Interesting Facts
After the writing of five Pushkin works with different names, the genre of realistic prose became popular. In short, the stories are distinguished by their transparency and simplicity of presentation; the severity and humility of the everyday life of different people are clearly visible in them. However, contemporaries did not accept the writer’s prosaic experience. Belinsky called the works quite tolerable and said that they were only suitable for reading out of boredom. He equated them to fairy tales, often read in the family circle, which were of a level suitable for an aspiring writer, and not for the talented Pushkin.
The stories were written in a short period of time. The writer gives their authorship to Belkin, but introduces himself as an ordinary publisher and remains anonymous. Why he did this is unknown. Already in the preface it becomes clear that Ivan Petrovich comes from the family of a second-major; he was raised by the village sexton. Belkin served in the Jaeger regiment. After retiring, he began managing the estate he inherited, but things were not going too well. This person:
- honest;
- bashful;
- not particularly outstanding;
- moderate towards excesses.
In adulthood, Belkin developed skills in writing, and his passion for literature made itself felt. At first glance, it may seem that the stories are written simply and naturally, but their storyline is built quite complex. The texts are narrated by several narrators, of which the following stand out:
- a fictional character in the person of Ivan Petrovich;
- an ironic writer and part-time publisher;
- characters who told Belkin life stories.
When studying the works in detail, the reader gets the impression that they are part of real life and were created by different authors. Pushkin used an unusual narrative system, which was completely able to break the usual literary approaches with romantic cliches.
By this, he sought to convey the unpredictability of life, the reality of which is much more interesting than fictional and fantasy techniques. The main link between the works is precisely this idea. Already at the time of publication, the order of the texts was changed in accordance with the date of their creation.
History of creation
Five stories created during the Boldin period opened up a new genre - realistic prose. Pushkin created a special narrative system that came into conflict with traditional cliches and literary clichés. The author showed that real (non-fictional) life is much more interesting than fantasy stories. However, the critic Belinsky did not appreciate the ascetic gesture of the great poet and called the creation “fairy tales for family reading.”
The stories were conceived by the author back in 1829, but were completed a year later. After completing the work, Pushkin wrote to his friend Pletnev that he intended to publish the work under the fictitious name of Belkin in order to avoid Bulgarin’s caustic criticism.
The story of the undertaker
The story “The Undertaker” was written on September 9 . It was told to the author by clerk B.V. The writer tells in detail about the housewarming party of the undertaker Andrian Prokhorov. The hero moved with his daughters to Nikitskaya Street with Basmannaya, he immediately opened a funeral shop. Soon he is invited to visit by his neighbor Gottlieb Schultz, a German by birth. During the celebration, one of those who came offers to raise a glass to those who earn money in the process of work. He offers Prokhorov to “drink to the health of the dead.”
This attitude greatly angered the main character. He promised to invite the dead people he served to his housewarming party. After some time, Andrian prepared the deceased woman for the funeral. Upon returning home late at night, he saw a man at the gate whom he invited into the house. It was the late foreman.
Entering the home, the undertaker sees the people who were buried by him. Here P.P. Kurilkin appears, from whom only a skeleton remained at the funeral... At this moment, Prokhorov wakes up and realizes that everything that happened was just a bad dream . The story remains unfinished; the reader has the opportunity to finish it on his own.
Stories of the late Ivan Petrovich Belkin - Alexander Pushkin
Vladimir was on the road all day. In the morning he visited the Zhadrinsky priest; I forcibly came to an agreement with him; then he went to look for witnesses among neighboring landowners. The first person he came to, the retired forty-year-old cornet Dravin, agreed willingly. This adventure, he assured, reminded him of his former time and the pranks of the hussars. He persuaded Vladimir to stay with him for dinner and assured him that the case would not be resolved with the other two witnesses. In fact, immediately after dinner, land surveyor Shmit, in a mustache and spurs, and the police captain’s son, a boy of about sixteen, who had recently joined the lancers, appeared. They not only accepted Vladimir’s offer, but even swore to him that they were ready to sacrifice their lives for him. Vladimir hugged them with delight and went home to get ready.
It had long been dark. He sent his reliable Tereshka to Nenaradovo with his troika and with detailed, thorough orders, and for himself he ordered a small sleigh to be put on one horse, and alone without a coachman he went to Zhadrino, where Marya Gavrilovna was supposed to arrive in two hours. The road was familiar to him, and the drive was only twenty minutes.
