Dunno, or Know-Nothing or Ignoramus (russian: Незнайка, ''Neznayka'' that is Don'tknowka (ka - the Russian suffix here for drawing up the whole name in a cheerful form); from the Russian phrase "" ("''ne znayu''", ''don't know'') is a character created by
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
children's writer
Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader.
Children's ...
Nikolay Nosov
Nikolay Nikolayevich Nosov (russian: link=no, Николай Николаевич Носов, uk, Микола Миколайович Носов; in Kyiv – 26 July 1976 in Moscow) was a Soviet and Ukrainian children's literature writer, the ...
.
The idea of the character comes from the books of
Palmer Cox
Palmer Cox (April 28, 1840 – July 24, 1924) was a Canadian illustrator and author, best known for ''The Brownies'', his series of humorous verse books and comic strips about the mischievous but kindhearted fairy-like sprites. The cartoons were ...
.
Dunno, recognized by his bright blue hat, canary-yellow trousers, orange shirt, and green tie, is the title character of Nosov's trilogy, ''
The Adventures of Dunno and his Friends'' (1954), ''
Dunno in Sun City
Dunno, or Know-Nothing or Ignoramus (russian: Незнайка, ''Neznayka'' that is Don'tknowka (ka - the Russian suffix here for drawing up the whole name in a cheerful form); from the Russian phrase "" ("''ne znayu''", ''don't know'') is a cha ...
'' (1958), and ''
Dunno on the Moon
''Dunno on the Moon'' ({{Lang-ru, Незнайка на Луне) is a fairytale novel by Nikolay Nosov from the series about the adventures of Dunno with elements of science fiction. This is the final part of a trilogy of Nosov's novels, consist ...
'' (1966). There have been several movie adaptations of the books.
Names
His names are translated differently in various languages:
* ar, الجاهل
* az, Bilməz
* bg, Незнайко
* bn, আনাড়ি
* cs, Neználek
* german: Nimmerklug
* he, בורבורי
* es, Nosabenada
* et, Totu
* hi, Najanu
* hu, Nemtudomka
* hy, Անգետիկը
* ka, ნეზნაიკა
* lt, Nežiniukas
* lv, Nezinītis
* pl, Nieumiałek
* ro,
Habarnam
* russian: Незнайка
* sk, Nevedko
* sl, Neznalček
*
Sinhalese
Sinhala may refer to:
* Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka
* Sinhalese people
* Sinhala language, one of the three official languages used in Sri Lanka
* Sinhala script, a writing system for the Sinhala language
** Sinha ...
: ''Wada Bari Daasa''
* uk, Незнайко
* vi, Mít Đặc
*
Plot summaries
The three
fairy tale
A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...
novels follow the adventures of the little fictional childlike people living in "Flower Town". They are described to be sized like "medium cucumbers", a quality that has earned them the name "shorties" or "mites". All fruits and vegetables growing in Flower Town are, however, their regular size, so the Shorties invent sophisticated methods of growing and harvesting them. In Nosov's universe, each shorty occupies his/her own niche in the community and is named accordingly.
''The Adventures of Dunno and his Friends''
![Dunno and his friends Postal card Russia 2008](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Dunno_and_his_friends_Postal_card_Russia_2008.jpg)
In Flower Town, Dunno gets into heaps of trouble. First, he becomes convinced that the sun is falling and manages to scare half the town before Doono, Dunno's brainy antithesis (his name is derived from the Russian "", ''I know'') clears everything up. Then he proceeds to try music, art, and poetry, but his unorthodox endeavors only irritate his friends, and he is forced to quit. Next, ignoring the warnings of Swifty, Dunno crashes Bendum and Twistum's car into the Cucumber River and ends up in the hospital. He then gets into a fight with his best friend Gunky for not ending his friendships with the girl-shorties Pee-Wee and Tinkle (generally, boy-Mites did not like girl-Mites, and vice versa).
Doono proposes to build a hot air
balloon
A balloon is a flexible bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, and air. For special tasks, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), or light so ...
and go on an adventure. He and his friends begin extracting
rubber
Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...
