Roald Dahl - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (novel) Roald dahl Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Magic story by Roald Dahl- this is one of the best. It is enjoyed by kids all over the world., and even impressive films cannot match their fantasy. No wonder, because the book is about a real confectioner-wizard who can create a whole world of sweets.

The main characters of the work

August Gloop - fat, greedy gluttonous boy
Veruca Salt - the daughter of the owner of a nut factory, a capricious egotist who makes people do what she needs
Violetta Beaugart - a careerist who is accustomed to attention. Chewing gum for years to win prizes
Charlie Bucket - boy, who is distinguished by kindness and sympathy

Summary of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

The book takes us to a town that used to boast a wonderful chocolate factory. Only not so long ago its owner, a genius and an eccentric, fired all the workers, and now the factory works in a mysterious way, releasing the best chocolates and other sweets in the world .

The protagonist of the book by name Charlie Bucket is a boy from a poor family. He lives with his parents and also with his grandparents who do not get out of bed due to age and eternal malnutrition. Charlie loves Wonka chocolates, which are quite expensive. Therefore, he is given such luxury only for his birthday. .

It turns out that the owner of the chocolate factory, Mr. Willy Wonka, decided to increase the already huge demand for products. He invested in five chocolates golden tickets that will allow the lucky ones and their parents to get a whole day to the magical chocolate factory. Charlie, after a series of failures and loss of hope, still finds a golden ticket , which will allow him to go to the factory with his grandfather.

The heroes enter a factory and Willy Wonka shows them the wonders - a chocolate river, magic candies that can do magic tricks, a teleporting device for chocolates, and their workers - Oompa-Loompas. This is a special tribe that was saved by Willy Wonka.

All the kids, except for Charlie, break the rules of the factory owner and end up in terrible situations. . They are barely saved. The reader gets the feeling that Wonka deliberately manipulated the vices of these children and their indulgent parents in order to reveal a truly honest child. .

It turns out to be Charlie, who finds out that this whole competition and excursion is organized for one purpose. Willy Wonka is looking for an heir to give him all his skill, secrets and wealth.

It is Charlie who becomes this heir to a huge confectionery magical empire. Happy, he takes his parents and grandparents to Willy's. Family rescued from poverty and life is getting better. And Charlie is perfectly arranged in life.

Truly, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is magical prose for children. This book has been translated into many world languages, it was made into several box office films with cult actors of its time. This story is about kindness, the ability to remain human in any situation. Through funny examples, Roald Dahl teaches children how ugly it is to have vices and follow their lead.

It's interesting to know that I made this one for my kids. Two of the five kids died of illness, and the father tried to somehow support them in difficult times. . These fairy tales saw the world and fell in love with many children. And the basis for writing the book was the childhood impressions of the author himself. During his childhood, chocolate was not as affordable as it is now, and a box of chocolates was a real treasure.

"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" summary

Little boy Charlie Bucket lives in a very poor family. Seven people (a boy, his parents, two grandfathers and two grandmothers) huddle in a small house on the outskirts of the city, of the whole family, only Charlie's father has a job: he spins corks on tubes of toothpaste. The family cannot afford the bare necessities: there is only one bed in the house, on which four old people lie, the family lives from hand to mouth, eats potatoes and cabbage. Charlie loves chocolate very much, but only gets it once a year, one bar for his birthday, as a gift.

Eccentric chocolate magnate Mr. Willy Wonka, who has spent ten years in reclusion in his factory, announces that he wants to arrange a drawing of five golden tickets that will allow five children to visit his factory. After the tour, each of them will receive a lifetime supply of chocolate, and one will be awarded some special prize.

The lucky ones who found five tickets hidden under a chocolate wrapper were:

August Gloop- a greedy and gluttonous boy, "food is his favorite pastime";
Veruca(Veruca) Salt(Eng. Veruca Salt) - a spoiled girl from the family of the owner of a nut processing factory, used to having all her demands immediately fulfilled;
Violetta Beaurigard(Beurgard) - a girl who constantly chews gum, set a world record - chews one chewing gum for three months;
Mike Teavee- a boy who watches TV from morning to night.
Charlie Bucket is the main character of this story.

In addition to children, their parents participate in the tour of the factory: each child came with his mother and father, except for Charlie, who is accompanied by his grandfather Joe. In the process of visiting the factory, all the children, except for Charlie, ignore Wonka's warnings and become victims of their own vices, taking turns in various situations that force them to leave the factory.

