Beginning the narrative, the author declares that his main goal is to show the general character of the era, its customs, concepts, beliefs, and therefore he allowed deviations from history in detail - and concludes that his most important feeling was indignation: not so much with John as on a society that is not indignant at him.
In the summer of 1565, the young boyar Prince Nikita Romanovich Serebryany, returning from Lithuania, where he had spent five years in painstakingly signing a peace for many years and not succeeding in doing so because of the evasiveness of Lithuanian diplomats and his own straightforwardness, drove up to the village of Medvedevka and found festive fun there . Suddenly guardsmen come running, chopping down the peasants, catching the girls and burning the village. The prince takes them for robbers, ties them up and whips them, despite the threats of their chief, Matvey Khomyak. Ordering his soldiers to take the robbers to the labial headman, he goes further with the stirrup Mikheich, two captives recaptured by him from the guardsmen are taken to accompany him. In the forest, turning out to be robbers, they protect the prince and Mikheich from their own comrades, bring them to the miller for the night, and, saying one Vanyukha Ring, the other Korshun, they leave. Prince Athanasius Vyazemsky arrives at the mill and, considering Melnikov’s guests sleeping, curses his unrequited love, demands love herbs, threatening the miller, forcing him to find out if he has a happy rival, and, having received a too definite answer, leaves in despair. His sweetheart Elena Dmitrievna, daughter of the okolnichik Pleshcheev-Ochin, having been orphaned in order to avoid Vyazemsky’s harassment, found salvation in marriage to the old boyar Druzhina Adreevich Morozov, although she had no disposition for him, loving Serebryany and even giving him a word - but Serebryany was in Lithuania. John, patronizing Vyazemsky, being angry with Morozov, dishonors him, offering to sit below Godunov at the feast, and, having received a refusal, declares him disgraced. Meanwhile, in Moscow, the returned Serebryany sees a lot of guardsmen, impudent, drunken and robbers, stubbornly calling themselves "tsar's servants." The blessed Vasya, whom he met, calls him a brother, also a holy fool, and predicts evil from the boyar Morozov. The prince goes to him, his old and parental friend. He sees Elena in the garden in a married kokoshnik. Morozov talks about the oprichnina, denunciations, executions, and the tsar's move to Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda, where, according to Morozov, Serebryany is going to certain death. But, not wanting to hide from his king, the prince leaves, having explained himself to Elena in the garden and suffering mentally.
Observing pictures of terrible changes along the way, the prince arrives at Sloboda, where he sees chopping blocks and gallows among luxurious chambers and churches. While Serebryany is waiting in the yard for permission to enter, young Fyodor Basmanov poisons him, for fun, with a bear. The unarmed prince is saved by Maxim Skuratov, the son of Malyuta. During the feast, the invited prince wonders if the tsar knows about Medvedevka, how he will show his anger, and marvels at the terrible environment of John. The king favors one of the prince's neighbors with a cup of wine, and he dies, poisoned. The prince is also favored, and he fearlessly drinks good, fortunately, wine.
Year of writing:
1863
Reading time:
Description of the work:
The Silver Prince was written by Alexei Tolstoy and was first published in 1863. This is a historical novel that tells about the times of the oprichnina.
It is noteworthy that Alexei Tolstoy was very interested in historical songs that were composed about the times of Ivan the Terrible, and it was this interest that prompted Tolstoy to create a novel about those times, clearly showing the tyranny and helplessness of the people.
Read below a summary of the novel The Prince of Silver.
Summary of the novel
prince silver
Beginning the narrative, the author declares that his main goal is to show the general character of the era, its customs, concepts, beliefs, and therefore he allowed deviations from history in detail - and concludes that his most important feeling was indignation: not so much with John as on a society that is not indignant at him.
