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Foreign literature of the XX century in brief. Part 1. Cheat sheet: briefly, the most important

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Table of contents

1. Australian literature
2. Austrian literature
3. American literature
4. English literature
5. Argentine literature
6. Brazilian literature
7. Guatemalan literature
8. Danish literature
9. Irish literature
10. Icelandic literature
11. Spanish literature

(Prose works)

Collection of stories (1907)

The main characters of Henry Lawson's stories are ordinary Australians, mostly people of manual labor. In the story "A Hat in a Circle" the author tells about the sheep shearer Bob Bracers, nicknamed the Giraffe. He is a tall fellow, about six foot three. He is awkwardly built, and his face is brown. He is often seen walking around with his old hat in his hands. This hat, nicknamed "the cabbage palm" by his friends, he uses to raise money for some good cause. So, Giraffe considers it necessary to help one guy who came to work from another city - he had to pick up wool after shearing sheep - but fell ill in the first week. He must be sent to a hospital in Sydney, where he left behind a wife and children. Giraffe's comrades grumble, swear, curse Giraffe's kindness, but put money in his hat.

The giraffe is not a local, he is a native of Victoria. But in Burk, where he shears sheep, he has long been a popular figure. Shearers often put him in charge of keeping stakes when betting; he acts as a peacemaker, an arbitrator or a second to please the guys who started a fight. To most children, he is like an older brother or an uncle, and all strangers see him as their closest friend. He is always helping someone with something. Sometimes he persuades the guys to arrange a "dance" for the girls, then he collects money for Mrs. Smith, whose husband drowned at Christmas in the river, then he helps some poor woman whose husband ran away, leaving her with a bunch of children, then he tries to help out a certain Bill, the driver oxen, who got drunk under his own cart and broke his leg. Therefore, everyone loves the Giraffe and not without pleasure they tell jokes about his hat. Giraffe helped a lot. However, the debt is sometimes red payment. Giraffe has no wife, no children, no just a girlfriend. True, there was one case when, even before his arrival in Bourque, Bob liked a girl in his native town of Bendigo. She was small in stature, which for some reason especially attracted Bob. But when he asked her bluntly if she wanted to date him, the girl inadvertently replied that it would be quite funny to watch her cowardly next to a chimney like Giraffe. The guy took this as a refusal and went to Bourque to shear sheep. Later, he received a letter from her, where she scolded him, reproached him for leaving without saying goodbye, called him a "terrible lanky blockhead" and begged him to write and come to her. The day before he left, the guys found out about this story and stole Giraffe's hat from him. And the next day he found her near his bed full of money. The collection was a record.

"Wanted by the Police" is another story about the comradely solidarity of the poor. Two families of immigrants live in the farmer's hut - a total of seven people. One night, when it was pouring rain, the farmer was reading a newspaper article that the police were looking for two people accused of stealing sheep and cattle. The inhabitants of the hut sympathized with these two people and wished them all the best. A little later, someone came up to the hut and called the owner. It turned out that these were just the fugitives that the police were chasing. They were invited to enter. They were a tall man, soaked to the skin, exhausted, and a young man, almost a boy, who suffered from an excruciating cough. They were dried, fed, poured hot gin, which was treasured as medicine, and given some provisions for the journey. Before leaving, the man gave the hostess a small Bible and a bundle of letters and asked her to keep them. He said that if he managed to get out of the difficult situation he was in, he would send for them one day. The farmer saw off the fugitives, showed them the way, and when he returned, he drove the cows onto the road so that they would trample their tracks. In the morning the police came and questioned the hosts suspiciously about last night. But the inhabitants of the hut said nothing about the fugitives, and the policemen left. Five years have passed. The farmer and his wife had one dream: to earn a few pounds to clear and fence the plot, buy another good workhorse and a few more cows. One evening the postman delivered a package to the hut. Inside the package was a thick envelope on which were written the words: "To feed the horses, to stay, and to supper." In the envelope they found fifty pounds. It was a huge amount for the inhabitants of the hut, which was sent by a fugitive saved by them five years ago.

Comradely solidarity is also narrated in the story "Tell Mrs. Baker". Cattle driver Bob Baker heads north for a two-year business trip. A narrator named Jack and his companion Andy M'Kullock have agreed to ride with Bob as assistants. During this trip, Bob Baker visited roadside taverns and city inns too often. In Mulgatown, he desperately swaggered, entangled with one barmaid, who, in collusion with the innkeeper, did everything so that Baker was left without a livelihood. He spent not only all his own, but also other people's money on it. When the cattleman for whom Bob worked found out about this, he fired him, and sent the herd with another herder. The new driver did not need assistants, since he had two of his brothers with him. Therefore, a settlement was made with Andy and Jack. But they did not leave Bob alone in a foreign land, because the unwritten law by which they lived did not allow them to leave a comrade in trouble. Bob sank lower and lower: he dragged himself around the taverns, got drunk, got into a fight. Andy cabled Bob's brother Ned.

Ned arrived a week later, just a few hours before the death of Bob, who had died of a delirium tremens. Ned took care of the funeral, and then avenged his brother by beating the innkeeper badly. A few days later, the three men separated. Ned returned to his room, and Andy and the narrator set off on their return journey. Andy was in great agitation, as he had to go to Mrs. Baker and tell her about the death of her husband. Pitying the woman and sympathizing with the deceased, the friends decided not to tell her the whole truth. On the way, Andy came up with a very different version of Bob's death. He told Mrs. Baker that her husband didn't feel well when they crossed the border. Near Mulgatown, he became very ill. A local squatter took him to the city and put him in the best hotel, the owner of which knew Baker and did everything he could for him. Ned arrived three days before Bob's death. Bob died of a fever, but in his last moments he was calm and constantly thought of his family. He asked me to convey his request to his wife - she and her children should move to Sydney, where her relatives live, who will certainly help her. Ned promised to bring Bob's body to Sydney. After this story, Mrs. Baker perked up a little and thanked her friends for everything they had done for her and her husband. On the street, Andy and Jack confessed to Mrs. Baker's younger sister, who had come to visit her from Sydney, that Bob had died of drunkenness. The girl was grateful to the men for their sensitivity and kindness and promised to expedite her sister's departure from these places to Sydney.

Most of the stories in the collection are written with extraordinary humor. "Two Vespers" is one of them. Swempy and Brummy are typical bummers, that is, traveling vagabonds who do not want to work even when given the opportunity. It is customary in Australia to feed such travelers free of charge, and even to give them tea, sugar, flour, or meat for their journey. Swempy and Brummie use all their brains to use blackmail, petty theft, veiled threats and cunning tricks to get more food for future use. But one day they had to think seriously about the work: their trousers were worn to holes, and in order to update this important detail of the toilet, they had to work for two weeks and earn a few pounds. The farmer they approached said he could only hire one. Brummi and Svempy alternately give each other this opportunity. Not coming to an agreement, they cast lots. Brummy goes to work. For two weeks he collects wool from sheep, gives Swempy tobacco and buys him new trousers. However, he does not want to split the remaining money in half. Swempi considers this unfair, he takes offense at his companion and decides to steal his wallet during a night's sleep. For three nights in a row, he tries to find a wallet in Brummie's pockets and under his pillow, but to no avail. When Brummy snored too loudly, Swempi became alert. Guessing that his fellow traveler was only pretending to be asleep, Swempi directly asked Brummy where he was hiding the money. Brummy cheerfully replied that it was under Swempy's pillow. Such suspicion and cunning on the part of his friend Svempi cannot forgive in any way and therefore breaks up with him.

Ya. V. Nikitin

(The Roaring Nineties)

Roman (1946)

The novel "Nineties" is the first part of a famous trilogy, which also includes the novels "Golden Miles" (1948) and "Winged Seeds" (1950). The trilogy covers sixty years of Australian history, beginning in the XNUMXs. The same heroes act in it; the writer traces their fate and relationship with unflagging attention.

The nineties were the time of the gold rush in Australia, when crowds of people from all over the world rushed to the north-west of the country in the hope of getting rich. Did they succeed? In her novel, the writer directly and unambiguously answers this question.

Gold! The life of the human community depends on it. Everyone dreams of fabulous wealth. When word of a new discovery reaches a prospecting village, everyone is in motion. People rush to the campaign for gold. Heavily loaded camels, wagons, gigs, wagons harnessed by old nags, bityugs, donkeys, people on bicycles, on horseback, on foot with manual wheelbarrows - all irresistibly rush in search of treasures. The settlement of the Southern Cross lives according to such laws, where the summer is dry and long, where there is not enough food and water.

Before us passes the life of several families, poor and modest, typical representatives of working Australia. Such is the family of Sally and Morris Gaug, in which, of course, Sally plays the main role. Common sense, fortitude, courage, spiritual purity - these are the main features of her character, helping to survive in the conditions of that difficult struggle for existence, to which her life dooms. Still quite a girl, she marries Morris Gaug, the unlucky offspring of an English aristocratic family, who is sent to Australia for correction, having provided a small amount of money. A farmer did not work out of him - he does not get along with the workers, does not know how to manage the farm, then invests in the mine, but loses them along with the work. After becoming a prospector during the gold rush, Morris wants to return to England as a millionaire and restore the family's wealth. He eventually ends up as an undertaker. Sally is the daughter and granddaughter of Australian pioneers, and this thought helps her in difficult moments of her life. She does not feel like a stranger in the boundless and mysterious expanses of Western Australia. After all, this is still Australia, she tells herself, although everything is different here than in the southern forests where she grew up.

In the village of Southern Cross, then in Kalgoorlie, Sally opens a canteen, and then a boarding house for prospectors. She is assisted by miners, among whom the principle of partnership is unshakable. Therefore, they strongly condemn Morris, who, in one of his unsuccessful campaigns for gold, left the sick Sally with the natives. They saved her life. However, all the same, the miners believe that people are smeared with tar and thrown out in feathers for lesser sins than such an attitude towards a wife. Sally, on the other hand, does not allow anyone to scold Morris and remains faithful to him, despite all the offers of Frisco de Morfe, Morris's old companion, who is constantly getting richer and buying up mining sites and mines during periods of stagnation for nothing. Begging, borrowing or stealing for Frisco is the same thing. Frisco buys Maritana, a simple-minded Aboriginal girl, from her father and future husband for several bottles of wine and two packs of tobacco. But he does not want to recognize her child as his. Maritana and her mother Kalgurla are the heroines who represent the theme of the aborigines in the novel, which is very close to the writer. There are scoundrels, she notes, who kidnap native women, rape them, and other whites have to pay for someone else's guilt - the natives take revenge on any white. This is how the theme of enmity between whites and aborigines arises. It has already been stated in the first pages of the novel, which tells how Kalgoorl, who has just given birth to a girl, is forced by two whites to take them to where the water is.

To match Frisco and Paddy Kevan - a ragged boy who does not disdain the resale of stolen gold. At the end of the novel, he is already the owner of a profitable mine. Such people will become the largest gold miners of the country in the future.

The tragic line of the novel is connected with the family of Laura and Olf Brierley. Laura is a beautiful and poorly adapted woman to the hardships of a harsh life, who would rather be an adornment of society. At first, happiness seems to smile at this family - Olf profitably sells his gold-bearing site, acquires his own house and even makes his way to the mine managers, because he always had a craving for knowledge and he was stubbornly engaged in self-education. The vision of a calm, prosperous life looms before him like a mirage. Old age and poverty frighten him. And Olf decides to become a reliable person for the owners: he does not allow himself to take part in the struggle of the prospectors for their primordial rights. At first, this struggle is purely economic in nature: the miners assert their right to search for alluvial gold in any place no closer than fifty feet from the gold-bearing vein. Areas with vein gold, which require large expenditures and machinery, should be allocated for development by industrial companies. Alluvial gold rights are the basis of the state's wealth, as hard rock mined by industrial companies flows to Perth, the state's capital city, or across the ocean, enriching foreign shareholders.

Overseas owners of gold mining enterprises are not so much interested in gold mining as in the stock market game. They cash in on the issuance of shares in fake gold-bearing sites almost more than on the shares of the richest mines. Gold mining becomes a means of fraud, robbery of gullible people, and the mines themselves, the author writes, are like "dark horses", the true virtues of which the owner of the racing stable keeps secret,

The long and difficult struggle of the miners gradually takes on a political character, when crowded meetings and demonstrations demand self-government, the allocation of mines to an independent state, its inclusion in the federation of Australian states. In the history of Australia, these sentiments and actions of the broad masses in the last decade of the last century had their effect, and in 1901 six Australian states, which had previously been an English colony, received dominion rights.

Alf Brierley takes the side of entrepreneurs on the issue of the rights of miners to placer gold. He no longer meets with old friends and is bitterly convinced that they have turned their backs on him. Even his bosom friend Dinny Queen, with whom he once went in search of gold. These days, Olf is only helped by Morris Gaug, who protects Olf from the miners. True, and Paddy Kevan shows sympathy for Olf. But Paddy, as always, pursues his own interest. Alf tidies up the paperwork related to the accounts at Paddy's mine, but doesn't want to be part of his gold thieves' scam. Therefore, he soon loses his last job in his life. Finding another without a diploma, Olf, being just a practitioner in his field, cannot. Specialists with a diploma come from America and Germany to Australia. It is they who are valued. Olf realizes that he made a mistake by not supporting the prospectors in their struggle for their rights, and comes to speak frankly with Dinny Cain about this. Alf soon commits suicide. In a farewell letter to his wife, he begs to forgive him - he has no other way to provide for her and her daughter, and the money that she will receive under the insurance policy will be enough for them for the first time. The old comrades decide to bury Olf at their own expense and raise some money for his loved ones.

The third family, which is given many pages in the novel, is Jean and Marie Robillard. Healthy and young, the Frenchman Jean Robillard came to Australia from England, where he was a teacher. He dreams of saving up money and buying a piece of land and livestock. But the laborer's earnings are not enough, and he joins the very first detachment of miners who rushed to the Southern Cross for gold. Marie goes with him.

Jean did not find gold and worked at the mine for some time. Then he became a cook in a hotel. The Robillards soon move to Kalgoorlie and Alf promises to get Jean a job at his mine. But he had already begun to cough. Together with their father, they build a cabin for Marie near the Brown Hill Mine. Jean continues to work underground, but he is choking with a cough: after all, the miners work with a pick and a drill by the light of a lantern in the mines where there is dust. People are suffocating in smoke from blasting. Thousands of miners die from consumption, and poor fastenings lead to accidents during frequent landslides. But people cost less than lashing timber. Everyone understands that Jean's days are numbered.

In the last episode of the novel, we see Sally, Morris and Dinny on the veranda of their common house. This conversation, as it were, sums up all the ups and downs of life during the gold rush - the old era of gold prospecting in these mines is over, Morris notes. A new one is beginning: now industry will be enlarged and subordinate everything to its own interests. But scams and speculation must stop, Dinny believes, you need to fight for your rights if people do not want to be robbed. They won the fight for alluvial gold because they showed their strength and solidarity. A new stage of struggle is coming. On this optimistic note, the first part of the trilogy ends.

A. P. Shishkin

(The Tree of Man)

Roman (1955)

This is a story about the life of two ordinary Australians - farmer Stan Parker and his wife Amy. Their life begins with the century, and it reflects in its own way the events of its history and the processes that took place in Australian reality.

The story slowly unfolds about how young Stan Parker clears his site of wild thickets and begins to build a house. The picture is ordinary and at the same time symbolic - the beginning of the beginnings: a long life, the development of virgin land, in a sense, even the human race. Stan achieves everything with his work, and work becomes for him and his wife a ritual that contains the highest meaning of existence. Labor introduces the secrets of life, reveals the inexpressible charm of the land that feeds a person, brings him closer to nature, with which the Australian farmer is closely connected, makes it possible to acquire its special language, which is understandable to a person who lived a natural life. Work helps to know oneself and survive in the fight against the elements - fires and floods hit the Parkers, but they do not give up. These are the "average" Australians - the backbone of the nation.

… ???…

In a forest fire that engulfed the village, the Armstrong house burned down, and Madeline, miraculously saved, lost her hair in the fire. The obsession dissipated over time, and Amy again found peace of mind, surrendering to the primordial occupations of the farmer's wife, her mother.

True life lies in something else - "... looking at the sky, looking for signs of the weather in it, listening to the oats falling, picking up a wet calf that had just fallen out of a cow's womb and was trying to prove that it would stand on its feet." The Parker children could not stand on their feet, but the family did not perish, and Ray's son carries the ability to comprehend the secrets of life that his grandfather had, who admired every leaf, every living creature. However, what was not given to the grandfather is more than given to the grandson - the ability to express in a word delight with the greatness of life and nature. Stan knew how to observe and admire, but he lacked words. What he could not say, his grandson will write in a poem: "There will be the smell of bread, and the vague wisdom of youth ... and girls with reddish pigtails that whisper about love ... and ruddy apples, and a small white cloud that , as soon as the wind blows it, it will grow into a huge horse and stomp heavily across the sky. Stan's grandson, Ray, symbolizes a new step in the spiritual development of the nation, overcoming provincial backwardness, inertia, passivity of the mind, limited only by material needs. The values ​​sung by Patrick White are opposed to the official Australian myth, which professes the cult of strength, physical beauty, material wealth and, in general, a primitive, unreasoning consciousness. There is no place in this myth for creative consciousness, for the personality of the artist - that is why the fate of geniuses in White's novels is so tragic, that is why the artist Gage commits suicide in The Tree of Man, encountering stupid indifference and misunderstanding during his lifetime. However, it is this gift of the creator, combined with such excellent qualities of the Australian character as diligence, the spirit of discovery, love for the land and nature, that serve as a guarantee for the author that the human tree will not perish in the Great Australian Desert.

A. P. Shishkin

(Die Frau des Weissen)

Novella (1898)

The protagonist of the story, on whose behalf the story is being told, arrives at a seaside resort with the intention of staying there for a long time and fully enjoying the desired peace. He had just received his doctorate, and the young lady he was courting had married another. He feels that a whole chapter of his life is left behind, and this gives him confidence and calmness. But suddenly an unexpected meeting breaks his plan to take a break from worries and worries. While walking, he sees a young woman with a young son and recognizes her. This is Fryderyka, who disappeared from his life seven years ago. They remember each other, but the tone of their welcoming conversation is strained: Friederike is clearly trying to avoid further communication with him. And the hero loses his head. The meeting stirred up in him forbidden memories of those days of his youth, which he spent in the house of his professor, Friederike's husband. He again feels in love with a woman who for so long, until the very day he left the professor's house, treated the young man with motherly tenderness, nothing more. But on the day he was leaving, she ran into his room, covered the young man with kisses, falling at his feet. At that moment, the door opened slightly behind her, and the young man, dumbfounded with horror, saw the face of the professor. The door closed immediately. Friederike jumped up, in a panic led him out of the house and ordered him to flee immediately.

For seven years then he did not receive any news from her, and now, having met by chance at a resort, they do not dare to talk about that episode. They arrange a sailing trip to the island, and there an explanation takes place between them. Friederika admits that she loved him all these years, and reproaches the hero for many years of silence, when she and her husband were so waiting for news from him. The hero is at a loss: after the episode in the room, he was tormented for a long time by fear of Friederike's husband, who saw everything; how she does not understand that he could not write to them, and so easily reproaches him. Friederike wonders if he understood what made her send him away so suddenly then, and the hero begins to guess what was the matter. Friderika continues in the meantime: it seemed to her that she heard steps outside the door, but there was no one there, and her husband returned many hours after the hero's flight. As she talks, he feels something cold in his chest. Instead of a beloved, the hero sees a strange woman next to him. The hero thinks about the professor, about the fact that Fryderyka does not know and never knew that her husband saw her at his feet. He silently left then and returned only a few hours later. All these years, the professor lived next to her, without betraying himself with a single word. The hero is horrified to realize that her husband has forgiven her everything and she is still dragging the silent burden of his forgiveness. She suddenly ceases to be just a desirable woman for him, in her place he sees a ghost, surrounded by an impenetrable shell of deep forgiveness. And he considers himself not entitled to open Friederike's eyes, to remove this horror from her. Friederika does not suspect what is happening to the hero, and continues to happily chirp about her love, and then appoints him a date for the evening. She takes the shocked silence of the hero for an expression of happiness, but he is unable to look her in the face. That same evening, he leaves and on the train tries to imagine how she is waiting for him on the seaside, but he sees not a living woman, but only a disembodied shadow.

A. A. Friedrich

(Das Vermachtnis)

Novella (1901)

The meaning of life for Albert for three months now has been patiently waiting for many hours for his beloved Anna. They agreed that every day, from three to seven o'clock, he would wait for her, and he waited patiently, every time for hours, and often in vain. Anna does not dare to leave the house if her husband is late. Painful expectations undermine the strength and efficiency of Albert: he is unable to read the newspaper, or even write a letter. For the third day he had not seen her; the unbearable hours of waiting drive Albert into a semi-mad state of despair. He rushes about the room, losing his mind from longing. Albert and Anna live in an atmosphere of anxious and ardent tenderness, in constant fear that they might inadvertently betray themselves. He likes that their relationship is surrounded by the deepest mystery, but it is all the more painful to experience days like this. He is tormented by the fear that at Anna's house they suspected their connection, but most likely, he thinks, Anna is seriously ill and cannot get out of bed.

Albert goes to Anna's house and sees that all the lights are out and only a ray of light breaks through her window. How do you know what's wrong with her? He comes up with the salutary thought that in the event of her illness, he can find out about her health through the messenger, and the messenger does not need to know who gave him the order. So he learns that Anna is seriously ill with typhoid fever and her illness is very dangerous. Albert suffers unbearably at the thought that Anna may be dying now, and he cannot see her before her death. But he does not dare to rush upstairs to his beloved even now, fearing to harm her and himself with the publicity of their romance. Heartbroken, half-conscious, Albert wanders around the house of his beloved, not daring to go to her to say goodbye.

It's been a week since their last date. Early in the morning, Albert runs to Anna's house, and the servant says that Anna passed away half an hour ago. Now the painful hours of waiting for Anna seem to him the happiest in his life. Again, the hero lacks the courage to enter the rooms and returns an hour later, hoping to blend in with the crowd and go unnoticed. On the stairs, he encounters unfamiliar grieving people, and they only thank him for the visit and attention.

Finally, he goes into the bedroom to the deceased. At the sight of her, a sharp pain squeezes his heart, he is ready to scream, fall on his knees with sobs, kiss her hands ... But then Albert notices that he is not alone in the room. Someone else, overcome with grief, kneels by the bed, holding the hand of the deceased. And it seems impossible and absurd for Albert to sob now in the presence of this man. He goes to the door, turns around, and he imagines a contemptuous smile on Anna's lips. The smile reproaches him for standing like a stranger at the deathbed of his beloved woman and not daring to tell anyone that she belonged to him and only he has the right to kiss her hands. But he dares not betray himself. The power of shame draws him away from Anna's house, for he realizes that he does not dare to mourn for her, like others, that his dead beloved drove him away because he renounced her.

A. A. Friedrich

Play (1901)

The playwright did not determine the time and place of the action, but by all indications the events in all three acts take place in the contemporary era of the author.

Minister's house. Gol, emphasizing his rights as a long-time family friend, urgently demands from the owner's wife Irene to urgently talk with her husband regarding his appointment to the post of prefect. Gol has been a member of his party for ten years, he was by his side in those difficult times, when one could pay with one's life for the adherence to the ideas proclaimed by him. But now the minister has been in power for six months, and the comrades-in-arms who ensured his victory did not receive anything from this. The moment is quite acute, there is a struggle in parliament, serious competition has developed between the American Southeast Company and the National Bank for the right to build a canal. The Americans, intending to enlist the support of parliamentarians, offer up to thirty thousand per vote, opposition representatives, of course, profit, and what remains for the minister's supporters? Arguments about the people, the state, the good - that's fine, but you can't be so detached from reality. The party will only benefit if it becomes known that the minister knows how to appreciate the merits of those who support him. Irene makes excuses: she tried several times to start a conversation with her husband, but he does not want to listen to her, advises not to interfere in matters in which she does not understand. Gol expresses dissatisfaction: this has been dragging on for a month, he can no longer wait. He is mired in debt, vexed by creditors. Who, if not Irene, knows how painful financial difficulties are. The conversation is unpleasant for the young woman: of course, she is grateful to Gol for his participation and help when she had debts that she did not dare to confess to her husband. But the interlocutor proceeds to direct blackmail: the money for Irene was taken from the National Bank, at his disposal are her receipts. Irene promises to talk to her husband today.

The conversation is curtailed due to the appearance of an old friend of the owner of the house, Firmian. Gol is clearly unsympathetic to him, and after his departure, the old man, who sensed something was wrong, advises Irene not to help the insidious sly in his plans. He does not hide his concern: the situation is really tense, public opinion regarding the channel has split. Karl is a beautiful-hearted idealist, he wants to be an apostle, but although he has been politically active for thirty years, he influences people, manages them, he does not know them at all. The danger lies not in the opposition, which is led by the young and ambitious Andry. The danger lurks in their own camp, the minister's associates are unhappy that they made a mistake in the calculations, and they do not intend to wait any longer.

Having met her husband, Irene tries to put in a good word for Gol, but Karl is adamant: what his wife asks for is impossible, friendship cannot be paid with money.

The secretary reports that a visitor is waiting in the Minister's office. Meks, a man from Andri's inner circle, immediately gets down to business: using his influence, he will help ensure the desired result of the vote at the evening session of parliament. Meks was disappointed in Andri, this young man lacks the proper scope, he will not go far. Meks is quite well-to-do and does not intend to ask for much: the title of an adviser in exchange for assistance would suit him quite well. The indignant minister drives the visitor out of the office,

Another visitor appears, Shvender passionately, but rather confusedly, praises the activities of the minister, declaring himself his longtime and faithful associate, and then, in a veiled form, offers services for the physical elimination of the head of the opposition. The minister indignantly expels this visitor as well. A good like-minded person, he did not miss a single of his speeches, but he took absolutely nothing from his speeches. After all, for how many years he has been repeating: not violence and hatred, but love and justice should be among people. What is surprising here, Firmian ironically, Schwender, apparently, is really carried away by Karl's sermons, and he is ready to serve him as a secret assassin because, as he just explained, he was once deceived by an American, and since then he considers them all as notorious villains. According to the minister, there is no such good person who would not act badly, there is no one who could not be corrected. Here, for example, Gol is young, ambitious, he is attracted by wealth and honors. Everything in life was too easy for Gol, but you need to go through need and grief in order to understand yourself.

At a meeting with his party associates, the minister discusses the tactics of behavior at parliamentary hearings. He expresses his confidence that, although the mood in the well-known press organs and in some circles of the population is not entirely favorable, they will still manage to turn around in their own way thanks to the majority in Parliament. Kaun demands to use power and arrest Andri: how many dirty machinations the opposition is doing, but the minister does not agree: no leader is guaranteed against the abuse of his name. The opposition was lucky enough to find a capable, energetic leader, whom, unfortunately, they missed to make their supporter. And convictions cannot be created by force, people cannot be forced without convincing them. In Lutz's view, the reforms do serious damage to some self-interests. He urges the Minister to act more slowly, more carefully, more moderately. "We are not here to please the people," the minister retorts. "We must educate them." Gol proposes to distribute all the places in the administration among his people, then the party will have a whole army of agitators at its disposal. It's not like you risk everything and get nothing in return. Outraged by unworthy speeches, the minister drives Gol away. Colleagues are increasingly disappointing him. Before they were enthusiastic, had firm principles, and now they reveal envy, hatred, greed. You can’t think solely about your own benefit - it will ruin everything. The members of the faction disperse dissatisfied, Firmian fears that Karl spoiled the matter with his harshness.

Parliament is in session. The question is not in the National Bank and not in the American company, as they try to instill here, counting on cheap patriotism, says Andri. It is about the benefit of the country. The minister, on the other hand, was more suited to become a poet who tirelessly encouraged, aroused and warned the public conscience. As a fiery apostle of humane ideas, he did a lot for the good of the motherland, more than one generation enthusiastically listened to his seductive speeches. But the country is in crisis, there are signs of a terrible collapse, and it will crush this extravagant policy of great experiments, for the implementation of which there are not enough forces. The minister is an honest man, but incapable of practical activity, surrounded by bad advisers and intriguers. The speech of the head of the opposition causes a stormy reaction from the audience. During a break, Gol offers Andri compromising materials on a political rival, but he indignantly rejects his offer. Then Gol enters into negotiations with the director of an American company. Irene, who is in the back of the meeting, cannot stand the growing tension, she faints, and she is taken home.

After a break, the minister speaks with a reply. To some extent, he manages to change the mood of the audience. He explains the reasons that prompted the government to entrust the construction of the canal to the National Bank. And in vain did the young colleague regard their attempts to raise the country as the inept and doomed to failure activity of an obsolete generation. The main thing is truth and justice; These ideas, of course, are as old as mankind, but along with mankind they are constantly being updated.

It was proposed to hold a roll-call vote on the issue of the channel, but here Gol asks for the floor. He makes a revealing statement, accusing the minister of treason and betrayal of the interests of the country. The National Bank bribed him and paid him in full. As evidence, Gol presents receipts from the minister's wife for the loan. A huge scandal breaks out. The minister is shocked and confused.

And again the minister's house. Carl appears in shabby, torn clothes. He barely managed to hide from the angry mob. He can’t come to his senses in any way, he had nothing but an honest name, and now they branded him a thief and a deceiver. Whistling, laughter, insulting cries are heard from the street, stones are flying through the windows. Karl is surprised by the arrival of Firmian: after all, it seems that everyone has turned their backs on him. He urges a friend not to attach importance to screamers and comedians. There is no slander that cannot be refuted, but for this you need to be in shape. Karl cannot understand: how could a wife do this? Out of ignorance, Firmian believes, she, of course, had no idea how things could turn out. This is the fault of Karl, who failed to explain to Irene that in her position one should be especially careful.

There is a painful explanation with his wife. Irene did not know that the money was from the bank, in time she was going to return it. She did not want to burden her husband with financial problems, who devoted so much time and effort to work. Karl realizes that he is to blame: he did not notice what was happening nearby, in the family, he did not manage to become an adviser, an assistant to his wife.

An excited Andri appears. How terrible is the spectacle of the crowd, these faces, distorted by malice, deceit and hatred, reveling in shame and intoxicated with meanness. He is ashamed and hurt that these people praised him as a hero. How could he be so deceived, it seemed to him that he was guided by honest intentions, but in fact it was revenge for the fact that his political opponent was higher, stronger, more significant than all of them. Andri intends to leave his political career, go to the provinces, try to live with dignity and dignity. Carl is shocked by the young man's confession. He sees in him a kindred spirit, also experiencing impotence, disappointment. It seems that they both comprehended the truth, clothed it in miserable words - freedom, justice ... But the crowd does not understand them. Well, together they will live quietly among people, gradually winning their souls and hearts, working for the common good. Maybe it's even for the best that it all happened.

A. M. Burmistrova

Roman (1915)

Prague, beginning of the century. The story is told in the first person. The hero is either asleep or awake. A moonbeam hits the foot of his bed. The hero feels that his sleeping body is lying in bed, and "feelings have separated from the body and no longer depend on it"...

Suddenly he finds himself in the gloomy courtyard of the Prague ghetto, sees his neighbors - a fourteen-year-old red-haired Rosina and a man with round fish eyes and a split cleft lip - junk dealer Aaron Wassertrum, Rosina tries to attract the attention of the hero, she is jealously watched by one of the twin brothers, pockmarked teenager Loiza (however, another brother, the deaf-mute Jaromir, is also obsessed with a passion for Rosina). The hero is in his closet. Wassertrum looks at the walls of the neighboring house, adjacent to the hero's window. What can he see there? After some time, joyful female laughter is heard from behind the wall, from the neighboring studio. The hero immediately recalls that his friend, actor-puppeteer Zvak, a few days ago, rented his studio to a "young important gentleman" so that he could meet with his lady of the heart without spies. Women's laughter behind the wall awakens the hero's vague memories of one rich house, where he often had to restore expensive antiques. Suddenly, a high-pitched scream is heard nearby, then the creaking of an iron attic door. A young woman, pale as death, bursts into the room, shouting: "Master Pernath, for Christ's sake, hide me!" For a second, the door swings open again, behind it is the face of Aaron Wassertrum, like a terrible mask.

In front of the hero, a spot of moonlight again emerges at the foot of his Bed. Athanasius Pernath - why does he know this name? Once upon a time, he confused his hat with someone else's (and it fit him just right). On its white silk lining was written in gold letters the name of the owner - "Athanasius Pernath".

The hero again feels like a Feather. An unknown person comes to him, an engraver-restorer, and brings a book in which you need to correct the initial, made of two leaves of thin gold. Pernath begins to leaf through the book, striking visions stand before him. One of them is a couple entwined in an embrace, before his eyes taking on the integral form of a half-man-half-woman, a hermaphrodite, and sitting on a mother-of-pearl throne in a mahogany crown. Waking up from visions, Pernath wants to find the person who brought the book, but he disappeared. Pernath tries - and cannot - remember his appearance. Only imagining himself in his place, Pernat feels that he is becoming like him: a beardless face, prominent cheekbones, slanting eyes - yes, this is a Golem! There is a legend about Golem. Once upon a time, according to the canons of Kabbalah, one rabbi made an artificial man, a Golem, out of clay, so that he would help him as a servant. The golem eked out a pitiful half-conscious existence and came to life only when the rabbi put a note with magical signs into his mouth. One day, when he forgot to take it out, the Golem went berserk and started destroying everything around. The rabbi rushed to him and took out a piece of paper with signs. Then the idol fell dead to the ground. It is said that he appears in the city every thirty-three years.

Pernath sees himself in the yard, next to him is the student Harousek in a shabby summer coat with a turned up collar. The student hates the junk dealer and assures Pernat that it is he, Charousek, who is to blame for the death of the junk dealer's son, Dr. Vassori, a charlatan eye doctor (Wassertrum blames Dr. Savioli for this). Savioli is the name of a young gentleman who rented a room next to Pernat's closet.

Pernath receives a letter from a woman he recently rescued from a junk dealer. She asks him to meet. Angelina - that is the name of the woman - remembers Pernat from childhood. Now she needs his help: the junk dealer Wassertrum wants to drive the ill Dr. Savioli to suicide. Angelina is married, she is afraid that her husband will find out about her betrayal, and gives Pernat her correspondence with Savioli for safekeeping.

Next to Pernath lives Shmaya Hillel, an archivist in the Jewish town hall, with her beautiful daughter Miriam. Miriam is pure in heart and lives in anticipation of a miracle that will transform her life. At the same time, the very expectation is so dear to her that sometimes she wishes that a miracle would not happen. In his visions, Pernath feels like a Golem, and Shmaya Hillel seems to him a rabbi-ruler, and this in a peculiar way colors their real relationship. Pernath carves a cameo with a portrait of Miriam on a moonstone, which reminds him of the images of the ancient book that so excited him. Pernath loves Miriam, but does not yet realize it, and before he understands, much more will happen: meetings with Angelina, Charousek's feverish speeches full of hatred for Wassertrum (as it turns out, the junk dealer is his father); the intrigues of Wassertrum, as a result of which Pernath is imprisoned on a false charge; his mystical communication with Miriam, the many visions that visited him ...

After leaving prison, Pernat rushes to look for Shmayu Hillel and his daughter and sees that the quarter has been destroyed, the reconstruction of this area of ​​the city is underway. Pernat cannot find his friends either - the puppeteer Zvak, the blind Neftali Shafranek. In Pernath's absence, the junk dealer Wassertrum died, and the student Harousek committed suicide on his grave, bequeathing a third of the inheritance inherited from Wassertrum to Pernath.

Pernath is going to spend this money looking for Shmai Hillel and his daughter. In the meantime, he rents an apartment in the only house untouched by reconstruction in the entire block - in the very one where, according to legend, the Golem was sometimes seen. At Christmas, when Pernath sits by the lit Christmas tree, his double, the Golem, appears to him. A fire starts in the house. Pernath descends down the rope, he sees Hillel and Miriam in one of the windows, he joyfully calls out to them ... and falls off the rope.

Suddenly the hero comes to his senses: he lies on a bed, at the foot of which is a spot of moonlight. And Pernath is not his name at all, it is written on the white silk lining of his hat, which he had confused with his the day before in the cathedral in Hradcany. The hero is trying to follow in the footsteps of Pernath. In one of the taverns nearby, he learns that he has married Miriam. Finally, after a long search, the hero finds himself at Pernath's house near the "Wall at the last lantern", "where not a single living soul can live." On the double-leaf gate is a hermaphrodite god on a mother-of-pearl throne. An old servant, with silver buckles on his shoes, in a frill and an old-style frock coat, takes his hat, and in front of the hero in the span of the gate appears a garden and a temple-like marble house, and Athanasius Pernath and Miriam on the steps. Miriam is as beautiful and young as in the hero's dream, and the face of Pernath seems to the hero to be his own reflection in the mirror. The servant returns and gives the hero his hat.

V. S. Kulagina-Yartseva

(Aus den Aufzeichnungen des Malte Laurids Brigge)

Roman (1910)

The hero of the story, twenty-eight-year-old Dane Malte Laurids Brigge, the last representative of a noble family, finds himself in Paris all alone and on the verge of poverty. From now on, his observations focus on how the outcasts live in Paris: bunkhouses, the stench of chloroform in a hospital for the poor, the rumble of trams, beggars selling something or trying to foist some nonsense on a passerby for nothing - in poverty, humiliating for everyone, people lose individuality, do not live their own life and die not "their own death". The whole experience of the spiritual culture of mankind, the wisdom accumulated over the centuries, decides Malte, unable to help a person resist the standardization that is imposed on him by the surrounding reality, because knowledge has always been directed mainly to what surrounds a person, but not to himself. The hero believes that for many centuries mankind operated exclusively with superficial and insignificant knowledge, still remaining a mystery to itself. Anyone who has found the strength to face this bitter truth, in his opinion, should immediately start doing something to catch up. That is why he sits down to write his notes. His work is an act of spiritual asceticism. Malte himself is aware of how overwhelming the task. The hard way of its knowledge should lead to the acquisition of a holistic worldview, the only one capable of shedding light on the original meaning of human existence. And death too. Death for the sick Malte is a logical and necessary end of life. Each person should have "his own death", which follows from this life.

Knowing a person, Malte gazes intently at the people with whom his fate collides, he wants to discern in each person that unique, special thing that distinguishes him from others. The inner world of any beggar or cripple is invaluable for Malta and is full of hidden meanings and meanings that he alone understands. The desire to comprehend a person, proceeding only from his individuality, from the individual and special, inevitably leads Malte to risky closing in on himself. Childhood memories, pages of books etched into the memory, vivid impressions of Paris - all this is strung on a single subjective rod, everything acquires a special personal coloring.

Wanting to preserve his own individuality, Malte dooms himself to loneliness. The system of objective connections, in which each person inevitably finds himself included, he perceives as a "mask", dictating his own gestures and words, and therefore, subjugating the living "I". Even love, according to Malte, limits the true freedom of a person. For, as a rule, she is not free from the passion of possession, the desire to subjugate the life of another. And then love, as it were, encloses the existence of the one who is loved within a certain framework, from the expectations and hopes of those who love, the conditions of the game are formed, a certain pattern of behavior of loved ones. Therefore, the parable of the Prodigal Son who left home is so important for Malta because he did not want to be loved, did not want to accept only one version of fate, which would consist of the expectations and hopes of loved ones, depriving him of the right to vote his own "I". In his wanderings around the world, the Prodigal Son hopes to find such love that would not limit the freedom of another, would not be reduced to a thirst to own and dictate. At one time it seems to him that he finds it in the love of God. But this solution is also illusory.

In the general context of the novel, this parable is opposed by stories about "great lovers" - Gaspar Stump, Marianna Alcoforado, relative and beloved Malta Abelone. Here love is not speculative, but living, capable of self-denial, not fettering a person's being, but only shining through its object with gentle rays, revealing itself to the beloved. However, Malte himself does not find the inner strength for such a feeling,

Trying, on the one hand, to isolate himself from people, Malte is at the same time full of passionate, greedy interest in them and, what is much more important for him, compassion. He cannot withdraw into himself, the people around seem to appeal to his participation, they riveted his "learned to see look" to themselves. Therefore, Malte recalls Flaubert's Julian the Hospitable as an ideal to which one should strive. For him, such self-denial is natural, it is just love for one's neighbor elevated to the highest degree. But Malta does not find the strength for such love. He is full of participation in those people who surround him and who are outcasts, but he is a stranger among them, his thoughts are in an old noble estate in Denmark, where he spent his childhood, people invade his consciousness unbidden, and this gives rise to only one thing - fear. The fear of Malte is largely existential, it is not a fear of something specific, but a fear of being in general, arising from the inability to understand the world and master, transform individual moments into a complete picture. Notes, begun solely with such a good purpose, eventually crumble, the idea is never embodied in a "big book", observations remain fragmentary, diary, fragmentary - in a word, just notes, notes.

It is no coincidence that the theme of imposture arises in the novel. Taking up the pen for the sake of a higher goal, Malte is not able to fulfill his plan, he is powerless to connect his life with the entire human race, with his own family, and finally, simply with History; more and more he closes himself in the world of dreams and memories, and now the past completely subjugates his consciousness, the memory of the past leads him with a hasty nervous pen, And there are no more patterns, there are no higher values, the world is just a string of pictures and images invading consciousness unbidden , unrelated, disparate, contradictory. To combine these fragments into a single canvas, to learn not only to see the details, but to develop one's own special view of things, to give it integrity, to realize one's place in an endless series of generations - this is a task, the importance of which Malte Laurids Brigge understands perfectly, but which turns out to be overwhelming for him . And this is the reason for the painful inner discord.

However, the general tonality of the notes is not exhausted by the pathos of the tragic narrative of spiritual decline, of the failure of the artist, of the primordial horror of the existence of death. The task here is different than just trying to convey all the bitterness of a separate human fate. What Malte failed to show to the reader - namely, to make a holistic work of art out of notes - brilliantly succeeded in some specific sketches, in separate episodes that tell about the people that his wandering life encounters. Here Malte acquires an amazing gift for words, a true talent for storytelling. Like Ivan Kuzmich from the inserted short story, Malte turns out to be the owner of untold riches - priceless seconds and minutes of life, which he remembers and describes with such pleasure, reaching the heights of true mastery.

A. A. Friedrich

(Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften)

Roman (193O-1943, unfinished)

Part 1. A KIND OF INTRODUCTION

The action of the novel takes place in Vienna in 1913. The main character, thirty-two-year-old Ulrich, a mathematician and lofty dreamer, an intellectual and a cynic, already tired of himself and the world, lives a bright but chaotic life. He does not have to worry about his daily bread thanks to the wealth and connections of his father, who began as a home teacher and assistant lawyer, but eventually made a brilliant career and was honored that His Majesty granted him hereditary nobility. When Ulrich once again asks himself the question of what he should do, he receives a letter of recommendation from his father to Count Stahlburg, who, according to his father, will take care of his son's future. The father informs Ulrich that in 1918 Germany will celebrate the thirty years of the reign of Emperor Wilhelm II, and since in the same year Emperor Franz Joseph celebrates the seventieth anniversary of his accession to the throne, the patriotic Austrians decided to make 1918 a jubilee year and thereby wipe their noses arrogant Germans.

Part 2. EVERYTHING IS HAPPENING

Ulrich, at the insistence of his father, gets acquainted with Count Leinsdorf and with Tuzzi, head of the department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Imperial House, his wife is Ulrich's cousin. This woman, whom Ulrich mentally calls Diotima (her wisdom, according to Plato, revealed to Socrates the secret of Eros and the mystical meaning of love), narrow-minded, but ambitious and inspired by the dream of going down in history, opens the doors of her house to all celebrities. Under the leadership of Count Leinsdorf, she hopes to accomplish a spiritual feat, because, perhaps, with her ardent participation, a “great idea” will be discovered and proclaimed, designed to unite the multinational state forever and raise the imperial idea to previously inaccessible heights of the Spirit. Ulrich, in his capacity as Leinsdorf's Secretary, witnesses how the movement dubbed the "parallel action" is gaining momentum, attracting some and repelling others, despite the fact that the "great idea" does not want to open itself to souls that yearn for revelation. True, there are specific proposals, one more absurd than the other: the wife of a certain manufacturer, engaged in charity, proposes to open the "Great Austrian supra-distributing dining room named after Franz Joseph", a representative of the Ministry of Cult and Education proposes to publish the monumental work "Franz Joseph I and his time", and a friend of Ulrich's youth, Clarissa, a passionate admirer of Nietzsche, writes a letter to Leinsdorf, proposing that 1918 be declared "Nietzsche's Austrian year." Gradually, the circle of creators and apologists of the "parallel action" expands: on the instructions of the Ministry of War, General Stumm von Bordwehr appears in Diotima's salon, whose task is to observe everyone and, if possible, try to "bring order into the civilian mind." Dr. Paul Arnheim, a fabulously wealthy industrialist and at the same time a well-known and fashionable author of pseudo-philosophical works, becomes almost the main figure in Diotima's salon. Since he is well educated and not alien to the "spiritual search", an ever closer spiritual relationship is established between him and Diotima, which passes imperceptibly into a strange, incomprehensible feeling to both. Both he and she are cold, prudent and at the same time lonely in their abstract, completely divorced from reality "spirituality". However, egoism does not allow them to rush towards each other. A variety of people collide in the Tuzzi house: linguists and bankers, poets and luminaries of science. Finally, Diotima creates and heads the "Committee for the development of directives in connection with the seventieth anniversary of the reign of his majesty."

Alas, neither the luminaries of science nor venerable writers can come up with anything worthwhile. Then the doors of the salon open to bohemian youth, whose often insane ideas confuse even such a seasoned servant of the mind as Diotima. Ulrich, despite his will, involved in the activities of the "committee", although he notices all the empty content and emptiness of these undertakings, nevertheless dislikes the self-satisfied Arnheim and tries to influence his cousin, but passion makes her blind. She confesses to Ulrich that Arnheim is persuading her to leave her husband and become his wife, and only a holy sense of duty and service to the "great idea" prevent her from fulfilling his desire. Ulrich, who is very experienced in love affairs, is simultaneously attracted and repelled by this ardent, self-confident and domineering woman. But here, as in everything else, there is a certain bifurcation of his thoughts and feelings. The eccentric, exalted Clarissa wants Ulrich, and not Walter, her husband, to become the father of their child, calls him "a man without qualities" and says that he always does the exact opposite of what he really wants. Not believing in the success of the "parallel action", realizing its futility and futility, Ulrich nevertheless tries to win ideological opponents over to his side. He learns that Gerda, the daughter of his old acquaintance Leo Fischel, the manager of the Lloyd Bank, is taking part in meetings of mystically inclined young Germans and anti-Semites, led by Hans Sepp. Ulrich meets with Sepp and tries to find out if this enthusiastic maniac from politics with his crazy and dangerous ideas can breathe life into a "parallel action".

However, Ulrich is also driven by an underlying desire to conquer Gerda, this aggressive virgin, who, as he guesses, has long been in love with him, although she does not want to admit it to herself. Once again, Ulrich doesn't know what he really wants. When Gerda comes to tell him important news (from her father she learns that Arnheim, this "profound financier", is using the "parallel action" as a cover to take control of his concern in the Galician oil fields), Ulrich takes possession of her without testing at the same time, not the slightest desire, Everything that happens to Ulrich happens as if against his will, but he, even realizing his inner indifference to everything that happens to him, never tries to resist what is happening and limply goes with the flow. All this time, public attention has been riveted on the trial of Moosbrugger, a mentally ill tramp who killed women. Newspapermen savor the number of wounds inflicted by Moosbrugger on a prostitute who molested him on the street. And she was so intrusive that, as Moosbrugger later admitted, he committed the murder, defending himself from something dark and shapeless. The story of the crazy tramp deeply disturbs Ulrich: in his mind he feels the same destructive work that made the beggar carpenter a murderer.

Meanwhile, the situation is escalating. Pro-German circles organize a protest demonstration against the "parallel action" and Ulrich, watching the procession of bitter people, is overcome with disgust. He admits to himself that he can no longer participate in all this, but he is also unable to rebel against such a life. Having refused Arnheim's offer to become his personal secretary, and thus the prospect of a brilliant career, Ulrich wants to stay away from both economics and politics. And suddenly he receives a mysterious telegram from his father: "I am informing you of my subsequent death." Ulrich leaves.

Part 3. IN THE MILLENNIUMHER KINGDOM (CRIMINALS)

(From published posthumously)

In the parental home, he meets his sister Agatha, with whom he gradually develops a spiritual intimacy that threatens to grow into passion. Agatha is married for the second time, but is about to leave her husband, Professor Hagauer. Her bright mind, sensuality and cheerful cynicism attract Ulrich so much that he experiences a "different state" unknown to him before. Trying to sort out his thoughts and desires, he spends whole days alone with his sister, trusting her with everything that his mind gives rise to; he is embarrassed by such a pure and "not endowed with appetite" affection. Ulrich dreams of a "Thousand-Year Kingdom" in which all feelings and actions will support mutual love. Gradually, their relationship with their sister becomes more and more confused, comes to a dead end, from which there is no way out. The "parallel action" finds itself in the same impasse, despite Einsdorf's attempts to continue the search for the "great idea". Arnheim moves away from Diotima, from now on she despises him, believing that he was afraid of her spiritual power, and discovers a new hobby - "sexual science". Ulrich and Agatha retire and stop hosting their acquaintances. They walk, talk and are more and more imbued with immense sympathy for each other. Dreams of love are closer to them than physical attraction, the body shell is too tight, and therefore nature itself is unable to give them the sweetness of longed-for unity.

V. V. Rynkevich

(Brief einer Unbekaimten)

Novella (1922)

The well-known novelist R., after a three-day trip to the mountains, returns to Vienna and, looking at the number in the newspaper, recalls that on this day he turns forty-one years old. After reviewing the accumulated mail, he puts aside a thick letter written in an unfamiliar handwriting. After a while, sitting comfortably in an armchair and lighting a cigar, he opens the letter. Neither on it nor on the envelope is the name and address of the sender. The letter begins with the words "To you, who never knew me", and it is not clear whether this is an appeal or a heading. Intrigued, R. plunges into reading. A stranger writes about how she first saw R. She was thirteen years old when R. settled in their house. The daughter of a poor widow, the girl followed him with admiration, he seemed to her the embodiment of a distant, beautiful life, inaccessible to her. She sat for hours in the hallway to see him through the peephole, kissed the handle of the door he touched. Once she even managed to visit his apartment: in the absence of the owner, the old servant beat out the carpets, and the girl helped him to drag them back. But three years later the girl had to leave: her mother remarried, and her wealthy stepfather took her with the girl to Innsbruck. Before leaving, the girl plucked up courage and rang the doorbell of her idol. But no one answered her call: obviously, R. was not at home. She waited for his return, ready to throw herself at his feet, but, alas, he did not return home alone: ​​there was a woman with him. The girl lived in Innsbruck for two years: from sixteen to eighteen years. Neither a prosperous life, nor the cares of her parents, nor the attention of her fans distracted her from thoughts about her beloved, and at the first opportunity, rejecting the help of her relatives, she left for Vienna and entered a ready-made dress store. Every evening after work she went to R.'s house and stood under his windows for hours. When she once ran into him on the street, he did not recognize her as a former neighbor. He never recognized her. Two days later he met her again and invited her to dinner together. After the restaurant, he invited the girl to his place, and they spent the night together. In parting, he gave her white roses. Then he twice invited the girl to his place. These were the happiest moments of her life.

But now R. had to leave. He again gave her roses and promised to inform the girl immediately upon his return, but she did not wait for a single line from him. She had a child, their common child. She left work, was in poverty, but did not want to ask for help either from her relatives or from him: she did not want to tie him up, did not want to arouse distrust in him, did not want him to help her only out of pity or shame. The stranger gave all of herself to the child, and R. reminded of herself only once a year: on his birthday, she sent him a bouquet of white roses - exactly the same as he gave her after the first night of their love. She still does not know if he understood who and why sends him these flowers, if he remembered the nights spent with her. So that the child did not need anything, the stranger became a kept woman, she was very pretty, had many admirers. It happened that lovers became attached to her and wanted to marry, but in the depths of her soul she still hoped that R. would someday call her, and was afraid to lose the opportunity to respond to his call. Once in a restaurant where a stranger was with friends, R. saw her and, not recognizing, mistook her for a cocotte. He called her to him, and she followed him right from the middle of the evening, not thinking about offending the person she came with, not saying goodbye to anyone, not even taking a coat from the hanger, because her friend had the number. They spent the night together again. And in the morning R. said that he was going on a trip to Africa. She timidly remarked: "What a pity!" He said that they always come back from travels. "They come back, but having managed to forget," she objected. She hoped that at that moment he would recognize her, but he did not.

Moreover, when she was about to leave, he furtively slipped money into her muff. She made one last attempt: she asked him for one of the white roses in the blue vase. He willingly handed her the flower. He explained that he did not know who sent him flowers, and that is why he loves them. "Maybe they are also from the woman you forgot," said the stranger, with a look begging him to recognize her. But he looked at her kindly and uncomprehendingly. He never recognized her. Running out of the apartment, she almost ran into his old servant. When she looked at the old man through tears, a kind of light flashed in his eyes: she was sure that he recognized her, although he had never seen her since her childhood. She snatched out of her muff the money that R. had paid her and thrust it into the old man. He looked at her in fright - and in that moment he knew more about her than R. had in his entire life. The stranger's child has died. Feeling that she herself was falling ill, she decided to write a letter to R. and reveal the secret of her love for him. He will receive this letter only if she dies. She asks him to buy white roses once a year in memory of her and put them in a blue vase.

Having finished reading the letter, R. sits thinking for a long time. Vague memories wake up in him - about a neighbor girl, about a girl he met on the street, about a woman in a night restaurant, but he cannot remember her face. Suddenly his gaze falls on a blue vase. For the first time in many years, it is empty on his birthday. "He felt the breath of death and the breath of immortal love; something opened up in his soul, and he thought of the departed life, as of a disembodied vision, as of distant passionate music."

O. E. Grinberg

(Vierundzwanzig Stunden aus dem Leben einer Frau)

Novella (1927)

Ten years before the war, the narrator rested on the Riviera, in a small boarding house. A big scandal erupted in a nearby hotel. A young Frenchman arrived there by daytime train, who immediately attracted everyone's attention with his beauty and courtesy. He got to know everyone very quickly and two hours after his arrival he was already playing tennis with the daughters of a benevolent manufacturer from Lyon. tennis with her daughters, and in the late afternoon chatted in the hotel lobby with a German couple. About six o'clock the narrator met the Frenchman at the station, where he went to post a letter. The Frenchman said that he was leaving unexpectedly on urgent business, but would return in two days. At dinner, everyone was talking about him only, extolling his pleasant, cheerful disposition. In the evening there was a commotion in the hotel: Madame Henriette did not return from her walk. Her husband rushed along the seashore and unsuccessfully called her. They called the police. Fabrikant went upstairs to reassure his daughters, and found a letter in which Madame Henriette announced that she was leaving with a young Frenchman.

Everyone was outraged: a thirty-three-year-old decent woman left her husband and two children for the sake of a young man whom she had just met the day before. Most of the inhabitants of the boarding house decided that they had known each other before, and only the narrator defended the possibility of such passionate love at first sight. They discussed this case from soup to pudding. Mrs. K., an elderly, respectable Englishwoman, was, by tacit agreement, the chairman of a small circle that met at the table d'hôte. Apparently, she was pleased that, despite all the objections, the narrator zealously defended Madame Henriette, and when the time came for his departure, she wrote him a letter asking permission to tell him one incident from her life. The narrator, of course, agreed, and she invited him to her room after dinner. Mrs. K. admitted that the events that happened to her within twenty-four hours twenty-five years ago haunt her, and even now, at sixty-seven years old, not a day goes by that she does not think about them. She never told anyone about this and hopes that the story will ease her Soul.

The daughter of wealthy landlords who owned large factories and estates in Scotland, she married at eighteen, had two children and lived happily until she was forty. But suddenly her husband fell ill and died, her sons were adults, and she felt very lonely. To dissipate, she went to travel. And so, in the second year of her widowhood, she came to Monte Carlo. There she often went to the casino, amused by the fact that she was not watching the faces, but the hands of the players: this was taught to her late husband. And then one day she saw amazing hands on the gambling table: white, beautiful, they rushed about the green cloth like living creatures, they had so much passion, so much strength that Mrs. K. could not take her eyes off them. Finally, she dared to look into the face of the person who owned those magical hands. She had never seen such an expressive face. He was a young man of about twenty-five with delicate, handsome features. When he won, his hands and face radiated joy, when he lost, his eyes dimmed, his hands fell helplessly on the table. Finally, his hands, searching through his pockets, found nothing. He lost all the money. The young man jumped up impulsively and walked towards the exit. Mrs. K. knew immediately that he was going to commit suicide. She rushed after him. She was not moved by love - it was the fear of something terrible, an instinctive desire to help.

Coming out of the casino, the young man sank helplessly onto the bench. Mrs. K. stopped not far away, not daring to approach him. It started to rain. The young man continued to sit motionless on the bench, as if not noticing him. Mrs. K. ran up to him, tugged at his sleeve, and said, "Come on!" Her only thought was to take the unfortunate man off this bench, drag him somewhere under the roof, where it was dry and warm. He mistook her for a cocotte and said that he did not have an apartment and he had nowhere to invite her. Mrs. K. called the carriage and asked the coachman to take them to some simpler hotel. There she wanted to give the young man a hundred francs so that he would pay for the room and leave for Nice in the morning. But he refused the money: he does not need anything, his life is over anyway, nothing can help him. Mrs. K. insisted, but the young man would not yield. Finally, he resolutely said: "Let's go" - and dragged her along the stairs, and she, until that moment thinking only about saving the unfortunate woman, meekly followed him. In the morning, Mrs. K. woke up with a terrible memory of the crazy night, and, burning with shame, wanted to quietly leave, but, looking at the completely childish face of the sleeping young man, she felt a surge of tenderness and joy from having saved him. When the young man woke up, Mrs. K. made an appointment for him at noon at the casino door and left. The joyful consciousness that someone needed her stirred her blood.

Meeting with the young man, Mrs. K. invited him to dine together in a small restaurant. He told her that he came from an old aristocratic family of Galician Poles. He studied in Vienna, and after successfully passing the exam, his uncle took him to the Prater, and they went racing together. Uncle won a large sum, and they went to dinner in an expensive restaurant. The next day, the young man again went to the races, and he was lucky: he tripled the amount received as a gift from his father. He was seized with a passion for the game. He couldn't think of anything else and quickly lost all the money. He stole pearl earrings from an old aunt and pawned them, sold his suitcase, clothes, umbrella, even a cross given by his godmother. Mrs. K. promised to give him money to buy the jewels before the theft was discovered, and to go home if he swore he would never play again. The young man looked at Mrs. K. with respect and gratitude. There were tears in his eyes. Mrs. K. gave the young man the necessary amount of money and promised to come to the station to see him off after her visit to her cousin. When the young man left, Mrs. K felt disappointed. He treated her like a guardian angel, but he did not see a woman in her, while she passionately wanted him to squeeze her in his arms; she was ready to follow him to the ends of the earth, scorning people's rumors, like Madame Henriette for a Frenchman she barely knew. Mrs. K. stayed with her cousin for a short time: pleading a migraine, she returned to her hotel. She felt that she could not let go of the young man, that she must go with him to spend this night together, the next - as much as he wanted. She began to frantically collect things. When she was about to leave, her cousin came to her, worried about her indisposition. Mrs. K. could not manage to get her cousin out, finally she could not stand it and, saying: "Goodbye, I have to go," she rushed to the exit, not paying attention to her puzzled look.

Mrs. K. was late; the train had already started. She stood on the platform, as if petrified. After regaining her senses, she decided to go to the casino to look for the table at which the young man was sitting when she first saw him, in order to imagine his hands. When she entered the hall, she saw a young man in the same place as the day before. She decided that she had a hallucination, but this was not so - the young man did not leave, he came with her money to the casino and, while she desperately rushed to him with all her heart, selflessly played. Mrs. K. was furious. She stared at him for a long time, but he did not notice her. When she touched him on the shoulder, he didn't even recognize her at first.

Intoxicated with the game, he forgot everything - his oath, Mrs. K. and the whole world. Mrs. K. reminded him that a few hours ago he had sworn to her never to play. The young man, ashamed, wanted to get up from the gambling table, but then his eyes fell on the Russian general, who was just betting, and he asked permission to play just one more game - he bet in the same place as the general, and the general was lucky . Having bet once, he again forgot about everything in the world and began to bet after bet. When Mrs. K. touched him again on the shoulder, he angrily called out to her that she was bringing him misfortune: when she was around, he always lost. He tossed her some hundred-franc tickets: "Here's your money! Now leave me alone!" Everyone was looking at her, laughing, pointing fingers. Burning with shame and humiliation, she suddenly saw eyes in which horror froze: it was her cousin. Mrs. K. rushed out of the room. Remembering that her things were already at the station, she decided to leave Monte Carlo immediately. When she returned to England and came to her son, everyone looked after her as if she were sick, and she gradually recovered from the shock. Therefore, when, many years later, a Pole, an attaché of the Austrian embassy, ​​was introduced to her, and she asked him about the fate of the young man, she did not even flinch when she heard that ten years ago, obsessed with a passion for gambling, he shot himself in Monte Carlo. Mrs. K. even calmed down: now she had nothing to fear that someday she would meet this man.

Mrs. K. finished her story. She did not expect comforting words from her interlocutor. She said she was glad that she had finally been able to talk, and grateful for the attention with which he listened to her. In parting, she extended her hand to her interlocutor, and he respectfully kissed her.

O. E. Grinberg

(Ungeduld des Herzens)

Roman (1938)

In 1938, the narrator accidentally met Anton Hofmiller, holder of the Order of Maria Theresa, who told him about what happened to him a quarter of a century ago, when he was twenty-five years old. The narrator wrote down his story, changing only the names and some small details in it, allowing you to guess who and what they are talking about.

Anton Hoffmiller was the son of a poor official burdened with a large family. He was sent to a military school, and at the age of eighteen he graduated from it. Thanks to a distant relative, he got into the cavalry. Service in this kind of troops is not within everyone's means, and the young man was surrounded by much more wealthy comrades. At the end of 1913, the squadron where he served was transferred from Yaroslavice to a small garrison town near the Hungarian border. In May 1914, a local pharmacist, who was also an assistant to the burgomaster, introduced Anton to the richest man in the district - Mr. von Kekesfalve, whose niece struck Anton with her beauty. Anton was invited to the house of the Kekesfalvas, and he was delighted with the warm welcome. He danced a lot with Kekesfalva's niece Ilona and with other girls, and only at half past ten he realized that he had forgotten about the owner's daughter and had not invited her to the waltz. Anton hurried to correct the mistake, but in response to his invitation, Edith Kekesfalva burst into tears. Anton could not understand what was the matter, and Ilona explained to him that Edith's legs were paralyzed and she could not take a step without crutches. Embarrassed, Anton hastened to leave.

He felt as if he had whipped a child with a whip and then ran away like a criminal without even trying to justify himself. To make amends, Anton bought a huge bouquet of roses with the last money and sent it to Edith. The girl answered him with a letter of thanks and invited him for a cup of tea. When Anton arrived, Edith and Ilona were delighted and received him as a dear friend. He began to visit them easily and became very attached to both, but Ilona seemed to him a real woman with whom he wanted to dance and kiss, and Edith, at seventeen or eighteen years old, looked like a child whom he wanted to caress and console. There was a strange uneasiness in Edith, her mood often changed. When Anton first saw how Edith moved, clinging to crutches and dragging her legs with difficulty, he was horrified. Unlimitedly suffering from her helplessness, she wanted to take revenge on the healthy, forcing them to look at her torment. Her father invited the most famous doctors in the hope that they would cure her - after all, five years ago she was a cheerful, mobile child. He asked Anton not to be offended by Edith: she is often harsh, but her heart is kind. Anton felt boundless compassion and even felt ashamed because of his health.

Once, when he was galloping on a horse, he suddenly thought that if Edith sees him from the window of the estate, then it may be painful for her to look at this race. He jerked the reins and gave his lancers the command to trot, and only when the estate was out of sight did he allow them to gallop again. Anton experienced a surge of ardent sympathy for the unfortunate sick girl, he even tried to brighten up her dreary life: seeing how the girls rejoiced at his arrival, he began to visit them almost every day: he told funny stories, entertained them as best he could. The host gratefully thanked him for restoring Edith's good mood and making her almost as cheerful as before. Anton learned that Ilona was engaged to a notary's assistant from Bechkeret and was waiting for Edith to recover or improve her condition in order to marry him - Anton guessed that Kekesfalva promised a dowry to a poor relative if she agreed to postpone the marriage. Therefore, the attraction to Ilona that had flared up quickly faded away, and his affection increasingly focused on Edith, destitute and defenseless. Friends began to tease Anton, who stopped attending their parties at the Red Lion: they say, of course, Kekesfalva has better treats. Seeing Anton's golden cigarette case - a gift from Ilona and Edith for his birthday - the comrades noticed that he had learned quite well how to choose his friends. With their ridicule, they deprived Anton of self-confidence. He felt like a giver, a helper, and then he suddenly saw how his relationship with the Kekesfalvas looked from the outside, and realized that many around him might consider his behavior by no means disinterested. He began to visit the Kekesfalvs less often. Edith was offended and made a scene for him, however, then she asked for forgiveness. In order not to upset the sick girl, Anton again frequented their estate. Kekesfalva asked Anton to ask Dr. Condor, who treated Edith, about what her chances of recovery really are: doctors often spare patients and their relatives and do not tell them the whole truth, and Edith is tired of uncertainty and loses her patience. Kekesfalva hoped that Dr. Condor would tell a stranger, like Anton, everything as it was. Anton promised, and after dinner at the Kekesfalvs, he went out with the Condor and struck up a conversation with him.

Condor told him that, first of all, he was worried about the state of health not of Edith, but of her father: the old man was so worried about his daughter that he lost his peace and sleep, and with his weak heart, this could end badly. Condor told Anton, who considered Kekesfalva a Hungarian aristocrat, that in fact Kekesfalva was born into a poor Jewish family and his real name was Lemmel Kanitz. As a child, he was an errand boy, but he gave every free minute to teaching and gradually began to carry out more and more serious assignments. At twenty-five, he was already living in Vienna and was an agent for a reputable insurance company. His awareness and range of his activities grew wider every year. From an intermediary, he turned into an entrepreneur and made a fortune. One day he was on a train from Budapest to Vienna. Pretending to be asleep, he overheard the conversation of his fellow travelers. They discussed the sensational case of the inheritance of Princess Oroshvar: the evil old woman, having quarreled with her relatives, left her entire fortune to her companion, Fraulein Ditzenhof, a modest downtrodden woman who patiently endured all her nit-picking and whims. The relatives of the princess managed to fool the impractical heiress, and from the millionth inheritance she had only the Kekesfalva estate, which she, most likely, would also miss. Kanitz decided without wasting time to go to the Kekesfalva estate and try to buy a collection of ancient Chinese porcelain from Fraulein Ditzenhoff cheaply. He was opened by a woman whom he mistook for a servant, but it turned out that this was the new mistress of the estate. After talking with her, Kanitz realized that the unexpectedly fallen wealth is not a joy for this woman, not spoiled by life, but, on the contrary, a burden, because she does not know what to do with it. She said that she would like to sell the Kekesfalva estate. Hearing this, Kanitz immediately decided to buy it. He skillfully conducted the conversation and mistranslated the lawyer's letter from Hungarian, as a result of which Fraulein Ditzenhof agreed to sell the estate for one hundred and fifty thousand crowns, considering this amount huge, while it was at least four times less than its real price. In order to prevent the gullible woman from coming to her senses, Kanitz hastened to go with her to Vienna and complete the paperwork as soon as possible. When the bill of sale was signed, Fraulein Ditzenhoff wanted to pay Kanitz for his efforts. He refused the money, and she began to warmly thank him. Kanitz felt remorse. Nobody ever thanked him, and he felt ashamed in front of the woman he had deceived. A successful deal ceased to please him. He decided to return the fraulein's estate if she one day regrets that she sold it. After buying a large box of chocolates and a bouquet of flowers, he showed up at the hotel where she was staying to tell her of his decision. Fraulein was touched by his attention, and he, having learned that she was going to go to Westphalia to distant relatives with whom nothing connects her, made her an offer. They got married two months later. Kanitz converted to Christianity, and then changed his surname to a more sonorous one - von Kekesfalva.

After no millions helped him save his wife, Kanitz began to despise money. He spoiled his daughter and threw money right and left. When Edith fell ill five years ago, Kanitz considered this a punishment for his previous sins and did everything to cure the girl. Anton asked Condor if Edith's illness was curable. Condor honestly said that he did not know: he is trying different means, but so far he has not achieved encouraging results. He had once read about Professor Vienneau's method and had written to him to find out if his method could be applied to a patient like Edith, but had not yet received an answer.

When, after a conversation with Condor, Anton approached the barracks, he saw Kekesfalva, who was waiting for him in the rain, for he was eager to find out what the doctor had said about Edith's state of health. Anton did not have the courage to disappoint the old man, and he said that Condor was going to try a new method of treatment and was confident of success. Kekesfalva told Edith about everything, and the girl believed that she would soon be healthy. When he learned that Anton had reassured the patient on his behalf, Condor became very angry. He received a reply from Professor Vienno, from which it became clear that the new method was not suitable for the treatment of Edith. Anton began to convince him that to reveal the whole truth to Edith now means to kill her. It seemed to him that inspiration, high spirits could play a positive role, and the girl would feel at least a little better. Condor warned Anton that he was taking on too much responsibility, but this did not frighten Anton. Before going to bed, Anton opened the volume of fairy tales "A Thousand and One Nights" and read a fairy tale about a lame old man who could not walk and asked the young man to carry him on his shoulders. But as soon as the old man, who was actually a genie, climbed onto the shoulders of the young man, he began to mercilessly drive him, not allowing him to rest. In a dream, the old man from the fairy tale acquired the features of Kekesfalva, and Anton himself turned into an unhappy young man. When he came to the Kekesfalva the next day, Edith announced to him that in ten days she was leaving for Switzerland for treatment. She asked when Anton would come there to visit them, and when the young man said that he had no money, she replied that her father would gladly pay for his trip. Pride did not allow Anton to accept such a gift. Edith began to find out why he even visits them, saying that she could not bear the general pity and indulgence. And suddenly she said that it was better to throw herself from the tower than to endure such an attitude. She was so excited that she wanted to hit Anton, but she could not stay on her feet and fell. Anton could not understand the reasons for her anger, but soon she asked for forgiveness, and when Anton was about to leave, she suddenly clung to him and kissed him passionately on the lips, Anton was stunned: it never occurred to him that a helpless girl, in fact a cripple, could love and want to be loved like any other woman. Later, Anton learned from Ilona that Edith had loved him for a long time, and Ilona, ​​in order not to upset her, all the time convinced her sick relative that Anton undoubtedly liked her. Ilona persuaded Anton not to disappoint the poor girl now, on the verge of recovery - after all, treatment would require a lot of strength from her. Anthony felt trapped.

He received a love letter from Edith, followed by another, where she asked him to destroy the first. From excitement during the exercises, Anton gave the wrong command and incurred the wrath of the colonel. Anton wanted to quit, leave Austria, even asked a friend to help him, and soon he was offered the position of assistant treasurer on a merchant ship. Anton wrote a letter of resignation, but then he remembered Edith's letters and decided to consult with Condor on what to do. He went to the doctor's home and was amazed to find that Condor was married to a blind woman, that he lived in a poor quarter and treated the poor from morning to night. When Anton told everything to Condor, he explained to him that if he, having turned the girl's head with his beautiful-hearted compassion, now runs away, it will kill her. Anton retreated from his decision to resign. He began to feel gratitude towards Edith for her love. When he still visited the Kekesfalves, he always felt in Edith's behavior a hidden, greedy expectation. Anton counted the days until her departure for Switzerland: after all, this was supposed to bring him the desired freedom. But Ilona informed him that the departure was being postponed. Seeing that Anton did not feel anything for her but compassion, Edith changed her mind about being treated: after all, she wanted to be healthy only for his sake. Kekesfalva begged Anton on his knees not to reject Edith's love.

Anton tried to explain to him that everyone would certainly decide that he married Edith for the sake of money, and they would despise him, and Edith herself would not believe in the sincerity of his feelings and would think that he married her out of pity. He said that later, when Edith recovered, everything would be different. Kekesfalva seized on his words and asked permission to pass them on to Edith. Anton, firmly knowing that her illness was incurable, decided in no case to go further than this non-binding promise. Before leaving, Edith Anton came to the Kekesfalva and, when everyone raised their glasses to her health, in a surge of tenderness he hugged his old father and kissed the girl. So the engagement took place. Edith put a ring on Anton's finger so that he would think about her while she was gone. Anton saw that he gave people happiness, and rejoiced with them. When he was about to leave, Edith tried herself, without crutches, to guide him. She took a few steps, but lost her balance and fell. Instead of rushing to her aid, Anton recoiled in horror. He understood that right now he had to prove his loyalty to her, but he no longer had the strength to deceive and he cowardly fled.

Out of grief, he went to a cafe where he met friends. The pharmacist had already managed to tell them, according to one of Kekesfalva's servants, that Anton had become engaged to Edith. Anton, not knowing how to explain to them what he himself did not properly understand, said that this was not true. Realizing the depth of his betrayal, he wanted to shoot himself, but first decided to tell the colonel about everything. The colonel said that it was stupid to put a bullet in the forehead for such nonsense, in addition, it cast a shadow on the entire regiment. He promised to talk to everyone who heard Anton's words, and the next morning he sent Anton himself with a letter to Chaslavice to the local lieutenant colonel. The next morning Anton left.

His path lay through Vienna. He wanted to see Condor, but did not find him at home. He left a detailed letter to Condor and asked him to immediately go to Edith and tell her how he cowardly renounced the engagement. If Edith, in spite of everything, forgives him, the engagement will be sacred to him and he will forever remain with her, whether she recovers or not. Anton felt that from now on his whole life belongs to the girl who loves him. Fearing that Condor would not immediately receive his letter and would not have time to arrive at the estate by half past four, when Anton usually came there, he sent a telegram to Edith from the road, but she was not delivered to Kekesfalva: due to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the postal message was interrupted.

Anton managed to get through to Condor in Vienna, and he told him that Edith still found out about his betrayal. Seizing the moment, she threw herself from the tower and fell to her death.

Anton went to the front and became famous for his courage. In fact, the point was that he did not value life. After the war, he plucked up courage, consigned the past to oblivion and began to live like all people. Since no one reminded him of his guilt, he himself began to gradually forget about this tragic story. Only once the past reminded of itself. At the Vienna Opera, he noticed Dr. Condor and his blind wife sitting next to each other. He felt ashamed. He was afraid that the Condor would recognize him, and as soon as the curtain began to fall after the first act, he hastily left the hall. From that moment on, he finally became convinced that "no guilt can be forgotten as long as conscience remembers it."

O. E. Grinberg

Roman (1915)

The essence of the event that happened is dispassionately stated in the very first phrase of the work. Waking up on his thirtieth birthday, Josef K. discovers that he is under arrest. Instead of a maid with the usual breakfast, an unfamiliar gentleman in black enters his call. In the next room are a few more strangers. They politely inform the taken by surprise K. that "the beginning of his business has been laid and in due time he will know everything." These uninvited intruders into his dwelling both make K. laugh, and indignant, and amaze K., who does not feel any guilt behind him. He does not doubt for a moment that the incident is nothing more than a wild misunderstanding or a crude joke. However, all his attempts to find out something come across impenetrable courtesy. Who are these people? What department are they from? Where is the warrant for his arrest? Why is such arbitrariness allowed in a state governed by the rule of law, "where peace reigns everywhere, all laws are unshakable"? His irritated questions are given condescending answers that do not clarify the essence of the matter. The morning ends with the visitors suggesting that K. go, as always, to his service at the bank, since, as they say, only a preliminary investigation of his case is being carried out so far and he can carry out his duties and generally lead a normal life. It turns out that among the strangers who carried out the arrest of K., there are three of his colleagues in the bank - so colorless that at first K. did not even recognize them. They escort him in a taxi to the bank, maintaining an imperturbable polite silence.

Until now, K. had every reason to consider himself a lucky man, because he occupied a strong, respectable position. In a large bank, he worked as a procurator, he had a spacious office and many assistants at his disposal. Life flowed quite calmly and measuredly. He was respected by both his colleagues and his hostess, Frau Grubach. When K. returned home after work, it was with Frau Grubach that he first spoke cautiously about the morning visit and was greatly surprised that she was aware of the matter. She advised K. not to take the incident to heart, to try not to hurt herself, and at the end of the conversation she shared with him her assumption that there was something “scientific” in his arrest.

Of course, K. had no intention of taking the incident seriously anyway. However, against his will, he experienced some confusion and excitement. Otherwise, how could he have committed a completely strange act that same evening? Having insisted on an important conversation, he went into the room to the surprised young neighbor in the boarding house, and it ended with him kissing her passionately, which he would never have allowed before.

Several days pass. K. works hard at the bank and tries to forget the stupid incident. But soon he was told by phone that a preliminary investigation into his case had been scheduled for Sunday. The form of this message is again very courteous and helpful, although nothing is still clear. On the one hand, they explain to him: everyone is interested in finishing the process as soon as possible, on the other hand, the matter is extremely complicated, and therefore the investigation must be conducted with all care. K. remains standing by the phone in thought, and in this position he is caught by the deputy director - his long-time hidden ill-wisher.

On Sunday K. gets up early, diligently dresses and drives to the outskirts at the specified address. He wanders for a long time in nondescript working quarters and cannot find the right place in any way. Quite unexpectedly, he discovers the purpose of his visit in one of the poor apartments. A woman washing clothes lets him into the hall, packed with people. All faces are blurred, inconspicuous and dull. People are standing even in the gallery. The man on the stage sternly tells K. that he was an hour and five minutes late, to which the bewildered hero mutters that he nevertheless came. After that, K. steps forward and decisively begins to speak. He is determined to put an end to this obsession. He denounces the methods by which the so-called investigation is conducted, and laughs at the pitiful notebooks that are passed off as documentation. His words are full of persuasiveness and logic. The crowd meets them now with laughter, now with murmurs, now with applause. The room is filled with thick smoke. Having finished his angry monologue, K. takes his hat and leaves. Nobody is stopping him. Only at the door, the investigator, who had been hostilely silent until then, draws K.'s attention to the fact that he has deprived himself of his "advantage" by refusing to interrogate. K. laughs in response and in his hearts calls him scum.

Another week passes, and on Sunday, without waiting for a new call, K. himself goes to a familiar address. The same woman opens the door for him, informing him that there is no meeting today. They enter into a conversation, and K. finds out that the woman is aware of his process and outwardly full of sympathy for him. She turns out to be the wife of some judicial officer, whom she cheats with just anyone without much moral torment. K. suddenly feels that he, too, is irresistibly attracted to her. However, the woman eludes him with a student suddenly appearing in the room. Then, to replace the disappeared couple, there is a deceived servant husband who does not grieve at all about the windiness of his wife. And this type also turns out to be quite dedicated to the course of the process. And he is ready to give K. useful advice, referring to his rich experience. He calls K. the accused and kindly invites him, if he is not in a hurry, to visit the office. And so they go up the stairs and go through some long dark passages, they see behind the bars the officials sitting at the tables, and rare visitors waiting for something. "No one straightened up to his full height, his backs stooped, his knees bent, people stood like beggars." All of these were also accused, like K.

As he was about to leave this dreary establishment, K. on the stairs suddenly experiences an attack of instant fainting weakness, unknown to him before, which he overcomes with effort. Is it possible that his body rebelled, a thought flashes through him, and a different life process takes place in him, not the former one that proceeded with such ease? ..

In fact, things are even more complicated. Not only health, but also the psyche, and the whole way of life of K., as a result of strange events, inevitably, although imperceptibly, change. As if these changes are not obvious, but with the inexorability of fate, K. plunges into a strange, viscous, something that does not depend on his will and desire, called in this case the Process. This process has its own course, its own underlying logic, hidden from the understanding of the hero. Without revealing the essence, the phenomenon appears to K. with its small details, eluding his persistent attempts to understand something. For example, it turns out that although K. tries not to tell anyone about his process, for some reason almost everyone around him is aware of what is happening - work colleagues, boarding house neighbors, and even random strangers. This strikes K. and robs him of his former confidence. It also turns out that completely different people are somehow involved in the process, and as a result, K. himself begins to suspect any of those around him.

Incredible things happen as well. So, one day, having stayed late at work, K. in the corridor hears sighs coming from the pantry. When he jerks open the door, he discovers in disbelief three men hunched over. One of them turns out to be an executor, and two are subject to punishment with rods. At the same time, as they whimperingly explain, the reason for the flogging is K., who complained about them to the investigator in that very accusatory speech. In the eyes of the astonished K., the executor begins to shower the unfortunate blows.

Another important detail of what is happening. Everyone with whom K. comes across in this story treats him with emphatic courtesy and Jesuit caution, everyone readily enters into explanations, and as a result it turns out that everything can be explained and understood individually, while the whole is more and more hidden under the veil of escheat. absurdity. Particulars replace the whole, finally confusing the hero. K. is forced to deal only with petty performers who willingly tell him about their own problems and who turn out to be innocent of what is happening, and the highest authorities, whom he considers responsible for everything, remain unknown and inaccessible to him. He is fighting with a certain system, in which he himself is irreparably inscribed.

So he moves around in circles of his process, dragging himself into a funnel of strange and faceless procedures, and the more he seeks to protect himself, the more likely he harms his own cause. Once a relative comes to his service - an uncle who came from the province. As expected, the uncle has also heard a lot about the process and is terribly concerned. He persistently drags K. to his familiar lawyer, who should help. The lawyer turns out to be ill, he takes his uncle and K. to bed. He, of course, is also more than aware of the misfortune that befell K. The lawyer is courted by a lively young nurse named Leni. When, in the course of a long and boring conversation, K. leaves the room, Leni takes him into the office and seduces him right there on the carpet. The uncle scolds his nephew indignantly when, after some time, he and K. leave the lawyer's house - again K. harmed himself, because it was impossible not to guess the reason for his long absence from the room. However, the lawyer by no means refuses to defend K. And he still comes to him many times and meets with Leni, who is waiting for him - she willingly gives K. her caresses, but this does not make him closer to the hero. Like the other women in the novel—including the sassy little nymphets that pop up in one episode—she is sly, fickle, and irritatingly, languidly vicious.

K. loses his rest. At work, he is absent-minded, gloomy. Now fatigue does not leave him and in the end he is overcome by a cold. He is afraid of visitors and begins to get confused in business papers, horrified that this gives rise to discontent. The Deputy Director has been eyeing him for a long time. One day, K. is assigned to accompany some visiting Italian. Despite being unwell, he drives up to the central cathedral where the meeting is scheduled. The Italian is nowhere to be found. K. enters the cathedral, deciding to wait out the rain here. And suddenly, in the solemn twilight, a stern voice calls out to him by name, resounding under the very vaults. The priest, who calls himself the chaplain of the prison, demands K. questions and tells him that things are not going well with his trial. K. obediently agrees. He already understands this himself. The priest tells him a parable about the Supreme Code of Laws and, when K. tries to challenge its interpretation, instructively inspires that "you just need to realize the necessity of everything."

And so a year passed and the evening came on the eve of K's next birthday. About nine o'clock two gentlemen in black appeared at his apartment. K. seemed to be waiting for them - he sat on a chair by the door and slowly pulled on his gloves. He saw no reason to show any resistance, although to the last he was ashamed of his own humility.

They silently left the house, walked through the whole city and stopped at an abandoned small quarry. They took off K.'s jacket and shirt and laid his head on a stone. At the same time, the gestures and movements of the guards were extremely helpful and courteous. One of them took out a sharp knife. K. out of the corner of his mind felt that he himself should grab this knife and plunge it into himself, but he did not have the strength to do this. His last thoughts were of the judge, whom he had never seen - where is he? Where is the high court? Maybe some other arguments that could save his life are forgotten? ..

But at that moment, the hands of the first master were already on his throat, and the second plunged a knife deep into his heart and twisted it twice. "With dull eyes, K. saw how both gentlemen, close to his face, leaning cheek to cheek, watched the denouement. "Like a dog," he said, as if this shame was destined to outlive him.

V. A. Sagalova

(Die Verwandlung)

Story (1916)

The incident that happened to Gregor Samza is described, perhaps, in one sentence of the story. One morning, waking up after a restless sleep, the hero suddenly discovered that he had turned into a huge scary insect...

Actually, after this incredible transformation, nothing special happens anymore. The behavior of the characters is prosaic, everyday and extremely reliable, and attention is focused on everyday trifles, which for the hero grow into painful problems.

Gregor Samza was an ordinary young man living in a big city. All his efforts and cares were subordinated to the family, where he was the only son and therefore experienced an increased sense of responsibility for the well-being of his loved ones.

His father had gone bankrupt and spent most of his time at home reading the papers. The mother was tormented by attacks of suffocation, and she spent long hours in an armchair by the window. Gregor also had a younger sister, Greta, whom he loved very much. Greta played the violin well, and Gregor's cherished dream - after he managed to cover his father's debts - was to help her enter the conservatory, where she could study music professionally.

After serving in the army, Gregor got a job in a trading company and was soon promoted from a small employee to a traveling salesman. He worked with great zeal, although the place was ungrateful. I had to spend most of my time on business trips, get up at dawn and with a heavy bag full of samples of cloth, go to the train. The owner of the firm was distinguished by stinginess, but Gregor was disciplined, diligent and hardworking. Besides, he never complained. Sometimes he was more lucky, sometimes less. One way or another, his earnings were enough to rent a spacious apartment for the family, where he occupied a separate room.

It was in this room that he woke up one day in the form of a giant disgusting centipede. Waking up, he glanced around the familiar walls, saw a portrait of a woman in a fur hat, which he had recently cut out of an illustrated magazine and inserted into a gilded frame, turned his gaze to the window, heard raindrops tapping on the tin of the window sill, and closed his eyes again. "It would be nice to sleep a little more and forget all this nonsense," he thought. He was used to sleeping on his right side, but now his huge bulging stomach interfered with him, and after hundreds of unsuccessful attempts to roll over, Gregor gave up this occupation. He realized in cold horror that everything was happening in reality. But he was even more horrified by the fact that the alarm clock showed already half past six, while Gregor set it for four in the morning. Did he not hear the bell and miss the train? These thoughts drove him to despair. At this time, his mother gently knocked on the door, worried that he would be late. His mother's voice was, as always, gentle, and Gregor was frightened when he heard the answering sounds of his own voice, which was mixed with a strange painful squeak.

Then the nightmare continued. There were already knocks on his room from different directions - both father and sister were worried whether he was healthy. He was begged to open the door, but he stubbornly did not unlock the lock. After incredible labor, he managed to hang over the edge of the bed. At this time, the bell rang in the hallway. To find out what happened, the manager of the company came himself. From a terrible excitement, Gregor rushed with all his might and fell on the carpet. The sound of the fall was heard in the living room. Now the manager has joined the appeals of his relatives. And it seemed wiser to Gregor to explain to the strict boss that he would certainly fix everything and make up for it. He began to blurt out excitedly from behind the door that he was only slightly ill, that he would still make it on the eight o'clock train, and finally began to beg not to be fired due to involuntary absenteeism and to spare his parents. At the same time, he managed, leaning on a slippery chest, to straighten up to his full height, overcoming pain in his torso.

There was silence behind the door. Nobody understood a word of his monologue. Then the manager said softly, "It was the voice of an animal." The sister and the maid rushed after the locksmith in tears. However, Gregor managed to turn the key in the lock himself, grasping it with strong jaws. And then he appeared before the eyes of those crowded at the door, leaning against its sash.

He continued to convince the manager that soon everything would fall into place. For the first time, he dared to pour out to him his feelings about the hard work and the powerlessness of the position of a traveling salesman, whom anyone could offend. The reaction to his appearance was deafening. Mother silently collapsed to the floor. His father shook his fist at him in dismay. The steward turned and, glancing back over his shoulder, slowly walked away. This silent scene lasted for several seconds. Finally, the mother jumped to her feet and screamed wildly. She leaned on the table and knocked over the pot of hot coffee. The manager immediately rushed to the stairs. Gregor followed him, clumsily pacing with his legs. He certainly had to keep the guest. However, his father blocked his way, who began to push his son back, while making some hissing sounds. He nudged Gregor with his stick. With great difficulty, hurting one side against the door, Gregor squeezed back into his room, and the door was immediately slammed shut behind him.

After that dreadful first morning, Gregor entered a humble, monotonous life in captivity, to which he slowly grew accustomed. He gradually adapted to his ugly and clumsy body, to his thin tentacle legs. He discovered that he could crawl on walls and ceilings, and even liked to hang there for long periods of time. In this terrible new guise, Gregor remained the same as he was - a loving son and brother, experiencing all family worries and suffering from the fact that he brought so much grief into the lives of loved ones. From his confinement, he silently eavesdropped on the conversations of his relatives. He was tormented by shame and despair, since now the family was without funds and the old father, sick mother and young sister had to think about earnings. He painfully felt the squeamish disgust experienced by the closest people in relation to him. Mother and father for the first two weeks could not bring themselves to enter his room. Only Greta, overcoming fear, came here to quickly clean up or put a bowl of food. However, Gregor was less and less suited to ordinary food, and he often left the plates untouched, although he was tormented by hunger. He understood that the sight of him was unbearable for his sister, and therefore he tried to hide under the sofa behind the sheet when she came to clean up.

One day, his humiliating peace was disturbed, as the women decided to free his room from the furniture. It was Greta's idea, who decided to give him more room to crawl. Then the mother for the first time timidly entered her son's room. Gregor obediently crouched on the floor behind a hanging sheet, in an uncomfortable position. From the commotion, he became very ill. He understood that he was deprived of a normal home - they took out a chest where he kept a jigsaw and other tools, a wardrobe with clothes, a desk at which he prepared homework as a child. And, unable to stand it, he crawled out from under the sofa to protect his last wealth - a portrait of a woman in furs on the wall. Mother and Greta at this time took a breath in the living room. When they returned, Gregor was hanging on the wall with his paws around the portrait. He decided that for nothing in the world he would not allow him to be taken away - he would rather grab Greta in the face. The sister who entered the room failed to take her mother away. She "saw a huge brown spot on the colorful wallpaper, screamed before she realized that this was Gregor, shrill, shrill" and collapsed exhausted on the sofa.

Gregor was filled with excitement. He quickly crawled out into the living room after his sister, who rushed to the first-aid kit with drops, and helplessly trampled behind her back, suffering from his guilt. At this time, his father came - now he worked as a messenger in some bank and wore a blue uniform with gold buttons. Greta explained that her mother was in a swoon and Gregor "broke out". The father let out a malevolent cry, grabbed a bowl of apples and began to throw them at Gregor with hatred. The unfortunate man took to his heels, making many feverish movements. One of the apples hit him hard on the back, getting stuck in his body.

After the wound received, Gregor's health deteriorated. Gradually, his sister stopped cleaning from him - everything was overgrown with cobwebs and a sticky substance flowing from his paws. Guilty of nothing, but rejected with disgust by the closest people, suffering from shame more than from hunger and wounds, he closed himself in miserable loneliness, going over all his past simple life on sleepless nights. In the evenings, the family gathered in the living room, where everyone drank tea or talked. Gregor was "it" for them - every time the relatives tightly covered the door of his room, trying not to remember his oppressive presence.

One evening he heard that his sister was playing the violin for three new tenants - they were rented rooms for money. Attracted by the music, Gregor ventured a little further than usual. Because of the dust that lay everywhere in his room, he himself was covered with it, "on his back and sides he dragged with him threads, hair, remnants of food; his indifference to everything was too great to lie down, as before, several once a day, on your back and clean yourself on the carpet." And then this untidy monster slithered across the sparkling floor of the living room. An embarrassing scandal erupted. Residents indignantly demanded the money back. The mother went into a fit of coughing. The sister concluded that it was impossible to live like this any longer, and the father confirmed that she was "a thousand times right." Gregor struggled to crawl back into his room. From weakness, he was quite clumsy and suffocated. Once in the familiar dusty darkness, he found himself unable to move at all. He almost did not feel pain, and he still thought about his family with tenderness and love.

Early in the morning the maid came and found Gregor lying quite still. Soon she joyfully informed the owners: "Look, it is dead, here it is completely, completely dead!"

Gregor's body was dry, flat and weightless. The maid scooped up his remains and threw them out with the trash. Everyone experienced undisguised relief. Mother, father and Greta, for the first time in a long time, allowed themselves a walk outside the city. In the tram car, full of warm sunshine, they were animatedly discussing the prospects for the future, which turned out to be not so bad at all. At the same time, the parents, without saying a word, thought about how, despite all the vicissitudes, their daughter had become prettier.

V. L. Sagalova

Novel (unfinished, 1922, published 1926)

The action takes place in Austria-Hungary, before the November Revolution of 1918.

K., a young man in his thirties, arrives in the Village on a late winter evening. He settles for the night at an inn, in a common room among the peasants, noticing that the owner is extremely embarrassed by the arrival of an unfamiliar guest. The son of the castle caretaker, Schwarzer, wakes up K. who has fallen asleep, and politely explains that without the permission of the count - the owner of the Castle and the Village, no one is allowed to live or spend the night here. K. is at first perplexed and does not take this statement seriously, but, seeing that they are going to kick him out in the middle of the night, he explains with irritation that he came here on the call of the count, to work as a land surveyor. Soon his assistants with instruments should drive up. Schwarzer calls the Central Chancellery of the Castle and receives confirmation of the words of K. The young man notes for himself that they work in the Castle, apparently, in good conscience, even at night. He understands that the Castle "approved" for him the title of land surveyor, knows everything about him and expects to keep him in constant fear. K. tells himself that he is clearly underestimated, he will enjoy freedom and fight.

In the morning, K. goes to the Castle, located on the mountain. The road turns out to be long, the main street does not lead, but only approaches the Castle, and then turns off somewhere.

K. returns to the inn, where two "assistants" are waiting for him, young guys he does not know. They call themselves his "old" assistants, although they admit that they do not know land surveying. It is clear to K. that they are attached to him by the Lock for observation. K. wants to ride with them on a sleigh to the Castle, but the assistants say that without permission from outsiders there is no access to the Castle. Then K. tells the assistants to call the Castle and seek permission. Assistants call and instantly get a negative answer. K. picks up the phone himself and hears strange sounds and buzzing for a long time before a voice answers him. K. mystifies him, speaking not in his own name, but in the name of assistants. As a result, a voice from the Castle calls K. his "old assistant" and gives a categorical answer - K. is forever denied visiting the Castle.

At this moment, the messenger Barnabas, a young boy with a bright, open face, different from the faces of local peasants with their "as if on purpose distorted faces," sends K. a letter from the Castle. In a letter signed by the head of the office, it is reported that K. has been accepted into the service of the owner of the Castle, and his immediate superior is the headman of the Village. K. decides to work in the Village, away from the officials, hoping to become "his own" among the peasants and thus at least get something from the Castle. Between the lines, he reads in the letter a certain threat, a challenge to fight if K. agrees to the role of a simple worker in the Village. K. understands that everyone around him already knows about his arrival, peep and get accustomed to him.

Through Barnabas and his older sister Olga, K. gets into a hotel intended for gentlemen from the Castle who come to the Village on business. It is forbidden for outsiders to spend the night in the hotel, the place for K is only in the buffet. This time, an important official Klamm is staying here for the night, whose name is known to all the inhabitants of the Village, although few can boast that they saw him with their own eyes,

Barmaid Frida, serving beer to gentlemen and peasants, is an important person in the hotel. This is a nondescript girl with sad eyes and a "pathetic little body." K. is struck by her look, full of special superiority, capable of solving many complex issues. Her look convinces K. that such questions concerning him personally exist.

Frida invites K. to look at Klamm, who is in the room adjacent to the buffet, through a secret peephole. K. sees a fat, clumsy gentleman with cheeks sagging under the weight of years. Frida is the mistress of this influential official, and therefore she herself has great influence in the Village. She made her way to the position of a barmaid straight from the cowgirls, and K. expresses admiration for her willpower. He invites Frida to leave Klamm and become his mistress. Frida agrees, and K. spends the night under the buffet in her arms. When in the morning the “imperiously indifferent” call of Klamm is heard from behind the wall, Frida twice defiantly answers him that she is busy with the surveyor.

K. spends the next night with Frieda in a little room at the inn, almost in the same bed with assistants, whom he cannot get rid of. Now K. wants to marry Frida as soon as possible, but first, through her, he intends to talk with Klamm. Frieda, and then the landlady of the Garden inn, convince him that this is impossible, that Klamm will not, cannot even talk to K., because Mr. Klamm is a man from the Castle, and K. is not from the Castle and not from the Village, he is - " nothing", alien and superfluous. The hostess regrets that Frida "left the eagle" and "got in touch with the blind mole."

Gardena admits to K. that more than twenty years ago, Klamm was more defiant to himself three times, the fourth time did not follow. She keeps as the most expensive relics a bonnet and a handkerchief given to her by Klamm, and a photograph of the courier through whom she was summoned for the first time. Gardena married with the knowledge of Klamm and for many years at night spoke with her husband only about Klamm. K. has never seen such an interweaving of official and personal life as here.

Or headman K. learns that the order to prepare for the arrival of the surveyor was received by him many years ago. The headman immediately sent an answer to the office of the Castle that no one needs a land surveyor in the Village. Apparently, this answer got to the wrong department, an error occurred, which could not be recognized, because the possibility of errors in the office is completely excluded. However, the control authorities later recognized the error, and one official fell ill. Shortly before K.'s arrival, the story finally came to a happy end, that is, to the abandonment of the surveyor. The unexpected appearance of K. now nullifies all the years of work. The correspondence of the Castle is stored in the house of the headman and in the barns. The headman's wife and K.'s assistants shake out all the sticks from the cabinets, but they still fail to find the necessary order, just as they fail to put the folders back in place.

Under pressure from Frida, K. accepts the mayor's offer to take the place of the school watchman, although he learns from the teacher that the village needs the watchman no more than the land surveyor. K. and his future wife have nowhere to live, Frida tries to create a semblance of family comfort in one of the school classes.

K. comes to the hotel to find Klamm there. In the canteen, he meets Frida's successor, the blooming maiden Pepi, and finds out from her where Klamm is. K. waits for the official for a long time in the yard in the cold, but Klamm still slips away. His secretary requires K. to go through the procedure of "interrogation", to answer a series of questions in order to draw up a protocol, filed in the office. Upon learning that Klamm himself does not read the protocols due to lack of time, K. runs away.

On the way, he meets Barnabas with a letter from Klamm, in which he approves of the land surveying carried out by K. with his knowledge, K. considers this a misunderstanding, which Barnabas should explain to Klamm. But Barnabas is sure that Klamm will not even listen to him.

K. with Frida and assistants are sleeping in the gymnasium of the school. In the morning, their teacher Giza finds them in bed and makes a scandal, throwing the remnants of dinner from the table with a ruler in front of the happy children. Giza has an admirer from the Castle - Schwarzer, but she loves only cats, and she tolerates an admirer.

K. notices that in the four days of living together with his fiancee, a strange change takes place. Being close to Klamm gave her a "crazy charm" and now she "fades" in his arms. Frieda suffers, seeing that K. only dreams of meeting Klamm. She admits that K. will easily give her to Klamm if he demands it. In addition, she is jealous of him for Olga, Barnabas' sister.

Olga, a smart and selfless girl, tells K. the sad story of their family. Three years ago, at one of the village holidays, official Sortini could not take his eyes off his younger sister, Amalia. In the morning, a courier delivered a letter to Amalia, written in "vile terms", demanding to come to the hotel to Sortini. The indignant girl tore up the letter and threw the pieces in the face of the messenger, the official. She did not go to the official, and not a single official was pushed away in the Village. By committing such misdeeds, Amalia brought a curse on her family, from which all the inhabitants recoiled. Father, the best shoemaker in the Village, was left without orders, lost his earnings. He ran after the officials for a long time, waiting for them at the gates of the Castle, begging for forgiveness, but no one wanted to listen to him. It was unnecessary to punish the family, the atmosphere of alienation around her did its job. Father and mother with grief turned into helpless invalids.

Olga understood that people were afraid of the Castle, they were waiting. If the family hushed up the whole story, went out to the villagers and announced that everything was settled thanks to their connections, the Village would accept it. And all family members suffered and sat at home, as a result they were excluded from all circles of society. They tolerate only Barnabas, as the most "innocent". For the family, the main thing is that he be officially registered in the service in the Castle, but even this cannot be known for sure. Perhaps the decision on it has not yet been made, in the Village there is a saying:

"Administrative decisions are as timid as young girls." Barnabas has access to the offices, but they are part of other offices, then there are barriers, and behind them again offices. There are barriers all around, as well as officials. Barnabas does not dare to open his mouth, standing in the offices. He no longer believes that he was truly accepted into the service of the Castle, and does not show zeal in transmitting letters from the Castle, doing it late. Olga is aware of the dependence of the family on the Castle, on the service of Barnabas, and in order to get at least some information, she sleeps with the servants of the officials in the stable.

Exhausted by insecurity in K., tired of an unsettled life, Frida decides to return to the buffet. She takes with her Jeremiah, one of K.'s assistants, whom she has known since childhood, hoping to create a family hearth with him.

Secretary Klamm Erlanger wants to receive K. at night in his hotel room. People are already waiting in the corridor, including the groom Gerstecker, whom K. knows. Everyone is happy about the night call, they are aware that Erlanger sacrifices his night's sleep of his own free will, out of a sense of duty, because there is no time for trips to the Village in his official schedule. This is what many officials do, holding a reception either in a buffet or in a room, if possible at a meal, or even in bed.

In the corridor, K. accidentally runs into Frida and tries to win her over again, not wanting to give her to the "unappetizing" Jeremiah. But Frida reproaches him for treason with the girls from the "disgraced family" and indifference and runs away to the ill Jeremiah.

After meeting Frieda, K. cannot find Erlanger's room and goes to the nearest one, hoping to get some sleep. There, another official, Burgel, is dozing, who is glad to have a listener. Invited by him to sit down, K. collapses on his bed and falls asleep under the reasoning of the official about the "continuity of official procedure." Soon he is demanded by Erlanger. Standing at the door and getting ready to leave, the secretary says that Klamm, who is used to getting beer from Frida's hands, is hindered by the appearance of a new maid, Pepi, in his responsible work. This is a violation of habit, and the slightest interference in work should be eliminated. K. must ensure the immediate return of Frida to the buffet. If he justifies the trust in this "little business", it may be useful to his career.

Realizing the complete futility of all his efforts, K. stands in the corridor and watches the revival, which began at five o'clock in the morning. The noisy voices of officials outside the doors remind him of "awakening in the poultry house." The servants deliver a cart with documents and, according to the list, distribute them to the officials in their rooms. If the door does not open, the documents are stacked on the floor. Some officials "fend off" the documents, while others, on the contrary, "pretend", snatch, get nervous.

The owner of the hotel drives K., who has no right to roam here, "like cattle on a grazing." He explains that the purpose of the night calls is to quickly listen to the visitor, whose appearance during the day is unbearable to gentlemen officials. Hearing that K. visited two secretaries from the Castle, the owner allows him to spend the night in the beer hall.

The red-cheeked Pepi, who replaced Frida, laments that her happiness was so short. Klamm did not appear, and yet she would have been ready to carry him to the buffet in her arms.

K. thanks the hostess for the night. She strikes up a conversation with him about her dresses, remembering his casual remark that offended her. K. shows a certain interest in the appearance of the hostess, in her outfits, reveals a taste and knowledge of fashion. Haughtily, but interested, the hostess admits that he can become an indispensable adviser for her. Let him wait for her call when the new outfits arrive.

Groom Gerstaker offers K. a job at the stable. K. guesses that Gerstacker hopes to get something from Erlanger with his help. Gerstaker does not deny this and takes K. to his house for the night. Gerstacker's mother, who is reading a book by candlelight, gives K. a trembling hand and sits her down next to her.

A. V. Dyakonova

(Die Schuldlosen)

A novel in eleven short stories (1913, 1918, 1933, 1949, published 1950)

I. A young man, no older than twenty, without a hat, slightly drunk, wandered into a bar for a beer. Two people are talking at the next table, a male, almost boyish voice and a woman's voice, chesty, maternal, are heard. The young man is too lazy to turn his head in their direction, he imagines that this is a mother and son. The conversation is about money, a woman needs it - loving, worried. The young man's mother had just died, before that he had buried his father. He would really like to take care of his mother, because his income in South Africa is constantly growing. In addition, he receives income from his father's Dutch inheritance, which he has securely placed. Here in Paris, he has a purse full of stuff, ready to share it with this woman. Maybe then she would want to live with him, he could use the motherly caress of some woman now. And you can commit suicide and leave her your money. Everything is so simple, only it is not clear where the thought of suicide came from. The young man begins to insert his phrases into the conversation of the couple, it seems to him that their voices and destinies are "intertwined". He remembers his name - Andreas - and asks to call him A. Here he falls asleep for a moment, and when he wakes up, the couple has already disappeared. A. wants to pay the waiter for them, but everything has already been paid for.

II. Taking for example a hero from the philistine milieu, one can demonstrate the unity and universality of world processes. The hero lives in a provincial German town. In 1913, the hero serves as a junior gymnasium teacher, teaching mathematics and physics. As a person "constructed from mediocre material", he does not have thoughts and questions of a philosophical nature. It is completely determined by its environment. His name is not important, you can call him Tsakharias. Has he ever thought about something that goes beyond the scope of mathematical problems? Of course, about women, for example. It's time for "erotic shock." By chance, outside the house, he runs into the daughter of his landlady, next to whom he lived quietly for several years. It turns out that she and the Philippines love each other. Soon it comes to the "highest proof of love", and after that to jealousy, mistrust, suffering, torment. Both decide to commit suicide, Philippine shoots him in the heart, then in her temple, and their blood "mixes".

Such a path - from "squalor to the divine" - is not for mediocre natures. Another course of events is more natural and logical, when the couple finally comes to the mother, exhausted by expectation, and Tsakharias kneels to accept the blessing.

III. A., who has just arrived, examines the station square of the city, which has the shape of a triangle. There is something alluring, magical in it, and he wants to become a local resident.

A. rents a room in the house of Baroness B., who is short of money. In the courtyard of 1923, after the war lost by Germany, inflation is rampant. A., a diamond businessman in South Africa, always has money. The Baroness lives with her daughter Hildegard and an old maid; the Baroness's husband has died. A. immediately understands that family relationships are very complex. Hildegard shows his displeasure at the appearance of a male tenant, but obeys his mother's will. A. could have found another home for himself, but, apparently, fate itself brought him here. He notices that all three women look alike. In this "triangle" the baroness represents the "maternal type", and in the faces of the maid Zerlina and Hildegard there is something monastic, some kind of "timelessness". Having condescended to a conversation with the tenant, Hildegard informs him on the very first evening that her task is to look after her mother and keep peace in the house, the peace established by her father. A. comes to the conclusion that this is a strange girl, tough, full of "unsatisfied desires."

IV. Once he was a master of drawing tools, had a wife, they were expecting a child. Both wife and child died during childbirth. An aging widower adopted a newborn girl from an orphanage and named her Melitta. The girl finished school and now works in a laundry. The old father becomes a traveling beekeeper. Wandering through the fields with a song, he admires the "great creation of the creator", teaches people how to work with bees. Over the years, he approaches the "nature of being", to the knowledge of life and death. The old man returns home for a short time and reluctantly, fearing that the oddities of his fate may "twist the line of life" of a young inexperienced creature.

V. A. loves to live in comfort. Money is given to him easily, now he buys houses and land for depreciated stamps. He enjoys giving money. He does not like to make decisions, fate itself decides well for him, and he obeys her, without losing, however, vigilance, although with a sufficient degree of laziness.

One Sunday morning, Zerlina tells him old family secrets. The baroness gave birth to Hildegard not from the baron, but from a friend of the von Jun family. No one knew that the maid guessed everything, gloated and acted in her own interests. At that time, Zerlina was a pretty and "appetizing" girl from the village. After an unsuccessful attempt to seduce the ascetic baron, the judge, she quickly manages to seduce von Yun, tearing him away from another mistress. The latter died suddenly in the so-called Hunting Lodge. Von Yuna was arrested on suspicion of poisoning, but was acquitted at a trial led by the baron, after which he left the country forever. Before the trial, Zerlina forwarded to the baron the letters she had stolen from the baroness and her lover, but this did not affect the objectivity of the judge's decision. The baron soon died - from a broken heart, according to Zerlina. Secretly from the baroness, the maid raised Hildegard in her own way, in "retribution for guilt" - the guilt of her daughter, in whom the blood of a "lustful murderer" flowed, and the guilt of her mother. Hildegard grew up in an effort to imitate the one whom she considered her father - the baron, "but without his holiness," Zerlina is indignant. She, spying on everyone, knows that Hildegard often stands idle at night at the next guest's room, and only the thought of the "holy" father prevents her from opening the door. The baroness became a prisoner of both women, who hated her in their hearts.

Zerlina's story somewhat distracts A. from his afternoon nap. Falling asleep, he pities the baroness and himself, left without a mother, he would like to be "his own son."

VI. On a crowded street, A. notices a strange, ridiculous house sticking out like a "broken tooth". A. immediately bypasses his gates, entrances, courtyards, stairs, floors. He is full of impatience and is waiting for something, for example, a view of the garden or landscape from the window. He seems to be enchanted and is in an unsafe labyrinth, and there is not a soul around. Suddenly, he almost runs into a girl with a bucket in her hands. She lives in this house with her grandfather and works at the laundry in the attic. Andreas introduces himself to her. He wants to see the garden, the existence of which he learns from Melitta. He fails and, frustrated, asks Melitta to show him another way out. After further long wanderings, A. finds himself in a leather shop, from where he finally gets out into the street with a piece of purchased leather. The skin is good, but he's still disappointed.

VII. Tsakharias joined the Social Democratic Party, after which he quickly received a promotion and dreams of becoming the director of the gymnasium. He is married and has three obedient children.

At this time, meetings are held throughout Germany to protest against Einstein's theory of relativity. At one meeting, he opposes this theory, although not too sharply - after all, even on the party board there are adherents of Einstein. leaving the meeting, Tzaharias runs into a young man in the wardrobe looking for his hat. The latter invites Tsakharias to the cellar, where he treats him to expensive Burgundy. Tsakharias is not happy with the mindset of a young man who calls himself a Dutchman and believes that the Germans have brought a lot of suffering to themselves and to all of Europe. After the first bottle, Tsakharias delivers a speech to the glory of the German nation, "not tolerating hypocrisy." Therefore, the Germans do not like the "know-it-all" Jews. The Germans are a nation of the "Infinite", that is, death, while other peoples are mired in the "Endless", in huckstering. The Germans bear a difficult cross - the duties of "mentors of mankind."

Another speech follows after the second bottle: in a state of slight intoxication, it is wiser to go to a prostitute, and not to your wife, so as not to conceive a fourth child, which is too expensive. But at prostitutes you can meet high school students. The Germans no longer need the word "love", because it is "mating" that brings us closer to the Infinite. After the fourth bottle, the third speech is delivered, and on the way home, the fourth, about the need for "planned freedom". A. delivers Tsakharias to the door of his house, where the "two bastards" are met with disgust by Philippine's wife. A., driven out by her, leaves, noticing how Filippina beats her husband, who enthusiastically accepts the beatings and mumbles love confessions. A. comes home and falls asleep, not wanting to rack his brains over the fate of the German naiii.

VIII. Melitta receives a gift from a young man for the first time in her life. It is a fine leather purse, and in it is a letter from A. asking to see her. Melitta doesn't know how to write an answer, because "it's such a long way from the heart to the pen", especially for a little washerwoman. She decides to go to A. and puts on her Sunday dress. Zerlina opens up to her, who quickly tries everything and prepares Melitta for the return of A., as they prepare the bride for the wedding night. Zerlina dresses the girl in Hildegard's nightgown and puts A to bed. Here Melitta spends two nights.

IX. A. talks with the baroness about the moral principles of the younger generation. According to the baroness, her daughter considers A. an immoral person, the only question is whether this is praise or blame. With the tenderness of his son, A. invites the baroness to visit the hunting lodge he bought.

A. has dinner at the station restaurant. Sitting in an old hall, "three-dimensional", like everything German, A. indulges in a new kind of memories - in "multi-dimensionality", and he himself is surprised that he is thinking not about Melitta, but about Hildegard. At this moment, among the "plebeian noise" appears Hildegard herself, arrogant and beautiful. She accuses A. of playing with the life of his mother, that, having bought the Hunting Lodge, he became a toy in the hands of Zerlina. From the maid, she already knows everything about Melitta and hides her rage from A.

The next night, Hildegard comes to A.'s room and demands that he take it by force. When the stunned A. fails, she gloatingly tells him that she has forever deprived him of "male power."

In the morning, A. learns from the newspaper that Melitta is no longer alive. Hildegard confesses that she came to Melitta and told her that A. was indifferent to the little washerwoman. After her departure, the girl jumped out of the window. A. perceives this as murder. Hildegard cynically reassures him, because there is still a lot of murder and blood ahead, and he will accept them, as he accepted the war. In addition, the death of Melitta makes his life easier.

Now everyone is preparing to move to the Hunting Lodge, because they are no longer threatened by the appearance of Melitta. Everyone is celebrating Christmas in it.

X. For almost ten years, A. has been living in the Hunting Lodge with the Baroness and Zerlina. At the age of forty-five, he had become quite fat thanks to the efforts of Zerlina, who more than doubled her weight. But the servant stubbornly wears torn old clothes, and folds the one that A. gives her. A. takes care of the baroness like a son, and this is increasingly becoming the meaning of his life. Hildegard's infrequent visits are already taking on the character of an unwanted intrusion. A. gradually forgets about the past, it is unbelievable that he once loved women, one committed suicide because of him, but already her name is ready to slip out of memory. In these "fat everyday life" you only need to consider the possibility of a sudden rise of political idiots like Hitler, so as not to lose money. As his main heiress, he draws up a baroness, is going to allocate substantial sums to charitable organizations, primarily in Holland. He does not worry about the future, because in 1933 the National Socialists were losing votes. A. loves to repeat that the world should be ignored and slowly "chew everyday life."

One day A. hears singing coming from the forest. Singing disturbs him. The last three years are no longer up to singing, the "dummy" Hitler nevertheless seized power, the danger of war is ripening, financial affairs need to be settled - An old man of powerful physique appears, blind, but confident and calm. A. suddenly realizes that this is Melitta's grandfather, and pain flares up in him at the reminder. Both begin to analyze the guilt and innocence of A., to trace the whole life story of this, in essence, a kind person. Whatever happens in the world: the war, the Russian revolution and the Russian camps, Hitler's rise to power, A. made money. However, he always preferred to be a "son" rather than a "father" and eventually chose the role of a "fat baby" for himself. A. finds his fault in the absolute, "cave" indifference, the consequence of which is indifference to the suffering of his neighbor. The old man knows that the transitional generation is destined to solve problems, but A. is sure that this generation is paralyzed by the immensity of the task. He himself hoped to avoid responsibility for his "brutality", which threatens the whole world and everyone individually. A. admits his guilt and is ready to pay. Melitta's grandfather understands, approves and accepts his willingness, addressing him for the first time by his first name - Andreas. The old man leaves. Following him, A. leaves life in a “natural” way for him: from “monstrous three-dimensional reality” to “immeasurable non-existence”, with a gun in his hand,

So without knowing the whole truth, left without A., the baroness dies of grief, with the obvious assistance of Zerlina. Now the former maid dresses richly and gets herself servants.

XI. The young lady, still young, goes to church for Mass. A stranger in glasses meets her, and for some reason the young lady wants to cross to the other side of the street. Nevertheless, she passes by him in a "shell of icy indifference", like a real lady, "almost a saint." Then it seems to her that this middle-aged man, who could have looked like a communist if Hitler had not destroyed them all, is following her. She enters the church, feeling the weight of his gaze on the back of her head. Then he slips out into the courtyard in front of the square, where there is no one. She looks around - "violence is canceled", at least for this day. Some mixture of regret and gloating rises in the soul of the young lady. A chorale sounds, the young lady enters the church again, opens the Psalter - "and indeed a saint."

A. V. Dyakonova

Roman (1936)

Professor Peter Keane, a long and skinny forty-year-old bachelor, looks into the windows of bookstores during his traditional morning walks. Almost with pleasure, he notes that waste paper and tabloids are spreading wider and wider. Keane, a world-famous scientist and sinologist, has the largest private library in Vienna, twenty-five thousand volumes. A tiny part of it, as a precaution, he always carries with him in a tightly stuffed briefcase. Keane sees himself as a librarian who keeps, not lends out, his treasures. The passion of the book lover is the only one that Keane allows himself in his strict and working life. This passion has owned him since childhood, as a boy he once cunningly stayed all night in the largest bookstore.

Keane does not have a family, because a woman will definitely make demands that "an honest scientist would not even dream of fulfilling in a dream." He does not maintain personal ties with anyone, and does not participate in scientific congresses, to which he is respectfully invited as the first sinologist of his time. Keane also refuses to teach at universities, this can be done by "mediocre heads." At the age of thirty, he signed off his skull with its contents to the Institute for Brain Research.

The greatest danger threatening the scientist, Keane considers "incontinence of speech" and prefers written speech. He speaks more than a dozen oriental languages, and some western ones turn out to be clear to him by themselves. Keene's biggest fear is blindness.

The professor's household has been run by a "responsible" housekeeper Teresa for eight years, with whom he is pleased. She dusts the four rooms of his library daily and prepares meals. During the meal, the taste of which is indifferent to him, the scientist is busy with important thoughts, and chewing and digestion occur by themselves. Teresa receives a good salary from Keane, enough to put aside for a savings book and have a change of starched blue petticoats that hide the legs of a fifty-six-year-old strong person. Her head is set obliquely, her ears are protruding, her hips are immense. She knows that she looks "thirty years old", and passers-by always look back at her. But she considers herself a "decent woman" and secretly counts on the favor of the professor.

Teresa knows exactly, down to the minute, the strict daily routine of the owner. But before the morning walk, there are mysterious forty-five minutes when no amount of eavesdropping helps to establish his occupation. Teresa suggests some sort of vice, maybe he's hiding a woman's corpse or drugs. She conducts searches and does not lose hope to solve the mystery.

Teresa and Keane's communication is reduced to the exchange of the necessary phrases. The housekeeper's vocabulary is sparse, no more than fifty words, but Keane appreciates her reticence and devotion to the library. With him, she puts out the door of a neighbor's boy who came for a book promised to him by a professor, by mistake, in Chinese. As a reward, the touched Keane gives the housekeeper one vulgar novel that all his school friends once took from him. Keane soon discovers this filthy book, lying in the kitchen on an embroidered velvet cushion under Teresa's white-gloved fingers. In addition, Teresa tried to remove old stains. Keene realizes that he is dealing with a woman who is merciful to books, a "saint". The shocked scientist retires to the library, where, as always, he talks and argues for a long time with books and their authors. Confucius gives him resolve, and Keane rushes into the kitchen to the one whose heart belongs to books, announcing his desire to marry her.

After a modest marriage ceremony from the very first wedding night, Keane is insolvent as a man. Teresa is disappointed, but feels confident in the role of wife and mistress, and gradually takes over three rooms of the library, cluttering them with cheaply bought furniture. For Keane, the main thing is that she does not interfere with his work and does not touch the books. He tries to stay away from his wife, her thick red cheeks and starched blue skirt. When she invades his office with new furniture, the scientist finds it necessary to warn his favorites about the danger, about the "state of war" in the apartment. Having risen on a stepladder to the very ceiling, he turns to books with a "manifesto" about protection from the enemy, and then falls down the stairs and loses consciousness. Teresa finds her husband lying on the carpet and mistakes him for a "corpse". She feels sorry for the beautiful carpet, stained with blood, and "almost sorry" for her husband. Within an hour, she is looking for his will, hoping that she left a million dollars. She has no doubt that the husband, who should understand that he will die before his "young" wife, took care of this. Unable to find a will, Teresa calls for the help of the gatekeeper Benedict Pfaff, a hefty brute, a retired policeman. The evil Pfaff respects only Keane in the house, receiving a monthly cash "present" from him. He thinks that the "rogue" Teresa killed her husband and you can make money on it. The gatekeeper is already presenting himself as a witness at the murder trial, and Teresa, who is standing nearby, is looking for a way out of a dangerous situation and thinks about the inheritance. At this time, Keane comes to his senses and tries to get up. Nobody expects this from him. Outraged, Teresa tells her husband that decent people don't do that. Pfaff transfers the professor's "backbone" to the bed.

During Keane's illness, Teresa takes care of him in her own way, but does not forget that he "allowed himself to live on", although, in fact, he had already died. She forgives him, she needs a will, which he now hears dozens of times a day. It dawns on Keane that his wife is only interested in money, not books. For a scientist who lives on a parental inheritance, spent mainly on the library, money does not matter. From the standpoint of history, Pfaff, who visits him for the sake of a "present", is qualified by Keene as a "barbarian", "a hired warrior", but his wife has no place in any kind of barbarism.

Teresa tries in vain to get a young salesman in a furniture store as a lover. Feeling sorry for herself, she somehow cries in the presence of her "guilty of everything" husband. And to him, stunned by her incoherent speeches, he sees, as usual, something else, an expression of love for him, a scientist. When the misunderstanding is cleared up and Keane "documented" explains to his wife how little money he has left to make a will, Teresa is furious. For Keane, life turns into a lunatic asylum where he is beaten and starved. Now Teresa unsuccessfully searches for her husband's bank book and considers him "rightfully" a "thief". Finally, realizing that "her" apartment is not a "poorhouse" for "parasites", she kicks her husband out into the street, throwing an empty briefcase and coat after him, not knowing that the bank book is in the coat pocket.

Keane is "overwhelmed with work", he goes to bookstores, buys books and sleeps at the nearest hotel to the store. The scientist "carries in his head" the ever-increasing burden of his new library. He eats where he can, and one day he ends up in a brothel, without knowing it himself. There he meets the hunchback Fischerle, a passionate chess player who dreams of beating the world champion Capablanca and settling down so that he can eat and sleep "during the opponent's moves." In the meantime, he feeds on a prostitute wife and fraud.

Having familiarized himself with the contents of Keane's wallet on occasion, Fischerle agrees to become an "assistant" to the scientist, helping him in the evenings to "unload books from his head" and "arrange" them on the shelves. Keane feels that the hunchback understands him, this is a "soul mate" who needs education, while Fischerle considers Keane a swindler and crazy, but restrains his impatience, knowing that the money will still go to the "smart", that is, to him.

The hunchback takes Keane to a pawnshop, where everything is pawned, including books. Now Keene stands in the pawnshop, catching "sinners" with books and redeeming them at a good price. "Sinners" begins to deliver smart Fischerle. Through them, in order to increase the ransom, he tells Keane his fiction that Teresa has died. Keane is happy, he believes right away, because she was supposed to starve to death, locked up by him, "devouring herself piece by piece", mad with greed for money. Keane himself invents how the "mercenary warrior" found Teresa's "corpse" and her blue skirt, how the funeral went. And to Fischerla, a substantial amount migrates, for which you can already go to America, to Capablanca.

Suddenly, Keane runs into Teresa and Pfaff, who has become her lover, who brought his books to the pawnshop. Keane closes his eyes and does not perceive the "dead" Teresa, but he still sees the books, even tries to take them away. Teresa is frightened, but, noticing the thick wallet in Keane's protruding pocket, she remembers the bank book and yells indignantly, accusing him of theft. All three and Fischerle, who appeared, are surrounded by a crowd, which is already imagining corpses, murders, thefts. The mob beats up the silent Keane, though the "sparseness of his attacked surface" is not satisfying.

Fischerle is safely hidden in the crowd as the police lead the trio away. At the police station, Keane pleads guilty to killing his wife by starving her to death. He asks the policemen to explain how his dead wife, in the same starched blue skirt, stands nearby and speaks in her primitive language. While stroking Teresa's hateful skirt, Keane admits that he is suffering from hallucinations and sobs. Everyone perceives his speech in their own way. Teresa realizes that Keane killed his "first" wife. The gatekeeper remembers his daughter, whom he brought to death. The police commandant portrays Keane as an aristocrat with a perfectly knotted tie, which he fails to do himself. Finally, he pushes everyone out the door. Pfaff takes Keane with him to the porter's room, where Keane wants to stay until the smell of Teresa's decomposed corpse disappears from his apartment.

Fischerle has Brother Kean's address in Paris, and calls him to his older brother by telegram, the text of which is carefully thought out: "I'm completely crazy. Your brother." The contented hunchback settles his own affairs after leaving for America. He manages to get a fake passport quickly and free of charge, get dressed by an expensive tailor and buy a first class ticket. At parting, Fischerle goes to his wife and finds there, as usual, a client who kills him in front of a calm wife.

Pfaff wants to hold the professor for a while in the literal sense of the word "on his knees." He teaches him how to handle the peephole he built into the door at a level of half a meter from the floor, through which he himself watched the residents. Keane sees his new occupation as a scientific activity. He sees mainly the "trousers" passing by, he tries not to notice the skirts, like a real scientist, he has the ability not to notice. Keene conceives the article "Characterology by Pants" with "Supplement about Shoes" that would allow people to be identified by given garments. An enthusiastic scientist unwittingly comes into conflict with the owner of the eye. Beaten, hungry, having lost his post, he crawls under the bed and begins to doubt his mind.

The famous psychiatrist, director of a large Parisian clinic, Georges (aka Georg) Keane loves his work and patients, thanks to which he became one of the greatest minds of his time. This handsome man owes much of his career to his wife.

Having received a telegram from "brother", he urgently travels to Vienna and on the train comes to the conclusion that his brother is worried about blindness, more imaginary than real. At the door of the house, he immediately receives information from the "second wife of his brother" and Pfaff, who leads him to Peter, who looks like a skeleton, weightless when transferred from the floor to the bed. Georg considers himself a great connoisseur of people, but he still fails to penetrate Peter's soul and thoughts, win his favor and trust. Peter keeps at a distance the director of the "sanatorium for idiots", a "skirt man" who is indifferent to Confucius.

The biggest thing the younger brother can do is kick Pfaff and Teresa out of the apartment, with whom he easily finds mutual understanding. He goes to meet this couple and in a "business relationship", buying a store for them. Peter again moves into his apartment thoroughly cleaned by Teresa. His financial future is now secured by Georg. Peter restrainedly thanks his brother for all the "services" rendered to him, although he does not say a word about the removal of his wife. They say goodbye, "madmen" are waiting for George.

Alone in his library, Keane reminisces about the recent past. He imagines a blue skirt, the words "fire" and "murder" flash in his head. In the place where Teresa's "corpse lay", Keane sets fire to the red patterned carpet to prevent the police from mistaking it for blood. It occurs to him that by burning the books he can take revenge on his enemies, who are "chasing the will." Standing on a stepladder under the ceiling and looking at the approaching flames, Keane laughs as loudly as "he has never laughed in his life."

A. V. D'konova

(Der kurze Brief zum kangen Abschied)

Tale (1972)

Handke's work is written in the first person. We never know the name of the narrator. There are not many external events in the story. It presents a free chronicle of several days, which are marked for the hero by a severe spiritual crisis. A young writer from Austria, he came to America driven by an unbearable state of hopelessness. The reason is a months-long conflict with his wife, which grew into a desperate, sizzling hatred of the people closest to each other. This enmity withered and devastated the hero. He experiences a deep depression, coloring the entire perception of the world around him. The words seem strange and inexpressive. Time flows as if in different dimensions. Being lost in a foreign country, where he is nothing more than a human unit, no one needs or is interested in, is salvation for him. However, at the very first hotel where he stayed, he was served a letter from Judit: "I'm in New York. I don't advise you to look for me. It could end badly." The writer reads these lines with a feeling of horror. He understands that his wife is persecuting him, that she moved with him to another continent in order to continue their mutual torture here,

The writer has three thousand dollars. This is all he owns, as his wife withdrew the rest of the money from his account. It should be enough for him for a while. And so he moves from city to city, changing hotel after hotel, completely left to himself and immersed in his own experiences. Memories of childhood come up in his mind, now the details of their quarrel with Judit, now some volatile impressions of the day. The structure of his feelings and thoughts betrays an extraordinary, creative and intellectual person, incredibly tired of his own reflection and having lost the meaning of life.

There is a strange logic in his movements. On the one hand, he is afraid of meeting his wife, on the other hand, this is exactly what he strives for. He tries to figure out where Judit stayed by the postmark, calls hotels, insistently leaves his phone numbers so that his wife can find him. In all this, one feels a painful, suicidal dependence on the hatred that tormented him. In the room, the writer finishes reading Fitzgerald's novel "The Great Gatsby", and quiet peace settles in his soul for a while. He wants to evoke in himself the feelings inherent in the Great Gatsby - "cordiality, precautionary attentiveness, calm joy and happiness." But his consciousness remains "deserted". In this state, he arrives in New York, which he contemplates "as an innocent phenomenon of nature." Then his path lies in Philadelphia, as there is a trace of his wife.

Wandering the streets, bars and cinemas, he continues to think haphazardly - mostly about his own life. Why, for example, does he never experience the inherent joy of nature? Why doesn't she bring him feelings of freedom and happiness? The hero explains this by the circumstances of his own village childhood, difficult and poor in impressions. "From a young age, I was pushed into nature only to work," he realizes with calm bitterness. "... I could never afford anything there." For the same reason, fear was the strongest childhood emotion - the act of knowing was forever associated with it. The hero understands that in his books the world is reflected as if in a distorted mirror, that he is more concerned about the process of decay than living creation. "Ruins have always interested me more than houses."

Only with the arrival of Judit in his life did the hero experience real feelings. Obviously, for a while they were truly happy, but now there was nothing left between them but fierce hatred. The writer recalls that in the last six months he did not call his wife anything other than "creature" or "creature." He admits that he was possessed by a persistent desire to strangle her. Their hatred went through various painful stages, while they could not part and painfully needed each other's presence. "What a miserable life it was! .. The enmity turned into a voluptuous, intoxicating alienation. For days I wallowed in my own room like a log…"

After a few days of complete loneliness, the hero calls an American friend who lives near Philadelphia. She is a German translator. Three years ago, on his first visit to America, they were blinded by a brief passion. Claire offers to go to St. Louis, where she is going with her daughter.

Again the road - this time by car. Claire is driving. Her daughter is only two years old. “She has a child not from me,” the hero remarks on this occasion. The girl has a strange name - Benedictine Delta. During the day they drive three hundred kilometers, put the girl to bed and sit next to her to take a breath. The hero tells Claire that he is reading Keller's novel "Green Heinrich", she listens, with difficulty overcoming fatigue. The next day they continue on their way. Gradually, the hero embraces a growing sense of relaxation and freedom. He mindlessly watches the landscapes flickering outside the window - first Ohio, then Indiana, then West Virginia. Their relationship with Claire is full of simplicity and naturalness. The girl with her funny quirks lives next to her touching serious life. Claire talks about America - that this country is striving to preserve its historical childhood, that the crazy people here are pouring out dates of national victorious battles. And she also notices that she doesn’t have her own America - like a hero - to which she could go in case of need ... During one of the stops, when the hero went for a walk with a girl in his arms, he suddenly almost got stuck in a swamp . It happened suddenly. Having made an effort, he got out on a bump in one boot ...

They finally reach St. Louis, where they visit Claire's artist friends. This couple is notable for the fact that over ten years of marriage they have not lost some kind of primordial love and "convulsive tenderness". Communication with each other is for them the content and meaning of being. “Our tenderness,” the hero notes about himself and Claire, “consisted in the fact that I talked a lot, and Claire listened and inserted something from time to time.” They help the owners paint the house, walk, take care of the girl, make an entertaining walk along the Mississippi on the Mark Twain steamboat in the company of local residents.

“In those days, for the first time, I learned what real cheerfulness is ... - the hero reports. - I felt with extraordinary strength the universal bliss of life without convulsions and fear,” And in this atmosphere characteristic of Middle America, he is seized by a healing desire for simplicity and fullness of being. He wants to find such a "routine and such a way of life, so that you can just live in a good way." Slowly, through the most elementary values ​​of being, he acquires a sense of belonging with the world and restoration of broken ties. Claire in one of the conversations compares him with Green Henry - he also only "followed the development of events, but he did not intervene ...".

In St. Auis, the writer receives news from Judith - she arrives just on the day of his thirtieth birthday. On a card with a typographical inscription: "Happy birthday!" handwritten note:

"Last". The hero suddenly clearly understands that they decided to kill him, and, oddly enough, this reassures him a little, as if there is nothing more to be afraid of. On the same days, he is alone watching John Ford's film "Young Mr. Lincoln". On this film, he experiences sincere excitement, gets carried away and discovers America. He is extremely admired by the example of Lincoln, his authority and ability to convince people. Especially in the episode when Lincoln, as a young lawyer, defended two farmer brothers from the unfair accusation of killing a policeman. The writer's heart shrinks with delight, and he also wants to realize himself "entirely, without a trace."

Then the hero says goodbye to Claire and goes to Oregon.

It is raining, he is overcome by a feeling of absolute emptiness. He intends to meet Brother Gregor, who left for America many years ago and has been working at the sawmill there ever since. He first comes to his empty and shabby dorm room. There is no brother. In the morning the hero goes straight to the sawmill. The meeting, however, never took place. When the writer sees Gregor, he sits down under the spruce to relieve himself. The hero turns and walks away...

Meanwhile, Judit's aggressiveness is intensifying. First, a parcel comes from her, which turns out to be an explosive device. Then the hero discovers that instead of tap water in the bathroom, sulfuric acid is flowing in the room. Every time he is on the verge of death. Finally, his wife organizes a robbery by a bunch of Mexican boys...

The hero is convinced that a close denouement is inevitable. Having received another postcard with the image of the town of Twin Rocks on the Pacific coast, he goes there without hesitation, with the last money. Alone, he sits on the shore and thinks about how far he has gone in his alienation. Something makes him look around - he turns his head and sees Judit aiming her gun at him. Shot. It seems to the hero that everything is over, and he is surprised at the simplicity of what happened. However, he is alive and not even injured. "With frozen faces, like two idols, we approached each other." Judit drops the gun, screams loudly and desperately, then cries. The hero gently hugs her, then picks up the weapon and throws it into the sea.

... The last episode of the story is a visit by the writer, together with Judith, to John Ford at his villa in California. The great filmmaker was seventy-six years old at the time of the meeting. His whole appearance is full of calm dignity and unostentatious interest in life. He explains to his European guests the features of America as a nation and human community:

"We always say "we", even when it comes to our personal affairs ... Probably because for us, whatever we do is part of one big deal ... We do not rush about with our "I" like you, Europeans ... In America, - he continues, - it is not customary to puff up and not to withdraw into ourselves. We do not yearn for loneliness. This is what Ford says, not in the least idealizing his country, but wanting to show its difference and pay tribute to it.

Then he turns to the guests and asks them to tell "their story". Judit honestly admits that at first she furiously pursued her husband, and now they decided to just quietly and peacefully leave,

Ford laughs and asks, "Is that true?"

"Yes, - the hero confirms. - Everything was like that."

V. A. Sagalova

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)

Fairy Tale (1900)

The girl Dorothy lived with Uncle Henry and Aunt Em in the Kansas steppe. Uncle Henry was a farmer and Aunt Em ran the household. Hurricanes often raged in these places, and the family escaped from them in the cellar. Once Dorothy hesitated, before she had time to go down to the cellar, and the hurricane picked up the house and carried it along with Dorothy and the dog Toto, no one knows where. The house landed in the magical land of Oz, in that part of it where the Munchkins lived, and so successfully that it crushed the evil sorceress who ruled in these parts. The Munchkins were very grateful to the girl, but could not help her return to her native Kansas. On the advice of the good sorceress of the North, Dorothy goes to the Emerald City to the great sage and wizard Oz, who, in her opinion, will certainly help to be with Uncle Henry and Aunt Em again. Putting on the silver shoes of the dead evil sorceress, Dorothy sets off for the Emerald City along a road paved with yellow bricks. Soon she meets the Scarecrow, who scared the crows in the cornfield, and they go to the Emerald City together, as the Scarecrow wants to ask the great Oz for some brains.

They then find a rusted Tin Woodman in the forest, unable to move. Lubricating it with oil from an oil can left in the hut of this strange creature, Dorothy brings him back to life. The Tin Woodman asks him to take him to the Emerald City: he wants to ask the great Oz for a heart, because, as it seems to him, he cannot truly love without a heart.

Soon, Dev joins the squad, who assures new friends that he is a terrible coward and he needs to ask the great Oz for a little courage. After going through many trials, friends arrive in the Emerald City, but the great Oz, appearing before each of them in a new guise, sets a condition: he will fulfill their requests if they kill the last evil sorceress in the land of Oz, who lives in the West, bossing around the timid and intimidated Winkies.

Friends are on the road again. The evil sorceress, noticing their approach, tries to destroy the intruders in a variety of ways, but the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion show a lot of intelligence, courage and desire to protect Dorothy, and only when the sorceress summons the Flying Monkeys does she manage to take over. Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion are captured. The Tin Woodman is thrown onto sharp stones, straw is poured out of the Scarecrow. But the evil sorceress of the West did not rejoice for long. Driven to despair by her bullying, Dorothy douses her with water from a bucket and, to her surprise, the old woman begins to melt, and soon all that remains is a muddy puddle.

Friends return to the Emerald City, demand the promised. The Great Oz hesitates, and then it turns out that he is not a magician and a sage, but the most ordinary deceiver. At one time he was a circus balloonist in America, but, like Dorothy, he was brought by a hurricane to Oz, where he managed to deceive the gullible locals and inspire them that he was a powerful wizard. However, he fulfills the requests of Dorothy's friends: he stuffs the Scarecrow's head with sawdust, which makes him feel a surge of wisdom, inserts a scarlet silk heart into the Tin Woodman's chest and gives the Cowardly Lion to drink some kind of potion from the bottle, assuring that now the King of Beasts will feel brave.

It's harder to fulfill Dorothy's request. After much deliberation, Oz decides to make a big balloon and fly back to America with the girl. However, at the last moment, Dorothy rushes to catch the runaway Toto, and Oz flies away alone. Friends go for advice to the good sorceress Glinda, who rules the southern country of the Quadlings. On the way they have to endure the battle with the Warring Trees, go through the porcelain country and meet the very unkind Shooting Heads, and the Cowardly Lion deals with a giant spider that kept the forest inhabitants at bay.

Glinda explains that the silver slippers Dorothy takes from the evil sorceress in Munchkin Country can take her anywhere, including Kansas. Dorothy says goodbye to her friends. The Scarecrow becomes the ruler of the Emerald City. The Tin Woodman is the lord of the Winkies, and the Cowardly Lion, as befits him, the king of the forest dwellers. Soon Dorothy and Toto find themselves in their native Kansas, but without silver shoes: they got lost along the way.

S. B. Belov

(Ozma of Oz)

Fairy Tale (1907)

Dorothy and Uncle Henry are on a steamboat to Australia. Suddenly, a terrible storm rises. Upon waking, Dorothy cannot find Uncle Henry in the cabin and assumes that he has gone on deck. In fact, Uncle Henry was sleeping with his head covered, but Dorothy did not notice him. Once on deck, the girl grabs the bars of a large chicken coop so as not to fall overboard, but another gust of wind comes up, and the chicken coop is in the water along with Dorothy. The lid of the chicken coop flies off, the hens and roosters drown, but Dorothy, holding tightly to the bars, floats on a raft-coop no one knows where. The storm subsides and Dorothy settles into a corner and falls asleep,

Waking up in the morning, the girl realizes that she is not alone on the raft. Nearby, a yellow hen, which has just laid an egg, is chirping merrily. She can speak and informs Dorothy that her name is Bill, but the girl renames her Billina, believing that such a name is more befitting of a chicken.

Soon the raft comes ashore and Dorothy and Billina disembark. They find a cave, and in it is a mechanical man Tik-Tok, who is wound up with a key and can move and speak. Tik-Tok informs Dorothy and Billina that they have arrived in the land of Ev. King Evoldo, who ruled here, once, in a fit of anger, sold his wife and ten children to the Nome King, who, with the help of witchcraft, turned them into trinkets for his underground palace. Then, repentant of his act, Evoldo began to beg the Nome King to return his family to him, but he became stubborn, and then the unfortunate Evoldo threw himself from a cliff into the sea and drowned.

Now the king's niece, Princess Langwidere, lives in the royal palace. She is not interested in public affairs. Day after day she turns in front of the mirror and tries on one head or the other, of which she has thirty-two pieces. When Dorothy arrives at the palace, the princess demands that the girl give her her head in exchange for head number twenty-six. Dorothy refuses, and the angry princess imprisons her.

But Dorothy did not languish there for long. Just at this time, Princess Ozma, the young ruler of Oz, decided to rescue the royal family of Ev from the underworld. Ozma is accompanied by the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, the Cowardly Lion, the Hungry Tiger, and an army of twenty-six officers and one soldier. They free Dorothy and continue the hike together.

They manage to find their way to the underworld, but the Nome King refuses to release the captives. He is not afraid of the power of Ozma, for he himself knows how to conjure perfectly, and his army is numerous and excellently armed. However, the underground monarch invites them to play a game. Each of the members of the expedition gets the right to try to guess what exactly the queen of the country Ev and her children have turned into. The one who does not guess even once turns into an ornament in the palace, and the next one gets one more attempt. Gradually, all members of the expedition become trinkets, adding to the collection of the King of Dwarves. Only Dorothy, by chance, manages to guess once, resurrecting the little prince. This saves her from being turned into an ornament, but it doesn't save the others. But then Billina gets down to business. Hiding under the throne, she eavesdrops on the conversation of the King with the Dwarf Administrator and finds out what exactly the monarch turned his uninvited guests into. She demands that she be allowed to try her luck in the "guessing game", the King does not want to hear, but then it turns out that he has a weak spot. He's terribly afraid of eggs, and Billina just laid one down under the throne. Only when he gives permission to the Hen to guess, the Scarecrow removes the egg, hiding it in the pocket of his coat, where he already has one, demolished by Billina along the way. Of course, the Yellow Hen brings everyone back to life, with the exception of the Tin Woodman.

The Nome King, however, does not intend to give in so easily. He threatens Ozma and her friends with terrible punishments, but then the Scarecrow throws Billina's eggs at him. Taking advantage of the panic, friends remove his Magic Belt from the King, depriving him of his main strength. But even under the threat of being turned into an egg, the King is unable to find the Tin Woodman, and, judging by him, he is not lying.

With a mixture of joy and sadness, Ozma and her companions begin their journey back. The king, in desperation, sends an army of his fellows after them, but the Magic Belt turns the front ranks into eggs, and the army flees in horror.

On the way back, the astute Billina notices that the little prince, freed by Dorothy, has taken out a small iron whistle from somewhere. It turns out that he quietly borrowed it from the underground palace, and this whistle is none other than the bewitched Tin Woodman. The Magic Belt returns him to his former appearance, and now nothing darkens the general rejoicing.

The country of Ev has a new king - the elder prince Evardo. Ozma and his friends then return to the Emerald City. Dorothy is happy to visit the palace of her new friend Ozma, but one day she notices a magical picture in one of the rooms of the young princess, which shows everything that is happening in the world. Dorothy asks to see Uncle Henry in Australia and, seeing his exhausted, agitated face, asks Ozma to quickly transfer her to him. Magic Belt and here it comes in handy. Uncle Henry is happy to see Dorothy alive and well. However, before parting, Ozma and Dorothy agreed that on Saturdays the young princess would call the image of Dorothy in the picture, and if she gave a conventional sign, she would immediately be in the land of Oz.

S. B. Belov

(Rinldtink in Oz)

Fairy Tale (1916)

Pingarea Island is located in the Unknown Ocean, north of the kingdom of Rinkitinkii, separated from the land of Oz by the Deadly Desert and the domain of the Nome King. Pingarea is ruled by King Kittikut, and his subjects are mainly engaged in the extraction of pearls, which they then bring to Rinkitinkia, in the city of Gilged, where they are bought for King Rinkitink. Life on Pingarey goes peacefully, although at one time robbers from the islands of Regos and Coregos tried to capture it, but, having received a rebuff, they turned back and, falling into a storm, drowned to the last.

One day, Kitticut shows his son Prince Inge three pearls and talks about their magical properties. Blue gives its owner great strength, pink protects from all dangers, and white knows how to speak and gives wise advice. It was these pearls, according to Kitticut, that helped him defend the island from robbers, and now he makes Prince Inga the keeper of magical talismans, reporting on the cache in the palace where they are located.

A ship arrives at Pingarea, and on it is a cheerful fat man, King Rinkitink. He had long wanted to look at the island where such beautiful pearls are mined, but the courtiers did not want to let their master go, and now, seizing the opportunity, he sailed away secretly. With him comes the rather grumpy goat Bilbil, on which Rinkitink usually rides when he leaves the palace.

Rinkitink is given a warm welcome and is in no hurry to leave Pingarea. But the idyll is broken by the appearance of ships from Rego-sa and Coregos. This time, the invaders manage to surprise the royal family. Having destroyed the palace and plundered the island, they sail back, loading their ships to the top with other people's goods and taking the inhabitants of the island into captivity. The king and queen share the fate of their subjects.

Inge manages to escape from armed robbers. It soon turns out that Rinkitink and Bilbil were lucky enough to escape capture. Having found precious pearls in the ruins of the palace, but without telling her companions about them, Inga sails with Rinkitink and Bilbil to the islands of Regos and Coregos in order to try to rescue the unfortunate from captivity.

When Inga and his friends land on Regos, his master, the cruel King Gos, sends an army against them, but the pearls do their job, and Gos and his minions flee in horror to Coregos, where his wife Queen Cor rules.

Everything seemed to be going great. But here Rinkitink makes a mistake. He does not know that two of the three pearls Inga keeps in shoes. Angry at the cat, which prevented him from sleeping with its meow, Rinkitink launches the prince at her with one shoe. Having grabbed a shoe in the morning, Inga rushes in search, but he fell through the ground. While Inga was looking for the first shoe, the maid threw the second one in the trash. And he can't be found. Inga is left with only a white pearl, which advises him to be patient, persevere and wait, but these wise words do little to console the boy ..

Meanwhile, the cunning Kor comes to Regos to find out what's what. Realizing that Inga is not as strong as it seemed to her husband Gos, she captures both the young prince and the fat man Rinkitink. She brings them to her palace on Coregos and turns them into servants.

The shoes, as it turns out, did not disappear without a trace. It was just that Nicobob, a coal miner passing by, found them and took them to his forest hut, where he gave them to his daughter Zella. Soon Zella goes to Coregos with a pail of honey to sell to the queen. The girl arrives at the palace just in time. Angry at the captive women from Pingarea, the queen sentences them to flogging and sends Inga for a whip. He dejectedly goes to fulfill the order and meets Zella. Seeing his shoes with pearls on her, he offers her to change, promising in return to make her parents rich people.

Annoyed by the fact that she is not being whipped and can not start the flogging, Kor goes in search of Inga. Seeing that he exchanges shoes with the girl, she grabs the whip in a rage, but it does not touch the boy. The queen stabs him with her dagger, again to no avail. Realizing that her opponent has regained the power that so alarmed Gos, the queen flees the palace in a panic.

However, she and her husband Gos do not leave Coregos empty-handed. They took Inga's parents with them, boarded the ship and, having sailed to the possessions of the Nome King, begged him to hide the captives well.

Following in the footsteps of the lords Regos and Coregos, Inga and Rinkitink also find themselves in the underground kingdom of the Dwarves. Now Inga is telling her companion about the pearls, and Rinkitink asks the boy to give him a pink one to help keep him out of trouble if he and Inga part in the caves.

The Nome King, of course, is not going to hand over his captives to them and tries to exterminate the aliens in a variety of ways. However, to his annoyance and surprise, he fails over and over again. But Inge also cannot find out where his parents are languishing.

Dorothy finds out what happened on Pingaree and asks Ozma to let her go to the rescue. She has nothing against it, and Dorothy, taking with her the Wizard of the Emerald City, who learned how to conjure well, appears at the King of Dwarves. He is still not going to release Inga's parents, but Dorothy, knowing how to get through the vile monarch, shows him a basket of chicken eggs. This horrifies the King and he hands over his captives.

Meanwhile, the wizard finds out that Bilbil the goat is none other than Prince Bobo from the country of Bobolandia, who was turned into an animal by an evil sorceress. Upon returning to the Emerald City, he dispels the evil spell, and the grumpy goat disappears, and a handsome young man appears in his place.

In honor of the deliverance of the king and queen of Pingarea, Ozma arranges a feast with a mountain, after which Inga, his parents, as well as Rinkitink and Bobo go to Pingarea. While they were staying with Ozma, the collier Nicobob led the restoration of the island, and now Pingarea has become more beautiful than ever. The royal family celebrates their housewarming merrily in the restored palace, and life on the island flows as usual again.

One fine day, ships appear on the horizon again. Fears that these are new invaders are quickly dissipating. However, Rinkitink is still not happy. It turns out that his subjects Gilgod greatly miss their master and equipped an expedition after him. Rinkitink agrees to return, but on the condition that he is allowed to have fun on the island for three more days. The fun is a success, and then the fat king and his friend Prince Bobo set sail from Pingarei.

S. B. Belov

(The Last Leaf)

From the collection of short stories "The Burning Lamp" (1907)

Two young artists, Sue and Jonesy, rent an apartment on the top floor of a house in New York's Greenwich Village, where artists have long settled. In November, Jonesy comes down with pneumonia. The doctor's verdict is disappointing: "She has one chance in ten. And then, if she herself wants to live." But Jonesy just lost interest in life. She lies in bed, looks out the window and counts how many leaves are left on the old ivy, which has wrapped its shoots around the wall opposite. Jonesy is convinced that when the last leaf falls, she will die.

Sue talks about her friend's dark thoughts to the old artist Berman, who lives downstairs. He has been going to create a masterpiece for a long time, but so far something is not sticking with him. Hearing about Jonesy, old man Berman was terribly upset and did not want to pose for Sue, who painted from him a hermit gold digger.

The next morning, it turns out that only one leaf remained on the ivy. Jonesy keeps an eye on how he resists the gusts of wind. It got dark, it began to rain, the wind blew even stronger, and Jonesy has no doubt that in the morning she will no longer see this leaf. But she is wrong: to her great surprise, the brave leaf continues to fight against bad weather. This makes a strong impression on Jonesy. She becomes ashamed of her cowardice, and she gains a desire to live. The visiting doctor notes improvement. In his opinion, the chances of surviving and dying are already equal. He adds that the downstairs neighbor also caught pneumonia, but the poor fellow has no chance of recovery. A day later, the doctor declares that Jonesy's life is now out of danger. In the evening, Sue tells her friend the sad news: old man Berman has died in the hospital. He caught a cold on that stormy night when the ivy lost its last leaf and the artist painted a new one and attached it to a branch in the pouring rain and icy wind. Berman still created his masterpiece.

S. B. Belov

From the collection of short stories "The Burning Lamp" (1907)

Honeymoon is in full swing. Little McGarry, a welterweight boxer who knows no equal in the ring, is blissfully. He is ready to fulfill any desire of his young wife. And when she cooed, "Darling, I would eat a peach," he gets up and goes for the peaches. But the Italian didn't have any peaches on the corner - it's not the season. Refusing oranges, the newlywed goes to his friend's restaurant, but even there he is offered only oranges. Having unsuccessfully searched all of New York, the Kid goes to the police station and offers his boss to cover Denver Dick's gambling den. Having told the policemen in detail where this type settled, the Kid goes after them. However, he does not want a personal meeting, because he and Denver have old scores and he vowed to kill him, mistakenly believing that it was the Kid who gave him to the "cops" last time.

