Satan from the 7th grade
Encyclopedia
Satan from the 7th grade is an 1937 children's book (or rather, a young adult book - a term which did not exist at the time of writing) by Polish writer Kornel Makuszyński
.
It is considered a classic in Poland, where it has remained in print for decades, whatever changes and upheavals the country passed through.
It is also popular in other countries such as Israel
, where two Hebrew translations were published - the translators making a considerable effort to translate the colloquial Polish of the original into up-to-date Israeli equivalents.
Note: The "Seventh Grade" of the title is according to the Polish educational system at the time of writing, where youngsters underwent four years of Elementary education followed by eight years of Further or High School. The book's protagonist is in the 7th grade of the latter, (11th grade in North American English-language usage) and is thus about 17 years old.
Suddenly, treasure hunting
is launched by the discovery that an officer of Napoleon's Grand Army, who was taken care of by the Professor's ancestors in the aftermath of the disastrous 1812 invasion of Russia, may have left to his benefactors a hidden treasure (which would be very great help for their impoverished present-day descendants).
However, the subtle trail of hints left by the French officer defy all minds but that of the "devilish" Adam. Adam energetically takes up the challenge, seeking to help his hosts - and in particular, win the heart of Wanda, the Professor's beautiful daughter.
Throughout the book, he follows the perplexing trail, clue after clue, using hints from such sources as Dante
's Inferno. Adam must, moreover, play a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with a nasty gang of criminals, who also got the scent and who are very determined to lay their own hands on the treasure.
At a certain moment the search looks like having gotten to a dead end - a vital hint had been written on the door of an outbuilding, but the door is not there any more. It turns out, however, that the door in question was used as an improvised stretcher on which a wounded rebel was carried to a neighbouring village during the Polish 1863 uprising against Russian rule - and that after this use, the door had been installed at the village church, where Adam duly finds it and writes down the clue.
Finally, Adam finds the treasure - not before providing the criminals which he knows to be following him with a red herring and letting them "rob" from him a heavy old cask full of worthless scrap iron. They open the cask with much trouble, suspect each other of cheating, get into a violent quarrel, and get arrested by the police.
The true treasure, meanwhile found hidden in a stork
's nest, is more lightweight - a small sack full of jewellery which the French officer presumably looted in Russia, and whose worth is more than enough to provide for the Professor and his family. In the book's final sentence, Adam looks from the glittering jewels to Wanda's eyes, and finds them "more precious than all treasures in the world".
Israel
i reviewer Aryeh Klein noted that in retrospect, the book assumes an unintended wilfulness: "The present-day reader knows, as the writer could not, that this is 1937 and that the horrors of Nazi occupation are just two years ahead for all these sympathetic characters in their pastoral countryside. In order to survive, Adam would all too soon need to outwit enemies far more brutal and ruthless than the book's rather clumsy gang of criminals".
Kornel Makuszynski
Kornel Makuszyński was a Polish writer of children's and youth literature.-Life:Makuszyński attended the Jan Długosz gymnasium in Lviv . While in school he wrote occasional poetry , and had his first poem published in 1902 in the newspaper Słowo Polskie , for which he soon became a theatrical critic...
.
It is considered a classic in Poland, where it has remained in print for decades, whatever changes and upheavals the country passed through.
It is also popular in other countries such as Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, where two Hebrew translations were published - the translators making a considerable effort to translate the colloquial Polish of the original into up-to-date Israeli equivalents.
Note: The "Seventh Grade" of the title is according to the Polish educational system at the time of writing, where youngsters underwent four years of Elementary education followed by eight years of Further or High School. The book's protagonist is in the 7th grade of the latter, (11th grade in North American English-language usage) and is thus about 17 years old.
Synopsis
Adam Cisowski, a precocious and "devilishly clever" high school pupil (the "satan" of the title) spends a summer holiday at a run-down country house, presided over by "The Professor" - an aristocratic, eccentric mathematician who is friendly and affable but completely improvident.Suddenly, treasure hunting
Treasure hunting
Treasure hunting is the physical search for treasure which has been a notable human activity for millennia. -In modern times:In recent times, the early stages of the development of archaeology included a significant aspect of treasure hunt; Heinrich Schliemann's excavations at Troy, and later at...
is launched by the discovery that an officer of Napoleon's Grand Army, who was taken care of by the Professor's ancestors in the aftermath of the disastrous 1812 invasion of Russia, may have left to his benefactors a hidden treasure (which would be very great help for their impoverished present-day descendants).
However, the subtle trail of hints left by the French officer defy all minds but that of the "devilish" Adam. Adam energetically takes up the challenge, seeking to help his hosts - and in particular, win the heart of Wanda, the Professor's beautiful daughter.
Throughout the book, he follows the perplexing trail, clue after clue, using hints from such sources as Dante
DANTE
Delivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe is a not-for-profit organisation that plans, builds and operates the international networks that interconnect the various national research and education networks in Europe and surrounding regions...
's Inferno. Adam must, moreover, play a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with a nasty gang of criminals, who also got the scent and who are very determined to lay their own hands on the treasure.
At a certain moment the search looks like having gotten to a dead end - a vital hint had been written on the door of an outbuilding, but the door is not there any more. It turns out, however, that the door in question was used as an improvised stretcher on which a wounded rebel was carried to a neighbouring village during the Polish 1863 uprising against Russian rule - and that after this use, the door had been installed at the village church, where Adam duly finds it and writes down the clue.
Finally, Adam finds the treasure - not before providing the criminals which he knows to be following him with a red herring and letting them "rob" from him a heavy old cask full of worthless scrap iron. They open the cask with much trouble, suspect each other of cheating, get into a violent quarrel, and get arrested by the police.
The true treasure, meanwhile found hidden in a stork
Stork
Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family Ciconiidae. They are the only family in the biological order Ciconiiformes, which was once much larger and held a number of families....
's nest, is more lightweight - a small sack full of jewellery which the French officer presumably looted in Russia, and whose worth is more than enough to provide for the Professor and his family. In the book's final sentence, Adam looks from the glittering jewels to Wanda's eyes, and finds them "more precious than all treasures in the world".
Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i reviewer Aryeh Klein noted that in retrospect, the book assumes an unintended wilfulness: "The present-day reader knows, as the writer could not, that this is 1937 and that the horrors of Nazi occupation are just two years ahead for all these sympathetic characters in their pastoral countryside. In order to survive, Adam would all too soon need to outwit enemies far more brutal and ruthless than the book's rather clumsy gang of criminals".