About the product
Kuprin wrote the story “The Lilac Bush” in 1894. The work belongs to the literary movement of neorealism, but in Russian literature classes at school it is usually considered realistic.
In the story, the author reveals the theme of love and family happiness. The wife of the main character Nikolai Almazov, who is shown as nervous and confused, experiences boundless and even sacrificial love for him. It was only thanks to her action that Almazov was able to defend his practical work.
On the site you can read online a summary of “The Lilac Bush”, and also take a test on it.
The material was prepared jointly with a teacher of the highest category, Kuchmina Nadezhda Vladimirovna.
Experience as a teacher of Russian language and literature - 27 years.
Alexander Kuprin - Lilac bush
1
A. I. Kuprin
Lilac bush
Nikolai Evgrafovich Almazov barely waited until his wife opened the door for him, and, without taking off his coat, walked into his office in his cap. The wife, as soon as she saw his frowning face with knitted eyebrows and nervously biting his lower lip, realized at that very moment that a very great misfortune had happened... She silently followed her husband. In the office, Almazov stood in one place for a minute, looking somewhere in the corner. Then he let go of the briefcase, which fell to the floor and opened, and he threw himself into a chair, angrily crunching his fingers together...
Almazov, a young, poor officer, attended lectures at the Academy of the General Staff and has now just returned from there. Today he presented the professor with his last and most difficult practical work - instrumental surveying of the area...
Until now, all the exams had passed successfully, and only God and Almazov’s wife knew what terrible work they had cost... To begin with, even entering the academy seemed impossible at first. For two years in a row, Almazov triumphantly failed, and only on the third year did he overcome all obstacles through hard work. If it weren’t for his wife, he, perhaps, not finding enough energy in himself, would have given up on everything. But Verochka did not let him lose heart and constantly kept him cheerful... She learned to meet every failure with a clear, almost cheerful face. She denied herself everything necessary in order to create comfort for her husband, although cheap, but still necessary for a person busy with heavy work. She was, as needed, his copyist, draftsman, reader, tutor and memory book.
Five minutes of heavy silence passed, sadly broken by the lame sound of the alarm clock, long familiar and boring: one, two, three, three: two clean blows, the third with a hoarse interruption. Almazov sat without taking off his coat and hat and turned away to the side... Vera stood two steps away from him, also silently, with suffering on her beautiful, nervous face. Finally, she spoke first, with the caution with which only women speak at the bedside of a loved one who is seriously ill...
- Kolya, how’s your work?.. Is it bad?
He shrugged his shoulders and did not answer.
- Kolya, was your plan rejected? Just tell me, we’ll discuss it together anyway.
Almazov quickly turned to his wife and spoke hotly and irritably, as they usually say, expressing a long-restrained insult.
- Well, yes, well, yes, they rejected it, if you really want to know. Can't you see it yourself? Everything has gone to hell!.. All this rubbish,” and he angrily poked the briefcase with the drawings with his foot, “at least throw all this rubbish in the oven now!” Here's the academy for you! A month later he returned to the regiment, and with disgrace and misfortune. And this is because of some nasty stain... Oh, damn!
- What stain, Kolya? I do not understand anything.
She sat down on the arm of the chair and wrapped her arm around Almazov’s neck. He did not resist, but continued to look into the corner with an offended expression.
- What kind of stain, Kolya? – she asked again.
- Oh, well, an ordinary stain, with green paint. You know, I didn’t go to bed until three o’clock yesterday, I had to finish. The plan is beautifully drawn and illuminated. That's what everyone says. Well, I sat too long yesterday, I was tired, my hands started to tremble - and I planted a stain... Moreover, such a thick stain... greasy. I started cleaning it up and smeared it even more. I thought and thought about what to make of it now, and I decided to depict a bunch of trees in that place... It turned out very well, and it’s impossible to make out that there was a stain. I'll bring it to the professor today. “Yes, yes, yes. Where did you get the bushes here, lieutenant?” I would have to tell you exactly how it all happened. Well, maybe he would just laugh... However, no, he won’t laugh, such a neat German, a pedant. I tell him: “There really are bushes growing here.” And he says: “No, I know this area like the back of my hand, and there can’t be any bushes here.” Word for word, he and I started having a big conversation. And there were still many of our officers. “If you say so, he says that there are bushes on this saddle, then please go there with me on horseback tomorrow... I will prove to you that you either worked carelessly, or drew directly from the three-verst map...”