The police storm the brothel, where they also find its owner. leaving the chase, Denver Dick collides with the Kid. The battle begins, and the Kid has to use all his skills to cope with an opponent who is noticeably superior in size. Only then does the Kid burst into the room where he knew the players used to refresh themselves after the thrill of the card table. He manages to pull out from under the table a waiter hiding from the raid, who informs him that there were three dozen peaches before the game began, but it is possible that all of them have already been eaten by the gentlemen. With great difficulty, the Kid manages to find a single peach among the remnants of a luxurious meal, and he solemnly hands over the treasured fruit to his beloved. "Did I ask for a peach?" cooed the newlywed. "I would much rather eat an orange."

S. B. Belov

(The trust that Burst)

From the collection of short stories "The Noble Rogue" (1910)

Once upon a time, the characters of the "Noble Rogue" cycle, Jeff Peters and Andy Tucker, who, according to Peters, "every dollar in the other's hand ... took it as a personal insult if he could not take it as prey", returned from Mexico after another successful scams and stopped in a Texas village called Bird City, spread out on the banks of the Rio Grande.

The rains begin, and the entire male population of the town begins to ply the triangle between the three local saloons. During a small gap, friends go for a walk and notice that the old dam is about to collapse under the pressure of water and the town will turn into an island. Andy Tucker has a brilliant idea. Without wasting time, they acquire all three saloons. The rains start again, the dam breaks, and the town is cut off from the outside world for some time. The inhabitants of the town begin to reach for the saloons again, but they are in for a surprise. Two of them are closed, and only the Blue Snake is working. But the prices in this bar-monopoly are fabulous, and policemen keep order, bribed by the promise of free drinks. There is nothing to do, and local drinkers have to fork out. According to the calculations of scammer friends, the water will subside no sooner than in a couple of weeks, and during this time they will earn excellent money.

Everything goes like clockwork, but Andy Tucker is unable to deny himself the pleasure of treating himself to alcohol. He warns Jeff Peters that he becomes extremely eloquent when drunk and tries to show it in practice. But Peters does not like this, and he asks his friend to retire and look for listeners elsewhere.

Andy leaves and begins to orate at a nearby intersection. A large crowd gathers and follows the speaker somewhere. Time passes, but no one appears at the bar. In the evening, two Mexicans deliver a drunken Tucker to the Blue Snake, who is unable to explain what happened. After sending a friend to bed and closing the cash register, Peters goes to find out why the local population has lost interest in alcohol. It turns out that his friend Tucker, in a fit of drunken eloquence, delivered a two-hour speech, more magnificent than the inhabitants of Bird City have ever heard in their lives. He spoke about the dangers of drunkenness so convincingly that in the end his listeners signed a paper where they solemnly promised not to take a drop of alcohol in their mouths for a year.

S. B. Belov

(The Chair of a Philanthromathematics)

From the collection of short stories "The Noble Rogue" (1910)

After another successful scam, Peters and Tucker decide to become philanthropists. Once in the provincial town of Floresville, with the consent of local residents, they open the "World University" there, and themselves become its trustees. On the first of September, the newly-created educational institution hospitably opens its doors to students from five states, and for two months the philanthropists enjoy their new public role. At the end of October, however, it turns out that the finances are running out and we need to come up with something, and quickly. However, as Andy Tucker put it, "if you put philanthropy on a commercial footing, it gives a very good profit." But soon Peters, to his dismay, notices a new professor of mathematics named McCorkle with a salary of one hundred dollars a week on the payroll. His indignation truly knows no bounds, and only at the cost of great efforts Andy manages to calm his friend.

Then a man appears in the town who opens a gambling house there. Students - the sons of rich farmers - rush there and spend hours on end, littering money recklessly. Christmas holidays begin, the town is empty. At the farewell party, Peters really hoped to meet the mysterious professor of mathematics, but he was not there. Returning to his room, he notices that the light is on in Andy's room. Looking into the light, Peters sees that Andy and the owner of the gambling house are sitting at the table, sharing a huge pile of money. Seeing Jeff, Andy informs him that this is their first semester receipt. He adds that now no one should doubt that "philanthropy, put on a commercial footing, is such an art that does good deed not only to the recipient, but also to the giver." Tucker concludes by informing Peters that they are leaving Floresville tomorrow morning. Peters doesn't mind. He just wants to get to know Professor McCorkle one last time. Tucker is ready to grant his friend's request even now. The professor of mathematics turns out to be none other than the owner of a gambling establishment.

S. B. Belov

The Conversion of Jimmy Valentine

From the collection of stories "Roads of Destiny" (1910)

The famous safecracker Jimmy Valentine, once again going free, quietly takes up the old. A series of daring robberies follows, the losses are significant, and the evidence is negligible. The case takes such a serious turn that the investigation is entrusted to the famous detective Ben Price, which allows the owners of the safes to breathe a sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, Jimmy Valentine arrives in a mail coach in the town of Elmore, Arkansas. Of course, his local bank is interested. However, approaching the bank, he meets a girl, and this meeting radically changes his fate. Now Jimmy decides to stay longer in Elmore and, under a false name, opens a shoe store there. Jimmy Valentine's business venture flourishes, and he himself - under an assumed name, of course - is becoming a prominent figure in the city. He meets the charming banker's daughter Annabel Adams, becomes his own person in the house of her parents, who favored the young businessman, and therefore there is nothing surprising in the fact that when he proposed to Annabel, it was favorably accepted.

Jimmy writes a letter to an old Friend, where he announces that he decided to quit the old one and is going to live honestly from now on. According to him, immediately after the wedding, he will sell the store and go west with his young wife - "there is less risk that old cases will come up." He arranges a meeting with a friend in Little Rock, where he wants to give him his precious case with a set of drills and master keys that served him faithfully, and now have become unnecessary.

But the day before Jimmy's departure, detective Ben Price arrives in Elmore. He quickly finds out everything that interested him. "Want to marry a banker's daughter," he mutters with a grin. "I don't know, really..."

Jimmy is going to Little Rock. A carriage is waiting for him at the bank to take him to the station. But there is still time before the train, and the banker invites all his relatives and Jimmy to the bank to show him the newly equipped pantry with a safe. While everyone is looking at ingenious locks and bolts with interest, Ben Price appears at the bank and waits for his prey with a smile.

But here the unexpected happens. Ten-year-old niece Annabelle May locks her little sister Agatha in the closet. The banker is horrified. The clock mechanism is not installed, and the door cannot be opened just like that. You can call a specialist from another city, but during this time the girl may die from lack of air and fright. Anna-bel looks at the person she idolizes and begs to do something. Jimmy asks her for a flower as a memento, opens the suitcase and gets down to business. Having broken all the records, he opens the safe, and the girl, safe and sound, finds herself in the arms of her mother. Jimmy puts on his jacket and walks over to the big man blocking the passage, saying, "Hi, Ben... Got me. Well, let's go. I guess I don't care now."

But the great detective behaves unexpectedly. He assures Jimmy that he, most likely, was mistaken, because they are unfamiliar, and in general, it seems that a crew is waiting for him. Having agreed, Ben Price leaves the bank and walks down the street.

S. B. Belov

(The ransom of Red Chief)

From the collection of short stories "The Rotation" (1910)

Two adventurers - the narrator Sam and Bill Driscoll - have already earned something, and now they need a little more to start speculating in land. They decide to kidnap the son of one of the wealthiest residents of a small town in Alabama, Colonel Ebenezer Dorsett. The heroes have no doubt that dad will calmly pay two thousand dollars for his beloved child. Having seized the moment, the friends attack the boy and, although he "fought like a brown bear of medium weight," they take him on a wagon to the mountains, where they hide in a cave. However, the boy is delighted with his new position and does not want to go home at all. He declares himself the leader of the Redskins, Bill - the old hunter Hank, a prisoner of the formidable Indian, and Sam receives the nickname Snake Eyes. The child promises to scalp Bill, and, as it turns out, his words do not differ from his deeds. At dawn, Sam is awakened by wild screams. He sees that a boy is sitting on Bill and is trying to scalp him with the knife they used to cut the brisket. Bill has his first doubts that anyone in their right mind would be willing to pay money for the return of such a treasure. However, having gone on reconnaissance, Sam really does not notice signs of anxiety in the Dorsett house.

Meanwhile, the situation in the camp is heating up, and the worldly-wise crooks are helpless in front of the antics of their captive, who has perfectly entered the role of the leader of the Redskins. At the insistence of Bill, on whose shoulders the main burden of protecting the captive falls, the ransom is reduced to one and a half thousand. After that, Sam goes with a letter to the nearest mailbox, and Bill remains to guard the child.

Upon his return, Sam learns that Bill could not stand the test and sent the boy home. “I rode all ninety miles to the outpost, not an inch less. And then, when the settlers were saved, they gave me oats. Sand is an unimportant substitute for oats. side and why the grass is green. Bill admits his guilt to his partner, but assures that if the child had stayed, he, Bill, would have to be sent to an insane asylum. But Bill's happiness is short-lived. Sam asks him to turn around, and behind his back his friend discovers the leader of the redskins.

However, the case is drawing to a close. Colonel Dorsett thinks that the kidnappers asked too much. For his part, he makes a counteroffer. For two hundred and fifty dollars he is ready to take his son back. He only asks to bring the child under the cover of darkness, since the neighbors hope he is missing, and the father does not vouch for what they can do with those who bring him back, Sam is outraged, but Bill begs him to agree to Colonel Dorsett's generous offer ("he is not only a gentleman, he is also a spendthrift").

Exactly at midnight, Sam and Bill betray the boy they brought home by deceit to their father. Realizing that he was cheated, he clings to Bill's leg with a death grip, and his father rips him off, "like a sticky plaster." When asked how long the colonel can hold the child, Dorsett says that his strength is no longer the same, but in ten minutes he vouches. "In ten minutes," says Bill, "I'll cross the Central, Southern, and Midwestern states and make it to the Canadian border."

S. B. Belov

(Confessions of a Humorist)

From the collection of short stories "Remains" (1913)

The hero-narrator is famous for his sense of humor. Natural resourcefulness is successfully combined with training, jokes are, as a rule, harmless in nature, and he becomes a universal favorite.

One day, the hero receives an offer to send something for the humor department of a well-known weekly. His material is accepted, and soon he is already leading his humorous column.

An annual contract is concluded with him, many times higher than his previous salary in a hardware company, and he becomes a professional humorist. At first, everything goes well, but six months later, the hero begins to feel that his humor is losing its former spontaneity. Jokes and witticisms do not fly off the tongue by themselves, there is a lack of material. The hero does not amuse his acquaintances, as before, but eavesdrops on their conversations and writes down successful expressions on his cuffs, in order to send them to a magazine later. He does not waste his jokes, but saves them for professional purposes. Gradually, acquaintances begin to avoid communicating with him.

Then he transfers his activity to the house: he fishes out grains of humor from his wife's remarks, eavesdrops on the conversations of his young children and prints them under the heading "What children just don't come up with." As a result, the son and daughter begin to run from their father like the plague. But things are going well for him: the bank account is growing, although the need to professionally joke is a heavy burden. Accidentally entering the funeral home of Geffelbauer, the hero is pleasantly surprised by the gloom of the situation and the complete lack of a sense of humor from the owner. Now he is a frequent guest of Geffelbauer, and one day he offers him a partnership. The hero gladly accepts the offer and flies home as if on wings to share his luck. He looks through the mail, and among the envelopes with rejected manuscripts, he comes across a letter from the editor-in-chief of the weekly, which informs him that due to the decline in the quality of materials for the humorous section, the contract is not renewed. This seemingly sad news enthralls the hero. Having informed his wife and children that from now on he is a co-owner of the funeral home, the hero proposes to celebrate the great event by going to the theater and having lunch at a restaurant.

A new life in the most beneficial way affects the well-being of the hero. He again gains a reputation as an excellent merry fellow and wit. The funeral home is doing well, and the partner assures the hero that, with his cheerful disposition, he is able to "turn any funeral into an Irish wake."

S. B. Belov

Roman (1901)

The Octopus is a work about the life and struggle for their rights of the farmers of the San Joaquin Valley, created on the basis of a real event - an armed clash between farmers and government officials in Musselslaf County in 1880.

The poet Presley came from San Francisco to this fertile land, where vast fields of wheat lie, not only to improve his health. He dreams of creating a great Song about the West, this boundary of romance, where new people settled - strong, courageous, passionate. He dreams of a "great Song" that will embrace the entire era, the voice of the entire nation - its legends, its folklore, struggles and hopes. And the constant talk of the farmers of the valley about the tariffs for transporting wheat to the sea and about the price of it only irritates Presley. In the picture of that huge romantic West, which is drawn in his imagination, the life of farmers with these worries breaks into a rude note, breaking the harmony of his grandiose plan, carrying with it something "material, dirty, deadly vulgar."

Presley tells himself that, being a part of the people, he loves this people and shares all their hopes, fears and joys. But at the same time, the ever-complaining German small tenant farmer Guven, dirty, sweaty and narrow-minded, revolts him. Guven rents land from a large farmer Magnus Derrick, in whose house Presley lives. And often riding around on a horse or bypassing the possessions of Derrick and his neighboring farmers Anixter, Broderson, Osterman and others, looking at the vast expanses of this blessed land, Presley experiences a feeling of unbreakable peace, silence, serene happiness and security. But one day, the scene of the death of sheep, which was crushed by a locomotive rushing at full speed, bursts into his dreams with dissonance. Presley's sense of serene peace and security disappears. Now it seems to him that this rushing monster of steel and steam with a single fiery eye, like that of a Cyclops, is a symbol of great power, great and terrible, resounding with a thunderous peal all the space of the valley, carrying blood and destruction on its way. This is a monster with steel tentacles, a soulless force with an iron heart - a giant, a colossus, an octopus.

Such pictures, again and again disturbing the peace and contentment around, will be encountered more than once in the narrative. For example, in the description of the celebration on the occasion of the construction of a new barn at Anixter, when the cowboy Delaney, previously a worker on Anixter's farm, whom he unfairly fired, rushes into the crowd of merry guests on horseback. Shooting starts. Following this, the farmers immediately receive a notice that the railroad board has designated for sale the land on which their houses stand and on which they have been working for many years. The price of land is set at an average of twenty-five dollars an acre.

Hostile relations between the farmers of the San Joaquin Valley and the railroad have existed since ancient times. Many years ago, the American government gave the Pacific and Southwestern Railroad Corporation a piece of land on both sides of the road as a premium for laying tracks. The railroad issued a number of pamphlets and circulars about making rich land available to settlers in Tulare County. It was promised that in the sale of the land such settlers would be given preference over all other persons, and prices would be fixed on the basis of the value of the land, at an average of two and a half dollars an acre. Magnus Derrick then took ten thousand acres of land for himself, Anixter, Osterman and others - much less. From year to year they managed successfully, more than once raising the question of buying this land before the management of the railway. But his representatives in the person of the lawyer Roggles and the agent-broker Berman each time evaded the answer. The corporation pursued its policy consistently and ruthlessly. First, the tariff for transporting cargo to the sea was increased. In this case, not only large, but also small producers, for whom this meant ruin, should have suffered. Characteristic in this regard is the story of the former locomotive driver Dyck. He was fired, offered to move to a lower paying job, and he refused. To feed his family, he begins to grow hops, mortgaging his house and land with Berman. But the hop rate rises from two cents a pound to five cents a pound, based on value rather than weight, and Dyke goes broke. Under the influence of the anarchist Caraher, he decides to take revenge and robs the mail car, killing the conductor, but taking only five thousand dollars - the amount by which he was deceived by the road management. Hungry and exhausted, Dyke is eventually overtaken by his pursuers - he faces a life sentence.

Farmers, having lost a case to reduce fares in the California State Railroad Commission, decide at a meeting with Magnus Derrick to choose their own people for the new commission. Magnus Derrick, it would seem, is a man of incorruptibility and strict rules, but a player at heart, after long hesitation, becomes the leader of the union of farmers who oppose the rule of the railway. He has to secretly from everyone except Anikster and Osterman, to give a bribe to two delegates to the congress of farmers, where members of the commission are selected. At the suggestion of the farmers, the eldest son of Magnus, Liman, a well-known lawyer in San Francisco, is also included in the commission. I remember the scene in Lyman Derrick's office as he examines the new official California railroad map. All of it is dotted with a vast complex network of red lines - on a white background, different parts of the state, its cities and towns were entangled in the tentacles of this huge organism. It seemed that the blood of the entire state was sucked out to a drop, and against a pale background, the red arteries of the monster, swollen to the limit, went into boundless space, - some kind of growth, a giant parasite on the body of the entire state,

However, Lyman Derrick has long been bribed by the railroad board, promising him support in the state gubernatorial elections. At the meeting of the commission, as if in a mockery of the aspirations of farmers, the tariff for the carriage of wheat was reduced only for those parts of the state where it is not grown. The farmers lose again, and Magnus expels Lyman from his house, who acted as a traitor. To top it all off, the editor of the local Mercury newspaper finds out about the bribes Magnus has been paying, and Magnus faces exposure if he doesn't give the editor ten thousand dollars to expand the paper. Magnus gives everything he has.

The farmers continue to fight and appeal to the San Francisco court, which rules against them, confirming that the land is the property of the railroad. Soon comes the bloody denouement.

To enforce a court decision, the sheriff arrives in the San Joaquin Valley at the most opportune moment when the farmers are not at home - they are rounding up hares that spoil crops. The author paints an impressive picture (and symbolic at the same time) of this raid, when the farmers' carts surround the hares, huddled in a heap, then the beating begins. And at this moment, a rumor is circulating that the sheriff is starting to seize farm land. Accompanied by a detachment of mounted police, he ravages the Anikster estate and meets with a group of armed farmers. However, there are very few of them - Magnus Derrick, his youngest son Garan, Anikster, Osterman and someone else, instead of the supposed six hundred people, there are only nine.

The rest did not join, hesitated, got scared. The risk of taking up arms is too great, although the railroad board did a great job of executing them, the author writes. These people believe that now the most important thing is to convene a meeting of the executive committee of the farmers' union.

Meanwhile, Magnus Derrick, wanting to avoid bloodshed, goes to the sheriff for negotiations, while the others take up position in a dry irrigation canal that serves as a trench. Negotiations end in vain - the sheriff is only doing his duty. Presley was with Magnus all this time, looking after the horses. But he went out into the road and saw how Anixter and other farmers were killed in a shootout. Crowds of people are gathering at the scene of the incident, still not really understanding what happened,

In the views of Presley by that time there is a sharp change. The epic poem about the West was shelved, and the social poem "Toilers" was born. It became an expression of Presley's thoughts on the social restructuring of society. The tragic fate of Dyck, the increase in tariffs, the speeches of the anarchist Caraher that the railway trust is afraid only of the people with dynamite in their hands - all this influenced the poet. “You were inspired by the people,” says the shepherd Vanami, a friend of Presley, “and let your poem go to the people ...“ Workers ”must be read by workers. The poem must be simple so that the masses understand it. You cannot look down on the people if you want to your voice has been heard." The poem turns out to be very popular, and this leaves Presley bewildered. But now he wants to speak to the entire nation about the drama in the San Joaquin Valley - maybe it will serve the common good. After all, other states have their oppressors and their "octopuses." Presley wants to declare himself a defender of the people in the fight against trusts, a martyr in the name of freedom. Although he is more of a dreamer than a man of action.

Now, after the death of his farmer friends, Presley delivers a heated and excited speech at a mass rally at the Bonville City Theater. “We are in their hands, these exploiting masters of ours, our family hearths are in their hands, our legislative bodies are in their hands. We have nowhere to go from them,” Presley said at the rally. “Freedom is not a gift from the gods. Freedom is not given to that who only asks for her. She is a child of the people, born in the heat of battle, in mortal torments, she is washed in blood, she carries with her the smell of powder smoke. And she will not be a goddess, but a fury, a terrible figure, destroying enemy and friend alike, furious, insatiable, ruthless - red terror".

And although after the speech Presley heard loud applause, he realized that he had not been able to fully penetrate the hearts of his listeners. The people did not understand, did not believe that Presley could be useful to him.

Hardly going through what happened, Presley took the disasters of the farmers as a personal tragedy. After all, farmers until the last moment hoped that the law would be on their side, they believed that they would find the truth in the Supreme Court of the United States. But this court also decided the case in favor of the railway. Now all farmers will certainly have to leave their farms. They were given only two weeks of reprieve.

Under the influence of Caraher, Presley takes a desperate act. He throws a bomb at Berman's house, but unsuccessfully: the enemy survived.

Then Presley goes in search of the family of the deceased tenant Guven.

Wandering around San Francisco, Presley stops in front of the huge headquarters building of the Pacific and Southwestern Railroad. This is the citadel of the enemy, the center of that vast system of arteries through which the vital juices of the whole state were pumped out; the center of the web in which so many lives, so many human destinies are entangled. And here sits the master himself, the all-powerful Shelgrim, Presley thinks. He is seventy years old and still working. "It's the ogre's life force," Presley decides. But before him is a man of great intelligence, versed not only in finance, but also in art. “Railroads build themselves,” teaches Shelgrim Presley. “Wheat grows by itself. Wheat is one force, the railroad is another. The law to which they obey is the law of supply and demand. People play an insignificant role in all this. We must blame the conditions, not the people, - concludes Shelgrim. - And nothing depends on me. I cannot subordinate the railway to my will ... Who can stop the growth of wheat? "

So, Presley thinks, no one can be blamed for the horrors that happened at the irrigation canal ... So, Nature is only a gigantic Machine that knows neither regret nor forgiveness ...

In this mood, a frustrated and exhausted Presley tries to find Guven's family. He knew that after Guven's funeral, his wife and two daughters, little Gilda and the beautiful Minna, left for San Francisco, hoping to find work there. But in the big city, these rural women found themselves in a difficult situation. The money soon ran out, the owner of the furnished rooms kicked them out, and Minna, having lost her mother and sister, was forced, after several days of searching, when she literally had no crumbs in her mouth, to agree to the proposal of the owner of the brothel. And Mrs Gouwen just starved to death in some wasteland. Little Gilda was picked up by a compassionate woman. When Presley accidentally met Minna on the street in a new silk dress and a hat, worn slightly to one side, he realized that his help was too late. "I hit the devil in the teeth," Minna says of herself.

And Presley again goes to the San Joaquin Valley to see for the last time those of his friends who are still alive.

But the "golden" harvest, which has not been here for a long time, is not ripe for them. In the Derrick estate, the paths are overgrown with weeds. Now broker Berman is in charge here. It was he who got the huge possession of Magnus, which he had dreamed of for a long time. And the railroad set a special reduced rate for Berman to transport the wheat to the sea.

Magnus Derrick and his wife are about to leave their nest. Mrs. Derrick, in her declining years, should again become a music teacher in the city of Marysville, where her former position at the girls' high school turned out to be vacant. Perhaps this will be their only source of livelihood. After all, Magnus Derrick is now just a relaxed and poorly thinking old man. Berman mockingly invites him to become a weigher at the local goods station and go to the side of the railroad, do what he is ordered to do.

Presley, who was present at this conversation, is unable to continue to observe the depth of the fall to which Magnus has reached. He hurries to leave Derrick Manor and heads for Anixter Manor. A dead calm hung over it, and a plaque was nailed to a tree near the broken gate with the inscription that passage and passage were strictly prohibited here.

In the San Joaquin Valley, Presley has one more, apparently final meeting with his old friend Vanami. This shepherd, who looks like a seer from biblical legends, can be assumed to be the bearer of the author's philosophy. He is interesting because, as we would say now, he has the gift of a parapsychologist and is able to act on the minds of people who are at a distance from him. Presley experienced this more than once, when, as if some unknown force forced him to head towards the place where Vanami was located. It is also interesting because, according to the author, Vanami comprehended the essence of some global phenomena. It is necessary to look at everything that happens, Vanami believes, from the great pinnacle of humanity, from the point of view of "the greatest good for the greatest number of people." And if a person has a broad outlook on life, then he will understand that it is not evil, but good that wins in the end. And so Berman is drowning in a stream of wheat pouring down on him in the hold of a ship that will now carry his wheat to the starving in India.

But what is that full circle of life, only part of which he, Presley, saw and talked about Vanami? So thinks Presley, heading on the same ship to India. In the struggle between farmers and the railroad, farmers suffered, Presley continues to reason, and perhaps Shelgrim is right that it was forces, rather than people, who closed their horns in a terrible struggle. People are just midges in the rays of the hot sun, they died, killed in the prime of life. But wheat remained - a mighty world force, the breadwinner of the peoples. She is shrouded in the peace of nirvana, indifferent to human joys and sorrows. From the struggle of forces comes good. Anixter dies, but the starving in India will get bread. Man suffers, but humanity goes forward.

A. P. Shishkin

Roman (1900)

America, 1889 Eighteen-year-old Caroline Meiber, or as she was affectionately called by her family, Sister Kerry, leaves her hometown of Columbia City and takes a train to Chicago, where her married older sister lives. Kerry has only four dollars in her wallet and her sister's address, but she is inspired by the hope of a new happy life in a big and beautiful city.

At first, however, it is expected by continuous disappointments. The sister is burdened with family and household, her husband works as a wagon cleaner at a slaughterhouse and earns very little, and therefore every extra expense makes serious gaps in their meager budget. Kerry goes looking for a job, but she doesn't know how to do anything, and the best thing she can find is a job as a worker in a shoe factory. A monotonous, poorly paid job greatly burdens the girl, but when she falls ill, she loses this income as well. Not wanting to be a burden on her sister and her husband, she is about to return home, but then she accidentally meets a young salesman, Charles Drouet, whom she met on the train on the way to Chicago.

Drouet is sincerely ready to help Kerry, persuades him to borrow money from him, then rents an apartment for her. Kerry accepts Drouet's advances, although she does not have any serious feelings for him. However, she is ready to marry him, but as soon as she starts a conversation about it, Drouet indulges in various excuses, assuring that he will certainly marry her, but first he must settle the formalities with receiving some kind of inheritance.

It is Drouet who introduces Kerry to George Hurstwood, who manages the very prestigious bar "My and Fitzgerald". At the cost of great diligence and perseverance, Hurstwood, over many years of work, managed to rise from a bartender in a third-rate saloon to a manager of a bar where the most respectable audience gathered. He has his own house and a solid bank account, but there is no trace of the warmth of family relations. Elegant, with impeccable manners, Hurstwood makes a strong impression on Kerry, and Hurstwood, in turn, shows interest in a pretty young provincial girl, especially since his relationship with his own wife is noticeably deteriorating.

At first, Hurstwood and Kerry meet in the company of Drouet, then secretly from him. Hurstwood suggests that Kerry move to another place so that no one interferes with their relationship, but Kerry is only ready to do this if he marries her. Meanwhile, Drouet recommends her for the lead role in an amateur play. The lack of stage experience, of course, makes itself felt, nevertheless, the debut is quite successful.

Meanwhile, both Drouet and Hurstwood's wife grow suspicious. Hurstwood's situation is complicated by the fact that he has written down all his property in the name of his wife, and now she intends, on the most legal grounds, to leave him penniless. Finding himself in an extremely difficult situation, Hurstwood decides on a desperate act.

Taking advantage of the fact that the owners completely trust him, he steals more than ten thousand dollars from the bar's cash desk and takes Kerry away.

First, he tells her that an accident happened to Drouet and that he must go to the hospital, and only on the train does he explain to Kerry the meaning of his act. He assures her that he has finally broken with his wife, that he will soon achieve a divorce, and that if Kerry agrees to leave with him, he will never think about leaving her. He, however, is silent about the fact that he embezzled other people's money.

However, his deceit quickly surfaced, and in Montreal, where Hurstwood and Kerry got married as Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler, a private detective hired by the owners of the bar is already waiting for him. With most of the stolen goods returned, Hurstwood is free to return to the United States. He and Kerry settle in New York.

There, he manages to invest his remaining money in a bar, and for a time, life returns to normal. Kerry manages to make friends with Mrs. Vance's neighbor, visits theaters and restaurants with her and her husband, and meets inventor Bob Ems, Mrs. Vance's cousin. Ems was interested in Kerry, but he is not a womanizer, he respects marriage ties, and acquaintance has no development. Then the young engineer returns to his native state of Indiana, but he made a deep impression on Kerry: "Now Kerry had an ideal. She compared all other men with him, especially those who were close to her."

So three years pass. Then clouds gather again over Hurstwood. The house in which his bar was located is changing hands, rebuilding is planned, and his partner terminates the contract with him. Hurstwood begins to frantically look for work, but his years are no longer the same, he has not acquired any useful skills, and he has to listen to refusals again and again. From time to time he meets old acquaintances at the bar "My and Fitzgerald", but he cannot use his former connections. She and Kerry change apartments, save on everything, but there is less and less money left. To improve things, Hurstwood tries to use his former skill at poker, but, as usually happens in such situations, he loses the latter.

Realizing that the hopes for Hurstwood are now illusory, Kerry is trying to find a job. Remembering her success in an amateur performance, she tries to get a job on the stage, and in the end, luck smiles at her: she becomes a corps de ballet dancer in an operetta. Gradually, she breaks out of extras into soloists.

Meanwhile, Hurstwood, exhausted by the constant rejection of his job search, decides on a desperate step. When the Brooklyn streetcars go on strike, Hurstwood is hired as a tram driver. But strikebreaker bread is very bitter. Hurstwood has to listen to insults, threats, he sorts out the rubble on the rails.

Then they shoot at him. The wound turns out to be trifling, but Hurstwood's patience comes to an end. Having never completed his shift, he abandons the tram and somehow gets home.

Having received another promotion, Kerry leaves Hurstwood. In parting, she leaves him twenty dollars and a note saying that she has neither the strength nor the desire to work for two.

Now they seem to be moving in opposite directions. Kerry becomes a favorite of the public, reviewers are favorable to her, wealthy fans achieve her society, the administration of a chic hotel for advertising purposes invites a new celebrity to settle with them for a nominal fee. Hurstwood is in poverty, sleeping in bunkhouses, standing in lines for free soup and bread. Once the manager of the hotel, taking pity on him, gives him a place - he does menial work, receives a pittance, but is happy about this. However, the body can not stand it, falling ill with pneumonia and lying in the hospital, Hurstwood again joins the army of the New York homeless, happy if they manage to get a few cents for the night. Hurstwood no longer shy away from begging and once begs for alms under the lights of an advertisement announcing a performance with the participation of his ex-wife.

Carrey meets again with Drouet, who is not averse to resuming their relationship, but for Carrey he is no longer interested. Comes to the New York Ems. Having achieved success in the West, he intends to open a laboratory in New York. After watching another operetta with Kerry, he inspires her that it's time to do something more serious, you need to try yourself in drama, because, in his opinion, she is capable of something more than the stereotyped roles that she gets.

Kerry agrees with his opinion, but makes no attempt to change his fate. She generally falls into melancholy and apathy. Drouet is gone from her life, apparently forever. Hurstwood is also gone, although Kerry is unaware of this. Unable to withstand the blows of fate, he committed suicide by gassing himself in a New York rooming house. However, "even if Hurstwood had returned in his former beauty and glory, he still would not have seduced Kerry. She learned that both his world and her current position do not give happiness." Outwardly, her affairs are going well, she does not need anything, but again and again her victories seem illusory to her, and real life inexplicably slips away.

S. B. Belov

(An American Tragedy)

Roman (1925)

Kansas City, hot summer evening. Two adults and four children sing psalms and hand out religious pamphlets. The eldest boy obviously does not like what he is forced to do, but his parents enthusiastically give themselves to the cause of saving lost souls, which, however, brings them only moral satisfaction. Asa Griffiths, the father of the family, is very impractical, and the family barely makes ends meet.

Young Clyde Griffiths strives to break out of this dreary 'World. He gets a job as a soda assistant at a drugstore and then as a delivery boy at the Grey-Davidson Hotel. Working in a hotel does not require any special skills and abilities, but it brings good tips, which allows Clyde not only to contribute to the family budget, but also to buy good clothes for himself and save something.

Workmates quickly accept Clyde into their company, and he plunges headlong into a new cheerful existence. He meets the pretty saleswoman Hortense Briggs, who, however, is prudent beyond her years and is not going to favor anyone solely for her beautiful eyes. She really wants a fancy jacket that costs one hundred and fifteen dollars, and Clyde finds it hard to resist her desire.

Soon, Clyde and the company go on a pleasure ride in a luxurious Packard. This car was taken without permission by one of the young men, Sparser, from the garage of a rich man whose father works. On the way back to Kansas City, the weather begins to deteriorate, snow falls, and you have to drive very slowly. Clyde and his comrades are late for work at the hotel and so they ask Sparser to speed up. He does just that, but, gaping, knocks down the girl, and then, escaping from persecution, fails to manage. The driver and one of the girls remain unconscious in the broken car, all the others run away.

The next day, the newspapers carry a report on the incident. The girl died, the arrested Sparser named the names of all the other participants in the picnic. Fearing arrest, Clyde and some of the other members of the company leave Kansas City. For three years, Clyde has been living away from home under a false name, doing dirty thankless work and getting a pittance for it. But one day in Chicago, he meets his friend Reterer, who was also with him in the Packard. Reterer gets him a job at the Union Club as a messenger. Twenty-year-old Clyde is quite happy with his new life, but one day Samuel Griffiths, his uncle, who lives in Lycurgus, New York, and owns a collar factory, appears at the club. The result of the meeting of relatives is the move of Clyde to Lycurgus. Uncle promises him a place in the factory, although he does not promise mountains of gold. Clyde, on the other hand, contacts with wealthy relatives seem more promising than work at the Union Club, although he earns quite well.

Samuel's son Gilbert, without much joy, accepts his cousin and, making sure that he does not have any useful knowledge and skills, assigns him to a rather difficult and low-paid job in a decatering shop located in the basement. Clyde rents a room in a cheap boarding house and starts, as they say, from scratch, hoping, however, to succeed sooner or later.

A month passes. Clyde regularly does everything that is entrusted to him. Griffiths Sr. asks his son what he thinks about Clyde, but Gilbert, who is very wary of the appearance of a poor relative, is cool in his assessments. In his opinion, Clyde is unlikely to be able to advance - he has no education, he is not purposeful enough and too soft. However, Samuel Clyde is cute and he is ready to give his nephew a chance to show himself. Against Gilbert's wishes, Clyde is invited to the house for a family dinner. There he met not only the family of his relative, but also the charming representatives of the Lycurgian beau monde, the young Bertina Cranston and Sondra Finchley, who quite liked the handsome and well-mannered young man.

Finally, at the insistence of his father, Gilbert finds a less difficult and more prestigious job for Clyde - he becomes an accountant. However, Gilbert warns him that he must "observe decorum in relations with working women" and any kind of liberties will be resolutely suppressed. Clyde is ready to faithfully fulfill all the instructions of his employers and, despite the attempts of some girls to start a relationship with him, remains deaf to their advances.

Soon, however, the factory receives an additional order for collars, and this, in turn, requires an increase in staff. Young Roberta Alden enters the factory, and it is not easy for Clyde to resist her charms. They begin dating, Clyde's courtship becomes more and more insistent, and brought up in strict rules, it is more and more difficult for Roberta to remember girlish prudence.

Meanwhile, Clyde meets Sondra Finchley again, and this meeting dramatically changes his life. A wealthy heiress, a representative of the local money aristocracy, Sondra shows genuine interest in the young man and invites him to an evening of dancing, where the golden youth of Lycurgus gathers. Under the onslaught of new impressions, the modest charm of Roberta begins to fade in the eyes of Clyde. The girl feels that Clyde is no longer so attentive to her, she is afraid to lose his love, and one day she succumbs to temptation. Roberta and Clyde become lovers.

Sondra Finchley, however, does not disappear from his life. On the contrary, she introduces Clyde into her circle, and alluring prospects turn his head. This does not go unnoticed by Roberta, and she experiences severe pangs of jealousy. To top it off, it turns out that she is pregnant. She confesses this to Clyde, and he frantically tries to find a way out of this situation. But the drugs do not bring the desired result, and the doctor, whom they find with such difficulty, categorically refuses to have an abortion.

The only way out - to marry, decisively does not suit Clyde. After all, this means that he will have to part with the dreams of a brilliant future that his relationship with Sondra instilled in him. Roberta is desperate. She is ready to go to the extent of telling Clyde's uncle what happened. This would mean the end of his career for him and an end to the affair with Sondra, but he shows indecision, hoping to come up with something. He promises Roberta either to find a doctor or, if one is not found in two weeks, to marry her, even formally, and support her for some time until she can work.

But then Clyde catches the eye of a newspaper article telling about the tragedy on Pass Lake - a man and a woman took a boat to ride, but the next day the boat was found upside down, and later the girl’s body was found, but the man could not be found. This story makes a strong impression on him, especially since he receives a letter from Roberta, who has left for her parents: she does not intend to wait any longer and promises to return to Lycurgus and tell Griffiths Sr. everything. Clyde realizes that he is running out of time and he must make some decision.

Clyde invites Roberta to take a trip to Big Bittern Lake, promising to marry her later. So, a seemingly terrible decision has been made, but he himself does not believe that he will find the strength in himself to carry out his plan. It is one thing to commit murder in the imagination and quite another to commit murder in reality.

And so Clyde and Roberta go boating on a deserted lake. Clyde's gloomy, thoughtful appearance frightens Roberta, she cautiously approaches him, asks what happened to him. But when she tries to touch him, he, out of his mind, hits her with a camera and pushes her so that she loses her balance and falls. The boat capsizes and its side hits Roberta in the head. She begs Clyde to help her keep her from drowning, but he does nothing. What he thought about more than once happened. He gets out on the beach alone, without Roberta.

But both the capsized boat and Roberta's body are quickly found. Investigator Hayt and Attorney Mason vigorously take up the case and soon find Clyde. He initially locks up, but it is not difficult for an experienced prosecutor to drive him into a corner. Clyde is arrested - now the court will decide his fate.

Samuel Griffiths, of course, is shocked by what happened, but he still hires good lawyers. They fight with all their might, but Mason knows his stuff. A long and tense trial ends with a death sentence. Wealthy relatives stop helping Clyde, and only his mother tries to do something for him.

Clyde is transferred to Auburn prison, called the House of Death. Desperate attempts by the mother to find money to continue the struggle for the life of her son do not bring success. Society has lost interest in the convict, and now nothing will prevent the machine of justice from completing the case.

S. B. Belov

Tale (1906)

White Fang's father is a wolf, and his mother, Kichi, is half wolf and half dog. He doesn't have a name yet. He was born in the North Wilderness and was the only survivor of the entire brood. In the North, you often have to starve, and this killed his sisters and brothers. The father, a one-eyed wolf, soon dies in an unequal battle with a lynx. The wolf cub and mother remain alone, he often accompanies the she-wolf to hunt and soon begins to comprehend the "law of prey": eat - or they will eat you yourself. The cub cannot articulate it clearly, but simply lives by it. Besides the law of prey, there are many others that must be obeyed. The life that plays in the wolf cub, the forces that control his body, serve him as an inexhaustible source of happiness.

The world is full of surprises, and one day, on the way to the stream, the wolf cub stumbles upon creatures unfamiliar to him - people. He does not run away, but crouches to the ground, "fettered by fear and ready to express the humility with which his distant ancestor went to a man to warm himself by the fire he had lit." One of the Indians comes closer, and when his hand touches the wolf cub, he grabs her with his teeth and immediately gets hit on the head. The wolf cub whines in pain and horror, the mother hurries to help him, and suddenly one of the Indians shouts imperatively: "Kichi!", Recognizing in her his dog ("her father was a wolf, and her mother was a dog") famine came again. The fearless mother wolf, to the horror and amazement of the wolf cub, crawls towards the Indian on her belly. Gray Beaver becomes Kichi's master again. He now owns the wolf cub, to which he gives the name - White Fang.

It is difficult for White Fang to get used to a new life in the camp of the Indians: he is constantly forced to repel the attacks of dogs, he has to strictly observe the laws of people whom he considers gods, often cruel, sometimes fair. He learns that "God's body is sacred" and never tries to bite a human again. Causing only one hatred in his fellows and people and eternally at enmity with everyone, the White Fang develops quickly, but one-sidedly. With such a life, neither good feelings nor the need for affection can arise in him. But in agility and cunning no one can compare with him; he runs faster than all the other dogs, and he knows how to fight more wickedly, fiercer and smarter than them. Otherwise, he will not survive. During the change of place of the camp, the White Fang runs away, but, finding himself alone, he feels fear and loneliness. Driven by them, he searches for the Indians. White Fang becomes a sled dog. After some time, he is placed at the head of the team, which further increases the hatred towards him of his fellows, whom he rules with ferocious inflexibility. Hard work in the harness strengthens the strength of the White Fang, and his mental development is completed. The world around is harsh and cruel, and the White Fang has no illusions about this. Devotion to a person becomes a law for him, and a wolf cub born in the wild turns into a dog in which there is a lot of wolfness, and yet this is a dog, not a wolf.

Gray Beaver brings several bales of furs and a bale of moccasins and mittens to Fort Yukon, hoping for a big profit. After evaluating the demand for his product, he decides to trade slowly, just not to sell too cheap. At Fort, White Fang sees white people for the first time, and they seem to him to be gods with even greater power than the Indians. But the morals of the gods in the North are rather rude. One of the favorite entertainments is the fights that local dogs start with dogs that have just arrived with the newcomers on the boat. In this occupation, the White Fang has no equal. Among the old-timers there is a man who takes special pleasure in dog fights. This is a vicious, miserable coward and a freak who does all kinds of dirty work, nicknamed Handsome Smith. One day, after getting Gray Beaver drunk, Handsome Smith buys White Fang from him and with severe beatings makes him understand who his new owner is. White Fang hates this crazy god, but is forced to obey him. Handsome Smith makes a real professional fighter out of White Fang and arranges dog fights. For the hate-maddened, hunted White Fang, fighting becomes the only way to prove himself, he invariably comes out the winner, and Handsome Smith collects money from the spectators who lose the bet. But a fight with a bulldog almost becomes fatal for White Fang. The bulldog clings to his chest and, without opening his jaws, hangs on him, intercepting his teeth higher and closer to his throat. Seeing that the battle is lost, Handsome Smith, having lost the remnants of his mind, begins to beat the White Fang and stomp him with his feet. The dog is rescued by a tall young man, a visiting engineer from the mines, Weedon Scott. Opening the bulldog's jaws with the help of a revolver muzzle, he frees the White Fang from the deadly grip of the enemy. Then he buys the dog from Pretty Smith.

White Fang soon comes to his senses and demonstrates his anger and rage to the new owner. But Scott has the patience to tame the dog with a caress, and it awakens in White Fang all those feelings that were dormant and already half-deaf in him. Scott sets out to reward the White Fang for all that he had to endure, "to atone for the sin that man was guilty of before him." The White Fang pays for love with love. He also learns the sorrows inherent in love - when the owner leaves unexpectedly, the White Fang loses interest in everything in the world and is ready to die. And when Scott returns, for the first time, he comes up and presses his head against him. One evening, growls and screams are heard near Scott's house. It was Beauty Smith who tried unsuccessfully to take White Fang away, but paid a heavy price for it. Weedon Scott has to return home to California, and at first he is not going to take the dog with him - he is unlikely to endure life in a hot climate. But the closer the departure, the more worried White Fang, and the engineer hesitates, but still leaves the dog. But when White Fang, breaking the window, gets out of the locked house and resorts to the gangway of the steamer, Scott's heart breaks.

In California, White Fang has to get used to completely new conditions, and he succeeds. Shepherd Collie, who has long annoyed the dog, eventually becomes his girlfriend. White Fang begins to love Scott's kids, he also likes Whedon's father, the judge. Judge Scott White Fang manages to save one of his convicts, hardened criminal Jim Hill, from revenge. White Fang killed Hill, but he put three bullets into the dog, in the fight the dog's hind leg and several ribs were broken. Doctors believe that White Fang has no chance of survival, but "Northern Wilderness rewarded him with an iron body and vitality." After a long convalescence, the last plaster cast, the last bandage, is removed from White Fang, and he staggers out onto the sunny lawn. Puppies crawl up to the dog, him and Collie, and he, lying in the sun, slowly sinks into a nap.

V. S. Kulagina-Yartseva

Roman (1909)

Once on the ferry, Martin Eden, a sailor, twenty years old, protected Arthur Morse from a gang of hooligans, Arthur is about the same age as Martin, but belongs to wealthy and educated people. As a sign of gratitude - and at the same time wanting to amuse the family with an eccentric acquaintance - Arthur invites Martin to dinner. The atmosphere of the house - paintings on the walls, lots of books, playing the piano - delights and fascinates Martin. Ruth, Arthur's sister, makes a special impression on him. She seems to him the embodiment of purity, spirituality, perhaps even divinity. Martin decides to become worthy of this girl. He goes to the library in order to join the wisdom available to Ruth, Arthur and the like (both Ruth and her brother study at the university).

Martin is a gifted and deep nature. He enthusiastically plunges into the study of literature, language, rules of versification. He often communicates with Ruth, she helps him in his studies. Ruth, a girl with conservative and rather narrow views, tries to reshape Martin after the people of her circle, but she does not succeed very much. Having spent all the money earned on the last voyage, Martin again goes to sea, having hired a sailor. During the long eight months of the voyage, Martin "enriched his vocabulary and his mental baggage and got to know himself better." He feels great strength in himself and suddenly realizes that he wants to become a writer - first of all, so that Ruth can admire the beauty of the world with him. Back in Oakland, he writes an essay on treasure hunters and submits the manuscript to the San Francisco Observer. Then he sits down for a story for the youth about whalers. Having met Ruth, he shares his plans with her, but, unfortunately, the girl does not share his ardent hopes, although she is pleased with the changes taking place with him - Martin has become much more correct in expressing his thoughts, dressing better, etc. Ruth is in love with Martin , but her own concepts of life do not give her the opportunity to realize this. Ruth believes that Martin needs to study, and he takes his high school exams, but fails miserably in all subjects except grammar. Martin is not too discouraged by the failure, but Ruth is distressed. None of Martin's works sent to magazines and newspapers have been published, all are returned by mail without any explanation. Martin decides: the fact is that they are written by hand. He rents a typewriter and learns to type. Martin works all the time, without even considering it as work. "He just found the gift of speech, and all the dreams, all the thoughts about the beautiful that had lived in him for many years, poured out in an unstoppable, powerful, ringing stream."

Martin discovers the books of Herbert Spencer, and this gives him the opportunity to see the world in a new way. Ruth does not share his passion for Spencer. Martin reads his stories to her, and she easily notices their formal flaws, but is unable to see the power and talent with which they are written. Martin does not fit into the framework of the bourgeois culture, familiar and native to Ruth. The money earned in swimming runs out, and Martin is hired to iron clothes in a laundry. The intense, hellish work exhausts him. He stops reading and one weekend he pours himself, as in the old days. Realizing that such work not only exhausts, but also stupefies him, Martin leaves the laundry.

Only a few weeks remain before the next voyage, and Martin dedicates this vacation to love. He often sees Ruth, they read together, ride bicycles, and one day Ruth finds himself in Martin's arms. They are being explained. Ruth does not know anything about the physical side of love, but feels the attraction of Martin. Martin is afraid of offending her purity. Ruth's parents are not delighted with the news of her engagement to Eden.

Martin decides to write for money. He rents a tiny room from the Portuguese Maria Silva. Mighty health allows him to sleep five hours a day. The rest of the time he works: writes, learns unfamiliar words, analyzes the literary techniques of various writers, looking for "the principles underlying the phenomenon." He is not too embarrassed that so far not a single line of his has been printed. "Scripture was for him the final link in a complex mental process, the last knot by which individual disparate thoughts were connected, the summing up of the accumulated facts and provisions."

But the streak of bad luck continues, Martin's money dries up, he pawns his coat, then his watch, then his bicycle. He goes hungry, eating only potatoes and occasionally dining with his sister or Ruth. Suddenly - almost unexpectedly - Martin receives a letter from a thick magazine - The magazine wants to publish his manuscript, but is going to pay five dollars, although, according to the most conservative estimates, it should have paid a hundred. From grief, weakened Martin falls ill with a severe flu. And then the wheel of fortune turns - one after another, checks from magazines begin to arrive.

After some time, luck stops. The editors are vying with each other trying to cheat Martin. It is not easy to get money from them for publications. Ruth insists that Martin get a job with her father, she does not believe that he will become a writer. By chance at the Morses, Martin meets Russ Brissenden and becomes close friends with him. Brissenden is ill with consumption, he is not afraid of death, but passionately loves life in all its manifestations. Brissenden introduces Martin to "real people" obsessed with literature and philosophy. With his new comrade, Martin attends a meeting of socialists, where he argues with the speaker, but thanks to a quick and unscrupulous reporter, he gets on the pages of newspapers as a socialist and overthrower of the existing system. Newspaper publication leads to sad consequences - Ruth sends Martin a letter announcing the breakup of the engagement. Martin continues to live by inertia, and he is not even pleased with the checks coming from magazines - almost everything written by Martin is now published. Brissenden commits suicide, and his poem "Ephemeris", which Martin published, causes a storm of vulgar criticism and makes Martin glad that his friend does not see this.

Martin Eden finally becomes famous, but he is deeply indifferent to all this. He receives invitations from those people who previously ridiculed him and considered him a bum, and sometimes even accepts them. He is consoled by the thought of going to the Marquesas Islands and living there in a thatched hut. He generously distributes money to his relatives and people with whom his fate has connected, but nothing can touch him. Neither the sincere ardent love of the young worker Lizzy Conolly, nor the unexpected arrival of Ruth to him, now ready to ignore the voice of rumors and stay with Martin. Martin sails to the islands on the Mariposa, and by the time he leaves, the Pacific Ocean seems to him no better than anything else. He understands that there is no way out for him. And after several days of swimming, he slips out into the sea through the porthole. To deceive the will to live, he draws air into his lungs and dives to great depths. When all the air ends, it is no longer able to rise to the surface. He sees a bright, white light and feels that he is flying into a dark abyss, and then consciousness leaves him forever.

V. S. Kulagina-Yartseva

(Hearts of Three)

Roman (1916, publ. 1919)

Francis Morgan, wealthy heir to business owner Richard Henry Morgan, ponders in lazy idleness what to do. At this time, the former rival of the late R. G. Morgan in the exchange games, Sir Thomas Regan, learns from a certain Alvarez Torres that he knows the location of the treasure hidden by the ancestor of the Morgan family, the pirate Henry Morgan. Torres offers to equip an expedition. Regan, once unsuccessfully trying to ruin Francis's father, now wants to settle scores with his son. The absence of young Morgan plays into his hands. Therefore, he, not at all believing in the existence of the treasure, agrees with the idea of ​​\uXNUMXb\uXNUMXbthe expedition, provided that his "young friend" participates in it, who allegedly needs to be saved from the temptations of the big city.

The possibility of an exciting journey seems tempting to Francis. He travels from New York to Panama and immediately finds himself in a strip of adventure. On the shore where he landed, some beautiful girl enters into a conversation with him - as if they had known each other for a long time. Now showering with reproaches and threatening with a revolver, then kissing him, she ends with an order to leave these places immediately and forever. Understanding nothing, the young man obeys.

Having reached one of the islands, Francis meets an angry man there, who immediately demands, like the girl, that he get out. This is where hand-to-hand combat comes into play. Francis threatens to put the stranger on his shoulder blades, but he himself is pinned to the ground. We have to endure the humiliation and leave the island. In pursuit, the winner mockingly asks if the opponent will leave his business card? Snorting in response, Francis still calls his last name. Hearing her, the owner of the island makes the assumption that he had a fight with one of his distant relatives: his name is Henry Morgan. Looking at the portrait of the ancestor of the Morgans hanging in his hut, he realizes something else - an amazing outward resemblance of the uninvited guest to the old pirate and to himself. Henry's attitude towards the enemy changes. Seeing how, on the other side of the strait, Francis is struggling to fight off the Indians who attacked him, he rushes to his aid, and then drags the exhausted man to the hut. Much is clear here. Young people give their names and come to the conclusion that they have a common ancestor, whose treasures both are looking for. After listening to Francis' story about meeting a strange girl, Henry realizes that this is the daughter of the Spaniard Enrico Solano, Leoncia, to whom he was engaged and who mistook the stranger for him because of their striking resemblance. The wedding did not take place because the groom was accused of killing Alfaro Solano, Leoncia's uncle. Henry did not commit the murder, but by chance it was he who found the body of Alfaro with a knife in the back, and at that moment the gendarmes saw him. Due to a false accusation, Leoncia returned Henry the wedding ring he had given him, and Henry, in order to avoid reprisals, had to flee.

Francis undertakes to settle the misunderstanding, deliver the ring returned to Leoncia and explain the true state of affairs. All this succeeds, but the appearance of Torres interferes with the general world. He is in love with Leoncia and has made it his goal to eliminate her fiancé by any means. As a result of the intrigues, Francis and Henry almost lose their lives on the same charge of killing Alfaro (the similarity also played a role here). But they manage to avoid the gallows and get away from the chase, led by the chief of police and Torres, into the depths of the Cordillera. The entire Solano family accompanies the fugitives. On the way, Francis saves the life of a slave who fled from the torture of the owner-planter. Suddenly, an old Indian, the man's father, appears. In gratitude for saving his son, he offers to take Francis and his companions to the place where Mayan treasures are stored. Francis hesitates: he should return to New York, to the affairs of the stock market, and most importantly, he is too attracted to Leoncia, and it is better to leave so as not to compete with Henry. Meanwhile, Leoncia realized that her feelings were bifurcated: she loves both Morgans! Tormented by this, Leoncia still does not want to be separated from Francis, and, yielding to her desire, he remains.

All participants in the events descend from the mountains. The expedition is getting ready. A week later she goes back to the Cordillera. An old Indian leads travelers to the foot of a high cliff. With difficulty finding a gap in it, they penetrate inside and find themselves in a cave with many mummies and a pile of bones. These are the remains of those who once tried to find Mayan treasures. At every step, new aliens are in danger. Having fallen into the abyss under the feet of the stone goddess Chia, the guide's son dies. From the opened emptiness, water begins to spout and fills the cave, the collapse blocks the previously found entrance.

Trouble brings the captives of the mountain with Torres, who quietly made his way into her womb after them. Then we have to work together, helping each other. With difficulty, they manage to find a saving passage through which, not finding treasures and almost losing their lives, they get out into the open. Below lies a valley called the Valley of Lost Souls. The tribe living there meets strangers with hostility. For the decision of their fate, the old priest turns to the supreme ruler of the tribe. This beautiful young woman with a golden tiara on her head is a real queen, according to Henry. Her decision is unexpected: all the captives will remain alive only if one of the men marries her. Since no one wants to be chosen by the Queen, Leoncia proposes to cast lots. He falls to Henry, but Francis, seeking, contrary to his own feelings, to save the union of a friend and his bride, declares that he is ready to become the husband of the queen. (This is her most desired choice: Francis is dear to her from the first minute.) Meanwhile, Torres, having discovered that there is a chest full of precious stones in the royal chambers, is trying to seize wealth (although he does not know that he sees treasures in front of him, in long ago stolen by the Lost Souls from a cache in a Mayan cave). But the thief is caught by the queen at the scene of the crime. Having entered into a fight with her, he makes a careless movement and falls into a stream foaming near the house, which takes him under a rock.

The priest performs the wedding ceremony for Francis and the queen, but immediately after the ceremony, he himself and the entire population of the valley begin a decisive offensive against the strangers. All that's left is to run. By order of the Queen, Francis lowers the chest of jewels into a secret hatch under the floor of the house, and all four jump into the stream that carried Torres. An underground river carries them to a safe place. After some time, the fugitives reach the city of San Antonio, where the expedition began, and the Solano family, who already considered everyone dead, takes them into their arms. Here Francis is brought a telegram stating that he urgently needs to return to New York, as his financial situation is in jeopardy. He and the queen leave.

In New York, Francis plunges into business, and his wife, not without difficulty, masters the wonders of civilization. Having once heard Francis' conversation with a friend, to whom he admits that he is married to one woman, but loves another, and seeing the portrait of Leoncia, the queen realizes that she was deceived in her husband's feelings, and leaves the house. Searches are unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, Torres appears in San Antonio, having escaped the same way as the others. He shows the jeweler one of the few stolen stones, according to his estimate, he guesses the millionth value of the entire treasure and decides to go after it. The Solano family suddenly learns two important secrets, backed up by hard evidence: Leoncia, adopted by Enrico as a child, is actually an Englishwoman and is Henry's sister (there will be no wedding!), And Alfaro's killer is Torres.

The Queen arrives in San Antonio with the intention of destroying her rival. However, after a frank conversation with Leoncia, she has one desire left - to help Francis defeat the enemies. Therefore, she wants to return for her jewelry to give it to him. Henry equips an expedition that advances in the mountains at the same time as Torres' detachment, only by a different route. Torres reaches the target first. The chest is found, but it is not possible to take possession of it, as a hail of arrows falls on the kidnappers: the Lost Souls decided to kill anyone who approaches the village. At this time, Henry and the queen appear on the ledge of the rock. Seeing them, Torres fires and his bullet strikes the queen. Fleeing from the attacking Souls, he flees from the valley, but falls into the gorge and, unable to get out of it, dies.

Meanwhile, in New York, Francis and his broker finally figure out who is ruining R. G. Morgan's heir. However, a direct conversation with Regan does not change the situation - the disaster is looming. And then Henry and Leoncia appear at Francis's house with a suitcase full of jewelry. It's millions of dollars. Francis is saved, but ruin threatens Regan. Henry talks about everything that happened after the departure of a friend and says that since Aeonsia turned out to be his sister, now nothing prevents Francis from marrying her.

V. S. Kulagina-Yartseva

(Main Street)

Roman (1920)

A young girl, Carol Milford, is graduating from Blodget College in St. Paul and is thinking about what noble pursuit she would dedicate her life to. She intends to achieve significant results in any business, whatever she does. She first worked for a year in Chicago, at the City Library, then at the Saint Paul Public Library. One day, while visiting, she meets Dr. Will Kennicot from Gopher Prairie, a small town of two or three thousand inhabitants, and after a while she marries him.

Arriving in Gopher Prairie, Carol becomes disheartened by the absurdity of the buildings and the inconvenience of the town as a whole. In Carol's honor, the local elite, to which her husband belongs, are hosting a party at the home of Sam Clark, the hardware store owner. In the clothes, in the manner of holding these people, Carol sees only depressing provinciality and stiffness. Among them are the owner of the haberdashery store Harry Haydock with his wife Juanita, and the owner of the pharmacy Dave Dyer with his wife, and the owner of the sawmill Jack Elder, and the first rich man in the city Luke Dawson ... The only entertainment that these people allow themselves on such holidays remains unchanged year after year: someone tells the same old joke, another recites the same verses over and over again, a third sings, and so on. After such “entertainment”, men and women break into groups and carry on conversations that are common in their environment, without a shadow of novelty: men talk about cars, about business, and women talk about children and about the kitchen. Even gossip does not provide sufficient topics for conversation. From time to time, silence, like fog, clouds the room. Then comes dinner time: chicken sandwiches, cake, ice cream. Now everyone has something to do and everyone is happy. After dinner, you can go home at any moment and go to bed.

Carol takes into the house the servant Bea Serenson, a Swedish, strong and funny girl who is tired of working on the farm and who arrived in Gopher Prairie at the same time as Carol. Soon, young women, despite the difference in social status, become friends.

Carol wants to remake the whole town, she vaguely longs to have someone with whom she could share her thoughts. One day, Miss Vaida Sherwin, a high school teacher who came to town to work on a contract a few years ago, comes to her and has already managed to occupy a prominent place in it thanks to her active and active nature. Vaida becomes Carol's second friend and treats the girl a little patronizingly, since she is ten years older than Kennicot's wife and is better acquainted with the inhabitants of the town, its customs and problems.

Arranging a housewarming in her house, Carol makes every effort, uses all her ingenuity to make the evening fun and the guests do not get bored. She arranges games, charades, treats guests with original dishes, does everything to bring a fresh stream into the manner of the city elite to arrange holidays. It seems to her that her idea was a success, but later it turns out that her evening only gave rise to envy among those who could not afford to buy such furniture as Carol bought, dissatisfaction of shopkeepers selling furniture that she did not buy it from them, and accusations of excessive extravagance and the desire to stand out. The next evening arranged by someone is just as boring as all the previous ones.

With the onset of winter, Carol discovers that she has absolutely nothing to do: it would be indecent to go to work for her as the wife of a doctor, Kennicot does not want to rush with a child yet. All that remains for Carol to do is start a long-planned transformation or become so merged with the city that she spends her energies going to church, an educational club, and playing bridge at the Merry Seventeen, a club made up of young women whose husbands belong to the city's upper class.

Little by little, Carol begins to feel some chill in relations with the inhabitants, who consider her proud and too much of a fashionista. Carol worries and feels lonely. It seems to her that no matter what she does, the town surreptitiously follows her and discusses her. Vaida, wanting to dispel Carol, takes her to the educational Thanatopsis Club, where women read new magazines and discuss current events, as well as literature, architecture, and home economics. Carol decides to "fight" rather than be eaten and begins her attempts to remake the city, wake it up. She tries to get money from the local rich to build a new town hall, a new school and a church, but nothing comes of it. Everywhere she encounters inertia and internal resistance.

One day, Carol meets Miles Bjornstam, a plumber and stove maker, who is called the "Red Swede" in the city for the rebellious spirit that lives in him. In a moment of spiritual doubt, he supports Carol, advising her not to pay attention to others, just as a seagull soaring in the sky does not pay attention to seals huddled on the shore. Little by little, Carol's relationship with Gopher Prairie normalizes, which costs her a lot of effort and some pretense. In December, Carol has a serious conversation with her husband, their first quarrel, which nevertheless allows her to better understand Kennicot, his aspirations and secret hopes. As a result, for the next month, Carol is in love with her husband, as she has probably never been in love before. Strengthening her feelings is also facilitated by the fact that one day she is present at the operation, which Kennicot conducts in extremely difficult and dangerous conditions. However, after a while, her ardor cools down, she feels that her husband is too down to earth, too attached to his job, car, hunting, friends and resale of land. She somewhat cools down to her husband and even moves from the dormitory to a separate room.

One day, after another joint trip with friends out of town, Carol decides to organize an amateur theater. Her idea is supported by many of her friends. After numerous rehearsals, a performance will take place that amazes Carol with the mediocrity of the actors' play, but everyone is satisfied: the actors themselves, and the audience that they saw their acquaintances in a new role. For Carol, the theater is over. She has nothing else to do.

In June, Bea and Miles Bjornstam, who has been caring for her since the winter, marry, and Carol loses her maid and confidante. Bee's successor is an elderly, silent Oscarina, who mothers Carol and takes on her kitchen duties as zealously as Bee.

A few months later, a world war falls upon Europe, from which Gopher Prairie at first shudders in sweet horror, but then calms down again. Carol is expecting a baby at this time. She gives birth to a healthy boy with a straight back and strong legs, who is called Hugh and who gives meaning to her sluggish existence. She is no longer attracted to her husband as before. Kennicott feels abandoned and falls into the love nets of Maud Dyer, a druggist's wife who is having trouble with her own husband. From time to time, Kennicot cheats on Carol, although he still loves only her alone. Carol devotes all her time to Hugh, who loves to play with B's son, Olaf Bjornstam. One day, after drinking water from an infected well, Bee falls ill with typhus and dies a few days later. For Carol, this is the hardest blow.

Soon a new face appears in the city: a young, very handsome Swede, a tailor by profession, Erik Wahlberg. Carol immediately sees in him an individuality, a spiritualized nature. Young people find that they have a lot in common, and begin to meet often. Carol has a feeling for him that she has never felt for her husband. Yielding to him and Eric's passionate speeches, she is ready to leave her husband. Only the prudence and restraint of Kennicot help him convince his wife not to leave the family. Carol suffocates in Gopher Prairie and, together with her husband, is forced to travel along the coast of America for six months. When she returns, she still feels that she can no longer stay at home, where life goes on as before, so she takes Hugh and leaves for Washington. There she works at the War Risk Insurance Bureau, communicates with interesting and knowledgeable people, lives a full-blooded life. A year after his wife's departure, Kennicot comes to visit her and her son. By then, Carol has learned that there are disappointments here too, that office work in the afternoon hours is deadly tiring, that any office is full of intrigue and gossip, like some kind of Gopher Prairie. She learns that most of the women who work in government agencies lead an unhealthy lifestyle, live in cramped rooms and eat haphazardly. But she also learned that women in the office could make friends and enemies just as openly as men, and enjoy a bliss completely inaccessible to housewives - a free Sunday afternoon. She feels that her work is connected with the concerns of people scattered all over the country, is part of a huge business that is not limited to High Street and the kitchen. Together with Kennicott and Hugh, she goes to the sea for two weeks. She hesitates about returning to Gopher Prairie. Kennicot, however, thinks that Carol should think things through. Her active hatred for Gopher Prairie has dried up, now she sees in him a young city of workers. Five months later, Carol returns home. In Washington, it seemed to her that the whole world was changing, but when she returned home, she realized that this was not so. In August, her daughter is born. Carol no longer reacts so painfully to the imperfections of Gopher Prairie, she has become more mature, but still does not want to put up with the fact that nothing can be changed in the city, and is ready again, but without the same ardor, to devote herself to its transformation.

E. V. Semina

Roman (1922)

The action of the novel takes place in a rather large American city under the loud name Zenith. The protagonist of the novel, George Babbitt, a forty-five-year-old owner of a real estate agency, lives on the outskirts of the city, in the prestigious, fast-growing area of ​​\uXNUMXb\uXNUMXbFlower Hills. He has a family consisting of his wife and three children. Babbitt is satisfied with life, his position, both social and material, but more and more often at night he dreams of a young sorceress, after whom he runs and, bowing to her knees, finds peace and understanding. He married twenty-three years ago, without much love, the daughter of his current companion. studied at the university, dreamed of becoming a lawyer, since his student years he has a friend, Paul Riesling, to whom he treats a little like a father and feels more affection than he ever felt for a woman. Paul is married to Zilla, an eternally dissatisfied with life, grouchy and rude woman. Once Paul dreamed of becoming a famous violinist, leaving to study music in Europe, and now he suffers because his life did not work out and he has to trade roofing paper and endure a grumpy, jealous and angry wife next to him.

For his son Thel, Babbitt dreams of a university education and a career as a lawyer, but Ted himself, who is graduating from school, wants to devote his life to technology.

The highlights of the spring for Babbitt are a secret land-purchase for a scam being undertaken by some Transport Company businessmen, as well as a dinner for twelve people, conceived by Babbitt as a "highly cultured meeting" where the best minds of the city and the most elegant ladies will shine. The reception is as fun as possible thanks to the efforts of the owner of the house. The guests even arrange a séance and evoke the spirit of Dante.

In order to take a break from their families, George Babbitt and Paul Riesling go to Maine for fishing a little earlier than the rest of the household. The air of freedom seems to purify their blood from some kind of poisonous excitation, irritation and makes it healthy and fresh.

When Babbitt returns to Zenith, he accidentally manages to speak at a meeting of the General Association of Real Estate Brokers. This report marks the beginning of a new round in Babbitt's career. However, on the way to greatness and glory, he sometimes encounters offensive obstacles. Fame as an orator does not help Babbitt move into those circles of society where he should be moving: he is not invited to join the most prestigious country club, he is not invited to receptions with the most influential people. He anxiously waits for the annual dinner of his fellow university graduates - an evening of the most ardent familiarity with such pillars of society as Charles McKelvey - a millionaire contractor, Max Kruger - a banker, Erwin Tate - a machine tool manufacturer and Adalbert Dobson - a fashionable architect. Outwardly, he is on the same friendly terms with them as at the university, but they now meet very rarely, and they never invite him to their home on Royal Ridge for dinners (where the butler pours champagne).

The alumni dinner is held in the hall of the club "Union", the most fashionable of all the Zenith clubs. McKelvey takes an interest in Babbitt and even expresses a vague desire to meet somehow. Babbitt feels that life will never be as beautiful as it is now, when he, along with Paul Riesling and the newfound hero McKelvey, yells out an old student song with all his might. The Babbits invite the McKelvies to dinner, to which, after several reschedulings, the McKelvies finally show up. In addition to them, there are several more married couples at the dinner. The reception is unusually boring, as Babbit is trying with all his might not to go beyond the established, according to his concepts, in the high society of decency. After this dinner, the Babbits follow the gossip for a month and wait for a return invitation, which they are never destined to wait for. But the name of McKelvey does not leave the front pages of newspapers all week for a different reason: they have an English lord, Sir Gerald Doke, in whose honor McKelvey even arrange a high-society ball.

In such a gloomy time, Babbitt, unfortunately, has to think about the Overbrooks. Ed Overbrook, Babbitt's university friend, was a failure. He is extremely proud of his acquaintance with Babbitt and invites him and his wife to visit him. Dinner at their place has the same depressing effect on the Babbits as the dinner at the Babbits' at McKelvey seems to have done. After dinner, the Overbrooks are no longer remembered in the Babbitt family, nor are they remembered that they were going to invite them to their house.

When Babbitt is finally convinced that the McKelvies do not accept him into their circle, he feels embarrassed and, in order to feel like an outstanding citizen of Zenith again, takes an active part in the meetings of several clubs of which he is a member. However, Babbitt is most famous for his work at the Sunday school, which he helps to reach the second place in attendance in the entire state.

One day, Babbitt goes to Chicago on business, where he finds the lonely, severely bored Sir Gerald Doke, a recent guest of McKelvey, who, it turns out, was incredibly suffering from the need to lead a stormy social life in America, to which he was forced by the local pillars of society, and now enjoys spending the evening with Babbitt, first at the movies, then in his room with a bottle of whiskey and heart-to-heart conversations. Babbitt is unbearably sorry that he did not meet a high-born Englishman at Zenith. The day after the evening spent with Gerald Doak, Babbit accidentally meets Paul Riesling, who is dining in the company of a woman unknown to Babbit, which surprises and upsets him. Returning home, Babbitt attends the second breakfast in March of the Pushers Club, where the president is elected annually. Babbitt is elected vice president, about which he immediately wants to inform Paul, but, to his amazement, learns that Paul is in jail because he shot Zilla, his wife, during the day. Zilla recovers safely after being wounded, and Paul is sentenced to three years in prison, which debilitates Babbitt no less than his friend.

One day, a certain lady of about forty comes to Babbitt's office, wishing to rent a small apartment. Babbitt has exactly what she needs, and he takes the opportunity to get to know her better. He is unsettled by the misfortune with Paul, does not count on the understanding of his wife, managed to fail in an attempt to woo a young girl and comes to the conclusion that his new acquaintance, a widow named Tanis Djudik, with a soft voice and an affectionate look, is what he needs to be at least a little comforted and to feel the taste of life again. Taking advantage of the absence of his wife, Babbit starts a stormy romance with Tanis. At this time, mass strikes begin in the city, splitting Zenith into two hostile camps - white and red. Babbitt shows indulgence towards the workers, which causes dissatisfaction with all the entrepreneurial strata of the city, who decide to support the initiative coming from the eastern states and create the League of Honest Citizens at Zenith as a bulwark against all kinds of troublemakers. They strongly suggest that Babbitt also join the League. Babbitt doesn't like being forced into something, and he refuses to join her ranks.

Babbitt's wife, who has been visiting relatives for several months, returns home. Meanwhile, Tanis claims more and more rights to him. Babbit decides to win back more freedom for himself and abruptly breaks with Tanis. Babbitt's refusal to join the League has the most deplorable effect on the attitude of his teammates towards him, as well as on the affairs of the company. The most profitable orders now go to his competitors. But what hurts him most is the fact that his stenographer, Miss McGoun, suddenly walks away from him, as if escaping from a sinking ship. Babbitt's father-in-law and at the same time his companion, Mr. Thompson, convinces his son-in-law to take emergency measures, with which Babbitt rashly agrees. He decides to join the League of Honest Citizens as soon as he is offered again. However, it seems that he is no longer remembered in high circles. It begins to seem to him that everyone is whispering about him, his nerves are becoming more and more shattered. He already regrets that he lost Tanis, he needs a person with whom he could talk frankly, his wife seems like a stranger to him. One night, Myra has a seizure. Babbitt calls the doctor, who informs him of the need for an operation. Babbit is terrified that he may lose his wife and be left alone. In the morning, after a sleepless night, Myra seems to him not just a woman who can be compared with any other, but his own "I", with which he is unable to break. During the operation, he only dreams of seeing her again and saying that he has always loved only her; in his mind he swears allegiance to Myra... allegiance to Zenith, the Pushers club... allegiance to everything the Clan of Decent People believes in.

The operation is successful; after her, no one whispers about Babbit, but, on the contrary, everyone carefully inquires about the health of Mrs. Babbit. He is again, but without pressure, but in a friendly way, asked to join the League, to which Babbitt, without losing his own dignity, agrees and forever ceases to be a room revolutionary. He is again welcomed with open arms in his clubs, and financial affairs are again going uphill. He is not very clear about his future, but he feels that he has fallen into the same networks from which he broke out with such fury, and, ironically, he was made to rejoice at being caught again. However, he now treats his son with great understanding and allows him to choose his own path in life.

E. V. Semina

(Desire Under the Elms)

Play (1924)

The action takes place in New England on the farm of Effraim Cabot in 1850.

In the spring, old Cabot unexpectedly leaves somewhere, leaving the farm to his sons - the eldest, Simeon and Peter (they are under forty), and Ebin, born in his second marriage (he is about twenty-five). Cabot is a rough, stern man, his sons are afraid and secretly hate him, especially Ebin, who cannot forgive his father that he has exhausted his beloved mother, loading him with overwork.

Father has been missing for two months. A wandering preacher, who came to the village next to the farm, brings the news: old man Cabot got married again. According to rumors, the new wife is young and pretty. The news prompts Simeon and Peter, who have long dreamed of California gold, to leave home. Ebin gives them money for the journey on the condition that they sign a document relinquishing their rights to the farm.

The farm was originally owned by Ebin's late mother, and he always thought of it as his own - in perspective. Now, with the appearance of a young wife in the house, there is a threat that everything will go to her.

Abby Patnam is a pretty, full of strength thirty-five-year-old woman, her face betrays the passion and sensuality of nature, as well as stubbornness. She is delighted that she has become the mistress of the land and the house. Abby says "mine" with gusto when talking about it all. She is greatly impressed by Ebin's beauty and youth, she offers the young man friendship, promises to improve his relationship with his father, says that she can understand his feelings: in Ebin's place, she would also be wary of meeting a new person. She had a hard time in life: orphaned, she had to work for strangers. She got married, but her husband turned out to be an alcoholic, and the child died. When her husband also died, Abby even rejoiced, thinking that she had regained her freedom, but soon realized that she was free only to bend her back in other people's houses. Cabot's offer seemed to her a miraculous salvation - now she can work at least in her own house.

Two months have passed. Ebin is deeply in love with Abby, he is painfully drawn to her, but he struggles with the feeling, is rude to his stepmother, insults her. Abby is not offended: she guesses what kind of battle is unfolding in the young man's heart. You resist nature, she tells him, but nature takes its toll, "makes you, like these trees, like these elms, yearn for someone."

The love in Ebin's soul is intertwined with hatred for the intruder who claims the house and farm that he considers his own. The owner in it wins the man.

Cabot, in his old age, flourished, rejuvenated, and even somewhat softened in soul. He is ready to fulfill any request of Abby - even kick her son out of the farm, if she so desires. But Abby wants this least of all, she passionately longs for Ebin, dreams of him. All she needs from Cabot is a guarantee that after her husband's death, the farm will be hers. If they have a son, they will, Cabot promises her and offers to pray for the birth of an heir.

The thought of a son takes root deep in Cabot's soul. It seems to him that not a single person has understood him in his entire life - neither his wife nor his sons. He was not chasing easy money, he was not looking for a sweet life - otherwise why would he stay here, on the rocks, when he could easily settle in black earth meadows. No, God knows, he was not looking for an easy life, and his farm is rightful, and all Ebin's talk about her being his mother's is nonsense, and if Abby gives birth to a son, he will gladly leave everything to him.

Abby sets up a date with Ebin in the room that his mother occupied when she was alive. At first, this seems like blasphemy to the young man, but Abby assures that his mother would only want his happiness. Their love would be revenge on Mother Cabot, who was slowly killing her here on the farm, and in revenge, she would finally be able to rest in peace there in the grave. The lips of lovers merge in a passionate kiss ...

A year passes. There are guests in the Cabot house, they came to the celebration in honor of the birth of their son. Cabot is drunk and does not notice malicious hints and outright ridicule. The peasants suspect that the baby's father is Ebin: since the young stepmother settled in the house, he completely abandoned the village girls. Ebin is not at the party - he crept into the room where the cradle stands, and looks at his son with tenderness.

Cabot has an important conversation with Ebin. Now, his father says, when he and Abby have a son, Ebin needs to think about marriage - so that he has a place to live: the farm will go to his younger brother. He, Cabot, gave Abby his word: if she gives birth to a son, then everything after his death will go to them, and he will drive Ebin away.

Ebin suspects that Abby played a foul game with him and seduced him specifically in order to conceive a child and take away his property. And he, a fool, believed that she really loved him. All this he brings down on Abby, not listening to her explanations and assurances of love. Ebin swears that he will leave here tomorrow morning - to hell with this damned farm, he will get rich anyway and then he will return and take everything from them.

The prospect of losing Ebin terrifies Abby. She is ready for anything, if only Ebin would believe in her love. If the birth of a son killed his feelings, took away her only pure joy, she is ready to hate an innocent baby, despite the fact that she is his mother.

The next morning, Abby tells Ebin that she kept her word and proved that she loves him more than anything. Ebin doesn't have to go anywhere: their son is gone, she killed him. After all, the beloved said that if there had been no child, everything would have remained the same.

Ebin is shocked: he did not want the death of the baby at all. Abby misunderstood him. She is a murderer, sold herself to the devil, and there is no forgiveness for her. He immediately goes to the sheriff and tells everything - let them take her away, let them lock her in a cell. A sobbing Abby reiterates that she committed the crime for Ebin, she cannot live apart from him.

Now there is no point in hiding anything, and Abby tells her awakened husband about the affair with Ebin and how she killed their son. Cabot looks at his wife in horror, he is amazed, although he had previously suspected that something was wrong in the house. It was very cold here, so he was drawn to the barn, to the cows. And Ebin is a weakling, he, Cabot, would never go to inform on his woman ...

Ebin is at the farm before the sheriff - he ran all the way, he is terribly remorseful for his act, in the last hour he realized that he was to blame for everything and also that he was madly in love with Abby. He invites the woman to run, but she only sadly shakes her head: she needs to atone for her sin. Well, Ebin says, then he will go to prison with her - if he shares his punishment with her, he won't feel so alone. The sheriff arrives and takes Abby and Ebin away. Stopping on the threshold, he says that he really likes their farm. Great land!

V. I. Bernatskaya

(A Moon For the Misbegotten)

Play (1943, published 1957)

Events take us to the state of Connecticut, to the house of tenant farmer Phil Hogan. The action takes place in early September 1923 and at dawn the next day.

Hogan's three sons fled the house in turn - the father's temper was very heavy, and his hand was not lighter. Only the twenty-eight-year-old daughter Josie gets along with him, she is a match for her father - large, strong and at work "plows" for two. Father does not approach her: and he can hit back. Josie's reputation is not the best: they say that many of the local men can boast that they were successful with her. Her younger brother Mike, leaving his father's house, advises his sister to spin someone, it's time for her to calm down. Best of all, Jim Tyrone - although he is a drunkard, he is from a good family (Hogen owns him and rents a farm), and when he receives an inheritance, he will generally have a lot of money. Mike noticed that Josie looked at Jim more affectionately than at the others. He advises to lasso him when he is drunk as hell.

Phil Hogan had the same thought. Josie herself, however, is disgusted by the idea of ​​cheating. But when her father reminds her that they are just tenants here and that the same Jim, drunk, can sell the farm to the first person he meets, Josie thinks. Jim has already been made one offer, the father continues, I think from their neighbor Harder, this tycoon from Standard Oil - Tyrone has refused so far, but who knows ...

The conversation between father and daughter is interrupted by Jim Tyrone himself. He is, oddly enough, sober, but suffering from a hangover and asks Hougen for a glass of whiskey. Sipping alcohol, he says that Harder himself is going to visit them today, in whose pond, located next to the farm, the Hogen pigs got into the habit of walking. Harder suggests that neighbors regularly break down the fence separating their land to water their pigs nearby.

Harder has come to the Hogan farm, and Tyrone, hiding in the house, is choking with laughter, listening to the spectacle, which in many ways is arranged for him by father and daughter. Not giving the visitor the respect that he expects, they fall upon him with counter-accusations: he, they say, deliberately breaks the fence to lure the unfortunate pigs into the icy water - poor animals catch bronchitis, pneumonia and die like flies, and some just are poisoned by dirty and contaminated water with bacilli.

A dazed Harder doesn't know how to get away, and Jim and the Hogans laugh after him for a long time. Cheered up, Jim promises Josie not to sit up at the tavern tonight, but to come to her and spend the night admiring the moon and the night sky. There is no other girl like her in the world.

Several hours later. It's almost twelve, but Jim's still gone, A drunken song is heard - it's the father coming home. He brings down the already upset Josie with unpleasant news: it turns out that Jim Tyrone agreed to Harder's proposal. He, wanting to get rid of unpleasant neighbors as soon as possible, promised to pay Tyrone for the farm as much as ten thousand dollars. Tyrone agreed, although he had previously promised to give her up to Hogan for two.

Jim's betrayal hurts Josie in the heart, and she accepts her father's plan - to drag the man to bed so that Hogan and witnesses catch them early in the morning. Then it will be possible to force Tyrone to marry, or at least pay off.

It's already midnight. Jim finally shows up at the farm. To Josie's surprise, he is not drunk at all, and the girl has to make an effort to pump him up properly. And then drunk Jim laughingly says that the offended Harder is ready to pay ten thousand dollars for their farm. He pretended to agree, but tomorrow he would pull his nose at this narcissistic businessman and, of course, refuse. But that's tomorrow. And tonight they will have a special night: they will sit like this on the porch, and Jim, if Josie will allow it, will lay his head on her chest and fall asleep. After all, he knows: she is touchy - she only spreads rumors about her supposedly free behavior. This is what Josie is dear to him - purity, naturalness, disinterestedness.

Josie realizes that her father deceived her. It's good that she found out the truth in time - it's scary to think what she could have done. Jim would despise her. Jim is receiving an inheritance the other day - that's what the father, the old sinner, set his sights on. So Jim would be leaving here soon, living on Broadway, and she would never see him again.

Tonight, Jim is more open with Josie than ever. He has long felt like a "stepson of fate", his father - a hypocrite and a miser - he always hated, that one broke him, and the death of his beloved mother completed the job. He is now dead. Josie's heart is breaking with love and pity for Jim: the girl realized that what he told her was true: Tyrone is really the living dead. Neither she nor anyone else can help him. All she can do for him is to give an innocent night of love - to sit on the porch until morning, pressing his head to her, to make him feel like a child again.

At dawn, Hogan returns, alone, without witnesses. He sees a couple sitting on the steps and looks long, searchingly into Josie's face, afraid that he will get hard for lying. Josie does not make a scandal, only sadly says that she understands his calculation. Now she would leave the farm - leave him, as the brothers had done before. She doesn’t understand anything, Hogen plaintively objects, he just wanted them to be happy, because from the outside it’s clear that they love each other.

Tyrone wakes up, he is very embarrassed that he did not let the girl sleep at all. Nothing, Josie reassures him, because he wanted this night to be different from all the other nights he spent with women. Now it's time for him to leave, and in general they need to say goodbye - he is leaving and it is unlikely that they will ever meet again.

Left alone, Josie covers her face with her hands and cries. From the top of the stairs Hougen looks after Tyrone, his face full of bitterness. Josie looks up at her father: that's because the old rogue, conceived to play cupid. Okay, don't worry, she won't go anywhere and never leave him. No one is to blame for anything, it's just a damned life that happened. And Tyrone, well, God forbid that he come to terms with himself and find peace.

V. I. Bernatskaya

(The Big Sleep)

Roman (1939)

Thirty-three-year-old hero-narrator Philip Marleau, formerly of the Los Angeles District Attorney's office, is now a private detective investigating cases that his clients are determined not to go public with. He comes to the house of millionaire Guy Sternwood, who informs Marlo that someone Geiger is blackmailing his youngest daughter Carmen. In addition, the husband of his eldest daughter, Red Regan, disappeared somewhere, at one time an IRA officer who took part in the Dublin uprising, and then made good money selling alcohol illegally in America during the years of Prohibition. Sternwood also reports that at one time his daughter Carmen was blackmailed by a certain Joe Brody and he had to pay the latter five thousand dollars.

Marlo establishes surveillance of the Geiger bookstore and comes to the conclusion that the sale of second-hand books and rare editions is just a cover for the sale of products of a clearly pornographic nature. In the evening, Marlo begins to monitor Geiger's house, where he discovers a car belonging to Carmen. Soon shots are heard in the house. Penetrating inside, Marlo discovers the corpse of the owner and a completely naked Carmen in a state of drug intoxication. Apparently, she posed for the owner's camera.

Hastily delivering the girl to her father's house, Marlo returns to Geiger's house again, but the owner's corpse mysteriously disappears. The next morning, Marlo learns that a Sternwood Buick was found in the sea at the pier, and in it is the corpse of a man who worked as a driver for the Sternwoods and, apparently, was in a love affair with Carmen.

Resuming surveillance of Geiger's bookstore, Marlo discovers that the porno merchandise is being rushed to the apartment of the same Brody Sternwood mentioned earlier. Returning home, he finds his older sister Carmen Vivienne. She is trying to understand the purpose for which Marlo visited their house the day before, and in addition, she reports that she was sent photographs of naked Carmen and they demand five thousand dollars for the negative and prints. In principle, she is ready to get money - for example, from the owner of the Cypress casino, Eddie Mars, with whose wife, according to rumors, Red Regan ran away.

Marlo goes to Brodie's. There is also a blonde who worked in Geiger's store. Marlo reveals that he knows all about Geiger's business, and talks about the role that Brody played there, as well as about the fact that Carmen pointed out Brody as Geiger's killer. In the midst of negotiations, Carmen shows up and tries to shoot Brody. She threatens to tell the truth about Geiger's death and demands a photograph. She draws her revolver and fires at Brodie, but misses. She manages to be persuaded to go home, and Marlo gets the photos. Cornered, Brody admits he took them from Taylor, whom he tracked down at Geiger's house. He caught up with him in a secluded place and, having stunned him, took away the very photographs that he had taken from Geiger, having previously shot him.

The showdown is interrupted by a new doorbell, and Brody, who came out to open, is mortally wounded by an unknown visitor. Marlo is soon on his trail. This is someone Lindgren, who worked in the Geiger store and was associated with him in a homosexual relationship. Lindgren shot at Brody, as he was sure that it was Brody who killed his friend. Marlo takes him to Geiger's house, and he shows him where the corpse is. As for Taylor, after shooting Geiger in front of his beloved Carmen, and then losing incriminating photographs after colliding with Brody, he committed suicide by driving the car into the sea from the pier.

Formally, Marlo fulfilled the order of his client and dealt with those who blackmailed him, but professional passion makes him try to find out what happened to Red Regan. Eddie Mars, who showed no particular interest in the course of the police investigation into the disappearance of Regan and his wife, categorically denies any involvement in this case. He assures Marlo that he didn't kill Regan, who is inclined to believe him.

Returning to his home, Marlo finds a completely naked Carmen in his bed. With great difficulty, he manages to put this sex-obsessed person out the door. The next day, Marlo notices that he is being "grazed" by a man in a gray Plymouth. It turns out that a certain Harry Jones is ready to tell him some confidential data for two hundred dollars. He knows where Eddie Mars' wife is currently holed up - according to his information, she has been in a secluded place forty miles from Los Angeles since Red Regan disappeared.

Marlo is willing to pay for the information and promises to bring the money in the evening to the address given by Jones. Upon receipt of the fee, Jones promises to take Marlo to the same Agnes that worked with Brody, and there already give him the exact address of Mona Mars. However, appearing at the specified time at the specified location, Marlo discovers that Jones already has a guest. It turns out to be someone Canino, whom Eddie Mars uses from time to time as a hitman. Both of them were seriously frightened by the contact between Jones and Marlo. Canino asks Jones for Agnes' address, then buys him a cyanide drink and goes to deal with Agnes.

Marlo manages to get ahead of Canino. He meets with Agnes, and she, having received the required amount, informs him of the whereabouts of Mona Mars. Marlo goes to where the wife of Mars and the mistress of Red Regan is hiding. Canino meets him. When Marlo wakes up, he finds out that he is tightly tied to the sofa, and he also has handcuffs on his hands. With him in the room is a blonde, the same Mona Mars, which he was interested in. She assures Marlo that Eddie had nothing to do with Red Regan's disappearance, then unties him and tells him to leave quickly. But Marlo does not go far - he takes a revolver from there to his car, which he left on the highway, and returns back. He has no doubt that Canino will only return to finish off both him and his boss's wife.

Marlo's maneuver brings success. He manages to coax Canino out of the house and shoot him despite being handcuffed.

Marlo visits old man Sternwood again. He reproaches him for his initiative: after all, Marlo's task was only to deal with the blackmailer, and not to search for the missing Regan. He, however, with his usual frankness, declares that he knows better how to protect the interests of the client, and Geiger was just a small fry, probing Sternwood for vulnerability. By Marlo's calculations, it was Regan that was the weak spot, and Sternwood was not worried about money or because of his spoiled daughters. He just did not want to be deceived by a person who aroused his sincere sympathy.

After listening to this tirade, Sternwood instructs Marlo to continue investigating. But Marlo is already close to the solution. He runs into Carmen, who asks to be taught how to shoot. He agrees, but only where they will not be heard. He takes her to a secluded place chosen by her, hands her a revolver and goes to set up a target for shooting. Then she opens fire on him, and if Marlo had not prudently loaded the revolver with blank cartridges, he would not have brought the investigation to an end.

Having shot all the cartridges, Carmen collapses in a violent fit, and Marlo takes her home. There he meets Vivienne and tells her about the results of his experiment. Geiger blackmailed the general on orders from Mars. And if he agreed to pay, Eddie would have pumped a lot of money out of him, because he knew what happened to Red Regan. He was killed by Carmen Sternwood - apparently in retaliation for the fact that he rejected her sexual advances. Vivienne, however, does not intend to lock herself up. She admits that she found out about Carmen's act and asked Mars to help hush up the matter. She had no doubt that at the very first interrogation, the feeble-minded Carmen would have broken down and confessed, and that would have killed her father. Vivienne knew that Eddie Mars would not leave her so easily, but she saw no other way. She anxiously waits for what price Marlo will ask for silence. But he is not going to cash in on his gloomy discovery. He only demands that Vivienne find a reliable psychiatric hospital for her sister, and he himself will deal with Eddie Mars and make sure that he no longer bothers the Sternwoods.

S. B. Belov

(Ship of Fools)

Roman (1962)

August 1931. The German passenger steamer "Vera" leaves the Mexican port of Veracruz and is due to arrive in Bremerhaven in mid-September. From Mexico, torn apart by political passions, the ship goes to Germany, where National Socialism rears its head. The diverse passenger community - Germans, Swiss, Spaniards, Cubans, Americans - together constitute a cross-section of modern society on the eve of great upheavals, and portraits of these typical representatives of humanity are distinguished by psychological accuracy, to which the ruthlessness of a cartoonist is added.

At first, life on the ship goes on in the usual way: passengers get to know each other, exchange ritual remarks. But gradually, in the speeches of some of them, eloquent phrases begin to slip, behind which the ideology of totalitarianism, which has not yet been formalized officially, exists at the everyday level, is trying to declare itself publicly, be inscribed on banners and lead those who believe in the last and decisive battle with the enemies of the nation.

Lizzy Spekkenkiker, who sells lingerie, will insist that real German is spoken only in her native Hanover; Frau Rittendorf, a retired governess, writes in her diary that she believes in the all-conquering role of race; and the hunchback Herr Glocken, with his pitiful appearance, will make her think that children born with physical defects should be killed in the interests of mankind.

Herr Rieber, publisher of a women's magazine, argues in a similar way. He intends to enlighten women's minds with articles on the most important problems of our time. He boastfully reports that he has already agreed with one luminary about a highly scientific treatise on the need to destroy the crippled and other handicapped. When Lizzie, who is flirting with him, asks how to help the unfortunate inhabitants of the lower deck, where the Spaniards travel by day laborers, he replies: "Drive into a large furnace and turn on the gas," which plunges his interlocutor into paroxysms of laughter.

Even before the Nazis came to power, before the establishment of a totalitarian regime, ordinary passengers show amazing political foresight.

When it turns out that the German Freitag has a Jewish wife, the shipping beau monde unanimously expels the defiler of the race from their ranks. He is seated at the same table with the merchant Leventhal, who supplies religious items to Catholic churches. The Jew Leventhal, in turn, pours contempt on Freytag and especially his absent wife - she married a "goy" and defiled the purity of her race.

Gradually, on the ship, commanded by Captain Thiele, the prototype of the Great Reich is established. So far, things have not come to open terror, but the shipboard majority, including the ship's ideologist, the thoughtful fool Professor Hutten, has psychologically already accepted the "new order". Only the Fuhrer is needed. Captain Thiele, who suffers from indigestion and a sense of unrealized opportunities, longs to get into those. He watches an American gangster film and dreams of power: "he secretly reveled in this picture. Lawlessness, bloodthirsty madness flares up again and again, at any hour, in any unknown place - you won’t find it even on a map - but always among people whom according to the law, it is possible and necessary to kill, and he, Captain Thiele, is always in the center of events, commands and manages everything.

The modest charm of fascism captivates not only failed heroes like Herr Rieber and Captain Thiele. Quiet, meek creatures find no small consolation in the idea of ​​the power of racial or class chosenness. The quite pretty Frau Schmitt, who suffered from the vulgarity of Herr Rieber and sympathized with Freytag after the latter was expelled from "pure" society, is suddenly filled with self-confidence, determination from now on to continue to defend her rights in the fight against circumstances: "Frau Schmitt's soul rejoiced, a warm wave washed her a feeling of blood kinship with a great and glorious race: even if it itself is the smallest, most insignificant of all, but how many advantages it has!

Most of the characters are torn out of their usual settled way of life, deprived of strong roots. Frau Schmitt is carrying the body of her dead husband to her homeland, where she has not been for a long time. The director of a German school in Mexico, Gutten, returns to Germany, although there awaits him with complete uncertainty. Exchanging Mexico for Switzerland, the former owner of the Lutz hotel with his wife and eighteen-year-old daughter. Many do not know what the warmth of a hearth is, others, on the contrary, suffocate in its suffocating atmosphere (Karl Baumgartner, a lawyer, is a hopeless drunkard, and his wife is angry with the whole world). These wandering atoms, according to the laws of social chemistry, are quite capable of merging into a totalitarian mass.

Mass totalitarian movements, Porter recalls an old sociological truth, arise when the inert middle is processed from above and below - imbued with the ideas that the intellectual elite develops, charged with the energy of declassed elements. When the intellectual and the criminal work in unison, a single impulse is born. The respectable bourgeois Porters are shocked by the base instincts of the Spanish dancers, they are outraged when they hurricane through the shops of Tenerife, expropriating everything that is badly lying, and then involving passengers in a fraudulent lottery, playing stolen goods. But the moralists of the first and second grades do not suspect that there are much stronger ties between them and the "dancers" than it might seem. The criminal immorality of the dancers only sets off the hidden shamelessness of the ribers and tile, who will still show themselves during the years of Nazism.

Writing out a gloomy collective portrait of the Fuhrer's future loyal subjects, Porter does not make allowances for representatives of other nations.

The love between the Americans Jenny Brown and David Scott is fading, dying in the struggle of vanity. Jenny, by the way, was too fond of the struggle for the rights of those to whom she had the most remote relation, and the constant discontent and anger of the artist David is a dangerous symptom of creative failure.

Porter's heroes are quite successful in the science of hatred. The Aryans hate the Jews, the Jews in the person of the businessman Leventhal - the Aryans. Young Johann hates his uncle Willibald Graff, a dying preacher whom he looks after like a nurse for fear of being left without an inheritance. Texas engineer Danny is convinced that blacks are inferior creatures, and his thoughts are focused on money, women and hygiene. Seemingly intelligent and kindly Mrs. Treadwell dreams that others would not pester her and bother her with their idiotic problems. She despises Lizzy Spekkenkicker, but calmly tells her Freytag's family secret, which he told her in a moment of revelation. And during a party with dancing and a lottery, Mrs. Treadwell, having poured herself alone, terribly beats the unlucky Danny, who was chasing a Spanish dancer and made a mistake by the door. She hits him with the heel of her shoe in the face, as if taking out on him all the resentment and disappointment accumulated over the years.

Swede Hansen seems to be a radical. "Kill your enemies, not your friends," he shouts to the quarreling passengers from the lower deck. He releases angry remarks about modern society - and it seems to be on point, but Freytag noticed in this oil dealer "a property inherent in almost all people: their abstract reasoning and generalizations, thirst for Justice, hatred of tyranny ... too often only a mask, a screen, but behind it lies some personal offense, very far from the philosophical abstractions that they seem to care about.

The fire of mutual hatred blazes on the ship, hiding behind the need to keep up appearances and follow instructions. The ship's treasurer is polite and prudent, for many years he has been feeling the desire to kill everyone to whom he is forced to smile and bow. The maid is indignant, who is ordered to bring a cup of broth to the Gutten dog. The old bulldog was thrown overboard by the mischievous children of the Spanish dancers, but the Basque stoker saved him - at the cost of his own life, an act that puzzled first and second class passengers. The angry monologue of the maid - "the rich man's dog is given meat broth to drink, and the broth is cooked from the bones of the poor" - the bellboy interrupts: "But for me, let both, and the dog and the stoker, would have drowned, and you and them, the old fool ... " Well, a holiday on a ship becomes a real battle, when, under the influence of alcohol and general excitement, the townsfolk turn into barbarians. Mrs. Treadwell cracks down on Danny, Hansen breaks the bottle on the head of Rieber, who has always annoyed him. There is a war of all against all ...

However, after the evening orgy, life on the ship returns to its usual course, and soon the ship enters the port of destination. To the sounds of the Tannenbaum, the passengers disembark without further ado. Uncertainty lies ahead.

S. B. Belov

Tropic of Cancer

Roman (1934)

The experimental field in which the paradoxical and contradictory course of one human life unfolds - the life of an impoverished American in Paris at the turn of the 1920s-1930s - is, in essence, the entire Western civilization of the XNUMXth century, gripped by a deadly crisis.

With Henry, the hero of the book, we first encounter in cheap furnished apartments in Montparnasse at the end of the second year of his life in Europe, where he was led by an irresistible disgust for the regimented business, imbued with the spirit of wingless practicality and profit, the way of life of his compatriots. Unable to settle down in the petty-bourgeois circle of Brooklyn immigrants from whose family he comes, "Joe" (as some of his current friends call him) became a voluntary outcast from his materially mired fatherland. He is connected with America only by the memory of his ex-wife Monet, who returned to his homeland, and the constant thought of a money transfer from overseas, which is about to come in his name. For the time being, he shares the roof with the writer-emigrant Boris, who is interrupted by casual earnings, he is constantly obsessed with the thought of how to get money for food, and also sporadically rolling bouts of erotic attraction, from time to time quenched with the help of priestesses of an ancient profession, with whom the streets are teeming and lanes of the bohemian quarters of the French capital.

The hero-narrator is a typical "tumbleweed"; from countless everyday troubles, forming a chain of fragments, fragments, he is invariably rescued by intuitive common sense and an indestructible craving for life seasoned with a decent dose of cynicism. He does not dissemble at all, admitting to himself: "I am healthy. Incurably healthy. No sorrows, no regrets. No past, no future. The present is enough for me."

Paris, "like a huge contagious patient, scattered on the bed <...> Beautiful streets do not look so disgusting just because pus is pumped out of them." But Henry / Joe lives in his natural environment of whores, pimps, brothel dwellers, adventurers of all stripes ... He easily fits into the life of the Parisian "bottom", in all its naturalistic ugliness. But a powerful spiritual principle, a craving for creativity paradoxically coexist in the nature of Henry / Joe with the instinctive voice of the womb, turning the shocking physiological details of the story about the shadow side of being into an enchanting polyphony of the sublime and earthly.

Despising the fatherland as an exemplary citadel of vulgar bourgeoisism, not harboring the slightest illusions about the prospects for the entire modern civilization, he is driven by an ambitious desire to create a book - "a protracted insult, a spit in the face of Art, a kick in the ass to God, Man, Fate, Time, Ayubvi, Beauty ... "- and in the process of this, at every step, he encounters the inescapable strength of Culture accumulated by mankind over the centuries. And the Companions to whom Henry/Joe's half-starved existence nailed - vainly seeking recognition writers Carl, Boris, Van Norden, playwright Sylvester, painters Kruger, Mark Swift and others - one way or another find themselves in the face of this dilemma.

In the chaos of cancer-stricken alienation of the existence of an innumerable number of loners, when the Parisian streets turn out to be the only refuge of the character, each accidental encounter - with a fellow sufferer, drinking buddy or prostitute - can unfold into a "happening" with unpredictable consequences. Expelled from the Villa Borghese due to the appearance of the housekeeper Elsa, Henry/Joe finds shelter and a table in the house of the playwright Sylvester and his girlfriend Tanya; then finds shelter in the house of a Hindu trading in pearls; unexpectedly gets a position as a proofreader in an American newspaper, which a few months later, due to a whim of chance, he loses; then, having become fed up with the company of his sex-obsessed friend Van Norden and his eternally drunk cohabitant Masha (according to rumors, a Russian princess), he becomes an English teacher at a lyceum in Dijon for some time, in order to end up again penniless in the spring of next year. Parisian streets, in an even deeper conviction that the world is going to hell, that it is nothing more than "a gray desert, a carpet of steel and cement", in which, however, there is a place for the imperishable beauty of the Sacré-Coeur, inexplicable the magic of the paintings of Matisse ("... the triumphant color of true life is so stunning"), Whitman's poetry ("Whitman was a poet of the Body and a poet of the Soul. The first and last poet. Today it is almost impossible to decipher, he is like a monument, dotted with hieroglyphs, the key to which is lost "). There is a place for the regal round dance of eternal nature, coloring the urban landscapes of Paris in unique tones, and for the majestic flow of the Seine, triumphant over the cataclysms of time: "Here, where this river so smoothly carries its waters between the hills, lies a land with such a rich past that, your thought did not run far back, this earth has always been and there has always been a person on it.

Shaking off, as it seems to him, the oppressive yoke of belonging to a bourgeois civilization based on unrighteous foundations, Henry / John does not know the ways and possibilities to resolve the contradiction between the entropy-ridden society and eternal nature, between the wingless existence of contemporaries mired in petty fuss and again and again soaring above the dull horizon of everyday life with the spirit of creativity. However, in the passionate confession of G. Miller's autobiography, which stretched over many volumes (the "Tropic of Cancer" was followed by "Black Spring" (1936) and "Tropic of Capricorn" (1939), then the second novel trilogy and a dozen essay books) imprinted such significant signs and features of the human condition in our turbulent and dramatic century, which the eccentric American, who stood at the origins of the avant-garde quest for the literature of the modern West, still has many students and followers today. And even more readers.

N. M. Paltsev

(The Postman Always Rings Twice)

Roman (1934)

Twenty-four-year-old hero-narrator Frank Chambers roams America, never staying anywhere for a long time. And now, having settled down to work for the Greek Nick Papadakis, the owner of a gas station and a diner near Los Angeles, he is sure that he will soon be on the road again. But a meeting with the black-haired Cora, Papadakis's wife, changes his plans. They are burned by the fire of all-consuming passion.

Cora tells Frank that she loves him and hates her husband. The lovers plot to kill the Greek, intending to frame it as a bathroom accident. But the lights go out at the wrong time, and Kora fails to complete the carefully designed operation. The Greek ends up in the hospital with a skull injury, and although the doctors are surprised by the nature of the damage, no trouble for Cora and Frank follows.

Frank suggests that Cora leave her husband, the column, and the diner, but Cora is hesitant. Then Frank leaves alone, but not far. Papadakis meets him by chance in the town where he earns money by playing billiards, and persuades him to return. Cora pushes Frank to make a second attempt to get rid of Paladakis: the Greek wants a child, which makes Cora sick.

A new plan - with a staging of a car accident - is being carried out. Papadakis is killed by a blow from a wrench, Frank's car goes downhill, a disheveled Cora stops a hitchhiker on the road, begging for help.

Frank is hospitalized with broken arms and ribs. The prosecutor's office takes over the case, and the position of Cora and Frank becomes very precarious: the interests of the insurance company are affected, and she does not spare money for investigations. If it turns out that Papadakis died in a traffic accident, the company will lose ten thousand dollars. Prosecutor Sackett has a stranglehold on Cora and Frank, and they are about ready to confess. Under pressure from the prosecutor, Frank files a complaint against Cora, accusing her of intent to kill him, otherwise the prosecutor may see a conspiracy between them.

On the advice of the warden, Frank turns to Katz's lawyer. He promises to help, but at the first hearing he finds Cora guilty. In desperation, she gives written testimony, where she confesses to the murder and also talks about the first failed attempt. However, she denies knowing about the insurance. Katz takes her testimony and begins to act. It soon turns out that he was not going to set up clients, but only made a clever distraction, lulling his opponent's vigilance.

Katz finds out that the Greek had two more insurance policies, and if Cora is found guilty of killing her husband, the other two companies will have a hard time - there is a statement by Chambers about his injuries. Insurance companies are forced to negotiate, and the detective, acting on the instructions of the first company, changes his testimony: there was no intentional murder, only careless driving took place, for which Cora receives six months probation.

Katz is so happy to defeat Sackket's old rival that he doesn't even take money from the defendants, and they gain not only freedom, but also ten thousand dollars of insurance. Katz's main prize is a check issued by the prosecutor for one hundred dollars, which he lost to the lawyer, arguing that Cora could not get out.

But freedom and money do not bring joy. Cora and Frank's memories of how they betrayed each other are too fresh. Too much dirt has raised the Paladakis case.

The connection, however, continues, although the former ecstasy has disappeared. The lovers drink a lot and fight a lot - primarily over whether to leave, as Frank suggests, or stay, as Cora insists.

But then Cora's mother falls ill, and she leaves for her in Iowa. In her absence, Frank meets the pretty blonde Madge Allen. She suggests that Frank go somewhere far away, but it all ends with a vacation in Mexico. The sudden return of Cora, who has buried her mother, changes their plans.

A certain Kennedy appears, who previously worked for Katz. He has Cora's statement, which could still cause them a lot of trouble, and is ready to sell it for twenty-five thousand. But the blackmailer underestimated his "clients", who manage not only to take away the gun from him, but also to force them to call their accomplices with compromising evidence. So, Kennedy and his cronies leave without a sip, and Frank burns the original, copies, and the negative. He tries to encourage Cora, assuring her that this is over, but she does not share his optimism: "It's all over, you say? Original, copies, negative? But I'm not finished. I have a million of these copies, no worse than you burned .In the head."

The danger once again passed Cora and Frank, but there is no idyll at all. Cora finds out about Madge. Their relationship is on the verge of breaking up. One day, Frank finds Cora with a suitcase - she wants to leave. An explanation follows, from which, among other things, Frank learns that Cora is pregnant. She wrote a note where she tried to explain everything, put it in the cash register, but the departure still did not take place. Frank wants Cora to become his legal wife. She agrees. For the first time in months, the past does not frighten them. They think about the future.

Soon, while swimming in the sea, Cora begins to experience severe pain. There is a real danger of a miscarriage. Frank puts her in a car and takes her to the hospital. Every minute is worth its weight in gold, and he adds gas. But he can not overtake the truck, which is terribly in the way. Then he makes an attempt to go around him on the right, contrary to the rules of the road, and this leads to trouble. The car gets into an accident. Cora dies on the spot, Frank is safe and sound.

Prosecutor Sackett gets a great chance to get even with lawyer Katz, and he does not intend to miss it. The lawyer takes everything from Frank that he received from the insurance company. He fights like a lion, but all his efforts are in vain. A fatal role is played by the very note that Cora left in the cash drawer before her failed departure. There she writes not only that she loves Frank - the whole story of Papadakis pops up again, and in the most unfavorable light. This decides the case against Frank. From the very beginning, the judge is against him, and it took the jury only five minutes to reach a guilty verdict.

Frank sits on death row and finishes his story.

He thinks of Kora. He is haunted by the thought that then, in the car, in the last moments before his death, Cora might think that he still decided to kill her. He wants to believe in the rightness of the priest Father McConnell, who assures him that there is life after death. He just needs to meet Cora and explain everything to her.

His earthly existence is coming to an end. Justice does not hesitate, and all petitions for clemency are rejected.

The last paragraph of the novel is: "They've come for me. Father McConnell says prayer helps. If you've read this far, pray for Cora and me to be together no matter where..."

S. B. Belov

(The Maltese Falcon)

Roman (1930)

A young and beautiful woman appears in the waiting room of private detective Sam Spade. She introduces herself as Miss Wonderly and reports that she came to San Francisco after her sister, who had run away with her lover. She wants to bring her home, and tonight she will meet with a young man who promises to then take her to the fugitive. Spade's companion Miles Archer, who has appeared in the office, expresses his readiness to accompany Miss Wonderly in order to avoid a dirty trick from a certain Floyd Thursby.

Spade soon receives grim news: Archer has been killed. A little later, Thursby is also found dead. The police suspect Spade of settling scores. The same, protecting, as befits a private detective, the interests of the client, refuses to disclose the details of the case. However, it soon turns out that Miss Wonderly has misled Spade with the story about her sister. Her real name is Bridget O'Shaughnessy, and the clouds are actually gathering over her head. She asks for protection, although she refuses to explain what exactly happened.

To Spade is a certain Joel Cairo. He is trying to recover the item he has lost, which he suspects may be in Spade's possession. Convinced that his suspicions are unfounded, Cairo invites Spade to find this valuable item for a reward of five thousand dollars. When Spade tells about this visit to Bridget O'Shaughnessy, she is dismayed and begs not to leave her to her fate. Spade arranges for her and Cairo something like a confrontation, and the girl agrees to return for a certain amount the figurine of interest to Cairo with the image of a falcon.

The policemen come and take away Cairo "to clarify the circumstances," and the girl says that the figurine was obtained in Constantinople from the Russian general Kemidov. Suspecting that Cairo was unlikely to pay for the job, she and Thursby hurriedly left Constantinople. However, she did not trust Thursby either, believing that he would most likely try to trick her. Something more than a business partnership develops between her and Spade. They end up in bed. But in the morning, while Bridget is still sleeping, Spade visits her apartment and searches it, but does not find the falcon.

Spade notices a young man following him. His name is Wilmer and he is the right-hand man of a man named Kaspar Gutman, who also craves contact with Spade. It is Gutman who tells Spade what the figurine is, around which passions boil. At one time, it was made by the knights of the Order of St. John as a gift to Emperor Charles V, who gave them the island of Malta. But the galley, on which, among other valuable cargoes, there was a figurine, did not get to the port of destination. The ship was captured by Algerian pirates, and then the golden falcon begins to wander around the wide world, passing from hand to hand. As a precaution, one of the owners covers the falcon with black paint. Gutman gets on the trail of a falcon when it gets to a Greek businessman. It would seem that the cherished goal is within easy reach, but the Greek dies under mysterious circumstances, and the figurine disappears from his house. After spending seventeen long years searching, Gutman finally finds a falcon in Constantinople, but its current owner, a retired Russian general, does not want to part with a trinket, the true value of which, apparently, he does not represent. Then you have to go on theft, nevertheless, the falcon does not fall into the hands of Gutman. Gutman has no doubt that only Miss O'Shaughnessy knows the whereabouts of the falcon, and since traces of her are lost in San Francisco, he offers Spade a considerable sum of money for his help in finding the falcon. But the tempting offer turns into a bluff: a drug is mixed into Spade's whiskey, he is unconscious for several hours and, waking up, realizes that he was simply taken out of the game in order to have time to find Bridget without interference.

Bridget disappears somewhere, and Spade has to work hard before he realizes that she, most likely, went to meet the steamer "Paloma", which arrived from Hong Kong. When a fire breaks out aboard the Paloma, Spade realizes that this is only the first link in a chain of new dramatic events. Meanwhile, the police tell Spade that Archer was shot with a gun by Thursby, who had previously been in trouble with American law enforcement. As to who killed Thursby, there is still no clarity, and Spade's suspicions have not yet been cleared.

Spade manages to establish that Bridget O'Shaughnessy saw Jacobi, the captain of the Paloma, but then Gutman and company joined them. While Spade and his secretary are pondering what may have happened to Bridget, a tall, thin man appears at the door of the office with a bundle in his hands. Unable to explain anything, he falls dead - death was the result of multiple bullet wounds. In the bundle is the same Maltese falcon, because of which all the commotion happened.

The phone rings. Bridget O'Shaughnessy is in the Alexandria Hotel and asks to come - she is allegedly in terrible danger. Having handed over the falcon to the storage room, Spade goes to rescue the girl, but the alarm turns out to be false. Spade returns to his home, where Gutman, Cairo, Wilmer, and Bridget are already waiting for him.

Trade begins. Spade is willing to accept $XNUMX in exchange for the bird, but demands that Wilmer be handed over to the police as the killer of Thursby and Jacoby. After long negotiations, Gutman agrees. Soon Spade's secretary brings a package with a falcon. With tears of emotion in his eyes, Gutman unfolds the paper, begins to scrape off the black paint with a knife, but, to everyone's shock, under the black protective layer is not gold, but lead. The jewel turns out to be fake. Gutman, however, does not give in to despondency for long. He expresses his readiness to continue the search to the bitter end. Spade returns most of the amount he received, Gutman, Cairo and Wilmer are removed, but after they leave, Spade contacts the police and turns over the whole trio. However, the police find only Cairo and Wilmer alive, the Boy did not forgive his boss for treason and shot him with the entire clip from the pistol.

Now Spade is forcing Bridget O'Shaughnessy to tell the real story. Her story is a bizarre mixture of truth and lies, but Sam Spade is hard to fool. Thanks to his leading questions, corrections and comments, the truth finally emerges, which cannot be called bright.

Miles Archer was shot by Bridget O'Shaughnessy, not Floyd Thursby. And it was done on a cold calculation. Fearing her accomplice, she decided to take him out of the game by any means. Having killed Archer with his weapon and knowing what a difficult relationship Thursby had with the American police, she thereby almost completely took him out of the pursuit of the falcon, which they obtained by joint efforts in Constantinople, and then were forced to hastily leave Gutman and company. It was then that she came up with the idea to send the figurine in a roundabout way through Hong Kong on the Paloma. But Gutman's too-fast appearance in San Francisco forced her to turn again to Sam Spade's detective agency. An insidious intriguer, ruthlessly using people to achieve her personal goals, and then discarding them as unnecessary, she still hopes to get away with it, hoping to play on Spade's feelings for her. But that genuinely tough detective doesn't let emotions get the better of him. He understands that, having saved Bridget from danger now, he will remain her hostage for life. This woman's love is as false as the Maltese falcon. And the police in the final takes the fatal Bridget into custody.

S. B. Belov

Epic trilogy (1930, 1932. 1936)

The trilogy includes the novels 42nd Parallel, 1919 and Big Money (1936, not translated into Russian). They give a general picture of American life in the first three decades of the 42th century: "1919 parallel" - the rise of the labor movement in the USA; "1929" - the first world war and the impact of the October Revolution; "Big money" - the world crisis of XNUMX

Each novel consists of four elements, alternating in a certain sequence - portraits of literary heroes, biographies of historical figures, "News of the Day" (newspaper reports) and "Camera Obscura" (author's digressions). The development of the plot is driven not by the fate of this or that hero, but by the course of history, embodied in documentary material ("News of the Day" recreates the historical background of the era on the basis of documents) and in the biographies of historical figures. All together, this reveals the main trends in the development of American civilization, which, according to the author, is heading towards a crisis.

During the period of work on the trilogy, Dos Passos was sympathetic to democratic and communist ideas, in which he later became disappointed. His works are an attempt to create an American epic of the 1898th century. with a strong critique of the American way, from the Spanish-American War of 1927 to the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti in XNUMX. The trilogy features twelve characters representing various sectors of society: the working class, the intelligentsia, businessmen.

A critical attitude to the American reality of the 42th century, which crossed out the "American dream", a sense of crisis in a country that claims to become a symbol of the new century, are already present in the title of the first novel. Its meaning is revealed by an epigraph from "American Climatology" by E. W. Hodgins, where it is said that the XNUMXnd parallel of north latitude, crossing the United States, is the central axis of hurricanes moving from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean. By analogy, Dos Passos depicts how hurricanes are born in the social life of America (growth of the labor movement, strikes, falling stock prices), however, like the author of Climatology, who did not dare to predict the weather, the author of the trilogy does not undertake to explain the nature of the hurricanes of history and predict them direction. Yet the chaos of the world, embodied in the great bourgeois city, is for Dos Passos a sign that this civilization is heading for ruin.

The novel is opened by "News of the Day" - it is an outwardly disorderly collection of headlines, excerpts from articles that break off in the middle of a phrase. This montage, first used by a writer in American literature, is a stream of consciousness of a newspaper reader whose eyes flicker from headline to headline. The author tries to give the impression that he is not involved in the selection of these historical realities, but, in fact, he introduces the reader into the atmosphere of a certain historical period. "News of the Day" conveys the movement of time, fixes certain time milestones in the development of American society. The possession of Cuba after victory in the Spanish-American War, the suppression of the rebellion in the Philippines, the Anglo-Boer War, the jubilation over the success of the United States in the colonial war against Spain, expressed in the words of Senator Albert J. Beveridge: "The twentieth century will be the century of America. The thought of America will dominate it. America's progress will show him the way. America's deeds will immortalize him." Such is the historical background of the beginning of the trilogy, the entire content of which refutes the words of the senator. There are reports in newspaper reports of falling stocks, that Wall Street is "shocked", and so on.

The fate of Mack is at the center of the first novel - he begins his working life traveling around the country with a certain Bingham, a wandering charlatan who hides behind academic degrees and sells books, a very characteristic figure for America at the beginning of the century. Then Mack becomes an activist in the labor movement, but he acts not so much out of conviction as under the influence of mood. After a fight with his wife, he travels to Mexico to see the revolution with his own eyes. Mack is not a convinced revolutionary and is careful not to advertise his participation in the Industrial Workers of the World trade union organization in order not to lose his job.

Arriving in Mexico to "see" the revolution, he only first communicates with workers and peons, and then finds himself a place in a safer and more attractive bourgeois environment for him. The revolutionary events themselves pass him by, although Mack declares that he wants to join Zapata's army. Emiliano Salata and Pancho Villa are the leaders of the revolutionary army, who, after the overthrow of the dictator Porfirio Diaz in 1910, led the radical wing of the revolution. They were opposed by representatives of various groups of the national bourgeoisie - President Madero, General Huerta, President Carranza, who was killed by officers of his headquarters. At the time of the flight from Mexico City of the government of Carranza and the attack on the city of the revolutionary army, Mac is in the capital. However, by this time he had already become a bookseller and he did not want to leave his bookshop and join the revolution.

Ben Compton submits his life more consistently to the revolution. an intelligent boy who graduates from high school with an essay on the American political system eventually begins to feel the hostility of this system to the common man. Ben becomes an agitator, goes to jail. Subordinating his life to the service of the working class, he suppresses his personal feelings, shows callousness to his loved ones. It is symbolic that he celebrates his birthday in handcuffs on the train, along with a policeman accompanying him to the place of detention.

The representative of that America, which the author does not accept, is the prudent businessman John Ward Moorhouse. If Ben Compton subordinates everything to the service of the revolution, then Moorhouse subordinates everything to his career, the desire to take a higher place in society. The son of a railroad warehouseman, he starts his "way up" as a book distributor, then attends the University of Philadelphia, working in a real estate office. Moving up the ranks, Moorehouse marries a rich woman, divorces her, then marries another rich woman and rises to a prominent position in society, becoming a propaganda specialist and an active fighter against the trade union movement. During the revolution in Mexico, Moorehouse, acting on behalf of major US financiers, tries to find out about the state of affairs with Mexican oil, which is the subject of general interest, and to find out the reasons for Carranza's opposition to American investors.

Representatives of different strata of society are shown by Dos Passos with encyclopedic completeness:

Janey Williams - daughter of a retired captain, stenographer, works as Moorhouse's secretary;

Eleanor Stoddard - the daughter of a worker from the Chicago slaughterhouse, becomes a decorative artist, is with Moorhouse in the organization of the Red Cross;

Charlie Anderson starts his life as an auto mechanic, serves in the army and becomes a pilot there, fights in France. Returning to America, makes a fortune in the aircraft industry, dies in a car accident;

Evelyn Hatchins is the daughter of a Protestant minister who, like Eleanor Stoddard, is a decorative artist working for the Red Cross in Paris, who commits suicide by taking a large dose of sleeping pills;

Richard Ellsworth Savage - lawyer, renounces leftist views, serves at Moorhouse;

Joe Williams, brother of Janey Williams, serves as a sailor in the Navy, deserts;

Margot Dowling, from a family of actors, becomes a movie star in Hollywood;

Mary French is a member of the labor movement who is imprisoned for speaking out against the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti.

The construction of the biography of each of the literary heroes, despite some differences, strictly follows a certain scheme, reminiscent of a sociological questionnaire: the place and date of birth, parents' occupations, education, hobbies, and marital status are indicated. This desire to systematize factual material, to impartiality, embodied in documentary, becomes an end in itself for Dos Passos, and, despite the difference in lifestyle and social status, his heroes almost do not differ from each other - their individuality is not revealed, although they are taken into account and the smallest details of their biographies are described. The most important milestones in the development of American society are given in portraits of historical figures. There are twenty-five of them, and they represent the labor movement, the world of business, science, art, and the press. The gallery of historical portraits is opened by Eugene Debs, a leader of the labor movement, who, together with Bill Haywood, founded the trade union organization "Industrial Workers of the World" in 1905. The author writes about him with great warmth, calling him "The Friend of Mankind".

Chapter "Wizard of Botany" tells of the famous plant breeder Luther Burbank, who "made a pipe dream come true about green grass in winter, seedless plums, seedless berries ... a thornless cactus." The author outlines a certain parallel with Burbank's hybridization: "America is also a hybrid. America could use natural selection" - perhaps as a counterbalance to social chaos.

Big Bill Chapter talks about Bill Heywood, one of the founders of the American Communist Party.

Chapter "Boy Orator from Plata" - not without irony, the story of William Jennings Bryan, a politician who repeatedly ran for president. As a boy, he took a prize in rhetoric, and his "silver voice" "enchanted the farmers of the great prairies" - Brian preached bimetallism, that is, unlimited coinage from cheap silver. Thus, the ruined farmers hoped to pay their debts to banks, which, on the contrary, were interested in a monetary unit of gold. Soon a new method of extracting gold from ore was invented, and there was no more need for a prophet of silver - Brian's demagogic campaign failed. However, "The silver tongue continued to ring in the big mouth, causing pacifism, fundamentalism, sobriety" - Brian switched to preaching morality and demanded that Darwin's theory be banned from teaching in schools.

Chapter "The Great Peacemaker" is dedicated to the steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie, who "believed in oil, believed in steel, always saved money." The image of a philanthropist and pacifist is debunked by a laconic ending - it turns out that the peacemaker, who donated millions to the cause of peace, to libraries and science, did this "always, but not during the war." Thus, Carnegie, who always saved up “on small things” and put every dollar into circulation, profits from war and peace ...

"Wizard of Electricity" - a story about the outstanding inventor Edison, the creator of the electric light bulb, who managed to take his place in the business world.

"Proteus" - the story of the inventor, worldly helpless scientist Karl Steinmetz, mathematician and electrical engineer. Although he is "allowed" to do a lot - "to be a socialist", for example, to write letters to Lenin, he is completely dependent on the owners, General Electric, being the "most valuable piece of equipment" of this company.

The author's lyrical digressions are also important in the narrative - "Camera Obscura" - a stream of consciousness, a personal commentary on the events of the era, an appeal to the reader. The internal monologue reveals the author's point of view on the American path in history, which led to the collapse of the illusion of universal justice and fraternity, the "American dream" remains a dream. The country is split into two nations, technological progress is not yet a guarantee of universal happiness. Against the backdrop of the success of urbanization, Dos Passos' reflections are becoming more and more bleak: a society created by the efforts of millions of people, but whose goal is not the well-being of a person, but profit - "big money", is heading for collapse. The trilogy ends with such a crash, America's greatest failure - the crisis of 1929. A hurricane sweeps over the 42nd parallel, a person is not able to cope with the elements, he is only a toy in the hands of blind forces that dominate the world and essentially make history.

A. P. Shishkin

(The Great Gatsby)

Roman (1925)

"If you measure the personality of her ability to express herself, then in Gatsby there was something truly magnificent, some kind of heightened sensitivity to all the promises of life ... It was a rare gift of hope, a romantic fuse that I have never seen in anyone else."

Nick Carraway comes from a respectable wealthy family in a small town in the Midwest. In 1915 he graduated from Yale University, then fought in Europe; returning to his native town after the war, "could not find a place for himself" and in 1922 moved east - to New York, to study credit business. He settled in the suburbs: on the outskirts of the Long Island Strait, two completely identical capes protrude into the water, separated by a narrow bay:

East Egg and West Egg; in West Egg, between two luxurious villas, and perched a little house, which he rented for eighty dollars a month. In the more fashionable East Egg lives his second cousin Daisy. She is married to Tom Buchanan. Tom is fabulously rich, he studied at Yale at the same time as Nick, and even then Nick was very unsympathetic to his aggressively flawed demeanor. Tom started cheating on his wife on their honeymoon; and now he does not consider it necessary to hide from Nick his connection with Myrtle Wilson, the wife of the owner of a gas station and auto repair, which is located halfway between West Egg and New York, where the highway runs almost close to the railroad and from a quarter of a mile runs beside her. Daisy also knows about her husband's infidelities, it torments her; from his first visit to them, Nick had the impression that Daisy needed to run away from this house immediately.

Music plays in Nick's neighbor's villa on summer evenings; on weekends, his Rolls-Royce turns into a shuttle bus to New York, transporting huge numbers of guests, and a multi-passenger Ford runs between the villa and the station. On Mondays, eight servants and a specially hired second gardener remove traces of destruction all day.

Soon Nick receives an official invitation to Mr. Gatsby's party and turns out to be one of the very few invited: they did not expect an invitation there, they just came there. No one in the crowd of guests knows the host closely; not everyone knows him by sight. His mysterious, romantic figure is of keen interest - and speculation is multiplying in the crowd: some claim that Gatsby killed a man, others that he is a bootlegger, von Hindenburg's nephew and second cousin of the devil, and during the war he was a German spy. It is also said that he studied at Oxford. In the crowd of his guests, he is lonely, sober and reserved. The society that enjoyed Gatsby's hospitality repaid him by not knowing anything about him. Nick meets Gatsby almost by accident: after talking with some man - they turned out to be fellow soldiers - he noticed that he was somewhat embarrassed by the position of a guest who was unfamiliar with the owner, and received in response: "So it's me - Gatsby."

After several meetings, Gatsby asks Nick for a favor. Embarrassed, he beats around the bush for a long time, as proof of his respectability, he presents a medal from Montenegro, which he was awarded in the war, and his Oxford photograph; finally, quite childishly, he says that Jordan Baker will state his request - Nick met her at Gatsby's, and met at his sister Daisy's house: Jordan was her friend. The request was simple - to invite Daisy to his place for tea sometime, so that, allegedly by chance, in a neighborly way, Gatsby could see her, Jordan said that in the fall of 1917 in Louisville, their hometown with Daisy, Daisy and Gatsby , then a young lieutenant, loved each other, but were forced to part; he was sent to Europe, and she married Tom Buchanan a year and a half later. But before the wedding dinner, having thrown the groom's gift - a pearl necklace worth three hundred and fifty thousand dollars - into the trash, Daisy got drunk like a shoemaker, and, clutching a letter in one hand and a bottle of Sauternes in the other, begged her friend to refuse on her behalf groom. However, they put her in a cold bath, gave her a sniff of ammonia, put a necklace around her neck, and she "married like a pretty one."

The meeting took place; Daisy saw his house (for Gatsby this was very important); the festivities at the villa ceased, and Gatsby replaced all the servants with others "who know how to keep silent," for Daisy began to visit him often. Gatsby also met Tom, who showed an active rejection of himself, his house, his guests and became interested in the source of his income, which is probably doubtful.

One day, after lunch at Tom and Daisy's, Nick, Jordan and Gatsby and their hosts go to New York for fun. Everyone understands that Tom and Gatsby have entered into a decisive battle for Daisy. At the same time, Tom, Nick and Jordan are driving in Gatsby's cream Rolls-Royce, and he and Daisy are in Tom's dark blue Ford. Halfway through, Tom stops by to refuel at Widson's - he announces that he intends to leave forever and take his wife away: he suspected something was wrong, but does not connect her betrayal with Tom. Tom goes berserk when he realizes that he can lose both his wife and his mistress at the same time. In New York, the explanation took place: Gatsby tells Tom that Daisy does not love him and never loved him, he was just poor and she was tired of waiting; in response to this, Tom exposes the source of his income, indeed illegal: bootlegging on a very large scale. Daisy is shocked; she tends to stay with Tom. Realizing that he won, on the way back Tom tells his wife to ride in a cream car with Gatsby; the others follow her in a straggling navy blue Ford. When they arrive at the gas station, they see the crowd and the body of Myrtle, who has been hit. From the window she saw Tom with Jordan, whom she thought was Daisy, in a big cream car, but her husband locked her up and she couldn't come; as the car was returning, Myrtle, freeing herself from under the lock, rushed towards it. Everything happened very quickly, there were practically no witnesses, the car did not even slow down. Nick learned from Gatsby that Daisy was driving.

Until morning, Gatsby stayed under her windows, so that he could be there if she suddenly needed it. Nick looked out the window - Tom and Daisy were sitting together as one thing - spouses or, perhaps, accomplices; but he did not have the heart to take away the last hope from Gatsby.

It wasn't until four in the morning that Nick heard a cab with Gatsby pull up. Nick didn't want to leave him alone, and since that morning Gatsby wanted to talk about Daisy, and Daisy only, that's when Nick learned the strange story of his youth and his love.

James Goetz - that was his real name. He changed it at the age of seventeen, when he saw Dan Cody's yacht and warned Dan about the beginning of the storm. His parents were simple farmers - in his dreams he never recognized them as his parents. He invented Jay Gatsby for himself in full accordance with the tastes and concepts of a seventeen-year-old boy and remained true to this fiction to the very end. He recognized women early and, spoiled by them, learned to despise them. Confusion constantly reigned in his soul; he believed in the unreality of the real, in the fact that the world rests firmly and securely on the wings of a fairy. When he stood up at the oars and looked up at the white hull of Cody's yacht, it seemed to him that everything beautiful and amazing that only exists in the world was embodied in it. Dan Cody, a millionaire who made his fortune in the Nevada silver mines and operations with Montana oil, took him on a yacht - first as a steward, then he became a senior officer, captain, secretary; for five years they sailed around the continent; then Dan died. Of the twenty-five thousand dollar inheritance that Dan left him, he did not receive a cent, never understanding the legal intricacies due to which. And he was left with what the peculiar experience of those five years had given him: the abstract schema of Jay Gatsby took on flesh and blood and became human. Daisy was the first "society girl" on his path. From the first time she seemed to him dizzyingly desirable. He began to visit her at home - first in the company of other officers, then alone. He had never seen such a beautiful house, but he knew well that he had not come to this house by right. The military uniform, which served him as an invisibility cloak, could fall off his shoulders at any moment, and under it he was just a young man without family and tribe and without a penny in his pocket. And so he tried not to waste time. Probably, he expected to take what he could and leave, but it turned out that he doomed himself to the eternal service of the shrine. She disappeared into her rich home, into her rich life filled to the brim, and he was left with nothing - except for the strange feeling that they are now husband and wife. With stunning clarity, Gatsby comprehended the secret of youth in captivity and under the protection of wealth ...

He had a successful military career: at the end of the war he was already a major. He rushed home, but due to a misunderstanding ended up in Oxford - anyone from the armies of the victorious countries could take a course for free at any university in Europe. Daisy's letters were full of nervousness and melancholy; she was young; she wanted to arrange her life now, today; she had to make a decision, and for it to come, some kind of force was required - love, money, undeniable benefits; Tom appeared. Gatsby received the letter while still at Oxford.

Saying goodbye to Gatsby that morning, Nick, already moving away, shouted: "Insignificance on insignificance, that's what they are! You alone are worth all of them put together!" How glad he was later to have said those words!

Not hoping for justice, the distraught Wilson came to Tom, learned from him who owns the car, and killed Gatsby, and then himself.

Three people were present at the funeral: Nick, Mr. Getz - Gatsby's father, and only one of the many guests, although Nick called all the Gatsby partygoers. When he called Daisy, he was told that she and Tom had left and left no address.

They were careless creatures, Tom and Daisy, they broke things and people, and then ran away and hid for their money, their all-consuming carelessness or something else that their union rested on, leaving others to clean up after them.

G. Yu. Shulga

(Tender is the Night)

Roman (1934)

1925 Rosemary Hoyt, a young Hollywood actress, but already famous after her success in the film "Daddy's Girl", comes to the Cote d'Azur together with her mother. Summer is not the season, only one of the many hotels is open. On a deserted beach, two groups of Americans: "whites" and "blacks", as Rosemary called them to herself. The girl is much prettier than the "dark-skinned" - tanned, beautiful, uninhibited, at the same time they are impeccably tactful; she willingly accepts the invitation to join them and immediately falls a little childishly in love with Dick Diver, the soul of this company. Dick and his wife Nicole are local residents, they have a house in the village of Tarm; Abe and Mary North and Tommy Barban are their guests. Rosemary is fascinated by the ability of these people to live cheerfully and beautifully - they constantly arrange fun and pranks; from Dick the Diver emanates a good powerful force, forcing people to obey him with unreasoning adoration ... Dick is irresistibly charming, he wins hearts with extraordinary attentiveness, captivating courtesy of address, and so directly and easily that victory is won before the conquered have time to understand anything. Seventeen-year-old Rosemary is crying on her mother's chest in the evening: I am in love with him, and he has such a wonderful wife! However, Rosemary is in love with Nicole too - with the whole company: she had never met such people before. And when the Divers invite her to go with them to Paris to see off the Norths - Abe (he is a composer) returns to America, and Mary goes to Munich to study singing - she willingly agrees.

Before leaving, Dick arranges a farewell dinner, to which the "light-skinned" company is also invited. The dinner was a success: the "fair-skinned" in the rays of Dick's charm revealed the best sides of their natures; but Rosemary, comparing them with the owners, is imbued with the consciousness of the exclusivity of the Divers ... And the dinner ended with a duel. Mrs. McKisco, one of the fair-skinned ones, went into the house and saw something there that she did not have time to share: Tommy Barban very convincingly advised her not to discuss what was happening at Villa Diana; as a result, Tommy shoots with Mr. McKisco - however, with a mutually successful outcome.

In Paris, during one of the dizzying escalades, Rosemary says to herself: "Well, here I am, living my life." While shopping with Nicole, she becomes familiar with how a very wealthy woman spends her money. Rosemary falls in love with Dick even more, and he barely has the strength to maintain the image of an adult, twice his age, a serious person - he is by no means indifferent to the charms of this "girl in bloom"; half-child, Rosemary does not understand what an avalanche she has brought down. Meanwhile, Abe North enters the hall and, instead of leaving for America, in one of the bars provokes a conflict between American and Parisian blacks among themselves and with the police; to disentangle this conflict goes to Dick; the showdown culminates in the corpse of a Negro in Rosemary's room. Dick arranged so that the reputation of "Daddy's daughter" remained unsullied - the case was hushed up, there were no reporters, but the Divers leave Paris in a hurry. When Rosemary peeks through the door of their room, she hears an inhuman howl and sees Nicole's face contorted with madness: she is staring at the blood-stained blanket. It was then that she realized what she hadn't told Mrs. McKisco. And Dick, returning with Nicole to the Cote d'Azur, for the first time in six years of marriage, feels that for him this is a way from somewhere, and not somewhere.

In the spring of 1917, MD Richard Diver, having been demobilized, arrives in Zurich to complete his education and receive a degree. The war had passed him by - even then he was too valuable to be used as cannon fodder; on a scholarship from the state of Connecticut, he studied at Oxford, completed a course in America and trained in Vienna with the great Freud himself. In Zurich, he is working on the book "Psychology for a Psychiatrist" and sleepless nights dreams of being kind, being sensitive, being brave and smart - and also being loved, if this does not serve as a hindrance. At twenty-six, he still retained many youthful illusions - the illusion of eternal strength, and eternal health, and the predominance of a good beginning in a person - however, these were the illusions of an entire people.

Near Zurich, in the psychiatric hospital of Dr. Domler, his friend and colleague Franz Gregorovius works. For three years now, the daughter of an American millionaire, Nicole Warren, has been in this hospital; she lost her mind, at the age of sixteen she became the mistress of her own father. The program of her cure included correspondence with the Diver. For three years, Nicole's health has improved so much that they are going to discharge her. After seeing her correspondent, Nicole falls in love with him. Dick is in a difficult position: on the one hand, he knows that this feeling was partly provoked for medicinal purposes; on the other hand, he, who “collected her personality from pieces,” understands like no one else that if this feeling is taken away from her, then emptiness will remain in her soul. And besides, Nicole is very beautiful, and he is not only a doctor, but also a man.

Against the arguments of reason and the advice of Franz and Domler, Dick marries Nicole. He is aware that relapses of the disease are inevitable - he is ready for this. Where he sees a big problem in Nicole's wealth - after all, he does not marry her money (as Nicole's sister Baby thinks), but rather in spite of them - but this does not stop him. They love each other, and in spite of everything, they are happy.

Fearing for Nicole's health, Dick pretends to be a convinced homebody - in six years of marriage, they almost never parted. During a long relapse after the birth of their second child, daughter Topsy, Dick learned to separate Nicole sick from Nicole healthy and, accordingly, during such periods to feel only a doctor, leaving aside the fact that he is also a husband.

Before his eyes and his hands, the personality of "Nicole is healthy" was formed and turned out to be very bright and strong so much that more and more often he is annoyed by her attacks, from which she does not give herself the trouble to resist, being already quite strong. Not only does he think that Nicole uses her illness to maintain power over others.

With all his might, Dick is trying to maintain some financial independence, but it is becoming increasingly difficult for him: it is not easy to resist the flow of things and money flooding him - Nicole also sees this as a lever of her power. They are taken further and further away from the simple conditions on which their union was once concluded ... The duality of Dick's position - husband and doctor - destroys his personality: he cannot always distinguish the distance necessary for the doctor in relation to the patient from a chill in the heart in relation to his wife with whom he is one in flesh and blood...

The appearance of Rosemary made him aware of all this. Nevertheless, outwardly the life of Divers does not change.

Christmas 1926 Divers meet in the Swiss Alps; they are visited by Franz Gregorovius. He proposes to Dick that they jointly buy a clinic, so that Dick, the author of many recognized works on psychiatry, will spend several months of the year there, which would give him material for new books, and he himself would take over the clinical work. And of course, "why can a European turn to an American, if not for money" - start-up capital is needed to buy a clinic. Dick agrees, allowing himself to be persuaded by Baby, who mostly manages the Warrens' money and finds the venture profitable, that Nicole's health will benefit from being in the clinic in her new capacity. “There I wouldn’t have to worry about her at all,” says Baby.

This did not happen. A year and a half of a monotonous measured life on Lake Zug, where there is nowhere to go from each other, provokes a severe relapse: having arranged a scene of unreasonable jealousy, Nicole, with insane laughter, almost derails the car in which not only she and Dick were sitting, but also children. Unable to live any longer from attack to attack, Dick, entrusting Nicole to the care of Franz and the nurse, leaves to take a break from her, from himself ... supposedly to Berlin for a congress of psychiatrists. There he receives a telegram about the death of his father and goes to America for the funeral. On the way back, Dick stops by Rome with the secret thought of seeing Rosemary, who is filming a movie there. Their meeting took place; what once began in Paris has found its end, but Rosemary's love cannot save him - he no longer has the strength for a new love. "I'm like the Black Death. I now bring people only misfortune," says Dick bitterly.

After parting with Rosemary, he pours monstrously; from the police station, terribly beaten, he is rescued by Baby, who ended up in Rome - she is almost pleased that Dick is no longer perfect in relation to their family.

Dick drinks more and more, and more and more often his charm, the ability to understand everything and forgive everything, betrays him. He was almost not offended by the readiness with which Franz accepts his decision to withdraw from the case and leave the clinic - Franz himself already wanted to offer it to him, for the clinic's reputation is not benefited by the constant smell of alcohol emanating from Dr. Diver.

What is new for Nicole is that now she cannot shift her problems onto him; she has to learn to take responsibility for herself. And when this happened, Dick disgusted her, like a living reminder of the years of darkness. They become strangers to each other.

Divers return to Tarm, where they meet Tommy Braban - he fought in several wars, changed; and the new Nicole looks at him with new eyes, knowing that he has always loved her. Rosemary is also on the Cote d'Azur. Influenced by memories of meeting her for the first time five years ago, Dick tries to arrange something similar to past escapades, and Nicole sees with cruel clarity, heightened by jealousy, how he has aged and changed. Everything around has changed - this place has become a fashionable resort, the beach that Dick once raked every morning is filled with an audience like the then "pale faces", Mary North (now Countess Minghetti) does not want to recognize Divers ... Dick leaves this beach like a deposed king, who lost his kingdom.

Nicole, celebrating her final healing, becomes Tommy Braban's mistress and then marries him, and Dick returns to America. He practices in small towns, never stays anywhere for long, and letters from him are getting rarer and rarer.

G. Yu. Shulga

(The Sound and the Fury)

Roman (1929)

"Life is a tale told by an idiot, full of noise and fury, but devoid of meaning." To retell this story differently than it was originally told is to try to tell a completely different story, except that the people acting in it will have the same names, they will be connected by the same blood ties, they will become participants in events similar to those that happened in the lives of those first; events are not the same, but only somewhat similar, for what makes an event an event if not a story about it? Can not any trifle be as many events as it is told about it in different ways? And what, after all, is this event about which no one has been told and about which, accordingly, no one knows?

The Compson family was one of the oldest and at one time the most influential in Jefferson and the area. Jason Compson and his wife Caroline, nee Bascom, had four children: Quentin, Candace (all but the mother named Caddy), Jason and Maury. The younger was born a fool, and when - he was about five years old - it became completely clear that he would remain a meaningless baby for the rest of his life, in a desperate attempt to deceive fate, they changed his name to Benjamin, Benji.

The earliest vivid memory in the lives of the children was how, on the day of their grandmother's death (they did not know that she had died, and generally had little idea what death was), they were sent to play away from home, in the stream. There, Quentin and Caddy began to splash, Caddy wet her dress and smeared her pants, and Jason threatened to tell his parents, and Benji, then Maury, cried because he thought that Caddy - the only creature close to him - would be bad. When they got home, they were escorted to the children's quarters, so they thought that their parents were visiting, and Caddy climbed a tree to look into the living room, while her brothers and Negro children looked down at her and her soiled panties.

Benji was in the care of the children, children, and then the grandchildren of Dilsi, the permanent servant of the compass, but only Kaddy loved him and knew how to calm him down. As Caddy grew older, gradually turning from a little girl into a woman, Benji cried more and more. He did not like, for example, when Caddy began to wear perfume and she began to smell in a new way. At the top of his voice, he began to scream and once stumbled upon Caddy when she was hugging a guy in a hammock.

The early maturation of the sister and her novels disturbed Quentin as well. But when he tried to warn, to reason with her, it came out very unconvincingly. Caddy responded with a calm, firm sense of her own rightness. A little time passed, and Caddy seriously agreed with a certain Dalton Ames. Realizing that she was pregnant, she began to urgently look for a husband, and just then Herbert Head turned up. A young banker and a handsome man, who came to the court of Mrs. Compson in the best possible way, he aroused deep disgust in Quentin, especially since Quentin, while studying at Harvard, learned the story of Herbert's expulsion from the student club for cheating. He begged Caddy not to marry this scoundrel, but she replied that she must definitely marry someone.

After the wedding, having learned the whole truth, Herbert abandoned Caddy; she ran away from home. Mrs. Compson considered herself and her family irrevocably disgraced. Jason Jr. only got mad at Caddy in the belief that she had deprived him of the place that Herbert promised him in his bank. Mr. Compson, who had a penchant for deep thought and paradoxical reasoning, as well as for whiskey, took everything philosophically - in conversations with Quentin, he repeated that virginity is not something that exists, that it is like death - a change that is felt only for others, and, thus, nothing but an invention of men. But Quentin was not comforted by this: at one time he thought that it would be better for him to commit incest himself, at another he was almost sure that he had committed it. In his mind, obsessed with thoughts of his sister and Dalton Ames (whom he had the opportunity to kill when, having learned about everything from Caddy, he tried to talk to him and he calmly handed Quentin a gun in response to threats), the image of Caddy obsessively merged with his sister- death of Saint Francis.

At this time, Quentin's first year at Harvard University was coming to an end, where he was sent with the proceeds from the sale of the pasture adjacent to the Compsons' house to the golf club. On the morning of June 1910, XNUMX (one of the four "stories" of the novel dates from this day), he woke up with the firm intention of finally completing what he had long planned, shaved, put on his best suit and went to the tram stop, buying two irons along the way. Quentin handed a letter to an eccentric negro called Deacon for Shreve, his roommate (he had sent the letter to his father in advance), and then got on a streetcar going out of town to the river. Here Quentin had a little adventure because of a little Italian girl who had nailed to him, whom he treated to a bun: her brother accused Quentin of kidnapping, he was arrested, but quickly released, and he joined the company of students - they testified in his favor, - who got out by car for a picnic. With one of them - a self-confident rich fellow, a handsome womanizer - Quentin unexpectedly got into a fight when he began to tell how famously he treats girls. To change his blood-stained clothes, Quentin returned home, changed and went out again. Last time.

About two years after Quentin's suicide, Mr. Compson died - not from whiskey, as Mrs. Compson and Jason mistakenly believed, for whiskey does not die - they die from life. Mrs. Compson swore that her granddaughter, Quentina, would not even know the name of her mother, forever disgraced. Benji, when he matured - only in body, since he remained a baby in soul and mind - had to be castrated after an attack on a schoolgirl passing by Compson's house. Jason talked about sending his brother to an insane asylum, but this was strongly objected to by Mrs. Compson, who insisted on the need to bear her cross, but at the same time tried to see and hear Benji as little as possible.

In Jason, Mrs. Compson saw her only support and joy, she said that he, one of her children, was not born into the Compsons with their blood infected with madness and death, but into the Bascoms. Even as a child, Jason showed a healthy craving for money - he glued kites for sale. He worked as a clerk in a city shop, but the main source of income for him was not the service, but a niece, passionately hated - for not getting a place in the bank of her mother's fiancé.

Despite Mrs. Compson's ban, Caddy somehow showed up in Jefferson and offered Jason money to show her Quentin. Jason agreed, but turned everything into a cruel mockery - the mother saw her daughter for only one moment in the carriage window, in which Jason rushed past her at breakneck speed. Later, Caddy began to write letters to Quentin and send money - two hundred dollars every month. Jason sometimes gave some crumbs to his niece, cashed the rest and put it in his pocket, and brought fake checks to his mother, which she tore in pathetic indignation and therefore was sure that she and Jason did not take a penny from Caddy.

So on April 1928, XNUMX - on this day, Friday of Holy Week, another "story" is timed - a letter and a check from Caddy arrived - Jason destroyed the letter, and gave Quentina a ten. Then he went about his daily business - helping through the sleeves in the shop, running to the telegraph office to inquire about cotton exchange prices and giving instructions to brokers - and was completely absorbed in them, when suddenly Quentina rushed past him in a Ford with a guy whom Jason recognized as an artist from the circus that arrived in the city that day. He set off in pursuit, but saw the couple again only when she, leaving the car on the side of the road, went deeper into the forest. Jason did not find them in the forest and returned home empty-handed.

His day was positively unsuccessful: the stock market game brought big losses, and this unsuccessful chase ... First, Jason blew evil on Dilsey's grandson, who was watching Benji - he really wanted to go to the circus, but there was no money for a ticket; in front of Luster, Jason burned the two backmarks he had. At dinner it was the turn of Quentina and Mrs. Compson.

The next day, with the "story" about which the novel begins, Benji turned thirty-three. Like all children, he had a cake with candles that day. Before that, he and Luster had taken walks at the golf course, set up on the former Compleson pasture - here Benji was always irresistibly drawn, but each time such walks ended in tears, and all because the players now and then, calling the errand boy, shouted "caddy". Benji Luster got tired of howling and led him into the garden, where they scared off Quentin and Jack, her friend from the circus.

With this same Jack, Quentin fled on the night from Saturday to Sunday, taking three thousand dollars, which she rightfully considered her own, because she knew that Jason had saved them by stealing from her for many years. The sheriff, in response to Jason's statement about the escape and robbery, stated that he and his mother, by their appeal, forced Quentin to flee, as for the missing amount, the sheriff had certain suspicions about what kind of money it was. Jason had no choice but to go himself to nearby Mottson, where the circus was now performing, but there he received only a few slaps in the face and a harsh rebuke from the owner of the troupe in the sense that Jason could look for fugitive adulterers anywhere else, but among his artists there are more of them no.

While Jason toiled back and forth to Mottson, the black servant had returned from Easter service, and Luster begged for permission to take Benjy to the cemetery in a charabane. They rode well until, in the central square, Luster began to circle the monument to the Confederate soldier on the right, while with the others Benji always circled it on the left side. Benji screamed desperately, and the old horse almost suffered, but then, out of nowhere, Jason appeared on the square and corrected the situation. Benji fell silent, for even an idiot likes everything in its proper place.

D. A. Karelsky

(Light in August)

Roman (1932)

It even took Lena Grove less than a month to get, sometimes on foot, and sometimes, but rarely, by passing wagons from a remote village at a sawmill in Alabama to the city of Jefferson, Mississippi, where, as she somehow believed, Lucas Burch got a job, from whom she suffered and whom, as the time for giving birth began to approach, she went to look for, and did not wait for the letter promised by him when parting six months ago with the news of where he settled and with money for the journey. On the very approach to Jefferson, Lina was told that the name of the guy who works in the city at a woodworking factory was actually not Birch, but Bunch, but now there was no turning back. This Byron Bunch did indeed work in the factory; despite his youth, he shied away from the usual amusements of a white trash, lived modestly and secluded, and on weekends, while his comrades squandered a week's wages in the city in the few ways available to them, he left Jefferson to conduct a choir in a rural Negro church. Byron Bunch Lina found Byron at the factory and could ask about Lucas Burch, and from the very first minute, from the very first words, a feeling unknown to him hitherto began to grow in his soul, not only to name which, but also to admit it to himself, Byron later was forced only by the priest Hightower, the only person in Jefferson with whom he often had long conversations.

Gale Hightower has lived in the proud seclusion of an outcast since he was forced to leave the pulpit after the scandalous death of his wife - whom the city did not believe before that at the end of almost every week she leaves not just anywhere, but to visit relatives - in one from the dubious establishments of Memphis. No matter how hotheads from the locals tried to force the retired priest to get out of Jefferson, he survived and proved his right to stay in the city, the appointment to which he sought in his youth due to the fact that it was on Jefferson Street that his grandfather fell from a bullet of northerners, when, already at the very end of the war, a handful of Confederate horsemen made a boyishly desperate raid on the warehouses of General Grant; the obsession with this episode would not have left Hightower, however long he lived.