In the summer of 1565, a young boyar, Prince Nikita Romanovich Serebryany, returning from Lithuania, where he spent five years in painstakingly signing a peace for many years and not succeeding in doing so because of the evasiveness of Lithuanian diplomats and his own straightforwardness, drives up to the village of Medvedevka and finds festive fun there . Suddenly guardsmen come running, chopping down the peasants, catching the girls and burning the village. The prince takes them for robbers, ties them up and whips them, despite the threats of their chief, Matvey Khomyak. Ordering his soldiers to take the robbers to the labial headman, he goes further with the stirrup Mikheich, two captives recaptured by him from the guardsmen are taken to accompany him. In the forest, turning out to be robbers, they protect the prince and Mikheich from their own comrades, bring them to the miller for the night, and, saying one Vanyukha Ring, the other Korshun, they leave. Prince Athanasius Vyazemsky arrives at the mill and, considering Melnikov’s guests sleeping, curses his unrequited love, demands love herbs, threatening the miller, forcing him to find out if he has a happy rival, and, having received a too definite answer, leaves in despair. His sweetheart Elena Dmitrievna, daughter of the okolnichik Pleshcheev-Ochin, having been orphaned in order to avoid Vyazemsky’s harassment, found salvation in marriage to the old boyar Druzhina Adreevich Morozov, although she had no disposition for him, loving Serebryany and even giving him a word - but Serebryany was in Lithuania. John, patronizing Vyazemsky, being angry with Morozov, dishonors him, offering to sit below Godunov at the feast, and, having received a refusal, declares him disgraced. Meanwhile, in Moscow, the returned Serebryany sees a lot of guardsmen, impudent, drunken and robbers, stubbornly calling themselves "tsar's servants." The blessed Vasya, whom he met, calls him a brother, also a holy fool, and predicts evil from the boyar Morozov. The prince goes to him, his old and parental friend. He sees Elena in the garden in a married kokoshnik. Morozov talks about the oprichnina, denunciations, executions, and the tsar's move to Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda, where, according to Morozov, Serebryany is going to certain death. But, not wanting to hide from his king, the prince leaves, having explained himself to Elena in the garden and suffering mentally.
Observing pictures of terrible changes along the way, the prince arrives at Sloboda, where he sees chopping blocks and gallows among luxurious chambers and churches. While Serebryany is waiting in the yard for permission to enter, young Fyodor Basmanov poisons him, for fun, with a bear. The unarmed prince is saved by Maxim Skuratov, the son of Malyuta. During the feast, the invited prince wonders if the tsar knows about Medvedevka, how he will show his anger, and marvels at the terrible environment of John. The king favors one of the prince's neighbors with a cup of wine, and he dies, poisoned. The prince is also favored, and he fearlessly drinks good, fortunately, wine. In the middle of a luxurious feast, the tsar tells Vyazemsky a fairy tale, in the allegory of which he sees his love story and guesses the tsar's permission to take Elena away. A rumpled Hamster appears, tells the incident in Medvedevka and points to Serebryany, who is being dragged to be executed, but Maxim Skuratov intercedes for him, and the returned prince, having told about the atrocities of the Hamster in the village, is forgiven - until the next, however, guilt and swears not to hide from the king in case of his anger, but meekly await punishment. At night, Maxim Skuratov, speaking with his father and not finding understanding, secretly runs away, and the king, frightened by the stories of his mother Onufrevna about the hellish hell and the thunderstorm that began, is visited by the images of those killed by him. Raising the guardsmen with the gospel, dressed in a monastic cassock, he serves matins. Tsarevich John, who took his worst features from his father, constantly ridicules Malyuta causes his revenge: Malyuta introduces him to the king as a conspirator, and he orders, having kidnapped the prince on a hunt, to kill and throw him to avert his eyes in the forest near Poganaya Puddle. A gang of robbers gathering there at that time, among whom Ring and Korshun, accepts replenishment: a guy from near Moscow and the second, Mitka, a clumsy fool with truly heroic strength, from near Kolomna. The ring tells about his acquaintance, the Volga robber Ermak Timofeevich. The sentinels report the approach of guardsmen. Prince Serebryany in Sloboda talks with Godunov, not being able to understand the subtleties of his behavior: how, seeing the mistakes of the king, should he not tell him about it? Mikheich comes running, having seen the prince captured by Malyuta and Khomyak, and Silver rushes in pursuit.
