Scattered man in the poem of Marshak and in life

Do you remember who wrote "The man scattered" (more precisely, "That's what diffused")? Not a single generation of people grew up on the sarcastic poems of this Soviet poet . And today mothers read in the evenings to their children "The Tale of the Stupid Mouse", "The Children in the Cage" and "The Drowsiness and the Zevot." Even adults with the most unimportant memory are able to quote: "My cheerful ringing ball, where did you rush to jump?", "In December, in December all the trees in silver" or "The lady handed over a sofa, a suitcase, a bag ...". Such is the nature of the works of this author - they are remembered, like songs that have achieved rotation.

Doodle for Google

But the most published poem of the poet is the story of a scattered person who "instead of a hat on the move" put a frying pan, trousers mixed with a shirt, and gloves - with felt boots. The popularity of the work was so great that in 2012, when the world celebrated the 125th anniversary of its creator, even Google succumbed to universal absent-mindedness. On this day, users of the legendary search engine met an amusing doodle on which familiar letters crumbled and stood backwards.

The author of the famous poem is Samuil Yakovlevich Marshak. A person scattered is certainly an image of a collective, although researchers say there are several real prototypes.

Kabluk Ivanov

Most often called the name of Ivan Alekseyevich Kablukov - a famous specialist in the field of physical chemistry. True, this scholar lived in Moscow, and not in the Northern capital, but otherwise looked very much like: scattered, charming and constantly confusing words and letters. In one of the rough drafts of the future poem, the hero writes that his name is "Heel Ivanov." The real Ivan Kablukov named his two favorite sciences "chemistry and physics"; Having made a reservation, could say "the lob flipped" instead of "the bulb burst".

Lev Petrovich

Who else is claiming the title of "a man scattered from the street Basseinaya"? One of the versions says that in 1926 Marshak published a poem called "Lev Petrovich". To the general public, it is completely unknown, because it came out under the name of the symbolist Vladimir Piast. In the 20 years of the last century the poet was very poor, and Marshak managed to "knock out" for him from the literary leadership an advance for the publication of the future children's book. Since Piast did not know how to write for kids, Marshak wrote a poem for his friend.

A scattered man Lev Petrovich wore a live cat instead of a hat, and the tram waited "for the wood at the barn". Contemporaries believed that this image was "written off" from the very Vladimir Alekseevich Piast, who was very inattentive and eccentric. This version is indirectly confirmed by the presence in one of the draft versions of a hint of a story from the poet's life: "Instead of tea, he poured tea ink into the cup."

Marshak or Harms?

Some researchers believe that the scattered person is the author of the work, Samuel Marshak. Allegedly, he was characterized by non-assimilation. True, others are convinced that such behavior could be part of what is now called PR. Talented authors themselves invented and "created" their image for descendants.

Intentional absentminded not only Marshak, but also Piast, as well as Daniel Kharms. In the works of the latter, by the way, one can also find the theme of forgetfulness and inattention embodied in absurd images: Pushkin, constantly stumbling over Gogol and calling epigrams "Ergyarma", and Zhukovsky - Zhukov; Residents of the city, forgotten, "what goes before - 7 or 8," and falling out of the window of the old woman.

A little more about prototypes

A truly talented work is always a generalization. Therefore, many people can claim the role of the prototype of the "scattered man". It is said that Mendeleev regularly took off galoshes, entering the tram. Apparently, confused cozy transport with the house. Does not Marshak write about him: "He began to pull on the leggings. They say to him: "Not yours!"

Another chemist, and in combination - composer, Alexander Borodin, once in the midst of a dinner party in his own house stunned the guests. He put on his coat, loudly said goodbye to everyone, explaining that it was time for him to return ... home. Is not this the case of the lines: "He put on his coat. They say to him: "Not that!".

And maybe, "a man scattered from the street Basseinaya" is Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov? After all, he really lived on a Petersburg street with this name (now it bears the name of a peasant poet)? Once the inattention of the author of "Russian Women" almost left the domestic literature without the novel "What to do?".

Sitting in the Peter and Paul Fortress, Chernyshevsky handed out the manuscript to his will in tiny pieces for four months, and Nekrasov, who was hurrying to the publishing house, dropped it on the street, and did not even notice it. A few days later, fortunately, the materials were returned for a major reward for those times - 100 rubles. At the same time, initially the poet-publisher promised to pay the finder 50 rubles, but for forgetfulness he gave out a sum twice as large.

On the reality of the image

The poem "This is what is scattered" is often presented to readers with a story about a ridiculous and ridiculous person. We do not know his name or profession. The author does not give any data about the hero's family. Of the features inherent in him, we can note only the emphasis on politeness. Perhaps this is all about what the poem tells us. A scattered person is the embodiment of one character trait in a hypertrophic form.

However, as we have already seen, this image can not be called absurd. Similar situations have occurred repeatedly with people known and unknown, with scientists, writers and musicians, with heroes of books and films. They still happen today. Most people from time to time suffer from forgetfulness, inattention, lack of assortment.

About true absent-mindedness

Who is such an absent-minded person? From the point of view of psychology, it is one who suffers from an inability to concentrate attention. True absentmindedness is understood as a state of peculiar prostration, when a person can not concentrate on anything, for some time "disconnects" from reality. One of the terrible varieties of this condition is the so-called "road hypnosis", familiar to many drivers. From a long monotonous ride a person falls into a half-doze state. At some point, he feels the effect of failure in time. What had happened to him just now: he fell asleep, disconnected? It is at these moments that accidents can occur.

The causes of true absent-mindedness are insomnia, headache, severe fatigue, monotonous monotonous work. It is difficult to say whether Marshak's hero suffered, but some symptoms indicate that he could. A resident of the Basseynaya Street managed to sleep for two days, as they say, without hind legs. Does this not speak of the extreme exhaustion of a person, the absence of normal sleep and rest in his life?

On the absent-mindedness of the imaginary

Why do we often think that a scattered person is necessarily a dreamy poet or an eccentric professor? The fact that psychologists distinguish and another type of absent-mindedness - imaginary. Imaginary absent-mindedness is a side effect of a strong inner concentration on a topic, a problem. A person absorbed in an important idea can not distribute their attention between different objects. He can not "follow" everything at once. Hence - inattention to everyday trifles, forgetfulness, inability to find the right word and speech clauses.

Parents often accuse children of being distracted, but often its manifestations are evidence of inner concentration. A small man is engaged in a very serious matter: he knows a world in which there are so many irritants that it is sometimes impossible to keep track of them!

The hero and his era

If you recall the era in which the work was created, the thoughtful adult reader will be able to find in it hints of events about which it was customary to remain silent.

The poem was written in 1928, and was first published in 1930. By that time, Nikolai Gumilev had already been shot, whose lines ("Stop, the driver, stop the car now!") Parries Marshak. In 1930 Piast was arrested, in 1931 - Harms.

And in the cultural circles, there was a serious discussion boiling: can there be a funny or even (God forbid!) Funny children's literature? The conclusion was unequivocal: works for kids should be serious. Could it be otherwise? After all, laughter contradicts the foundations of a totalitarian state. The existence of a thinking person in the 1930s could well plunge him into a state of prostration - as a protective reaction to what is happening. After all, one of the reasons for absent-mindedness is called depression and anxiety disorders.

So the scattered hero of Marshak, of course, is a funny person, but the reasons for what is happening to him can be the most serious.