At the end, only Charlie remains, who gets the main prize - he becomes the assistant and heir to Mr. Willy Wonka. The rest of the children receive the promised lifetime supply of chocolate.

Chocolate factory premises

Willy Wonka's factory is very large, located both on the surface and underground, the factory has countless workshops, laboratories, warehouses, there is even a "10,000 foot deep candy mine" (that is, more than 3 kilometers deep). During the tour, children and their parents visit some of the workshops and laboratories of the factory.

chocolate shop

The workshop is a valley in which everything is edible and sweet: grass, bushes, trees. A river of liquid chocolate of the highest quality flows through the valley, which is mixed and whipped with the help of a “waterfall”. In the chocolate shop, the company loses August Gloop: ignoring Mr. Wonka's warnings, he greedily drinks chocolate, leans over from the bank, slides into the river and almost drowns, but is sucked into one of the glass pipes through which chocolate is distributed throughout the factory.

Oompa-Loompas

In the chocolate shop, the heroes first meet the Oompa-Loompas: little men, no taller than the knee, who work in a factory. Mr. Wonka brought them from a certain country of Umplandia, where they lived in tree houses, under extremely difficult conditions, hunted by predators, forced to eat disgusting green caterpillars, while their favorite food is cocoa beans, which they now receive in unlimited quantities. at Wonka's factory.

The Oompa-Loompas are the only workers in the factory. Wonka does not hire ordinary people, as he has encountered the fact that many of the human workers were engaged in industrial espionage and sold Wonka's secrets to competing confectioners.

Oompa-Loompas are very fond of singing and dancing, after each incident they sing songs in which they ridicule the shortcomings of a child who got into trouble through his own fault.

Workshop of inventions

The research lab and experimental production is Mr. Wonka's favorite brainchild. New sweets are being developed here: perpetual lollipops (lollipops that you can suck for a year or more and they will not disappear), hairy toffee (those who eat such toffee begin to grow thick hair on their heads, mustaches and beards) and Wonka's pride - chewing gum -dinner. The chewer of this gum feels like he is eating a three-course meal, while he is satiated, as if he really ate lunch.

Before starting to inspect the Invention Workshop, Wonka warned the children and parents to be careful not to touch anything in the laboratory. However, Violetta Beaurigard, despite the warning cries of the confectioner, grabs the experimental chewing gum-lunch and begins to chew it. Unfortunately for Violetta, the gum isn't finished yet, and the dessert part of the gum, the blueberry cream pie, causes a side effect: Violetta swells up and looks like a giant blueberry. The Oompa-Loompas take her to another workshop to squeeze blueberry juice out of her.

Smiling candies (square peepers)

Traveling through the factory, the sightseers get to the workshop where smiling sweets (or square peepers) are prepared - sweets with live faces. In the English original, they are called, which can be understood as "square sweets that look around" and as "square sweets that look round." This ambiguity leads to a rather heated argument between Mr. Wonka and Veruca Salt: Veruca argued that "candies are square and look like squares", Wonka argued that candies really "stare around."

Nut shop

In this workshop, trained squirrels sort nuts: good ones go to production, bad ones go to the garbage chute.

Veruca Salt begins to demand that one of the scientist squirrels be immediately bought for her, but this is impossible - Mr. Wonka does not sell his squirrels. Veruca, despite Wonka's prohibition, tries to catch one of the squirrels with her own hands, and this ends in failure for her: the squirrels pile on her and throw them into the garbage chute, and then the squirrels push Veruca's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Salt, into the garbage chute.

TV chocolate shop

The heroes get to the Telechocolate Shop with the help of a "large glass elevator", which in its essence is not an elevator, but an aircraft capable of moving freely in any direction. Wonka's latest invention, television chocolate, is being tested in this workshop. Wonka developed a way to transmit chocolate over a distance, similar to how television signals are transmitted over a distance. The chocolate transmitted in this way is received by an ordinary TV, it can be taken from the screen and eaten. During the transfer process, the chocolate is greatly reduced in size, therefore, in order to get a regular-sized bar, the chocolate bar being sent must be huge.

Mike Teavee, wishing to become the world's first person to be televised on chocolate television, steps under a television chocolate camera, makes a journey and finds himself on a television screen. He is alive and well, but has shrunk in the course of the journey, his height is no more than an inch, and he runs in the palm of his mother. In order to return the boy to normal size, Mike has to be sent to the chewing gum test shop for stretching on a special machine.