Further, an old song is woven into the narrative, interpreting the same event. Having caught up with Malyuta, Silver gives him a slap in the face and enters into battle with the guardsmen, and the robbers come to the rescue. The guardsmen were beaten, the prince was safe, but Malyuta and Khomyak fled. Soon, Vyazemsky comes to Morozov with guardsmen, supposedly to announce that he has been removed from disgrace, but in fact to take Elena away. Silver, invited for the sake of such joy, also comes. Morozov, who heard his wife's love speeches in the garden, but did not see the interlocutor, believes that this is Vyazemsky or Silver, and starts a "kissing ceremony", believing that Elena's embarrassment will betray her. Silver penetrates his plan, but is not free to avoid the rite. Kissing Silver, Elena loses her senses. By evening, in Elena's bedchamber, Morozov reproaches her with treason, but Vyazemsky bursts in with his henchmen and takes her away, badly wounded by Serebryany, however. In the forest, weakened from his wounds, Vyazemsky loses consciousness, and the distraught horse brings Elena to the miller, and he, having guessed who she is, hides her, guided not so much by his heart as by calculation. Soon the guardsmen bring the bloodied Vyazemsky, the miller speaks blood to him, but, having frightened the guardsmen with all kinds of devilry, he turns them away from the night. The next day, Mikheich arrives, looking for a ring from Vanyukha sewn up for the prince, thrown into prison by guardsmen. The miller shows the way to the Ring, promising Mikheich upon his return some kind of firebird. After listening to Mikheich, Ring with Uncle Korshun and Mitka set off for Sloboda.
In prison, Malyuta and Godunov come to Serebryany to conduct an interrogation. Malyuta, insinuating and affectionate, having reveled in the disgust of the prince, wants to return the slap to him, but Godunov holds him back. The king, trying to distract himself from thoughts of Silver, goes hunting. There he is gyrfalcon Adragan, who distinguished himself at first, falls into a rage, crushes the falcons themselves and flies away; Trishka is equipped for the search with threats befitting the occasion. On the road, the king meets blind songwriters and, anticipating fun and bored with the old storytellers, orders them to come to their chambers. This is the Ring with the Kite. On the way to Sloboda, Korshun tells the story of his villainy, which has been depriving him of sleep for twenty years, and portends his imminent death. In the evening, Onufrevna warns the tsar that the new storytellers are suspicious, and, having posted guards at the door, he calls them. The ring, often interrupted by John, starts new songs and tales, and, having begun the story of the Pigeon Book, notices that the king has fallen asleep. At the head are the prison keys. However, the supposedly sleeping king calls for guards, who, having grabbed the Kite, misses the Ring. He, running away, stumbles upon Mitka, who opened the prison without any keys. The prince, whose execution is scheduled for the morning, refuses to run, remembering his oath to the king. He is taken away by force.
Around this time, Maxim Skuratov, wandering, comes to the monastery, asks to confess, is guilty of dislike for the sovereign, disrespect for his father and receives forgiveness. Soon he leaves, intending to repel the raids of the Tatars, and meets Tryphon with the captured Adragan. He asks him to bow to his mother and not to tell anyone about their meeting. Robbers capture Maxim in the forest. A good half of them rebel, dissatisfied with the loss of Korshun and the acquisition of Silver, and demand a trip to Sloboda for robbery - the prince is incited to that. The prince frees Maxim, takes charge of the villagers and convinces them to go not to Sloboda, but to the Tatars. The captive Tatar leads them to the camp. With a cunning invention of the Ring, they manage to crush the enemy at first, but the forces are too unequal, and only the appearance of Fyodor Basmanov with a motley army saves Silver's life. Maxim, with whom they fraternized, dies.
At a feast in Basmanov's tent, Serebryany reveals all the duplicity of Fyodor, a brave warrior, a crafty slanderer, an arrogant and low tsar's henchman. After the defeat of the Tatars, the gang of robbers is divided in two: part goes into the forests, part, together with Serebryany, goes to Sloboda for royal forgiveness, and the Ring with Mitka, through the same Sloboda, to the Volga, to Yermak. In Sloboda, the jealous Basmanov slanders Vyazemsky and accuses him of witchcraft. Morozov appears, complaining about Vyazemsky. At a confrontation, he declares that Morozov himself attacked him, and Elena left of her own free will. The tsar, wishing the death of Morozov, appoints them the “judgment of God”: to fight in Sloboda with the condition that the vanquished will be executed. Vyazemsky, fearing that God would give victory to old Morozov, goes to the miller to speak a saber and finds, remaining unnoticed, there Basmanov, who has come for grass with a tirlich to enter the royal favor. Having spoken the saber, the miller tells fortunes in order to find out, at the request of Vyazemsky, his fate, and sees pictures of terrible executions and his impending death. The day of the fight comes. Among the crowd are a ring with Mitka. Having ridden against Morozov, Vyazemsky falls from his horse, his former wounds open, and he tears off Melnikov's amulet, which should ensure victory over Morozov. He exposes instead of himself Matvey Khomyak. Morozov refuses to fight the hireling and looks for a replacement. Mitka is summoned, having recognized the kidnapper of the bride in Khomyak. He refuses the saber and kills Hamster with the shaft given to him for laughing.