- But why does he say so confidently that there are no bushes there?
- Oh, Lord, why? What, by God, childish questions are you asking? Yes, because for twenty years now he has known this area better than his bedroom. The ugliest pedant there is in the world, and a German to boot... Well, in the end it will turn out that I’m lying and getting into an argument... Besides...
Throughout the conversation, he pulled out burnt matches from the ashtray in front of him and broke them into small pieces, and when he fell silent, he angrily threw them on the floor. It was clear that this strong man wanted to cry.
The husband and wife sat for a long time in heavy thought, without uttering a word. But suddenly Verochka jumped up from her chair with an energetic movement.
- Listen, Kolya, we have to leave right now! Get dressed quickly.
Nikolai Evgrafovich wrinkled all over, as if from unbearable physical pain.
- Oh, don’t talk nonsense, Vera. Do you really think I’m going to go make excuses and apologize? This means directly signing a sentence on yourself. Please don't do anything stupid.
“No, it’s not nonsense,” Vera objected, stamping her foot. - No one is forcing you to go with an apology... But it’s just that if there are no such stupid bushes there, then they need to be planted right now.
– Plant?.. Bushes?.. – Nikolai Evgrafovich widened his eyes.
- Yes, plant it. If I’ve already told a lie, I need to correct it. Get ready, give me a hat... A blouse... You're not looking here, look in the closet... An umbrella!
While Almazov, who tried to object but was not listened to, was looking for a hat and blouse. Vera quickly pulled out the drawers of tables and chests of drawers, pulled out baskets and boxes, opened them and scattered them on the floor.
- Earrings... Well, these are nothing... They won’t give anything for them... But this ring with a solitaire is expensive... We must definitely buy it back... It will be a pity if it disappears. The bracelet... they will also give very little. Antique and bent... Where is your silver cigarette case, Kolya?
Five minutes later, all the jewelry was placed in the reticule. Vera, already dressed, looked around for the last time to make sure that nothing had been forgotten at home.
“We’re going,” she finally said decisively.
- But where are we going? – Almazov tried to protest. “Now it will get dark, and my site is almost ten miles away.”
- Nonsense... Let's go!
First of all, the Almazovs stopped at a pawnshop. It was obvious that the appraiser had been so accustomed to the daily spectacles of human misfortune for so long that they did not touch him at all. He examined the brought things so methodically and for a long time that Verochka was beginning to lose her temper. He especially offended her by testing the diamond ring with acid and, after weighing it, valued it at three rubles.
“But this is a real diamond,” Vera was indignant, “it costs thirty-seven rubles, and only for the occasion.”
The appraiser closed his eyes with an air of tired indifference.
- It’s all the same to us, madam. “We don’t accept stones at all,” he said, throwing the next thing onto the scales, “we only evaluate metals, sir.”
But the old and bent bracelet, quite unexpectedly for Vera, was valued very highly. In total, however, there were about twenty-three rubles. This amount was more than enough.
When the Almazovs arrived at the gardener’s, the white St. Petersburg night had already spread across the sky and in the air like blue milk. The gardener, a Czech, a little old man in gold glasses, was just sitting down with his family for dinner. He was very surprised and dissatisfied with the late appearance of the customers and their unusual request. He probably suspected some kind of hoax and answered Verochka’s persistent requests very dryly:
- Sorry. But I can’t send workers that far at night. If you wish tomorrow morning, I am at your service.
Then there was only one remedy left: to tell the gardener in detail the whole story of the ill-fated spot, and Verochka did just that. The gardener listened at first incredulously, almost hostilely, but when Vera got to the point where she had the idea of planting a bush, he became more attentive and smiled sympathetically several times.
