa, 3rd class, which the Emperor had bestowed upon him. The Empress's chamberlain invited him to see Her Majesty. The Archduchess also wanted to see him. He didn’t know who to answer, and took a few seconds to collect his thoughts. The Russian envoy took him by the shoulder, took him to the window and began to talk to him.
Contrary to Bilibin’s words, the news he brought was received joyfully. A thanksgiving service was scheduled. Kutuzov was awarded the Grand Cross by Maria Theresa, and the entire army received decorations. Bolkonsky received invitations from all sides and had to make visits to the main dignitaries of Austria all morning. Having finished his visits at five o'clock in the evening, mentally composing a letter to his father about the battle and about his trip to Brunn, Prince Andrei returned home to Bilibin. At the porch of the house occupied by Bilibin, a britzka half-stuffed with belongings stood, and Franz, Bilibin’s servant, with difficulty dragging his suitcase, came out of the door.
Before going to Bilibin, Prince Andrei went to a bookstore to stock up on books for the trip and sat in the shop.

One day, when we were watching the news on TV ONE, they showed England and a steam locomotive in it, it runs on steam and they want to stop using it... The steam locomotive was part of the history of the "Railroad Children", and now it is entertainment for tourists. I asked Brian about “Kids”, and with all his love for films, he said that I would really like the series of the same name, which was created based on the book of the same name. So, with all my love for literature, I found the appropriate book and began to read it...

And today, putting aside all my work and my laptop, I finished reading “The Railway Children”! I never would have thought that children's books could be so wonderful at my age (what happens next?)!

The book tells the story of a family: mother, father, two daughters and son. Of course, the main characters are the children: Roberta, Peter and Phyllis, who fell in love with the railway. Children save everyone, do good deeds and in conversations give such arguments and facts that you can only smile sweetly :) At the same time, the narration is conducted as if the author is unobtrusively talking to you and at the same time has his own personal opinion and even highlights his favorites!

One of the kindest books I've read recently!

What I remember most was this:
...- Children, this is a long story, if you write it down, it will fill a whole book. He is a writer, the author of wonderful books. You see, in Tsarist Russia they don’t allow people to write about rich people who do bad things. And you can’t write about what can be done for poor people so that they live happier and better. And if someone writes, that person will be sent to prison.
- But how can you go to prison for a good deed? - Peter was perplexed. - People go to prison if someone has done harm to someone.
- Or if it seems to the judges that a person has done evil... But this is so in England. But in Russia it’s not like that. So he wrote a wonderful book about poor children and how you can help them. I read this book of his. Everything there is only about good people and good deeds. But he was sent to prison for this book. And so he spent three years in a terrible dungeon, on a hard bed, without light, in dampness. In a single casemate for three whole years! Her voice trembled and she fell silent.
“Mom, but this doesn’t happen now,” said Peter. - It's like something out of a history book - about the times of the Inquisition or something like that.
- It's true what I'm telling you. The terrifying truth. Then he was taken from prison and exiled to Siberia. There, convicts are chained to each other. There were those who did evil, and there were those like him. And so they walked, walked for many days, and it seemed to him that they would never get there. And behind them came the overseers with whips. Yes! Those who were tired were beaten with whips. After this, some became crippled, while others fell exhausted and were not helped to rise, but were left to die. There was so much horror there that I can’t even talk about it. And so he ended up in the mines. He was sentenced to lifelong labor there, and he wrote another wonderful book about it...

So I thought that “But nothing, essentially, has changed...” But this is a completely different topic for conversation...

You can download the book

Robert's children, Peter, Phyllis and their mother, after the police take away the father of the family on false charges, are forced to move from a large London house with servants to a country house. The mother tells the children that dad just left. In the new place, the guys spend their free time next to the railway. There they meet different people.

In the old house, children learn to light the stove, do laundry, cook and clean on their own. The family lives off of my mother’s creativity. She writes poetry and stories. The boys are trying their best to help their mother. But not everything goes smoothly for them. They often quarrel with each other, but their common misfortune gradually unites the sisters and brother.

On the railway, children learn local news, help new friends and hope that their father will return to them by railway.

The boys have to overcome many difficulties. They were able to prevent the train from crashing and save the injured boy. The people whom the children help also pay with kindness, trying to help find their father. Gradually the children grow up and get to know this world better.

The father of the family was acquitted, and he returns to his family.

The work teaches that if you find yourself in a difficult situation you should not give up and give up.

Picture or drawing Children of the railway

Other retellings for the reader's diary

• Summary of Nekrasov Railway
• Marshak

  Marshak's fairy tales are kind, interesting and children really like them.