Calling on Vyazemsky, the tsar shows him the amulet and accuses him of witchcraft against himself. In prison, Vyazemsky says that he saw her at the sorcerer Basmanov, who was plotting the death of John. Not waiting for the bad Basmanov, opening his amulet on his chest, the tsar plunges him into prison. Morozov, who was invited to the royal table, John offers again a place after Godunov, and after listening to his rebuke, he favors Morozov with a jester's caftan. The caftan is put on by force, and the boyar, as a jester, tells the tsar everything that he thinks about him, and warns what damage to the state, in his opinion, John's rule will turn out to be. The day of execution comes, terrible weapons grow on Red Square and people gather. Morozov, Vyazemsky, Basmanov, the father, whom he pointed out in torture, the miller, Korshun and many others were executed. The holy fool Vasya, who appeared among the crowd, reads to execute him too and incurs the royal wrath. The people do not allow the blessed to be killed.
After the executions, Prince Serebryany arrives in Sloboda with a detachment of villagers and at first comes to Godunov. He, partly shy of his relations with the royal opal, but noting that after the execution the king softened, announces the voluntary return of the prince and brings him. The prince says that he was taken out of prison against his will, talks about the battle with the Tatars and asks for mercy for the villagers, pronouncing them the right to serve where they indicate, but not in the oprichnina, among the "kromeshniks". He himself also refuses to fit into the oprichnina, the tsar appoints him governor at the guard regiment, in which he appoints his own robbers, and loses interest in him. The prince sends Mikheich to the monastery, where Elena has retired, in order to keep her from being tonsured, informing her of his imminent arrival. While the prince and the villagers swear allegiance to the tsar, Mikheich gallops to the monastery, where he delivered Elena from the miller. Thinking about the coming happiness, Serebryany goes after him, but Mikheich at the meeting reports that Elena has cut her hair. The prince goes to the monastery to say goodbye, and Elena, who has become sister Evdokia, explains that Morozov's blood is between them and they could not be happy. Having said goodbye, Serebryany with his detachment goes on patrol, and only the consciousness of the duty being performed and an unclouded conscience retains for him some kind of light in life.
Years pass, and many of Morozov's prophecies come true, John suffers defeats on his borders, and only in the east his possessions expand through the efforts of the squad of Yermak and Ivan the Ring. Having received gifts and a letter from the Stroganov merchants, they reach the Ob. An embassy from Yermakov comes to John. Ivan Koltso, who brought him, turns out to be a Ring, and by his companion Mitka, the tsar recognizes him and grants him forgiveness. As if wanting to appease the Ring, the king calls on his former comrade, Silver. But the governors answer that he died seventeen years ago. At the feast of Godunov, who has entered into great strength, the Ring tells many wonderful things about the conquered Siberia, returning with a saddened heart to the deceased prince, drinking in his memory. Concluding the story, the author calls to forgive Tsar John his atrocities, for he is not the only one responsible for them, and notices that people like Morozov and Serebryany also often appeared and were able to stand in goodness among the evil that surrounded them and go the straight path.
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Starting the narrative, the author declares that his main goal is to show the general character of the era, its customs, concepts, beliefs, and therefore he allowed deviations from history in detail , - and concludes that his most important feeling was indignation: not so much on John, as on society, not on him-breathing.
In the summer of 1565, the young boyar Prince Nikita Roma-novich Sereb-ryany, returning from Lithuania, where he spent five years in painstakingly signing peace for many years and not succeeding in doing so due to the dodge of the Lithuanian diplomats and his own directness, drives up to the village of Medve-girl and finds festive fun there. Suddenly, the oprichniks come running in, cut down the peasants, catch the girls and burn the village. The prince takes them for robbers, ties them up and whips them, despite the threats of their chief, Matvey Khomyak. Having ordered his soldiers to take the robbers to the labial headman, he goes further with the stirrup Mikhe-ich, two captives recaptured by him from the guardsmen are taken to accompany him. In the forest, having turned out to be robbers, they protect the prince and Mikhe-ich from their own comrades, bring them to the miller for the night and, having said one Vanyukha Ring, the other Kite, leave. Prince Athanasius Vyazemsky comes to the mill and, considering Melnikov’s lodgers sleeping, curses his unrequited love, demands love herbs, threatening the miller, forcing him to find out, no whether he has a lucky rival, and, having received a too definite answer, leaves in despair. His sweetheart Elena Dmitri-evna, daughter of nothing Pleshcheev-Ochin, orphaned in order to avoid the harassment of Vyazemsky, found salvation in marriage to the old boyar Druzhina Adreevich Moro -calling, although she did not have a disposition for him, loving Sereb-rya-ny and even giving him a word, but Sereb-ryany was in Lithuania. John, patronizing Vyazemsky, angry at Morozov, dishonors him, offering to sit at a feast below Godunov, and, having been refused, declares him disgraced. Meanwhile, in Moscow, the returned Sereb-ryany sees a lot of oprichniks, impudent, drunken and robbers, stubbornly calling themselves “royal servants”. The met blessed Vasya calls him a brother, also a holy fool, and predicts evil from the boyar Morozov. The prince is sent to him, his old and parental friend. He sees Elena in the garden in a married kokosh-nik. Morozov tells about the oprichnina, denunciations, executions and the tsar’s move to Aleksan-Drovskaya Sloboda, where, according to Morozov’s conviction for certain death, Sereb-ryany is going . But, not wanting to hide from his king, the prince leaves, explaining himself to Elena in the garden and suffering mentally.