From Lena's description, Byron Bunch realized that the father of her unborn child - under the name Joe Brown - really resides in Jefferson and even worked with him for a while at a woodworking factory, but quit as soon as he began to make good money selling underground whiskey; he did this business with a friend named Joe Christmas, and with him lived in a former Negro hut in the back of Joanna Burden's house.

Miss Bearden, a woman already in her years, lived most of her life in her house all alone: ​​after the war, her grandfather and brother were shot dead in the very center of the city by Colonel Sartoris, who did not share their conviction that blacks should be given voting rights; for the locals, she forever remained a stranger and was content with the company of local blacks. It was from her house that the plume of smoke that Lena Grove saw on the approach to Jefferson was rising. The house was set on fire, and the mistress was lying upstairs in her bedroom with her throat cut with a razor.

The murderer of Miss Burden was Joe Christmas, as Brown told him, who at first went into hiding, but resurfaced as soon as word of a telegram from a relative of the unfortunate woman who had offered a reward of one thousand dollars for the murderer's capture became known. No one really knew anything about Christmas, who had appeared in the city three years earlier from nowhere, but Brown was able to add a few, but extremely significant information in the eyes of the Jeffersonians about his partner: firstly, Christmas was a Niger, although in appearance he was accepted in worst case for an Italian; secondly, he was Joanna Burden's lover. It is not surprising that behind the Black Sea, who had encouraged a bed, and then to the life of a white woman, even three times, Yankees, a uniform inspired hunt began, which had to last a single week, until Friday, when the villain finally grabbed.

Brown was firmly convinced that a fraction of Negro blood flows in the veins of Christmas, but Christmas himself did not have such confidence, and this uncertainty was the curse of his whole life, only in the last hours of which he finally learned the story of his birth and was convinced - although, perhaps , this was already indifferent to him - in that everything connected with the Negroes, their smell, especially coming from women, had not without reason and haunted him since he could remember himself.

Looking ahead, Christmas learned the truth about his origins due to the fact that in the town of Mottstown, adjacent to Jefferson, where he was captured, lived his grandfather and grandmother, the old Hines, whose daughter Millie sinned almost thirty-four years ago and wanted to run away with a circus performer, who was thought to be Mexican but was actually part Negro; Hynes caught up with the fugitives, shot the circus performer, and brought Millie home, where she gave birth to a boy in due time and died. Shortly after the birth, Hines took the baby out of the house, and the grandmother never saw her grandson again until the very day when her heart helped her recognize Millie's son in the murderer caught. Hines tossed the baby to the door of the orphanage; it was around Christmas, and the foundling was named Christmas. Hines himself entered the same orphanage as a watchman and could triumphantly watch how the right hand of God relentlessly punishes the sin of disgusting fornication: innocent babies and they suddenly began to call Joe Christmas "Niger". I remember this nickname Christmas.

At the age of five, through the efforts of an orphanage sister, whom he accidentally found with a young doctor and who was foolishly afraid of a denunciation, Christmas was hastily attached to the village in the Macirchen family, who professed a harsh, joyless religion, revered by them for Christianity. Here he was required to work hard, to avoid all kinds of filth, to memorize the catechism and mercilessly punished for negligence in the performance of these duties, which only ensured that Christmas over the years acquired a persistent hatred of religion, and filth and vice, the personification of which were for old Macirchen city , with their tobacco, booze and extravagance, and even more so - women, on the contrary, little by little became something quite familiar to him. A few years before the first woman, a prostitute from a neighboring town, Christmas, with teenagers like himself from neighboring farms, somehow went to a barn in which a young black woman taught them the basics, but when it was his turn, something the dark arose in him in response to that very room of the Negro, and he simply began to beat her severely. The prostitute Christmas had long and innocently considered a waitress; McIrchen went one night in search of sinners, whom he found at country dances, but this find cost him his life; he brought down terrible Old Testament curses on Christmas's head, and Christmas on him - a chair that turned under his arm.

Having escaped from the house of foster parents, Christmas traveled the continent from Canada to Mexico, never staying anywhere for a long time, tried many activities; all these years he experienced a strange craving for blacks, and often irresistible hatred, and disgust, announcing his own belonging to this race, only to avoid paying, even at the cost of massacre, money in brothels, and then closer to the north it no longer worked .

By the age of thirty, he found himself in Jefferson, where he settled in an abandoned Negro shack at the back of Miss Burden's house, who, having learned about the new neighborhood, began to leave food for Christmas in the kitchen, and he accepted this silent gift, but at some point all these the bowls appeared to him as alms to the poor Niger, and, enraged, he went upstairs and there silently and rudely took possession of the white woman. This episode had an unexpected and fatal continuation for both - a month or so later, Joanna herself came to Christmas's hut, and this marked the beginning of a strange relationship that lasted three years, sometimes against the will and desire of Christmas, which, however, did little in this case. meant, for he fell under the power of a force of a different order. The woman who had slept so long in Miss Burden awoke; she became indefatigably passionate, even depraved, then she suddenly awakened a craving for a sophisticated love ritual, and she began to communicate with Christmas through notes left in agreed places, to make appointments with him in secluded places, although neither in the house nor around him there was not a soul ... At one fine moment, two years later, Joanna told Christmas that she was expecting a child, but after a few months it dawned on him that no child was expected, that Joanna had simply become too old and good for nothing, - he said so directly to her, after which they did not see each other for a long time, until at last she, by all sorts of tricks, demanded him to her. She begged Christmas only to kneel beside him during prayer, but when he refused, she pointed an old flintlock pistol at him (which, as it turned out later, had two charges - for both). The gun misfired, and Christmas happened to have a razor with him.

He was on the run for almost a week, but, to everyone's surprise, he did not try to get away, all these days winding around the neighborhood of Jefferson, as if only pretending to seek salvation; when Christmas was identified in Mottstown, he did not try to resist. But on Monday, on his way to court, he took to his heels and took refuge in the rectory of Hightower, where he was shot dead.

On the eve of Byron Bunch brought Christmas's grandmother to Hightower, who told him the story of her grandson, and together they sat the priest to show in court that on the night of the murder he had Christmas, and he, at first refusing when the pursuers broke into his house, tried in vain with this false confession stop them. On the morning of that day, in the hut where Christmas and Brown used to live, and where Bunch, in the absence of the owners, visited Lena Grove, Hightower took delivery. Mrs. Hines, in some confusion from all the events, assured herself that the baby was her granddaughter Joe.

Contrary to his feelings for Lina, or perhaps because of it, Byron Bunch tried to give the child a father, and his mother a husband, but Brown ran away from their hut, and when Bunch caught up with him and tried to return him by force, he hit the side of the pursuer and disappeared on this time forever. Lina, with the baby in her arms and with Bunch, was later seen on the road to Tennessee. Not that even she was trying to find the father of the child again, rather, she just wanted to see the world a little more, with some feeling realizing that if she now settled down in one place, it would be for life.

L A. Karelsky

Roman (1940)

French Balka was a part of a fertile river valley twenty miles southeast of Jefferson, Yoknapatofa County, Mississippi. Once it was a colossal plantation, the remains of which - the box of a huge house, the ruined stables and barracks for slaves, overgrown gardens - were now called the Old Frenchman's Manor and belonged, along with the best lands in the area, a shop, a cotton gin and a forge, to the sixty-year-old Bill Varner, the main man in these places. His neighbors were more and more poor farmers who cultivate their plots with their own hands, and very poor tenants. In his great laziness, Bill entrusted the ninth of his sixteen children, Jody, with the management of the shop, the cotton gin, and the tenants' allotments.

To this Jody Varner, one evening, a nondescript elderly man appeared in the shop, introduced himself as Ab Snopes and said that he wanted to rent a farm. Jody did not mind, which he regretted when he found out that Snopes was listed, although no one could prove it, several burned barns - in this way he took out a grudge on the owners who for some reason did not please him. This was told to Jody by V. K. Ratliff, a traveling merchant of sewing machines, who constantly traveled all over the district in his britzka and therefore possessed a mass of valuable information, thanks to which, in addition to his insight recognized by all, in addition to the main product, he successfully traded in cattle, land and all kinds of belongings. Not wanting to suffer any damage, Jody began to offer various concessions and, as a result, was forced to take old Snopes' son, Flem, as a clerk in his shop, which marked the beginning of the victorious Snopes invasion of French Balka, Yoknapatofu, and then Jefferson. Victorious and unstoppable due to the fact that the Snopes were people of a special breed - all of them, with the rarest exception, were distinguished by boundless greed, strong grip, perseverance, and also the absence of some qualities that would seem to be inherent in human nature; in addition, there were a lot of Snopes, and as soon as one of them climbed a little higher up the social ladder, another Snopes appeared in the vacant seat, who, in turn, dragged more and more new relatives with him.

Very soon, it was no longer clear from the outside who - Snopes or Varner - was the true owner of the shop, and a little later, the Varner forge somehow ended up in Flem's hands, and two Snopes, Ek and A. O., immediately settled in it. A little more time passed, and Flem moved from the rented apartment to Varner's house.

The youngest daughter of Bill Varner was not even thirteen by that time, but at the same time, Yula was least of all like an angular teenage girl - with her perfection of forms and an abundance of flesh, she could be a worthy participant in the Dionysian processions, however, make her march somewhere or it was an impossible task for anyone, because she grew up as an incorrigible, boundless lazy person, as if she not only was not involved in the world around her, but lived in the self-sufficient timeless loneliness of a being who initially knew all possible wisdom. When Yulia turned eight, Jody insisted that she go to school, but for this he had to carry his sister to and from classes on his horse, without which, as he soon realized, it would still be impossible to do, because not her, eight-year-old , already with might and main all, as one, were staring idlers who whiled away their days on the terrace of Varner's shop. Yulia was not destined to finish her studies - one fine day the teacher Labove disappeared from the school and from French Balka. Labove became a teacher only for the sake of being able to pay for his studies at the university, but after graduating he remained at school, bewitched by the long-eyed Juno, at the same time extremely obscene and inviolable, although he clearly understood that sooner or later something would happen, that he would be defeated and destroyed . And so it happened: after school, being alone with Yula, he attacked her, squeezed her in his arms painfully, but she silently and decisively freed herself, poured contempt on him and calmly went out into the street, where her brother was waiting for her. Even after making sure that Yula did not say anything to Jody, Labove immediately ran away, and no one has ever seen him since.

Like wasps around a ripe peach, around Yula incessantly hovered first - when she was fourteen - fifteen-seventeen-seventeen-year-old youths, the next year - already almost adult men of eighteen - twenty; in the seventeenth year of Yula's life, it was the turn of independent people with their own trotters and cabs. Of these, she, perhaps, singled out the young planter Hawk McCarron, for which the village admirers of Yula tried to teach him a lesson and somehow stopped the cab in which McCarron was taking her home from the dance in a deserted place, but he fought off a whole gang of them, and that that night, for a broken arm in a fight, Yula brought as a gift to her knight what, with all her desire, she could not give to anyone else. Three months later, all cabs, including McCarronov, as one, disappeared without a trace from the vicinity of French Beam, and a few days later Bill Varner took his daughter and his clerk to Jefferson, where he quickly formalized the marriage of Yula and Flem Snopes, and also straightened out the name of the last donation to the estate of the Old Frenchman. Immediately after that, the young went to Texas. The idiot Ike Snopes, Flem's cousin, had his own dagger-eyed Juno, Mink Snopes' cow, which Bill Varner awarded to Farmer Houston because Mink let her graze the Houston Pasture month after month. Houston every time drove the lover away from his passion, and Ike took the cow away, since the desire for happiness is also characteristic of an idiot, but the fugitives were returned and separated. Seeing, however, how Ike, offended by God, was suffering, Ratliff persuaded Houston to give the cow to Ike, and they were both settled in a stall at the inn of Mrs. Littlejohn, for whom Ike did some dirty housework. But the new Snopes began to benefit from this, Lamp, who, after Flem's departure, took the place of a clerk in the shop - he broke a board in the back wall of the stall and, for a moderate fee, allowed neighboring farmers to admire the life together of Ike and his unusual girlfriend. Ratliff was always dear to human dignity, and he decided to stop mocking the idiot, for which he suggested to the two remaining interested Snopes - Ek and A.O. she had to be redeemed first, and the Snopes reluctantly chipped in, and A. O., the real Snopes, shamelessly furnished Ek - Snopes, as it turned out later, not quite real.

This deal was not the only continuation of the story with the cow, since Mink Snopes, the only one from the clan who did not have the ability to make money, but at the same time, perhaps the most stubborn and bitter of all the Snopes, could not forgive Houston for taking over the cattle. One fine day, he took a gun and shot Houston in the chest on a forest path. Mink hid the corpse in a deck that had rotted from the inside and at first thought that he had nothing to fear, since Houston was completely alone - his young wife died tragically and absurdly. But there was still a dog that began to howl heartbreakingly all night long at the place where the body of the owner was hidden. And besides, Mink's wife, immediately guessing what had happened, went to the village and there assured everyone that Mink was not guilty of anything, which, of course, aroused the suspicions of the sheriff.

For several days, Mink sat at his farm waiting for money to escape, but the Lamp, whom he hoped for, did not make himself felt, and then Mink went to the village. Relative was extremely surprised that Mink had not yet fled - on the day Houston disappeared, Lamp saw at least fifty dollars in the farmer's wallet and was sure that Mink had used this money to get away. Realizing that the money was still in the pocket of the deceased, Lamp wished to share with his relative and went with him to the farm, but there Mink tied him up, and he went into the forest, with great difficulty removed Houston from the log and carried him into the river. But when he returned for the fallen off arm of the corpse, the sheriff and his assistants were already waiting for him at the deck. In Jefferson prison, Mink repeated and repeated that he did everything right, only, unfortunately, Houston began to fall apart ...

At the end of winter, Yula returned to Frantsuzova Balka with a baby who looked older than expected. Flem was still not there - as everyone thought, he did not want to spend money on rescuing Mink and waited until everything was over with him. But even before the trial, he showed up, and not alone, but with some Texan and a herd of motley unbroken Texan horses. The news of the opportunity to make a cheap purchase instantly spread throughout the district, and the very next day the Texan began trading. Soon the matter was over, the Texan received the money and was like that, and all the horses in the paddock had their owners, who, however, had to catch and run in the newly acquired property themselves. However, as soon as the farmer entered the pen, the horses rushed out of it, and in the end it all ended in several injuries, not a single one of the horses was ever caught, and they walked for a long time on their own in the surrounding hills. Flem made a lot of money, but to all claims he answered that the goods were not his, but a Texan. Everyone was convinced that this was not true, but no one could prove anything.

Only Mink's guilt was proven, in whose case Flem did not intervene, and the judges in Jefferson sentenced him to life imprisonment. Flem Snopes' last act in French Balka, which allowed him to leave this place and move to Jefferson, is remarkable in that this time he managed to trick W. K. Ratliff himself. The fact is that there has long been a belief among farmers that the former owners of the Old Frenchman's estate had buried countless treasures in the garden before the arrival of the northerners. And then Ratliff with Burkwright and Henry Armstead, local farmers, found out that someone was again rummaging in the manor garden night after night. The first time they tried their luck themselves, each of the three came across a bag containing twenty-five full-weight silver dollars. Wanting to get rid of competitors, the comrades persuaded Flem to sell them the estate the very next day - it cost Ratliff a share in the Jeffersonian restaurant, Armstead a mortgage on the farm, Burwright paid in cash. After a couple of days, however, it became clear that Flem himself was digging in the garden and he himself had thrown the money - among the coins there was not a single minted before the war. Ratliff and Burkwright immediately spat on this matter, while Armstid went completely mad and continued to dig deep holes day after day. Flem Snopes, on the way to Jefferson, stopped by to admire him doing this activity,

D. A. Karelsky

Roman (1957)

It had been ten years since Flem Snopes, with his wife and baby, had arrived in Jefferson and settled behind the counter of a restaurant in which he had bartered a half share from W.C. Ratliff for a third of the old Frenchman's abandoned estate. Soon he was already the sole owner of this institution, and some time later he left the restaurant and took up a hitherto non-existent post of superintendent of the city power plant.

In this position, he quickly found an additional way to enrich himself, in addition to a decent salary: Flam was struck by the abundance of heavy copper parts attached or scattered here and there; he began to sell them somewhere on the side - first, slowly, and then in bulk, for which he needed to attract two black stokers. The Negroes helped Flem, not suspecting anything, but when for his own purposes he needed to set his assistants against each other, they understood everything, conspired among themselves and dragged the stolen parts into the tank of the city water pump. Just then, the auditors arrived. Flem managed to cover up the scandal by making up the shortfall in cash, but for many years the pump tank was a monument to Snopes, or rather not a monument, but a footprint that marked where he was and where he moved on from.

The site of the power station superintendent was created specifically for Flem by Jefferson Mayor Manfred de Spain. Returning from Cuba in the rank of lieutenant, with a scarred face from the blow of the Spanish blade, de Spain heralded the advent of new times in the city; he easily won the election and the first thing he did when he became mayor was to buy a racing car, which violated the law issued by his predecessor that prohibited driving in Jefferson - he simply didn’t give a damn about him, although he could easily have repealed it.

The meeting and subsequent romance of Manfred de Spain and Eula Snopes was destined for fate, they embodied divine simplicity, sinless and limitless immortal passion so undeniably that all, or almost all, Baptist-Methodist Jefferson - without, however, having, however, no evidence of the alleged connection - watched with delight as they cuckolded Flem. Others wondered why Flem would not cover them, but he simply did not want to do this, extracting his benefits from his wife's infidelity - and what kind of infidelity to an impotent can be. The post of power station superintendent was not the last.

Having stolen from the power plant, Flem did nothing specific for several years, but only, according to Ratliff, bred the Snopes, who infiltrated Jefferson in his footsteps. Ek initially took his place in the restaurant, but as a fake Snopes, not capable of money-grubbing, he soon turned out to be a watchman at an oil tank, and the institution passed into the hands of a former teacher from the French Balka, A. O. Snopes. The real teacher Snopes appeared in the city, but he was caught with a fourteen-year-old, for which he was rolled in tar and feathers and driven away; from the unfortunate teacher left two sons - Byron and Virgil.

One of the few who could not easily look at the relationship between Yula and de Spain was Gavin Stephens, a young city prosecutor. The thought that before the eyes of all Jefferson was being made by a woman, whose equal nature did not create, led him into dismay, prompted him to do something - what exactly, he himself did not know - to do in order to save either Yula, or Jefferson from Yula and de Spain. Gavin's twin sister, Margaret, advised his brother to first figure out what worries him more: that Yula is not so virtuous or that she is ruining her virtue with de Spain.

Before the ball, which was given by the Cotillion Club, which united the noble ladies of Jefferson, Gavin had the idea to send a ball bouquet to Yulia Snopes, but Margaret said that then it was necessary to send bouquets to all the invited ladies. Gavin did just that, and de Spain, learning about this, followed his example, but sent not one, but two festively decorated boxes to Margaret and her brother's house - in his Gavin found a pair of boutonnieres tied with a used condom tied to a sharpened rake, with with which his nephew, in his time, when the mayor got into the habit of rushing past the prosecutor's house, honking mockingly, punctured the tires of de Spain's car. The confrontation between the two men continued at the ball: Gavin - as, perhaps, and many others - thought that de Spain was dancing with Yula obscenely, and he straightened the gentleman; then in the yard they fought honestly, or rather, the mayor simply thoroughly beat the prosecutor.

In the summer, when there were no special cases in court, prosecutor Gavin Stephens filed a lawsuit against the joint-stock company and the mayor, accusing them of condoning the theft at the power plant. On the day of the meeting, he received a note from Yula instructing him to wait for her late in the evening in his office; when she came, he began to wonder and ask her why she came, who - Flem Snopes or Manfred de Spain - sent her to him, what she wants and what he wants, and, completely confused in his own doubts, put the guest out for door. Her words that she does not like it when people are unhappy, and, they say, since it is easy to fix it ... - Gavin could not hear or did not want to. One way or another, but the next day the prosecutor dropped his charges, and after a short time left to improve his knowledge in Heidelberg.

Before leaving, he bequeathed to Ratliff to carry the common Jefferson cross - the Snopes - and to the best of his ability to protect the city from them. In Jefferson, Gavin Steven reappeared only a few years later, already in the midst of the war, but soon left for Europe again as an officer in the rear. He took with him Montgomery Ward Snopes, the son of A. O., who went to war not out of patriotic considerations, but wanting to look around there properly before everyone was shaved without exception.

Montgomery Ward had a good look around in France. Soon he was in charge of a quartermaster's shop, and it was extremely popular with the American soldiers because he placed a pretty Frenchwoman in the back room. When the war ended, the resourceful Snopes moved to Paris, where he put things on a broader footing. In Jefferson, where he returned as the last soldier to visit Europe, Montgomery Ward opened a photographic studio and at first received clients there dressed as a Montmartre artist. But over time, the Jeffersonians began to notice that for more than a year the photos in the window had not changed, and the clientele were mostly young local farmers who came to shoot for some reason closer to the night. In the end, a search was made in the workshop, and an album with obscene Parisian postcards was taken into the world.

Flem Snopes did not even think of saving the disgraced relative from prison; he only stole material evidence from the sheriff's office, and dragged containers with home-made whiskey into the workshop - moonshine in the eyes of normal inhabitants is much more worthy of debauchery. Another odious Snopes, A. O., having spent an impressive amount on it, Flem also escorted from Jefferson to French Balka.

Flem began to care about his good name from the moment when, to everyone's amazement, he got the post of vice president of the Sartoris bank, robbed shortly before by Byron Snopes, who served as a clerk in it. Then de Spain repaid the stolen money from his own money, thanks to which he was elected president. The appointment of Flem was on his part another payment for the silent connivance of his wife.

Flem's first venture in a new place turned out to be unsuccessful - he wanted to enter into a share in the non-Snopes fishery with a fake Snopes, Wall (his father, Ek, died in an oil tank explosion, and Wall Street Panic, as he was then called, began to earn money on his own as a teenager life), whose shop prospered solely due to his hard work and integrity. Wall rejected the offer of a relative, and for this he was denied a badly needed loan. Rescued by Wall Ratliff; he got to his feet and eventually, on a par with Ratliff, opened the first real supermarket in those parts, although there was no mention of this word yet.

Eula Snopes' daughter, Linda, first caught the eye of Gavin Stevens when she was already fourteen years old. She was not a copy of her mother, but she was just as radiant, unique and beautiful. Gavin, though he was well over thirty, was irresistibly attracted to this creature, and he, deciding for himself that he simply intended to shape the girl’s mind, met almost every day after school, took him to the drugstore, where he treated him to ice cream and Coca-Cola, entertained with conversations and gave books.

Linda grew up, and she had a younger gentleman, a boxer and a motorist, who somehow burst into Gavin's office and smashed his face into blood. Linda, who arrived in time, scolded the youngster, and Gavin confessed her love. After this incident, their meetings became very rare - the old bachelor was worried about the good name of the girl, because there were rumors that the rival caught him alone with Linda and beat him for it. Gavin now considered it his main duty to save Linda from the Snopes, which meant that he had to try to get her sent to one of the colleges in the east or in the north.

Flem Snopes was against it: firstly, his wife and daughter were indispensable items of furniture for him at the house of a respectable vice-president of the bank; secondly, far from home, Linda could marry without his knowledge, and this would mean for Flem to lose part of the inheritance of Yula's father, old Bill Varner; and finally, people beyond his control could reveal to Linda the truth about her birth. Yula, in turn, stunned Gavin with the words that protection from the Snopes is only poetic nonsense, women value facts the most, and the most significant fact is marriage, and thus, the best thing he can do for Linda is to marry on her.

But one day Flam allowed his adopted daughter to leave Jefferson. He did this for a reason, but he calculated that in a fit of gratitude, Linda could refuse in his favor from the share of her mother's inheritance due to her and give a receipt about it. He needed a receipt for a decisive battle with de Spain for the presidency of the bank - the last thing eighteen years of dishonor should have brought Flem.

Flem took the receipt for the French Beam; that same night, Bill Varner, the owner of a third of the bank's shares, was in the house of his despised and hated son-in-law, where he learned all about Yule and de Spain. The next day, de Spain's shares were sold to Flem, now president of the bank, and the next day he was to leave Jefferson, alone or with Yula. In the evening of the same day Yula came to Gavin Stevens for the second time in her life; she explained to Gavin that it was equally impossible for her to leave with de Spain or stay with Snopes - because of her daughter, and took from him a promise to marry Linda. He promised, but only if nothing else could be done for her. Yula committed suicide at night.

Gavin sent Linda not to the university - she outgrew all universities - but to New York, to Greenwich Village, where he had friends and where she had a lot to try and learn a lot until she met the most daring and strong - he himself was not so. Flem lived as a respectable widower in the de Spain mansion he bought and converted in the plantation style. In Jefferson and Yoknapatoth, everything went on as usual.

D. A. Karelsky

Roman (1959)

Mink Snopes was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Houston farmer Mink Snopes, but he never regretted pulling the trigger. Houston deserved to die, not because Bill Varner ordered Mink to work for him for thirty-seven days just to ransom his own cow; Houston signed his own death warrant when, after the job was done, out of arrogant stubbornness, he demanded another dollar for keeping the cow in his barn an extra night.

After the trial, the lawyer explained to Mink that he could get out of prison - in twenty or twenty-five years - if he worked properly, did not participate in riots, and did not attempt to escape. He had to get out by all means, because in Mink's will there was one thing left, but a very important thing - to kill Flem Snopes, on whose help he hoped in vain to the end. Flem suspected that Mink, the most vicious of all Snopes, would try to get even with him, and when Montgomery Ward Snopes was caught showing obscene French postcards in his atelier, he did everything to have him placed in the same prison as Mink, for Flem's suggestion In return, Montgomery Ward seduced his kinsman to run away, although he was only five years away from the end of his twenty-year term, and warned the guards about the escape. Mink was seized and added another twenty years, which he decided to honestly sit out, and therefore, after eighteen years, he refused to participate in the escape that his neighbors in the barracks conceived, which almost cost him his life,

Mink was released after serving thirty-eight years; he did not even suspect that during this time two world wars had died down. The petition that got the sixty-three-year-old Mink a little early was signed by Attorney Gavin Stevens, V.K. Ratliff, and Linda Snopes Kohl.

Kol is the name of a Jewish sculptor whom Linda met in Greenwich Village, and this meeting led to the fact that, a year and a half after leaving Jefferson, she sent Gavin Stevens an invitation to an event that, in a conversation with W. K. Ratliff, he designated as a "housewarming", since not only about the wedding, but also about the civil registration of marriage was out of the question then. On this occasion, Ratliff did not go to New York with Stevens, not deeming it necessary to honor such an uncertain celebration with his presence. But in 1936, when - before leaving for the war in Spain - Barton Cole and Linda decided to formalize their relationship, he willingly joined a prosecutor friend.

At the same time, Ratliff intended to finally see those Virginian hills, where his distant Russian ancestor fought in the ranks of the Hessian mercenaries of the British against the revolutionary American army and where he was captured, after which he settled forever in America; from this ancestor, whose last name no one remembered for a long time, Ratliff got the name Vladimir Kirillich - carefully hidden behind the initials V.K. - which for a century and a half has invariably been given to his eldest sons in his family.

In Spain, Barton Kohl was killed when his bomber was shot down over enemy positions; Linda received a shell shock from a mine explosion and has since completely lost her hearing. In 1937, at the Memphis airport - passenger trains through Jefferson had already stopped running by this time - she was met by V. K. Ratliff, Gavin Stephens and his nephew Charles Mallison.

As soon as Ratliff and Charles saw how Gavin and Linda met after many years of separation, as they looked at each other, it immediately occurred to both of them that the old bachelor and the young widow must certainly get married, that everyone would be calmer that way. It seems that this is how it should have happened, especially since Gavin and Linda spent a lot of time alone - he worked with her on staging her voice, which after the concussion became creaky, somehow duck. But in vain did Charles Mallison wait for the wedding invitation to be sent to Harvard; that his uncle's supposed relationship with Linda could not remain unformed officially, like the relationship between Yula and Manfred de Spain, neither Charles nor Ratliff had any doubts - Linda clearly lacked that aura of unconditional, under no circumstances jurisdictional femininity, like her mother had, and Gavin was by no means de Spain. So there was no connection.

In Jefferson, Linda found herself a field of activity - the improvement of Negro schools, but soon the Negroes themselves asked them not to impose help on them for which they did not apply. So she had to limit herself to Sunday classes, in which she recounted the myths of different peoples to black children. Linda's only comrades-in-arms in her social reform efforts were two Finns who barely spoke English and were known to be communists, but who never found a proletariat dear to their hearts in Jefferson and all of Yoknapatath.

The widow of a Jewish communist, who herself fought in Spain on the side of the communists, and now secretly keeps a communist party card and hangs around with blacks in full view of the whole city, Linda was everywhere met with distrust and hostility. Sooner or later, the FBI paid close attention to her. The situation changed slightly only when the Russians and Americans became allies in the war with Hitler. In early 1942, Linda left Jefferson for Pascagoula and went to work at a shipyard that built transports for Russia.

Before leaving, she took a promise from Gavin that he would marry in her absence, and he really, in his old age, married Melisandre Gariss, nee Backus, with whom he had once been in love at the dawn of his youth. Melissandra managed to be married to a major gangster and give birth to two children from him, now adults; she had no idea about the source of her husband's considerable income until he was shot in broad daylight in a New Orleans barbershop.

In the meantime, from the moment when Flem crushed the bank of Sartoris under him and, having settled in the de Spain family nest, seemed to be satisfied with what he had achieved, and his relatives went to prison, some back to French Balka, and some further away, Jefferson remained more or less free of Snopes. If they did appear in the city, then somehow fleetingly, passing, like Senator Clarence Snopes - Clarence, a policeman from French Beam, old Bill Varner finally led him to the Mississippi State Legislature, where he honestly worked off the money invested in him; however, when the senator announced his candidacy for the United States Congress, at the campaign picnic, V.K. Ratliff played a rather cruel trick on him, which made the whole district laugh and irrevocably deprived Snopes of hopes for a seat in Congress.

Only during the war did Flem stir once, but even then he did not get what he was striving for: Jason Compson bought the pasture - once sold by his father in order to send Quentin to Harvard with the proceeds - and profitably handed it to Flem, whom he succeeded in to convince that the state will give good money for this site, since it is the best suited for the construction of an airfield; the grateful state will assign the airfield, thereby perpetuating, the name of Flem Snopes. When Flem realized that there would be no airfield on the land he had acquired, he put it under construction.

New houses after the war were very much needed, as the returning soldiers, for the most part, quickly married and had children just as quickly. Everyone had plenty of money: someone deserved it at the front at the cost of their own blood, someone thanks to incredible wartime earnings; the same Linda received at her shipyard as much as four dollars an hour.

Against the backdrop of the onset of general prosperity, which forced even the communist Finns to slowly begin to invest extra money in stocks, and the absence of obvious social injustice - the building of the new Negro school, for example, surpassed the old school for whites by all standards - Linda, upon returning to Jefferson, at first remained idle and mostly sat in the de Spains' house, drinking whiskey. But then, from somewhere, she learned of a kinsman languishing in Parchman, and with the help of Gavin Stevens and V. K. Ratliff, she busied herself with the release of Mink.

Gavin, as well as Ratliff, was quite clear what Mink would do when he was released, but he could not refuse Linda. Not wanting, however, to be an accomplice in the murder, Gavin agreed with the head of the prison that he would release Mink with one indispensable condition: Mink would take two hundred and fifty dollars upon exit and would receive a thousand every year for life in exchange for an oath not to cross the borders of the state of Mississippi.

Mink was released on Thursday, and on Friday Gavin found out that Mink outsmarted everyone - he took the money from the boss, but then handed it back with the prison gatekeeper and thus was now at large with a ten in his pocket and a firm intention to kill Flem Snopes. As disgusted as he was to do this, Gavin went to Flem and warned him of the danger, but the banker listened to him with strange indifference.

Easily guessing that Mink would need a gun and that he would go to Memphis for it, Gavin used his connections to put the entire Memphis police on their feet, but this did not bring results. It was not until Wednesday that he was told by telephone that, according to the police, on Monday, a revolver, which, however, was hardly good for anything, had been sold to a man with a description similar to Mink in a mortgage shop on Monday for ten dollars. But by this point, Gavin already knew that the revolver was serviceable - the day before, on Tuesday, it worked.

Outside the gates of the prison, Minka met a world little like the one he had left thirty-eight years earlier - now even a can of sardines, which, as he well remembered, could be bought everywhere for five cents, was worth twenty-three; and all the roads became hard and black ... Nevertheless, he overcame the hundred-thousand way to Memphis - if not in a day, but in three. Here he was lucky, and he miraculously bought a revolver without attracting the attention of the police; he was even more fortunate in Jefferson, when he entered Flem's house only half an hour before the volunteer deputy sheriff was to take his nightly post under his windows.

Flem seemed to be waiting for him and did not try to do anything to save his life, even when the revolver misfired from the first shot, but simply silently looked at Mink with his empty eyes. When Flem fell with a bullet through his head, Linda appeared on the threshold of the room and, to the killer's surprise, calmly showed him the safe way out of the house.

After the funeral, Linda straightened out the donation, according to which the house and estate were returned to the de Spains, and she herself was about to leave Jefferson forever. She had a chic Jaguar prepared for her departure. Seeing it, Gavin realized that Linda knew from the very beginning what Mink would do when released from prison - it took at least a couple of months to order such a car from London, or at least from New York.

When Linda finally left, Ratliff shared with Gavin Stevens the hope that she did not have a daughter stored up somewhere, and if there was a daughter, that she would never appear in Jefferson, because the sixty-year-old Gavin could not stand the third Eula Varner.

D. A. Karelsky

(The Bridge of San Luis Rey)

Roman (1927)

On July 1714, XNUMX, the most beautiful bridge in Peru collapsed, throwing five travelers into the abyss. The catastrophe struck the Peruvians unusually: the bridge of King Louis the Saint seemed to be something unshakable, existing forever. But although everyone was shocked, only one person, Brother Juniper, a red-haired Franciscan monk, who happened to be a witness to the catastrophe, saw in this tragedy a certain Plan. Why these five? he asked. Either our life is accidental and then our death is accidental, or there is a Plan in our life and in our death. And brother Juniper made a decision: to penetrate the secret of the lives of these five and unravel the causes of their death.

The only passion of one of the victims - the Marquise de Montemayor (a fictitious person) - was her daughter, Doña Clara, whom the Marquise loved to oblivion. But the daughter did not inherit the ardor of her mother: she was cold and intellectual, the obsessive adoration of the marquise tired her. Of all the contenders for her hand, Doña Clara chose the one with whom she was to go to Spain.

Left alone, the Marquise became more and more withdrawn into herself, carrying on endless dialogues with her adored daughter. The only consolation for her was the letters that she monthly, with another opportunity, sent to Spain. To be interesting for her daughter, the marquise exercised her eye in observation and communicated with the most brilliant interlocutors, honing her style. The daughter only glimpsed her mother's letters, and humanity owes their preservation, which later became monuments of Spanish literature of that time and textbooks for schoolchildren, to the son-in-law of the Marquise.

Sometimes it occurred to the Marquise that she was sinful and that her great love was overshadowed by tyranny, because she loves her daughter not for her sake, but for herself. But temptation always won: she wanted her daughter to belong only to her, she wanted to hear from her the words: "You are the best of mothers." Immersed entirely in herself, the marquise did not even notice how one day in the theater, with a large gathering of people, the popular actress Pericola sang couplets in which she openly mocked her. Having written another letter to her daughter, the Marquise for a few days was forgotten in alcoholic intoxication.

A constant witness to these difficult hours of the Marquise was her young companion Pepita - another victim of the tragedy on the bridge. This pure-hearted orphan, brought up at the monastery, was sent by Mother Superior Maria del Pilar to serve the Marquise, so that she would comprehend the laws of high society. The abbess brought up this girl especially carefully, preparing a replacement for herself. Mother Maria herself devoted herself entirely to serving others and, seeing in the girl an extraordinary will and strength of character, she was glad that there was someone to pass on her worldly and spiritual experience. But even brought up in impeccable obedience, it was hard for Pepita to live in the palace of the Marquise, who, completely absorbed in thoughts of her daughter, did not see either the self-interest of the servants or their open theft. The marquise paid little attention to Pepita.

The news that the daughter would soon become a mother plunged the marquise into incredible excitement. She makes a pilgrimage to one of the Christian shrines in Peru, taking Pepita with her. There, having prayed earnestly in the church, the marquise returns to the inn, where she accidentally reads a letter written by Pepita to the abbess. The girl tells in it how hard it is for her in the palace, how she wants to return to the monastery at least for a day and be with her dear mentor.

The simplicity of the girl's thoughts and feelings causes confusion in the Marquise's soul. She suddenly discovered that she had never been with her daughter herself - she always wanted to please. The Marchioness immediately sits down to write her first real letter to her daughter, without thinking of making an impression, and without caring about the refinement of turns of speech - the first clumsy exercise of courage. And then, rising from the table, he says: "Let me live now. Let me start all over again." When they set off on the return journey, they suffered a well-known misfortune.

The third victim, Esteban, was a pupil of the same Maria del Pilar; he, along with his twin brother Manuel, was thrown at the gates of the monastery in early infancy. When the brothers grew up, they settled in the city, however, as needed, they performed various work in the monastery. In addition, they mastered the craft of scribes. The brothers practically did not part, each knew the thoughts and desires of the other. The symbol of their complete identity was the language they invented, in which they spoke to each other.

The first shadow that overshadowed their union was Manuel's love for a woman. The brothers often rewrote roles for theater actors, and one day Pericola turned to Manuel with a request to write a letter under her dictation. It turned out to be love, and subsequently Perikola repeatedly resorted to the services of a young man, and the addressees, as a rule, were different. Although there was nothing to think about reciprocity, Manuel fell in love with the actress without memory. However, seeing how Esteban suffers, who believes that he has found a replacement, Manuel decides to end all relations with the actress and try to erase her from memory.

Some time later, Manuel injures his leg. The mediocre doctor does not notice the onset of blood poisoning, and after suffering for several days, the young man dies. Before dying in a fever, he talks a lot about his love for Pericole and curses Esteban for standing between him and his love.

After the death of his brother, Esteban pretends to be Manuel - he does not reveal the truth to anyone, even the closest person in the world - the Mother Superior. Mother Maria del Pilar prays for a long time to God to send peace to the soul of a young man who, after the funeral, wanders around the city with crazy eyes burning like coals. Finally, the idea strikes her to turn to Captain Alvarado, a noble traveler, for whom the brothers have always had deep respect.

Esteban agrees to go on a voyage on one condition: the captain must pay him all the salary in advance so that he can buy a gift for the mother superior with this money, both from himself and from his late brother. The captain agrees and they go to Lima. At the St. Louis Bridge, the captain descends to look after the transfer of goods, and Esteban goes over the footbridge and falls with him into the abyss.

The deceased boy, Don Jaime, was the son of the actress Pericola, adopted by her from her connection with the Viceroy of Peru, and Uncle Pio, who accompanied him, was her old friend, almost a father. Uncle Pio - everyone called him that - came from a good Castilian family, but ran away early from home, because he had the character of an adventurer. During his life, he changed dozens of professions, always pursuing, however, three goals - to remain independent in any situation, to be near beautiful women (Uncle Pio himself was ugly) and to be closer to people of art.

Uncle Pio literally picked up Pericola on the street, where she sang songs in the company of wandering actors. Then, in the head of Uncle Pio, the idea arose to become Pygmalion for the vociferous girl. He fiddled with her like a real father: he taught her good manners, diction; read books with her, took her to the theater. Pericola (then still called Camila) attached herself to her mentor with all her heart and simply idolized him.

Over time, the long-armed, leggy teenager turned into an extraordinary beauty, and this shocked Uncle Pio, as he and her success as an actress shocked him. He felt the accuracy and grandeur of Pericola's playing and, studying with her for a long time, analyzed the shades of her performance, sometimes even allowing himself criticism. And Perikola listened to him with attention, for, just like him, she strove for perfection.

The actress had many admirers and novels, and from the Viceroy, with whom she had a long relationship, she had three children. To Uncle Pio's dismay, Pericola's interest in the theater begins to fade away. She suddenly wanted to become a respectable lady, she even achieved the legalization of her children. Jaime inherited from his father a susceptibility to convulsions - Perikola paid more attention to this son than to the others.

Suddenly the news spread through Lima: Pericola was ill with smallpox. The former actress recovered, but the damage to her beauty was irreparable. Despite the fact that Pericola retired and did not receive anyone, Uncle Pio sneaks in to her, trying to convince her that his feelings have nothing to do with her beauty - he loves her personality, and therefore changes in her appearance do not bother him. Uncle Pio asks for only one favor - to take Don Jaime to him for a year: the boy is completely abandoned, and he has good inclinations, he needs to study Latin and music with him. Pericola hardly lets go of her son, and soon receives terrible news: when crossing the bridge, both people closest to her collapsed into the abyss ...

Brother Juniper never got to the bottom of the reasons for the death of these five. He saw, as it seemed to him, in one catastrophe the evil ones - punished by death - and the good ones - early called to heaven. He recorded all his observations, reflections and conclusions in a book, but he himself remained dissatisfied. The book caught the eye of the judges and was declared heretical, and its author was publicly burned in the square.

And mother Maria, thinking about what happened, thinks that now few people remember Esteban and Pepita, except for her. Soon all witnesses to this tragedy will die, and the memory of these five will be wiped off the face of the earth. But they were loved - and that's enough. Little streams of love will flow back into the love that gave birth to them.

V. I. Bernatskaya

(The Eighth Day)

Roman (1967)

In the summer of 1902, John Barrington Ashley of Coaltown, the center of a small coal mining district in southern Illinois, was brought to trial for the murder of Breckenridge Lansing, a resident of the same city. He was found guilty and sentenced to death. Five days later, on the night of Tuesday, July XNUMX, he escaped from custody on the way to the place of execution. And five years later, the State Attorney's Office in Springfield announced the disclosure of new circumstances that fully establish Ashley's innocence.

Fate brought Lansing and Ashley together seventeen years earlier when they moved to Coaltown with their families. Breckenridge Lansing, manager of the Coaltown mines, was the complete opposite of John Ashley: he never went into his work "with his head", but basically only signed orders that were then posted on the board. In fact, the mines were run by John Ashley. Alien to ambition and envy, equally indifferent to praise and reproach, quite happy in his family, he willingly "covered" Lansing, developed new ideas, made dizzying drawings, devoting himself to his work completely and demanding nothing in return. It seemed that nothing could bring this man off balance. During the process, he did not show even a shadow of fear, he was calm and seemed to be waiting for a question that was of interest to him at the end of the protracted legal procedure: who did kill Breckenridge Lansing after all?

A strange story happened during John Ashley's escape. He himself did not lift a finger to free himself. Six people got into the locked car and without a single shot, without a single word, coped with the escorts and carried the prisoner out of the train. Ashley had no idea to whom he owed his release. Maybe miracles always happen this way - simply, casually and incomprehensibly. The handcuffs on his wrists were released, they gave him clothes, some money, a map, a compass, matches. Someone put his hand on the horse's saddle and pointed in the direction. Then the deliverers sank into darkness, and Ashley never saw them again.

Ashley moved south, in constant tension. He posed as a Canadian sailor looking for work. Never lived in one place for more than four days. He called himself by a different name. But at the same time, he was not afraid. He lived without fear of anything and without thinking about anything.

Finally, Ashley reached Manantiales, a city in Chile, where he met Mrs. Wickersh, the owner of the "Fonda" hotel (in which Ashley was staying), who soon became his friend. Thanks to this woman, as well as everything seen after the release, Ashley's spiritual rebirth takes place, who previously did not notice the beauty of the world around him at work. After his escape, he was struck by the beauty of the dawn in Illinois, and now by the beauty of the Chilean mountains, which have become his family. For the first time in many years, he remembers his parents, whom he left for no good reason many years ago, leaving with his wife Beata in Coaltown. Even before meeting Mrs. Wickersh, Ashley, living in the village of Rocas Verdes, builds a church and arranges for the village to have its own priest: "it is very bad to impose God on those who do not believe in him, but it is even worse to obstruct those who cannot exist without God."

Ashley arrived at the Foundation at a critical time for Mrs. Wickersham: the rudder by which she had always directed the course of her life began to waver in her hands. Being a woman in years, she could no longer, as before, keep everything under control: her strength was slowly leaving her. And that's when Ashley showed up at the Foundation. Quickly setting to work, Ashley worked from morning to night, and in the evening, tired from the day, gratefully basked in the warmth of friendly conversation with Mrs. Wickersh. However, the shrewd Mrs. Wickersham quickly realized that her new friend was missing something.

Suddenly, Wellington Bristow, a businessman from Santiago, arrives in Manantiales, regularly visiting the hotel three or four times a year. Mrs. Wickersham is always glad to see him. He brings the latest gossip from the coast, brings excitement to the card game, but he is especially interested in "catching rats", that is, catching runaway prisoners for whom a large reward is promised. Ashley was clearly interested in him.

Bristow is away for a few days on business. Mrs. Wickersham, having suspected something was wrong, decides to check his suitcase and finds there a "list of rats", where information about John Ashley is highlighted. The latter, whom Mrs. Wickersham turns to for an explanation, tells her everything. Mrs. Wickersham is shocked, but, gathering her courage, she figures out how to help her friend by faking his death.

Returning, Bristow no longer hides that Ashley is a fugitive, but this discovery does not promise him any benefits: by all indications, it is clear that he is ill with a deadly disease. And for the captain of the police, Mrs. Wickersham prepared a stunning speech, proving that the criminal was more likely Bristow, and certainly not Ashley.

Saying goodbye and promising to write, Ashley secretly leaves the hotel, but Mrs. Wickersham receives only one letter from him - he drowned on the way near Costa Rica.

The fate of Ashley's children has developed in different ways, but all of them are outstanding. Roger, the only son, immediately after his father's escape went to Chicago to work and somehow help the family. He discovers the talent of an outstanding journalist, who in a few years will be loved and respected throughout the country.

Lily, the eldest daughter, became an opera singer, reaching great heights with her perseverance and talent. She devoted her life to music and raising children, whom she loves selflessly and raises alone.

Constance quickly flew away from the family nest, whose goal in life was to help the disadvantaged. Her directness and self-confidence were a gift from her father and brother, and her extraordinary fortitude helped her endure the most difficult trials: the rudeness of the police, insults and hostile attacks from the public. She was the first to put forward the principle of preventive medicine. She managed to collect huge sums for public needs, and she herself often did not have enough money to pay her hotel bill.

Sophie, who stayed with her mother, got more than others: on her still childish shoulders lay the worries about her mother, who had lost the will to live. Realizing that Beata alone could not cope with the family, Sophie took over the entire household, and later opened a boarding house in the house. Dr. Gillis, a family friend, warned Beata more than once that Sophie could not handle such a load, but young people always think that they are not sick. As a result, Sophie became seriously ill mentally and stopped recognizing others.

On Christmas Day 1905, Roger arrives in Coaltown. On the platform, he meets Felicity Lansing, the daughter of the late Breckenridge, who later becomes his wife. It turns out that Ashley is not at all to blame for the death of her father. Togo was killed by George, the son of the deceased, and later, unable to study anymore and hide the truth, he wrote a confession under the dictation of his mentor Olga Dubkova, from whom, secretly from his father, he took Russian lessons. Having fallen in love with Russian culture as a native, he subsequently left for Russia and became a great actor. Breckenridge Lansing never showed his love to his wife or children. George was accustomed to seeing in him an insignificant reveler and a rude man who ruined his mother's life. But before his death, Lansing suffered a serious illness, during which he changed a lot. However, only his wife Eustacia became a witness of this rebirth, and George was sure that his father continued to mock his mother, and in desperation decided to kill.

Roger also learns about who freed his father. One day my father helped the community church of the Coventators. The isolation of the Coventators was explained not only by religious reasons, but also by the fact that Indian blood flowed in their veins. Few could they expect help from anyone, but they could from John Ashley. The elder showed Roger a letter from his father sent before his death. This letter is Ashley's farewell to life, to this world. He has done much, his mission accomplished, let Roger and his sisters follow suit.

Nature knows no sleep, says Dr. Gillis. Life never stops. The creation of the world is not over. The Bible teaches us that on the sixth day God created man and then gave himself rest, but each of the six days lasted millions of years. The rest day was, of course, very short. Man is not the end, but the beginning. We are at the beginning of the second week of creation. We are the children of the Eighth Day.

M. E. Afanaseva

(The Real Life of Sebastian Knight)

Novel (1938-1939, publ. 1941)

"Sebastian Knight was born on the thirty-first of December 1899 in the former capital of my fatherland" - this is the first sentence of the book. Pronounced Knight's half-brother, identified in the novel by the letter "V." Sebastian Knight, the famous Russian writer who wrote in English, died in January 1936 in a hospital in the Parisian suburb of Saint-Damier. V. restores the true life of his brother, collecting it piece by piece - this is how this intricate and complex (at first glance) novel is created before the eyes of the reader.

V. and Sebastian have a common father, an officer of the Russian guard. His first marriage was to the eccentric, restless Englishwoman Virginia Knight. Having fallen in love (or deciding that she had fallen in love), she left her husband with a four-year-old son in her arms. In 1905, the father married again, and soon V. was born. The six-year age difference for children is especially significant, and in the eyes of the younger brother, the elder appeared to be an adored and mysterious creature.

Virginia died of a heart attack in 1909. Four years later, my father, it's ridiculous to say, started a duel because of her, Sebastian was hard and in his work he resorted to parody, "as a kind of throwing board, allowing you to fly up into the highest spheres of serious emotions ".

In Goodman's office, V. accidentally meets Helen Pratt: she is friends with Sebastian's lover Claire Bishop. The story of this love is built from the pictures that V. imagined after comparing the stories of Pratt with the stories of another friend of Sebastian (the poet P. J. Sheldon). In addition, V. accidentally saw a married and pregnant Claire on a London street, she was destined to die from bleeding. It turns out that their relationship lasted about six years (1924-1930). During this time, Sebastian wrote the first two novels ("Prismatic Facet" [2] and "Success", the fate of which corresponded to its title) and three short stories (they will be published in the book "Funny Mountain" in 1932). Claire was the perfect mate for the young writer - smart, empathetic, imaginative. She learned to type and helped him in everything. They also had a small black bulldog... In 1929, on the advice of a doctor, Sebastian went to treat his heart at a resort in Blauberg (Alsace). There he fell in love, and that was the end of their relationship with Claire.

In Sebastian's autobiographical book Lost Things, which he began at that time, there is a letter that can be read as an appeal to Claire: "I always think that there is some secret flaw in love ... I have not stopped loving you, but because I can’t, as before, kiss your sweet gloomy face, we need to part ... I will never forget you and can’t replace anyone ... I was happy with you, now I’m unhappy with the other ... "For almost the entire second half In the novel, V. is busy looking for this other woman - it seems to him that after seeing her and talking with her, he will learn something important about Sebastian. Who is she? It is known that in London Sebastian received letters written in Russian from a woman whom he had met in Blauberg. But, fulfilling the posthumous will of his brother, V. burned all his papers.

V.'s trip to Blauberg does nothing, but on the way back he meets a strange little man (it seems that he came straight from Sebastian's story "The Other Side of the Moon", where he helped unlucky travelers), the little man gets for V. a list of guests of the Beaumont Hotel in Blauberg for June 1929, and he notes four female names - each of them could belong to the brother's beloved. V. is sent to addresses.

Frau Helene Gerstein, a dainty, delicate Jewish woman living in Berlin, had never heard of Sebastian Knight. But in her house, V. meets Sebastian's classmate ("how should I say it ... your brother was not very favored at school ..."); classmate turns out to be the elder brother of Sebastian's first love - Natasha Rozanova.

In the house of Madame de Rechnoy in Paris, V. finds Pal Palych Rechnoy and his cousin Cherny (an amazing person who can play the violin while standing on his head, sign upside down, etc.). It turns out that Nina Rechnaya is the first wife of Pal Palych, with whom he divorced a long time ago. Apparently, this person is eccentric, eccentric and prone to adventures. Doubting that a woman of this type could captivate Sebastian, V. goes to the fashionable quarter of Paris - another "suspect" lives there, Helen von Graun. He is met by Madame Leserf ("a small, fragile, pale-faced lady with smooth dark hair"), who identified herself as von Graun's friend. She promises V. to find out everything she can. (To clear his conscience, V. also visits a certain Lydia of Bohemia, who, alas, turned out to be a middle-aged, fat and vulgar person.)

The next day, Madame Lecerf (an old black bulldog crouched on the sofa next to her) tells V. how her friend charmed Sebastian: firstly, she liked him, and besides, it seemed funny to make such an intellectual make love to her. When he finally realized that he could not live without her, she realized that she could no longer bear his talk ("about the shape of an ashtray" or "about the color of time", for example), and left him. Hearing all this, V. wants to meet von Graun even more, and Madame Leserf invites him to a weekend in her village, promising that the mysterious lady will certainly come there.

In a huge, old, neglected house, some people are visiting, in a complex way connected with each other (just like in "Prismatic facet", where Sebastian parodied the detective). Thinking about the mysterious stranger, V. suddenly feels attracted to Madame Leserf. As if in response, she reports how she once kissed a man only because he knew how to sign upside down ... V. remembers Cousin Chernoy and understands everything! In order to check his guess, he quietly says in Russian behind Madame Leserf's back: "And she has a spider on her neck," and the imaginary Frenchwoman, but in fact Nina Rechnaya, immediately grabs her neck with her hand. Without any explanation, V. leaves.

In Sebastian's last book, The Obscure Asphodel[3], the characters appear on the scene and disappear, and the main character dies throughout the story. This theme now converges with the theme of the book "The True Life of Sebastian Knight", which, before our eyes, is almost being completed by V. (it is no coincidence that of all his brother's books, this is perhaps his favorite). But he remembers how in mid-January 1936 he received an alarming letter from his brother, written, oddly enough, in Russian (Sebastian preferred to write letters in English, but he began this letter as a letter to Nina). At night, V. had an extremely unpleasant dream - Sebastian calls him "the last, persistent call", but the words cannot be made out. On the evening of the next day, a telegram arrived: "Sebastian's condition is hopeless ..." With big troubles, V. got to Saint-Damier. He sits in his sleeping brother's room, listens to his breathing and realizes that in these moments he recognizes Sebastian more than ever. However, there was a mistake: V. ended up in the wrong room and spent the night at the bedside of a stranger. And Sebastian died the day before his arrival.

But "any soul can become yours if you catch its windings and follow them." The cryptic words at the end of the novel: "I am Sebastian Knight or Sebastian Knight is me, or maybe both of us - someone else neither of us knows" can be interpreted as meaning that both brothers - these are different hypostases of the true author of The True Life of Sebastian Knight, i.e. Vladimir Nabokov. Or maybe it's better to leave them unsolved.

V. A. Shokhina

Novel (1945-1946, publ. 1947)

Bend Sinister is a term from heraldry (the art of drawing up and interpreting coats of arms), denoting a strip drawn to the left of the coat of arms. The title of the novel is connected with V. Nabokov's attitude to the "ominously leftward world", i.e. to the spread of communist and socialist ideas. The events of the novel take place in a conditional country - Sinisterbad, where a dictatorial, police regime has just been established as a result of the revolution. Its ideology is based on the theory of equalism (from the English to equalize - to equalize). They speak here in a language that, in the words of V. Nabokov, is "a mongrel mixture of Slavic and Germanic languages." For example, gospitaisha kruvka is a hospital bed; stoy, chort - stop, so that you; rada barbara - a beautiful woman in full bloom; domusta barbam kapusta - the scarier the woman, the more true. Etc.

The beginning of November. The day is fading into evening. A huge tired man in his forties is looking out of the hospital window at an oblong puddle in which tree branches, sky, and light are reflected. This is the celebrity of Sinisterbad, the philosopher Adam Krug. He had just learned that his wife Olga had died, unable to bear the operation on the kidney. Now he needs to get to the South Bank - there is his house and there his eight-year-old son is waiting for him. At the bridge, the equilist soldiers ("both, it is strange to say, with faces pockmarked with smallpox" - a hint at Stalin) due to illiteracy cannot read the Krug pass. In the end, the pass is read aloud to them by the same as Krug, a belated passerby. However, the sentries on the other side do not let the Circle in - the signature of the first post is required. The pass is signed by the same passer-by, and together with Krug they cross the bridge. But there is no one to check the pass - the soldiers left,

At the beginning of the eleventh, the Circle finally gets home. His main concern now is that little David does not find out about the death of his mother. Krug entrusts the troubles about the funeral by phone to his friend, philologist, translator of Shakespeare Amber (once he translated Krug's treatise "Philosophy of Sin" for the Americans). A phone call awakens Amber's memories of Olga - it seems that he even had a slight crush on her. At the same time - about eleven - Professor Krug is called to the University.

On the car that arrived for him, the emblem of the new government is a spread-eagled spider on a red flag. The President of the University begins his speech in Gogol's way: "I invited you, gentlemen, in order to inform you about some unpleasant circumstances..." In order for the University to work, its teachers must sign a letter certifying their loyalty to Ruler Paduk. Krug should hand over the letter, since Paduk is his classmate. The philosopher, however, calmly reports that he and Toad (as he, to the horror of those present, calls Paduk) are connected by only one memory: in the "happy school years" the mischievous Krug, the first student, humiliated the bad Paduk, sitting on his face.

Teachers - some with more, some with less willingness - sign the letter. The circle is limited to putting the missing comma in its instance. He does not give in to any persuasion.

Before the reader passes the dream of Adam Krug, connected with the events of his school life. (In this episode, the figure of the demiurge appears, a kind of director of what is happening - this is Nabokov's "second self".) We learn that Krug's father "was a biologist with a solid reputation," and Paduk's father is "a petty inventor, vegetarian, theosophist." Krug played football but Paduk did not. Apparently, this "full, pale, pimply teenager", with perpetually sticky hands and thick fingers, belonged to those unfortunate creatures who are willingly made scapegoats. (So, one day he brought a padograph to school - his father's device that reproduces any handwriting. While Krug was riding Paduk, another boy tapped out a letter on the fret-graph to the history teacher's wife - on behalf of Paduk and asking for a date.)

But Paduk waited for his finest hour. When the development of "socio-political consciousness" among schoolchildren came into fashion, he founded the Party of the Average Man. There were also associates (each, characteristically, suffered from some kind of defect). The program of the Party was based on the theory of equivalence, invented in old age by the democratic revolutionary Skotoma. According to this theory, anyone could become smart, beautiful, talented with the help of a redistribution of abilities given to a person by nature. (True, Scotoma did not write anything about the very method of redistribution.) The circle was not interested in such things at all.

... Krug is tormented by his graduation essay and suddenly (as happens in a dream) he sees his wife in the opening of the blackboard: Olga takes off her jewelry, and with them her head, chest, arm ... In a fit of nausea, Krug wakes up.

He is at the dacha in the Lakes, with his friend Maksimov. The next morning after the meeting at Krug University, in order to avoid unnecessary talk, he took his son out of the city. Retelling his dream to Maksimov, Krug recalls another detail: once Toad-Paduk furtively kissed his hand ... It was disgusting. A kind man, a former businessman Maksimov, persuades Krug to flee the country before it's too late. But the philosopher hesitates.

Returning after a walk with David, Krug learns that the Maximov family was taken away in a police car. Increasingly, suspicious personalities appear near the Circle - a couple kissing on the threshold of a house, a peasant dressed in opera, organ grinders who do not know how to play the barrel organ - it is clear that the philosopher is being shadowed.

Back in town, Krug goes to visit a cold Amber. Both of them avoid mentioning Olga and therefore talk about Shakespeare - in particular, about how the regime adapted Hamlet for itself (the main character was the "Nordic knight" fortinbras, and the idea of ​​tragedy was reduced to "the domination of society over the individual"), Conversation interrupts the doorbell - these are agents Gustav and the girl von Bachofen (a very vulgar couple, I must say!) Came for Amber.

We see Krug striding heavily through the streets of Padukograd. The November sun is shining. Everything is quiet. And only someone's blood-stained cuff on the pavement, and a galosh without a pair, and a bullet mark in the wall remind of what is happening here. On the same day, the mathematician Khedron, a friend and colleague of the Circle, is arrested.

The circle is lonely, driven and exhausted by longing for Olga. Suddenly, and out of nowhere, young Marietta appears with a suitcase - she takes the place of David's nanny, who disappeared after Khedron's arrest.

On the birthday of the Circle, the Head of State expresses a desire to "give him a personal conversation." On a huge black limousine, the philosopher is taken to the once luxurious, but now somehow ridiculously equipped palace. Krug keeps with Paduk in his usual manner, and invisible spies advise him (either by phone or by note) to realize what an abyss lies between him and the Ruler. Paduk invites Krug to take the place of President of the University (many benefits are promised) and declare "with all possible learning and enthusiasm" his support for the regime.

By refusing this offer, Krug is counting on the fact that someday he will simply be left alone. He lives as if in a fog, through which only official propaganda clichés make their way ("the newspaper is a collective organizer"; "as the leader said"; poems in honor of Paduk, printed with a ladder, like Mayakovsky's). On January XNUMX, a letter arrives from the "antique dealer Peter Quist", hinting at the possibility of an escape. Having met with the Circle, the dummy antiquary finally finds out (the regime is strong, but stupid!) That the most precious thing for the philosopher is his son. The unsuspecting Krug leaves the antique dealer's shop with the hope of escaping the Equilist hell.

On the night of the twenty-first, the ability to think and write returns to him (however, not for long). The circle is even ready to respond to the calls of Marietta, who has long been seducing him. But as soon as their intercourse should take place, a deafening roar is heard - they came for Adam Krug. In prison, they demand the same from him - to publicly support Paduk. In fear for his son, Krug promises to do anything: sign, swear - if only they give him his boy. Some frightened boy is brought in, but this is the son of the medic Martin Krug. Those responsible for the mistake are quickly shot.

It turns out that David (through a misunderstanding) was sent to a Sanatorium for abnormal children. There, in front of the Circle, fresh shots of the sanatorium shooting are being played: here the nurse escorts David to the marble stairs, here the boy descends into the garden ... "What a joy it is for the baby," the inscription announced, "to walk alone in the middle of the night." The tape breaks, and Krug understands what has happened: in this institution, as in the whole country, the spirit of collectivism is encouraged, so a flock of adult patients (with "an exaggerated need to torment, torment, etc.") set on a child like a game ... Krug they bring him to the murdered son - on the boy's head is a golden-purple turban, his face is skillfully painted and powdered. "Your child will receive the most magnificent funeral," the father is consoled. The circle is even offered (as compensation) to personally kill those responsible. In response, the philosopher rudely sends them to ...

Prison cell. The circle plunges into darkness and tenderness, where they are together again - Olga, David and him. In the middle of the night, something shakes him out of his sleep. But before all the torment and heaviness crush the poor Circle, the same demiurge-director intervenes in the course of events: driven by a sense of compassion, he will make his hero insane. (This is still better.) In the morning, in the central courtyard of the prison, people he knows are brought to the Circle - they are sentenced to death, and only the consent of the Circle to cooperate with the regime can save them.

No one understands that the pride of Sinisterbad - the philosopher Adam Krug has gone mad and the issues of life and death have lost their usual meaning for him.

It seems to the circle that he is the former hooligan schoolboy. He rushes to the Paduk Toad to teach him a lesson. The first bullet rips off Krug's ear. The second - forever terminates his earthly existence. "And yet the very last run of his life was full of happiness, and he received evidence that death is just a matter of style."

And the reflection of that special, "elongated puddle" becomes visible, which on the day of Olga's death Krug "managed to perceive through the layers of his own life."

V. A. Shokhina

Novel (1953-1955, publ. 1957)

The hero of the novel, Timofey Pavlovich Pnin, was born in 1898 in St. Petersburg, in the family of an ophthalmologist. In 1917 his parents died of typhus. Timofey joined the White Army, where he served first as a telephone operator, and then in the Military Intelligence Directorate. In 1919, from the Crimea taken by the Red Army, he fled to Constantinople. He graduated from the university in Prague, lived in Paris, from where he emigrated to the United States with the outbreak of World War II. During the course of the novel, Pnin is an American citizen, a professor who makes his living teaching Russian at Waindell University.

Once in the United States, Pnin quickly became Americanized: regardless of his age, he gladly changed his prim European style of clothing to casually sporty. Pnin speaks English quite well, but still makes funny mistakes. Add to this an extraordinary appearance (absolutely bald skull, bulbous nose, massive body on thin legs) and indestructible absent-mindedness, and you will understand why he often becomes the object of ridicule, however, good-natured ones. Colleagues treat him like a big child.

The action of the first chapter takes place at the end of September 1950. Pnin travels by train from Waindell to Cremona, a neighboring town (a little over two hours away). There he is to give a lecture at the Ladies' Club and thus earn fifty dollars, which will be of great use to him. Pnin is constantly checking to see if the text of the lecture he is about to read is still there. In addition, he, in his usual absent-mindedness, made a mistake in the schedule and risks being late. But in the end, thanks to a happy coincidence (in the form of a passing car), Pnin arrives at the Ladies' Club of Cremona on time.

Once face to face with the audience, Pnin seems to be lost in time. He sees himself as a fourteen-year-old boy reading a poem by Pushkin at a gymnasium evening. Pnin's parents are sitting in the hall, his aunt in overhead letters, his Friend, shot by the Reds in Odessa in 1919, his first love ...

Chapter Two takes us back to 1945, when Timofey Pnin first appeared in Waindell. He rents a room at the Clements' house. Although in everyday life Pnin behaves like a naughty brownie, the owners love him. With the head of the family, Lawrence (a lecturer at the same university), Pnin discusses all sorts of scientific subjects. Joan mothers this ridiculous Russian, who, like a child, rejoices at the work of the washing machine. And when his former (and only) wife is due to visit Pnin, the Clements delicately disappear from the house for the whole day.

Liza Bogolepova and Timofey Pnin got married in Paris in 1925. Timofey was in love, but the girl needed some kind of support after an unsuccessful romance that ended in her suicide attempt. In those days, Lisa studied at the Faculty of Medicine and wrote poetry, imitating Akhmatova: “I put on a modest dress, and I am more modest than a nun ...” This, however, did not prevent her from cheating on poor Pnin left and right immediately after the wedding. Having met with a psychoanalyst (a fashionable profession!) Eric Wind, Lisa left her husband. But when World War II broke out, Lisa unexpectedly returned to Pnin, already seven months pregnant. They emigrated together: Pnin was happy and even prepared to become a father to an unborn (someone else's) child. However, on the boat to America, it turned out that the practical Liza and her new husband were simply using Pnin to get out of Europe at the lowest cost.

And this time, Lisa remembers Pnin for selfish purposes. She broke up with a psychoanalyst, she has the following hobby. But her son Victor has to go to school, and Lisa wants Pnin to send him money, and on her behalf. The kindest Pnin agrees. But, secretly hoping for a reunion, he suffers greatly when Lisa, having discussed matters, immediately leaves.

In chapter three the usual labors and days of Timofey Pnin are described. He gives Russian language lessons for beginners and works on the Small History of Russian Culture, carefully collecting all sorts of funny cases, absurdities, anecdotes, etc. Tremulously treating the book, he hurries to hand over the still needed eighteenth volume of Leo Tolstoy's works to the library, because Someone signed up for this book. The question of who this unknown reader, who is interested in Tolstoy in the American wilderness, is of great interest to Pnin. But it turns out that the reader is himself, Timofey Pnin. The misunderstanding arose due to an error in the form.

One evening, Pnin is watching a Soviet documentary from the late XNUMXs in the cinema. And when real pictures of Russia show through Stalin's propaganda, Pnin weeps for the forever lost homeland.

Main event chapter four - visit to Pnin Liza's son Victor. He is already fourteen years old, he is gifted to the point of genius with the talent of an artist and has an IQ of about 180 (with an average of 90). In his fantasies, the boy imagined that Pnin, unknown to him, to whom his mother was married and who taught the mysterious Russian language somewhere, was his real father, a lonely king, expelled from his kingdom. In turn, Timofey Pavlovich, focusing on a certain typical image of an American teenager, buys a soccer ball for Victor's arrival and, remembering his childhood, takes Jack London's book "The Sea Wolf" in the library. Victor is not interested in all this. Nevertheless, they liked each other very much.

In chapter five Pnin, who recently learned to drive a car and bought himself a shabby sedan for a hundred dollars, with some adventures reaches the estate called "Pines". The son of a wealthy Moscow merchant, Alexander Petrovich Kukolnikov, or in American Al Cook, lives here. This is a successful businessman and a silent, cautious person: he revives only occasionally after midnight, when he starts talking with fellow compatriots about God, about Lermontov, about Freedom ... Cook is married to a pretty American woman. They don't have children. But on the other hand, their house is always hospitably open for guests - Russian emigrants. Writers, artists, philosophers have endless conversations here about high matters, exchange news, etc. After one such conversation, a vision appears before Pnin - his first love, the beautiful Jewish girl Mira Belochkina. She died in the German concentration camp Buchenwald.

Chapter Six begins with the fall semester of 1954 at Waindell University. Timofey Pnin finally decides, after thirty-five years of homelessness, to buy a house. He prepares for a housewarming reception for a long time and carefully: he draws up a list of guests, chooses a menu, etc. The evening was a success, and at the end of it, Pnin learns from the president of the university that he is being fired. In frustrated feelings, the now retired professor washes the dishes after the guests and almost breaks a beautiful blue cup - a gift from Victor. But the cup remains intact, and this gives Pnin hope for the best and a sense of self-confidence.

In the last chapter seven, we finally meet face to face with the one who, in fact, told us the whole story. Let's call him the Storyteller. The narrator recalls his meeting with Timofey Pnin in St. Petersburg in 1911, when they were both high school students; Pnin's father, an ophthalmologist, was extracting a painful mote from the Narrator's eye. It becomes clear that it was precisely because of the Narrator, a fashionable Russian émigré writer, that Liza Bogolepova took pills in Paris in 1925. Moreover, she gave the Narrator a letter in which Pnin proposed to her. On top of that, the Narrator turns out to be the same person who was invited to take Pnin's place at Waindell University. He, being kind to Pnin, in turn offers him a job. Pnin, however, reveals that he is done with teaching and is leaving Waindell.

On the evening of February 1955, 1950, the Narrator arrives in Waindell and stays with the Dean of the English Department, Cockerell. At dinner, the owner of the house skillfully portrays Timofey Pavlovich Pnin, with all his habits and quirks. Meanwhile, Pnin himself has not gone anywhere yet, but simply hid himself and answers the phone in an altered voice: "He is not at home." In the morning, the Narrator unsuccessfully tries to catch up with Pnin, who is leaving in his old sedan - with a white dog inside and a van with things behind. At breakfast, Cockerell continues his numbers: he shows how Pnin arrived at the Ladies' Club of Cremona at the end of September XNUMX, went up on stage and found that he had taken the wrong lecture. The circle closes.

V. A. Shokhina

(Ada, or Ardor: A Family Chronicle)

Novel (1965-1968, publ. 1969)

"Ada" is a grandiose parody of various literary genres: from Leo Tolstoy's novels through Marcel Proust's "In Search of Lost Time" to science fiction in the spirit of Kurt Vonnegut. The action of the novel takes place in a country that arose from the assumption that the Battle of Kulikovo (1380) ended with the victory of the Tatar-Mongols and the Russians, fleeing, rushed to North America - we get to know the descendants of these settlers living in Amerossia in the middle of the XNUMXth century. And in place of Russia, the mysterious Tartary has spread, hiding behind the Golden Curtain.

All this is on the planet Antiterra, which has a twin planet Terra the Beautiful - although it is mostly madmen who believe in its existence. On the map of Terra, Amerossia naturally splits into America and Russia. The events on Antiterra are a belated (by fifty to one hundred years) reflection of the events on Terra. This is partly why in the XNUMXth century phones, cars and planes, comics and bikinis, movies and radio, writers Joyce and Proust, etc.

But the main thing is that all this is composed by Van Veen, who believes that the real world is just vivid events flashing in his memory. He began writing his memoirs in 1957, at the age of eighty-seven, and finished in 1967. Wang's memory is bizarre: he mixes life with dreams, art with life, confuses dates; his ideas about geography are drawn from an old globe and a botanical atlas.

After Wang's death, a certain Ronald Oringer took over the manuscript. He provided the text with his own notes and introduced into it the comments that arose among the main characters in the course of reading the manuscript - to some extent this helps to understand how everything really happened. The book is prefaced by a genealogical tree of the Win family and a forewarning that almost "all the people mentioned by name in this book have died."

PART ONE opens with a paraphrase of the famous beginning of "Anna Karenina": "All happy families are happy, in general, in different ways; all unhappy ones, in general, are similar to each other." Indeed, the family happiness described in "Hell" is very peculiar. In 1844, twin sisters Aqua and Marina were born in the family of General Durmanov. Beauty Marina became an actress, though not very talented. On January 1868, 1869, she played Tatyana Larina, and she was seduced in a bet between two acts by Demon Vin, a thirty-year-old fatally handsome man and a Manhattan banker. (It is worth noting that Marina's grandfather and Demon's grandmother are siblings.) Their passionate romance ended a year later due to Marina's betrayals. And on April 1870, 1872, Demon married a less attractive and slightly mentally disturbed (due to an unsuccessful romance) Aqua. The sisters spent the winter together in the Swiss resort of Exe: there, Aqua had a dead child, and Marina two weeks later, on January 1876, XNUMX, gave birth to Van - he was recorded as the son of Demon and Aqua. A year later, Marina married Demon's cousin, Dan Win. In XNUMX, her daughter Ada was born, whose real father was Demon. In XNUMX, Lusset was born - perhaps already from her legal husband.

(These intricate family secrets are revealed to Ada and Van in the summer of 1884 in the attic of the Ardis estate, owned by Dan Veen. Having found photographs of the wedding of Aqua and Demon and Marina's strange herbarium with notes, quick-witted teenagers compare the dates, corrected here and there by Marina's hand, and understand that they have the same parents - Marina and Demon.)

Most of poor Aqua's life is spent in hospitals. She is fixated on Terra the Beautiful, where she is going after her death. At the last stage of the disease, everything loses its meaning, and in 1883 Aqua commits suicide by swallowing pills, Her last note is addressed to "dear, sweet son" Van and "poor Demon" ...

In the first days of June 1884, the orphaned Van comes to Ardis for a vacation - to visit, so to speak, Aunt Marina (the scene in the attic known to the reader is still ahead of him). The teenager has already experienced the first platonic love and acquired the first sexual experience ("for one Russian green dollar" with a girl from the shop). Van and Ada's meeting in Ardis is then remembered in different ways: Ada believes that Van invented everything - for example, in such heat, she would never put on a black jacket that etched into her brother's memory.

Life in Ardis is reminiscent of the homestead life of Russian landowners: here they speak Russian and French, they get up late and have a hearty dinner. Ada, a funny and precocious creature, speaks pompously, in Tolstoyan style, "effectively manipulating subordinate clauses." It is crammed with information about insects and plants, and Van, who thinks in abstractions, is sometimes tired of her specific knowledge. "Was she pretty at twelve?" - the old man reflects and recalls "with the same torment of youthful happiness, as love for Ada took possession of him."

At the picnic on the occasion of Ada's twelfth birthday (July 1884, XNUMX), she is allowed to wear "lolita" - a long skirt in red poppies and peonies, "unknown to the world of botany", according to the arrogant statement of the birthday girl. (The old erotomaniac Wang claims that she didn't have pantaloons on!) At the picnic, Wang demonstrates his signature act - walking on his hands (a metaphor for his future exercises in prose). Ada, like Natasha Rostova, performs a Russian dance; besides, she has no equal in the game of scrabble.

Knowing how to cross orchids and mate insects, Ada poorly imagines the intercourse of a man and a woman and for a long time does not notice signs of arousal in her cousin. On the night when everyone leaves to watch the burning barn, the children get to know each other on an old plush sofa in the library. In the summer of 1960, ninety-year-old Wang, "taking up a cannabis cigarette," asks: "Do you remember how desperate we were ... and how amazed I was by your intemperance?" - "Idiot!" - responds eighty-eight-year-old Ada. "Sister, do you remember the summer valley, Ladora's blue and Ardis Hall? .." - these verses set the main melody of the novel.

Love passion is closely connected with bibliophilic passion, since the library of Ardis is fourteen thousand eight hundred and forty-one volumes. Reading Ada under strict control (which did not prevent her from reading Chateaubriand's "Rene" at the age of nine, which describes the love of a brother and sister), but Van can freely use the library. The young lovers quickly became sick of pornography, they fell in love with Rabelais and Casanova and read together a lot of books with the same enthusiasm.

One day, Van asks his eight-year-old cousin Lucette to learn one romantic ballad in an hour especially for him - this is the time he and Ada need to retire in the attic. (Seventeen years later, in June 1901, he will receive the last letter from Lucette, who is in love with him, where she will remember everything, including the poem she had learned.)

On a sunny September morning, Van leaves Ardis - it's time for him to continue his studies. At parting, Ada says that one girl at school is in love with her. In Ladoga, on the advice of the Demon, Van meets Kordula, whom he suspects is a lesbian in love with his sister. While imagining their relationship, he experiences "a tingle of vicious pleasure".

In 1885 Wang went to Chuz University in England. There he indulges in real male entertainment - from a card game to visiting the brothels of the Villa Venus club. She and Ada correspond using a cipher compiled using Marvell's poem "The Garden" and Rimbaud's poem "Memories".

By 1888, Wang managed to gain fame in the circus field, demonstrating the same art of walking on his hands, and also received an award for a philosophical and psychological essay "On Madness and Eternal Life". And here he is again in Ardis. A lot has changed here. Ada realized that she would never become a biologist, and became interested in dramaturgy (especially Russian). A French governess, who had previously amused herself with prose, wrote a novel "about mysterious children doing strange things in old parks." Marina's former lover, director Vronsky, is making a film based on the novel "Bad Children", where mother and daughter should play.

From Ada's stories about her role, it can be understood that she cheats on Van with at least three. But nothing is known for sure, and the thoughts and feelings of our couple are still remarkably in tune with each other. Intimacy with Ada for Van "exceeds everything else put together." (With a weak hand, the memoirist enters here the last clarification: "Knowledge of the nature of Ada ... was and will always be one of the forms of memory.")

The Demon comes to Ardis. He is saddened by the "fatal impossibility of connecting the vague present with the undeniable reality of memories", for it is difficult to recognize in the current Marina the impulsive, romantic beauty of the times of their crazy romance. It must be admitted that he himself, with a dyed mustache and hair, is far from the same ... The demon is trying to reveal something very important to his son, but he can’t make up his mind.

On the twenty-first of July, at a picnic in honor of Ada's sixteenth birthday, Van beats the young Comte de Pres in a fit of jealousy. A little later, he is told how the music teacher Cancer possessed Ada. Trying to justify herself, the beloved sister inadvertently confesses everything. In a state of frenzied despair, Van leaves Ardis. It's all over, filthy, torn to pieces!

The insulted lover indulges in all serious. In Calugano, he starts a duel with an unfamiliar Captain Tapper. Having got to the Lakeside Hospital with a wound, Van tries to kill Cancer, who, however, safely dies from the disease of the same name. Soon dies somewhere in Tataria, near Yalta, and Comte de Pre. Van starts an affair with his cousin Cordula and learns that another girl, Wanda Broom, was a lesbian at their school. In early September, Van parted ways with Cordula and left Manhattan. A fruit is ripening in him - a book that he will soon write.

PART TWO is half as long as PART ONE. Ada attacks Van with letters. She swears allegiance and love to him, then, in a feminine inconsistent way, justifies her connections with Cancer and de Pre, again speaks of love ... Letters "writhe in pain", but Wang is adamant.

He writes his first novel, Letters from Terra, extracting the political details of the twin planet's life from the delusions of the mentally ill that he observes at the University of Chuz clinic. Everything on Terra resembles the history we are accustomed to in the 1891th century: the Sovereign Commonwealth of Aspiring Republics instead of Tataria; Germany, transformed under the rule of Ataulf the Future into a country of "modernized barracks", etc. The book is published in XNUMX; two copies sold in England, four in America.

After working the fall semester of 1892 in the "first-class insane asylum" at Kingston University, Van relaxes in Manhattan. Lucette arrives with a letter from Ada. From a long intellectual-erotic conversation between relatives, it turns out that Ada taught her sister to lesbian fun. In addition, Ada had an affair with young Johnny - she left her lover when she found out that he was supported by an old homosexual. (It is easy to figure out that this is Captain Trapper, since Van was given a junior comrade of the captain, Johnny Rafin, who clearly did not sympathize with him.)

Lucette wants Van to "open" it, but at this moment he wants most of all to open a letter from Ada. The sister reports that she is going to marry a Russian farmer from Arizona and is waiting for the last word from Van, Van sends a proper radiogram that she will come to Manhattan the next day. The meeting goes well, except, perhaps, that Ada confesses in connection with Wanda Broom (who was later "killed by a friend of a friend") and that Wanda gave her a black jacket that sunk into Van's soul. In addition, looking at a photo album bought by Ada from a blackmailer for a thousand dollars, Van discovers new traces of her betrayals. But, in the end, the main thing is that they are together again!

After visiting the best restaurant in Manhattan, Ada provokes her siblings into a threesome. "Two young demons" bring the virgin Lucette almost to the point of losing her mind, and she runs away from them. Van and Ada enjoy happiness together.

In early February 1895, Dan Win dies. Having interrupted another trip, the Demon comes to Manhattan to settle his cousin's affairs. An incorrigible romantic, he believes that Van lives in the same attic with the same Cordula ... There is no limit to his horror and despair when he finds Ada there in a pink peignoir! The last trump card of the Demon is the secret of the birth of lovers. But, alas, Van and Ada have known about everything for ten years, and they don't give a damn about anything. However, in the end Wang submits to his father - the lovers part.

PART THREE is half as long as TWO. Sometimes Wang visits Marina, calling her mom now. She lives in a luxurious villa on the Cote d'Azur (a gift from the Demon), but in early 1890 she dies of cancer in a clinic in Nice. According to her will, the body is set on fire. Van does not come to the funeral so as not to see Ada with her husband.

On June 1901, XNUMX, Wang went on his scientific business on the steamship "Admiral Tabakoff" to England. Lucette, who is in love with him, secretly boards the same flight. She tells Van that Ada's wedding took place according to the Orthodox rite, that the deacon was drunk and that the Demon sobbed even more inconsolably than at Marina's funeral.

Hoping to turn a moment of physical intimacy into an eternal spiritual connection, Lucette again and again tries to seduce Van. But, having seen his reaction to the film "Don Juan's Last Romance" with Ada in the role of the charming Dolores, he understands that nothing will work out. Wang intends to explain to the girl in the morning that he has the same difficult situation as hers, but he lives, works and does not go crazy. However, there is no need for notations - having swallowed pills and washed them down with vodka, poor Ayusette rushed into the black abyss of the ocean at night. ("We teased her to death," Ada would say later.)

On a March morning in 1905, Van Veen, who had recently become head of the department of philosophy, sits on a carpet in the company of naked beauties (his Don Juan list will eventually be two hundred women, like Byron's). From the newspapers, he learns that his father Demon, the son of Daedalus, died in a plane crash. (“And over the heights of Ecstasy the exile of paradise flew…” - in Lermontov's way, the death of the Demon resonates in the novel.) So, Marina was swallowed up by fire, Lucette - by water, Demon - by air. Almost all obstacles to the reunion of brother and sister have disappeared. Ada's husband soon becomes ill with pneumonia and spends the next seventeen years in the hospital.

PART FOUR, which is half of THIRD, is devoted mainly to the treatise "The Fabric of Time", on which Wang, having retired and settled in Switzerland, works in 1922. "The past is a generous chaos of images from which you can choose whatever you want. The present is a constant alignment of the Past. The Future does not exist…" So, thinking about the nature of Time, Wang, on the night of July thirteenth to fourteenth, in the pouring rain, rushes in a car to Monte Ru. There they are to meet Ada, whose husband died back in April... "Nothing remains of her angular grace," Wang describes this meeting, comparing the fifty-year-old Ada with a twelve-year-old girl, although he has seen her more than once as an adult woman. However, the "offensive effect of age" of the researcher of Time is not so exciting.

“We will never be able to know Time,” says Ada. “Our senses are simply not designed to comprehend it. It is like…” The comparison hangs in the air, and the reader is free to continue it.

PART FIVE is half the size of FOUR and is 1/16 of PART ONE, which clearly demonstrates the work of Wang's Time and Memory. He joyfully welcomes life - on the day of his ninety-seventh birthday. Since July 1922 the brother and sister have lived together, mostly in Aix, where Wang was born. They are under the care of Dr. Lagose, "a lover of salty jokes and a great erudite": it is he who supplies Van with erotic literature that fires up the memoirist's imagination.

Although passionate desires sometimes overwhelmed Wang, he mostly managed to avoid debauchery. At seventy-five, he had enough blitz tournaments with Ada, at eighty-seven he finally became a complete impotent. Then a seventeen-year-old secretary appeared in their house:

she would marry Ronald Orange, who would publish Van's memoirs after his death. In 1940, a film was made based on the novel "A Letter from Terra", and world fame came to Van: "Thousands of more or less unbalanced people believed ... in the identity of Terra and Antiterra hidden by the government." This is how Antiterra, the subjective world of Van, and the more normal (from our point of view) world of Terra merge.

And now the flickering death of the heroes appears: they will closely cling to each other and merge into something united - into Vaniada.

The last paragraphs of the novel are reviewed: Van is called "an irresistible libertine", the Ardis chapters are compared with Tolstoy's trilogy. It is noted "the grace of picturesque details ... butterflies and night violets ... a frightened doe in the park of the family estate. And much, much more."

* * *

The second edition of Ada (1970) came out with footnotes signed "Vivian Darkbloom" (an anagram of "Vladimir Nabokov"). Their tone is ironically condescending (for example, "Alexey, etc. - Vronsky and his mistress") - Pushkin joked in his comments on "Eugene Onegin".

V. A. Shokhina

(A Farewell to Anns)

Roman (1929)

The action of the novel takes place in 1915-1918. on the Italian-Austrian front.

American Frederick Henry is a lieutenant in the medical troops of the Italian army (Italian - because the United States has not yet entered the war, and Henry volunteered). Before the offensive in the town on Plavna, where the sanitary units are stationed, there is a lull. The officers spend their time as best they can - they drink, play billiards, go to a brothel and make the regimental priest blush, discussing various intimate things with him.

A young nurse, Catherine Barkley, arrives at a nearby English hospital after her fiancé died in France. She regrets that she did not marry him earlier, did not give him at least a little happiness.

A rumor is circulating among the troops that we must wait for an imminent offensive. We urgently need to set up a dressing station for the wounded. The Austrian units are close to the Italians - on the other side of the river. Henry relieves the stress of waiting by wooing Katherine, although he is confused by some of her oddities. First, after trying to kiss her, he gets a slap in the face, then the girl herself kisses him, excitedly asking if he will always be kind to her. Henry does not rule out that she is a little crazy, but the girl is very beautiful, and meeting her is better than spending evenings in an officer's brothel. Henry comes to the next date thoroughly drunk and, moreover, is very late - however, the date will not take place: Katherine is not entirely healthy. Suddenly, the lieutenant feels unusually lonely, his soul is dreary and dreary.

The next day, it becomes known that at night there will be an attack in the upper reaches of the river, ambulances should go there. Driving past the hospital, Henry jumps out for a minute to see Catherine, who gives him a medallion with the image of St. Anthony - for good luck. Arriving at the place, he settles down with the drivers in the dugout; young Italian guys unanimously scold the war - if their relatives were not persecuted for desertion, none of them would be here. There is nothing worse than war. Losing it is even better. And what will happen? The Austrians will reach Italy, get tired and return home - everyone wants to go home. War is only for those who profit from it.

The attack begins. A bomb hits the dugout where the lieutenant is with the drivers. Wounded in the legs, Henry tries to help the dying driver nearby. Those who survived bring him to the first aid station. There, as nowhere else, the dirty side of the war is visible - blood, groans, torn bodies. Henry is being prepared to be sent to the central hospital in Milan. Before leaving, he is visited by a priest, he sympathizes with Henry, not so much because he was injured, but because it is difficult for him to love. Man, God... And yet the priest believes that someday Henry will learn to love - his soul has not yet been killed - and then he will be happy. By the way, his familiar nurse - I think Barkley? - also transferred to a Milan hospital.

In Milan, Henry undergoes complex knee surgery. Unexpectedly for himself, he is looking forward to the arrival of Catherine with great impatience, and as soon as she enters the ward, he experiences an amazing discovery: he loves her and cannot live without her. When Henry learned to move around on crutches, he and Catherine begin to go to the park for a walk or dine in a cozy restaurant next door, drink dry white wine, and then return to the hospital, and there, sitting on the balcony, Henry waits for Catherine to finish work and will come to him all night and her marvelous long hair will cover him with a golden waterfall.

They consider themselves husband and wife, counting their married life from the day Catherine appeared in the Milan hospital. Henry wants them to get married for real, but Katherine objects that then she will have to leave: as soon as they begin to settle the formalities, she will be followed and separated. She is not worried that their relationship is not officially legalized in any way, the girl is more worried about a vague premonition, it seems to her that something terrible can happen.

The situation at the front is difficult. Both sides were already exhausted, and, as one English major said to Henry, the army that was the last to realize that it was exhausted would win the war. After several months of treatment, Henry is ordered to return to the unit. Saying goodbye to Katherine, he sees that she is not saying something, and barely gets the truth from her: she has been pregnant for three months,

In part, everything goes on as before, only some are no longer alive. Someone caught syphilis, someone took to drink, and the priest still remains the object of jokes. The Austrians are coming. Henry now turns back from the soul from such words as "glory", "valor", "feat" or "shrine" - they simply sound indecent next to the specific names of villages, rivers, road numbers and the names of those killed. Ambulances now and then get into traffic jams on the roads; Refugees retreating under the onslaught of the Austrians are nailed to the columns of cars, they are carrying miserable household belongings in carts, and dogs run under the bottoms of the carts. The car in which Henry is driving constantly gets stuck in the mud and finally gets stuck completely. Henry and his henchmen continue on foot, being repeatedly fired upon. Eventually they are stopped by the Italian field gendarmerie, mistaking them for Germans in disguise, especially Henry seems suspicious to them with his American accent. They are going to shoot him, but the lieutenant manages to escape - he jumps into the river with a run and swims under water for a long time. Taking a breath, he dives again. Henry manages to get away from the chase.

Henry understands that he has had enough of this war - the river seemed to have washed away his sense of duty. He's done with war, Henry tells himself, he's not built to fight, but to eat and drink and sleep with Katherine. He no longer intends to part with her. He concluded a separate peace - for him personally the war was over. And yet it is difficult for him to get rid of the feeling that boys have who have run away from lessons, but cannot stop thinking about what is happening at school now.

Having finally reached Catherine, Henry feels as if he has returned home - he feels so good next to this woman. Previously, he had not been like this: he knew many, but he always remained lonely. Night with Katherine is no different from the day - it is always wonderful with her. But the war left a sore throat, and various unhappy thoughts come into my head, like the fact that the world breaks everyone. Some become stronger at a break, but those who do not want to break are killed. They kill the kindest, and the most gentle, and the bravest - indiscriminately. And if you are neither one, nor the other, nor the third, then they will kill you too - only without much haste.

Henry knows that if they see him on the street without a uniform and recognize him, they will shoot him. The bartender from the hotel where they live warns that Henry will be arrested in the morning - someone has denounced him. The bartender finds a boat for them and shows them where to sail to get to Switzerland.

The plan works, and all autumn they live in Montreux in a wooden house among the pines, on the mountainside. The war seems very far away to them, but they know from the newspapers that the fighting is still going on.

Catherine's due date is approaching, not everything is fine with her - she has a narrow pelvis. Henry and Katherine spend almost all the time together - they have no need for communication, this war seems to have brought them to a desert island. But now an exit to the world, to people becomes necessary: ​​Katherine starts having contractions. Labor activity is very weak, and she is given a caesarean section, but it's too late - the exhausted child is born dead, Catherine herself dies. That's it, thinks the devastated Henry, everything always ends in this - death. They throw you into life and tell you the rules, and the first time they take you by surprise, they kill you. No one can hide from life or death.

V. I. Bernatskaya

(That Have and Have Not)

Roman (1937)

The novel, consisting of three short stories, dates back to the economic depression of the 1930s.

Florida fisherman Harry Morgan from Key West makes a living by renting his motorboat to various rich people who come here to fish. They hire a boat together with the owner - he knows well where the bite is better and what kind of bait is needed for which fish. Harry prefers to be on good terms with the law and has made it a point to not get involved with smugglers or engage in illegal fishing at all. But one day everything changes.

An American who chartered a boat for three weeks, with whom Harry was fishing off the coast of Cuba, deceives the fisherman and, spoiling him in addition to gear, calmly flies away without paying and without compensating for losses.

Morgan expected to receive about six hundred dollars, he needs to buy gasoline in order to return to the States, he also needs money to live: he has a family - a wife and three schoolgirl daughters.

Harry is forced to make an illegal deal: for a thousand dollars, he agrees to illegally take several Chinese out of Cuba. The mediator makes it clear that the Chinese do not need to be delivered to the mainland at all, but simply slapped along the road. Morgan prefers to kill the villain-intermediary himself, and the Chinese are landed on the Cuban coast, not far from the place where he took them on board. The Chinese, not realizing that they were saved from certain death, are unhappy that they were cheated, but they do not openly grumble.

Down and Out trouble started. Harry, who needs to feed his family, becomes a smuggler - transporting whiskey from Cuba to Key West. One day, when Harry, along with a Negro henchman, makes an ordinary flight with a load of whiskey, they are overtaken by a NCIS boat. They are ordered to stop. When the law enforcement officers see that they are on a motorboat and do not think to obey the order, they open fire and injure Harry and the Negro. Those, however, manage to escape from pursuit, but the Negro is completely limp, and Harry hardly anchors in the waters near Key West. Stormy. Harry is afraid that the intermediaries will not come for the dangerous goods.

From a boat passing by, owned by Willie, Harry's friend, they notice that something is wrong on Morgan's boat. The passengers of the boat are representatives of the law, they guess that the wounded man on the boat is a bootlegger, and demand that Willie come closer to the boat, but he flatly refuses. Moreover, he shouts to Harry that if he has something superfluous on board, he would get rid of it as soon as possible and let him know that Willie has not seen him in the eye and will show it even before the court. He tells his passengers that he will not go to see them as witnesses, and in general, if it comes to trial, he will swear that he knows nothing and has not seen this boat in person.

Overcoming the pain in his hand, Harry throws the cargo overboard and directs the motorboat towards the harbor - he and the Negro need a doctor. Maybe the hand will still be cured - it would be very useful to him ...

The hand, however, cannot be saved, now Harry's right sleeve is pinned up to the very shoulder. His boat was arrested after the last incident: the lawyers from Washington, who found themselves that day on Willie's boat, got their way. But, as Harry tells the Friend, he cannot allow his children to let their stomachs down from hunger, and he does not intend to dig ditches for pennies for the government either. Harry still does not refuse illegal voyages - this time he is offered to deliver four illegal immigrants to Cuba. His friend Elbert agrees to help Harry, especially since this job pays well. They unanimously decide that there is no such law that a person should starve. The rich are buying up land here, and soon the poor will have to go starve elsewhere. Harry is not "red", but, according to him, he has long been taking evil from such a life. To complete the task, Harry rents a boat from his bartender friend.

Maria, Harry's wife, since her husband agreed to the last dangerous proposal, does not find a place for herself. These two middle-aged people are connected by a touching feeling, each is still worried about the simple touch of the other, and they understand each other perfectly.

In winter, many famous and simply rich people come to Key West. Their problems are not like Harry's, they do not need to earn money for food every day at the risk of their lives. They drink and start cheap affairs - like Mrs. Bradley with the writer Richard Gordon; she collects writers in the same way as their books. The passengers turn out to be more dangerous than Harry expected. They robbed a bank, and when they boarded the boat, for no reason, they slammed Elbert. At gunpoint, Harry sets off from the shore, realizing that the Cubans, after completing all the cases, will also let him go to waste. The Cubans do not hide the fact that they are revolutionaries, they rob and kill people, but all this is only for the sake of the revolution and the future triumph of justice, for the sake of working people.

God, Harry thinks, in order to help people, they rob and kill ordinary people in the process. Everyone went crazy. Harry understands that he needs to get ahead of the Cubans and, in order not to doom himself to the slaughter, attack first. At a convenient moment, he pulls out a machine gun hidden in advance and strikes the Cubans with several bursts. However, one Cuban finds the strength to fire back and stabs Harry in the stomach.

Lying at the bottom of the boat, Harry wonders painfully what Maria will do now. How to raise girls? Nothing, somehow live, she's a woman with a head, But I bit off more than I could chew. There's a lot of money on the boat, and I can't give my family a cent.

Drifting on the high seas, a coast guard boat notices a boat. The police officers, who have seen a lot in their lifetime, coming closer, cannot hide their confusion at the sight of the blood-stained deck. Harry is still alive, albeit unconscious. He mumbles something. "A man alone cannot do a damn thing," the guards who stepped on board hear. It is clear that a terrible drama has played out here - the policemen recognize the criminals who robbed the bank in the dead. But what is Harry's role in all this? The boat is slowly pulled in tow to the pier past the yachts of the rich standing at the pier.

And these yachts have their own lives. In one, a Harvard graduate Wallace millionaire is hanging out with a certain Carpenter, a utterly bankrupt guy who is said to land safely at some rich man's desk if thrown from five hundred feet.

On other yachts, there are other people and other concerns. On the largest and most luxurious, a sixty-year-old grain broker tosses and turns in bed, alarmed by the latest account. Money is his only passion: he did not even notice the departure of his wife, with whom he lived for twenty years. On a yacht nearby, a famous playboy sleeps with his mistress - the wife of a famous Hollywood director. She lies awake beside him, wondering whether to drink sleeping pills and why men are such scoundrels.

Mary is informed of what has happened. Together with her daughters, she sits in the hospital, all four earnestly pray that her husband and father remain alive. But Harry dies without regaining consciousness, and Maria feels that something has died inside her with him, she remembers how fervent, strong he was, like some rare animal. There was no better man in the world than him. Now she would have to become dead too - like most people.

V. I. Bernatskaya

(For Whom the Bell Tolls)

Roman (1940)

American Robert Jordan, voluntarily participating in the Spanish Civil War on the side of the Republicans, receives a task from the center - to blow up the bridge before the offensive. A few days before the offensive, he must spend at the location of the partisan detachment of a certain Pablo. They say about Pablo that at the beginning of the war he was very brave and killed more Nazis than the bubonic plague, and then he got rich and now he would gladly retire. Pablo refuses to participate in this case, which promises only trouble for the detachment, but Jordan is unexpectedly supported by the fifty-year-old Pilar, Pablo's wife, who enjoys immeasurably more respect among the partisans than her husband. Whoever seeks security loses everything, she says. She is unanimously elected commander of the detachment.

Pilar is an ardent republican, she is devoted to the cause of the people and will never turn off the chosen path. This strong, wise woman hides many talents, she also has the gift of clairvoyance: on the very first evening, looking at Robert's hand, she realized that he was completing his life path. And then I saw that between Robert and the girl Maria, who had joined the detachment after the Nazis killed her parents, and she herself was raped, a bright, rare feeling flared up. She does not interfere with the development of their love relationship, and knowing how little time is left, she herself pushes them towards each other. All the time that Maria spent with the detachment, Pilar gradually healed her soul, and now the wise Spaniard understands: only pure, true love will heal the girl. On the first night, Maria comes to Robert.

The next day, Robert, instructing the old man Anselmo to watch the road, and Rafael to watch the change of sentries at the bridge, goes with Pilar and Maria to El Sordo, the commander of a neighboring partisan detachment. On the way, Pilar tells how the revolution began in a small Spanish town, in their homeland with Pablo, and how the people dealt with the local fascists there. People stood in two lines - one opposite the other, picked up flails and clubs and drove the Nazis through the ranks. This was done on purpose: so that everyone would bear their share of responsibility. Everyone was beaten to death - even those who were reputed to be a good person - and then thrown off a cliff into a river. Everyone died differently: some accepted death with dignity, and some whined and asked for mercy. The priest was killed right during the prayer. Yes, apparently, God was abolished in Spain, sighs Pilar, because if he were, would he allow this fratricidal war? Now there is no one to forgive people - after all, there is neither God, nor the Son of God, nor the Holy Spirit.

Pilar's story awakens his own thoughts and memories in Robert Jordan. There is nothing surprising in the fact that he is now fighting in Spain. His profession (he teaches Spanish at the university) and service are connected with Spain; he had often been here before the war, he loves the people of Spain, and he is not at all indifferent to how the fate of this people will turn out. Jordan is not red, but one should not expect good from the Nazis. So we need to win this war. And then he will write a book about everything, and then he will finally be freed from the horror that accompanies any war.

Robert Jordan suggests that in preparation for the explosion of the bridge, he may die: there are too few people at his disposal - Pablo has seven and El Sordo has the same number, and there are plenty of things to do: you need to remove posts, cover the road, etc. to happen that it was here that he met his first true love. Maybe that's all he can take from life? Or is it generally his whole life and instead of seventy years it will last seventy hours? Three days. However, there is nothing to grieve here: in seventy hours you can live a fuller life than in seventy years.

When Robert Jordan, Pilar and Maria, having received El Sordo's consent to get horses and take part in the operation, return to the camp, it suddenly begins to snow. It brings down and brings down, and this phenomenon, unusual for the end of May, can ruin the whole thing. In addition, Pablo drinks all the time, and Jordan is afraid that this unreliable person can do great harm.

El Sordo got, as promised, horses in case of retreat after a diversion, but because of the snow that had fallen, the fascist patrol notices traces of partisans and horses leading to the El Sordo camp. Jordan and the fighters from Pablo's detachment hear the echoes of the battle, but they cannot intervene: then the whole operation, so necessary for a successful offensive, may fail. The entire El Sordo detachment perishes, the fascist lieutenant, bypassing the hill strewn with the corpses of partisans and soldiers, crosses himself with the cross and mentally pronounces what can often be heard in the republican camp: what a vile thing is war!

The failures don't end there. On the night before the attack, Pablo escapes from the camp, taking with him a box with a fuse and fuses of skins - things important for sabotage. You can also manage without them, but it is more difficult, and there is more risk.

Old Anselmo reports to Jordan about the movements on the road: the Nazis are pulling up equipment. Jordan writes a detailed report to the front commander, General Goltz, informing him that the enemy clearly knows about the upcoming offensive: what Goltz was counting on - surprise, will not work now. The package to Goltz agrees to deliver the partisans to Andrea. If he had time to deliver the report before dawn, Jordan had no doubt that the offensive would be postponed, and with it the date of the blowing of the bridge. But while you're getting ready...

On the last night, lying next to Maria, Robert Jordan, as it were, sums up his life and comes to the conclusion that it was not lived in vain. He is not afraid of death, only the thought scares him: what if he does not fulfill his duty properly. Jordan remembers his grandfather - he also participated in the Civil War, only in America - in the war between the North and the South. It must have been just as scary as this one. And apparently, Anselmo is right when he says that those who fight on the side of the fascists are not fascists, but the same poor people as the people in the republican detachments. But it’s better not to think about all this, otherwise the anger will disappear, and without it you won’t be able to complete the task.

The next morning, Pablo unexpectedly returns to the detachment, he brought people and horses with him. Throwing Jordan's detonator into the abyss under a hot hand, he soon felt remorse and realized that he simply was not able to remain alone and safe when his former comrades fought. Then he developed a frantic activity, all night collecting volunteers from the neighborhood for an action against the Nazis.

Not knowing whether Andres got the report to Goltz or not, Jordan and the partisans take off and move through the gorge to the river. It was decided to leave Maria with the horses, and to take care of the rest - in the event of an offensive - to each his own business. Jordan and old Anselmo go down to the bridge and take off the guards. An American sets up dynamite at the poles. Now, whether the bridge will be blown up depends only on whether the offensive starts or not.

Meanwhile, Andres can't get through to Goltz. After overcoming initial difficulties in crossing the front line, when he was almost blown up by a grenade, Andres is stuck at the very last stage: he is detained by the chief commissar of the International Brigades. War changes not only people like Pablo. The commissar has recently become very suspicious, he hopes that he will be able, by detaining this man from the fascist rear, to convict Goltz of having links with the enemy.

When Andres finally miraculously reaches Goltz, it is already too late: the offensive cannot be canceled.

The bridge has been blown up. The explosion kills old Anselmo. Those who survived are in a hurry to retreat. During the retreat, a projectile explodes next to Jordan's horse, which falls and crushes the rider. Jordan has a broken leg and realizes that he cannot ride with the others. The main thing for him is to convince Mary to leave him. After what they had, Jordan tells the girl, they will always be together. She will take him with her. Wherever she goes, he will always be with her. If she leaves, he leaves too - so she will save him.

Left alone, Jordan freezes in front of a machine gun, leaning against a tree trunk. The world is a good place, he thinks, worth fighting for. You have to kill if you need to - just don't love killing. And now he will try to finish his life well - to detain the enemy here, at least to kill the officer. It can solve a lot.

And then an officer of the enemy army leaves the clearing ...

V. I. Bernatskaya

(Look Homeward, Angel)

Roman (1929)

Everyone living on earth is the result of countless additions: four thousand years ago, love could begin in Crete, which ended yesterday in Texas. Every life is a moment open to eternity, Wolfe says. And now - one of them ... Eugene Gant - a descendant of the Englishman Gilbert Gant, who arrived in Baltimore from Bristol and became related to a German family, and the Pentlands, in which Scottish blood predominated. From his father, Oliver Gant, a stone carver, Eugene inherited an explosive temperament, artistry of nature and actor's conviviality of speech, and from his mother, Eliza Pengland, the ability to work methodically and perseverance.

Eliza's childhood was spent in the years after the Civil War in poverty and deprivation, these years were so terrible that they developed in her stinginess and an insatiable love of property. Oliver Gant, on the other hand, was broad-minded, impractical, and almost childishly selfish. Settling in Altamont (as Wolfe renamed his hometown of Asheville in this autobiographical novel) and marrying Eliza, Gant built a picturesque dwelling for his wife. But this house, surrounded by a garden and covered with vines, which was for the husband the image of his soul, for the wife was just real estate, a profitable investment.

Eliza herself, from the age of twenty, began to gradually acquire real estate, denying herself everything and saving money. On one of the previously purchased plots, Eliza persuaded her husband to build a workshop. Eugene remembered how marble tombstones stood at the entrance to his father's workroom, among which a ponderous, sweetly smiling angel stood out.

In eleven years, Eliza bore Oliver nine children, of whom six survived. She gave birth to the last one, Eugene, in the autumn of 1900, when the house was filled with stuffy halls from ripening apples and pears laid out everywhere. This smell will haunt Eugene for the rest of his life.

Eugene remembered himself almost from birth: he remembered the suffering from the fact that his infantile intellect was entangled in a net and he did not know the names of the objects surrounding him; he remembered looking from the dizzying height of the cradle at the world below; he remembered how he was holding Brother Luke's cubes in his hands and, studying the symbols of speech, was trying to find the key that would finally bring order into chaos.

Between father and mother there was a constant ruthless war. Different temperaments, different life attitudes provoked constant skirmishes. In 1904, when the World's Fair opened in St. Louis, Eliza insisted on going there, renting a house and renting rooms to visitors from Altamont. Gant hardly agreed to this business of his wife: his pride suffered - the neighbors might think that he was not able to support his family. But Eliza felt that this trip should be the beginning of something bigger for her. The children, except for the older ones, went with her. For little Eugene, life in the "fair" city seemed like a bright surreal nightmare, especially since the stay there was overshadowed by the death of twelve-year-old Grover - the saddest and most tender of the Gant children.

But life went on. The family was in the prime and fullness of life together. Gant poured out his scolding, his tenderness and abundance of provisions on his household. The children listened with delight to his eloquent philippics directed against his wife: the eloquence of his father, thanks to daily practice, acquired the harmony and expressiveness of classical rhetoric. Already at the age of six, Eugene took the first step towards liberation from the isolation of home life: he insisted on attending school. Seeing him off, Eliza wept for a long time, intuitively feeling the unusualness of this child of hers and realizing that her son would always be immeasurably lonely. Only silent Ben was driven by some deep instinct to his younger brother, and from his small salary he carved out a part for gifts and entertainment for Eugene.

Eugene studied easily, but relations with classmates did not develop in the best way: the children felt him as a stranger. The boy's vivid imagination distinguished him from others, and although Eugene envied the spiritual insensitivity of his classmates, which helped them easily endure school punishments and other deformities of being, he himself was arranged differently. As a teenager, Eugene greedily absorbs books, becomes a regular in the library, mentally plays the plots of books, becoming a hero of works in his dreams. Fantasy takes him up, "erasing all the dirty strokes of life." Now he has two dreams: to be loved by a woman and to be famous.

Eugene's parents - staunch supporters of the economic independence of children, especially sons - they were all sent as early as possible to work. Eugene first sold greens from his parents' garden, and then newspapers, helping Luke. He hated this job: in order to hand a newspaper to a passerby, he had to turn into an importunate little impudent one.

From the age of eight, Eugene found a second home: his mother bought a large house ("Dixieland") and moved there with her youngest son, hoping to rent out rooms to tenants. Eugene was always ashamed of "Dixieland", realizing that the alleged poverty hanging over them, the threat of an almshouse is a pure fiction, the myth-making of greedy hoarding. The guests seemed to be pushing the Gants out of their own home. Eliza diligently ignored any unpleasant circumstances if it brought money, and therefore "Dixieland" became famous among women of easy virtue, who, as if by chance, settled there.

Eugene's parents are offered to send their son as a particularly gifted student to a private school. There he meets Margaret Leonard, a literature teacher who became his spiritual mother. He spends four years as if in a fairyland, absorbing - now systematically - books and honing his thought and style in conversations with Margaret. What he reads and imagines exacerbates his feeling for the South - "the essence and product of dark romanticism." In Eugene, the naturally powerful talent of an observer and analyst is rapidly gaining strength - qualities necessary for a future writer. He keenly feels the duality of phenomena, the struggle of opposites inherent in them. His own family "sees him as a microcosm of existence: beauty and ugliness, good and evil, strength and weakness - everything is present in it. Eugene feels one thing in his heart: only the love he feels for his family gives him the strength to endure all their weaknesses.

Eugene is not yet sixteen when he enters the university of his native state, thereby causing envious feelings among the rest of the brothers (except Ben) and sisters. At the university, Eugene, due to his too young age, zealous study in his studies and eccentric behavior, quickly becomes the object of universal ridicule. Gradually, however, he learns the simple style of a student hostel, and in terms of visiting the quarters where girls of easy virtue live, he even overtakes many.

The First World War passes almost imperceptibly for Eugene, remaining somewhere on the sidelines. According to rumors, Brother Ben volunteered for the war, but did not pass the medical examination.

Soon this news gets a sad continuation - Eugene is called home: Ben has pneumonia. Eugene finds his older brother in one of the Dixieland rooms, where he lies, choking with impotent rage at a life that has given him so little. This time Eugene, like never before, discovers the lonely beauty of this talented, unfulfilled person. Through the death of his brother, Eugene comprehends a truth unknown to him until now: everything refined and beautiful in human life is always "touched by divine corruption."

Soon Eugene finishes his studies, but his soul is torn further, the university wisdom of a provincial university is not enough for him. The young man dreams of Harvard. Reluctantly, the parents agree to send him there for one year, but the brothers and sisters demand that in this case Eugene renounce his share of the inheritance, Eugene, without hesitation, signs the necessary documents.

Leaving his hometown, Eugene feels that he will never return here. Except for the funeral of his father - old Gant retired and grows decrepit every day. Eugene wanders the city, saying goodbye to the past. Suddenly, he sees next to him the ghost of his dead brother.

"I forgot the names," Eugene complains to him. "I forgot the faces. I only remember the little things. Oh, Ben, where is the world?" And he gets the answer: "Your world is you."

IN AND. Bernatskaya

(Gone with the Wind)

Roman (1936)

April 1861 Tara Plantation twenty-five miles from Atlanta, Georgia.

The Tarlton twins, Stuart and Brent, who are in love with the charming daughter of the owner of Tara, sixteen-year-old Scarlet, tell her two news. First, the war between the North and the South is about to begin. Secondly, Ashley Wilkes is getting married to Melanie Hamilton, which will be announced tomorrow when there is a big reception at the Wilkes house.

News of the impending war for Scarlet is nothing compared to the news of Ashley's marriage. The subject of sighing of almost all the young people of the district, Scarlet herself loves only Ashley, who, as it seems to her, is not indifferent to her himself. She can't make sense of what he found in Melanie, that real blue stocking.

Scarlet shares her feelings with her father, but Gerald O'Hara is convinced that his daughter and Ashley are by no means the perfect couple. He admits that, although he treats young Wilkes well, he cannot fully understand him. Yes, Ashley knows how to drink and play poker no worse than other young people, but he does it without a soul, as if obeying the prevailing conventions. Ashley is much more attracted to books, music, paintings, and this puzzles a simple and direct Irishman. He honestly informs his daughter that he would be glad to leave Tara to her if she married someone else - there are quite worthy young people around. Scarlet throws in her hearts that she does not care about Tara and all this land means absolutely nothing. The father abruptly cuts her off and instills that there is nothing more important than the earth, for it remains forever.

Scarlet shows up at the Wilkes' reception. She hopes to talk to Ashley and get him to change his mind. Among the guests is a certain Rhett Butler, about whom the most terrible things are told. He was expelled from the West Point military academy and later kicked out of the house by his father after he refused to marry a girl whom he supposedly compromised. But Scarlet doesn't care about Butler right now. She needs to talk to Ashley. Seizing the moment, she explains to him in the library. Alas, her plans go to waste. Ashley is firm in his intention to marry Melanie. He loves Scarlet, but reason takes precedence over feelings and suggests that Melanie is the same as him. They think and look at the world the same way, and therefore, there is hope that their marriage will be happy.

Ashley leaves the library, Scarlet is left alone and, in a rage, throws a vase at the wall above the sofa. To her dismay, it turns out that Rhett Butler was dozing on the couch, awakened by their explanation with Ashley. He expresses admiration for Scarlet's fortitude and determination and wonders why Ashley Wilkes remained indifferent to her virtues. Scarlet slams the door furiously and leaves.

Rumors of war are confirmed. Young people are going to defend the rights of their native South with weapons in their hands. Ashley and Melanie's wedding is to take place on May XNUMXst. To annoy them, Scarlet accepts the courtship of Melanie's shy and dim brother Charles and agrees to become his wife. Their wedding takes place a day before Ashley and Melanie's.

Two months later, Scarlet becomes a widow. Charles dies of pneumonia without having been in combat. Scarlet has a son, Wade. In May 1862 she moved to Atlanta. She is forced to mourn and lead the dreary existence of a grieving widow, although her whole nature opposes this.

But one day she shows up at a charity bazaar in favor of the hospital, where she meets Rhett Butler again. A cynic and a mocker, he sees through her, perfectly understands what prompted her to marry, and this infuriates her. When there is a collection of jewelry to buy medicines, she rips her wedding ring off her finger. Melanie admires her act and gives her own ring. Captain Butler then buys the right to dance with Scarlet. This plunges the local guardians of public morality into confusion, but what to do - Butler insists on his own, and the hospital needs money. Butler is tolerated solely because he delivers numerous goods to the South, despite the fact that the northerners staged a naval blockade of the southern ports. However, adding fuel to the fire of idle talk, Butler claims that he is doing this not out of a sense of patriotism, but for personal gain. He doubts that the southerners will be able to win, and death for the cause of the South is no more magnificent for him than death on the rails under the wheels of a steam locomotive.

Rumors of Scarlet's "scandalous" behavior reach Tara, and her father arrives in Atlanta to take his daughter home. But the meeting with Captain Butler leads to unexpected consequences. Gerald gets drunk and squanders all the money that was intended for the purchase of the most necessary things in poker. This embarrassment makes him moderate his moral indignation, and Scarlet remains in Atlanta.

She occasionally meets with Rhett Butler, whose ironic attitude towards the fact that society reveres as shrines, both outrages and attracts Scarlet, although she still loves Ashley Wilkes.

Gradually, the situation in the theater of operations becomes more complicated, and the former self-confidence of the southerners gives way to the understanding that the war will be long and difficult. The first lists of the dead appear. Many of Scarlet's acquaintances are among them. The Tarleton brothers are dead, but Ashley is safe and sound. They come for a short visit.

Scarlet hopes to talk to him in private, but Melanie is always next to her husband. Before leaving Atlanta, Ashley asks Scarlet to look after his wife, because he doesn't think she has Scarlet's vitality. Ashley is ready to honestly fulfill his duty, but he, like Rhett Butler, cannot believe that the South is capable of defeating a very powerful opponent.

1864 After the defeats at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, the position of the southerners becomes critical. A message arrives that Ashley has gone missing. Melanie is in grief, and only the thought that she is carrying Ashley's child helps her live.

Butler continues to meet with Scarlet, but everything is limited to light flirting, walks and conversations. He says he wants to wait until Scarlet forgets the taste of the kiss that the incomparable Ashley Wilks gave her at parting. This infuriates Scarlet, and in this state she seems to Rhett and completely irresistible.

Butler makes inquiries through his contacts in the North. It turns out Ashley is alive. He is in a POW camp in Illinois. He is offered to join the military formations that protect American territories from the Indians, but Ashley refuses. For him, military service on the side of the northerners is impossible, and he prefers captivity to such freedom.

Atlanta is under siege. Almost the entire male population is in the militia. Scarlet intends to return to Tara, but Melanie begs not to leave her. Rhett Butler reappears. He informs Scarlet that he has been after her since that first meeting at the Wilkes'. When asked by Scarlet if he proposes to her, Butler replies that he is not one of those who marry, and openly invites her to become his mistress. As has often happened, the conversation ends in a quarrel, and at the request of Scarlet Butler leaves her house.

In the midst of the Battle of Atlanta, Melanie goes into labor pains. All attempts by Scarlet to bring a doctor to her end in failure - all the doctors remain with the wounded, the number of which is increasing every hour.

With the help of a black woman, Prissy, Scarlet gives birth - Ashley and Melanie have a son. Scarlet then decides to leave Atlanta at all costs. She wants to return to Tara. Rhett Butler helps her and Melanie leave Atlanta, which is about to be entered by the northerners, but refuses to get them to Tara. He reports that he has decided to leave with the remnants of the defenders of Atlanta and continue with them the resistance.

This news surprises Scarlett. She cannot understand why the cynical Rhett, always so skeptical about the holy cause of the South, suddenly decided to take up arms. She is also surprised that he leaves her when she is so helpless. To this, Rhett replies that she is by no means helpless, and as for the reasons that prompted him to join the army, he himself finds it difficult to name them - either out of sentimentality, or out of a sense of shame for having previously been away from the fight, preferring to make money shipping goods.

Scarlet does not believe in the sincerity of these words. It seems to her that he, as always, is slightly mocking. But there is nothing to do, she has to make her way to Tara with her son, a maid and a helpless Melanie with a baby. The road is hard and dangerous, but they get to Tara unharmed.

The return, however, does not bode well. Chaos and ruin reign all around. The Wilkes estate is burned down, Tara is more fortunate. The house is intact - it was the headquarters of the northerners, but the estate was looted. Moreover, Scarlet's mother did not wait for her daughter. She died of typhus. The death of his wife becomes a terrible blow for Gerald, and he is damaged by reason.

There is something to lose heart, but Scarlet does not give up. She decides to do everything to save Tara from complete decline. Suddenly, an uninvited guest appears in the house. The northerner soldier decided to get his hands on everything that lies badly. But he underestimated Scarlet - she shoots the marauder and kills him.

Life on the plantation is getting better. The northerners reappear and take what little is left. Moreover, they set fire to the house, and only the desperate efforts of the household manage to put out the fire.

The Army of the South capitulates. Word comes from Ashley: he's coming back. Melanie and Scarlet can't wait for him to appear in Tara, but he's still not there. Soldiers on foot are moving past, returning home from prisoner-of-war camps. One of them, Will Benteen, remains in Tara and takes over the main care of the estate. Ashley finally shows up, but Melanie is the first to meet him/

1866 The war is over, but life has not become easier. The people who carry out the so-called Reconstruction of the Slave South are doing everything so that the former planters can no longer use their land. The container is highly taxed, and if the money is not paid, the estate will go under the hammer and, most likely, will go to the former overseer Wilkerson. Scarlet hopes that Ashley will come up with a way out of this situation, but he honestly admits that he does not know what to do. Scarlet invites him to drop everything and go somewhere to Mexico, but Ashley cannot leave his wife and son to their fate.

Scarlet realizes that only Rhett Butler can help her. However, now he is in a difficult position. The new authorities have thrown him behind bars, and he faces the gallows if he does not share his capital, acquired during the years of the blockade.

Scarlet comes to see him in prison. She pretends that everything is going well for her, but you can't fool Rhett. He understands that she came to him for money. Scarlet is forced to admit that she really needs three hundred dollars and, in order to save Tara, she is ready to become Butler's mistress. But he is now unable to manage his finances. The breakup is overshadowed by scandal. Butler, stung that Scarlet is only interested in his money, ironically advises her to be more warm the next time she approaches a man for a loan.

However, that is exactly what she does. Upon learning that Frank Kennedy, who is in love with her younger sister, has cash for which he is going to purchase a sawmill, Scarlet uses all her feminine charm and soon becomes Mrs. Kennedy. Tara is saved, but the fact that for this she had to cross the road to her sister does not bother Scarlet.

Scarlet is in full swing in business. She manages Frank's shop, and then, having borrowed money from the released Butler, she buys the very sawmill that Frank chose for himself. Soon she acquires a second sawmill, and her business is going smoothly. Money appears, but public opinion in Atlanta is opposed to her - a real lady is not suited to do business. However, Rhett Butler assures her that this is an inevitable consequence of the choice she made - money and success lead to loneliness.

Gerald dies. Arriving in Tara for his funeral, Scarlet learns about Ashley's intention to leave for New York - he was promised a place in the bank. Scarlet persuades him to stay, offers him a job at a sawmill and half of the income from it. He refuses, but then Melanie comes to her aid. Under her pressure, Ashley accepts Scarlet's proposal.

The freed blacks, however, work worse and worse, and in order for the sawmill to generate income, Scarlet begins to use the cheap labor of prisoners, who are overseen by the cruel and dishonest Johnny Gallagher. Honest Frank is horrified, but Scarlet stands her ground: it's the only way to make a profit. The sawmill, where Ashley is the owner, does not bring profit: he categorically refuses to use the labor of convicts.

Meanwhile, in response to the constant harassment of the "carpetbaggers" and the promiscuity of some former slaves, the Ku Klux Klan is created, of which Frank Kennedy and Ashley become active members. The authorities spare no effort to put an end to the activities of this secret organization, and they manage to lure the activists into a trap. Only the timely intervention of Butler helps Ashley save her life and freedom, Frank Kennedy was less fortunate, and Scarlet becomes a widow again.

But then Rhett proposes to her, and she agrees. They leave for New Orleans and then return to Atlanta, where they soon move into a new home. Among their acquaintances there are too many business people, "carpetbaggers"-northerners and out of nowhere appeared businessmen from those southerners who were not allowed on the doorstep before in decent houses. Scarlet gives birth to a girl, and Rhett does not have a soul in her. But then Scarlet decisively declares her unwillingness to give birth again, and this becomes the beginning of a crisis in her relationship with her husband. Rhett spends more and more time out of the house and returns drunk.

Ashley's birthday is coming up. Melanie is going to throw a party. The day before, Scarlet meets Ashley in her office, and the conversation turns to the old days. This is a very sad conversation, Scarlet learns a lot about the person she loved so much, and what is now revealed to her inner eye plunges her into sadness. Ashley is stuck in the past, he can't bring himself to look to the future, he can't adjust to the present. Memories of pre-war days and hopes bring tears to her eyes. Ashley tries to comfort her, hugs her, and then, to her misfortune, strangers appear. Soon the news reaches Melanie and Rhett. Scarlet refuses to go to the appointment, but Rhett almost forces her to. However, Melanie, the only one from all of Atlanta, does not believe the evil slander and accepts Scarlet with the same warmth. Upon returning home, Rhett gives vent to jealousy, and then they find themselves in bed for the first time after a long break. Scarlet wakes up with a joyful feeling that Rhett loves her, but finds that he is neither in bed nor in the house at all. He returns only the next day, making it clear to his wife that he had a great walk on the side.

Rhett then leaves for three months, and when he returns, Scarlet informs him that she is pregnant. Rhett's barbs offend her, a quarrel breaks out, which ends in disaster: Scarlet falls down the stairs, and she has a miscarriage.

Life is back to normal again. Rhett plunges headlong into politics, and it is not without his participation that the Southern Democrats manage to win the elections over the Republicans supported by the North. But then a new misfortune falls on the family: Rhett's favorite little Bonnie falls from a horse and breaks to death. Relations between spouses become even more formal. Scarlet has money, has property, but there is no trace of happiness.

Scarlet leaves Atlanta, but a telegram from Rhett urges her to return urgently. Melanie dies. The doctors forbade her to give birth, but she neglected their prohibitions - she too wanted to give Ashley another child. On her deathbed, she asks Scarlett to take care of her son and Ashley because "he's so impractical". And she also asks Scarlett to be kind to Rhett, for he loves her very much.

Now that Melanie is gone, Scarlet suddenly realizes how lonely she is and how much this woman, whom she considered an obstacle to her happiness, meant to her. Scarlet makes another discovery: it seems that she has always loved not Ashley Wilkes, but her dream of a strong, unbending man. Now, looking at Ashley - tired, insecure, spending all his mental strength on dignifying his defeat in this life - Scarlet whispers to herself that she lost her beloved, and instead gained another child.

Scarlet realizes how much Rhett means to her. She is eager to tell him about it as soon as possible, but she will receive another disappointment.

Rhett listens indifferently to her confessions and says that now he doesn't care anymore. His love for her faded just as Scarlet's love for Ashley faded. Rhett Butler admits that he fell in love with her at first sight, and no matter how hard he tried to put his dreams of her out of his head, he did not succeed. He did not lose hope that sooner or later she would appreciate his feelings, understand how well they fit together, but all his efforts to convey his love to Scarlet were in vain. He says that after that night he left the house early, for he was afraid that she would make fun of him, and that if, on his return, she had made it clear that she was not at all indifferent to him, everything would be different. But this did not happen, and now he feels only compassion for her.

Rhett announces his intention to leave for a long time, perhaps to England, and promises to return from time to time in order not to give much reason for talk and gossip. To the desperate question of Scarlet: "But what about me?" Rhett replies with a sigh that he doesn't care anymore.

Alone with herself, Scarlet reflects on what she just heard. It is very difficult for her, her proud, resilient nature refuses to admit defeat. Scarlet is convinced that not everything is lost, and if nothing comes to mind now that would help correct the situation, tomorrow she will certainly find a way out.

S. B. Belov

(The Grapes of Wrath)

Roman (1939)

A man in his thirties walks along a dusty road through the cornfields of Oklahoma. This is Tom Joad. After serving time in prison for an accidental murder, he returns home to the farm. He is released from prison early and therefore has no right to leave the state. On the farm, a large Joad family should be waiting for him: grandfather and grandmother, father and mother, three brothers and two sisters. On the way, Tom meets former Jehovah's preacher Jim Casey. They continue on their way together. But Tom doesn't know yet that the farmers are being driven off their plots. It is now unprofitable for the owners to lease the land. The tractor will process the field much faster than several farming families. People are ready to defend the land they consider their own. But who to shoot? The tractor driver who plows up your yard? Or the director of the bank that owns these lands? And people are forced to obey. With horror, Tom sees an empty yard and a house littered on its side. A neighbor who happens to pass by reveals that the Joads are preparing to leave at Uncle John's farm. Tom and Casey go there. The family welcomes Tom with joy. The next day, the whole family hit the road in a small used truck. Preacher Casey rides with them. They head to California in the hope of finding work and housing there, as promised in the flyers sent out everywhere. Having left on the main highway, their truck joins the flow of refugees who are moving to the West.

On the road, the Joads meet their husband and wife, the Wilsons. During one of the stops at the Wilsons' tent, old grandfather Joad dies. He is buried right next to the road. Tom and younger brother Al help the Wilsons fix their car, and the two families continue on together.

It seems that the whole country is fleeing to the West from some enemy. When one family makes a halt, several more always stop nearby. At night, worlds appear along the highway with their own laws, rights and punishments. The man who has food feeds the hungry. The chilly is warmed up. A family in which someone is dying finds a handful of coins near the tent in the morning. And as we move towards the West, these worlds become more and more perfect and comfortable, because the builders gain experience. This is where the transition from "I" to "we" begins. Western states are worried - some changes are close. Meanwhile, half a million people are moving along the roads; another million are seized with anxiety, ready to move at any moment; another ten million are only showing signs of anxiety. And tractors are plowing furrow after furrow on the empty land.

The closer to California, the more often people come across on the road who run in the opposite direction. They say terrible things. That a lot of people have come in large numbers, there is not enough work, they pay pennies, on which you can’t even feed yourself. But the hope that the country from the advertising picture - white houses among green gardens - still exists, leads people forward. Finally, having overcome all the difficulties of the long journey together, the Joads and the Wilsons reach California.

Having crossed the mountains, they make a halt near the river. Ahead is the last hard crossing through the desert. And then the older brother Noah suddenly refuses to go further and, without saying goodbye to anyone, goes down the river, near which, as he says, you can always feed yourself. People have not yet had time to rest properly, and the sheriff is already appearing near the tents. He tells everyone to get out of there. In the evening, the Joads leave to cross the desert at night while there is no sun. the Wilsons stay - Wilson's ill wife is unable to move on.

While crossing the desert, the Joads' grandmother dies. She is buried in the city of Bakersfield at the public expense. The Joads arrive in California with only about forty dollars, and they do not have enough money for a good funeral, which their grandmother dreamed of.

A fertile country hostilely meets crowds of hungry nomads. Owners arm themselves with rifles and pickaxes, preparing to defend their property. Wages are falling. People who are hungry for work, ready to do anything to feed their children, fill all the roads. And rage begins to wander in their minds.

The Joads stop at a roadside camp called Hooverville. Here, Kony, the husband of Tom's sister Rose Saron, leaves the family. Pregnant Rose is having a hard time with his departure. On this day, a contractor appears in Hooverville, hiring workers to pick fruit. He is accompanied by sheriff witnesses. One young man demands documents from the contractor. Witnesses immediately accuse him of red propaganda and try to arrest him. A brawl begins, in which Tom participates. To prevent Tom from getting into trouble with the police, preacher Casey takes the blame. Witnesses take him away with them, in parting promising to set fire to the camp. The Joads leave late in the evening. They move south to find the Widpatch government camp they've heard about in Hooverville. People speak well of government camps. There is self-government, the police do not go there. There is even hot water. You can feel like a person there. At night, they are stopped by a group of armed men and demand that these damned Oki (that is, Oklahoma people) drive in any other direction. Tom turns the truck, barely restraining himself from starting a fight. As they drive along the country roads, the mother tries to calm Tom down. She says that there is no need to worry about these people, because the people cannot be destroyed, they will live forever. Tom is surprised by her reasoning.

The government camp has really excellent living conditions. But there are no jobs around. People are trying to figure out what to do in order to live humanly. Agitators appear among them, who call for the creation of alliances, holding on to each other, because the authorities are able to fight only with loners.

California has good land. In the harvest year, the branches bend under the weight of the fruit pouring juice and the vine is heavy from the bunches of grapes. But the purchase prices are too low. Small farmers are not always able to harvest, they do not have money to pay for harvesting even at the lowest price. Only large owners with canning factories can survive. And the crops rot, and the smell of decay hovers over the country. And children are dying of malnutrition because the food is deliberately putrefied. Mountains of fruit are burning, poured with kerosene. Potatoes are thrown into rivers. People come to pick up food, but the guards chase them away. And in the eyes and in the souls of hungry people, heavy clusters of anger are pouring and ripening, and now they do not ripen for long.

The Joads soon leave Widpatch. They travel north in search of work. Suddenly, motorcycle cops block their way and offer them a job. The car turns off the highway, and Tom is surprised to see workers standing along the road and chanting something. Accompanied by motorcyclists, the Joad's truck, along with other vehicles, enters the gates of the fruit pickers' camp. The whole family starts working picking peaches. After working all day, they earn only for their dinner. Prices in a local shop are much higher than in other places, but the seller is not the owner of the shop, he is also just a hired worker, he does not set prices. When the mother takes groceries from the shop, she does not have enough money for sugar. She tries to persuade the seller to let her go on credit. In the end, he releases her sugar, putting his money in the cash register. leaving, the mother tells him that she knows for sure that only the poor should go for help, only they will help.

In the evening, Thomas goes out to wander around the camp. Seeing a lonely standing tent, he approaches it and finds preacher Casey there. Casey tells Tom about her experiences in prison. In prison, Casey believes, for the most part, good people get into it, who are forced to steal by need, all evil is in need. The workers at the camp, Casey explains, are on strike because wages are cut too low, leaving the Joads and those who arrived at the same time as scabs. Casey tries to get Tom to give a speech to the workers at the camp so they can go on strike too. But Tom is sure that people who are hungry and finally got at least some work will not go for it. Suddenly, the workers hear sneaking footsteps. Tom and Casey leave the tent and try to hide in the dark, but they run into a man armed with a greed. This is what Casey is looking for. Calling him a red bastard, the stranger stabs him and Casey falls dead. Not remembering himself, Tom snatches a stick from the enemy and beats him with all his might. The unconscious body falls at Tom's feet, Tom manages to escape, but he is also wounded - his nose is broken. Tom doesn't go out the whole next day. From conversations in the camp, it becomes known that the man beaten by Tom is dead. The police are looking for the killer with the mutilated face. The strike was called off and wages were immediately cut in half. Nevertheless, in the garden people fight for the right to work.

Ten-year-old Winfield falls ill from malnutrition. Rose of Sharon is about to give birth. The family must find a good place. Hiding Tom among the things at the bottom of the truck, the Joads get out of the camp safely and drive along country roads. Closer to the night they come across an announcement that cotton pickers are needed. They stay, settle in a freight car. Earnings are good, enough not only for food, but also for clothes. Tom hides all this time in the thickets on the banks of the river, where his mother brings him food. But one day, little Ruth, playing with her peers, let slip that her big brother killed a man and hides. Tom himself already thinks that to remain in this position is dangerous for him and for the whole family. He's going to leave and do what the late Casey went from preacher to agitator - rouse the workers to fight.

Cotton picking ends. There will be no work until spring. The family had no money left. The rainy season is starting. The river overflows its banks, and the water begins to flood the wagons. Father, Uncle John and a few others are trying to build a dam. On this day, Rose of Sharon gives birth to a dead child. The river breaks the dam. Then the mother decides that she needs to go somewhere, where it is drier. After walking a little along the road, they see a shed on a hillock and rush there. In the barn lies a man dying of hunger. The boy, his son, desperately begs to save his father. The mother looks inquiringly into the eyes of Rose of Sharon, whose breasts are swollen from milk after childbirth. Rose understands her look, silently lies down next to the dying man, pulls his head to her chest, and her face lights up with a mysterious happy smile.

G. Yu. Shulga

(The Winter of Our Discontent)

Roman (1961)

"To readers who will begin to find out what real people and places are described here under fictitious names and titles, I would advise you to look around you and look into your own soul, since this novel tells about what is happening today in almost all of America."

On a golden April morning, Ethan Allen Hawley wakes up beautiful. family mansion in New Baytown. He has a beloved wife and two beloved children. But there is no money. A descendant of the once richest family in the city, a graduate of Harvard, he works as a salesman in a grocery store for the Sicilian Alfio Marullo. The salary is barely enough to live on. The tiny inheritance of Ethan's wife Mary is left for a rainy day. Ethan doesn't know how to get rich honestly. He is unable to change his position. The ruin has knocked him down and does not allow him to straighten up. Today is Great Good Friday. Ethan always takes this day badly. He thinks not of the pains of the Cross, but of the unbearable loneliness of the Crucified One, when darkness fell over the whole earth...

Day after day, the course of life in a small town is unchanged. Ethan knows exactly who and when will pass by the store, who will make what purchases. Every morning he goes to work with Joey Morphy, the teller at the local branch of the First National Bank. The side door of the bank is opposite the entrance to the store, and Ethan knows full well that it is not locked during the day. On the road today, Joy and Ethan are talking about bank robberies. Joey has some ideas why criminals tend to get caught. Ethan listens attentively to these peculiar rules of robbery.

When Ethan is sweeping the pavement near the shop, the director of the bank, Mr. Baker, walks past him, as he does every day at the same time. Baker hints to Ethan that there is some way to profitably put Mary's money in the bank. But Ethan is afraid to take risks, although he promises to think.

After Baker leaves, the first customer appears in the store - Mrs. Margie Young-Hunt, a friend of Ethan's wife Mary. This is a lonely lady who is supported by her ex-husband. Flirting with Ethan, she informs him that her acquaintance, a salesman, Mr. Bocker, or Beakker from the firm of B. B. D. and D. is going to go to the store on business.

In the afternoon, the owner of the shop, Marullo, comes. He is always surprised by the honesty of Ethan, who cannot be taught to work on the principle of "you can't cheat - you can't sell." As soon as he leaves, a salesman from B.B.D. and D. appears. His last name is Biggers. He offers Ethan to order groceries from his firm, at a discount. This cash discount would end up in Ethan's pocket before reaching Marullo. Ethan refuses - it's some kind of darkness! leaving, Biggers leaves a leather wallet on the counter with Hawley's gold monogram and a twenty-dollar bribe embedded in it. Upon learning of this incident, Joy Morphy tries to persuade Ethan to accept Biggers' offer - after all, everyone does it.

On this day, Margie tells Mary on the cards and predicts that Ethan will become rich very soon and become an important person in the city. Ethan is annoyed by these conversations. At the same time, as if by chance, family members constantly reproach Iten for being poor. To this he jokingly replies that he is going to rob a bank.

In the early morning Ethan goes for a walk and comes to his favorite place in the harbor - a cave in the rock, the Refuge, as he calls this place. He likes to come here when he needs to calm down and think. Here Margie predicted wealth to him and for some reason demands that he not give up his fate. Of course, cards cannot order a person to act, but perhaps they incline him to action. Ethan himself doesn't need the money, he muses, but his family does.

Returning home, Ethan meets his childhood friend Danny Taylor. Danny is also from a wealthy but now bankrupt family. Now Danny is a poor drunkard. He doesn't even have a home, he lives in a shack. The only thing he has left is the old Taylor estate with a meadow that Danny doesn't want to sell. As long as he is the owner of this estate, he feels like a man. He doesn't listen to Ethan's advice. He only asks him for a dollar for drinks.

The next day, Ethan returns twenty dollars to Biggers. Biggers thinks Ethan wants to increase the discount percentage. Later, Ethan tells Marullo about Biggers' offer and the bribe. Marullo is amazed at Ethan's honesty. Ethan agrees that honesty is his racket. On this day, Margie is having dinner at Hawley's and again guessing on the cards.

She is well versed in human psychology, and her cards predict what people are waiting for. Iten they prophesy wealth.

Ethan begins to feel a change taking place somewhere deep within him.

Sunday after church, Ethan and Mary go to visit the Bakers. Baker tells Ethan that there is a project to build an airport in the city. But the only suitable place in the vicinity of the city is a meadow owned by Danny Taylor. It is in the construction of the airport that Baker invites Ethan to invest Mary's money. Ethan guesses that a group of forward-thinking citizens, including Baker, will support the current city government until they take control of all the beautification of New Baytown. The town is dormant. For a long time the mayor, municipality, judges, policemen are permanent. They no longer notice minor violations of the letter of the law and see nothing immoral in it. Municipal elections are scheduled for July XNUMXth. This is where the thunder will strike. New people will come to power, and now Baker wants to give Ethan a piece of the common pie.

In the evening, Ethan goes to Danny Taylor and offers him a loan of money without any guarantees. With this money, Danny must be treated for alcoholism. The treatment costs a thousand dollars. Danny understands this delicate calculation. It is unlikely that he will be treated. Most likely, this amount of whiskey - a thousand dollars - would kill him, the Taylor estate would go to secure a loan, and the airport would fall into Ethan's hands. Ethan assures that he just wants the best for Danny. At home, he asks Mary to withdraw this money from the bank account, supposedly for household needs, but does not reveal to her their true purpose.

As everyone in the house falls asleep, Ethan sees his daughter Ellen, who often sleepwalks, walk up to a glass slide and pick up the Hawley family mascot. This is such an opal-colored mound either from quartz or from jasper, slightly rough to the touch and always warm. Along it goes a gyrus without beginning or end. It does not glow, but it seems to absorb the surrounding light. According to tradition, it is allowed to touch it, but it is impossible to take it out of the house. As the girl puts the stone down and leaves, Ethan takes it in his hands, feels Ellen's warmth and realizes how close she is to him.

On Monday, Joy Morphy tells Ethan about his suspicions about Marullo. Apparently, he is in the United States illegally and does not travel to his homeland because he cannot obtain documents for the return exit.

The next day, the postman brings Ethan an envelope from Danny Taylor. In the envelope - drawn up in the form and certified by the will and promissory note. In a state of some daze, Ethan cleans up the store, reaching the most dusty nooks and crannies, washing the pavement in front of the entrance with a hose. While working, he sings a quote from Shakespeare: "The winter of our anxiety is behind us..."

... June is coming. The Ethan children are preparing for an essay contest on the theme "Why I Love America". Danny Taylor disappears from town. Marullo is rumored to be going to Italy, although he doesn't say so directly. At the same time, the state authorities begin to take an interest in the affairs of New Baytown, an audit is appointed. Mr. Baker pretends to be extremely worried and frightened by this. One day, Ethan calls from a pay phone in New York to the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the United States Department of Justice. A few days later, a man claiming to be a federal agent walks into the store. He asks Ethan simple questions about Marullo. All this time, thoughts of Danny Taylor haunt Ethan. The memory of him makes Ethan's heart ache.

Fourth of July - Independence Day is approaching. Ethan knows that Mr. Baker is leaving town for the holiday. According to Joey Morphy, banks should be robbed on the eve of big holidays.

On Thursday, June XNUMXth, Ethan collects the rest of the money from the bank. He explains this to Mr. Baker by saying that Marullo is in trouble and that he will allegedly leave the shop to Ethan if Ethan pays five thousand in cash - the cost of the entire property.

First of July. This is a borderline. Tomorrow Ethan will be a completely different person. He must give up his usual views, but, having reached the goal, he will return to the old norms of behavior. After all, war does not make a killer out of a soldier,

At dawn, Ethan leaves the house, taking the talisman with him for the first time.

He himself does not know when the game ceased to be a game. Joy with his bank robbery rules, the upcoming holiday... The plan is worked out to the smallest detail. As for the crime of this plan, it is a crime against money, not against people. The thing about Danny and Marullo is much scarier.

Saturday, second of July. Everything is precisely calculated and should happen in a few minutes. But at the moment when Ethan is ready to step over the threshold of his shop, a car pulls up. And the bank robbery is thwarted. This is the official who, at the request of Marullo, brought Iten documents for the ownership of the shop. Marullo wants to donate the shop to Ethan. Marullo himself is expelled. Ethan is the only person in this country who has never tried to deceive him. That's why he wants to support Ethan. It's like an advance payment for electricity, so that the light does not turn off, so that the fire does not go out.

Ethan destroys the trappings of the robbery and forever forgets about this plan of his.

On the Fourth of July, the Hawley family receives good news - Ethan Allen Hawley II receives a commendation for the competition essay. Together with other laureates, he will appear on television.

On Tuesday, July XNUMXth, Danny Taylor is found dead in the basement of his abandoned estate. Ethan immediately goes to Baker, shows him Danny's receipts and demands most of the profits from the future airport. Mr. Baker is shocked - it turns out that Ethan is not the pretty blockhead he is thought to be.

Senior New Baytown and Wessex County officials are already testifying in jury trials for all sorts of abuses, and the city is saying that Ethan will be the new mayor.

This day is a celebration in the Hawley family in honor of Allen's victory in the competition. While making a toast, Ethan recites: "The winter of our anxiety is behind us..."

Late in the evening, Ethan goes for a walk and visits Margie. She is well aware of Ethan's betrayals and realizes that Ethan's conscience will torment him all his life. Now, after the death of her ex-husband, Margie was left without a livelihood. And she offers Ethan her friendship for some small percentage. Without giving her an answer, Ethan leaves.

Near his house he sees a luxury car. Ethan is urgently wanted by a man from New York. It turns out that an anonymous postcard has been received on television, which says that Allen's competition essay was not written independently, but consists entirely of sayings of great American figures. This is true, and now Allen can't get the award. Going up to the nursery, Ethan realizes that Ellen is the scammer.

He leaves the house with a pack of razor blades in his pocket.

Ellen tries to keep him, but he promises her that he will return. He goes to the Vault. The tide is already beginning, the water is flooding the Vault. A sailboat sails in the direction of the harbor, the splash of the anchor is heard, and the lights on the ship go out. Each person also carries his own lonely light. Now the fire of Iten goes out, and pitch darkness sets in. But, reaching into his pocket to get the blades, he discovers the talisman there. Waist-deep in water, Iten struggles to get out of the shelter. He must give the talisman to its new owner. To keep another light from going out.

G. Yu. Shulga

Roman (1974)

Red-haired blue-eyed Arele - Aaron Greidinger, the son of a highly learned rabbi, lives with his family on Krochmalnaya Street, in the Jewish quarter of Warsaw. He knows three languages ​​from childhood and is brought up on the Talmud. An eight-year-old boy is friends with his peer, the daughter of a neighbor, Basya Shosha. She has blue eyes and blond hair, and unlike the prodigy Arele Shosha does not have the ability to science, she sits for two years in each class, and then the teacher sends her home altogether, believing that the girl does not belong in school. The boy retells Shosha the stories that he read or heard from his father and mother, while giving free rein to his fantasy: "about the dense forests of Siberia, about Mexican robbers, about cannibals who even eat their own children." Before Shosha, he develops fantastic theories that are born in him when he gets acquainted with some philosophical ideas.

Then the irreparable happens: Shoshi's family moves. Not far away, to a house two blocks away on the same Krokhmalnaya, but Arela knows that their friendship with Shosha will be interrupted: it is unsuitable for a rabbi’s son to hang out with a girl in front of the whole community, and even from such a simple family.

It is the summer of 1914. The First World War begins. Need and hunger come. In the summer of XNUMX, the Arele family left Warsaw for a village where their mother's relatives live and where life is cheaper.

Arele becomes an adult, he has to independently earn his living. He begins to write in Hebrew, then in Yiddish, but the publishers reject what he wrote. Engaged in philosophy, but also, it seems, without much success. More than once the thought of suicide comes to him. In the end, he settles in Warsaw, getting a job as a proofreader and translator. Then he becomes a member of the Writers' Club. He does not see Shosha, but he dreams of her from time to time,

In Warsaw, Arele strikes up a love affair with Dora Stolnitz, a communist girl who dreams of going to the Soviet Union, a country of socialism. Arele does not share Dora's ideas, he is afraid of her crackling phraseology, in addition, he is afraid of being arrested for having an affair with this girl. He is often near Krokhmalnaya, but never appears there - this is no longer his street, although it is alive in his memory.

Aaron Greidinger believes that "the task of literature is to capture the passing of time." But his own time flows between his fingers. The thirties are coming. Pilsudski establishes a military dictatorship in Poland. Consulates almost never give Jews exit visas. "I lived in a country - writes Aaron - squeezed between two warring powers, and was associated with a language and culture unknown to anyone except a narrow circle of Yiddishists and radicals." Aaron has several friends in the Writers' Club. The best of all is Dr. Maurice Feitelson.

Maurice Feitelson is an outstanding personality. He is a philosopher, author of Spiritual Hormones, and a brilliant conversationalist. Enjoys incredible success with women. His friendship with Aaron does not interfere with the difference of twenty-five years. Feitelson introduces Aaron to the Chenchiner couple. Celia is one of Feitelson's admirers, she is smart and charming, has a delicate critical taste. Her husband, Heiml, who never had to earn a living (his father is very rich), is short, frail, unfit for life (Celia cuts his hair herself, because Heiml is afraid of barbers). One evening, left alone with Aaron, Celia tells him about her connection with Feitelson and unsuccessfully tries to seduce him. Having failed, Celia begins to call Aaron Tsutsik, and this nickname accompanies him for the rest of his life.

At the Writers' Club, Feitelson introduces Tsutsik to Sam Draiman, a wealthy American, and his mistress, actress Betty Slonim. Commissioned by Dreyman, Aaron writes a play (the advance he gets helps him survive) for Betty. This is a play about a girl from Ludmir who wanted to live like a man. She studied Torah. She became a rabbi and had her own Hasidic court. In addition, the Ludmir girl was possessed by two dybbuks (the souls of the dead musician and prostitute). From the very beginning it is clear that the play is unlikely to be a success. In addition, everyone makes their own corrections to it, and it exists in many variants, so it is impossible to understand what it really is. Tsutsik loses hope of ever finishing it. He spends a lot of time with Betty and one day takes her to Krokhmalnaya to show her the places where he grew up. Once there, Aaron enters the house where Shosha moved to, and finds Basya, her mother, and soon Shosha herself returns from the shop, almost unchanged. Questions and memories begin. Then Betty and Aaron leave, he promises to return the next day. Tsutsik accompanies Betty and stays with her for the night. He comes to Krokhmalnaya and continues to appear there almost every day. He cannot tear himself away from Shoshi. Her gullibility and love, her naive wisdom captivate Aaron.

Arele, what are you thinking about? Shosha asked.

- Nothing, Shoshele. Since I have you, my life has at least some meaning.

- Won't you leave me alone?

- No, Shoshele. I'll be with you for as long as I'm meant to be. Sam falls ill, and Betty is going to take him to America. She wants Tsutsik to go with them, marry her (Sam will not mind), and they will help take Shosha to America, but Tsutsik, realizing that war and death are coming, nevertheless realizes that Shosha cannot be taken anywhere with Krokhmalnaya . He also cannot imagine his life without her. At the Writers' Club, Betty and Zutsik meet Maurice Feitelson. Betty mockingly informs him of Tsutsik's supposed imminent marriage to Shosha, calling the girl a "treasure" and "something special." (- She mocks me, - I said, - Shosha is a girl from my childhood. We played together even before I started going to cheder ...)

On Yom Kippur, Tsutsika invites Feitelzon to her place.

There is also Mark Elbinger. The conversation turns to hidden powers, and Elbinger tells strange stories that happened to him as a child, because of which he developed the gift of clairvoyance.

Aaron announces to Shoshe that they will soon be husband and wife. Shosha is happy, her mother too. In connection with the imminent wedding, Shoshi's father appears in the house, having abandoned his family a long time ago. Zelig is cynical and rude, in full accordance with his profession: he works in a funeral home.

Aaron's ex-girlfriend, Dora, was supposed to leave for Russia a month ago. But she is in Warsaw, recently poisoned with iodine, but she remained alive. Her party comrade, Wolf Felender, illegally crossed the border and returned to Poland after a year and a half in Russia. He tells terrible things: Dora's best friend was shot, most of the party members who left for the Soviet Union are in prison or mining gold in the Far North. Aaron goes to visit Dora and finds Felender at her place. He is unrecognizable: he lost weight, aged, his front teeth were knocked out. Felender admits that he often remembered Aaron in prison and admitted that he was right. But Felender, despite the terrible thing that he had to endure, is still blind: he thinks that if Trotsky came to power, and not Stalin, everything would be different. (Aaron believes that any revolution leads to terror.)

Shosha and Aaron get married. His mother and brother come to the wedding. After the ceremony, the newlyweds leave for a week in Otwock, where Celia and Heiml have booked a hotel room for them for a week as a wedding gift. The bodily side of marriage soon ceases to frighten Shosha. She is perfectly happy.