, weaving the basket, and making emergency parachutes out of
dandelions
''Taraxacum'' () is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, which consists of species commonly known as dandelions. The scientific and hobby study of the genus is known as taraxacology. The genus is native to Eurasia and Nor ...
. A large rubber balloon is then inflated, fastened to the basket, and filled with hot air. The parachutes and other supplies are loaded, and sixteen seats are accommodated for. Everyone helps with preparations except for Dunno, who is too busy bossing everyone around and providing useless advice. The day of the departure comes, and Doono, Dunno, and fourteen other Mites come on board. Shot takes with him his dog, Dot. By this time, half the town still does not believe the balloon will be able to fly, but the balloon successfully rises off the ground, and all the shorties of Flower Town cheer. Gunky waves to Dunno from the ground but Dunno shuns him.
The balloon eventually crashes near the Greenville, inhabited only by girl-Mites (boy-Mites had left for the Kite Town where they can carry out freely their boyish activities), who took balloonists to the hospital to care for them. As Doono (who escaped from the balloon by parachute before the crash) is absent, Dunno describes himself to girl-Mites as balloon inventor and boy-Mites' leader. When he visits the hospital, he talks boy-Mites into supporting his version of facts, in exchange promising to help them out of hospital as soon as possible. Soon it became clear that the only boy-Mite who has to be cured is Shot (who meanwhile lost Dot that has run back to the Flower Town), but the hospital physician, Dr. Honeysuckle, does not want to take all the other boy-Mites together out because she thinks that boy-Mites cause a lot of trouble, so the boy-Mites are taken out in pairs. After being taken out, the boy-Mites help girl-Mites to gather harvest, and Bendum and Twistum go to the Kite Town to repair girl-Mites' car. Then Bendum and Twistum return to Greenville, and some Kite Town dwellers join them and also gather harvest, including Nails who used to be a hooligan. With the time, Doono finds the other Mites, Dunno's lies are discovered and he's mocked by boy-Mites, but consoled by girl-Mites. Dunno becomes friends with the girl-Mite Cornflower, and after returning home, Shot finds Dot, and Dunno makes peace with Gunky, becomes best friends with Pee-Wee, improves his reading skills, and learns cursive writing to correspond with Cornflower.
''Dunno in Sun City''
Dunno continues his self-studies: he learns grammar and arithmetic and begins learning physics, but physics bores him, and he begins to meet with his best friend Pee-Wee, and then both read fairy-tales. Dunno dreams of a magic wand, and Pee-Wee says she has read in one book that one may get a magic wand from a wizard for three good actions, but one who wants to get the magic wand should not think of a reward. After the meeting, Dunno tries to do good actions, but on the first day he does too many bad actions, namely quarrels with the other Mites of his house. On the following day, Dunno does only good actions, but a wizard does not come to him. Pee-Wee explains that it is because Dunno thinks of a reward, namely the magic wand. During several months, Dunno does good actions and dreams of a magic wand but at the same time thinks getting it is unrealistic. But then in a sunny day after several days of rain Dunno, having forgotten about his dream, frees Dot from its kennel and meets an old man. Dunno protects the man from Dot's bite and asks whether Dot has not already bit him. Then the old man says he is a wizard and gives Dunno a magic wand. The wizard alerts Dunno that the magic wand will not work after three bad actions.
After receiving the magic wand from the wizard, Dunno, Pee-Wee, and their accidental acquaintance Pachkulya Pyostrenky (who does not like to wash himself and never gets surprised at anything) wish for a car and go on a road trip to Sun City. Because of the magic wand, Dunno gains a skill of conducting the car without having studied it. During their journey, they see many technological marvels like futuristic cars, bizarre architecture, televisions that can communicate with you, computerized
chess
Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...
players, etc. The name "Sun City" comes from the fact that all days in the city are sunny because of
cloud seeding
Cloud seeding is a type of weather modification that aims to change the amount or type of precipitation that falls from clouds by dispersing substances into the air that serve as cloud condensation or ice nuclei, which alter the microphysical p ...