“Well, there’s nothing to do,” the gardener agreed when Vera finished telling her story, “tell me, what bushes can you plant?”
However, of all the breeds that the gardener had, not one turned out to be suitable: willy-nilly, he had to settle on lilac bushes.
In vain Almazov tried to persuade his wife to go home. She and her husband went out of town, all the time while the bushes were being planted, she fussed hotly and disturbed the workers, and only then agreed to go home when she was convinced that the turf around the bushes was completely indistinguishable from the grass that covered the entire saddle.
The next day, Vera could not sit at home and went out to meet her husband on the street. From afar, just by her lively and slightly bouncing gait, she learned that the story with the bushes ended happily... Indeed, Almazov was covered in dust and could barely stand on his feet from fatigue and hunger, but his face shone with the triumph of his victory.
1
Summary
Almazov returned home in a bad mood. The wife immediately realized that “a very great misfortune had happened.”
The man listened to lectures at the Academy of the General Staff. Almazov entered the academy the third time and only thanks to his wife Verochka, who “constantly kept him cheerful” and created “the necessary comfort.” Before this, all exams went well. Today he presented the professor with the most difficult work - “instrumental survey of the area.”
However, while drawing a plan the night before, Almazov accidentally “planted” a green spot on the drawings and, in order to disguise it, drew “a bunch of trees” in that place. Seeing the work, the professor was surprised, since he knew this area, and there were no bushes there. The professor refused to accept the drawing, wanting to go there personally tomorrow and check everything.
It was clear that Almazov was ready to cry out of grief. Verochka immediately began to get ready to plant “stupid bushes” in that place. “If I’ve told a lie, I need to correct it.” They took Verochka’s jewelry to the pawnshop and earned “about twenty-three rubles.” Already at night we arrived at the gardener. At first he resolutely refused to help, but after learning the details, he was imbued with sympathy. Of the “suitable” ones, the gardener had only lilac bushes. Verochka did not leave the workers until she was sure that the bushes looked as if they had been growing here for a long time.
The next day Almazov came happy. The man said that when they arrived, the professor was very surprised and apologized.
Rejoicing, Verochka told her husband that lilac would now be her favorite flower forever.
A. I. Kuprin
Lilac bush
Nikolai Evgrafovich Almazov barely waited until his wife opened the door for him, and, without taking off his coat, walked into his office in his cap. The wife, as soon as she saw his frowning face with knitted eyebrows and nervously biting his lower lip, realized at that very moment that a very great misfortune had happened... She silently followed her husband. In the office, Almazov stood in one place for a minute, looking somewhere in the corner. Then he let go of the briefcase, which fell to the floor and opened, and he threw himself into a chair, angrily crunching his fingers together...
Almazov, a young, poor officer, attended lectures at the Academy of the General Staff and has now just returned from there. Today he presented the professor with his last and most difficult practical work - instrumental surveying of the area...
Until now, all the exams had passed successfully, and only God and Almazov’s wife knew what terrible work they had cost... To begin with, even entering the academy seemed impossible at first. For two years in a row, Almazov triumphantly failed, and only on the third year did he overcome all obstacles through hard work. If it weren’t for his wife, he, perhaps, not finding enough energy in himself, would have given up on everything. But Verochka did not let him lose heart and constantly kept him cheerful... She learned to meet every failure with a clear, almost cheerful face. She denied herself everything necessary in order to create comfort for her husband, although cheap, but still necessary for a person busy with heavy work. She was, as needed, his copyist, draftsman, reader, tutor and memory book.
Five minutes of heavy silence passed, sadly broken by the lame sound of the alarm clock, long familiar and boring: one, two, three, three: two clean blows, the third with a hoarse interruption. Almazov sat without taking off his coat and hat and turned away to the side... Vera stood two steps away from him, also silently, with suffering on her beautiful, nervous face. Finally, she spoke first, with the caution with which only women speak at the bedside of a loved one who is seriously ill...