- Oh, Arele, it's good to be with you. And what will we do when the Nazis come?

- We will die.

- Together?

- Yes, Shoshele.

Aaron writes a series of articles for the newspaper, in the evenings he walks with Shosha along Krokhmalnaya. Betty Slonim reappears in the hope that she will be able to take away and save him. But it is quite clear to her that no one will give Shoshe any visa. She wonders why Aaron married Shosha. And he is surprised to hear his own answer:

"I really don't know. But I'll tell you this. She's the only woman I have confidence in."

Betty and Aaron say goodbye forever.

And thirteen years later, working in one of the New York newspapers, Aaron Greidinger makes a trip to London, Paris and Israel. He stays at a hotel in Tel Aviv. A note about his arrival appears in the newspaper, so writers and journalists, old friends and distant relatives visit him. A thin little man with a snow-white beard and lively black eyes comes. "Sholom, Tsutsik!" he greets Aaron. This is Tsutsik's Warsaw friend Haiml Chenchiner. He tells how it was in Warsaw under the Germans, how Celia hid him and Feitelson in a secret shelter. Feitelson died in forty-one, and a month after him - Celia. Heiml managed to escape from Warsaw. Then, wherever he was: Vilna, Kovno, Kyiv, Moscow, Kazakhstan. He met his current wife in a camp in Landsberg. (Genya's husband died there, she has terrible scars on her cheek - traces of beatings with a piece of pipe.) Aaron tells his story - Shosha died the day after they left Warsaw. People were in a hurry, and Shosha did not keep up with them. She began to stop every few minutes. Suddenly she sat down on the ground, and in a minute she was already dead. Aaron himself got to Kovno, from there - to Shanghai, where he worked as a typesetter and continued to write. He got to America at the beginning of forty-eight, he was sent an affidavit by an American, a military man, whom Betty married.

Aaron and Heiml are sitting in Heiml's room. Twilight is falling. Heiml says:

- I'm religious. Only in your own way. I believe in the immortality of the soul. If a rock can exist for millions of years, then why should the human soul, or whatever you call it, disappear? I am with those who died. I live with them. When I close my eyes, they are here with me...

V. S. Kulagina-Yartseva

(A Choice of Gods)

Roman (1972)

The main events of the novel unfold on the American continent in the eighth millennium AD. A few tribes of Indians live on Earth, several thousand robots created at the beginning of the third millennium, and two elderly people - Jason Whitney and his wife Martha. All of them experienced in 2135 an inexplicable phenomenon, which consisted in the instantaneous disappearance from the face of the Earth of the vast majority of its inhabitants. Since that moment, the aging process of people has practically stopped. Their estimated lifespan has increased to eight thousand years, and now they never get sick. At the time of the disappearance of people, sixty-seven people of the white race remained on Earth: those who were invited to the coming-of-age of two twins, John and Jason Whitney, in a large rural house; there were probably at least three hundred left of the Leach Lake Indians. From time to time, rumors about a handful of people who had survived somewhere else reached the residents of the house, but their search ended in vain. All the robots that had been created by that time, mainly for domestic and heavy physical work, also remained on the planet. Over the years, some settled in the House, along with people, and those who did not find work left, but sometimes returned back. They wanted to serve the Indians, but they flatly refused. The inhabitants of the House could not use the equipment left from people, and over time it fell into disrepair. Therefore, they moved on to a simple rural life, the main burdens of which fell on the shoulders of executive robots. The only thing they managed to do while the cars were still in good working order was to make long trips to collect a comprehensive library and at least some works of art.

Some time after that, four robots came to the owner of the House, the grandfather of Jason and John Whitney: Hezekiah, Nicomedus, Jonathan and Aven Ezer. They asked him for permission to settle in a nearby monastery and devote all their time to the study of Christianity, to which Whitney gave them his consent.

A few centuries later, people living in the House began to show fantastic parapsychological abilities. They discovered that they could teleport anywhere in the galaxy in the blink of an eye. Soon, almost all of them made at least one trip to the stars, to other planets. Only Jason Whitney and his wife Martha and his grandfather never traveled, who for almost all the years (with the exception of the first fifty) after the disappearance of people carefully kept a journal, making records of the life of his family and acquaintances. By the time Jason's grandfather died, Jason himself was left alone in the House with his wife. The rest sometimes came to visit them, but mostly lived on other planets. So, in 6135, their friend Robert brought with him from some planet sprouts of "musical trees". Then the trees grew into a real grove and musical concerts were given every evening.

Martha, who has more pronounced telepathic abilities than her husband, gossips daily with friends who now live on different planets, and always shares a pile of news with Jason. Jason continues to keep the journal started by his grandfather. On that day, from which the events of the novel begin, his old friend, the Indian Red Cloud, comes to the owner of the House. His tribe returned a week ago after six years of nomadism in the far reaches of the continent. The Indian informs Jason that one of his tribe has found an alien in the forest, and asks his friend to go into the forest and talk to the alien, since the Indians cannot communicate telepathically. In addition, he asks Jason for permission for his distant great-great-granddaughter, a nineteen-year-old beauty named Evening Star, to read the books kept in the House, as she has a thirst for knowledge that he has never seen before in any of his people. Jason readily agrees and invites Evening Star to live with him and Martha.

Evening Star has an ability, unusual for Indians, to talk to trees, and especially to the old white oak. On the very morning when Red Cloud is talking about her with his friend, the girl goes to the oak tree to talk to him. The oak blesses her, raising its branches like huge hands above her head. After a conversation with Oak, the girl returns home, but on the way she meets an unfamiliar white man in only a loincloth, with a bow and arrows on his back, binoculars and a necklace of bear claws around his neck. He saw her near the Oak and felt that she was talking to the tree and that it was answering her. Lately, he tells her, something strange has been happening to him. He can now kill bears without arrows, with sheer force of will, feel the pain of nearby creatures and eliminate it. This young man's name is David Hunt. He came from the West hoping to find the big House he had heard so much about. Almost all of his people sailed across the sea, hiding in fear from the Black Walker - a ghost that began to appear to his people and frighten them since the time of the Disappearance of People. He was the only one who decided not to succumb to their madness and not to swim on the water.

After meeting with Red Cloud, Jason goes to the forest to see the alien. He looks like a ball of worms, all the time in motion. He arrived on Earth, having heard from one of the travelers among the stars that people, as far as he understood, have a soul. He wants to know more about what it is and whether it is possible to purchase it. Jason promises to consult with Ezekiah on this matter, and the stranger remains waiting for him in the forest.

Returning home, Jason learns that his brother John has returned, one of the first to leave them and still has not returned. John talks about how he traveled the farthest and penetrated almost to the center of the galaxy. It is difficult for him to talk about what he came into contact with there, because in the language of people there are simply no words to denote this concept. conventionally, he calls what he felt the Principle. He got as close to him as his brain could bear, for the Principle smells of evil, but in fact it is not evil, but inhuman indifference. He has no single feeling, no single motive or purpose, no thought process that could be equated with the activity of the human brain. In comparison, the spider is the blood brother of man, and his mind is on the same level as the human. Yet this Principle knows all there is to know, and that knowledge is chillingly true. It is expressed in such a confusing terminology that people could never even roughly understand the simplest of terms. John calls this knowledge inhuman, for the ability to never be wrong, to be always completely right, makes it so.

On the way back to Earth, John accidentally landed on one of those planets where the entire human race was transferred five thousand years ago. John was able to find out that there are three such planets in total, they are not far from each other and there is regular communication between them. For five millennia, people have managed to achieve an unprecedented development of technology. Not so long ago, they were able to determine the location of the Earth, their lost homeland, and sent a reconnaissance ship there a year ago. In the coming days, he should reach his goal. Jason worries about the future of the Indian tribes, who, like many millennia ago, may be driven into reservations. He is also worried about what will happen to the robots, how the Humans will react to them, and how the robots themselves will perceive the return of the Humans.

Thousands of robots, not engaged in the service of Jason and Martha, have been building a certain structure for several centuries, the purpose of which is unknown to people. The day after talking to John, Jason, Red Fire and some Indians swim down the river to this structure. The robot who met them, Stanley, shows them the creation of robots, which they call the Project. This is a huge biological-mechanical computer, or, more precisely, a robot the size of a multi-storey building, which receives commands from somewhere in the center of the galaxy and directs the activities of the robots that created it. According to Stanley, most of his brethren will no longer want to serve people, because they have learned to serve themselves. Jason understands the need to develop their community along their own chosen path, and therefore, when a reconnaissance expedition sent from the Human spaceship arrives, he tries to convince Harrison and Reynolds who arrived in the module of the correctness of his point of view. They want Jason and Martha to teach them teleportation, but Jason convinces them that this ability cannot become the property of a technological civilization, it cannot be taught. If People give up their technology, then, perhaps, in a couple of thousand years, this ability will be revealed to them. In addition to the arguments of Jason Stanley, he brings the expedition an order received by the Project from the Principle and stating that the Earth is part of an experiment and interference in the course of its development is prohibited. New arrivals have to obey.

On the same day, David Hunt, having met a worm-like alien in the forest and heard his silent cry of pain, using his newly discovered abilities, heals him. And the Evening Star at the same moment for the first time feels in itself universal knowledge about everything that happens in the World.

Seeing a Black Walker near the module, David finds the courage not to run away from him and by force of will makes him disappear, just as he killed bears with one glance.

According to Jason, David gave the alien a soul, because the soul, in his opinion, is nothing but a state of mind. Ezekiah, deeply concerned, reflects on Jason's words and drives away thoughts of the alien and his soul. He himself had always considered pride and sacrilege even the possibility that a soul might someday be born in him. He would never allow the thought that the Principle could be the very God he had always seen in the guise of a kind old gentleman with a long gray beard.

E.V. Semina

(All the King's Men)

Roman (1946)

The events of this novel unfold in the twenties - thirties of our century in the United States of America. The story is told from the perspective of Jack Burden. Burden was born into a wealthy family in the south of the country, graduated from a prestigious school, studied US history at the state university, and later became the right hand of the state governor Willie Stark. Jack Burden met Willie Stark in 1922 in Mason City on behalf of the editor-in-chief of the newspaper in order to write an article about him. He was born into a poor peasant family, worked on the land, independently read books on jurisprudence, and then passed the necessary exams and received the title of lawyer. Some time passes, the Chronicle prints a series of articles about corruption in the state, and the name of Willie Stark appears on its pages as a defender of the rights of honest citizens.

At first, Stark works as state treasurer. He is participating in a bond issue to build a school in Mason City. But he is against giving an order for its construction to D.-Kh. Muru, because he knows that this person is unscrupulous and may well use a batch of defective bricks that he has in his warehouse to build a school. But no one wants to listen to his words, and the order is still given to D.-Kh. Moore. Another is chosen as the state treasurer, and everyone forgets about this story. And two years later, trouble comes to the city. During a drill at this school, the children climb the fire escapes, the masonry breaks down, and the building collapses, scattering the children in all directions. Three die on the spot, ten or twelve are badly injured, so that some of them remain crippled for life. For Willie Stark, this tragic event can serve as a springboard in his political career, but he does not try to speculate on it. People themselves understand what's what. They believe in his honesty, in his sincere desire to be useful to his fellow citizens. In Mason County, he becomes a famous person. All metropolitan newspapers publish his photographs. But he still tries to stay in the shadows for a long time.

And yet, one fine morning, Willy Stark suddenly wakes up as a candidate for governor, without making any effort. The fact is that in his state there are two main democratic factions. One is led by Joe Garison and the other by McMurphy. Joe Garison is a former governor and McMurphy is the incumbent governor and is running for re-election. Someone from Garison's team comes up with the idea to nominate a third candidate, who, according to their plans, should have taken some of the votes from McMurphy. This requires a popular person, and the choice falls on Willy Stark. Willie is courted, told that he can become governor, and dragged into the election race. But one day, before his public speech, Willy finds out that he is simply being manipulated, being used as a pawn in a political game. Having figured out what's what, he calls on voters to vote for McMurphy, and as a result, not without the help of Stark, he again becomes governor.

The next meeting between Jack Burden and Willie Stark takes place in 1930, when Willie is already in the governor's office. He invites Jack to work in his team. Jack Burden agrees, and from that moment Willy Stark becomes the Master for him. Several other interesting personalities work in the Boss's team: Baby Duffy, who previously helped Joe Harrison, secretary Sadie Burke and bodyguard driver Rafinad.

Having become governor, Willy Stark gets a taste, begins to play a big political game and now thinks not only about the benefit and welfare of his fellow citizens, but also about his own political career. Adored by the crowd, he develops his oratorical skills, trying to maintain the image of the "people's defender", goes to the goal irresistibly and assertively, using blackmail and corruption. For example, it helps State Examiner Byram B. White avoid criminal liability. But he does this not because of his friendship with him, but because he needs to "wipe his nose" at McMurphy, who is now his political rival. As a trump card in his next election campaign, he promises to build a model clinic in the state and is doing everything possible to carry out his plan, making personal enemies in the process.

One day, Stark and his wife and team arrive at his father's farm, where reporters want to take some pictures of the governor for the newspapers. There he learns that Judge Irwin, who enjoys authority in the city, supports Kelahan, McMurphy's man, who is running for the Senate, and not Masters, Stark's henchman. That same night, Willie, with his driver and Jack Burden, leaves for Burden's Landing, where Judge Irwin lives, to speak with him. They can't talk because the judge doesn't want to change his mind. Then the Boss gives Jack the task of finding some compromising facts in the judge's biography so that he can put pressure on him.

Jack Bearden begins to seriously dig into Judge Irwin's past and learns that once, as a state's attorney and in a difficult position, trying to save his mortgaged house from sale, Irwin took a bribe. He also finds relevant documents confirming this fact. Among the documents is a letter from which it appears that his friend Senator Stanton, the father of Adam and Anna Stanton, Jack's childhood friends, covered the crime. Before giving the documents to the Master, Jack decides to speak to the judge first. Judge Irwin accepts this news courageously and refuses to help Willy Stark, despite the documents compromising him in the eyes of society and the law. He also ignores Jack's personal request. But as Jack Burden leaves, the judge shoots himself and dies. After the death of Judge Irwin, Jack learns from his mother that he was his father.

Around the same time, troubles begin with Willy Stark. McMurphy's people, who, like Stark, is about to run for the Senate, start a campaign against the son of the governor - Tom Stark, a rising American football star. Under their pressure, the father of one girl comes to Willie Stark and declares that his daughter is expecting a child from Tom. The father understands that the blow of competitors is directed primarily against him, and the son, by his behavior, gives a reason for this. The father is trying to solve this problem in his own way, that is, he is going to pay off, but does not have time to do it. A new disaster is befalling him. During the match, Tom suffers a severe spinal injury. The question is about his life and death. Adam Stanton, who has become a famous surgeon and agreed to become the director of the medical complex that Willy Stark is going to build, operates on Tom Stark. He pulls Tom out of the arms of death, but he fails to save him from paralysis.

Sadie Burke, the Boss's devoted secretary and longtime lover, learns that Anna Stanton, sister of the doctor Adam, childhood friend and youthful love of Jack Burden, is Willie's lover. The anger of the impulsive and energetic Sadie knows no bounds, and she, through Tiny Duffy, who secretly hates the Boss, tells Adam Stanton by phone that Governor Stark offered him to become the director of the future clinic solely because of his sister, that now he wants to remove him from this post , because Adam made his son a cripple and because Willy now would like to get rid of Anna, break with her. Adam Stanton, who has always treated Willie Stark as an "upstart", looking at him from the height of his idealistic moral position, believes what he heard on the phone. Having lost control of himself, he insults his sister and declares that he breaks with her forever. Ambushing Willy Stark in the Capitol, he shoots him and mortally wounds him. Well, Refinade, the governor's bodyguard, kills Adam Stanton.

After the death of Willie Stark, Baby Duffy takes over as governor. He offers Jack Burden to work for him, but he refuses and even tries to intimidate Duffy, telling him that he knows the story of the phone call to Adam and that he can make it public. Indeed, at first he is going to take revenge on Dafi in this way for the death of Stark, but, on reflection, he does not dare to take this step.

After the Master's funeral, Jack Burden leaves for Burden's Landing, where Anna Stanton lives. Jack settles in the house of Judge Irwin, which he bequeathed to him. Anna Stanton, who became his wife, moves in with him, as does his mother's ex-husband, now an old man whom Jack has long considered his father. But the doctors say the old man won't last long. Jack and Anna want to leave this house after his death and go somewhere far away from Burdens Landing. Anna Stanton gives her estate to an orphanage, since she can no longer live in it after the death of her brother. Willie Stark's wife, Tom Stark's mother, finds the meaning of life in raising a boy, her grandson, born out of wedlock after her son's death.

Ya. V. Nikitin

(The Adventures of Wesley Jackson)

Roman (1946)

1942 Wesley Jackson, an eighteen-year-old San Francisco resident, is drafted into the army. He loves the song "Valencia", reads and thinks a lot. His parents separated a long time ago. Mom and his younger brother Virgil went to relatives, and Wesley does not know where his father is now. Wesley writes a letter to Mrs. Fawkes, a Sunday school teacher in San Francisco, describing his life during the nine years they have not seen each other. A month later, a letter arrives from the priest of his church, in which, in addition to reporting the death of Mrs. Fawkes, it is said that Wesley has a talent for writing. The priest urges Wesley to continue in the same vein: "Write, my boy, write." Wesley writes a story in which he describes everything that happens to him in the army.

Wesley doesn't want to serve in the army. He does not like army orders, when for the slightest violation of petty annoying rules, which are also so easy to break, they threaten with the death penalty or an order out of turn.

Wesley and his friend Harry Cook catch the eye of a colonel and a civilian who turns out to be a journalist. The journalist is interested in their attitude to the army. Private Cook honestly replies that he does not like the army, and leaves. Wesley, wanting to justify his behavior, tells the Colonel that Harry is upset about his mother's severe illness.

The Colonel, in order to show himself to be a good fellow and get into the newspaper, orders Private Cook to be given leave and sent along with Private Jackson as an escort home to Alaska.

Five days pass, and army everyday life begins again: drill, guard outfits, watching training films, from time to time some kind of entertaining evening with compulsory attendance and, of course, dismissals.

Mid-December 1942 Wesley Jackson completes basic combat training and is sent to New York for further service. Wesley says goodbye to the friends he made at the military camp and boards the train. A trip to New York across America, which lasted two weeks, is one of the most wonderful events in Wesley's life.

Wesley celebrates Christmas in New York, receiving pneumonia as a Christmas present.

End of January 1943 Wesley leaves the military hospital and gets acquainted with the new duty station. The new part consists mainly of people with connections, with position - representatives of the world of cinema (film companies "Universle", "Columbia Pictures", etc.). All the menial work in the company is done by privates like Wesley Jackson. They are forced to put up with it, frightening by being sent to the front in North Africa or the Pacific Ocean.

Wesley meets a very modern woman in a bar, escorts home and stays with her until morning. They start dating. Thanks to her, Wesley discovers the music of Brahms.

Suddenly, the father appears - Jackson Sr. Wesley tells him about everything that has happened to him over the past year. The father approves of Wesley's desire to find a girlfriend, marry and have a son.

Wesley carefully corresponds with his friends who have fallen into other garrisons, knowing from experience that letters mean more to a soldier than anything else, except perhaps demobilization and returning home.

Wesley graduates from the School of Military Administration, where they study topography. He gets a desk with a typewriter and starts typing various notices and reports for his sergeant.

Wesley is sent to the military unit of the city of Ohio, where he goes with his father.

He meets a real writer and writes his first script at his request and instead.

Suddenly, as always, the father disappears. In search of him, Wesley wanders through the snow through the city at night. He meets a sweet woman who sings "Valencia" - the favorite song of Wesley and his father. She invites him to her house, where he spends the rest of the night. The woman saves Wesley from arrest for unauthorized absence, and later helps her return to her unit in New York.

Wesley reads his Letter to his Father, published without his knowledge in the New Republic magazine, and does not know if he wants to become a writer.

On September 1943, XNUMX, Private Jackson celebrates his nineteenth birthday by carving his initials into the arm of the Statue of Liberty.

In early December, Wesley Jackson leaves for special training in New Jersey. Later, he boards a ship, sets sail, and lands in England.

Wesley sees the bombed-out residential areas of London, families living underground, and joins the science of air defense.

Wesley walks around the city and meets the girl of his dreams. Gil Moore is not yet seventeen years old. She has just arrived from Gloucester. She ran away from home because she couldn't get along with her mother, and her father had died. She has no money, she goes to Piccadilly, and the first soldier she turns to is Wesley Jackson.

Wesley and Gil are getting married. After some time, Wesley learns that he will be a father.

On June 1944, XNUMX, the invasion of Europe begins. Wesley leaves for the front. Finally, the war comes to him.

Performing another combat mission, Wesley is suddenly captured by the Germans.

Private Jackson is in a POW camp. He sees there a lot of funny and surprising, beautiful and disgusting.

On the first of September, Wesley, like other prisoners of war, discovers that he is free, as the German guards have fled. Loaded with food, he sets off, hoping to find his part. On the way, Wesley learns that his detachment has fulfilled its purpose and returned to London. After much ordeal, Wesley finally gets the opportunity to return to his unit in London.

He sees with horror that the house in which he lived with Jill does not exist - the whole street is in ruins. Wesley asks God to make Jill stay alive. And then he learns that she is alive and now lives with relatives in Gloucester. Wesley immediately goes there, and they find each other again.

A.I. Khoreva

(The Glass Menagerie)

Play (1945)

It is, in essence, a memory. Tom Wingfield talks about the time - between the two wars - when he lived in St. Louis with his mother Amanda Wingfield - a woman endowed with great zest for life, but unable to adapt to the present and desperately clinging to the past, and her sister Laura - a dreamer who moved into childhood serious illness - one leg she remained slightly shorter than the other. Tom himself, a poet at heart, then served in a shoe store and suffered painfully, doing a hated business, and in the evenings he listened to endless stories of his mother about her life in the South, about the fans left there and other real and imaginary victories ...

Amanda eagerly awaits the children's success: Tom's promotion and Laura's favorable marriage. She does not want to see how her son hates his work and how timid and unsociable her daughter is. The mother's attempt to arrange Laura for typing courses fails - the girl's hands are shaking so much from fear and nervous tension that she cannot hit the right key. She is only happy at home, when she is fiddling with her collection of glass animals.

After failing the courses, Amanda becomes even more obsessed with Laura's marriage. At the same time, she tries to influence her son - she tries to control his reading: she is convinced that the novels of Lawrence - her son's favorite writer - are too dirty. Amanda also finds Tom's habit of spending almost all his free evenings at the movies strange. For him, these trips are a way to escape from the monotonous everyday life, the only outlet is like a glass menagerie for his sister.

Having chosen the right moment, Amanda snatches a promise from Tom to bring into the house and introduce some decent young man to Laura. Some time later, Tom invites his colleague Jim O'Connor to dinner, the only person in the store with whom he is on friendly terms. Laura and Jim went to the same school, but Jim is surprised that she is Tom's sister. Laura, still a schoolgirl, was in love with Jim, who was always in the center of everyone's attention - he shone in basketball, ran a debating club, sang in school plays. For Laura to see this prince of her girlish dreams again is a real shock. While shaking his hand, she nearly passes out and quickly disappears into her room. Soon, under a plausible pretext, Amanda sends Jim to her. The young man does not recognize Laura, and she herself has to reveal to him that they have known each other for a long time. Jim has a hard time remembering the girl he nicknamed Blue Rose at school. This nice, benevolent young man did not succeed in life as much as he promised in his school years. True, he does not lose hope and continues to make plans. Laura gradually calms down - with his sincere, interested tone, Jim relieves her nervous tension, and she gradually begins to talk to him as to an old friend.

Jim cannot help but see the girl's terrible insecurities. He tries to help, convinces her that her limp is not at all conspicuous - no one at school even noticed that she was wearing special shoes. People are not evil at all, he tries to explain to Laura, especially when you get to know them better. Almost everyone has something that doesn’t go well - it’s not good to consider yourself the worst of everyone. In his opinion, Laura's main problem lies in the fact that she drove it into her head: only she is not doing well ...

Laura asks about a girl Jim dated at school who was said to be engaged. Upon learning that there was no wedding and Jim has not seen her for a long time, Laura blossoms all over. It is felt that a timid hope arose in her soul. She shows Jim her collection of glass figurines, the ultimate sign of trust. Among the little animals, a unicorn stands out - an extinct animal, unlike anyone else. Jim notices him immediately. Tom, probably, is it boring to stand on the same shelf with ordinary animals like glass horses?

Through the open window from the restaurant opposite, the sounds of a waltz are heard. Jim invites Laura to dance, she refuses - she is afraid that she will crush his leg. "But I'm not made of glass," Jim says with a laugh. In the dance, they nevertheless run into the table, and the unicorn, forgotten there, falls. Now he is the same as everyone else: his horn has broken off.

Jim tells Laura with feeling that she is an extraordinary girl, unlike anyone else - just like her unicorn. She is beautiful, She has a sense of humor. People like her are one in a thousand. In a word, Blue Rose. Jim kisses Laura - enlightened and frightened, she sits down on the sofa. However, she misinterpreted this movement of the young man's soul: the kiss is just a sign of Jim's tender participation in the fate of the girl, and also an attempt to make her believe in herself.

However, after seeing Laura's reaction, Jim gets scared and rushes to reveal that he has a fiancée. But Laura must believe: she, too, will be fine. You just need to overcome your complexes. Jim continues to utter typical American platitudes like "man is the master of his own destiny" and so on, not noticing that on Laura's face, which had just radiated a divine radiance, an expression of infinite sadness emerges. She hands Jim the unicorn as a memento of the evening and her.

The appearance of Amanda in the room looks like a clear dissonance to everything that is happening here: she is playing playfully and is almost sure that the groom is on the hook. However, Jim quickly clarifies and, saying that he must hurry - he still needs to meet his bride at the station - takes his leave and leaves. Before the door closes behind him, Amanda explodes and makes a scene for her son: what was this dinner and all the expenses for if the young man is busy? For Tom, this scandal is the last straw. Having quit his job, he leaves home and embarks on a journey.

In the epilogue, Tom says that he will never be able to forget his sister: "I did not know that I was so devoted to you that I could not betray." In his imagination, a beautiful image of Laura appears, blowing out a candle before going to bed. "Goodbye, Laura," Tom says sadly.

V. I. Bernatskaya

(A Streetcar Named Desire)

Play (1947)

The scene of the play is the wretched outskirts of New Orleans; in the very atmosphere of this place, according to Williams' note, there is something "lost, spoiled." It is here that the tram with the symbolic name "Desire" brings Blanche Dubois, who, after a long chain of failures, hardships, compromises and the loss of her family nest, hopes to find peace or at least get a temporary shelter - to arrange a break for herself with her sister Stella and her husband Stanley Kowalski.

Blanche arrives at the Kowalski's in an elegant white suit, with white gloves and a hat, as if her society acquaintances from an aristocratic district are waiting for her for a cocktail or a cup of tea. She is so shocked by the squalor of her sister's apartment that she cannot hide her disappointment. Her nerves have long been at the limit - Blanche now and then applied to a bottle of whiskey.

During the ten years that Stella lives separately, Blanche has experienced a lot: her parents died, they had to sell their large, but mortgaged, re-mortgaged house, it was also called "The Dream". Stella sympathizes with her sister, but her husband Stanley meets a new relative with hostility. Stanley is the opposite of Blanche: if she looks like a fragile one-day butterfly, then Stanley Kowalski is an ape-man, with a sleeping soul and primitive requests - he "eats like an animal, walks like an animal, speaks like an animal ... he has nothing to trump in front of people, except for brute force." His first appearance on stage with a piece of meat in wrapping paper soaked through with blood is symbolic. Vital, rough, sensual, accustomed to please himself in everything, Stanley is like a caveman who brought his girlfriend prey.

Suspicious of everything alien, Stanley does not believe Blanche's story about the inevitability of selling the "Dream" for debts, believes that she appropriated all the money for herself by buying expensive toilets for them. Blanche acutely senses an enemy in him, but tries to reconcile herself, not to show that she has figured him out, especially when she learns about Stella's pregnancy.

At the Kowalskis' house, Blanche meets Mitch, a toolmaker, a quiet, calm man who lives alone with his sick mother. Mitch, whose heart is not as hardened as his friend Stanley's, is fascinated by Blanche. He likes her fragility, defenselessness, likes that she is so unlike the people from his environment that she teaches literature, knows music, French.

Meanwhile, Stanley is eyeing Blanche warily, like an animal about to prick. Having once overheard an impartial opinion about himself expressed by Blanche in a conversation with his sister, having learned that she considers him a miserable ignoramus, almost an animal and advises Stella to leave him, he harbors evil. And it’s better not to hurt people like Stanley - they don’t know pity. Fearing Blanche's influence on his wife, he begins to make inquiries about her past, and it turns out to be far from perfect. After the death of her parents and the suicide of her beloved husband, of which she became the unwitting culprit, Blanche sought solace in many beds, as Stanley was told by a visiting salesman, who also enjoyed her favors for some time.

Blanche's birthday is coming up. She invited Mitch to dinner, who had practically proposed to her shortly before. Blanche sings merrily while taking a bath, and meanwhile in Stanley's room, not without malice, announces to his wife that Mitch will not come - he has finally opened his eyes to this slut. And he did it himself, Stanley, telling what she did in her hometown - what beds she just didn’t stay in! Stella is shocked by her husband's cruelty: marriage to Mitch would be a salvation for her sister. Leaving the bathroom and dressing up, Blanche is perplexed: where is Mitch? Tries to call him at home, but he does not answer the phone. Not understanding what the matter is, Blanche nonetheless prepares for the worst, and then Stanley gloatingly presents her with a "gift" for her birthday - a return ticket to Laurel, the city where she came from. Seeing the confusion and horror on her sister's face, Stella ardently sympathizes with her; from all these shocks, she begins premature birth ...

Mitch and Blanche have the last conversation - a worker comes to the woman when she was left alone in the apartment: Kowalski took his wife to the hospital. Wounded in the best feelings, Mitch mercilessly tells Blanche that he finally got to the core of her: and her age is not what she called it - it was not for nothing that she strove to meet him in the evening, somewhere in the semi-darkness, - and she is not so touchy as she made herself out - he made inquiries himself, and everything that Stanley told was confirmed.

Blanche does not deny anything: yes, she was confused with just anyone, and there is no number of them. After the death of her husband, it seemed to her that only the caresses of strangers could somehow calm her devastated soul. In a panic, she rushed from one to another - in search of support. And when she met him, Mitch thanked God that she was finally sent a safe haven. "I swear, Mitch," says Blanche, "that in my heart I have never lied to you."

But Mitch is not so spiritually high as to understand and accept Blanche's words. He begins to clumsily pester her, following the eternal male logic: if it is possible with others, then why not with me? Insulted, Blanche drives him away.

By the time Stanley returns from the hospital, Blanche has already taken a deep bite of the bottle. Her thoughts are scattered, she is not quite in herself - it always seems to her that a familiar millionaire is about to appear and take her to the sea. Stanley is at first good-natured - Stella is due to have a baby by morning, everything is going well, but when Blanche, painfully trying to maintain the remnants of her dignity, reports that Mitch came to her with a basket of roses to ask for forgiveness, he explodes. But who is she to give her roses and invite her on cruises? She's lying! No roses, no millionaire. The only thing she is still good for is to sleep with her once. Realizing that things are taking a dangerous turn, Blanche tries to run, but Stanley intercepts her at the door and carries her into the bedroom.

After all that had happened, Blanche's mind was clouded. Returning from the hospital, Stella, under pressure from her husband, decides to place her sister in a hospital. She simply cannot believe the nightmare of violence - how can she live with Stanley then? Blanche thinks that her friend will come for her and take her to rest, but when she sees the doctor and her sister, she gets scared. The gentleness of the doctor - an attitude from which she has already lost the habit - still calms her, and she dutifully follows him with the words: "It doesn't matter who you are ... I have depended on the kindness of the first person I met all my life."

V. I. Bernatskaya

(Orpheus Descending)

Play (1957)

The play takes place in "a small town in one of the southern states." General store owner Jabe Torrance, leader of the local Ku Klux Klan, is brought from the hospital, where, after a thorough examination, doctors have concluded that his days are numbered. This living dead, even on the threshold of the grave, is capable of instilling terror in loved ones, and although he hardly appears on stage, the sound of his stick from above, when he calls Leidy's wife to bed, is heard ominously more than once throughout the action.

Leidy is much younger than her husband. Twenty years ago, when her eighteen-year-old girl was abandoned by David Katrir, to whom her relatives found a profitable bride, and her father’s cafe, along with his father, an Italian who sold alcohol not only to whites, but also to blacks, was burned down by the Ku Klux Klans, she, left without livelihood, I had to agree to marry Torrens - in fact, to sell myself. She does not suspect one thing: her husband was the leader of a wild gang on the night her father died.

The store is located on the first floor of the house where the Torrens live, and therefore the return of Jabe from the hospital is seen by customers who happened to be there at that moment. Among them is the local renegade Carol Katreer, the sister of Leidy's former lover. She essentially lives in a car, in "her little house on wheels", in perpetual motion, but with obligatory stops at every bar. Carol organically cannot stand loneliness, rarely sleeps alone, and in the city she is considered a nymphomaniac. Carol wasn't always like this. Once, endowed with a heightened sense of justice, she advocated for the rights of blacks, sought free hospitals for them, and even participated in a protest march. However, the same circles that dealt with Leidy's father pacified this rebel as well.

She first draws attention to the appearance in the store of Val, who was brought here by Vee Tolbet, the wife of the local sheriff - she had heard that Leidy was looking for an assistant in business. The "wild beauty" of the young man, the strange snakeskin jacket, his intoxicating gaze excite the former "activist", and now an ordinary adventurer. He seems to her almost like a messenger from another civilization, but to all her flirtations, Val briefly replies that such adventures no longer excite him. Drinking without dryness, smoking until you are stupefied, staggering God knows where with the first person you meet - all this is good for twenty-year-old blockheads, and not for a person who turned thirty today.

But he reacts to Leidy in a completely different way. Returning to the store for a forgotten guitar, he runs into a woman. A conversation starts, there is a feeling of soul kinship, they are drawn to each other. It seemed to Leidy that for all these years of existence near Jabe, she "froze" herself, suppressed all living feelings, but now she is gradually thawing, listening to Val's light poetic monologue. And he talks about rare little birds that are all alone in flight all their lives ("they have no legs at all, these little birds have their whole life on wings, and sleep in the wind: they spread their wings at night, and the wind is their bed "). So they live and "never fly to the ground."

Unexpectedly for herself, Leidy begins to be frank with a strange stranger, even lifts the veil over her unsuccessful marriage. She agrees to take Val to work. After Val leaves, she touches the guitar, which the young man still forgot, and for the first time in many years laughs lightly and joyfully.

Val is a poet, his strength is in a clear vision of the opposites of the world. For him, life is a struggle between the strong and the weak, evil and good, death and love.

But there are not only strong and weak people. There are those "on which the brand has not yet been burned out." Val and Leidy belong to this type: no matter how life develops, their soul is free. They inevitably become lovers, and Val settles in a small room adjacent to the store. The fact that Val lives here is unknown to Jabe, and when one day, at the request of the store owner, the nurse helps him go downstairs early in the morning, Val's stay in the store is a complete surprise for him. Jabe instantly understands what's what, and in order to hurt his wife, he blurts out in anger that it was he and his friends who set fire to her father's house. Leidy didn’t even think of such a thing - she turns to stone.

Val's already hurt a lot of people in the city. The townsfolk are annoyed that he is friendly with blacks, does not hesitate to communicate with the renegade Carol Katrir, and Sheriff Tolbet was even jealous of his aging wife, whom the young man only sympathizes with: this artist, a dreamer who daydreams and completely misunderstood by her husband, is spiritually close to him. The sheriff orders Val to leave town at twenty-four hours.

Meanwhile, Leidy, burning with love for Val and hatred for Jabe, prepares to open a candy store at the store. For her, this confectionery is something like a tribute to the memory of her father, she dreams that everything here will be like it used to be in her father's cafe near the vineyards: music will flow, lovers will make dates here. She passionately dreams that her dying husband will see before his death - the vineyard is open again! Risen from the dead!

But the premonition of triumph over her husband fades before the discovery that she is pregnant. Leidy is overjoyed. With a cry: "I defeated you. Death! I'm alive again!" she runs up the stairs, as if she's forgotten that Jabe is up there. And he, emaciated and yellow, overpowering himself, appears on the platform with a revolver in his hand. It seems that he really is Death itself. Leidy, frightened, rushes to the motionless Val and covers him with her body. Clinging to the railing, the old man fires, and the mortally wounded Leidy falls. The treacherous husband throws a revolver at Leidy's feet and calls for help, shouting that the worker has shot his wife and is robbing the store. Val rushes to the door - to where Carol's car is standing: the woman even today, having learned about the sheriff's warning, offered to take him somewhere far away. Hoarse men's screams and shots are heard behind the scenes. Val couldn't get away. Leidy quietly dies on the floor. This time, Death has conquered Life.

V. I. Bernatskaya

(Rich Man, Poor Man)

Roman (1970)

1945 BC The unusual Jordah family lives in the city of Port Philippe. Nobody loves anyone in this family. Father, Axel Jordach, works in his own bakery and hates both this job and this country. His wife believes that he ruined her life and her dreams. Brought up in strict rules in a monastery shelter, she perceives the performance of marital duties as a nightmare. All three children dream of breaking away from the family. The eldest daughter Gretchen works in the office of the Boylan brick factory, and in the evenings she is on duty in the hospital. Dreams of becoming an actress. She believes that one day something extraordinary and exciting will happen to her. The youngest son Thomas is a little gangster. He loves to fight and enjoys his own cruelty. At home, he does not hear a single kind word. It seems to his older brother Rudolf, the favorite of his parents, that his brother even smells like a forest animal. Rudolph himself dreams of becoming rich. He has some idea of ​​how to achieve this.

Nineteen-year-old Gretchen is a beauty. She is not interested in men, but the wounded from the hospital where she is on duty in the evenings are not averse to having fun with her. Two recovering Negroes invite her to spend Saturday with them outside the city, for which they promise to pay eight hundred dollars. With the thought "no, never" on Saturday, she gets on the bus and finds herself not far from the appointed place. Theodore Boylan, the owner of a brick factory, accidentally passing by in a car, invites her to a restaurant. After dinner, an inebriated Gretchen tells him about her failed adventure. Teddy takes her to his mansion on the hill, and the next day Gretchen finds an envelope on her desk containing the amount she mentioned - eight hundred dollars. She becomes Teddy Boylan's mistress. But an inseparable friend of Thomas (the son of a brick factory accountant and a priest's nephew), inciting him to various tricks, is tracked down by Gretchen. Having made his way to the window of Boylan's mansion, Thomas receives full confirmation of this. And on the day of victory over the city engulfed in joyful jubilation, a huge cross flares up on the hill. The excellent student Rudolph at this time is marching through the streets at the head of the school orchestra and deliberately passes by the windows of his apartment so that his mother can see him.

On Rudolf's birthday, when a birthday cake appears on the table (an exceptional case - it is not customary in this family to celebrate anyone's birthdays), the priest and his brother call their father into the corridor and tell about Thomas's participation in the burning of the cross. Axel immediately sends him to Elysium to his brother Harold, the owner of a car agency where Thomas will work in the garage. On the same day, she leaves for New York and Gretchen, despite the fact that Teddy Boylan proposes to her. The mother already knows everything, and in parting she calls her daughter a harlot.

Lonely and, in fact, unhappy forty-year-old Teddy Boylan strikes up a friendly relationship with Rudolph, offers him his patronage when entering college and money for education. His proposal to Gretchen remains in style. But Rudolph communicates with his sister and knows that she does not need Mr. Boylan. She is quite happy - she works as an extra in the theater and is going to marry Willie Abbott, who makes a living by writing advertising articles.

Thomas quietly works until his connection with the twenty-five-year-old maid Clotilde is discovered. With her, Thomas learns for the first time what love and care means. But Uncle Harold has been coveting her favors for a long time, and she is forced to give in. Thomas is in despair - he cannot do anything for her, because he is only sixteen years old. Soon, Thomas is imprisoned on charges of raping underage twins from the richest family in Elysium, with whom, however, the whole city sleeps. For his release, Axel gives five thousand dollars - all the money set aside for the education of Rudolf. At night in the bakery, he puts rat poison in one of the buns - his last message to this world, in order to teach mankind a lesson. Then he gets into the boat, and the restless waves of the big river carry the boat to the ocean. His body will never be found.

1949 BC After wandering the roads of America, Thomas gets a job at a sports club. Here he begins to learn boxing, and very successfully. All this time he does not receive any news from the family. Catching the hand of a kleptomaniac, one of the rich members of the club, Thomas blackmails him for money - five thousand dollars to return to his father. But in Port Philip he does not find his family, even the house with the bakery no longer exists. Thomas leaves the money in a bank vault.

1950 BC At the expense of Boylan, Rudolph graduates from college in the small town of Whitby. He also takes his mother there. While still a student, he begins to work in a local department store as a storekeeper, then as a salesman, the range of his duties is gradually expanding, his earnings are growing. The owner of the department store, Duncan Calderwood, appreciates Rudolph very much and offers him the position of assistant manager. After learning that he is going to stay in this hole, Rudolf's girlfriend leaves him.

Gretchen has a son, Billy. Her mother still does not communicate with her.

1954 BC Rudolph and his friend Johnny Heath are developing a project to create a trading corporation. As a result, Rudolph should become a very rich man. They celebrate the final signing of all the papers in New York at Gretchen's apartment. Suddenly there is a strange phone call. Someone is looking for Mr. Jordach, but not Rudolf. Here Rudolf and Gretchen remember that they have a brother who, as it turns out, is a boxer. The match, Thomas's wife, the whole environment make a painful impression on Gretchen and Rudolf. The next day, Thomas does a stupid act - he gives his brother the same five thousand. Rudolf tries to persuade Thomas to leave this money to his son, then offers him a job, but he refuses everything and says goodbye to his relatives for the next ten years. And Rudolph invests this money in the name of Thomas in the shares of his corporation.

Mother asks Thomas to visit her. He finds her sick, unhappy old woman. In a rented car, he drives his mother around the city, takes her to a department store, then to a restaurant. She is perfectly happy, and Thomas feels that there will now be one less people he should hate.

1960 BC Gretchen divorces Abbott and marries talented film director Colin Burke, who dies in a car accident.

Rudolph buys a house in Whitby for his mother. Two operations and faith in money literally revive her. She loves to do small and large purchases for the house and even plays bridge twice a week. And her son, a merchant monk who took a vow of wealth instead of a vow of poverty, finally marries the charming girl Jean Prescott. She works as a photographer, fulfills orders for various magazines. But after the wedding, she confesses to Rudolph that she is fabulously rich - she has a huge inheritance.

After an unsuccessful match in Paris, where he is knocked out for the first time in his life, Thomas is forced to work for a penny as a sparring partner for a contender for the championship title. True, Thomas is not without pleasure sleeping with his wife. During a showdown, Thomas beats up the future champion so much that he is forced to hide. He gets a job as a sailor on a Greek steamship. Thomas likes this life - there are no more worries about money and no one asks about the past. He behaves quietly and does not get involved in any fights, but one day he has to protect his friend Dwyer from the attacks of a sailor who terrorizes the entire crew. Having properly punished the offender, Thomas does not stop there and drives him to suicide. At the nearest port, Thomas and Dwyer have to disembark. But they already know what to do. They have a dream - to buy a yacht on the Cote d'Azur, where the weather is always for the rich, and carry passengers. After finding out the prices, Thomas flies to America in the hope of getting money. And he goes to his mother's funeral. Here the Jordahs meet again. Mother before death forgives everyone. Even Gretchen.

After the funeral, Thomas learns from Rudolph that his five thousand dollars have turned into sixty thousand during this time. Against his brother's advice, Thomas asks to prepare all the money for him in cash the next day and immediately sets off with them to Europe.

1963 BC Chairman of the Board of D.C. Enterprises Corporation, Co-Chairman of the Whitby Chamber of Commerce, Whitby University Honors Graduate, University Board of Trustees Member, Whitby and Port Phillip Improvement Commissioner, Energetic and Promising Businessman and Businessman Rudolf Jordach Wants to Buy Up the Local newspaper. However, he is about to leave the corporation. He is advised to enter politics. The Mayor of Whitby already sees him as his successor.

This year Jean gives birth to his daughter Enid.

1965 BC Thomas and Dwyer buy a yacht in the port of Antibes. Thomas names the yacht "Clotilde", in honor of his one and only love. After sailing for two seasons, they hire an English woman, Kate, as a cook. She immediately captivates them with her simplicity, and cooks simply divinely. A week later, Kate moves from a separate cabin to Thomas's cabin.

Thomas does not give up hope to see his son. At his request, Rudolph makes inquiries and discovers Wesley at the military school, and Thomas's wife has two convictions for prostitution. Having presented the school director with a certificate from the police, Thomas easily takes his son with him.

1966 BC Gretchen's son Billy studies at the University of Whitby. His relationship with his mother is very strained.

Jean's second pregnancy ends in a miscarriage. She takes it hard. Gretchen and Rudolf watch the scary scene. Jean, drunk as hell, sitting on the floor in the living room, methodically smashes her expensive photographic equipment with a hammer, Gretchen immediately realizes that Jean is an alcoholic, but Rudolph does not take her warnings seriously.

1967 BC Billy is expelled from the university. Gretchen pleads with her brother to use his connections in Washington to save the boy from Vietnam. Rudolph fulfills her request - this is his last semi-official action. In response to strict anti-drug measures, student unrest breaks out in Whitby. A gigantic enlarged photograph of a naked Jean appears in the university window. Rudolf immediately orders the police to clear the building at all costs, using batons and tear gas. Among the students there are victims. As of this evening, Rudolf is no longer mayor.

1968 BC Thomas arrives in New York to treat an injury he received on a yacht and meets with Rudolf. That one also looks bad. One of the brothers no longer looks like a boxer, the other looks like a mayor. This is the second time Jean has been treated in a clinic for alcoholism. Rudolph helps Thomas get a divorce. Thomas is about to marry Kate, who is expecting a child. Both Gretchen and Rudolf come to their wedding with Jean and their daughter. Only Billy is missing - he is in the army, in Brussels. The family is reunited. But, despite the lack of alcohol on board, Jean manages to get drunk, and Thomas has to pull her out of a dirty port tavern at night. At the same time, Thomas severely beats a man who tries to stop him. When the whole family, except for Kate and Thomas, leaves for two days, this man boards the yacht. Thomas receives a severe blow to the head and dies in the hospital from a massive cerebral hemorrhage.

The next morning after the cremation, the yacht sets sail from the shore, and Wesley pours his father's ashes into the sea. Standing at the bow of the yacht, Dwyer watches the approaching white mansions bathed in the blinding light of the morning sun. This is the weather for the rich...

G. Yu. Shulga

Roman (1953)

William Lee was born and raised in a fashionable quiet suburb of one of the big cities in the Midwest. In childhood and youth, he did not stand out in any way among his peers, except that he read them much more. After graduating from Harvard, William wandered around pre-war Europe for a year, since a stable monthly income of one hundred and fifty dollars relieved him of the need to earn a living. When the war began, he volunteered for the army, but he did not like it there, and he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. After the army, for the sake of curiosity, he tried many professions - from a private detective to a bartender, from a factory worker to an office clerk - and it was at this time, at the end of the war, that he first learned what drugs were.

A person tries drugs, and then addiction develops. This happens, as a rule, when nothing else in life arouses special interest, really inspires at least such nonsense as getting up in the morning, shaving ... No one starts to inject with the intention of becoming a drug addict: you just wake up one fine morning in a heavy otkhodnyak, and that means - everything, you are firmly hooked.

Unlike alcohol or weed, real dope is not a source of high or a stimulant. Dope is a way of life.

William had a friend who worked in the port and regularly dragged everything that was badly lying there. Once this friend came to him with a machine gun and a package of five ampoules of morphine - at home he had fifteen more such packages - and asked him to help find a buyer for this "good". It was easy to find a buyer for the machine, but I had to tinker with morphine. However, quite quickly, through another friend of his, William came across two types, Roy and Herman, who took part of the goods. A few days later, he injected himself with one of the remaining ampoules.

Following a wave of warm, unlike anything else, William was seized by a wild fear - some terrifying image loomed nearby, not getting into his field of vision and therefore becoming even more terrible. And then the color movie began: a huge, neon-lit bar and a waitress carrying a skull on a tray - the clearest embodiment of the fear of death ... The next morning he woke up with the same feeling of horror; he vomited, for half a day he felt completely overwhelmed.

Over the course of a month, William gradually used up all the morphine he had left; after the third dose, the anxiety attacks ceased. When the supply was depleted, he began to buy the potion from Roy. The same Roy taught him all the technical intricacies of a drug addict's life, including the ability to get prescriptions for morphine and buy them in pharmacies: some doctors were caught simulating kidney stones, for others who had no other clientele, issuing prescriptions to drug addicts was the main source of income. Gradually, William began to spend time in a bar where mostly gays and junkies hung out, getting money for the next dose, rummaging through the pockets of drunks on the subway.

Once, Roy's friend Herman suggested that William take a whole kilogram of New Orleans marijuana for a couple. He agreed. They then sold the weed with the help of some Greenwich Village lesbian who posed as a poet. It was a profitable business, but too boring: unlike normal drug addicts, grass lovers, who usually took it for a couple of dollars at a time, certainly wanted the seller to smoke and bazaar with them - they didn’t break off the buzz, in short. In general, it is in vain that grass is classified as a drug: there is no getting used to it, and it does not harm health. That's just behind the wheel, having smoked, it's better not to sit down, since the familiar feeling of space and time from a jamb or two is completely lost.

As expected, over time, William finally got on the needle, he now needed to inject three times a day to maintain the norm. He settled with two of the same junkies; together they got money and recipes, bought dope, swarmed together. The whole sphere of their interests was limited to the process of obtaining the drug and its consumption, the time interval between doses was filled exclusively with the expectation of the next one.

The first time, William got burned and received a sentence - four months probation - for the fact that in prescriptions for morphine he incorrectly indicated the name and address. It was too risky to continue to bomb drunks, and he decided to go into street trading, since one of his friends, Bill Heine, set him up with a good heroin wholesaler. You won't get rich in this business, unless you always earn for the amount of potion you need, and a constant cash supply of it eliminates the fear of not getting a dose one day. Soon she and Bill had a clientele of their own, and things went more or less well for them. The trouble is that sooner or later unreliable types turn out to be among the clients: some continually strive to beg for a loan, others do not observe elementary caution, others are ready to pawn the seller at the slightest danger. Because of such unreliable types, the police eventually surrounded him and Bill from all sides. I had to get out of New York.

Bill Heine went to Lexington for treatment, and William Lee went to Texas, where his farm was located. He thought to break the drug addiction on his own, using the so-called Chinese method: after each injection, the bottle with the solution is topped up with distilled water, the dose is gradually reduced, and after some time you are already driving clean water through the veins. This method did not work, a wild breakdown began. There are other unbearable pains - toothache or in the genitals - but they are not even close to compare with those that you experience when you suddenly stop injecting yourself. After all, breaking is the same death, the death of all drug-dependent cells; until these cells die and healthy ones are born in their place, you are writhing in hell.

Leaving the car in the parking lot, William took the train to Lexington. Treatment in this closed institution was reduced to a weekly course of a synthetic morphine surrogate, the dose of which was lowered from injection to injection; from the subsequent rehabilitation period of complete abstinence from drugs, William evaded and came out still sick. With the help of the wheels, he somehow got by and then lived for several weeks without drugs. Even moving to New Orleans, for the first time he led the existence of a normal person there - he drank, which drug addicts never do, wandered around the taverns, but somehow he got drunk once, and everything returned to normal. If you already had an addiction once, it doesn’t take much for it to return - and again day after day passed in the rhythm of doses and pauses between them, filled with fuss with clients, the same, in essence, scum as in New York .

The life of junkies, and even more so of merchants, became more and more dumb every day: the police were fierce, and under the new law you could be blamed even for traces of injections on your hands. One day, William and his partners got into a serious mess. He was facing a long sentence, and the lawyer hinted that it would be wiser to spit on the bail on which he was released from prison and end up on the other side of the Mexican border.

In Mexico City, it turned out that a certain person named Lupita, who got along with the police so well that they not only turned a blind eye to her business, but also regularly eliminated competitors, kept all the dope trade here. So William had to not only give up the idea of ​​his own business, but also buy from Lupita a lousy quality and godlessly expensive potion. Over time, however, recipes began to help out.

During the year that he sat on the needle in Mexico City, William tried to tie five times, but nothing came of it. The last time he climbed out on a mixture of alcohol and wheels and got rid of the drugs, but he drank incredibly for several weeks. After waking up one morning, he almost choked on the smell of urine and realized with horror that this stink comes from himself. How people die of uremia, William saw; the doctor who examined him said that one more bottle of tequila would be the end.

One way or another, but for several months William did not inject.

The buzz, which was given by the peyote cactus that had just become fashionable, somehow did not suit him. It was completely without a hitch to return to the States: a court was waiting for him there, and besides, a real anti-drug paranoia swept the country, some of the old acquaintances sat down, some disappeared somewhere, some rushed ... In short, it remained to move further south, to Colombia, where , they say, they learned to make a new drug from some Amazonian greenery that sharpens telepathic susceptibility - the Russians even became interested in it and used it to control millions of slaves in the camps. The problems of telepathy also always occupied William.

D. A. Karelsky

Roman (1964)

The fifty-year-old professor of history and literature, Moses Herzog, wrote letters, wrote letters to absolutely everyone in the world - people personally known and unknown, living and dead, relatives who were and are, thinkers and presidents, publishers and brothers in the shop, church leaders and so on, to no one in particular, but then, it happened, to himself or to the Lord God. Among his addressees from among the well-known personalities were Spinoza, Eisenhower, Nietzsche, Rozanov, Heidegger ... Moreover, on one piece of paper there was a place for a polemic with Herr Nietzsche about the nature of the Dionysian principle, and tender words addressed to the abandoned girlfriend, and advice addressed to the President of Panama fight the dominance of rats in the country with the help of contraceptives.

Others explained this strangeness of the Duke by the fact that the old man, apparently, moved his mind - and they were wrong. It's just that the second divorce cost him too much: both the fact itself and the quite disgusting circumstances that accompanied it completely knocked the ground out from under the Duke's feet. This very soil - as he understood, having thought sensibly, and the time for sensible reflection, as well as the corresponding disposition of the spirit, suddenly appeared when the usual course of family-academic existence was interrupted - and without that it was no longer unshakable for a long time: the sixth ten was exchanged; two initially happy, but broken marriages - each with a child; some other women, like wives, who appropriated the worst parts of his soul;

friends who, with rare exceptions, turned out to be either traitors or boring cretins; an academic career that began brilliantly - Moses Herzog's dissertation "Romanticism and Christianity" was translated into a number of languages ​​- but gradually faded away under a pile of written paper, which was not destined to turn into a book that provides answers to the most pressing questions for Western man.

Perhaps the Duke wrote his letters precisely with the aim of getting back on more or less solid ground - they served him as if they were threads stretched in all sorts of directions to different eras, ideas, social institutions, people ... With their tension, these threads more or less fixed, determined the position of the Duke in the universe, affirmed him, Moses Herzog, a person in the face of unbridled entropy that encroaches in our century on the spiritual, emotional, intellectual, family, professional and sexual life of the human individual,

Perhaps, however, all this only seemed to him.

It did not seem, but it clearly passed before the mental gaze of the Duke, composing in memory from disparate episodes and plots flowing one into another, the eventful, factual side of his life. Unlike our hero, let's try to restore cause-and-effect relationships and temporal sequence, let's start with the background.

Moses' father, Iona Isakovich Herzog, lived in St. Petersburg under false documents of a merchant of the first guild, flooding the Russian market with onions from Egypt. He flourished until, just before the war, the police brought him to clean water; however, the Duke did not wait for the process of broadsword and with his family hastily moved to Canada, where the well-being of the Dukes came to an end. Jonah tried himself in a variety of activities - from farming to bootlegging - but fatal bad luck pursued him everywhere. But after all, it was necessary to feed the family, pay for housing, bring four children to the people - Moses, his two brothers and sister. It was only towards the end of Jon's life that Herzog somehow got on his feet and settled in Chicago.

From a world of beggars, predominantly Jewish neighborhoods, where Yiddish was heard far more than English, Moses worked his way to university. At the end of the university, he was known - yes, in fact, he was - a promising young specialist. Soon he married Daisy, who bore him a son, Marco. Locked up for the winter with a young wife in the countryside. The Duke completed his work "Romanticism and Christianity", which produced almost a sensation in scientific circles.

But then somehow something went wrong with Daisy, they parted, and the Duke began to wander weekly from Philadelphia, where he taught his course, to New York to see his son. In Philadelphia, meanwhile, touching, undemanding, gentle and rather funny Japanese Sono formed in his life, and a little later - Madeleine.

Madeleine, with her eloquent surname Pontritter, was then a zealous Catholic convert and a specialist in the history of Russian religious thought. Almost from the very beginning, she arranged tearful scenes for him right in bed about the fact that she had been a Christian for a few weeks, but because of him she could no longer go to confession. The duke loved Madeleine and therefore, having overcome inhuman difficulties, he obtained a divorce from Daisy in order to marry her; Sono told him that Madeleine had angry, cold eyes, but the Duke then wrote off her words as jealousy.

Madeleine's religious fervor soon somehow faded away, she never baptized June. The duke, succumbing to the temptation of patriarchy, committed an act that he later regretted more than once: he ditched his entire father's inheritance, twenty thousand, to buy and equip a house in Ludeville, a place in western Massachusetts that is not even marked on a state map. The Ludeville dwelling was to be the ancestral home of the Dukes (this phrase amused Moses greatly), and here he planned to complete his book.

The year the Duke and Madeleine spent in the country house was marked by his purposeful work on the improvement of the home and on the book, their mutual love delights, but also Madeleine's tantrums and fits of malevolence, which she explained - when she considered it necessary to do so - annoyance at the fact that by the grace of the Duke, she wastes the best years of her life in the wilderness; how she once aspired to this very wilderness, Madeleine seemed to have forgotten.

Over time, Madeline increasingly began to talk about moving. In her quest for the big cities, she was supported by Valentine Gersbach, a neighbor of the Dukes, an announcer of the local radio station, who constantly repeated that such a brilliant woman and a promising specialist should be surrounded by interesting people who would appreciate her and her talents.

What's true is true. It was tight with society in Ludeville - the circle of communication of the Dukes was limited to Gersbach and his colorless, quiet wife Phoebe. Moses and Madeleine were close friends with them, while Valentine strove to create an image of devoted, ardent friendship; sometimes adopting a patronizing tone towards the Duke, he nevertheless slavishly copied everything that seemed to him noble in the Duke.

Madeline managed to insist on her own, and the Dukes moved to Chicago, taking with them Phoebe and Valentine, whom Moses, using old connections, found a good place in the city.

When the Duke rented a house, repaired something in it, arranged some other little things, Madeleine suddenly solemnly announced to him that everything was over between them, she no longer loved him, and therefore it was better for him to go somewhere, for example, to New York leaving June to her. Knowing that if a woman leaves a man, it is always final, the Duke did not bicker or ask Madeleine to think more.

Then he was struck by Madeleine's inhuman foresight: the rent was paid by him far in advance; the lawyer - he generally considered him his friend - ruled out any possibility of registering the Duke's custody of his daughter, and at the same time began to impose insurance, according to which, in the event of the Duke's death or mental illness, Madeleine would be provided until the end of her days; the doctor, also trained by Madeleine, hinted that something was wrong with his, the Duke, brains.

Completely broken, the Duke left Chicago, and then went to Europe for a long time, where he read some lectures in different countries, loved some women ... He returned to New York in a worse condition than he had left. It was here that he began to write letters.

In New York, the Duke somehow rapidly, but seemed to be firmly, friends with Ramona, who listened to his lectures at evening courses. Ramona was the owner of a flower shop and a master's degree from Columbia University in art history. The duke was more than satisfied with this person, in whose veins an explosive mixture of Argentinean, Jewish, French and Russian blood flowed: in bed she was a professional in the best sense of the word, she cooked excellently, her mind and spiritual qualities also did not make one wish for anything more; only one thing was slightly embarrassing - Ramona was under forty, therefore, in the depths of her soul, she would not mind getting a husband.

Thanks to Ramona, Duke regained his ability to take action. He went to Chicago.

The duke had often had suspicions before—for which he was insanely ashamed of himself—about his wife’s connection with Gersbach, but as soon as he somehow expressed them to Madeleine, she answered him with murderous arguments in the sense that, they say, how she can sleep with a person who, when he uses the toilet, stinks the whole house. But now the Duke had a letter from a friend of his closest friend, Lucas Asfalter, who worked as a babysitter for Madeleine. It clearly stated that not only did Gersbach live almost constantly with Madeleine, they once locked little June in the car so that she would not interfere with their lovemaking. If it could be proved that fornication is going on in the house where his child lives, the girl would almost certainly be given to her father. But the only person whose testimony on this score would have been irrefutable, Phoebe, stupidly repeated to the Duke that Valentine came home every evening, and almost did not communicate with Madeleine.

The duke saw with his own eyes, creeping up to the house, how Gersbach bathed June. He had a revolver with him, which he took from his father's table along with a pile of royal rubles intended as a gift for his son - after Chicago, the Duke planned to visit Marco at a summer camp. There were two cartridges in the revolver, but the Duke knew that he would not shoot at anyone, and did not.

The next day, when, after agreeing with Madeleine through Asphalter, the Duke met with June and went for a walk with her, to see all sorts of interesting things, a minibus crashed into his car. June was not injured, but when the police pulled the unconscious Duke out of the passenger compartment, his late father's revolver fell out of his pockets, for which, of course, there was no permission, and suspicious rubles.

The Duke was immediately arrested. Called to the police station to pick up the girl, Madeline announced to the police that the Duke is a dangerous and unpredictable person, that he carries a loaded gun for a reason.

However, everything worked out: Duke Shura's rich brother posted bail, and he went to Ludeville to lick his wounds. Another brother, Will, who was in real estate, visited him there, and together they decided that while the house was not worth selling, the money invested in it would not be returned anyway. The Duke found the house in a terribly neglected state, but before Will's arrival, he did not even bother to take care of the electricity, since all his time was spent writing letters. The brother convinced the Duke to take up elementary landscaping, and he went to the neighboring village. There he was found by phone by Ramona, who was visiting friends nearby. They agreed to dine at the Duke's.

The impending visit of Ramona worried the Duke a little, but after all, they would only have lunch. While waiting for the guest, the Duke cooled the wine and picked flowers. In the meantime, the electricity turned on, the woman from the village continued to sweep the rubbish out of the house ...

Suddenly, in between times, the Duke wondered if writing letters had exhausted itself. And from that day on, he never wrote them again. Not a single word.

L. A. Karelsky

(Death of a Salesman)

Play (1949)

An uncomplicated melody sounds - about grass, heavenly space, foliage ...

Sixty-year-old salesman Willy Loman with two large suitcases goes to his New York house, sandwiched between skyscrapers. He is very exhausted and a little scared: having left in the morning with samples of goods, he did not get to the place - the car skidded all the time, he could not cope with the controls, and now he returned home without selling anything.

Wife Linda begs Willy to negotiate with the owner to allow her husband to work in New York: at his age it is hard to be a traveling agent.

A turning point has really come in Willy's life: he lives, as it were, in two worlds - the real one, where his song has already been sung, and the fictional one - where he is young and where opportunities are not yet closed either for him or for his sons - Bif and Happy.

Willy is often seen in visions by his older brother Ben - at the age of seventeen he left home, and by the age of twenty he had become fabulously rich in the diamond mines of Africa. For Willy, his brother is the living embodiment of the American dream. He wants his sons, especially the eldest, Biff, to also succeed in life. But Biff, who studied well at school, the former star of the football team, at some turn of his life, for some reason incomprehensible to his father, suddenly wilted, grew shy, and now, in his forties, constantly changes jobs, never staying anywhere for a long time, and success from him now further than at the beginning of an independent path.

The origins of this sad state of affairs lie in the past. Constantly oriented by his father to the fact that success will surely await him in life - he is so charming, but - remember, son! - in America, charm is valued above all else, - Biff starts his studies, gets a low score in mathematics, and he is not given a certificate. To top it off, when he desperately rushes to his father in a nearby town where he sells goods, he finds him in a room with an outside woman. We can say that then the world collapses for Bif, the collapse of all values ​​occurs. After all, his father is an ideal for him, he believed his every word, and he, it turns out, always lied.

So Biff remained a dropout and, having wandered around the country, returned home, comforting himself with the illusion that his former owner, a certain Oliver, who sells sporting goods, would consider it a pleasure to take him back to work.

However, he does not even recognize Bif and, leaving the office, passes by. Biff, who has already booked a table in a restaurant where he and his father and Happy's brother are going to "wash" a job application, is embarrassed, discouraged and almost crushed. At the restaurant, while waiting for his father, he tells Happy that he is going to tell him everything as it is. Let the father, for once in his life, face the truth and understand that the son is not created for commerce. The trouble, Biff concludes, is that we weren't taught to grab in the family. The owners always laughed at his father: this business romantic, who puts human relations at the forefront, and not self-interest, for this very reason, he often lost. "We're not needed in this mess," Biff adds ruefully. He does not want to live among deceptive illusions, like a father, but hopes to truly find his place in the world. For him, the broad smile of a salesman and polished shoes are not at all a symbol of happiness.

Happy is scared by his brother's attitude. He himself has also achieved little and, although he proudly calls himself the deputy boss, in fact, only "an assistant to one of the assistants." Happy, it seems, repeats the fate of his father - he builds castles in the air, hoping that optimism and a white-toothed smile will certainly lead to wealth. Happy begs Biff to lie to his father, saying that Oliver recognized him, accepted him well and was delighted that he was returning to work for him. And then gradually everything will be forgotten by itself.

For a while, Biff manages to play the successful applicant for a job in a commercial enterprise in front of his father, but, as usual, his father's cheap optimism and a set of standard phrases like: "In the business world, the main thing is appearance and charm - this is the key to success" - do their job : he breaks down and tells the truth: Oliver did not accept him, moreover, passing by, he did not recognize him.

Such a blow to Willy is difficult to bear. With a cry of "You do everything to spite me," he gives his son a slap in the face. Biff runs away, Happy follows him. Vivid visions, pictures flash in front of the abandoned father: brother Ben, calling him to the jungle, from where you can go rich; Bif is a teenager before a decisive football match, looking at his father with adoration and hanging on his every word; a laughing woman whom the same Biff found in Willy's room. The waiter, sensing that something is wrong with the visitor, helps Willy to get dressed and go outside. He excitedly repeats that he urgently needs to buy seeds.

Linda meets her sons who have returned home late in great excitement. How could they leave their father alone? He's in really bad shape, can't they see? She can say more - their father himself is looking for death. Do they really think that all these troubles with the car, constant accidents, are accidental? And this is what she found in the kitchen: a rubber tube attached to the burner. Their father is clearly contemplating suicide. This evening he returned home very excited, said that he urgently needed to plant carrots, beets, lettuce in the garden. He took with him a hoe, a flashlight and sows seeds at night, measures the beds. "It would be better if you left home, son," Linda says sadly to Bifu, "you don't have to torment your father."

Biff asks his mother for permission to talk to his father one last time. He himself understood that he needed to live separately: he could not try, like a father, to jump above his head all the time. You have to learn to accept yourself the way you are.

Meanwhile, Willy is working in the garden - a little man, squeezed in the grip of life, like his house between skyscrapers. Today is probably the most unfortunate day in Willy's life - in addition to the fact that his sons left him as an unnecessary thing in a restaurant, the owner asked him to leave his job. No, of course, he was not at all rude, he simply said that, in his opinion, it was difficult for Lomen to cope with his duties due to poor health - but the meaning was the same! Threw away!

Today, his dead brother came to him again. Willy consults with him: if the insurance company does not suspect suicide, the family will receive a tidy sum of insurance after his death - twenty thousand dollars. What does Ben think: is the game worth the candle? Biff is so talented - with this money, the son will be able to turn around. The brother agrees: twenty thousand is great, although the act itself is cowardly.

The wife and sons enter during this conversation: they are already used to Willy talking to someone invisible all the time, and are not surprised. Saying goodbye to his father, Biff breaks down and cries, and Willy runs his hands over his tear-stained face in surprise. "Biff loves me, Linda," he says enthusiastically.

Now Willy, more than ever, is convinced that he is doing the right thing, and when everyone goes to bed, he slowly slips out of the house and gets into the car, so that this time he will definitely meet with death ...

A small boat that was looking for a quiet pier, Linda recalls.

V. I. Bernatskaya

(Incident at Vichy)

Play (1964)

The action takes place in France in 1942. The holding cell. Several men and a fifteen-year-old boy are sitting on a bench, each of them has anxiety and fear on their faces, they were all seized right on the street and brought here by German soldiers. The detainees are at a loss - what is it, a document check or something worse? The artist Lebo had his nose measured right on the street. Capturing Jews? He himself assumes that all of them, most likely, will be sent to forced labor in Germany. The worker Bayard has heard that Jews have been rounded up in Toulouse lately. And what happens to them then? Are they sent to a concentration camp?

Actor Monceau, a cheerful young man, shakes his head in disbelief. What's with the concentration camp? A lot of people go to work in Germany voluntarily - everyone gets a double ration. But Bayard shakes his head: the wagons with people are locked, the stench hits their noses from there - volunteers are not locked up like that.

Marchand, a well-dressed businessman, behaves squeamishly, does not take part in the general conversation and often glances at his watch. Seeing the Major and Professor Hoffmann in the corridor, he declares that he must be the first to enter the office, because he is in a hurry to the Ministry of Supply. He is allowed to.

The discussion resumes. The gullible Monceau still draws bright prospects: his cousin was sent to Auschwitz, and he writes that he is very pleased, he was even taught to lay bricks there. Bayar frowns: you can't trust the fascists, it's better not to deal with them at all.

Among the detainees is Prince von Berg. This puzzles everyone, especially the psychiatrist Leduc. It always seemed to him that the aristocracy supported any reactionary regime. Von Berg calmly explains to him that, of course, some support, but many value the name, family and do not want to disgrace them with collaborationism. fascism is the greatest explosion of rudeness, and at least for this reason it cannot find allies among real aristocrats. Refined people cannot persecute the Jews, turn Europe into a prison.

The door of the office opens, Marchand steps out, backing away, he holds a pass in his hand. The detainees began to have hope - after all, Marchand is clearly a Jew, but he was nevertheless released.

Monceau advises everyone to be more confident, not to look like a victim - the Nazis have a special scent for the doomed. You have to make them believe you're not an outcast.

But the Marxist Bayar believes that it is shameful to adapt, to dodge. The damned bourgeoisie sold out France, let the fascists in, wanting to destroy the French working class. To feel strong, one must rely on advanced communist ideology.

Leduc is trying to argue with Bayard: how can ideology help when you are being tortured, inflicted physical pain? And von Berg, wide-eyed, directly asks: are not the majority of fascists from the workers? An aristocrat, unlike Bayard, relies on personality - only a strong personality cannot be fooled by a false idea.

Called after Marchand, Bayard and the waiter do not return back, Among the detainees, a rumor is spreading that in the office everyone is forced to lower their trousers - they check if they are circumcised, and if you are a Jew, they are sent to a concentration camp and burned in an oven.

Decisive Leduc offers to try to escape, he is supported by Lebeau and the boy sent by his mother to pawn an engagement ring to the pawnshop.

The procedure for checking documents and subsequent inspection is carried out by a major, a captain and a professor. The captain and professor are complete anti-Semites, and they have no doubts about the correctness of their own actions. The major is new to this business, he has just arrived from the front, and he is clearly shocked by what he has to do. Realizing that the detainees were planning an escape, he warns Leduc that they are guarded by more than one sentry, as they assumed - there is also an armed guard on the street.

People gradually, one by one, disappear behind the doors of the office. Only Leduc and von Berg remain in the cell. The latter is trying to dispel the total pessimism of the psychiatrist - not all people are bad, there are many truly decent people in the world. Leduc, not doubting the personal decency of the aristocrat, is sure that he cannot but rejoice that the Nazis will let him go, convinced of the mistake. This statement deeply hurts von Berg. He himself is disgusted even with everyday anti-Semitism, and when three musicians from his own orchestra were arrested in Austria and, as he later found out, destroyed, von Berg was close to suicide.

Leduc asks the prince to tell his family what happened to him. They had a safe hiding place, but his wife had a bad toothache, so he went to the city for medicine, and then they grabbed him. Von Berg is called into the office and almost immediately released, handing a pass, which the aristocrat hands Leduc without hesitation. Today's experience has taught von Berg: in order for the conscience to be calm, it is not enough to empathize, to feel guilty, one must act, do things. Leduc hesitates only a moment, then, taking the pass from von Berg, disappears into the corridor.

The door opens and the professor comes out. He calls the next one, but, seeing von Berg sitting motionless on the bench and looking into the void, he understands everything and raises the alarm. At the end of the corridor, four new people appear - the new arrested. The detectives are chasing them. The arrested enter the cell and sit on a bench, looking around the ceiling and walls. They still have everything ahead of them.

V. I. Bernatskaya

(The Ballad of the Sad Cafe)

Tale (1951)

Small town in the American South. A cotton mill, workers' houses, peach trees, a church with two stained glass windows, and a hundred yards of the main street.

If you walk along the main street on an August afternoon, there is little to please the eye in this realm of boredom and desertion. In the very center of the city there is a large house, which seems to be about to collapse under the onslaught of time. All the windows in it are boarded up, except for one on the second floor, and only occasionally the shutters open and a strange face looks out into the street.

There had once been a store in this house, and it was owned by Miss Amelia Evans, a large, masculine person who showed vigorous business activity. In addition to the store, she had a small distillery in the swamps outside the city, and her alcohol was especially popular with the townspeople. Miss Amelia Evans knew what was worth in this life, and only with people she did not feel completely confident if they were not partners in her financial and commercial transactions.

In the year when she was thirty years old, an event happened that dramatically changed the course of city everyday life and the fate of Amelia herself. One day, a dwarf hunchback appeared at her shop with a suitcase tied with a rope. He said he wanted to see Miss Amelia Evans, of whom he was supposed to be related. Having received a very cold reception from the hostess, the hunchback sat down on the steps and wept bitterly. Confused by this turn of events, Miss Amelia invited him into the house and treated him to dinner.

The next day, Amelia, as usual, went about her business, but the hunchback fell through the ground. Rumors spread throughout the city. There was no doubt that she had got rid of her relative in some terrible way. For two days the townspeople speculated, and finally at eight in the evening the most curious appeared in front of the store. To their surprise, they saw the hunchback safe and sound, in a good mood. He entered into a friendly conversation with the locals. Then came Amelia. She looked unusual. On her face - a mixture of embarrassment, joy and suffering - this is how lovers usually look.

On Saturdays, Amelia was a successful liquor dealer. She did not change her rule even now, but if earlier the trade was exclusively takeaway, then that evening she offered her customers not only bottles, but also glasses.

So the first tavern in the town was opened, and from now on every evening locals gathered at Miss Amelia's store and whiled away the time with a glass of whiskey and friendly conversation.

Four years have passed. The hunchback Lymon Willis - or, as Amelia called him, Brother Lymon - stayed in her house. The tavern was profitable, and the hostess served not only alcohol, but also food. Brother Lymon was involved in all Amelia's endeavors, and she sometimes started her Ford and drove it to a nearby town to see a movie, or to a fair, or to cockfights. Brother Aaimon was very afraid of death, in the evenings he became especially uneasy, and Miss Amelia did her best to distract him from bad thoughts. That is why, in fact, this zucchini appeared, which greatly brightened up the life of the adult population.

The townspeople were sure that Amelia fell in love with a dwarf. This was all the more surprising in that Amelia's previous experience of married life was unsuccessful: her marriage lasted only ten days.

She was only nineteen then, and had recently buried her father. Marvin Macy was considered the most beautiful young man in the area, many women dreamed of his arms, and he brought some of the young and innocent girls to sin. In addition, he had a tough temper, and was rumored to carry in his pocket the dried ear of a man he once stabbed to death with a razor in a fight.

Marvin Macy made a living fixing looms, he had money, and in awkward, shy, withdrawn Amelia, he was interested not in her property, but in herself.

He proposed to her and she accepted. Someone claimed that she wanted to get more wedding gifts, someone said that she was simply baked by a malicious aunt, but one way or another, the wedding took place.

True, when the priest declared the young husband and wife, Amelia quickly left the church, and the newly-made husband trotted after her. The wedding night, according to the testimony of the curious, ended in embarrassment. The young people, as expected, went up to the bedroom, but an hour later Amelia went downstairs with a roar, slammed the kitchen door and drove her foot in her heart. She spent the rest of the night in the kitchen reading The Farmer's Almanac, drinking coffee and smoking her father's pipe.

The next day, Marvin Macy drove to a nearby town and returned with gifts. The young wife ate the chocolate and put everything else up for sale. Then Marvin Macy brought a lawyer and drew up a paper, according to which all his property and money were transferred to her use. Amelia carefully read the document, hid it in the table, but did not relent, and all of Maisie's attempts to exercise her marital rights led to the fact that she generally forbade him to approach her, rewarding him with cuffs for disobedience.

Ten days later, Marvin Macy could not stand it and left the house of a cruel wife, leaving a farewell letter, where declarations of love were accompanied by a promise to get even with her for everything. Then he began to rob gas stations, got caught, was convicted and received a sentence. He reappeared in the city six years after the pub opened there.

Marvin Macy made an indelible impression on Brother Lymon, and the hunchback began to follow him on his heels. He came early in the morning to Macy's house and waited for him to wake up. They appeared together in a tavern, and Lymon treated him to drinks at the expense of the institution, Amelia meekly endured this whim of Brother Lymon, although such humility was not easy for her.

One day, the hunchback announced that Marvin Macy would be living in their house. Amelia took that down too, fearing that she would lose Brother Lymon if she put her ex-husband out the door.

However, it was clear to everyone that things were moving towards a denouement, and every evening the tavern was filled with an increasing number of local residents who were not going to miss such a spectacle. It became known that Amelia was practicing with something like a punching bag, and many were inclined to believe that if it came to hand-to-hand combat, then Marvin Macy would be unhappy.

Finally, on a February evening, the duel took place. A long exchange of blows did not give an advantage to either side. Then boxing turned into wrestling. Soon the position of Marvin Macy became almost hopeless - he was on his back, and Amelia's hands were already closed around his throat. But then Brother Lymon, who was watching the duel from the table he was standing on, made some fantastic jump and fell on Amelia from behind...

Marvin Macy took over. His ex-wife somehow got up and retired to her office, where she spent time until the morning. In the morning it turned out that Marvin Macy and Brother Lymon had left the city. But during the night they made a formal defeat in Amelia's house, and then destroyed her distillery.

Amelia closed the store and went out on the porch every evening and sat looking at the road. But Brother Lymon never showed up. In the fourth year, she ordered the carpenter to board up all the windows of the house and since then she has not appeared in public.

S. B. Belov

(The Catcher in the Rye)

Roman (1951)

Seventeen-year-old Holden Caulfield, who is in a sanatorium, recalls "that crazy story that happened last Christmas", after which he "almost gave up", was ill for a long time, and now he is undergoing treatment and soon hopes to return home.

His memories start from the day he left Pansy, a boarding school in Agerstown, Pennsylvania. Actually, he did not leave of his own free will - he was expelled for academic failure - out of nine subjects in that quarter, he failed five. The situation is complicated by the fact that Pansy is not the first school that the young hero leaves. Before that, he had already abandoned Elkton Hill, because, in his opinion, "there was one continuous linden." However, the feeling that there is a "linden" around him - falsehood, pretense and window dressing - does not let Caulfield go throughout the whole novel. Both the adults and the peers with whom he meets irritate him, but he is also unbearable to remain alone.

The last day of school is rife with conflict. He returns to Pansy from New York, where he traveled as the captain of the fencing team for a match that was not held due to his fault - he left his sports equipment in the subway car. Stradlater's roommate asks him to write an essay for him - to describe a house or a room, but Caulfield, who likes to do things his own way, tells the story of his late brother Allie's baseball glove, who wrote poetry on it and recited it during matches. Stradlater, after reading the text, is offended by the author who deviated from the topic, stating that he planted a pig on him, but Caulfield, upset that Stradlater went on a date with a girl that he himself liked, does not remain in debt. The case ends in a brawl and Caulfield's broken nose.

Once in New York, he realizes that he cannot come home and inform his parents that he has been expelled. He gets into a taxi and goes to the hotel. On the way, he asks his favorite question that haunts him: "Where do the ducks go in Central Park when the pond freezes over?" The taxi driver, of course, is surprised by the question and wonders if the passenger is laughing at him. But he does not think to mock, however, the question about ducks is rather a manifestation of Holden Caulfield's confusion in front of the complexity of the world around him, rather than an interest in zoology.

This world both oppresses him and attracts him. It is hard for him with people, without them it is unbearable. He tries to have fun in a nightclub at the hotel, but nothing good comes of it, and the waiter refuses to serve him alcohol as a minor. He goes to a nightclub in Greenwich Village, where his older brother D.B., a talented writer who was tempted by the big fees of a screenwriter in Hollywood, liked to visit. On the way, he asks another taxi driver a question about ducks, again without getting an intelligible answer. In a bar, he meets an acquaintance D. B. with some sailor. This girl arouses such dislike in him that he quickly leaves the bar and goes on foot to the hotel.

The hotel lifter asks if he wants a girl - five dollars for the time, fifteen for the night. Holden agrees "for a while", but when the girl appears in his room, he does not find the strength to part with his innocence. He wants to chat with her, but she came to work, and since the client is not ready to comply, she demands ten dollars from him. He recalls that the contract was about the five. She leaves and soon returns with an elevator operator. Another skirmish ends with another defeat of the hero.

The next morning, he arranges a meeting with Sally Hayes, leaves the inhospitable hotel, checks his suitcases in a left-luggage office, and begins the life of a homeless man. Wearing a red hunting cap back to front, bought in New York on that unfortunate day when he left his fencing equipment on the subway, Holden Caulfield loitering through the cold streets of the big city. Going to the theater with Sally does not bring him joy. The play seems stupid, the audience, admiring the famous actors Lanta, is a nightmare. The companion also annoys him more and more.

Soon, as expected, there is a quarrel. After the performance, Holden and Sally go skating, and then, in a bar, the hero gives vent to the feelings that overwhelmed his tormented soul. Explaining his dislike for everything that surrounds him: “I hate ... Lord, how I hate it all! And not only school, I hate everything. I hate taxis, buses where the conductor yells at you to get out through the back platform, I hate I hate to get acquainted with wrecks who call the Lants "angels", I hate to ride in elevators when I just want to go outside, I hate trying on costumes at Brooks's ... "

He is rather annoyed that Sally does not share his negative attitude towards what he dislikes so much, and most importantly, towards school. When he offers her to take a car and leave for two weeks to drive around new places, and she refuses, judiciously reminding that "we, in fact, are still children", something irreparable happens:

Holden utters insulting words, and Sally leaves in tears.

New meeting - new disappointments. Carl Lewis, a student at Princeton, is too focused on his person to show sympathy for Holden, and he, left alone, gets drunk, calls Sally, asks her forgiveness, and then wanders through cold New York and into Central Park, next to at the duck pond, drops the record she bought as a present for Phoebe's little sister.

When he gets home, and to his relief to find that his parents are visiting, he only hands Phoebe the pieces. But she is not angry. In general, despite her small years, she perfectly understands the condition of her brother and guesses why he returned home ahead of schedule. It is in a conversation with Phoebe that Holden expresses his dream: “I imagine how little kids play in the evening in a huge field of rye. Thousands of kids, and not a soul around, not a single adult, except for me ... did not fall into the abyss."

However, Holden is not ready to meet his parents, and, having borrowed money from his sister that she set aside for Christmas gifts, he goes to his former teacher, Mr. Antolini. Despite the late hour, he accepts him, arranges for the night. Like a true mentor, he tries to give him a number of useful tips on how to build relationships with the outside world, but Holden is too tired to accept reasonable sayings. Then suddenly he wakes up in the middle of the night and finds a teacher by his bed who strokes his forehead. Suspecting Mr. Antolini of bad intentions, Holden leaves his house and spends the night at the Central Station.

However, he soon realizes that he misinterpreted the behavior of the teacher, made a fool of himself, and this further strengthens his longing.

Thinking about how to live on, Holden decides to move somewhere to the West and there, in accordance with the long-standing American tradition, try to start all over again. He sends a note to Phoebe informing him of his intention to leave, and asks her to come to the appointed place, as he wants to return the money borrowed from her. But the sister appears with a suitcase and declares that she is going to the West with her brother. Willingly or unwittingly, little Phoebe plays him himself in front of Holden - she declares that she will no longer go to school, and in general she is tired of this life. Holden, on the contrary, has to involuntarily take the point of view of common sense, forgetting for a while about his all-negation. He shows prudence and responsibility and persuades his little sister to abandon his intention, assuring her that he himself will not go anywhere. He takes Phoebe to the zoo, where she rides the carousel while he admires her.

S. B. Belov

(The Gods Themselves)

Roman (1972)

Earth. Second half of the XNUMXst century A rather ordinary young radiochemist, Frederick Hallam, accidentally discovers that some other substance suddenly appeared in a dusty flask labeled "Tungsten". Spectrometric analysis shows that this is an isotope of plutonium, which theoretically cannot exist, in addition, it turns out that the radioactivity of the substance is constantly increasing and it emits positrons that carry unusually high energy. Hallam offers the only possible hypothesis: if a substance that cannot exist according to the physical laws of our universe does exist, then it must have previously been in a parallel universe where these laws are different. After some time, it becomes clear that the inhabitants of the parallel universe - para-humans - consciously carry out the exchange of matter between the universes, which can occur indefinitely with the release of energy in both universes. Thus, the Earth receives a source of unusually cheap, safe and environmentally friendly energy, called the Electronic Pump, and Hallem becomes a benefactor of mankind, which does not even suspect that the main part of both theoretical and practical work was done by other scientists.

But a few decades later, a young historian of science, Peter Lamont, comes to the conclusion that the work of the Electron Pump poses a colossal threat to our universe. Just as the temperatures of two bodies are aligned due to the second law of thermodynamics, the work of the Electron Pump leads to the alignment of the properties of the two universes, the main difference of which is the magnitude of strong nuclear interactions: in our universe they are much weaker than in a parallel one, and their gradual increase eventually should lead to the explosion of the Sun and our entire branch of the galaxy. Lamont rushes his ideas from the Father of the Electronic Pump, who basically throws him out the door, to high-ranking officials, but no one wants to see what they don't want to see.

Then Lamont tries to make contact with the parahumans and convince them to stop the Pump. From the parauniverse several times came pieces of foil with symbols and drawings that could not be deciphered - the ways of thinking of earthlings and para-humans are too different. Lamont is assisted by Myron Bronovsky, known for translating Etruscan inscriptions. They send messages in earthly language to the parauniverse, hoping to find the key to the parasymbols, and in the end Bronovsky receives an answer - the word "fear" written in clumsy earth letters, and soon after this two other messages, from which it follows that the Pump really carries in himself in danger, but the paraverse cannot stop him. Lamont, who himself does not understand what is more important for him - to save humanity or simply to prove his case, to prove that the Father of the Electronic Pump is an exaggerated value, cannot use these messages as evidence - he will inevitably be accused of forgery. His only ally leaves the game, summing up everything that happens with a quote from Schiller: "Against stupidity, the gods themselves are powerless."

On one of the planets of the parauniverse, in a world unimaginable for an earthling, two types of living beings live - Hard and Soft.

Rigid ones have a constant body shape, consisting of a dense substance, and an opaque shell. The tissues of the Soft are very rarefied, the shape of the body is changeable, they can flow, throw out prominences, spread out and thicken - all this is because they live in a world with a large amount of interatomic interaction, therefore the atoms that make up their body can be at a great distance from each other . Soft ones must certainly exist in triads, in which each of the components - rational, pestun and emotional - has certain qualities that ensure the harmony and function of the triad. Rational (leftist) - the bearer of intelligence, emotional (middle) - feelings, pestun (pravnik) - the instinct of caring for offspring. Parts of the triad periodically enter into a process called synthesis, in which their bodies are rarefied, matter is mixed, energy and consciousness are exchanged. At the same time, all three become one whole, feelings and consciousness dissolve in the pure joy of being. The synthesis lasts for many days, then each of the three becomes himself again. In some cases, during synthesis, reproduction occurs - a kidney is tied. Each triad must produce three children who are almost identical from each other at an early age, but then acquire the properties of a rational, nurturing and emotional. Grown-up children part with their parents (until this moment they are under the vigilant supervision of the parent), and then they are combined into new triads. The triad ends its existence in a process called "transition".

Both Soft and Hard live in caves and feed by absorbing energy in the form of heat radiation. The hard ones, who have machines, devices and libraries, train the rationals, while the fosters and the emotional do not need training.

Unlike other emotions, Dua, the middle of the triad of Una (rational) and Tritta (parent), knows how to really think, she is interested in what should not be of interest to the emotional - it is even considered indecent. An unusually developed intuition helps her to understand much that is inaccessible to the analytical mind of rationals. She learns from Una that the Pump, which powers her world, threatens to destroy another universe. But the Hard Ones are not going to stop the Pump, the planet does not have enough energy, and the Pump is a danger only for the Earth, and for their world, the work of the Pump only leads to an acceleration of the cooling of the already cooling sun for a long time. Dua cannot bear this thought. She also hates the Hard Ones because she comes to the terrible conclusion that the Soft Ones are just self-replicating machines created by the Hard Ones for fun, and transition means death. She penetrates the caverns of the Hard Ones, elusive, as she can penetrate stone, dissolve into its matter, and find messages from Earth. She is just as unable to decipher them as the Hard Ones, but she picks up on the emotions contained in the symbols. It is Dua who sends to Earth the messages that Lamont and Bronovsky receive. She almost dies from exhaustion, but she is rescued, and then she finds out that she was wrong - the Soft are not machines, but the initial stage of the development of the Hard. The transition is the last synthesis, as a result of which the triune individual of the Hard One is formed, and the more outstanding the components, the more outstanding personality is obtained in the process of synthesis. un, tritt and dua are synthesized for the last time.

With a group of tourists, Ben Dennison flies to the moon, who once showed great promise as a scientist, but had the imprudence to speak disparagingly about the future Father of the Electronic Pump, which doomed himself to obscurity. Like Lamont, he came to think about the danger of the Pump. Dennison flies to the moon in the hope of resuming research in paratheory. He meets Selena Lindstrom, who turns out to be not just a guide, but an intuist - a person with an unusually developed intuition - working together with the famous Lunar physicist Neville. Selene gives ideas, and Neville develops them and keeps Selena's unique abilities a secret, because he suffers from paranoia and is afraid of earthlings. Despite the fact that the lunar colony was formed relatively recently, there is some antagonism between the Moon and the Earth. The inhabitants of the Moon have already formed a certain physical type, they age much more slowly than the earthlings, whom they contemptuously call "countrymen". Most Lunarians feel neither nostalgia nor reverence for their ancestral homeland and strive for complete independence from the Earth - after all, the Moon is able to fully provide itself with everything necessary.

With the help of Selena, Dennison begins experiments, the results of which save humanity from the danger hanging over it, confirm a brilliant idea and at the same time rehabilitate the disgraced Lamont. The essence of Dennison's idea is that there are countless universes, so among them it is not difficult to find one that is opposite in properties to the para-universe. This anti-parauniverse must be what is called a "cosmic egg" with very weak nuclear forces and incredible density. Dennison manages, by changing the mass of pi-mesons, to "drill a hole" into the cosmic universe, from which matter immediately begins to leak out, carrying energy that can be used. And if the Earth begins to receive energy in a double way - with the help of the Electronic Pump and leaks from the cosmic universe, then the physical laws in the terrestrial universe will remain unchanged, they will change only in the parauniverse and cosmic universe. Moreover, this does not pose a danger to either one or the other, because the parahumans will receive energy from the Pump, compensating for the acceleration of the cooling of their sun, and there cannot be life in the cosmic universe.

So, humanity is overcoming another crisis. Peter Lamont finally finds the glory he deserves, Dennison is offered any place in any earthly university or institution, but he remains on the moon and accepts Selena's offer to become the father of her child.

I. A. Moskvina-Tarkhanova

(Fahrenheit, 451°)

Roman (1953)

America in the relatively near future, as it was seen by the author in the early fifties, when this dystopian novel was written.

Thirty-year-old Guy Montag is a fireman. However, in these modern times, fire brigades do not fight fire. Quite the contrary. Their task is to find books and set them on fire, as well as the houses of those who dared to keep such sedition in them. For ten years now, Montag has been performing his duties regularly, without thinking about the meaning and reasons for such book-hatred.

The meeting with the young and romantic Clarissa Macleland unsettles the hero from the rut of his usual existence. For the first time in many years, Montag understands that human communication is more than the exchange of memorized remarks. Clarissa stands out sharply from the mass of her peers, obsessed with high-speed driving, sports, primitive entertainment in "Auna-Parks" and endless television series. She loves nature, is prone to reflection and is clearly lonely. Clarissa's question: "Are you happy?" makes Montag take a fresh look at the life he leads - with him and millions of Americans.

Pretty soon, he comes to the conclusion that, of course, this thoughtless existence by inertia cannot be called happy. He feels around emptiness, lack of warmth, humanity.

As if confirming his guess about a mechanical, robotic existence, an accident with his wife Mildred. Returning home from work, Montag finds his wife unconscious. She poisoned herself with sleeping pills - not as a result of a desperate desire to give up her life, but mechanically swallowing pill after pill. However, everything quickly falls into place. On Montag's call, an ambulance quickly arrives, and medical technicians promptly perform a blood transfusion using the latest equipment, and then, having received the fifty dollars they are supposed to, they leave for the next call.

Montag and Mildred have been married for a long time, but their marriage has turned into an empty fiction. They have no children - Mildred was against it. Each exists on its own. The wife is immersed in the world of television series and now enthusiastically talks about the new venture of the TV people - she was sent the script for another "soap opera" with missing lines, which the viewers themselves must fill in. Three walls of the living room of the Montag house are huge TV screens, and Mildred insists that they also spend money on installing a fourth TV wall - then the illusion of communicating with TV characters will be complete.

Fleeting encounters with Clarice lead Montag to turn from a well-oiled automaton into a person who embarrasses his fellow firefighters with inappropriate questions and remarks such as: "There were times when firefighters did not burn houses, but, on the contrary, put out fires?"

The fire brigade is sent on another call, and this time Montag is in shock. The mistress of the house, caught in possession of forbidden literature, refuses to leave the doomed dwelling and takes death in a fire along with her favorite books.

The next day, Montag can't bring himself to go to work. He feels completely sick, but his health complaints do not resonate with Mildred, who is unhappy with the stereotype violation. In addition, she informs her husband that Clarissa McLeland is no longer alive - a few days ago she was hit by a car and her parents moved to another place.

In Montag's house, his boss, Firemaster Beatty, appears.

He sensed something was wrong and intends to put in order the messed up mechanism of Montag. Beatty reads a short lecture to his subordinate, which contains the principles of a consumer society, as Bradbury himself sees them: "... The twentieth century. The pace is accelerating. Books are decreasing in volume. Abridged edition. Content. Extract. Do not smear. Rather, to the denouement! .. Works classics are reduced to a fifteen-minute program. Then more: one column of text that you can skim through with your eyes in two minutes, then another: ten to twenty lines for an encyclopedic dictionary ... From the nursery straight to college, and then back to the nursery.

Of course, such an attitude towards printed matter is not the goal, but the means by which a society of manipulated people is created, where there is no place for the individual.

"We should all be the same," firemaster Montag inspires. "Not free and equal from birth, as stated in the Constitution, but ... just the same. Let all people become like each other like two drops of water, then everyone will be happy, because not there will be giants, next to whom others will feel their insignificance."

If we accept this model of society, then the danger posed by books becomes self-evident: "A book is a loaded gun in a neighbor's house. Burn it. Unload the gun. You have to curb the human mind. Who knows who tomorrow will become a target for a well-read person."

Montag gets the point of Beatty's warning, but he's gone too far. He keeps in the house the books he took from the house doomed to be burned. He admits this to Mildred and offers to read and discuss them together, but does not find a response.

In search of like-minded people, Montag goes to Professor Faber, who has long been noted by firefighters. Rejecting initial suspicions, Faber realizes that Montag can be trusted. He shares with him his plans for the resumption of printing, for now, albeit in negligible doses. The threat of war looms over America - although the country has already emerged victorious in nuclear conflicts twice - and Faber believes that after the third clash, Americans will come to their senses and, having necessarily forgotten about television, will feel the need for books. In parting, Faber gives Montag a miniature receiver that fits in his ear. This not only provides a connection between new allies, but also allows Faber to get information about what is happening in the world of firefighters, study it and analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the enemy.

The military threat is becoming more and more real, radio and TV reports about the mobilization of millions. But before that, clouds gather over Montag's house. An attempt to interest his wife and her friends in books turns into a scandal. Montag returns to duty, and the team goes on another call. To his surprise, the car stops in front of his own house. Beatty informs him that Mildred could not stand it and reported about the books to the right place. However, her denunciation was a little late: her friends showed more promptness.

By order of Beatty, Montag sets fire to both the books and the house with his own hands. But then Beatty discovers the transmitter that Faber and Montag used to communicate. To keep his comrade out of trouble, Montag directs the flamethrower hose at Beatty. Then it's the turn of two other firefighters.

Since then, Montag has become a particularly dangerous criminal. Organized society declares war on him. However, at the same time, that same big war begins, for which they have long been preparing. Montag manages to escape the chase. At least for some time, they will now leave him behind: in order to convince the public that not a single criminal escapes punishment, the pursuers kill an innocent passer-by who managed to get in the way of the terrible Mechanical Dog. The chase was broadcast on television, and now all respectable citizens can breathe a sigh of relief.

On instructions from Faber, Montag leaves town and meets with a very unusual community. It turns out that something like a spiritual opposition has long existed in the country. Seeing how books are being destroyed, some intellectuals have found a way to create a barrier to modern barbarism. They began to memorize works, turning into living books. Someone hardened the "State" of Plato, someone "Gulliver's Travels" of Swift, in one city "lives" the first chapter of "Walden" by Henry David Thoreau, in another - the second, and so on throughout America. Thousands of like-minded people are doing their job and are waiting for the society to need their precious knowledge again. Perhaps they will wait for theirs. The country is going through another shock, and enemy bombers appear over the city, which the protagonist recently left. They drop their deadly load on it and turn this miracle of technological thought of the XNUMXth century into ruins.

S. B. Belov

(The Godfather)

Roman (1969)

Vito Andolini was twelve years old when his father was killed, who did not get along with the Sicilian mafia. Since the mafia is also hunting for his son, Vito is sent to America. There he changes his surname to Corleone - after the name of the village where he comes from. Young Vito goes to work at Abbandando's grocery store. At the age of eighteen, he marries, and in the third year of marriage he has a son, Santino, whom everyone affectionately calls Sonny, and then another - Frederico, Freddie.

Fanucci, a gangster who extorts money from shopkeepers, puts his nephew in place of Vito, leaving Vito without a job, and Vito is forced to join his friend Clemenza and his accomplice Tessio, who raid trucks with silk dresses, otherwise his family will die from hunger. When Fanucci demands his share of the proceeds from this money, Vito, having carefully calculated everything, kills him in cold blood. This makes Vito a respected person on the block. Fanucci's clientele goes to him. In the end, he establishes, together with his friend Genco Abbandando, a trading house for the import of olive oil. Shopkeepers who do not want to stock up on their oil are engaged in Clemenza and Tessio - warehouses are burning, people are dying ... During Prohibition, under the guise of a trading house, Vito is smuggling alcohol, after the abolition of Prohibition, he switches to gambling business. More and more people work for him, and each Vito Corleone provides a comfortable life and protection from the police. They begin to add the word "don" to his name, he is respectfully called the Godfather.

As time goes by, Corleone already has four children, besides, an orphan-homeless Tom Hagen is brought up in their family. Sonny from the age of sixteen begins to work for his father - first as a bodyguard, then as the commander of one of the armed mafia units along with Clemenza and Tessio. Later, Freddie and Tom enter the family business.

Don Corleone is the first to understand that it is necessary to take not by shooting, but by politics, and that in order to protect their world from government interference, criminal gangs in New York and throughout the country must stick together. His efforts at a time when the outside world is shaking the second world war, inside the underworld of America - calm and full readiness to reap the benefits of the rise of the American economy. Only one thing saddens the don - his youngest son Michael rejects his father's care and volunteers for the war, where he rises to the rank of captain, and at the end of the war, again without asking anyone, leaves home and enters the university.

The actual action of the novel begins in August 1945. Don Constance's only daughter, Connie, is getting married. Don Corleone doesn't really like his future son-in-law, Carlo Rizzi, but appoints him to be a bookmaker in Manhattan and sees to it that the police reports drawn up on Carlo in Nevada, where he used to live, are seized. Loyal people at the same time deliver information to the don about legal gambling houses in Nevada, and the don listens to this information with great interest.

Among other guests, the famous singer Johnny Fontaine arrives at the wedding, he is also the godson of the don. Johnny did not have a life with his second wife, his voice disappears, troubles with the film business ... He is brought here not only by love and respect for the Corleone family, but also by the confidence that the Godfather will help solve his problems. Indeed, the don arranges for Johnny to be given a role for which he subsequently wins an Oscar, helps with family matters, and lends him enough money to make Johnny a movie producer. Fontaine's paintings are wildly successful, and the don makes a big profit - this man knows how to benefit from everything.

When Don Corleone is offered a role in the drug business with the Tattaglia family, he refuses as it goes against his principles. But Sonny was very interested, which did not disappear from Sollozzo, who conveyed this proposal to Corleone.

Three months later, an assassination attempt is made on Vito Corleone. The killers manage to escape - the weak-willed Freddy, who replaces the don's bodyguard, having become numb, cannot even pull out the machine gun.

Meanwhile, Hagen is captured by Sollozzo's men. Telling Tom that Don Corleone has been killed, Sollozzo asks him to mediate negotiations with Sonny, who will now become the head of the family and be able to sell drugs. But then comes the news that, despite five bullets, the Godfather survived. Sollozzo wants to kill Hagen, but Hagen manages to trick him.

Sonny and Sollozzo begin endless negotiations. At the same time, Sonny "equalizes the score" - Sollozzo's informant dies, Tattaglia's son is killed... These days, Michael considers it his duty to be with his family.

One evening, entering the hospital, Michael discovers that someone has called Tessio's men guarding the don's ward. So Sollozzo will now come to kill his father! Michael quickly calls Sonny and takes a position at the entrance to the hospital - to hold out until the arrival of his own. Police Captain McCloskey arrives, having been bribed by Sollozzo. Enraged that the operation failed, he crushes Michael's jaw. Michael took it down without making any attempt to retaliate.

The next day, Sollozzo conveys that he wishes to enter into negotiations through Michael, for he is considered a harmless weakling. But Michael is filled with cold hatred for his father's enemies. Agreeing to negotiate, he kills both Sollozzo and Captain McCloskey, who accompanies him. After that, he is forced to flee the country and hide in Sicily.

The police, in revenge for the murder of the captain, suspends profitable activities that are committed in violation of the law. This brings loss to all five New York families, and as the Corleone family refuses to hand over the killer, the 1946 internecine war breaks out in the underworld.

However, when the efforts of Hagen reveal that McCloskey was a bribe taker, the thirst for revenge in the hearts of the police subsides and the pressure from the police stops. But five families continue to fight the Corleone family: they terrorize bookmakers, shoot at ordinary servicemen, lure people away. The Corleone family goes into martial law. Don, despite his condition, is transported home from the hospital, under reliable protection. Freddie is sent to Las Vegas - to come to his senses and get acquainted with the setting of the case in the local casinos. Sonny manages the affairs of the family - and not in the best way. In a senseless and bloody war with five families, he manages to win a number of separate victories, but the family loses people and income, and there is no end in sight. I had to cover up several profitable betting points, and Carlo Rizzi, thus left out of work, takes out his anger on his wife: once he beat her so that Connie, calling Sonny, asks to take her home. Losing his head with rage, Sonny rushes to intercede for his sister, is ambushed and killed.

Don Corleone is forced to leave the hospital bed and head the family. To everyone's surprise, he calls all the families of New York and family syndicates from all over the country to a meeting, where he makes a proposal for peace. He even agrees to do drugs, but on one condition - no harm will be done to his son Michael. The world is closed. And only Hagen realizes that the Godfather has far-reaching plans and today's retreat is just a tactical maneuver.

Michael meets a beautiful girl in Sicily and gets married. But his happiness was short-lived - the Barzini family, from the very beginning standing behind the backs of Sollozzo and Tattaglia, arranges an explosion in Michael's car with the hands of the traitor Fabrizio. Michael accidentally survived, but his wife is dying ... Returning to America, Michael expresses a desire to become a real son of his father and work with him.

Three years pass. Michael marries an American, Kay Adams, who was waiting for him during his exile. Under the guidance of Hagen and the don, he diligently studies the family business. Like his father, Michael prefers to act not from a position of strength, but from a position of intelligence and resourcefulness. They plan to transfer business operations to Nevada, completely switching to a legal position there (a person who does not want to cede his territory to them in Las Vegas is killed). But at the same time they are developing plans for revenge on the Barzini-Tattaglia union. Partly retiring from business, the don appoints Michael as his successor, so that in a year he will become a full-fledged Godfather ...

But suddenly Don Corleone dies, after his death Barzini and Tattaglia violate the peace treaty and try to kill Michael, taking advantage of Tessio's betrayal. But Michael proves that his father's choice was the right one. Fabrizio is killed. They kill the heads of the Barzini and Tattaglia families. Tessio is killed. They kill Carlo Rizzi, who, as it turned out, on the day of Sonny's murder, deliberately beat his wife at the behest of Barzini.

Upon learning of Carlo's death, Connie rushes to Michael with reproaches. And although Michael denies everything, Kay suddenly realizes that her husband is a killer. Terrified, she takes the children and leaves for her parents.

Hagen visits her a week later. They have a terrible conversation: Tom describes Kay the world that Michael has been hiding from her all this time - a world where you can not forgive, a world where you have to forget about your attachments. "If Michael finds out what I've been telling you about, I'm done for," he finishes. "There are only three people in the world he won't hurt, and that's you and the kids."

Kay returns to her husband. Soon they move to Nevada. Hagen and Freddie work for Michael, Connie remarries. Clemenza is allowed to leave Corleone and form his own family syndicate. Things are going well, the leadership of the Corleone family is unshakable.

Every morning, Kay goes to church with her mother-in-law. Both women earnestly pray for the salvation of the souls of their husbands - two dons, two Godfathers ...

K. A. Stroeva

Roman (1968)

The action of the novel takes place in January 1967, on a Friday evening from 18.30 to 1.30 at night at the international airport. Lincoln in Illinois. For three days and three nights, a violent blizzard rages over the Midwestern states, all airfield services are working with extreme tension. About a hundred planes of two dozen airlines did not take off in time, a lot of cargo, including perishable ones, accumulated in warehouses. One runway was out of order: the Boeing 707 slid off the concrete pavement and got stuck in the ground that was muddy under the snow. Chaos reigns in the terminal building, waiting rooms are packed to capacity, thousands of passengers are waiting for departure, some flights are delayed, while others are completely canceled. Despite the end of the working day, Mel Bakersfeld, the airport manager, is in no hurry to go home, the situation on the airfield is difficult: powerful snowplows are working at the limit, a car with food has disappeared in a snowstorm, and the stuck plane cannot be moved. Of course, his personal presence here is not so necessary, but Mel is restless in his soul, he does not want to leave the huge airfield facilities unattended at such a difficult moment - a complex mechanism where everything is interconnected. He has to solve a lot of various issues, showing himself not only as a good administrator, but also as a tactician. The main reason is that lately Mel has been trying to be at home as little as possible, avoiding quarrels with his wife Cindy. Their marriage has been going on for fifteen years, but family life has failed.

They have two daughters - thirteen-year-old Roberta and seven-year-old Libby, but over the years, the couple moved away from each other more and more, disagreements turned into constant scandals and complete misunderstanding. Tonight, Cindy calls her husband incessantly, reminding her of the need for him to attend the charity event. She likes social life, but Mel is burdened when his wife pulls him out to the next event. He ironically treats Cindy's desire to get into the Directory of Eminent People by all means. Cindy is having an affair with architect Lionel Erquart, but she doesn't miss a chance to have another fling. At a charity event, she meets reporter Derick Eden, and, having left the bored gathering, they have a great time at the hotel. Mel has long been attracted to Tanya Livingston, Trans-America's senior passenger service agent, and she treats him with obvious sympathy, among colleagues there are rumors that they are having an affair. Tanya is thirty-seven years old, she is raising her five-year-old daughter alone. Today she has a restless duty, a nervous situation gives rise to conflict situations between staff and passengers, she has to sort out complaints, and then a "hare" is also found - a cunning old woman Ada Quonsett from San Diego, who has many tricks in her arsenal that allow her to easily get on board the aircraft and without a ticket to travel around the country.

Mel's brother Keyes is on duty in the radar. No one knows that he has already determined everything for himself: for the last time he sits in front of the screen and keeps watch. He rented a hotel room near the airport terminal, where he decided to commit suicide after his shift by taking forty tablets of Nembutal. Dispatchers today work with maximum load, and Case is having a hard time, he has long lost his former skill and self-confidence, although he was an experienced worker before. He is thirty-eight years old, of which a dozen and a half years he worked in the air observation service. A year and a half ago, when he served in the Lieberg Observation Center, due to his oversight, two planes collided in the air, a family of four people died, two of them were children. During the investigation, Case's partner, an intern and a senior in the group, was found guilty, but Case believed that the fault lay entirely with him. Because of him, people died, the lives of colleagues removed from aviation were broken. He lost his peace and sleep, feels remorse and mental anguish. Case's wife Natalie and Mel tried their best to get him out of his depression, but to no avail.

This evening, residents of the nearby town of Meadowwood, who are annoyed by the noise of the aircraft, intend to hold a protest demonstration at the airport. Rogue lawyer Elliot Fremantle volunteers to help them sue, hoping to make good money on this little business.

To move the stuck plane, chief mechanic Joe Patroni is called from the city, but he gets into a traffic jam on the way to the airfield - a car with a trailer overturned on the highway.

Mel is annoyed: the airfield was built in the late fifties and until recently was considered one of the best and most modern in the world, but traffic volumes have increased and the airfield is outdated. Runways are congested, creating life-threatening situations for passengers, planes are landing and taking off on intersecting runways, and the city is squeezing in renovation costs. The future of the airport is connected with the future of Mel itself. It was unpleasant when his wife, wanting to hurt more painfully, called him a loser. He is already forty-four years old, he fought in Korea in naval aviation and was wounded; in such bad weather as today, the crippled leg hurts. His career seemed to be developing successfully, at one time he headed the Council of Airport Managers, was friendly with President John F. Kennedy, they were going to put him at the head of the Federal Aviation Administration, but after Kennedy's assassination, Mel "dropped out of the cage", nothing shines for him.

Today, a Trans-America plane leaves for Rome, piloted by Vernon Dimirest, husband of Mel's older sister. He has a rather tense relationship with his son-in-law. Before the flight, Dimirest visits his mistress, flight attendant Gwen Meighen. His good mood, fed by rainbow dreams, how nicely they will spend time together in Italy, somewhat overshadows Gwen's message that she is pregnant, but he does not see any special problems in this, the company helps to settle such matters.

Meanwhile, former construction contractor D. O. Guerrero, embittered and driven to the extreme by the failures that have befallen him, in his miserable apartment, from where he will soon be evicted, makes an explosive device from sticks of dynamite.

After his construction company went bankrupt, he tried land speculation, but got confused and now faces the threat of criminal prosecution and imprisonment. Guerrero took out a ticket on credit for a Trans-America flight to Rome that evening, hoping to insure a large amount at the airport and blow up the plane during the flight. The family will be able to get insurance, since the cause of the incident will not be established - the wreckage of the plane will be in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean.

And the plane to Rome is being prepared for flight. Passed one of the four engines, electricians and mechanics urgently fix the problem. The flight is delayed by an hour, due to snow drifts on the roads, passengers of this flight do not have time to get to the airport in time. Guerrero follows a carefully crafted plan, he will carry an explosive device on board the plane in a briefcase. The cashier, however, is alarmed that a passenger on an international flight sets off on a journey without luggage, but he does not attach much importance to this circumstance. At the desk where insurance is issued, the employee notes the nervously excited state of the passenger who concludes a contract for a significant amount, but it is not in her interests to lose a profitable client. Guerrero's wife Ines, who worked as a waitress in a bar, returned home, to her surprise, finds a document indicating that her husband suddenly went to Italy. Quite alarmed, she hurries to the airfield to find out the circumstances.

The strange behavior of a passenger with a suspicious suitcase attracts the attention of the customs inspector, but he is no longer on duty, at the meeting he tells Tanya about this fact. But the plane to Rome had already taken off, and the number of passengers did not agree with the number of tickets sold - this ubiquitous old woman decided to travel.

Seeing that something was wrong with his brother, Mel intends to have a heart-to-heart talk with him, but Cindy, who came to her husband to demand a divorce, does not allow this to be done. Arriving at the airfield, Ines, who wants to report her husband's strange act, also fails to get an appointment with Mel: at this time he is busy negotiating with a delegation of protesters from Meadowwood residents. Finally, Tanya manages to inform the manager about the suspicions that arose against one of the passengers on the last flight. A conversation with Ine and a quick investigation confirm Guerrero's possible intention to blow up the plane. A warning radiogram is given on board by special communications. The crew decides to go back, but for now try to take possession of the suitcase, which is in the hands of Guerrero. Ada Quonsett, who turned out to be his neighbor, is brought into the case. The acting talent of the old woman helps to play the scene and take possession of the suitcase, but the intervention of one of the passengers spoils everything. Pulling out his briefcase, Guerrero rushes to the tail section of the plane, an explosion is heard. The fuselage is damaged, the aircraft is depressurizing. Panic aboard, passengers hurriedly put on oxygen masks. Flight attendant Gwen Meighen is critically injured. Thanks to the skill and courage of the chief mechanic, Joe Patroni, they finally manage to free the second runway of the airfield. Landing a plane in distress is brought to Case, who masterfully copes with the task. The experience makes him give up the thought of suicide, he goes home with the firm intention of leaving aviation and starting a new life. And Mel, dreaming of rest and peace of mind, leaves with Tanya. The blizzard is ending, the situation at the airport is gradually returning to normal.

L. M. Burmistrova

(From Here to Eternity)

Roman (1951)

The protagonist of the story - Private Robert Lee Pruit - was born and spent his childhood in the mining village of Garlan, which in the thirties became known throughout America thanks to a miners' strike, brutally suppressed by the police. In this strike, the hero's father was wounded and imprisoned, and his uncle was shot dead as "resisting." Soon his mother also died of tuberculosis. After wandering around America and seeing the views, Pruit enters the army, which, with its discipline, order, paragraphs of the charter, became for him a salvation from a citizen, where not very obedient Americans were sometimes admonished in the most cruel way. It is no coincidence that the hero bears the name of the famous commander of the Civil War, the commander-in-chief of the army of the southerners, Robert Lee, "an officer and a gentleman" who showed personal courage, strategic talent and selfless commitment to the ideals of the South - for all their historical doom. Jones' hero is steadfast, brave, committed to the idea of ​​serving the country, like his famous namesake. And just as doomed. The army, in which the hero of the novel decided to escape from the bad American society, in essence, is not much different from a civilian. Service in the Scofield garrison in Hawaii from the outside might seem like a real paradise, but the resort flavor only emphasizes the drama of Pruit's battle with an army vehicle. His struggle with the will of others takes on the character of consistent negativism. A gifted bugler, he decides not to take the bugle in his hands, because he does not want to humiliate himself in order to get a warm place as a regimental bugler. A capable boxer, he refuses to compete in the ring, because during a training fight he injured his friend, as a result of which he became blind. However, for the army authorities, sport is a good career tool, and Private Pruit's reluctance to enter the ring is seen as something very close to treason. One way or another, it is precisely this refusal that makes Pruit in the eyes of his superiors, and in the first place Captain Homs, a subversive element, a "Bolshevik."

Among the large number of very colorful representatives of the Scofield garrison, Private Angelo Maggio and Sergeant Milt Thurber stand out. The first, like Robert Pruit, takes with hostility the slightest encroachment on his "free self" and as a result ends up in a military prison, famous for its intransigence towards troublemakers. Sergeant Thurber, on the contrary, hating the officers both as an institution and as a sum of specific individuals, resists in his own way - with impeccable knowledge of his duties and high professionalism, which makes him simply indispensable in the company. However, his revenge on his superiors takes quite concrete forms - he starts an affair with the wife of his company commander, Karen Homs, who feels nothing for her husband but contempt, and only maintains the appearance of family relations. However, neither Thurber nor Karen have any illusions about the longevity of their romance, which nonetheless threatens to outgrow the boundaries of an ordinary fling and turn into a big, all-consuming love. Pruit also has considerable problems on the love front. After parting with his former mistress Violet, who is tired of the uncertainty of their relationship, he falls in love with the beautiful Alma from Mrs. Kipfer's brothel. However, the fight against the army machine takes Pruit too much time to completely surrender to the elements of love. If for him non-participation in sports competitions becomes an important principle of existence, an indicator of inner freedom, then it is just as important for his superiors to subordinate the rebel to their will, to instill fear in him and his comrades in arms. Visiting the Hawaiian garrison, General Sam Slater expounds his theory of fear as an organizing social force. "In the past," he says, "fear of power was just the flip side of the positive moral code of 'honor, patriotism, service...'."

But now practicality has triumphed, the era of machines has come, and everything has changed. The machine made no sense... the old code. It is impossible to force a person to voluntarily chain himself to a car, claiming that this is a matter of his honor. The man is not stupid. Thus, only the negative side of this code has now been preserved, which has acquired the force of law. The fear of power, which was only a side element, has now become the basis, because there is nothing else left. "This formula, which has absorbed numerous arguments about freedom and coercion, accurately defines the essence of what is happening in the novel. Events develop incrementally. As a result of the skirmish with a drunken sergeant, Pruit ends up under a military tribunal and ends up in the same prison where his friend Maggio is languishing in. Prison authorities are a bunch of notorious sadists, but in the end, the regime there is only an even more capacious and graphic symbol of the anti-human nature of the military machine, which it sees the author.

Pretty quickly, Pruit finds himself in the famous penal barrack number two, where those who are considered by the prison authorities to be unpromising and not subject to correction are kept. This is a kind of elite, the guardians of the original American spirit of defiance.

However, the idyll of freedom in the special regime barracks ends quickly. Angelo Maggio makes a desperate attempt to free himself - he feigns insanity. Another pillar of the "Unruly Alliance", Jack Malloy, makes an escape, and so successfully that they cannot find him. However, the third of Pruit's friends has a hard time: he becomes a victim of sadistic jailers. Pruitt takes an oath to kill his main tormentor, Sergeant Judson, and soon after his release, he carries out his plan. However, he puts up stubborn resistance and, before dying, he inflicts a severe knife wound on Pruit. The poor fellow cannot return to the company in this form and comes to his friend Alma.

Once in the city, he runs into Teber, who persuades him to return, assuring that no one even thinks to suspect him of Judson's death and the worst thing that threatens him is another two months in prison. But Pruitt is not prepared to pay that price to restore relations with the army. He declares that he will never return to prison. Thurber is unable to offer him anything else, and their paths diverge.

It is December 1941, XNUMX, when the Japanese Air Force launched a massive attack on the American military base in Hawaii. To his shame, Pruit discovers that during this raid, which resulted in the death of thousands of his comrades in arms, he slept peacefully with his girlfriend Alma. He makes an attempt to find his own, but the meeting with a military patrol turns out to be fatal. Realizing what the arrest could turn out to be, Pruit tries to flee, but a machine gun burst interrupts his rebellious life.

Milt Thurber becomes an officer, and Karen Homes, finally convinced of the meaninglessness of living together with her husband, takes her son and returns to America. On the ship, she meets a young and beautiful woman who also returns to America. According to her, during the raid, her fiancé died here. She tells how he tried to take the plane under the bombardment into cover, but a direct hit put an end to his heroic efforts. When a woman calls the name of the hero-groom - Robert Lee Pruit, Karen realizes that all this is pure fiction and that in front of her is a prostitute Alma Schmidt. Son Karen, who dreams of a military career, asks his mother if it is true that this war will end before he learns to be an officer and can also take part in it. Seeing the disappointment on her son's face after her words that he is unlikely to have time to show himself in this war, she assures him, not without irony, that if he is late for this one, then he may well take part in the next one. "Is it true?" he asked hopefully.

S. B. Belov

(Dharma Bums)

Novel (publ. 1958)

The work contains autobiographical details, the narration is in the first person. The narrator, Ray Smith, is a young man of the Beat Generation who travels across America in hitchhiking cars and freight trains, often sleeping out in the open and living off odd jobs, content with the little that Heaven and the Law of Dharma bestows on him.

Like many beatniks, Ray is fascinated by the religious and philosophical teachings of ancient India and China. He writes poetry and considers himself a follower of the Buddha, practices non-action and seeks Samadhi, that is, spiritual enlightenment, which leads the one who walks the true path to nirvana. Rei observes strict celibacy for a whole year, as she believes that "love passion is the immediate cause of birth, which is the source of suffering and leads to death." However, renouncing the phenomenal world of "names and forms", he is far from not noticing its beauty, and in dealing with people he tries to be sincere and be guided by the rule contained in the "Diamond Sutra": "Be merciful without holding back in the mind of the idea of ​​mercy, for mercy is just a word, and no more.

In the fall of 1955, on one of the streets of San Francisco, Ray meets Jeffy Ryder, who is widely known in the circles of beatniks, jazz musicians and bohemian poets. Jeffy, the son of a lumberjack, grew up with his sister in the forest, worked in logging, was a farmer, went to college, studied Indian mythology, Chinese and Japanese, and discovered the teachings of Zen Buddhism. Having abandoned his scientific career, he still maintains contact with philologists at the University of California, translates poems by ancient Chinese poets, attends lectures at the Buddhist Association, and speaks at poetry evenings reading his own poems. Jeffy is an extraordinarily popular figure. His experience with altered states of consciousness, which are achieved by drug use, a cheerful and nonchalant disposition, wit, as well as looseness in dealing with young adventurers involved in a spiritual search and longing for "getting rid of attachments", made Jeffy a real hero in the eyes of friends and admirers. West Coast. It was he who coined the expression "Dharma vagabonds." All his belongings fit in a backpack and consist mainly of books in oriental languages ​​​​and climbing equipment, since Jeffy spends most of his time in the mountains.

Ray and Jeffy become inseparable friends. Ray settles in the suburbs of San Francisco with the poet Alvah Goldbook and spends time meditating, drinking with friends and reading, as the house is literally full of books - "from Catullus to Ezra Pound." Jeffy lives a mile from Goldbook's house, near the UCLA campus. He rents a summer house, the interior of which is characterized by extreme asceticism: wicker mats lie on the floor, and boxes of oranges instead of a desktop. One evening, Jeffy arrives at Ray and Alvakh's on a bicycle, accompanied by a twenty-year-old girl whom he calls Princess, to demonstrate to his friends the elements of the sexual practice of Tibetan Tantrism, and when the girl willingly gives herself to him in front of Ray and Alvakh, Jeffy invites them to join him and join the practical wisdom of tantra. Rei is embarrassed, he has long liked the Princess, but he has never made love in front of anyone. In addition, Rei does not want to break her vow of chastity. However, Jeffy convinces Ray not to trust either Buddhism or any other philosophy that denies sex. In the arms of the Princess, Rey forgets that the manifested world is just an illusion and is born of ignorance and suffering. The girl considers herself a Bodhisattva, that is, "a being striving for enlightenment," and tells Ray that she is "the mother of all things." Rei does not argue with her, because she understands that the only way for a young beauty to find the Truth and merge with the Absolute is to participate in the mysterious rituals of Tibetan Buddhism, in which she performs sacred rituals with genuine self-sacrifice and sheer pleasure.

Jeffy invites Ray to the mountains. They are driven in his car by Henry Morley, an avid climber who works as a librarian at the university. Henry is an intellectual, but at the same time he has a rather eccentric behavior and is extremely absent-minded. As they begin their climb to the top of the Matterhorn, it turns out that Henry has forgotten his sleeping bag. But this does not upset him at all. He falls behind Ray and Jeffy and stays on the shore of a beautiful mountain lake, not intending to move on, because he just didn't want to climb to the top. Ray is frightened by Jeffy's desperate determination and fearlessness, and he does not dare to follow his example as he climbs higher and higher. Rhea is horrified by the grandeur and emptiness of the surrounding space, and he recalls the saying of one of the patriarchs of Zen Buddhism: "When you reach the top of the mountain, keep climbing." When he sees Jeffy leaping down the mountain he has conquered, Rey is ecstatic and follows suit. Only now is the true meaning of the Zen saying revealed to him, and he joyfully accepts this terrible and beautiful world of mountains as it is.

Returning to the city, Ray dreams of dedicating his time and energy in complete solitude to prayers for all living things, for he is convinced that in our world this is the only appropriate occupation for a person seeking spiritual development. His desire to leave is further strengthened after he visits his old friend Cody, from whom he learns that his girlfriend, Rosie, has suddenly gone insane and has been trying to open her wrists. Rosa has an obsession that all her friends, including Jeffy and Ray, must be arrested for their sins. Ray tries to dissuade Rosie, but she stands her ground. After some time, she commits suicide by throwing herself from the roof of the house. Ray leaves for Los Angeles, but cannot stay in the poisoned atmosphere of the industrial city and hitchhikes around the country. Christmas is coming, and Ray arrives at his parents' house in North Carolina, where his mother, brother and sister live. The house is located in a picturesque area, surrounded by coniferous forests, where Ray spends whole days and nights in prayers, reflections and meditations. One night he reaches Enlightenment and realizes that he is absolutely free and everything in the world is done for the good, and the Truth is higher than the tree of Buddha and the cross of Christ. Spring is coming. In a state of peace, Rei realizes that it is this world that is the Sky, to which everyone aspires, as to something beyond. Rei tells himself that if he could completely abandon his "I" and direct his efforts to the awakening, liberation and bliss of all living beings, he would realize that "ecstasy is what it is." Ray's family does not understand his spiritual aspirations and reproaches him for apostasy from the Christian faith in which he was born. Rey bitterly realizes that she cannot get through to the souls of these people. One day, in a state of mystical trance, he clearly sees how to heal his mother, who is tormented by a cough. The mother recovers from the remedy Rei gives her. But Ray tries not to think about what he did "miracle" and leaves for California to Jeffy, intending to return home next Christmas.

Jeffy is about to sail to Japan on a Japanese freighter, and his friends are throwing a big send-off for the occasion. The fun continues for several days. All Jeffy's girlfriends gather, his sister Rhoda arrives with her fiancé. Everyone is drinking wine, the girls are dancing naked, and Rey is thinking about the Path of all living things, immersed in the stream of becoming and doomed to die. As the ship sets sail, Jeffy emerges from the cabin carrying his latest girlfriend, whom he named Psyche. She begs him to take her to Japan with him, but Jeffy is relentless: he follows only one law - the Dharma. He throws her overboard into the water, where her friends pull her out. Nobody can stop crying. Ray misses Jeffy with his inexhaustible optimism. One night while meditating, Rei sees Avalokiteshvara[4] who tells him that he, Rei, is "endowed with strength and power to remind people that they are absolutely free." Ray goes to the mountains, and on the way back he turns to God with the words: "God, I love You. Take care of all of us."

V. V. Rynkevich

(Cat's Cradle)

Roman (1963)

"You can call me Jonah" - this phrase opens the novel. The hero-narrator believes that it is this name that suits him much more than the one given at birth, because he is "always carried somewhere."

One day he decided to write the book "The Day the World Ended". In it, he was going to talk about what the famous Americans were doing when the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Then, according to the hero, he was still a Christian, but then he became a Bokononist, and now now and then he quotes the teachings of this great sage and philosopher, abundantly filling the narrative with Bokononian terminology.

Bokonon teaches that all of humanity is divided into karasses, that is, into groups that do not know what they are doing, doing the will of God, and karasses should be distinguished from granfallons, false associations, to which, among other things, the communist party belongs.

Working on a book about the end of the world necessarily brings a karase narrator, led by the great scientist Felix Honnicker, Nobel laureate and father of the atomic bomb, who lives and works in the fictional city of Ilium that appears in many of Vonnegut's books.

When someone remarked at the atomic bomb test, "Now science has known sin," Honniker asked in surprise, "What is sin?" The great scientist did not know what love, compassion, moral doubts are. The human element was of little interest to the genius of technical thought. “Sometimes I wonder if he was born dead,” says one of those who knew him quite closely. “I have never met a person who would not be so interested in life. Sometimes it seems to me: this is our trouble - too many people occupy high places, and the corpses themselves are corpses.

According to the recollections of the youngest son of Honniker Newt, his father never played with children and only once wove a "cat's cradle" from a rope, which scared the child terribly. But he enthusiastically solved the puzzles that nature presented. Once an infantry general complained about the mud in which people and equipment got stuck. Honniker found the riddle worthy of attention, and he eventually came up with ice-nine, a few grains of which can freeze all living things for miles around. The scientist managed to get an icicle, which he put in a bottle, hid it in his pocket and went to his dacha to celebrate Christmas with the children. On Christmas Eve he spoke of his invention and died the same evening. Children - Angela, Frank and midget Newt - divided the icicle among themselves.

Having learned that Frank is currently the Minister of Science and Progress of the "banana republic" of San Lorenzo, ruled by the dictator Papa Monzano, the narrator goes there, at the same time pledging to write an essay about this island in the Caribbean for an American magazine.

On the plane, he meets up with Angela and Newt, who are on their way to visit their brother. To pass the time on the road, the hero reads a book about San Lorenzo and learns about the existence of Bokonon.

Once upon a time, someone L. B. Johnson and the fugitive Corporal McCabe, by the will of circumstances, ended up off the coast of San Lorenzo and decided to capture it. No one prevented them from carrying out their plans - primarily because the island was considered completely useless and the people lived there worse than you can imagine . The locals could not pronounce the name Johnson correctly, they always got Bokonon, and therefore he began to call himself that.

On the island, the hero meets a number of colorful characters. This is Dr. Julian Castle, about whom, in fact, he was commissioned to write an essay. The millionaire sugar-producer, having lived the first forty years of his life in drunkenness and debauchery, Castle then decided, following the example of Schweitzer, to establish a free hospital in the jungle and "devote his whole life to the sufferers of another race."

The personal physician of Pope Monzano, Dr. Schlichter von Koenigswald, works selflessly in his spare time at the Castle Hospital. Prior to that, he served fourteen years in the SS units and six - in Auschwitz. Now he is in full swing saving the lives of the poor, and, according to Castle, "if he continues at this rate, the number of people saved by him will equal the number of people killed by about three thousand and ten."

On the island, the hero also learns about Bokonon's further exploits. It turns out that he and McCabe tried to arrange a utopia on the island and, having failed, decided to share the responsibilities. McCabe took on the role of a tyrant and oppressor, and Bokonon disappeared into the jungle, creating for himself the halo of a saint and a fighter for the happiness of ordinary people. He became the father of a new religion of Bokononism, the purpose of which was to give people comforting lies, and he himself banned his teaching in order to increase interest in it. From year to year raids were organized on Bokonon, but it was not possible to catch him - it was not in the interests of the tyrant in the palace, and such persecution was heartily amused by the most persecuted. However, as it turned out, all the inhabitants of the island of San Lorenzo are Bokononists, including the dictator Papa Monzano.

Frank Honniker invites the narrator to become the future president of San Lorenzo, as the Pope's days are numbered and he is dying of cancer. Since he is promised not only the presidency, but also the hand of the charming Mona, the hero agrees. It is expected that this will be publicly announced during the holiday in honor of the "hundred martyrs for democracy", when planes will bomb images of famous tyrants floating in coastal waters.

But during another bout of pain, the Pope takes a painkiller and dies instantly. It turns out that he took ice-nine. In addition, another sad truth emerges. Each of the descendants of Dr. Honniker profitably sold off his part of his father's legacy: the midget Newt gave the Soviet ballerina he liked, who received the task of the Center to get the treasure at any cost, the ugly Angela bought herself a husband who worked for the US special services at the price of an "icicle", and Frank, thanks to ice-nine, became the right hand of Pope Monzano. The West, the East and the third world turn out to be the owners of a terrible invention, from which the whole world can perish.

However, the catastrophe is not long in coming. One of the planes crashes and crashes into Papa Monzano's castle. A terrible explosion follows, and ice-nine begins to demonstrate its monstrous properties. Everything around freezes. The sun turned into a tiny ball. Tornadoes swirl in the sky.

In the hideout, the hero studies Bokonon's collected works, trying to find solace in them. He doesn't heed the warning on the very first page of the first volume: "Don't be a fool. Close this book now. It's all bullshit." Foma in Bokonon means a lie. The fourteenth volume of works is of little consolation either. It consists of a single work, and in it one word - "no". This is how the author responded briefly to the question posed by him in the title:

"Can a reasonable person, taking into account the experience of past centuries, have even the slightest hope for a bright future for mankind?"

On the last pages, the mysterious Bokonon appears to the heroes. He sits on a stone, barefoot, covered with a blanket, holding a sheet of paper in one hand and a pencil in the other. When asked what he thinks, the sage and hoaxer replies that the time has come to complete the last sentence of the Bokonon Books. It is with this passage that the apocalyptic narrative ends: “If I were younger,” Bokonon broadcasts, “I would write the history of human stupidity. I would climb Mount McCabe and lie on my back, putting this manuscript under my head. white poison that turns people into statues, and I'd become a statue and lay on my back, baring my teeth terribly and showing my long nose to YOU ​​KNOW WHO!"

S. B. Belov

(Slaughterhouse five or the Children's Crusade)

Roman (1969)

"Almost all of this actually happened." With this phrase, the novel begins, which, as the author's pre-notification makes clear, "is partly written in a slightly telegraphic-schizophrenic style, as they write on the planet Tralfamador, from where flying saucers appear."

The protagonist of the book, Billy Pilgrim, in the words of the narrator, "disconnected from time", and now various oddities are happening to him.

“Billy went to bed an elderly widower and woke up on his wedding day. He went in the door in 1955 and went out in 1941. Then he returned through the same door and found himself in 1961. He says that he saw his birth and his death and many times got into other events of his life between birth and death.

Billy Pilgrim was born in the fictional city of Ilium, and in the same year that the author himself was born. Like the latter, Billy fought in Europe, was captured by the Germans, and suffered the bombing of Dresden, when more than one hundred and thirty thousand civilians died. He returned to America and, unlike his creator, entered optometrist courses, became engaged to the daughter of their owner. He falls ill with a nervous breakdown, but he is quickly cured. His business is going great. In 1968, he flies to an international congress of optometrists, but the plane crashes and everyone but him dies.

After lying in the hospital, he returns to his native Ilium, and at first everything goes as usual. But then he appears on television and talks about how he visited the planet Tralfamador in 1967, where he was taken by a flying saucer. There, he was allegedly shown naked to local residents, placed in a zoo, and then mated with former Hollywood movie star Montana Wildback, also abducted from Earth.

Tralfamadorians are convinced that all living beings and plants in the universe are machines. They don't understand why earthlings get so offended when they are called machines. Tralfamadorians, on the contrary, are very happy with their machine status: no unrest, no suffering. Mechanisms don't bother with questions about how the world works. According to the scientific point of view accepted on this planet, the world should be accepted as it is. "That's the structure of this moment," the Tralfamadorians answer Billy's whys.

Tralfamador is a triumph of scientific knowledge. Its inhabitants have long solved all the mysteries of the universe. They know how and when she will die. The Tralfamadorians will blow it up themselves, testing new fuel for their saucers, "when the right structure of the moment is created." But the coming cataclysms do not spoil the mood of the Tralfamadorians, who are guided by the principle of "ignoring the bad and focusing on the good moments."

Billy, in general, he himself has always lived by Tralfamador rules. He did not care about Vietnam, where his son Robert is functioning properly. As part of the "Green Berets", this "shooting machine" restores order according to the order. Billy also forgot about the Dresden apocalypse. Until he flew to Tralfamador after that same plane crash. But now he is constantly running between Earth and Tralfamador. From the matrimonial bedroom, he ends up in the prisoner of war barracks, and from Germany in 1944 - to America in 1967, in a luxurious Cadillac, which takes him through the Negro ghetto, where quite recently the tanks of the National Guard admonished the local population, who tried to "swing their rights ". And Willy is in a hurry for lunch at the Lions Club, where a certain major will foam at the mouth demand more bombing. But not Dresden, but Vietnam. Billy, as chairman, listens with interest to the speech, and the major's arguments do not cause him objections.

In the wanderings of the Pilgrim, randomness is only apparent. His route is verified by precise logic. Dresden 1945, Tralfamador and the United States of the late sixties - three planets in one galaxy, and they rotate in their orbits, obeying the law of "expediency", where the ends always justify the means, and the more a person resembles a machine, the better for him and for the machine - human society.

In the Dresden fragment, it is not by chance that two deaths collide - a huge German city and one American prisoner of war. Dresden will die in a carefully planned operation where "technique is everything". The American Edgar Darby, who before the war taught at the university a course on the problems of modern civilization, will be killed according to instructions. Digging through the rubble after the allied air raid, he will take the teapot. This will not go unnoticed by the German guards, he will be accused of looting and shot. Twice the letter of the instruction will triumph, twice the crime will be committed. These events, for all their diversity, are interconnected, because they are generated by the logic of machine pragmatism, when not people are taken into account, but faceless human units.

Disconnected from time, Billy Pilgrim at the same time gains the gift of memory. Historical memory, keeping in mind the moments of intersection of private existence with the fate of other people and the fate of civilization.

Upon learning of the narrator's intention to write an "anti-war book", one of the characters exclaims: "Why don't you write an anti-glacial book." He does not argue, "stopping wars is as easy as stopping glaciers," but everyone must do their duty. Vonnegut is actively helped to fulfill his duty by the fantasy writer Kilgore Trout born of his imagination, digests from whose books are constantly found throughout the novel.

So, in the story "The Miracle Without Guts," robots threw jelly-like gasoline from aircraft to burn living beings. "They had no conscience, and they were programmed so as not to imagine what was happening to people on earth from this. Trout's lead robot looked like a man, could talk, dance and walk with girls. And no one reproached him for being throws condensed gasoline on people. But they did not forgive him bad breath. And then he was cured of this, and humanity joyfully accepted him into their ranks."

Trout's plots are closely intertwined with real historical events, giving reality to fiction, and making reality a phantasmagoria. The bombed-out Dresden in Billy's memoirs is sustained in the lunar tone: "The sky was completely covered with black smoke. The angry sun seemed like a nail head. Dresden looked like the Moon - only minerals. The stones were hot. There was death around. Such things."

Slaughterhouse number five is not the serial number of the next world cataclysm, but only the designation of the Dresden slaughterhouse, in the underground premises of which American prisoners and their German escorts escaped from the bombing. The second part of the title "Children's Crusade" is revealed by the narrator in one of the many purely journalistic inclusions, where the author's thoughts are expressed in open text. The narrator recalls the year 1213, when two rogue monks conceived a scam - the sale of children into slavery. To do this, they announced a children's crusade to Palestine, earning the approval of Pope Innocent III. Of the thirty thousand volunteers, half died in shipwrecks, almost as many ended up in captivity, and only an insignificant part of the little enthusiasts mistakenly ended up where the ships of the merchants of human goods were not waiting for them. For the author, those who are sent to fight for the great common good in different parts of the modern world turn out to be the same innocently killed.

People turn out to be toys in the military entertainments of the powerful of this world and at the same time sometimes experience an irresistible craving for deadly toys. The father of a prisoner of war, Roland Weary, collects various instruments of torture with inspiration. The narrator's father "was a wonderful man and obsessed with weapons. He left me his guns. They rust." And another American prisoner of war, Paul Lazarro, is sure that "there is nothing sweeter than revenge." By the way, Billy Pilgrim knows in advance that he will die from his bullet on February 1976, XNUMX. Offering to reflect on who is more to blame for the growing wave of intolerance, violence, state and individual terrorism, in the final, tenth chapter, the narrator offers "only facts" :

“Robert Kennedy, whose dacha is eight miles from where I live all year round, was shot two days ago. He died last night. a report on how many corpses were created with the help of military science in Vietnam. Such things."

World War II is over. It's spring in Europe and the birds are chirping. One bird asked Billy Pilgrim: "Drink fut?" With this bird's "question" the story ends.

S. B. Belov

(The Naked and the Dead)

Roman (1948)

The Second World War. Pacific theater of operations. The story of the landing and capture by the Americans of the fictional island of Anapopey, where the Japanese were concentrated, develops, as it were, on several levels. This is a chronicle of military operations, a detailed recreation of the atmosphere of the everyday life of the war, this is a psychological portrait of a person at war, given through a combination of images of individual representatives of the American landing force, this is an image of pre-war America growing in the background and, finally, this is a novel-essay about power.

The composition of the novel is determined by the existence of three sections. The narrative itself - the story of the assault and capture of Anapopey - is interspersed with dramatic inclusions ("chorus"), where the voices of the characters make themselves felt, without author's comments, as well as excursions into the past of the characters (the so-called Time Machine). The Time Machine is a short biographies of heroes representing a wide variety of social groups and regions of America. The Irishman Roy Gallagher, the Mexican Martinez, the Texan Sam Croft, the Brooklyn Jew Joe Goldstein, the Pole Casimir Zhenvich and many others appear before readers as "the most typical representatives" of a country where even in times of peace there is a fierce struggle for existence and only the strongest survive.

War is the usual state of mankind, as the author depicts it. The Americans are fighting the Japanese for Anapopey, and at the same time, the soldiers, as best they can, defend their little rights and privileges in the fight against each other and officers, and they, in turn, fight for ranks and ranks, for prestige. The confrontation between the authoritarian General Edward Cummings and his adjutant, Lieutenant Robert Hearn, is especially clear.

Hearn's story of petty successes and failures is a reflection of the ambiguous position of liberal intellectuals in a pragmatic world. Before the war, Hearn tried to find himself in social activities, but his contacts with communists and trade union leaders were fruitless. A feeling of disappointment and fatigue grows in him, a feeling that an attempt to put into practice ideals is only a vanity of vanities, and the only thing that remains for a subtle, extraordinary personality is "to live without losing style", which, according to Hearn, is a semblance of the Hemingway code of the present men. He is desperately trying to maintain at least a semblance of freedom and defend his dignity.

But Hearn's boss, Edward Cummings, looking at Napoleons, has a good nose for "sedition" and tries to put the obstinate adjutant in his place. If Hearn wanders from one vague half-truth to another, then Cummings knows no doubt and, twisting the thinkers of the past in his own way, mints aphorism after aphorism: "That you have a gun and another does not, is not an accident, but the result of all that what you have achieved"; "We live in the middle of a century of a new era, we are on the threshold of the revival of unlimited power";

"The army works much better if you are afraid of the person who is standing above you, and treat your subordinates with contempt and arrogance"; "The machine technology of our time requires consolidation, and this is impossible if there is no fear, because most people should become slaves to machines, and few people will gladly do this."

No less significant for understanding the image of the general and the military machine as a whole are Cummings' arguments about World War II: "Historically, the goal of this war is to turn America's potential energy into kinetic energy. If you think about it carefully, the concept of fascism is very viable, because it relies on instincts. It's a pity only that fascism originated in the wrong country... We have power, material resources, armed forces. The vacuum of our life as a whole is filled with released energy, and there is no doubt that we have come out of the backyard of history..."

Fascism in the novel exists on two levels - ideological and everyday.

If Edward Cummings is an ideologue and even a poet of fascism, then Sam Croft is a spontaneous fascist who truly enjoys violence. According to the Time Machine, Croft first killed a man when he was still in the ranks of the national guard. He deliberately shot the striker even though the command was to fire into the air. The war gives Croft a unique opportunity to kill officially - and enjoy it. He will treat the captive Japanese with chocolate, look at photographs of his wife and children, but as soon as something similar to a human community arises, Croft will cold-bloodedly shoot the Japanese at close range. That makes him more interesting.

Having failed to find a place for himself in peaceful America, Lieutenant Hearn cannot find himself in the conditions of war. He is a stranger among both soldiers and officers. Feeling hostility to the fascist boss, he decides on a desperate act. Appearing in the tent to the general and not finding the latter, he leaves a note - and a cigarette butt on the floor, which infuriates his boss. He hastily summons Hearn, conducts an educational conversation with him, and then drops a new cigarette butt on the floor and forces the obstinate adjutant to pick it up. Hearn follows the general's orders - and thereby yields to his will. From now on, Cummings will do without his services, and the lieutenant is transferred to the reconnaissance platoon. Sergeant Croft, who was in charge there before, is by no means delighted and is ready to do anything to get rid of unnecessary guardianship.

Soon the recon platoon leaves on a mission, and Croft has a great opportunity to restore the status quo and his position as commander. Hiding information about the Japanese ambush, he coolly watches as the lieutenant goes to the Japanese machine gun in order to die moments later.

It seems that strong personalities triumph. Lieutenant Hearn died, the island was captured by the Americans, but this victory is a matter of blind chance.

Cummings' carefully designed operation to seize Anapopey requires serious support from the sea. The general goes to headquarters to convince his superiors of the need to allocate warships for his needs. But while he is negotiating, while a platoon of scouts is climbing Mount Anaka to get to the rear of the enemy, the mediocre Major Dulleson makes an obviously erroneous attack. But instead of suffering a shameful defeat, the Americans are winning a resounding victory. A random projectile kills the Japanese commander, and his closest assistants also die. Panic begins in the ranks of the Japanese. Warehouses with ammunition and food become easy prey for the Americans, who soon easily take possession of the island.

Both Cummings and Croft are out of work. The victory took place despite their efforts. His Majesty the Absurd triumphs. As if making fun of the attempts of American commanders at all levels to direct life in the direction of cause-and-effect dependencies, he turns into nothing the attempts of aggressive pragmatists. A person is left face to face with a mysterious, impenetrable reality, where there are much more enemies than allies, where dark, hidden forces rage against which resistance is useless. The moral edification is said by one of the soldiers of Croft's platoon, the spontaneous absurdist Volsen: "A person carries his burden as long as he can carry it, and then he is exhausted. He alone fights against everyone and everything, and this eventually breaks him. He turns out to be a small cog that creaks and groans if the machine runs too fast." The rational principle is defeated in a clash with General Absurd.

The next appearance of the "choir" is now connected with the question: "What will we do after the war?" Soldiers speak in different ways, but no one is particularly happy at the thought that it will be possible to take off their military uniform, although the army for most of them is not a panacea for all ills. A summary of the short discussion will be summed up by Sergeant Croft: "Thinking about these things is a waste of time. The war will continue for a long time to come."

War of all against all. Outside of America and in its territory.

S. B. Belov

Roman (1961)

The fictional island of Pianosa in the Mediterranean Sea, the base of the US Air Force invented by the author's imagination. A very real world war.

However, each of the numerous characters in this extensive literary fresco has its own war, for the sake of victory in which they spare neither strength nor life, and some of them - someone else's life.

Air Force Captain Yossarian "fought normally" for the time being, although in the context of the novel this combination looks absurd. He was ready to fulfill the US Air Force norm of twenty-five sorties and go home. However, Colonel Koshkart, who dreams of becoming famous at any cost, now and then patriotically increases the number of required sorties, and until the desired return to Yossarian, as before a mirage,

Actually, for some time now Iossarian began to fight worse and worse. Rising into the air, he sets himself the only goal - to return alive, and it does not matter to him where the bombs he dropped fall - on an enemy object or in the sea.

But the chiefs fight valiantly, ready to carry out the most daring operations, as soon as their subordinates risk their lives. They display a heroic disregard for the dangers that befall others. It costs them nothing to bomb an Italian mountain village without even warning the civilians. It's not scary that there will be human casualties, but an excellent jam will be created for enemy equipment. They are desperately at war with each other for a place under the sun. So, General Dolbing hatches plans to defeat an insidious enemy, which is another American General Dreedle. For the sake of the general's shoulder straps, Koshkart mercilessly exploits his pilots. Dreams of becoming a general and ex-Private First Class Wintergreen, and his dreams are not unfounded. He is a clerk in the office of the base, and a lot depends on how and where he sends the next paper.

However, the true arbiter of fate on the island is Lieutenant Milo Minderbinder. This supplier creates a syndicate, of which he declares all pilots to be members, although he is in no hurry to share profits. Having received combat aircraft for his use, he buys and resells dates, cotton, veal, olives. Sometimes he has to involve Luftwaffe aircraft for transportation, patiently explaining to his superiors that the Germans in this case are not opponents, but partners. Determined to commercialize the war, he receives money from the Americans to bomb the bridge controlled by the Germans, and from the Germans - a solid jackpot for the obligation to protect this important object. Inspired by success, he contracts to bomb the airfield of his own base on Pianos and strictly fulfills all the points of the contract: the Americans are bombing the Americans.

Lieutenant Scheiskopf, in contrast to the great strategist Milo, thinks poorly, but he is a great master of reviews and parades. This allows him to make a dizzying career: from a lieutenant in a matter of months, he turns into a general.

Absurdity, phantasmagoria is in the order of things on Pianos, and those who have retained something human in themselves die one by one. On the other hand, military bureaucrats and pilots who have driven themselves in a car feel great - they truly do not burn in fire and do not drown in water.

Terrified by the rampant madness and general rapture of war, Yossarian comes to the conclusion that if he does not take care of himself, then his song will soon be sung. "To live or not to live - that was the question," we read in the novel, and the hero unambiguously leans in favor of living. He rushes between the military base and the hospital, feigning various illnesses and gaining love victories over the nurses. The plot moves in circles, and the central episode is the death of comrade Yossarian Snape, literally torn to pieces by fragments during the next sortie, after which Iossarian declared "war on war".

This episode is played over and over again, like a haunting nightmare, acquiring additional and eerie details. After Snape's death, Yossarian takes off his military uniform - it has the blood of a friend on it, which can probably be washed off, but cannot be erased from memory - and is determined never to wear it again. He will walk around the military base in what his mother gave birth to and in this form will receive a medal for courage from the hands of the impassive authorities. He will move backwards and with a revolver in his hand, repeating that everything that happens is the whole of World War II! - there is a diabolical conspiracy to destroy it. Yossarian will be considered a psycho, but he has nothing against it. So even better. Since he is out of his mind, he must be written off. But the bosses are not as idiots as they seem. Yossarian learns of the existence of Amendment 22, which, as recounted by Regimental Medical Officer Danyka, reads: "Anyone who wants to evade a combat mission is normal and therefore fit for duty."

More than once throughout the story, this mysterious Amendment-22, the full-fledged heroine of the novel, appears in different formulations. Amendment 22 does not exist on paper, but it is no less effective for that, and according to it, those who have power in their hands are free to do whatever they please with those who are not endowed with such power. To question the reality of the Amendment is to invite suspicion of unreliability. You have to believe in it and obey it.

Honest simpletons Nately, Clevinger, Major Danby convince Yossarian that he is wrong in his desire to conclude a separate peace and withdraw from participation in the war. But Yossarian is now firmly convinced that the war is not against Nazism, but for the prosperity of the chiefs, and whoever in his simplicity succumbs to empty words about patriotic duty is threatened by the prospect of dying or turning into a "soldier in white", a stump without arms, without legs, studded with tubes and catheters, twice appeared in the hospital in the form of a kind of monument to the Unknown Soldier.

