Clean Monday- story a, written in 1944.

The events of the story take place in Moscow, the narration is from the protagonist.

Winter Moscow plunged into twilight. The nameless hero of our story rode down the street on a sled. He moved from the Red Gate to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Near the cathedral lived the second heroine of the story, his beloved.

He visited her every day, they attended the theater together, concerts, often went to restaurants. It would seem they are a typical lover happy couple. But in fact, their relationship was strange. She had no joint plans for the future.

She herself established the secret, her life, her actions were often incomprehensible to him. For example, she studied at the courses, but almost did not attend them. Her parents were merchants, but they died. She rented a corner apartment, exquisitely furnished, with a portrait of Tolstoy on the wall and a beautiful view of Moscow. She loved to play the Moonlight Sonata on an expensive piano. The girl loves loneliness and reads a lot of books.

He constantly visited her regularly, brought many gifts, books, chocolate. Every Saturday I ordered elegant flowers for her. Lying on her Turkish sofa, she indifferently accepted his gifts. It would seem that she does not need all this, but she read all the books, ate all the chocolate. darling and good clothes was her weakness. As a couple, they looked almost perfect: young and beautiful, they attracted the attention of many others. “Indecently handsome,” one famous actor described him.

Her beauty was great too oriental type. Going out in public with him, she was not shy about expensive jewelry. But their personalities were different. He was cheerful and liked to talk a lot. She, more often, was silent, thinking about something of her own, detached. We met in the Art Circle, accidentally finding ourselves next to each other in a chair. Often their views on different things diverged, nevertheless they were together. He often reminded of his love, even accusing her of inattention to himself. Their love was rather strange. This went on for months until Forgiveness Sunday arrived.

He visited her in the evening. She expressed a desire to go to the Novodevichy Monastery, which surprised him. Together they walked through the snow-covered cemetery, he looked at her footprints. He was very surprised that she herself often visits temples and cathedrals. It turned out he didn't know her very well. After this slightly sad walk, they swept around Moscow, for some reason looking for Griboedov's house on Ordynka, and then went to have dinner at Yegorov's tavern. It was very crowded and stuffy. Going into another room, they found a place near the icon of the Mother of God of the Three Hands. She told him about her visit to the Zachatievsky Monastery. She really liked it there, sighing, she said that she would go to the monastery sometime. Our hero was seriously agitated by this statement, and added that in this case he himself would go somewhere far away. They ordered food. Today she was especially talkative, but her stories excited him even more. There's something wrong with her today, he thought.

The next day, in the evening, our heroes went to the Theater, to the "Kapustnik". It was her yesterday's initiative. She acted a little strange, smoked a lot, then danced, causing admiration in those around her. He walked her home and went into the apartment. She went into the bedroom. With excitement, he looked in there and saw his goddess without a dress in only shoes. That night they were together. At dawn, he woke up, and she told him that she was leaving for Tver on indefinite time. She asked me to leave her, promising to write a letter.

Letter came. She informed him that she was going to obedience, and then perhaps she would be tonsured as a nun. She also asked not to look for her, and not to torment both of them. Our hero long time disappeared in taverns, trying to forget. In the fourteenth year New Year he went to the Archangel Cathedral, and after that to Ordynka. He suddenly wanted to visit the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent. It turned out right now the Grand Duchess and the Prince are praying there. Entering the courtyard, he saw the princess coming out of the church, followed by a string of singing nuns or sisters. One of them suddenly raised her head and fixed her gaze somewhere ahead, right at him. She felt it even before she looked. Our heroes recognized each other, they silently understood everything. He turned and quietly walked out of the temple courtyard.

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I. A. Bunin - the story "Clean Monday". At the heart of the plot of the story I.A. Bunin "Clean Monday" is a story of love and parting of heroes. And this parting is predetermined by the whole course of the story. The very name of the work is symbolic - "Clean Monday". In the Orthodox tradition, this is a kind of border, a boundary between ordinary, fussy, sinful life and the beginning of Great Lent, when a person is called to be cleansed of filth. Such a boundary for the heroine in the story is her parting with her lover, the transition to a new life. And such an ending to this story was quite natural.

With mutual attraction, Bunin's heroes are very different people. He is a rather rich man, in some ways an epicurean, leads an idle, bohemian lifestyle. Every evening there is a theater, a restaurant, a concert, a lecture. She is strange, mysterious, controversial nature. Differs in unusual, oriental beauty, swarthyness. He studies at courses, is interested in history, likes to visit churches, the Raskolnichye cemetery. In her room there is a portrait of the barefoot Tolstoy, she talks about Platon Karataev. The soul of the beloved is a mystery to the hero. Her behavior is incomprehensible to him.

