My servant, cook and hunting companion Yarmola, the woodsman, entered the room, bending under a bundle of firewood, dropped it with a crash on the floor and breathed on his frozen fingers.

“Oh, what a wind, panych, in the yard,” he said, squatting down in front of the shutter. - It is necessary to heat it well in coarse. Allow me a spark, sir.

- So, tomorrow we won’t go to the hares, huh? What do you think, Yarmola?

- No ... you can’t ... hear what a mess. The hare is now lying and - and not purr-murr ... Tomorrow you will not see even a single trace.

Fate threw me for six whole months in a remote village in the Volyn province, on the outskirts of Polissya, and hunting was my only occupation and pleasure. I confess that at the time when I was offered to go to the village, I did not at all think that I would be so unbearably bored. I even went with joy. “Polesye… backwoods… the bosom of nature… simple morals… primitive nature,” I thought, sitting in the carriage, “a people completely unfamiliar to me, with strange customs, a peculiar language… and, probably, what a lot of poetic legends, legends and songs!” And at that time (to tell, to tell everything like that) I had already managed to emboss in one small newspaper a story with two murders and one suicide, and I knew theoretically that it is useful for writers to observe morals.

But ... either the Perebrod peasants were distinguished by some kind of special, stubborn lack of communication, or I did not know how to get down to business - my relations with them were limited only to the fact that, when they saw me, they still took off their hats from a distance, and when they came abreast of me, they said sullenly: "Guy bug", which was supposed to mean: "God help." When I tried to talk to them, they looked at me with surprise, refused to understand the simplest questions and tried to kiss my hands - an old custom left over from Polish serfdom.

The books that I had, I read them all very soon. Out of boredom - although at first it seemed unpleasant to me - I made an attempt to get acquainted with the local intelligentsia in the person of a priest who lived fifteen miles away, who was with him "pan organist", a local constable and a clerk of a neighboring estate from retired non-commissioned officers, but nothing of this didn't work out.

Then I tried to treat the inhabitants of Perebrod. At my disposal were: castor oil, carbolic acid, boric acid, iodine. But here, in addition to my meager information, I stumbled upon the complete impossibility of making diagnoses, because the signs of the disease in all my patients were always the same: “it hurts in the middle” and “I can neither eat nor drink.”

For example, an old woman comes to me. Wiping her nose with an embarrassed look with the index finger of her right hand, she takes out a couple of eggs from her bosom, and for a second I can see her brown skin, and puts them on the table. Then she starts catching my hands to plant a kiss on them. I hide my hands and convince the old woman: “Come on, grandma ... leave it ... I don’t pop ... I’m not supposed to ... What hurts you?”

- In the middle it hurts, panychu, in the very middle, so that I can’t even drink or eat.

- How long have you been doing this?

– Do I know? She also answers with a question. - So it bakes and bakes. I can't drink or eat.

And no matter how much I fight, there are no more definite signs of the disease.

“Don’t worry,” a non-commissioned clerk once advised me, “they will heal themselves.” Dry like a dog. I will tell you that I use only one medicine - ammonia. A man comes to me. "What do you want?" - "I, he says, is sick" ... Now he has a bottle of ammonia under his breath. "Smell!" Sniffing… “Smell more… stronger!..” Sniffing… “Is it easier?” - "It seemed to feel better ..." - "Well, go with God."

In addition, this kissing of hands disgusted me (and others so directly fell at my feet and tried with all their might to kiss my boots). It was not a movement of a grateful heart at all, but simply a disgusting habit, instilled by centuries of slavery and violence. And I was only surprised at the same clerk from the non-commissioned officers and the sergeant, seeing with what imperturbable gravity they thrust their huge red paws into the lips of the peasants ...

All I had to do was hunt. But at the end of January, such weather came that it became impossible to hunt. Every day a terrible wind blew, and during the night a hard, icy layer of crust formed on the snow, over which the hare ran without leaving traces. Sitting shut up and listening to the howling of the wind, I yearned terribly. It is clear that I greedily seized on such an innocent entertainment as teaching Yarmola the woodsman to read and write.

It started, however, in a rather original way. I was writing a letter one day and suddenly I felt that someone was standing behind me. Turning around, I saw Yarmola approaching, as always, soundlessly in his soft sandals.

