The Legend of Danko (Gorky)

The Legend of Danko. M. Gorky

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Danko. Artist I. M. Toidze

From the story “Old Woman Izergil” by Maxim Gorky

In the old days, only people lived on earth; impenetrable forests surrounded the camps of these people on three sides, and on the fourth there was the steppe. These were cheerful, strong and brave people. And then one day a difficult time came: other tribes appeared from somewhere and drove the former into the depths of the forest. There were swamps and darkness there, because the forest was old, and its branches were so densely intertwined that the sky could not be seen through them, and the rays of the sun could hardly make their way to the swamps through the thick foliage. But when its rays fell on the water of the swamps, a stench rose, and people died from it one after another. Then the wives and children of this tribe began to cry, and the fathers began to think and fell into depression. It was necessary to leave this forest, and for this there were two roads: one - back, - there were strong and evil enemies, the other - forward, there stood giant trees, tightly hugging each other with powerful branches, sinking gnarled roots deep into the tenacious silt swamps. These stone trees stood silent and motionless during the day in the gray twilight and moved even more densely around people in the evenings when the fires were lit. And always, day and night, there was a ring of strong darkness around those people, as if it was going to crush them, but they were accustomed to the expanse of the steppe. And it was even more terrible when the wind beat on the tops of the trees and the whole forest hummed dully, as if it was threatening and singing a funeral song to those people. These were still strong people, and they could have gone to fight to the death with those who had once defeated them, but they could not die in battle, because they had covenants, and if they had died, they would have disappeared with them from lives and covenants. And so they sat and thought in the long nights, under the dull noise of the forest, in the poisonous stench of the swamp. They sat, and the shadows from the fires jumped around them in a silent dance, and it seemed to everyone that these were not shadows dancing, but the evil spirits of the forest and swamp were triumphant... People still sat and thought. But nothing—neither work nor women—exhausts the bodies and souls of people as much as melancholy thoughts do. And people weakened from their thoughts... Fear was born among them, shackled their strong hands, women gave birth to horror, crying over the corpses of those who died from the stench and over the fate of the living, shackled by fear - and cowardly words began to be heard in the forest, at first timid and quiet, and then louder. and louder... They already wanted to go to the enemy and bring him their will as a gift, and no one, frightened by death, was afraid of slave life... But then Danko appeared and saved everyone alone.

Danko is one of those people, a handsome young man. Beautiful people are always brave. And so he says to them, his comrades:

- Do not turn a stone out of the way with your thoughts. If you do nothing, nothing will happen to you. Why do we waste our energy on thoughts and melancholy? Get up, let's go into the forest and go through it, because it has an end - everything in the world has an end! Let's go! Well! Hey!..

They looked at him and saw that he was the best of all, because a lot of strength and living fire shone in his eyes.

- Lead us! - they said.

Then he led...

Danko led them. Everyone followed him together and believed in him. It was a difficult path! It was dark, and at every step the swamp opened its greedy rotten mouth, swallowing people, and the trees blocked the road with a mighty wall. Their branches intertwined with each other; the roots stretched everywhere like snakes, and every step cost a lot of sweat and blood to those people. They walked for a long time... The forest became more and more dense, their strength was less and less! And so they began to grumble against Danko, saying that it was in vain that he, young and inexperienced, led them somewhere. And he walked ahead of them and was cheerful and clear.

But one day a thunderstorm burst over the forest, the trees whispered dully, menacingly. And then it became so dark in the forest, as if all the nights had gathered in it at once, as many as there had been in the world since he was born. Little people walked between large trees and in the menacing noise of lightning, they walked, and, swaying, the giant trees creaked and hummed angry songs, and lightning, flying over the tops of the forest, illuminated it for a minute with blue, cold fire and disappeared just as quickly, how they appeared, scaring people. And the trees, illuminated by the cold fire of lightning, seemed alive, stretching out gnarled, long arms around the people leaving the captivity of darkness, weaving them into a thick network, trying to stop people. And from the darkness of the branches something terrible, dark and cold looked at those walking. It was a difficult journey, and the people, tired of it, lost heart. But they were ashamed to admit their powerlessness, and so they fell in anger and anger at Danko, the man who walked ahead of them. And they began to reproach him for his inability to manage them - that’s how!