. However, the travellers also run into some trouble in the city. On the very day Dunno arrives to Sun City, he quarrels with a Mite called Listik and uses his magic wand to turn him into a donkey. On the following day, Dunno reads in a newspaper that Listik is lost but a donkey mysteriously appeared in Sun City and is taken into the city zoo. Then Dunno goes to the zoo and then turns two donkeys and a
hinny
A hinny is a domestic equine hybrid, the offspring of a male horse (a stallion) and a female donkey (a jenny). It is the reciprocal cross to the more common mule, which is the product of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The hi ...
into Mites, being not sure which one of them is Listik. Unfortunately, the donkeys and the hinny turned into Mites become hooligans, and some other Sun City Mites become hooligans too, thinking it is a new trend. When the Mites Chubchik and Yorshik water a Sun City garden with a hose, one of the former donkeys, Pegasik, begins to spray water on Mites, and Dunno wants to take away the hose. Then two policemen, called Svistulkin and Karaulkin, see the accident and put Dunno into a police station. Dunno uses his magic wand to destroy the station, and Svistulkin gets a
concussion
A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentration, ...
because of falling of a brick on him. Then Dunno, Pee-Wee, and Pachkulya Pyostrenky continue the journey, and Svistulkin goes home but comes to a wrong flat inhabited by two Mites called Shutilo and Korzhik. After Shutilo and Korzhik have come, Svistulkin goes home but mistakenly wears Korzhik's jacket with his driver licence in its pocket. Then Svistulkin stumbles over a rope put on the sidewalk by the former donkeys and hinny and gets concussed again. Having lost conscience, he is took away to the Sun City hospital, where he is mistaken for Korzhik. Newspapers state that Svistulkin is lost. When Svistulkin gets healthy, doctors of the hospital think he is still ill because he says he is Svistulkin; but soon the doctors trust him after having met with the real Korzhik. But the doctors still do not discharge Svistulkin from the hospital because he says something about "a wizard in yellow trousers" (meaning Dunno), and the doctors think it is a true fantasy.
Trouble in Sun City caused by the hooligans continues, and then Dunno realises that no one of the former donkeys and hinny is Listik, so he goes once again to the zoo to find the real Listik. In the zoo, Dunno is told that the information in the newspaper was mistaken and Listik is in the Sun City circus. Then Dunno decides to tease a monkey, and the monkey takes away his magic wand. After the zoo is closed because the night has come, Dunno and Pachkulya Pyostrenky dare to climb over the zoo fence, but in the dark they come to a lion's cage instead of the monkey's cage. On the following day, Dunno finds his magic wand in the zoo, but it ceases to work. Then the wizard comes to Dunno and explains him that the wand does not work because of three bad deeds: turning Listik into a donkey, turning the donkeys and the hinny into Mites, and teasing the monkey.
Dunno asks the wizard whether a wish can come true without the magic wand. The wizard says that a wish can come true if it is good. Then Dunno wishes that the Sun City return to its previous state; Pee-Wee wished to return to Flower Town; and Pachkulya Pyostrenky wished to be clean without needing to wash himself. The wizard says that Pachkulya Pyostrenky will feel good only after washing himself.
Svistulkin is discharged from the hospital; Listik is again a Mite; the donkeys and the hinny become what they were and return to the zoo.
Dunno, Pee-Wee, and Pachkulya Pyostrenky return to Flower Town. Pachkulya Pyostrenky goes home, and Dunno and Pee-Wee discuss the Sun City and its futuristic utopia.
''Dunno on the Moon''
Doono discovers that his moon rock (that he obtained from his previous travel to the Moon) creates a no
gravity
In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stro ...
zone when interacting with a magnetic field. He uses this knowledge to build a
rocket
A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...
ship that will go to the moon much more easily because of being virtually weightless. However, Dunno and Roly-Poly are not allowed to go; Dunno, because of his undisciplined behavior, and Roly-Poly, because of his inability to cope with non-gravity effects and excessive food consumption. The night before the rocket launch, Dunno and Roly-Poly sneak into the ship and accidentally launch the rocket.
When they arrive on the moon, Dunno and Roly-Poly become separated and Dunno falls through a cave and discovers a whole separate society of mites living inside the moon. However, unlike on Earth, these mites do not have "giant food" (that is, their fruit and vegetables are sized in proportion to the mites, rather than to normal humans like on Earth). The moon society is a corrupt capitalistic state: the millionaires control all the factories and squander their money away on unnecessary luxuries, the police are violent, corrupt, and stupid, everyday citizens struggle to survive and live in rat infested barracks.