But as soon as Vladimir drove out of the outskirts into the field, the wind rose and there was such a snowstorm that he could not see anything. One minute the road skidded; the surroundings disappeared into a muddy and yellowish haze, through which white flakes of snow flew; the sky merged with the earth. Vladimir found himself in a field and in vain wanted to get on the road again; the horse stepped at random and constantly drove into a snowdrift or fell into a hole; the sleigh constantly overturned; Vladimir only tried not to lose his true direction. But it seemed to him that more than half an hour had already passed, and he had not yet reached the Zhadrinskaya Grove. About ten more minutes passed; the grove was still out of sight. Vladimir drove through a field crossed by deep ravines. The snowstorm did not subside, the sky did not clear. The horse was starting to get tired, and he was dripping with sweat, despite the fact that he was constantly waist-deep in snow.
Finally he saw that he was driving in the wrong direction. Vladimir stopped: he began to think, remember, figure out, and was convinced that he should have taken to the right. He went to the right. His horse walked slightly. He had been on the road for more than an hour. Zhadrino should have been nearby. But he drove and drove, and there was no end to the field. All the snowdrifts and ravines; Every minute the sleigh overturned, every minute he raised it. As time went; Vladimir began to get very worried.
Finally, something began to turn black to the side. Vladimir turned there. As he approached, he saw a grove. Thank God, he thought, it’s close now. He drove near the grove, hoping to immediately get onto a familiar road or go around the grove: Zhadrino was immediately behind it. He soon found the road and drove into the darkness of the trees, naked in winter. The wind could not rage here; the road was smooth; the horse cheered up, and Vladimir calmed down.
But he drove and drove, and Zhadrin was nowhere to be seen; there was no end to the grove. Vladimir saw with horror that he had driven into an unfamiliar forest. Despair took possession of him. He hit the horse; the poor animal began to trot, but soon began to pester and after a quarter of an hour began to walk, despite all the efforts of unfortunate Vladimir.
Little by little the trees began to thin out, and Vladimir rode out of the forest; Zhadrin was nowhere to be seen. It must have been around midnight. Tears flowed from his eyes; he went at random. The weather had calmed down, the clouds were clearing, and in front of him lay a plain covered with a white wavy carpet. The night was quite clear. He saw a village nearby, consisting of four or five courtyards. Vladimir went to see her. At the first hut he jumped out of the sleigh, ran to the window and began knocking. A few minutes later the wooden shutter rose and the old man stuck out his gray beard. "What do you want?" - “Is Zhadrino far away?” - “Is Zhadrino far away?” - "Yes Yes! Is it far? - “Not far; it will be ten versts.” At this answer, Vladimir grabbed himself by the hair and remained motionless, like a man sentenced to death.
“Where are you from?” – the old man continued. Vladimir did not have the heart to answer questions. “Can you, old man,” he said, “get me horses to Zhadrin?” “What kind of horses are we?” the man answered. - “Can’t I at least take a guide? I’ll pay him whatever he wants.” “Wait,” said the old man, lowering the shutter, “I’ll send out your son; he guides them through.” Vladimir began to wait. Less than a minute later, he started knocking again. The shutter rose and the beard appeared. "What do you want?" - “What about your son?” “Now he’s going out and putting on his shoes. Are you cold? “Come up and warm yourself.” - “Thank you, send your son quickly.”
The gates creaked; the guy came out with a club and walked forward, now pointing, now looking for the road covered with snowdrifts. "What time is it now?" – Vladimir asked him. “It’ll be dawn soon,” answered the young man. Vladimir didn’t say a word anymore.
The roosters were crowing, and it was already light when they reached Zhadrin. The church was locked. Vladimir paid the conductor and went to the priest’s yard. He was not in the troika's yard. What news awaited him!
But let’s return to the good Nenaradov landowners and see if they are doing something.
Nothing.
The old people woke up and went into the living room. Gavrila Gavrilovich in a cap and flannel jacket, Praskovya Petrovna in a cotton wool dressing gown. The samovar was served, and Gavrila Gavrilovich sent the girl to find out from Marya Gavrilovna what her health was and how she slept. The girl returned, announcing that the young lady had slept poorly, but that she was feeling better now and that she would come to the living room now. In fact, the door opened, and Marya Gavrilovna came up to greet daddy and mummy.