- What do you want, Yarmola? I asked.

- Yes, I'm amazed at how you write. If only I could… No, no… not like you,” he hurried in embarrassment, seeing that I was smiling… “I would only like my last name…”

- Why do you need it? - I was surprised ... (It should be noted that Yarmola is considered the poorest and laziest peasant in all of Perebrod: he spends his salary and his peasant earnings on drink; there are no such bad oxen as he has anywhere in the neighborhood. In my opinion, he really in no case could literacy be necessary.) I asked again doubtfully: “Why do you need to be able to write a surname?”

“But you see, what a deal, panych,” Yarmola answered unusually softly, “we don’t have a single literate person in our village. When a paper needs to be signed, or a matter in the volost, or something… no one can… The headman only puts a seal, but he himself does not know what is printed on it… It would be good for everyone if someone could sign.

Such solicitude of Yarmola - a notorious poacher, a careless vagabond, whose opinion the village assembly would never even think to consider - such concern for the public interest of his native village for some reason touched me. I myself offered to give him lessons. And what hard work it was, all my attempts to teach him to read and write consciously! Yarmola, who knew to perfection every path of his forest, almost every tree, who knew how to navigate day and night in any place, distinguished by the tracks of all the surrounding wolves, hares and foxes - this same Yarmola could not imagine why, for example , the letters "m" and "a" together make up "ma". As a rule, he agonized over such a task for ten minutes, or even more, and his swarthy, thin face with sunken black eyes, all gone into a stiff black beard and large mustaches, expressed an extreme degree of mental stress.

- Well, tell me, Yarmola, - "ma." Just just say “ma,” I pestered him. Don't look at the paper, look at me, like this. Well, say - "ma" ...

Then Yarmola sighed deeply, put a pointer on the table and said sadly and resolutely:

- No I can not…

- How can you not? It's so easy after all. Simply say "ma", that's how I say it.

- No ... I can’t, panych ... I forgot ...

All methods, techniques and comparisons were shattered by this monstrous lack of understanding. But Yarmola's desire for enlightenment did not weaken at all.

- I would only have my last name! he asked me shyly. “Nothing more is needed. Only a surname: Yarmola Popruzhuk - and nothing more.

Having finally abandoned the idea of ​​teaching him intelligent reading and writing, I began to teach him to sign mechanically. To my great surprise, this method turned out to be the most accessible to Yarmolya, so by the end of the second month we had almost mastered the surname. As for the name, in view of the simplification of the task, we decided to completely discard it.

In the evenings, after finishing the furnace, Yarmola waited impatiently for me to call him.

“Well, Yarmola, let’s study,” I said.

The young master Ivan Timofeevich came on business to the village of Perebrody, Volyn province. The villagers were unsociable people, so he had difficulty finding a servant among them. They called him Yarmola. He was an excellent hunter and expert in the forest.

The two often went hunting together. Once the servant told the master about the witch Manuilikha, who lived in the forest near the swamp. Ivan decided to get acquainted with her when the frosts subsided. But Yarmola refused to go to her.

When it got warmer, Ivan Timofeevich and Yarmola went to hunt hares. But in the forest the master got lost. Having wandered for a long time in a dense forest, he went out to a swamp. On its edge stood a rickety hut. In it lived old Manuilikha, who was called a witch in the district.

Ivan asked to warm himself and gave the old woman a silver coin. Later, Manuilikha's granddaughter appeared. Olesya, that was the name of the girl, showed the master the road that would lead him out of the forest. Ivan once again wanted to see her, and he asked permission to visit them again. Yarmola guessed where his master was, but did not dare to condemn him.

A month later, when spring was in full swing, the young master again went to the hut by the swamp. He really wanted to see Olesya. From the first meeting, he could not forget the girl. To appease the grouchy old woman, he brought her a present. Manuilikha was dissatisfied with his appearance, but after the gift she became less indignant. During a conversation with Olesya, Ivan asked her to tell fortunes. The girl refused his request. Later, she confessed to the young man that she had already guessed at him. The cards bewitched him with the love of a dark-haired lady, but these feelings will not bring happiness to any of them. The master did not believe in her stories, but kept silent.