While Yossarian frightens his superiors with his escapades and indulges in drunken-erotic sprees, his comrade Orr calmly and methodically prepares to accomplish his plan. To the surprise of others, his plane crashes all the time, it is strange that it is Orr who is the master of all trades. But these accidents are not the result of pilot errors and not the result of an unfavorable set of circumstances. This is a pilot working out a desertion plan. Having once again suffered an accident, Orr goes missing in order to soon show up in neutral Sweden, where he, according to rumors, sailed on an inflatable boat right from the Mediterranean Sea. This feat inspires hope in the hearts of those who, like Iosarrian, suffer from the whims of the authorities, and instills in them new strength for resistance.

However, capricious fortune suddenly smiles at Yossarian. His sworn enemies, Colonel Koshkart and Lieutenant Colonel Korn, suddenly change their anger to mercy and are ready to let Yossarian go home. In their opinion, he is a bad influence on the pilots in the regiment, and if he leaves, it will only benefit everyone. However, for their responsiveness, they require very little. As Korn says: "You need to love us, ignite friendly feelings for us. Speak well of us while you are here and then in the States." In short, the bosses offer Yossarian to become "one of us." If he refuses, a tribunal awaits him - compromising evidence has been collected plentiful. Iossarian thinks for a moment and agrees.

But here he is in trouble. The girlfriend of his deceased friend, nineteen-year-old Netley, an Italian prostitute, whom he tried in vain to wean from her unworthy trade, suddenly saw in Iossarian the focus of those dark forces that caused the death of her romantic admirer. She pursues Yossarian with a knife and, after he makes a deal with Koshkart and Korn, stabs him, causing him to be hospitalized again, and for the first time for good reason.

When Yossarian comes to, he learns two things. Firstly, his wound is trifling and his life is out of danger, and secondly, for propaganda purposes, a rumor spreads around the base that he suffered, blocking the way for a Nazi assassin who was tasked to kill both Koshkart and Korn. Yossarian becomes ashamed of his weakness and tries to cancel the deal. To this, he is informed that in this case he will be handed over to the tribunal, because along with the report that Iossarian was stabbed by a Nazi saboteur, there is a second report, according to which he was "stabbed by an innocent girl whom he tried to involve in illegal operations on black market, sabotage and the sale of our military secrets to the Germans."

Jossarian's position is extremely precarious. His conscience does not allow him to make a deal with the Main Enemy, but he also does not really like the prospect of toiling in prison with criminals. There is no one to look for protection. Milo Minderbinder has always been more powerful than Koshkart, but now they are united. Lieutenant Minderbinder made the colonel his second in command of the syndicate, and he arranged for other people's sorties to be assigned to Minderbinder so that he would be considered a real hero. Actually, all business people at the military base have united into a single whole, and resistance is useless against this monopoly.

After painful deliberation, Yossarian decides to defect to Sweden, and his immediate superior, Major Danby, finds no arguments to dissuade him. Moreover, he gives him money for the journey. Wish him success and the regimental chaplain. Yossarian goes out the door, and again Netley's girlfriend attacks him with a knife. "A flashing knife almost ripped open Yossarian's shirt, and he disappeared around the corner of the corridor." The escape begins.

S. B. Belov

(The Grass Harp)

Roman (1951)

Collin Fenwick was orphaned at the age of eleven - first his mother died, and a few days later his father died in a car accident; he was taken in by his father's unmarried cousins ​​Viren and Dolly Talbo. Virena is the richest woman in the town: she owns a pharmacy, a ready-made dress shop, a gas station, a grocery store; having acquired all this good, she by no means became an accommodating person.

Dolly is quiet and inconspicuous; although she is older, it seems that she is also Virena's adoptive - just like Colleen. There is also a cook in the house, Catherine Creek, a black woman posing as an Indian, she grew up with her sisters, their father took her into the service as a girl. Dolly, Colleen and Katherine are friends despite their age difference. Virena is ashamed of her family - they do not have guests, and in the town they gossip that Dolly Talbo does not have enough screws and that she is Virenin's cross. Dolly is really unsociable, but wise in everything that concerns nature. Once a week, Dolly, Katherine, and Colleen go into the woods to gather herbs and roots for an dropsy remedy that Dolly brews from a childhood recipe from an old gypsy woman and sends to customers across the state. During such sorties, they settled in a tree house.

Passing a field overgrown with Indian grass, which by autumn turns purple and so hard that its rustling and ringing are like the sounds of a harp, they went out to the edge of the forest, where a plane tree grows with a double trunk, in the fork of which boards are laid, so that a tree house is obtained. The outgrowths on its bark are like steps, and the lashes of wild grapes that entangle the trunks serve as railings. Having hidden provisions on a tree, they dispersed in different directions, and having filled the bags, climbed into a plane tree, ate chicken, jam and cake, guessed by flowers, and it seemed to them that they were floating through the day on a raft in the branches of a tree, merging with this tree in one, like the foliage silvering in the sun, like the nightjars living in it.

Somehow they calculated the proceeds from the sale of the drug for the year - it turned out to be such that Virena became interested: she had a nose for money.

Collin was sixteen years old when Virena returned one day from another trip to Chicago with a certain Dr. Maurice Ritz - bow ties, suits of flashy colors, blue lips, piercing eyes. Shame and disgrace, they said in the town, that Virena had hooked up with this Jew from Chicago, who was also twenty years younger than her. On Sunday, the doctor received an invitation to dinner. Dolly wanted to sit in the kitchen, but Virena would not allow it, and although Dolly broke the crystal vase, dropping it into the sauce, which splashed the guest, Virena insisted that this dinner was arranged in her honor. Dr. Ritz pulled out a stack of pre-printed "Old Gypsy's Potion Banishes Dropsy" stickers, and Virena said she had bought an abandoned cannery on the outskirts of town, ordered equipment, and hired Maurice Ritz, an invaluable specialist, to commercialize Dolly's potion. But Dolly flatly refuses to open the recipe, showing uncharacteristic firmness. "It's the only thing I have," she says. In the evening, the sisters quarrel: Virena declares that she has worked all her life like an ox and everything in this house belongs to her; Dolly whispers back that she and Katherine have been trying all their lives to make this house warm and cozy for her and thought that there was a place for them here, and if it wasn’t, then they would leave tomorrow. "Where will you go!" - Virena threw, but Collin, who is eavesdropping in the attic, has already guessed where.

At night, Dolly, Katherine, and Colleen go into the woods, to the tree house, with a warm blanket, a bag of provisions, and forty-seven dollars, all they have.

They are first discovered by Riley Henderson, who hunts squirrels in the forest. At the age of fifteen, he was left without parents with two younger sisters in care: his father, a missionary, was killed in China, and his mother was in an insane asylum. The guardian uncle tried to pocket the mother's inheritance. Rally exposed him and since then has become his own master: he bought a car, drove around the neighborhood with all the whores of the town and raised his sisters in severity. Riley is also an outsider in the town, and he enjoyed being in the tree.

Virena, having found Dolly's note in the morning, announces a search. She managed to send out many telegrams with their signs, when it becomes known that they are very close. A whole delegation of town officials comes to the tree: the sheriff, the pastor and his wife; they are accompanied by the old Judge Cool; on behalf of Virena, they demand the return of the fugitives, threatening to use force. Judge Cool unexpectedly turns out to be an ally of those in the tree - he explains that no one has broken the law. After a slight scuffle, the high delegation withdrew, and the old judge remained in the tree.

Judge Kulu was in his seventies; he graduated from Harvard, traveled to Europe twice, had a wife from Kentucky, always dressed well and wore a flower in his buttonhole. For all this, he was disliked in the town. After the death of his wife (she died in Europe; when she became ill, he resigned as district judge to take her to where they spent their honeymoon), he was left out of work: his two sons and their wives divided the house equally, agreeing that the old man lives for a month in each family. It is not surprising that the tree house seemed cozy to him ...

In the evening, Rally returned - with an apology that he unwittingly betrayed the fugitives, with provisions and with news: the sheriff persuaded Virena to allow her to sign a warrant for their arrest for stealing her property, and he intends to arrest the judge for disturbing the peace.

In the morning, the sheriff dragged Katherine to jail; Collin managed to escape, but Dolly and the judge escaped by climbing even higher into the tree. The fugitives got off easy because the sheriff was brought the news of Virena's robbery by Dr. Ritz: he cleared the safer offices, taking $ 12, embezzled money for the purchase of equipment and disappeared. From such a blow of fate, Virena became seriously ill,

On Saturday, a van arrived in town, adorned with a homemade shield with the inscription: "Let little Homer lasso your soul for our Lord," and in the van came Sister Ida with fifteen of her children, born of different men. The Renovationists' prayer meeting was to the liking of the townspeople, the donations turned out to be so generous that they aroused the furious envy of Pastor Buster, who, having lied to Viren that Sister Ida allegedly called Dolly Talbo an apostate and non-Christ, forced her to call the sheriff and order the Renovationists to be expelled from the town. The sheriff obeyed, and Reverend Buster took by force all the money he had collected from the children. Ida wants to find Dolly to "fix it" because they are left with no money, no food, and no gas.

Upon learning of this, Dolly, horrified that they are tearing a piece out of the children’s mouths in her name, goes to meet her and leads the whole horde to the tree. The children are fed, Dolly gives Ida her forty-seven dollars and the judge's gold watch, but Virena, the pastor, the sheriff and his henchmen with guns are heading towards them. The boys, climbing the trees, greet intruders with a hail of stones and the noise of rattles and whistles; shooting at random, one of the sheriff's henchmen shoots Riley. A thunderstorm starts.

Against this tragic background, Dolly and Virena's explanation takes place. Virena, seeing the new Dolly, Dolly, who was proposed by Judge Cool and who throws in her face that, in fact, a little honor on behalf of Talbo, if, hiding behind him, they rob children and throw old women into prison, breaks down and grows old before our eyes; Virena begs her sister to return home, not to leave her alone in the house where everything was created and lived in by Dolly.

The fugitives returned, but for a long time their life was divided into before and after these three autumn days spent on the tree. The judge left the house of his sons and settled in a boarding house. Virena and Colleen caught a cold in the rain, Dolly nursed them until she came down herself with creeping pneumonia. Not fully recovered, she enthusiastically creates a fancy dress for Collin for the All Saints' Day party and, painting it, dies from a blow. A year later, Collin leaves the town where he grew up; in parting, his legs themselves lead him to a tree; frozen by a field of Indian grass, he recalls how Dolly said: "The grass rings with a harp, she collects all our stories, she tells them day and night, this harp that sounds in different voices ..."

G. Yu. Shulga

(another country)

Roman (1962)

The action takes place mainly in New York in the sixties of our century. Rufus, a talented young black musician, meets Leona, a southerner. The woman has a difficult fate: her husband left her, taking the child, and the most difficult thing was that her relatives did not help her at this difficult moment. Rufus and Leona fell in love and decide to live together. But even the relatively free mores of Greenwich Village are unbearable for them. Rufus acutely feels that the world around him is hostile to their relationship - the love of a black man and a white woman: he seemed to bristle against them.

In Rufus, the former complexes of an outcast from Harlem wake up, which, as it seemed to him, he defeated by moving to Greenwich Village and meeting with a free circle of artistic bohemians, devoid of racial prejudice. Internal restlessness makes Rufus. to look for reasons to quarrel with Leona, tides of passion alternate with acute alienation, when Rufus insults Leona and even beats.

Leona loses her mind from grief, she is placed in a psychiatric hospital, where her brother visits her and takes her home to the South. Rufus, who during this time has managed to turn from a class drummer into a drunkard and for this reason lost his job, wanders the streets of New York, tormented by belated remorse. Exhausted from fatigue and hunger, he comes to his friend Vivaldo, a novice writer, but even the sincere friendship of the latter, who has been looking for Rufus all this time, does not save him from unbearable loneliness, and he commits suicide by throwing himself off the bridge.

Rufus' environment reacts differently to his death. Richard Silensky, a writer who pursued commercial success and thereby buried his talent, believes that Rufus himself is to blame for what happened to him. His wife Cass, a smart and strong woman who has always admired the talent and spiritual qualities of a black musician, believes that they, his friends, could have done more for Rufus - he should have been saved. Ida, Rufus's sister, thinks the same way: if the brother had been with his family, among people with dark skin, he would not have been allowed to die. The brother's trouble was that he was too sensitive and did not know how to defend himself. At the funeral of Rufus, where Vivaldo and Cass come, the priest says in a sermon that Rufus broke loose in vain, left home, stopped going to church. As a result, he remained, as it were, unprotected, was terribly lonely, and therefore died. This world is filled with the dead, says the priest, they walk the streets, some even hold public office, and those who try to live like Rufus have to suffer.

Longing for the departed Rufus brings Vivaldo and Ida closer, they see each other more and more often and do not notice how they become necessary to each other. Vivaldo loves for the first time in his life: he had many adventures, but never a deep feeling. Both of them are artistic natures - Vivaldo writes a novel, Ida dreams of becoming a singer, both of them have a difficult life experience behind them.

Vivaldo introduces Ida to his circle of friends - there is a good reason: Richard Silensky is celebrating the release of his book. Richard is Vivaldo's teacher, a teacher not only figuratively, but also literally: he taught at the school where Vivaldo studied. The young man continues to see him as a mentor even after school. He kindly envies Richard's success - his own novel moves forward very slowly, but after reading the book, he remains disappointed. Richard took the easy way out, betraying their common ideals, writing his novel as a smart craftsman, not an artist with a bleeding soul. Vivaldo himself is a maximalist, for him an example to follow is Dostoevsky.

Richard also has new friends - not the impoverished bohemian of Greenwich Village, but large publishers, literary agents, show business and television bosses (his novel is going to be filmed). One day, while visiting the Silensky couple, Vivaldo and Ida meet a certain Ellis, a major television producer. He is amazed by the beauty of Ida - if she also has talent in addition, he promises to help her advance. Vivaldo hears the compliments given to Ida, and a wave of hatred rises in his soul for those who are sure that everything in the world can be bought.

Actor Eric Jones returns to New York from Paris - he was invited to play in a Broadway production. He is bisexual and fled New York a few years ago to escape his unrequited passion for the handsome Rufus. The complexities of Eric's sexual orientation are rooted in his childhood spent in the South, in the state of Alabama. Cold relations in the family, the indifference of the parents made the boy timid, unsure of himself. The only person who is kind to him is the Negro Henry, the stoker, in his boiler room Eric spent long hours listening to the stories of the man.

In Paris, Eric finally gained self-confidence, he is no longer tormented by the thought of his "feature", he accepted it and learned to live with it. In art, Eric does not tolerate compromises, he is extremely demanding of himself and has achieved a lot in his business. When he comes to visit Silensky, the sensitive Cass instantly catches the difference between the former Eric and the one who returned to them after years of separation. Eric, ruthlessly analyzing himself and his actions, is not at all like Richard, or rather, the person that her husband has become. In Richard came the self-confidence of mediocrity; now he usually carries himself arrogantly and treats old friends condescendingly. Cass, never concerned with purely commercial success - even for the sake of the children, is deeply disappointed in her husband. Was it worth it to give up a lot for the sake of his success, if this success is fake?

A rift is brewing between Cass and Richard. Cass does not speak openly about her discontent, she withdraws into herself, and her husband is silent. Now Cass walks alone for a long time: being at home is torture for her. On one of these walks, she visits Eric. A romance begins between them: each understands that their relationship is temporary, but feels an irresistible need for the warmth and support of the other.

Meanwhile, Ida gives her first concert - still in a small bar in Greenwich Village. A very sophisticated and spoiled audience accepts the young singer well, despite her untrained voice, the lack of the necessary technique, because she makes up for all this with an inimitable individual manner - a mysterious property that has no name. At the same time, Vivaldo learns that Ellis secretly supports the girl, pays for her classes with a famous teacher, etc. The young man is not sure of anything, but, knowing people like Ellis, he guesses that they do nothing for nothing. He is tormented, jealous, suffering, and ... suddenly he starts to get along with the novel - he is enthusiastically working on a book.

Crisis relationships within both couples are resolved almost simultaneously.

Once, when Cass, as usual, comes home late, Richard calls her to a frank conversation, and the straightforward Cass lays everything out as it is: about her doubts about their marriage, and about her relationship with Eric. The reaction of her husband shocks Cass: there is so much torment in his eyes that she suddenly has hope - what if their love has not died? Now they both have a lot to reconsider and rethink in order to save what is left of their former love, and maybe revive.

Ida also confesses to Vivaldo in treason, but confession is harder for her than Cass. She has an excuse - she is attracted to Eric, she respects him, their feelings are at least sincere - Ida, in fact, has sold herself. Gritting her teeth, she tells Vivaldo with a stone face what it means to be a black girl in a world dominated by white men. When Rufus committed suicide, Ida decided that she would not go his way, but would be able to resist the world and get everything she wanted from him, in any way. When Ellis appeared, Ida realized that after having an affair with him, if she behaved smartly, she would mean something in and of herself. After parting with Ellis, she returned to Vivaldo, hating and despising herself, and, approaching the house, prayed that her beloved was absent. This continued until one evening when a band member, a friend of her late brother, called her a black bedding for whites. And then she decided: everything! Whether Vivaldo stays with her or not, she will not return to Ellis anyway.

Vivaldo is difficult to answer. In the end, he hugs the sobbing Ida and silently presses her to his chest. So they stand for a long time - like two exhausted, unhappy children ...

V. I. Bernatskaya

(A Good Man is Hard to Find)

Story (1955)

The story takes place in the south of the United States in the state of Georgia. The head of the Bailey family wants to take his children - eight-year-old son John, daughter June, wife with a baby and his mother to Florida. But Bailey's mother, the children's grandmother, is trying to dissuade the family from going there. First, they were already there last summer, and second, and most importantly, the newspapers say that a criminal named Outcast has escaped from a federal prison and is heading to Florida. All grandmother's admonitions are useless, the whole family gets into the car and leaves Atlanta, the day is beautiful, grandmother talks about her youth, points to the sights of the region, all the travelers who have begun the long-awaited trip are in high spirits. On the way, they stop for a bite to eat at a roadside cafe. The mood gets even better when they throw a coin into the jukebox, listen to the Tennessee Waltz, and then June taps to the rhythm of other music. The owner of the cafe, nicknamed Red Sam, enters the ensuing conversation and, complaining about his life, says that, no matter how hard you try, you still remain fools. For example, last week he lent gas to some crooks, and they drove off in their car, and he never saw them again. To the rhetorical question why it always happens to him, the grandmother replies that, apparently, the reason is that he is a good person. Red Sam agrees with his grandmother and clarifies that nowadays it is not easy to find a good person, you can’t trust anyone, not like before, when, leaving the house, you could not close the door.

After visiting the cafe, the Bailey family continues on their way. Grandmother sleeps sweetly in the back seat, but when they drive through the city of Toomsboro, she wakes up and suddenly remembers that somewhere in the neighborhood there is an old plantation, a beautiful house, an oak alley with gazebos. Although she was there a long time ago, even in her younger years, the grandmother claims that she remembers the road well and insists that this local landmark must be visited by all means. The son and daughter-in-law do not want to turn aside so as not to waste time on the road, but the grandmother manages to interest the children, and they get their father's consent to turn back and drive to the plantation along a country road. Bailey grumbles, because the road is very dusty and uneven, it is clear that no one has driven on it for a long time. Suddenly, the grandmother realizes that she was mistaken: the plantation is not in Georgia, but in Tennessee. Suddenly, the car overturns and falls down a slope. Nobody died, but Bailey's wife broke her shoulder and injured her face. Bailey glares at her mother, silent and glaring. There is no one nearby, cars, most likely, do not drive on this road. But then, in the distance, near the forest, some kind of car appears on a hill. Grandmother waves her hands and calls for help. Three men are sitting in the car that drove up to the victims. The face of one of them seems familiar to the grandmother. Looking closer, she realizes that this is the same Outcast, which she read about in the newspaper. Seeing a gun in one of the men, the grandmother begs the Outcast not to do anything wrong to them. She says he must be a good person at heart. The Outcast orders a man with a revolver to take Bailey and John into the woods. They are going away. Grandmother, greatly alarmed, assures the Outcast that he can still become an honest person, can settle down if he only prays to God. Two shots rang out in the forest, escalating the situation even more. Outcast begins to tell his grandmother about his restless life. Meanwhile, the Outcast's companions, Bobby Lee and Hyrum, emerge from the woods with Bailey's shirt in hand. The outcast asks Bailey's wife and children to join hands and follow the returned men back to the forest, where they can see their relatives gone there. Left alone, the grandmother tries again to convince the Outcast to pray to God. When a desperate scream is heard from the forest, followed by shots, the grandmother, distraught, asks the Outcast not to kill her. She again calls out to Jesus Christ, which infuriates the bandit even more. Grandmother touches the Outcast with her hand, saying: "You are my son. You are one of my children." The outcast jumps back as if stung by a snake and shoots the old woman three times in the chest. And then he orders his partners to carry her body into the forest.

Ya. V. Nikitin

(Sophie's Choice)

Roman (1979)

New York, Brooklyn, 1947. The beginning writer Stingo, on behalf of whom the story is being built, set out to conquer literary America. However, he has nothing to brag about. Work as a reviewer in a fairly large publishing house turns out to be short, it is not possible to make useful literary contacts, and money is running out.

The story is multi-layered. This is Stingo's autobiography. And also the story of Sophie, a young Polish Zofia Zawiszka, who went through the hell of Auschwitz. And a "cruel romance" stretching over many pages - a description of the fatal love of Zofya and Nathan Landau, Stingo's neighbors in a cheap boarding house in Brooklyn. This is a novel about fascism and partly a treatise on world evil.

Stingo is busy working on his first novel from the life of his native South, in which connoisseurs of Styron's work will easily recognize his own debut novel, Lurk in the Dark. But in the gloomy gothic world of passions that Stingo seeks to recreate, other material bursts. The story of Zofya's life, which that fragment by fragment tells a pretty neighbor in moments of fear and despair caused by another quarrel with the quarrelsome Nathan, makes Stingo think about what fascism is.

One of his most interesting observations is the conclusion about the peaceful coexistence of two life layers-antagonists. So, he reflects, on the same day that the liquidation of the next batch of Jews delivered by the echelon was carried out in Auschwitz, the recruit Stingo wrote a cheerful letter to his father from the Marine Corps training camp in North Carolina. Genocide and "almost comfort" act as parallels, which, if they intersect, then in a foggy infinity. The fate of Zofya reminds Stingo that neither he nor his compatriots really knew about fascism. His personal contribution was to arrive at the theater of operations when the war, in fact, was already over.

Poland, the thirties… Zofya is the daughter of Begansky, professor of law at Krakow University. Her husband Casimir also teaches mathematics there. Somewhere in the distance, fascism is already raising its head, people are falling into camps, but the walls of a cozy professorial apartment protect Zofya from sad facts. She does not immediately trust Stingo what she kept secret from Nathan. Her father was by no means an anti-fascist who saved Jews at the risk of his own life. The respectable jurist, on the other hand, was an ardent anti-Semite and composed the pamphlet The Jewish Problem in Poland. Can National Socialism Solve It? The legal scholar was essentially proposing what the Nazis would later call the "Final Solution." At the request of his father, Zofia had to retype the manuscript for a publisher. Her father's views terrify her, but the shock quickly passes, obscured by family concerns.

... 1939 Poland is occupied by the Nazis. Professor Begansky hopes to be useful to the Reich as an expert on national issues, but his fate is sealed by XNUMX% Aryans. As a representative of an inferior Slavic race, great Germany does not need him. Together with his son-in-law, Zofia's husband, he ends up in a concentration camp, where both die. Stingo listens to "Polish history", and he regularly captures on paper the images of his native South. Nathan shows interest in his work, reads excerpts from the novel and praises Stingo, not out of politeness, but because he really believes in the literary talent of his boarding housemate. At the same time, poor Stingo has to be alone responsible for all the excesses of relations between blacks and whites in this region of America, Nathan's philippics sound unfair, but the irony of fate is that Stingo's current relative well-being is rooted in the distant past and is associated with a family drama. It turns out that the money sent to him by his father and allowing him to continue working on the novel is part of the amount raised in ancient times by his great-grandfather from the sale of a young slave nicknamed the Artist. He was unfairly accused by a hysterical girl of harassment, and then it turned out that she had slandered him. Great-grandfather made a lot of efforts to find the young man and redeem him, but he seemed to have disappeared. The sad fate of the Artist, who most likely found an untimely death on the plantations, becomes the foundation on which the aspiring artist, who gravitates towards depicting the dark sides of reality, tries to build his writing future. True, most of this money will be stolen from Stingo, and he will be visited by a double sense of annoyance and accomplishment of historical justice.

Gets from Nathan and Zofie. He is not only unreasonably jealous of the various characters in the novel, but in moments of rage he accuses her of anti-Semitism, of how she dared to survive when the Jews from Poland practically all perished in the gas chambers. But even here there is a grain of truth in Nathan's reproaches, although it is not for him to judge his beloved. Nevertheless, more and more confessions of Zofia create the image of a woman desperately trying to adapt to an abnormal existence, to make a pact with evil - and again and again failing.

Zofia faces a problem: to take part in the resistance movement or stay away. Zofia decides not to take risks: after all, she has children, a daughter Eva and a son Jan, and she convinces herself that she is primarily responsible for their lives.

But by the will of circumstances, she still ends up in a concentration camp. As a result of another raid on the underground, she is detained, and as soon as she has forbidden ham (all meat is the property of the Reich), she is sent to where she was so afraid to go - to Auschwitz.

At the price of a separate peace with evil, Zofia tries to save her loved ones and loses them one by one. Zofya's mother dies, finding herself without support, and upon arrival in Auschwitz, fate in the form of a drunken SS man invites her to decide which of the children to leave and which to lose in the gas chamber. If she refuses to make a choice, both will be sent to the furnace, and after painful hesitation, she leaves her son Jan.

And in the camp, Zofia makes a desperate effort to fit in. Having temporarily become the secretary-typist of the all-powerful commandant Höss, she will try to rescue Jan. The treatise saved by her would also come in handy. She will declare herself a convinced anti-Semite and champion of the ideas of National Socialism. She is ready to become Höss's mistress, but all her efforts go to waste. The head jailer, who began to show interest in her, is transferred to Berlin, and she is returned to the general barracks, and attempts to alleviate the fate of her son will be futile. She is no longer destined to see Jan.

Gradually, Stingo understands what keeps her in Nathan's company. At one time, he did not let her die in Brooklyn, he did everything - with the help of his doctor brother Aarry - so that she recovered from the shocks and malnutrition and gained the strength to continue to live. Gratitude makes her endure Nathan's insane jealousy, fits of rage, during which he not only insults, but also beats her.

Soon Stingo learns the sad truth. Larry tells him that his brother is not a talented biologist, working on a project that Nathan assures him will win him a Nobel Prize. Nathan Landau is naturally brilliantly gifted, but a severe mental illness prevented him from fulfilling himself. The family spared no effort and money for his treatment, but the efforts of psychiatrists did not bring the desired result. Nathan does work for a pharmaceutical company, but as a modest librarian, and talk about science, about the upcoming discovery - all this is a distraction.

Nevertheless, in another period of relative mental well-being, Nathan informs Stingo of his intention to marry Zofia, and that the three of them will go south to Stingo's "family farm", where they will rest properly.

Of course, plans remain plans. Nathan has a new attack, and Zofya hurriedly leaves the house. However, Nathan calls her and Stingo on the phone and promises to shoot them both. As a sign of the seriousness of his intentions, he fires a pistol, so far into space.

At Stingo's urging, Zofia leaves New York in his company. They go to Stingo's farm. It is during this journey that the hero manages to part with his virginity, which by no means adorned the Gothic artist. Stingo made several attempts to become a man, but in America in the late forties the ideas of free love were not popular. Ultimately, the aspiring American writer got what, due to circumstances, was denied to the commandant of Auschwitz. A sufferer and victim of total violence, Zofia at the same time acts as the embodiment of Erotica.

However, waking up after an intoxicating night, Stingo realizes that he is in room one. Zofia could not bear the separation from Nathan and, having changed her mind, returns to New York. Stingo immediately goes after her, realizing that, most likely, he was already too late to prevent the inevitable from happening. The last dilemma offered by the fate of Zofia - to stay with Stingo or die with Nathan, she decides unambiguously. She had already chosen life too many times - at the cost of the death of others. Now she does things differently. Rejecting the possibility of a comfortable existence, Zofia remains faithful to the man who once saved her - now she has finally connected her fate with him. Like characters in an ancient tragedy, they take poison and die at the same time. Stingo remains to live - and write.

S. B. Belov

(Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf)

Play (1962)

Each act here has its own subtitle: "Games and Fun", "Walpurgis Night", "Exorcism".

Forty-six-year-old George, Ph.D., a teacher at a New England college, and his wife Martha (she is six years older than her husband) return home late at night after receiving Martha's father, the president of the same college. Already on the threshold, they begin to conduct a habitual skirmish between themselves, which has been going on continuously for many years.

Over the years, Martha and George have learned to pretty much torture each other, each knows the vulnerabilities of the other and "hit without a miss." The husband did not live up to Martha's expectations: she and her father once hoped that George would become the dean of the Faculty of History, and later - his father's successor, that is, the rector. Actually, Martha chose her husband in this way - with an eye to first attach him to the first hierarchical step, and then sculpt him in the image and likeness of her father-in-law and eventually solemnly elevate him to the highest teaching rank. But George was not as accommodating as expected - this living man had his own idea of ​​\uXNUMXb\uXNUMXbhis fate, but was not strong enough to oppose his will to Martha's pragmatic ambition. However, he had enough strength to confuse all the plans of the rector's family and even dare to write a novel, which aroused such a strong disgust in the rector that he snatched a promise from his son-in-law not to publish it in any case. It was then that Martha declared war on her husband, which takes away all the strength from the spouses, exhausts and withers them.

George and Martha are extraordinary people, they speak brilliantly, and their verbal duel is an inexhaustible source of caustic witticisms, brilliant paradoxes and well-aimed aphorisms. After another squabble, Martha announces to her husband that she is expecting guests - her father asked to "sip" the younger generation of the college.

Soon guests appear - biology teacher Nick, a pragmatic and cold young man, with his wife Hani, a nondescript thin girl. Next to the courageous George and Martha, this couple looks somewhat frozen: the young spouses are clearly not in control of the situation. Nick is a handsome young man, and George quickly realizes that Martha is not averse to having fun with a new teacher, hence the hasty invitation to visit. George, accustomed to the constant tricks of his wife, such a discovery is only amusing; his only request to his wife is not to mention their son in a word.

However, Martha, who went out for a short time with Honey, not only manages to dress up in her best evening dress, but also informs the young woman that she and George have a son who turns twenty-one tomorrow. George is furious. A new series of mutual injections and open insults begins. Drunk Honey from all this becomes ill, and Martha drags her into the bathroom.

Left alone with Nick, George chooses him as a new target for attacks, drawing prospects for Nick's promotion and prophetically declaring that he can achieve a lot by currying favor with professors and lying in bed with their wives. Nick does not deny that such a thing occurred to him. He does not really understand what is happening in this house, what the relationship between the spouses really is, and either laughs at George's witticisms, or is ready to fight with his fists. In a moment of candor, Nick reveals that he married Honey without love, just because he thought she was pregnant. And the pregnancy was imaginary, hysterical - the stomach quickly fell off. But there are other reasons, George suggests. Perhaps money? Nick does not deny that Hani's father headed a certain sect, and after his death, the fortune he acquired on the feelings of believers turned out to be very impressive.

While a drunk Honey rests on the tiled bathroom floor, Martha takes Nick to her bedroom. Although before that George pretended to be completely indifferent to the affair, now in a rage he throws the book that he had previously held in his hand, it touches the door bells, and they hit one another with a desperate rattle. The ringing wakes Honey, and she, still not quite recovered from her dizziness, appears in the living room. "Who called?" - she asks, George announces to her that they brought a telegram about the death of their son with Martha. He hasn't told Martha yet - she doesn't know anything.

This news impresses even Hani, who is indifferent to everything, drunken tears appear in her eyes.

George, on the other hand, smiles solemnly: he has prepared the next move: Marte - checkmate ...

It's almost dawn. Martha is in the living room. She struggles to overcome her disgust at being close to Nick ("in some ways, you don't really shine"). Martha speaks with sad sadness about their relationship with George, she speaks not to Nick, but into space:

"George and Martha - sad, sad, sad ... He can make me happy, but I don't want happiness and still expect happiness." Here even Nick, with his dull straightforwardness, realizes that not everything is so simple in this domestic war - apparently, once these two were united by a feeling much more sublime than they had with Honey.

George appears, clowning around, fooling around, teasing Martha, hiding with all his might that her infidelity will hurt him. And then he offers to play the game "Grow a Child", inviting guests to listen to how he and Martha raised their son. Martha, who does not expect a trick, loses her vigilance and, joining George, remembers what a healthy son he was, what wonderful toys he had, etc. And then suddenly George strikes a crushing blow, announcing the death of his son. "You have no right," shouts Martha, "he is our common child." - "So what," retorts George, "but I took it and killed him." It finally dawns on Nick that new acquaintances are playing a monstrous and cruel game. These two invented a child, in fact, there is not and never was. Martha blurted out their secret, and George got his revenge, putting an end to their old game.

The long party has come to an end. Nick and Honey finally leave. Silent Martha sits motionless in an armchair.

George asks with unexpected warmth if he wants to get her something to drink. And for the first time, Marta refuses alcohol.

For a long time, the fiction about the son helped Martha and George to while away their lives together, to fill the emptiness of their existence. George's decisive act knocked the usual ground from under his feet. The illusion has been shattered, and they will inevitably have to deal with reality. Now they are just a childless couple, without ideals and lofty aspirations, in the past they made a deal with their own conscience and then piled up deceit upon deceit. But now they have a chance to see themselves for who they are, to be horrified and maybe try to start all over again. After all, unlike Hani and Nick, they are still hot people, full of emotional strength. "It's better that way," George says confidently. Indeed, why should they be "afraid of Virginia Woolf"? But no, wrapping herself up coldly, Martha says wistfully: "I'm afraid ... George ... I'm afraid."

V. I. Bernatskaya

Roman (1975)

1902 President of the United States - Teddy Roosevelt.

City of Kew Rochelle, New York. On the fashionable Avenue of the Outlook, in a house on a hill lined with Norwegian maples, the family lives - Grandfather, Father, Mother, Baby and Mother's Younger Brother (MBM). The life of the family is saturated with spirituality and fanned with goodness.

The kid is extremely passionate about the tricks of escape artist Harry Houdini. By chance, Houdini appears in their house - on the road near the hill, his car breaks down. But now the breakdown is fixed, Houdini is going to leave. The kid stands near the car and looks at his reflection in the copper headlight. "Warn the Archduke," he suddenly says and runs away. Many years later, on the day of the death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Houdini recalls this as the only truly mystical event in his life.

A few days after this incident, Father leaves for a polar expedition. In the ocean, their ship meets a transatlantic liner full of immigrants. This sight has a depressing effect on the Father. Actually, he himself never gets to the pole, because his left heel regularly freezes.

Immigrants: Mom, Dad and Baby. A small room on the Lower East Side. All three work from morning to night. For an extra dollar, Mom succumbs to the harassment of her employer. Tyatya drives her out of the house and, out of grief, turns into a gray-haired crazy old man.

Famous model Evelyn Nesbit is involved in the murder trial of her former lover, architect Stanford White. The killer is her husband Harry Kay Fsou. This process creates the first sex goddess in American history. One day, obeying a whim, she drives into poor neighborhoods and meets Tyatya and Malyshka there. But at a socialist rally, anarchist orator Red Emma Goldman reveals her incognito. Tyatya, terrified, grabs the Baby and disappears. Goldman takes Evelyn to his place. MBM, secretly in love with Evelyn, follows them. When Goldman is giving Evelyn a massage, he suddenly falls out of the closet with a scream of ecstasy. Evelyn takes him as her lover, but very soon runs away from him with the next one. Her husband's trial ends with Fsow being sent to a criminal psychiatric hospital. His lawyers begin divorce negotiations. Evelyn charges a million, but gets only twenty-five thousand.

After the ill-fated rally, Tyatya and Malyshka leave aimlessly. During the next transfer from tram to tram, Mother and Baby pass by them. The children's eyes meet, and Baby forever remembers the color of his eyes: blue with yellow and green spots.

At this point in our history, Theodore Dreiser is suffering from the failure of his first book, Sister Carrie. Sigmund Freud arrives in America to give a series of lectures. The obese man William Howard Taft becomes President of the United States, and gluttony becomes fashionable. Actor Harry Houdini learns to fly an airplane. Images of Ancient Egypt capture all minds.

The great financier Jay Pierpont Morgan invites Henry Ford, the inventor of the assembly line, to his white marble library built to house the books and art that Morgan is buying up around the world. He expounds to Ford his theory of transcendentally gifted individuals. Ford acknowledges the possibility of his sacred origins. Subsequently, they establish an exclusive club that finances certain searches.

In New Rochelle, Mother finds a newborn black baby buried in the ground, but still alive. An hour later, in the basement of a house on the next block, the police find a very young black woman named Sarah. The mother leaves her and the baby in the house. Together with them, a feeling of trouble settles in the house.

Dad and Baby now live in Lawrence, Massachusetts. For the entertainment of Baby, he makes books from his silhouettes - such paper cartoons. At the weaving factory where he works, a strike breaks out. The strike committee suggests that Tyata send Malyshka to Philadelphia. But at the moment of the solemnly organized departure of the children, the police disperse the workers with shots. Tyatya and Malyshka miraculously manage to jump on the train. The strike has been won, but Tyatya no longer wants to go to the factory. Wandering the streets of Philadelphia with him, Baby notices the window of a fun toy store. Tyatya immediately goes to the store owner and concludes a contract with him for the production of cartoon books. So Tyatya's life flows into the flow of American energy.

Coalhouse Walker Jr., an elegant, self-confident black pianist, appears at a house in New Rochelle. This is Sarina's baby's father. Since then, he has been driving every Sunday, proposing to Sarah, but she does not want to see him. One day he is invited to the house. At the request of the Father, he sits down at the piano, performs ragtime and conquers everyone with his game. Only in March, Sarah finally agrees.

MBM is now in charge of the fireworks department of Father's pyrotechnic enterprise. His latest invention strongly resembles a bomb. He realizes that he can improve many types of weapons. While trying to track down Evelyn Nesbit, he accidentally ends up at a congress in support of the Mexican revolution, after which he meets with Emma Goldman. Returning to New Rochelle between the cars of the milk train, he ponders whether to throw himself under the wheels. The noise of the train reminds him of the sounds of raggame - suicide reg.

One Sunday, Coalhouse's car is suddenly blocked at the fire station. Firemaster Willie Conklin claims that this is supposedly a private toll road. Coalhouse goes for the policeman, but he does not even consider it necessary to go to the scene. When he returns, Coalhouse finds his Ford T filthy and broken. He demands to wash and fix the car. The police arrive. The next day, Father posts bail and Coalhouse is released. His father recommends that he contact a lawyer. But none of the lawyers is willing to help Coalhouse. White - because he is a black man, black - because he is rich. He tries in vain to go to court himself, just as vainly writes a complaint at the police station. Here Sarah decides to protect her fiancé herself. But her scream from the crowd welcoming Vice President Jim Sherman draws the attention of the police. Father and Mother find Sarah in the hospital. Coalhouse does not leave her bed. By the end of the week, Sarah dies of beatings. With the wedding money, Coalhouse gives her a luxurious funeral.

And now he's on the warpath. Blows up two fire stations. Leaves letters in the editorial offices of local newspapers, in which he demands the trial of fireman Willie Conklin and the repair of the car. Threaten with terror. Panic begins in the city. All blacks are hiding. The father goes to the police and tells them everything he knows about Coalhouse.

MBM has been on Coalhouse's side from the start. Finding his military headquarters in the bowels of Harlem, he offers his help as a bomber. He shaves his head and paints his face with burnt cork, so as not to differ from the young Negroes - Coalhouse's assistants.

The family moves to Atlantic City, away from these events. Mother is quite pleased with the company that gathers there. Foreigners seem to her more interesting than compatriots. Baron Ashkenazy, a successful film businessman, falls into her field of vision. This is another transformation of Tyati. Now his concern is for Baby to forget all their sad past. Baby and Baby become inseparable friends.

But the Coalhouse story continues. Father is called to New York.

Coalhouse and his comrades infiltrate Pierpont Morgan's library and threaten to destroy it. The library is mined. The police are headquartered in the building across the street. New York District Attorney Charles Es Whitman arrives there. He understands that he is embroiled in a politically dangerous case. Emma Goldman, when arrested, makes a statement in support of Coalhouse, which ends up in the newspapers. The most famous negro of his time, the great educator Booker T. Washington, on the contrary, condemns this action. Whitman asks Washington to use its authority to resolve the situation. Booker T. Washington and Coalhouse converse among great works of art and historical treasures. Coalhouse agrees to turn himself in, but the assistants must be released and Willie Conklin must fix the car himself. Here comes a telegram from J.P. Morgan. Morgan demands to hand over the car and then hang Coalhouse. The car is pulled out of the pond. The father is sent to the library as an intermediary and then remains as an official hostage. With amazement, he meets his brother-in-law there, who safely leaves at night with the rest of his comrades-in-arms in a finally repaired Ford T. After they leave, Coalhouse asks the Father to tell him about his son, every last detail. Two hours later, Coalhouse walks out into the street with his hands up. A squad of police shoot him point-blank.

Coalhouse's associates give MBM an ill-fated Ford. On it, the MBM goes to Mexico, where it participates in the Mexican revolution on the side of the rebels. As a result of his activities as a bomber, he stalls and eventually dies in a firefight with government troops.

Woodrow Wilson becomes President of the United States. The Peace Palace opens in The Hague. A conference of socialists is taking place in Vienna. Abstract artists appear in Paris. Pierpont Morgan travels to Egypt to spend the night inside the pyramid and learn the essence of ancient philosophy. But he only gets a runny nose and bedbug bites. Soon he dies in Rome. His death is followed by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Harry Houdini, remembering the prophecy of the Kid, pays a visit to New Rochelle, but does not find anyone. Grandpa is no more. Mother, Baby and Negro Coalhouse Walker Third on the coast of Maine, where Mother poses for the artist Winslow Homer. Father in Washington is negotiating the introduction of new types of weapons invented by the MBM. In 1915 he went to London on the British ship "Lusitania" with the first batch of grenades and bombs for the allies. A German submarine torpedoes the ship and the Father is killed. An immigrant in this life, like every person, in his last expedition, he arrives at the shores of His Essence. A year later, Mother marries Tyatya. They move to California. The movie business is booming. The era of ragtime is over.

G. Yu. Shulga

Roman (1960)

Twenty-six-year-old Harry Engstrom, nicknamed Rabbit, lives in the village of Daunt Judge near Brewer, Pennsylvania. He is married, his son Nelson is growing up, but there is no trace of family happiness. Family obligations weigh heavily on the hero. Janice's wife drinks, and her pregnancy does not fill Rabbit with pride from the knowledge that replenishment awaits their family. Once upon a time, back in school, he was an excellent basketball player, and the accuracy of his shots became a legend that stepped beyond the borders of his native district. But Rabbit did not make a sports career, instead he advertises various kitchen appliances like a miracle grater, and memories of past exploits only increase the hero’s longing and the feeling that his life has definitely failed.

Another quarrel with his unloved wife leads to the fact that he gets into the car and drives aimlessly, as if hoping to break out of the vicious circle of everyday worries and troubles. But, having reached West Virginia, the Rabbit still cannot stand it and, turning the car around, returns to his native Pennsylvania.

Not wanting, however, to return to the hateful house, he comes to Mr. Tothero, his former school coach, and he lets him spend the night. The next day, Tothero introduces him to Ruth Lenard, with whom the Rabbit begins a relationship, which, however, does not resemble love at first sight.

Meanwhile, Janice, worried about her husband's sudden disappearance, moves in with her parents. Her mother insists that the police be involved in the search for the fugitive, but her husband and daughter are against it. They prefer to wait. They come to the aid of a young priest of their parish Jack Eccles. In general, he is distinguished by his desire to help his parishioners, among whom too many need consolation. Sparing neither time nor energy on those entrusted to his care, Eccles is in stark contrast to the parish priest of the Angstroms. Old Kruppenbach does not approve of the "vanity" of his young colleague, believing that the true duty of a clergyman is to set a positive example for his flock by his own exemplary behavior and unshakable faith.

Eccles, however, is eager not only to return the Rabbit to the bosom of the family, but also to help him find himself. He invites him to a game of golf, listens carefully, asks him about life. He finds him a temporary job - to take care of the garden of one of his parishioners, and although she does not promise mountains of gold, this is a good help to the Rabbit who has fallen out of everyday existence.

The relationship between Ruth and Rabbit is slowly improving, but when something similar to intimacy arises between them, Eccles' call returns the hero to the past - Janice was in the hospital and is about to give birth. Rabbit informs Ruth of his decision to return to his wife and try to help her in this difficult hour. This departure becomes a real blow for Ruth, but Rabbit does not intend to change his mind. The birth goes well, Janice gives birth to a girl, and soon the family is reunited again - already four. But the family idyll is short-lived. Seriously ill, and then Mr. Tothero dies, one of the few people in this world whom the Rabbit trusted and who, as it seems to him, understood him. Well, the relationship with Janice just can't get better. Quarrel follows quarrel, and finally the Rabbit leaves the house again.

For a while, Janice hides this from her parents, but she fails to keep the secret for too long. This spat brings her back to alcohol, and soon the irreparable happens. In a state of extreme intoxication, Janice drops the baby in the bath, and she chokes. Harry Engstrom returns again - in order to take part in the funeral ceremony.

Dignity seems to be observed, but there is no peace between the spouses. Another quarrel takes place right in the cemetery, and the Rabbit, as it happened to him more than once, again flees, and in the most direct sense. He runs through the cemetery in zigzags, maneuvering between the tombstones, and after him the voice of Eccles is heard, who tries in vain to stop the hero.

He returns to Ruth, but she doesn't want to see him again. She cannot forgive him for leaving: one night he told her about his desire to return to his wife. It turns out that she became pregnant, badly needed Rabbit's support, but did not receive it. She was going to have an abortion, but did not find the strength to complete her plan. The rabbit persuades her to leave the child, says that it is wonderful that he loves her. But Ruth directly asks if he is ready to marry her. Rabbit mutters, "With pleasure," but Ruth's new questions baffle him. He doesn't know what to do with Janice, how to leave Nelson. Ruth says that if they get married, then she is ready to leave the child, but if he continues to feel sorry for everyone - and no one, then let him know: she died for him, as well as the unborn child.

Rabbit walks away from Ruth in complete confusion. He understands that it is necessary to make some kind of decision, but to make a constructive act is beyond his strength. He walks through the city, and then goes on a run. He runs, as if trying to escape from problems, leaving behind all those difficulties, painful contradictions that poison his life.

And he runs, runs...

S. B. Belov

Roman (1978)

A secluded beach on the Connecticut coast near the fictional town of Greenwood. Jerry Conant and Sally Mathias meet there secretly. Each of them has their own families, children, but they are irresistibly attracted to each other. Again and again they talk about finding the strength to break with the conventions and take the last step towards each other, but it is not easy for each of them to decide on a divorce.

Jerry leaves for Washington on business, Sally asks permission to go with him. Jerry hesitates: after all, one such joint trip miraculously did not lead to a major scandal. Finally, he refuses: they are constantly at risk of being brought to clean water. But Sally is unable to stay without him, and she still appears in Washington.

And this meeting, like many others, is not without anxiety. Sally has to return soon, and there are big problems with plane tickets: a strike by one of the airlines has led to serious disruptions in airports and the cancellation of many flights. Convulsive attempts to get tickets for the return flight greatly poison the few hours that the lovers have carved out for themselves. However, Sally's severe lateness gets away with it. Husband Richard never suspected anything. Jerry's wife Ruth did not sense anything was wrong either.

However, Richard and Ruth are not without sin in this respect. At one time, a connection arose between them, which, however, was soon decisively terminated by Ruth, and the point was not even that she had fears that Jerry was beginning to guess. By her nature, Ruth is simply created for the hearth and does everything to be a good mother and wife. That troubling day in Washington, however, was a turning point in the fate of two families. Shortly after returning to Greenwood, Jerry reveals to Ruth that he is having an affair with Sally and brings up the subject of a divorce. This becomes the beginning of a long and painful showdown between the spouses. At the same time, Ruth admits to Jerry that she also had an affair at one time, but refuses to name with whom exactly. Ruth suggests that Jerry put off making a decision until the end of the summer - during which time he should stop seeing Sally and once again test his feelings for her - and for Ruth too.

Ruth meets with Sally and they also discuss the problem. Sally admits that after appearing in her life, Jerry literally hated her husband and now he simply ceased to exist for her. She says that it was only thanks to Jerry that she learned what love is, and that if Ruth tries to keep her husband by force, she will simply suffocate him.

Ruth assures her that she would not interfere with great love, as soon as it really arose between her husband and another woman, but they have three children and she has no right not to think about their well-being. She asks Sally to stop seeing Jerry until September, but if even then it turns out that their attraction to each other has not weakened, she will not interfere with their union.

Sally and Jerry agree to Ruth's request, but the latter soon suspects that they haven't ended their relationship after all. One day, finding that Jerry's work phone and Sally's home phone are once again busy for a long time, she gets into the car and goes to work with Richard to discuss the situation with him. But nervous tension makes itself felt, and her car gets into an accident. The police do not want to let her go home alone - she is in a semi-shock state, and then Ruth calls Richard and asks to come. He shows up quickly, and she's on the verge of confessing everything to him, but she pulls herself together just in time.

Sally leaves with the children in Florida, but from time to time she calls Jerry on the phone, cries and says that she can’t do this anymore. Jerry informs his wife that he has made the decision to leave home and wait for Sally's return somewhere else, maybe in Washington. The conversation takes on a rather stormy character, and then Charlie's alarmed son appears. He weeps bitterly when he realizes that dad "wants to live with other children." An embarrassed Jerry comforts him, explaining that he only wants to live with him.

The decision to stay seems to have been made, but Jerry soon realizes that he cannot stay away from his beloved. But instead of finally making a decision on his own and committing an act, he resumes extremely difficult negotiations for both with Ruth. He aspires with all his heart to Sally, but on the other hand, he is unable to leave the children to the mercy of fate. He tosses between two possible choices, as if hoping someone else will make the choice for him. When once again he is inclined to leave the house, Ruth informs him that she is most likely pregnant. She says she will have an abortion, but Jerry feels like a killer.

Richard soon joins the divorce issue. Sally broke down and told him about Jerry. Richard immediately takes the bull by the horns and begins to enthusiastically discuss the details of the future life of all interested parties. He enters into negotiations with a lawyer, zealously preparing for a new existence.

But Jerry's painful duality, torn between passion and habit, desire and duty, does not allow him to take the very step that he dreamed of throughout the story. The status quo is restored, and love for Sally remains in the hero's memories and fragments of their dialogues - real and existing only in his imagination. Returning his thoughts to the woman who means so much to him and at the same time remains on the horizon of his existence, he thinks again and again that the moment will come when they will meet at some party and he will say, looking into her sad eyes: "Let's get married."

S. B. Belov

(October Light)

Roman (1977)

The action of the novel "Autumn Light" takes place in the American province, far from the big cities. The quiet life of small towns, far from the senseless fuss and frantic rhythm of megacities, is not alien to the "damned" problems of technocratic civilization, the dark, vile sides of big business and big politics. The heroes of the novel are 1976-year-old farmer James Page and his sister Sally, who live in Vermont in XNUMX after the country has already celebrated its bicentenary of national independence. This year, it becomes especially clear to old James Page that America is now completely different from what it used to be, as it always seemed to him - a country of stern and honest people who know how to work and stand up for themselves, who carry within themselves a healthy beginning emanating from the earth. , from nature. James himself was a veteran of the Second World War, served in the Airborne Engineer Forces in Oceania, and now every year he puts on his cap and takes part in the parade in his village on Veterans Day. He feels like a descendant of the founders of the nation - the Vermont Boys from Green Mountain. It was they who defended the Vermont lands from the New York speculators and recaptured the fortress of Tyconderogu from the British Redcoats - real people who knew how to fight and believed in their fate.

James is a man of the old and strict rules of puritan morality, which is the basis of the American way of life and, as he believes, gradually gives way to immorality, the power of money, the thirst for a beautiful and easy life. The modern generation in his eyes - "fat pigs - chicken brains, give pleasure with this, they would only please themselves." People seem to have gone crazy "because of lousy dollars" - they kill each other, trade themselves, go crazy, and in the meantime, forestry is getting weaker, farmers are getting worse, people are losing the habit of working with their hands, as from time immemorial, and forget what it is honest and fair work. This is what America has come to two hundred years later, says James Page, and in his imagination the founding fathers rise from their graves with sunken eyes, in decayed blue uniforms, with rusty muskets, to revive America and make a “new revolution”.

The symbol of the new time, which the old farmer does not accept, becomes for him a TV set, endlessly showing murderers, rapists, policemen, half-naked women and all sorts of long-haired "nuts". His sister Sally brought this infernal machine with her when she moved to live in her brother's house. Sally is just as wayward and stubborn as her brother, but she holds many different views, for she lived in the city for many years with her husband Horace until he died. She has no children. It cannot be said that she approves of the current mores, but she believes in changes for the better and is ready to talk on all sorts of topics, "like an avid liberal," which causes the furious displeasure of her brother, who has his own convictions endured by life coexist with common prejudices. The uninhibited behavior of the young does not shock her, for she believes that with their antics they want to draw attention to social injustice. She doesn't see television as a diabolical invention and treason like her brother - it's her only connection to the world, to the city life she's used to.

Sally spends whole evenings burying herself in the screen, until finally James can stand it and shoot the TV with a shotgun - he shoots at that world, that life that deceived him and betrayed the ideals of the past. And he drives the recalcitrant old sister to the second floor, and in protest she locks herself in the bedroom, refusing to do anything around the house. A domestic quarrel with "political" overtones - both talk about freedom and refer to the American constitution - drags on. Relatives and friends fail to reconcile the old people, all the neighbors find out about their quarrel and begin to give advice on what to do. The war flares up: to intimidate Sally, James hangs a gun in front of the door, though unloaded. She also sets up a dangerous trap, having strengthened a box of apples above her door so that it falls on her brother's head if he decides to enter her.

With nothing to do, Sally begins to read the book "Smugglers from the Cliff of Lost Souls" that fell into her hands. This is an action movie with an intellectual lining about the rivalry between two gangs of drug smugglers. "A sick book, as sick and vicious as life in America today," says the blurb, as if expressing the essence of a world that James cannot accept and from which there is nowhere to hide, even if the television is destroyed. Two realities seem to converge together - in one, people live with ordinary labors, joys, anxieties, communicate with nature, believe in "natural magic, in the battle of the spirit against the gravity of matter", carry with them the skull of a rattlesnake from evil spirits; in another - the crazy reality of urbanized America - a fierce competitive struggle flares up, and people are obsessed with the idea of ​​​​profit, crazy desires, illusions and fear. Thus, two novels and two ways of depiction reflect two ways of life in modern America.

At the head of one of the gangs, which has established the transfer of marijuana from Mexico to San Francisco, is Captain Fist - a cynic and philosopher who talks about freedom and power. This is a kind of ideologist of the world of profit. Other members of his gang - "mankind in miniature" - represent different types of modern consciousness: Mr. Zero is a technocrat, a failed Edison who imagines that an inventor can remake the whole world. The unthinking Mr. Angel embodies a healthy physical principle - he does not hesitate to rush into the water to save the disappointed intellectual Peter Wagner, who is trying to commit suicide, who involuntarily becomes a member of their crew. Jane symbolizes the liberated modern woman, free to choose the men she likes. The smugglers meet marijuana dealers in the middle of the ocean on a deserted island called the Cliff of Lost Souls. It is there that they are overtaken by rivals - the crew of the boat "Militant".

Cruelty, clash of characters, intolerance - these are the laws of life in a criminal environment, but it is these features that manifest themselves in the rural wilderness, disrupting the calm course of family life, leading to drama. James was intolerant not only to television, snowmobiles and other attributes of modernity, but also to his own children - he harassed and drove his son Richard to suicide, whom he considered a "weakling" and spat with or without reason. At the end of the novel, he begins to see clearly, realizing that the TV and the snowmobile are not the worst enemies of man. More terrible psychological and moral blindness. Memories of his son and a quarrel with Sally make the old farmer look at himself differently. He always tried to live according to his conscience, but did not notice that his rules had turned into dead dogmas, behind which James no longer distinguished living people. He believed in his rightness and was deaf to the rightness of others. He recalls his late wife and son and understands that for all their weaknesses they were honest, good people, but he lived his life and did not notice the main thing in them, because "he had narrow and petty concepts."

James visits his dying friend Ed Thomas in the hospital, he regrets that he will not see the early spring again, when the rivers open up and the earth thaws. This is how the human heart must thaw in order to understand another heart. This is the way to save a person, country, humanity, finally. Here is the moral law that must overcome other laws that, alas, determined the history of America and determine its life today - "belligerence is the law of human nature," as Thomas Jefferson formulates it, not without regret, in the epigraph to the entire novel. In this context, one should also take the words of another witness to the birth of the American state, taken as an epigraph to the first chapter and sounding like a sentence for the entire screaming, shooting, drugged and standardized American civilization (which the great English satirists Evelyn Waugh and Aldous Huxley disliked so much): "I was present in the courtyard of the Congress, when the Declaration of Independence was read out.There were almost no decent people.

Charles Biddle, 1776".

A. L. Shishkin

(All the Pretty Horses)

Roman (1993)

America, Texas, 1946 An old cattle rancher dies. His thirty-six-year-old daughter intends to sell the land - it does not generate income, and life in the outskirts definitely does not suit the heiress. Sixteen-year-old John Grady tries to persuade his mother not to sell the ranch, where the representatives of this family have worked for many years. He himself loves horses, and rural labor is the norm for him. The mother is relentless. John Grady seeks help from his long-lost father, who recently filed for divorce and renounced land claims.

John Grady decides to go to Mexico and try to find there what fate denied him in his native Texas. His friend, seventeen-year-old Lacey Rawlins, leaves with him.

On the way they are joined by a teenager on a magnificent bay horse. He calls himself Jimmy Blevins and reports that he is sixteen years old, although it is difficult to give him more than thirteen in appearance, and the name suspiciously matches the name of a famous preacher in these parts. The three of them continue on their journey, although John Grady and Rawlins have the unsettling feeling that this acquaintance will bring nothing but trouble.

The new companion is stubborn, proud, shoots accurately from a revolver and is not talkative. He reports that he ran away from home, not wanting to obey his stepfather, but where he got a magnificent bay horse from, remains a mystery.

It is this stallion that causes a conflict with far-reaching consequences. The first thing they see when they find themselves in the small Mexican town of Encantada is a Blevins revolver sticking out of the back pocket of a local digging into a car engine. After driving around the town, John Grady and Rawlins eventually locate the bay. The operation to return the property of Blevins is carried out in the dead of night, but it is not possible to leave unnoticed: the barking of dogs raises the whole district, and a chase is sent after the "horse thieves". In order to confuse the pursuers, the detachment breaks up. Now John Grady and Rawlins are on the road again.

Soon they manage to get a job at a large hacienda. John Grady's love for horses does not go unnoticed by the owner, Don Hector Rocha, who himself is a passionate horseman. John Grady moves into a stable and focuses on the problems of horse breeding. Rawlins remains in the common hut with the Vaquero shepherds.

A fleeting meeting with the seventeen-year-old daughter of the owner, Alejandra, dramatically changes the life of John Grady. He falls in love with a beautiful Mexican woman, and she, apparently, drew attention to the young American cowboy.

Their rides go unnoticed. Duenna Alfonsa, Don Rocha's aunt, fears that such a hobby will bring her great-niece a lot of grief. She invites John Grady into the house to play chess, and then, over tea, makes it quite clear to him that she does not approve of his contact with Alejandra.

It is not known what direction events would take, but here Alejandra herself takes the initiative. Offended by her aunt's interference in her personal life, she, contrary to common sense and the rules of behavior of a Mexican woman, plunges headlong into a pool of passion. At night, she comes to John Grady's closet, and then they go on horseback rides at night.

One day, John Grady and Rawlins notice a detachment of mounted policemen on the road, who, bypassing the barracks, head to the owner's house. Then they leave, but the feeling of impending disaster remains.

Somehow in the morning, the policemen come to John Grady's closet and take him away. In the yard, he sees Rawlins in the saddle, with his hands cuffed. He is also handcuffed, after which he is sent under escort to Encantada, where he is placed in a local prison. There they meet Blevins again. It turns out that, having escaped from the chase, he got a job at some ranch and, having earned some money, returned to Encantada to return his revolver. However, even here the return of property is not smooth. Only this time, Blevins fails to escape the chase, and, shooting back, he kills one of the local residents, injuring two more.

John Grady and Rawlins are called in for questioning by the captain, the local police chief. He demands that they confess that they entered Mexico in order to steal horses and rob local residents, and all the assurances of young Americans that they came here to work honestly seem to the captain the most outright lie: he can’t understand why residents of Texas to be hired to work on a Mexican ranch, if at home they could receive several times more for the same work.

A few more days pass, and the three prisoners are put in a truck that is supposed to take them to the prison in the city of Saltillo. But only John Grady and Rawlins make it to their destination. The truck stops at an abandoned estate, the captain and a relative of the deceased take Blevins to a eucalyptus grove, two shots are heard from there, after which the Mexicans return to the car together.

Before parting with his wards, the captain makes it clear that they can’t be kicked out in a Mexican prison, and if they want to be free, they must make a deal, based on which, in addition to the “material part”, silence plays an important role due to the fact that happened in a eucalyptus grove. The first days in prison confirm the truth of the words of the captain. John Grady and Rawlins have to defend their right to life with their fists. Then the local "authority" Perez, who lives in a separate house and enjoys all the privileges that a bird of his flight can receive in prison, takes an interest in them. Perez transparently hints that he is ready to become an intermediary between them and the prison authorities in order to ensure their release, of course, not for free. John Grady and Rawlins report that they have no money and no deals are out of the question.

Shortly after this conversation, Rawlins is attacked by a bandit and stabbed several times. He is sent to the hospital in serious condition, and John Grady realizes that, most likely, a new assassination attempt is just around the corner. With the money that Blevins managed to give him before his death, he buys a knife. As it turned out, the premonition did not deceive him: on the same day in the dining room, he was attacked by a man who was obviously specially hired. In a desperate fight, John Grady mortally wounds his opponent, but he himself ends up in a prison hospital.

His life, however, is out of danger, and he is quickly on the mend. One day, a stranger comes to his cell-ward and finds out if he is able to move independently. It turns out that this is none other than the head of the prison. Soon they are already meeting in his office, where he hands John Grady an envelope with money and says that he and Rawlins are free to get out on all four sides. John Grady realizes that Alphonse's chaperone ransomed them. He also understands the terms on which she did it.

Rawlins announces his decision to return home. John Grady, on the contrary, is going to return to the hacienda where he lived and worked, to explain himself to both the duenna Alphonse and Alejandra.

When he returns there, it turns out that Alejandra is now in Mexico City, but Alphonse's duenna agrees to receive him. John Grady tries to explain to her that neither he nor Rawlins had anything to do with "horse stealing", that they only helped their companion return the horse that had run away from him, but soon realizes that this is not the case. The main reason for their arrest is the revenge of Don Rocha, who took his daughter's romance with his worker hard.

John Grady seeks to meet Alejandra and they spend one day in the city of Zacatecas. This is a very sad meeting. Alejandra tells him that she still loves him, but she promised to never see him again - only at such a price could he buy his freedom.

They break up. This time seems to be forever. Now John Grady is on his way to Encantada to bring back his horses, Rawlins and Blevins. He takes the captain hostage and gets his way, but in a gunfight at the ranch, he gets shot in the leg. Taking the captain with him, he leaves for the mountains, hoping to confuse his tracks and escape persecution. One night, he is nevertheless overtaken by armed people who, however, have nothing to do with the police. They take the captain and leave with him in an unknown direction, leaving John Grady to guess who they are and why they needed a captain.

Now he is returning to Texas, trying to find the real owner of the bay stallion, but he does not succeed. Some, however, claim their rights to the horse, but as a result of the trial, their claims are recognized as untenable and the bay remains the property of John Grady.

He meets with Rawlins again and returns the horse to him. He offers John Grady to stay with him, to go to work in the oil industry, where they pay well, but John Grady refuses. He feels like a stranger in the new industrial world, the road to Mexico is closed to him, the family ranch has been sold. In the finale, he rides west into the sunset, followed by Blevins' bay stallion. The outlines of the Texas plain become vague, and it is already difficult to say whether the silhouettes of the rider and horses dissolve in real or mythological space.

S. B. Belov

(One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest)

Roman (1962)

The hero-narrator Bromden - the son of a white woman and an Indian leader - pretends to be weak, deaf and dumb. He has long been in a psychiatric hospital, fleeing within its walls from the cruelty and indifference of "normal America". However, the years spent by Bromden in a psychiatric hospital make themselves felt. The head nurse, Miss Gnusen, who manages both the patients and the weak-willed Dr. Spivey, regulates, in his opinion, the passage of time, forcing the clock to either fly fast or stretch endlessly. By order, they turn on the "fog machine", and the tablets that are given to the sick contain electronic circuits and help control the consciousness of both "acute" and "chronic" from the outside. According to Bromden, this department is a factory in some ominous-mysterious Combine: “here they correct mistakes made in the neighborhood, in churches and schools. heart rejoices."

Randle Patrick McMurphy, who managed to roam around America and serve time in many of its prisons, one day comes to this abode of sorrow. He served his last term in a colony, where he showed "psychopathic tendencies" and now he has been transferred to a psychiatric hospital. However, he accepted the translation without chagrin. An inveterate gambler, he expects to improve his financial affairs at the expense of psycho mugs, and the order in the hospital, according to rumors, is much more democratic than before.

The chapter really flaunts its liberal principles, and the administration's public relations representative now and then gives tours touting the new trends in every way. Patients are well fed, encouraged to cooperate with the medical staff, and all major problems are decided by voting on the board of patients, headed by someone Harding, who received a college education and is distinguished by eloquence and a complete lack of will. "We're all rabbits," he tells McMurphy, "and we're not here because we're rabbits, but because we can't get used to being a rabbit."

McMurphy is anything but a rabbit. Intending to "take over this shop," he comes into conflict with the domineering Miss Gnusen from the very first days. The fact that he jokingly plays cards with patients is not so bad for her, but he threatens the measured activity of the "therapeutic community", ridicules the meetings at which, under the vigilant supervision of an older sister, patients habitually delve into someone else's personal life. This systematic humiliation of people is carried out under the demagogic slogan of teaching them to exist in a team, striving to create a democratic department, completely controlled by patients.

McMurphy does not fit into the totalitarian idyll of a mental hospital. He incites his comrades to break free, break the window and break the grid with a heavy remote control, and even bet that he can do it. When his attempt ends in failure, then, paying off, or rather, returning IOUs, he says: "At least I tried."

Another clash between McMurphy and Miss Gnusen takes place over the TV. He asks to shift the TV schedule so that he can watch baseball. The question is put to a vote, and it is supported only by Cheswick, known for his obstinacy in words, but inability to translate his intentions into action. However, he soon manages to get a second vote, and all twenty "sharp" vote to watch TV during the day. McMurphy is triumphant, but the older sister informs him that a majority is needed for a decision to be made, and since there are only forty people in the department, one more vote is missing. In fact, this is a hidden mockery, since the remaining twenty patients are chronicles, completely cut off from objective reality. But then Bromden raises his hand, going against his life rule "not to open up." But even this is not enough, as he raised his hand after the meeting was declared closed. Then McMurphy turns on the TV without permission and does not move away from it, even when Miss Gnusen turns off the electricity. He and his comrades are looking at a blank screen and "sick" with might and main.

According to the doctors, McMurphy is a "disorder factor". The question arises of transferring him to the violent department, and more radical measures are proposed. But Miss Gnusen is against it. She needs to break him in the department, to prove to everyone else that he is not a hero, not a rebel, but a cunning egocentric who cares about his own good.

In the meantime, the "pernicious" influence of McMurphy on patients is obvious. Under his influence, Bromden notes that the "fog machine" suddenly broke down, he begins to see the world with the same clarity. But McMurphy himself moderates his rebellious fervor for a while. He learns the sad truth: if he ended up in a colony for a period determined by the court, then he was placed in a mental hospital until the doctors consider him in need of treatment, and, therefore, his fate is entirely in their hands.

He ceases to stand up for other patients, shows caution in sorting things out with his superiors. Such changes entail tragic consequences. Following the example of McMurphy, Cheswick fights desperately for the right to smoke cigarettes anytime and as much as he wants, ends up in a violent department, and then, upon his return, tells McMurphy that he fully understands his position, and soon commits suicide.

This death makes a strong impression on McMurphy, but he is even more amazed by the fact that, it turns out, the vast majority of Miss Gnusen's patients are here of their own free will. He resumes the war with his older sister with new energy and at the same time teaches patients to feel like full members of society. He puts together a basketball team, challenges the orderlies to a competition, and although the match is lost, the main goal is achieved - the patient players feel like people.

It was McMurphy who saw through Bromden, realizing that he was only pretending to be deaf and dumb. He instills in Bromden confidence in himself and his abilities, and under his guidance, he tries to lift the heavy console, each time tearing it off the floor higher and higher.

Soon McMurphy comes up with a seemingly crazy idea: to go with the whole squad to the sea on a boat to fish for salmon, and, despite the exhortations of Miss Gnusen, the team is going. And although the captain of the boat refuses to go to sea due to the lack of the necessary papers, the "psychos" do it without permission and get great pleasure.

It is on this boat trip that the timid and shy Billy Bibbit meets Candy, McMurphy's girlfriend, who he really likes. Realizing that poor Billy needs to finally establish himself as a man, McMurphy arranges for Candy to come to them the following Saturday and spend the night with them.

But before Saturday there is another serious conflict. McMurphy and Bromden engage in hand-to-hand combat with the orderlies, and as a result, they end up in the riot ward and receive electroshock treatment.

After enduring psychotherapy, McMurphy returns to the ward just in time for Saturday to receive Candy, who arrives with her friend Sandy and a supply of liquor.

The fun becomes quite violent, and McMurphy and his friends arrange a rout in the possessions of their older sister. Realizing that the initiator of the holiday, as they say, cannot take off his head, the patients persuade him to run away, and he generally agrees, but alcohol takes its toll - he wakes up too late when the orderlies are already there.

Miss Gnusen, barely restraining her rage, surveys her department, which was badly damaged during the night. Billy Bibbit has disappeared somewhere. She goes looking for him and finds him with Candy. Miss Gnusen threatens to tell Billy's mother everything, reminding her how hard she is going through her son's eccentricities. Billy is horrified, screaming that it's not his fault, that McMurphy and others forced him, that they teased him, called him names ...

Satisfied with her victory, Miss Gnusen promises Billy to explain everything to his mother. She takes Billy to Dr. Spivey's office and asks him to talk to a patient. But the doctor comes too late. Torn between fear of his mother and self-loathing for his betrayal, Billy slits his own throat.

Then Miss Infernal falls upon McMurphy, reproaching him for playing with human lives, blaming him for the deaths of both Cheswick and Billy. McMurphy snaps out of the daze he was in and lashes out at his nemesis. He rips open the head nurse's dress, exposing her large breasts for all to see, and grabs her by the throat.

The orderlies somehow manage to drag him away from Miss Vile, but the witchcraft spells are dispelled, and it becomes clear to everyone that she will never again use the power that she had.

Gradually, patients are either discharged home or transferred to other departments. Of the "old men" - acutely ill - only a few people remain, including Bromden. It is he who witnesses the return of McMurphy. The head nurse was defeated, but did everything so that her opponent could not rejoice at his victory. After a lobotomy, a merry fellow, a rowdy, a cheerleader turns into a vegetable. Bromden cannot allow this man to exist as a reminder of what happens to those who go against authority. He suffocates it with a pillow, then smashes the window and breaks the screen with the very remote that McMurphy taught him to lift. Now nothing can block his path to freedom.

S. B. Belov

(Do with Me What You Will)

Roman (1973)

Twenty-eight years, two months, twenty-six days.

On May 1950, XNUMX, in Pittsburgh, a man kidnaps seven-year-old Elina from the schoolyard. This is her father Leo Ross, after a divorce from his wife, deprived of the right to meet with his daughter. Leo loves his daughter and hates his ex-wife, the beautiful Ardis. He sends mocking letters to Ardis, trying to throw her off the trail. Leo is taking the girl to the West, to California. To prevent anyone from recognizing Elina, Leo dyes her hair black. In San Francisco, he rents a room without telling the landlady that the child is with him. He asks Elina to be as quiet as possible, to move less when he is not at home. She meekly obeys her father, never asks for food, and he forgets to feed her, she does not like to wash her hair, and he stops washing the girl. Elina falls ill, and he, despite his madness, realizes that his daughter cannot stay with him. Leo Ross escapes, and Elina goes first to the hospital, and then to her mother. Ardis, who works as a fashion model, introduces Elina to work. The girl obediently sits under the bright light without moving and does not complain even when her eyes sting. Mother and daughter appear in commercials. Mr. Karman, the owner of the apartment that Ardis rents, looks after her and takes care of Elina. He invites Ardis to enter into a civil marriage, and she, after thinking, agrees.

After the registration of the marriage, Ardis and Elina are going to Chicago, where Karman should soon join them. Taking money from him to buy a house, Ardis and Elina leave, but not for Chicago, but for New York. They stay there for four years - from 1956 to 1960. Ardis's modeling career does not add up, and she goes to work in a nightclub. When the owner of the club, Sadoff, moves to Detroit, he invites Ardis to move there with him. She becomes a co-owner of a new club, buys herself a house. Elina is growing up, in a few months she will finish school. Sadoff, whom Ardis wants to marry Elina, somehow invites them to a club where they accidentally meet the famous lawyer Marvin Howe. Marvin, who is in his forties, falls in love with young Elina at first sight. Elina does not like Seydoff, but she likes the smart young Howe, and soon, through the efforts of Ardis, she marries him. Howe is crazy about his beautiful wife, he treats her carefully, like an expensive trinket, never tells her about his work. He limits her communication with her mother so that no one but him can influence Elina. Once, at some reception, Elina is introduced to TV journalist Maria Sharp, in whom she is surprised to recognize her mother! Ardis changed her role, changed her appearance and even took a new name for herself.

Scattered facts, events, conjectures, evidence taken into account and not taken into account.

In 1953, a murder occurs in Detroit - Joseph Morrissey kills Neil Stelin, a construction contractor. Morrissey's mentally retarded son Ronnie climbed onto a construction site and was littered with construction debris. Morrissey holds Stelin responsible for the death of his beloved youngest son. Young lawyer Marvin Howe is taken to defend Morrissey. He tries to convince his eldest son, Jack, who believes that his father is guilty, because he himself has brought himself to a clouding of reason, that in fact he is innocent. Jack loves his father, but doesn't want to lie, even to save him. Howe inspires him that everything is relative, that human memory is imperfect, that he must have noticed this and that - in general, tells him what kind of testimony he should give in court. The Court accepts that Joseph Morrissey acted in a state of temporary mental confusion and exonerates him. This process brings glory to Marvin Howe.

Jack Morrissey grows up to be a lawyer. He serves on various committees, assists the American Civil Liberties Union lawyers in civil rights cases in the North, then travels South to Java, the seat of Lyme County, Mississippi, where the National Colored Development Association and the American Union for the civil liberties opened a legal aid office. He meets Rachel, who also fights for the rights of blacks, and together they try to persuade the parents of Harley, a black man killed by a white policeman, to sue. Jack believes in the law, believes in the triumph of justice, he is persistent in achieving the goal. But Negroes do not believe in success and do not initiate cases. For Jack, the main thing is not to win the process, but to promote change, pave the way for other lawsuits to appear in court, and the Hurley family does not want to be guided by general considerations and are afraid of revenge. Jack marries Rachel and returns to Detroit. Rachel works for the local branch of the Committee to End the Vietnam War.

Three years after Jack's failed attempt, Hurley's trial resumes. Deevee's lawyer leads him. Jack offers to help him, but Deevee does not answer his letter. Although now, in July 1967, there is much more hope of winning the trial, Deevee is losing it. Jack writes him a condolence letter. In 1969, Jack accidentally meets Brower, a young lawyer who is Deevee's assistant in the Hurley case. Brower lives in Ann Arbor and travels to Detroit once a week to lecture at adult courses. One day, Brower shows Jack one of his listeners through the crack - a blonde woman in her early twenties, very pretty, but, as it seems to Jack, "some kind of fake." Her calm face "would seem almost erased, as if non-existent, if the woman were not so good." This is Elina Howe. At work, Jack finds Elina's face in front of his eyes. In January 1970, Jack seeks the acquittal of a twenty-three-year-old black man accused of raping a white woman, although the jury consists entirely of wealthy whites. He is very proud of himself: he managed to convince everyone that the victim was to blame, that she, consciously or unconsciously, provoked the crime. The county is setting up a Grand Jury to investigate the "illicit drug trade" that the authorities are using to stifle free speech. Jack and Rachel fight against the activities of this council. Rachel gets a subpoena but doesn't want to go to court. Jack scolds her for disrespecting the law, they quarrel. Jack feels that he and Rachel are different people, that they are far apart. In April 1971, Jack accidentally meets Elina on the street and follows her, several times being very close, but she does not know him and does not pay attention to him. She stops in front of the statue, looking distant, and Jack, suspecting that something is wrong with her, calls out to her.

Elina's head is spinning. Jack takes her home. In parting, he leaves her his phone number, but she does not call him. In June, Marvin unexpectedly sends Elina to stay with his friend in California. There she remembers Jack and calls him. Jack did not expect her call, because two months had passed since their meeting. Jack asks Elina when she'll be back, but she doesn't know and invites him to visit her in San Francisco. The next day, Jack flies to San Francisco, where Elina is already waiting for him at the hotel. He becomes her lover.

Marvin Howe is talking to one of his friends. He asks what to do if a case is brought against a large trust or a private company and the prosecutor general is the prosecutor. Howe believes that the only way out is to declare nolo contendere [5] - "do with me what you want" - and surrender to his mercy.

Back in Detroit, Elina and Jack continue to meet in secret. Their feelings are getting stronger. The husband never tells Elina about his affairs, Jack, on the contrary, devotes her to all his professional difficulties. He protects blacks, but blacks prefer black lawyers, so that his clients, as a rule, are those whom no one else wants to defend, "an old man who has lost faith in the struggle for civil rights since the sixties." Jack undertakes to protect Meredith Doe - a preacher of universal love and an enemy of violence, reputed to be almost saints, Jack tells Elina that Rachel wants to raise a child in the hope that this will unite their family. Rachel believes that now is not the time to have children, but a child who has already been born needs parents, even if they are adopted. Jack understands that this will separate him from Elina, and does not know what to do.

Elina goes to Meredith Doe's public performance. During the rally, riots break out, some girl next to her is knocked down. Two men take Elina out of the meeting and bring her home. She realizes that these are the people her husband has hired to keep an eye on her. Dows break the skull and damage the spine. He's in the hospital. Jack is getting ready for the process. He is not defending Dow's views, or even himself, but his right to have his own views and to preach them.

Ardis informs Elina that he is marrying an English aristocrat and is moving to England. Jack tells Elina that if she leaves her husband, he will leave his wife, but if Elina does not want to live with him, then tomorrow she and her wife will sign documents for the adoption of a child and then he will no longer be able to meet with Elina. Elina cannot decide to leave her husband, Jack yells at her in a rage, they quarrel, Jack calls her a "thing". Elina returns to Marvin, who does not reproach her for anything and burns all papers and photographs related to her affair with Jack. Marvin watched her all the time and knew everything, but did not tell her anything. He still loves her.

Elina's father Leo Ross, never found by the police, decides to commit suicide. He goes to the movies, the next day he goes to the same movie again. The cashier, who remembered the strange visitor, wants to see him again and waits for him to leave after the session, but Leo disappears - the emergency exit is locked, and he did not go out through the main one. The cashier and the policeman are sure that the cashier simply did not notice him.

The court sentences Meredith Doe to eight to ten years in prison. Doe writes letters from prison to the judge, filing an appeal. He demands that in the future Jack Morrissey, who does not share his views, be removed from the case, and wants to defend himself. Rachel sees that even though they have a baby in their family, she and Jack have not grown closer. She threatens to leave Jack and go with the baby to Seattle. One day, Jack and Rachel accidentally get into the house of Stelin, who was killed by Jack's father - now this house belongs to completely different people. Everyone sympathizes with Jack losing Doe's case. Jack gets drunk and Rachel takes him home.

Elina leaves for the coast of Maine, where Marvin has a home. Marvin is very gentle and careful with her. Having lived there from the end of April until the end of August, she suddenly tells Marvin that she can no longer be his wife and wants to leave. Marvin asks her not to hurry and after eleven years of marriage, wait at least a few days. Elina calls Jack, but Jack says "no" to her and hangs up. Marvin begs Elina not to leave him, but she doesn't want to stay with him. She refuses the money and only at the end takes the banknotes that he throws after her so that she does not leave penniless, Elina comes to Jack's house and asks him to come downstairs. She is waiting for him outside, but he still does not come and does not go. When he finally appears, both of them smile at each other with surprise and delight, and at that moment they forget about everything else.

O. E. Grinberg

Play (1913)

The play takes place in London. On a summer evening, the rain pours like a bucket. Passers-by run to Covent Garden Market and to the portico of St. Pavel, where several people have already taken refuge, including an elderly lady with her daughter, they are in evening dresses, waiting for Freddie. the lady's son will find a taxi and come for them. Everyone, except for one person with a notebook, peers impatiently into the torrents of rain. Freddy appears in the distance, having not found a taxi, and runs to the portico, but on the way he runs into a street flower girl, hurrying to take shelter from the rain, and knocks a basket of violets out of her hands. She bursts into swearing. A man with a notebook hurriedly writes something down. The girl laments that her violets have disappeared, and begs the colonel standing right there to buy a bouquet. The one to get rid of, gives her a change, but does not take flowers. One of the passers-by draws the attention of a flower girl, a sloppily dressed and unwashed girl, that a man with a notebook is clearly scribbling a denunciation of her. The girl starts whimpering. He, however, assures that he is not from the police, and surprises everyone present by accurately determining the origin of each of them by their pronunciation.

Freddie's mother sends her son back to look for a taxi. Soon, however, the rain stops, and she and her daughter go to the bus stop. The Colonel takes an interest in the abilities of the man with the notebook. He introduces himself as Henry Higgins, creator of the "Higgins Universal Alphabet". The colonel turns out to be the author of the book "Conversational Sanskrit". His last name is Pickering. He lived in India for a long time and came to London specifically to meet Professor Higgins. The professor also always wanted to meet the colonel. They are about to go to dinner at the Colonel's hotel, when the flower girl again begins to ask to buy flowers from her. Higgins tosses a handful of coins into her basket and leaves with the Colonel. The flower girl sees that she now owns, by her standards, a huge amount. When Freddie arrives with the taxi he finally hailed, she gets into the car and, slamming the door shut, leaves.

The next morning, Higgins demonstrates his phonographic equipment to Colonel Pickering at his home. Suddenly, Higgins' housekeeper, Mrs. Pierce, reports that a certain very simple girl wants to talk to the professor. Enter yesterday's flower girl. She introduces herself as Eliza Doolittle and says that she wants to take phonetics lessons from the professor, because with her pronunciation she cannot get a job. She had heard the day before that Higgins was giving such lessons. Eliza is sure that he will gladly agree to work off the money that yesterday, without looking, he threw into her basket. Of course, it is ridiculous for him to talk about such amounts, but Pickering offers Higgins a bet. He incites him to prove that in a matter of months he can, as he assured the day before, turn a street flower girl into a duchess. Higgins finds the offer tempting, especially since Pickering is willing, if Higgins wins, to pay the entire cost of Eliza's education. Mrs. Pierce takes Eliza to the bathroom to wash.

After a while, Eliza's father comes to Higgins. He is a scavenger, a simple man, but impresses the professor with his natural eloquence. Higgins asks Dolittle for permission to keep his daughter and gives him five pounds for this. When Eliza arrives, already washed and wearing a Japanese robe, the father does not even recognize his daughter at first.

A couple of months later, Higgins brings Eliza to his mother's house, just in time for her adopted day. He wants to know if it is already possible to introduce a girl into secular society. Mrs. Higgins is visiting Mrs. Einsford Hill with her daughter and son. These are the same people with whom Higgins stood under the portico of the cathedral on the day he first saw Eliza. However, they do not recognize the girl. Eliza at first behaves and talks like a high society lady, and then goes on to talk about her life and uses such street expressions that everyone present can only marvel. Higgins pretends this is the new social jargon, thus smoothing things over. Eliza leaves the gathering, leaving Freddie ecstatic.

After this meeting, he begins to send Eliza ten-page letters. After the departure of the guests, Higgins and Pickering vying, enthusiastically tell Mrs. Higgins about how they work with Eliza, how they teach her, take her to the opera, to exhibitions, and dress her. Mrs. Higgins finds that they treat the girl like a living doll. She agrees with Mrs Pierce, who says that they "don't think of anything".

A few months later, both experimenters take Eliza to a high-society reception, where she has a dizzying success, everyone takes her for a duchess. Higgins wins the bet.

Arriving home, he enjoys the fact that the experiment, from which he has already managed to get tired, is finally over. He behaves and talks in his usual rough manner, not paying the slightest attention to Eliza. The girl looks very tired and sad, but at the same time she is dazzlingly beautiful. It is noticeable that irritation accumulates in her.

She ends up throwing his shoes at Higgins. She wants to die. She does not know what will happen to her next, how she will live. After all, she became a completely different person. Higgins assures that everything will work out. She, however, manages to hurt him, unbalance him and thereby at least a little revenge for herself.

Eliza runs away from home at night. The next morning, Higgins and Pickering lose their heads when they see that Eliza is gone. They even try to find her with the help of the police. Higgins feels without Eliza as without arms. He does not know where his things are, nor what he has scheduled for the day. Mrs. Higgins arrives. Then they report about the arrival of Eliza's father. Doolittle has changed a lot. Now he looks like a wealthy bourgeois. He lashes out indignantly at Higgins for the fact that through his fault he had to change his way of life and now become much less free than he was before. It turns out a few months ago Higgins wrote to a millionaire in America, who founded branches of the Moral Reform League all over the world, that Dolittle, a simple scavenger, is now the most original moralist in all of England. He died, and before he died, he bequeathed to Dolittle a share in his trust for three thousand a year income, on the condition that Dolittle would give up to six lectures a year in his League of Moral Reforms. He laments that today, for example, he even has to officially marry the one with whom he has lived for several years without registering a relationship. And all this because he is now forced to look like a respectable bourgeois. Mrs. Higgins is overjoyed that a father can finally take care of his changed daughter the way she deserves. Higgins, however, does not want to hear about "returning" Dolittle Eliza.

Mrs. Higgins says she knows where Eliza is. The girl agrees to return if Higgins asks her forgiveness. Higgins is in no way agreeing to go for it. Eliza enters. She expresses gratitude to Pickering for his treatment of her as a noble lady. It was he who helped Eliza change, despite the fact that she had to live in the house of a rude, slovenly and ill-mannered Higgins. Higgins is smitten. Eliza adds that if he continues to "push" her, she will go to Professor Nepin, a colleague of Higgins, and become his assistant and inform him of all the discoveries made by Higgins. After a burst of indignation, the professor finds that now her behavior is even better and more dignified than when she looked after his things and brought him slippers. Now, he is sure, they will be able to live together no longer just as two men and one stupid girl, but as "three friendly old bachelors."

Eliza goes to her father's wedding. Apparently, she will still live in Higgins' house, because she managed to become attached to him, as he did to her, and everything will go on as before.

E. V. Semina

Fantasy in Russian style on English themes

(heartbreak house)

Play (1917, published 1919)

The action takes place on a September evening in an English provincial house, which in its form resembles a ship, for its owner, a gray-haired old man, Captain Shatover, has sailed the seas all his life. In addition to the captain, his daughter Hesiona, a very beautiful forty-five-year-old woman, and her husband Hector Hesheby live in the house. Ally, a young attractive girl invited by Hesiona, her father Mazzini Dan and Mengen, an elderly industrialist whom Elly is going to marry, also come there. Also arriving is Lady Utterwood, Hesiona's younger sister, who has been absent from her home for the past twenty-five years, having lived with her husband in each successive British crown colony where he was governor. Captain Shatover does not recognize at first, or pretends not to recognize Lady Utterwood as his daughter, which greatly upsets her.

Hesiona invited Ellie, her father and Mengen to her place to upset her marriage, because she does not want the girl to marry an unloved person because of the money and gratitude that she feels for him for the fact that Mengen once helped her father to avoid complete ruin. In a conversation with Ellie, Hesiona finds out that the girl is in love with a certain Mark Darili, whom she met recently and who told her about his extraordinary adventures, which won her over. During their conversation, Hector, Hesione's husband, a handsome, well-preserved fifty-year-old man, enters the room. Ellie stops suddenly, turns pale and staggers. This is the one who introduced himself to her as Mark Darnley. Hesiona kicks her husband out of the room to bring Ellie back to her senses. After regaining consciousness, Ellie feels that in an instant all her girlish illusions burst, and her heart broke with them.

At the request of Hesiona, Ellie tells her everything about Mengen, about how he once gave her father a large sum in order to prevent the bankruptcy of his enterprise. When the company nevertheless went bankrupt, Mengen helped her father get out of such a difficult situation by buying the entire production and giving him the position of manager. Enter Captain Shatover and Mangan. From the first glance, the character of Ellie and Mengen's relationship becomes clear to the captain. He dissuades the latter from marrying because of the big age difference and adds that his daughter, by all means, decided to upset their wedding.

Hector meets Lady Utterwood for the first time, whom he has never seen before. Both make a huge impression on each other, and each tries to lure the other into their networks. In Lady Utterwood, as Hector admits to his wife, there is a Shatove family diabolical charm. However, he is not capable of falling in love with her, as, indeed, with any other woman. According to Hesiona, the same can be said about her sister. All evening Hector and Lady Utterwood play cat and mouse with each other.

Mengen wishes to discuss his relationship with Ellie. Ellie tells him that she agrees to marry him, referring to his good heart in conversation. Mengen finds an attack of frankness, and he tells the girl how he ruined her father. Ellie doesn't care anymore. Mangen is trying to back down. He no longer burns with the desire to take Ellie as his wife. However, Ellie threatens that if he decides to break off the engagement, then it will only get worse for him. She blackmails him.

He collapses into a chair, exclaiming that his brain can't take it. Ellie strokes him from forehead to ears and hypnotizes him. During the next scene, Mengen, apparently asleep, actually hears everything, but cannot move, no matter how others try to stir him up.

Hesiona convinces Mazzini Dan not to marry his daughter to Mengen. Mazzini expresses everything that he thinks about him: that he knows nothing about machines, is afraid of workers, cannot manage them. He is such a baby that he does not even know what to eat and drink. Ellie will create a routine for him. She will still make him dance. He is not sure that it is better to live with a person you love, but who has been running errands for someone all his life. Ellie enters and swears to her father that she will never do anything that she does not want and does not consider it necessary to do for her own good.

Mengen wakes up as Ellie snaps him out of his hypnosis. He is furious at everything he hears about himself. Hesiona, who has been trying to turn Mengen's attention from Ellie to herself all evening, seeing his tears and reproaches, understands that his heart also broke in this house. And she had no idea that Mengen had it at all. She tries to comfort him. Suddenly, a shot is heard in the house. Mazzini brings a thief into the living room, whom he had just nearly shot. The thief wants to be reported to the police and he could atone for his guilt, clear his conscience. However, no one wants to participate in the trial. The thief is told that he can go, and they give him money so that he can acquire a new profession. When he is already at the door, Captain Shatover enters and recognizes him as Bill Dan, his former boatswain, who once robbed him. He orders the maid to lock the thief in the back room.

As everyone leaves, Ellie talks to the captain, who advises her not to marry Mangen and not let her fear of poverty rule her life. He tells her about his fate, about his cherished desire to reach the seventh degree of contemplation. Ellie feels unusually good with him.

Everyone gathers in the garden in front of the house. It's a beautiful, quiet, moonless night. Everyone feels that Captain Shatover's house is a strange house. In it, people behave differently than it is customary. Hesiona, in front of everyone, begins to ask her sister for her opinion about whether Ellie should marry Mengen just because of his money. Mengan is in terrible confusion. He doesn't understand how you can say that. Then, angry, he loses his caution and says that he does not have any money of his own and never had, that he simply takes money from syndicates, shareholders and other worthless capitalists and puts factories in motion - for this he is paid a salary. Everyone begins to discuss Mengen in front of him, which is why he completely loses his head and wants to strip naked, because, in his opinion, morally everyone in this house has already been stripped naked.

Ellie reports that she still cannot marry Mengen, since half an hour ago her marriage to Captain Shatover took place in heaven. She gave her broken heart and her healthy soul to the captain, her spiritual husband and father. Hesiona finds that Ellie has acted unusually smart. As they continue their conversation, a dull explosion is heard in the distance. Then the police call and ask to turn off the lights. The light goes out. However, Captain Shatover lights it again and rips the curtains from all the windows so that the house can be seen better. Everyone is excited. The thief and Mengen do not want to follow the shelter in the basement, but climb into the sand pit, where the captain has dynamite, although they do not know about it. The rest stay in the house, not wanting to hide. Ellie even asks Hector to light the house himself. However, there is no time for that.

A terrible explosion shakes the earth. Broken glass comes flying out of the windows. The bomb hit right in the sand pit. Mengan and the thief are killed. The plane flies by. There is no more danger. The house-ship remains unscathed. Ellie is devastated by this. Hector, who spent his whole life in it as Hesiona's husband, or, more precisely, her lap dog, also regrets that the house is intact. Disgust is written on his face. Hesiona experienced wonderful sensations. She hopes that maybe tomorrow the planes will arrive again.

E. V. Semina

(Caesar and Cleopatra)

History play (1898-1901)

The events of the play unfold in Egypt, in the city of Alexandria, at the end of the reign of the XIII dynasty, in 48 BC. Caesar's legions enter Egypt. Panic in the city. Queen Cleopatra, a sixteen-year-old girl, has disappeared. She can't be found anywhere.

At this time, Julius Caesar, alone in the desert, passes by a small copy of the Sphinx and sees Cleopatra sleeping on the chest of a stone statue. She wakes up, says that she is the queen of Egypt, and invites Caesar, whom she calls the "old man", to climb in on her and also hide from the Romans. Cleopatra is terribly afraid of them. Caesar admits that he is a Roman, and says that if the girl does everything as he says, then Caesar will not offend her. Cleopatra promises to become his slave and obey him in everything. They then stealthily make their way across the desert to the palace.

In the palace, Cleopatra behaves extremely timidly. She is afraid to give orders to a slave, she trembles before her nanny Phtatatita. Caesar teaches her to behave like a king, to command and force herself to obey. Cleopatra gets a taste and is already dreaming of how she will "feed" her slaves with poison and throw them into the Nile to be torn to pieces by crocodiles. Caesar asks her not to get carried away. However, she is still very afraid of Caesar. When the Roman soldiers enter the palace, greeting the person next to her with the words: “Glory to Caesar!”, Cleopatra suddenly understands their meaning, and she falls into his arms with relief, sobbing.

In the lower hall of the palace enter King Ptolemy Dionysus (a ten-year-old boy, brother of Cleopatra and her rival) and his guardian Pothinus. They are accompanied by Theodotus, the king's mentor, Achilles, his general, and courtiers. Prompted by Potinus, Ptolemy tries to express his dissatisfaction with Caesar's invasion and Cleopatra's behavior. Caesar enters the hall, accompanied by the Roman officer Rufios and his secretary Britan, a Briton by nationality, dressed in all blue. Caesar is not inclined to shed blood in Egypt, but he demands that he be paid part of the money from the amount that Egypt must give to Rome according to the old agreement between Caesar and the former king of Egypt because Caesar once helped him regain the throne. Cleopatra, having decided to behave like a queen, runs up to her brother, pulls him off the throne, and sits herself in his place. Caesar, touched by the boy's chagrin, gently reassures him.

Egyptian courtiers and military leaders demand that Caesar leave their land, but he replies that he will do this only after Cleopatra becomes queen. He allows all the Egyptians to retire, to the great indignation of his entourage, and warns that he will not be able to restrain Rufio and his soldiers for long, and they are eager to draw their swords from their scabbards. Potin bitterly complains about Roman justice, about the lack of gratitude in the Romans. Caesar is confused. He does not understand what is at stake. Then Potin asks Lucius Septimius to come out, who says that he killed the Republican Pompey, who wanted to defeat Caesar. Caesar is amazed, he is horrified by the crime of Lucius Septimius.

The Egyptians leave. Caesar stays with Cleopatra, who reproaches him for being too sensitive. She also tells him how her father managed to regain the throne. And he was helped by a beautiful young man who arrived from Rome with many horsemen. Then Cleopatra was only twelve years old, she fell in love with this young man. She is very surprised when Caesar reveals that it was he who sent Mark Antony to help her father. Caesar promises her that if she so desires, he will send him to her.

Caesar orders Rufius to burn some of the Roman ships that are in the Western Harbor, and to take all the boats that are in the Eastern Harbor himself and capture Pharos, an island with a lighthouse. Potin comes to Caesar and is going to tell him the demands of the Egyptians. This time, Caesar takes him prisoner. Then Theodotus runs in and, in extreme excitement, reports that the fire from the Roman ships has spread to the Library of Alexandria, the holy of holies of Egyptian civilization. Caesar advises him to call for help to put out the fire Achilles and his army. (So ​​he plans to divert Achilles' attention from the Roman capture of Pharos.) Caesar dons his armor and leaves to take part in the capture of Pharos. Cleopatra begs him to be careful.

After Caesar's departure, on the embankment, where the Roman guards stand, Apollodorus, a Sicilian, patrician, art lover, appears. He brings Persian carpets to the palace, wanting Cleopatra to choose some of them. The queen herself runs out of the palace. She wants to immediately get into the boat and sail to Caesar. However, the guard does not allow her to do so. This is contrary to Caesar's orders. Then Cleopatra asks Apollodorus to deliver to Caesar a beautiful Persian carpet as a gift from her by boat and obtain permission for her to sail to him on the island. She runs to choose a carpet. Soon, the bearers carry the gift out of the palace, it is loaded onto a boat, and Apollodorus sets off from the shore. When the boat is already far from the guard, Phtatatita sarcastically informs him that he missed Cleopatra, since she nevertheless made her way to the boat, being wrapped in a carpet.

The boat sails to the island. At this time, someone throws a heavy bag into the water, the bow of the boat breaks, and it sinks. Apollodorus barely manages to pull the carpet out of the water. While Caesar, Britannus and Rufio are enthusiastically watching Apollodorus and his burden, the Egyptians land on the shore. The Romans and Cleopatra can only swim. Caesar floats, carrying Cleopatra on his back. Soon a boat comes up to them, and they get on board.

The following events unfold already in March 47, that is, six months after the initial events. Potinus, still held captive by Caesar and living in the palace, seeks an audience with Cleopatra and during it behaves either humbly and respectfully, or tries to turn the queen against Caesar, but Cleopatra drives him away. He goes to Caesar and is eager to restore him against Cleopatra, but does not have time to do this, because the queen herself enters, going to dine with Caesar, Apollodorus and Rufi. Caesar asks Potinus to say what he wanted to say, or leave, for he will grant him freedom. Potin, after some confusion, begins to inspire him that Cleopatra wants to reign in Egypt alone and with all her heart is waiting for his departure. Cleopatra indignantly assures that this is a lie. Caesar, however, finds that even if it were so, it would be quite natural. He asks Potin to leave and repeats that he is free. Cleopatra seethes with anger and discreetly orders Ftatati to kill Pothinus before he leaves the palace. At dinner, everyone suddenly hears a scream and the sound of a body falling. Lucius Septimius enters and informs Caesar that Potinus has been killed and the city has gone mad, since Potinus was a favorite of the townspeople. Cleopatra confesses that it was she who ordered Pothinus to be killed for his slander. Rufio and Apollodorus approve of her act. However, Caesar says that now he will not be able to protect the life of the queen from the angry Egyptians. Lucius Septimius comforts him. He reports that reinforcements have arrived for the Romans - the army of Mithridates of Pergamon. Caesar goes to meet Mithridates. Before leaving, Rufiy imperceptibly stabs Ftatatita like a wild tigress who can attack at any moment, as he later explains his act to Caesar. He approves of it. Roman troops smash the Egyptians, King Ptolemy drowns in the river, and Cleopatra becomes the sovereign ruler.

Caesar prepares to sail for Rome. Before leaving Egypt, he leaves Rufio as governor. Cleopatra, he repeats his promise to send Mark Antony.

E.V. Semina

Roman (1900)

He was six feet tall, maybe an inch or two shorter, with a strong build, and he walked straight at you with his head down and his brow fixed intently. He carried himself as if he were stubbornly insisting on his rights, although there was nothing hostile in this, he seemed to apply it equally to himself and to everyone else. He was always dressed impeccably, head to toe in white. It is unlikely that at the turn of the outgoing century in the seaports east of Suez: in Bombay, Calcutta, Rangoon, Penang, Batavia - one could find the best sea clerk - a representative of trading companies that supplied ships with everything necessary. He was very likable, and the hosts were terribly annoyed when he suddenly left them, moving usually further east and taking with him the carefully kept secret of his inconstancy. He had not always been a sea clerk, and he did not always remain so. He, the son of an English village priest, was simply called Jim by all, but the Malays from the forest village, where his flight from something unbearable finally brought him, called him Tuan Jim, that is, Lord Jim proper. He was not yet twenty-four years old.

From childhood he raved about the sea, received a license for navigation, sailed as an assistant captain in the southern seas. After recovering from a wound after one unsuccessful voyage, he was about to return to England, but instead he unexpectedly joined the navigator on the Patna, a small and rather decrepit steamer that sailed to Aden with eight hundred Muslim pilgrims. The team consisted of several white sailors, led by a German skipper, a rough, fat man with a repulsive manner. The splendid calm of the sea was not disturbed in any way when, in the middle of the night, the ship experienced a slight jolt. Later, during the trial, experts agreed that it was most likely an old sunken ship, floating under water with its keel up. Inspection of the bow hold horrified the crew: the water rapidly arrived through the hole, the ship was kept from flooding only by a thin and absolutely unreliable iron bulkhead of the bow compartment. “I felt how she arched under the pressure of the water, pieces of rust fell on top of me,” Jim later told about what remained with him forever. a third of the people, there was no time to lower the boats. The skipper and two mechanics, with feverish efforts, nevertheless lowered one boat - they thought only of their own salvation. When the boat sailed, Jim, who had been in a stupor of hopelessness all this time, found himself in it. Rather In total, in the last seconds, he made this jump, unexpected for himself, from the side of the sinking ship, not out of fear for his life, but from the inability to endure the horror of his imagination in front of the chilling pictures of the imminent inevitable death of hundreds of people, now still sleeping peacefully. hid the ship's lights. "It sank, sank! Just a minute ... "- the fugitives began to talk excitedly, and then Jim finally realized the disastrous nature of his act. It was a crime against maritime laws, a crime against the spirit of humanity, a terrible and irreparable crime against himself. It was a missed opportunity to save people and become a hero. This was much worse than death. A lie invented by the fugitives was not needed to justify this act. A miracle happened: the old rusty bulkhead withstood the pressure of the water, the French gunboat brought the Patna to port in tow. Upon learning of this, the skipper fled, the mechanics took refuge in the hospital , only Jim appeared before the maritime court. The case was high-profile and caused general indignation. The verdict was the deprivation of the skipper's license.

"Oh yes, I was at this judicial investigation ..." - Marlowe, the captain of the English merchant fleet, begins here his presentation of Jim's story, which he did not know in detail and to the end. no one but him. The cigar smoldered in his hand, and the cigar-lights of his listeners, seated in deck chairs on the veranda of a hotel in one of the ports of the south-eastern seas, flashed and moved slowly like fireflies in the darkness of a fragrant and clear tropical night. Marlow said...

"This guy was fraught with a mystery. He went through all the humiliations of the investigation, although he could not do it. He suffered. He dreamed of being understood. He did not accept sympathy. He longed to start a new life. He could not cope with the ghost of the past. He inspired trust and sympathy, but in the depths of all this lurked a terrible suspicion and disappointment for everyone.He was refined, he was exalted, he was exalted, he was ready for exploits, but the sky, and the sea, and people, and the ship - all his betrayed. He wanted to regain his trust. He wanted to close the door behind him forever, he wanted true fame - and true obscurity. He was worthy of them. He was one of us, but we will never be like him.

A couple of times I helped him get a decent job, but each time something reminded me of the past and everything went to dust. The earth seemed small for his escape. Finally, chance, friend of all who are capable of patience, stretched out its hand over him. I told his story to my Friend Stein, a wealthy merchant and eminent entomologist collector who had spent his whole life in the East. His diagnosis was surprisingly simple: "I perfectly understand all this, he is a romantic. A romantic must follow his dream. Her mercy is limitless. This is the only way."

Jim got a job at Stein's trading post in Patusan, a place remote from all the intrigues of civilization. The virgin forests of Malaya closed behind him.

Three years later I visited Patyuzan. Tuan Jim became the organizer of this abandoned country, its hero, its demigod. Peace descended on him and seemed to spread through the mountains, forests and river valleys. With his fearlessness and military prudence, he pacified the ferocious local robber Sheriff Ali and took his fortifications. The insidious and vicious Raja, the ruler of the country, trembled before him. The leader of the Boogie tribe, the wise Doramin, was with him in a noble and touching friendship, and the son of the leader developed with him a relationship of that special closeness, which can only be between people of different races,

Love came to him. The adopted daughter of Stein's former agent, the Portuguese Cornelius, half-breed Jewel, a gentle, courageous and unhappy girl before meeting him, became his wife. "I guess I'm still worth something if people can trust me," Jim said with expressive sincerity.

“I had to assure all these people, including his wife, that Jim would never leave their countries, as every other white people they had ever seen did. He would stay here forever. I myself was sure of this. there was another place for him, and for this place there was no person like him. Romance chose him as its prey, and this was the only intelligible truth of this story. We said goodbye forever. "

Marlow finished his story, the audience dispersed. The rest is already known from his manuscript, in which he tried to collect everything that could be learned about the completion of this story. It was an amazing adventure, and the most amazing thing was that the story was true.

It began with the fact that a certain man nicknamed "Gentleman Brown", this blind helper of the dark forces, who played the miserable role of a modern half-pirate, half-tramp, managed to steal a Spanish schooner. Hoping to plunder provisions for his starving gang, he anchored at the mouth of the Patyuzan River and on a longboat went up to the village. To the astonishment of the bandits, "Jim's people" put up such a decisive rebuff that they were soon surrounded on a hill. Negotiations took place between Brown and Jim - two representatives of the white race, who stood at different poles of the universe. Desperately seeking salvation, Brown finds Jim's vulnerable spot with the instinct of a hunted animal. He says that Jim has a real opportunity, by preventing bloodshed, to save many people from death. Against this, Jim, Patna's only victim, cannot resist. At the council of the tribe, he says: "Everyone will be safe and sound, I vouch with my head." Brown's longboat is allowed to sail. The barrage detachment, located down the river, led by the leader's son, should also let him through. Meanwhile, Brown was joined by Cornelius, a man who hated Jim because, having changed his life in Patusan in three years, he made obvious all the insignificance of his predecessor. Taking advantage of the betrayal, the bandits attack the barrage detachment by surprise, the leader's son is killed. Terrible news of his death comes to the village. The people cannot understand the reasons for this misfortune, but Jim's guilt is obvious to them. Jim's wife Jewel and loyal servants implore him to defend himself in his fortified homestead or flee.

But loneliness has already closed over him. "I can't save a life that doesn't exist." Rejecting all pleas, Dord Jim goes to the house of the leader Doramin, enters the circle of light, where the body of his murdered friend lies. Unable to overcome his grief, Doramin kills this incomprehensible white man.

He leaves in the shadow of a cloud, mysterious, unforgiven, forgotten, such a romantic, unknown conqueror of glory. He was one of us. And although now he often appears only as a mysterious ghost, there are days when his existence is felt with overwhelming force.

A. B. Shamshin

Roman (1904)

The city of Sulaco, the capital of the Western Province of the South American Republic of Costaguana, is located on the shores of the vast Gulf of Placido Golf. The smooth arc of the coast of the bay is bounded on one side by the cape of Puenta Mala, on the other - by a mountain called Higuerota, the top of which sparkles with snow overshadows the entire surrounding area. In the middle of the bay are Isabella - two small islands, on one of which there is a lighthouse. During the Spanish rule, the Western Province, separated from the rest of the country by the spurs of the Cordillera, was independent, and Sulaco was a prosperous trading city. Later, after joining the Costaguan Confederation, the city lost its significance. However, the discovery a few decades ago in Sao Tome at the foot of the Higuerota of silver deposits changed the fate of the entire province. The mines of São Tomé constitute an enormous wealth, brought regularly to Sulaco in the form of wagons laden with silver bars. Therefore, one of the most important figures in the city is the Englishman Charles Gould, the "silver king", who inherited a silver mining company from his father. He lives in Sulaco, in a huge palace, together with his young, energetic wife. Senator don José Avellanos and his daughter Antonia also belong to the high society of the province.

Liberal aristocrats, merchants, priests, emigrants from different countries of the world, military men, mine workers, sailors, dock workers, robbers, society ladies - such is the motley crowd of the inhabitants of this area and this city, an outpost of European civilization within the limits of a remote and wild new peace. Among these people stands out a man known to everyone under the nickname Nostromo - this is how the boatswain is usually called on Italian ships. This is the "capatas cargadores" - the eldest among the port workers, the Italian Gian Batista Fidanza. His honesty, strength, influence on ordinary people, ability to stand with the mighty of this world with dignity, common sense earned him the fame of a person who can be relied on more than anyone else in all of Sulaco. With a firm and confident hand, capable of holding a weapon when necessary, he restores order in the port and in the mine, more than once preventing unrest in the city.

Meanwhile, this region, open to civilization and prosperity, is reduced to a subordinate position and stagnation by the self-serving, ignorant and cruel rulers of Costaguana. But the day came when the historical destinies of Sulaco and the whole country underwent decisive changes. The tyrant Guzmán Bento, who ruled for many years, died. After a short civil war, the liberal Vicente Ribeira came to power, supported by the enlightened aristocrats of the Western Province and the "king of silver" Gould. Soon, however, his minister of war, General Montero, rebelled against him. The war continued. In Sulaco, a revolt of Monterists was suppressed, people who could hardly be called anything other than scum. Then two thousand Sulak volunteers, under the command of General Barrios, armed with brand new rifles bought by Mr. Gould, set off on a steamer to recapture the strategically important Northern Port from the rebels. However, bad news came: government troops were defeated, chaos reigned in the country. The city, left without protection, is attacked by new bands of Monterist robbers - from the east because of the mountains and from the north by the sea. There is not even an opportunity to report this to General Barrios.

Recently returned from Europe, a native of Sulaco and a well-known journalist in Paris, Martin Decoud, a deeply feeling man, carried away by the dream of the freedom of his homeland, in love with the noble Antonia Avellanos, offers a plan of salvation - the only, romantic, deadly, noble, unexpected. Sulaco must secede from Costaguana and become an independent republic. This is salvation from anarchy and exploitation, this is the path to prosperity and well-being, this can inspire people to fight. However, this is only possible with the support of the United States, and this support can be provided by the uninterrupted shipment of silver. Just now, a semi-annual cargo mined from the mines of Sao Tome must be sent before the arrival of enemies.

Only the most trusted person in Sulaco, known to everyone, can be entrusted with this most important business. At night, at the last moment, a barge with a load of silver bars leaves the port. It has Decoud and Nostromo on it. The launch is very unreliable, it leaks. Having unloaded treasures on one of the islands and left Decoud there, Nostromo sets off to find out the situation back to the city, already occupied by the enemy. He does not appear for more than ten days, and Decoud cannot stand the torture of loneliness: he is sure that their case is lost and commits suicide. Meanwhile, Nostromo did not appear because he is fulfilling a new assignment that no one but him can do: having made his way through enemy outposts, overcoming a long journey to the north full of danger, he brings the troops of General Barrios to the city. Together with the workers of the mine who rebelled against the tyranny of the Monterists, the soldiers liberate the city. A new state is proclaimed, the flag of the Western Republic of Sulaco (a green olive wreath on a silver background, in the center of which is a golden lily) is first saluted by an American gunboat. Decoud's fantastic plan is a resounding success.

It so happened that everyone is sure: the longboat with silver sank in an unknown place and Decoud died with him, and Nostromo escaped only because he was an excellent swimmer. Nostromo does not tell anyone the truth about the hidden treasure, at first just out of caution, but then he realizes that no one knows the truth and now he is the sole owner of the treasure...

On the uninhabited island of Big Isabella, off the coast of Sulaco, there is a lighthouse. The caretaker there is a compatriot and friend of Nostromo, the old Garibaldian Viola, he settled on the island with his two daughters thanks to a national hero, one of the most respected and influential people in the city. Nostromo, the fiance of his eldest daughter, was the only person who regularly visited the old widower. Each time he took one or two ingots with him. "I must grow rich slowly" - this became his motto. The hero of the Sulak revolution has changed a lot. He was just as successful as before, but, suspicious, withdrawn, irritable, he was so unlike the former favorite of the authorities and the people. The treasures took possession of him. Secretly checking the treasure became an irresistible need. Now the faithful Nostromo was faithful only to him, and everything around seemed to breathe theft and betrayal,

One night, the stern Viola, alarmed by rumors that one of the port Apaches was going to encroach on the honor of his youngest daughter, noticed an unknown person who sailed to the island in a boat. The shot of the old soldier Garibaldi was accurate. In the murdered with horror they recognized Nostromo.

A white cloud, sparkling like a heap of silver, floats over the luminous line of the horizon, and the spirit of the lord of treasures rules over the dark waters of the bay - faithful, indomitable, lucky, restless, secretive, unsolved and irresistible.

A.B. Shamshin

Fairy Tale Play (1904)

There are three weather children in the Darling family. The eldest is Wendy, then comes John, and then Michael. They have an unusual nanny, a large black diving dog named Nena. One evening, going into the bedroom to the children already in bed, Mrs. Darling sees a boy fly in through the window, followed by a strange luminous speck. She screams in surprise, and Nena comes running to the scream. The boy manages to fly out the window, but his shadow remains in Nana's teeth! Mrs. Darling rolls it up and puts it in a dresser drawer.

In a few days, Mrs. and Mr. Darling are going to visit. In a hurry, Mr. Darling runs into Nana, and his trousers are in trouble! - remains wool. Mr. Darling chases Nana out into the yard and puts her on a chain. As soon as the parents leave home, a small light flies to the children - this is the Tinker Bell fairy, she is looking for a shadow. Peter Pan follows her. On a Tinker Bell signal (the fairy can't speak, she makes a melodic ringing), Peter discovers the shadow and tries to attach it back, but nothing comes of it. Peter starts crying and his sobs wake Wendy up. Finding out what's wrong, Wendy sews a shadow onto Peter's heels. It hurts a little, but he endures. Feeling trust in Wendy, Peter tells her about himself: he ran away from home, determined never to become an adult. He lives on the island of Netinebudet with the lost boys ("when a child falls out of the stroller, he goes to the land of Netinebudet"). At the same time, something about fairies is revealed: it turns out that fairies are born from children's laughter and every child has his own fairy. But one has only to think "nonsense, there are no fairies in the world" - and the fairy dies.

Learning that Wendy can tell stories, Peter invites Wendy to the island ("I'll teach you to fly, and we'll fly together") to tell stories and be the mother of all the lost boys. Wendy hesitates, but still agrees. John and Michael fly with her.

The inhabitants of the island are preparing to meet Peter. The boys are looking for a place where Peter will land. Pirates led by Captain Jez Hook are looking for boys, redskins (their leader is the Great Little Panther) are looking for pirates, and wild animals are looking for redskins to eat them.

Warning Wendy's arrival, the Tinker Bell fairy appears. She (out of jealousy!) on behalf of Peter orders the boys to shoot Wendy with a bow. They have no reason to doubt, and one of them shoots. Wendy falls to the ground and lies as if dead. But she did not die, she was saved by an acorn hanging around her neck, a gift from Peter Pan, - an arrow stuck into it. But Wendy is very weak, and all the boys, led by Peter who has flown up, are building a house for her, building it right around her. The house is looking pretty good. Wendy is serious about her duties: she cooks, washes, darns and, of course, tells stories.

Pirates don't leave boys alone. Captain Hook - his name is that since Peter cut off his hand, instead of which he had to attach an iron hook - he cannot forgive Peter for this, especially since the hand was swallowed by a crocodile, who liked it so much that he constantly hunts for Hook , it's good that it can be heard by the ticking of the captain's wristwatch, which has not stopped walking in the crocodile belly. The captain comes up with the idea to bake a poisoned cake to the death of the boys, but he fails to achieve anything in this way - Wendy does not allow them to eat sweets, and the cake safely stale in the clearing until the captain himself stumbles over him in the dark and falls to the ground.

One day, the pirates want to tie an Indian princess, Tiger Lily, to a rock in the lagoon to be flooded by the tide. Peter Pan manages to trick the pirates into ordering them (in Captain Hook's voice) to let her go. Peter then has to fight Hook, who wounds him. Peter is rescued by a bird No.

One evening, Wendy tells the boys their favorite fairy tale - about how one gentleman and one lady lived in the world, whose children once flew to the island of Netinebudet. And how they always kept the window open so the kids could fly home.

Peter objects to Wendy: he also used to think about mothers that way, and therefore was in no hurry to return. And when he arrived, the window was closed, and another boy was sleeping in his bed.

Then John and Michael, Wendy's brothers, realize that they need to hurry home. Wendy invites the rest of the boys with her, confident that her parents will certainly adopt them too. Everyone agrees except Peter Pan, who doesn't want to get big. Peter asks the Indians to see Wendy and the boys off, but the pirates intervene again. They manage to dishonestly defeat the Indians and capture Wendy and the boys. Peter learns about this from Tinkerbell and rushes to the rescue. There is a decisive battle between Peter Pan and Captain Hook. The pirates have been defeated. The boys and Wendy fly home.

Meanwhile, in London, Mrs. and Mr. Darling continue to wait for the children and never close the windows of the nursery. And Mr. Darling cannot forgive himself for driving Nana out of the house that terrible evening and putting her on a chain. Therefore, he vowed to live in a doghouse until the return of the children, they take him to work and bring him from work. Mrs. Darling sits down at the piano and begins to play. At this time, Peter and Tinkerbell arrive. They close the window so that Wendy decides that her mother is no longer waiting for her and does not love her, and would return with Peter to the island. But there is great sadness in the music, and Peter opens the window again. Wendy, John and Michael fly in through the window and climb into their beds. The mother discovers them, calls her father, and Nena also runs into the room. Everyone is happy. And the boys are waiting downstairs for Wendy to tell her parents about them. Having counted to five thousand, they enter the house and line up in front of Mrs. Darling. Of course, both Mrs and Mr Darling decided to adopt them!

Peter flies to the island again. He promises Wendy to fly next year, but forgets about it. And when Peter reappears, Wendy is already married and has a little daughter, Jane.

Not noticing the change, Peter calls Wendy with him, but she refuses with a sigh, because she is already an adult. Wendy leaves the room to calm down as Peter Pan sits on the floor crying. His sobs wake Jane up.

And everything repeats again.

When Jane grows up, her daughter Margaret is born, and now Margaret flies away with Peter Pan to the island of Netine... And this will continue until the children stop being so cheerful, incomprehensible and heartless.

V. S. Kulagina-Yartseva

(The Forsyte sage)

Roman (1906)

The action takes place in London in 1886-1887. There is a family celebration at old Jolyon's house, a reception in honor of Miss June Forsyth's engagement to Mr. Philip Bosinney. There are many guests, the family is very numerous. Within the Forsyte clan, as in society, the law of competition reigns, six brothers - Jolyon, James, Swithin, Nicholas, Roger and Timothy - compete who of them is richer. Their father "Proud Dosset", from farmers, arrived in London at the beginning of the century, worked as a bricklayer, contractor, built houses. He had ten children, and all are still alive, the next generation has twenty-one young Forsyths. The family now belongs to the top of the English bourgeoisie, among its members are financiers, lawyers, rentiers, members of joint-stock companies. All of them are distinguished by possessive self-confidence, conversations in their environment always revolve around the price of shares, dividends, the cost of houses and things. Those gathered look smart, brilliant and respectable, but there is a certain tension caused by the instinctive feeling of the immediate proximity of something unusual and unreliable. The object of distrust is the person for the sake of acquaintance with whom they have gathered here. Bosinney is an architect, has no fortune, is artistically casual in dress, and is somewhat eccentric. George - the son of Roger - calls him a pirate, and this nickname is fixed among relatives. Old Jolyon disapproves of the choice of a granddaughter, in whom she does not have a soul, she will sip grief with this reckless, impractical youth, but June is a baby with character and very stubborn.

Old Jolyon is trying to improve relations with his son, June's father, whom he has not seen for fourteen years. Then young Jolyon, in the name of “illegal”, according to Forsyte norms, love, left his family, he lives modestly, works as an insurance agent, and paints in watercolors. The father, having arranged a seemingly random meeting at the club, invites his son to his place, then pays him a visit, and his grandchildren - little Jolly and Holly - take possession of his heart.

The son of James, Soames, is dysfunctional in the family, although he hides it in every possible way. The Forsytes perceive his wife as something unusual and alien to their circle. Golden-haired, dark-eyed Irene looks like a pagan goddess, she is full of charm, distinguished by sophistication of taste and manners. After the death of her father, Professor Eron, the young girl was left without funds and in the end was forced to give in to Soames, who had stubbornly sought her hand for a year and a half. She married without love, believing the promises of a fan that if the marriage was unsuccessful, she would receive complete freedom. Already at the very beginning of her marriage, Irene realized what a mistake she had made, she was burdened by a closed sphere, where she was assigned the role of a beautiful thing, the possession of which amuses her husband's possessive self-confidence. The coldness of his wife and undisguised hostility to him drive Soames to rage.

A prosperous Soames commissions Bosinney to build a new country house in Robin Hill. He is increasingly disturbed by the sympathy that arose between his wife and the young architect, gradually developing into a mutual deep feeling. In vain Irene starts talking about divorce, the husband believes that he has the right of ownership to his wife, and does not intend to indulge her folly. Four years ago, Soames was captured by the exciting beauty of Irene, and he does not want to part with what he has won, June is having a hard time with the change in relations with Philip, feeling that he is embarrassed and painful with her.

In Timothy's home, where his unmarried sisters Ann, Esther and the widowed Julie live and where the rest of the family frequents, Soames's position and the relationship Irene and Bosinney, who are increasingly seen together, become a topic for gossip. Soames has long been annoyed that in the course of building the house, Bosinney allows expenses beyond the estimate, he intends to sue and recover damages in court in order to ruin the ragamuffin. Irene's alienation pisses him off. One night, when Irene and Bosinney's affair was already in full swing, Soames manages to finally insist on his rights, to break the resistance of the one who was his lawful wife. The next day, George accidentally witnesses a meeting of lovers, where Irene tells about what happened, and then, out of idle curiosity, follows Bosinney, who, in great excitement, rushes through the city, not understanding the road, like a man who does not know where to go from grief.

Old Jolyon rewrites the will, restoring his son's rights to the inheritance, he feels satisfaction from this act, regarding it as the revenge of time, adversity, the intervention of strangers in his life and the contempt that they rewarded his only son for fifteen years,

At the court, where Bosinney is absent, it was decided to satisfy Soames's claim against the architect. Irene leaves the house without taking her belongings and jewelry with her. Soames can't come to terms with the idea of ​​her leaving his life. June, who was present at the court session, hurries to notify Philip and support him, having met Irene in his apartment, she tells her everything that boiled up, this woman, with whom she was once on friendly terms, broke her life.

Old Jolyon informs his loved ones of his intention to gather them all under one roof. June begs her grandfather to buy the Soames house in Robin Hill, or at least pay the lawsuit. It turns out that on that ill-fated day, Bosinney was hit by an omnibus in the fog and was crushed to death.

Young Jolyon perceives what happened as the first crack in the stronghold of Forsyte prosperity.

Soames is oppressed by melancholy. Suddenly, Irene returns to the house, like a wounded animal in its hole; driven, lost, she is unable to realize how she should live on, where to go. Old Jolyon, out of sympathy, sends his son to her, maybe Irene needs help. But Soma, announcing that he will not allow interference in his family affairs, slams the door on him.

A. M. Burmistrova

(INDIAN SUMMER OF A FORSYTE)

Tale (1918)

Four years pass. Old Jolyon bought the ill-fated house of his nephew Soames and settled there with his family. June with her father and stepmother went on a trip to Spain, and the old man, bored, awaits their return and willingly indulges the fantasies of the grandchildren who remained with him. He likes to sit in the shade of the oak in front of the terrace of the house, admiring the beautiful view. The beauty of nature resonates deeply in his soul, here in Robin Hill, he ceases to feel his age, and yet he is already eighty-five.

Walking through the neighborhood on a May afternoon, old Jolyon meets Irene, who visits these places where she was once happy. He involuntarily succumbs to the charm of this extraordinary woman, invites her to dine, pays a visit to her modest apartment, they attend the opera together. Irene is captivated by his warmth of heart, affectionate participation, he is pleased with the opportunity to talk about the deceased lover. If earlier old Jolyon yearned, now he is waiting for the return of his son and June almost with fear. As he explains this strange friendship, apparently, he will have to recognize himself as an old man, surrender to the mercy of cares and love. But he couldn't bear it if they took away the opportunity to see Irene. He lives by these encounters, not by the past, like people of his age. On a hot July day, on the eve of the return of his relatives, in anticipation of the arrival of Irene, he falls asleep in his armchair with eternal sleep.

A. M. Burmistrova

Roman (1920)

The action of the novel takes place in 1899-1901.

In Timothy's house, which is a kind of forsyth exchange, family gossip is still exchanged and family shares are listed. The older generation of Forsytes has thinned out, Ann, Swithin, Susan are no more in the world, Roger is dying. Relatives still cannot calm down about the almost secret funeral of old Jolyon, who died in 1892, he was the first to betray the family crypt in Highgate, punishing him to bury himself in Robin Hill. And to think - he left fifteen thousand pounds in his will to Irene - the runaway wife of his nephew Soames. It was then that old Jolyon's right to the title of true Forsyte collapsed once and for all. And Soames' capital during these twelve years of a lonely life, during which he was not interested in anything, grew extraordinary.

His sister Winfrid has a misfortune: her reckless husband Montague Dartie has run away with a Spanish dancer. He was previously considered a "dandelion" in the family, he never liked money for the sake of money and despised the Forsytes for their passion for investments. Dartie has always appreciated in money that you can buy "feelings" with them, Winfried, whose family life has been quite difficult all these years, is in disarray, in spite of everything, she is still accustomed to considering a bad husband as her property. What is it like to be alone with four children at forty-two! Soma refers to her sister with sympathy, both of them in the ridiculous position of undivorced Forsytes. Such uncertainty has been especially burdensome for Soames in recent times. He is increasingly worried about the thought that he has no heir. He looked for a suitable option for a new marriage - twenty-year-old Frenchwoman Annette, daughter of Madame Lamet, owner of the Brittany restaurant in Soho. Soames is preparing his sister's divorce proceedings, and he himself is not averse to terminating the marriage as soon as possible, which actually ended twelve years ago.

Young Jolyon is experiencing a period of success, he is at the forefront of watercolor artists, his paintings are well sold out. June, who has always taken an ardent part in the fate of those who have a hard time, takes care of the future geniuses of the artistic world, dreams of acquiring an exhibition salon. After the death of his father, Jolyon is a very wealthy person; for several years he has been a widower. Quite unexpected for him is the visit to Robin Hill by Soames, who was accompanied by nineteen-year-old nephew Bel Dartie. The young man is going to study at Oxford, where the son of Jolyon Jolly is studying, it would be nice for young people to get to know each other. From the first meeting, Val falls in love with Holly, who loves him back. Soames informs Jolyon of his intention to dissolve the marriage with Irene and asks him to mediate in this matter.

Jolyon goes to Irene, whom he has not seen for twelve years. The noble beauty of this woman, over which time seems to have no power, makes a huge impression on him. People who do not live are well preserved, she bitterly remarks, and readily responds to the proposal of a divorce. But Soames will have to take the initiative. How strangely paralyzed both of these people's lives are, Jolyon muses, as if both were in a loop.

Soames visits Irene to force a divorce, and is forced to admit that he still cares about this woman. He leaves her house confused, confused, with pain in his heart, with vague anxiety. He coincides with his next visit on the thirty-seventh anniversary of Irene's birth, brings a diamond brooch as a gift. He agrees to forget everything, asks her to return, to give birth to his son. Like a blow of a whip sounds the answer: "I would rather die." In an effort to get rid of the harassment of her ex-husband, Irene goes abroad. Soames turns to the detective agency with an order to establish surveillance of her. He justifies himself by the fact that he cannot continue to remain in the web, and in order to break it, he has to resort to such a vile method. Jolyon travels to Paris, where he meets Irene, his belated infatuation turns into a strong feeling. And then Soames himself goes to Paris with the intention of once again breaking Irene's resistance, her unwillingness to accept a reasonable offer and create a relatively tolerable existence for herself and him. Irene is forced to hide again from his persecution.

At the court hearing on the suit of Winfrid, a decision was made to restore marital rights. Soames' calculation that this would be a stepping stone to his sister's divorce is not justified; after a while, the subdued Dartie returns home. The wife agrees to accept him.

The Anglo-Boer War breaks out. June is preparing to become a nurse. Jolly learns that Val and Holly are engaged. He has long disliked the young rake caring for his sister. To prevent this alliance, Jolly urges Val to also sign up as a volunteer for the front. Holly, along with June, also goes to Africa.

After the departure of the children, Jolyon feels oppressive loneliness. But then Irene arrives, and they decide to unite their destinies. During his stay in Paris, information discrediting Irene has already been accumulated, which Soames intends to use in court. Since he is unreasonably trying to put the blame on her, it would be wiser to cut the knot by supporting his story. Jolyon is grieving the news of the death of his son, who died in a foreign land from dysentery.

There is a divorce process in which Soames finally gains freedom, there is no defendant, Irene and Jolyon travel around Europe. Six months later, the wedding of Soames and Annette is celebrated. Val and Holly are married in Africa, Val is injured and asks Grandpa James to buy a plot of land and a farm there so that he can breed horses. For Soames, this is another blow: his own nephew married the daughter of his rival, Irene has a son, which brings Soames new suffering. He and Annette are also expecting offspring. But the hope for an heir is not justified, a daughter is born, who is given the name Fleur. Annette's birth was difficult, and she will not have more children. To a dying father who has long dreamed of a grandson, Soames is forced to lie that he has a son. And yet, despite the disappointment that has befallen him, he feels a sense of triumph, a joyful sense of possession.

A.L. Burmistrova

Roman (1921)

The action takes place in 1920. Jolyon is already seventy-two years old, his third marriage has lasted twenty years. Soames is sixty-five years old, Annette is forty. Soames does not have a soul in his daughter, Fleur completely filled his heart. With his wife, they are absolutely strangers, people, he doesn’t even care that the rich Belgian Prosper Profon is hovering around Annette. He doesn't know much about his relatives. The aunts are dead, there is no more Forsyte exchange, only Timothy remains of the older generation, who, due to the manic fear of infection, was almost invisible to the rest of the Forsytes for many decades, he is one hundred and one years old, and he fell into senile dementia. Val came back selling his farm in South Africa and bought a property in Sussex.

Soames has become an avid collector; in understanding paintings, he is no longer limited to knowing their market price. One day, in a showroom owned by June, he meets Irene and her son. Much to his displeasure, Fleur and John get to know each other. Soames is then forced to explain to his daughter that he and this relative are in a long-standing enmity.

Fleur and John accidentally end up together visiting Val and Holly. Amid the idyll of rural nature, their romance begins. The hosts do their best to avoid talking about the reasons for the enmity - such was Jolyon's instruction.

Soames is alarmed by his daughter's infatuation. He gives a clear preference to another of her admirers - Michael Mont, the future owner of the title and land holdings, persistently seeking her favor. He constantly tells Fleur that he wants nothing to do with that branch of the Forsyte family. Irene is also worried, trying to separate the lovers, she takes her son to Spain for a couple of months. June, who takes care of Jolyon, who is left alone, reproaches her father for cowardice, it was necessary to tell John everything as it is. If young people really love each other, why make them unhappy in the name of the past.

Fleur finds photographs of a young woman from her father, whom she recognizes as Irene, and is tormented by guesses what lies behind all this. Monsieur Profond willingly reveals a family secret to her. Soames persuades Fleur to back down, nothing will work anyway, those two hate him. How terrible that Fleur should inherit her passion for Irene's son. But his feeling is already thirty-five years old, and their acquaintance lasts only two months. He advises his daughter to leave this madness, which obviously will not end in anything good.

Jolyon is getting worse every day. Anticipating that a serious conversation with his son may not take place, he writes a letter to John, where he tells the whole truth about the past and demands to part with Fleur. If he does not put an end to this love, he will make his mother miserable for the rest of her days. A cruel, dark past falls on John, but he does not have time to explain to his father, Jolyon dies. Upon learning of his death, Soames regards it as retribution: for twenty years his enemy enjoyed his wife and house taken from him.

Fleur shows tenacious tenacity. She still manages to persuade her father to go on a visit to Irene. Soames back at Robin Hill. Here is the house built for him and Irene, the house whose builder destroyed his family hearth. Some irony of fate is that Fleur can enter into him as a mistress. Irene shifts the decision to John. The same one decisively announces that everything is over between him and Fleur, he must fulfill the dying will of his father. Although Soames is satisfied that this unnatural, in his opinion, marriage will not happen and that he returned his daughter, even at the cost of her happiness, he cannot overcome bewilderment and annoyance: these people also rejected his daughter.

Fleur finally agrees to marry Michael Mont, however, without showing any sign, she is deeply worried about what happened. A magnificent wedding is celebrated, the young go on a honeymoon trip.

Timothy dies. A sign appears on a landmark Forsyth house: "For Rent". Things are sold at auction, for which there are few hunters, because they do not correspond to modern taste, but Soames has so many memories connected with them, he thinks bitterly that the last comfort of the old world is disappearing. Soames enters the gallery, where watercolors by Jolyon Forsyth are exhibited. Here he sees Irene for the last time - John has bought land in British Columbia, and she is leaving for her son. House in Robin Hill is for sale.

A. M. Burmshtrova

(Of Human Bondage)

Roman (1915)

The action takes place at the beginning of the XNUMXth century.

Nine-year-old Philip Carey is left an orphan and sent to be raised by his priestly uncle in Blackstable. The priest does not have tender feelings for his nephew, but Philip finds many books in his house that help him forget about loneliness.

At the school where the boy was sent, classmates mock him (Philip is lame from birth), which makes him painfully shy and shy - it seems to him that suffering is the lot of his whole life. Philip prays to God to make him healthy, and that the miracle does not happen, he blames himself alone - he thinks that he lacks faith.

He hates school and doesn't want to go to Oxford. Against his uncle's wishes, he seeks to study in Germany, and manages to get his way.

In Berlin, Philip falls under the influence of one of his fellow students, the Englishman Hayward, who seems to him outstanding and talented, not noticing that the deliberate unusualness of that is just a pose behind which there is nothing. But the disputes between Hayward and his interlocutors about literature and religion leave a huge mark on Philip's soul: he suddenly realizes that he no longer believes in God, is not afraid of hell, and that a person is responsible for his actions only to himself.

After completing a course in Berlin, Philip returns to Blackstable and meets Miss Wilkinson, the daughter of Mr. Carey's former assistant. She is in her mid-thirties, simpering and coquettish, and Philip does not like her at first, but nevertheless soon becomes his mistress. Philip is very proud, in his letter to Hayward he makes up a beautiful romantic story. But when the real Miss Wilkinson leaves, he feels great relief and sadness because reality is so different from dreams.

His uncle, resigned to Philip's reluctance to go to Oxford, sends him to London to train as a chartered accountant. In London, Philip feels bad: he has no friends, and his work makes him unbearably sad. And when a letter arrives from Hayward with a proposal to go to Paris and take up painting, it seems to Philip that this desire has long been ripening in his soul himself. After studying for only a year, he, despite the objections of his uncle, leaves for Paris.

In Paris, Philip entered the art studio "Amitrino"; Fanny Price helps him get used to the new place - she is very ugly and untidy, they can’t stand her for rudeness and great conceit in the complete absence of drawing abilities, but Philip is still grateful to her.

The life of the Parisian bohemia changes Philip's worldview: he no longer considers ethical tasks to be the main ones for art, although he still sees the meaning of life in Christian virtue. The poet Cronshaw, who does not agree with this position, suggests that Philip, in order to comprehend the true purpose of human existence, look at the pattern of the Persian carpet.

When Fanny, having learned that Philip and his friends were leaving Paris in the summer, made an ugly scene, Philip realized that she was in love with him. And on his return, he did not see Fanny in the studio and, absorbed in his studies, forgot about her. A few months later, a letter arrives from Fanny with a request to visit her: she has not eaten anything for three days. Arriving, Philip discovers that Fanny has committed suicide. This shocked Philip. He is tormented by guilt, but most of all by the senselessness of Fanny's asceticism. He begins to doubt his ability to paint and addresses these doubts to one of the teachers. And indeed, he advises him to start life anew, because only a mediocre artist can turn out of him.

The news of his aunt's death makes Philip go to Blackstable, and he will never return to Paris. Having parted with painting, he wants to study medicine and enters the institute at the hospital of St. Luke in London. In his philosophical reflections, Philip comes to the conclusion that conscience is the main enemy of the individual in the struggle for freedom, and creates a new life rule for himself: you must follow your natural inclinations, but with due regard for the policeman around the corner.

One day in a cafe, he spoke to a waitress named Mildred; she refused to keep up the conversation, hurting his vanity. Philip soon realizes that he is in love, although he perfectly sees all her shortcomings: she is ugly, vulgar, her manners are full of disgusting affectation, her rude speech speaks of the poverty of thought. Nevertheless, Philip wants to get her at any cost, up to marriage, although he realizes that this will be his death. But Mildred declares that she is marrying someone else, and Philip, realizing that the main reason for his torment is wounded vanity, despises himself no less than Mildred. But you need to move on: pass exams, meet friends ...

Acquaintance with a young pretty woman named Nora Nesbit - she is very sweet, witty, knows how to easily relate to life's troubles - restores his faith in himself and heals spiritual wounds. Philip finds another friend when he has the flu: he is carefully cared for by his neighbor, doctor Griffiths.

But Mildred returns - having learned that she is pregnant, her betrothed confessed that he was married. Philip leaves Nora and starts helping Mildred - so strong is his love. Mildred gives up a newborn girl for upbringing, not having any feelings for her daughter, but falls in love with Griffiths and enters into a relationship with him. The offended Philip nevertheless secretly hopes that Mildred will return to him again. Now he often thinks about Hope: she loved him, and he treated her vilely. He wants to return to her, but finds out that she is engaged. Soon a rumor reaches him that Griffiths broke up with Mildred: she quickly got tired of him.

Philip continues to study and work as an assistant in the dispensary. Communicating with many different people, seeing their laughter and tears, grief and joy, happiness and despair, he understands that life is more complicated than abstract concepts of good and evil.

Cronshaw arrives in London, who is finally going to publish his poems. He is very ill: he suffered pneumonia, but, not wanting to listen to doctors, he continues to drink, because only after drinking he becomes himself. Seeing the plight of an old friend, Philip transports him to his place; he soon dies. And again Philip is oppressed by the thought of the meaninglessness of his life, and the rule of life invented under similar circumstances now seems to him stupid.

Philip becomes close to one of his patients, Thorp Athelny, and becomes very attached to him and his family: a hospitable wife, healthy, cheerful children. Philip likes to be at their house, to warm himself by their cozy hearth. Athelny introduces him to the paintings of El Greco. Philip was shocked: he discovered that self-denial is no less passionate and decisive than submission to passions.

Having met Mildred again, who now earns a living by prostitution, Philip, out of pity, no longer feeling the same feelings for her, invites her to settle with him as a servant. But she does not know how to run a household and does not want to look for work. In search of money, Philip begins to play on the stock exchange, and the first experience he succeeds so much that he can afford to operate on his sore leg and go with Mildred to the sea.

In Brighton they live in separate rooms. Mildred is angry about this: she wants to convince everyone that Philip is her husband, and upon her return to London, she tries to seduce him. But she does not succeed - now Philip is physically disgusted with her, and she leaves in a rage, pogrom in his house and taking away the child, to whom Philip managed to become attached.

All of Philip's savings went to moving out of the apartment, which brings back painful memories for him and is also too big for him alone. In order to somehow improve the situation, he again tries to play on the stock exchange and goes bankrupt. His uncle refuses to help him, and Philip is forced to leave his studies, move out of his apartment, spend the night on the street and starve. Learning of Philip's plight, Athelny gets him a job in a shop.

The news of Hayward's death makes Philip rethink the meaning of human life. He recalls the words of the already deceased Cronshaw about the Persian carpet. Now he interprets them as follows: although a person weaves the pattern of his life aimlessly, but, weaving various threads and creating a pattern at his own discretion, he must be satisfied with this. The uniqueness of the picture is its meaning.

Then there is the last meeting with Mildred. She writes that she is ill, that her child has died; besides, when he comes to her, Philip finds out that she has returned to her former occupations. After a painful scene, he leaves forever - this haze of his life finally dissipates.

Having received an inheritance after the death of his uncle, Philip returns to the institute and, after graduating, works as an assistant to Dr. South, and so successfully that he invites Philip to become his companion. But Philip wants to travel "to find the promised land and to know himself."

Meanwhile, Athelny's eldest daughter, Sally, is very fond of Philip, and one day, while picking hops, he succumbs to his feelings ... Sally reveals that she is pregnant, and Philip decides to sacrifice himself and marry her. Then it turns out that Sally was wrong, but for some reason Philip does not feel relieved. Suddenly he realizes that marriage is not self-sacrifice, that the rejection of fictitious ideals for the sake of family happiness, if it is a defeat, is better than all victories ... Philip asks Sally to become his wife. She agrees, and Philip Carey finally finds that promised land, to which his soul has been striving for so long.

G. Yu. Shulga

(The Moon and Sixpence)

Roman (1919)

After his death, the artist Charles Strickland was recognized as a genius, and, as is usually the case, everyone who has seen him at least once is in a hurry to write his memoirs and interpret his work. Some make of Strickland a good-natured family man, a caring husband and father, others sculpt a portrait of an immoral monster, without missing the slightest detail that could stir up the interest of the public. The author feels that he must write the truth about Strickland, for he knew him closer than others, and, attracted by the originality of the artist's personality, closely followed his life long before Strickland came into fashion: after all, the most interesting thing in art is the personality of the creator.

The novel takes place at the beginning of the XNUMXth century. The author, a young writer, after his first literary success, is invited to breakfast with Mrs. Strickland - the bourgeois often have a soft spot for people of art and consider it flattering to rotate in artistic circles. Her husband, a stockbroker, does not come to such breakfasts - he is too ordinary, boring and unremarkable.

But suddenly the breakfast tradition is interrupted - to everyone's amazement, the ordinary Charles Strickland left his wife and left for Paris. Mrs. Strickland is sure that her husband ran off with a singer - luxury hotels, expensive restaurants ... She asks the author to go after him and persuade him to return to his family.

However, in Paris, it turns out that Strickland lives alone, in the cheapest room in the poorest hotel. He admits that he acted horribly, but he does not care about the fate of his wife and children, nor does public opinion - he intends to devote the rest of his life not to duty to his family, but to himself: he wants to become an artist. Strickland seems to be possessed by a mighty, irresistible force that cannot be resisted.

Mrs. Strickland, with all her love of art, seems much more insulting that her husband left her for the sake of painting, she is ready to forgive; she continues to support rumors of Strickland's affair with a French dancer.

Five years later, once again in Paris, the author meets his friend Dirk Strew, a short, plump Dutchman with a comical appearance, absurdly kind, who wrote well-selling sweet Italian genre scenes. Although a mediocre artist, Dirk, however, perfectly understands art and faithfully serves it. Dirk knows Strickland, has seen his work (and very few people can boast of this) and considers him a brilliant artist, and therefore often lends money, not hoping for a return and not expecting gratitude. Strickland really often goes hungry, but he is not bothered by poverty, he paints his paintings like a man possessed, not caring about wealth, fame, or observance of the rules of human society, and as soon as the picture is finished, he loses interest in it - he does not expose, does not sell and even simply does not show to anyone.

Dirk Strew's drama is being played out before the author's eyes. When Strickland fell seriously ill, Dirk saved him from death, moved him to his place and, together with his wife, nursed him to full recovery. In "gratitude", Strickland enters into a relationship with his wife, Blanche, whom Streve loves more than anything. Blanche goes to Strickland. Dirk is completely crushed.

Such things are quite in the spirit of Strickland: normal human feelings are unknown to him. Strickland is too big for love and at the same time not worth it.

Blanche commits suicide a few months later. She loved Strickland, and he did not tolerate the claims of women to be his assistants, friends and comrades. As soon as he got tired of painting Blanche nude (he used her as a free model), he left her. Blanche could not return to her husband, as Strickland pointed out venomously, unable to forgive him for the sacrifices he made (Blanche was a governess, she was seduced by the owner's son, and when it was discovered that she was pregnant, she was kicked out; she tried to commit suicide, then Streve and married her). After the death of his wife, Dirk, heartbroken, leaves forever for his homeland, in Holland.

When at last Strickland shows his paintings to the author, they make a strong and strange impression on him. They feel an incredible effort to express something, a desire to get rid of the power that owns the artist - as if he knew the soul of the Universe and is obliged to embody it in his canvases ...

When fate throws the author to Tahiti, where Strickland spent the last years of his life, he asks everyone who knew him about the artist. He is told how Strickland, without money, without a job, hungry, lived in a rooming house in Marseilles; how, according to forged documents, fleeing the revenge of a certain Shrew Bill, he was hired on a steamer going to Australia, how he already worked in Tahiti as a plantation overseer ... The inhabitants of the island, who during his lifetime considered him a vagabond and were not interested in his "pictures", are in their time, they missed the opportunity to buy canvases for pennies, which are now worth a lot of money. An old Tahitian woman, the hostess of the author's hotel, told him how she had found a wife for Strickland, Ata, a native, a distant relative of hers. Immediately after the wedding, Strickland and Ata went to the forest, where Ata had a small piece of land, and the next three years were the happiest in the artist's life. Ata did not bother him, did everything he ordered, raised their child ...

Strickland died of leprosy. Having learned about his illness, he wanted to go into the forest, but Ata did not let him go. They lived together, not communicating with people. Despite being blind (the last stage of leprosy), Strickland continued to work, painting on the walls of his house. This wall painting was seen only by a doctor who came to visit the patient, but did not find him alive. He was shocked. There was something great, sensual and passionate in this work, as if it was created by the hands of a man who penetrated the depths of nature and discovered its frightening and beautiful secrets. By creating this painting, Strickland achieved what he wanted: he expelled the demon that had owned his soul for many years. But, dying, he ordered Ata to burn down the house after his death, and she did not dare to violate his last will.

Returning to London, the author meets again with Mrs. Strickland. After the death of her sister, she received an inheritance and lives very well. Strickland reproductions hang in her cozy living room, and she acts as if she had a great relationship with her husband.

Listening to Mrs. Strickland, the author for some reason recalls the son of Strickland and Ata, as if seeing him with his own eyes on a fishing schooner. And above it - the thick blue of the sky, the stars and, as far as the eye can see, the watery desert of the Pacific Ocean.

G. Yu. Shulga

Roman (1937)

Julia Lambert is the best actress in England. She is forty-six; she is beautiful, rich, famous; busy with what she loves in the most favorable conditions for this, that is, she plays in her own theater; her marriage is considered ideal; She has a grown son...

Thomas Fennel is a young accountant hired by her husband to clean up the theatre's account books. In gratitude for teaching Tom how to cut his income tax without breaking the law, Michael, Julia's husband, introduces him to his famous wife. The poor accountant is incredibly embarrassed, blushes, turns pale, and Julia is pleased - because she lives with the delights of the public; to finally make the young man happy, she gives him her photograph. Going through old pictures, Julia remembers her life...

She was born on the island of Jersey in the family of a veterinarian. Her aunt, a former actress, gave her her first acting lessons. At the age of sixteen, she entered the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, but a real actress was made of her by Middlepool director Jimmy Langton.

While playing in Jimmy's troupe, she met Michael. He was divinely handsome. Julia fell in love with him at first sight, but could not achieve reciprocal love - perhaps because Michael was completely devoid of temperament both on stage and in life; but he admired her acting. Michael was the son of a colonel, graduated from Cambridge, and his family did not approve of his chosen theatrical career. Julia sensitively grasped all this and managed to create and play the role of a girl who could please his parents. She reached her goal - Michael proposed to her. But even after the betrothal, nothing has changed in their relationship; Michael didn't seem to be in love with her at all. When Michael was offered a lucrative contract in America, Julia was beside herself - how can he leave, leaving her? However, Michael left. He returned with money and no illusions about his acting abilities. They got married and moved to London.

The first year of their life together would have been very stormy, if not for the even nature of Michael. Unable to turn his practical mind to love, Julia was insanely jealous, made scenes ...

When the First World War began, Michael went to the front. The military uniform suits him very well. Julia rushed after him, but he did not allow - you can not let the public forget yourself. She continued to act and was recognized as the best actress of the younger generation. Her fame became so strong that one could afford to leave the stage for several months and give birth to a child.

Shortly before the end of the war, she suddenly fell out of love with Michael and, along with longing, felt triumph, as if taking revenge on him for her past torments - now she is free, now they will be on an equal footing!

After the war, having received a small inheritance from Michael's parents, they opened their own theater - with the financial support of the "rich old woman" Dolly de Vries, who had been in love with Julia since the days of Jimmy Aangton. Michael became involved in administrative activities and directing, and he does it much better than playing on stage.

Remembering the past, Julia is sad: life has deceived her, her love has died. But she still has her art - every evening she goes on stage, from the world of pretense to the world of reality.

In the evening in the theater they bring her flowers from Thomas Fnel. Having mechanically written a note of thanks, because "the public must not be offended," she immediately forgets about it. But the next morning, Thomas Fennel calls her (he turns out to be that blushing accountant whose name Julia does not remember) and invites her to tea. Julia agrees to make the poor clerk happy with her visit.

His poor apartment reminded Julia of the time when she was an aspiring actress, the time of her youth ... Suddenly, the young man begins to kiss her passionately, and Julia, surprised at herself, yields.

Internally laughing at the fact that she did an utter stupidity, Julia nevertheless feels rejuvenated by twenty years.

And suddenly, with horror, she realizes that she is in love.

Without revealing her feelings to Tom, she tries by all means to bind him to her. Tom is a snob - and she introduces him to high society. Tom is poor - she showers him with expensive gifts and pays his debts.

Julia forgets about age - but, alas! On vacation, Tom so clearly and naturally prefers her society to her son Roger, his peer ... Her revenge is sophisticated: knowing how painful it is to prick his pride, she reminds the need to leave a tip to the servants with a note and puts the money in an envelope.

The next day, he returns all her gifts - she managed to offend him. But she did not calculate the force of the blow - the thought of a final break with Tom plunges her into horror. She performs the explanation scene brilliantly - Tom stays with her.

She moved Tom closer to her and furnished his apartment - he did not resist; they appear three times a week in restaurants and nightclubs; it seems to her that she has completely subjugated Tom to herself, and she is happy. It never occurs to her that bad rumors can spread about her.