Dunno gets thrown into jail for not having money to pay for his meal at a restaurant and is mistaken for a wanted criminal by the stupid police officers. In jail he meets Miga - a fast-talking schemer, and Kozlik - a poor, gentle worker. Upon getting released from jail, Miga introduces Kozlik and Dunno to Zhulio - another con man, and the four decide to start a company selling stocks to raise money to get "giant seeds" from Dunno's rocket ship and plant them on the moon. The stocks sell well and soon the four friends have much money. However, some of the local millionaire businessmen are worried that giant food will mean that poor workers can get richer and the millionaires may lose money. Their leader, Spruts, convinces Miga and Zhulio to steal the money and run leaving Dunno and Kozlik jobless and penniless.
Meanwhile, Roly-Poly finds the same cave and also goes inside the moon. However, he quickly discovers
salt
Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...
and opens his own business making and selling it (salt was unknown for moon inhabitants). He gets rich but then goes bankrupt when the price of salt becomes too low because of a
dumping scheme. Then Roly-Poly becomes an average worker.
Dunno and Kozlik work odd jobs but are still starving and living in poverty in a rat infested basement. Kozlik gets bit by a rat and becomes sick. Just then, Dunno gets a job as a dog nanny for a rich woman, Mrs Minoga ("
lamprey
Lampreys (sometimes inaccurately called lamprey eels) are an ancient extant lineage of jawless fish of the order Petromyzontiformes , placed in the superclass Cyclostomata. The adult lamprey may be characterized by a toothed, funnel-like s ...
"), and makes enough money for a doctor for Kozlik who slowly recovers, but Mrs. Minoga finds out that Dunno took her dogs to the rat infested basement and fires him. Dunno and Kozlik then end up living on the street. Since Kozlik has lost his hat and Dunno lost his shoes they are breaking the law and get sent to Fool's Island which has a toxic atmosphere that turns all the people there into sheep which are then sheared for their wool.
Later Dunno's friends come to Moon with giant seeds, which results in elimination of poverty and establishment of a communism-like economical system and saves Dunno and Kozlik from Fool's Island.
Characters
Flower Town dwellers
![Russia stamp 1992 No 17](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Russia_stamp_1992_No_17.jpg)
Named for its abundance of flowers, all streets are named after flowers as well. The Flower Town is located by the Cucumber River, on the shore of which many cucumbers grow. Here boy-shorties and girl-shorties live together, but often have trouble getting along.
Dunno's house
Dunno's house is inhabited by sixteen boy-shorties:
*Dunno (Незнайка, from Russian "не знаю", "I don't know") - the title character of the trilogy and the most infamous personality in Flower Town. As an anti-hero, this boy-shorty is both ignorant, lazy, rude, and conceited and at the same time curious, kind, enterprising, and unbelievably lucky. He is highly reminiscent of the popular Russian
folk hero
A folk hero or national hero is a type of hero – real, fictional or mythological – with their name, personality and deeds embedded in the popular consciousness of a people, mentioned frequently in folk songs, folk tales and other folklore; an ...
Ivan the Fool
Ivan the Fool () or Ivan the Ninny is a lucky fool stock character who appears in Russian folklore, a very simple-minded, but, nevertheless, lucky young man. Ivan is described as a likeable fair-haired and blue-eyed youth.
The approximate se ...
, a flawed young man who always manages to come out on top. He also resembles Khlestakov of
Nikolai Gogol
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...
.
*Doono (Знайка, from "знаю", "I know") - a boy-shorty scientist, the smartest of the boy-shorties, often adopts the leadership role
*Bendum (Винтик, or "little bolt") and Twistum (Шпунтик, from "little peg") - boy-shorty mechanics
*Trills (Гусля, from "гусли", or "
gusli
''Gusli'' ( rus, гусли, p=ˈɡuslʲɪ) is the oldest East Slavic multi-string plucked instrument, belonging to the zither family, due to its strings being parallel to its resonance board. Its roots lie in Veliky Novgorod in Novgorodian Ru ...