Since then, Ivan often visited the inhabitants of the small house, and in the evenings he and Olesya walked for a long time through the forest. In one of these meetings, Ivan learned that a police officer was evicting a girl with her grandmother from a hut. The young man decided to help them. He invited the constable to visit, fed him well and presented him with a gun. He left the forest dwellers alone. But after this incident, Olesya's attitude towards Ivan changed dramatically.

She became more restrained and silent, walking through the forest stopped. The master could not understand the reason for such behavior of the girl. And then Ivan fell ill. During his illness, he realized how dear Olesya was to him. Having met her after recovery, Ivan read so much joy, anxiety and love in her eyes that he could not keep silent about his feelings.

Almost all of June, Olesya and Ivan met in the forest, giving each other love and tenderness. But the day of departure of the young master was approaching. And then he decided to marry Olesya and take her with him. But the girl was afraid of something, but did not want to explain the reason.

On the feast of the Holy Trinity, the young gentleman went on official business to a neighboring town. He returned only in the evening. The whole village celebrated the holiday, it was hard to find at least one sober person. At home, Ivan Timofeevich was met by a clerk from a neighboring estate and told about the incident in the village. It turns out that Olesya came to the church service from the forest.

When she left the church, she was met by village women and girls who attacked her, beat her and wanted to smear her with tar. The girl miraculously escaped from their hands and, running away, cursed the whole village. Hearing this story, Ivan jumped on his horse and rode into the forest. Olesya lay on the bed and hid her bloodied face. From her words, Ivan understood that she and her grandmother were going to leave. For a long time the young man sat next to Olesya, spoke kind words to her, kissed her hands. In the evening, a thunderstorm broke out over the village. The hail broke the life of half of the villagers.

Ivan remembered Olesya's curses and was very afraid for her life. When he reached the hut by the swamp, there was no one there. Only coral beads hung on the open window, like a last greeting from a beloved girl.

"Olesya"- the story of Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin. One of the first major works of Kuprin was written in 1898. The main theme is the tragic love of the city gentleman Ivan Timofeevich and the young girl Olesya.

"Olesya" summary by chapter

Chapter I
The story is told from the author - Ivan Timofeevich, or "panych", as he is often called in the story. There is a description of his life in Polissya, where he arrived on official business, which is not specified, and it does not matter. The panych has a servant named Yarmola, with whom they have a very good relationship. Yarmola is illiterate, but really wants to learn how to write his last name - Poprozhuk, the panych teaches him how to write. It is incredibly boring in Polissya: the panych has already read all the books that he had, and hunting remained his only entertainment.

Chapter II
A strong cold wind broke out in Polissya. Yarmola tells the panych that this wind sends a witcher (witch). Yarmola tells the panych a story about a local witch and her granddaughter (or daughter), who used to live in local dreams, but then the locals drove her into the forest - they believed that the witch sent misfortune to the village. The inhabitants were superstitious! Panych asks Yarmola to take him to a witch who still lives somewhere in the forest, but Yarmola categorically refuses - she is afraid of witches!

Chapter III
Yarmola and the panych went hunting (as already mentioned, hunting was the only pastime of the Polesie panych). Panych got lost in the forest and accidentally wandered into some kind of hut, as it turned out, to the very witch he was so eager to get to. The grandmother (Manuilikha) in the hut turned out to be very unfriendly, but as soon as the panych rustled with money, she immediately became kinder and agreed to tell him fortune. The witch's granddaughter came to the hut - a beautiful brunette, 20-25 years old. Panych asks her to take him out of the wilderness. The girl accompanies him and is called Olesya.

Chapter IV
After some time, the panych again comes to the hut in the forest (apparently he has already managed to remember the way), brings a gift. Olesya, apparently, liked him. Olesya admits that she was guessing at him and saw that there would be love for him from the “club lady” and that this lady would be in great misfortune from love for him.

Chapter V
Panych is having lunch in a forest hut. Then he, along with Olesya, walks to the edge of the forest and Olesya shows him her witchcraft: then Panych begins to stutter for absolutely no reason, then Olesya instantly stops his blood from being cut. Panych, although at first rather skeptical about witchcraft, is very puzzled. Olesya declares that she and her grandmother have these powers "from him."

Chapter VI
Panych began to often visit Olesya, well, still - love, you always want to be closer to each other. They often walk in the forest, Olesya escorts the panych, but does not want to leave the forest: the locals do not like her and the grandmother.