“What is your head, Masha?” – asked Gavrila Gavrilovich. “Better, daddy,” answered Masha. “You must have been crazy yesterday, Masha,” said Praskovya Petrovna. “Maybe mummy,” answered Masha.
The day went well, but at night Masha fell ill. They sent to the city for a doctor. He arrived in the evening and found the patient delirious. A severe fever developed, and the poor patient spent two weeks at the edge of the coffin.
No one in the house knew about the intended escape. The letters she had written the day before were burned; her maid did not tell anyone about anything, fearing the wrath of the masters. The priest, the retired cornet, the mustachioed surveyor and the little lancer were modest, and for good reason. Tereshka the coachman never said anything unnecessary, even when drunk. Thus the secret was kept by more than half a dozen conspirators. But Marya Gavrilovna herself, in constant delirium, expressed her secret. However, her words were so inconsistent with anything that the mother, who did not leave her bed, could only understand from them that her daughter was mortally in love with Vladimir Nikolaevich and that, probably, love was the cause of her illness. She consulted with her husband, with some neighbors, and finally everyone unanimously decided that, apparently, this was Marya Gavrilovna’s fate, that you couldn’t beat your betrothed with a horse, that poverty was not a vice, that living not with wealth, but with a person, and the like . Moral sayings can be surprisingly useful in cases where we can invent little on our own to justify ourselves.
Stationmaster
Belkin wrote the story on September 14, after hearing the story of adviser A.G.N. It talks about the everyday life of the station superintendent Vyrin, who personally narrated the story about his daughter. Readers may initially find the plot development extremely simple, but it unexpectedly changes. Everything is presented in detail with pictures from the life of the prodigal son.
The stationmaster's daughter Dunya is known as a real beauty. A wealthy hussar, Minsky, passing by the station, pays attention to her and pretends to be sick in order to linger and get to know the girl’s father better. Later, the young man invites Dunya to go together to the church where she is going. The father lets his daughter go, but after a while he learns that she has been taken to St. Petersburg.
Dunya became the hussar's kept woman. Vyrin's father demands to release the girl, but is refused. Minsky claims that the young beauty has managed to get used to a luxurious life. The grief-stricken stationmaster returns home and becomes a hopeless drunkard.
After some time, a nicely dressed woman with three children comes to his grave. She cries for a long time and inconsolably. This was the daughter of the stationmaster.
Peasant young lady
The author finished work on the story on September 20. The girl K.I.T introduced him to the story underlying the plot .
The landowner's daughter Elizaveta poses as a peasant woman, intending to make friends with the neighbor's son, who cannot find a common language with her father. Alexei immediately liked the girl. He gets close to her, meets secretly, teaches her to read and write. While hunting, the fathers of the young people meet and a friendship develops between them. Having become close, they intend to marry their children, but the young man is categorically against it, because he believes that he is in love with a peasant woman. He goes to the Muromskys' house, where he unexpectedly meets his beloved. Alexey forgives Lisa for her prank and agrees to marry her.
The story of the shot
The list of Belkin's stories contains the story "Shot", written on October 14. Silvio, the Count and Lieutenant Colonel I.L.P. take part in the story. The main character describes the plot of his life story. It is directly related to the revenge that must be suffered by a person who arrogantly insulted the hero’s pride. The plans include delivering a surprise blow to the offender at the moment when he learns to value his own life most of all.
However, at the very end of the work, the plans change dramatically, and the shot intended for the count is directed into the picture. Fate has played a cruel joke on the main character; he is overtaken by death in a place where no battles were fought and no shots were fired. It was a battle near Skulany, where the character lost his life in hand-to-hand combat.
Online reading of the book Belkin's Stories From the publisher
Having taken up efforts to publish the Stories of I.P. Belkin, now offered to the public, we wanted to add at least a brief biography of the late author and thereby partially satisfy the fair curiosity of lovers of Russian literature. For this purpose, we turned to Marya Alekseevna Trafilina, the closest relative and heiress of Ivan Petrovich Belkin; but, unfortunately, it was impossible for her to bring us any news about him, because the deceased was not at all familiar to her. She advised us to refer this matter to one respectable husband, a former friend, Ivan Petrovich. We followed this advice, and to our letter we received the following desired response. We place it without any changes or notes, as a precious monument to a noble image of opinions and touching friendship, and at the same time as very sufficient biographical information.