Other workshops of the factory

The story mentions more than twenty-five other workshops and laboratories of the factory, which the excursionists did not visit. In most cases, these are just signs with the name of unusual treats, such as "Colorful dragee to spit with all the colors of the rainbow" or "Lollipop-sucking pencils." Sometimes Mr. Wonka tells a story related to his inventions. For example, he talked about how one of the Oompa-Loompas drank a "fizzy lifting drink" that lifts a person into the air and flew off in an unknown direction. To land on the ground, he had to burp the "lifting gas" contained in the drink, but the Oompa-Loompa did not.

Journey's end

For Charlie, the journey through the factory ends happily. He becomes Mr. Wonka's assistant and heir, and all his relatives, six people, move from a poor house to a chocolate factory.

Other children receive the promised provision of chocolate. But many of them suffered greatly as a result of accidents that happened to them at the factory. Violetta Beaurigard managed to squeeze out the juice (as a result of which she became so flexible that she even moves acrobatically), but her face remained purple. Mike Teavee was overstretched, and now he is as thin as a match, and his height after stretching is at least three meters. Fat August Gloop and the Salt family suffered less: the former only lost weight, and the Salts got dirty while traveling through the garbage chute. Characteristically, Mr. Wonka does not show the slightest regret about what happened to naughty children: apparently, this even amuses him.

Current page: 1 (total book has 7 pages)

Roald Dahl

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Dedicated to Theo

From Translator

Two years ago (I was 12 at the time) I saw a small children's book in English in the window of a bookstore. The cover showed a funny little man in a top hat and some unusual, fantastic multi-colored car. The author is Roald Dahl, and the book was called Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I decided to buy this book by a completely unknown English writer. And when I came home and started reading, I could not stop until I had read to the very end. It turned out that "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" is a wise, kind fairy tale about children and for children. I read a magical, fantastic story about children from a small provincial town and in its heroes I recognized myself and my friends - sometimes kind, and sometimes not very, sometimes so generous, and sometimes a little greedy, sometimes good, and sometimes stubborn and capricious.

I decided to write a letter to Roald Dahl. Two months later (letters from England take a long time to arrive) the answer came. Thus began our correspondence, which continues to this day. Roald Dahl was glad that his book, which is read and loved by children all over the world, is also known in Russia, it is a pity, of course, that only those guys who know English well can read it. Roald Dahl wrote to me about himself. He was born and raised in England. At the age of eighteen he went to work in Africa. And when the Second World War began, he became a pilot and fought against fascism, which he hated. Then he began to write his first stories, and later - fairy tales for children. Now there are more than twenty of them. Now Roald Dahl lives in England, in Buckinghamshire, with his children and grandchildren, and writes books for children. Many of his books (including the fairy tale "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory") have been made into films and staged performances. Roald Dahl sent me many of his books. All of these are wonderful stories. I felt sorry for the guys who do not know English and cannot read Roald Dahl's books, and I decided to translate them into Russian, and I started, of course, with the story "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". I translated the book together with my mother, and my grandmother, a pediatrician, translated the poems. I really hope that the story of little Charlie and the wizard Mr. Wonka will become a favorite fairy tale for many children.

Misha Baron

In this book, you will meet five children.

AUGUST STUPID - a greedy boy,

VERUCA SALT - a girl spoiled by her parents,

VIOLETTA BJURGARD - a girl who constantly chews gum,

MIKE TEVEY is a boy who watches TV from morning to night,

CHARLIE BUCKET is the main character of this story.

1. Meet Charlie

Hello, hello, and hello again!

He is glad to meet you.

The whole family - six adults (you can count) and baby Charlie - lived in a wooden house on the outskirts of a quiet town. The house was too small for such a large family, it was very inconvenient for everyone to live there together. There were only two rooms, and one bed. The bed was given to the grandparents because they were so old and weak that they never got off of it. Grandpa Joe and Grandma Josephine occupied the right half, while Grandpa George and Grandma Georgina occupied the left. Mr and Mrs Bucket and little Charlie Bucket slept in the next room on mattresses on the floor.

In summer it was not bad, but in winter, when cold drafts walked on the floor all night, it was terrible.

Buying a new house or even another bed was out of the question, the Buckets were too poor.