- Kolya, how’s your work?.. Is it bad?
He shrugged his shoulders and did not answer.
- Kolya, was your plan rejected? Just tell me, we’ll discuss it together anyway.
Almazov quickly turned to his wife and spoke hotly and irritably, as they usually say, expressing a long-restrained insult.
- Well, yes, well, yes, they rejected it, if you really want to know. Can't you see it yourself? Everything has gone to hell!.. All this rubbish,” and he angrily poked the briefcase with the drawings with his foot, “at least throw all this rubbish in the oven now!” Here's the academy for you! A month later he returned to the regiment, and with disgrace and misfortune. And this is because of some nasty stain... Oh, damn!
- What stain, Kolya? I do not understand anything.
She sat down on the arm of the chair and wrapped her arm around Almazov’s neck. He did not resist, but continued to look into the corner with an offended expression.
- What kind of stain, Kolya? – she asked again.
- Oh, well, an ordinary stain, with green paint. You know, I didn’t go to bed until three o’clock yesterday, I had to finish. The plan is beautifully drawn and illuminated. That's what everyone says. Well, I sat too long yesterday, I was tired, my hands started to tremble - and I planted a stain... Moreover, such a thick stain... greasy. I started cleaning it up and smeared it even more. I thought and thought about what to make of it now, and I decided to depict a bunch of trees in that place... It turned out very well, and it’s impossible to make out that there was a stain. I'll bring it to the professor today. “Yes, yes, yes. Where did you get the bushes here, lieutenant?” I would have to tell you exactly how it all happened. Well, maybe he would just laugh... However, no, he won’t laugh, such a neat German, a pedant. I tell him: “There really are bushes growing here.” And he says: “No, I know this area like the back of my hand, and there can’t be any bushes here.” Word for word, he and I started having a big conversation. And there were still many of our officers. “If you say so, he says that there are bushes on this saddle, then please go there with me on horseback tomorrow... I will prove to you that you either worked carelessly, or drew directly from the three-verst map...”
- But why does he say so confidently that there are no bushes there?
- Oh, Lord, why? What, by God, childish questions are you asking? Yes, because for twenty years now he has known this area better than his bedroom. The ugliest pedant there is in the world, and a German to boot... Well, in the end it will turn out that I’m lying and getting into an argument... Besides...
Throughout the conversation, he pulled out burnt matches from the ashtray in front of him and broke them into small pieces, and when he fell silent, he angrily threw them on the floor. It was clear that this strong man wanted to cry.
The husband and wife sat for a long time in heavy thought, without uttering a word. But suddenly Verochka jumped up from her chair with an energetic movement.
- Listen, Kolya, we have to leave right now! Get dressed quickly.
Nikolai Evgrafovich wrinkled all over, as if from unbearable physical pain.
- Oh, don’t talk nonsense, Vera. Do you really think I’m going to go make excuses and apologize? This means directly signing a sentence on yourself. Please don't do anything stupid.
“No, it’s not nonsense,” Vera objected, stamping her foot. - No one is forcing you to go with an apology... But it’s just that if there are no such stupid bushes there, then they need to be planted right now.
– Plant?.. Bushes?.. – Nikolai Evgrafovich widened his eyes.
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Nikolai Evgrafovich Almazov barely waited until his wife opened the door for him, and, without taking off his coat, walked into his office in his cap. The wife, as soon as she saw his frowning face with knitted eyebrows and nervously biting his lower lip, realized at that very moment that a very great misfortune had happened... She silently followed her husband. In the office, Almazov stood in one place for a minute, looking somewhere in the corner. Then he let go of the briefcase, which fell to the floor and opened, and he threw himself into a chair, angrily crunching his fingers together...
Almazov, a young, poor officer, attended lectures at the Academy of the General Staff and has now just returned from there. Today he presented the professor with his last and most difficult practical work - instrumental surveying of the area...
