Lazar Lagin

Moscow schoolboy Volodya accidentally fishes out of the Moscow River a mysterious lamp, from which the genie Khottabych appears. He promises to fulfill any of his wishes, but each of them turns into unexpected consequences. Magic multiplies, rather than solves Volodya's problems. Nevertheless, the schoolboy is imbued with the genie's problems and, as a result, finds himself in the past, where Khottabych's daughter marries an unloved man. Trying to destroy this marriage and free Khottabych, Volodya and his friends go to an ancient Eastern wedding.

Volume 1 (1962-1968): "Story of One Crime", "Man in the Frame", "My Green Crocodile", "There Lived Kozyavin", "Mountain of Dinosaurs", "Passion of Spies", "Glass Harmonica", "Ball of Wool", "Singing Teacher", "Film, Film, Film".

A boy named Volka discovers an ancient vessel on the bottom of a river. When he opens it, a genie emerges from there. He calls himself Hassan Abdurrahman ibn Khottab, or in Russian style Khottabych. Grateful Khottabych is ready to fulfill any of Volka's wishes. But it appears that Volka should use the powers of the genie carefully, for they can have undesirable results.

Sidor Sidorovich and Fyokla Fyodorovna, a widow and widower who lived in Moscow next door, start a family, and their daughters Toma and Fira become half-sisters. As befits an evil stepmother, Fyokla begins to think about how she could exterminate her stepdaughter Toma. To begin with, she seeks advice from Baba Yaga, who lives in their city, but receives such terrible recommendations that she does not dare to use them, fearing to fall under a criminal article.

A craftsman builds a glass harmonica that enlightens him. He travels to a town where the people are obsessed with money. A bureaucrat smashes the glass harmonica which leads to chaos and eventually to social reform.

A parody of the spy movies of the '50s and '60s

A story about how laziness can turn a human back to the ape.

Kozyavin is ordered by his boss one day to find a man named Sidorov, and is pointed in a particular direction. The employee follows the indicated direction unswervingly to find him, encountering various obstacles along the way.