") - a boy-shorty musician
*Blobs (Тюбик, or "tube") - a boy-shorty painter
*Swifty (Торопыжка, from "торопиться", or "to hurry") - a boy-shorty who is always in a hurry
*Scatterbrain (Растеряйка, from "растерять", or "to lose") - a boy-shorty who always loses and forgets things
*Dr. Pillman (Доктор Пилюлькин, from "пилюля", or "pill") - a boy-shorty physician
*Roly-Poly (Пончик, or "doughnut") - a very chubby boy-shorty who likes to eat sweets
*Treacly-Sweeter (Сиропчик, or "little syrup") - a very chubby boy-shorty who likes to drink carbonated water with
syrup
In cooking, a syrup (less commonly sirup; from ar, شراب; , beverage, wine and la, sirupus) is a condiment that is a thick, viscous liquid consisting primarily of a solution of sugar in water, containing a large amount of dissolved sugars ...
*Shot (Пулька, from "пуля", "bullet") - a boy-shorty hunter
**Dot (Булька, from "бульдог", "бультерьер", or "bulldog", "bull terrier") - Shot's dog
*Grumps (Ворчун, from "ворчать", "to grumble") - a boy-shorty who always grumbles and complains
*Mums (Молчун, from "молчать", "to be silent") - a boy-shorty who is always quiet
*P'raps (Авоська, from "авось", "perhaps"
olloquial and Prob'ly (Небоська, from "небось", "probably"
olloquial - boy-shorties, adventure lovers
Other Flower Town dwellers
*Gunky (Гунька) - a boy-shorty, Dunno's best friend
*Pee-Wee (Кнопочка, or "little button") - a girl-shorty who becomes best friends with Dunno
*Daisy (Ромашка, or "
camomile
Chamomile (American English) or camomile (British English; see spelling differences) ( or ) is the common name for several plants of the family Asteraceae. Two of the species, ''Matricaria recutita'' and ''Anthemis nobilis'', are commonly us ...
") - a girl-shorty
*Posey (Цветик, or "bloomer") - a boy-shorty poet
*Tinkle (Мушка, from "муха", or "fly"
nsect - a girl-shorty
*Glass-Eye (Стекляшкин, from "стекляшка", or "piece of glass") - a boy-shorty astronomer
*Sinker (Топик), a boy-shorty
*Midge (Микроша), a boy-shorty
*Pachkulya Pyostrenky (Пачкуля Пёстренький, or "dirty and garishly spotted") - a boy-shorty who is always dirty (does not like to clean himself and has a unique ability to get dirty very quickly) and never surprised at anything
*Kapelka (Капелька, or "little drop") - a girl-shorty who cries when it rains
Greenville dwellers
Named for its abundance of trees, only girl-shorties live here.
*Honeysuckle (Медуница, "
lungwort
''Pulmonaria'' (lungwort) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Boraginaceae, native to Europe and western Asia, with one species (''P. mollissima'') east to central Asia. According to various estimates there may be between 10 and 18 spe ...
") - a girl-shorty doctor, head of the Greenville hospital
*Cornflower (Синеглазка, from "синие глаза", "blue eyes") - a pretty blue-eyed girl-shorty
*Snowdrop (Снежинка, "snowflake") - a pretty fair-skinned girl-shorty
*Blossom (Самоцветик, from "самоцвет", "gem") - a girl-shorty poet
*Bunny (Заинька, "little
hare
Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores, and live solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are able to fend for themselves shortly after birth. The ge ...
") and Chippy (Белочка, from "little
squirrel
Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrels. Squ ...
") - girl-shorties with animals embroidered on their dresses
*Flitty (Стрекоза, "
dragonfly
A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threate ...
") - a girl-shorty
*Minny (Галочка, "little
jackdaw
Jackdaws are two species of bird in the genus ''Coloeus'' closely related to, but generally smaller than, the crows and ravens (''Corvus''). ''Coloeus'' is sometimes treated as a subgenus of ''Corvus'', including by the IUCN.Madge & Burn (1994) ...
") - a girl-shorty with long black hair
*Winny (Ёлочка, "little
spruce
A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...