The only one in the family who had a job was Mr. Bucket. He worked in a toothpaste factory. All day long Mr. Bucket screwed up tubes of toothpaste. But they paid very little for it. And no matter how hard Mr. Bucket tried, no matter how he hurried, the money he earned was not enough to buy at least half of the essentials for such a large family. Not even enough for food. Buckets could only afford bread and margarine for breakfast, boiled potatoes and cabbage for lunch, and cabbage soup for dinner. On Sunday, things were a little better. And the whole family was looking forward to Sunday, not because the food was different, no, just because everyone could get a supplement.

The Buckets, of course, did not starve, but all of them (two grandfathers, two grandmothers, Charlie's parents, and especially little Charlie himself) were plagued from morning to evening by a terrible feeling of emptiness in the stomach.

Charlie was the worst. And although Mr. and Mrs. Bucket often gave him their portions, this was not enough for a growing body, and Charlie really wanted something more satisfying and tasty than cabbage and cabbage soup. But more than anything, he wanted... chocolate.

Every morning on the way to school, Charlie stopped at the shop windows and, pressing his nose against the glass, looked at the mountains of chocolate, while his mouth watered. Many times he has seen other children take creamy chocolate bars out of their pockets and chew them greedily. Watching it was a real torture.

Only once a year, on his birthday, did Charlie Bucket get to taste chocolate. For a whole year the whole family saved up money, and when the lucky day came, Charlie received a small bar of chocolate as a gift. And each time he received a gift, he carefully placed it in a small wooden box and carefully kept it there, as if it were not chocolate at all, but gold. In the next few days, Charlie only looked at the chocolate bar, but never touched it. When the boy's patience came to an end, he tore off the edge of the wrapper so that a tiny piece of the tile was visible, and then bit off quite a bit, talc to feel the amazing taste of chocolate in his mouth. The next day Charlie took another small bite. Then more. Thus, the pleasure stretched for more than a month.

But I have not yet told you about what tormented little Charlie, a chocolate lover, more than anything in the world. It was much worse than looking at the mountains of chocolate in the windows, worse than seeing other children eat creamy chocolate right in front of you. Nothing more terrible can be imagined. It was this: in the city, right in front of the windows of the Bucket family, there was a chocolate factory that was not just big. It was the largest and most famous chocolate factory in the world - WONKA'S FACTORY. It was owned by Mr. Willy Wonka, the greatest inventor and chocolate king. It was an amazing factory! It was surrounded by a high wall. The only way to get inside was through the big iron gates, the chimneys were full of smoke and strange buzzing came from somewhere deep inside, and outside the factory walls for half a mile around the air was saturated with the thick smell of chocolate.

Twice a day, on his way to and from school, Charlie Bucket passed by this factory. And each time he slowed down his step and enthusiastically sucked in the magical smell of chocolate.

Oh, how he loved that smell!

Oh, how I dreamed of getting into the factory and finding out what was inside!

2. Mr. Willy Wonka's Factory

In the evenings, after supper of watery cabbage soup, Charlie used to go to his grandparents' room to listen to their stories and bid them good night.

Each of the old men was over ninety. They were all as thin as a skeleton and as shriveled as a baked apple. All day they lay in bed: grandfathers - in nightcaps, grandmothers - in caps, so as not to freeze. With nothing to do, they dozed off. But as soon as the door opened, Charlie entered the room and said, “Good evening, Grandpa Joe and Grandma Josephine, Grandpa George and Grandma Georgina,” the old people sat up in bed, their wrinkled faces lit up with a smile, and the conversation began. They loved this baby. He was the only joy in the life of the old people, and they looked forward to these evening conversations all day long. Often the parents also came into the room, stopped on the threshold and listened to the stories of grandparents. So the family forgot about hunger and poverty for at least half an hour, and everyone was happy.

One evening, when Charlie, as usual, came to visit the old people, he asked:

Is it true that Wonka's chocolate factory is the largest in the world?

– Is it true? all four shouted. - Of course it's true! God! Didn't you know? It is fifty times larger than any other factory.

“Is it true that Mr. Willy Wonka is the best chocolate-maker in the world?”

“My boy,” said Grandpa Joe, pushing himself up on the pillow, “Mr. Willy Wonka is the most wonderful pastry chef in the world!” I thought everyone knew this.

- I, grandfather Joe, knew that he was famous, knew that he was an inventor ...