Until now, all the exams had passed successfully, and only God and Almazov’s wife knew what terrible work they had cost... To begin with, even entering the academy seemed impossible at first. For two years in a row, Almazov triumphantly failed, and only on the third year did he overcome all obstacles through hard work. If it weren’t for his wife, he, perhaps, not finding enough energy in himself, would have given up on everything. But Verochka did not let him lose heart and constantly kept him cheerful... She learned to meet every failure with a clear, almost cheerful face. She denied herself everything necessary in order to create comfort for her husband, although cheap, but still necessary for a person busy with heavy work. She was, as needed, his copyist, draftsman, reader, tutor and memory book.
Five minutes of heavy silence passed, sadly broken by the lame sound of the alarm clock, long familiar and boring: one, two, three, three: two clean blows, the third with a hoarse interruption. Almazov sat without taking off his coat and hat and turned away to the side... Vera stood two steps away from him, also silently, with suffering on her beautiful, nervous face. Finally, she spoke first, with the caution with which only women speak at the bedside of a loved one who is seriously ill...
- Kolya, how is your work?.. Is it bad?
He shrugged his shoulders and did not answer.
- Kolya, was your plan rejected? Just tell me, we’ll discuss it together anyway.
Almazov quickly turned to his wife and spoke hotly and irritably, as they usually say, expressing a long-restrained insult.
- Well, yes, well, yes, they rejected it, if you really want to know. Can't you see it yourself? Everything has gone to hell!.. All this rubbish,” and he angrily poked the briefcase with the drawings with his foot, “at least throw all this rubbish in the oven now!” Here's the academy for you! A month later he returned to the regiment, and with disgrace and misfortune. And this is because of some nasty stain... Oh, damn!
- What stain, Kolya? I do not understand anything.
She sat down on the arm of the chair and wrapped her arm around Almazov’s neck. He did not resist, but continued to look into the corner with an offended expression.
- What kind of stain, Kolya? - she asked again.
- Oh, well, an ordinary stain, with green paint. You know, I didn’t go to bed until three o’clock yesterday, I had to finish. The plan is beautifully drawn and illuminated. That's what everyone says. Well, I sat too long yesterday, I was tired, my hands started to tremble - and I planted a stain... Moreover, such a thick stain... greasy. I started cleaning it up and smeared it even more. I thought and thought about what to make of it now, and I decided to depict a bunch of trees in that place... It turned out very well, and it’s impossible to make out that there was a stain. I'll bring it to the professor today. “Yes, yes, yes. Where did you get the bushes here, lieutenant?” I would have to tell you exactly how it all happened. Well, maybe he would just laugh... However, no, he won’t laugh, such a neat German, a pedant. I tell him: “There really are bushes growing here.” And he says: “No, I know this area like the back of my hand, and there can’t be any bushes here.” Word for word, he and I started having a big conversation. And there were still many of our officers. “If you say so, he says that there are bushes on this saddle, then please go there with me on horseback tomorrow... I will prove to you that you either worked carelessly, or drew directly from the three-verst map...”
- But why does he say so confidently that there are no bushes there?
- Oh, Lord, why? What, by God, childish questions are you asking? Yes, because for twenty years now he has known this area better than his bedroom. The ugliest pedant there is in the world, and a German to boot... Well, in the end it will turn out that I’m lying and getting into an argument... Besides...
Throughout the conversation, he pulled out burnt matches from the ashtray in front of him and broke them into small pieces, and when he fell silent, he angrily threw them on the floor. It was clear that this strong man wanted to cry.
The husband and wife sat for a long time in heavy thought, without uttering a word. But suddenly Verochka jumped up from her chair with an energetic movement.
- Listen, Kolya, we have to leave right now! Get dressed quickly.
Nikolai Evgrafovich wrinkled all over, as if from unbearable physical pain.
- Oh, don’t talk nonsense, Vera. Do you really think I’m going to go make excuses and apologize? This means directly signing a sentence on yourself. Please don't do anything stupid.
“No, it’s not nonsense,” Vera objected, stamping her foot. “No one is forcing you to go with an apology... But it’s just that if there are no such stupid bushes there, then they need to be planted right now.”