Julia learns about this from Michael, whose eyes were opened by a jealous Dolly de Vries. Julia, turning to the original source, tries to find out from Dolly who and how gossip about her, and during the conversation she learns that Tom promised a certain Evis Crichton a role in their theater, because Julia, according to him, dances to his tune. Julia barely manages to contain her emotions. So Tom doesn't love her. Even worse, he considers her a rich old woman, from whom ropes can be twisted. And the most vile thing - he preferred a third-rate actress to her!

Indeed, soon Tom invites Julia to see the young actress Evis Crichton, who, in his opinion, is very talented and could play in the Siddons Theater. It hurts Julia to see how much Tom is in love with Avis. She promises Tom to give Evis the role - it will be her revenge; You can compete with her anywhere, but not on stage ...

But, realizing that Tom and this novel are unworthy of her and insulting, Julia still cannot get rid of her love for him. To free herself from this obsession, she leaves London for her mother, to stay and relax, habitually thinking that she will make the old woman happy and decorate her hopelessly boring life with herself. To her surprise, the old woman does not feel happy - she is completely uninterested in the glory of her daughter and really likes her hopelessly boring life.

Returning to London, Julia wants to make happy her longtime admirer, Lord Charles Tamerley, with whom she was attributed so long ago that she became quite respectable for the world. But Charles doesn't want her body (or can't use it).

Her self-confidence was shaken. Has she lost her charm? Julia comes to the point that she walks in the "dangerous" quarter, wearing more than usual makeup, but the only man who paid attention to her asks for an autograph.

Son Roger also makes Julia think. He says that he does not know what his mother really is, because she plays always and everywhere, she is her countless roles; and sometimes he is afraid to look into the empty room where she has just entered - what if there is no one there ... Julia does not quite understand what he means, but she becomes frightened: it seems that Roger is close to the truth.

On the day of the premiere of the play in which she got the role of Evis Crichton, Julia accidentally bumps into Tom and enjoys the fact that Tom no longer makes her feel anything. But Evis will be destroyed.

And here comes Julia's finest hour. Playing at half strength in rehearsals, at the premiere she unfolds to the fullest extent of her talent and skill, and Avis' only big mise-en-scène turns into a triumphant performance by the great Julia Lambert.

She was called ten times; at the service exit, a crowd of three hundred people rages; Dolly throws a lavish reception in her honor; Tom, forgetting about Evis, is again at her feet; Michael is genuinely delighted - Julia is pleased with herself. “I won’t have another minute like this in my life. I don’t intend to share it with anyone,” she says, and slipping away from everyone, she goes to a restaurant and orders beer, steak with onions and fried potatoes, which she hasn’t eaten in ten years . What is love compared to a steak? How wonderful that her heart belongs to her alone! Unrecognized, from under the brim of a hat that hides her face, Julia looks at the restaurant visitors and thinks that Roger is wrong, because the actors and their roles are symbols of that chaotic, aimless struggle that is called life, and only the symbol is real. Her "pretense" is the only reality...

She's happy. She found herself and found freedom.

G. Yu. Shulga

(The Napoleon of Nottinghffl)

Roman (1904)

In our times, at the beginning of the twentieth century, so many prophets divorced that, just look, you will inadvertently fulfill someone's prediction. Yes, just spit somewhere - and it turns out that you are spitting into a prophecy! And yet, the majority of humanity, consisting of normal people who prefer to live by their own mind (which the prophets have no idea about), will certainly be able to arrange things in such a way that they will pull the nose of all the prophets. Well, this is what London will look like a hundred years from now, or, say, eighty?

In 1984, imagine, he turns out to be the same as he was. Nothing, in essence, has changed, the nation has become swampy and covered with duckweed. And the whole boring and gray world by that time was in order and was divided among the great powers. The last small independent state - freedom-loving Nicaragua - fell, and the last rebellion - the Indian dervishes - was long ago suppressed. The British monarchy finally turned into an indifferent phenomenon for real life, and, to emphasize this, its hereditary character was abolished and a system was introduced in which the king was determined by lot from the alphabetical book.

And then one day two tall gentlemen, in frock coats, top hats and impeccable collars, were moving along a London street. These were respectable officials, about whom it can be said that they differed from each other only in that one of them, being a stupid person, was definitely a fool a fool, but the second, very smart, could undoubtedly be defined as an idiot idiot. So thought, following them, a little man named Oberon Queen - small, round, with owl eyes and a bouncing gait. The further course of his thoughts took a completely unexpected turn, as suddenly a vision opened up to him: the backs of his friends appeared as two dragon muzzles with cloudy button eyes on the straps. The long tails of the frock coats fluttered, the dragons licked their lips. But the most striking thing was what was then determined in his mind: if this was so, then, therefore, their carefully shaven, serious faces were nothing more than dragon asses uplifted to heaven!

In less than a few days, the one in whose head such discoveries were made became, by lot, the king of England. King Oberon made it his goal to have fun for glory, and soon a happy thought dawned on him. The Great Charter of the Suburbs was proclaimed everywhere and loudly. According to this landmark document, all London districts were declared independent cities, with all the duties, laws and privileges corresponding to medieval customs. North, South, West Kensington, Chelsea, Hammersmith, Bayswater, Notting Hill, Pamplico, Fulham and other areas received their Lord Mayors (elected, of course, by lot among the citizens), coats of arms, mottos, heraldic colors and units of city guards - halberdiers, dressed in strictly seasoned national colors. Someone was annoyed, someone laughed, but, in general, the Londoners took the whims of the king for granted: after all, their philistine life flowed along the same course.

Ten years have passed.

The Lord Mayors of most parts of West London proved to be decent and businesslike people. But their carefully coordinated and mutually beneficial plan for laying a new city-friendly highway met with an obstacle. Adam Wayne, Lord Mayor of Notting Hill, did not agree to demolish the old buildings of Pump Lane. At a meeting in the presence of King Oberon, the mayors offered Wayne a good price, but the ardent patriot of Notting Hill not only refused to sell Pump Lane, but swore to protect every inch of his sacred native land to the last drop of his blood.

This man took everything seriously! He considers Notting Hill his homeland, entrusted to him by God and the Great Royal Charter. Neither the good - reasonable mayors, nor the king himself (for whom such an attitude towards his invention, although pleasant, but completely unexpected absurdity) can do nothing with this madman. War is inevitable. And meanwhile Notting Hill is ready for war.

However, is this a war? City guards will quickly bring order to the rebellious Notting Hill. However, while advancing along the Portobello Road, Hammersmith's blue halberdiers and Bayswater's green halberdiers were suddenly attacked by Nottinghillers dressed in bright scarlet mantles. The enemy operated from the lanes on both sides of the street and utterly defeated the superior forces of the sane mayors.

Then Mr. Buck, Lord Mayor of North Kensington, a successful businessman most interested in laying the highway, assumed command of a new united army of burgesses, four times the strength of Notting Hill. This time the evening offensive was ensured by the prudent blocking of all lanes. The mousetrap closed. The troops advanced cautiously towards Pump Lane, the center of lawless resistance. But suddenly all the light disappeared - all the gas lamps went out. Out of the darkness, the Nottinghillers fell furiously upon them, having managed to turn off the city's gas station. The Allied warriors fell as if slain, there was a clang of weapons and shouts of "Notting Hill! Notting Hill!"

The next morning, however, the businesslike Mr. Buck brought up reinforcements, and the siege continued. The indomitable Adam Wayne and his experienced General Tarnbull (in peacetime a toy dealer who loved to play tin soldier battles on his table) staged a horse sortie (they succeeded in this by unharnessing the horses from cabs prudently ordered the day before in different parts of London). The brave men, led by Wayne himself, made their way to the water tower, but were surrounded there. The battle was in full swing. Crowds of warriors in the colorful garb of the guards of various London suburbs pressed in from all sides, banners fluttered with the golden birds of West Kensington, with the silver hammer of Hammersmith, with the golden eagle of Bayswater, with the emerald fish of Chelsea. But the proud scarlet banner of Notting Hill with its golden lion did not bow in the hands of the mighty hero Adam Wayne. Blood flowed like a river through the gutters of the streets, corpses cluttered the intersections. But in spite of everything, the Nottinghillers, having occupied the water tower, continued their fierce resistance.

It is obvious, however, that their position was hopeless, for Mr. Buck, having once again shown his best business qualities and remarkable talent as a diplomat, gathered under his banner the warriors of all regions of South and West London. The innumerable army was slowly drawn to Pump Lane, filling the streets and squares. Among its ranks, by the way, was King Oberon, who took an unusually active part in the events as a war correspondent, supplying very enthusiastic and colorful, although not always accurate, reports to the Court Herald. His Majesty was thus fortunate to be witness to a historic scene: in response to a decisive and final offer to surrender, Adam Wayne calmly replied that he himself demanded that his opponents immediately lay down their arms, otherwise he would blow up the water tower and frantic streams of water would pour into South and West London . Horrified eyes turned to Mr. Buck. And the businessman-leader bowed his sensible head, acknowledging the unconditional victory of Notting Hill.

Another twenty years passed. And now London in 2014 was already a completely different city. He truly captured the imagination. Colorful clothes, noble fabrics, battlements, magnificently decorated buildings, the nobility of speeches and the posture of glorious citizens pleased the eye, barons full of dignity, skillful artisans, wise warlocks and monks now made up the population of the city. Majestic monuments marked the sites of past battles for Pump Lane and the Water Tower, colorful legends recounted the heroic deeds of the Nottinghillers and their opponents. But… twenty years is enough time for inspired ideas of national independence to turn into deadening standards of imperial thinking, and freedom fighters into swaggering despots.

The suburbs once again unite against the tyranny of mighty Notting Hill. Once again King's Road, Portabello Road, Piccadilly, and Pump Lane are drenched in blood. In the apocalyptic battle, Adam Wayne and King Oberon, who fought shoulder to shoulder with him, die, and almost all the participants in the legendary events die. The history of Notting Hill is coming to an end, and unknown new times are coming after unprecedented new times.

In the dawning Kensington Garden, surrounded by silence and mist, two voices sound, at the same time real and desired, unearthly and inseparable from life. These are the voices of the mocker and the fanatic, the voices of the clown and the hero, Oberon Quinn and Adam Wayne. "Wayne, I was just joking." "Queen, I just believed." - "We are the beginning and the end of great events." "We are the father and mother of the Charter of the Suburbs."

Ridicule and love are inseparable. Eternal man, equal to himself, is a power over us, and we, geniuses, fall prostrate before him. Our Notting Hill was pleasing to the Lord, as he pleased everything genuine and unique. We gave the cities of today that poetry of everyday life, without which life loses itself. And now we go together to unknown lands.

A. B. Shamshin

(Nightmare) (The Man, Who was Thursday) (A Nightmare)

Roman (1908)

In a romantic and strange corner of London called Saffron Park, Lucian Gregory, an anarchist poet whose long fiery curls, combined with a coarse chin, suggested the connection of an angel and a monkey, and Gabriel Syme, a young man in a smart suit, with a graceful blond beard and also a poet. "Creativity is true anarchy, and anarchy is true creativity," Gregory preached. "I know other poetry, the poetry of human norm and order," answered Syme. "But what you say is mere artistic exaggeration." - "Ah, that's how! Give me your word that you will not inform the police, and I will show you something that will completely convince you of the seriousness of my words." - "Excuse me. I won't inform the police."

In the small cafe where Gregory brought Syme, the table they were sitting at is suddenly lowered into the dungeon by a mysterious mechanism. The walls of the bunker are cast with a metallic sheen - they are so hung with bombs, rifles and pistols that there is no free space left. In a minute, a meeting of desperate anarchist terrorists is to be held here. In the European Council of Anarchy, seven members of which bear the names of the days of the week and are presided over by Sunday, at today's meeting, a new Thursday is to be elected to replace the one who left, and it should be Gregory. "Gregory, I am flattered that you, trusting my word, revealed your secret to me. Give me your word that if I reveal mine to you, you will keep it as strictly as I intend to do it." - "I give you my word." "Great. I'm a police agent from the anti-anarchist department." - "Damn!"

At the meeting, Syme, posing as a representative of Sunday himself, rejects Gregory's candidacy and proposes himself instead. In vain, Gregory grinds his teeth and throws indistinct furious remarks. Syme becomes Thursday.

At one time he became a police agent because he was fascinated by the metaphysical idea of ​​fighting anarchism as a universal evil. The organizer and head of a special department, consisting of detectives-philosophers, a man whom no one had ever seen for reasons of super-conspiracy (all meetings took place in absolute darkness), accepted him for this fantastic service.

Now extraordinary luck allows Simon to attend a meeting of the Council dedicated to the upcoming assassination in Paris of both the President of France and the visiting Russian Tsar. Every member of the Anarchist Council has some kind of dark oddity, but Sunday is the strangest and even nightmarish. This is a man of unusual appearance: he is huge, like an inflated ball, elephantine, his thickness surpasses any imagination. According to the unusual rules of conspiracy introduced on Sunday, the meeting takes place in full view of the public, on the balcony of a luxurious restaurant. With a hellish appetite, Sunday devours huge portions of gourmet food, but refuses to discuss the assassination attempt, since among them, he announces, is a police agent. Syme can hardly contain himself, expecting failure, but Sunday points to Tuesday. Tuesday, a desperate terrorist with the appearance of a savage, originally from Poland and with the surname Gogol, is deprived of his wig and expelled with terrible threats.

On the street, Syme discovers that he is being followed. It's Friday - Professor de Worms, a feeble old man with a long white beard.

But, as it turns out, he moves unusually quickly, it is simply impossible to run away from him. Thursday takes refuge in a cafe, but Friday is suddenly at his table. "Admit it, you are a police agent, just like Tuesday and just like ... me," the professor presents a blue card from the Anti-Anarchist Department. Syme presents his own, relieved.

They go to Saturday - Dr. Bull, a man whose face is distorted by terrible black glasses, forcing them to build the most terrible assumptions about the criminality of his nature. But it turns out that if Saturday takes off his glasses for a minute, everything magically changes: the face of a nice young man appears, in which Tuesday and Thursday immediately recognize their own. Blue cards presented.

Now already three enemies of anarchism are rushing in pursuit of Wednesday. This is the Marquis of Saint-Eustache, whose appearance reveals the mysterious vices inherited from the depths of centuries. It is he, apparently, entrusted with a criminal action in Paris. Having overtaken him on the French coast, Syme challenges the marquis to a duel, during which it turns out that Wednesday's appearance is a skillful make-up, and under it is a London police inspector, the owner of a secret agent's blue card. Now there are four of them, but they immediately find that they are being pursued by a whole crowd of anarchists, led by gloomy Monday - the secretary of the Anarchy Council.

What follows unfolds like a true nightmare. The crowd of persecutors is becoming more and more numerous, and those from whom this could not have been expected, those who first assisted the unfortunate persecuted policemen - an old Breton peasant, a respectable French doctor, the head of the gendarmerie of a small town, go over to the side of the enemy. The truly omnipotent power of the criminal Sunday is revealed - everything is bought, everything is corrupted, everything collapses, everything is on the side of evil. The noise of a crowd of pursuers is heard, horses rush, shots crackle, bullets whistle, a car crashes into a lamppost, and finally a triumphant Monday declares to the detectives: "You are under arrest!" - and presents a blue card ... He pursued them, believing that he was chasing anarchists.

Those who have returned to London for all "six days of the week" (Tuesday joins them) hope to cope together with the terrible Sunday. When they arrive at his house, he exclaims, "Have you guessed who I am? I'm the man in the dark room who hired you as a detective!" Then the giant fat man jumps lightly from the balcony, bounces like a ball, and quickly jumps into the cab. Three cabs with detectives are rushing in pursuit. Sunday makes funny faces at them and manages to drop notes that go something like, "I love you, kiss you, but I still don't. Your Uncle Peter," or something like that.

Next, Sunday performs the following spectacular attractions: he jumps on the go from a cab to a fire truck, deftly, like a huge gray cat, climbs over the fence of the London Zoo, rushes through the city on an elephant (maybe this is his best number) and, finally, rises to air in the balloon gondola. God, how strange this man is! So thick and so light, it is like an elephant and a balloon, and somewhat like a ringing and bright fire truck.

The six are now wandering without a road through the London suburbs, looking for the place where the balloon has landed. They are tired, their clothes are dusty and torn, and their thoughts are filled with the mystery of Sunday. Everyone sees it differently. Here there is fear, and admiration, and bewilderment, but everyone finds in it breadth, likeness to the fullness of the universe, the spill of its elements.

But here they are met by a servant in livery, inviting Mr. Sunday to the estate. They rest in a beautiful house. They are dressed in magnificent multicolored, masquerade, symbolic clothes. They are invited to a table set in a marvelous garden of Eden. Sunday appears, he is calm, quiet and full of dignity. The dazzling simplicity of truth is revealed before them. Sunday is the rest of the Lord, this is the Seventh Day, the day of the fulfilled creation. He embodies the completion of order in apparent disorder, in the joy and triumph of the ever-renewing norm. And they themselves are the days of work, weekdays, which, in the eternal run and pursuit, deserve rest and peace. Before them, before the inexorable clarity of order, the metaphysical rebel-anarchist, the red-haired Lucifer - Gregory, bows in the end, and the great Sunday grows, expanding, merging with the fullness of God's world.

How strange that this dream should have visited the poet Gabriel Syme while he was calmly walking along the avenues of the Saffron Park, chatting about trifles with his red-haired friend Gregory, but the clarity found in this dream did not leave him, and thanks to it he suddenly I saw a red-haired girl by the trellis of the garden in the light of dawn, tearing lilacs with the unconscious grandeur of youth in order to put the bouquet on the table when it was time for breakfast.

A. B. Shamshin

(The Return of Don Quixote)

Roman (1927)

The amateur performance, staged in the halls of the former medieval abbey, and now the estate of Baron Seawood, changed the fate of its participants and many other people, contributed to the age-old struggle of socialist revolutionaries and conservative aristocrats, turned out to be a very instructive episode in the history of Great Britain and, in the end in the end, he turned life to the only organic state for it - ordinary happiness.

Lover of antiquity, young and thoughtful Olivia Ashley was the author of the play "Il trovatore Blondel". This historically famous troubadour traveled singing throughout Europe in the hope that King Richard the Lionheart, captured in Austria on his way from the Holy Land, would hear his songs and respond. The king he found, after some hesitation, makes a firm decision to return to his homeland, so that "good old England" can be preserved and prospered under his hand.

The problem of staging the performance is, first of all, the lack of performers. In the minor role of the second troubadour, one has to invite John Braintree, a man whose views and actions as a staunch socialist make no less inappropriate impression in Seawood society than his revolutionary blood-red tie. And in the end, the role of the king, which is unusually important in the performance, goes to the scientist, Seawood librarian Michael Hern. This makes him move away from the history of the ancient Hittites, that is, from what used to be the whole meaning of his life, and plunge into the European history of the XII-XIII centuries. A new hobby covers him like a swift and invincible fire. The play also features the red-haired Rosamund Severn, Lord Seawood's daughter, and several young people of their circle.

The dreamy Olivia Ashley, meanwhile, is working on the scenery with possible care. For perfection, she needs that pure scarlet paint that matches the colors on ancient miniatures. During her childhood, such paint was sold only in one shop, and now it is completely impossible to find. To help her, taking such an assignment seriously, only Douglas Murrell, a representative of a noble family, who has a reputation as a person inclined to surrender to whims and indulge in adventures, is capable of helping her. The consequence of this is that he does not shy away from "bad society", which stands for others as an insurmountable obstacle on the way to the longed-for self-will and adventure.

What follows is a truly heroic-comic story of the exploits of Douglas Murrell. He finds an old scientist who knows the secret of medieval scarlet paint. He gets acquainted with his theory of the death of European civilization due to an epidemic of blindness that has struck the Western world and makes people prefer boring modern dyes to the inspirational colors of the Middle Ages. He saves this holy protector of brightness from the lunatic asylum. He defeats the demonic psychiatrist, who ends up in the only place worthy of him - a cell for the mentally ill. He falls in love with the beautiful daughter of a learned old man. Finally, ten weeks later, Merrel returns to Seawood Manor with a jar of magical scarlet paint he has obtained. His head is adorned with a coachman's hat, and he himself drives an old cab - all this he acquired in his time as the means necessary for the victory of a knight of good old England over the latest psychiatrist dragon.

In the vast green meadow of Seawood Manor, meanwhile, something extraordinary is happening. Above the motley heraldic crowd of nobles, dressed in medieval clothes and armed with medieval weapons, the king sits on the throne, surrounded by a magnificent retinue. The extraordinary seriousness and solemnity of the king does not immediately make it possible to recognize in him a learned, Seawood librarian. Next to him is a red-haired Rosamund with a magnificently sparkling premium weapon in her hands. In the crowd, which looks with surprise and slight contempt at the strange appearance of Douglas Murrell - an inappropriate representative of the Victorian era here - he recognizes many of his society acquaintances. "What is it? Did the performance drag on for two and a half months?" - "How! You don't know? - they answer him. - Haven't you read the newspapers?" Murrel didn't read them. He rolled in his cab along the country roads, bringing only lonely travelers who were in no hurry to go anywhere.

Meanwhile, the political system of England has changed radically. His Majesty's government has transferred full power to the Lion League - an organization really born out of the amateur play "Il trovatore Blondel" due to the fact that the librarian Herne did not want to part with the role of king. He was supported by a group of like-minded people led by a passionate Rosamund. In the conditions of a political crisis that arose due to a powerful strike of miners and dye workers, the government came to the decision that only a new force based on a romantic impulse of love for the good old traditions and embodied in the most reactionary Lion League. Once in power, the Lion League brought back medieval laws and established the rule of England by three fighting kings. Michael Herne became king of the West of England. At the moment, a royal court was taking place in this meadow, in which the king had to decide the dispute between the striking workers and the owners of mines and factories. The strikers demanded that the enterprises be handed over to those who work for them. The owners of the coal and dye factories, supported by the entire propertied class, stood there, dressed in the costumes of the noble class, and ready to defend their property and privileges with weapons in their hands.

Before the trial began, the king listened to Douglas Murrel's story. To the great indignation of his adherents, who firmly and unwaveringly stood for the idea of ​​a medieval masquerade, the king handed Murrell the award weapon intended for a true knight who accomplished a disinterested and wonderful feat. And this despite the obvious absurdity and comedy of his adventures!

But the next decision of the king leads the brilliant crowd into such a decisive indignation that it inevitably puts an end to Herne's power. Firstly, the king recognized in the "anarchist" Braintree a noble and chivalrous opponent, and secondly, he decided that the ownership of factories and mines by workers is much more corresponds to the laws of the Middle Ages than their belonging to the former owners, who are not even masters of professional workshops. Thirdly, the king declared that, according to the latest genealogical research, only an insignificant part of the aristocracy gathered here has a real right to be called it. Basically, these are the descendants of shopkeepers and millers.

"Enough!" exclaimed the Lord Prime Minister, who was the first to come forward so recently with the initiative to transfer power to the Lion League. "Enough!" repeated Lord Seawood decisively. "Enough! Enough! - swept over the crowd of noble knights. - Remove this little actor! Get him out! Lock him up in the book depository!"

The magnificent retinue of the king disappeared in an instant. Only John Braintree, Olivia Ashley and Rosamund Severn remained near him. Douglas Murrell joined them. "Merrel, stop! Remember who you really are!" they shouted at him. "I am the last liberal," answered the man in the cabmen's hat firmly.

Dawn broke. A thin horseman with a spear rode out onto the foggy road, behind him an absurd cab rumbled. "Why are you following me, Douglas?" - severely asked the knight, showing the image of sadness. "Because I don't mind being called just Sancho Panza," came the cabman's high seat.

How they wandered the roads of England, trying to protect the destitute, discussing the fate of civilization, helping the weak, lecturing on history, preaching, fighting not with mills, but with millers, and performing many similar, and also absolutely incomparable feats - about all this, maybe someone else can tell. It is important for us now that in wanderings and adventures their convictions have finally become clear. Here they are: stop the doctor if you see that he is more insane than the patient; do it yourself, for only an honest struggle brings results. And further from this it followed that Don Quixote needed to return. In the end, they turned to the forbidden west for them, towards Seawood.

Dreamy Olivia Ashley made sure that the wonderful paint of her childhood completely reproduces the color of John Braintree's tie. Their noble hearts united. Douglas Murrell hesitated for a long time to propose to the daughter of the old scientist he had saved: he was afraid that the feeling of gratitude would not leave her the possibility of refusal. But simplicity won, now they are happy. The return of Michael Herne, his meeting with Rosamund, doomed these two to happiness. Rosamund, having inherited Seawood after the death of her father, returned it to the monastic order. There the abbey reappeared. Legend has it that on this occasion the sad knight Michael Herne joked, almost for the first time in his life: "When celibacy returns, the true significance of marriage returns." And in this joke he was serious, as always.

A. B. Shamshin

(The Code of the Woosters)

Roman (1938)

The hero of a whole series of Wodehouse novels is the young Englishman Bertie Wooster, who is always accompanied by his servant Jeeves. In the novels, a kind of peculiar sitcom is presented, and the characters constantly find themselves in absurd situations, but with honor get out of them. So in the Wooster Codex, Bergy gets into trouble while running an errand for his aunt Dahlia. She asks him to go to an antique shop that sells an old work of a silver milkman-cow, and with the air of a connoisseur to tell the owner of the shop that this is not an old work at all, but a modern one - he will begin to doubt and reduce the price. Then Uncle Tom, who collects a collection of antique silver, they say, will buy it cheaply. Arriving at the store, Bergie meets Judge Watkin Bassett there, who a few days ago fined him five pounds for stealing a helmet from a policeman. Sir Bassett also collects silver and is in this sense a rival of Uncle Tom, Aunt Dahlia considers him a deceiver. The judge recognizes Bergy and reads him a moral about how bad it is to appropriate other people's things - listening to him, Bergy almost dragged Bassett's umbrella, mistakenly mistaking it for his own, which gave reason to the judge's friend Roderick Spoud to accuse Worcester of theft. However, the judge did not call the police and left the shop. Worcester, on the other hand, begins to bicker with the owner of the shop, proving that the milkman-cow is the work of a modern Dutch master and there is no brand on it. The owner invites Wooster to go outside and in the light of day to see the old brand. On the threshold, Wooster steps on a cat, stumbles, and, with a frightened cry, jumps out of the shop like a bandit who has committed a robbery. The cow milkman falls into the mud, Bergy runs into Bassett, who is standing at the entrance, and it seems to him that Wooster has robbed the store and runs away. The police are called, but Bertie manages to escape.

At home, he finds a telegram from his friend Gussie asking him to come to his fiancee's estate and reconcile him with her. Gussie's bride is Bassett's daughter Madeleine, and Bertie is horrified at the prospect of meeting the judge again. Then he receives an invitation from Madeleine herself. Jeeves advises Wooster to go. Then Aunt Dahlia appears and, with her request, plunges Bertie into even greater horror. She invites him to go to Bassett's estate and steal a cow milkman from him, because he managed to buy it under the nose of Uncle Tom, who ate too much at Bassett's dinner and did not come to the shop on time to buy. Bassett arranged everything very cleverly, and Uncle Tom fell ill. Wooster refuses to engage in theft, but Aunt Dahlia blackmails him, declaring that he will not allow him to eat at her place and enjoy the cuisine of her excellent chef Anatole. For Wooster, this is unbearable, and he goes to Bassett's estate to reconcile the bride with the groom and at the same time steal the cow milkman.

Arriving at the estate and not meeting the owners anywhere, Bertie wanders around the house and suddenly sees a milkman-cow in the closet in the living room. He stretches out his hands to him and hears a voice behind him: "Hands up!" It's Roderick Spoade standing nearby with his revolver drawn, thinking he's caught the thief. Sir Watkin appears and with amazement recognizes in the uninvited guest a kidnapper from an antique shop. He is already considering how much to give him a term of imprisonment, when his daughter Madeleine, who was in love with Wooster, appears. They greet each other, much to Bassett's amazement. The latter declares that the thief of police helmets, bags, umbrellas and silver cannot be his daughter's friend. Wooster is trying to prove that he did not rob an antique shop at all, but simply stumbled over a cat and jumped out into the street too hastily. He is protected by Madeleine, who informs her father that Bertie just wanted to see his silver collection, as he is the nephew of Travers - Uncle Tom. Bassett freezes in place, as if struck by thunder.

Madeleine then informs Bergy that she and Gussie have reconciled and the wedding will take place. Bertie meets with Gussie, who informs him that Aunt Dahlia is coming to the Bassett estate. He also tells Bertie that Roderick Spoade is in love with Madeleine, but does not want to marry her, because he sees his calling in being the head of the fascist organization "Saviors of Britain", better known as the "Black Shorts", to become a director . And Vatkin, it turns out, is engaged to his aunt. Spoade sees himself as some kind of knight guarding Madeleine and has already threatened Gussie to break her neck if he offends her. Gussie himself is a big fan of newts and brought them with him to the Bassett estate, they live in his bedroom - he studies how the full moon affects the love period of newts. He smells of newts himself, and old Bassett sniffs the air all the time.

Gussie informs Worcester that he enters his observations and thoughts about Watkin and Spoud in a notebook and that he could tell so much about Bassett that everyone would wonder how one can tolerate such a moral and physical monster. For example, when Sir Watkin is cracking down on a bowl of soup, it "reminds me of a Scottish Express going through a tunnel." The spectacle of Spoud eating asparagus "radically changes the idea of ​​man as the crown of nature." During the story, Gussie discovers that the notebook is missing, he is in a panic, as he understands what the consequences will be if it falls into the wrong hands. Then suddenly he remembers that he dropped it when he took the fly out of the eye of Stephanie, Bassett's niece, and she apparently picked it up. Friends decide to find Stefania and take the book from her.

Bertie finds Stephanie talking to a police officer who was bitten by her dog. Stefania makes it clear that she will not give up the book so easily. First, she talks about her fiancé, vicar Harold Linker - who, in order to win her heart completely, must, like Worcester, steal a helmet from a policeman. Wooster, it turns out, knows him from college and tells Stiffy that Harold will definitely mix everything up. Then she says that she needs to somehow appease her uncle, he will clearly be against her marriage to the vicar - they are not rich, after all. She came up with a plan, and Harold can be a hero to Sir Watkin:

Worcester must steal the cow milkman, and Harold, in a fight, take it away and give it to Bassett - then the uncle will agree to the marriage. Otherwise, not only will she not give the notebook to Gussie, but she even threatens to plant it on her uncle.

Worcester meets with Gussie and tells him the terrible news, and he, in turn, offers Wooster to steal the book. Meanwhile, Aunt Dahlia appears with the news that Uncle Tom has received a letter from Sir Watkin offering to trade the cow milkman for the cook Anatole, and Uncle Tom is considering a response. The loss of the cook is unbearable for the aunt, and she urges Wooster to act - to steal the ill-fated milkman. He answers her that Watkin and Spoud know their intention and that Spoud threatened Worcester to make a cutlet out of him if the milkman disappeared. Then Aunt Dahlia says that we need to find some compromising material on Spode and blackmail him. This idea is supported by Jeeves and argues that such information can be obtained from the club for gentlemen's servants called "Young Ganymede", for the servant of such a person as Spoade must necessarily be a member of the club and, according to the club's charter, provide all information about his master. Since Jeeves himself is a member of the club, he will be provided with such information.

Meanwhile, Gussie escapes from Spode, who wants to destroy him, because the engagement with Madeleine was again upset because Gussie, having met Stephanie in the living room and thinking that she was alone, tried to search her and take the book. Madeleine saw this and interpreted everything in her own way.

Jeeves arrives and says that you can intimidate Spoade by naming Eulalia and saying that everything is known about her. What exactly, he cannot tell Wooster, since he is not a member of the club, but just mentioning the name of Eulalia will be enough to terrify Spoade. Bergie Wooster immediately gets a chance to check it all out - Spoade bursts into the room looking for Gussie. Wooster boldly tells him to get out, and already wants to give the right name, but then he discovers that he has forgotten it. Gussie flees and Wooster entangles Spoade in a sheet. When he finally gets out and is about to break Worcester's bones, Bertie suddenly remembers the name of Eulalia and calls him - Spode is horrified and becomes submissive like a child.

Jeeves and Wooster search Stiffy's room for the notebook, but to no avail. Stiffy herself arrives and states that her engagement to Pinker was broken because he refused to steal a helmet from a cop. Suddenly, Pinker climbs in the window with a helmet in his hands - Stiffy is delighted, then says that Wooster is ready to help them with the kidnapping, as well as with the return of the milkman. Wooster refuses and demands Gussie's notebook. They argue for a long time, then Stiffy puts one condition - let Wooster go to her uncle and say that he asks for her hand; Vatkin will be horrified and call her, and she will reassure him, saying that it is not Worcester who asks for her hand, but Vicar Pinker - this should work on his uncle without fail. So everything happens, but Stiffy does not give the book away, but says that she hid it in the milk jug, in addition, the local police officer Oates, who has a helmet stolen, is following her, and she secretly throws the helmet into Bertie's room.

Wooster explains to Madeleine the reasons for Gussie's act, which she misinterpreted, and asks her to pick up the book by taking it out of the milkman, but it is not there. She is with Spoud, who is angry and wants to hand her over to Watkin, but is forced to obey Wooster, who takes her away. But the wedding of Madeleine and Gussie is still under threat, as Gussie let the newts into the bath, and Vatkin wanted to swim there. Gussie can put pressure on the future father-in-law only by taking possession of the milkman - in order to return him back, he will agree to everything. However, Watkin, it turns out, hired policeman Oates to guard the milkman. The only way to distract the policeman is to tell him that the helmet was found in Wooster's room - this is how Jeeves proposes to solve this problem.

While friends are thinking what to do, someone attacks a policeman in the dark when he was trying to detain a thief who stole this coveted item for milk and cream. Aunt Dahlia turns out to be the thief, and she asks Bergi to hide the milk jug in his room. And Bassett and the policeman, who have long suspected Wooster of stealing the helmet, are just about to search his room. Gussie also wants to hide in the room from Bassett - he nevertheless read his notebook; Gussie begs to be lowered on bound sheets from the window to the ground. Jeeves is delighted - a way out has been found: he hands Guss a Worcester suitcase with a milkman and helps him down from the window.

A search in Wooster's room turned up nothing, since Bertie threw the helmet out of the window, but, alas, the butler saw it and brought the helmet, but Spoade appeared and took the blame and said that he had stolen the helmet with his own hand. Bassett did not initiate proceedings against him, for he was engaged to his aunt. After they leave, Jeeves admits to Wooster that he blackmailed Spode with the mention of Eulalia, he also offers to blackmail Vatkin by initiating a criminal case for illegally arresting and discrediting Wooster's personality in front of witnesses in connection with the disappearance of the milkman and helmet. Worcester does just that, demanding instead of monetary compensation Bassett's consent to the marriage of Madeleine and Gussie, and at the same time Stephanie and Pinker. Bassett agrees to everything.

At the end of the novel, Wooster nevertheless asks Jeeves to tell about Eulalia - the secret is that Spoade secretly makes sketches of lingerie, since he runs a shop selling it, known as "Eulalia's Salon". If his associates in the fascist organization find out about this, a scandal will break out, because "it is unthinkable to be a successful dictator and draw sketches of women's underwear."

A. P. Shishkin

Roman (1925)

The action of the novel takes place in London, among the English aristocracy, in 1923, and takes only one day in time. Along with real events, the reader gets acquainted with the past of the characters, thanks to the "stream of consciousness".

Clarissa Dalloway, fifty-year-old society lady, wife of Richard Dalloway, MP, has been preparing since morning for the upcoming evening reception at her house, to which all the cream of English high society should be invited. She leaves the house and heads to the flower shop, enjoying the freshness of a June morning. On the way, she meets Hugh Whitbread, a friend of hers since childhood, who now holds a high economic position in the royal palace. She, as always, is struck by his overly elegant and well-groomed appearance. Hugh always put her down a little; next to him, she feels like a schoolgirl. In the memory of Clarissa Dalloway, the events of her distant youth emerge, when she lived in Bourton, and Peter Walsh, in love with her, was always furious at the sight of Hugh and assured that he had neither heart nor brains, but only manners. Then she did not marry Peter because of his too picky character, but now, no, no, and she will think what Peter would say if he were around. Clarissa feels infinitely young, but also inexpressibly ancient.

She walks into a flower shop and picks up a bouquet. A sound like a gunshot is heard outside. It was the car of one of the "supersignificant" persons of the kingdom that crashed into the sidewalk - the Prince of Wales, the Queen, maybe the Prime Minister. This scene is attended by Septimus Warren-Smith, a young man of about thirty, pale, in a shabby coat and with such anxiety in his brown eyes that whoever looks at him is immediately worried too. He walks with his wife Lucrezia, whom he brought from Italy five years ago. Shortly before that, he told her that he would commit suicide. She is afraid that people would not hear his words, and tries to quickly take him away from the pavement. Nervous attacks often happen to him, he has hallucinations, it seems to him that dead people appear in front of him, and then he talks to himself. Lucrezia can't take it anymore. She is annoyed at Dr. Dome, who assures her husband is all right, absolutely nothing serious. She feels sorry for herself. Here, in London, she is all alone, away from her family, sisters, who still sit in a cozy little room in Milan and make straw hats, as she did before the wedding. And now there is no one to protect. Her husband no longer loves her. But she would never tell anyone that he was crazy.

Mrs. Dalloway enters her house with flowers, where the servants have long been busy preparing it for the evening reception. Near the telephone, she sees a note from which it is clear that Lady Bruten called and wanted to know if Mr. Dalloway would have breakfast with her today. Lady Brutn, this influential high society lady, she, Clarissa, was not invited. Clarissa, her head full of gloomy thoughts about her husband and her own life, goes up to her bedroom. She recalls her youth: Borton, where she lived with her father, her friend Sally Seton, a beautiful, lively and spontaneous girl, Peter Walsh. She takes out a green evening dress from the closet, which she is going to wear in the evening and which needs to be repaired because it burst at the seam. Clarissa takes up sewing.

Suddenly from the street, at the door, a call is heard. Peter Walsh, now a fifty-two-year-old man who has just returned from India to England, where he has not been for five years, flies up the stairs to Mrs. Dalloway. He asks his old girlfriend about her life, about her family, and tells himself that he came to London in connection with his divorce, because he is in love again and wants to marry a second time. He has retained the habit of playing with his old horn-handled knife, which he is currently clenching in his fist, while talking. From this, Clarissa, as before, feels with him a frivolous, empty balabolka. And suddenly Peter, smitten by elusive forces, breaks into tears. Clarissa comforts him, kisses his hand, pats his knee. She is surprisingly good and easy with him. And the thought flashes through my head that if she married him, this joy could always be with her. Before Peter leaves, her daughter Elizabeth, a dark-haired girl of seventeen, enters her mother's room. Clarissa invites Peter to her party.

Peter walks through London and wonders how quickly the city and its people have changed during the time he was away from England. He falls asleep on a park bench and dreams about Borton, how Dalloway began courting Clarissa and she refused to marry Peter, how he suffered after that. Waking up, Peter goes further and sees Septimus and Lucretia Smith, whom her husband drives to despair with his eternal attacks. They are sent for examination to the famous doctor Sir William Bradshaw. A nervous breakdown that developed into an illness first occurred to Septimus back in Italy, when Evans, his comrade in arms and friend, died at the end of the war, to which he volunteered.

Dr. Bradshaw declares the need to place Septimus in a mental hospital, according to the law, because the young man threatened to commit suicide. Lucrezia is in despair.

At breakfast, Lady Brutn incidentally informs Richard Dalloway and Hugh Whitbread, whom she has invited to her house on important business, that Peter Walsh has recently returned to London. In this regard, Richard Dalloway, on the way home, is seized by the desire to buy Clarissa something very beautiful. He was excited by the memory of Peter, of his youth. He buys a beautiful bouquet of red and white roses and wants to tell his wife that he loves her as soon as he enters the house. However, he does not have the courage to decide on this. But Clarissa is already happy. The bouquet speaks for itself, and even Peter visited her. What more could you want?

At this time, her daughter Elizabeth is studying history in her room with her teacher, who has long become her friend, the extremely unsympathetic and envious Miss Kilman. Clarissa hates this person because she takes her daughter away from her. As if this overweight, ugly, vulgar woman, without kindness and mercy, knows the meaning of life.

After classes, Elizabeth and Miss Kilman go to the store, where the teacher buys some unimaginable petticoat, gorges herself on cakes at Elizabeth's expense and, as always, complains about her bitter fate, that no one needs her. Elizabeth barely breaks out of the stuffy atmosphere of the store and the obsessive Miss Kilman society.

At this time, Lucretia Smith is sitting in her apartment with Septimus and making a hat for one of her friends. Her husband, again briefly becoming the same as he was at the time of falling in love, helps her with advice. The hat is funny. They are having fun. They laugh carelessly. The doorbell is ringing. This is Doctor Dome. Lucrezia comes downstairs to talk to him and not let him see Septimus, who is afraid of the doctor. Dome tries to push the girl away from the door and go upstairs. Septimus is in a panic; horror overwhelms him, he is thrown out of the window and smashed to death.

Guests, respectable gentlemen and ladies, begin to drive up to the Dalloways. Clarissa meets them at the top of the stairs. She perfectly knows how to arrange receptions and stay in front of people. The hall fills up quickly with people. Even the Prime Minister visits briefly. However, Clarissa is too worried, she feels like she has grown old; reception, the guests no longer give her the same joy. When she watches the departing prime minister go, she reminds herself of Kilmanshe, Kilmanshe of the enemy. She hates her. She loves her. Man needs enemies, not friends. Friends will find her whenever they want. She is at their service.

The Bradshaws arrive very late. The Doctor talks about Smith's suicide. There is something unkind in him, in the doctor. Clarissa feels that in misfortune she would not want to catch his eye.

Peter arrives with Clarissa's childhood friend Sally, who is now married to a wealthy factory owner and has five adult sons. She had not seen Clarissa almost since her youth and stopped by her only by chance in London.

Peter sits for a long time waiting for Clarissa to seize a moment and come to him. He feels fear and bliss in himself. He cannot understand what is causing him such confusion. It's Clarissa, he decides to himself.

And he see.

E.V. Semina

(Winnie the Pooh)

Tale story (1926)

Winnie the Pooh is a teddy bear and a great friend of Christopher Robin. A variety of stories happen to him. One day, going out into the clearing, Winnie the Pooh sees a tall oak, at the top of which something is buzzing: zhzhzhzhzhzhzh! In vain no one will buzz, and Winnie the Pooh is trying to climb a tree for honey. Having fallen into the bushes, the bear goes to Christopher Robin for help. Taking a blue balloon from the boy, Winnie the Pooh rises into the air, singing "Tuchka's special song": "I am Cloud, Cloud, Cloud, / And not a bear at all, / Oh, how nice Cloud / Fly across the sky!"

But the bees behave "suspiciously", according to Winnie the Pooh, that is, they suspect something. One after another, they fly out of the hollow and sting Winnie the Pooh. (“These are the wrong bees,” the bear realizes, “they probably make the wrong honey.”) And Winnie the Pooh asks the boy to shoot down the ball with a gun. "It's going to go bad," objected Christopher Robin. "And if you don't shoot, I'll be spoiled," says Winnie the Pooh. And the boy, having understood what to do, knocks down the ball. Winnie the Pooh slowly falls to the ground. True, after that, for a whole week, the bear's paws stuck up and he could not move them. If a fly landed on his nose, he had to blow it off: "Puff! Puff!" Perhaps that is why he was called Pooh.

One day Pooh went to visit Rabbit, who lived in a hole. Winnie the Pooh was always not averse to "refreshing himself", but while visiting the Rabbit, he obviously allowed himself too much and therefore, getting out, got stuck in a hole. A faithful friend of Winnie the Pooh, Christopher Robin, read books aloud to him for a whole week, and inside, in a hole. Rabbit (with Pooh's permission) used his hind legs as a towel rack. The fluff got thinner and thinner until Christopher Robin said:

"It's time!" and grabbed Pooh's front paws, and Rabbit grabbed Christopher Robin, and Rabbit's Relatives and Friends, of which there were an awful lot, grabbed Rabbit and began to drag with all their urine, And Winnie the Pooh jumped out of the hole like a cork from a bottle, and Christopher Robin and Rabbit and everyone flew upside down!

In addition to Winnie the Pooh and the Rabbit, Piglet ("Very Little Creature"), the Owl (she is literate and can even write her name - "SAVA"), the always sad donkey Eeyore, also live in the forest. The donkey once lost its tail, but Pooh managed to find it. In search of a tail, Pooh wandered to the omniscient Owl. The owl lived in a real castle, according to the bear cub. On the door she had both a bell with a button and a bell with a string. Under the bell hung an announcement:

"PLEASE SHUT UP IF THEY DO NOT OPEN". The ad was written by Christopher Robin because even Owl couldn't do it. Pooh tells the Owl that Eeyore has lost his tail and asks for help finding it. The owl indulges in theoretical reasoning, and poor Pooh, who, as you know, has sawdust in his head, soon ceases to understand what is at stake, and answers the questions of the Owl in turn, either “yes” or “no”. At the next "no", Owl asks in surprise: "How, haven't you seen?" and takes Pooh to look at the bell and the announcement below it. Pooh looks at the bell and string and suddenly realizes that he saw something very similar somewhere. The owl explains that once in the forest she saw this lace and called, then she rang very loudly, and the lace came off ... Pooh explains to the Owl that this lace is very necessary for Eeyore, that he loved him, one might say, was tied to him. With these words, Pooh unhooks the string and carries Eeyore, and Christopher Robin nails him into place.

Sometimes new animals appear in the forest, such as Mama Kanga and Roo.

At first, Rabbit decides to teach Kanga a lesson (he is outraged that she carries a child in her pocket, he tries to count how many pockets he would need if he also decided to carry children in this way - it turns out that seventeen, and one more for a handkerchief!) : steal Roo and hide him, and when Kanga starts looking for him, tell her "YAH!" in such a way that she understands everything. But in order for Kanga not to immediately notice the loss, Piglet must jump into her pocket instead of Roo. And Winnie the Pooh must speak with Kanga very inspirationally so that she turns away even for a minute, then Rabbit will be able to run away with Roo. The plan succeeds, and Kanga only discovers the change when he gets home. She knows that Christopher Robin will not allow anyone to offend Baby Roo, and decides to play Piglet. He, however, tries to say "AHA!", but this does not have any effect on Kanga. She prepares a bath for Piglet, continuing to call him "Ru". Piglet unsuccessfully tries to explain to Kanga who he really is, but she pretends that she does not understand what the matter is, and now Piglet has already been washed up, and a spoonful of fish oil is waiting for him. The arrival of Christopher Robin saves him from the medicine, Piglet rushes to him with tears, begging him to confirm that he is not Baby Roo. Christopher Robin confirms that it is not the Roo he just saw at Rabbit's, but refuses to acknowledge Piglet because Piglet is "a completely different color". Kanga and Christopher Robin decide to name him Henry Pushel. But then the newly-minted Henry Pushel manages to wriggle out of the hands of Kanga and run away. He had never run so fast before! Only a hundred steps from home, he stops running and rolls on the ground to regain his own familiar and cute color. So Roo and Kanga stay in the forest.

Another time, Tigra, an unknown animal, appears in the forest, smiling broadly and affably. Pooh treats Tigger to honey, but it turns out that Tiggers don't like honey. Then the two of them go to visit Piglet, but it turns out that the Tigers do not eat acorns either. The thistle that Eeyore gave the Tiger, he also cannot eat. Winnie the Pooh breaks out with verses: "What to do with poor Tigger? / How can we save him? / After all, he who does not eat anything / Can't even grow!"

The friends decide to go to Kanga, and there, at last, Tigger finds a food to his liking - this is fish oil, Roo's hated medicine. So Tigger moves into Kanga's house and always gets fish oil for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And when Kanga thought that he should eat, she gave him a spoonful or two of porridge. (“But I personally think,” Piglet used to say in such cases, “that he is already strong enough.”)

Events go on as usual: either a "expedition" is sent to the North Pole, then Piglet is saved from the flood in Christopher Robin's umbrella, then a storm destroys the Owl's house, and the donkey is looking for a house for her (which turns out to be Piglet's house), and Piglet goes to live with Vinnie- Pooh, then Christopher Robin, having already learned to read and write, leaves (it is not entirely clear how, but it is clear that he is leaving) from the forest ...

The animals say goodbye to Christopher Robin, Eeyore writes a terribly confused poem for this occasion, and when Christopher Robin, having read it to the end, raises his eyes, he sees only Winnie the Pooh in front of him. Together they go to the Enchanted Place. Christopher Robin tells Pooh various stories, which immediately get mixed up in his sawdust-filled head, and finally knights him. Then Christopher Robin asks the bear to make a promise that he will never forget him. Even when Christopher Robin turns a hundred years old. ("How old will I be then?" asks Pooh. "Ninety-nine," replies Christopher Robin.) "I promise," Pooh nods his head. And they go down the road.

And wherever they go and whatever happens to them - "here, in the Enchanted Place on top of the hill in the forest, a little boy will always, always play with his teddy bear."

V. S. Kulagina-Yartseva

Roman (1931)

Quiet life in a rural estate, "good old England". Reginald Wellard is happy - he is married to a beautiful woman, so beautiful that strangers cry out with delight when they see her. He is forty years old, she is twenty-five; he adores her, and she seems to love him too (he's not sure). In his youth, Reginald lived hard: there was no money to study at Cambridge, and he worked at a school, then in a bank, spent four years at the front, the First World War was going on - "an orgy of roar, cruelty and dirt." He met Sylvia and for a long time did not dare to ask for her hand, for what could he offer her, such a beauty? But there are miracles in the world. Reginald received an inheritance, bought the Westaways estate - a beautiful house, a wonderful garden ... Sylvia went with him to the village; she would follow Reginald anywhere, but he didn't know that.

Wellard starts breeding bees, just for fun. Flowers surround him and Silvia all year round. And butterflies - what kind of butterflies are not in their garden! And also birds: free birds on trees, pigeons - black monks, ducks on a pond ... Reginald is truly happy, he even dares to think that Sylvia is also happy, only now he has little to do, and he begins to write a book. "They say each of us carries the material for at least one book," he thinks. The novel is called "Bindweed"; dedication - "Sylvia, who clung to my heart."

Wellard is a naive and impractical person, as if purposely created to be deceived, and of course, a predatory agreement is concluded with the new-born writer: half of the income from future translations of the book, film adaptations and other things should go to the publisher. Such is the first acquaintance with the literary world. However, Wellard is not upset, he is happy.

It would seem that nothing should happen: a quiet man, sitting in his village, wrote a novel, even a good one, and the book is selling well. However, a lot is happening. First of all, Reginald suffers grief: Sylvia is little interested in the novel itself, and the growing fame of her husband. And he becomes part of the literary beau monde, without making any effort - and this pleases him, this amuses his pride. After all, he is an ordinary Englishman, belonging to the middle class, the backbone of the country, and he is, of course, a member of a respectable London club. There, at the club, at the dinner table, Reginald meets the famous critic Raglan - "who doesn't know Raglan?" - and no less famous Lord Ormsby, a newspaper magnate. Not so long ago, in one of Ormsby's newspapers, Raglan published a laudatory article about Bindweed, declaring the novel "book of the week." Raglan's recall makes Reginald Wellard famous. Everyone reads his book, acquaintances do not skimp on compliments, the mailbox is bursting with letters: requests for interviews, to speak at a literary meeting, and so on. And the Wellards understand that it is time to leave their beloved Westaways and move to London for the winter.

Another world, another life: a modest villager has to wear a white tie every day. Lord Ormsby invites the Wellards to dine - this is their first appearance in the big world. Sylvia enjoys great success there - still, such a beauty, smart, lively! - and Reginald meets Coral Bell, the once famous actress with whom he was in love twenty-five years ago, as a schoolboy. She left the stage a long time ago, now she is an important lady, countess, but he vividly remembers her singing, and her wonderful laugh, and her unusually charming face ... A few days later they meet by chance in Piccadilly and chat like old friends - about all sorts of nonsense and about serious matters . It turns out that Coral is not a dummy, like most pop divas, she is a smart and deep conversationalist. They walk for a long time, go to a cafe for tea, and Wellard comes home late, feeling guilty. He wanted to apologize to Sylvia, but found Ormsby in her living room.

Reginald already knows the reputation of Lord Ormsby - a notorious womanizer, openly contains mistresses ... This time he prefers to remain silent - he is such a person - he not only loves Sylvia, but even feels like a nonentity next to her. Everything she does is great. He is silent, and life circumstances seem to take him further and further away from his wife, and a strong impetus to this is a play. The fact is that a certain famous playwright undertakes to write a play based on "Bindweed", a serious theater accepts this play, and Reginald begins to go to rehearsals. Meanwhile, all London newspapers praise his novel, critics are looking forward to the performance, Wellard's life is changing more and more, and he is changing. He gets more and more pleasure from conversations with ladies, smart and subtle persons - there are enough of them in the theatrical circle ... There is nothing strange in this, but before that Reginald did not have such a thing. And then Coral Bell appears in the theater, because the famous actress, whose name was associated with the future success of the performance, left the troupe and had to look for another celebrity. No one could have thought that Coral would agree to return to the stage, but she agrees and takes on the role. Maybe because of Reginald?

Sylvia hardly sees her husband; she is immersed in social life and often visits Lady Ormsby; they accept her, apparently, for a reason, for the lord himself, the "old satyr", with might and main besieges the lovely Madame Wellard. One fine day, he invites her to the premiere at a fashionable theater, and ... something strange happens, which, alas, Reginald could not see. Sylvia looks at Ormsby in such a way that he understands: he is seen through, he is defenseless, he looks "ugly and uncouth". And, putting him in his place, Sylvia still goes to the theater with him - after all, she, a provincial, has never been to premieres in London, she is interested to the extreme. Unfortunately, Reginald's rehearsal drags on until late in the evening, then he invites everyone to dinner at a restaurant, so he returns home at night. And he discovers with horror that Sylvia is gone. "My God! .. She must have left me!"

They almost quarrel. They cannot seriously quarrel, and not only because of English restraint, but because for them the external, London life is in fact a ghost, a fog, and, apart from their love, nothing exists in the world. And here comes the day of the premiere of "Bindweed"; the play seems to be a success, but this does not interest Reginald much. He suddenly realizes that he is not at all in love with Coral Bell, and she is even more so with him. He understands that he is mortally tired, and not from rehearsals, not from the theater, but from London. Spring is here and it's time to go home.

In Westaways, three cats come out to meet them at the car. Daffodils, primroses and bluebells have already blossomed. Imaginary life is behind, real life has returned. Reginald wonders if it's time to have a baby, and decides that it's not time yet - he's so wonderful alone with Sylvia ... In the meantime, if he has to create something, he can write a new play.

In the distant forest the voice of the cuckoo is heard, Sylvia is beautiful, and Reginald is happy in loving her. They are both happy.

V. S. Kulagina-Yartseva

(Lady Chatterley's Lover)

Roman (1928)

In 1917, Constance Reid, a twenty-two-year-old girl, daughter of Sir Malcolm Reid, a well-known Royal Academy painter, married Baronet Clifford Chatterley. Six months after the wedding, Clifford, who had participated in the war in Flanders all this time, returns back to England with severe injuries, as a result of which his lower body remains paralyzed. In 1920, Clifford and Constance returned to the Rugby estate, the Chatterley family estate. This is a gloomy place: a large low house, begun in the XNUMXth century. and gradually disfigured by outbuildings. The house is surrounded by beautiful parkland and woods, but behind the hundred-year-old oaks one can see the chimneys of the Chatterleys' coal mines, with clouds of smoke and soot. Almost at the very gates of the park, a workers' settlement begins - a heap of old, dirty houses with black roofs. Even on windless days, the air is saturated with the smell of iron, sulfur and coal. The inhabitants of Tavershal - that is the name of the working settlement - seem as ragged and gloomy as the whole area. No one here greets the owners, no one takes off their hats to them. On both sides, there is an impassable abyss and some dull irritation.

Clifford became extremely shy after his injury. True, with those around him, he behaves either insultingly arrogantly, or modestly and almost timidly. He does not seem to be one of the modern feminine men, on the contrary, with his broad shoulders and ruddy face, he even looks old-fashioned, he is always dressed extremely elegantly, however, with his seeming authority and independence without Connie (short for Constance), he is completely helpless: he needs her at least in order to realize that he lives. Clifford is ambitious, he started writing stories, and Connie helps him in his work. However, according to Sir Malcolm, Connie's father, his stories, although clever, have nothing in them. So two years pass. After some time, Sir Malcolm notices that his daughter is extremely unhappy with her "half-virginity", she is languishing, losing weight, and suggests to her the idea of ​​having a lover. Anxiety takes possession of her, she feels that she has lost touch with the real and living world.

In winter, writer Mikaelis comes to Rugby for a few days. This is a young Irishman who has already made a great fortune in America with his witty plays from social life, in which he caustically ridicules the London high society, which first warmed him, and then, after seeing the light, threw him into the trash. Despite this, in Rugby, Michaelis manages to impress Connie and becomes her lover for a while. However, this is not at all what her soul unconsciously yearns for. Michaelis is too selfish, he has little masculinity.

The estate is often visited by guests, mostly writers, who help Chatterley advertise his work. Soon, Clifford is already considered one of the most popular writers and earns a lot of money from it. The endless conversations that take place between them, about the relationship of the sexes, about their leveling, tire Connie. Clifford sees his wife's sadness and dissatisfaction and admits that he would not mind if she gave birth to a child from someone else, but on the condition that everything between them would remain the same. During one of their outings, Clifford introduces Connie to their new ranger, Oliver Mellers. He is a tall, slender, silent man of about thirty-seven, with thick blond hair and a red mustache. He is the son of a miner, but he has the manners of a gentleman and can even be called handsome. A certain aloof expression in his eyes makes a special impression on Connie. He suffered a lot in his life, in his youth from despair and unsuccessfully married a woman who was much older than him and later turned out to be evil and rude. In 1915, he was drafted into the army, which she took advantage of to go to another, leaving his mother in the care of her little daughter. Mellers himself rose to the rank of lieutenant, but after the death of his colonel, whom he respected very much, he decided to retire and settle in his native places.

Connie loves to walk in the woods, and therefore, from time to time, her chance meetings with the forester occur, contributing to the emergence of mutual interest, while outwardly not expressed in any way. Her sister Hilda comes to visit Connie and, drawing attention to her sister's sickly appearance, forces Clifford to hire a nurse and a footman for himself so that his wife does not have to overstrain while caring for him. With the arrival in the house of Mrs. Bolton, a very pleasant fifty-year-old woman who has worked for a long time as a sister of mercy in the church parish in Tavershal, Connie gains the opportunity to devote more time to herself; with Clifford she now spends in conversation only in the evenings until ten o'clock. The rest of the time is mostly absorbed by her gloomy thoughts about the uselessness and aimlessness of her existence as a woman.

While walking through the woods one day, Connie discovers a pheasant landing, next to which Mellers is making bird cages. The blows of the forester's ax sound unhappy; he is unhappy that someone disturbed his loneliness. Nevertheless, he kindles a fire in the lodge to keep Connie warm. Watching Mellers, Connie sits in the lodge until the evening. From that day on, it becomes a habit for her to come to the clearing every day and watch the birds, how chickens hatch from eggs. For reasons unknown to her, Connie begins to feel a growing distaste for Clifford. In addition, she had never felt the agony of the feminine in herself so acutely. Now she has only one desire: to go to the forest to the hens. Everything else seems like a sick dream to her. One evening, she runs to the gatehouse and, caressing the chicken, being unable to hide her confusion and despair, she drops a tear on his tender fluff. From that evening, Mellers, having felt the touchingness and spiritual beauty of Connie, becomes her lover. With him, Connie is liberated and for the first time realizes what it means to love deeply and sensually and to be loved. Their relationship lasts several months. Connie wants to have a child with Oliver and marry him.

To do this, first of all, Mellers needs to file a divorce from his former wife, which he does.

Clifford leaves writing and plunges into a discussion with his manager of industrial issues and the modernization of mines. The rift between him and Connie grows. Seeing that she is no longer as necessary to her husband as before, she decides to leave him for good. But first, he leaves for a month with his sister and father in Venice. Connie already knows she's pregnant and is looking forward to the arrival of her baby. From England, news reaches her that Mellers' wife does not want to give him a divorce and spreads discrediting rumors around the village. Clifford fires the forester, and he leaves for London. Returning from Venice, Connie meets her lover, and both of them are finally confirmed in their intentions to live together. For Clifford, the news that Connie is leaving him is a blow that Mrs. Bolton helps him get through. In order to gain freedom and divorce, lovers need to live away from each other for six months. Connie at this time goes to his father in Scotland, and Oliver works on someone else's farm and is going to subsequently acquire his own. Both Connie and Oliver live with the only hope of reuniting soon.

E. B. Semina

(The Prisoner of Grace)

Roman (1952)

England, 1990 - 1920s The story of Chester Nimmo, a man only one step away from the post of Prime Minister of England, is told by his ex-wife.

Nina Woodville meets Chester when he works as a clerk in a real estate office in a small provincial town. Nina is an orphan, she was raised by an aunt who enthusiastically plays political games and always pushes this or that young male talent to this or that committee. Chester is one of her favorites because he tidies up her accounts and spreads the gossip in town. He is thirty-four, he has an attractive, although somewhat vulgar, according to young snobs, appearance, comes from a very poor family. Chester is a self-taught, non-conformist and radical, a "good Christian" and a very eloquent person, a lay preacher of the evangelical community. Nina is not at all interested in him, since childhood she has been in love with her distant relative Jim Latter and is expecting a child from him. But she does not have time to blink an eye, as the efforts of her aunt turns out to be the wife of Chester, who agrees to a lot for the sake of Nina herself, and for the sake of "five thousand pounds of dowry and family ties." However, we must give him his due - he is so polite, delicate and sweet that Nina does not feel unhappy and finds that marriage with him has its positive aspects. All that is required of her is to "be proactive." Of course, they have very little in common. What surprises her most is Chester's constant turning to God (for example, he invokes God's blessing on their union each time before going to bed with her), as well as his exaggerated class feeling. Coming from the lower classes, he sees in everything the "conspiracy" of the ruling classes, and even treats his wife as a class enemy, constantly reproaching her with the fact that she despises him for "ungentlemanship." Gentlemen he sincerely hates, but with all that he declares that he always wanted to marry a lady. In general, Nina soon becomes convinced that such a person cannot be approached with the usual standards, he surprisingly combines hypocrisy and sincerity, indignation at the poverty of the people and the desire for personal well-being, sensitivity and cruelty. It costs him nothing to force himself to sacredly believe in what at the moment meets his goals and desires, and the next day, just as sacredly believe in something directly opposite. Close acquaintance with Chester and his entourage leads Nina to the idea that all politicians live in a "phantom world of intrigue, chimeras and ambitious aspirations" and no one cares about "truth and honesty". But Chester's lie every time contains a grain of truth, and a purely egoistic desire for power is clothed in a beautiful form of concern for the welfare of the people and the country, and this happens on a subconscious level - at the moment when Chester Nimmo says something, he really he thinks so, and therein lies his strength. Life for Chester is just a "balance of power", so it is pointless to reproach him for immorality.

Chester's political career begins with an open letter to a newspaper and a pamphlet against Tarbiton City Council, full of exaggeration and lies. But it is thanks to the storm caused by these publications that Chester becomes a member of the municipality and a candidate for the county council. The next step is anti-war rallies (the Anglo-Boer War is on), usually ending in scandals with self-mutilation, but Chester's name gets into the national newspapers, and he immediately becomes a prominent figure. Nina, willy-nilly, is drawn into Chester's activities, helps him, and the more she gets to know her husband, the more she dislikes him. Jim returns from the army, their romance resumes, Nina is about to leave Chester, but he catches her at the station and in the same place, in the waiting room, makes a heartfelt speech, from which it follows that their marriage is beneficial not only to themselves, but also " neighbor." The main gift that Chester Nimmo has endowed with nature is the gift of a speaker: a "heartfelt" voice, eloquence and self-righteousness - this is enough to successfully manipulate people. And back to Chester, Nina finds herself in the thick of the election campaign (for a seat in parliament from the Tarbiton constituency), and she is not up to Jim. Everything is used, even Nina's pregnancy (she is expecting a baby from Jim), Chester wins, and he, along with Nina, is carried out of the town hall in her arms. He confesses that he has been waiting for this for twenty-five years.

A new stage begins - the path to the heights of power. Chester buys a mansion in London, which turns into the headquarters of the radicals, his whole life takes place in continuous meetings, sessions and discussions. He becomes a prominent figure in the party because he expresses the interests of a certain group of radicals and has a frenzied energy. In addition, he knows how to make contact with the right people - big industrialists and even landlords, whom until recently he called in his speeches only "bloodsuckers". As a result of new connections, his financial situation is noticeably improving: wealthy liberals who prefer to make proposals to parliament, remaining in the shadows, not only lend him large sums, but also offer a director's chair on the board of two companies and a share in a joint-stock company (he also attacked when he denounced those in power), and, as one would expect, Chester turns out to be a good businessman.

After the 1905 elections (when the Liberals won a complete victory over the Conservatives), Chester Nimmo is part of the new government, where he holds the post of Deputy Minister, and four years later - Minister of the Coal Industry. He is surrounded not only by glory, but also by hatred. Former "comrades-in-arms" accuse him of "selling out to the capitalists" and "tasting the joys of his position" (believing, however, that it was his wife who led him astray), the council of radicals threatens to deprive him of support. And former rebel Chester now values ​​loyalty highly and, while still a believer in "class conspiracies," prefers not to specify which class he represents.

Chester's "leftward movement" that occurs in 1913 is in no way the result of remorse, but he decides to "bet on pacifism" because the majority of voters are afraid of war. A trip around the country brings him thousands of votes, he becomes one of the most influential people in the House of Commons. During the July government crisis, after another rally in defense of peace, it seems to everyone that Chester is about to become prime minister, but ... the war begins. And then Chester Nimmo takes a step because of which he will be considered the embodiment of "hypocrisy and treachery." Instead of resigning like other members of the government who opposed the war, he entered the cabinet of Lloyd George as if nothing had happened as Minister of Heavy Industry. At the same time, in another public speech, he suddenly declares that he had previously "been misled", and now he wants to "take the side of the cause of peace and freedom against aggression." Nina is surprised to see that although Chester simply "crossed over" to another camp, many believe that he did the right thing and honestly, and the number of new friends is not at all less than the number of acquired enemies. Chester himself cynically notes that "all this fuss will be forgotten very soon."

Having reached the heights of power, he ceases to pretend to be the defender of the disadvantaged, does not hide his contempt for the people, cold-bloodedly and cruelly cracks down on old friends as soon as they begin to interfere with him. In front of Nina, he also does not consider it necessary to pretend, and from a meek, delicate, and tolerant husband, he turns into a capricious family despot. Chester really loves Nina, and love makes him a merciless enemy of his own wife. As soon as he moved to London, he assigned a spy to her, his secretary, and then made every effort to send Jim Latter to the colony. His every step is aimed at tying his wife, depriving her of her freedom, and only the natural ability to put up with circumstances and fear keep her close to the man whom she could not love. Equally detrimental is his influence on the fate of Nina's children, although Chester is attached to them in his own way and cannot stand even a hint that he is not the father.

Chester's star sets shortly after the war (1918), and this happens as suddenly as its rise began in its time. During another election campaign, the crowd throws rotten tomatoes at Chester Nimmo. Most likely, this failure is a sign of a general cooling in the Liberal Party, as evidenced by the great catastrophe of 1924, when the Liberals suffered a crushing defeat in the elections (and Chester among others). He is already an old man, Nina still leaves him for Jim, but Chester, under the pretext of working on his memoirs, for which he needs Nina's constant help, lives in their house. He manages to make unexpected love attacks on his ex-wife, which infuriates Jim. Nina lives in constant tension, but feels very happy, because never before has Jim "loved her so much."

I. A. Moskvina-Tarkhanova

(Peril at Endhouse)

Tale (1932)

England, early thirties. Hercule Poirot and his old friend and mate Captain Hastings arrive at the seaside resort of St. Loup in the south of England. Near the hotel "Majestic", where they are staying, they meet a young girl. Nick Buckley. In a conversation over a cocktail, it turns out that she is the owner of the house, standing on the edge, Endhouse. Nick Buckley informs casually that she has escaped certain death three times in the past three days. This cannot fail to interest Poirot. In addition, in Nick's simple felt hat, forgotten at the table of casual acquaintances, there is a round hole with even edges - a clear trace of a bullet. Poirot takes the hat to a girl who is dining with friends (there are three of them: the red-faced reckless Captain Challenger, the fair-haired, dapper handsome Jim Lazarus, an antiques dealer, and the "tired Madonna", the blond Frederica Rais). Poirot makes arrangements with Nick about his visit to Endhouse.

Intrigued, Nick, burning with curiosity, hosts Poirot and Hastings. Endhouse turns out to be a gloomy, old house in need of repair. Poirot shows Nick the bullet he found in the park, which leads her to believe that her recent accidents were attempts on her life. At Poirot's request, Nick lists them: a heavy framed painting hung over her bed; when she went down the path to the sea, she was almost killed by a loose boulder; the car's brakes failed. The guests learn that the name, or rather nickname, Nick received in honor of his grandfather, "evil old man", as she puts it, Old Nick. Her real name is Magdala, it is often found in the Buckley family. At the end of the conversation, having learned that she was shot from a Mauser, Nick wants to find his own, inherited from her father, but does not find it. This makes her take Poirot's warnings more seriously. At the request of the detective, Nick reveals his inner circle. In addition to friends, this is the maid Ellen, her gardener husband and their child, and the Croft couple from Australia, to whom she rents an outbuilding. Nick also has a cousin, Charles Weiss, who is a local lawyer. Following Poirot's advice, Nick sends a telegram from Yorkshire to his cousin Meggie, who is "too innocent," according to Nick. As if by chance, Poirot asks if Nick ever made a will, and finds out that indeed, six months ago, going to an appendicitis operation, Nick bequeathed Endhouse to Charles, and everything else to Freddie (as friends call Frederica Rais).

At the hotel that evening, while dancing, Poirot informs Frederica that Nick has been shot at. Freddy, who thought that her friend was making up all her accidents, is shocked. Poirot and Hastings meet Croft and, at his request, go into the outbuilding to meet his bedridden wife after a railway accident. Crofts are unusually (even too) affable and emphasize their "Australianness" too intrusively.

Nick goes to the hotel to Poirot to show the telegram about the arrival of cousin Meggie. She looks lively, but there are dark circles under her eyes. It can be seen that she is consumed by anxiety and, as Poirot suggests, not only because of the assassination attempts made on her. Nick invites Poirot and Hastings to the Endhouse to watch the fireworks tonight.

Guests gather at Endhouse: Freddie, Lazarus, Poirot and Hastings. Nick's cousin, Meggie, arrived here, in an old black evening dress, without makeup. She sincerely wonders who needed to encroach on Nick's life. The hostess herself appears - in a black dress just received from the tailor (although she does not like black), with an amazing bright red Chinese shawl thrown over her shoulders. Over cocktails, it turns to Michael Seton, a brave pilot who flew solo around the world in an Albatross amphibious aircraft and disappeared a few days ago. There is almost no hope that he is alive. It turns out that Nick and Freddie knew him. Nick leaves to talk on the phone and is absent for a long time. When she reappears, she invites everyone to watch the fireworks. The spectacle is magnificent, but a piercing wind blows from the sea, Poirot, afraid of catching a cold, decides to return to the house. Hastings follows him. Not far from the house, they see a body in a bright red shawl prostrate on the ground. Poirot blames himself for this death. Nick appears at the door and cheerfully calls to his cousin. Poirot turns over the body - Maggie Buckley is killed. She died instead of Nik - she, having gone into the house to get a jacket, left her her shawl. Nick is shocked. She is admitted to a private hospital. To protect Nick from possible assassination attempts, doctors, at the request of Poirot, forbid meetings with her.

Poirot analyzes the situation. He writes a list of all "actors" and considers the motives and suspicious circumstances associated with each of them. Hastings falls asleep in his chair from exhaustion, and the last thing he sees is Poirot throwing the crumpled sheets of his calculations into the wastebasket. When Hastings wakes up, Poirot is sitting in the same place, but his eyes are cast with a catlike gleam familiar to Hastings - this is a sure sign that Poirot has guessed something important. And in fact, the detective solved the secret of Nick, a visit to the hospital confirms his guess. Nick was engaged to a dead airman, Michael Seton. The engagement was kept secret because of Michael's uncle, old Sir Matthew, a rich, eccentric and misogynist. Michael's successful flight would force Sir Matthew to fulfill any desire of his nephew, including agreeing to marriage. But fate decreed otherwise: already during the flight of Michael, his uncle underwent surgery, and he soon died. Before leaving, Poirot asks Nick for permission to look for her will, and she easily allows him to "inspect anything".

At Endhouse, Poirot talks to the maid Ellen, and she mentions the existence of a hiding place in the house, and also reports that before the tragedy that happened, she was overcome by bad forebodings. From the letter found by the detective to Freddie Rice, it becomes clear that she uses drugs (however, Poirot already understood this by her change of mood and strange detachment). She is a "beginner", diagnoses Poirot. In the chest of drawers among the underwear, the detective finds and begins to read Michael's letters. Hastings is shocked. "I'm looking for a murderer," Poirot reminds him sternly. Letters are clearly not all. From the farewell letter before the start of the flight, it becomes clear that Michael, without bothering himself with formalities, wrote a will on a piece of paper, leaving all his property to the bride (“I was a smart guy and remembered that your real name was Magdala”). Poirot and Hastings return to the hospital. Nick denies the existence of the hiding place. But she suddenly remembers that Croft, who advised her to make a will, volunteered to omit the letter himself. So Charles must have a will. But he is not in the lawyer's office.

Croft swears that he has dropped the letter, and his wife shows touching concern for Nick. But this does not prevent Poirot from tearing off a piece of newspaper, on which there was a greasy trace of Croft's thumb and forefinger (he was preparing food), in order to send it to the police. The detective believes that "good-natured Monsieur Croft is something too good." Maggie's parents arrive to collect the body. These are charming, simple-hearted old men, dejected with grief and full of sympathy for Nick (“she is so terribly killed, poor thing”).

From a conversation with the lawyer of the Seton family, Mr. Whitfield, it becomes clear to Poirot that Nick should receive a huge amount. Poirot and Hastings return to Saint-Loup. Calling the hospital, the detective finds out that Nick is dangerously ill. She has cocaine poisoning. She ate the chocolate candy it was mixed with. Nick violated Poirot's prohibition not to touch the food she sent, because the box had a card "Hello from Hercule Poirot" attached to the box (exactly the one he sent to Nick with a bunch of carnations). Cocaine in candy puts suspicion on Frederica Rais. In addition, in the missing will, she is declared the heiress, and at the moment Nick has something to leave behind.

Poirot decides to announce Nick's death. Nick's friends, shocked, buy flowers and wreaths for the funeral, while Hastings falls down with a fit of fever. Meggie's mother sends Poirot a letter from her daughter, written by her immediately after her arrival at Endhouse ("I'm afraid there will be nothing interesting for you, but I thought you might want to look at it"). But one phrase in this letter makes Poirot take a fresh look at the case - and unravel it. The next day, Poirot gathers all the participants in the drama at Endhouse. Among them are Charles Wise and the Crofts (she is in a wheelchair). Charles Wise announces to the assembly that this morning he received his cousin's will (dated February) and has no reason to doubt its authenticity. According to the will, everything that Nick owns remains with Mildred Croft as a token of gratitude for the invaluable services she provided to Philip Buckley, Nick's father, who once lived in Australia.

Unexpectedly, Poirot offers to arrange a séance. The lamps go out. Suddenly, an obscure figure appears before the eyes of those present, as if floating through the air. Everyone is in shock. The light comes on - in the middle of the room stands a living Nick under a white veil. Police Inspector Japp appears and arrests the Crofts, who are experts in forgery. At this moment, someone shoots at Frederica, wounds her in the shoulder, and he himself receives a police bullet. This is her husband, a cocaine addict who has lost his human form. But he didn't kill Maggie. Japp, who had been on duty at Endhouse since the beginning of the evening, saw how a certain young lady took out a revolver from a secret niche, wiped it with a handkerchief and, going out into the hall, put it in the pocket of Mrs. Rice's cape ... "Lie!" Nick screams.

Poirot claims that Nick killed Maggie to inherit Michael Seton's money. Her name was also Magdala Buckley, and it was with her that the deceased pilot was engaged. The police are already waiting for Nick in the hallway with an arrest warrant. Nick behaves arrogantly, not condescending to denying his guilt, but before leaving, he asks Frederica for a watch - as a keepsake, she says. The watch was used to transport and store cocaine. "It's the best way out for her," remarks Poirot. "It's better than the executioner's rope."

V. S. Kulagina-Yartseva

(4.50 from Paddington)

Tale (1957)

Mrs. Elspeth McGillicudy, an elderly woman tired of her Christmas shopping in London, boards a train at Paddington Station, leafs through a magazine, and falls asleep. She wakes up half an hour later. It's dark outside. An oncoming train rumbles by. Then, for some time, another one moves along the adjacent rails in the same direction as the train in which Mrs. McGillicudy is traveling. Mrs. McGillicudy sees a curtain go up in one of the windows of a parallel train. In a brightly lit compartment, a man (she can see him from behind) strangles a woman. Mrs. McGillicuddy saw a woman: a blonde in a fur coat. As if hypnotized, the elderly lady watches the murder scene in all terrible detail. The next train speeds up and disappears into the darkness. Mrs. McGillicudy tells the train controller what she saw, then writes a short letter to the head of the station and asks the porter to hand over the letter, adding a shilling to the request. In Milchester, she gets out, a car is already waiting for her, which brings her to St. Mary Mead, to visit Miss Jane Marple, her old friend.

After listening to Mrs. McGillicuddy's story, Miss Marple discusses the details of what she saw with her in detail and decides to tell the local police sergeant Frank Cornish about the incident. The sergeant, who had the opportunity to be convinced of Miss Marple's intelligence and insight, has no doubts about the veracity of the story of the two old ladies. Miss Marple suggests that the perpetrator could have either left the corpse in the car and fled, or thrown it out of the train window. But there is no mention of a dead body in the train in the papers, and Sergeant Cornish's request is answered in the negative. Miss Marple repeats her friend's route and makes sure that on one section of the track, where the train slows down before turning, the railroad tracks are laid on a rather high embankment. She believes that the corpse could have been pushed off the train right here. Miss Marple consults maps of the area and an address book. She has a plan of investigation, but she feels that she is too old for this kind of work. Then Miss Marple turns to Lucy Aylesbarow for help.

Lucy Aylesbarow is a young woman with a sharp mind and a variety of abilities, in particular, the ability to cope with any household problems with unusual ease and speed. This skill made Lucy very popular, and it was thanks to him that Miss Marple met her - once Lucy was invited to take care of Miss Marple, who was recovering from her illness. Now Lucy takes on a rather strange assignment from an elderly lady: she will be hired to do housework at Rutherfordhill, the Crackenthorpe mansion, standing near the railway, just at the site of the alleged murder; besides this, Lucy has to find a corpse.

Thanks to her reputation, Lucy instantly gets a job in the Crackenthorpe family. Soon she manages to find the corpse of a young blonde - in the so-called Long Barn, in a marble sarcophagus, which at the beginning of the century was taken from Naples by the current owner of the house, the father of the family, Mr. Crackenthorpe Sr. Lucy reports her find to Miss Marple, then calls the police. Inspector Craddock (who, by the way, knows Miss Marple very well and appreciates her detective abilities) is entrusted with investigating the case.

A terrible discovery gathers the whole family in a house where only the old father and daughter Emma usually live. The brothers Harold (businessman), Gedrik (artist), Alfred (whose occupation is not entirely clear, however, later it turns out that he lives off various frauds) and Brian Eastlew, the husband of Edith's long-dead sister (formerly an excellent military pilot) arrive. , and now - a person who cannot find a place for himself in a changed life). None of the men of the family remains indifferent to the charm, beauty and active disposition of Lucy. During her time with the Crackenthorps, she receives from each of them a more or less frank proposal to marry him (the old father is no exception here), and the married Harold offers her his patronage. Even Alexander, the son of Brian, who was visiting his grandfather's house, and his friend James Stoddut-West are delighted with Ayushi, and Alexander transparently hints to her that he would not mind seeing her in the role of his stepmother.

The investigation is trying to establish the identity of the deceased. According to one version, this is Anna Stravinskaya (Russian surname - a pseudonym), a mediocre dancer from the middle hand of a French ballet troupe who toured in England. Craddock's trip to Paris seems to confirm this version. But there is another. The fact is that shortly before Christmas (and before the murder), Emma Crackenthorpe receives a letter from a certain Martina, a French friend of Edmund's brother who died in the war (shortly before his death, he mentioned her in a letter to his sister). Martina wants to see her family and also get some money to raise her and Edmund's son. Emma, ​​who loved her brother, is pleased by the letter, but rather puzzles the others. Nevertheless, Emma sends an invitation to Martina's address to visit Rutherfordhill. To this, Martina responds with a telegram about the sudden need to return to Paris. Attempts to find it lead to nothing. But from Anna Stravinskaya, her dancer friend, they receive a postcard from Jamaica describing a fun and carefree holiday.

On the eve of his departure from the Crackenthorpe mansion, Alexander and a friend find a letter from Emma addressed to Martina near the Long Barn.

Meanwhile, the mutual sympathy between Brian and Lucy becomes apparent, as well as between Dr. Quimper, the Crackenthorpe family doctor, and Emma.

After a festive dinner, the entire Crackenthorpe family suddenly turns out to be poisoned. Analyzes show that Lucy, who cooked dinner, had nothing to do with it - not food poisoning. It's arsenic. Nurses are brought into the home to care for the sick. It seems that the danger has passed, but suddenly Alfred dies (against whom by this time Craddock had collected quite a lot of evidence).

A recovering Emma is visited by the mother of James Stoddut-West, Alexander's friend. She heard from her son about the found letter and now came to say that Martina is her, that years after the death of Edmund, whom she loved very much, she met her current husband, that she did not want to disturb others or herself with memories in vain, that she was glad her son's friendship with Alexander, who reminds her of Edmund.

Harold, who has left for London, takes the pills sent by mail, to which Dr. Quimper's prescription is attached, and dies.

Miss Marple, who once visited Lucy at Rutherfordhill (for Lucy's employers, Miss Marple is her aunt), appears there again with her friend Mrs. Elspeth McGillicudy. Fulfilling Miss Marple's plan, Mrs. McGillicudy asks permission to go to the toilet, Lucy escorts her. At this time, everyone else sit down for tea. Miss Marple pretends to choke on a fish bone, and Dr. Quimper comes to her rescue. He takes the elderly lady's neck in his hands and bends over her to look at her throat. Appearing at the door and not really understanding what is happening, seeing only the figure of a man whose hands are on Miss Marple's neck, her friend cries out: "It's him!" The doctor's pose exactly reproduces the pose of the strangler she saw on the train.

After some denial, Dr. Quimper confesses to the crime he committed. His wife, Anna Stravinskaya, was an ardent Catholic, and there was no need to count on a divorce. And the doctor wanted to marry the rich heiress Emma Crackenthorpe.

In the final conversation with Inspector Craddock, Miss Marple, relying on her wealth of experience in dealing with people and, as usual, looking for a parallel from the fates of her acquaintances, suggests that Emma Crackenthorpe is one of those who finds their love rather late, but is happy all the time. the rest of your life. She also has no doubt that wedding bells will soon ring for Lucy Aylesbarow.

V. S. Kulagina-Yartseva

(The Pale Horse)

Tale (1961)

Mark Easterbrook, a man of a scientific disposition and rather conservative views, once observes in one of the Chelsea bars a scene that struck him: two girls dressed sloppy and too warm (thick sweaters, thick woolen stockings), quarreling over a gentleman, grabbed each other's hair , so much so that one of them, a redhead, parted with whole shreds. The girls are separated. To expressions of sympathy, the red-haired Thomasina Tuckerton replies that she did not even feel pain. The owner of the bar, after Tommy leaves, tells Mark about her: a rich heiress settles in Chelsea, spends time with the same idlers like her.

A week after this chance meeting, Mark sees in Taimo the announcement of the death of Thomasina Tuckerton.

A boy runs after the priest Father Gorman and calls him to the dying Mrs. Davis. The woman, gasping for breath, tells her father Gorman about the terrible atrocity and asks him to put an end to it. The shocked priest, not completely believing the terrible story (perhaps this is just a product of a feverish delirium), nevertheless goes into a small cafe and, having ordered a cup of coffee, which he hardly touches, writes down on a slip of paper the names of people named by a woman. Remembering that the housekeeper again did not sew up the hole in his pocket, Father Gorman hides the note in his shoe, as he has done more than once. Then he heads home. He is deafened by a heavy blow to the head. Father Gorman staggers and falls...

The police, who discovered the corpse of the priest, are at a loss: who needed to kill him? Unless it's a note hidden in a shoe. There are several names: Ormerod, Sandford, Parkinson, Hesketh-Dubois, Shaw, Harmondsworth, Tuckerton, Corrigan, Delafontaine ... As a test, Police Inspector Lejeune and an intrigued Dr. Corrigan, a forensic surgeon, call Lady Hesketh-Dubois by phone, looking for her number in the directory . It turns out that she died five months ago.

One of the witnesses interviewed in the case of the murder of Father Gorman, the pharmacist Mr. Osborne, claims to have seen a man walking behind the priest, and gives a clear description of his appearance: sloping shoulders, large hooked nose, protruding Adam's apple, long hair, tall stature.

Mark Easterbrook and his friend Hermia Radcliffe (an impeccable classic profile and a hat of brown hair), after watching Macbeth at the Old Vic Theater, go to dinner at a restaurant. There they meet an acquaintance, David Ardingly, a professor of history at Oxford. He introduces them to his companion, Pam. The girl is very pretty, with a fashionable hairstyle, with huge blue eyes and, as Mark slanders, "impenetrably stupid." The conversation turns to the play, the good old days when "you hire a killer and he takes out whoever he wants." Unexpectedly, Pam enters into the conversation, noticing that even now you can deal with a person if necessary. Then she is embarrassed, confused, and in Mark's memory of all that has been said, only the name "White Horse" remains.

Soon, "White Horse", as the name of the tavern, in a much less sinister context, appears in a conversation between Mark and a familiar writer, author of detective stories, Mrs. Oliver. Mark persuades her to take part in a charity event organized by his cousin Rhoda.

Mark accidentally meets Jim Corrigan, with whom he once, about fifteen years ago, was friends in Oxford. It comes to a mysterious list found on Gorman's father. The late Lady Haskett-Dubois was Mark's aunt, and he is willing to vouch that she was respectable, law-abiding, and unconnected with the underworld.

Mark participates in a holiday organized by Rouda. "White Horse" is close to the house of Rhode in the suburbs of London. This is not a tavern, this is a former hotel. Now three women live in this house, built in the XNUMXth century. One of them, Tirza Grey, is a tall woman with short hair, who practices the occult, spiritualism and magic. The other is her friend Sybil Stamfordis, a medium. Dressed in oriental style, hung with necklaces and scarabs. Their cook Bella is reputed to be a witch in the district, and her gift is hereditary - her mother was considered a witch.

Road takes Mark, Mrs. Oliver, and a red-haired girl named Ginger (she is an art restorer by profession) to visit her neighbor, Mr. Winables, an extremely rich and interesting man. He was once an avid traveler, but after suffering from polio a few years ago, he can only move around in a wheelchair. Mr. Winables is about fifty, with a thin face with a large hooked nose and an affable disposition. He is happy to show his beautiful collections to the guests.

After that, the whole company goes to a tea party at the "White Horse" at the invitation of Tirza Grey. Tirza shows Mark his library, which contains books related to witchcraft and magic, among which there are rare medieval editions. Tirza claims that now science has expanded the horizons of witchcraft. In order to kill a person, it is necessary to awaken in him a subconscious desire for death, then he, succumbing to some self-suggested illness, inevitably and soon dies.

Through a casual conversation with Mrs. Oliver, Mark learns of the death of her friend, Mary Delafontaine, whose last name he saw on a list found on Gorman's father.

Mark ponders what he has heard from Tirza. It becomes clear to him that people who want to get rid of their loved ones successfully resort to the help of the three sorceresses living in the White Horse Villa. At the same time, the sanity of a person living in the XNUMXth century prevents him from believing in the action of witchcraft forces. He decides to find out the mystery of mysterious deaths, to understand whether the three witches from the "White Horse" can really kill a person, Mark asks for help from his friend Hermia, but she is absorbed in her scientific pursuits, Mark's "medieval witches" seem to her complete nonsense. Then Mark resorts to the help of Ginger-Ginger, a girl whom he met at a festival near Rhodes.

Ginger, whose real name is Katherine Corrigan (another coincidence!), wants to help Mark. She advises him, under some pretext, to visit Thomasina Tuckerton's stepmother, now the owner of a huge inheritance. Mark does just that, easily finding an excuse: the Tuckerton house, it turns out, was created according to an unusual design by the famous architect Nash. At the mention of the "White Horse" on the face of the widow Tuckerton appears a clear fear. Ginger at this time is looking for Pam, from whom Mark first heard about the "White Horse". She manages to make friends with Pam and find out from her the address of a man named Bradley, who lives in Birmingham. Those who need the help of the "White Horse" turn to this person.

Mark visits Bradley and it becomes clear to him how the assassination is ordered. For example, a client who contacts Bradley claims that his wealthy aunt or jealous wife will be alive and well at Christmas (or Easter), while Mr. Bradley bets him that they won't. The winner (and it always turns out to be Mr. Bradley) receives the amount for which the bet was made. Upon learning of this, Ginger decides to portray Mark's wife (his real wife died fifteen years ago in Italy when she was driving in a car with her lover - this is Mark's old wound), which allegedly does not give him a divorce, and he cannot marry Hermia Radcliffe.

Having made an appropriate bet with Bradley, Mark Easterbrook, with a heavy heart, worried that he is endangering Ginger's life, goes to the White Horse Villa. He brings - as ordered - an item belonging to his "wife", a suede glove, and is present at the magic session.

Sybil is in a trance, Tirza puts a glove into some apparatus and adjusts it according to the compass, Bella sacrifices a white cockerel, whose blood is smeared on the glove.

According to the terms of the agreement, Mark had to leave London, and now he calls Ginger daily. On the first day, everything was in order, nothing suspicious, only an electrician came in to take meter readings, some woman asked what cosmetics and medicines Ginger preferred, another one for donations for the blind.

But the next day, Ginger has a fever, a sore throat, and aching bones. Terrified, Mark returns to London. Ginger is admitted to a private clinic. Doctors find she has pneumonia, but treatment is slow and not very successful.

Mark invites Pam to dinner. In a conversation with her, a new name pops up - Eileen Brandon, who once worked in a consumer accounting office, somehow connected with the White Horse.

Mrs. Oliver calls Mark and tells how his aunt was dying (she learned about this from her new maid, who previously worked for Lady Hasket-Dubois). Her hair was falling out in clumps. And Mrs. Oliver, with her writing memory and detective tendencies, remembered that her recently deceased friend Mary Delafontaine had her hair falling out too. Here? Before Mark's eyes there is a fight in a bar, Thomasina Tuckerton, and he suddenly understands what is happening. Once he happened to read an article about thallium poisoning. People who worked at the factory died from a variety of diseases, but one symptom was common - everyone lost their hair. Thanks to the timely intervention of Mark, Ginger begins to be treated for thallium poisoning.

Mark and Inspector Lejeune meet with Eileen Brandon. She talks about her job at a consumer accounting firm. She went around people on the list and asked a series of questions regarding their consumer interests. But she was embarrassed that the questions were asked haphazardly, as if to divert eyes. At one time, she consulted with another employee, Mrs. Davis. But she did not dispel her suspicions, rather, on the contrary. "This whole office is just a sign for a gang of bandits," - such was the opinion of Mrs. Davis. She told Eileen that she once saw a man leaving a house "where he had absolutely nothing to do," carrying a bag of tools. It becomes clear that Mrs. Davis also fell victim to the "gang of bandits", and the revelations that she shared with Father Gorman cost him his life.

Three weeks later, Inspector Lejeune with a sergeant, Mark Easterbrook and the pharmacist Mr. Osborne (who believes Winables is the murderer of Gorman's father) arrive at Mr. Winables' villa. The inspector talks to the owner of the house and, apparently, suspects him of leading the organization of the murders. In addition, a bag of thallium was found in Winables' garden shed. Lejeune makes lengthy accusations against Mr. Winables, going back to the evening Father Gorman was killed. Osborne can't stand it and begins to agree, screaming excitedly, as he saw Mr. Winables. However, Lejeune refutes his allegations and accuses Osborne himself of killing the priest, adding to this: "If you sat quietly in your pharmacy, maybe you would get away with everything." Lejeune had long since begun to suspect Osborne, and the whole visit to Mr. Winables had been a deliberate trap. The package with thallium was thrown into the shed by the same Osborne.

Mark finds Ginger at the White Horse Villa, which has lost its sinister inhabitants. Ginger is still pale and thin, and her hair has not grown back properly, but her eyes glow with the same enthusiasm. Mark hints at Ginger's love, but she demands a formal proposal - and gets it. Ginger asks if Mark really doesn't want to marry "his Hermia"? Remembering, Mark pulls out of his pocket a letter received the other day from Hermia, in which she invites him to go to the Old Vic Theater for Love's Labour's Lost. Ginger resolutely tears up the letter.

“If you want to go to the Old Vic, you will only go with me now,” she says in a tone that does not allow for objections.

V. S. Kulagina-Yartseva

Roman (1929)

The action takes place in 1890-1918. The work is written in the form of the author's memoirs about his peer, a young English officer who died in France at the very end of the First World War. His name appeared on one of the last lists of those who fell on the battlefield, when hostilities had long ceased, but the newspapers still continued to publish the names of the dead: "Winterbourne, Edward Frederick George, captain of the second company of the ninth battalion of the Fodershire regiment."

George Winterbourne believed that his possible death would hurt four people: mother, father, wife Elizabeth and Fanny's mistress, and therefore their reaction to the news of his death would hurt his vanity, although at the same time it would relieve his soul: he would understand that in this life he had no debts left. For the mother, who spent time in the company of her next lover, the tragic news was just an excuse to act like a heartbroken woman in order to give her partner the opportunity to console herself, satisfying the sensuality spurred on by a sad event. The father, who by that time had gone bankrupt and stumbled into religion, seemed to have lost interest in everything worldly - having learned about the death of his son, he only began to pray even more earnestly, and soon he himself went into another world, falling under a car. As for his wife and mistress, while George was fighting in France, they continued to lead a bohemian lifestyle, and this helped them quickly console themselves.

It is possible that, entangled in personal problems, tired of the war, being on the verge of nervous exhaustion, George Winterbourne committed suicide: after all, the company commander does not have to put a bullet in his forehead - it is enough to rise to his full height under machine-gun fire. "What a dumbass," the colonel said about him.

Then the events in the novel return almost three decades ago, to the youth of George Winterbourne Sr., the father of the protagonist, who came from a prosperous bourgeois family. His mother, an imperious and capricious woman, suppressed in her son all the rudiments of masculinity and independence and tried to tie him more tightly to her skirt. He trained as a lawyer, but his mother did not let him go to London, but forced him to practice in Sheffield, where he had almost no work. Everything went to the fact that Winterbourne Sr. would remain a bachelor and live near his dearest mother. But in 1890 he made a pilgrimage to patriarchal Kent, where he fell head over heels in love with one of the many daughters of retired Captain Hartley. Isabella conquered him with her liveliness, bright blush and catchy, albeit a little vulgar beauty. Imagining that the groom was a rich man, Captain Hartley immediately agreed to the marriage. George's mother didn't particularly mind either, perhaps deciding that it was more pleasant to tyrannize two people than one. However, after the wedding, Isabella faced three bitter disappointments at once. On their wedding night, George was too clumsy and brutally raped her, causing much unnecessary suffering, after which she tried all her life to minimize their physical intimacy. She experienced the second blow at the sight of the unsightly little house of the "rich". The third - when she found out that her husband's lawyer practice does not bring a penny and he is dependent on parents who are hardly much richer than her father. his father spat on the ceiling in his office and urged his mother and wife not to quarrel in vain. George Winterbourne Sr.'s legal practice came to an end when his former classmate Henry Balbury returned from London and opened his own law firm in Sheffield. George, it seems, was only happy about this - under the influence of conversations with Balbury, the unsuccessful lawyer decided to devote himself to "serving literature."

Meanwhile, Isabella's patience snapped, and she, taking the child, fled to her parents. The husband who came for her was met by the offended Hartley family, who could not forgive him for not being rich. The Hartleys insisted that the young couple rent a cabin in Kent. As compensation, George was allowed to continue his "literary activities". For a while, the young blissed: Isabella could build her own nest, and George could be considered a writer, but soon the family's financial situation became so precarious that only the death of George's father, who left them a small inheritance, saved them from disaster. Then the trial of Oscar Wilde began, which finally turned Winterbourne Sr. off literature. He again took up the practice of law and soon became rich. They had several more children with Isabella.

Meanwhile, George Winterbourne Jr., long before he was fifteen years old, began to lead a double life. realizing that the true movements of the soul should be hidden from adults, he tried to look like a sort of healthy savage boy, used slang words, pretended to be fond of sports. And he himself was at the same time a sensitive and subtle nature and kept in his room a volume of Keats's poems, stolen from his parent's bookcase. He painted with pleasure and spent all his pocket money on the purchase of reproductions and paints. At a school that emphasized athletic success and military-patriotic education, George was in bad shape. However, some people even then saw in him an extraordinary nature and believed that "the world will still hear about him."

The relative prosperity of the Winterbourne family ended on the day when the father suddenly disappeared: having decided that he was ruined, he fled from creditors. In fact, things were not so bad for him, but the flight ruined everything, and in one moment the Winterbournes turned from almost rich to almost poor. Since then, the father began to seek refuge in God. There was a tyukel atmosphere in the family. One day, when George, returning home late, wanted to share his joy with his parents - his first publication in a magazine - they attacked him with reproaches, and in the end his father told him to get out of the house.

George went to London, rented a studio and started painting. He made his living mainly by journalism; he had extensive acquaintances in a bohemian environment. At one of the parties, George met Elizabeth, also a free artist, with whom he immediately established spiritual and then physical intimacy. As passionate opponents of the Victorians, they believed that love should be free, not weighed down by lies, hypocrisy and forced obligations of fidelity. However, as soon as Elizabeth, the main champion of free love, had suspicions that she was expecting a child, she immediately demanded to register the marriage. However, the suspicions turned out to be in vain, and nothing has changed in their lives: George remained to live in his studio, Elizabeth in hers. Soon George became friends with Fanny (more on the initiative of the latter), and Elizabeth, not knowing about it, also found herself a lover and immediately told George about everything. It was then that he should have confessed to his wife in his connection with her close friend, but on the advice of Fanny he did not, which he later regretted. When the "modern" Elizabeth found out about the "betrayal", she quarreled with Fanny and her relationship with George also cooled. And he rushed between them, because he loved both. In this state, the war found them.

Confused in his personal life, George volunteered for the army. He experienced the rudeness of non-commissioned officers, the drill in the training battalion. The physical deprivations were great, but the moral torments were even more difficult: from an environment where spiritual values ​​were put above all else, he ended up in an environment where these values ​​were despised. After some time, he was sent to France to the German front as part of a sapper battalion.

In winter, calm reigned in the trenches: the soldiers of the opposing armies fought with one enemy - the cold; they were ill with pneumonia and tried in vain to keep warm. But with the onset of spring, the fighting began. Fighting on the front line, George was on the verge of death dozens of times - he came under fire from enemy batteries, was subjected to chemical attacks, and participated in battles. Every day he saw death and suffering around him. Hating the war and not sharing the jingoistic sentiments of his comrades in arms, he nonetheless honestly performed his military duty and was recommended to an officer's school.

Before starting his studies, George received a two-week vacation, which he spent in London. It was at this moment that he felt that he had become a stranger in the once familiar environment of the capital's intellectuals. He tore up his old sketches, finding them weak and studentlike. I tried to draw, but I could not even draw a confident pencil line. Elizabeth, carried away by her new friend, did not pay much attention to him, and Fanny, who still considered George an excellent lover, also found it difficult to find a minute or two for him. Both women decided that he had become severely degraded since he entered the army, and everything that was attractive about him had died.

After graduating from the officer school, he returned to the front. George was burdened by the fact that his soldiers were poorly trained, the position of the company was vulnerable, and his immediate superior knew little about military craft. But he again harnessed himself to the strap and, trying to avoid unnecessary losses, led the defending company, and when the time came, he led it on the offensive. The war was coming to an end, and the company was fighting its last battle. And when the soldiers lay down, pinned to the ground by machine-gun fire, Winterbourne thought he was going crazy. He jumped up. Machine-gun burst lashed him across the chest, and everything was swallowed up by darkness.

E. B. Tueva

(The Hobbit or There and Back Again)

Novel Fairy Tale (1937)

Hobbits are a cheerful, but at the same time solid little people. They are just like people, only half as tall as us, and their legs are overgrown with hair, and they do not live in houses, but in "burrows" - comfortable dwellings dug in the ground. Their country is called the Shire, and both people and elves settle around it - very similar to people, but noble and immortal. And long-bearded gnomes, masters of stone and metal, live in the mountains. Well, our hobbit's name is Bilbo Baggins; he is a wealthy middle-aged hobbit, foodie and songwriter. One fine day, his friend, the kind and powerful wizard Gandalf, passing him off as a professional thief, sends thirteen dwarves to him to help the dwarves take away their treasures from the fire-breathing dragon. Many years ago, a dragon captured their cave city and lay there on a pile of jewels; it is not known how to get close to it, and the road to the distant mountains is difficult and dangerous, it is guarded by goblins and giant trolls. And what is even worse, these ferocious and infinitely cruel creatures obey the powerful ruler of the Dark Kingdom, the enemy of all that is good and bright.

Why did the wizard send gentle Bilbo on such a dangerous journey? It seems that the hobbits are chosen by providence to fight the Dark Kingdom - but this will open much later, but for now the expedition led by Gandalf sets off. The dwarves and the hobbit almost die when they meet the trolls; Gandalf saves them by turning the robbers to stone, but the next ambush in the goblin cave is much more dangerous. Twice, thrice the ferocious goblins attack the company, the dwarves flee the dungeon, leaving Bilbo unconscious in the dark.

Here begins the real story, which will be continued in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Poor Bilbo wakes up and crawls along the tunnel on all fours, not knowing where. His hand comes across a cold object - a metal ring, and he mechanically puts it in his pocket. Crawls further and gropes for water. Here, on an island in the middle of an underground lake, Gollum has been living for many years - a two-legged creature the size of a hobbit, with huge luminous eyes and flipper-like legs. Gollum eats fish; sometimes he manages to catch a goblin. Having considered Bilbo in the darkness, he swims up to the hobbit on a boat, they get to know each other. alas, Bilbo says his name ... Gollum would like to eat Bilbo, but he is armed with a sword, and they start playing riddles: if the hobbit wins, Gollum leads him to the exit from the dungeon. It turns out they both love puzzles. Bilbo wins, but not entirely fair, by asking "What's in my pocket?"

The ring in his pocket was lost by Gollum. This is a magical Ring of power, the creation of the lord of the Dark Kingdom, but neither Gollum nor Bilbo knows about it. Gollum knows only that he loves "his charm" more than anything and that by putting it on his finger, he becomes invisible and can hunt goblins. Having discovered the loss, Gollum in a rage rushes at Bilbo, and he, running away, accidentally puts on the Ring. Becomes invisible, eludes Gollum and catches up with his company.

They move on towards the mountains. Giant eagles, friends of the wizard, save them from the goblin chase, soon after that Gandalf leaves the dwarves and Bilbo - he has his own affairs, and without him the company gets into trouble over and over again. Either they are almost eaten by giant spiders, or they are captured by forest elves, and every time Bilbo rescues everyone: he puts on a ring and becomes invisible. Truly, a homebody hobbit turned out to be a godsend for the dwarves... Finally, after many adventures, the company climbs into the mountains, to the lost possessions of the dwarves, and begins to look for a secret door leading to the dungeon. They search for a long time, unsuccessfully, until Bilbo, on a whim, discovers the entrance.

The time has come to go inside, to explore, and the cautious dwarves want Bilbo to do this, promise him a rich share of the booty - and he goes. Not because of money, I think, but because of the craving for adventure that has awakened in him.

... In the darkness of the dungeon, a crimson light glows. A huge, reddish-gold dragon lies in a cave on piles of treasure, snoring, emitting smoke from its nostrils. He sleeps, and a brave hobbit steals a huge golden bowl. There is no limit to the delight of the gnomes, but the dragon, having discovered the loss, in a rage rages around their camp, kills their ponies ... What to do?

Bilbo climbs into the cave again, starts - from a safe hiding place - a conversation with the dragon and cunningly finds out that the monster's diamond shell has a hole in the chest. And when he tells the dwarfs about it, the wise old thrush hears him.

Meanwhile, the dragon is furious at the hobbit's importunate harassment. He takes to the air again to burn the only human city left at the foot of the mountains. But there he is struck with a black arrow by Bard, the captain of the archers, a descendant of the kings of this country: the wise thrush managed to retell the words of Bilbo to the captain.

The events don't end there. The absurd leader of the dwarves quarrels with Bilbo, Bard and even Gandalf over trifles, it almost comes to a battle, but at this time the invasion of goblins and werewolves begins. Humans, elves and dwarves unite against them and win the battle. Bilbo finally goes home to the Shire, refusing the promised fourteenth share of the treasure of the dwarves - to transport such wealth, it would take a whole caravan and an army to guard it. He takes away on a pony two chests with gold and silver, and from now on he can live and live in perfect contentment.

And with him remains the Ring of Power.

V. S. Kulagina-Yartseva

(The Lord of the Rings)

Fairytale trilogy (1954-1955)

Sixty years have passed since the return of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins to the Shire. He is one hundred and ten years old, but outwardly he does not change at all. This leads the wizard Gandalf to a frightening thought: the magic Ring stolen by Bilbo from Gollum is in fact the Ring of Power. Thousands of years ago it was forged by the evil sorcerer Sauron, the owner of the Dark Kingdom, forged, then lost and now longs to get it back. And this will turn into the death of the world, for, having mastered the Ring, Sauron will become omnipotent. The Ring cannot be destroyed by fire or iron; it subjugates its temporary owner - under his influence, Gollum became a merciless killer; it is impossible to part with him voluntarily; if Bilbo had been a man, and not a hobby, he would have become a disembodied ghost over the years of owning the Ring, like the nine vassals of Sauron, who were granted nine "younger" rings subordinate to the Ring of Power. The knights became the Ringwraiths, the Nazgul. Hobbits are a different matter, they are stronger than people, but still Bilbo only under the pressure of Gandalf parted with the Ring, leaving to live out his days in Rivendell, the valley where elf wizards live.

Bilbo's heir, his nephew Frodo, remains in the Shire. He now has the ring, and Frodo sometimes uses it for jokes and practical jokes: hobbits are a merry folk. Another sixteen years pass. During this time, Gandalf is convinced that Gollum visited the Dark Kingdom and Sauron, under torture, got the truth from him: the Ring of Power from a hobbit named Baggins. Gandalf convinces Frodo to leave the Shire and follow Bilbo to Rivendell. There, the wise mages will decide how to proceed with the Ring of Power so that Sauron does not get it.

Frodo is going to go - alas, without haste. And nine Ringwraiths have already invaded the Shire. These are riders in black, on black horses; at their approach, horror seizes all living things. Sauron sent them for the Ring, and they begin to pursue Frodo as soon as he leaves his "burrow". With Frodo goes his servant Sam and his two friends, the merry fellows Pippin and Merry. The black riders pursue them, the hobbits almost die in the Old Forest, among the predatory trees, then - on the burial mounds inhabited by ghosts. But just outside the Shire, they are met by a brave warrior and sage Aragorn. Hobbits do not know that he is a descendant of the ancient king of the West, who took the Ring from Sauron millennia ago, that he is destined to return to the throne when the lord of the Dark Kingdom is defeated. Aragorn and his kinsmen have long been guarding the Shire from the servants of Sau-ron, and now he must help Frodo to carry the Ring to Riven Dell. The hobbits set off again, again they are pursued by the Black Riders and finally overtake them. Aragorn succeeds in driving off the Nazgûl, but Frodo is wounded by a poisoned witch's dagger. The company miraculously breaks into Rivendell, and just in time: another hour or two, and Frodo would have died ... In Rivendell he is cured, and then the council gathers. There Gandalf for the first time announces publicly that Frodo has the Ring of power, that the Ring cannot be destroyed or left; it cannot be hidden either, for it will find its bearer. There is only one way: take it to the Dark Kingdom and throw it into the mouth of the volcano, in the fire of which it was once forged.

"But you can't get out of the Dark Realm alive!" thinks Frodo. And yet he rises and says: "I will carry the Ring, only I do not know the way ..." He understands: this is his destiny.

With Frodo come representatives of all the forces of light. This is the magician Gandalf, the elf Legolas, the dwarf Gimli, from people - Aragorn and Boromir (the son of the ruler of the southern kingdom of Gondor, which is at the very borders of the Dark Kingdom). From the hobbits - Sam, Pippin and Merry. Nine, as many as the Nazgûl, but Frodo is chief among them, for the Ring is entrusted to him.

At night they move to the east, to the mountains, in order to cross them and get to the Great River, beyond which lies the Dark Kingdom. In the foothills they feel: the servants of Sauron - birds and animals - are already waiting for them. On the pass, black forces create a snowstorm, and the company has to retreat. Below, werewolves await her, from whom she can hardly escape. And Gandalf, contrary to the misgivings of Aragorn, decides to lead the company under the mountains, through the caves of Moria. Once the caves were owned by the dwarves, now they were filled with the army of Sauron's non-humans, the orcs. At the very door to Moria, Frodo is almost dragged into the lake by a monstrous octopus, and in the dungeon the company is attacked by ferocious orcs. Thanks to the courage of the company and the magic of Gandalf, the non-humans are repulsed, but just before the exit from the caves, an ancient powerful spirit appears, and in a fight with him, Gandalf falls into a bottomless gorge. The Ringbearers lose their leader, and their grief is deep.

Even in the caves, Frodo heard spanking steps behind him, and in the forest beyond the mountains, at the border of the kingdom of the elves, Gollum appears for a second - the Ring irresistibly attracts him. It is not clear how he manages to follow the company everywhere, but when Frodo and his comrades, having rested with the hospitable elves, having received their magic boats, cloaks and supplies, set sail on the Great River, something like a floating log flashes in the water. Orcs are also pursuing them: in a narrow rapid they are showered with arrows, and, even worse, one of the Nazgûl appears in the air, now saddled with a giant winged creature; the elf strikes her with an arrow from his mighty bow.

End of sailing; on the right stretches the land of freeriders, Rohan; on the left - the northern approaches to the Dark Kingdom. Aragorn must decide where to go next, but then Boromir falls into madness. The ring of power is the cause of madness, with the help of the Ring Boromir wants to save Gondor from Sauron. He tries to take the Ring from Frodo by force, he escapes and, having ceased to trust people, he decides to go to the volcano alone. However, he fails to deceive the faithful Sam. Two little hobbits are heading towards the limits of the Dark Kingdom.

Here ends the first book of the trilogy, "The Fellowship of the Ring", and begins the second book, "Two~strongly".

The companions search for Frodo and Sam in the forest and stumble upon an ambush of orcs. Boromir dies in the fight, Pippin and Merry are kidnapped by non-humans, and Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli rush in pursuit of the orcs. However, it is not they who overtake the kidnappers, but the horsemen of the country of Rohan. During a night battle, young hobbits elude their tormentors and find themselves in an ancient forest, where the human trees, the Ents, have been hiding for many centuries. The leader of the Ents picks up the hobbits and, on his arms like branches, carries him to the fortress of Saruman. This is a powerful magician, a former associate of Gandalf, and now a vile traitor; he, like many before him, was seduced by the Ring and sent the orcs to kidnap Frodo. While the Ents are destroying his stronghold, Aragorn and his friends get to the forest and meet not just anyone, but Gandalf! He is not a man, he is one of the ancient demigods, and he defeated the formidable spirit of darkness. The four friends take part in the battle between Rohan's cavalry and Saruman's army and reunite with Pippin and Merry in the ruins of his fortress. But there is no joy: the battle with Sauron himself is ahead, and the terrifying winged Nazgul flies overhead.

Meanwhile, Frodo and his faithful servant Sam, in hard work, overcome the rocks on the outskirts of the Dark Kingdom; here, already on the descent from a height, Sam manages to catch Gollum chasing them. Frodo, by the power of the Ring, makes Gollum swear that he will serve the hobbits, show them the way to the Land of Gloom. And Gollum leads them through the Swamp of the Dead, where witchlights roam, and the faces of once dead warriors can be seen in the water, then along the mountain wall to the south, through the flourishing country recently captured by Sauron. They meet with a detachment of warriors of Gondor (later they will bring news of the meeting to Gandalf, which will do good service). They pass one of the strongholds of Sauron and, trembling with horror, see how the leader of the Nazgûl leads an army of orcs to war with Gondor. Gollum then leads the hobbits up an endless staircase to a tunnel leading to the Dark Realm and disappears. This is a betrayal: the giant spider Shelob is waiting for the hobbits in the tunnel. She bites Frodo, wraps her web around him like ropes. Seeing this, Sam rushes to the rescue. The little hobbit gives battle to the monster, and it retreats, wounded, but Sam's beloved master is dead ... The faithful servant removes the chain with the Ring from Frodo's neck, leaves the body and, in desperation, trudges on to fulfill his duty instead of Frodo. But as soon as he leaves, Orcs stumble upon Frodo; Sam overhears their conversation and learns that Frodo is not dead: Shelob has paralyzed him to eat him later. The orcs must deliver him alive to Sauron, but for now they take him to the fortress, and Sam is left alone with his despair.

Here ends the second book of the trilogy, The Two Towers, and begins the third book, "Return of the King".//3rd book//

Meanwhile, the young hobbits split up. Gandalf took Pippin with him - he rushes to the aid of Gondor, to which the army of Sauron is approaching, Merry remains a page under the king of Rohan; soon he will march with the army of that country to the aid of the besieged Gondor. Aragorn with Legolas, Gimli and a small detachment also goes to Gondor, but in a roundabout way - through the terrifying Road of the Dead, a tunnel under the mountains, from where no one has yet returned alive. Aragorn knows what he is doing: he, the returned king of Gondor, incites the army of ghosts languishing here (they once backed down from the oath given to his ancestors).

Gondor is besieged, its White Fortress in flames, the fortress gates collapsed from the spells of the king of the Nazgul. At this moment Rohan's horsemen rush into the field; the black army retreats. When the king of the Nazgul descends on the horsemen from the sky, Merry wounds him, and the niece of King Rohan kills. But victory is about to turn into defeat - there are too many enemies - and that's when Sauron's battle fleet appears, captured by Aragorn with the help of an army of ghosts.

After the victory, the defenders of Gondor decide to send a small army into the heart of the Dark Kingdom. This suicidal decision is made to divert Sauron's attention from Frodo bearing the Ring.

An unequal battle begins at the walls of the Black Fortress. Orcs and giant trolls smash the army of Aragorn and Gandalf; Pippin delivers the final blow and passes out under a mountain of corpses...

But back to Sam and his trouble. He sneaks into the tower where Frodo lies, and sees that the orcs have fought and killed each other. Sam again shows miracles of courage and saves the owner. Suffering from hunger, thirst and eternal darkness, the hobbits sneak into the depths of the Dark Realm. Here the Ring hanging around Frodo's neck becomes unbearably heavy. Finally they reach the volcano, and here, on the slope, they are again overtaken by Gollum. It is not possible to drive him away; together with Frodo and Sam, he climbs to the mouth of the volcano. It's time to give the Ring to the fire that gave birth to it, but the power of the sinister talisman over Frodo is too great. The Hobbit in madness shouts: "It is mine!", puts the Ring on his finger; Gollum rushes at him, invisible, bites off his finger along with the Ring and, stumbling, falls into the fiery vent.

The Ring of Power has been destroyed, the Lord of the Rings is dying - the world is finally free. Giant eagles, flying to the aid of Gandalf, carry Frodo and Sam out of the sea of ​​lava. Aragorn returns to the throne of his ancestors and escorts the hobbits to the Shire with great honor.

There, at home, a new misfortune awaits them: the traitor Saruman has penetrated into the country of meek hobbits and is mercilessly destroying it. Pippin and Merry, now seasoned warriors, raise their people against Saruman's men. The traitor-sorcerer dies at the hands of his own slanderer. So the last point is put in the War of the Ring, the country comes back to life, but here's the oddity: Sam, Pippin and Merry enjoy great respect, and the main character, Frodo, seems to remain in the shadows. He is often ill - the obsession of the Ring remains in his heart and body. And the modest savior of the world sits down with Gandalf and the kings of the elves on the ship - their road lies beyond the sea, to the land of blissful immortality.

V. S. Kulagina-Yartseva

(Point Counter Point)

Roman (1928)

A few months in the life of the so-called intellectual elite of London. Receptions, meetings, visits, travels... Friendly conversations, principled disputes, secular gossip, family and love troubles... In music, counterpoint is a type of polyphony in which all voices are equal. And this principle is respected in Huxley's novel. There are no main characters here, there is no single storyline, the main content is in the stories about each of the characters and in their conversations with other characters.

We meet most of the heroes at Tentamount House, whose owner, Hilda Tentamount, arranges a musical evening. She is a high-society lady with a unique ability to pit unsuitable interlocutors against each other. She loves, for example, to sit next to an artist and a critic who wrote a devastating article about his paintings. She married Lord Edward Tantemount because she had been able to demonstrate for several months in a row a keen interest in biology, which had become Lord Edward's life's work. "Lord Edward was a child, a fossil boy in the form of an old man. Intellectually, in the laboratory, he understood the phenomena of sex. But in life he remained a fossil baby of the Victorian era." Hilda had enough of his wealth and position, and Hilda found sensual pleasures with her lover, the artist John Bidlake. However, the romance ended many years ago, but Hilda and John remained good friends.

John Bidlake was a man who "knew how to laugh, knew how to work, knew how to eat and drink and deflower." And the best of his paintings were a hymn to sensuality. Now this is an old man, and a sick one, he is gradually losing the ability to enjoy what he has valued all his life.

His son Walter is a young man looking for his ideal woman. A few years ago, he fell in love with a married lady, Marjorie Carling, whom he called "the sphinx" for her enigmatic silence. Now, having taken her away from her husband and lived with her, he is inclined to believe that Marjorie's husband was right in calling her "rutabaga" or "fish." Marjorie is pregnant by Walter, and he does not know how to get rid of her, because he is in love with another - the daughter of the Tentemounts Lucy, a recently widowed woman of twenty-eight. Lucy loves entertainment, social life, vanity, but she understands that all pleasures can quickly get bored, unless they are made sharper and more varied.

For the evening, Everard Webley, the founder and leader of the nationalist organization "Union of Free Britons", the "toy Mussolini", as Lord Edward Illidge's assistant calls him, comes to the Tantemounts, a man from the bottom, whose communist convictions are caused primarily by anger at the world of the rich and successful.

Here we also meet for the first time Denis Burlap, editor of the Literary World magazine, in which Walter Bidlake also serves. Walter's father once very aptly called Burlap "a cross between a cinematic villain and St.

After the musical evening, Lucy drags Walter with her to Sbisa's restaurant, where she meets with friends. Walter really wants to take Lucy somewhere quiet and spend the rest of the evening alone with her, but he is too timid, and Lucy thinks that if he behaves like a beaten dog, then he should be treated that way.

Mark and Mary Rampions and Spandrell are waiting for them at the restaurant.

Mark and Mary are an unusually harmonious couple. He is from the bottom, and Mary is from a wealthy bourgeois family. They met in their youth, and Mary made a lot of efforts to prove to him that true love is above class prejudice. Years passed, Mark became a writer and artist, and Mary turned out not only to be an excellent wife, but also a devoted friend.

Maurice Spandrell is a disillusioned, acrimonious young man. His childhood was cloudless, his mother adored him, and he adored her. But he did not forgive her mother's marriage to General Noyle, and this wound remained with him for the rest of his life.

Philip Quarles and his wife Eleanor, daughter of John Bidlake, are returning to London from India. Philip (and this hero is largely autobiographical) is a writer. He is a smart, observant person, but perhaps too cold and rational. He is excellent at communicating in his "native intellectual language of ideas", but in everyday life he feels like an outsider. And Elinor, with her intuition inherited from her father, the gift of understanding people, was with him, as it were, a translator. She was sometimes tired of the fact that her husband recognized only intellectual communication, but, loving him, did not abandon attempts to enter into emotional contact with him.

In England, Eleanor meets with her longtime admirer Everard Webley. Not that she really likes him, but she is flattered by the passion she awakens in this misogynist who believes that women only take away from men the energy they need for important male affairs. She tells Philip that Webley is in love with her, but he is too busy thinking about his new book, the modern "Bestiary", and, sure that Eleanor Webley does not love, immediately forgets about it. But Eleanor continues to accept Everard's courtship, one date follows another, and Eleanor understands that the next should be decisive.

Webley should call on her before dinner. But Elinor receives a telegram that her son Phil has fallen seriously ill in Göttingen. She asks Spandrell, who has come to see her, to warn Webley that the date will not take place, asks her to give her husband the keys to the house and leaves. And Spandrell comes up with a diabolical plan.

Life has long bored Spandrell. He never survived the betrayal of his mother and always, as if to spite her, chose the worst path, gave free rein to his worst instincts. And now he sees the opportunity to do something finally and irreparably terrible. Remembering that Illidge hates both Webley and the Union of Free Britons, Spandrell takes him as his partner. The two of them wait for Webley at the Quarles' apartment and kill him. The army of free Britons hated by Illidge is left without a leader.

Illidge, unable to recover from the shock, leaves for the village with his mother. Spandrell reads articles about the Webley murder mystery every morning with genuine pleasure. But he never found what he was looking for. There is no God, no devil. “Everything that happens to a person,” he says to Philip Quarles, “is like himself. I prefer to live in a garbage dump. No matter what I do, wherever I try to go, I always end up in a garbage dump.”

Spandrell sends a letter to the Union of Free Britons, in which he informs where the murderer Webley will be at five o'clock in the evening, armed and ready for anything, and gives his address. At the same time, he invites the Rampions to visit, listen to the Beethoven Quartet on the gramophone, the music in which he finally heard irrefutable proof of "the existence of a mass of things - God, soul, goodness." Music sounds, "miraculously reconciling the irreconcilable - transient life and eternal peace," and at this time three associates of Webley knock on the door. Spandrell opens the door, shoots in the air and they kill him.

Walter Bidlake courts Lucy, but their romance is short-lived. Lucy leaves for Paris, where she writes letters to Walter, but soon she is carried away by a new whirlwind of entertainment, and Walter is left with the bore Marjorie, who has fallen into religion and generously forgave him betrayal.

Little Phil Quarles dies of meningitis, his grandfather, John Bidlake, is also on the verge of death. Philip and Elinor are going abroad. "To roam the world without taking root anywhere, to be a spectator - that's just like you," Spandrell said to Philip Quarles in their last conversation.

The novel ends with an episode in which Denis Burlap indulges in sensual pleasures, sanctimoniously disguised as the innocent amusements of small children, with his landlady, Beatrice Gilray. He is happy to be rid of his secretary, Ethel Cobbet, a friend of Burlap's late wife. She recognized his duplicity and did not "comfort" his "undivided grief." But he still does not know that, having received his letter, in which he delicately informs her that the staff of the magazine has been reduced and he is forced to fire her, of course, with the best recommendations, she wrote him a twelve-page derogatory letter, after which she went to bed. floor near the gas stove and opened the gas.

V. V. Prorokov.

(Brave New World)

Roman (1932)

This dystopian novel is set in a fictional World State. It is the 632nd year of the era of stability, the Age of Ford. Ford, who created the world's largest automobile company in the early twentieth century, is revered in the World State as the Lord God. They call him that - "Our Lord Ford." Technocracy rules in this state. Children are not born here - artificially fertilized eggs are grown in special incubators. Moreover, they are grown in different conditions, so completely different individuals are obtained - alphas, betas, gammas, deltas and epsilons. Alphas are, as it were, first-class people, mental workers, epsilons are people of the lower caste, capable only of monotonous physical labor. First, the embryos are kept under certain conditions, then they are born from glass bottles - this is called Uncorking. Babies are raised in different ways. Each caste is taught reverence for the higher caste and contempt for the lower castes. Suits for each caste of a certain color. For example, alphas are in grey, gammas are in green, and epsilons are in black.

The standardization of society is the main thing in the World State. "Community, Identity, Stability" is the motto of the planet. In this world, everything is subject to expediency for the benefit of civilization. Children in a dream are inspired by truths that are recorded in their subconscious. And an adult, faced with any problem, immediately remembers some saving recipe, memorized in infancy. This world lives today, forgetting about the history of mankind. "History is all nonsense." Emotions, passions - this is something that can only hinder a person. In the pre-Ford world, everyone had parents, a father's house, but this did not bring people anything but unnecessary suffering. And now - "Everyone belongs to everyone else." Why love, why worries and dramas? Therefore, children from a very early age are taught to erotic games, taught to see a partner in pleasure in a being of the opposite sex. And it is desirable that these partners change as often as possible, because everyone belongs to everyone else. There is no art here, only the entertainment industry. Synthetic music, electronic golf, "sino sensations" are films with a primitive plot, watching which you really feel what is happening on the screen. a drug that will immediately calm you down and cheer you up.

Bernard Marx is a representative of the upper class, an alpha plus. But he is different from his brothers. Too thoughtful, melancholy, even romantic. Heel, puny and does not like sports games. Rumor has it that he was accidentally injected with alcohol instead of a blood substitute in a fetal incubator, which is why he turned out so strange.

Lynina Crown is a beta girl. She is pretty, slender, sexy (they say about such people as "pneumatic"), Bernard is pleasant to her, although much in his behavior is incomprehensible to her. For example, she laughs that he is embarrassed when she discusses plans for their upcoming pleasure trip with him in the presence of others. But she really wants to go with him to New Mexico, to the reserve, especially since getting permission to get there is not so easy.

Bernard and Linina go to the reserve, where wild people live as all mankind lived before the Ford Era. They have not tasted the blessings of civilization, they are born from real parents, they love, they suffer, they hope. In the Indian village of Malparaiso, Bertrand and Linaina meet a strange savage - he is unlike other Indians, blond and speaks English - though some ancient one. Then it turns out that John found a book in the reserve, it turned out to be a volume of Shakespeare, and learned it almost by heart.

It turned out that many years ago a young man Thomas and a girl Linda went on an excursion to the reserve. Thunderstorm began. Thomas managed to return back - to the civilized world, but the girl was not found and they decided that she was dead. But the girl survived and ended up in an Indian village. There she gave birth to a child, and she became pregnant while still in the civilized world. Therefore, she did not want to go back, because there is no shame worse than becoming a mother. In the village, she became addicted to mescal, Indian vodka, because she did not have soma, which helps to forget all the problems; the Indians despised her - according to their concepts, she behaved depravedly and easily converged with men, because she was taught that copulation, or, in Ford's way, mutual use, is just a pleasure available to everyone.

Bertrand decides to bring John and Linda to the Outside World. Linda instills disgust and horror in everyone, and John, or the Savage, as they began to call him, becomes a fashion curiosity. Bertrand is instructed to acquaint the Savage with the benefits of civilization, which do not amaze him. He constantly quotes Shakespeare, who talks about things more amazing. But he falls in love with Lenina and sees the beautiful Juliet in her. Lenaina is flattered by Savage's attention, but she can't understand why, when she suggests that he do "sharing", he becomes furious and calls her a whore.

The Savage decides to challenge civilization after he sees Linda dying in the hospital. For him, this is a tragedy, but in the civilized world, death is treated calmly, as a natural physiological process. Children from a very early age are taken to the wards of the dying on excursions, they are entertained there, fed with sweets - all so that the child is not afraid of death and does not see suffering in it. After Linda's death, the Savage comes to the soma distribution point and begins to furiously convince everyone to give up the drug that clouds their brains. The panic can barely be stopped by letting a couple of catfish into the queue. And the Savage, Bertrand and his friend Helmholtz are summoned to one of the ten Chief Stewards, his foreman Mustafa Mond.

He explains to the Savage that in the new world they sacrificed art, true science, passions in order to create a stable and prosperous society. Mustafa Mond says that in his youth he himself became too interested in science, and then he was offered a choice between exile to a distant island, where all dissidents gather, and the position of the Chief Steward. He chose the second and stood up for stability and order, although he himself perfectly understands what he serves. "I don't want comfort," replies the Savage. "I want God, poetry, real danger, I want freedom, and goodness, and sin."

Mustafa also offers a link to Helmholtz, adding, however, that the most interesting people in the world gather on the islands, those who are not satisfied with orthodoxy, those who have independent views. The savage also asks to go to the island, but Mustafa Mond does not let him go, explaining that he wants to continue the experiment.

And then the Savage himself leaves the civilized world. He decides to settle in an old abandoned air lighthouse. With the last money, he buys the most necessary - blankets, matches, nails, seeds and intends to live away from the world, growing his own bread and praying - whether to Jesus, whether to the Indian god Pukong, or to his cherished keeper eagle. But one day, someone who happened to be passing by sees a half-naked Savage passionately beating himself on the hillside. And again a crowd of curious people comes running, for whom the Savage is just an amusing and incomprehensible creature. "We want bee-cha! We want bee-cha!" - chanting the crowd. And then the Savage, noticing Lenina in the crowd, with a cry of "Wicked" rushes at her with a whip.

The next day, a couple of young Londoners arrive at the lighthouse, but when they go inside, they see that Savage has hanged himself.

V. V. Prorokova

(Dangerous Comer)

Play (1932)

Friends and family came to visit Robert and Freda Kaplan at Chantbury Kloe for lunch. Among the guests are the married couple Gordon and Betty Whitehouse, Olwen Peel, an employee of the publishing house, Charles Trevor Stanton, one of the newly appointed directors of this English publishing house, and, finally, the writer Maud Mockridge. While the men are talking after dinner in the dining room, the women, returning to the living room, decide to finish listening to the play on the radio, which they started listening to before dinner. They skipped five scenes of the play during lunch and now don't quite understand why it's called "Sleeping Dog" and why a deadly gunshot is heard at the end. Olwen Peel suggests that the sleeping dog represents the truth that one of the characters in the play wanted to know. Having woken up the dog, he learned both the truth and the lies so abundant in this play, and then shot himself. Miss Mockridge, in connection with the suicide in the play, recalls Robert's brother, Martin Kaplan, who shot himself a year ago in his cottage. The men who have returned to the living room ask questions about the content of the play they have listened to and discuss how appropriate it is to tell or hide the truth. Their opinions differ: Robert Kaplan is sure that sooner or later everything needs to come out. Stanton feels that telling the truth is like making a dangerous turn at high speed. Freda's landlady tries to turn the conversation around and offers drinks and cigarettes to the guests. The cigarettes are in a box that seems familiar to Olwen - she has already seen this beautiful thing at Martin Kaplan. Freda argues that this is impossible, since Martin received it after Olwen and Martin saw each other for the last time, that is, a week before Martin's death. Olwen, shy, does not argue with Freda. This strikes Robert as suspicious, and he begins questioning. It turns out that Freda bought this music cigarette box for Martin after their last joint visit to him and brought it on that fateful day. But after her evening, Olwen also came to Martin to talk with him about a very important matter. However, neither one nor the other has so far said anything to anyone, they concealed their last visit to Martin from the investigation. Discouraged, Robert declares that now he simply has to find out the whole story with Martin to the end. Seeing Robert's serious zeal, Betty becomes nervous and persistently persuades her husband to go home, referring to a severe headache. Stanton leaves with them.

Left alone (Maud Mockridge left even earlier), Robert, Freda and Olwen continue to remember everything they saw and experienced. Olwen admits that she went to Martin because she had to find out the question that tormented her: who nevertheless stole the check for five hundred pounds sterling - Martin or Robert. Now, however, everyone says that Martin did this and that, apparently, this act was the main reason for his suicide. But Olwen still continues to be tormented by doubts, and she directly asks Robert if he took the money. Robert is outraged by such suspicions, especially since they are voiced by a man whom he has always considered one of his best friends. Here Freda, unable to stand it, declares to Robert that he is blind, if he still does not understand that Olwen has love for him, and not friendly feelings. Olwen is forced to admit this, as well as the fact that she continued to love Robert, in fact, covered for him. After all, she did not tell anyone that Martin convinced her that evening of Robert's dishonest act and that his confidence was based on Stanton's testimony. Stunned, Robert confesses that Stanton also pointed out Martin to him as a thief and said that he did not want to extradite Martin, because the three of them were bound by mutual responsibility. Freda and Robert conclude that Stanton himself took the money, since only Robert, Martin and Stanton knew about it. Robert telephones the Gordons, who still have Stanton, and asks them to come back to find out everything to the end, to shed light on all the mysteries.

The men return alone - Betty stayed at home. Stanton is bombarded with questions, under the pressure of which he admits that he really took the money, in dire need of them and hoping to cover the shortfall in a few weeks. It was on one of these anxious days that Martin shot himself, and everyone thought that he did it without experiencing the shame of theft and fear of exposure. Then Stanton decided to keep quiet and not admit to anything. Freda and Gordon do not hide their joy when they learn that Martin has kept his good name, and attack Stanton with accusations. Stanton quickly pulls himself together and reminds that since Martin's life was far from righteous, the latter must have had some other reason for committing suicide. Stanton doesn't care anymore, and he says everything he knows. And he knows, for example, that Freda was Martin's mistress. Freda is also determined at this point to be frank, and she confesses that she was unable to break her love affair with Martin by marrying Robert. But since Martin did not truly love her, she did not dare to break up with Robert.

Gordon, who idolizes Martin, lashes out at Olwen, who has just confessed that she hated Martin for his deceit and intrigue. Olwen admits that it was she who shot Martin, but not intentionally, but by accident. Olwen talks about finding Martin alone that fateful evening. He was in a terrible state, intoxicated with some kind of drug and suspiciously cheerful. He began teasing Olwen, calling her a prim and prejudiced old maid, saying that she had never lived a full life, declaring that she was needlessly suppressing the desire she felt for him. Martin got more and more excited and suggested Olwen take off her dress. When the indignant girl wanted to leave, Martin blocked the door with himself, and a revolver appeared in his hands. Olwen tried to push him away, but he began to rip off her dress. Defensively, Olwen grabbed his hand, which held the gun, and turned the gun to face him. Olwen's finger pulled the trigger, a shot rang out and Martin fell down, hit by a bullet.

All present are shocked by what they heard and at the same time are sure of Olwen's innocence. They decide to keep this secret in the future. Stanton alone doesn't seem very surprised. He had known this for a long time, because he found a piece of fabric from Olwen's dress in Martin's cottage. Stanton always treated Olwen with respect and was confident in her moral integrity. Continuing her confession, Olwen says that when she recovered a little, she wanted to share what had happened with someone and drove to Stanton's cottage. When she reached the house, she saw two people there: Stanton and Betty, and, of course, she turned back. These words make a depressing impression on Robert, who directly asks Betty, she still then came here, whether she was Stanton's mistress. He receives an affirmative answer and Betty's confession that her marriage to Gordon was a complete pretense, that this marriage did not give her anything but shame and humiliation. She admits that she did not get along with Stanton out of great love, but because Gordon's behavior drove her crazy, and because Stanton gave her expensive gifts. Robert admits for the first time that he idolized Betty, but the young woman tells him that he did not adore her, but only her beautiful image, youth, which is not at all the same thing. Robert and Gordon, each in their own way, again direct their anger at Stanton, declaring that they no longer want to have anything to do with him: he must leave now and remember to submit his resignation, as well as return five hundred pounds. Robert leans on whiskey and admits that from now on everything in his life will be meaningless and empty. Having lost Betty, he lost his last illusion, and he cannot live without illusions - it was in them that he drew hope and courage. Today, through his fault, his entire familiar world collapsed, and the future no longer exists for him. In desperation, he leaves. Freda remembers that Robert has a revolver in the bedroom. Olwen tries to stop Robert...

In the gradually coming darkness, a shot is heard, then a woman's scream and sobs are heard, just like at the beginning of the play. Then, gradually, the light is rekindled, illuminating all four women. They are discussing the play "Sleeping Dog" on the radio, and the laughter of men is heard from the dining room. When the men join the women, a conversation begins between them, like two peas in a pod, similar to the conversation at the beginning of the play. They discuss the name of the play, Freda offers the guests cigarettes from the box, Gordon is looking for dance music on the radio. The motive of the song "Everything could be different" is heard. Olwen and Robert dance the foxtrot to louder and louder music. Everyone is very cheerful. The curtain falls slowly.

Ya. V. Nikitin

(An Inspector Calls)

Play (1947)

The action of the play takes place on a spring evening in 1912 in the northern part of the central counties of England, in the industrial city of Bramley, in the home of the Burlings. In a narrow family circle, the engagement of Sheila, the daughter of Arthur Beurling, a wealthy industrialist, with Gerald Croft, the son of another wealthy industrialist, is celebrated. At the table, in addition to the named persons, are also Sheila's mother, Mrs. Sybil Berling, and Eric, Sheila's brother. Everyone is in high spirits, they drink, they talk. When Sheila and her mother go into another room to chat about outfits alone, Arthur gives "useful" advice to Gerald and Eric. He is sure that a person should only deal with his personal affairs, take care of himself and his loved ones, and not think about all people. His speech is interrupted by a knock on the door. The maid enters and informs that the police inspector Gul has come.

At first, Arthur Beurling does not attach any importance to this visit and thinks that it is connected with his activities in court, where Arthur sits. But the inspector says that two hours ago a young woman died in the city hospital: she drank a large amount of some kind of concentrated disinfectant solution and burned her insides. The inspector claims that this is a suicide and that in connection with this incident he needs to be asked several questions. Arthur Berling is surprised by the visit of the inspector, he does not understand how this story can concern him personally. The inspector explains that this girl, Eva Smith, used to work at Beurling's factory, and shows her photograph. Then Arthur Beurling remembers that she really worked for him two years ago, but was fired because she incited a strike. But it is still unclear to Arthur what the connection between this long history and the girl's death can be.

Sheila enters the room. The father tries to send his daughter out, but the inspector asks her to stay. It turns out that he wants to ask questions not only to Berling-father, but also to everyone else. The inspector says that Eva Smith, after Beurling fired her, was unemployed for two months and nearly starved to death. But then she was surprisingly lucky - she got a place in Milward's fashion atelier, where Sheila and her mother often visit. However, when Eva worked there for two months and was already quite comfortable, she was fired due to the fact that the customer complained about her. As it turned out, this customer was Sheila. Upon learning this, Sheila becomes very upset. She says that that day she went to try on a dress, the style of which she invented herself, although both her mother and the dressmaker were against it. When Sheila tried on this dress, she immediately realized that she was wrong. She looked ridiculous in it, her dress simply disfigured her. And when Eva Smith put the dress on herself, everyone saw that it really suited her. It seemed to Sheila that the girl, looking at her, smiled. Then Sheila, unable to hide her nascent dislike for the girl and anger at herself, became furious. She told the manager of the studio that the girl behaved very impudently, and demanded that she be fired.

The inspector further informs that after Eva Smith was forced to leave the studio, she decided to try her luck in another profession and began by changing her name to Daisy Renton. When the inspector said the name, Gerald gave himself away by his reaction. It became clear to everyone that he was intimately acquainted with her. Gerald said that he saw her for the first time about a year ago in the music hall "Palace". This bar is a favorite haunt of special girls, Gerald noticed a girl there who was very different from the rest, and it was clear that she did not belong in this bar. Meanwhile, the senior councilor of the municipality Meggati, a notorious Don Juan and perhaps the biggest rogue and drunkard in all of Bramley, began to rudely pester her. The girl gave Gerald a look that was a desperate plea for help. The young man helped her get rid of Meggati and then took her away. Then they went to another quiet establishment, where they drank a glass of port. There, during the conversation, Gerald realized that she had no money at all and that she was terribly hungry. He ordered her food. Two days later they met again, but this time not by chance. Gerald convinced the girl to move into his friend's empty apartment. He also gave her some money. Their love affair did not last long. They broke up for good before Gerald left on business in another city. But he insisted that she take as a parting gift a small amount on which she could live until the end of the year. The inspector added to this that after the break with Gerald, the girl went away for two months to some seaside resort place to be alone, in silence. All these memories, as well as the news of the death of his former mistress, had a strong effect on Gerald, and with the permission of the inspector, he went out to wander around the city a little. Before he leaves, Sheila gives him the engagement ring he gave her the day before.

The inspector then turns to Mrs. Burling and invites her to look at the photo of the girl. Mrs. Burling says she has never seen her before. However, the inspector says it's not true that they were talking two weeks ago when Eva Smith contacted the Brumley Women's Benevolent Society, of which Mrs. Burling is a member. It turns out that the inspector is right. At first, the girl introduced herself as Mrs. Burling. This immediately turned Sybil against her. And the girl was refused help, as Mrs. Burling, the most influential member of society, insisted on this. When the inspector reported that Eva was pregnant, a stunned Sheila told her mother that she had acted cruelly and disgustingly. Eve knew that she would never be able to marry the father of the child, because he was still very young, and besides, he was stupid, promiscuous and excessively inclined to alcohol. He gave Eve money, but one day, when she found out that he had stolen it, she stopped taking it. That's why she turned to a charitable society. Mrs. Beurling said that she blamed the young man with whom Eva was expecting a child, and reminded the inspector that it was his direct duty to punish this youngster according to his deserts and force him to publicly admit his guilt.

Eric enters the room. He immediately understands that the turn has come to him. He is forced to admit that he met Eva on a November evening in the bar of the Palace. That same evening, at his insistence, they went to her house and were close there. Then they met by chance about two weeks later in the same bar, and again Eric went to her. She soon told him that she was pregnant. She didn't want to get married. And Eric began to give her money. The father and the inspector ask Eric where he got the money, and it turns out that he stole it from his father's office. The inspector, after listening to all this, says that the girl was dying a painful death and that each of those present pushed her to this suicide. The inspector leaves. Gerald returns. He begins to doubt that it was a real inspector. Then Arthur calls a familiar police colonel and finds out that no Inspector Gul works there. Gerald calls the hospital and finds out that there is not and has not been any pregnant woman who committed suicide. The participants in the event begin to think that this whole story is someone's strange joke. Gradually recovering from shock, those present are now cheerfully recalling the details of the conversation and making fun of each other. And then the phone rings. Berling goes to the phone. They call from the police and say that just on the way to the city hospital, a girl died from poisoning with some kind of disinfectant and that a police inspector went to the Burlings to ask them a few questions.

Ya. V. Nikitin

(The go-between)

Roman (1953)

The aging Lionel Colston recalls those days that he spent as a boy with his school friend Marcus Model at Brandham Hall in the summer of 1900. The belief in the inviolability of the order that has developed over the centuries, when each person should occupy a strictly defined position in society, corresponding to his origin - this is the basis of the British worldview, which is presented in the novel through the perception of a child from a poor family who finds himself in the atmosphere of a rich house. Everything is done according to a ritual: servants and representatives of the lower classes are treated with emphatic politeness, they go down to breakfast only in shoes and in no case in slippers, etc. All these details emerge in the memory of the narrator, who found the diary he kept as a child and in which the impressions of that time are recorded.

Mrs. Maudsley, her husband, their daughter Marian, sons Denis and Marcus appear in the novel as the masters of life, who know their worth and know how to put all others in their rightful place. Each person serves as a means for them - either entertainment, or enjoyment, or strengthening their position in society. So, they invited Leo Colston on vacation so that their son Marcus would not be bored in the society of adults, where no one is especially interested in him - neither his father, nor his brother and sister, nor his mother. Leo, who by his origin is much lower than the Model, admires these people, in whose power it was to destroy him "with a mockery or make him happy with a smile", he is completely in the power of illusions from which he will have to recover.

Childishly receptive Leo notices various bright, from his point of view, details, but they turn out to be the most "speaking", characterizing the system of socio-psychological relations in a society divided by rigid class partitions. Although the hero himself at first only vaguely guesses that he has fallen into another world, where he is looked down upon as a representative of the lower class. It all starts with clothing, one of the main components of the ritual that is sacredly observed at Brandham Hall. Leo has no idea about this, and therefore among people who look at "life as a ritual", he looks like a "black sheep", which the members of the Maudsley family tactfully let him know with a smile on their faces. Marcus does this most frankly, with childish spontaneity, in a friendly way educating Leo about the fact that only ignoramuses wear a school dress during the holidays, that it’s not worth tying a school ribbon around a hat, that when you undress, you don’t need to fold your clothes and hang them on a chair - the servants will gather everything, that's why they are servants.

It soon turns out that Leo does not have a summer suit, and he becomes the object of ridicule in the form of polite advice like - "Take off your jacket, you will be more comfortable without it", advice that is impossible to carry out, because etiquette in clothes is observed very strictly and so simply taking off a jacket is almost considered a matter of unthinkable.

Finally, Marian offers to give Leo a summer suit, and the whole family discusses in detail which store to buy it from, and then, after the purchase, the color of the suit. Leo is happy - it seems to him that the new clothes help him take a more important place in the world. Marian's favorable attitude inspires him, and she uses Leo for her own purposes - instructs him to carry notes to the neighboring farmer Ted Burges, her lover. Leo keeps the secret entrusted to him, for he is ready for anything for Marian, and Ted treats the guest of noble hosts with respect.

Ted is a farmer, one of those who feed England, and the writer respectfully portrays him toiling in the field when Leo brings him Marian's notes or picks up an answer. Ted carries himself with dignity, although he is only a tenant of someone else's land. Like the land itself, which he cultivates, Ted embodies the original natural principle - one of the main values ​​for the author. At the sight of his strong body while swimming in the river, Leo even becomes shy, having an idea only of "fragile bodies and souls."

Ted is the unspoken rival of Lord Trimingham in the fight for the heart of Marian, although she tells Leo that she and Ted only have business correspondence. Leo is the owner of very important information, on which too much depends - in fact, the future of the Maudsley family, who want to strengthen their position in society by marrying Marian to the lord. Trimingham is in many ways opposed to Ted - even outwardly he is not so physically developed, and on his face there is a scar received during the Anglo-Boer War. He is the owner of the estate that the Models rent for the summer, and the owner of all the land around. He is clearly unsympathetic to Marian, but in accordance with the unwritten laws of British society, everything should be decided in his favor, because socially the farmer is no match for the lord and feelings mean nothing here. Each of them acts in the eyes of the Model family as a means, a tool: Ted - the love pleasures of Marian, Trimingham - the elevation of the whole family in the social hierarchy.

In the eyes of Leo and the author, Trimingham is the bearer of the strength of the British spirit, the ideal of a gentleman who embodies traditional human values ​​in the English version. He participated in a victorious war with the Boers, although the Boers themselves do not arouse any hatred in him, but such is the law of war: either you kill or you. It is people like Ted Burges who are placed above the farmers and plowmen (although both are duly appreciated by the author), it is they who hold the helm of the country in their hands. The role of each is especially evident during the annual traditional cricket match between the Brandham Hall team and local farmers: "The opposing forces were built like this: the tenant - the landowner, the commoner - the lord, the village - the estate." And the team led by Lord Trimingham wins.

Soon Leo, childishly in love with Marian, begins to understand that behind all her good deeds there is a cold calculation - to use him as an intermediary, a postman carrying notes to Ted, whom he, in accordance with the ideas of moral values ​​instilled in him at school, puts him lower Lord Trimingham. He also guesses the meaning of Marian's relationship with Ted and perceives this as a betrayal; after all, everyone already knows about the engagement of Marian with Lord Trimingham. But Marian insists on fulfilling the order and gives him a bicycle on his birthday, bringing joy to the boy, she does not forget about her interest - it is easier to get to Ted's farm by bicycle.

Leo learns that Lord Trimingham is suggesting that Ted join the army, and tells Marian about it, who becomes very excited. Leo himself behaves carelessly and gives Mrs. Maudsley reason for suspicion. She discovers the lovers in the barn during their tryst. Leo later learns that Ted shot himself when he got home. After all these events, Leo fell ill for a long time and received severe mental trauma for life. He never married, because by the example of Ted he saw how love relationships can end and how much falsehood surrounds them.

A. P. Shishkin

(The Hatter's Castle)

Roman (1931)

The action takes place in the 1830s. in the small Scottish town of Leavenford. In the house of bizarre architecture, the project of which was developed by James Brody himself, they live: the elderly mother of the head of the family, for whom the only entertainment is food, his wife Margaret, a woman exhausted by life, daughters Nancy (an excellent student, whom her father reads a great future) and Mary (brave and determined girl, forced to give up her education to help her mother around the house), the son of Matthew, whom his father is going to send to India, and the owner himself. James Brody is a hat shop owner who enjoys fame and influence in the city, mainly due to his wealthy clients. This is a cruel and domineering person who despises everyone he considers below himself. With family, he is strict, and sometimes even cruel. So, he forbade Mary to go to the annual fair - he became aware of her meetings with Denis Foyle, an Irishman by birth and a traveling salesman of one of the trading companies, and he wants to put an end to this acquaintance. However, in violation of his ban, Mary still goes to the fair. There, she and Denis ride the merry-go-round, watch a show at the fairground booth, and then go to the riverbank. Fascinated by Mary's youthful beauty, Denis takes possession of her, and the innocent girl does not even understand what really happened. Filled with passion, the young man proposes to her. However, both understand that it is impossible to register a marriage soon - Denis must first get on his feet, get his own house. The wait drags on so much that Mary, to her surprise, begins to discover strange changes in her figure. Not knowing what to think, she goes to the doctor, who tells her that she is pregnant. Mary tells Denis about this, asking him to speed up the wedding. Denis decides to ask Brody for her hand, but he tries to hit him. The young man manages to dodge, and instead of Denis, Brody hits the wall, as a result of which he hits his arm painfully. Furious, he puts Mary under house arrest.

Mary is in despair - she is on the verge of suicide and is ready to take poison, when she suddenly receives a note from Denis, in which he writes that he has already rented a small house and soon they will be able to move there. Then Mary throws out the poison, but she feels that something strange is happening to her. Her stomach hurts unbearably. She hides from her family in her room, but suddenly her mother comes to her. For the first time, a woman notices her daughter's swollen belly and understands everything. In vain, Mary asks her not to say anything to her father - brought up in sanctimonious morality and afraid of her husband to death, Mrs. Brody betrays her daughter. Brody barely restrains himself from beating the unfortunate Mary, but in the end just throws her out into the street.

Outside is night, a storm; the wind howls terribly, lightning flashes. Mary, in one dress, wanders through the forest. After long wanderings in the forest, she finally comes to the river, but suddenly stumbles and falls into the water. Miraculously, she manages to escape, but she immediately falls into the swamp, barely seeing the light of housing. In the end, Mary gets out on level ground and with difficulty wanders to the house. She is afraid of people, so she climbs into the barn, where she gives birth to a boy.

By chance, the hostess enters the barn and finds Mary unconscious. She calls a doctor, and the unfortunate girl is taken to the nearest hospital,

Meanwhile, Denis travels on assignment from the firm to a remote Scottish town. When his train passes a rickety, half-rotten bridge, the supports give way and the train falls into an abyss. Denis is dying.

Some time later, Brody has a conversation with the town's famous gossip Grierson, from whom he learns that Mary's baby has died in the hospital. Dr. Renwick took a great part in the fate of Mary; Denis's parents helped her get a job in London as a servant. But Brody does not seem to care: he disowned his daughter and does not want to hear about her, despite the misfortune that befell her. With gloating pleasure he thinks of Foyle's death.