Observing pictures of terrible changes along the way, the prince arrives at Sloboda, where among the luxurious chambers and churches he sees chopping blocks and gallows-faces. While Sereb-ryany is waiting in the yard for permission to enter, young Fyodor Basmanov poisons him, for fun, with a bear. The unarmed prince is saved by Maxim Skuratov, the son of Malyuta. During the feast, the invited prince wonders if the tsar knows about the Bear-girl, how he will show his anger, and marvels at the terrible environment of John. The king favors one of the prince's neighbors with a cup of wine, and he dies, poisoned. The prince is also favored, and he fearlessly drinks good, fortunately, wine. In the middle of a luxurious feast, the tsar tells Vyazemsky a fairy tale, in which he sees his love story and guesses the tsar’s permission to take Elena away. The rumpled Hamster appears, tells the incident in Medve-girl and points to Silver, who is being dragged to be executed, but Maxim Skuratov intercedes for him, and the returned prince, having told about the atrocities of the Hamster in the village, is forgiven - until the next, however, guilt and swears not to hide from the king in case of his anger, but to meekly await punishment for himself. At night, Maxim Skuratov, explaining himself to his father and not finding understanding, secretly runs away, and the king, frightened by the stories of his mother Onufrevna about hellish hell and the thunderstorm that began, is visited by the images of those killed by him. Having raised the blessings of the guardsmen, putting on a monastic cassock, he serves the morning. Tsarevich John, who took his worst features from his father, with constant mockery of Malyuta causes his revenge: Malyuta introduces him to the king as a conspirator, and he orders, having kidnapped the tsar on the hunt , kill and throw to avert eyes in the forest near the Filthy Puddle. Gathering there about this time, a gang of robbers, among whom Ring and Korshun, accepts replenishment: a guy from near Moscow and the second, Mitka, a dumb fool with a truly god -tyr-sky force, from under Kolomna. The ring tells about his acquaintance, the Volga robber Yermak Timo-fe-e-vich. The sentinels report the approach of the guardsmen. Prince Sereb-ryany in Sloboda talks with Godu-nov, not being able to understand the subtleties of his behavior: how, seeing the mistakes of the king, should he not tell him about it? Mikheich comes running, having seen the Tsar Vich, captured by Malyuta and Khomyak, and Silver rushes in pursuit.
Further, an old song is woven into the narrative, tracing the same event. Having caught up with Malyuta, Serebryany gives him a slap in the face and enters into battle with the guardsmen, and the robbers come to the rescue. The oprichniks were beaten, the prince was safe, but Malyuta and Khomyak fled. Soon, Vyazemsky comes to Moro-zov with oprich-ni-kami, supposedly to announce that he has been removed from disgrace, but in fact to take Elena away. Silver, invited for such joy, also comes. Morozov, who heard his wife’s love speeches in the garden, but did not see his companion, believes that this is Vyazemsky or Silver, and starts a “kissing ceremony”, believing that Elena’s embarrassment will give it out. Silver penetrates into his plan, but is not free to avoid the rite. Kissing Silver, Elena loses her senses. By evening, at Elena’s bedchamber, Morozov reproaches her with treason, but Vyazemsky bursts in with his assistants and takes her away, however, severely wounded by Sereb-ryany. In the forest, weakened by his wounds, Vyazemsky loses consciousness, and the distraught horse brings Elena to the miller, and he, guessing who she is, hides her, guided not so much by her heart as by calculation. Soon, the oprichniki bring in Vyazemsky, the okro-vav-len-nogo, the miller speaks blood to him, but, having frightened the oprichniks with all kinds of devilry, he turns them away from the night. The next day, Mikheich arrives, looking for a ring from Vanyukha sewn up for the prince, who was thrown into the prison of the oprich-ni-kami. The miller points the way to the Ring, promising Mikheich upon his return some kind of firebird. After listening to Mikheich, the Ring with Uncle Korshun and Mitka go to Sloboda.