Chapter VII
Once, being, as usual, in a hut, the panych got into a conversation with an old woman. She told a sentimental story that a local police officer was sharpening a tooth on her and her granddaughter - in every possible way he was trying to get them out of these places. Panych promises to deal with this problem.

Chapter VIII
Panych invites the sergeant, as they say, to sit in a man's company and wet his throat with alcohol. Panych gives the sergeant a gun and persuades him not to evict the old woman and granddaughter. The constable agrees and promises to leave the witch family alone.

Chapter IX
The constable kept his word and really abandoned his attempts to evict. Panych fell ill.

Chapter X
Panych lay in bed for a long time due to illness. Finally, feeling better, he goes to Olesya, whom he already misses quite a lot. Panych and Olesya confess their love to each other.

Chapter XI
Panych and Olesya continue to meet. However, on duty, the panych had to leave Polissya. Panych offers Olesya to marry him. It’s not easy for a young sorceress: at one time she loves Ivan Timofeevich (I haven’t called him by name for a long time, I’ll write, otherwise someone suddenly forgot), on the other hand she has a very unusual way of life to which she is used to, she doesn’t know how she will be received people in society, and even a granny to boot, who has lived all her life in the forest.

Chapter XII
Panych is temporarily leaving Polesie on business. When he returns, he learns the news that shocks him: it turns out that Olesya came to church to prove her love for Panych, but she was not allowed to appear in the church - after all, she is a sorceress, and this is not divine. The locals were indignant: they beat Olesya and wanted to smear her with tar - it was considered to cover the person with shame. Olesya managed to escape from the raging crowd of people, and running away, she shouted that she would put a curse on them. Panych immediately rushed to Olesya's house.

Chapter XIII
Entering the hut, the panych was immediately attacked by the old woman Manuilikha (whom I also hadn’t called that for a long time, the time had come). She scolded him, because she believed that all Olesya's troubles today were precisely because of her love for the panych. Olesya was lying on the bed, she told her lover that they would not be happy together, as the cards say - the “club lady” is Olesya. Olesya said that they treated her grandmother in much the same way as with herself, although neither one nor the other in her life sent curses and damage to anyone. Panych, in vague thoughts, says goodbye to Olesya and his grandmother and goes to his hut.

Chapter XIV
Arriving home, the panych learns that the whole village has rebelled against Olesya and her grandmother. People are thirsty for the blood of witches. Panych immediately rushes back to the forest hut to warn its inhabitants of the impending danger, but the hut is already empty. Panych found only Olesya's beads, which she left him - this is the only thing that now reminds Panych of the light of former love ...

The story is told by a young man who, on duty, finds himself in the remote village of Perebrod - a boring and dull place.

The only entertainment there is hunting in the local forest with the servant Yarmola and trying to teach him to write and read correctly. Once, during a terrible snowstorm, the master learns from Yarmola that the sorceress Manuilikha lives nearby, who was evicted by the locals for witchcraft. During the thaw, the author and his servant go hunting and, getting lost along the way, they find an old hut in the forest. Manuilikha greets them without much joy in the house, but the guest's silver quarter noticeably changes the woman's attitude. During fortune-telling, the granddaughter of the hostess appears in the hut - a young beauty with dark long hair named Olesya.

The face and appearance of Olesya for a long time did not leave the thoughts of the protagonist. And so he decided to visit the witch's house again. Granddaughter Manuilikha again greeted the guest much more affably than the sorceress. The hero asked her to tell fortunes, and the girl admitted that she had already guessed at him before. The cards predicted great love for the guest from the dark-haired lady of clubs, and for the one who loves him - a lot of grief, tears and shame, which is worse than death ... Then the author introduces himself for the first time, his name is Ivan Timofeevich.

From that time on, Ivan often visited the hut, despite the displeasure of the old witch. The young girl behaved modestly, but always rejoiced at the arrival of the master. The hero liked the beauty of young Olesya, her mind and insight. Relations with assistant Yarmola deteriorated greatly, since he never approved of communication with witches.

One day, visiting again, Ivan Timofeevich found Olesya and Manuilikha in tears. As it turned out, the local constable gave the order to leave the hut and threatened to let them go in stages if they disobeyed. The hero actively assists women, "taunting" the constable, and Yevpsikhy Afrikanovich leaves them alone.