- Inventor? exclaimed the grandfather. - Yes, what are you! He is a magician in the chocolate business! He can do everything! Is that right, my dears? Two grandmothers and one grandfather nodded their heads:

“Absolutely true, indeed, it cannot be. And Grandpa Joe asked in surprise:

“Are you saying I never told you about Mr. Willy Wonka and his factory?”

“Never,” Charlie replied.

- My God! How is it me?

“Please, Grandpa Joe, tell me now,” Charlie said.

- I'll tell you for sure. Sit back and listen carefully.

Grandpa Joe was the oldest in the family. He was ninety-six and a half years old, and this is not so little. Like all very old people, he was sickly, weak, and not much of a talker. But in the evenings, when his beloved grandson Charlie came into the room, grandfather looked younger before his eyes. Fatigue vanished. He became impatient and worried like a boy.

- O! This Mr. Willy Wonka is an amazing man! exclaimed Grandpa Joe. – Do you know, for example, that he invented more than two hundred new types of chocolate, and all with different fillings? Not a single confectionery factory in the world produces such sweet and delicious chocolates!

“It’s true,” said Grandma Josephine. And he sends them all over the world. Right, Grandpa Joe?

“Yes, yes, my dear. He sends them to all kings and presidents in the world. But Mr. Willy Wonka doesn't just make chocolate. He has some incredible inventions. Did you know that he invented chocolate ice cream that doesn't melt without a refrigerator? It can lie in the sun all day and not melt!

- But this is impossible! Charlie exclaimed, looking at his grandfather in surprise.

– Of course, it is impossible! And absolutely incredible! But Mr. Willy Wonka did it! cried Grandpa Joe.

"That's right," the others agreed.

Grandpa Joe continued his story. He spoke very slowly so that Charlie would not miss a single word:

“Mr. Willy Wonka makes marshmallows that smell like violets, and amazing caramels that change color every ten seconds, and little candies that just melt in your mouth. He knows how to make chewing gum that never loses its flavor, and sugar balls that can be inflated to huge sizes, and then pierced with a pin and eaten. But the main secret of Mr. Wonka is wonderful, blue-speckled, bird testicles. When you put such a testicle in your mouth, it gets smaller and smaller and eventually melts, leaving a tiny pink chick on the tip of your tongue. - Grandpa fell silent and licked his lips. “The thought of all this makes me salivate,” he added.

“Me too,” Charlie admitted. - Please, tell me more.

While they were talking, Mr. and Mrs. Bucket quietly entered the room and now, standing at the door, they too listened to grandfather's story.

“Tell Charlie about the crazy Indian prince,” Grandma Josephine asked, “he will like it.”

“You mean the Prince of Pondicherry?” Grandpa Joe laughed.

“But very rich,” said Grandma Georgina.

– What did he do? Charlie asked impatiently.

“Listen,” said Grandpa Joe. - I will tell you.

3. Mr. Wonka and the Indian Prince

The Prince of Pondicherry wrote a letter to Mr. Willy Wonka,” Grandpa Joe began his story. He invited Willy Wonka to come to India and build him a huge chocolate palace.

“And Mr. Willy Wonka agreed?”

- Of course. Oh, what a palace it was! One hundred rooms, all in light and dark chocolate. The bricks are chocolate, and the cement that held them together is chocolate, and the windows are chocolate, the walls and ceilings are also made of chocolate, as are the carpets, paintings, and furniture. Turn on the faucet in the bathroom and hot chocolate pours out.

When the work was completed, Mr. Willy Wonka warned the Prince of Pondicherry that the palace would not be idle for long, and advised him to eat it as soon as possible.

"Nonsense! the prince exclaimed. “I won’t eat my palace!” I won’t bite even a tiny piece of the stairs and I won’t lick the wall even once! I will live in it!

But Mr. Willy Wonka, of course, was right. Soon it turned out to be a very hot day, and the palace began to melt, sag, and little by little spread over the ground. And the crazy prince, who was dozing in the living room at that time, woke up and saw that he was swimming in a huge sticky puddle of chocolate.

Little Charlie sat motionless on the edge of the bed and stared at his grandfather with all his eyes. He just freaked out.

"And all this is true?" Are you laughing at me?

- Pure truth! all the grandparents shouted in unison. - Of course it's true! Ask whoever you want.

- Where? Charlie didn't understand.