") - a girl-shorty
*Margy (Маргаритка, "
daisy") - a girl-shorty
*Fluff (Кубышка, a kind of jar or
water lily ''
Nymphaea lutea'') - a chubby girl-shorty
*Kitty (Кисонька, "kitty") - a girl-shorty
*Birdie (Ласточка, "swallow"
ird IRD or Ird may refer to the following:
* Ird (Bedouin), a Bedouin honor code for women
* Ird, alternate name of Arad, Iran, a city in Fars Province
* Ishwardi Airport (IATA airport code)
* Kaarel Ird (1909–1986), Estonian theatre leader, director ...
- a girl-shorty, Kitty's friend
*Thistle (Соломка, "little straw") - a smart girl-shorty who bred watermelons as well as other fruit
*Button (Пуговка, "button") - a girl-shorty
Kite Town dwellers
Named for its abundance of decorative kites, only boy-shorties live here.
*Nails (Гвоздик, "little nail"
he metal kind - a boy-shorty who makes a lot of trouble
*Pretzel (Бублик, "bagel") - a boy-shorty who drives a car
*Taps (Шурупчик, "little screw") - a boy-shorty inventor
*Slick (Смекайло, from "смекать", "to grasp quickly") - a pretentious boy-shorty writer
Sun City dwellers
Named for its perpetually sunny weather, it is a shorty utopia noted for its incredible technological advances.
*Kalachik (Калачик, sort of a larger bagel) - a boy-shorty farming equipment operator
*Listik (Листик, "small sheet of paper" or "a leaf") - a boy-shorty who loves to read and whom Dunno magically turned into a donkey
*Bukovka (Буковка, "little letter"
f the alphabet - a girl-shorty who loves to read, Listik's best friend
*Liliya (Лилия, "lily") - a girl-shorty, director of hotel Malvaziya
*Pegasik (Пегасик, "small
Pegasus
Pegasus ( grc-gre, Πήγασος, Pḗgasos; la, Pegasus, Pegasos) is one of the best known creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine stallion usually depicted as pure white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as hor ...
"), Brykun (Брыкун, from "брыкаться", "to kick"), and Kaligula (Калигула, "
Caligula
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August 12 – 24 January 41), better known by his nickname Caligula (), was the third Roman emperor, ruling from 37 until his assassination in 41. He was the son of the popular Roman general Germanicu ...
") - two donkeys and a
hinny
A hinny is a domestic equine hybrid, the offspring of a male horse (a stallion) and a female donkey (a jenny). It is the reciprocal cross to the more common mule, which is the product of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The hi ...
whom Dunno magically turned into boy-shorties
*Chubchik (Чубчик, "forelock") - a boy-shorty gardener
*Yorshik (Ёршик, "little ruff") - a boy-shorty, leader of the mass of passerby that Pegasik and Dunno sprayed with water
*Svistulkin (Свистулькин, from "свистулька", "clay whistle") and Karaulkin (Караулькин, from "to be on watch") - boy-shorty policemen
*Kubik (Кубик, "block, brick, little cube") - a boy-shorty architect
*Klyopka (Клёпка, from "rivet") - a boy-shorty engineer
*Fuksiya (Фуксия, "
fuchsia
''Fuchsia'' () is a genus of flowering plants that consists mostly of shrubs or small trees. The first to be scientifically described, '' Fuchsia triphylla'', was discovered on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republi ...
") and Selyodochka (Селёдочка, "small
herring
Herring are forage fish, mostly belonging to the family of Clupeidae.
Herring often move in large schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, i ...