Since then, the relationship between Ivan and the girl has noticeably changed, far from for the better. The hero manages to find out the reason for this only after recovering from the "Polesye fever". Olesya admits that she wanted to avoid a fatal fate, but realized that this was not so easy to do. The love of the main characters develops, despite all the bad and bad signs.

At this time, Ivan Timofeevich needs to return home. He decides to marry Olesya and take her with him. But the girl refuses, so as not to ruin the life of a young man. Ivan suspects that the reason is the fear of the church, but the beauty denies this and makes an appointment on the day of the Holy Trinity in the temple.

The next day, Ivan is late for a meeting at the church. Upon his return, he meets with a clerk, who says that the local girls caught the sorceress, almost smeared it with tar, but she ran away. Indeed, Olesya came to the temple, defended the service and was attacked by village aunts. Breaking out, the girl said that they would still pay for this and remember her more than once. Ivan found out the details of what had happened much later. The hero rushed into the forest and found the beaten girl unconscious along with the disgruntled old witch. When Olesya woke up, she said goodbye to Ivan, regretting that she had not given birth to a child from him.

That same night there was a terrible hailstorm. In the morning the servant woke up and asked the master to leave as soon as possible, because the hail had greatly spoiled the life of the villagers, as they thought, not without the participation of the sorceress. The angry and angry people were already beginning to accuse Ivan of being involved in this. The hero quickly went to the forest hut in order to warn Olesya about the impending disaster as soon as possible, but the hut was already empty. The master found only Olesya's bright red beads, which remained as a memory of her girlish love...

Fate threw the hero for six months in a remote village in the Volyn province, on the outskirts of Polissya, where hunting was his only occupation and pleasure. By that time, he had already "managed to emboss in one small newspaper a story with two murders and one suicide, and he knew theoretically that it is useful for writers to observe morals." When all the books of his library were re-read, he tried to treat the Perebrod residents, but it was impossible to make a diagnosis, because “... the signs of the disease in all ... patients were always the same: “it hurts in the middle” and “no I can't eat or drink." He tried to teach Yarmola Popruzhin to read and write, but abandoned this idea. For several months, this careless tramp, poacher and hunter mastered only the letters of his last name. Yarmola soon became attached to the young master because of his common passion for hunting, for a simple appeal, for helping his family, and mainly because he did not reproach him with drunkenness.

On one of the winter blizzard evenings, he told the hero about one witch, Manuilikha, who was driven out of the village and to whom the village women run. Once during a hunt, Ivan Timofeevich (the hero of the story) got lost and came across a hut that stood in a swamp. “It was not even a hut, but a fabulous hut on chicken legs. It did not touch the ground with the floor, but was built on piles, probably due to the flood that floods the entire ... forest in spring. But one side of it sagged from time to time, and this gave the hut a lame, sad look. In the hut, an old woman sat on the floor and sorted out feathers. The arrival of the guest did not please her. And only a small silver quarter attracted the attention of Manuilikha. Hiding the coin behind her cheek, she began to guess, but suddenly, hearing a resonant female voice, she began to see the young master out. A young girl entered the hut, holding finches in her hands. “There was nothing in her like the local “girls”, whose faces under ugly bandages ... wear such a monotonous, frightened expression - the Stranger ... kept herself light and slender ... The original beauty of her face, once seen, could not be forget, but it was difficult ... to describe it. His charm lay in ... large, shiny, dark eyes ... in the masterful curve of his lips. The girl escorted the guest to the forest path leading to the village. Upon learning that Ivan Timofeevich had visited the witch, Yarmola became angry with him.

Spring has come, early and friendly. As soon as the roads dried up, the hero went to the hut, taking tea and a few lumps of sugar for the grouchy old woman. This time the girl was at home, and the guest began to beg her to tell fortunes to him. But it turned out that Olesya had already thrown her cards once in order to find out the fate of the master. It turned out this: her new acquaintance is a kind man, but weak. His kindness is not good, not cordial. He is not master of his word. Likes to take over people. Loves wine and women. He does not value money, so he will never be rich. He will not love anyone with his heart, because his heart is cold and lazy. But very soon he falls in love. And this love will bring shame and long sorrow to the woman. Olesya, seeing off the guest, showed him "her charms."