My dear Lord ****!
I had the honor to receive your most respected letter dated the 15th of this month on the 23rd of this month, in which you express to me your desire to have detailed information about the time of birth and death, about the service, about home circumstances, also about the activities and disposition of the late Ivan Petrovich Belkin, my former sincere friend and neighbor on the estates. With my great pleasure, I fulfill this desire of yours and forward to you, my dear sir, everything that I can remember from his conversations, as well as from my own observations.
Ivan Petrovich Belkin was born from honest and noble parents in 1798 in the village of Goryukhin. His late father, Second Major Pyotr Ivanovich Belkin, was married to the girl Pelageya Gavrilovna from the Trafilin family. He was not a rich man, but moderate, and very smart when it came to farming. Their son received his initial education from the village sexton. It seems that he was indebted to this respectable husband for his desire to read and study Russian literature. In 1815, he entered service in the Jaeger infantry regiment (I don’t remember the number), in which he remained until 1823. The death of his parents, which happened almost at the same time, forced him to resign and come to the village of Goryukhino, his homeland.
Having entered into the management of the estate, Ivan Petrovich, due to his inexperience and soft-heartedness, soon launched the farm and weakened the strict order established by his late parent. Having replaced the efficient and efficient headman, with whom his peasants (according to their habit) were dissatisfied, he entrusted the management of the village to his old housekeeper, who acquired his power of attorney through the art of telling stories. This stupid old woman never knew how to distinguish a twenty-five-ruble note from a fifty-ruble note; the peasants, to whom she was all godfather, were not at all afraid of her; The headman chosen by them indulged them so much, cheating at the same time, that Ivan Petrovich was forced to abolish the corvee and establish a very moderate rent; but even here the peasants, taking advantage of his weakness, begged for a deliberate benefit for the first year, and in the next year more than two-thirds of the rent was paid in nuts, lingonberries and the like; and there were arrears.
Having been a friend of Ivan Petrovich’s late parent, I considered it my duty to offer my son my advice and repeatedly volunteered to restore the previous order that he had lost. For this purpose, having come to him one day, I demanded the business books, called the rogue headman and, in the presence of Ivan Petrovich, began to examine them. The young master first began to follow me with all possible attention and diligence; but as it turned out, according to the accounts, that in the last two years the number of peasants had increased, and the number of yard birds and livestock had deliberately decreased, Ivan Petrovich was content with this first information and did not listen to me further, and at that very moment, as I, with my investigations and strict By interrogating the rogue, I brought the headman into extreme confusion and forced him into complete silence; with my great annoyance I heard Ivan Petrovich snoring heavily in his chair. From then on, I stopped interfering with his economic orders and handed over his affairs (like himself) to the orders of the Almighty.
This, however, did not upset our friendly relations at all; for I, sympathizing with his weakness and the destructive negligence common to our young nobles, sincerely loved Ivan Petrovich; Yes, it was impossible not to love a young man so meek and honest. For his part, Ivan Petrovich showed respect for my years and was sincerely committed to me. Until his death, he saw me almost every day, valuing my simple conversation, although we for the most part did not resemble each other in habits, way of thinking, or disposition.
Ivan Petrovich led a very moderate life, avoiding all kinds of excesses; I never happened to see him drunk (which in our region can be considered an unheard-of miracle); He had a great inclination towards the female sex, but his shyness was truly girlish.[1]The following is an anecdote, which we do not include, considering it unnecessary; however, we assure the reader that he does not contain anything reprehensible to the memory of Ivan Petrovich Belkin. (Note by A.S. Pushkin.)
In addition to the stories that you would like to mention in your letter, Ivan Petrovich left many manuscripts, some of which are in my possession, some of which were used by his housekeeper for various household needs. Thus, last winter, all the windows of her outbuilding were sealed with the first part of the novel, which he did not finish. The above-mentioned stories were, it seems, his first experience. They, as Ivan Petrovich said, are for the most part fair and heard by him from various persons. [2] In fact, in the manuscript of Mr. Belkin, over each story, the author’s hand is inscribed: heard by me from such and such a person (rank or title and capital letters first and last name). We write out for curious researchers: “The Caretaker” was told to him by the titular adviser A.G.N., “The Shot” by Lieutenant Colonel I.L.P., “The Undertaker” by the clerk B.V., “Blizzard” and “The Young Lady” by the girl K. I.T. (Approx. A.S. Pushkin.) However, the names in them are almost all invented by him, and the names of villages and hamlets are borrowed from our area, which is why my village is mentioned somewhere. This did not happen from any evil intention, but solely from a lack of imagination.