They stopped and, under the triumphant noise of the forest, in the midst of trembling darkness, tired and angry, they began to judge Danko.

“You,” they said, “are an insignificant and harmful person for us!” You led us and tired us, and for this you will die!

- You said: “Lead!” - and I drove! - Danko shouted, standing against them with his chest. “I have the courage to lead, that’s why I led you!” And you? What did you do to help yourself? You just walked and didn’t know how to save your strength for a longer journey! You just walked and walked like a flock of sheep!

But these words infuriated them even more.

- You will die! You will die! - they roared.

And the forest hummed and hummed, echoing their cries, and lightning tore the darkness to shreds. Danko looked at those for whom he had labored and saw that they were like animals. Many people stood around him, but there was no nobility on their faces, and he could not expect mercy from them. Then indignation boiled in his heart, but out of pity for the people it went out. He loved people and thought that maybe they would die without him. And so his heart flared up with the fire of desire to save them, to lead them to an easy path, and then the rays of that mighty fire sparkled in his eyes... And when they saw this, they thought that he was furious, which is why his eyes flared up so brightly, and they became wary, like The wolves, expecting that he would fight them, began to surround him more tightly so that it would be easier for them to grab and kill Danko. And he already understood their thought, which is why his heart burned even brighter, for this thought of theirs gave birth to melancholy in him.

And the forest still sang its gloomy song, and the thunder roared, and the rain poured...

- What will I do for people?! - Danko shouted louder than thunder.

And suddenly he tore his chest with his hands and tore out his heart from it and raised it high above his head.

It burned as brightly as the sun, and brighter than the sun, and the whole forest fell silent, illuminated by this torch of great love for people, and the darkness scattered from its light and there, deep in the forest, trembling, fell into the rotten mouth of the swamp. The people, amazed, became like stones.

- Let's go! - Danko shouted and rushed forward to his place, holding his burning heart high and lighting the way for people.

They rushed after him, fascinated. Then the forest rustled again, shaking its peaks in surprise, but its noise was drowned out by the tramp of running people. Everyone ran quickly and boldly, carried away by the wonderful spectacle of a burning heart. And now they died, but they died without complaints or tears. But Danko was still ahead, and his heart was still burning, burning!

And then suddenly the forest parted before him, parted and remained behind, dense and silent, and Danko and all those people immediately plunged into a sea of sunlight and clean air, washed by rain. There was a thunderstorm - there, behind them, above the forest, and here the sun was shining, the steppe was sighing, the grass was shining in the diamonds of the rain and the river was sparkling golden... It was evening, and from the rays of the sunset the river seemed red, like the blood that flowed in a hot stream from a torn Danko's breasts.

The proud daredevil Danko cast his gaze ahead of him at the expanse of the steppe; he cast a joyful glance at the free land and laughed proudly. And then he fell and died.

People, joyful and full of hope, did not notice his death and did not see that his brave heart was still burning next to Danko’s corpse. Only one cautious person noticed this and, fearing something, stepped on the proud heart with his foot... And then it, scattered into sparks, died out...

Danko's heart. Illustration by E. Sharapov for M. Gorky’s story “The Old Woman Izergil.” Beginning of the 20th century.