Malyuta and the New Year come to Silver to the prison to conduct an interrogation. Malyuta, insinuating and affectionate, inspired by the disgust of the prince, wants to return the slap in the face to him, but Godunov holds him back. The king, trying to distract himself from thoughts of Silver, goes hunting. There he is gyrfalcon Adragan, who at first distinguished himself, falls into a rage, crushes the falcons themselves and flies away; Trishka is equipped for search with appropriate threats. On the road, the king meets blind songwriters and, anticipating the fun and boredom of the former fairy tales, orders them to come to their chambers. This is the Ring with the Kite. On the way to Sloboda, Korshun tells the story of his villainy, which has been depriving him of sleep for twenty years, and portends his imminent death. In the evening, Onufrevna warns the tsar that the new storytellers are suspicious, and, having placed guards at the door, he calls them. The ring, often interrupted by John, starts new songs and tales, and, having begun the story of the Dove Book, notes that the king has fallen asleep. At the head are the prison keys. However, the supposedly sleeping king calls for guards, who, having grabbed the Kite, misses the Ring. He, running away, stumbles upon Mitka, who opened the prison without any keys. The prince, whose execution is scheduled for the morning, refuses to run away, remembering his oath to the king. He is taken away by force.
At this time, Maxim Skuratov, wandering, comes to the monastery, asks to confess, is guilty of dislike for the sovereign, not reading his father and receives forgiveness. Soon he leaves, presuming to repel the raids of the Tatars, and meets Tryphon with the captured Adragan. He asks him to bow to his mother and not to tell anyone about their meeting. In the forest, Maxim is captured by robbers. A good half of them rebel, dissatisfied with the loss of Korshun and the acquisition of Silver, and demand a trip to Sloboda for robbery - the prince is being incited to that. The prince frees Maxim, takes charge of the village and convinces them to go not to Sloboda, but to the Tatars. The captive Tatar leads them to the camp. With a cunning invention of the Ring, they manage to crush the enemy at first, but the forces are too unequal, and only the appearance of Fyodor Basmanov with a motley army saves Silver's life. Maxim, with whom they fraternized, dies.
At the feast in the tent of Basmanov Sereb-rya-ny, all the duplicity of Fedor, a brave warrior, a crafty slanderer, an arrogant and low tsar's henchman, is revealed. After the defeat of the Tatars, the robbery gang is divided in two: part goes into the forests, part, together with Sereb-ryany, goes to Sloboda for royal forgiveness, and the Ring with Mitka, through the same Sloboda, to the Volga, to Yermak. In Sloboda, the jealous Basmanov slanders Vyazemsky and accuses him of witchcraft. Morozov appears, complaining about Vyazemsky. At the confrontation, he declares that Morozov himself attacked him, and Elena left of her own free will. The tsar, wishing the death of Moro-zov, appoints them the “judgment of God”: to fight in Sloboda with the condition that the defeated will be executed. Vyazemsky, fearing that God would give victory to the old Moro-zov, goes to the miller to speak with a saber and finds, remaining invisible, there Basmanov, who has come for grass as a Tirlich, to enter the royal mercy. Having spoken the saber, the miller tells fortunes in order to find out, at the request of Vyazemsky, his fate, and sees pictures of terrible executions and his impending death. The day of the duel is coming. Among the crowd are the Ring with Mitka. Having ridden against Moro-zov, Vyazemsky falls from his horse, his former wounds open, and he rips off Mel-nikov's amulet, which should ensure victory over Moro-zov. He puts up Matvey Khomyak instead of himself. Morozov refuses to fight with the hired hand and looks for a replacement. Mitka is summoned, having recognized the kidnapping of the bride in the Hamster. He refuses the saber and the shafts given to him for laughing kills the Hamster
Calling on Vyazemsky, the tsar shows him an amulet and accuses him of witchcraft against himself. In prison, Vyazemsky says that he saw her at the sorcerer Basmanov, who plotted the death of John. Not waiting for bad Basmanov, opening his amulet on his chest, the tsar plunges him into prison. To Moro-call, invited to the royal table, John offers again a place after Godu-nov, and after listening to his rebuke, he favors Moro-zov with a jester's caftan. The caftan is put on by force, and the boyar, as a jester, tells the tsar everything that he thinks about him, and warns what damage to the state, in his opinion, John's new reign will turn out to be. The day of execution comes, terrible weapons grow on Red Square and people gather. Morozov, Vyazemsky, Basmanov, the father whom he pointed out in torture, the miller, Korshun and many others were executed. The holy fool Vasya, who appeared among the crowd, reads to execute him as well, and incurs the royal wrath. The people do not allow the blessed one to be killed.