“Plant?.. Bushes?..” Nikolai Evgrafovich widened his eyes.
- Yes, plant it. If you’ve already told a lie, you need to correct it. Get ready, give me a hat... A blouse... You're not looking here, look in the closet... An umbrella!
While Almazov, who tried to object but was not listened to, was looking for a hat and blouse. Vera quickly pulled out the drawers of tables and chests of drawers, pulled out baskets and boxes, opened them and scattered them on the floor.
- Earrings... Well, these are nothing... They won’t give anything for them... But this ring with a solitaire is expensive... We must definitely buy it back... It will be a pity if it disappears. The bracelet... they will also give very little. Antique and bent... Where is your silver cigarette case, Kolya?
Five minutes later, all the jewelry was placed in the reticule. Vera, already dressed, looked around for the last time to make sure that nothing had been forgotten at home.
“We’re going,” she finally said decisively.
- But where are we going? - Almazov tried to protest. “Now it will get dark, and my site is almost ten miles away.”
- Nonsense... Let's go!
First of all, the Almazovs stopped at a pawnshop. It was obvious that the appraiser had been so accustomed to the daily spectacles of human misfortune for so long that they did not touch him at all. He examined the brought things so methodically and for a long time that Verochka was beginning to lose her temper. He especially offended her by testing the diamond ring with acid and, after weighing it, valued it at three rubles.
“But this is a real diamond,” Vera was indignant, “it costs thirty-seven rubles, and only for the occasion.”
The appraiser closed his eyes with an air of tired indifference.
- It’s all the same to us, madam. “We don’t accept stones at all,” he said, throwing the next thing onto the scales, “we only evaluate metals, sir.”
But the old and bent bracelet, quite unexpectedly for Vera, was valued very highly. In total, however, there were about twenty-three rubles. This amount was more than enough.
When the Almazovs arrived at the gardener’s, the white St. Petersburg night had already spread across the sky and in the air like blue milk. The gardener, a Czech, a little old man in gold glasses, was just sitting down with his family for dinner. He was very surprised and dissatisfied with the late appearance of the customers and their unusual request. He probably suspected some kind of hoax and answered Verochka’s persistent requests very dryly:
- Sorry. But I can’t send workers that far at night. If you wish tomorrow morning, I am at your service.
Then there was only one remedy left: to tell the gardener in detail the whole story of the ill-fated spot, and Verochka did just that. The gardener listened at first incredulously, almost hostilely, but when Vera got to the point where she had the idea of planting a bush, he became more attentive and smiled sympathetically several times.
“Well, there’s nothing to do,” the gardener agreed when Vera finished telling her story, “tell me, what bushes can you plant?”
However, of all the breeds that the gardener had, not one turned out to be suitable: willy-nilly, he had to settle on lilac bushes.
In vain Almazov tried to persuade his wife to go home. She and her husband went out of town, all the time while the bushes were being planted, she fussed hotly and disturbed the workers, and only then agreed to go home when she was convinced that the turf around the bushes was completely indistinguishable from the grass that covered the entire saddle.
The next day, Vera could not sit at home and went out to meet her husband on the street. From afar, just by her lively and slightly bouncing gait, she learned that the story with the bushes ended happily... Indeed, Almazov was covered in dust and could barely stand on his feet from fatigue and hunger, but his face shone with the triumph of his victory.
- Fine! Wonderful! - he shouted ten steps further in response to the alarmed expression on his wife’s face. “Imagine, he and I arrived at these bushes.” He looked at them, looked, and even tore off a leaf and chewed it. “What kind of tree is this?” - asks. I say: “I don’t know, yours.” - “A birch tree, it must be?” - speaks. I answer: “It must be a birch tree, yours.” Then he turned to me and even extended his hand. “Excuse me,” he says, “Lieutenant.” I must be starting to get old if I forgot about these bushes.” He's a nice professor, and such a smart guy. Really, I'm sorry that I deceived him. One of the best professors we have. The knowledge is simply monstrous. And what speed and accuracy in assessing the terrain - amazing!
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