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III - The Legend of Danko

“In the old days, only people lived on earth; impenetrable forests surrounded the camps of these people on three sides, and on the fourth there was the steppe. These were cheerful, strong and brave people. And then one day a difficult time came: other tribes appeared from somewhere and drove the former into the depths of the forest. There were swamps and darkness there, because the forest was old, and its branches were so densely intertwined that the sky could not be seen through them, and the rays of the sun could hardly make their way to the swamps through the thick foliage. But when its rays fell on the water of the swamps, a stench rose, and people died from it one after another. Then the wives and children of this tribe began to cry, and the fathers began to think and fell into depression. It was necessary to leave this forest, and for this there were two roads: one - back, - there were strong and evil enemies, the other - forward, there stood giant trees, tightly hugging each other with powerful branches, sinking gnarled roots deep into the tenacious silt swamps. These stone trees stood silent and motionless during the day in the gray twilight and moved even more densely around people in the evenings when the fires were lit. And always, day and night, there was a ring of strong darkness around those people, as if it was going to crush them, but they were accustomed to the expanse of the steppe. And it was even more terrible when the wind beat on the tops of the trees and the whole forest hummed dully, as if it was threatening and singing a funeral song to those people. These were still strong people, and they could have gone to fight to the death with those who had once defeated them, but they could not die in battle, because they had covenants, and if they had died, they would have disappeared with them from lives and covenants. And so they sat and thought in the long nights, under the dull noise of the forest, in the poisonous stench of the swamp. They sat, and the shadows from the fires jumped around them in a silent dance, and it seemed to everyone that these were not shadows dancing, but the evil spirits of the forest and swamp were triumphant... People still sat and thought. But nothing—neither work nor women—exhausts the bodies and souls of people as much as melancholy thoughts do. And people weakened from their thoughts... Fear was born among them, shackled their strong hands, women gave birth to horror, crying over the corpses of those who died from the stench and over the fate of the living, shackled by fear - and cowardly words began to be heard in the forest, at first timid and quiet, and then louder. and louder... They already wanted to go to the enemy and bring him their will as a gift, and no one, frightened by death, was afraid of slave life... But then Danko appeared and saved everyone alone.”

The old woman obviously often talked about Danko’s burning heart. She spoke melodiously, and her voice, creaky and dull, clearly depicted before me the noise of the forest, among which unfortunate, driven people were dying from the poisonous breath of the swamp...

“Danko is one of those people, a handsome young man. Beautiful people are always brave. And so he says to them, his comrades:

They looked at him and saw that he was the best of all, because a lot of strength and living fire shone in his eyes.

- Lead us! - they said.

Then he led..."

The old woman paused and looked into the steppe, where the darkness was thickening. The sparkles of Danko's burning heart flared up somewhere far away and seemed like blue airy flowers, blooming only for a moment.

“Danko led them. Everyone followed him together and believed in him. It was a difficult path! It was dark, and at every step the swamp opened its greedy rotten mouth, swallowing people, and the trees blocked the road with a mighty wall. Their branches intertwined with each other; the roots stretched everywhere like snakes, and every step cost a lot of sweat and blood to those people. They walked for a long time... The forest became more and more dense, their strength was less and less! And so they began to grumble against Danko, saying that it was in vain that he, young and inexperienced, led them somewhere. And he walked ahead of them and was cheerful and clear.

They stopped and, under the triumphant noise of the forest, in the midst of trembling darkness, tired and angry, they began to judge Danko.

“You,” they said, “are an insignificant and harmful person for us!” You led us and tired us, and for this you will die!

But these words infuriated them even more.

- You will die! You will die! - they roared.

And the forest still sang its gloomy song, and the thunder roared, and the rain poured...

- What will I do for people?! - Danko shouted louder than thunder.

And suddenly he tore his chest with his hands and tore out his heart from it and raised it high above his head.

- Let's go! - Danko shouted and rushed forward to his place, holding his burning heart high and lighting the way for people.

The proud daredevil Danko cast his gaze ahead of him at the expanse of the steppe; he cast a joyful glance at the free land and laughed proudly. And then he fell and died.

“That’s where they come from, the blue sparks of the steppe that appear before a thunderstorm!”

Now, when the old woman finished her beautiful fairy tale, the steppe became terribly quiet, as if she too was amazed by the strength of the daredevil Danko, who burned his heart for people and died without asking them for anything as a reward for himself. The old woman was dozing. I looked at her and thought: “How many more fairy tales and memories remain in her memory?” And I thought about Danko’s great burning heart and about human imagination, which created so many beautiful and powerful legends.

The wind blew and exposed from under the rags the dry chest of the old woman Izergil, who was falling asleep more and more deeply. I covered her old body and lay down on the ground next to her. It was quiet and dark in the steppe. The clouds kept crawling across the sky, slowly, boringly... The sea rustled dully and sadly.

« II