After the executions, Prince Sereb-ryany arrives in Sloboda with a detachment of villagers and at first comes to God-nov. He, partly shy of his relations with the royal opal, but noting that after the execution the tsar softened, announces the voluntary return of the prince and brings him. The prince says that he was taken out of prison against his will, talks about the battle with the Tatars and asks for mercy for the villagers, negotiating for them the right to serve where they indicate, but not in the oprich-nin, among "Kromesh-nikov". He himself also refuses to fit into the oprichnina, the tsar appoints him governor at the guard regiment, in which he determines his own robbers, and loses interest in him. The prince sends Mikheich to the monastery, where Elena has retired, in order to keep her from taking the tonsure, announcing his imminent arrival. While the prince and the stanich-ni-kami swear allegiance to the tsar, Mikheich gallops to the monastery, where he delivered Elena from the miller. Thinking about the coming happiness, Serebryany goes after him, but Mikheich at the meeting informs that Elena has cut her hair. The prince goes to the monastery to say goodbye, and Elena, who has become sister Evdokia, explains that Morozov’s blood is between them and they could not be happy. Saying goodbye, Serebryany with his detachment goes on patrol, and only the consciousness of a fulfilled duty and an unclouded conscience saves some light in life for him.
Years pass, and many of the prophecies of Morozov come true, John suffers defeats on his borders, and only in the east his possessions expand through the efforts of the squad of Yermak and Ivan the Ring. Having received gifts and a letter from the merchants of the Stro-ga-novs, they reach the Ob. The embassy of Ermakov comes to John. Ivan Koltso, who brought him, turns out to be a Ring, and according to his companion Mitka, the tsar recognizes him and grants him forgiveness. As if wanting to appease the Ring, the king calls on his former comrade, Silver. But the governors answer that he died seventeen years ago. At the feast of Godunov, who has entered into great power, the Ring tells many wonderful things about conquered Siberia, returning with a saddened heart to the deceased prince, drinking in his memory. Concluding the story, the author calls for forgiveness for Tsar John of his crimes, for he is not alone responsible for them, and notices that people like Frost-call and Silver , they also often appeared and knew how, among the evil that surrounded them, to stand in goodness and go on a straight path.
Title of the work: Prince Silver
Year of writing: 1861
Genre: story
Main characters: Prince Silver, boyar Morozov, Elena- Morozov's wife, Serebryany's beloved, Vyazemsky
Plot
Returning from a foreign land, where he spent several years, Prince Serebryany finds huge changes in his homeland: an oprichnina appeared, his beloved married an old boyar, hiding from the persecution of Vyazemsky, noble boyars are dishonored and executed, and traitors and Judas are in honor of the king, weaving intrigue.
An honest and straightforward young man has to endure a lot with the king in the palace: he is slandered, sent to the dungeon, they want to execute him, but he manages to escape. In a duel, he kills the boyar Morozov, after which Elena goes to a monastery and takes tonsure.
Then the prince himself goes on a campaign with Ermak to conquer Siberia and dies there. But he is remembered in his homeland and they talk a lot about his military deeds.
Conclusion (my opinion)
The author himself at the end of the book claims that honest and courageous people, such as Morozov and Serebryany, come into this world to make it better and cleaner, they lived in a terrible time, but even among evil they were able to remain noble people.
In 1862, the publishing house M.N. Katkov in the journal "Russian Messenger" published the historical novel by A. Tolstoy "Prince Silver" (a story from the time of Ivan the Terrible). The main source of the work was N. Karamzin's "History of the Russian State", in the episodes of the novel, V. Gusev's "Missal", I. Sakharov's "Tales of the Russian people", A. Tereshchenko's monograph "Life of the Russian people", books of the Old and New Testaments ...