The climax of the story is the bedroom scene. The heroes finally became close, but this did not bring them happiness. Love here is like a bright flash that illuminated the hero's life for a moment. We can only guess about the feelings of his beloved. Probably life for her was much more than love. After that, she goes to the monastery. Bunin's hero is very worried about this parting, he cannot understand her. And in the final he meets her one day in one of the temples.

Thus, Bunin affirms in this story his understanding of love - this is an instantaneous flash of light, joy, sun, illuminating life. It lasts only one moment.

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They met in December by chance. When he got to Andrei Bely's lecture, he twirled and laughed so much that she, who happened to be in an armchair nearby and at first looked at him with some bewilderment, also laughed. Now every evening he went to her apartment, rented by her solely for the sake of a wonderful view of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, every evening he took her to dine in chic restaurants, theaters, concerts ... How all this was supposed to end, he did not know and tried not to even think: she put aside all talk of the future once and for all.

She was mysterious and incomprehensible; their relationship was strange and indefinite, and this kept him in constant unresolved tension, in agonizing expectation. And yet, what happiness was every hour spent next to her ...

In Moscow, she lived alone (her widowed father, an enlightened man of a noble merchant family lived in retirement in Tver), for some reason she studied at the courses (she liked history) and kept learning the slow beginning of the Moonlight Sonata, only the beginning ... He showered her with flowers, chocolate and newfangled books, getting indifferent and distracted for all this " Thanks…". And it seemed that she didn’t need anything, although she still preferred her favorite flowers, read books, ate chocolate, dined and dined with appetite. Her obvious weakness was only good clothes, expensive fur ...

They were both rich, healthy, young and so good-looking that in restaurants and at concerts they were seen off with their eyes. He, being a native of the Penza province, was then handsome with southern, "Italian" beauty and had a corresponding character: lively, cheerful, constantly ready for a happy smile. And she had some kind of Indian, Persian beauty, and how talkative and restless he was, she was so silent and thoughtful ... Even when he suddenly kissed her passionately, impetuously, she did not resist, but was silent all the time. And when she felt that he was unable to control himself, she calmly pulled away, went into the bedroom and dressed for the next trip. "No, I'm not fit to be a wife!" she insisted. "We'll see!" he thought, and never spoke of marriage again.

But sometimes this incomplete intimacy seemed unbearably painful to him: “No, this is not love!” - "Who knows what love is?" she answered. And again, all evening they talked only about strangers, and again he was only glad that he was simply next to Her, heard her voice, looked at the lips that he kissed an hour ago ... What torment! And what happiness!

So passed January, February, came and went carnival. On Forgiveness Sunday, she dressed in all black (“After all, tomorrow is a clean Monday!”) And invited him to go to Novodevichy Convent. He looked at her in surprise, and she told about the beauty and sincerity of the funeral of the schismatic archbishop, about the singing of the church choir, which made the heart tremble, about their lonely visits to the Kremlin cathedrals ... Then they wandered around for a long time Novodevichy cemetery, visited the graves of Ertel and Chekhov, searched long and fruitlessly for Griboyedov's house, and not finding it, went to Yegorov's tavern in Okhotny Ryad.

The tavern was warm and full of thickly dressed cabbies. “How good,” she said. “And now only in some northern monasteries this Russia has remained ... Oh, I’ll go somewhere to a monastery, to some very remote!” And she read by heart from ancient Russian legends: “... And the devil instilled in his wife a flying snake for fornication. And this serpent appeared to her in human nature, very beautiful ... ". And again he looked with surprise and concern: what is the matter with her today? All quirks?

For tomorrow, she asked to be taken to the theatrical skit, although she noticed that there was nothing more vulgar than them. She smoked a lot at the skit and looked intently at the actors, grimacing to the laughter of the public. One of them first looked at her with mock gloomy greed, then, drunkenly leaning on his arm, inquired about her companion: “What kind of handsome man is this? I hate it.” At three o'clock in the morning, leaving the skit, She said, not jokingly, not seriously: “He was right. Of course it's beautiful. "A serpent in human nature, very beautiful ...". And that evening, contrary to custom, she asked to let the crew go ...

And in a quiet night apartment, she immediately went into the bedroom, rustled with her dress being removed. He went to the door: she, in only swan shoes, stood in front of the dressing table, combing her black hair with a tortoiseshell comb. “Everyone said that I don’t think much about him,” she said. - No, I thought ... "... And at dawn he woke up from her gaze: "Tonight I'm leaving for Tver," she said. - How long, God only knows ... I'll write everything as soon as I arrive. I'm sorry, leave me now..."