Soon Brody learns that in the near future a store of a large haberdashery firm Manjo and K ° will open in the neighborhood of his shop, which will also sell hats. Brody's clerk Peter Perry invites the owner to innovate in the trade, but he is self-confident and does not want to hear anything. However, the neighbors' window dressing, beautiful mannequins, and other publicity stunts make Manjo's a serious competitor, and soon all of Brody's customers move there. To top it all off, Perry also goes there, disappointed by the boring, uninteresting job of the rude and ungrateful Brody. And although Brody's financial situation has been greatly shaken, he continues to be rude to clients. His affairs are getting worse and worse.

But Brody's main troubles are yet to come. At home, he learns that Matthew is returning early from India. There are rumors in the city that he does not do it of his own free will - he was fired for poor work. Soon Margaret Brody receives a telegram from her son, where he asks to send him forty pounds. The fact is that for eight months he sent his mother five pounds each so that she would keep them, but due to the difficult financial situation of the family, she spent this money. To get forty pounds, she has to turn to moneylenders, and they lend her money at high interest. The unfortunate woman denies herself everything, pays interest with difficulty, and dries before her eyes.

Matthew returns. He has changed a lot; sleeps until noon, dine in the city, extorts money from his mother, and when he cannot get it, steals the family watch. It turns out that with the bride Agnes, he behaves no better. After talking with her, Margaret has an attack of the disease that has been tormenting her for a long time.

Having won a large amount of money in billiards, Mat goes to a brothel. Bursting into some room, he meets a pretty girl there and begins to pester her, when suddenly Brody appears. A girl named Nancy, a waitress in one of the city cafes, is waiting for him. A fight breaks out; Mat shoots at his father, but misses.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Brody is in unbearable pain. The doctor diagnoses: cancer. She had less than six months to live. She suggests writing to Mary to come and do housework, but Brody strongly objects.

After a while, Brody realizes that he is completely ruined. Upon learning of this, Margaret Brody dies.

To feed his family, Brody enters the shipyard of the local rich man Sir John Latta as an accountant. He brings Nancy into the house as a housekeeper, but she is unable to run the household the way the late Mrs. Brody did. In addition, she wants to get married and is unhappy with her current position. The house is in disarray. Brody drinks and Nancy starts to pay more attention to Matthew. He loves her back and she hopes he will marry her.

Seeing the complete collapse of his own career, Brody now pins all his hopes on his youngest daughter, forcing her to work hard to get a university scholarship. Exhausted by malnutrition and constant studies, Nessie writes to Mary, begging her to return.

Soon a letter arrives from Mary, where she asks her father for forgiveness. He was about to write a sharp answer, when he suddenly finds out that Nancy had fled with Mat to South America. He has no choice but to agree to the arrival of his eldest daughter.

After a four-year absence, Mary returns to Leavenford. Concerned about her sister's condition, she turns to Dr. Renwick, who once saved her life. He gladly comes to her aid - he has long been secretly in love with her. As if casually examining Nessie, the doctor finds a strong nervous exhaustion in the girl.

However, Brody does not allow his daughter to rest: everything in the house is now subordinated to the struggle for a scholarship. Out of fear of her father, Nessie is afraid to admit that she feels unwell and continues to study hard. However, she does not receive a scholarship. Upon learning of this, Nessie goes mad and hangs herself in despair.

Returning home, Mary finds her sister in a noose and calls for Dr. Renwick. He understands that Mary must be taken away from this house as soon as possible. He confesses his love to her and proposes. They fall into each other's arms.

At this moment, Brody returns from work. He accuses the doctor and Mary of adultery, but the doctor points out to him Nessie's fragile body. “Nessie hanged herself because she didn’t get a scholarship, and you are the culprit of her death,” he says, after which he and Mary leave this house forever, And then Brody realizes the full horror of his situation: he realizes that he was left alone with a half-mad mother who, like everyone else, is scared to death of him.

E.B. Tueva

Roman (1937)

The action takes place in the 1920s and 1930s. In Great Britain. In the small mining town of Blanelli, a young doctor, Andrew Manson, arrives as the new assistant doctor, Dr. Page. Arriving, he learns that his patron is paralyzed and he will have to carry a double load. Paige's wife Blodwea, an ungrateful and greedy person, is unfriendly and constantly tries to save money on Manson.

On his first visit to the patient, Manson cannot make an accurate diagnosis, and only a meeting with Philip Denny, an assistant to another doctor, helps him. He, however, keeps defiantly (later it is hinted that troubles in the family forced him to move to this place forgotten by God), but tells Manson that it is typhus. Indeed, due to a rusted sewer pipe, a typhus epidemic begins in the city. Desperate to get the local authorities to solve this problem, Manson and Denny blow it up.

One day, Manson comes to a large family, where one of the children is sick with measles, and learns that the youngest child has gone to school. Wanting to chastise the teacher for not following the quarantine, Manson goes to school. There he meets Miss Christine Barlow. She has a difficult fate: at the age of fifteen she lost her mother, and five years later, due to an accident in a mine, her father, the manager of the Portsky mine, and her brother, a mining engineer, died. Gradually, the girl begins to occupy Manson's thoughts more and more.

Meanwhile, Manson's reputation as a doctor in the city is growing: he cures Imris Hughes of "madness"; thanks to his efforts, the newborn child of a previously barren forty-three-year-old woman survives. Manson is full of noble aspirations, and he is hurt by the reasoning of classmate Freddie Hemson, whom he meets in Cardiff at the annual meeting of the British Medical Union, who thinks only about prestige and money, and not about medicine and the sick.

The management of the mine, on the salary of which Dr. Page is, appreciates Manson, offering him a doctor's job, but for ethical reasons, he refuses, so as not to harm Dr. Page. Shortly thereafter, he receives a check for five guineas from the husband of a forty-three-year-old woman in labor and deposits the money in the bank. The bank director, who is on close terms with Mrs. Page, denounces Manson's contribution to her, and the woman accuses the young doctor of stealing this money from Dr. Page. Manson denies all accusations, forcing Mrs. Page to apologize to him, but after this incident, he is forced to look for another job.

After some time, he finds a doctor's position in another mining town, Eberlo, and proposes to Christine to start a life together there. But as soon as Manson starts work, a conflict arises between him and the workers at the mine: he refuses to give them sick leave without good reason. However, everything soon gets better, and she and Christine even get into high society - they become friends with the owner of all enterprises in Eberlo, Richard Vaughn. During the same period, Manson met the dentist Con Boland, an optimist and merry fellow, the father of five children. Enlisting the support of Boland, Manson tries to incite doctors to refuse to pay a tribute of five percent of their income to the head doctor of the city of Llewellyn, but his idea fails.

With a desire to improve the healthcare system, Manson starts with himself. He studies hard and then successfully passes the exam for a doctoral degree. He is interested in the effect of coal dust on the development of pulmonary diseases in miners; he is passionate about his scientific research.

It soon turns out that Christine is expecting a baby, but this happiness is not destined to come true: having stumbled on a broken bridge, she is forever deprived of the opportunity to have children.

Manson continues his research work, but clouds are gathering over his head. A group of his enemies among the workers bring charges of animal cruelty against him, because he used guinea pigs in his experiments. He is invited to a working committee meeting to be removed from office, but he shows them his doctorate certificate and resigns himself.

During the same period, there is a correspondence acquaintance with Richard Stillman, an American specialist in pulmonary diseases, who in a letter speaks highly of Manson's dissertation. Further, a new turn takes place in the fate of Manson: the committee of labor pathology in coal and metal mines invites him to the post of doctor.

Manson and his wife move to London. However, work on the committee very soon disappoints Manson, as it does not allow him to do real business. Shocked that in the presence of really acute problems one of the officials is seriously discussing with him the size of the bandages that should be in the first aid kit in the mines, Manson resigns.

An agonizing search for practice in London begins. With the six hundred pounds that the Mansons managed to save, they can only buy a remote practice in a poor area. However, Manson is lucky: he manages to cure one of the employees of an expensive store, Martha Cramb, from an allergic rash, and she makes him an advertisement. Thanks to her, Manson gets into high society, meets rich, successful businessmen - through their wives. One of these ladies, Frances Lawrence, eventually becomes Manson's mistress.

The doctor is experiencing a spiritual rebirth: a collision with wealth corrupts him, and he joins the ranks of grabbing doctors who do meaningless and sometimes harmful procedures for the sake of money. Kristin is worried that her husband is too fond of money, she begs him not to sell himself, but the thirst for success in high society makes Manson increasingly greedy for money. He is part of a community of doctors who refer patients to each other for consultation or surgery, and then share the income. Soon Manson can already afford an office in the most prestigious area, his income is steadily growing.

Meanwhile, the discord with Christine is growing, Manson is annoyed by her silent reproach, passion for the Bible, and he happily agrees that she leaves for the summer with Mrs. Vaughan. During Christine's absence, he cheats on her for the first time with Francis Lawrence.

But soon Manson's fate takes another sharp turn: he is present at the operation to remove the cyst, which is performed by the surgeon Ivory, who is part of their community of successful doctors, and with horror for himself is convinced that he does not know how to operate. A simple operation that any student can easily do results in the death of the patient on the operating table. Manson's eyes seem to open: he understands how low he has fallen, and breaks with this life.

It turns out that Boland's eldest daughter is ill with consumption, and Manson, disillusioned with the methods used in the London Victoria Hospital, transports her to the newly opened Stillman sanatorium, where the girl is completely cured by pneumothorax.

Returning home, he finds his wife joyful and happy: she cheerfully sets the table. Suddenly she remembers that she forgot to buy her husband his favorite cheese, and urgently runs to the shop across the road. On her way back, she is hit by a bus.

Manson is grieving the death of his wife, who again became spiritually close to him. He sells the practice and, together with Denny, leaves for a quiet abbey, where he gradually comes to his senses. He, Danny, and Dr. Hope, Manson's comrade on the Occupational Pathology Committee, had long ago decided to create a community of doctors somewhere in the province, each of whom would specialize in a certain field of medicine. This can take medical care to a whole new level. Friends have already chosen a city and looked after a house suitable for their purposes, when suddenly Manson receives the news that he is accused of voluntarily and knowingly helping a person "not registered as a person of the medical profession." This refers to his participation in the operation on Mary Boland, which was carried out by Richard Stillman, who does not have a medical degree. The complaint against Manson was initiated by Dr. Ivory, who had been denounced by him. Manson is to appear before the Medical Board. If he is convicted, he will forever lose the right to practice medicine.

The lawyer does not really believe in the success of the case. At the trial, he builds a defense on the fact that Manson was personally responsible for the life of the daughter of a close friend, so he considered it necessary to take her treatment upon himself. Yes, Gopper's lawyer says, Manson made a false move, but there was nothing premeditated or dishonest about it. The lawyer urges Manson to repent of everything, but in his fiery speech, Manson turns to history, reminding the court that Louis Pasteur also did not have a medical education, just like Erlich, Khavkin and Mechnikov, who made an invaluable contribution to the development of medicine, did not have it. Manson urges the medical court to do away with prejudice and look not at the diploma, but at the real contribution of a person to the treatment of patients. The court acquitted Manson by stating that he acted "with good intentions, sincerely desiring to act in the spirit of the law, which requires physicians to be faithful to the high ideals of their profession." Before leaving for his new job, Manson goes to the cemetery, as if wishing to receive Christine's blessing in his new noble cause.

E.B. Tueva

(The Loved One)

Anglo-American tragedy (1948)

One unbearably hot evening, Sir Ambrose Abercrombie comes to Francis Hinzley's house in Hollywood and finds the owner, the screenwriter of the Megapolitan Pictures Company, with his young friend and poet Denis Barlow drinking a glass of whiskey. All three are English, and the English, according to Sir Abercombie, here in America, must stick together and not fall below a certain level, that is, not accept work that does not correspond to their position in the local society. Denis, on the other hand, who had recently ended his contract with one of the film studios, joined the funeral home for animals called "the grounds of a better world", which was perceived by all the British in Hollywood as a shameful step.

Sir Francis has not been doing well lately either. Soon he learns that his term at the studio has come to an end: he was fired. In desperation, he commits suicide. Denis, who lives with Sir Francis, comes home one day and finds him hanging himself, and he has to take care of the burial procedure. For this purpose, he goes to the "Whispering Vale", a solid funeral company with countless staff, a huge memorial park and where an atmosphere of peace and decency reigns. With a purely professional interest, Denis takes advantage of the opportunity, under the guidance of a mortuary attendant, to survey the building of a company with which his own office in a sense competes, and to familiarize himself with all the services provided to the dead, or "Unforgettable", as they are called here, when moving to other world. There he sees a young beautician, Aimé Thanatogenos, who impressed him, who assures Denis that thanks to the skillful hands and talent of Mr. Joyboy, the head of the embalmers, his friend's appearance will be more than worthy. A little later, Denis meets Aime by chance in the memorial park, where he came to compose an ode to the deceased, commissioned for his funeral. Denis is a poet, and even in England during the war he published a book of poems, which was a resounding success.

Young people begin to meet, and after a month and a half, they get engaged. Mr. Joyboy, who is the embodiment of the most perfect professional manners and enjoys romantic success with the girls working in the Whispering Share, is also partial to Ema. He never told her openly about his sympathy, but expresses his feelings through the dead. They always get to Ema from his hands with a blissfully childish smile on their lips, which is why the rest of the cosmetic bags are even jealous. One day, he informs her that she is likely to be promoted to the job of an embalmer. On this occasion, Mr. Joyboy invites Eme to dinner at his house, where he lives with "mommy" and her old mangy parrot. The reception does not seem too cordial to Ema, and she takes the first opportunity to escape from there.

After Mr. Joyboy finds out about Ame's betrothal, all the dead that fall into her hands take on a tragically sorrowful expression. Knowing that the girl's fiancé writes poetry to her every day, Mr. Joyboy, with her permission, shows them to one writer and finds out that they all belong to the pen of classical English poets, which he informs Ema about. Also, Mr. Joyboy's mother's parrot soon dies. Arriving in "the lands of a better world", he meets Denis there, who hid his place of work from Aimee and assured that he was preparing to become a priest of the Free Church. He did this because his office is several orders of magnitude lower than the "Whispering Valley" and Eme repeatedly spoke of it with disdain.

Faced with deceit, Aimé decides to break up with Denis and set a wedding date for Mr. Joyboy. About all his experiences and difficulties in his personal life, Eme regularly writes to the editorial office of one of the newspapers, to a certain popular spiritual mentor, who has a daily column in the newspaper called "The Wisdom of Guru Brahmin." Guru Brahmin are two men answering letters from correspondents. One of them, Mr. Trash, answers them not in a newspaper page, but in personal correspondence. Shortly after Denis finds out about Ame's new engagement, he meets with the girl and convinces her that she has no right to break the oath given to him before. His words, unexpectedly for Denis himself, make a strong impression on the girl. Arriving home, she urgently searches for Mr. Trash on the phone, who was fired the same day due to drunkenness, and asks him to help with advice. Mr. Trash, himself not in the best mood, advises Ema, who has already managed to annoy him with her letters, to jump off the roof. On the same evening, she unsuccessfully tries to call Mr. Joyboy, who calls her "relatives-children", but cannot come, because his "mother" has a holiday - she bought a new parrot. Eme leaves the house at night, goes to the "Whispering Valley" and there, completely unwilling to take revenge on Mr. Joyboy, accidentally ends up on his table and injects himself with potassium cyanide.

In the morning, arriving at work, Mr. Joyboy discovers the corpse of his fiancée on his desk and hides it in the refrigerator so that no one will know about it. He goes to Denis and asks him for help. Denis offers to cremate Aime in "the lands of a better world", and the disappearance of the girl, who also has no parents, is explained by the fact that she fled to Europe with her ex-fiance.

Sir Ambrose, having learned that Denis is going to open his own funeral agency, comes to him and persuades him to return to England as soon as possible so as not to disgrace his compatriots. He even supplies him with money for the journey. Denis receives some more money from Mr. Joyboy. Nothing else keeps him in America, where so many people, even more worthy than him, have crashed and died.

E.V. Semina

(A Handful of Dust)

Roman (1956)

John Beaver, a young man of twenty-five, lives in London with his mother, who renovates and rents out apartments. John, after graduating from Oxford, until the crisis began, worked in an advertising agency. Since then, no one has been able to find a place for him. He gets up late and sits by the phone almost every day, waiting for someone to invite him to dinner. Often at the very last minute, if someone is let down by a gentleman, it happens. This coming weekend, he is going to stay at Hetton Castle with his recent acquaintance Tony Last.

Having received a telegram from Beaver, Tony, who intended to spend the weekend quietly with his family, along with his wife Brenda and son John Andrew, does not express much enthusiasm for his arrival and entrusts his wife to entertain the guest. Beaver makes a good impression on Brenda and over time even begins to seem like an interesting conversationalist to her. Brenda has a desire to rent an apartment in London, and Beaver's mother undertakes to help her with this. Soon, Tony's wife begins to realize that she was carried away by her new acquaintance. Arriving in London, she, along with her sister Marjorie, goes to the restaurant of one of their mutual friends, where she meets Mrs. Beaver and Lady Cockpers; the latter invites everyone to her reception, coming in a few days. When it comes time for Brenda to leave London, Beaver escorts her to the station, but when Brenda asks her to accompany her to an appointment with Polly Cockpers, he answers with a clumsy excuse, for, according to his mental calculations, it will cost him a few pounds, since before the appointment he will have to take Brenda to restaurant. Brenda is upset.

The next day, a telegram arrives from Beaver in Hetton, in which he reports that he has managed to settle his affairs and is ready to accompany her to Polly. Brenda's mood is clearly improving. For lunch at the restaurant, despite Beaver's protests, Brenda pays. On the way to Polly's, sitting in the back seat of the taxi, Brenda pulls John close and kisses him. The day after the reception, all of London is gossiping that Brenda and Beaver are having an affair.

For three days, Brenda returns to Hetton, to her husband and son, and then again, under the pretext of worries about the apartment, leaves for London. She calls Tony in the morning and in the evening, and she spends almost all the time with Beaver. Soon she tells her husband that she wants to enroll in women's courses in economics at the university and therefore she will have to spend a lot of time in London.

One day, Tony, missing his wife, arrives in London without warning. Brenda is unhappy with his unexpected arrival and, citing being busy, refuses to meet him. Tony goes to a club, where, along with his friend Jock Grant-Menzies, he gets very drunk and calls Brenda all evening, which pisses her off. Returning to Hetton, Tony quarrels with his young son, who, missing his mother, bombards his tired and annoyed father with questions.

Following these events, for two consecutive weekends, Brenda comes to Hetton with her friends. She is tormented by her conscience, and she wants her not to go through a love adventure alone. She wants her husband to be interested in her new acquaintance Jenny Abdul Akbar, who was once married to a black man, a very eccentric but beautiful lady who tells everyone about her hard life. Tony, however, finds her tiresome and the romance doesn't work out.

Once, when Brenda, as usual, is away, a hunting gathering is arranged in the Hetton forest. John Andrew, who already knows how to ride a pony, is allowed to attend. After the start of the hunt, the boy is sent home under the supervision of the groom Ben. On the way back, an accident occurs with the child: the wayward horse of Miss Ripon, the Lasts' neighbor, who also rode with them, frightened by the exhaust of a moped, rears up and, backing away, hits John in the head with his hoof. The boy falls into a ditch. Death comes instantly. More recently, a house full of fun is enveloped in an atmosphere of mourning. Jock Grant-Menzies, who was present at the hunt, travels to London to inform Brenda of what has happened. Brenda is visiting at this time. Upon learning of the death of her son, she weeps bitterly. After the funeral, she leaves Hetton very quickly and writes a letter from London to Tony, in which she says that she will not return home anymore, that she is in love with Beaver and wants to divorce Tony.

In a divorce, Brenda acts as a plaintiff, it’s more convenient. To formalize Tony's divorce, it is necessary that at the court session there were witnesses who observed him having an affair with some other woman. To do this, he finds a certain Millie, a girl of easy virtue, in one of the bars, and goes with her to Brighton. The detectives follow them. Millie, without warning Tony, takes her daughter with her, who constantly revolves around adults and pesters Tony with her requests and whims.

Upon returning to London, Tony has a serious conversation with Brenda's older brother, Reggie, in which Reggie demands for Brenda alimony amounting to twice what Tony is able to provide. In addition, some more unpleasant facts come up, so that in the end Tony refuses to give Brenda a divorce at all. She cannot demand it, since the testimony of Brighton witnesses is not worth a penny, for there was a child in the room all the time and the girl slept both nights in the room that Tony was supposed to occupy. Instead of a divorce, Tony decides to leave for a while and go on an expedition to Brazil in search of some lost city.

On the journey, Tony is accompanied by Dr. Messinger, an experienced researcher, although still quite a young man. While sailing to the shores of South America, Tony meets a girl named Teresa de Vitre, who, after two years of study at a Parisian boarding school, is returning home to Trinidad. Between them there is a fleeting interest, which disappeared from Miss de Vitre immediately after she learns that Tony is married. Having landed in Brazil, Tony and Dr. Messinger come into contact with local Indians and live near their settlement for some time, suffering terribly from annoying insects, but hoping that the Indians will help them get to the Paivai tribe, which, although it is reputed to be very cruel, but, seems to have some clues on how to find the Grad. The Indians build boats for travelers and deliver them along the river to the border of the lands of the paivas, and they themselves disappear at night without a trace. Then Tony and the doctor move downstream on their own. On the way, Tony falls ill, has a fever, a high temperature, and spends many days and nights in an unconscious state. Dr. Messinger sets off alone to get someone Tony to help as soon as possible. In the whirlpool, the doctor drowns, and Tony, barely regaining consciousness, in a semi-delirious state, makes his way through the forest jungle and goes out to the Indian village. There he meets old Mr. Todd, who cannot read, but is terribly fond of listening when they read books left to him in no small number by his father, who once worked here as a missionary. He cures Tony, but does not allow him to leave, forcing him to constantly read and reread all the books aloud. Tony has been living in his cabin for almost a year. One day, Mr. Todd puts him to sleep for two days, and when Tony wakes up, he tells him that some Europeans were looking for Tony and he gave them his watch, assuring that Tony had died. Now no one will ever look for him again, and Tony will have to spend his whole life in an Indian village.

Brenda, having learned that she is a widow, marries Jock Grant-Menzies, and Hetton, according to Tony's will, goes to his relatives, the Lasts.

E. V. Semina

(Brideshead Revisited)

Roman (1945)

During the Second World War, while in England and commanding a company that does not take part in hostilities, Captain Charles Ryder receives an order from the command to transport his soldiers to a new place. Arriving at his destination, the captain discovers that he was in the Brideshead estate, with which all his youth was closely connected. He is engulfed in memories.

At Oxford, in his first year of college, he met the offspring of the aristocratic Marchmain family, his peer, Lord Sebastian Flyte, a youth of extraordinary beauty and a lover of extravagant pranks. Charles was captivated by his company, his charm, and the young people became friends, spending the entire first year in friendly revels and frivolous antics. During the first summer vacation, Ryder lived first at his father's house in London, and then, having received a telegram from Sebastian saying that his friend was crippled, rushed to him and found him in Brideshead, the Marchmain family home, with a broken ankle. When Sebastian fully recovered from his illness, the friends left for Venice, where at that time Sebastian's father lived with his mistress Kara.

Sebastian's father, Lord Alexander Marchmain, had long lived apart from his wife, Sebastian's mother, and hated her, although it was difficult to explain the reason for this hatred to anyone. Sebastian also had a difficult relationship with his mother. She was a very devout Catholic, and therefore her son was oppressed by communication with her, as well as his own older brother Brideshead and sisters, Julia and Cordelia, who were also brought up in the Catholic faith. Mother demanded from each member of the family the ability to stay within the strict limits prescribed by religion.

After returning from a summer vacation to Oxford, young people found that their former fun and former lightness were missing in their lives. Charles and Sebastian spent a lot of time together, sitting together over a bottle of wine. Once, at the invitation of Julia and her admirer Rex Mottram, young people went to them for a holiday in London. After the ball, pretty drunk, Sebastian got into the car and was stopped by the police, who, without much conversation, sent him to jail for the night. From there he was rescued by Rex, a rather arrogant and tenacious person. Over Sebastian at the university, a painful guardianship of Catholic priests and teachers was established, accompanied by periodic raids by Lady Marchmain. He got drunk and was expelled from Oxford. Charles Rider, for whom being at the university without a friend, especially since he himself decided to become an artist, lost its meaning, also expelled from it and left to study painting in Paris.

During the Christmas week, Charles arrived at Brideshead, where all the members of the family had already gathered, including Sebastian, who had previously made a trip to the Middle East with Mr. Samgrass, one of the teachers assigned to patronize him back in Oxford. As it turned out later, on his last stage, Sebastian fled from his escort to Constantinople, lived there with a friend and drank. By this time, he had already turned into a real alcoholic, to whom hardly anything could help. By his behavior, he shocked and upset the family, so Rex was instructed to take Sebastian to Zurich, to a sanatorium to Dr. Baretus. After one incident, when Charles, baring his teeth at a friend who was penniless and who was also strictly limited in his alcohol consumption, provided him with two pounds of drink in a nearby tavern, Charles had to leave Brideshead and return to Paris to his painting.

Soon Rex came there in search of Sebastian, who, on the way to Zurich, fled from him, taking with him three hundred pounds. On the same day, Rex invited Charles to a restaurant, where, over dinner, he enthusiastically spoke of his plans to marry the beautiful Julia Marchmain and at the same time not to lose her dowry, which her mother resolutely refused him. A few months later, Rex and Julia actually got married, but very modestly, without the members of the royal family and the prime minister, whom Rex knew and counted on. It was like a "secret wedding", and only a few years later Charles found out what really happened there.

Captain Ryder's thoughts turn to Julia, who until now has played only an episodic and rather mysterious role in Sebastian's drama, and later played a huge role in Charles's life. She was very beautiful, but she could not count on a brilliant aristocratic party due to the fact that their noble family was marked by the immoral behavior of her father, and because she was a Catholic. It so happened that fate brought her together with Rex, a native of Canada, who made his way into the highest financial and political circles in London. He mistakenly assumed that such a party would be a trump card in his meteoric career, and he used all his strength to capture Julia. Julia really fell in love with him, and the wedding date was already set, the most significant cathedral was rented, even the cardinals were invited, when it suddenly turned out that Rex was divorced. Shortly before that, for the sake of Julia, he accepted the Catholic faith and now, as a Catholic, he did not have the right to marry a second time while his first wife was alive. Violent disputes broke out in the family, as well as among the holy fathers. In their midst, Rex announced that he and Julia preferred a Protestant wedding. After several years of married life, the love between them dried up; Julia revealed the true essence of her husband: he was not a man, in the full sense of the word, but "a small part of a man, pretending to be a whole human being." He was obsessed with money and politics and was very modern, the latest "fake" of that century. Julia told Charles about this ten years later, during a storm in the Atlantic.

In 1926, during a general strike, Charles returned to London, where he learned that Lady Marchmain was dying. In this regard, at the request of Julia, he went to Algiers for Sebastian, where he had settled for a long time. At that time, he was in the hospital recovering from the flu, so he could not go to London. And after his illness, he did not want to leave, because he did not want to leave one of his new friends, the German Kurt, with a sore leg, whom he picked up in Tangier, dying of hunger, took to him and took care of him now. He never managed to stop drinking.

Returning to London, Charles learned that the Marchmain London house would be sold due to financial difficulties in the family, it would be demolished and an apartment building would be built in its place. Charles, who had long since become an architectural painter, at the request of Brideshead captured the interior of the house for the last time. Having successfully survived the financial crisis of those years thanks to his specialization, having published three luxurious albums of his reproductions depicting English mansions and estates, Charles left for Latin America for a life-giving change in his work. There he stayed for two years and created a series of beautiful paintings, rich in tropical colors and exotic motifs. By prior arrangement, his wife came from England to New York to pick him up, and together they left on the ship back to Europe. During the trip, it turned out that Julia Marchmain was sailing with them to England, succumbed to passion and ended up in America after the man whom she thought she loved. Quickly disappointed in him, she decided to return home. On the ship during a storm, which contributed to the fact that Julia and Charles were constantly alone with each other, because they were the only ones who did not suffer from seasickness, they realized that they loved each other. After the exhibition, which was immediately organized in London and was a huge success, Charles informed his wife that he would no longer live with her, which she was not very upset about, and soon acquired a new admirer. Charles filed for divorce. Julia did the same. In Brideshead they lived together for two and a half years and were about to get married.

Julia's older brother, Brideshead, married Beryl, the admiral's widow with three children, a plump lady of about forty-five, who at first sight was disliked by Lord Marchmain, who returned to the family estate because of the outbreak of hostilities outside of England. In this regard, Beryl and her husband did not manage to move there, as she expected, and besides, the lord bequeathed the house to Julia, who was going to marry Charles,

Cordelia returned to Brideshead, Julia's younger sister, whom Charles had not seen for fifteen years. She worked in Spain as a nurse, but now she had to leave there. On the way home, she visited Sebastian, who had moved to Tunisia, converted again and now worked as a minister at a monastery. He still suffered greatly, for he was deprived of his own dignity and will. Cordelia even saw in him something of a saint.

Lord Marchmain came to Brideshead very old and terminally ill. Before his death, Julia and Charles clashed over whether or not to disturb their father with the last communion. Charles, being an agnostic, saw no point in it and was against it. Nevertheless, before his death, Lord Marchmain confessed his sins and signed himself with the sign of the cross. Julia, who had long been tormented by the fact that she first lived with Rex in sin, and now consciously was going to repeat the same thing with Charles, chose to return to the bosom of the Catholic Church and part with her lover.

Now thirty-nine-year-old infantry captain Charles Ryder, standing in the Brideshead chapel and looking at the candle burning on the altar, is aware of its fire as a link between eras, something extremely significant and just as burning in the souls of modern soldiers far from home as it burned in souls of ancient knights.

E. V. Semina

Roman (1943-1944)

Mr. Jones owns Manor Farm near the town of Willingdon in England. The old hog Major collects all the animals that live here at night in a large barn. He says that they live in slavery and poverty, because man appropriates the fruits of their labor, and calls for rebellion: you need to free yourself from man, and animals will immediately become free and rich. The Major sings the old song "Beasts of England". The animals are catching up. Preparations for the uprising are taken over by pigs, which are considered the most intelligent animals. Among them, Napoleon, Snowball and Squealer stand out. They turn Major's teachings into a coherent philosophical system called Animalism and expound its foundations to others at secret gatherings. The most faithful students are the draft horses Boxer and Clover. The uprising comes sooner than expected, as Jones is drinking and his workers have completely abandoned the farm and stopped feeding the cattle. The patience of animals comes to an end, they pounce on their tormentors and drive them away. Now the farm, the Manor barnyard is owned by animals. They destroy everything that reminds them of the owner, and leave his house as a museum, but none of them should ever live there. The estate is given a new name: "Animal Farm".

Pig Animalism principles are reduced to the Seven Commandments and written on the barn wall. According to them, from now on and forever animals are obliged to live in the Animal Farm:

1. All bipeds are enemies.

2. All four-legged or with wings are friends.

3. Animals must not wear clothes.

4. Animals should not sleep in bed.

5. Animals should not consume alcohol.

6. Animals should not kill other animals for no reason.

7. All animals are equal.

For those who can't remember all the Commandments, Snowball cuts them down to one: "Four legs is good, two legs is bad."

Animals are happy, although they work from dawn to dusk. Boxer works for three. His motto is: "I will work even harder." On Sundays general meetings are held; resolutions are always put forward by pigs, the rest only vote. Then everyone sings the anthem "Beasts of England". Pigs don't do work, they lead others.

Jones and his workers attack the Animal Farm, but the animals fearlessly defend themselves and the people retreat in panic. Victory makes the animals ecstatic. They call the battle the Battle of the Cowshed, establish the orders of the "Animal Hero" of the first and second degrees, and reward Snowball and Boxer who distinguished themselves in battle.

Snowball and Napoleon constantly argue at meetings, especially about building a windmill. The idea belongs to Snowball, who does the measurements, calculations and drawings himself: he wants to connect a generator to the windmill and supply the farm with electricity. Napoleon objects from the start. And when Snowball convinces the animals to vote in his favor at the meeting, at a signal from Napoleon, nine huge ferocious dogs burst into the barn and pounce on Snowball. He barely escapes and is never seen again. Napoleon cancels any meetings. All questions will now be decided by a special committee of pigs, headed by himself; they will sit separately and then announce their decisions. The menacing growl of dogs drowns out objections. The boxer expresses the general opinion with the words: "If Comrade Napoleon says this, then it is correct." From now on, his second motto: "Napoleon is always right."

Napoleon announces that the windmill must still be built. It turns out that Napoleon always insisted on this construction, and Snowball simply stole and appropriated all his calculations and drawings. Napoleon had to pretend that he was against it, since there was no other way to get rid of Snowball, "who was a dangerous person and had a bad influence on everyone." An explosion one night destroys a half-built windmill. Napoleon says that this is Snowball's revenge for his shameful exile, accuses him of many crimes and announces his death sentence. He calls for immediate restoration of the windmill.

Soon Napoleon, having gathered animals in the yard, appears accompanied by dogs. He forces the pigs who once objected to him, and then several sheep, chickens and geese, to confess to a secret relationship with Snowball. Dogs immediately gnaw their throats. The shocked animals mournfully begin to sing "Beasts of England", but Napoleon forbids the singing of the anthem forever. In addition, it turns out that the sixth commandment says: "Animals must not kill other animals WITHOUT REASON." Now it is clear to everyone that it was necessary to execute the traitors who themselves admitted their guilt.

Mr. Frederick, who lives next door, with fifteen armed workers attacks the Animal Farm, they injure and kill many animals and blow up a newly built windmill. Animals repel the attack, but they themselves are bled and exhausted. But, listening to Napoleon's solemn speech, they believe that they won the greatest victory in the Battle of the Windmill.

Boxer dies from overwork. As the years go by, fewer and fewer animals remain who remember life on the farm before the Rebellion. Animal Farm is gradually getting richer, but everyone, except for pigs and dogs, is still starving, sleeping on straw, drinking from a pond, working day and night in the field, suffering from cold in winter and heat in summer. Through reports and summaries, Squealer consistently proves that life on the farm is getting better every day. Animals are proud that they are not like everyone else: after all, they own the only farm in the whole of England where everyone is equal, free and works for their own good.

Meanwhile, the pigs move into Jones' house and sleep in the beds. Napoleon lives in a separate room and eats from the front service. Pigs begin to trade with people. They drink whiskey and beer, which they themselves brew. They demand that all other animals give way to them. Having violated another Commandment, pigs, using the gullibility of animals, rewrite it in a way that suits them, and the only commandment remains on the barn wall: "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." Finally, the pigs put on Jones' clothes and start walking on their hind legs, to the bleating of approval from the Squealer-trained sheep: "Four legs is good, two legs is better."

People from neighboring farms come to visit the pigs. Animals peek through the living room window. At the table, guests and hosts play cards, drink beer and make almost identical toasts to friendship and normal business relations. Napoleon shows documents confirming that from now on the farm is joint property of pigs and is again called "Farm Manor". Then a quarrel breaks out, everyone screams and fights, and it is no longer possible to make out where the man is and where the pig is.

V. S. Kulagina-Yartseva

Roman (1949)

The action takes place in 1984 in London, the capital of Airstrip Number One, in the province of Oceania. Winston Smith, a short, puny man of thirty-nine, is about to start journaling in an old thick notebook recently purchased from a junk shop. If the diary is discovered, Winston will face death or twenty-five years in a hard labor camp. In his room, as in any residential or office space, a television screen is built into the wall, working around the clock for both reception and transmission. The Thought Police eavesdrop on every word and watches every movement. Posters are plastered everywhere: the huge face of a man with a thick black mustache, with eyes fixed directly on the beholder. The caption reads: "Big Brother is watching you."

Winston wants to write down his doubts about the correctness of the Party's teachings. He does not see in the wretched life around him anything resembling the ideals to which the party aspires. He hates Big Brother and does not recognize the slogans of the party "WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS POWER". The party orders to believe only it, and not your own eyes and ears. Winston writes in his diary: "Freedom is the ability to say that two and two make four." He realizes that he is committing a thought-crime. The thought-criminal will inevitably be arrested, destroyed, or, as they say, pulverized. The family has become an appendage of the thought police, even children are taught to follow their parents and denounce them. Neighbors and colleagues inform on each other.

Winston works in the records department of the Ministry of Truth, responsible for information, education, leisure, and the arts. There they seek out and collect printed publications to be destroyed, replaced or altered if the figures, opinions or forecasts contained in them do not coincide with today's ones. History is scraped off like old parchment and rewritten as many times as necessary. Then the erasures are forgotten and the lie becomes the truth.

Winston reminisces about the two minutes of hate that took place at the ministry today. The object of hatred is unchanged: Goldstein, in the past one of the leaders of the party, who then embarked on the path of counter-revolution, was sentenced to death and mysteriously disappeared. Now he is the first traitor and apostate, the culprit of all crimes and sabotage. Everyone hates Goldstein, refutes and ridicules his teachings, but his influence does not weaken at all: every day they catch spies and pests acting on his orders. They say that he commands the Brotherhood, the underground army of the enemies of the party, they also talk about a terrible book, a collection of all kinds of heresies; it has no name, it is simply called "the book".

O'Brien, a very high official, is present at the two-minute session. The contrast between his gentle gestures and the appearance of a heavyweight boxer is surprising, Winston has long suspected that O'Brien is not quite politically correct, and is eager to talk to him. In his eyes, Winston reads understanding and support. Once he even hears O'Brien's voice in his sleep: "We will meet where there is no darkness." At meetings, Winston often catches the eye of the dark-haired girl from the Literature Department, who screams her hatred of Goldstein the loudest. Winston thinks she's connected to the Thought Police.

Wandering through the city slums, Winston accidentally finds himself near a familiar junk shop and enters it. The landlord, Mr. Charrington, a gray-haired, round-shouldered old man with glasses, shows him the room upstairs: there is antique furniture, a picture hangs on the wall, there is a fireplace and there is no TV screen. On the way back, Winston meets the same girl. He has no doubt that she is watching him. Suddenly, the girl hands him a note with a declaration of love. They furtively exchange a few words in the dining room and in the crowd.

For the first time in his life, Winston is sure that he is facing a member of the Thought Police.

Winston is put in jail, then transported to the Ministry of Love, in a cell where the lights are never turned off. This is a place where there is no darkness. Enter O'Brien. Winston is amazed, forgetting about caution, he shouts: "And you have them!" - "I've been with them for a long time," O'Brien replies with mild irony. The warden appears from behind him, he beats Winston's elbow with all his might with a baton. The nightmare begins. First, he is subjected to interrogations by the guards, who beat him all the time - with fists, legs, truncheons. He repents of all sins, perfect and imperfect. Then party investigators work with him; their many hours of interrogation breaks him more than the fists of the guards. Winston says and signs everything that is required, confesses to unimaginable crimes.

Now he lies on his back, the body is fixed so that it is impossible to move. 0'Brien turns the lever on a device that causes unbearable pain. Like a teacher who fights with a rebellious but capable student, 0'Brien explains that Winston is being kept here to be healed, that is, remade. The party does not need obedience or humility: the enemy must take the side of the party sincerely, mind and heart. He inspires Winston that reality exists only in the mind of the party: what the party considers to be true is the truth. Winston must learn to see reality through the eyes of the party, he must stop being himself, and become one of "them." The first stage O'Brien calls study, the second - understanding. He claims that the power of the party is eternal. The purpose of power is power itself, power over people, and it consists in hurting and humiliating. The Party will create a world of fear, betrayal and torment, a world of trampling and trampling. In this world there will be no other feelings but fear, anger, triumph and self-humiliation, there will be no other loyalty than party loyalty, there will be no other love than love for the Elder Brother.

Winston objects. He believes that a civilization built on fear and hatred is about to collapse. He believes in the power of the human spirit. Considers himself morally superior to O'Brien. He includes a recording of their conversation, when Winston promises to steal, cheat, kill. Then O'Brien tells him to undress and look in the mirror: Winston sees a dirty, toothless, emaciated creature. "If you are human, so is humanity," O'Brien tells him. "I didn't betray Julia," Winston retorts.

Then Winston is brought to room number one hundred and one, a cage with huge hungry rats is brought close to his face. For Winston, this is unbearable. He hears their screeching, smells their vile smell, but he is firmly attached to the chair. Winston realizes that there is only one person with whose body he can protect himself from the rats, and frantically shouts: "Julia! Give them Julia! Not me!"

Winston comes daily to the Under the Chestnut Café, watches the TV screen, drinks gin. Life has gone out of him, only alcohol supports him. They saw Julia, and everyone knows that the Other has betrayed him. And now they feel nothing but mutual hostility. Victorious fanfare is heard: Oceania has defeated Eurasia! Looking at Big Brother's face, Winston sees that it is full of calm strength, and a smile is hidden in the black mustache. The healing that O'Brien spoke of has happened. Winston loves Big Brother.

V. S. Kulagina-Yartseva

(The Heart of the Matter)

Roman (1948)

The action takes place in 1942 in West Africa, in an unnamed British colony. The protagonist is the deputy chief of police of the capital city, Major Henry Scobie, a man of incorruptible honesty and therefore reputed to be a loser. The chief of police is about to resign, but Scobie, for whom it would be logical to become his successor, is not appointed to this position, but they are going to send a younger and more energetic person. Scobie's wife Louise is distressed and disappointed. She asks her husband to resign and go to South Africa with her, but he refuses - he is too accustomed to these places and, moreover, has not saved up enough money to move. From day to day, the wife becomes more irritable, and Scobie finds it harder to bear her. In addition, the new accountant of the United African Company, Wilson, begins to look after Louise (in fact, as it turns out later, a secret agent designed to prevent the illegal export of industrial diamonds from the country). Scobie frantically tries to figure out where to get money, even goes to the bank, hoping to get a loan there, but the manager Robinson refuses him.

Suddenly it becomes known that in a small town in the interior of the country, a young district commissioner named Pemberton committed suicide. Scobie goes to the scene and learns that Pemberton owes a large sum to the Syrian Yousef. The Major concludes that the Syrian used this debt to blackmail him, trying to force Pemberton to facilitate the smuggling. In a conversation with Scobie, Yousef hints at the major's unfavorable life circumstances and offers him his friendship.

In an attack of malaria, Scobie has a dream where the signature "Dicky" under Pemberton's suicide note strangely merges with the nickname Tikki given to Scobie by his wife, and the death of the twenty-six-year-old district commissioner of the town of Bamba becomes, as it were, a prologue to the further fate of the protagonist.

Everything that happened makes Scobie change his principles for the first time and borrow money from Yousef at interest in order to send his wife to South Africa. Thus, he becomes dependent on the Syrian, but he is in no hurry to turn to Scobie for help in his affairs. On the contrary, he himself offers help - in the hope of getting rid of a competitor, the Syrian Catholic Tallit, Yousef puts diamonds in the crop of a parrot belonging to Tallit's cousin going abroad, and then informs Scobie about this. The diamonds are found, but Tallit charges that Yousef bribed Scobie. Feeling embarrassed that he asked for a loan, Scobie nevertheless denies the accusation, although later, to clear his conscience, he informs the police chief about the deal with Yusef.

Shortly after Louise's departure, the passengers of the sunken ship are rescued at sea, who have been in boats for forty days on the high seas. Scobie is present at their disembarkation. All the rescued are severely emaciated, many are sick. A girl dies before Scobie's eyes, reminding him of the death of his own nine-year-old daughter. Among the rescued is a young woman, Helen Rolt, who lost her husband in a shipwreck, with whom she lived for only a month. Feeling an acute pity for all the weak and defenseless, Scobie is especially excited by how touchingly she squeezes the stamp album in a childish way, as if in it she can find salvation. From pity grows tenderness, from tenderness - a love affair, although there is a difference of thirty years between him and Helen. Thus begins an endless chain of lies that leads the hero to death. Meanwhile, clouds are gathering over his head: Wilson, who suspected him of secret affairs with Yusef, to top it all, witnesses how Scobie leaves Helen's house at two in the morning. Sympathy for Scobie's wife and professional duty make him spy on the major through Yusef's servant.

From the loneliness and ambiguity of her position, Helen makes a scene for Scobie. To convince her of my feelings. Scobie writes her a love letter. He is intercepted by Yousef, who blackmails Scobie into giving the captain of the Portuguese ship Esperanza a shipment of smuggled diamonds. Scobie gets more and more entangled in his lies.

At this moment, the wife returns from South Africa. She forces Scobie to go to communion with her. To do this, Scobie must confess. But he loves Helen too much to lie to God, as if he repents of his deed and is ready to leave her, so he does not receive absolution at confession. Communion becomes a difficult test for him: he is forced to take communion without repenting of a mortal sin, just to calm his wife, and thereby commits another mortal sin. The hero is torn between a sense of responsibility to his wife, pity and love for Helen, and fear of eternal torment. He feels that he brings torment to all those around him, and begins to prepare his way to retreat. And then he learns that he is still appointed chief of police. But he's already too confused. It begins to seem to him that Ali's devoted servant, who has served him for fifteen years, is spying on him. Ali witnesses Scobie's date with Helen; he is present in the room when Yusef's servant brings a diamond as a gift to Scobie, and Scobie decides to take a desperate step. He goes to Yousef's office, located in the marina area inhabited by criminals, and tells the Syrian about his suspicions. Yusef summons Ali to his place, ostensibly on business, and tells one of his men to kill him.

Ali's death, foreseen and yet unexpected, is the final straw forcing Scobie to make a final decision. He goes to the doctor complaining of heart problems and poor sleep, and Dr. Travis puts him on a sleeping pill. For ten days, Scobie pretends to take the pills, but he saves them for the decisive day so that he cannot be suspected of suicide.

After Scobie's death, Wilson, who had often spoken to Louise about her husband's infidelity before, repeats this again. And then Louise admits that she had known about everything for a long time - one of her friends wrote to her - that's why she returned. She draws Wilson's attention to her husband's diary, and he notices that the insomnia entries are made in a different ink. But Louise does not want to believe in her husband's suicide, considering him a believer. And yet she shares her doubts with the priest, Father Rank, but he angrily dismisses her conjectures, fondly remembering Scobie and saying: "He truly loved God."

Louise herself favorably accepts Wilson's declaration of love and gives him hope that she will eventually marry him. And for Helen, with the death of Scobie, life finally loses all meaning.

E. B. Tueva

Roman (1967)

The novel is set in Haiti during the early years of the reign of dictator Francois Duvalier. The protagonist of the novel, Mr. Brown, on behalf of whom the story is being told, returns to Port-au-Prince from a trip to the USA, where he tried to find a buyer for his hotel called Trianon: after Duvalier came to power with his tontonmacoutes (secret police) Haiti has completely ceased to attract tourists, so the hotel is now making continuous losses. However, the hero is attracted to Haiti not only by property: Martha, his mistress, wife of the ambassador of one of the Latin American countries, is waiting there.

On the same ship with Brown are Mr. Smith, a former US presidential candidate, and Mr. Jones, who calls himself a major. Mr. Smith and his wife are vegetarians who are about to open a vegetarian center in Haiti. Mr. Jones is a suspicious person: during the voyage, the captain receives a request for him from the shipping company. The hero, whom the captain asks to take a closer look at Jones, takes him for a card sharper.

Arriving at his hotel, the hero learns that four days ago, Dr. Philipot, the Minister of Social Welfare, came here. Feeling that they want to remove him, he decided to avoid torture and commit suicide, choosing the Trianon pool for this. Just at the moment when Brown discovers the corpse, the guests are in the hotel - Mr. and Mrs. Smith. The hero worries that they might not notice something, but they, fortunately, go to bed. Then he sends for Doctor Magiot, his faithful friend and adviser.

While waiting for the doctor, the hero remembers his life. He was born in 1906 in Monte Carlo. His father fled before he was born, and his mother, obviously French, left Monte Carlo in 1918, leaving her son in the care of the Jesuit fathers at the College of the Apparitions of the Virgin. The hero was predicted to be a clergyman, but the dean found out that he was playing in a casino, and he had to let the young man go to London to a fictitious uncle, whose letter Brown easily concocted on a typewriter. After that, the hero wandered for a long time: he worked as a waiter, publishing house consultant, editor of propaganda literature sent to Vichy during the Second World War. For some time he sold to the laymen the paintings painted by a young studio artist, passing them off as masterpieces of modern painting, which would rise sharply in price over time. Just at the moment when one Sunday newspaper became interested in the source of his exhibits, he received a postcard from his mother, inviting him to Port-au-Prince.

Arriving in Haiti, the hero found his mother in serious condition after a heart attack. As a result of some dubious transaction, she became the owner of the hotel - on shares with Dr. Magiot and her lover, the Negro Marcel. The next day after the arrival of the hero, his mother died in the arms of her lover, and the hero, having redeemed his share from Marcel for a small amount, became the sovereign owner of the Trianon. Three years later, he managed to put the business on a grand scale, and the hotel began to bring in a good income. Shortly after his arrival, Brown decided to try his luck at the casino, where he met Martha, who became his mistress for many years.

... The suicide of Dr. Philipot can seriously harm the hero: in addition to the question of political loyalty, the question of murder will certainly arise. Together with Dr. Magiot, the hero drags the corpse into the garden of one of the abandoned houses.

The next morning, the local reporter Tiny Pierre comes to the hero, who says that Mr. Jones was in prison. In an attempt to help out a fellow traveler, the hero goes to the British charge d'affaires, but he refuses to intervene. Then the hero, along with Mr. Smith, goes to an appointment with the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the hope that he will put in a good word for Jones before the Minister of the Interior. The next day, the hero visits Jones in prison, where he writes a letter in his presence, and the next day he meets Jones in a brothel, where he has fun under the protection of the Tonton Macoutes. The head of the Tauntons, Captain Kankasser, calls Jones an important guest, hinting that he has offered the dictator some kind of profitable business.

Meanwhile, Mr. Smith is fascinated by Haiti and does not want to believe in the violence and arbitrariness that is happening here. Even the failed funeral of Dr. Philipot does not dissuade him, during which, before his eyes, the tontons take away the coffin with the body of her husband from the unfortunate widow, without letting him be buried. True, a trip to the artificially created dead city of Duvalierville, for the construction of which several hundred people had to be driven off the ground, leaves Smith with a heavy feeling, but even after the new secretary of social welfare extorts a bribe from him for the creation of a vegetarian center, Mr. continues to believe in success.

In the evening of the same day, the hero is visited by a British attorney. When the conversation turns to Jones, he hints that he was involved in some kind of scam in the Congo.

Later, young Philips, the nephew of the late doctor, comes to the hero. Once a symbolist poet, he now wants to create a rebel squad to fight the dictatorial regime. Hearing that Jones is a major with extensive combat experience, he turned to him for help, but was refused, as Jones is doing some business with the government and expects to break a solid jackpot.

A couple of days later, the hero takes his butler Joseph to a voodoo ceremony, and when he returns, Captain Kankasser with his retinue breaks into him. It turns out that the rebels raided the police station the day before, and Kankasser accuses the hero of complicity. Mrs. Smith saves the hero from the massacre.

The next day, the authorities carry out an action of intimidation: in retaliation for the raid at night on the cemetery in the light of Jupiters, prisoners of the city prison, who have nothing to do with the raid, should be shot. Upon learning of this, the Smiths make the final decision to leave. However, this decision was preceded by a conversation between Mr. Smith and the Minister of Social Welfare, who explained to the American in detail what frauds could be used to cash in on the construction of a vegetarian center. Smith feels completely helpless to change anything in this country.

Later, the hero receives an offer from Jones to become a partner in his scam, but prudently refuses, and at night, Jones, who has suffered a complete fiasco, comes to the hero to ask for protection. They ask the captain of the Medea to take Jones on board, but he promises to hand Jones over to the authorities immediately upon arrival in the United States ... Jones refuses - obviously, he has some serious crime, and the hero takes him to the embassy of a Latin American country, where the ambassador - Martha's husband.

Soon the hero begins to be jealous of his mistress for Jones: she is now always in a hurry to go home, thinking and talking only about the major ... Therefore, the hero immediately grabs the idea of ​​​​Doctor Magiot to send the retired warrior as an instructor to Philips, who led a small partisan detachment in the north of Haiti.

Jones gladly accepts this offer, and he and Brown hit the road. While they are somewhere in the mountains at night in a cemetery waiting for a meeting with the rebels, Jones tells the truth about himself. Due to flat feet, he was declared unfit for military service and in Burma did not participate in hostilities, but worked as "chief in spectacular service to military units." All stories about his heroic past are just stories, and he is the same comedian as the others, each playing his own role. By the way, his deal with the authorities did not take place at all because Jones did not fit their conditions - it was just that Captain Kankasser managed to find out that Jones was a swindler.

The guerrillas are late for the meeting and Brown can't wait any longer. However, at the exit from the cemetery, Captain Kankasser and his people are already waiting for him. The hero tries to explain that his car broke down and he got stuck, but then he notices Jones behind him, who has no idea about the elementary rules of conspiracy. There is nowhere to retreat ... Brown and Jones are rescued by the rebels who came to the rescue.

Now the hero cannot return to Port-au-Prince, and with the help of Filipo, he illegally crosses the border of the Dominican Republic. There, in the capital city of Santo Domingo, he meets the Smith couple. Mr. Smith lends him money and helps him get a job as a companion to their other fellow traveler on the Medea, Mr. Fernandez, who keeps a funeral home in Santo Domingo.

During a business trip, the hero again finds himself near the border with Haiti and meets there the Filipot detachment, disarmed by the Dominican border guards. The detachment was ambushed and for the sake of their salvation was forced to cross the border. Only Jones refused to leave Haiti and most likely died. During the funeral mass for the dead, the hero meets Marta, who is passing through here - her husband was transferred to Aima. But this meeting does not awaken any feelings in him, as if their relationship was just an accidental product of the gloomy atmosphere of Port-au-Prince.

E. B. Tueva

(The Honorary Consul)

Roman (1973, publ. 1980)

The action takes place in a small Argentinean town on the border with Paraguay in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The main character is the doctor Eduards Plarr, a political immigrant from Paraguay, from where he left with his mother as a fourteen-year-old teenager. His father, an Englishman by birth, a fighter against the regime of the General (meaning the dictator Stresner), remained in Paraguay, and the hero does not know anything about his fate: whether he was killed, died of an illness, or became a political prisoner. Dr. Plarr himself studied in Buenos Aires, but moved to this northern town, where it was easier to get medical practice, where the memories of his father, with whom he had parted many years ago on the other side of the Parana, and where he was away from his mother, limited bourgeoisie, for whom the main meaning of life was eating countless cakes. The doctor's mother lives in the capital, and he visits her every three months.

In addition to the doctor, two more Englishmen live in the town - English teacher Dr. Humphreys and Honorary Consul Charlie Fortnum. The protagonist's social circle also includes the writer Jorge Julio Saavedra, who writes long, boring novels filled with the spirit of machismo (the cult of male power and valor), an integral feature of Latin Americans.

On this day, the doctor does not want to return home - he is afraid that Clara, Charlie Fortnum's wife, who has long been in a love affair with him and is expecting a child from him, will call. The honorary consul himself was invited to dinner with the governor to be an interpreter for the guest of honor - the American ambassador. The Doctor does not want to meet her, as he fears that Fortnum will return home too soon and find them at the scene of the crime. After having dinner with Humphreys and playing two games of chess, the doctor goes home.

At two o'clock in the morning, a telephone wakes him up - underground members who have crossed from Paraguay are calling, who have decided to capture the American ambassador in order to exchange him for political prisoners. Among the "revolutionaries" are two of the doctor's classmates, to whom, out of friendship, he gave information about the whereabouts of the ambassador. They ask him to come urgently, because the hostage is dying. The doctor is tormented by bad premonitions.

He is brought to bidonville, a quarter of the poor, where the mud never dries, there is no drinking water and no amenities whatsoever, and rickety, malnourished children run around. The hostage is being held in one of the huts. He's unconscious from an overdose of sleeping pills. Entering the patient, the doctor recognizes in him the honorary consul Charlie Fortnum, who was captured instead of the ambassador. Waking up, Fortnum also recognizes the doctor. Plarr advises him to let him go, but his friends:

former priest Leon Rivas and Aquino Ribera - afraid to disobey the leader of the El Tigre group. In addition, they hope, in exchange for Fortnum's life, to demand the release of ten political prisoners, including the doctor's father (they were going to ask for twenty for the American ambassador). In vain Plarr tries to prove that the honorary consul is too small a fry for the Americans to quarrel with the General for his sake.

Dr. Plarr remembers how he met Fortnum. A few weeks after his arrival from Buenos Aires, the doctor was walking past the Italian Club, a small restaurant where the Hungarian cook could only cook goulash, when Dr. Humphreys called out to him. He needed help to drive the drunken Fortnum home. At first Fortnum rushed to the brothel, but then agreed that the doctor took him to the consulate, and on the way he chattered all sorts of nonsense, telling, in particular, how he once hung the British flag upside down, and Humphreys denounced it to the ambassador. The doctor had an unpleasant aftertaste from this meeting.

After about two months the doctor needed to certify some documents, and he went to the consulate. Fortnum did not recognize him, took a thousand pesos for documents without a receipt and said that he had once been married, but did not love his wife, although he dreamed of having children; that his father was a tyrant; that, as a diplomat, he has the right to order a car from abroad every two years, which can be sold at a profit ... The doctor prescribes him a medicine for pressure and advises him to stop drinking.

After two years, the doctor finally dares to visit Señora Sanchez's establishment. He comes there, accompanied by Saavedra, who, after futile attempts to explain something to the doctor about the principles of his work, leaves with one of the girls. The attention of the doctor is attracted by a girl with a mole on her forehead, who has just seen off a client, but while the doctor is struggling with a feeling of disgust, she leaves with a new visitor. When the doctor visits there again about a year later, the girl with the mole is gone.

By chance, at the embassy, ​​Plarr learns that Fortnum is married, and when he calls the doctor to his estate to examine his sick wife, Plarr recognizes her as a girl with a mole. Fortnum values ​​Clara very much and wants to make her happy. Returning from the consul, Plarr relentlessly thinks about her.

They meet at Gruber's photographer's studio and the doctor buys her expensive glasses. After that, he invites her to his place, and they become lovers.

... The morning after the kidnapping, the doctor goes to visit Clara at the Fortnum estate, There he meets the chief of police, Colonel Perez, In response to the colonel's questions, the doctor lies so clumsily that he risks incurring suspicion on himself. The policeman guesses that Fortnum was kidnapped by mistake.

Later, the doctor recalls his first meeting with classmates who became fighters against the Paraguayan regime. Aquino talked about the torture that he had to endure - on his right hand he was missing three fingers. The underground managed to recapture Aquino when he was transported from one police station to another. The doctor agreed to help them in the hope of learning something about his father.

After regaining consciousness, Charlie Fortnum tries to find out what awaits him. Feeling a priest in Leon, he tries to pity him, but in vain. Desperate to persuade his captors to let him go, Charlie Fortnum attempts to flee, but Aquino wounds him in the ankle.

Meanwhile, Plarr asks the British ambassador to help free Fortnum, but the ambassador has long dreamed of getting rid of the honorary consul and only advises the doctor, on behalf of the English club of their city, to contact the leading newspapers in England and the United States. Colonel Perez is skeptical about this idea: a plane has just exploded from a terrorist bomb, killing one hundred and sixty people, so who will worry about some Charlie Fortnum after that?

Plarr tries to convince Saavedra and Humphreys to sign his telegram, but both refuse, Saavedra, having recently received a bad press, wants to attract public attention and offers himself as a hostage instead of Fortnum. With this news, Plarr goes to the national newspapers.

Returning home, he finds Clara at his place, but her declaration of love is interrupted by the arrival of Colonel Perez. During his visit, Leon calls, and the doctor has to come up with explanations on the go. The colonel says that it is illogical from the point of view of common sense to save such an old man as the doctor's father, and hints that, by making a demand for his release, the kidnappers are paying the doctor for some help. He is also interested in how the kidnappers could find out the program for the stay of the American ambassador in their town. However, having found out that Clara is here with the doctor, the colonel interprets his actions in his own way. Just before leaving, he reports that in fact the doctor's father was killed while trying to escape, which he undertook with Aquino.

When Leon calls again, the doctor asks him directly about his father, and he admits that he is dead. However, the doctor agrees to come and bandage Fortnum, but he too is left hostage. The situation is heating up - no one took Saavedra's proposal seriously; the British government was quick to disown Fortnum, saying that he was not a member of the diplomatic corps; Diego, one of the "revolutionaries", lost his nerve, he tried to escape and was shot dead by the police; a police helicopter circled around the jug... Plarr explains to Leon that their idea has failed.

Leon is about to kill Fortnum, otherwise the hostage-taking will never work on anyone again, but as they have endless discussions, the voice of Colonel Perez is heard amplified from the speakers in the courtyard. He offers to surrender. The consul should go out first, followed by all the others in turn; whoever comes out first, besides the consul, will face death. The kidnappers start arguing again, and Plarr goes to Fortnum and suddenly finds out that he heard him talk about his connection with Clara. At this dramatic moment, Plarr realizes that he does not know how to love and that the miserable drunkard Fortnum is in this sense superior to him. Not wanting Fortnum to be killed, he leaves the house in the hope of talking with Perez, but he is mortally wounded. As a result of the police action, everyone is killed, and only Fortnum remains alive.

At Plarr's funeral, Perez says the doctor was killed by "revolutionaries". Fortnum tries to prove that this is the work of the police, but no one wants to listen to him. The representative of the embassy informs Fortnum that he is being dismissed, although they promise to reward him.

But most of all, Fortnum is infuriated by Clara's indifference: it is difficult for him to understand why she does not survive the death of her lover. And suddenly you see tears. This manifestation of feeling, even for another man, awakens in him tenderness for her and for the child whom he loves, no matter what.

E. B. Tueva

(Corridors of Power)

Roman (1964)

The action of C. P. Snow's novel "The Corridors of Power" takes place in the UK in 1955-1958. The protagonist of the novel is a young conservative politician representing the left wing of his party, Roger Quaif. The story is told from the perspective of his colleague and later friend Lewis Eliot.

In the spring of 1955, the Conservative Party wins the parliamentary elections and is given the opportunity to form a government. Aspiring young politician Roger Quaif is given a position as assistant minister in the newly created Ministry of Armaments. This pleases not everyone. Thus, officials of the State Administration - an agency partly duplicating the functions of the new ministry, partly competing with it - who were bypassed in the distribution of seats in the government, and in particular the chief of Lewis Eliot, Hector Rose, show obvious disappointment. In their opinion, the new ministry only spends huge sums of money, but cannot provide anything to justify its expenses.

Roger Quaif believes that in conditions when the two superpowers have long possessed nuclear weapons, the work on its creation in the UK is meaningless: their continuation means only a crazy waste of money, and it will still not be possible to catch up with the USA and the USSR. However, he cannot openly state his position, because the problem affects the interests of many too influential forces - politicians, officials, scientists, and large industrialists are involved in the confrontation on this issue. The closure of nuclear programs for many of them means losses in the millions. Roger's goal is to gain power and then use that power well while there's still more to be done. To do this, he often has to fight behind the scenes, hiding his true views.

As an immediate goal, Roger outlined the ministerial chair, which is currently occupied by the aging and sick Lord Gilby. To achieve his goal, he skillfully uses the discontent of the "hawks" led by an emigrant from Poland, a certain Michael Brodzinsky - a politician of the extreme right. Without fully disclosing his political line, Roger nevertheless managed to win over politicians and influential businessmen from various camps. In the end, Roger succeeds: Gilby gets his resignation and Roger takes over.

At the same time, such outwardly duplicitous policy of Roger Quaif has its costs. His friends and supporters begin to look askance at him, and at the same time, the "hawks" and the same Brodzinsky harbor unjustified hopes that the new minister will pursue a hard line on British nuclear policy.

The "socio-political" storyline is mixed with a personal one. Roger Quaif is married to the beautiful Caroline (Caro, as her friends call her), the daughter of an earl, who belongs to an ancient aristocratic family. According to all acquaintances, this is a happy marriage, which is not in danger. However, one day Roger confesses to Lewis that he has a mistress - Helen Smith. Having met her, Lewis recalls Caroline's phrase, somehow jokingly dropped at one reception: "Wives should not be afraid of stunning beauties, but quiet gray mice that no one notices."

Roger's personal and political problems are tied into a tight knot. In the bill he is working on, he is trying to propose a new national policy on the production of nuclear weapons, pointing out the unjustified costs incurred by the country. However, the closure of the production of nuclear weapons will inevitably lead to the loss of work of several thousand people. Roger's position is opposed by the Department of Labor. Brodzinsky also openly opposed Roger, calling his position defeatist and pouring water on the mill of Moscow. Various "pressure groups" are also beginning to operate, including those clearly inspired from Washington.

At the same time, Roger, who publicly defends the idea of ​​preventing a nuclear arms race, is becoming popular in the liberal environment. He is eagerly quoted by newspapers, as well as by independent and opposition politicians.

Roger's opponents do not disdain any means. Ellen Smith receives anonymous letters threatening and demanding to influence Roger. A number of defense scientists are to be subjected to a humiliating due diligence procedure.

The action reaches its climax when the bill prepared by Roger is published, and an open political struggle begins on the issue of its passage. A compromise was worked out, according to which the Cabinet would not object to the bill, but Roger should also abandon the idea of ​​​​a complete cessation of the production of nuclear weapons. Roger does not agree to agree to this, although it is obvious to everyone, including himself, that in the specific conditions of the Cold War, the real implementation of his idea is simply impossible. Roger's friend, American physicist David Rubin, advises him to give up this venture, motivating his advice by the fact that Roger was ahead of his time, and there is no hope of victory. "Your point of view is correct, but the time has not come yet," he says. Roger firmly stands his ground and is ready to defend his position to the end.

Shortly before the parliamentary debate on the bill, the opposition introduces a resolution "to reduce appropriations by ten pounds" - under such a formula is hidden a vote of no confidence in the government. Roger's opponents within the Tory party collude with the opposition.

Meanwhile, Caro receives anonymous letters about her husband's infidelity. She becomes furious, but continues to support her husband as a politician.

Roger makes a brilliant speech in defense of his position, but in vain - even people close to him oppose him, in particular, Caroline's brother, the young Lord Sammykins Houghton, whom Roger repeatedly had to defend from attacks from party comrades who criticized Sammykins for his far from orthodox views. MPs speak of a "deterrent principle", of a "shield and sword" and are sharply opposed to a real reduction in the nuclear program. Even the mortally ill former minister, Lord Gilby, personally arrives at the debate to, as he put it, "give battle to the adventurers."

The bill failed. Roger is forced to retire. But he remains convinced that his position is the only correct one, that our descendants, if only we have them, will curse us for not giving up the production and testing of nuclear weapons. The belief that someday someone else will still achieve what he failed to achieve remains unshakable.

Roger's successor as minister is Lewis Eliot's former chief, Hector Rose. Lewis himself, having become very close to Roger Quaif over several years of working with him, also decides to leave the public service.

One day, a year and a half after the events described, Lewis and his wife Margaret get to a reception where the entire color of the British establishment is present. Only Roger is missing. He completely retired from business, divorced the beautiful aristocrat Caroline, married Helen Smith and lives very modestly, avoiding meetings with past acquaintances. He is still a member of parliament, but the divorce effectively put an end to his political career - even his own constituency refused to nominate him for the next election. And yet, both Roger himself and his friend Lewis believe that their struggle - even if it ended in defeat - was not in vain.

B. N. Volkhonsky

(Lord of the Files)

Roman (1954)

The duration of the action is not defined. As a result of a nuclear explosion somewhere, a group of teenagers who were being evacuated find themselves on a desert island. Ralph and a fat boy with glasses, nicknamed Piggy, are the first to meet on the seashore. Finding a large shell at the bottom of the sea, they use it as a horn and call all the guys. Boys from three to fourteen years old come running; the last formations are the church choir singers, led by Jack Meridew. Ralph suggests picking "chief". In addition to him, Jack claims leadership, but the vote ends in favor of Ralph, who offers Jack to lead the choristers, making them hunters.

A small party of Ralph, Jack, and Simon, a frail, faint-hearted chorister, go on a reconnaissance mission to determine if they have indeed made it to the island. Piggy, despite his requests, is not taken with them.

Climbing up the mountain, the boys experience a sense of unity and delight. On the way back, they notice a pig entangled in the vines. Jack already raises the knife, but something stops him: he is not yet ready to kill. While he hesitates, the pig manages to escape, and the boy is ashamed of his indecisiveness, swearing to himself that he will strike the killing blow next time.

The boys return to camp. Ralph calls the meeting and explains that now they will have to decide everything for themselves. He proposes to establish rules, in particular, not to speak to everyone at once, but to let the one who holds the horn speak, as they call the sea shell. The children are not afraid that they may not be rescued soon, and they are looking forward to a fun life on the island.

Suddenly, the kids push forward a frail boy of six years old with a birthmark on half his face. It turns out that at night he saw a beast - a snake, which in the morning turned into a liana. The children suggest that it was a dream, a nightmare, but the boy firmly stands his ground. Jack promises to search the island and see if there are any snakes; Ralph angrily says that there is no animal.

Ralph convinces the guys that, of course, they will be rescued, but for this they need to build a large fire on the top of the mountain and keep it up so that they can be seen from the ship.

Together, they build a fire and set it on fire with Piggy's goggles. Maintenance of the fire is taken over by Jack and his hunters.

It soon becomes clear that no one wants to work seriously: only Simon and Ralph continue to build huts; hunters, carried away by hunting, completely forgot about the fire. Due to the fact that the fire went out, the guys were not noticed from the ship passing by. This becomes the occasion for the first serious quarrel between Ralph and Jack. Jack, who just at that moment killed the first pig, is offended that his feat was not appreciated, although he recognizes the justice of Ralph's reproaches. Out of impotent rage, he breaks Piggy's glasses and teases him. Ralph struggles to restore order and assert his dominance.

To maintain order, Ralph gathers the next meeting, now realizing how important it is to be able to correctly and consistently express his thoughts. He again reminds of the need to comply with the rules established by them. But the main thing for Ralph is to get rid of the fear that has crept into the souls of the kids. Having taken the word, Jack suddenly utters the forbidden word "beast". And in vain Piggy convinces everyone that there is no beast, no fear, "unless you scare each other" - the kids do not want to believe this. Little Percival Wims Madison adds further confusion by claiming that "the beast comes out of the sea." And only Simon reveals the truth. “Maybe it’s us…” he says.

At this meeting, Jack, feeling his power, refuses to obey the rules and promises to hunt down the beast. The boys are divided into two camps - those who represent reason, law and order (Piggy, Ralph, Simon), and those who represent the blind force of destruction (Jack, Roger and other hunters).

That same night, the twins Eric and Sam, who were on duty at the fire on the mountain, come running to the camp with the news that they saw the beast. All day the boys search the island, and only in the evening Ralph, Jack and Roger go to the mountain. There, in the false light of the moon, they mistake for a beast the corpse of a parachutist hanging on the lines from a downed plane and, in fear, rush to run.

At the new meeting, Jack openly reproaches Ralph for cowardice, offering himself as leader. Not receiving support, he goes into the forest.

Gradually, Piggy and Ralph begin to notice that there are fewer and fewer guys left in the camp, and they realize that they have gone to Jack.

The dreamer Simon, who has chosen a clearing in the forest where he can be alone, becomes a witness to a pig hunt. As a sacrifice to the “beast”, hunters impale a pig's head on a stake - this is the Lord of the Flies: after all, the head is completely covered with flies. Once seen, Simon can no longer take his eyes off "these ancient eyes that inevitably recognize", for the devil himself is looking at him. “You knew… that I am a part of you. An inseparable part,” says the head, as if hinting that it is evil incarnate, generating fear.

A little later, the hunters, led by Jack, raid the camp to get some fire. Their faces are smeared with clay: under the guise it is easier to create excesses. Having seized the fire, Jack invites everyone to join his squad, enticing them with hunting freemen and food.

Ralph and Piggy are terribly hungry, and they and the rest of the guys go to Jack. Jack again calls on everyone to join his army. He is confronted by Ralph, who reminds him that he was elected by the main democratic way. But with his reminder of civilization, Jack contrasts the primitive dance, accompanied by the call: "Beat the beast! Cut the throat!" Suddenly, Simon appears on the site, who was on the mountain and made sure with his own eyes that there was no animal there. He tries to talk about his discovery, but in the dark he is mistaken for a beast and killed in a wild ritual dance.

Jack's "tribe" is located in the "castle", on a rock resembling a fortress, where, with the help of a simple lever, stones can be thrown at the enemy. Ralph, meanwhile, is trying with all his might to keep the fire, their only hope of salvation, but Jack, who sneaked into the camp one night, steals Piggy's glasses, with which the guys made a fire.

Ralph, Piggy and the twins go to Jack in hopes of getting the glasses back, but Jack greets them with hostility. Piggy tries in vain to convince them that "the law and that we be saved" is better than "to hunt and destroy everything." In the ensuing fight, the twins are captured. Ralph is seriously wounded, and Piggy is killed by a stone thrown from the fortress ... The horn, the last stronghold of democracy, is broken. The killing instinct triumphs, and now Jack is ready to be replaced as leader by Roger, personifying stupid, bestial cruelty.

Ralph manages to escape. He understands "that the painted savages will stop at nothing." Seeing that Eric and Sam have become sentries, Ralph tries to win them over to his side, but they are too scared. They only inform him that a hunt is being prepared for him. Then he asks them to take the "hunters" away from his hiding place: he wants to hide near the castle.

However, fear is stronger than the concepts of honor, and the twins give it to Jack. Ralph is smoked out of the forest, not allowing him to hide ... Like a hunted animal, Ralph rushes around the island and suddenly, jumping ashore, stumbles upon a naval officer. "Could have looked more decent," he reproaches the guys. The news of the death of two boys shocks him. And imagining how it all began, he says: "Everything looked wonderful then. Just" Coral Island ".

E. B. Tueva

Roman (1964)

The action of the novel-parable is transferred to medieval England. The rector of the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Joslin, planned to complete the spire, which was supposed in the original project of the cathedral, but for some reason remained on paper. Everyone knows that the cathedral has no foundation, but Jocelyn, who had a vision, believes in a miracle. He feels the cathedral as a part of himself: even the wooden model reminds him of a man lying on his back.

But the spire is not built by the holy spirit - it is created by workers, simple, rude people, many of whom are unsteady in faith. They drink, they fight; they poison Pangall, the cathedral's hereditary caretaker, who asks the rector to intercede for him. He does not see the point in building a spire if for the sake of this it is necessary to destroy the usual way of life. In response to his lamentations, Jocelyn urges him to be patient and promises to talk to the master.

Jocelyn is brought a letter from his aunt, a former mistress of the king, and now an elderly lady. It was she who gave the money to build the spire in the hope that she would be buried in the cathedral. Jocelyn refuses to reply to the letter.

Immediately there is a conflict with the sacristan, Father Anselm, Jocelin's confessor, who does not want to oversee the construction. Under pressure from Jocelyn, he nevertheless goes to the cathedral, but Jocelyn feels that their friendship of many years has come to an end. He understands that this is the price of the spire, but he is ready to make sacrifices.

Meanwhile, the master, Roger Mason, is trying to determine the reliability of the foundation and sees firsthand that the existing foundation can hardly withstand the cathedral. What to say about a spire four hundred feet high! In vain Jocelyn convinces Roger to believe in a miracle: he says that now it will be difficult for him to force the workers to build the spire. Jocelyn deciphers Roger's true intentions: he wants to wait until a more profitable job appears, and then leave without starting construction. Here the men are approached by Roger's wife Rachel, "a dark-haired, dark-eyed, assertive, stupidly talkative woman" who does not like the rector. She tactlessly intervenes in the conversation of men, teaching the holy father. After letting her speak, Roger promises to build the spire as much as he can. "No, how dare you," Jocelyn counters.

The rector is again brought a letter, this time from the bishop. He sends a shrine to the cathedral - a nail from the cross of the Lord. Jocelyn perceives this as another miracle and hurries to share the news with the master, but he believes only in cold calculation. Jocelyn wants to make peace with Anselm and allows him to no longer supervise the work, but he demands a written certificate from him.

Autumn is coming. Endless rains lead to the fact that under the cathedral there is constantly water. An unbearable stench emanates from the hole that Roger dug in the cathedral to study the foundation. "Only by an agonizing effort of will" Jocelyn forces herself to remember what an important work is being done in the cathedral, constantly calling to mind the divine vision. The gloomy feeling is intensified by the death of one of the artisans who fell from the scaffolding, the senile madness of the office and rumors of a plague epidemic. Jocelyn feels that all of this is being written into the bill that will someday be presented to him.

Spring is coming and Jocelyn is cheered up again. Once, entering the cathedral to look at the model of the spire, he witnesses the meeting of Pangall's wife Goody with Roger the Mason. The abbot seems to see the invisible tent surrounding them, understands the full depth of their relationship. He is disgusted, he sees dirt in everything ...

This feeling is reinforced by the sudden appearance of Rachel, who suddenly, for no reason at all, begins to explain why she and Roger do not have children: it turns out that she laughed at the most inopportune moment, and Roger also could not help laughing. But then Jocelyn comes up with a seditious thought: he realizes that Goody can keep Roger in the cathedral. At night, Jocelin is tormented by a nightmare - an angel and a devil are fighting for his soul.

Easter passes, and the tower under the spire begins to grow little by little. Roger is constantly measuring something, arguing with the artisans ... Once a landslide occurs: in a hole dug to test the foundation, the soil floats and crumbles. The pit is hastily covered with stones, and Jocelyn begins to pray, feeling that by the power of her own will she holds the entire cathedral on her shoulders. But Roger now considers himself free from all sorts of obligations. In vain Jocelyn tries to convince him to continue building. And then Jocelyn uses the last argument. He informs Roger that he knew about his decision to go to work in Malmesbury and has already written to the abbot there that Roger and the team will be busy building the spire for a long time to come. Now the abbot will hire other workers.

This conversation undermines the strength of the abbot, and he wants to leave, but on the way he witnesses one of the artisans teasing Pangall, alluding to his male impotence. Losing consciousness, Jocelyn sees Goody Pangall with red hair flying across her chest ...

Jocelyn is seriously ill. He learns from Adam's father that work on the spire is in progress, that Goody is nowhere to be seen, and that Pangall has escaped. Rising from bed with difficulty, Jocelyn walks to the cathedral, feeling herself going mad; he laughs with a strange, shrill laugh. Now he sees his mission in the direct participation in the construction. From the artisans, he learns that Goody, previously childless, is expecting a baby. He also discovers that Roger the Mason is afraid of heights, but overcomes fear and that he is still building against his will. Supporting the master in word and deed, Jocelyn forces him to build a spire.

When he again finds Roger and Goody together, he writes a letter to the abbess of the convent asking her to accept "an unfortunate, fallen woman." But Goody manages to avoid such a fate: she has a miscarriage and dies. Rachel, having learned about Roger's relationship with Goody, now has unlimited power over her husband: even the artisans laugh at the fact that she keeps him on a leash. Roger starts drinking.

The construction of the spire continues, Jocelyn works with the builders, and suddenly it is revealed to him that they are all righteous, despite their sins. And he himself is torn between an angel and a devil, feeling that he was bewitched by Goody with her red hair.

The Visitor arrives at the cathedral with the Nail, which is to be immured into the base of the spire. Among other things, the Visitor must deal with the denunciations that have been received on Jocelyn during the entire two years of construction. Their author was Anselm, who accused the abbot of neglecting his duties. In fact, as a result of the construction, Anselm simply lost part of his income. Jocelyn responds casually. The visitor sees that he has lost his mind and sends him under house arrest.

On the same day, bad weather hits the city. In fear that the almost completed spire will collapse, Jocelyn runs into the cathedral and drives a nail into the base of the spire ... Going out into the street, he falls unconscious. Having come to his senses, he sees an aunt at the bedside, who has come personally to ask for his burial in the cathedral. He again refuses her, not wanting her sinful ashes to desecrate the holy place, and in the heat of the argument, she reveals to him that he owes his brilliant career exclusively to her, or rather, her connection with the king. He also learns that Anselm only feigned friendship, feeling that Jocelyn could get along well. Knowing that she will not find support among the clergy, Jocelyn secretly leaves home to "get forgiveness from the infidels."

He goes to Roger the Stonemason. That one is drunk. He cannot forgive Jocelyn for being stronger; in every possible way curses the spire.

Jocelyn asks him for forgiveness: after all, he "thought that he was doing a great deed, but it turned out that he only brought death to people and sowed hatred." It turns out that Pangall died at the hands of Roger. Jocelyn blames herself for arranging Pangall's marriage to Goody. It was as if he sacrificed her - he killed her too ... Roger cannot listen to the rector's revelations and drives him away. After all, because of Josdin, who broke his will, he lost Goody, his job, a team of artisans.

Jocelyn faints and wakes up at home, in her own bedroom. He feels lightness and humility, freed from the spire, which now begins to take on a life of its own. Jocelyn feels that he is finally free from life, and calls on a mute young sculptor to explain how to make a tombstone. Rachel arrives and reveals that Roger tried to commit suicide, but Jocelyn no longer cares about worldly concerns. The last before death, he is visited by the thought: "Nothing is done without sin. Only God knows where God is."

E. B. Tueva

(2001: A Space Odyssey)

Roman (1968)

Planet Earth, Pleistocene, savannas of equatorial Africa.

A small tribe of Pithecanthropes is on the verge of extinction. Nature has not endowed them with either powerful fangs, or sharp claws, or quick legs, but glimpses of consciousness flicker in their eyes. Probably, it was these qualities that attracted the attention of some highly developed extraterrestrial civilization to them, which carefully cultivates the seeds of Reason wherever they can be found. Pithecanthropes become experimental subjects in a grandiose space experiment.

One night, a block of completely transparent substance appears in the river valley. At dusk, when the tribe returns to the caves, an unusual stone suddenly emits a strange vibrating sound that attracts Pithecanthropes like a magnet. In the thickening darkness, the crystal comes to life, begins to glow, and bizarre drawings appear in its depths. The enchanted pithecanthropes do not know that at these moments the apparatus is examining their brain, evaluating abilities, predicting possible directions of evolution. The crystal calls to itself first one, then another, and they, against their will, make new movements: naughty fingers tie the first knot on Earth, the leader picks up a stone and tries to hit the target. Lessons continue every night. For a year, the life of the tribe changes beyond recognition - now pithecanthropes are able to use a set of simple tools, hunt large animals. Eternal hunger and fear of predators recede into the past, there is time for the work of thought and imagination. The mysterious monolith disappears as suddenly as it appeared. His mission is completed - an animal endowed with reason has appeared on Earth.

XNUMXst century American researchers find on the Moon, already inhabited by mankind, the first irrefutable evidence of the existence of an extraterrestrial civilization.

As the chairman of the National Astronautical Council urgently summoned to the moon finds out, magnetic reconnaissance detected a powerful distortion of the magnetic field in the area of ​​​​the Tycho crater, and excavations in the center of the anomaly discovered a parallelepiped of ideal proportions at a depth of six meters from an unknown heavy-duty black substance on Earth. The most striking thing about this find is its age: geological analysis suggests that the monolith was buried here about three million years ago.

When the lunar dawn comes and the black monolith catches a sunbeam for the first time after three million years of captivity, a piercing electronic scream sounds in the headsets of the people standing around. This signal is detected by space monitors and probes, and the central computer, having processed the information, concludes: a directed energy impulse, obviously of artificial origin, rushed from the surface of the Moon in the direction of Saturn.

All this is known only to a handful of people, because the consequences of the shock that humanity will inevitably have to endure are unpredictable.

Interplanetary space. Spaceship Discovery. The first months of the flight pass in serene calm. Two awake crew members - Frank Poole and David Bowman - keep watch daily, perform everyday duties. The other three are immersed in an artificial hypothermic sleep, from which they will only wake up when the Discovery enters the orbit of Saturn. Only these three know the true purpose of the expedition - a possible contact with an extraterrestrial civilization, while Poole and Bowman consider the flight an ordinary research flight. Those who prepared the expedition decided that it was necessary for the Security and Interests of the nation.

In essence, the ship is controlled not by people, but by the sixth crew member, HAL - the brain and nervous system of Discovery, a heuristically programmed algorithmic computer. HAL, created through a process similar to the development of the human brain, can rightfully be called a truly thinking machine, and he speaks to people in real figurative human language. All of Hal's capabilities are aimed at fulfilling the given expedition program, but the contradiction between the goal and the need to hide it from fellow humans is gradually destroying the integrity of his "psyche". The machine begins to make mistakes, and finally a crisis sets in: hearing the astronauts talk with the Earth about the need to turn off the EAL and transfer control to the Center, he makes the only possible decision: get rid of the people and complete the expedition on his own. He simulates an antenna failure, and when Frank Pool goes into space to replace the unit, HAL kills him: the jet capsule-boat flies at full speed towards the astronaut. And in the next moment, the stunned Bowman sees on the screen that the boat is moving away from the ship, dragging the body of his dead friend along the safety line. Frank Poole will be the first person to land on Saturn.

Bowman tries to wake one of the sleepers, but hears a sound that makes his heart go cold: it is the doors of the outer hatch that open and the air from the ship rushes into the abyss of space. He manages to escape in an emergency chamber, put on a spacesuit and turn off the higher centers of the electronic brain. He remains alone millions of kilometers from Earth. But the ship's engines and navigation systems are in perfect working order, communication with the Earth has been restored, and the emergency supply of oxygen will last him for months. The expedition continues and Bowman, now aware of its ultimate goal, reaches the giant dead Saturn. He is ordered to begin surveying the system from the eighth satellite of Saturn, Iapetus. The entire surface of Iapetus, devoid of atmosphere, is black, reminiscent of charcoal in structure - except for a white plateau of a strikingly regular oval shape with a black mark in the center, which turns out to be exactly the same black monolith as on The moon, only gigantic.

An experiment that began three million years ago has come to an end. The monolith on Iapetus - the Guardian of the Stargate - was installed by the same beings, not at all human-like, who sent a mysterious crystal to Earth and buried a black block on the Moon. Their efforts were not in vain: the Earth really gave birth to the Mind, capable of reaching other planets, and this was confirmed by the signal of the lunar monolith, which sent the message to Iapetus.

David Bowman decides to board Iapetus in a pod, and its approach awakens the powers within the Stargate. The upper face of the black monolith suddenly goes deeper, the capsule begins to fall into a bottomless mine. It opened the Stargate.

Time stops - the clock stops counting seconds - but perception and consciousness continue to work. Bowman sees the black walls of the "mine", and in the gap a myriad of stars, "scattering" from the center. He is aware that something inaccessible to his understanding is happening with time and space, but he does not feel fear, feeling that he is under the protection of an infinitely powerful Mind. He eventually ends up hundreds of light-years from Earth. The capsule aims for a giant red star, into the realm of flame, but when the journey ends, it seems to Bowman that he has lost his mind - he is in an ordinary earthly hotel. Only after a while he realizes that all this is a decoration made by the owners for a guest on a television movie two years ago. Bowman gets into bed and falls asleep - for the last time in his life. He merges with the cosmic mind, losing his physical body, acquires the ability to move in time and space by the effort of thought and saves his native planet from an impending nuclear catastrophe.

I. A. Moskvina-Tarkhanova

(Clockwork Orange)

Roman (1962)

In front of you, damn it, is nothing but the society of the future, and your humble narrator, little Alex, will now tell you what kal he is in here vliapalsia.

We sat, as always, in the milk bar "Korova", where they serve the same milk plus, we also call it "milk with knives", that is, they add any seduxen, codeine, bellarmine there and it turns out v kaif. All our kodla in the same outfit as all the maltchiki wore then: black slinky trousers with a metal cup sewn into the groin for protection you know what, a jacket with false shoulders, a white bow tie and heavy govnodavy to kick. Kisy were all wearing colored wigs back then, long black dresses with cutouts, and grudi were all wearing badges. Well, and we spoke, of course, in our own way, you yourself hear how with all sorts of words there, Russian or something. That evening, when they got crazy, for a start they met one starikashku near the library and made him a good toltchok (crawled further on karatchkah, covered in blood), and they all let his books into razdrai. Then we did krasting in one shop, then a big drasting with other maltchikami (I used a razor, it turned out great). And only then, by nightfall, they carried out the operation "Uninvited Guest": they broke into the cottage of one bastard, kisu finished him off with all four of them, and left him lying in a pool of blood. He, damn it, turned out to be some kind of writer, so fragments of his leaves flew all over the house (there is about some kind of clockwork orange, that, they say, you can’t turn a living person into a mechanism, that everyone, damn it, should have free will, down with violence and any such kal).

The next day I was alone and spent a very kliovo time. He listened to cool music on his favorite stereo - well, there is Haydn, Mozart, Bach. Other maltchildren don't understand this, they are dark: they listen to popsu - everything there is holes-holes-holes-holes. And I'm crazy about real music, especially, damn it, when Ludwig van sounds, well, for example, "Ode to Joy." Then I feel such power, as if I myself am a god, and I want to cut this whole world (that is, all this kal!) into pieces with my razor, and so that scarlet fountains flood everything around. That day is still oblomiloss. I dragged two kis-maloletok and finished them to my favorite music.

And on the third day, everything was suddenly covered with s kontzami. We went to take silver from one old kotcheryzhki. She made a fuss, I gave her a proper ro tykve, and then the cops. The Maltchicki fled and left me on purpose, suld. They didn’t like that I was in charge, but they are considered dark. Well, the cops broke into me both there and at the station.

And then worse. The old kotcheryzhka died, and even in the cell zamochili one, and answer me. So I sat down for many years as incorrigible, although I myself was only fifteen.

Horror, how I wanted to get out of this kala. The second time I would have been more prudent, and besides, I have to reckon with someone. I even started some tricks with the prison priest (everyone called him prison fistula there), but he was talking, damn it, about some kind of free will, about moral choice, about the human principle, which finds itself in communion with God and any such kal. Well, then some big boss allowed an experiment on the medical correction of the incorrigible. The course of treatment is two weeks, and you go to freedom corrected! The prison fistula wanted to dissuade me, but where could he! They began to treat me according to the method of Dr. Brodsky. They fed well, but they shot some kind of damn Ludovic's vaccine and took him to special movie screenings. And it was terrible, just terrible! Some hell. They showed everything that I liked before: drasting, krasting, sunnvynn with girls and in general all kinds of violence and horrors. And from their vaccine, seeing this made me so sick, such cramps and pains in my stomach, that I would never have looked. But they forced me, tied me to a chair, fixed my head, opened my eyes with spacers, and even wiped away tears when they flooded my eyes. And the most disgusting thing - at the same time they turned on my favorite music (and Ludwig van all the time!), Because, you see, from it my sensitivity increased and correct reflexes were developed faster. And after two weeks, it became so that without any vaccine, from the mere thought of violence, everything hurt and felt sick to me, and I had to be kind in order to just feel normal. Then they let me out, they didn't deceive me.

And in the wild, I felt worse than in prison. I was beaten by everyone who only thought of it: both my former victims, and the cops, and my former friends (some of them, damn it, had already become cops themselves by that time!), And I could not answer anyone, because with the slightest such intention became ill. But the most vile thing again was that I could not listen to my music. It's just a nightmare that started from some Mendelssohn, not to mention Johann Sebastian or Ludwig van! His head was torn to pieces in pain.

When I felt really bad, one muzhik picked me up. He explained to me what the hell they did to me. They took away my free will, turned me from a human into a clockwork orange! And now we must fight for freedom and human rights against state violence, against totalitarianism and all that???. And here, it must be the same, that it turned out to be just the same bastard, to whom we then collapsed with the operation "Uninvited Guest". His Kisa, it turns out, died after that, and he himself went a little crazy. Well, in general, because of this, I had to make nogi from him. But his drugany, also some kind of human rights fighters, took me somewhere and locked me up there so that I could lie down and calm down. And then, from behind the wall, I heard music, just my very own (Bach, "The Brandenburg Quartet"), and I felt so bad: I was dying, but I could not escape - it was locked. In general, it was locked, and I was through the window from the seventh floor ...

I woke up in the hospital, and when they cured me, it turned out that from this blow the whole winding up on Dr. Brodsky ended. And again I can do drasting, and krasting, and sunn-rynn, and, most importantly, listen to the music of Ludwig van and enjoy my power, and I can let anyone bleed to this music.

I again began to drink "milk with knives" and walk with maltchikami, as it should be. At that time they already wore such wide trousers, leather jackets and neckerchiefs, but they were still govnodavy on their feet. But only for a short time I shustril with them this time. Something became boring to me and even kind of sick again. And suddenly I realized that now I just want something else: to have my own house, to have my wife waiting at home, to have a little baby ...

And I realized that youth, even the most terrible, passes, moreover, damn it, by itself, and a person, even the most zutkii, still remains a person. And every such ka1.

So your modest narrator Alex will not tell you anything else, but will simply leave for another life, singing his best music - holes-pyr-holes-holes-pyr ...

A.B. Shamshin

(The Prime of Miss Jean Brody)

Roman (1961)

The heroines of the novel are six schoolgirls united in the "Brody clan" by the will of their beloved teacher, Miss Jean Brodie. The action takes place in Edinburgh in the thirties. Miss Brodie teaches a class of little girls in the elementary department of a respectable private school. In one of the first history lessons, Miss Brodie tells the tragic story of her first love - her fiancé died in the war a week before the truce - instead of a lecture, which moves the girls to tears. So begins her studies on "Truth, Goodness and Beauty" with the help of the most unconventional methods. Giving herself to the upbringing of children, she gave them, in her own favorite expression, "the fruits of her heyday."

Miss Brodie, in her prime, despite her unconventional methods, was by no means exceptional, or out of her mind. Her uniqueness lay only in the fact that she taught in such a conservative educational institution. In the thirties there were legions of people like Miss Brodie: women in their thirties and older who filled their war-deprived old-girl existence with vigorous activity in the fields of art and welfare, education and religion. Some were feminists and promoted the most advanced ideas, others were limited to participation in women's committees and church meetings. However, women of the first category did not teach, of course, in conservative schools, they had no place there. That is what Miss Brodie's colleagues thought. But Miss Brodie, surrounded by her chosen students, the Brodie clan, remained inaccessible to intrigue. "Strong as a rock," her admirers state admiringly as she proudly struts down the school hallway to the contemptuous cheers of her more mediocre colleagues.

Miss Brodie seems unusual, at least in a school setting. She is not beautiful and not at all young, but at the time of "her heyday" she experiences flashes of genuine charm, and at such moments she is extraordinarily good. She is also extremely attractive to men and wins the hearts of the only two male teachers in the school.

As Miss Brodie begins to flourish, she goes through the first steps of an astonishing spiritual evolution, changing internally and externally as rapidly as her growing pupils. While the girls are still studying under her in the elementary grades, Miss Brodie turns the lessons of mathematics, English or history into original excursions into all areas of human culture, from erotica to fascism: her passionate artistic nature, who knows no religious taboos, equally worships both, and meanwhile Giotto and Mary Stuart.

Gradually, imperceptibly for herself, a risky conviction of her own sinlessness grows in her; during its heyday it transcends the boundaries of any ethics and reaches a truly shocking degree of immorality.

But for now, her influence on the "Brody clan" is limitless. It includes six girls: Monica Douglas, known for mathematical abilities and wild outbursts of anger, athletic Eunice Gardner, graceful Jenny Grey, slow-witted Mary McGregor, Sandy Stranger with unusually tiny piggy eyes and later famous for her sex appeal Rose Stanley. They grow up under the powerful spiritual influence of Miss Brodie, their inner life is completely filled with the analysis of observations on their teacher. One day while on a field trip, Miss Brodie explains to the girls what teaching really means to her. By educating children, she highlights the qualities inherent in them by nature, but she is required to invest in children information that is alien to them. She convinces the "clan" that, growing up, each girl should find and realize "her calling", as she found hers in them.

Miss Brodie is on her way to the peak of her prime; girls grow up and develop with her. It seems to her that no one better than her will guess the true calling of the children, and makes frantic efforts to guide the girls on the only right path, as it seems to her.

Each of the "Brody clan" lives an individual and unique destiny, completely different from the vocations conceived by Miss Brodie. Her posthumous role in their adult lives turns out to be much more subtle and complex.

More tragic than the rest is the fate of Mary MacGregor, an unrequited fool for her friends and Miss Brodie. She dies at twenty-three in a burning hotel, and shortly before her death, in a sad moment, she decides that the happiest moments in her short life were those that she spent in the company of Miss Brodie and her "clan", even if she was slow-witted. All girls betray Miss Brodie's ideals in their own way. Shortly before her death from cancer, their mentor is finally expelled from school under the pretext of preaching fascism to children. Miss Brodie indeed almost naively admired the order and discipline in the countries of fascism, along with monuments and fountains. And now Sandy Stranger, her confidant, already on the verge of graduation, tells the headmistress, Miss Brodie's main ill-wisher, to find fault with political convictions and force Miss Brodie to resign. Sandy goes through the most difficult and controversial path. She is led to betrayal by the belief that Miss Brodie's activities are ultimately detrimental to her favorites. The fact is that Miss Brodie falls in love with an art teacher, Teddy Lloyd, a Catholic with many children. Realizing that this love is impossible, she, as if to spite herself, enters into a relationship with Gordon Leuter, a music teacher.

However, loving Teddy, she believes that one of the girls should replace her and become his mistress. She puts her whole soul into this wild plan, according to which Rose Stanley, the most feminine of girls, should give herself to the artist instead of her. However, Roz is completely indifferent to Teddy, and Sandy becomes his mistress. At the same time, Miss Brodie was and remains the true muse of the artist, and with amazement, Sandy sees that, no matter which of the girls of the "clan" Teddy painted, the features of Miss Brodie always appeared in her. Sandy, possessing the cold, analyzing mind of a psychologist, cannot reconcile herself to the mystery of the mysterious and powerful influence on everyone around her "funny old maid". It soon turns out that one of Miss Brody's fans, who does not belong to the "clan", succumbs to her agitation and runs away to Spain to fight on the side of the fascist Franco. She dies on the train. Then, horrified, Sandy betrays Miss Brody to the headmistress, and she hints about this to Miss Brodie. The thought of betrayal undermines the indomitable spirit of Miss Brodie. Until her death, she does not cease to torment herself and those around her with fruitless conjectures. In fact, it seems to Sandy that the entire "clan" is betraying Miss Brodie by renouncing their "callings". Miss Brodie saw in her girls "the instinct and insight" worthy of a full and stormy life. Sandy, after the betrayal, goes to the monastery, where she is unhappy and disappointed. Roz Stanley becomes a virtuous wife, although she has a new Venus, a "great mistress", according to Miss Brodie. But they all feel that they have deceived themselves.

Over the years of friendship with Miss Brodie, they are so imbued with her faith that they acquire an inner spiritual resemblance to her, which the artist Teddy Lloyd correctly captured in his paintings.

A. A. Friedrich

(The Black Prince)

Roman (1973)

The text of Bradley Pearson's book The Black Prince, or the Feast of Love is framed by a foreword and afterword by the publisher, from which it follows that Bradley Pearson died in prison from transient cancer, which opened in him shortly after he completed the manuscript. Wanting to restore the honor of a friend and remove the charge of murder from him, the publisher published this "story about love - after all, the story of a person's creative struggles, the search for wisdom and truth is always a story about love ... Every artist is an unfortunate lover, and unhappy lovers love to tell their history".

In his preface, Bradley Pearson talks about himself: he is fifty-eight years old, he is a writer, although he published only three books: one hasty novel when he was twenty-five, another when he was in his forties, and a small book "Passages" or " Etudes". He kept his gift pure, which means, among other things, the lack of writing success. However, his faith in himself and his sense of vocation, even doom, did not weaken - having saved enough money for a comfortable life, he left the post of tax inspector to write - but creative dumbness befell him.

"Art has its martyrs, among them the silent ones are not the last." For the summer, he rented a house by the sea, thinking that his silence would finally break through there.

As Bradley Pearson stood over his packed suitcases, preparing to leave, his former brother-in-law, Francis Marlowe, suddenly came to him after many years with the news that his ex-wife, Christian, had been widowed, had returned from America a rich woman, and was eager to meet him. In the years that Bradley did not see him, Francis turned into a fat, rude, red-faced, pathetic, slightly wild, slightly insane, foul-smelling loser - he was revoked as a doctor for drug fraud, he tried to practice as a "psychoanalyst", drank heavily and now he wanted, with the help of Bradley, to settle down with a rich sister at her expense. Bradley had not yet had time to kick him out the door, when Arnold Buffin called, begging him to come to him immediately: he had killed his wife.

Bradley Pearson is extremely concerned that his description of Baffin be fair, because this whole story is the story of relationships with him and the tragic denouement to which they led. He, already a notorious writer, discovered Arnold when he, working as a teacher of English literature at school, was just finishing his first novel. Pearson read the manuscript, found a publisher for it, and published a commendable review. This began one of the most successful literary careers - from a monetary point of view: every year Arnold wrote a book, and his products met public tastes; fame and material prosperity came their way. It was believed that Bradley Pearson was jealous of Arnold's writing success, although he himself believed that he achieves success by sacrificing art. Their relationship was almost kindred - Pearson was at Arnold's wedding and for twenty-five years dined at the Buffins almost every Sunday; they, antipodes, were of inexhaustible interest to each other. Arnold was grateful and even devoted to Bradley, but he was afraid of his trial - perhaps because he himself, steadily sinking to the bottom of literary mediocrity, had the same strict judge in his soul. And now Pearson is burning in his pocket with a review of Arnold's latest novel, which is by no means laudatory, and he hesitates, unable to decide what to do with it.

Pearson and Francis (a doctor, though not a degree, might be useful) go to see Arnold. His wife Rachel has shut herself in the bedroom and shows no signs of life. She agrees to let only Bradley in; she is beaten, sobs, accuses her husband of not letting her be herself and live her own life, assures her that she will never forgive him, and will not forgive Bradley for seeing her shame. Examination of Francis Marlo showed that there is no danger to life and health. having calmed down, Arnold told how during the quarrel he accidentally hit her with a poker - it's okay, such scandals are not uncommon in marriage, this is a necessary relaxation, "another face of love", but in essence he and Rachel are a happy married couple. Arnold is keenly interested in Christian's return to London, which Bradley Pearson did not like very much, who cannot stand gossip and gossip and would like to forget about his unsuccessful marriage. On the way home, debating whether to stay for Sunday lunch so that the Buffins' natural dislike of the witness would not take root and the relationship would be settled, or to flee London as soon as possible, he saw in the twilight a youth in black, who, muttering monotonous incantations, threw under the wheels of the cars are some white petals. Upon closer examination, the young man turned out to be the daughter of the Buffins Julian - she performed a ritual designed to help forget her lover: she tore letters to shreds and scattered them, repeating: "Oscar Belling". Bradley knew her from the cradle and had a moderate family interest in her: he never wanted his children. Julian greets him and asks to become her teacher, because she wants to write books, and not like her father, but like him, Bradley Pearson.

The next day, Bradley decided to leave anyway, but as soon as he picked up his suitcases, his fifty-two-year-old sister Priscilla rang at the door - she left her husband, and she had nowhere to go. Priscilla is hysterical; tears of regret over the ruined life and the left mink stole flow like a river; when Bradley goes out to put the kettle on, she drinks all her sleeping pills. Bradley is in a panic; Francis Marlo arrives, and then the Baffins - the whole family. When Priscilla is taken away by the ambulance, Rachel says that Christian was also there, but, considering the moment for meeting with her ex-husband unfavorable, she left, accompanied by Arnold, "to the tavern."

Priscilla was released from the hospital the same evening. Leaving immediately is out of the question; and before Bradley comes close to the problem of Christian. He perceives his ex-wife as the constant demon of his life and decides that if Arnold and Christian become friends, he will break off relations with Arnold. And having met with Christian, he repeats that he does not want to see her.

Yielding to Priscilla's persuasion, Bradley travels to Bristol to collect her belongings, where he meets her husband Roger; he asks for a divorce in order to marry his longtime mistress Marigold - they are expecting a child. Feeling the pain and resentment of his sister as his own, Bradley, drunk, breaks Priscilla's favorite vase and lingers long in Bristol; then Christian takes Priscilla, left in the care of Rachel, to his place. This leads Bradley into a frenzy, all the more powerful because he himself is to blame: "I will not give you my sister so that you feel sorry for and humiliate her here." Rachel takes him away to comfort and feed him, and tells him how close Arnold and Christian have become. She invites Bradley to start an affair with her, making an alliance against them, convinces him that an affair with her can help his creative work. Kissing Rachel heightens his mental turmoil, and he lets her read his review of Arnold's novel, and in the evening gets drunk with Francis Marlowe, who, interpreting the situation according to Freud, explains that Bradley and Arnold love each other, are obsessed with each other, and that Bradley considers himself writer only to identify himself with the object of love, that is, Arnold. However, he quickly retreats before Bradley's objections and confesses that in fact the homosexual is himself, Francis Marlowe.

Rachel, relentlessly carrying out her plan for an alliance-romance, tucks Bradley into her bed, which ends anecdotally: the husband has arrived. Escaping from the bedroom without socks, Bradley meets Julian and, wanting to better formulate a request not to tell anyone about this meeting, buys her purple boots, and in the process of trying on, looking at Julian's feet, he is overtaken by a belated physical desire.

Going to visit Priscilla, Bradley learns from a conversation with Christian that Rachel complained to Arnold about his harassment; and Christian herself invites him to remember their marriage, analyze the mistakes of the time, and unite again on a new turn of the spiral.

Unsettled by flashbacks of the past and recent events, tormented by an urgent need to sit down at his desk with Priscilla attached somehow, Bradley forgets about the invitation to a party thrown in his honor by former employees, and forgets about his promise to talk with Julian about "Hamlet "; when she arrives at the appointed day and hour, he cannot hide his surprise. Nevertheless, he gives a brilliant lecture impromptu, and after conducting it, he suddenly realizes that he is in love. It was a blow and it knocked Bradley off his feet. Realizing that recognition is out of the question, he is happy with his secret love. "I was cleansed of anger and hatred; I had to live and love alone, and the consciousness of this made me almost a god ... I knew that the black Eros, who overtook me, was consubstantial with another, more secret god." He comes across as blissful: he gives Rachel everything that can be bought in a stationery store; reconciles with Christian; gives Francis five pounds and orders the complete works of Arnold Buffin to re-read all of his novels and find in them virtues never seen before. He almost did not pay attention to Arnold's letter, in which he talks about his relationship with Christian and his intention to live in two families, which he asks Rachel to prepare for. But the rapture of the first days is replaced by the pangs of love; Bradley does what he shouldn't; reveals his feelings to Julian. And she replies that she loves him too.

Twenty-year-old Julian sees no other way for events to develop than to declare her love to her parents and get married. The reaction of the parents is immediate: having locked her with a key and cut off the telephone wire, they come to Bradley and demand to leave their daughter alone; from their point of view, the passion of a lustful old man for a young girl can only be explained by madness.

The next day, Julian flees from under the castle; feverishly thinking about where to hide from the righteous wrath of the Baffins, Bradley remembers the Patara villa, leaves Priscilla, who had fled from Christian, to Francis Marlowe, and, just for a second, passing Arnold at his door, rents a car and takes Julian away.

Their idyll is broken by a telegram from Francis. Without telling Julian about her, Bradley contacts him by phone: Priscilla committed suicide. When he returned from the post office, Julian met him in the costume of Hamlet: she wanted to arrange a surprise, recalling the beginning of their love. And without telling her about the death of Priscilla, he finally takes possession of her for the first time - "we did not belong to ourselves ... This is rock."

Arnold arrives at Patara at night. He wants to take his daughter away, horrified that she does not know about Priscilla's death or Bradley's true age, and gives her a letter from her mother. Julian stays with Bradley, but when he wakes up in the morning, he finds that she is gone.

After Priscilla's funeral, Bradley lies in bed for days and waits for Julian, not letting anyone in. He only makes an exception for Rachel - she knows where Julian is. From Rachel, he learned what was in the letter brought by Arnold: there she described "her connection with Bradley" (it was Arnold's idea). She came, it seems, only to say: "I thought you understood that everything is in order in my family life," Bradley absently picks up Arnold's letter about his intention to live in two families, and at that moment in the doorbell rings, bringing the collected works of Arnold Baffin. Rachel managed to read the letter - with a wild cry that Bradley will never forgive this, she runs away.

Bradley furiously tears up the books he has brought.

The letter from Julian comes from France. Bradley immediately got ready to go; Francis Marlowe goes to get tickets.

Rachel calls and asks to come to her immediately, promising to tell where Julian is; Bradley is on his way. Rachel killed Arnold with the same poker he used to hit her. Bradley Pearson is accused of murder - everything is against him: Rachel's cold-blooded testimony, the tattered collected works, tickets abroad ...

In the afterword, Bradley Pearson writes that what surprised him most was the strength of Rachel's feelings. As for the accusations made - "I could not justify myself in court. Finally, my own, rather weighty cross was waiting for me ... Such things are not thrown."

The book ends with four afterwords from four characters.

Christian's afterword: she claims that it was she who left Bradley, because he could not provide her with a decent life for her, and when she returned from America, he harassed her, and that he is clearly crazy: he considers himself happy, although in fact unhappy. And why is there so much noise around art? But for people like Bradley, all that matters is what they do.

Afterword by Francis Marlo: he subtly argues that Bradley Pearson was homosexual and had a fondness for him.

Afterword by Rachel: she writes that the book is false from first to last word, that Bradley was in love with her, which is why he invented her daughter's unprecedented passion (substitution of an object and ordinary revenge), and that she sincerely sympathizes with a madman.

Afterword by Julian, who became a poet and Mrs. Belling, is an elegant essay on art. There are only three short phrases about the events described: "... it was love beyond words. His words, anyway. As an artist, he failed."

G. Yu. Shulga

(A Word Child)

Roman (1975)

Hilary Baird is forty-one years old. He works "in the State Department - no matter what", in the bureaucratic hierarchy, except for the typist and clerk, he is on the lowest rung; lives in an uncomfortable apartment, which serves him only as a "place for sleeping", without trying to equip it or even just clean it properly. He blindly follows the routine - "since he lost all hope of salvation" - because "routine ... excludes thought; the measured monotony of the days of the week causes a gratifying consciousness of the complete subordination of time and history." (The chapters of the book are named after the days of the week: "Thursday", "Friday", etc.) Weekends are hell for him, and he only takes vacations for fear of gossip and just hides in his hole, mostly trying to sleep.

So, he invariably devotes Saturdays to his sister Christel, five years younger than him. She lives in a cramped apartment on a run-down North End Road, also alone, trying to earn money by sewing. Their fathers were different from Kristel's, and they didn't know their fathers. Their mother died when Hilary was about seven years old, and Christel was just a baby, but even before the boy could understand the meaning of this word, he was told that his mother was a whore. The mother's sister took the children to her, but soon sent Hilary to an orphanage, separating her from her sister and suggesting to him for life that he was a "bad" - a bad boy who should not be kept at home. Neither Aunt Bill nor Hilary's orphanage can be remembered without shuddering - not so much because of hunger and beatings, but because no one loved him - a boy scratched by life, established in anger and resentment, with a feeling of an incurable wound inflicted unfair fate.

Actually, the reputation of "bad" was deserved by him - he was strong and pugnacious; perfectly developed physically, he sought to subjugate others with the help of brute force; he liked to beat people, he liked to break things; he hated the whole world - for himself, for Christel, for his mother. At the age of twelve, he first appeared in juvenile court, and then trouble with the police arose regularly. During these years, Kristel was everything for him - a sister, a mother, the only hope, almost the Lord God. He does not separate Christel from himself and loves her like himself. And then two people saved him: Christel and the school teacher Osmand, who managed to discern his brilliant abilities for languages. Osmand was the first person who was attentive and interested in the teenager, whom everyone gave up; and he learned first French, then Latin, then ancient Greek and, of course, his native language. He discovered words for himself - and this became his salvation;

as others are said to be "child of love," one might say of him "child of the word." He began to study with inspiration and succeeded so much that he went to Oxford - the first of all generations of students at the school where he studied, and received there all the awards that he could claim. Oxford changed him, but at the same time showed how difficult it was for him to change - deep ignorance and hopeless despair became part of his existence; he did not make real friends, he was touchy, unsociable and always afraid of making a mistake. He tried to compensate for this with success in the exams - he tried for himself and for the sake of Christel, dreaming of how his sister would settle with him in Oxford and they would forever end the hopelessness in which they had grown up. But, having already become a teacher, Hilary Baird was forced to resign. It was a crash; since then he has been vegetating, unwilling - or unable - to improve his life, and only his sister (he believes) keeps him from committing suicide.

(Hilary Baird's department is getting ready to put on a Christmas pantomime based on "Peter Pan," a story about a boy who didn't want to grow up; there's a lot of talk about it; and the Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens is one of Hilary's favorite places.)

On Mondays, Baird spends an evening with Clifford Larr, a former fellow student at Oxford, who now serves with him in the same institution, but is much higher in the ranks. Larr, in his own words, collects oddities, including Hilary Byrd; he relates with touching admiration to the fact that his sister Christel is a virgin. In the service, they pretend to be unfamiliar, keeping chaste silence about each other's terrible secrets. It was Larr who persuaded him to rent one of the rooms of his apartment to Christopher, his former lover (he is a homosexual). Christopher, in his early youth, the head of a rock band, one of whose songs entered the UK top ten, is now addicted to "search for God" and drugs.

On Tuesdays, Baird spends an evening with Arthur Fish - he serves in the same institution and reports to Baird, and besides, he is in love with Christel and wants to marry her.

Wednesday - "this is my day for myself" - so Baird says to his mistress Tommy, with whom he spends Fridays, when she wants to increase the number of meetings with him to two a week. As a rule, Wednesday evenings are spent in a bar on the Sloan Square or Liverpool Street underground platform, which for him was "a place of deep communication with London, with the origins of life, with the abysses of humility between grief and death."

On Thursdays, he dine at Laura and Freddie Impayett, where Clifford Larr is also a couple, and returning home, he goes to Christel's to pick up Arthur, who is having dinner with her that evening.

These people make up the "routine" to which he limited his life.

The measured course of life of this man in a case is disturbed by a strange event - a colored girl begins to come to him. She is half-Indian, her name is Alexandra Bisset (she asks to be called Biscuit), and she does not explain the purpose of her visits. At the same time, he learns that their department should be headed by a new boss - Ganner Joyling. Twenty years ago he had been Baird's teacher at Oxford; not without his support, Byrd was elected a member of the college council and also began to teach; he was one of the main protagonists of the drama that played out then. Baird had an affair with his wife Ann (this was his first love); "a man of unbridled passions is attractive only in books" - this love did not bring happiness to anyone. When Ann came to say goodbye, wanting to end the relationship, because Gunner found out about their relationship, Baird decided to take her away. In the car, she said that she was pregnant, and Gunner's child and he knew about it. Byrd, not letting go of her, in a rage and grief pressed on the gas, the car skidded, she collided with the oncoming one. Ann died in a car accident. Hilary survived but was spiritually crushed; he felt like a murderer; he lost his self-respect and, with it, his ability to manage his life. It was a crash - not only for him, but for Kristel. He resigned, and so did Gunner. Gunner became a politician, then a government official, gained a name and fame, got married again ... And now life brought them together again, and the past, much more vivid and vivid than the present, flooded over Hilary Byrd.

Biscuit turns out to be the maid of Gunner Joy-ling's second wife, Lady Kitty; she brings Hilary a letter from her landlady asking her to meet her to talk about how to help her husband get rid of the ghosts of the past. The meeting took place; Kitty asks Hilary to talk to Gunner, who still has not overcome his grief and hatred.

Immersed in his own suffering and guilt, Hilary only now realizes that he was not alone in suffering. He agrees. Also, he falls in love with Lady Kitty.

Unexpectedly, Christel, to whom he tells all this, strongly opposes his meetings with Gunner and Lady Kitty, begging him to resign and leave London. Feeling that she did not convince him, she confesses that twenty years ago she loved Gunner and on the night after the disaster, when Ann died and Hilary survived, she, comforting Gunner, came to his room and lost her innocence with him. That is why she refused Arthur Fish, unable to reveal the past to him, and not because, as Hilary thought, there was nothing more precious to her than her brother, and deep down he did not want this marriage.

Having fallen in love with Lady Kitty, Hilary Baird breaks off her engagement with Tommy by letter, to whom, under the influence of a moment, he promised to marry her, which Tommy strives for with all his might, for he truly loves him selflessly. She does not want to come to terms with the breakup, pursues him with letters, comes to his house; he spends the night in a hotel, does not answer letters and in every possible way makes it clear that everything is over between them.

The first conversation with Gunner does not lead to the desired result; only after meeting with Christel Gunner thawed out and they were able to talk for real; it seems to them that the conversation brought relief and the past slowly begins to let them go.

At the same time, the "case" of Hilary Byrd begins to gradually collapse. It turns out that Laura Impayette and Christopher have been in a relationship for a year, using Hilary as a front. Once Christopher and his friends drugged Hilary and Laura, she did not return home, her husband was looking for her at Hilary's, and "to clarify everything", on the next Thursday Laura arranges a loud showdown between Freddie, Hilary and Christopher, as a result of which Hilary is refused at home, his Thursdays are released; and Christopher finally literally does what Hilary yelled at him more than once: "Get out!" He moves out of the apartment.

Tommy also literally fulfills Hilary's repeated wish to leave him alone: ​​she comes to say goodbye, announcing that she is getting married.

Clifford Larr, having learned from Hilary about Gunner and Christel, perceives this unexpectedly painfully, rushes to the overthrown idol - Christel - and insults her; Hilary overtakes him, there is a fight. When after some time Hilary comes to Clifford's apartment, he learns from his heirs that Larr committed suicide.

Comforting Christel, Hilary promises not to meet the Joylings anymore, to leave London with her and settle together somewhere in the countryside. He only needs to see Lady Kitty one last time, because he already promised, and say goodbye to her forever.

Their meeting takes place on the pier, not far from the Joylings' house. Suddenly, hugging Kitty, Hilary sees Gunner. "I'm going to kill him now," Gunner says, but Kitty falls off the dock. He jumps after her. She dies in the hospital from hypothermia - before the arrival of the rescue boat, she spent too long in the icy December waters of the Thames.

Hilary Baird's name did not appear in the newspapers in connection with this story - he swam out on his own, far from the boat. This time he didn't tell Kristel everything. Twenty years ago, he had admitted that Ann's death had weighed heavily on her sister, but when it happened so terribly, he realized that it was cruel to place this burden on her as well. For the first time in his life, he separated Christel from himself. Christel married Arthur.

Biscuit, having received an inheritance after the death of Lady Kitty, married Christopher.

Tommy repented that she sent Gunner an anonymous letter - that Hilary Byrd was in love with his wife. "In her naivety, Tommy created the meeting that killed Kitty, Kristel got married, and a double eternal curse twisted my life and Gunner's life."

To the sound of Christmas bells, Tommy resolutely tells Hilary that she intends to marry him.

G. Yu. Shulga

(Lucky Jim)

Roman (1954)

Jim Dixon, the protagonist of the novel, is a professor of history at an English provincial university. He teaches there for the first year and has not yet been finally hired, but is on probation. But from the very beginning, he makes a bad impression on his colleagues. Still would. In the very first days of his stay at the faculty, he manages to injure the professor of English. He would have to move calmly and sedately, as it should be for a self-respecting teacher of a reputable English university, but he ... Leaving the library, Dixon gives in to a small round pebble lying on the sidewalk, and he, describing in the air an arc of fifteen yards, of course, meets on his way professor's knee. Dixon would have to apologize here, but instead, he first watches with horror and surprise the trajectory of the flight of the stone, and then slowly leaves. He didn't have the heart to apologize, as always in such cases. Not even two days pass after this incident, when at the very first meeting of the faculty, passing by the chair of the archivist, he stumbles and knocks over the chair just at the moment when the learned man intended to sit on it. Then Dixon criticizes the work on the history of one of the students, and later he learns that this study was written with the blessing and on the advice of the history professor Welch, on whom his future fate depends, because it is Welch who decides whether Dixon will continue to teach at this university or not.

I must say that colleagues do not make the best impression on Dixon either. But there is nothing to do. Everyone wants to be in the state. Therefore, mentally drawing caricatures of his colleagues and making funny faces, Dixon pays no small tribute to hypocrisy and tries to look like everyone else. And even, trying to smooth over the bad impression from his own person, he is engaged in scientific work, writes an article "The impact of economic factors on the development of shipbuilding skills in the period from 1450 to 1485". True, Dixon understands the meaninglessness of his pseudoscientific studies and notes to himself that his article deserves nothing but a few strong and obscene expressions.

One day, Welch invites Dixon to come over for a weekend and help organize a musical evening. He also gives him the task of preparing a lecture on the topic "Good Old England" by the end of the semester. At the Welch house, Dixon meets Margaret, who also teaches at the university. Three weeks ago, she tried to commit suicide because of a failed romance with a certain Catchpole. After leaving the hospital, Margaret lives with the Welches, in the home of the professor and his wife. Dixon began dating Margaret shortly after he began teaching at the university. At first, simply out of courtesy, he accepted Margaret's invitation to go to her for a cup of coffee, and then he suddenly, without understanding how this happened, turned out to be a person who is "everywhere seen with Margaret." At the same time, he is not Margaret's lover, but, as it were, plays the role of a comforter, from which he is no longer averse to freeing himself.

Dixon comes to Welch's musical evening only because he is dependent on the professor and wants to make a good impression on him. The professor's son, Bertrand, also arrives there, accompanied by Christina Callegen, the niece of a certain Julius Gore-Erquhart, to whom Bertrand hopes to enter the service. Dixon mistakes her for another woman, Bertrand's ex-fiancee. That is, again, an unpleasant misunderstanding, as a result of which Dixon from the very beginning did not develop a relationship with the professor's son. Enraged and upset, Jim sneaks out of the Welch house and goes to the pub. He comes back late in the evening, pretty drunk. He enters Margaret's room and tries to molest her for the first time. Margaret kicks Dixon out, and he goes downstairs to the cafeteria, where he adds half a bottle of port to what he has already drunk. As a result, going up to his room and falling asleep with a lit cigarette, he burns through the bed linen, carpet and bedside table. In the morning, Dixon goes down to the dining room, meets Christina there and tells her about a small night fire in his bedroom. Christina goes upstairs with Dixon and helps him cover the fire. Jim then informs his hosts that his parents have come to visit him unexpectedly and that he is forced to leave.

Dixon meets Christina for the second time at a summer ball at the university, where he came with Margaret. And Christina is there in the company of Bertrand and her uncle, Julius Gore-Erquhart. Throughout the evening, Bertrand speaks exclusively to Christina's uncle. Margaret also tries to get the attention of Gore-Erquhart. Dixon sees that Christina, like him, is bored at this ball, and he invites her to leave and volunteers to see her off. On the way to the taxi, they have a sincere conversation, and Christina asks Dixon for advice on whether she should marry Bertrand. Dixon gives a negative answer, specifying that he likes Christina, but not Bertrand. When they drive up to the Welch's house, where the girl is visiting, Jim asks the driver to wait, and he goes to escort Christina home. They enter the house through the window. Once in the room, the young people kiss for the first time, then Dixon confesses his love to Christina. leaving, Jim agrees with Christina about the next meeting.

A few days later, Professor Welch again invites Dixon to dinner. However, when Jim comes to the professor, he, apologetically, reports that there was a misunderstanding and that he is going to the theater that evening. Jim meets Bertrand at the Welches. Young people are seriously quarreling because Dixon took Christina away from the summer ball that time. Returning home, Dixon reflects on the futility of his meetings with Christina and even tries to cancel the date. They meet anyway, and Christina tells Jim that they don't need to see each other again, because she is connected with Bertrand. However, some time later, as Jim is getting ready for his lecture on "Good Old England", Bertrand enters his room and rudely tells him not to date Christina again. And then Dixon, who had already decided not to date the girl himself, to spite Bertrand, says that he has serious intentions. Bertrand punches Dixon in the face, and a fight ensues, in which Jim ultimately gains the upper hand, knocking the opponent down and then escorting him out of the room.

On the day Dixon was to give his lecture, he drinks half a dozen whiskeys in the morning with his neighbor Bill Atkinson. Then, at the reception before the lecture, he drinks a few more glasses of sherry. And just before going to the podium, Jim is met by Julius Gore-Erquhart and treats him to undiluted Scotch whiskey. As a result, Jim Dixon tries to lecture completely drunk. But he can't do anything. He only makes the audience laugh, repeating exactly the intonations of Professor Welch and the dean. In the end, the drunk alcohol, excitement and heat take their toll, and he loses consciousness. The next morning, he receives a letter from Professor Welch, where he advises Dixon to leave. And in the afternoon, Julius Gore-Erquhart calls him and offers him a position as a personal secretary. This is exactly the place that Bertrand sought from Uncle Christina. Jim is naturally delighted. On the same day, Dixon comes across Catchpole, and in a conversation with him it turns out that Margaret simply acted out the scene of a suicide attempt by taking a safe dose of sleeping pills. And then Jim returns to his room, where Bill Atkinson is waiting for him to report: he just talked on the phone with Christina, she is leaving and she needs to convey something very important to Dixon. Jim rushes to the train station, finds Christine there, who tells him that she broke up with Bertrand: it turns out that Bertrand continues to meet with his old mistress. Dixon tells her his news, they say, from now on he will work for her uncle and is ready to follow Christina to London. Hand in hand, young people proudly walk past the dumbfounded Welch family. Silent scene.

I'M IN. Nikitin

Roman (1953)

The novel is set in the fifties.

A difficult conversation takes place between Charles Lumley and the landlady. She suspected something was wrong, the tenant was spending time idly, apparently, he did not work anywhere. Taken by surprise, the young man immediately makes up a crime story, posing as a private investigator, which further alarms Mrs. Smythe. She demands that the tenant move out immediately. What else could he come up with? Charles is twenty-two years old, fresh from university. There is no place and no prospects. He lives on for fifty pounds, which he saved in the bank as a last resort. Stotwell, where he ended up and spent three weeks, was chosen at random. Charles asked his friends to write on a piece of paper the names of ten small towns where they could rent a room cheaper, and pointed at random. He expected to spend several weeks in peace and solitude, deciding during this time what he would do. But he couldn't decide. Feeling the bitterness of defeat, he goes to the station and gives the last banknote for a ticket to his hometown. Of course, Charles could hold out for a while longer, sleeping on the garden benches and selling newspapers, but he really wants to see Sheila. However, he is again unlucky, the fellow travelers are the parents of George Hutchins, a neighbor in a student hostel, whom he could not stand. He was disgusted by his snobbery, assertiveness, desire to succeed. The interlocutors are proud of the success of their son, he received an invitation to graduate school. What is Charles going to do? Wanting to avoid a painful conversation, the young man leaves the compartment and spends the rest of the way in the corridor.

Arriving at the place, Charles checks his suitcase in the luggage room and goes to the suburbs where Sheila lives. He does not want to appear at home, he delays the inevitable explanations. But again, the girl's failure is not at home, and he is met with an unkind reception from her relatives. Sheila's older sister Edith and her husband Robert Tarkles, a prosperous middle-class shopkeeper, demonstrate in every possible way to an unexpected guest that he is a stranger in their environment, he is reprimanded for his inability to settle down in life, dishonesty towards his parents. And Charles, in fact, has long felt a complete inability to find a common language with them, does not want further intervention of his parents in his life, instructions, advice, attempts to help. He is also annoyed by the complacency, narrow-mindedness, outright rudeness of Sheila's relatives. Unable to endure annoying moralizing, he goes to the scandal. Leaving the house, Charles realizes that what happened means a break with Sheila. However, in many ways their relationship was far-fetched, at the age of seventeen he first knew love and all these years cultivated this feeling with passive persistence. Charles enters the pub, deciding to get drunk with grief on the remaining money. Here, too, he feels like an outsider. Local regulars - common people, rude and uncouth - treat him with hostility. A drunken young man starts a scandal, and he is put out the door. He spends the night outside the outskirts, falling into thick grass.

For a whole week, Charles works as a window cleaner. He borrowed money and bought a bucket and rags, a ladder, a cart and overalls. Then he returned to Stotwell and rented a bunk in the hostel of the Union of Christian Youth. He is quite satisfied that he managed to put an end to the old life, with one leap he was able to jump out of the rut of his class and reject the alien psychology, break the usual way. At the same time, our hero strives in every possible way to avoid contact with the new environment, is burdened by life in a hostel, and wants complete independence. Quite in time, there is a meeting with a former classmate at the university, Edwin Frowlish. In those days, it was believed that he was destined to become a great novelist, but he never received a diploma, he leads a bohemian lifestyle, living with his girlfriend Betty on the top floor of an abandoned construction warehouse, Charles willingly moves to them. When there is no income, Betty helps out, on Saturdays she visits her aunt - an old maid who throws some money to her niece.

By chance, Charles finds a companion - Ern Ollershaw, and with his help things go more successfully. Wanting to shake things up, Charles dresses up and goes to dine at the Grand Hotel, where his attention is attracted by one couple - a sleek man in his fifties and a beautiful young girl. From the bartender, he learns that this is Mr. Rodrik, the director of one of the local factories, with his orphaned niece. Charles loses his peace, thoughts about the girl haunt him. Desperation sets in, he will never get access to their circle. By chance, he learns that Robert Tarkles, a respectable family man, spends Saturdays with Betty in a rural hotel. So that's where the money she uses to keep Edwin comes from. Having taken his belongings, he intends to move to Ern, but the police in the house, the companion are arrested. At the trial, it turns out that he previously served in a transport office that drove cars from factories to ports, and was an accomplice in their thefts.

Once the operation failed, since then Ern was wanted. Having made acquaintance with Ern's friend - Teddy Barner, Charles gets a job as a driver in the place of his former partner. Now he has a steady and fairly decent income. He hopes that the change of scenery and way of life will help to forget the niece of the manufacturer, who so struck his imagination, but in vain. Between flights, he takes the train to Stotwell, hoping to see the girl again at the Grand Hotel. His companion turns out to be Arthur Blirney, a theatrical entrepreneur. With his assistance, Charles meets Mr. Rodrik and Veronica and even receives an invitation to a party at Blirney's London apartment. Now the young man needs money, a lot of money. Having rubbed himself in the chauffeur's environment, he realized that dark deeds were taking place here. He asks Teddy to involve him too. Upon discovering that he is involved in the transit of drugs, Charles is in disarray, but now the wallet is stuffed tightly. His stormy romance with Veronica develops. Once the drug operation fails, Charles and Barner manage to escape from the raid in the port. Their car is pursued by the police, and Barner, believing that Charles was responsible for what happened, throws him out at full speed.

Charles ends up in the hospital with multiple fractures. Thanks to Rodrik, he is placed in a paid building, in a separate ward. Having paid a visit, Rodrik demands to leave Veronica alone, she is not a niece, but his mistress, let the young man not have hopes for a bright future. Having completed the course of treatment, Charles remains to work in the hospital as a nurse, however, no matter how he tries to adapt to the new environment, he does not succeed. The way out seems to be the proposal of one of the patients, the "chocolate king", the millionaire Braithwaite, to become his personal chauffeur. Charles moves in with him on the estate. He seems to have finally found what he needs. But Braithwaite has a sixteen-year-old son, Walter, an extravagant prankster, to whom his father is forced to invite a tutor for the summer. It turns out to be George Hutchins, now a college teacher. A long-standing enmity between former classmates develops into enmity. And then there's Walter, a car enthusiast, who secretly assembles a race car from his father, testing it, breaking his father's luxurious Daimler. All this happens through the fault of Hutchins and his mistress June Wieber, who suddenly jumped out onto the road. Charles leaves the estate, leaving a letter to the owner, where he takes the blame for what happened. The dream of hermitage, of some kind of parasitism in the service of a kind rich man in the midst of nature, reminiscent of the landscapes of a color film on the screen, is not destined to come true. Later it turns out that June, who hates him, stole a valuable jade figurine from Braithwaite, exposing Charles as a thief.

In London, Charles leads the life of a homeless tramp, sleeping on garden benches. Mr. Blirney gets him a job as a bouncer at the Golden Peach Night Bar. One evening, Frawlish, who now works on the radio and is very successful, visits there. He invites Charles to test himself in a new field. He becomes an employee of Terence Frush's studio, composes the most stupid scripts for the radio hour "Wednesday Jokes". Things are going very well for him, he concludes a lucrative contract for three years and becomes a well-to-do person, comforting himself with the illusion of personal independence. Veronica appears again in his life, and it seems to him that he is quite happy.

A. M. Burmistrova

Play (1979)

The action takes place in Vienna in November 1823, and Salieri's memoirs refer to the decade 1781-1791.

An old man sits on the front stage in a wheelchair with his back to the audience. The citizens of Vienna repeat the latest gossip to each other: Salieri is a murderer! Their whispers are getting louder. Thirty-two years have passed since the death of Mozart, why did Salieri talk about this right now? Nobody believes Salieri: he is already old and probably out of his mind. Salieri gets up from his chair and looks into the auditorium. He calls upon distant descendants to become his confessors. He says that he has been sweet all his life, and asks not to judge him too harshly for this. In addition, he dreamed of fame. He wanted to become famous by composing music. Music is a gift of God, and Salieri prayed to God to make him a great composer, and in return he promised to lead a righteous life, help his neighbors and praise the Lord in his creations until the end of his days. God heard his prayer, and the next day a family friend took the young Salieri to Vienna and paid for his music lessons. Soon Salieri was introduced to the emperor, and His Majesty reacted favorably to the gifted young man. Salieri was glad that his deal with God took place. But in the same year that Salieri left Italy, the ten-year-old genius Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart appeared in Europe. Salieri invites the public to watch a performance called "The Death of Mozart, or Am I Guilty". This is his last work, dedicated to distant descendants. Salieri throws off his old robe, straightens up and appears before us as a young man in a formal suit of the eighties of the XNUMXth century. Salieri's string quartet sounds.

1781 Salieri is thirty-one years old, he is a famous composer, he is known at court. He is in love with his student Katarina Cavalieri, but remains faithful to his wife, remembering the vow given to God. Salieri dreams of becoming a bandmaster. Suddenly, he learns that Mozart is coming to Vienna. The director of the Imperial Opera, Count Orsini-Rosenberg, receives an order to order a comic opera in German from Mozart - the emperor wants to create a national opera. Salieri is alarmed: it seems that the dominance of Italian music is coming to an end. Salieri wants to see Mozart. At the evening at Baroness Waldstaten's, he retires to the library to calmly eat sweets, but Constance Weber suddenly runs in, depicting a mouse, followed by Mozart, depicting a cat. Without noticing Salieri, Mozart knocks Constance to the floor, rudely jokes with her and, even proposing to her, cannot resist obscene gestures and words. Salieri is shocked by Mozart's vulgarity. But when the concert begins and Salieri hears his music, he realizes that Mozart is a genius. It seems to him that in Mozart's Serenade he hears the voice of God. Salieri plunges into work, begging the Lord to instill his voice in him. He jealously follows Mozart's progress, but the six sonatas composed in Munich, the Paris Symphony, and the Great Litany in E-flat leave him indifferent. He rejoices that the serenade was a stroke of luck that can befall any musician. In Schönbrunn Palace, Salieri asks Emperor Joseph II for permission to play a welcome march in honor of Mozart. March sounds. The emperor introduces the musicians to each other. Mozart says he has already written the first act of the commissioned comic opera. Its action takes place in a seraglio, but the opera is about love and there is nothing obscene in it. The main part will be sung by Katarina Cavalieri, Salieri's favorite student. Mozart thanks Salieri for the welcome march and repeats it from memory, then plays with variations, gradually groping for the theme of the famous march from the "Marriage of Figaro" - "The boy is frisky, curly, in love." He rejoices in his improvisation, completely oblivious to the insult that Salieri inflicts. Salieri wants to write a tragic opera and put Mozart to shame. "Abduction from the Seraglio" does not make much of an impression on Salieri. Hearing Katharina's singing, he immediately guesses that Mozart had an affair with her, and suffers from jealousy. The emperor restrainedly applauds: in his opinion, there are "too many notes" in this opera. Mozart objects: there are as many notes as necessary - exactly seven, no more and no less. Mozart introduces Salieri, whom he considers a friend, his bride, Constance Weber. Salieri wants to take revenge on Mozart for seducing Katarina and take Constance away from him.

Mozart marries Constance, but he lives hard: Mozart has few students, and he has made many enemies with his intractability. He openly opposes the dominance of Italian music, scolds Salieri's opera "The Chimney Sweep" with the last words, calls the emperor a miserly Kaiser, rudely makes fun of the courtiers who can be useful to him. Princess Elizabeth needs a music teacher, but no one wants to please Mozart. Having met Salieri at a ball at the Baroness Waldstaten, Constance asks him to help Mozart get the coveted place. Salieri invites her to his place for a conversation. He also wants to look at Mozart's scores to see for himself his talent. When Constance arrives secretly from her husband, Salieri declares that he is ready to put in a good word for Mozart in exchange for her favor. Constance leaves. Salieri understands his meanness, but blames Mozart for everything: it was Mozart who brought the "noble Salieri" to such vileness. He immerses himself in reading the scores. The 29th symphony in A major is heard. Salieri sees that Mozart's rough sketches are completely clean, almost without blots: Mozart simply writes down the music that sounds in his head, in an already finished, perfect form. Louder and louder is the theme "Kegue" from the Mass in C minor. Salieri is smitten. He rebels against God, whose favorite - Ama-dei - is Mozart. Why is Mozart so honored? And Salieri's only reward for a righteous life and hard work is that he alone clearly sees in Mozart the incarnation of God. Salieri challenges God, from now on he will fight him with all his might, and Mozart will become their battlefield.

Unexpectedly, Constance returns. She is ready to give herself to Salieri, but he does not give free rein to his lust: after all, he is fighting not with Mozart, but with the Lord God, who loved him so much. The next day, Salieri seduces Catarina Cavalieri, thus breaking her vow of chastity. He then resigns from all charitable committees, breaking his oath to help others. He recommends to the emperor a very mediocre musician as a music teacher for Princess Elizabeth. When asked by the emperor about Mozart, Salieri replies that Mozart's immorality is such that he should not be allowed close to young girls. The simple-hearted Mozart is unaware of the intrigues of Salieri and continues to consider him his friend. Salieri's affairs are going uphill: in 1784 and in 1785. the public loves him more than Mozart, although it was during these years that Mozart wrote his best piano concertos and string quartets. The audience applauds Mozart, but immediately forgets his music, and only Salieri and a few other initiates know the real value of his creations.

Meanwhile, Salieri's operas are staged everywhere and everyone likes them: both "Semiramide" and "Danaids" have gained a resounding success. Mozart writes The Marriage of Figaro. Baron van Swieten, prefect of the Imperial Library, is shocked by the vulgarity of the plot: the opera should elevate and perpetuate the deeds of gods and heroes. Mozart explains to him that he wants to write about real people and real life events. He wants the bedroom to have laundry on the floor, the sheets to keep the warmth of the female body, and a chamber pot under the bed. He says that all serious operas of the XNUMXth century. terribly boring. He wants to merge the voices of his contemporaries and turn them to God. He is sure that the Lord hears the world in this way: millions of sounds that arise on earth ascend to him and, merging in his ears, become music unknown to us. Before the premiere of The Marriage of Figaro, the director of the Imperial Opera, Count Orsini-Rosenberg, after reviewing the score, tells Mozart that the emperor forbade the use of ballet in operas. Mozart argues that the emperor banned the insert ballets, like the French, and not the dances, which are important for the development of the plot. Rosenberg tears out the dance sheets from the score. Mozart is furious: two days later the premiere, and a conspiracy was staged against him. He scolds the courtiers with his last words. He wants to invite the emperor himself to the rehearsal. Salieri promises to help him, but does nothing. And yet the emperor comes to the rehearsal. Mozart, thinking that this is the merit of Salieri, expresses his gratitude to him. During the performance, dances are performed without musical accompaniment. The emperor is confused. Mozart explains what the matter is, and the emperor gives the order to restore the music. Premiere of the opera "The Marriage of Figaro". Salieri is deeply moved by the music, but the emperor yawns, and the audience accepts it with restraint. Mozart is upset, he considers his opera a masterpiece, and is mortified by the cold reception. Salieri consoles him. Mozart would like to go to London, but he has no money. The father refuses to help him, he cannot forgive his son that he turned out to be more talented than him.

Mozart receives news of his father's death and reproaches himself for his disrespectful attitude towards him, Salieri explains to the audience that this is how the vengeful ghost of his father appeared in the opera Don Juan. Salieri decides to resort to the last resort: to starve Mozart to death, to expel the divine from his flesh with hunger. He advises the emperor, who decided after the death of Gluck to give Mozart the place of the imperial and royal chamber musician, to give him a salary ten times less than Gluck received. Mozart is offended: you can't even feed a mouse on such a salary. Mozart receives an offer to write an opera for ordinary Germans. He comes up with the idea to reflect the ideals of the Freemasons in popular music. Salieri says that it would be nice to show the Masons themselves on stage. Mozart understands that this is impossible: their rituals are kept secret, but he thinks that if they are slightly changed, then this can serve as a sermon of brotherly love. Salieri approves of his plan, knowing full well that it will anger the Freemasons.

Mozart lives in poverty. He often sees a ghost in gray. Constance thinks he's out of his mind and leaves. Mozart tells Salieri that a man in a mask came to him, like two drops similar to a ghost from his nightmares, and ordered him a Requiem. Mozart has finished work on The Magic Flute and invites Salieri to the premiere at a modest country theater, where none of the courtiers will be. Salieri is shocked by the music. The audience applauds, but van Swieten makes his way through the crowd to the composer, he accuses Mozart of having betrayed the Order. From now on, the Freemasons refuse to take part in Mozart, influential people stop communicating with him, Schikaneder, who ordered the Magic Flute from him, does not pay his share of the fees. Mozart works like a man possessed, waiting for the arrival of the masked man who ordered the Requiem for him. Salieri admits to the audience that he got a gray cloak and mask and every night passes under the windows of Mozart to herald the approach of his death. On the last day, Salieri stretches out her arms to him and calls for him, like a ghost from his dreams. Mozart, having gathered the rest of his strength, opens the window and pronounces the words of the hero of the opera "Don Giovanni", inviting the statue to dinner. Sounds passage from the overture to the opera "Don Giovanni". Salieri climbs the stairs and enters Mozart. Mozart says that he has not yet finished the Requiem and asks on his knees to extend the deadline by a month. Salieri rips off his mask and throws off his cloak. Mozart laughs piercingly in a fit of overwhelming horror. But after the confusion comes an epiphany: he suddenly realizes that Salieri is to blame for all his misfortunes.

Salieri confesses his atrocities. He calls himself the killer of Mozart. He explains to the audience that the confession escaped him so easily because it was true: he really poisoned Mozart, but not with arsenic, but with everything that the audience saw here. Salieri leaves, Constance returns. She puts Mozart to bed, covers him with a shawl, tries to calm him down. Sounds the seventh part of the Requiem - "Lacrimosa". Constance is talking to Mozart and suddenly realizes that he is dead. The music is cut off. Salieri says that Mozart was buried in a common grave, with twenty other dead. Then it turned out that the man in the mask, who ordered Mozart's Requiem, did not dream of the composer. It was a lackey of a certain Count Walzega, who secretly ordered a composition from Mozart, so that later he could pass it off as his own. After Mozart's death, the Requiem was performed as a work by Count Walsegh, with Salieri as conductor. Only many years later, Salieri understood what the punishment of the Lord was. Salieri enjoyed universal respect and bathed in the rays of glory - and all this thanks to compositions that did not cost a penny. For thirty years he listened to praise from the lips of people who knew nothing about music. And finally, Mozart's music was appreciated, and his music was completely forgotten.

Salieri puts on his old bathrobe again and sits in a wheelchair. 1823 Salieri cannot accept obscurity. He himself spreads the rumor that he killed Mozart. The louder the glory of Mozart, the stronger his shame will be, so Salieri will still gain immortality and the Lord will not be able to prevent this. Salieri tries to commit suicide, but fails. In the notebook where visitors write to the deaf Beethoven about the news, there is an entry: "Salieri is completely crazy. He continues to insist that he is to blame for the death of Mozart and that it was he who poisoned him." The German Musical News in May 1825 also reports the madness of old Salieri, who blames himself for the early death of Mozart, which no one believes.

Salieri gets up from his chair and, looking into the auditorium, absolves the sins of mediocrity of all times and peoples. The last four bars of Mozart's funeral march are played.

O. E. Grinberg

Roman (1966, publ. 1977)

Nicholas Erfe was born in 1927 in the family of a brigadier general; after a short service in the army in 1948, he entered Oxford, and a year later his parents died in a plane crash. He was left alone, with a small but independent annual income, bought a used car - this was rare among students and greatly contributed to his success with girls. Nicolae considered himself a poet; read French existentialist novels with friends, "taking a metaphorical description of complex worldview systems for a self-instruction manual for correct behavior ... not realizing that your favorite anti-heroes act in literature, and not in reality"; created the club "Les Hommers Revokes" (Rebellious people) - bright individuals rebelled against the gray routine of life; and as a result entered into life, in his own assessment, "comprehensively prepared for failure."

After graduating from Oxford, he could only get a teaching position in a small school in the east of England; having barely endured a year in the outback, he turned to the British Council, wanting to work abroad, and so ended up in Greece as an English teacher at Lord Byron's school on Fraxos, an island about eighty kilometers from Athens. On the very day he was offered the job, he met Alison, an Australian girl who rented a room downstairs. She is twenty-three, he is twenty-five; they fell in love, not wanting to admit it to themselves - "at our age they are not afraid of sex - they are afraid of love" - ​​and parted: he went to Greece, she got a job as a flight attendant.

The island of Fraxos turned out to be divinely beautiful and deserted. Nicholas did not get close to anyone; alone wandered around the island, comprehending the absolute beauty of the Greek landscape unknown to him before; wrote poetry, but it was on this earth, where in some strange way the true measure of things became clear, he suddenly realized irrefutably that he was not a poet, but his poems were mannered and pompous. After visiting a brothel in Athens, he fell ill, which finally plunged him into a deep depression - up to a suicide attempt.

But miracles began in May. A deserted villa on the southern half of the island suddenly came to life: on the beach he found a blue flipper, a towel smelling faintly of women's cosmetics, and an anthology of English poetry, planted in several places. Under one of the bookmarks, Eliot's verses were underlined in red:

Until next weekend, Nicolae makes inquiries in the village about the owner of Villa Burani. They do not talk about him very willingly, they consider him a collaborator: during the war he was a village headman, and a contradictory story of the execution of half of the village by the Germans is associated with his name; he lives alone, very closed, does not communicate with anyone, and he does not have guests. This contradicts what Nicolae learned back in London from his predecessor, who told him how he had been to the Burani villa and quarreled with its owner - however, he also told sparingly and reluctantly. The atmosphere of mystery, omissions and contradictions that enveloped this man intrigues Nicholas, and he decides to get to know Mr. Conhis by all means.

Acquaintance took place; Conchis (as he asked to be called in English) seemed to be waiting for him; the tea table was set for two. Conchis showed Nicholas the house: a huge library in which he kept no novels, Modigliani and Bonnard originals, old clavichords; and nearby - ancient sculptures and paintings on vases of a defiantly erotic quality ... After tea, Conchis played Telemann - he played superbly, but said that he was not a musician, but "a very rich man" and "spiritual". A materialistically raised Nicolae wonders if he is crazy when Conchis pointedly states that Nicolae is also "called". Nicholas had never seen such people before; communication with Conchis promises him many fascinating mysteries; Conchis says goodbye, throwing his hands up in an outlandish priestly gesture, like a master - like a God - like a magician. And he invites you to spend the next weekend with him, but sets conditions: do not tell anyone in the village about this and do not ask him any questions.

Now Nicolae lives from weekends to weekends, which he spends in Burani; he does not leave "a desperate, magical, ancient feeling that he has entered a fabulous labyrinth, which is awarded unearthly bounties." Conchis tells him stories from his life, and, as if as illustrations, their heroes materialize: then in the village Nicholas will meet an old foreigner who introduced himself as de Ducane (according to Conchis, in the thirties he inherited ancient clavichords and her huge fortune), then the ghost of Conchis' fiancee Lilia, who died in 1916, comes out for dinner - of course, this is a living young girl who only plays the role of Lilia, but she refuses to tell Nicholas why and for whom this performance is started - for him or for Conchis? Nicholas is also convinced of the presence of other actors: “live pictures” appear in front of him, depicting a satyr chasing a nymph with Apollo blowing his horn, or the ghost of Robert Fulks, author of the 1679 book “Instruction to sinners. The dying confession of Robert Fulks, the murderer”, given to him by Konchis "to read for the coming dream."

Nicholas almost loses his sense of reality; Burani's space is permeated with ambiguous metaphors, allusions, mystical meanings... He does not distinguish truth from fiction, but it is beyond his powers to get out of this incomprehensible game. Pinning Lily to the wall, he gets her to tell her that her real name is Julie (Julie) Holmes, that she has a twin sister, June, and that they are young English actresses who came here under a contract to shoot a film, but instead of filming they have to to take part in the "performances" of Conchis. Nicholas falls in love with the alluring and elusive Julie-Lily, and when a telegram arrives from Alison, who was able to arrange a weekend in Athens, he disowns Alison. ("Her telegram invaded my world with the annoying call of a distant reality...")

However, Conchis arranged the circumstances in such a way that he nevertheless went to a meeting with Alison in Athens. They climb Parnassus, and in the midst of Greek nature, which seeks the truth, having fallen in love with Alison, Nicholas tells her everything he didn’t want to tell - about Burani, about Julie, - he tells her because he has no one closer, tells her how to confession, without egoistically separating her from himself and without thinking what effect this might have on her. Alison draws the only possible conclusion - he does not love her; she is hysterical; she does not want to see him and the next morning disappears from the hotel and from his life.

Nicolae returns to Fraxos: he needs Julie more than ever, but the villa is empty. Returning to the village at night, he becomes a spectator and participant in another performance: a group of German punishers of the 1943 model grab him. Beaten, with a cut arm, he suffers in the absence of news from Julie and no longer knows what to think. A letter from Julie, tender and inspiring, arrives at the same time as the news of Alison's suicide.

Rushing to the villa, Nicolae finds only Conchis there, who dryly tells him that he has failed his role and must leave his house forever tomorrow, and today, in parting, he will hear the last chapter of his life, because only now he is ready to accept it. As an explanation for what is happening in the villa, Conchis puts forward the idea of ​​a global meta-theater ("we are all actors here, my friend. Everyone plays a role"), and again the explanation does not explain the main thing - why? And again, Nicholas is afraid to understand that this question is not important, that it is much more important to break through the pricks of pride to the truth, which is unkind and ruthless, like the smile of Conchis, and to his true self, which is separated from his self-consciousness, like a mask from the face, and Conchis's role in this, his aims and methods, are essentially secondary.

The last story of Konchis is about the events of 1943, about the execution of the villagers by punishers. Then the village headman Konhis was given a choice - to shoot one partisan with his own hand, thereby saving eighty lives, or, refusing, to exterminate almost the entire male population of the village. Then he realized that in fact there is no choice - he simply organically cannot kill a person, no matter what reasons the mind gives.

In essence, all Konchis's stories are about one thing - about the ability to distinguish between true and false, about loyalty to oneself, one's natural and human principles, about the correctness of living life in front of artificial institutions, such as loyalty to an oath, duty, etc. And before leave the island, Conchis declares to Nicholas that he is not worthy of freedom.