Summary of the novel
XYI century, 1565, summer. Prince Nikita Romanovich Serebryany with people returning
After a 5-year stay in Lithuania with embassy assignments, he arrives in Moscow. In the village of Medvedevka, the boyar suddenly becomes an eyewitness to a strange event: during the holiday, a group of alien people (he takes them for robbers) attacks the peasants, robs, kills, commits violence and sets fire to houses. The prince's warriors twist the "dashing" people, but then it turns out that these are not robbers, but the guardsmen of the sovereign. Nikita Romanovich refuses to believe this and sends the captives to the provincial headman.
Continuing the journey, Prince Serebryany stops for the night at the miller, who was known in the neighborhood as a sorcerer.
Prince Athanasius Vyazemsky comes to the village sorcerer and, ignoring the sleeping strangers, demands love spells. From the conversation of A. Vyazemsky with the miller, the awakened Nikita Romanovich learns a lot of new things.
It turned out that Elena Dmitrievna, beloved of Serebryany, broke her word given to him and, fleeing the harassment of A. Vyazemsky, married the old boyar Druzhina Adreevich Morozov. And since A. Vyazemsky enjoyed the favor and patronage of Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich, Morozov's squad immediately fell into disgrace.
Arriving in Moscow, Prince Nikita Romanovich discovers amazing changes in the capital: everywhere a lot of oprichny people, drunk and robbers, are outrageous and doing lawlessness. Holy fool Vasily (blessed) calls out to the boyar and, calling him his brother, predicts something bad in the house of D. Morozov. The prince immediately goes to Morozov's team. Druzhina Adreevich informs Serebryany about the departure of Tsar John to Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda, the oprichnina, denunciations and dissuades the guest from going to the sovereign. Not considering it possible to hide from his tsar, the prince explains himself with Elena Dmitrievna in the garden and goes to Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda.
Sloboda strikes Nikita Romanovich with its appearance: among the rich chambers and temples, gallows, chopping blocks are visible everywhere ...
During the royal feast, the boyar witnesses another injustice: Ivan the Terrible allows Afanasy Vyazemsky to take Elena Dmitrievna. At the same time, Grozny was told how Prince Serebryany had punished the tsarist guardsmen in Medvedevka. Ivan Vasilyevich, angry, sentences the disobeyed boyar to death, and only the intercession of Maxim Skuratov saves him from death.
The misadventures of the protagonist of the novel do not end there. Boyarin Nikita Romanovich finds himself in the center of the palace "fuss" and more than once miraculously saves his life ...
Prince Athanasius Vyazemsky succeeds in taking Elena Dmitrievna away by force. The squad of Morozov demands that the king restore justice. Ivan the Terrible, believing in the machinations of A. Vyazemsky and wishing death to D. Morozov, sentences him to the "judgment of God" - a duel (with Vyazemsky), the winner of which will be executed.
The team of Adreevich Morozov denounces the tsar and, forcibly dressed in a jester's caftan, prophesies about irreparable damage to the country from the reign of John.
As a result, D. Morozov, A. Vyazemsky, the miller and many other people were executed on Red Square. Blessed Basil, who came to the execution, demands that he be executed, but the people do not allow the holy fool to be killed.
Elena Dmitrievna retires to a convent and, refusing to tie her fate (after the terrible death of D. Morozov and in memory of him) with Prince Serebryany, takes monastic vows under the name Evdokia (other Greek - Goodwill).
Prince Nikita Romanovich rejects the offer to serve in the guardsmen and is appointed to serve as governor in the sentry regiment ...
Years later, Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible learns that the brave Prince Silver has died. And over the country, the prophecy of the Druzhina Adreevich Morozov begins to come true. The sovereign suffers defeats at the borders, and only in the Far East, where Yermak’s squad serves, everything is going well ...
Brief analysis of the work.
A. Tolstoy admitted that he only wanted to recreate the external atmosphere of the 17th century. Therefore, you should not take the novel for a historical and reliable essay. The author was interested exclusively in human relations and the characters of people. Prince Nikita Romanovich Serebryany is a fictitious character that came into the novel from a folk song and has the main features of a romantic epic hero (a typical embodiment of courage, virtue and honor).
The image of Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich for many connoisseurs of Russian history seems not at all correct ... But despite some "non-historicity", far-fetched "artificiality", naive romanticism and sentimentality, A. Tolstov's novel still rightfully attracts the attention of the modern reader ...