The letter received two weeks later was brief - an affectionate, but firm request not to wait, not to try to look and see: “I won’t return to Moscow, I’ll go to obedience for now, then maybe I’ll decide to be tonsured ...” And he didn’t look, for a long time disappeared in the dirtiest taverns, drank himself, sinking more and more. Then he gradually began to recover - indifferently, hopelessly ...

Almost two years have passed since that clean Monday ... On the same quiet evening he left the house, took a cab and went to the Kremlin. For a long time he stood, without praying, in the dark Archangel Cathedral, then for a long time he drove, as then, through dark alleys and kept crying, crying ...

On Ordynka I stopped at the gate Martha and Mary Convent in which the girl's choir sang sadly and tenderly. The janitor didn't want to let him through, but for a ruble, he sighed in dismay and let him through. Then icons, banners, carried in their hands, appeared from the church, a white line of singing nuns stretched out, with the lights of candles in their faces. He carefully looked at them, and then one of those walking in the middle suddenly raised her head and fixed her dark eyes on the darkness, as if seeing him. What could she see in the darkness, how could she feel His presence? He turned and quietly walked out of the gate.

Every evening in the winter of 1912, the narrator visits the same apartment opposite the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. There lives a woman whom he loves madly. The narrator takes her to chic restaurants, gives her books, chocolates and fresh flowers, but does not know how it will all end. She doesn't want to talk about the future. There has not yet been a real, last intimacy between them, and this keeps the narrator "in insoluble tension, in painful expectation." Despite this, he is happy next to her.

She is studying for historical courses and lives alone - her father, a widowed enlightened merchant, settled "at rest in Tver." She accepts all the gifts of the narrator carelessly and absent-mindedly.

It seemed that she wanted nothing: no flowers, no books, no dinners, no theaters, no dinners outside the city.

She has her favorite flowers, she reads books, she eats chocolate and dine with great pleasure, but her only real weakness is "good clothes, velvet, silks, expensive furs."

Both the narrator and his beloved are young and very beautiful. The narrator looks like an Italian, bright and agile. She was swarthy and black-eyed like a Persian. He is "prone to talkativeness and simple-hearted gaiety", she is always reserved and silent.

The narrator often recalls how they met at Andrei Bely's lecture. The writer did not give a lecture, but sang it, running around the stage. The narrator "twisted and laughed so much" that he attracted the attention of a girl sitting in a nearby chair, and she laughed with him.

Sometimes she silently, but without resisting, allows the narrator to kiss "her hands, her feet, her body, amazing in its smoothness." Feeling that he can no longer control himself, she pulls away and leaves. She says she is not fit for marriage, and the narrator doesn't talk to her about it again.

Our incomplete intimacy sometimes seemed unbearable, but even here - what was left for me but hope for time?

The fact that he looks at her, accompanies her to restaurants and theaters, is torment and happiness for the narrator.

So the narrator spends January and February. Carnival arrives. On Forgiveness Sunday, she orders to pick her up earlier than usual. They go to the Novodevichy Convent. On the way, she tells that yesterday morning she was at the schismatic cemetery, where their archbishop was buried, and recalls the whole ceremony with delight. The narrator is surprised - until now he did not notice that she is so religious.

They arrive at the cemetery of the Novodevichy Convent and walk between the graves for a long time. The narrator looks at her with adoration. She notices this and is sincerely surprised: he really loves her so much! In the evening they eat pancakes in a tavern Okhotny Ryad, she again tells him with admiration about the monasteries that she managed to see, and threatens to go to the most remote of them. The narrator does not take her words seriously.

The next evening, she asks the narrator to take her to a theatrical skit, although she considers such gatherings to be extremely vulgar. All evening she drinks champagne, looks at the antics of the actors, and then famously dances the polka with one of them.

Late at night, the narrator brings her home. To his surprise, she asks to let the coachman go and go up to her apartment - she did not allow this before. They are finally getting closer. In the morning, she tells the narrator that she is leaving for Tver, promises to write and asks to leave her now.

The narrator receives the letter in two weeks. She says goodbye to him and asks not to wait and not to look for her.

I won’t return to Moscow, I’ll go to obedience for now, then, maybe, I’ll decide to be tonsured ... May God give me the strength not to answer me - it’s useless to prolong and increase our torment ...

The narrator grants her request. He begins to disappear through the dirtiest taverns, gradually losing human form, then for a long time, indifferently and hopelessly comes to his senses.

Two years pass. On New Year's Eve, the narrator, with tears in his eyes, repeats the path that he once traveled with his beloved on Forgiveness Sunday. Then he stops at the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent and wants to enter. The janitor does not let the narrator in: inside there is a service for the Grand Duchess and the Grand Duke. The narrator still comes in, slipping a ruble to the janitor.