“And no one… ever… enters… there!”

- Where? Charlie asked.

- Of course, to Wonka's factory!

Who are you talking about, grandfather?

“I'm talking about workers, Charlie.

- About the workers?

“In all factories,” said Grandpa Joe, “there are workers. They enter the factory through the gate in the morning and leave in the evening. And so everywhere, except for Mr. Wonka's factory. Have you ever seen a single person go in there or go out?

Charlie looked carefully at his grandparents, and they looked at him. Their faces were kind, smiling, but at the same time completely serious. They weren't kidding.

- So, did you see it? repeated Grandpa Joe.

- I ... I really don’t know, grandfather. – Charlie from excitement even began to stutter. When I pass by the factory, the gates are always closed.

- That's it!

But some people have to work there...

“Not people, Charlie, at least not ordinary people.

“Then who is it?” Charlie shouted.

- Yeah, that's the secret. Another mystery of Mr. Willy Wonka.

“Charlie, dear,” Mrs. Bucket called to her son, “it’s time for bed, that’s enough for today.”

“But mom, I need to know…”

Tomorrow, my dear, tomorrow...

"All right," said Grandpa Joe, "you'll find out the rest tomorrow."

4. Extraordinary workers

The next evening, Grandpa Joe continued his story.

“You see, Charlie,” he began, “thousands of people worked at Mr. Wonka’s factory not too long ago. But one day, all of a sudden, Mr. Willy Wonka had to fire them.

- But why? Charlie asked.

“Because of the spies.

- Spies?

- Yes. The owners of other chocolate factories were jealous of Mr. Wonka and began to send spies to the factory to steal his confectionery secrets. Spies got jobs at Wonka's factory, pretending to be ordinary workers. Each of them stole the secret of making some sweets.

- And then they returned to their former owners and told them everything? Charlie asked.

“Probably,” said Grandpa Joe. “Because soon the Fiklgruber factory began to produce ice cream that would not melt even on the hottest day. And Mr. Prodnose's factory - gum that never lost its taste, no matter how much it was chewed. And finally, Mr. Slugworth's factory produced sugar balloons that could be inflated to enormous sizes, and then pierced with a pin and eaten. And so on and so forth. And Mr. Willy Wonka tore his hair and shouted: “This is terrible! I will break! All around are spies! I'll have to close the factory!"

But he didn't close it! Charlie said.

- Even as closed. He told all the workers that, unfortunately, he had to fire them. Then he slammed the factory gates and locked them with a chain. And then the huge chocolate factory suddenly became deserted and quiet. The chimneys stopped smoking, the cars stopped rattling, and after that not a single chocolate bar, not a single candy was released, and Mr. Willy Wonka himself disappeared. Months passed,” Grandpa Joe continued, “but the factory was locked up. And everyone said, “Poor Mr. Wonka. He was so good, made such excellent sweets. And now it's all over." But then something amazing happened. Early one morning thin white wisps of smoke rose from the tall chimneys of the factory. All the inhabitants of the city dropped their business and ran to see what happened. "What's happening? they shouted. “Someone has lit the stoves!” Mr. Willy Wonka must be reopening the factory!” People ran to the gate hoping to see it open, thinking that Mr. Wonka would take them back to work.

But no! The iron gates were chained as tightly as ever, and Mr. Willy Wonka was nowhere to be found.

“But the factory is running! people shouted. “Listen and you will hear the rumble of cars!” They are working again! The air smelled of chocolate again!”

Grandpa Joe leaned forward, put his thin hand on Charlie's knee, and said softly:

“But the most mysterious, kid, were the shadows outside the factory windows. From the street, people saw small dark shadows flickering behind the frozen windows.

- Whose shadows? Charlie asked quickly.

“That's what everyone wanted to know. “The factory is full of workers! people shouted. But no one went in! The gates are locked! It's incredible! And no one comes out of there!” But the factory, no doubt, worked, - continued Grandpa Joe. And it's been working for ten years now. Moreover, the chocolate and sweets that she produces are becoming tastier and more amazing every day. And, of course, now that Mr. Wonka comes up with some new extraordinary sweets, neither Mr. Ficklegruber, nor Mr. Prodnose, nor Mr. Slugworth, nor anyone else will know the secret of their preparation. No spy can break into the factory to steal the secret recipe.

- But, grandfather, WHO, WHO works at the factory? Charlie shouted.

