The fairy tale "Seven-colored flowers" is not one of the old ones that came from the depths of the centuries; the Soviet writer Valentin Kataev wrote it in the first half of the 20th century. However, she is loved by children no less than many folk tales.
The plot of the tale is simple. The absent-minded and irresponsible girl Zhenya, lost in the city due to her own carelessness, meets a kind old woman. She turns out to be a sorceress and gives the girl a wonderful flower - a seven-flowered flower with seven petals of different colors, and each petal can fulfill one wish.
The heroine, without hesitation, spends petal after petal. At first, she escaped punishment for the lost steering wheels and the broken mother's vase. After that, she wanted to get all the toys that are in the world, then - to go to the North Pole to take revenge on the boys who do not accept her into the game. True, these two wishes do not come true exactly as the girl would like, and she spends two more petals to send the toys back and return home.
In the end, Zhenya realizes that she spent almost all the petals without getting any pleasure. Pondering how to use the last petal, she notices the pretty boy Vitya. She wants to play with him, but it turns out that Vitya is an invalid, doomed to walk on crutches for the rest of his life. With the help of the last petal, Zhenya heals Vitya, plays with him and feels happy.
At first glance, this is just a children's fairy tale, containing a certain moralizing charge. But you can see a deeper meaning in this work, if you consider that the author came from the family of a teacher of the diocesan school, which could not but affect the writer's worldview. In the Soviet era, it was dangerous to speak and write in plain text about Christian values, but a talented writer could always “encrypt” them in his work - including in the form of a fairy tale, and for discerning readers the hidden meaning is obvious.
The number and color of the petals of the fairy flower repeats the colors of the rainbow. The rainbow in the Bible is a symbol of God's covenant with Noah, in a broad sense - with humanity. The number 7 also has a special meaning in the New Testament era: the Gifts of the Holy Spirit descend on a person through the seven holy sacraments of the Church. Thus, the fabulous seven-flowered flower symbolizes God's grace given to man.
The girl Zhenya in relation to this gift behaves exactly as many people behave. Perhaps there is no such person who would not turn to God with a prayer for wealth, promotion, “warming” pride, and other earthly benefits. God can fulfill a request - human desires can come true, but this does not always contribute to spiritual growth: a fulfilled desire only makes a person want more. In this endless pursuit of worldly goods, a person cannot become happy - just as the heroine of a fairy tale states with regret: "I wasted six petals - and no pleasure!"
A person can become happy only by remembering that the Gifts of the Holy Spirit are gifts of Divine love. Love does not seek any benefits for itself - you can love not by receiving, but by giving. The girl Zhenya understands this, helping the sick boy - for the first time, she does not regret the petal spent.
Thus, the tale of the seven-colored flower is not only a children's fairy tale, it is also a wise message to adults, full of deep spiritual meaning.