In the fall of 1828, Ivan Petrovich fell ill with a cold that turned into a fever, and died, despite the tireless efforts of our district doctor, a very skilled man, especially in the treatment of deep-rooted diseases, such as calluses and the like. He died in my arms at the thirtieth year of birth and was buried in the church of the village of Goryukhin near his deceased parents.
Ivan Petrovich was of average height, had gray eyes, brown hair, and a straight nose; his face was white and thin.
Here, my dear sir, is all that I could remember regarding the lifestyle, activities, character and appearance of my late neighbor and friend. But if you decide to make any use out of this letter of mine, I humbly ask you not to mention my name in any way; for although I greatly respect and love writers, I consider it unnecessary and indecent to assume this title. With my true respect, etc.
1830 November 16.
Village Nenaradovo
Considering it our duty to respect the will of our venerable friend, our author, we offer him our deepest gratitude for the news he brought us and we hope that the public will appreciate their sincerity and good nature.
A.P.
Blizzard and its brief overview
Next on the list is the story “Blizzard” , it appeared on October 20 . Belkin’s biography states that he heard the story from the girl K.I.T.
The main characters have come up with a romantic life line with an escape and a secret wedding, after which they must receive forgiveness for the offense committed from their parents. But the plans were not destined to come true due to a raging snowstorm. Marya Gavrilovna had to become the wife of a stranger. As for her fiancé, he will soon be overtaken by death. Fate unexpectedly offers its own interesting denouement to the story.
Maria Gavrilovna and Burmin, through forced loneliness and the war they endured, deserve happiness, in the field of which they find true and sincere love.
There are many interesting events in the history of the creation of Belkin's Tales. They were published in 1831 and were received by the audience as a series of fascinating “anecdotes.” But some critics argue that these creations are simple only in appearance, but in fact they hide a deeper meaning. This should be mentioned when preparing a report or project in high school. The student's message will become more interesting and informative if you use data from Wikipedia, which indicates which stories are included in the collection.
"Belkin's Tales": analysis of the cycle
Since the time of Belinsky, many literary scholars have treated “Belkin’s Tales” as “an elegant trinket, a prank of a genius,” note the authors of the textbook for philologists “The Cycle of A.S. Pushkin “Belkin’s Tales”” by V.E. Khalizev and S.V. Sheshunova. However, these stories are not so simple: the more you learn about Pushkin and his era, the more new things are discovered in them.
All works of the cycle were written by Pushkin in a matter of days, easily and quickly. Anna Akhmatova called “Belkin’s Tale” an “airy bulk”: they look extremely simple and light only thanks to the author’s skill. We must not forget that this is the same Pushkin who already wrote “Eugene Onegin”.
At the same time, the problems of the works are removed into the subtext: the author does not teach or read morality. His attitude often comes in the form of an unobtrusive joke. “Belkin’s Tales” is “a work that is both serious in thought and thoroughly humorous in tone,” write Khalizev and Sheshunova.
“Belkin's Tales” contain a lot of literary allusions: references to Shakespeare, Walter Scott, Byron, Griboyedov, Baratynsky, Merima, Marlinsky. The techniques of romanticism and sentimentalism are used both jokingly and seriously. A significant layer of the work is a hidden polemic with contemporary authors of Pushkin about literature and Russian life.
Ivan Petrovich Belkin: the mystery of the fake author
The author came up with the image of Ivan Petrovich Belkin after he wrote the first three stories. However, literary scholars note that the image of the narrator, which is not identical to Pushkin himself, is present in all the works of the cycle. At the same time, some consider this image extremely important for understanding the stories, while others consider it insignificant.
Belkin is a mysterious figure, described only in passing. He himself is a reflection of the “Belkin world” described in the stories: just as simple and humane, familiar with the new trends of the enlightened era, but not an intellectual. In one of his letters, Pushkin called his Belkin a “glorious fellow.”