“Nobody knows that, Charlie.

- But it's incredible! Has no one asked Mr Wonka yet?

“No one has seen him since. He no longer appears outside the factory gates. The only thing that goes out of the gate is chocolate and other sweets. They are unloaded through a special door in the wall. They are packed, the addresses of customers are written on the boxes, and they are delivered by mail trucks.

- But, grandfather, what kind of people work there?

“My boy,” said Grandpa Joe, “this is one of the greatest mysteries. We only know that they are very small. The barely noticeable shadows that sometimes flicker outside the factory windows (they are especially clearly visible late at night when the lights are on) belong to little people, no taller than my knee ...

“But there are no such people,” said Charlie. Just at that moment, Charlie's father, Mr. Bucket, entered the room.

He just got back from work. He had an evening paper in his hands, and he waved it excitedly.

- Did you hear the news? he shouted and held up the newspaper so that everyone could see the huge headline:

FINALLY

WONKA FACTORY

OPEN YOUR GATES

FOR SELECTED LUCKY PERSONS

5. Golden tickets

Are you saying that someone will be allowed to enter the factory? exclaimed Grandpa Joe. - Read what the newspaper says!

“Very well,” said Mr. Bucket, smoothing out the newspaper. - Listen.

EVENING BULLETIN

Mr. Willy Wonka, the confectionery genius who hasn't been seen in 10 years, sent the following ad to our newspaper today:

I, Willy Wonka, have decided to let five children (mind you: only five, no more) visit my factory this year. These lucky ones will see all my secrets and wonders. And at the end of the trip, each of the visitors will receive a special gift - so much chocolate and sweets that will last a lifetime! So, look for golden tickets! Five golden tickets are already printed on golden paper and hidden under the ordinary wrappers of five ordinary chocolate bars. These bars can be anywhere - in any store, on any street, in any city, in any country, in any part of the world, on any counter where only Wonka chocolate is sold. And these five lucky golden ticket holders will be the only ones to visit my factory and see what's inside! Good luck to you all and happy finds!

(Signed - Willy Wonka)

- Yes, he's crazy! grumbled Grandma Josephine.

- He is a genius! exclaimed Grandpa Joe. - He's a magician! Just imagine what will happen now! The whole world will start looking for golden tickets! And everyone will buy Wonka chocolates in the hope of finding a ticket! He will sell them more than ever! Oh, if only we could find a ticket!

- And so much chocolate and sweets that will last for the rest of your life - FOR FREE! added Grandpa George. - Just imagine!

“It would all have to be delivered by truck,” Grandma Georgina said.

“My head is spinning just thinking about it,” Grandma Josephine whispered.

- Nonsense! exclaimed Grandpa Joe. - But it would be nice, Charlie, to open a chocolate bar and find a golden ticket there!

“Of course, grandfather, but the chances are very small,” Charlie replied sadly. “I only get one tile a year.

“Who knows, dear,” said Grandma Georgina, “your birthday is next week. You have the same chance as everyone else.

“I'm afraid it's absolutely incredible,” said Grandpa George. “The tickets will go to the kids who eat chocolate every day, and our Charlie gets one single bar a year. He has no chance.