From that day on, Ivan Timofeevich became a frequent guest in the hut on chicken legs. Every time he came, "Olesya met ... with her usual restrained dignity ... The old woman still did not stop muttering something under her breath." "Not only Olesya's beauty ... fascinated her, but also her whole, original free nature, her mind, both clear and shrouded in unshakable hereditary superstition." Young people talked about everything, including superstitions. And the girl argued that she could not and was afraid to go to church, because her soul had been “sold to him” since childhood. So far, not a word has been said about love, but our heroes became more and more attached to each other. “But ... relations with Yarmola completely deteriorated. For him, obviously, it was not a secret to visit the hut on chicken legs.

Once, a constable, having come to Manuilikha, ordered her and her granddaughter to leave the hut at 24 o'clock. The poor old woman turned to a new acquaintance for help. Ivan Timofeevich gave the sergeant a gun, and he left the inhabitants of the forest hut alone for a while. But Olesya has changed since then. There was no former gullibility, naive caress and former animation. The young man "was indignant ... against the habit that pulled ... every day to Olesya." He himself did not suspect with what strong invisible threads his heart was tied to a charming and incomprehensible girl for him.

Once, returning from a swamp, he felt ill, and then spent two weeks lying in bed, he was beaten by a fever. But as soon as he got stronger, he went back to the swamp, to the forest hut. The young people sat down nearby, and the girl began to ask in detail about the disease, about medicines. Olesya again went to see off the guest, although her grandmother was against it. Left alone, they confess their love to each other, because “... separation for love is the same as wind for fire; she extinguishes a small love, and inflates a big one even more strongly. “And the whole night merged into some kind of magical, bewitching fairy tale.”

“For almost a month, the naive, charming fairy tale of our love continued, and to this day, together with the beautiful appearance of Olesya, these blazing evening dawns, these dewy mornings, fragrant with lilies of the valley and honey, live with unfading strength in my soul ...” - says the author.

Ivan Timofeevich discovered in this girl, who grew up in the middle of the forest, who could not read, sensitive delicacy and innate tact. “In love - in the direct, in its rough sense - there are always terrible sides that make up torment and shame for nervous artistic natures. But Olesya knew how to avoid them with such naive chastity that not a single bad comparison, not a single cynical moment offended our connection. Meanwhile, the time of departure was approaching, more and more often the thought of marrying a forest sorceress came into the young man's head. Only one circumstance was frightening and alarming: would the girl be able to live in the city, "torn out of this charming framework of the old forest, full of legends and mysterious forces." Ivan Timofeevich told his beloved both about his departure and about his proposal, once again tried to shake her superstition, her humble confidence in the mysterious fatal vocation, spoke of the mercy of God. The girl was amazed by everything she heard. To please her beloved, she decides to go to church. A superstitious thought flashed through Ivan Timofeevich's head: wouldn't some misfortune happen from this?

The premonition did not deceive him. Olesya “overcame her fear and came to church... Throughout the service, the women whispered and looked back. However, Olesya found enough strength in herself to survive until the end of mass. Perhaps she did not understand the real meaning of these hostile looks, perhaps out of pride she neglected them. But when she left the church, at the very fence she was surrounded on all sides by a bunch of women ... At first they only silently and unceremoniously looked at ... the girl. Then rude ridicule rained down ... Several times Olesya tried to pass through this terrible ring, but she was constantly pushed back to the middle ... Almost at the same moment, a daub with tar and a brush appeared over the heads of the raging women, passed from hand to hand .. But Olesya, by some miracle, managed to slip out of this tangle, and she ran headlong along the road ... Stones flew after her, along with abuse, laughter and hooting.

Having learned from the clerk what had happened in the church, Ivan Timofeevich flew straight to Manuilikha's hut. The poor girl lay unconscious. The old woman was wailing all the time. In the evening, Olesya felt better. Tortured and humiliated, she confessed to her Vanechka that out of shame and evil she threatened the villagers, now, if anything happens, people will blame her and her grandmother, so they need to leave.

That night a terrible thunderstorm broke out with hail, which destroyed the entire crop near half of the village. The village was restless. Wanting to save his beloved, Ivan Timofeevich again rushed to the hut. But it was empty. In memory of Olesya, her devoted love, only a string of cheap red beads, known in Polissya as "corals", remained.