In the courtyard of the monastery, the narrator sees a religious procession. It is headed by the Grand Duchess, followed by a string of singing nuns or sisters with candles near their pale faces. One of the sisters suddenly raises her black eyes and looks directly at the narrator, as if sensing his presence in the darkness. The Narrator turns and quietly exits the gate.

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"CLEAN MONDAY"

I.A. Bunin

SUMMARY

Moscow gray winter day turns into evening. Every evening the narrator is driven by a coachman from the Red Gate to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. A lady lives opposite the temple, whom he takes to dine and to theaters. Who she will be for him, he does not know, she is mysterious and incomprehensible, but he is happy with her. She studies at the courses, lives alone, constantly learns the beginning of the "Moonlight Sonata".

Every Saturday the narrator sends her flowers, brings chocolate, new books. This couple sees their eyes everywhere. He is chatty and restless, she is silent and thoughtful. They met at a lecture by Andrei Bely, the narrator twirled and laughed so hard that she, too, laughed. He tells her that she does not love him, she replies that, apart from her father and him, she has no one. They drink tea, talking about everything that comes to mind. Arriving in the evening, he kissed her for a long time, then she got ready, not allowing full intimacy, and they drove, for example, to the Metropol, again talking about something extraneous. Immediately after they met, she said that she was not fit to be a wife, he did not talk about marriage, but he expected her decision to change. Once, after kissing, he clutched his head and groaned: "Yes, after all, this is not love, not love ..." She replied that no one knows what love is. He exclaims that he knows and will wait for her to know love and happiness. And again they talk about something else. It is enough for him to be next to her every evening. January, February, Maslenitsa passed.

On Forgiveness Sunday, she ordered to come to her at five o'clock in the evening, met him all in black, saying that tomorrow was Clean Monday, and invited him to go to the Novodevichy Convent. The narrator was surprised, she said that yesterday she was at the Rogozhsky cemetery and walks without him in the mornings around the city. But this is not religiosity, but something else. In Novodevichy, she says to him with quiet bewilderment: "It's true, how you love me!" They looked at the graves of Ertel and Chekhov. Then we went to look for Griboyedov's house, as well as for the last pancakes in a tavern to Yegorov. She says that the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent is nearby ... In a tavern, in a room with an icon of the Mother of God of Three Hands, she says: "You are a gentleman, you cannot understand all this Moscow the way I do." At dinner, she mentions that she went to the Zachatievsky Monastery, where stichera are wonderfully sung, she was in the Miracle Monastery: “Oh, I’ll go somewhere to a monastery, to some very remote one.” In desperation, he thinks that then he will leave or kill someone to be sent to Sakhalin, lit a cigarette, forgetting that smoking is not allowed here. With a quiet light in her eyes she retells Russian legend about how God tested the princess. The narrator is surprised and alarmed.

When he took her home, she told her to come tomorrow no earlier than ten, she wants to go to the skits of the Art Theater, although she does not like skits. He arrives at the appointed time and finds her playing the beginning of the Moonlight Sonata, wearing a black velvet dress. She favorably accepts the attention of men on the skit, on the way to the house the moon seems to her a luminous skull, the chimes - ancient, tin and cast iron. At the entrance, she asks to let the coachman go, although before that she had never allowed him to go up to her at night. This night was the night of love.

At dawn she said that indefinite term he is leaving for his father, he will write as soon as he arrives. He asks to leave her, the narrator leaves, goes to Iverskaya, kneels down and prays. Some old woman takes pity on him: "Oh, don't kill yourself, don't kill yourself like that! Sin! Sin!"

Two weeks later he receives a letter: she asks not to wait for her, intends to go to obedience and then, perhaps, to be tonsured. He asks him not to answer, because it will only increase the torment. He drank for a long time, then began to come to his senses indifferently. Almost two years have passed.

On the eve of the new year, 1914, he goes to the Kremlin, stands without praying in the Archangel Cathedral, then goes to where they skated together and cries. Having stopped the cab at the gates of the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent, he feels an irresistible desire to go into the temple. But the janitor at the gate blocks the road, asks not to go, because there is now "Grand Duchess Elzavet Fedrovna and Grand Duke Mitriy Palych." They let him through for a ruble, but when he enters the yard, he sees procession, Grand Duchess, and one of the sisters suddenly raises her head and looks into the darkness. He understands that this is his favorite.

She somehow sensed his presence and looked straight at him even though he was standing in the dark. The narrator turned and walked out of the gate.