1. Meet Charlie

Oh, how many people! Four very old people - Mr. Bucket's parents, Grandpa Joe and Grandma Josephine; Mrs Bucket's parents, Grandpa George and Grandma Georgina. And Mr and Mrs Bucket. Mr and Mrs Bucket have a little son. His name is Charlie Bucket.
Hello, hello, and hello again!
He is glad to meet you.
The whole family - six adults (you can count) and baby Charlie - lived in a wooden house on the outskirts of a quiet town. The house was too small for such a large family, it was very inconvenient for everyone to live there together. There were only two rooms, and one bed. The bed was given to the grandparents because they were so old and weak that they never got off of it. Grandpa Joe and Grandma Josephine occupied the right half, while Grandpa George and Grandma Georgina occupied the left. Mr and Mrs Bucket and little Charlie Bucket slept in the next room on mattresses on the floor.
In summer it was not bad, but in winter, when cold drafts walked on the floor all night, it was terrible.
Buying a new house or even another bed was out of the question, the Buckets were too poor.
The only one in the family who had a job was Mr. Bucket. He worked in a toothpaste factory. All day long Mr. Bucket screwed up tubes of toothpaste. But they paid very little for it. And no matter how hard Mr. Bucket tried, no matter how he hurried, the money he earned was not enough to buy at least half of the essentials for such a large family. Not even enough for food. Buckets could only afford bread and margarine for breakfast, boiled potatoes and cabbage for lunch, and cabbage soup for dinner. On Sunday, things were a little better. And the whole family was looking forward to Sunday, not because the food was different, no, just because everyone could get a supplement.
The Buckets, of course, did not starve, but all of them (two grandfathers, two grandmothers, Charlie's parents, and especially little Charlie himself) were plagued from morning to evening by a terrible feeling of emptiness in the stomach.
Charlie was the worst. And although Mr. and Mrs. Bucket often gave him their portions, this was not enough for a growing body, and Charlie really wanted something more satisfying and tasty than cabbage and cabbage soup. But more than anything, he wanted ... chocolate.
Every morning on the way to school, Charlie stopped at the shop windows and, pressing his nose against the glass, looked at the mountains of chocolate, while his mouth watered. Many times he has seen other children take creamy chocolate bars out of their pockets and chew them greedily. Watching it was a real torture.
Only once a year, on his birthday, did Charlie Bucket get to taste chocolate. For a whole year the whole family saved up money, and when the lucky day came, Charlie received a small bar of chocolate as a gift. And each time he received a gift, he carefully placed it in a small wooden box and carefully kept it there, as if it were not chocolate at all, but gold. In the next few days, Charlie only looked at the chocolate bar, but never touched it. When the boy's patience came to an end, he tore off the edge of the wrapper so that a tiny piece of the tile was visible, and then bit off quite a bit, talc to feel the amazing taste of chocolate in his mouth. The next day Charlie took another small bite. Then more. Thus, the pleasure stretched for more than a month.
But I have not yet told you about what tormented little Charlie, a chocolate lover, more than anything in the world. It was much worse than looking at the mountains of chocolate in the windows, worse than seeing other children eat creamy chocolate right in front of you. Nothing more terrible can be imagined. It was this: in the city, right in front of the windows of the Bucket family, there was a chocolate factory that was not just big. It was the largest and most famous chocolate factory in the world - WONKA'S FACTORY. It was owned by Mr. Willy Wonka, the greatest inventor and chocolate king. It was an amazing factory! It was surrounded by a high wall. The only way to get inside was through the big iron gates, the chimneys were full of smoke and strange buzzing came from somewhere deep inside, and outside the factory walls for half a mile around the air was saturated with the thick smell of chocolate.
Twice a day, on his way to and from school, Charlie Bucket passed by this factory. And each time he slowed down his step and enthusiastically sucked in the magical smell of chocolate.
Oh, how he loved that smell!
Oh, how I dreamed of getting into the factory and finding out what was inside!

From Translator

Misha Baron

Roald Dahl

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Dedicated to Theo

In this book, you will meet five children.

AUGUST STUPID - a greedy boy,

VERUCA SALT - a girl spoiled by her parents,

VIOLETTA BJURGARD - a girl who constantly chews gum,

MIKE TEVEY is a boy who watches TV from morning to night,

CHARLIE BUCKET is the main character of this story.

1. Meet Charlie

Hello, hello, and hello again!

He is glad to meet you.

In summer it was not bad, but in winter, when cold drafts walked on the floor all night, it was terrible.

Buying a new house or even another bed was out of the question, the Buckets were too poor.

Twice a day, on his way to and from school, Charlie Bucket passed by this factory. And each time he slowed down his step and enthusiastically sucked in the magical smell of chocolate.

Oh, how he loved that smell!

Oh, how I dreamed of getting into the factory and finding out what was inside!

2. Mr. Willy Wonka's Factory

In the evenings, after supper of watery cabbage soup, Charlie used to go to his grandparents' room to listen to their stories and bid them good night.

One evening, when Charlie, as usual, came to visit the old people, he asked:

Is it true that Wonka's chocolate factory is the largest in the world?

– Is it true? all four shouted. - Of course it's true! God! Didn't you know? It is fifty times larger than any other factory.

“Is it true that Mr. Willy Wonka is the best chocolate-maker in the world?”

“My boy,” said Grandpa Joe, pushing himself up on the pillow, “Mr. Willy Wonka is the most wonderful pastry chef in the world!” I thought everyone knew this.

- I, Grandpa Joe, knew that he was famous, knew that he was an inventor ...