") - girl-shorty scientists
*Nitochka (Ниточка, "little thread") - a girl-shorty modeller and chess player
*Karasik (Карасик, "little crucian") - a boy-shorty clothing factory worker and actor
*Igolochka (Иголочка, "little
needle") - a girl-shorty clothing factory worker
*Figura (Фигура, "
hess Hess or Heß may refer to:
* Hess (surname), also ''Heß'' in German, people with the surname Hess
* Hess, Oklahoma, a community in the United States
* Hess Educational Organization, the largest private provider of English instruction in the Repub ...
piece") - a boy-shorty Sun City chess champion
*Shutilo (Шутило, from "шутить", "to joke") - a boy-shorty who likes to joke
*Korzhik (Коржик, "shortcake") - a boy-shorty
Moon dwellers
Names of Moon dwellers and Moon cities resemble English, German, Italian and Spanish words amalgamated with Russian roots, e.g. Davilon (from ''давить'' — to suppress and ''Вавилон'' —
Babylon
''Bābili(m)''
* sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠
* arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel''
* syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel''
* grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn''
* he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel''
* peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru''
* elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...
), Grabenberg (from ''грабить'' — to rob and ''…berg'' — a typical German-like toponym), Brekhenville (from ''брехать'' — to lie or to bark (slang) and ''…ville'' — typical French-like toponym), Los Svinos (from ''свинья'' — a pig and ''Los..'' — a typical Spanish-like toponym prefix, e.g. ''Los Angeles'') etc.
Millionaires:
* Gryazing (Грязинг, from «грязь» — dirt)
* Spruts (Спрутс, from ''спрут'' — a giant
octopus
An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight- limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttle ...
)
* Dubs (Дубс, from «дуб» — «
oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
», also «dumb man» in Russian)
* Zhading (Жадинг, from «жадина» — «greedy person»)
* Skuperfield (Скуперфильд, an amalgamated word from ''скупердяй'' — niggard and the English surname Copperfield)
Police and justice (whose names share the same suffix):
* Figl (Фигль) — a street patrol
* Migl (Мигль, from «фигли-мигли», ''figli-migli'' — shenanigans) — an investigator
* Drigl (Дригль) — a jailer
* Vrigl (Вригль, an amalgamated word from ''врать'' — to lie and the English surname Wrigley) — a judge
Thieves:
* Vikhor (Вихор, «
forelock
The forelock or foretop is a part of a horse's mane, that grows from the animal's poll and falls forward between the ears and onto the forehead. Some breeds, particularly pony breeds, have a naturally thick forelock, while other breeds, such as ...
») and Striga (Стрига, from «стриженный» — cropped) — Dunno’s jailmates
* Miga (Мига, from «миг» — a brief instant, or «мигать» — «to blink») — a cheater who meets Dunno in jail and with Zhulio’s help talks him into founding a «Giant Plants Company»
* Zhulio (Жулио, an amalgamated word from ''жулик'' — a swindler, cheater, and the Spanish name Julio) — a firearms-store owner, Miga’s friend
* Krabs (Крабс, from «краб» — «
crab
Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βραχύς , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all the ...
») — Sproots' personal assistant
Other citizens:
* Klops (Клопс, from «клоп» — a blood-sucking «
bug» or «
Heteroptera
The Heteroptera are a group of about 40,000 species of insects in the order Hemiptera. They are sometimes called "true bugs", though that name more commonly refers to the Hemiptera as a whole. "Typical bugs" might be used as a more unequivocal al ...
») — a rich Moon dweller whose property in Davilon Dunno first lands at
* Fiks (Фикс) and Feks (Фекс) — Klops' valets
* Kozlik (Козлик — a little goat) — a smart unemployed Moon dweller who quickly becomes Dunno’s friend after they meet in jail
* Khaps (Хапс, from «хапать» — to grab) — a hotel owner in Davilon
* Sedenky (Седенький, from «седой» — «grey-haired») — a poor Moon dweller sent by peasants to buy a «Giant Plants Company» share
* Drakula (Дракула) — a rich Moon dweller, sea coast landlord who ruins Roly-Poly’s salt business by increasing prices to access salt crystals on his land
* Minoga (Минога, «lamprey») — a rich Moon dweller who hires Dunno to care after her two dogs
* Piskarik (Пискарик, from «пескарь» — «
gudgeon
A gudgeon is a socket-like, cylindrical (i.e., ''female'') fitting attached to one component to enable a pivoting or hinging connection to a second component. The second component carries a pintle fitting, the male counterpart to the gudgeon, ...
»), Leshchik (Лещик, from «лещ» — «
bream
Bream ( ) are species of freshwater and marine fish belonging to a variety of genera including ''Abramis'' (e.g., ''A. brama'', the common bream), ''Acanthopagrus'', '' Argyrops'', ''Blicca'', '' Brama'', ''Chilotilapia'', '' Etelis'', ''Lepo ...
»), Somik (Сомик, from «сом» — «
catfish
Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, ...
»), Sudachok (Судачок, from «судак» — «
perch
Perch is a common name for fish of the genus ''Perca'', freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which three species occur in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Percif ...
») — poor Moon dwellers, waterpark employees who befriend Roly-Poly after he lost his wealth and forced to work in a waterpark to earn his living
Peasants
* Kolosok (Колосок, «little ear»
or example, of rye
Others
* Tsirkul (Циркуль, from "
compass
A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with ...
") - a lanky and very renowned traveling bicyclist from the city of Katigoroshkin (Катигорошкин, from «катить горох», ''to roll peas'')
* Wizard (Волшебник) - gave Dunno a magic wand
Themes & issues
An important characteristic of the Dunno trilogy is its heavily
didactic
Didacticism is a philosophy that emphasizes instructional and informative qualities in literature, art, and design. In art, design, architecture, and landscape, didacticism is an emerging conceptual approach that is driven by the urgent need to ...
nature. Nosov describes this as an effort to teach "honesty, bravery, camaraderie, willpower, and persistence" and discourage "jealousy, cowardice, mendacity, arrogance, and effrontery." Strong political undertones are also present. In addition to general
egalitarianism
Egalitarianism (), or equalitarianism, is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds from the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all hu ...
and
feminism
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
,
communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
tendencies dominate the works. The first book takes the reader into a typical
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
-like town, the second into a communist
utopia
A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...
, and the third into a
capitalistic
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, private p ...
satire
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...
.
Nosov's captivating and humorous literary style has made his ideologies accessible to children and adults alike.
At the same time, the Canadian
anthropologist
An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...
and critique of civilization and education
Layla AbdelRahim
Layla AbdelRahim is a Russian-Sudanese comparatist anthropologist and anarchoprimitivist author, whose works on narratives of civilization and wilderness have contributed to the fields of literary and cultural studies, comparative literature, ph ...
emphasizes the anti-disciplinary and anti-totalitarian aspect of the Dunno trilogy.
Behind Dunno's apparent ignorance lies the exploring spirit that prefers learning through its own experience rather than acquiring institutionalized knowledge - in this regard Nosov points out that in everyday tasks Dunno succeeds perfectly. Dunno's encounters with Dr Pillman and Doono - who knows everything - reveal the oppressive nature of medical and scientific authority.
Adaptations
*''Dunno is Studying'' (Незнайка учится), a
traditionally animated 1961 movie
*''The Adventures of Dunno and his Friends'' (Приключения Незнайки и его друзей), a
stop-motion
Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...
1972 movie in ten episodes
*''Dunno in Sun City'' (Незнайка в Солнечном городе), a
stop-motion
Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...
1977 movie in ten episodes
*''Dunno From Our Neighborhood'' (Незнайка с нашего двора), a
live-action
Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ga ...
1983 movie
*''Dunno on the Moon'' (Незнайка на Луне), a
traditionally animated 1997 movie in six episodes
*''Dunno on the Moon 2'' (Незнайка на Луне - 2), a 1999 sequel to the 1997 movie in six episodes
*''Dunno and Barrabass'' (Незнайка и Баррабасс), a
traditionally animated 2004 movie that combines two previously unrelated characters into an original story.
References
External links
*
*
Internet Movie Database
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
:
1977 film1983 film1997 film1999 film2004 filmNikolai Nosov - ''The adventures of Dunno and his friends''(FULL ENGLISH TEXT - translated by
Margaret Wettlin
Margaret (Peg) Wettlin (1907-2003) was an American-born Soviet memoirist and translator, best known for her translations of Russian literature. While living in Russia, she was forced into spying for its secret service.
Early life
Margaret Butter ...
)
Nikolai Nosov - ''Aventurile lui Habarnam şi ale prietenilor săi''{{in lang, en
Children's novels
Literary characters
Child characters in literature
Literary characters introduced in 1954
1954 children's books