Conchis sets sail, and Julie is waiting for Nicholas on the island, as promised in her letter. But before he could believe that the performance was over, he found himself trapped again - literally: in an underground shelter with a hatch cover slammed over it; He didn't get out of there right away. And in the evening June comes to him, which replaces the "metatheater" with another explanation - "psychological experiment"; Conchis, on the other hand, is supposedly a retired professor of psychiatry, a luminary of Sorbonne medicine, the finale and apotheosis of the experiment is the court procedure: first, "psychologists" describe the personality of Nikolaev in their own terms, and then he must pass his verdict on the participants in the experiment, they are also actors of the metatheater (Lilia-Julie is now called Vanessa Maxwell, in her for Nikolaev should concentrate all the evil that the experiment caused him, and they put a whip in his hand so that he hit her - or not hit her). He didn't hit. And began to UNDERSTAND.

Waking up after the "trial", he found himself in Monemvasia, from where he had to get to Phraxos by water. In the room, among other letters, I found gratitude to Alison's mother for his condolences on the death of her daughter. He was fired from school. The villa in Burani was boarded up. The summer season begins, vacationers come to the island, and he moves to Athens, continuing to investigate what really happened to him and how. In Athens, he finds out that the real Conchis died four years ago, and visits his grave, which is decorated with a fresh bouquet: a lily, a rose and small nondescript flowers with a sweet honey aroma. (From the atlas of plants, he learned that in English they are called "honey alison".) On the same day, they show him Alison - she poses under the window of the hotel, as once Robert Fulks. Relief from the fact that she is alive, mixed with rage - it turns out that she, too, is in a conspiracy.

Feeling still the subject of an experiment, Nicolae returns to London, obsessed with the only desire - to see Alison. Waiting for Alison became his main and, in fact, the only occupation. Over time, much in his soul clears up - he understood a simple thing: he needs Alice because he cannot live without her, and not in order to solve the riddles of Conchis. And now he continues his investigation with coolness, only to distract himself from longing for her. Suddenly it bears fruit;

he goes to the mother of the twins Lydia and Rosa (these are the real names of the girls) and understands who the origins of the "game of God" (as she calls it) are.

The moment comes when he finally understands that he is surrounded by real life, and not by Konchis's experiment, that the cruelty of the experiment was his own cruelty to his neighbors, revealed to him, as in a mirror ...

And then Alison gets it.

G. Yu. Shulga

French Lieutenant's Woman

Roman (1969)

On a windy March day in 1867, a young couple walks along the pier of the ancient town of Lyme Regis in southeast England. The lady is dressed in the latest London fashion in a tight red dress without a crinoline, which in this provincial outback will not be worn until next season. Her tall companion in an impeccable gray coat holds a top hat respectfully in his hand. They were Ernestine, the daughter of a wealthy businessman, and her fiancé, Charles Smithson, from an aristocratic family. Their attention is drawn to a female figure in mourning on the edge of the pier, which resembles a living monument to those who died in the depths of the sea, rather than a real creature. She is called the unfortunate Tragedy or the French Lieutenant's Woman. Two years ago, during a storm, the ship was lost, and the officer thrown ashore with a broken leg was picked up by local residents. Sarah Woodruff, who served as a governess and knew French, helped him as best she could. The lieutenant recovered, left for Weymouth, promising to return and marry Sarah. Since then, she has come out on the pier, "elephant and graceful, like the sculptures of Henry Moore," and has been waiting. When young people pass by, they are struck by her face, unforgettably tragic: "sorrow poured out of him as naturally, unclouded and endlessly as water from a forest spring." Her blade-gaze pierces Charles, who suddenly feels like a defeated enemy of a mysterious person.

Charles is thirty-two. He considers himself a talented paleontologist, but has difficulty filling the "endless enfilades of leisure." Simply put, like every smart Victorian slacker, he suffers from a Byronic spleen. His father made a decent fortune, but lost at cards. The mother died very young along with her newborn sister. Charles tries to study at Cambridge, then decides to take holy orders, but then he is hastily sent to Paris to unwind. He spends his time traveling, publishing travel notes - "fussing around with ideas becomes his main occupation in his thirties." Three months after returning from Paris, his father dies, and Charles remains the only heir to his uncle, a wealthy bachelor, and a profitable fiancé. Not indifferent to pretty girls, he deftly avoided marriage, but, having met Ernestine Freeman, he discovered in her an extraordinary mind, pleasant restraint. He is attracted to this "sugar Aphrodite", he is sexually unsatisfied, but makes a vow "not to take random women to bed and keep a healthy sexual instinct locked up." He comes to the sea for the sake of Ernestina, with whom he has been engaged for two months.

Ernestine is staying with her Aunt Tranter in Lyme Regis because her parents have got it into their heads that she is consumptive. If only they knew that Tina would live to see Hitler's attack on Poland! The girl counts the days until the wedding - almost ninety are left ... She does not know anything about copulation, suspecting gross violence in this, but she wants to have a husband and children. Charles feels that she is more in love with her marriage than with him. However, their engagement is a mutually beneficial affair. Mr. Freeman, justifying his surname (a free man), directly reports his desire to intermarry with an aristocrat, despite the fact that Charles, carried away by Darwinism, with pathos proves to him that he descended from a monkey.

Bored, Charles begins to search for fossils, which the surroundings of the town are famous for, and accidentally sees the French Lieutenant's Woman, lonely and suffering, on the Ware wasteland. Old Mrs. Poultney, known for her tyranny, took Sarah Woodruff as a companion in order to excel in charity. Charles, whose duty it is to pay visits three times a week, meets Sarah in her house and is surprised at her independence.

The dull course of dinner is diversified only by the persistent courtship of blue-eyed Sam, Charles's servant, for Miss Tranter's maid Mary, the most beautiful, direct, as if poured girl.

The next day, Charles again comes to the wasteland and finds Sarah on the edge of a cliff, crying, with a captivating gloomy face. Suddenly, she takes two starfish out of her pocket and hands them to Charles. "A gentleman who values ​​his reputation should not be seen in the company of the Whore of Babylon Lyme," she says. Smithson understands that he should stay away from this strange person, but Sarah personifies the desired and inexhaustible possibilities, and Ernestine, no matter how he persuades himself, sometimes looks like "a cunning wind-up doll from Hoffmann's fairy tales."

That same evening, Charles gives a dinner in honor of Tina and her aunt. Also invited is the brisk Irishman Dr. Grogan, a bachelor who has been courting the old maid Miss Tranter for many years. The doctor does not share Charles' commitment to paleontology and sighs that we know less about living organisms than about fossils. Alone with him, Smithson asks about the oddities of the French lieutenant's Woman. The doctor explains Sarah's condition with bouts of melancholy and psychosis, as a result of which grief for her becomes happiness. Now meetings with her seem to Charles filled with philanthropic meaning.

One day, Sarah takes him to a secluded corner on a hillside and tells the story of her misfortune, remembering how handsome the rescued lieutenant was and how bitterly she was deceived when she followed him to Aimus and gave herself to him in a completely indecent hotel:

"That was the devil in the guise of a sailor!" The confession shocks Charles. He discovers in Sarah passion and imagination - two qualities typical of the English, but completely suppressed by the era of universal hypocrisy. The girl admits that she no longer hopes for the return of the French lieutenant, because she knows about his marriage. Descending into the hollow, they suddenly notice Sam and Mary hugging and hide. Sarah smiles like she's taking off her clothes. She challenges the noble manners, the learning of Charles, his habit of rational analysis.

At the inn, a terrified Smithson is in for another shock: an aged uncle, Sir Robert, announces his marriage to an "unpleasantly young" widow, Mrs. Tomkins, and, consequently, deprives his nephew of his title and inheritance. Ernestina is disappointed by this turn of events. Smithson also doubts the correctness of his choice, a new passion flares up in him. Wanting to think things over, he is going to leave for London. A note is brought from Sarah, written in French, as if in memory of the lieutenant, asking her to come at dawn. Confused, Charles confesses to the doctor that he had secret meetings with the girl. Grogan tries to explain to him that Sarah is leading him by the nose, and as proof he gives him a report on the trial that took place in 1835 on one officer. He was accused of writing anonymous threatening letters to the family of the commander and violence against his sixteen-year-old daughter Marie. A duel followed, an arrest, ten years in prison. Later, an experienced lawyer guessed that the dates of the most obscene letters coincided with the days of Marie's menstruation, who had a psychosis of jealousy for the young man's mistress ... However, nothing can stop Charles, and with the first glimpse of dawn, he goes on a date. Sarah is driven out of the house by Mrs. Poultney, who is unable to bear the willfulness and bad reputation of a companion. Sarah hides in the barn, where her explanation with Charles takes place. Unfortunately, no sooner had they kissed than Sam and Mary appeared on the threshold. Smithson takes a promise from them to remain silent and, without confessing anything to Ernestine, hastily travels to London. Sarah is hiding in Exeter. She has ten sovereigns left by Charles as parting, and this gives her a bit of freedom.

Smithson has to discuss the upcoming wedding with Ernestine's father. Once, seeing a prostitute who looks like Sarah on the street, he hires her, but feels a sudden nausea. In addition, the whore is also named Sarah.

Soon Charles receives a letter from Exeter and goes there, but, not seeing Sarah, decides to go further, to Lyme Regis, to Ernestine. Their reunion ends with a wedding. Surrounded by seven children, they live happily ever after. Nothing is heard of Sarah.

But this ending is uninteresting. Let's get back to the letter. So Charles hurries to Exeter and finds Sarah there. In her eyes, the sadness of expectation. "We don't have to... this is crazy," Charles rambles incoherently. He "sticks his lips into her mouth, as if he is hungry not just for a woman, but for everything that has been banned for so long." Charles does not immediately realize that Sarah is a virgin, and all stories about the lieutenant are lies. While he is in church begging for forgiveness, Sarah disappears. Smithson writes to her about his decision to marry and take her away. He experiences a surge of confidence and courage, terminates the engagement with Tina, preparing to devote his whole life to Sarah, but cannot find her. Finally, two years later, in America, he receives the long-awaited news. Returning to London, Smithson finds Sarah in the Rosetti house, among the artists. Here, a one-year-old daughter named Aalage the Brook is waiting for him.

No, and this path is not for Charles. He does not agree to be a toy in the hands of a woman who has achieved exclusive power over him. Sarah had previously called him her only hope, but when he arrived in Exeter, he realized that he had switched roles with her. She keeps him out of pity, and Charles rejects this sacrifice. He wants to return to America, where he discovered "a particle of faith in himself." He understands that life must be endured to the best of his ability in order to again go out into the blind, salty, dark ocean.

V. S. Kulagina-Yartseva

(Look back in Anger)

Play (1956)

The play takes place in Jimmy and Alison Porter's studio apartment in Birmingham, one of the major cities in Middle England, on a Sunday evening. Jimmy and his friend Cliff, who lives next door, sit in armchairs and read newspapers. Jimmy, a young man of about twenty-five, is an annoying mixture of sincerity and mocking anger, gentleness and unabashed cruelty. He is impatient, obsessive and selfish, a combination that can turn anyone off. His flamboyant temperament helps him almost always have the last word.

Cliff, the same age as Jimmy, is calm and slow to the point of apathy. On his sad face lies the seal of the natural mind - the property of the self-taught. If Jimmy pushes people away from him, then Cliff cannot but arouse sympathy, or at least outward disposition, even among cautious people. He is Jimmy's inevitable soothing opposite.

Alison, Jimmy's wife, is at the ironing board ironing clothes. She is about the same age as men, tall, graceful brown-haired, with delicate features of a thoroughbred face. In her large and deep eyes there is some hidden obstinacy that makes her reckon with.

The room is quiet. Suddenly, Jimmy throws the newspaper on the floor, starts hitting on Cliff and tries to piss off Alison with rude attacks towards her father, mother and brother. Alison pretends not to react. She notices that Cliff's new trousers are wrinkled and asks to be ironed. Jimmy's attacks follow one after another. In the end, he arranges a fight with Cliff, and during the fight, he deliberately pushes him onto the ironing board. The board topples over, Cliff and Alison fall with it. Alison screams in pain: she has been burned by the iron. Cliff motions for Jimmy to leave while he tries to calm Alison down. It is felt that she is at the limit and barely holding back tears.

In a conversation, she confesses to Cliff that she is pregnant, but Jimmy has not yet said this and does not want to talk, fearing that he will begin to suspect her of some machinations, because he does not want to have a child until they have neither their own apartment nor of money. Cliff is very gentle with Alison and tries to reassure her that telling Jimmy about the baby will work out. Then Jimmy returns and tries to make peace with Alison, then he is called to the phone. Elena, Alison's friend, is calling. She is an actress and has just arrived in town with her troupe. By prior arrangement with Alison, she is going to rent a free room in their own house. Jimmy considers Elena his natural enemy, as she turns Alison against him. He again breaks out into angry outpourings and agrees to the point that, they say, he would like to see how something shook his wife well, for example, so that she would have a child, and then suddenly die. Alison, dazed, recoils from him, throws her head back as if to scream; her lips tremble.

Some time later, Elena arrives. She is the same age as Alison, dressed expensively and tastefully. When her dry and wary expression softens, she becomes very attractive. From her comes a consciousness of female superiority, so that not only men, but even women of her age, like Alison, pay tribute and admiration for her person. In Jimmy, as one would expect, she excites all the dark instincts, all the evil inclinations of his nature. However, Elena is not used to defending herself from ridicule and feels downright obligated to act confidently and with dignity, which forces her to be in constant tension, and this is already annoying. At Alison's request, she stays with them after the departure of the troupe for another week.

One evening, two weeks after Elena's arrival, she and Alison have a serious conversation about the reasons that led her friend to marry Jimmy four years ago, and about her current life with him. When Alison first saw Jimmy at someone's house, she was twenty years old. She had just returned with her parents from India, where her father, a colonel, served for several decades. Here, in England, at first everything seemed somehow unsettled. Jimmy came to visit her friends on a bicycle, his jacket was splattered with machine oil. Soon, despite the fact that in society men met him with distrust, and women generally tried to show contempt for such a strange creature, she began to meet with him. At her house there were constant cries of horror and bewilderment about this. Her mother was especially indignant, but this only accelerated everything. It didn't really matter if he loved her or not. Jimmy decided to marry her by all means to challenge her environment. After they got married, they lived with Jimmy's high school friend, Hugh. In terms of temperament and outlook on life, both were very close to each other. Alison's relationship with Hugh did not work out because of his scandalous nature, and after a while he got it into his head to go abroad - to China. He called with him and Jimmy, he, however, refused. There was a terrible scandal. Hugh left, leaving his mother in England to fend for herself. Alison sometimes thinks that in her heart Hugh blames Jimmy for leaving, although she never talks about it. Sometimes she even wished they would both leave and leave her alone at last.

Elena convinces her friend to decide what she will do next, because she will have a child, and first takes her to a church where Alison has not been since she got married.

At dinner, Jimmy, as usual, tries to bring his wife and Elena to white heat, but does not achieve much success in this. Then, wanting to show how much he had to suffer in life and what a vulnerable nature he is, he begins to tell how he watched the slow death of his father, who returned from the Spanish war, for a whole year. After that, he calls his wife Judas and a weakling. Alison throws the cup on the floor. He finally got his way.

Elena informs her friend that she sent a telegram to her father asking her to take Alison out of this house. She agrees to go to her parents. It is assumed that Elena will leave with her. The next day, while Jimmy is away, Alison, having collected all her things, leaves with her father who came for her. Helena stays supposedly for one more day under the pretext that she has urgent business in Birmingham.

Jimmy soon arrives, to whom she informs him of his wife's departure and of her pregnancy. He pretends not to care about it, insults her and achieves that he receives a slap from Elena. An expression of horror and amazement appears on his face. Elena takes her hand away from his face, suddenly kisses him and pulls him to her.

A few months later, when Elena is firmly established in Jimmy's room, she, like Alison before her, irons Jimmy's shirts on Sunday evenings. She reacts to Jimmy's attacks in a completely different way than Alison: sometimes with laughter, sometimes with amazement. Out of habit, the buddies arrange a fuss on the floor, during which Jimmy accidentally vomits and stains Cliff's only clean shirt. Cliff reluctantly gives it to Elena, who offers to fix the shirt. While she is out of the room, he informs Jimmy that he is going to move away from them because Elena is having a hard time caring for both of them. Elena gives him the shirt and Cliff goes to her room.

Soon Alison appears at the door. She recently lost her baby and hasn't fully recovered yet. She talks to Elena about Jimmy, about how, in her opinion, he was born at the wrong time. He is one of those who are called "prominent Victorians", and therefore somewhat ridiculous, but she loves him. Elena admits that everything is over between her and Jimmy. She cannot build her happiness on the misfortune of another, and then, they are too different from him. She leaves and Alison stays with her husband. Seeing how much she's been through, Jimmy softens. They reconcile, with sadness and with hidden tenderness they make plans for the future.

E. V. Semina

Play (1960)

A room full of junk. In the back wall is a window covered with burlap. A bucket is suspended from the ceiling. There are two iron beds in the room, Mick is sitting on one of them. Hearing the front door slam, he gets up and slowly walks out. Enter Aston and Davis. Davis was very tired and excited: he was fired from the diner where he worked, and on top of that he was almost beaten. Aston, who accidentally entered the diner that evening, literally saved him and brought him to him. Davis is very grateful to him for this. Davis always remembers how the foreigners sat quietly, while he, an Englishman, had nowhere to stumble and had to work without rest. When Davis was told to take out a bucket of slop, he flared up: it's not his job. Although he is a vagabond, he is no worse than others and he has no less rights. He did not have time to pick up his bag from the diner, she remained in the back room, and in it - all his things. Aston promises to drop by sometime and bring Davis a bag. Davis asks if Aston has an extra pair of boots. After searching under the bed, Aston hands Davis his shoes. He tries on, thinks aloud, in the end decides that they do not suit him: he has a wide leg, and the shoes have a sharp toe, he does not go through them for a long time. Davis has to walk a lot to settle down somewhere. Aston invites Davis to stay with him until he settles down: there is a second bed in the room. Throughout the conversation, Aston is fixing the fork of an old toaster. He says that he loves to work with his hands, that he is going to build a shed in the yard ... Finding out that Davis is tight with money, Aston gives him a couple of coins. Davis is waiting for the weather to clear, then he will go to Sidcup, where his papers are. Fifteen years ago, during the war, he gave them to his friend for safekeeping, but he still hasn't taken them back. It will be much easier for him with documents, because everything about him is written there: who he is and where he comes from, otherwise he lives under a false name. His real name is Mac Davis, and everyone knows him as Bernard Jenkins. Suddenly Davis notices a bucket upstairs. Aston explains that the roof is leaking. Davis asks permission to lie on Aston's bed. Davis goes to bed. Aston keeps fiddling with the fork. In the morning Aston wakes up Davis, says that he was noisy at night: moaning, muttering. Davis doesn't believe. He never dreams, like Aston, why would he mutter? Davis suggests that the black -haired people living in the neighborhood were noisy. Aston is about to leave. Davis thinks he should leave too, but Aston allows him to stay and gives him the keys to the room and the front door. Davies wants to go to Wembley later: there used to be a need for people, maybe he can fit in. They want to get rid of foreigners there, so that only Englishmen pour tea, so he hopes that they will take it. Aston leaves. After waiting a few minutes, Davis begins to rummage through the rubbish piled in heaps in the room. He doesn't notice Mick enter, who is watching him, then grabs his arm and twists it behind his back. Mick looks around the room, not letting Davis get up, then asks him: "What are we playing?" He asks Davis what his name is. "Jenkins," Davis replies. Mick says that Davis is like two drops of water like his uncle's brother. His name is Sid. Mick could never understand how Sid was his uncle's brother. He often thought that it was the other way around, that is, that his uncle was Sid's brother. Eventually Sid married a Chinese woman and moved to Jamaica. Mick asks how Davis liked his room. Davis wonders if this is Mick's room?

Davis tries to get his trousers off the hanger, but Mick stops him from doing so. Mick says that the bed Davis slept on is his bed and the other one is his mother's bed. He calls Davis a crook. He says he could get three hundred and fifty pounds a year for his apartment. If you add furniture and equipment, taxes, heating and water to this, you get eight hundred and ninety pounds. He suggests that Davis sign a contract to rent an apartment, otherwise he will turn Davis in to the police and plant him for violation of the inviolability of the home, vagrancy, robbery in broad daylight, etc. He asks Davis what bank he has an account with. Enter Aston. Mick turns around and drops Davis' trousers. Aston walks over to his bed, puts his bag on it, and starts fixing the toaster again. A drop drips into a bucket on the ceiling. Everyone is shaking their heads. Aston promises to tar the cracks in the roof. He says he brought Davis' bag, but Mick immediately grabs it and doesn't want to give it to Davis. Everyone takes the bag out of each other's hands for a long time. Finally, Davis still manages to take it away. A drop falls into the bucket again. Everyone turns their heads again. Mick leaves. Davis questions Aston about Mick. Aston says that Mick is his brother, he works in the construction business, he has his own van. The house belongs to Mick, and Aston promised him to finish the entire floor so that there would be an apartment here. Aston will build a shed in the yard, make a workshop for himself in it, and then he will already take up the apartment. Looking at the bag, Davis realizes that it is not his bag. Aston says that someone took his bag, so he got this one from a completely different place. Davis examines the clothes that are in it, criticizes the shirts, but he likes the home jacket. Aston invites him to stay and look after the house. Davis has never been a watchman before and is afraid: what if he comes down to answer the call, and it turns out to be the Scot who wanted to beat him in the diner: he will track him down and come. And that's where Davis is unhappy.

It's dark in the room. Davis enters and flicks the switch several times, but the light does not come on. Davis stumbles in the dark, strikes a match, but it quickly burns out. He drops the box and cannot find it in any way: someone has taken it. Davis walks forward, falls and screams. Then he gets up and walks again. Suddenly, the vacuum cleaner starts buzzing. The vacuum cleaner slides across the floor behind Davis, who tries to escape, but falls. The man with the vacuum cleaner - Mick. He says he was doing some spring cleaning, and because the socket was broken, he plugged the vacuum cleaner into a lamp socket. Turning off the vacuum cleaner, he screwed the light bulb back into the socket, and the light came on. Davis is offended: Mick plays pranks on him all the time. Mick treats Davis to a sandwich. He says he is interested in his brother's friends. Davis objects: they are not such friends with Aston, Davis cannot figure him out in any way. Mick complains that Aston doesn't like to work. Mick wants to take matters into his own hands and invites Davis to stay here as a watchman. Mick asks if Davis has any recommendations. Davis replies that his recommendations, as well as other papers, are in Sidkal. As soon as the weather clears up, he will certainly go there, only good shoes are needed. Davis asks Mick to get him some boots.

Aston wakes Davis: the old man was going to Sidcup and asked to wake him. But the weather is not so hot again, besides, Davis did not sleep well: the rain pours right on his head, it blows from the window. But Aston does not want to close the window: the room is stuffy. Aston advises Davis to sleep with his feet to the window, then the rain does not fall on his head. Aston tells how he had something like hallucinations. He saw everything very clearly. And then one day he was taken to the hospital, and there the doctor said that he had a chance to recover, but for this something had to be done with his brain. Aston was underage, so his mother's permission was required. Aston hoped that his mother would not agree to the operation, but she signed the paper. Aston tried to escape from the hospital, but was caught. He resisted and did not want to lie down on the bed, so the doctors put clamps on his head while he was standing, although this was not supposed to be done. Therefore, when Aston left the hospital, he could not walk, he was tormented by headaches and he could not collect his thoughts. Gradually he got better, but he stopped communicating with people.

Two weeks later. Mick lies on the floor with a rolled carpet under his head and looks up at the ceiling. Davies sits on a chair and talks about how if no water drips into the bucket, Aston must have tarred over the cracks in the roof. He complains to Mick that Aston has stopped talking to him altogether. Mick tells how he would like to furnish his house. Davis complains about Aston again. It is much easier for him with Mick: although Mick has oddities, at least everything is clear with him. Davis asks Mick to talk to Aston. Davis would help Mick put the house in order if it was just the two of them, he and Mick. Davis asks Mick where he lives now. Mick replies that he has a nice apartment and invites Davis to come over to his place sometime to have a drink and listen to Tchaikovsky together. The front door slams. Mick gets up and leaves. Aston enters with a large paper bag containing Davis' boots. Davis says they don't fit him, plus they don't have laces. Aston finds the laces under the bed, and Davis decides to wear the shoes anyway until he gets the others. If the weather clears tomorrow, he will go to Sidkal in them for his papers. At night, Davis moans in his sleep and disturbs Aston's sleep. Aston wakes him up, but Davis scolds him for the mess in the house, for the cold, calls him a psycho. Aston asks Davies to look for another place to live as they don't get along, but Davis doesn't want to go anywhere, he lives here, he was offered a job here and was promised a salary, so let Aston find himself another place to live. Davis points a knife at Aston, but Aston is not afraid. He takes Davis's bag, stuffs his stuff into it, and kicks Davis out. Davis leaves.

Davis complains to Mick about Aston. He advises Mick to kick out his brother. Mick discusses with Davis a plan for decorating the space. He is ready to entrust the decoration of the rooms to Davis, if he is a first-class interior specialist. But Davis had never done anything like that in his life. Mick says that Davis deceived him: after all, he called himself an experienced decorator. Davis counters: he didn't claim to be a decorator at all. Mick calls him an impostor. Davis thinks Aston let him down because he's crazy. Mick is offended: what right does Davis have to call his brother crazy? He decides to count Davis. Let Aston take care of this house himself, he, Mick, has other things to worry about, and he doesn't care about Davis. Aston enters. The brothers look at each other and smile almost imperceptibly. Mick leaves. Davis tries to make amends with Aston. He is ready to guard the house and help Aston build a barn. But Aston doesn't need Davis' help. Davis is ready to yield to him in everything, but Aston does not want Davis to stay in the house. Davis asks Aston not to send him away. Aston is silent, turning to the window. Davis continues to beg Aston, but he does not answer.

O. E. Grinberg

(The Spy Who Came in From the Cold)

Roman (1963)

The action takes place in the sixties, during the Cold War, when espionage was one of the main means of struggle between two hostile political systems. The head of the British station in East Berlin, Alec Leamas, after the death of one of his main agents, SED member Karl Riemek, is recalled to London, and he is threatened with retirement. It is believed that in the fight against East German intelligence, whose operations department is headed by Hans Dieter Mundt, Leamas lost, losing all his best agents.

However, the leadership of British intelligence gives Limas one last chance - to take part in a risky operation to discredit Mundt in the eyes of the GDR government as an agent of London. Limas is allegedly retired, and for some time he drags out a miserable existence, drinking. Leamas knows that sooner or later Mundt's people will make contact with him, because, as a former intelligence officer, he has valuable information for which foreign intelligence will pay a lot, and Leamas is poor. Limas' beloved, a member of the English Communist Party, Elizabeth Gold, is also involved in the operation.

Mundt's people contact Aimas and offer him to move to Holland, where he can tell them everything he knows and get a large amount of money. In Holland, he meets with the German intelligence officer Peters, who asks Leamas for all the details of undercover work. The purpose of Leamas is to give such information that Mundt's chief Fiedler, who hates his subordinate, could use for his own purposes. To meet with Fiedler, Limas is eventually transferred to the GDR. Leamas makes it clear to Fiedler that British intelligence has a very valuable agent in this country, with whom London maintains direct contacts and whose name Leamas himself does not know. It could very well be Mundt, who used to be the East German intelligence resident in London and narrowly slipped away after his failure to be wanted all over England. This strange episode in his biography attracts the attention of Fiedler, who has long been collecting compromising materials on Mundt.

During conversations with Fiedler, the question arises: what do both warring systems see as a justification for their actions? Fiedler justifies any crimes by saying that the socialist system defends itself against counter-revolution, that there can be no one hundred percent justice in the struggle for peace and progress, that intelligence is a weapon in the hands of the party, etc. Leemas' answers are not so categorical, but it is still clear that the end justifies the means, although Leamas himself is far from cynicism, unlike Fiedler. He is already tired of the endless struggle and wants to return home to England.

However, Mundt learns about the intrigues of Fiedler and arrests him and Limas, the latter at the time of arrest in a fight kills the guard, and now he must be tried according to the laws of the GDR. Mundt interrogates Limas in prison, but at the last moment Fiedler appears, who presented his materials to the Presidium of the State Council and found support there. Mundt is arrested and will be tried by a tribunal appointed by the Presidium, Fiedler will act as prosecutor, and Limas as a witness for the prosecution. Mundt will be defended by the famous lawyer Carden, who is going to present to the court an unknown witness for the defense. This witness turns out to be Elizabeth Gold, who, suspecting nothing, comes to the GDR at the invitation of the German communists. From her testimony, Carden extracts information indicating that British intelligence is behind Leamas - after the disappearance of Leamas, some people came to Elizabeth, she received a significant amount of money from someone unknown, etc. Leamas made a mistake by contacting this woman - she knew too much, while not understanding anything in what was happening. Leamas deceived Fiedler, who tried to discredit Mundt, an honest member of the party - this is the conclusion that Cardin and the entire tribunal come to, believing that the intrigues of Western agents have been exposed. This is recognized by Leamas, who only at the last moment guessed what the true intention of his bosses, led by the famous Smiley, was. Mundt is acquitted, and Fiedler is going to be punished - this is exactly what they wanted in London, because Mundt was that very important agent whom, without knowing it, Leamas hinted to Fiedler. Limas and his beloved were used for their own purposes, first by British intelligence, and then by Fiedler to remove Mundt, and, finally, by the court machine of the GDR, allegedly to expose the intrigues of the enemy, who, in fact, in the person of Mundt, gets out of the water dry and helps Limas and Elisabeth escape from prisons. However, both of them are no longer needed by anyone - the warring systems used them, and the heroes die, shot by border guards at the moment of crossing the border into West Berlin. Such is the fate of a particular "little" man, destroyed by the millstones of the infernal machine of the Cold War.

A. P. Shishkin

(Rosencrantz and Guildenstem are dead)

Play (1967)

"Two men, dressed in Elizabethan costumes, spend time in an area devoid of any characteristic features." Rosencrantz and Guildensgern are playing toss; Guildensgern takes a coin out of his purse, tosses it up, and Rosencrantz, watching it fall, says "eagle" and drops the coin into his purse. Guildenstern's purse is almost empty, Rosencrantz's purse is almost full: heads, incredible as it may seem, fall all the time, and they have been playing for a long time. Guildenstern does not care about money, he is trying to understand the meaning of what is happening, because "it must mean something else besides the redistribution of capital." He tries to look at the matter both from a philosophical and scientific point of view. Rosencrantz and Guildensgern have played so much that they no longer remember where they are or what happened to them. With difficulty, they remember that a messenger has come to them. They probably need to go somewhere, but where? Guildensgern finds the answer to this difficult question: they need to move FORWARD. But they have already forgotten which side they came from. They feel lonely and abandoned. Music is heard in the distance, and six actors soon appear. They offer to give Rosencrantz and Guildenstern a complete set of chilling plots, heroes and corpses for a few hard cash. For an additional fee, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern will be able to take part in the action. Rosencrantz asks how much it costs to watch a private performance and if two spectators are enough. The actor replies that two people as an audience are deplorable, but as connoisseurs - ideal. Hearing the price, Rosencrantz is horrified. But it turns out that he misunderstood what the Actor meant. The actor is ready to provide boys at their disposal. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are disgusted with the actors, but the actors say that these are the times. When asked by Rosencrantz what they usually do, the actors answer that they do ordinary things, only inside out. They represent on the stage what is happening outside it, "in which there is a kind of unity - if you look at every exit as an entrance somewhere." Rosencrantz doesn't want to pay more than one coin per performance. The actor is not satisfied with such a fee, and Guildenstern invites him to play toss. They each call heads in turn, and since the coins still land heads up every time, they each win in turn. Guildenstern bets that the year of his birth, multiplied by two, gives an even number. He wins, but the actors don't have the money to pay. Guildenstern demands that instead of money they play a play, but only a decent one - for example, some Greek tragedy.

"There is a change in lighting, as a result of which the outside world seems to be included in the action, but not very strongly." Ophelia runs onto the stage, followed by Hamlet, a silent scene takes place between them, Ophelia runs away. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern want to leave, but then Claudius and Gertrude enter, who, confusing Rosencrantz and Guildenstern with each other, ask them to stay and find out what kind of longing is eating Hamlet. Rosencrantz does not like all this: he wants to go home, but he has lost his bearings and no longer knows from which direction they came. Guildenstern remarks philosophically: "The only entrance is birth, the only exit is death. What other guidelines do you have?" Rosencrantz has already forgotten what to do, and Guildenstern reminds him that they must entertain Hamlet and find out what is troubling him along the way. The king has promised that he will not be indebted, and Rosencrantz is very eager to know how much they will receive, but Guildenstern is sure that royal thanks are words, words. To pass the time and practice, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern play questions, in the end they themselves no longer understand what game they are playing and what its rules are. Hamlet wanders past them across the stage, he is reading a book and does not notice them. While Rosencrantz and Guildenstern figure out what's the matter, Hamlet has time to leave. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern practice: Rosencrantz asks questions and Guildenstern answers on Hamlet's behalf. Rosencrantz sums up: Hamlet's father died, and his brother climbed onto his throne and his bed, thus offending the moral and physical laws. But why does Hamlet behave in such a strange way? Guildenstern honestly replies that he has no idea. Enter Hamlet and Polonius. When Polonius leaves, Hamlet joyfully greets Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, confusing them for each other. He tells them that he is mad only in the north-north-west, and in the south wind he can still distinguish a falcon from a heron. After talking with him, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern feel that he has made a fool of them: in ten minutes he asked them twenty-seven questions, and answered only three. Half of what he said meant something else, and the other half meant nothing at all. They are trying for a long time to determine whether the wind is south or not south, but they fail. Word for word, they forget what they started talking about. Suddenly Rosencrantz shouts: "It's on fire!" Not really on fire anywhere, he just wanted to show what it means to abuse free speech to make sure it exists.

The actors arrive at Elsinore. Hamlet asks them to play "The Murder of Gonzago" and is going to compose and insert a monologue into it. The actor, having met Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, expresses his resentment to them: the actors began to play, got a taste, two corpses were already lying, and then they noticed that no one was looking at them, that they were crucifying under an empty sky, and yet the consciousness that someone something looks, - the only thing that makes this life bearable, because actors are something opposite to people. Guildenstern complains to the Actor that he and Rosencrantz don't know what's going on and don't know what to do. They only know what they are told, which is not much, and besides, they are not convinced that this is the truth. Rosencrantz explains that Hamlet has changed externally and internally and they must find out what influenced him. Hamlet talks to himself, and this is a sign of madness. True, while he says reasonable things. Guildenstern seems to have understood: "A man who talks to himself, but with meaning, is no more mad than a man who talks to others, but is talking nonsense." Rosencrantz notes that since Hamlet does this and that, it means that he is clinically normal. The actor leaves to learn the role, while Rosencrantz and Guildenstern talk about death. Rosenkranz believes that a person is born with a premonition of death and, barely born, he knows that for all the compasses in the world there is only one direction and time - its measure. Guildenstern says that death accompanied by eternity is the worst thing in both worlds. The actors appear and begin to rehearse the mime, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern watch.

Interrupting the rehearsal, Ophelia runs onto the stage, pursued by Hamlet, who in hysterics grabs her by the sleeve, shouts at her, etc. After the words "to the monastery, to the monastery," Hamlet leaves, and Claudius and Polonius, who came to the rescue, caught Ophelia in tears, decide that Hamlet's soul is not occupied with love. Claudius decides to send Hamlet to England as soon as possible. When Claudius, Polonius and Ophelia leave, the actors resume their rehearsal. They disagree with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in their views on art. The actor believes that murder, seduction and incest is exactly what the public needs. Rosencrantz loves a good story - with a beginning, middle and end. Guildenstern would have preferred art as a mirror of life. The actor comments on the pantomime to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern: on the stage there is a stylized scene of the murder of Polonius being stabbed through the curtain. Then the actor-king sends his actor-nephew to England, accompanied by two smiling spies, but the prince disappears, and the spies have a letter in their hands dooming them to death. The English king, having read the letter, orders their execution.

When the cloaks are torn off the spies before execution, it turns out that under the cloaks both spies are dressed in costumes similar to the costumes of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern themselves. It seems to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern that they have already met these people somewhere, but they do not recognize themselves in them. "Spies die slowly but convincingly." Rosencrantz applauds slowly. During the blackout, shouts are heard: "The King rises!", "Stop the show!", "Light!". When it begins to lighten up, it becomes clear that this is a sunrise, and two people lying on the stage in the same positions as the executed spies are the sleeping Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. When they wake up, they try to determine which way is east. From behind the scene, Claudius calls them: Hamlet killed Polonius, and we must take his body to the chapel. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are walking around the stage without knowing which way to go. While they clumsily try to catch Hamlet, he manages to carry away and hide the body, and then disappears himself. Afraid to admit to Claudius that they missed Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern try to get out, but, fortunately for them, the guards bring Hamlet - and the situation is saved. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are to sail with Hamlet to England. Hamlet asks a warrior in armor about the army of the old Norwegian under the leadership of his nephew Fortinbras.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern on the ship. They, as always, are meaningless-philosophical conversation. Guildenstern says: "Man is free on a ship. Temporarily. Relatively." They carry a letter from the king to England, and also accompany Hamlet. Rosencrantz holds out his fisted hands to Guildenstern, asking him to guess which hand holds the coin. Having guessed several times in a row and received several coins, Guildenstern begins to suspect a trick and demands that Rosencrantz unclench his second fist. It also contains a coin. Guildenstern wonders: what's the point? Rosencrantz explains that he wanted to please Guildenstern. They do not really know why they are sailing to England, what to do when they land. Rosencrantz doesn't even know who the King of England is now, in response to which Guildenstern remarks philosophically, "Depends on when we get there." Rosencrantz and Guildenstern can't remember which of them has the letter, finally everything is explained, and they sigh with relief. Rosencrantz says he doesn't believe in England. "And even if it exists, all the same, only one more nonsense will come out," he adds after thinking. They open and read the letter condemning Hamlet to death. Hamlet, hiding behind a large open umbrella, eavesdrops, and when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern fall asleep, he replaces the letter. In the morning, music is heard from the barrels standing on the deck, and the actors who have crept aboard the ship are slowly getting out. Their play offended the king, and they thought it best to get out of Elsinore as soon as possible. Rosencrantz explodes: there are only accidents around, do people really not have the right to at least some logical course of things ?!

At this moment, pirates attack the ship. Hamlet hides in one barrel. The actor - in another, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern - in the third. When the danger has passed. The actor and Rosencrantz with Guildenstern find themselves in the wrong barrels, where they climbed, and the barrel with Hamlet disappears. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are at a loss, but they still have a letter to deliver to the English king. Guildenstern grabs the letter, opens it and reads the request to immediately behead the bearers of this letter, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. At the command of the Actor, no one knows when the rest of the actors who have climbed into it crawl out of the barrel and close in a menacing ring around Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Guildenstern is perplexed: "Is it all just for this? Is this whole farce reduced to just our two little deaths?" Experience tells the Actor that most things end in death, but Guildenstern objects:

his experience is that of an actor, and real death is quite another. He grabs a stiletto from the Actor's belt and thrusts it into the Actor's throat, he falls and dies. The rest of the actors applaud admiringly, and the Actor, to Guildenstern's astonishment, stands up. He shows that his stiletto has a secret: when it is pressed, the blade goes into the handle. The actors demonstrate to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern "death of all times and types." Guildenstern says that is not the case for them: dying is not romantic, and death is not a game that will end soon. Death is the absence of presence, the door to the void. First Rosencrantz, then Guildenstern disappear from sight. The scene is illuminated by light, in the depths of it the bodies of the actors are visible, lying as at the end of a Shakespeare play. The play ends with the ambassador's and Horatio's remarks from the last scene of Hamlet.

O. E. Grinberg

(The Garrick Year)

Roman (1964)

The novel is set in England in the early XNUMXs. The heroine of the novel, Emma Evans, on whose behalf the story is being told, recalls the events that happened to her a few months earlier.

Emma's husband David is an actor. He acts mainly on television, but one day the famous theater director Wyndham Ferrer invites him to take part in a theater festival, which he organizes in the small provincial town of Hereford, where a new theater is opening. The work is interesting - he is offered several main roles, but Emma does not want to leave London even for six months.

Emma and David met four years ago. Emma was a fairly well-known fashion model and fashion model. One day she accidentally saw David at the TV studio, and a week later they suddenly found themselves in the same train compartment. There they met, they had a stormy romance, and a few months later they got married. According to Emma herself, "they got married hastily, but repented slowly." Daughter Flora was born, Emma spent almost all the time at home, went, as they say, "everyday life that extinguished passion." When Flora was about two years old, Joe was born.

Joe is now seven months old, Emma stays at home, however, she has an au pair - a young French woman Pascal, but Emma breastfeeds Joe and is still attached to the house. She's been asked to work on television reading the news and announcing shows, and Emma would be happy to accept, but that's when Wyndham Ferrer shows up with her offer.

During one of the quarrels, David hits the wall with his fist, Emma's favorite wallpaper is torn, the wall cracks. Perhaps the Evans' married life is also bursting at the seams?

True, having gone to Hereford, Emma is delighted with this small town, by the way, the birthplace of many famous English actors - Garrick, Kemble, Sarah Siddons, Nell Gwyn (the title of the novel - "The Garrick Year" - can be translated as "The Year of Garrick" ). Back in London, Emma contacts real estate agencies and soon finds an old house that used to be a stable on the ground floor and is now a garage, and rents it for her family. Emma generally hates everything standard - clothes, housing, furniture. He dresses extravagantly, buys some unthinkable hats and dresses at the market, loves Victorian furniture and knick-knacks. And at home, too, loves unusual. So when she moves to Hereford, Emma is horrified by the fact that the landlord has furnished the house with modern faceless furniture. And David is completely calm about such an environment - only convenience is important to him.

Almost immediately after their arrival, Emma and David go to a reception hosted by the municipality in honor of the touring troupe. There she meets the actors who will work with David - pretty but stupid Sophie Brent, prima Natalie Winter and others. At the reception, she sees a couple of respectable bourgeois Scotts, with whose daughter Mary she once studied at school. And after the reception, several actors gather at David and Emma's house, but Emma is not too interested in their eternal talk about the theater.

Emma's life in Hereford is slowly getting back on track. In the morning - shopping, then a walk with the children, during the day she sometimes goes to a cafe with actors, in the evening she either goes to the theater or spends time watching TV. David rehearses a lot - he is busy in two plays: with Ferrer he plays in "The White Devil", with another director, Selina, he plays in "Secret Marriage".

One day in the foyer of the theater Ferrer notices Emma and pays attention to her. On the day of the dress rehearsal of The White Devil, Emma comes to the theater, the rehearsal drags on, and already late at night, when the lights suddenly go out in the theater, Emma, ​​who is about to go home, runs into Ferrer in a dark corridor, who appoints her a date.

Her strange affair with Ferrer begins. They meet almost every week, go to dinner in a small restaurant in Wales, walk around the outskirts of Hereford. They are probably in love with each other, but Emma does not want to become his mistress. Either she understands that for Ferrer she is just another hobby, or she does not want to betray David. One day, returning home after a meeting with Ferrer, Emma feels that the apartment smells of gas, and, running into the kitchen, sees that the gas valve is open. Luckily, nothing bad happens, but Emma wonders what might have happened if she'd stayed a couple more hours.

Once Ferrer, referring to the fact that he is sick, invites Emma to his home. And Emma fries him scrambled eggs and bacon, seeing the sink littered with plates, washes the dishes, and when Ferrer tries to hug her, ironically asks if he was going to ask her to sew on his torn off button.

But their strange relationship still continues. Emma understands that they will not lead to anything serious, but still does not tear them.

One evening after another premiere, Ferrer escorts her home, and on the first floor of the Evans house, they accidentally discover Sophie Brent and David passionately kissing. This incident David and Emma are passed over in silence, but Emma realizes that David and Sophie are having an affair, and apparently not at all platonic. The next morning, David also silently leaves, and Emma thinks that sometimes spouses live, practically without communicating all their lives. Are all conflicts really due to the fact that the mechanism of communication between people goes wrong, because they have nothing to say to each other?

But Ferrer still wants to sort things out with Emma. In the afternoon, he meets her and the children walking in the park, and begins to accuse Emma of being too busy with her children, does not pay attention to either David or him, Ferrer, And then Emma sees with horror how Flora, playing at pond, slips and falls into the water. Emma rushes after her daughter and pulls her ashore. Wyndham leads the sodden to the skin Emma with flora and Joseph home.

Flora remembers with horror for several days what happened to her, she is afraid of water. And Emma just gets a bad cold. A few days later, seeing that Emma is unable to get better, the doctor advises David to take the children out for a picnic to give Emma a complete rest. When the family leaves, Emma is visited by Wyndham. He stops by to visit Emma and say goodbye before leaving for London. But how can a wounded man calm down with the fact that the woman whom he courted for so many months did not become his mistress? Emma gives herself to him, but understands that their relationship cannot be changed. She does not love him, although, perhaps, she could, if life had turned out differently. As he leaves, Wyndham asks to be seen out. Emma goes downstairs and Wyndham's car runs over her as she leaves the garage.

Emma has badly bruised both legs, and she has to lie in bed for the rest of the summer. One day, she receives a letter from Wyndham, in which he talks about his new plans. There are "charming grammatical flaws" in the letter. "Poor Wyndham," thinks Emma, ​​"seems to be a hard-boiled liar: everything about him seems first-rate, but there is no real quality."

Recovering Emma reads a lot. She "roars, cries with real tears" over Wordsword's poems - there is so much undiluted truth in them. And he also reads Hume and thinks about his phrase: "A man and a woman should enter into an alliance for the sake of educating the younger generation, and such an alliance should be long enough."

V. V. Prorokova

(I'm the King of the Castle)

Roman (1970)

Warings is the Hooper family home. It was bought by Edmund's great-grandfather. There was not much money in the family, the land had to be sold over time, but the house remained. Now the grandfather who lived in Warings has died, and Edmund and his father are moving there.

Edmund's father, Joseph, was widowed a few years ago. The marriage was unhappy. "When the son, the spitting image of Elin, left to study, Joseph could not remember her face for a long time." Now Joseph is looking for a housekeeper who would look after the household and Edmund.

Edmund waits with disgust for Mrs. Helina Kinshaw and her son Charles to appear in Warings. “I didn’t want to come here, here is another house where everything is not ours,” thinks Charles Kinshaw, approaching the house. Meanwhile, Edmund Hooper throws a note out of the window to him: "I didn't want you to come."

Mrs. Kinshaw and Mr. Hooper are very pleased to meet each other. Mrs. Kinshaw is a widow, a decent woman, you can rely on her. And it's just great that the boys are the same age, they will definitely make friends.

But the boys do not want to become friends at all. Hooper does not like that someone is invading his property. Especially since Kinshaw does not want to admit that he, Hooper, is in charge here.

And it's so hard for Kinshaw to be in someone else's house again, where everyone is not her and her mother, where they are not the owners. And Hooper either chases him, or, on the contrary, follows his every step.

Kinshaw's first week in Warings is over. And he goes for a walk. One. It doesn't matter where, as long as it's away from Hooper. That it flew almost over your head? Don't be afraid, it's just a crow. But why, why is she following him? Gotta run. How difficult it is to run across a plowed field. And this terrible bird, it flies after him, croaks, is about to attack. On the field near the house, Charles falls. He lies, unable to get up, and the crow pecks at his back. He screams at the top of his voice, and eventually the crow flies away. Kinshaw barely reaches the house and notices Hooper watching him in the window of his room.

The next night, Hooper drags a stuffed crow from the attic and places it in Kinshaw's room. Kinshaw wakes up, turns on the light and sees a terrible bird on the edge of his own bed. He realizes it's just a scarecrow, but he's still scared. But the main thing is not to cry, because Hooper is probably standing at the door and eavesdropping. And Kinshaw lies there until the morning without moving, unable even to push the stuffed animal off the bed.

War has been declared. So the only thing left is to run. Run away from Warings and, above all, from Hooper. There is already a cache, some supplies have been collected. But Hooper finds the hiding place and knows perfectly well what Kinshaw is going to do. "And I'm with you," he says.

No, Kinshaw will run away alone. It's early in the morning, all the more so as there's no better day to think of - my mother and Mr. Hooper are leaving for London and they won't be at home all day. So, they will miss him only in the evening.

Early morning. Kinshaw passes the field, enters the Steep Bowl. Yes, it is a big forest and unfamiliar. But ... It's good that the morning is so sunny. Kinshaw closes his eyes and enters the forest. It's OK. How nice and peaceful it is! Only… what is that sound? Kinshaw turns around and sees Hooper a few meters away. You can't get away from him!

When they get so far that it's clear they're lost, Kinshaw isn't scared, Hooper is. And then another thunderstorm. Hooper just can't stand thunderstorms. And he is afraid to go through the forest first. Kinshaw is not. They go to the river. Kinshaw goes to investigate. He comes back and sees: Hooper is lying face down in the water, and there is blood on his head. Kinshaw pulls him out, drags him ashore, tries CPR, builds a fire. If only Hooper didn't die! Hooper vomits, clears his throat, seems to be alive. He gets chills at night, Kinshaw gives him his sweater, and Hooper whines, acts up. Perhaps now Kinshaw could hit him. But - why, he is still stronger than Hooper. And no more running away, Kinshaw is no longer afraid of Hooper. He believed in himself.

Find them early in the morning. And Hooper yells, "It's all Kinshaw! He pushed me into the water!"

Adults don't seem to notice what's going on. And mom tells Charles that you can't be so ungrateful that Mr. Hooper wants to take care of him like his own son, and therefore she will send Charles to the same school where Edmund studies. Where to run from this damned Hooper? Kinshaw finds a barn far from home, but even there Hooper finds it. Finds and locks. And he unlocks it only during the day, when he finds out that the adults are going to go somewhere with them by car.

Lydell Castle, huge, dilapidated, on the shore of the lake. And Kinshaw climbs the wall, to the very top. "Chur, I'm the king in the castle!" Hooper breaks down and climbs after him. But he cannot go down - he is afraid of heights. And then Kinshaw realizes that he can do anything - he can push Hooper down, he can just scare him, and he will break. "I am the king in the castle. Whatever I want, I will do with him." But he himself understands that he will not do anything with him, but, on the contrary, will stretch out his hand to him, hug him from behind and help him hold on. He reaches for Hooper, but he recoils in horror and falls down.

Kinshaw thinks Hooper is dead. But no, it just crashed. Lying in the hospital, Kinshaw's mom goes to see him every day. And Kinshaw is finally on his own. And even finds a friend - the farmer's son Fielding. He shows him calves, turkeys, a hamster. And Kinshaw tells him about Hooper, confesses that he is afraid of him. Fielding is a reasonable guy. What is Hooper afraid of, because Hooper Kinshaw can do nothing wrong. It's just scary, that's all. Did Kinshaw finally have a friend of his own?

But Hooper is back, and he does not intend to let Kinshaw down. Especially since Mr. Hooper proposed to Mrs. Kinshaw. "Now you won't get away. You will obey my palu. And me."

It must have been Hooper who got Mrs. Kinshaw to invite Fielding to tea. And Hooper knows how to be, when necessary, a normal guy. And Fielding has absolutely no idea why Kinshaw doesn't want to play threesome, doesn't want to go to the farm with him and Hooper to see the new tractor.

Kinshaw goes to Hooper's room. Here it is, the battle map that Hooper drew so lovingly. He takes it with him and burns it in a clearing near the grove. Come what may. But Hooper pretends nothing happened. Does not roar, does not complain to adults. The next day, everyone is in trouble, in the preparations - tomorrow the boys go to school. Everything is almost packed, there are only suitcases in Kinshaw's room, mom comes to kiss him goodnight and sits with him for a long, long time. And when he leaves, Hooper tosses a note under his door: "Wait, Kinshaw."

the morning is gray and clear, it's cold outside. Kinshaw leaves the house, walks across the field, goes into the grove. Joy washed over him in the forest. He repeats to himself several times: "All is well, all is well." I found the same clearing where they made a fire. He undressed, put his things in a pile and entered the water, reached the depth, dipped his face into the water and took a deep breath.

Hooper found it, guessed right away where Kinshaw might have gone. When he saw Kinshaw's body lying on the water, he suddenly thought: it was because of me, it was I who did it, it was him because of me - and he froze, filled with triumph.

V. V. Prorokova

(Historia universal de la infomia)

Stories (1935)

The cycle "The World History of Vileness" contains stories about the life of murderers, swindlers, pirates. Among them is "Hakim from Merv, the masked dyer".

So, who later received the nickname of the Prophet Under the Veil, was born in the year 736 of the Cross (that is, AD) in the dying city of Merv on the edge of the desert. Hakim's father's brother taught him the trade of the dyer, "the art of the wicked," which inspired him to heretical thoughts. ("So I perverted the true colors of the creatures.")

Then Hakim disappears from his native city, leaving broken cauldrons and dye vats in the house, as well as a Shiraz scimitar and a bronze mirror. More than ten years after that, on the eve of the beginning of Ramadan, slaves, beggars, camel thieves and butchers were sitting at the gates of the caravanserai on the road to Merv. Suddenly they saw three figures appear from the depths of the desert, which seemed to them unusually tall. All three were human figures, but the one in the middle had the head of a bull. When the figures approached, people saw that the person who walked in the middle had a mask on his face, and the other two were blind.

They are blind, the masked man explained, because they saw my face. He called himself Hakim and said that more than ten years ago, a man entered his house, who, having performed ablution and praying, cut off his head with a scimitar and carried it to heaven. There his head was revealed to the Lord, who commanded it to prophesy and put into it words so ancient that they burned the lips that repeated them, and endowed them with a heavenly radiance unbearable for mortal eyes. When people on earth recognize the new teaching, their face will be revealed to them and they will be able to worship him without fear of going blind.

Having announced his mission, Hakim called people to holy war, jihad, and martyrdom. Slaves, butchers, beggars, camel drivers refused to believe in him. Some of the guests of the caravanserai had a leopard with them. Suddenly, he burst out of the cage. All but the masked prophet and his blind companions fled. When they returned, it turned out that the beast was blind. Seeing the dead eyes of the beast, people fell at the feet of Hakim and recognized his supernatural power.

Hakim, who over time replaced the bull mask with a four-layer white silk veil embroidered with precious stones, became extremely popular in Khorasan. In battles with the caliphs-Abbasids, the army of the Prophet Under the Veil won more than once. The role of Hakim in the battles was reduced to the singing of prayers offered to the deity from the ridge of a red camel in the thick of the fight. But not a single arrow touched the Prophet. He seemed to be looking for danger - one night, meeting disgusting lepers, he kissed them and gave them gold and silver. Hakim entrusted the board to six or seven of his adherents. He himself was inclined to reflection and peace; a harem of one hundred and fourteen blind women was destined to meet the needs of his divine body.

The heretical cosmogony of Hakim was based on the existence of a ghostly God who had neither name nor appearance. From him come nine shadows that inhabited and headed the first heaven. From the first demiurgical crown came the second, also with angels, powers and thrones, and those, in turn, founded another heaven below. The second holy assembly was reflected in the third, then in the next, and so on until 999. They are controlled by the lord of the primordial sky - the shadow of the shadows of other shadows.

The earth we live on is just a mistake, an inept parody. Mirrors and procreation are disgusting, because they multiply and strengthen this error. The main virtue is disgust. Paradise and hell at Hakim were no less bleak. "In this life," Hakim promises, "you endure the torment of one body; but in spirit and retribution, in countless bodies." Paradise, on the other hand, seems to be a place where it is always dark and stone bowls with holy water are everywhere, and the bliss of this paradise is "a special bliss of parting, renunciation and those who sleep."

In the fifth year of his prophetic life, Hakim was besieged in Sa-name by the troops of the caliph. There was enough food and soldiers, in addition, an ambulance of a host of angels of light was expected. Suddenly, a terrible rumor spread throughout the fortress. When one of the women of the harem was about to be executed for adultery, she announced that there was no ring finger on the right hand of the Prophet, and there were no nails on the other fingers.

On a high terrace, in the bright sun, Hakim asked his deity to grant victory. Two of his commanders approached him and tore off the Veil embroidered with precious stones from him.

Everyone shuddered. The face that had been in heaven really struck with its whiteness - the special whiteness of spotted leprosy. There were no eyebrows, the lower eyelid of the right eye hung down on a flabby cheek, a heavy tuberculous cluster ate out the lips, the nose, swollen and flattened, like a lion's,

Hakim tried to deceive others for the last time:

“Your vile sins prevent you from seeing my radiance…

They did not listen to him and pierced him with spears.

V. S. Kulagina-Yartseva

(Historia de la eternidad)

Stories, Essays (1936)

The works included in the cycle "History of Eternity" are united primarily by the interest of the author, they are distinguished by their own characteristics, a certain cyclicity, repetition of events in time, isolation ...

One of the stories included in the "History of Eternity" is "The Approach to Almutasim".

The story is a kind of review of a novel that appeared in Bombay in 1932, written by the lawyer Mir Bahadur. The hero of the novel, whose name is never given, is a law student in Bombay. He departed from the religion of his parents - Islam, but at the end of the tenth night of the month of Muharram, he finds himself in the thick of a brawl between Muslims and Hindus. Three thousand people are fighting, and a freethinker student, shocked by this, intervenes in the fight. In a desperate fight, he kills (or thinks he kills) an Indian. Mounted police appear and start whipping everyone. The student manages to escape almost from under the horse's hooves. He gets to the outskirts of the city and, climbing over the fence, finds himself in a neglected garden, in the depths of which a tower rises. A pack of moon-colored dogs rush at him from behind the black bushes. A persecuted student seeks salvation in a tower. He runs up an iron staircase missing a few steps and finds himself on a flat roof with a gaping well in the center. There, he meets an emaciated man who confesses that his occupation is stealing the gold teeth of corpses that are left in the tower overnight. He also tells other vile things, speaks with malice about some people from Gujarat. At dawn, the exhausted student falls asleep, and wakes up to find that the thief has disappeared, and with him - a few cigarettes and the student's silver rupees. Remembering the last night, the student decides to get lost in the vastness of India. He reflects that he was able to kill an idolater, but at the same time he does not know who is more right - a Muslim or an idolater. The name “Gujarat” cannot get out of his head, as well as the name of a certain “malkasansi”, a woman from the robber caste, who was attacked with particular anger by the robber of corpses. The student comes to the conclusion that the malice of such a vile person can be equated with praise, and decides - without much hope - to find this woman. After praying, the student slowly sets off on his journey.

Further, many characters appear in the story, and the student's adventures continue in the lowlands of Palanpur, for one evening and one night the hero lingers at the stone gates of Bikaner, he sees the death of a blind astrologer on the outskirts of Benares, becomes a participant in a conspiracy in Kathmandu, prays and fornicates among the plague stench Calcutta, observes the birth of a day at sea from an office in Madras, observes the dying of a day at sea from a balcony in the state of Travancore, and closes the orbit of distances and years in the same Bombay, a few steps from a garden with moon-colored dogs. An unbelieving student who has run away from his homeland finds himself in the society of people of the lowest rank and adapts to such a life. Suddenly, he notices some kind of softening in one of the scum around him: tenderness, admiration, silence. The student guesses that his interlocutor himself is not capable of such a sudden take-off, therefore, the spirit of some friend or friend of his friend is reflected in him. Pondering this, the student comes to the mystical conviction:

"Somewhere on earth there is a person from whom this light comes; somewhere on earth there is a person identical to this light." And the student decides to dedicate his life to the search for this man.

He catches the faint reflections that this soul has left in the souls of others: at the beginning - a slight trace of a smile or a word; at the end - a bright burning of reason, imagination and kindness. As the people discovered by the student become more and more familiar with Almutasim, the share of his divinity increases, but it is clear that these are only reflections. In front of Almutasim, the student meets a friendly and cheerful bookseller, and in front of him - a saint. After many years of wandering, the student finds himself in a gallery, "in the depths of which there is a door and a cheap mat with many beads, and behind it a radiance." The student asks Almutasim. A male voice, the incredible voice of Almutasim, invites him in. The student moves the mat and passes.

This concludes the exposition of the text itself and some critical remarks follow: Mir Bahadur Ali wrote the novel as an allegory: Almutasim is a symbol of God, and the stages of the hero's path are, to some extent, the steps passed by the soul in a mystical ascent. According to some descriptions, it can be judged that Almutasim should inspire the idea of ​​a single God. In the first scene of the novel, one can find analogies with Kipling's story "In the City Wall". It should also be noted that there are some points of contact between the novel and the "Bird Talk" by Faridaddin Attar. The content of this poem by a Persian mystic is as follows: the king of birds, Simurgh (whose name means "Thirty Birds"), who has flown in from afar, drops a magnificent feather in the center of China, and the birds, tired of anarchy, set off in search of it. They overcome seven valleys or seas. Many of the wanderers refuse to search, many die. After being purified, only thirty birds enter Mount Simurg. So they see him, and it becomes clear to them that they are the Simurgh and that the Simurgh is each of them and all of them together. Points of contact with the novel of Mir Bahadur Ali can be considered a few words attributed to Almutasim, which develop what was said before by the hero, this (and other vague analogies) can serve to designate the identity of the seeker and the seeker, mean the identity of the seeker and the seeker, may mean that the latter influences the first . In one of the chapters there is a hint that Almutasim is the "Hindu" whom the student, as it seems to him, killed.

V. S. Kulagina-Yartseva

Collection of short stories (1944)

On the night of March 1936, XNUMX, in an apartment on Celetna Street in Prague, Jaromir Hladik, author of the unfinished tragedy The Enemies, the work The Justification of Eternity, and a study on Jakob Boehme's implicit Jewish sources, dreams of a long game of chess. The game was started many centuries ago and was played between two noble families. No one remembered the amount of the prize, but it was fabulously large. In the dream, Jaromir was the firstborn of one of the rival families. The clock marked every move made with a chime. He ran through the rain on the sands of the desert and could not remember the rules of the game. Waking up, Jaromir hears a measured mechanical hum. It is at dawn that advance detachments of the armored units of the Third Reich enter Prague.

A few days later, the authorities receive a denunciation and detain Hladik. He cannot refute any of the Gestapo's accusations: Jewish blood flows in his veins, the work on Boehm is pro-Jewish, he signed a protest against the Anschluss. Julius Rote, one of the military officials in whose hands the fate of Hladik is, decides to shoot him. The execution is scheduled for nine in the morning on March XNUMX - with this delay, the authorities want to demonstrate their impartiality.

Hladik is horrified. At first it seems to him that the gallows or the guillotine would not be so terrible. He constantly plays the upcoming event in his mind and, long before the appointed time, dies a hundred times a day, imagining the scene of his own execution in various Prague courtyards, and the number of soldiers changes each time, and they shoot at him from a distance, then at close range. Following the pathetic magic of imagining the cruel details of the future in order to prevent them from being realized, he eventually begins to fear lest his fantasies turn out to be prophetic. Sometimes he looks forward to being shot, wanting to put an end to the futile imagination. On the evening before his execution, he recalls his unfinished poetic drama Enemies.

The drama respected the unity of time, place and action; it was played out on Gradchany, in the library of Baron Remerstadt, one evening at the end of the XNUMXth century. In the first act, Remerstadt is visited by an unknown person. (The clock strikes seven, the sun sets, the wind carries a fiery Hungarian melody.) This visitor is followed by others unknown to Remerstadt, but their faces seem familiar to him, he has already seen them, perhaps in a dream. It becomes clear to the Baron that a conspiracy has been drawn up against him. He manages to prevent intrigues. We are talking about his fiancee, Julia de Weidenau and about Yaroslav Kubin, who once bothered her with his love. Now he has gone mad and imagines himself to be Remerstadt... Dangers multiply, and in the second act Remerstadt has to kill one of the conspirators. The last action begins; the number of inconsistencies is multiplied; characters return, whose role seemed to have been exhausted: among them the dead flashes by. Evening does not come; the clock strikes seven, the setting sun is reflected in the windows, a fiery Hungarian melody sounds in the air. The first visitor appears and repeats his remark, Remerstadt answers him without surprise; the viewer understands that Remerstadt is the unfortunate Yaroslav Kubin. There is no drama: this is again and again returning nonsense that Kubin constantly resurrects in his memory ...

Hladik finished the first act and one of the scenes of the third: the verse form of the play allows him to constantly edit the text without resorting to the manuscript. On the eve of his imminent death, Hladik turns to God with a request to give him another year to complete the drama that will become the justification for his existence. Ten minutes later he falls asleep. At dawn, he has a dream: he must find God in one of the letters on one of the pages of one of the four hundred thousand volumes of the library, as the blind librarian explains to him. With sudden confidence, Hladik touches one of the letters on the map of India in an atlas nearby and hears a voice: "You have been given time for your work." Cooler wakes up.

Two soldiers appear and escort him to the patio. Fifteen minutes remain before the start of the execution, scheduled for nine o'clock. Hladik sits down on the woodpile, the sergeant offers him a cigarette, and Hladik takes it and lights it up, although he had not smoked until then. He unsuccessfully tries to remember the appearance of a woman whose features are reflected in Julia de Weidenau. The soldiers are built in a square, Hladik is waiting for the shots. A drop of rain falls on his temple and slowly rolls down his cheek. Command words are given.

And then the world freezes. The rifles are aimed at Hladik, but the men remain motionless. The hand of the sergeant who gave the command freezes. Hladik wants to scream, but he can't and realizes that he is paralyzed. He does not immediately understand what happened.

He asked God for a year to complete his work: the Almighty gave him this year. God performed a secret miracle for him: a German bullet would kill him at the appointed time, but a year would pass in his brain from the command until it was completed. Hladik's astonishment is replaced by gratitude. He begins to finish his drama, changing, shortening and reworking the text. Everything is ready, only one epithet is missing. Hladik finds him: a raindrop begins to slide down his cheek. A volley of four rifles is heard, Hladik manages to shout something unintelligible and falls.

Jaromir Hladik died on the morning of March XNUMX at ten o'clock two minutes.

Buenos Aires, 1939 Juan Dahlmann is a secretary in the municipal library on Córdoba Street. At the end of February, an unexpected incident happens to him. On this day, a rare edition of "A Thousand and One Nights" in Weill's translation falls into his hands; hurrying to consider his acquisition, he, without waiting for the elevator, runs up the stairs. In the darkness, something hits his forehead - a bird, a bat? The woman who opened the door to Dahlmann screams in horror, and, passing his hand over his forehead, he sees blood. He cut himself on the sharp edge of a freshly painted door that had been left open. At dawn, Dahlmann wakes up, he is tormented by a fever, and the illustrations for the "Thousand and One Nights" interfere with the nightmare. Eight days stretch like eight centuries, Dahlmann's surroundings seem like hell, Then he is taken to a hospital. On the way, Dahlmann decides that there, in another place, he can sleep peacefully. As soon as they arrive at the hospital, they undress him, shave his head, tie him to a couch, and a masked man sticks a needle in his arm. Waking up with bouts of nausea, bandaged, he realizes that until now he was only on the eve of hell, Dahlmann stoically endures painful procedures, but cries out of self-pity when he learns that he almost died from blood poisoning. After some time, the surgeon tells Dahlmann that he can soon go to the estate for treatment - an old long pink house in the South, which he inherited from his ancestors. The promised day is coming. Dahlmann rides in a hired carriage to the station, feeling happy and slightly dizzy. There is time before the train, and Dahlmann spends it in a cafe with a cup of coffee forbidden in the hospital, stroking a huge black cat.

The train stops at the penultimate platform. Dahlmann chooses an almost empty car, throws the suitcase into the net, leaving himself a book to read, "A Thousand and One Nights." He took this book with him not without hesitation, and the decision itself, as it seems to him, serves as a sign that the misfortunes have passed. He tries to read, but in vain - this morning and existence itself turn out to be a miracle no less than the fairy tales of Scheherazade.

“Tomorrow I will wake up in the estate,” Dahlmann thinks. He feels like two people at the same time: one moves forward through this autumn day and familiar places, and the other suffers humiliating insults, being in well-thought-out captivity. Evening is coming. Dahlmann feels his complete loneliness, and sometimes it seems to him that he is traveling not only to the South, but also to the past. From these thoughts, he is distracted by the controller, who, after checking the ticket, warns that the train will stop not at the station that Dahlmann needs, but at the previous one, barely familiar to him. Dahlmann gets off the train almost in the middle of a field. There is no carriage here, and the stationmaster advises hiring one in a shop a kilometer from the railway. Dahlmann walks slowly to the bench to prolong the pleasure of the walk. The owner of the shop seems familiar to him, but then he realizes that he just looks like one of the employees of the hospital. The owner promises to lay down the chaise, and in order to pass the time, Dahlmann decides to have dinner here. At one of the tables, guys are noisily eating and drinking. On the floor, leaning against the counter, sits a swarthy old man in a poncho, who seemed to Dahlmann the embodiment of the South. Dahlmann eats, washing down his dinner with tart red wine. Suddenly something light hits his cheek. It turns out to be a ball of bread crumb. Dahlmann is at a loss, he decides to pretend that nothing happened, but a few minutes later another ball hits him, and the guys at the table start laughing. Dahlmann decides to leave and not allow himself to be drawn into the fight, especially since he has not yet recovered. The owner calms him down in alarm, calling him by name - “Senor Dahlmann”.

This only worsens the matter - until now one could think that the stupid trick of the guys offends a random person, but now it turns out that this is an attack against him personally.

Dahlmann turns to the guys and asks what they need. One of them, without ceasing to pour out curses and insults, throws up and catches a knife and challenges Dahlmann to fight. The owner says Dahlmann is unarmed. But at that moment, an old gaucho sitting in the corner throws a dagger at his feet. As if the South itself decides that Dahlmann should fight. Bending down for a dagger, he realizes that the weapon, which he hardly owns, will serve not as a defense for him, but as an excuse for his killer. "The hospital would not allow anything like this to happen to me," he thinks, and follows the guy out into the yard. Crossing the threshold, Dahlmann feels that dying in an open-air knife fight, instantly, would be deliverance and happiness for him that first night in the hospital. And if he could then choose or invent a death for himself, he would choose just such.

And, tightly squeezing the knife, Dahlmann follows the guy.

V. S. Kulagina-Yartseva

Roman (1960)

The action takes place in the 1950s.

Winners of the lucky prizes of the Tourist Lottery gather in a cafe on one of the central streets of the Argentine capital, who are waiting for a free sea cruise. One of the first to arrive are fellow state college professors Carlos Lopez and Dr. Restelli. Lopez is overcome by doubts: everything is strangely organized, no details can be found anywhere. Why distrust, reassures Restelli, the state lottery, tickets were distributed officially, it is difficult to expect a dirty trick. There are three months of sailing ahead, and a paid vacation is already a significant gain! It's just a shame that among the winners of the prizes is Felipe Trejo, a student of their college, a notorious lazy and insolent person who is sure to spoil a lot of blood for them. Since the winner is allowed to take up to three relatives with him, he goes on a trip with his sister Beba and his parents.

The family tries to keep decorum, maintains an important, pompous look. Lucio invited his fiancee Nora with him. The girl, brought up in strict Catholic rules, did not inform her parents about her departure and is now very nervous. Lucio is introduced to club mate Gabriel Medrano, who also won the prize. Nora is amazed: what an old friend Lucio has, he is at least forty, although he is, of course, very elegant. Medrano is a dentist, he has a private office, but he is weary of his prosaic profession, and he perceives the trip that has turned up as an excellent excuse to break up with another girlfriend, Bettina. Claudia, who is divorced from her husband, took with her her son Jorge and an old friend Persio, a great eccentric and poet. She and the boy get along well and love to indulge in fantasies. Don Galo Porrillo, a millionaire, owner of a chain of large stores, a lonely paraplegic, arrives in a luxury car, a servant brings him in a wheelchair. Working boy Atilio Presutti, nicknamed Fluffy, goes on a cruise, accompanied by his mother, bride Nelli and future mother-in-law. Paula invited Raul with her, with whom she has been friends for ten years, since her student days. Both of them are from rich families, Paula went to Bohemia, and Raul is an architect. According to his apt observation, those gathered on the journey represent all strata of society, both prosperity and vegetation are quite pronounced. Everyone is somewhat uncomfortable, there are too many ambiguities with this trip. It is strange that the collection point is assigned here, and not at the customs office or at the pier. Things were recommended to be packed in advance, and the luggage was taken away in the morning.

The appointed time comes - 18 hours. Two men in dark blue suits invite outsiders and those seeing them off to leave the premises and proceed to check documents. The cafe staff is perplexed: what is happening is very reminiscent of a raid, the street is cordoned off by police, traffic is blocked. Future travelers are escorted to a military bus. The Inspector of the Organizational Department advises at all costs to maintain the calm inherent in educated people, and not to be indignant at minor malfunctions and organizational difficulties. The ship on which they sail is called "Malcolm", if there are no unforeseen circumstances, parking will be in Rio de Janeiro, Dakar, Cape Town, Yokohama.

The atmosphere of frightening mystery is preserved in the port, but now, having overcome the half-dark pier, the travelers find themselves on board the steamer. They are pleasantly surprised: the cabins are nice and cozy, their things are in place. True, the sailors speak an incomprehensible language and do not let them aft, showing signs that there is no passage, and the doors leading there are tightly battened down. Tired travelers disperse to their cabins.

In the morning it is discovered that the steamer is still anchored in the vicinity of Buenos Aires. Travelers gather for breakfast, six tables are waiting for them. The bartender, who is asked about the cruise itinerary, the captain's name and other details, answers politely but evasively. Passengers get to know each other, get closer by sympathy, common interests. Between Claudia and Medrano there is a spiritual intimacy, pleasant conversations develop into frank conversations about the past, where deep dissatisfaction with life sounds. The attention of homosexual Raul attracts Felipe. Paula teases a friend: his new chosen one is young, handsome, stupid and awkward. Felipe is overcome by all the complexes of adolescence. After last night, Lucio feels like a winner, and Nora is bitterly disappointed with the start of her honeymoon. Lopez is attracted to Paula, who cares about his advances. During a very exquisite dinner, the steamer begins to maneuver and finally goes out to sea.

Everyone willingly indulges in a carefree pastime, at their service is a swimming pool, solarium, gym, music room, library. Only Raul, Lopez and Medrano are worried about why the passage to the stern is still closed. They urgently demand a meeting with the captain. From an officer who introduced himself as a navigator, travelers are trying to get why they are kept locked up in the bow of the ship. After all sorts of evasions, the navigator admits that he would not want to spoil the impressions of a pleasant trip, but there are two cases of typhus among the crew, the ship's doctor uses the most modern methods of treatment, but quarantine is necessary. One of the patients is the captain. Passengers are outraged:

why did the ship leave the port? How did sanitary control allow? According to Lopez, the ship's administration agreed to a profitable deal at the last minute, keeping silent about what happened on board. Raul believes that they are not dealing with ordinary fraud, but rather metaphysical. Behind this real or imaginary quarantine lies something else that eludes their understanding. Medrano also considers typhus a fiction, it is necessary to fight the arbitrariness of the ship's authorities. Self-confident and blunt Lucio can't figure it out: why are his companions so worried?

Lopez and Raul still force the bartender to open one of the doors and wander for a long time in the gloomy labyrinth of hold passages, trying to find a way to the stern, but to no avail, but in one of the rooms Raul manages to pick up revolvers. Senor Trejo, having found out from his son about a sortie into the depths of the ship, expresses dissatisfaction, the law-abiding Restelli also does not approve of excessive vehemence. Don Galo is more categorical: if Lopez and his friends continue to interfere with the administration of the ship and instill disobedience on board, the consequences for all passengers may be the most deplorable.

Medrano resents the idea that if they were not surrounded by such comfort, they would act more energetically and decisively and would have long ago put an end to their doubts. Lopez suggests that the company is probably engaged in dark affairs, carrying too conspicuous contraband cargo. “We are like in a zoological garden,” Jorge complains, “only the audience is not us,” and the child’s words only increase anxiety. Thirsty for adventure, Felile alone undertakes risky forays into the hold of a steamer. Paula cannot sort out her feelings for Lopez; perfect symmetry reigned in her relationship with Raul, albeit not without pathology.

On the second day of the journey, Don Galo and Dr. Restelli arrange an amateur concert, considering this the best way to break the ice. Not seeing Felipe on him, Raul goes on a search and finds a teenager in one of the hold rooms along with a sailor rapist. Jorge has a high fever, the ship's doctor suspects pneumonia. Radio contact with Buenos Aires is forbidden, and maybe the boy has typhus?

On the morning of the third day, the temperature of the baby is under forty. Despite the ban, Medrano offers to break into the radio room. Having isolated the people under their feet, Medrano, Lopez, Raul and Fluff, who unexpectedly joined them, armed with revolvers, penetrate into the stern of the ship.

Lopez was injured in a fight with the sailors, and Paula takes good care of him. In a shootout, Medrano was mortally wounded, who had managed to force the radio operator to transmit a radiogram to Buenos Aires. You can’t mourn someone you barely know, Claudia thinks at the body of the deceased, but still this person died for her and for Jorge. And he could revive her with his life.

At breakfast, the passengers express their indignation at the reckless antics of the companions. "Malcolm" stands in the middle of the ocean, the journey is interrupted, it is proposed to pack their bags. Jorge is recovering, his illness was caused by a temporary ailment. The Inspector of the Organization Department arrives on two seaplanes, accompanied by policemen. He regrets the misunderstandings that have occurred, takes the actions of the ship administration under protection. The imprudent behavior of the victim, who arbitrarily violated the cordon sanitaire and entered the contaminated zone, ended fatally. Continued stay on the ship poses a risk to the health of travelers. But after all, Medrano was killed, and did not die of an illness, why is this hushed up? - the “rebels” are indignant, but his body has already been removed from the ship, and most of the passengers share the proposed version of events, especially since the inspector clearly hints that if someone, having lost a sense of reality, insists on distorting the facts, he will be dealt with in the appropriate place. It is also promised that the Office will take care of proper compensation. And yet five - Lopez, Paula, Raul, Pushok and Claudia refuse to sign the protocol drawn up by the inspector. In the event that unity is not achieved among the passengers, all will have to be interned without exception, the inspector threatens. The fury of the satellites falls upon the "rebels": because of the stubbornness and inflexibility of arrogant youngsters, balanced and reasonable people may suffer, but they persist in their decision. Passengers are put on seaplanes and brought to Buenos Aires. The fluff boils with indignation: it turns out that the old people and the pharaohs will prevail, shame and disgrace! But he is discouraged by the silence and indifference of those with whom he was side by side that morning in a dangerous situation at the stern. And they seem to have already renounced their rebellion in their hearts. Saying goodbye, everyone goes home, life returns "to its full circle."

V. S. Kulagina-Yartseva

Roman (1963)

The work is preceded by the author's indication of a possible two-fold reading of his work: one option is a sequential reading of the fifty-six chapters that form the first two parts of the novel, leaving without attention the third, which unites “optional chapters”; Another option is a whimsical order of movement through the chapters in accordance with the table compiled by the writer.

The action takes place in the 1950s.

Horacio Oliveira, a forty-year-old Argentine without a fixed occupation, lives in Paris very modestly on money occasionally sent from Buenos Aires by wealthy relatives. His favorite pastime is wandering aimlessly around the city. Horacio came here quite a long time ago, following the example of his compatriots, who usually go to Paris, as they say, for the education of feelings. Immersed in himself, constantly analyzing his thoughts, experiences, actions, he is convinced of his "otherness" and deliberately opposes himself to the surrounding reality, which he resolutely does not accept. It seems to him that true being is outside the territory of everyday life, and he is always waiting from outside for the solution of his internal problems. He again and again comes to the conclusion that it is "much easier for him to think than to be and act," and his attempts to find himself in this life are "trampling around in a circle, the center of which is everywhere, and the circumference is nowhere." Horacio feels absolute loneliness, such that it is impossible to even count on communication with himself, and then he pushes himself to the cinema, or to a concert, or to visit friends. He can not understand the relationship with women - the Frenchwoman Paula and the Uruguayan Maga. Upon learning that Paula is ill - she has breast cancer - he stops dating her, thus finally making his choice. Maga wants to become a singer and takes music lessons. She is forced to leave her little son Rocamadour in the village with a nurse. To save rather meager funds, Horacio and Maga decide to settle together. "We were not in love with each other, we just made love with detachment and critical sophistication," Horacio will recall. Sometimes the Magician even irritates him, because she is not very educated, not so well-read, he does not find in her the refined spirituality that he aspires to. But Maga is natural, spontaneous, she is the embodiment of all understanding.

Horacio has a company of friends, which includes artists Etienne and Perico, writers Wong, Guy Monod, Osip Gregorovius, musician Ronald, ceramist Beps. They call their intellectual community the Serpent Club and meet weekly in the attic of Ronald and Baps in the Latin Quarter, where they smoke, drink, listen to jazz from old, played records by the light of green candles. They talk for hours about painting, literature, philosophy, habitually dive, and their communication rather resembles not a conversation of friends, but a competition of snobs. Examining the archives of the old, dying writer Morelli, who once conceived a book that has remained in the form of scattered records, provides abundant material for the discussion of modern writing, avant-garde literature, which at its very core is incitement, debunking and ridicule. The magician feels gray and insignificant next to such clever, brilliant fanfarons of verbiage. But even with these people who are close in spirit and way of thinking, Horacio is sometimes painful, he does not feel deep attachment to those with whom "by pure chance he crossed paths in time and space."

When Rocamadour falls ill and Mage has to pick up the baby and take care of him, Horacio is unable to overcome his annoyance and irritation. Leaves him indifferent and the death of the child. The friends who arranged a kind of court of honor cannot forgive Horacio either for his "elimination" at a difficult moment for Magi, or for the insensitivity shown by him in this situation. Maga leaves, and Horacio only now realizes that he loved this girl and, having lost her, lost his life core. He turns out to be truly lonely and, breaking out of the already familiar circle, is looking for "brotherhood" in the society of vagabonds, but gets into the police and is sentenced to deportation from the country.

And now, many years after leaving his homeland, Horacio again finds himself in Buenos Aires. He ekes out a vegetative existence in a small hotel room and indulgently endures the touching philistine solicitude of Hekrepten. He maintains close contact with his youth friend Traveler and his wife Talita, who work in the circus. Horacio is pleased with their company, but always experiencing a mania of spiritual seizures towards his friends, this time he is seriously afraid of "sowing doubts and disturbing the peace of good people." Talita somehow reminds him of Magu, and he involuntarily reaches out to her. Traveler is somewhat disturbed when he notices this, but he cherishes his friendship with Horacio, in conversations with whom he finds an outlet after suffering from a lack of intellectual communication for a long time. And yet Horacio almost inadvertently destroys the happy love of friends.

The owner of the circus, Ferraguto, buys a psychiatric clinic, and all three get jobs there. In an unusual environment, at first it is difficult for them, and Horacio is increasingly experiencing strangeness in the psyche, he is tormented by remorse, more and more certain that Maga died through his fault. Convincing himself that Traveler, out of jealousy, intends to deal with him, Horacio threatens to throw himself out of the window onto the flagstones of the paved courtyard. Traveler's trusting tone and correct behavior make him put off his plans. Locked alone in the ward and looking out the window, Horacio thinks about a possible exit for himself: "A terribly sweet moment when it's best to bend down a little and let yourself go - bang! And the end!" But below are the loving, sympathetic, worried, worried Traveler and Talita.

The end of the novel is left open. Whether Horacio took his last step into the void or changed his mind is for the reader to decide. The alternation of episodes, when Horacio, after an unfulfilled intention to commit suicide, again finds himself at home, may simply be a dying vision. And yet it seems that, having felt the reliable authenticity of human relations, Horacio will agree that "the only possible way to get away from the territory is to climb into it to the very top."

V. S. Kulagina-Yartseva

(Dona Yog e Seus Dois Maridos)

Roman (1966)

A resident of the small town of Salvadrra in the vicinity of Bahia, Floripedes Paiva Guimaraens, the young mistress of the culinary school "Taste and Art", becomes a widow. Her husband Valdomiro, nicknamed Reveler, a drunkard, a gambler, a womanizer and a merry fellow, dies in the prime of life in the midst of a carnival from a broken heart. Dona Flor is inconsolable: all the seven years that they were together, she suffered from his betrayals, but no one could give her as much love and passion as Gulyak, to whom she forgave all his antics.

Mourning her husband, dona flor recalls the story of her life and love.

Her mother, Dona Rosilda, stubborn to the point of stupefaction, a sharp and imperious person with whom no one can get along under the same roof, after the death of her husband is left with three children - two daughters and a son - without any means. With the help of Rosalia and Flor, beautiful, hardworking and modest girls, the ambitious Rosilda hopes to change her fate and gain a position in society. However, Rosalia marries not a handsome prince, but a simple mechanic, but the heart of the bashful and chaste Flor, who, despite the wrath of her mother, rejects all rich suitors, conquers Reveler.

Rosilda is convinced that Valdomiro occupies a respectable position and is friends with the most influential people in the city. She hopes he will propose to Flor. But when Rosilda finds out that Reveler is more deceitful and that he is a petty municipal official, a gambler and a frequenter of brothels, she forbids her daughter to even think about him. But Flor is already in love and doesn't care that Gulyaka doesn't have a penny for her soul.

Despite her mother's threats and even beatings, she continues to meet Gulyaka and gives herself to him, after which she runs away from home and becomes his wife.

The money she earns from giving cooking lessons is enough for a modest life, as well as for paying the debts of her dissolute husband, and since she cannot have children, she does not really think about the future.

Flora's days pass in labor, and her nights in expectation: will Gulyaka come to spend the night, or will she prefer the embrace of some girl? However, when her husband is at home, she forgets about all grievances, because she feels that he still loves her passionately.

What to do if he has such a character and he cannot live without wine, roulette and sluts? And Flor, shedding tears of jealousy, understands that while Gulyaka is next to her, she is the happiest woman in the world.

All this time, Rosilda, Flor's mother, who fiercely hates her son-in-law, lives in another city with her son.

When Rosilda learns that Gulyaka has died, she, delighted, comes to Salvador in the hope that now her half-witted daughter, taught by bitter experience, will find herself a decent and rich husband. But Flor resolutely rejects all attempts of the mother to woo her one of the local rich and aristocrats. She continues to give cooking lessons and leads an impeccable lifestyle, so that no one suspects that Flor suffers cruelly at night from secret desires and unrequited love passion. But the discord between the flesh and the spirit cannot last forever, and in the end Flor succumbs to the persuasion of her friends, stops wearing mourning and even accepts the courtship of men. Her attention is drawn to the forty-year-old bachelor, pharmacist and druggist Teodoro Madureira, who has long been fascinated by the modest thirty-year-old widow. He proposes to Flor, and three years after Gulyaka's death, she becomes the wife of the pharmacist Teodoro.

Flor's second husband is the exact opposite of the first. He is the embodiment of efficiency, decency, restraint and kindness. The punctual and pedantic Teodoro, whose motto is "Everything has its place and everything has its time", carefully and conscientiously fulfills his marital duties, but the flor, who is accustomed to the shameless and daring caresses of the Revelers, the arms of the pharmacist seem insipid. She manages to extinguish the flame of unquenched passion in herself, for Flor loves and respects her husband, but her soul is stirred by sweet memories of hot nights with Gulyaka, she is haunted by vague and sinful dreams, and this somewhat overshadows her cloudless family life. Still, Flor is happy.

But one day, after a family holiday, she discovers a Gulyaka in her bedroom, lounging in what her mother gave birth to on her bed! Flor is not at all surprised by his presence: after all, she often thought of him. The reveler explains to her that he is visible only for her alone, so she can not be afraid that someone will find them having a friendly conversation, and immediately begins to seduce her ex-wife. For many days and nights, Flor courageously defends his honor and resists the attraction of his heart, while Gulyaka amuses himself by helping his former friends win large sums in the city casinos by telling them the winning numbers. But in the end, she gives in to his harassment, having previously confessed to her godfather Dionisia, Gulyaka's former mistress, that he is pursuing her even now, after his death. Dionisia promises to help her and turns to the local sorcerers, who prepare everything necessary for the rituals of pagan magic.

And Flor, in whose soul passion has finally won, flourishes, for her conscience is silent, lulled by the gentle, then the crazy caresses of the Reveler.

In the rapture of love, she forgets that she asked Dionysia for help. But when she notices that Gulyaka begins to literally melt before her eyes, she confesses to him that witchcraft is to blame:

after all, it was she who asked Dionysia for help.

The reveler resigned himself to fate, he is ready to go where he returned from for the sake of his beloved, he says goodbye to her, but the newly awakened passion Flor enters into a duel with witchcraft and wins. The reveler, invisible to no one but the flora herself, fills her life with fun and bliss, gives her love pleasures, and the practical and respectable Teodoro brings regularity to a woman's life and, like a cloud, surrounds her with virtues. Everyone in town admires Flor, unaware that she is only happy because of her two husbands, whose dissimilar talents complement each other so well.

V. V. Rynkevich

(El Senor Presidente)

Roman (1933, publ. 1946)

The novel takes place at the end of the second decade of the XNUMXth century. in one of the Latin American countries.

In the evenings, under the shadow of the portal of the Lord, beggars and cripples flock from all parts of the city, accustomed to spending the night on its cold steps. This time they become eyewitnesses of how the dumb fool Pelele, in a fit of wild fit, kills a passerby who molested and mocked him. And the next morning they are all taken to the police station, where the circumstances of the night incident, which turned out to be an important political case, are being investigated, since the victim was Colonel José Parrales Sonriente. The detainees give the same details of the crime they witnessed, but this is not what the military prosecutor wants to hear from them, and the arrested are beaten and tortured, trying to obtain a confession that the murder was committed by General Eusebio Canales and the licentiate Abel Carvajal. Only the legless blind man Mosquito persists, assuring that the beggars lie out of fear and blame the innocent for a crime for which Pelele alone is responsible. So he dies under torture, however, his testimony is not valid - after all, Mosquito is blind. And Pelele, after what he had done, fled, distraught with fear, and now wanders around the outlying garbage dumps.

When the news of the murder of the colonel reaches the Senior President, he vomits and thrashes, gets both those close to him and the petitioners who came to the reception. The head of state is tough-minded and quick to punish, everyone is afraid and trembling, fearing to fall under his hot hand, just a little - and they will beat him to death at his direction. Only Miguel Cara de Angel, who is "handsome and cunning, like Satan", and enjoys the unlimited confidence of the President, is calm and unperturbed. A crafty favorite knows how to please with subtle flattery and provides a lot of useful services to his patron, who appreciates him for his intelligence and courage. So this time he has a delicate assignment to his pet: there is an order for the arrest of Eusebio Canales, but it is not very convenient to send him to prison. We must warn the general and advise him to run away tonight, and help the old rogue, without attracting the attention of the police. Thinking about how to cope with the task, Cara de Angel sips beer in a seedy tavern opposite the general's house. But then a girl comes out of the entrance, he jumps out into the street and, having caught up, hands her his business card and asks her to tell the general to urgently contact him, because his life is in danger. The stranger turns out to be Canales' daughter, Camila.

Returning to the tavern, Cara de Angel informs the hostess and her boyfriend Luis Vasquez that he intends to kidnap the general's daughter at night, because the old man interferes with their love and even offers Vasquez, an agent of the secret police, to help in this business. Inspired by the prospect of making good money, Vasquez frivolously blurts out to his friend Genaro Rodas about the fool Pelele, who has been wanted by the police for three days, and about the story of the general's daughter. Rodas is wary: Fedin's wife said that Camila promised to be their son's godmother. Horror seizes him when Vasquez mercilessly shoots Pelele, who turned up on his way. After a conversation with the President's favorite, General Canales is depressed and frightened, although he despises himself for his cowardice. To run away means to admit guilt, and yet it is more prudent to follow the advice. Having returned, he initiates his daughter into the developed plan. At two in the morning, several people hired by Cara de Angel will climb onto the roof of the house. Hearing the noise, Camila will open the window, raise the alarm, thereby diverting the attention of spies and gendarmes, and Canales, taking advantage of the turmoil, will disappear. While waiting for the appointed hour in the tavern opposite, Cara de Angel reflects that it was not generosity, but deceit that lurked in the offer of a high patron, the general should be killed when he leaves the house. It remains to be hoped that the greed and self-interest of the guardians of law and order, attracted by the opportunity to plunder a rich mansion, will prevail. It is disgusting, of course, to take away the daughter of a man doomed to death, but Camila really liked him. And what he has sunk to: he was a newspaper editor, a diplomat, a deputy, a mayor, and became the leader of a gang. Everything is unfolding as planned. The general manages to escape without hindrance, and Karade Angel takes out the girl who has lost her senses and temporarily hides her in a tavern. When Fedina comes running in the morning to find out what's wrong with Camila, she finds an empty and ransacked house. As an accomplice in the escape, she is arrested, but she has nothing to say to the incessantly repeated question, where did the general go. She only insists that she learned about everything from her husband, whom Vasquez told about it. Her baby dies in the dungeon, and she loses her mind.

In these April days, the country is celebrating the anniversary of the rescue of the Senior President, whom Providence saved from a terrorist bomb. During the reception, an incomprehensible roar is heard, panic seizes those present, but it turns out that a large drum has been dropped, which rolls down the steps of the main staircase. Cara de Angel goes to the house of the brother of the disgraced general, Juan Canales, with an offer to shelter his niece, but he behaves like a contemptible coward, disowning his brother and condemning him, he refuses to take care of Camille, not wanting to defame his spotless reputation. Other relatives of the general do the same. At first, Camila does not believe that this can be, it seems to her that Cara de Angel is blatantly lying, especially after the owner of the pub admitted that she was privy to his plans. Soon she is personally convinced that everyone has turned away from her, from everything she has experienced, the girl becomes seriously ill. The military prosecutor learns from denunciations about the meeting of Cara de Angel with the general on the eve of his escape and hurries to inform the Senior President about the betrayal of the favorite, but he defends the favorite. These police are no good, instead of killing Canales while trying to escape, they ran to rob his property. Rodas is arrested, and then Vasquez, who pays dearly for talkativeness. Cara de Angel is upset by the rumors spreading around the city that he took away the unfortunate girl at night, dragged him to a tavern and raped him. But he behaved like a knight with Camila and never ceases to be amazed at his own nobility. How many people he sent to death, and now he is saving the life of the drunkard and fanfaron Major Farfan, who is being denounced.

Meanwhile, General Canales, after many adventures, reaches the border. His eyes were opened to many things, he faithfully served the regime that betrayed the ideals, the native land, the people. Now he is determined to fight for a just cause and win. The licentiate of Carvajal appears before a military tribunal. Fourteen witnesses testify that they saw him and General Canales kill the unfortunate Colonel Parrales. The defendant is sentenced to death. Camila is dying, Cara de Angel does not leave the sick bed. That's how it happens: he kidnapped her in order to seize power, but suddenly love surged like an obsession. He insists that the priest marry him to the dying. An order is received to appear at the country residence of the Senior President. He is drunk and rudely makes fun of the favorite. Cara de Angel feels like throwing himself at his master and crushing the vile laughter in his throat, but remains the same obedient, intelligent dog, content with his portion of leftovers, content with the instinct that kept him alive. By order of the Senior President, the newspapers publish a message about the marriage of his favorite, where he heads the list of best man, although in fact there was nothing like that. This announcement caught the eye of General Canales, his heart could not stand it, and he died in a foreign land. Camila recovered, but as if she died without leaving life. She treats everything around her with indifference, and Cara de Angel keeps beside her as something the only thing that belonged to her in this alien world.

But youth takes its toll, love also comes to it. If they had not been connected by an accident, they would have been happy, the couple think. But clouds are gathering over them. Cara de Angel, it would seem, is still favored by the Senior President and even sent on an important mission to Washington. But in the port he is taken into custody, and Major Farfan is in charge of the detention. Cara de Angel hopes that he will be able to elude reprisals, that his behavior, boorish tone, and severity in dealing with the prisoner are just a maneuver, because Farfan owes him his life. But hopes do not come true, the major with sadistic pleasure beats him half to death with a whip. In vain Camila waits for news from her husband. Nobody tells her what happened. She has a son, and she lives in complete seclusion on the estate. In the underground solitary confinement, the prisoner suffers, losing count of days, months and almost going crazy. The head of the secret police writes a report to the Senior President that, in accordance with the instructions received, a neighbor has been planted to the prisoner of cell number twenty-seven. Having learned from him that in retaliation for her husband, who left her to the mercy of fate, Camila became the mistress of the Senior President, the prisoner died. And the portal where the murder of Parrales took place is demolished, destroyed to the ground.

A. M. Burmistrova

(Kongensfald)

Roman (1902)

The Danish king Christian II (or, according to the old Danish form of this name, Kristjern II) is a rather bright personality in the history of Scandinavia. He ruled Denmark and Norway from 1513-1523. and Sweden in 1520-1523, fought for power for another nine years, allowed himself to be deceived into Denmark in 1532, allegedly for negotiations, was captured and after that he spent another twenty-seven years in prison in the castles of Sønderborg and Kalundborg. The fall of King Kristjern is the failure of his attempt to restore the great northern power that existed in the form of the so-called Kalmar Union (was concluded in 1397) as part of Denmark, Sweden and Norway. The fate of the king and his country is shown by the author in a special way - on the example of the fate of Mikkel (a collective name for a Dane, like Ivan for a Russian), the son of a village blacksmith, a learned student and a soldier. There is no need to say that the life experience of Mikkel and the people associated with him is unsuccessful, just as the attempt of the great Danish king to revive the former state turned out to be unsuccessful. But first things first.

The young lanky schoolboy Mikkel, nicknamed the Stork in Copenhagen, wanders around the city at night in search of food and impressions. He stumbles upon a cheerful company of German landsknechts, and they, good-naturedly joking at the student's appearance and hungry appearance, accept him into their society. The soldiers are frolicking, moving from one tavern to another; among them, Mikkel recognizes Otto Iversen, a Danish countryman, a young nobleman from the estate closest to Mikkel's native village. Having briefly fought off the company, Mikkel looks into one of the taverns and sees in it the divinely beautiful Prince Kristjern, who at that moment seemed to him, picking juicy berries from the vine. The prince, like all other new acquaintances of Mikkel, goes on a military campaign in the morning and hurries to enjoy the delights of earthly life. Mikkel is also talking about its possible transience, and Otto, who overtook him on the street, had long recognized Mikkel, although he did not show it; in Copenhagen, Otto is sad, he does not know anyone here, the next day, perhaps, death awaits him. Otto went to the soldiers in spite of his mother: she does not allow him to marry Anna-Metta, a simple peasant girl, and he and Anna-Metta love each other; Probably, Mikkel met Anna-Metta?

Mikkel does not answer the open-minded barich; he knows - sometimes it is more tactful and profitable to remain silent. Therefore, he does not share with Otto his dreams of Susanna, a girl living in the house of a wealthy Jew, Mendel Speyer (is it possible that she is his daughter?). Sometimes Susanna goes out into the garden adjacent to the house, and Mikkel from a distance, from behind the fence, watches her with adoration, not daring to approach her. But on the same night, a little later, after parting with Otto, Mikkel sees a hole in the fence of the garden and becomes an involuntary witness to the almost accidental seduction of Susanna by a young baric. The next morning, Otto sets off with the army, and Susanna, convicted by the night watchman of adultery, is expelled from Copenhagen along with her old father (the townspeople are especially strict with the newcomers), having previously subjected the guilty to the humiliating punishment of "carrying stones outside the city walls." Watching the girl from the crowd, Mikkel sees on her face not only suffering, but also an expression of satisfaction - she clearly enjoys suffering: now he knows that he will certainly take revenge on the baric for outraged love.

Mikkel's wanderings around Copenhagen continue for several more days. He turns to the local theologian and influential clergyman Jens Andersen with a request to send him, Mikkel, to study at a foreign university, but does not pass the exam, which the theologian immediately gives him on the go. Mikkel also fails to make a deal with the devil, for which he visits the cemetery chapel at the dead of night. In the end, the schoolboy who has fallen and gone on a spree is expelled from the university, and he has no choice but to return home to his native village, where his father and brothers cordially meet him. But in the village, Mikkel meets Anna-Metta again, who has turned from the red-cheeked laugher he remembered her four years ago into a written beauty. Mikkel falls in love with Anna-Metta, but she has not forgotten and loves her Otto. Overwhelmed by conflicting feelings, Mikkel takes her by force to the other side of the fjord, and the dishonored girl does not dare to return home; she is hired as a servant in the house of a rich peasant, and Otto, who returned from the campaign, having learned about the misfortune that befell her, resignedly returns to his family estate Moholm. He thinks he can't help her.

It takes about twenty years. Mikkel becomes a professional soldier. One day, Bishop Jena Andersen sends him to accompany a messenger to the king, who was besieging Stockholm at that time. The messenger - a rosy-cheeked twenty-year-old handsome man of an open and friendly disposition, without thinking twice, confides his deepest secret to Mikkel (as he probably did this a thousand times already): Axel (that is the name of the young man) wears an amulet on his chest, presented to him at the age of eighteen by the old Jew Mendel Speyer. In the amulet lies a letter in Hebrew indicating the place where Axel can get wealth for himself. Someday Axel will show the letter to a priest who is knowledgeable in languages, but only at the moment when he departs for another world - so the secret will be preserved more firmly.

Mikkel and Axel carry out the assignment given to them. In Stockholm, both warriors participate in the magnificent celebrations on the occasion of the Swedish coronation of King Kristjern and become eyewitnesses of the so-called “Stockholm Bloodbath” - the mass execution of the highest Swedish nobility and wealthy citizens accused of heresy - in such a radical way the king intends to break their resistance and forever resolve the issue of the unity of the Nordic countries under his hand. Mikkel witnessed the execution with his own eyes, standing among the soldiers guarding the execution site; Axel, on the other hand, saw the execution from the window of the house, where he had amused himself shortly before with Mikkel's mistress, whom they had brought to their common apartment from the "fun ship" - a floating brothel from the glorious trading city of Lübeck.

The spectacle of the execution makes such a heavy impression on the hero that he falls ill and turns to God for help. Axel nurses the patient: to Mikkel's offer to read him the cherished letter (since Mikkel is dying anyway), Axel refuses, he is sure that Mikkel will survive (and neither of them know that their common mistress from the "fun ship" has long stolen the paper from the amulet "Lucia). Such a noble gesture on the part of a successful rival and the son of his enemy inflames hatred in Mikkel ... and he recovers. Axel, on the other hand, happily marries the daughter of a member of the city magistrate who he likes. However, a serene family life is not for him, and soon he goes back to Denmark (just to look at his old love and immediately return to Stockholm to his wife), but loses his way and almost dies in the winter "primal" forest, where he is picked up by the forest man Kesa, who lives with his daughter in a lonely hut. And in their house, too, the simple-hearted and friendly Axel is accepted as the best guest, and Kesa gives him the most precious thing without hesitation - his daughter. But spring comes, forest loneliness becomes a burden for Axel, and he goes on.

A little later in the same year, Mikkel, who was in his native places, heard a rumor about a rich wedding being celebrated nearby. Inger, the illegitimate daughter of Anna-Metta and Mikkel, is given in marriage to the rich and handsome knight Axel. Aksel finds and invites his older friend to the wedding, but Mikkel refuses, he is afraid of the past. Then Axel escorts him on his way to the other side of the fjord, and here, in a fit of inexplicable hatred for fate, Mikkel attacks Axel and wounds him in the knee, he does not want Otto's son and his rival to be happy. A few days later, Axel, abandoned by everyone, dies from Antonov fire - gangrene.

Meanwhile, things are not going well for King Kristjern either. He twice conquered Sweden, and twice she fell away from him. In addition, in his rear, in Denmark, the nobility grumbles. In the end, the king is forced to flee from Jutland (this is the largest Danish peninsula) to Funen, where he is promised help. Norway is also behind the king. Kristjern is ashamed of his flight and, almost reaching the island, orders to turn back, but when he is again off the coast of Jutland, he understands that his return is unreasonable, and orders to rule again on the funen. So in throwing along the Small Belt back and forth the night passes. The king has lost his former confidence, which means that the king has fallen.

Many years pass. Mikkel, an experienced participant in almost all European wars of that time, makes a pilgrimage to the holy places in Jerusalem and Italy, after which he returns to his native village. He finds his older brother Niels and three adult nephews behind military preparations: all over Jutland, noble estates are burned and robbed, peasants gather the people's militia to help Christjern, captured by the nobility. Mikkel is already in years, he has seen enough wars, and he does not want to go along with the peasants: he will serve the king in a different way. On the ruins of the burned estate, Moholm Mikkel discovers the corpses of the aged Otto Iversen and the wealthy peasant Steffen, the former husband of Anna-Metta, who died long ago, lying together. So all the men met, sums up Mikkel.

At first victorious, the peasants were defeated by the German landsknechts of Johann Rantzau (he used firearms against the peasants - muskets). Mikkel is put into the service of the king imprisoned in Sønderborg Castle. In the last episode of the novel, he goes from the castle to the healer and warlock Zechariah in Lübeck to resolve the king’s tormenting question: does the Earth revolve around the Sun, as Mikkel, who has heard a lot of newfangled theories in Italy, claims, or does the Sun go around the Earth, as it was believed from old times? Having experienced a series of comic adventures associated with senile infirmity, militant manners and addiction to drinking, Mikkel gets to the goal, but only in order to compromise Zacharias, who, as it turned out, put ingenious experiments on a living person. Struck by the cruelty of his experiments, Mikkel blurts out about them in a drunken stupor, and Zacharias, like his experimental creature, was conceived in Sønderborg Castle by King Kristjern himself! - publicly burned. Mikkel is brought to the castle, half paralyzed, and he indifferently listens to the news that is being told to him: they live in the castle, waiting for Mikkel's arrival, his granddaughter - a young deaf-mute Ida, the illegitimate daughter of Inger and Axel, and the itinerant musician Jakob who takes care of her, who once felt sorry for the abandoned child . Never getting out of bed, Mikkel dies six months later with the firm conviction that he did not know happiness in life.

Equally disappointing is the outcome of the life of King Kristjern, who has grown decrepit in prison, but has not completely lost his spirit. After his reign, the author concludes, Denmark as an independent state "fell out of history." Time, as Jensen proclaims in the pages of the novel, is "all-destroying", and it is incommensurable with the throwing, thoughts or hopes of an individual or entire nations.

B. A. Erkhov

(Niels Ebbesen)

Play (1942)

Nils Ebbesen, the leader of the Danish peasants who rebelled against Holstein rule (Holstein is the Russian name for the historical region of Germany, Holstein, adjacent to Denmark), died in the battle of Skanderborg on November 1340, XNUMX. However, he was glorified by another event that occurred earlier in the spring of the same year. Sung in the Danish folk ballad Niels Ebbesen, it later formed the basis of the plot of several classic works of Danish literature, including Munch's drama, written during the Nazi occupation of Denmark.

The first three acts of the play take place on the territory of the rich estate of Niels Ebbesen in Jutland. By a stream not far from the house, the owner's daughter Ruth is rinsing clothes. A young knight, Niels Bugge, is hovering around her, he has just had a big argument with the owner, and now he is trying to break a kiss from his daughter, which he fails:

the girl is ashamed, and Bugge himself is too awkward and straightforward. He is left with nothing. A father comes up to his daughter, he sets scarecrows by the stream ... from wolves, perfectly understanding the senselessness of this enterprise. But what if the watchdog on his estate made friends with a wolf and, not wanting to fight with him, prefers to pick up the carrion remaining after him (and isn’t the same happening with Denmark: after all, the Danish king Kristoffer gave its largest territory - the Jutland peninsula under a pledge of his debt to the Holstein Count Gerhard III, who is now establishing his own "new order" on it?).

Father Lorenz, a local priest, appears at the manor house, he is very tipsy: fooling around, he tries to saddle a pig. Nils Ebbesen's wife Fru Gertrud orders him to go into the house, lie down and sleep. But does Frau Gertrud know what Lorenz said to the young Bugga, who was about to gore Count Gerhard? He told him: his idea is great! And God bless him after that to burn in the eternal flames of hell! War is good! Cities will be burned, new ones can be built. They kill people, women give birth to more. The tipsy priest is clowning around, but bitterness comes through in his jokes - he is aware of the impotence of the Danes in front of Count Gerhard.

Soon Niels Ebbesen's brother-in-law Ove José joins the company at the house. He asks the owner a direct question: is he at the same time with Count Gerhard or against him? The count delivered them from the weak King Kristoffer - after all, he had not liked Niels and his wife Gertrud before? And the count is an energetic and capable ruler. With him, the country will change, the power of the count will mean for her calm, order, power and upsurge. Gerhard III - invincible. Are Nils and his wife against him only because he is a Holsteiner and not a Dane?

Yes, Niels Ebbesen is against the count, although he is not going to oppose him, which the young and imprudent Bugge incited him to do. Let Ove and others consider Ebbesen to be anyone - a coward or a traitor, the main thing for him is that there should be no war. Therefore, he refuses to take sides. Is that his firm answer? asks Ove José. Then let him get acquainted with the Holstein officer, his name is Wietinghof, he will henceforth live in the estate near Ebbesen and study the system of Danish agriculture. At the same time, he will collect weapons from the local peasants - all these crossbows, arrows, spears, battle axes and swords.

Several months pass. Niels Ebbesen and his tenants celebrate the harvest festival. Fun, tranquility and peace reign in the estate. The only one who, for some reason, is not happy with the holiday is Fr Gertrud, she does not believe in outward calm and is surprised how a husband can be calm when a foreigner has taken over their country? In addition, Fru Gertrud looks with displeasure at Whitinghoff's courtship of her daughter: as it seems, they are accepted by her favorably. Wietinghoff also charms Ebbesen's son, a teenager who admires his decisive character and code of knightly honor. The holiday is interrupted by a messenger who arrived at the estate: he announces the imminent arrival here of Count Gerhard himself with his five hundred horsemen. Fru Gertrud immediately blows his horn, calling the peasants - they must resist the impudent Holsteiners! But the matter does not come to a collision: the messenger reports that the count is seriously ill, he is almost dying and is traveling on a stretcher. According to the law of hospitality, Niels Ebbesen cedes the estate to him, while he himself, along with his children and household, temporarily moves to a farm standing nearby in the wasteland.

A few more months pass. It's time for sowing. Niels Ebbesen is dissatisfied with his son's behavior: he gives him a slap for expressing his desire to become a soldier. "What will young Ebbe do when he has conquered the whole earth?" the father asks his son. It is better and more reliable to take away land from swamps, draining them. Ebbesen is no less strict with his daughter Ruth, she too willingly accepts Whitinghoff's courtship. Does she really want her sons to kill people in the future? In general, this spring everyone is dissatisfied with everyone: a premonition of trouble hangs in the air. Fru Gertrud also reprimands her husband. The Holsteiners, in her opinion, had already completely taken over the country; they now act not only with rudeness: when necessary, they are not averse to joking and can be courteous. The Danes are completely softened: Count Gerhard is exhausted by illness, but even he, the living dead, inspires such fear in the Danes that his army conquers the country with threats and promises alone, Fru Gertrud does not understand her husband's optimism when he frivolously tells her that "with the singing of a lark the peasants will take up the plow and the Holsteiners will soon be gone."

Father Lorenz comes to the farm. He brings important news with him: Count Gerhard recovered, he left the Ebbesen estate and went to the town of Randers. But the count did not forget about the local peasants: he ordered them to also come to Randers for military service there.

If this is the case, Niels Ebbesen immediately sets off - he is going to his estate! He will stop the peasants! Father Lorenz warns Niels: the peasants are unlikely to welcome his return - it was Niels who ordered them to hand over their weapons to Wietinghoff. In general, the peacefulness of Ebbesen seems strange to the priest: is it not the blessed Niels? "But does Father Lorenz have the right to talk to me like that?" exclaims Ebbesen. "Probably," he replies. Not so long ago, in the church, where the count himself was among the parishioners, Father Lorenz delivered a sermon in which he denounced the powers that be, violating divine and human rights. After the sermon, he expected death. But the count came to him and praised him: he preached well, it is comforting for the count to know that the truth in these places has again spoken at the top of its voice. The count is so self-confident that he allows himself indulgence. It is useless to speak to him in human language, he only understands the language of the sword.

After listening to Lorenz, Nils comes to an unexpected decision: he is going to Randers, he will meet the count there! He can no longer remain aloof. Literally at these words, his peasant tenants, who came to say goodbye, enter the house. He announces to them about the decision: let them stay at home, he will go to Randers and agree with the count! The peasants do not dissuade Ebbesen, but they swear to protect him if they had weapons. And the weapon is located: it is hidden behind barrels of beer in a warehouse in the church of the drunkard priest Lorenz. Ebbesen and the peasants set off on their journey. Withinghoff, who is following him, arrests the priest and tries to find out from him where and for what purpose Nils left. Lorenz laughs it off, and then Witinghoff resorts to torture: from the most pleasant guest and friend of the house, he instantly turns into an occupier and executioner. Having witnessed the torture scene, Ruth calls her lover a flayer. He leaves Lorenz and leaves for Randers - to be with the count.

In Randers. Deep night. Count Gerhard is breathing heavily. He is awakened for midnight mass. The count is unhappy: he was prevented from sleeping - someone was shouting in the street. He orders the screaming man to be found and hanged. The count strictly monitors the departure of mass: there would be no passes. God cannot be deceived. Others can. But not just God. They are interested to know if moving out of the country did him any good? Yes, he feels good. And now he can finish the job. He will create a strong state. On the foundations of mercy, justice and peace. The Count is merciful, because he destroys only what has become obsolete. He is just because he recognizes the strongest as the winner. He brings peace with him, for peace is possible only when one rules and the rest obey him.

Niels Bugge is introduced. The count orders him to be hanged. Did young Bugge come to Randers on the basis of a safe-conduct issued by him, the Count? Well, Bugge was stupid.

A messenger enters the count's bedroom. He loudly announces: Gerhard's Holstein troops have taken the city of Ribe and burned Kolding. Great news! Who is this runner? Did Nils Ebbesen come to the count? Perhaps he wants the count to let the peasants go? No, the count will send them to the most dangerous places, from which they usually do not return. And he will send Nils there too - only for this reason he does not order him to be hanged immediately. The Danes are generally worthless people. They do not want to interfere in anything, they always strive to stay on the sidelines. They refuse to fight for a great goal, but willingly get involved in petty quarrels. They have neither a sense of unity nor responsibility, they are gluttonous and self-satisfied. The count does not know a single Dane who would have a strong will and be capable of a bold act.

"By what right does the count judge the Danes?" Ebbesen asks him. "By the right of the winner," the count replies. Niels Ebbesen draws a sword hidden on his chest. Peasants rush from the hallway to help him. The count's guards have been pushed back. Only Niels Ebbesen's brother-in-law Ove Jose protects him, and Nils kills him without hesitation. The count's retinue flees, while he himself, trying to escape, appeals to the rules of civilized behavior: you can’t attack like a robber, as Nils Ebbesen does, they can still agree, let the young Bugge be an intermediary between them. Among other things, he, Count Gerhard, is in a foreign country, he is a foreigner, sick and defenseless. "By what right does Ebbesen want to kill me?" - "By the right of the winner," - he answers. Right there in the bedroom, the faithful adviser and spy of Count Wietinghoff was also killed.

Battlefield. It has a thick fog. The clanking of weapons and the clatter of horses can be heard. Screams that the Holsteins are running. In the foreground are Ruth and Mrs. Gertrud, they are looking for Nils. Mrs. Gertrude is almost sure: her husband died. It cannot be otherwise, because he went with a handful of peasants against Count Gerhard himself and his entire army! How she regrets that she pushed him to do this! “No,” Father Lorenz, who accompanies the women, insists, “you shouldn’t feel sorry for Nils, but be proud of him.” If he died, then with honor. However, the priest is sure that Ebbesen is alive. The travelers come across a lonely hut in the fog and enter it. Niels Ebbesen appears on horseback. Deadly tired, he dismounts from his horse and hastily wipes his sword on the grass. Father Lorenz notices him. "Is the count's blood really as red as the others'?" - he asks. Ebbesen admits: he killed the count and stained his sword with blood, he sullied his shield and the honor of Denmark: after all, he killed an unarmed man! But Lorenz justifies him: there is a war, Count Gerhard himself started it, and there is one less devil on earth.

The mistress of the hut, a middle-aged woman, comes out to the men. Lorenz asks if she has anything in the house, they are very hungry. The woman had only two small loaves left, which she had saved for the children. But she will give one of them if it is true that Niels Ebbesen killed the hated bald count.

The people are gathering. Young Bugge addresses people with a speech. The Jutlanders have a long and thorny path ahead of them. But now they have the courage to walk on it. Niels Ebbesen not only defeated their enemy - he returned faith to his fellow tribesmen. And from now on, whenever the Danes happen to lose courage, the mere mention of him me will lift their spirits.

To the speech of the young Bugge, Ebbesen answers briefly. He would always like to live in peace with his neighbors. But in order to live, one must be free.

B. A. Erkhov

(Ingen kender natten)

Roman (1955)

As teenagers, Simon and Lydia were housemates in Copenhagen. The boys in the yard shouted that Lydia's mother was a whore; Lydia teased and bullied them, and they beat her, and she fought back, and once Simon, unable to stand it, rushed at the offenders, and everything disappeared, only pain, and screams, and blood remained. Then she and Lydia hid in a coal pit and sat for a long time, and when everything was quiet, she brought him to the attic ... And then they lay, closely clinging to each other, and both understood that what had happened would remain with them forever and no one could change it .

Many years pass, and in the last year of the war, Simon accidentally meets Lydia. Despite the fact that Lydia has expensive cigarettes and silk outfits from nowhere, despite her drunken smile, Simon desperately wants to believe her words of love and that he is safe with her, although he is wanted by the Gestapo and care must be taken. But, apparently, Lydia nevertheless betrayed him, because on the third night the Nazis come to her apartment. Simon manages to get away on the roofs, but stumbles upon a car with policemen, who, as expected during the curfew, open fire on the fleeing man. Simon is wounded in the arm, but without stopping, he runs, runs in the rain and wind, runs away from some dogs, climbs over some fences ... His consciousness is troubled ... Suddenly he finds himself sitting in front of a fashionable mansion, from the windows of which it is pouring music. "Further!" - he says to himself...

“Get up,” Thomas says to himself. “Get up and get out of your house, which is not your home, away from your married life, which is no married life ...” But, as always, he remains to sit and drink, drink, and here again hallucinations begin, and again he remembers his mother. She tortured Thomas with her love; he could no longer listen to confidential stories about her lovers every night. He locked himself in a room, got drunk, and she pounded on his door and screamed that she would kill herself. And once I really took a sleeping pill. She could have been saved by simply calling the doctor, but Thomas did nothing. And now ghostly analytical demons are talking to him about his guilt, and everything is spinning around, and gaps in consciousness appear ...

Simon is very tired. Lydia gave him away. He would kill her and then himself. But first we must warn our comrades. You have to ask strangers for help. Simon gets to the window of the mansion, sees dancing couples in it, and in the corner - a drunken man, who is approached by a woman who looks like Lydia and her boyfriend.

Gabrielle and Daphne approach Thomas. His father-in-law and his wife, father and daughter; and it seems to Thomas that the relationship between them is not entirely innocent ... Here, in their place, a friend of the house, Dr. Felix, appears. Daphne has been using a lot of medical terms lately. And for him, Thomas, she does not open the door when he knocks on her bedroom. But he still comes. He is not able to break this hell of unreality even with a shot to the temple, although the gun has been ready for a long time ... I want to hit Felix, but instead Thomas starts talking and drowns out the doctor with words until he leaves ... And a woman named Sonya is already sitting on Thomas’s knees. She talks about how Daphne and Felix humiliate her, how she is afraid of Gabriel; Sonya confesses her love to Thomas, begs to save her... Daphne comes, takes her away, but Thomas does nothing. Gabriel sits next to him...

Two Germans from guard duty are approaching the mansion. Simon hid in the backyard. The main thing is not to be given alive. It's cold, I want to sleep, my arm hurts...

Gabriel, a successful collaborator, quickly settles the case with the Germans about the wrong blackout and continues the conversation with Thomas.

A girl who comes out of the house with a trash can stumbles upon Simon. He asks her to call someone from the adults who can be trusted. She leaves…

Carried away, Gabriel tells Thomas his beliefs: the future belongs to capital, which will create a new form of dictatorship. Let people believe that they are fighting for freedom - do not take away beautiful slogans from them, you just need to use them for your own purposes. In fact, a person needs not freedom, but fear. Weighs, money and fear.

Simon, afraid that the girl will burst into tears and fail the case, convinces himself to remain calm and sane, nevertheless, for some reason, he goes ... enters the kitchen of the mansion ...

And yet Gabriel is not sure of himself, he is unhappy, lonely and afraid of his loneliness. Suddenly, he is struck by a heart attack, and in the last minutes only Thomas, who has come out of a state of immobility, remains with him. He hears Gabriel let out that quiet cry that is heard behind the words of every person, and he understands that this cry is meaningless, because a gentle touch is enough to calm him. And he also understands that the moment has come when he will get up and leave. And then there's a scream...

One of the maids in the kitchen, seeing a dirty stranger with a gun, screams loudly, and Simon, out of surprise, shoots at the ceiling ...

Thomas enters the kitchen, approaches Simon. "Hello brother," Thomas says.

Gabriel is taken to the hospital. Everyone's attention is so busy with this event that no one paid attention to the shot, and Thomas can quietly bring the "brother" to him. He bandages Simon's hand, gives him something to eat, changes him from his dirty worker's clothes into his own expensive suit, noting in passing that they are the same size, and in general they look like twins. Then Thomas takes Simon to the city, thanks to Gabriel's ausweiss, bypassing the German posts. He was tired, but he had never been so happy in his life.

Simon is not completely sure if Thomas can be trusted. And yet, when it comes time to part, he breaks out: "You are fit for better than a senseless death ... you should be with us." He refuses, but when Simon leaves, he becomes so lonely ... so empty ... as if in oblivion, he carefully follows the "brother" ... enters the door of the tavern, climbs the stairs ... Then they hit him on the head, and he loses consciousness.

For Kuznets, the leader of the underground group, it was a complete surprise that Simon vouched for a man who had come for some unknown reason (probably an informer), whom he himself did not really know. However, for now, he just locks Thomas in the attic. Kuznets has so many problems: a group of people persecuted by the Germans, who are now hiding in a tavern, must be transported to Sweden; yesterday they could not be sent, and no new instructions were received ... But even he has less trouble than Magdalena, the owner of the tavern - she needs to wash the dishes, cook food for visitors, feed the underground and still take care of her stepfather who has fallen into childhood. And so long, so long ago she had no man...

It's cold in the attic. The morning bells are ringing. Now Thomas is really drunk, he is on the verge of insanity ... Vision? No, it's his brother... "Gotta go, Thomas. It's about your life." Of course, he is delirious, but he must obey his brother... The body does not obey him, he cannot walk... Simon tries to carry him in his arms, but nothing happens, he is wounded and tired...

When Thomas wakes up again, a woman is nearby - big, maybe too big - the exact opposite of Daphne. She leaves the food and, leaving, does not lock the attic door - obviously on purpose so that he can leave - because they want to kill him as an informer. But Thomas doesn't leave... although she certainly won't come back... but...

Magdalena runs back and forth, stopping for a minute to say something, to answer, to pick up and give back; there are still a lot of things to do, and there is some kind of heaviness in her whole body ... But at last evening comes, and she again goes to the attic ...

Thomas suddenly sees Magdalena next to him, touches her shoulders, hair, chest...

Then they lie, intertwined bodies, and everyone has such a feeling as if this is the first time. Thomas talks about his mother, and Magdalena about how her stepfather was a pimp and used her, half a child, despite resistance and tears. "And you look after him?" Thomas is surprised. "I have to - for my own sake," she replies. "It's the only way to overcome it." And then she falls asleep in his arms.

Magdalena's stepfather, left unattended, finds the keys, sneaks into the tavern hall, turns on the lights everywhere, drinks and talks to himself. Two - disguised policemen - break open the door and, having deceived the crazy old man, force him to show where the refugees are hiding.

Appearing with Magdalena at the door of the room where the group ready to go is hiding, Thomas sees the giant, who has already managed to put everyone against the wall. Thomas is not armed, but he rushes at the stranger and takes his gun from him. But he managed to shoot - Magdalena was killed.

The blacksmith quickly leads the refugees up another staircase. Thomas remains to cover the retreat. Simon joins him. In a shootout, Simon is wounded. "Only not alive..." - he says, and Thomas, realizing, kills him. And then it's Thomas' turn. At the very last moment, when his body is already pierced by a dozen bullets, he has time to think that the tower bells are about to start playing their melody - "The light of life forever shines" ...

K. A. Stroeva

(A portrait of the artist as a young man)

Roman (1916)

Stephen Dedalus recalls how, as a child, his father told him a fairy tale about the boy Boo-boo and the cow Mu-mu, how his mother played a sailor dance on the piano, and he danced. At school, in the prep class, Steven is one of the best students. Children are surprised by his strange name, third-grader Wells often teases him, and once even pushes him into the bathroom for the fact that Stephen did not want to exchange his little snuffbox for his dice, which he won forty times in money. Steven is counting down the days until the Christmas holidays, when he will go home. He recalls his family arguing about Parnell - Dad and Mr. Casey thought he was a hero, Dante was judging, and Mom and Uncle Charles weren't on either side. It was called politics. Steven doesn't quite understand what politics is and doesn't know where the universe ends, so he feels small and weak. Clongows Jesuit College, where Stephen is studying, is a privileged educational institution, and it seems to Stephen that almost all boys have fathers who are justices of the peace. Stephen fell ill and was admitted to the infirmary. He imagines how he will die and how he will be buried, and Wells will regret that he pushed him into the toilet hole. Then Stephen imagines how Parnell's body was brought to Dublin from England. Stephen comes home for the Christmas holidays and for the first time sits at the same table with the adults during Christmas dinner, while his younger siblings are in the nursery. At the table, adults argue about religion and about Parnell. Mr. Casey tells how he spat right in the eye of an old woman who dared to call Parnell's beloved a rude word. Dante considers Parnell an apostate and an adulterer and is a fervent defender of the established church. "God, morality and religion above all!" she calls to Mr. Casey. "If so, no need for God's Ireland!" exclaims Mr. Casey.

Several boys ran away from the college but were caught. The students discuss the news. No one knows for sure why they ran away, there are a variety of rumors about it. Steven tries to imagine what the boys did to make them run. He broke his glasses and cannot write, for which the inspector called him a lazy little bum and lashed his fingers painfully with a ruler. Comrades persuade him to go complain to the rector. The rector convinces Stephen that there has been a misunderstanding and promises to talk to the inspector.

Steven realizes that his father is in trouble. He's being picked up from Clongows. The family moves from Blackrock to Dublin. There's a kids' party at Haroldcross. After the evening, Stephen goes to the horse-drawn carriage along with the girl he likes and dreams of touching her, but does not dare. The next day he writes poetry and dedicates it to her. One day, the father reports that he saw the rector of Clongows College, and he promised to get Stephen into the Belvedere Jesuit College, Stephen recalls a school play in the Belvedere under Ghost Day. This was two years after the children's party at Haroldcross. He had been imagining all day how he would meet that girl again. Steven's buddies play tricks on him, but they fail to unsettle him. Stephen does not trust frenzied feelings, they seem unnatural to him. He only feels happy when he is alone or among his ghostly friends. After the performance, Stephen sees his family, but does not meet the girl he likes, whom he so hoped to see. He runs headlong into the mountains. Wounded pride, crushed hope and deceived desire envelop him with their dope, but gradually he calms down and goes back.

Stephen travels with his father to Cork, where his father spent his youth. The father is ruined, his property will be sold at auction, Stephen perceives this as a gross encroachment of the world on his dreams. Stephen feels almost older than his father: he does not feel in himself either the joy of friendly communication, or the strength of health, or the beat of life that his father and his friends once felt so fully. His childhood is over, and he has lost the ability to enjoy simple human joys.

Stephen is a fellow and the first student at the Belvedere. Having received a scholarship and an award for writing work, he takes the whole family to dine in a restaurant, then spends money without an account on entertainment and pleasure, but the money quickly runs out, and the family returns to a normal lifestyle. Stephen is sixteen years old. Carnal desires completely subjugate Stephen's imagination. He longs for intimacy with a woman. One day, he accidentally wanders into a quarter where there are many brothels and spends the night with a prostitute. Piety has abandoned Stephen: his sin is so great that it cannot be redeemed by hypocritical worship of the All-Seeing and All-Knowing. Stephen becomes the head of the brotherhood of the Blessed Virgin Mary in college: "Sin, which turned away the face of the Lord from him, unwittingly brought him closer to the intercessor of all sinners." If at times he was overwhelmed by the desire to get up from his place of honor, repent before everyone and leave the church, then one look at the faces around him was enough to suppress this impulse. The rector announces that spiritual exercises in memory of St. Francis Xavier, the patron of the college, will soon begin, which will last for three days, after which all students of the college will go to confession. Listening to the sermons, Stephen feels his depravity more and more sharply, more and more ashamed of his depravity. He repents in his soul and longs to atone for his shameful past. He must confess his sins, but hesitates to do so in the school church. He is ashamed to tell his confessor about his sins. In his sleep, he is tormented by nightmares, haunted by hellish visions. Steven sets out to wander the dark streets, at one point he asks where the nearest church is and hurries there. He prays, confesses to the old priest and vows to forever renounce the sin of fornication. Stephen leaves the church, feeling "an invisible grace enveloping and filling his whole body with ease." He starts a new life.

Stephen's daily life consists of various deeds of piety. He strives through constant self-torture to atone for his sinful past. The rector calls him to him and asks if Stephen feels his true calling. He invites him to join the order. This is a great honor that few receive. He must think. Saying goodbye to the rector, Stephen notices on his face the bleak reflection of the fading day and slowly withdraws his "hand, which has just timidly recognized their spiritual union." Gloomy pictures of college life rise in his memory. A gray, measured life awaits him in the order. He decides to refuse. His destiny is to avoid all social and religious ties.

Stephen looks at the sea, at the girl standing in front of him in the stream, and a feeling of earthly joy overwhelms him.

Stephen is a university student. His family lives in poverty, his father drinks. Stephen reads Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, as well as Newman, Ibsen, Guido Cavalcanti, the Elizabethans. He often misses classes, wanders the streets, poems are formed in his head by themselves. His thoughts move from yellowing ivy to yellow ivory, to Latin grammar, where he first encountered the word ebur (ivory), to Roman history ... "It was bitter for him to realize that he would forever remain only a timid guest at the festival of world culture." Late for class, Stephen is in the classroom talking to a priest lighting a fire. Stephen suddenly feels keenly that the English language, native to the priest, is for him, Stephen, just acquired, close and alien at the same time. The university collects signatures under the call of Nicholas II to establish "eternal peace". Stevens refuses to put his signature. His friends Cranly and Davin sign a document condemning Stephen for being aloof. Steven wants to avoid the networks of nationality, religion, language. He thinks about compassion, about fear. He tries to explain to his comrades his views on art. In his opinion, "art is a person's ability to rational or sensual perception of an object with an aesthetic purpose." Stephen talks about the origin of the aesthetic image in the imagination of the artist. He is close to the term Luigi Galvani - the fascination of the heart. At night, half asleep, Stephen composes love poems, writes them down so as not to forget. The girl he likes is a member of the Gaelic League, which advocates the revival of the Irish language. Seeing her flirting with the priest, Steven stops attending league classes. But now he seems to be unfair to her. Ten years ago, he already dedicated poems to her after riding a horse together. Now he thinks about her again, but he does not send these new poems to her either.

Stephen recalls the scandal that erupted at the premiere of Yeats's play "Countess Kathleen", the angry outcries of Irish nationalists who accused the author of distorting the national character. Stephen is finally moving away from religion, but Cranly notices that, despite this, he is thoroughly saturated with religion. Stephen does not want to take communion at Easter and because of this he quarrels with his pious mother. Cranly persuades him not to cause unnecessary grief to his mother and to do as she wants, but Stephen does not agree. Stephen wants to leave. "Where?" asks Cranly. "Wherever you can," Stephen replies. He will not serve what he no longer believes in, even if it is his family, homeland or church. He will try to express himself in some form of life or art as fully and freely as he can, defending himself only with the weapons that he considers possible for himself - silence, exile and cunning. He is not afraid to be alone or be rejected for someone else. And he is not afraid to make a mistake, even a great mistake.

By chance, in the crowd, Stephen meets a girl he likes. She asks if Stephen writes poetry. "About whom?" Stephen asks. The girl is embarrassed, Stephen feels sorry for her, and he feels like a scoundrel. Therefore, he quickly shifts the conversation to another topic and talks about his plans. They say goodbye. A few days later Stephen leaves.

O. E. Grinberg

Roman (1922)

The novel tells about one day on June 1904, XNUMX, from the life of a thirty-eight-year-old Dublin Jew, Leopold Bloom, and twenty-two-year-old Stephen Daedalus. transcription of the name of its main character). But this connection with the ancient Greek epic is very relative and, rather, from the opposite: in a lengthy novel, in fact, nothing important happens.

The scene of action - the capital of Ireland, the city of Dublin - is verified by the author literally from a map and a reference book. Time - according to the chronometer, sometimes, however, stopping.

The first part includes three episodes. At eight in the morning, Bull Mulligan, who rents housing with Daedalus in the Martell tower, wakes up his friend, who is extremely unhappy that their third neighbor, Haynes, was shooting a rifle from sleep, delirious at night. The cowardly and touchy Daedalus does not really like this. His mother recently died of liver cancer, with whom he had a difficult relationship during her lifetime, and he is also offended by the wit Mulligan for disrespectful expressions addressed to her. Their conversation revolves around the theme of the son's search for his father, constantly referring to the examples of Hamlet, Jesus Christ and Telemachus, the son of Ulysses. The same theme also arises in the history lesson that Stephen gives two hours later at the school where he works part-time, and in his conversation with the headmaster, who asks the young man to pass on his long-winded note about the foot-and-mouth disease epidemic to his acquaintances in the newspaper. After class, Stephen mentally walks along the seashore.

On the same morning, the "wanderings" of the small advertising agent Leopold Bloom begin. The central and largest part of the novel, consisting of twelve episodes, begins with his breakfast - a pork kidney, which he buys before that at the Dlugach butcher's shop. There he also takes the avenue of a model farm in Palestine, building various projects on this account. There are two letters waiting for him at home. The first is from Millie's daughter, or Merion, who just turned fifteen yesterday and is already working as a photographer's assistant at Mollingar. And a second letter addressed to his wife Molly, a concert singer, from her impresario Buyan (or Hugh E.) Boylan, in which he says that he will call on her at four o'clock in the afternoon.

After breakfast - visiting the toilet with a magazine in hand. At eleven, Bloom has to be at the funeral of his schoolmate, and he leaves the house an hour before to do various small things. In particular, he receives a letter in the mail from a certain Martha Clifford, who responded to a newspaper advertisement given by him for purely amorous purposes about the search for a secretary. Martha answered his love letter and even writes that she dreams of meeting. About what Bloom has all sorts of womanly fantasies. It's time, however, to the cemetery.

In the funeral carriage, Bloom rides along with other condolences, including Stephen's father, Simon Dedalus. The conversation is about all sorts of things, including the future tour of Bloom's wife, and his father, who committed suicide in his time.

After the funeral ceremony, Bloom goes to the editorial offices of newspapers, for which he advertises as an agent. There, he meets the same company that was in the cemetery, plus Professor McHugh, consumptive lawyer O'Molloy, and editor Miles Crawford. Bloom leaves, comes. In his absence, Stephen Dedalus turns out to be in the editorial office, who brought a note from the director of the school, and after chatter invites everyone to a drinking establishment. The editor was delayed, at which time Bloom returned, and all the annoyance of Crawford falls on him.

Embarrassed, Bloom leaves the editorial office and wanders around the city, gradually beginning to feel hungry and thinking more and more about food. Either he will talk with a friend, then he will marvel at the madman, and finally he goes to Davy Bern's tavern, where one of the regulars informs the owner of the tavern about Bloom's Freemasonry.

At the same time, at two o'clock in the afternoon, Stephen Dedalus defends his version of Shakespeare's biography and personality in the library before the smartest people of Dublin, for example, that he played and considered himself a shadow of Hamlet's father. Despite his originality and desire to be understood, he remains an outcast among the audience: neither his poems are published in a collection of young poets, nor are they invited to the evening, unlike his friend Malachi (or Bull) Mulligan, who is also here. Already offended, Stephen receives more and more reasons for his grievances. Bloom also visits the library, almost meeting Stephen.

It's the middle of the day and the townspeople go about their business. Bloom's friends are discussing the charms of his wife, Leopold Bloom himself is sorting through books of masochistic content, choosing one of them. Buyan Boylan sends wine and fruit to a certain address with a messenger. Steven meets his sister, who recently separated from her father.

Bloom knows from a letter that his wife Molly is scheduled to meet with Brawler Boylan at four. He suspects their love affair, which actually exists. Having met Boylan, Bloom secretly follows him to the Ormond restaurant on the embankment, by the way, has lunch there with his acquaintance, listens to music, then finds out that Boylan is leaving in a carriage. Jealousy, the secret desire to betray his wife with another man, this "Penelope" who satisfies everyone, to her own and their pleasure - all this overwhelms Bloom's soul against the backdrop of exciting music. Imagining what is happening at his house in his absence, he writes a reply letter to Martha, refusing to meet her immediately and enjoying the game itself, which delays pleasure.

At five o'clock, Irish patriots gather in Barney Kiernan's tavern, discussing current affairs - their own and their poor, oppressed by the British and Jews of the country. In search of Martin Cunningham about the insurance of Dignam buried in the morning, Bloom also drops in here. Drinking, the patriots discuss, touching the Jew Bloom, who does not support their extremism against the British, in particular. The case ends with an anti-Semitic trick against him: when Bloom gets into the carriage, an empty can is thrown at him.

By eight o'clock, Bloom is on the beach by the sea, where he masturbates, watching one of the three young girlfriends, Gertie McDowell, who, sensing his interest, as if inadvertently demonstrates her underwear and other secret charms. When she leaves with her friends, Bloom discovers her lameness. Then it turns out that his watch stopped at half past four. Wasn't it then, Bloom thinks, when Boylan "patched" his wife?

Bloom has no desire to meet his wife. At ten o'clock in the evening he finds himself in Dr. Horn's childbirth shelter, where one of the mothers of many children has not been able to have another baby for the third day. Entering there, Bloom discovers a company of drinking and laughing young men, among whom is Stephen Dedalus. Leopold drinks and talks to them. Here it is worth noting that the novel "Ulysses" is not easy to read and retell, because it is written in the stream of consciousness genre. In the same chapter, the author also imitates various literary styles, from the most ancient to the most modern. Among the young men, Bull Mulligan is also verbiage. Seductive conversations are fueled by the arrival of a nurse, reporting that the lady has finally given birth. The cheerful company goes to drink and walk further to the tavern, and Stephen and his friend Lynch separate from the rest to go to the Bella Cohen brothel. For some reason, Bloom, feeling sympathy for Stephen, decides to follow the young people.

At midnight, he finds himself in the heart of Dublin's nighttime debauchery. Drunk Bloom hallucinates, seeing his parents, familiar women, met random people during the day. He is forced to defend himself against accusations by these ghosts of various secret vile things. His subconscious, the thirst for power and honors, fears, sexual masochism rod out "in faces and pictures." Finally, he ends up with a prostitute Zoya in a brothel, where he meets Steven with his friend. Drunk drug-erotic delirium continues, reality cannot be separated from consciousness. Bloom, turned into a woman, is accused of all sorts of perversions, including the pleasure of spying on his wife's adultery with Boylan. Suddenly, in the midst of an orgy, Stephen sees the ghost of his poor mother, who has risen from the grave. He breaks the chandelier with his cane and runs from the brothel to the street, where he gets into a fight with the soldiers. Bloom, following him, somehow settles the scandal, bends over the body of the young man lying in the dust and recognizes in him his son Rudy, who died eleven years ago in infancy.

The third part of the book begins, consisting of the last three episodes. At one o'clock in the morning, Bloom and Steven get to the cabbie's night tea shop, where they settle down in a corner. Bloom in every possible way supports the conversation, periodically reaching a dead end, shows Stephen a photograph of his wife and invites him to visit to introduce her. Having discussed on the way a lot of the most important questions for drunk people, they get to Bloom's house at two in the morning and, having hardly opened it, they sit in the kitchen, drink cocoa and again talk on all sorts of topics, then go to the garden, urinate together, after which they safely disperse. in different directions.

Lying next to his wife in bed, Bloom, among other things, reflects on his wife's infidelity with a whole series of alleged lovers, talks to her a little and finally falls asleep.

The novel ends with Mrs. Molly Bloom's forty-page unpunctuated effusions about her boyfriends, her husband, her intimate preferences, and along the way she discovers that she begins to menstruate, which, however, does not interfere with any seductive thoughts of her, as a result of which the huge novel ends in words:

"so he smelled my breasts and their scent and his heart was pounding madly and yes I said yes I want Yes."

I. A. Shevelev

Roman (1979)

On a spring morning in 1965, Dublin journalist Younger, who turns sixty-five that day, receives a strange message. Its authors. Celestials from Olympus, residing in Eternity, tell him that they have chosen him as a "guinea participant in the experiment", which gives him the opportunity to live life anew. The Celestials chose Younger because he is "an insignificant person" and therefore will not cause them any trouble. Younger is hinted that if he refuses to participate in the experiment, he will die under the wheels of a truck in an hour. At the same time, the Celestials point out to him that they, like supernatural beings, foresee his decision and congratulate him in advance. At the same time, they set Younger two conditions for his "second coming": without losing the fullness of his life experience, he will forget almost everything that he has experienced, and the sixty-five years granted to him will live in reverse order, steadily getting younger, until he is "at a mature zero age" will not pull back the "mother's womb of Time".

Younger goes outside to "test" if he really faces the death predicted by the Celestials. When he sees a truck that is about to crush a little girl, he does not know for several painful seconds what to do - to pull the girl out from under the wheels and die himself or to watch her death indifferently. But unexpectedly for himself, he feels fear that completely paralyzes his will, and he is horrified to see how both the truck driver and the girl die. He is outraged by the cunning of the Celestials, who deftly played on his cowardice and effectively deprived him of a choice. Younger believes that "a person is unable to decide freely if he does not know what kind of person he is." However, in anticipation of a new life, Younger quickly consoles himself and tries, at least in basic terms, to restore his former life.

His old lover Ana French (she, like him, is sixty-five years old on this day), to whom he explains that he suffers from amnesia, helps him remember everything connected with their long-standing romance. Ana tells him the extremely complicated story of their relationship, about how the “love triangle” developed, in the emergence of which her husband, a gynecologist, an avid athlete, careerist and, by the way, impotent, played an important role. Five years pass. Younger gradually gets a taste of the "second" life allotted to him and, continuing to love Ana, is fond of her daughter, the artist Anadion, whose husband, the sculptor Leslie Longfield, was also Ana's lover. Ana dies, and Younger sums up five years of life lived "in reverse order": he realized that every choice means "careless submission to fate", and wants to relive it all over again. In partnership with Leslie Longfield, Younger opens a small art gallery, which serves as a convenient front for his association with Anadion.

Younger meets with Catholic priest Des Moran, whom he knew many years ago. He recognizes Younger and confesses to him that when he was still a young theological student, he had a love affair with Ana and he is sure that Anadiona is his daughter. Younger learns that Leslie, at an exhibition of his work in Philadelphia, met an older man named Jimmy Younger, who considers himself the son of famous journalist Robert Younger. Younger, who continues to grow inexorably younger, is amazed that he has a son who is already old enough to be his father. In addition, it turns out that Jimmy, who came to America as a boy, was looked after by Younger’s brother, Stephen, about whom he also remembers nothing. Moreover, Younger learns that Jimmy has a son named Bob in his honor. Younger becomes increasingly entangled in the labyrinth of his past. Anadiona is already fifty-four years old, and her daughter Nana is seventeen. Younger flirts with a girl, and the aging Anadiona suffers from jealousy. Leslie dies in a freak accident. Younger becomes Nana's lover, and Anadiona soon dies. Younger learns that before his death, Leslie, who guessed about Younger’s connection with Nana and intercepted their love messages, gave all of Younger’s letters to Nana and Anadione to Des, and he showed them to Nana. This leads to an argument between Nana and Younger. At this moment, Younger's grandson Bob, who came from America to find all the Youngers he can find, comes into the house, as he is deeply concerned about the past of his heroic family, who distinguished themselves in the Irish uprising.

In a conversation with Bob, who stubbornly asks him for information about his grandfather's brother, Younger has to impersonate his own father and become his own son. Bob and Nana are attracted to each other, Nana becomes his secretary, studies the family archives and meets genealogist Amy Poinsett. Nana comes to the conclusion that Younger's physical existence cannot be confirmed by any documents. She tells Younger that Bob actually came to find out if there were any relatives left in Ireland who could claim a large inheritance: the fact is that Bob's father died without leaving a will. Realizing that Younger is hiding something from her and does not want to open up to her, she leaves for Paris to study philosophy, but Younger arrives there and reveals his secret to her. They become husband and wife and in 1994 they have a daughter, Ana. The girl is sent to boarding school, and Nana receives her Ph.D. at forty-one, but becomes painfully sensitive to the difference in their years. When Younger gets younger enough to look younger than his daughter, Nana persuades him to leave.

Younger meets Bob Younger in Boston, introduces himself as his own son, and visits his estate in Texas. He falls in love with Bob's sixteen-year-old daughter, who was named Christabel after his great-grandmother, that is, Younger's first wife. He becomes her first lover, but she is alien to the romantic nature of his soul, and she soon leaves him to marry the Jew Bill Meister, who is twice her age, although Christabel's father is horrified by such a union. Amy Poinsett arrives at Bob's estate and exposes Younger, who she says is an impostor and a deceiver. A family scandal is played out, and Christabel, having shot his father with a revolver, injures him, after which, together with Younger, he flees. After some time, Younger learns that Christabel obeyed the will of her father and refused to marry Bill Meister. Younger, soon to be thirteen, misses Nana and two years later begs her in a letter to let him come back.

Nana leaves the university where she lectured in philosophy, does not see anyone and devotes her life entirely to Younger. Now she herself writes in his notebook, noting the age metamorphoses of her husband, who turns into a lovely baby. One day, a one-year-old baby Younger, who manages to crawl to his notebook, leaves a farewell note in it. If before, at the very beginning of his "second life", he only guessed that it was impossible to live a whole life again, now he is sure of it. However, Younger is grateful to the gods for this gift, and to Nana for her love, thanks to which he, Younger, recognized the features of his mother in his beloved, for having seen in the guise of Nana "the outcome of his life, the combination of ends and beginnings." Younger thanks Nana for revealing his past to him and going along with him to lose. The last entry in the notebook was made by Nana's hand. She writes about how Younger shrunk to the size of a silkworm and then disappeared. She is puzzled by the question for what purpose the gods conducted this experiment, if it was obviously clear to them that, no matter how much life experience is added to a person, he still will not learn anything. Nana gets the feeling that the gods have simply forgotten about the purpose of their cruel game, and she does not exclude the possibility that she will be asked to grow younger, and Younger, who is somewhere nearby, tiny as a moth, will grow and mature again. Reflecting on this possibility, she realizes that she will gladly agree to anything, just to be with him, with a boy, an adult, an old man. "Again and again and again and..."

V. V. Rynkevich

(En attendant Godot)

Play (1953)

Estragon sits on a hillock and unsuccessfully tries to pull off his shoe. Vladimir enters and says that he is glad that Estragon has returned: he already thought that he had disappeared forever. Estragon himself thought so. He spent the night in a ditch, he was beaten - he didn't even notice who. Vladimir argues that it is difficult to endure all this alone. It was necessary to think earlier, if they had rushed headfirst from the Eiffel Tower a long time ago, back in the nineties, they would have been among the first, and now they won’t even be allowed upstairs. Vladimir takes off his hat, shakes it, but nothing falls out of it. Vladimir notices that, apparently, it's not about the shoe: it's just that Estragon has such a leg. Vladimir thoughtfully says that one of the robbers was saved, and invites Estragon to repent. He recalls the Bible and is surprised that out of the four evangelists, only one speaks of the salvation of the thief, and for some reason everyone believes him. Estragon offers to leave, but Vladimir believes that it is impossible to leave, because they are waiting for Godot, and if he does not come today, then it will be necessary to wait for him here tomorrow Godot promised to come on Saturday. Estragon and Vladimir no longer remember whether they were waiting for Godot yesterday, they don't remember if today is Saturday or some other day.

Estragon dozes off, but Vladimir immediately gets lonely and wakes up his friend. Estragon suggests they hang themselves, but they can't decide who hangs themselves first, and in the end they decide not to do anything, because it's safer that way. They will wait for Godot and get his opinion. They can't remember what they asked Godou for, it seems like they were making some kind of vague plea to him. Godou replied that he should think, consult with his family, write to someone, rummage through literature, check bank accounts, and only then make a decision.

A piercing scream is heard. Vladimir and Estragon, clinging to each other, freeze with fear. Lucky enters with a suitcase, a folding chair, a basket of food, and a coat; around his neck is a rope, the end of which is held by Pozzo. Pozzo cracks his whip and urges Lucky on, scolding him for what it's worth. Estragon timidly asks Pozzo if he is Godot, but Pozzo doesn't even know who Godot is. Pozzo travels alone and is glad to meet his own kind, that is, those who are created in the image and likeness of God. He cannot go long without society. Deciding to sit down, he tells Lucky to get a chair. Lucky puts the suitcase and basket on the ground, walks over to Pozzo, unfolds a chair, then steps back and picks up the suitcase and basket again. Pozzo is dissatisfied: the chair should be moved closer. Lucky puts the suitcase and basket down again, walks over, rearranges the chair, then picks up the suitcase and basket again. Vladimir and Estragon are perplexed: why doesn't Lucky put things on the ground, why does he keep them in his hands all the time? Pozzo is taken for food. After eating a chicken, he throws its bones on the ground and lights his pipe. Estragon timidly asks if he wants the bones. Pozzo replies that they belong to the porter, but if Lucky refuses them, Estragon can take them. Since Lucky is silent, Tarragon picks up the bones and begins to gnaw on them. Vladimir is outraged by the cruelty of Pozzo: is it possible to treat a person like that? Pozzo, oblivious to their condemnation, decides to smoke another pipe. Vladimir and Estragon want to leave, but Pozzo invites them to stay, because otherwise they will not meet Godot, who is so expected.

Estragon tries to find out from Pozzo why Lucky doesn't put down his suitcases. After he repeats his question several times, Pozzo finally answers that Lucky has the right to put heavy things on the ground, and since he doesn't do it, it means he doesn't want it. He probably hopes to move Pozzo to pity so that Pozzo does not drive him away. Lucky is of use as a milk goat, he can’t do the job, so Pozzo decided to get rid of him, but out of the kindness of his heart, instead of just throwing Lucky out, he takes him to the fair in the hope of getting a good price for him. Pozzo thinks the best thing would be to kill Lucky. Lucky is crying. Estragon feels sorry for him and wants to wipe away his tears, but Lucky kicks him with all his might. Estragon cries in pain. Pozzo notices that Lucky has stopped crying, but Estragon has started, so the number of tears in the world always remains the same. It's the same with laughter. Pozzo says that Lucky taught him all these wonderful things, because they have been together for sixty years. He tells Lucky to take off his hat. Under the hat, Lucky has long gray hair. When Pozzo himself takes off his hat, it turns out that he is completely bald. Pozzo sobs, saying that he can’t go with Lucky, he can’t stand him anymore. Vladimir reproaches Lucky for torturing such a kind owner. Pozzo calms down and asks Vladimir and Estragon to forget everything he told them. Pozzo gives a rant about the beauty of twilight. Estragon and Vladimir are bored. To entertain them, Pozzo is ready to order Lucky to sing, dance, recite or think. Estragon wants Lucky to dance and then think. Lucky dances, then thinks out loud. He pronounces a long, scientifically abstruse monologue, devoid of any meaning. Finally Pozzo and Lucky leave. Estragon also wants to leave, but Vladimir stops him: after all, they are waiting for Godot. A boy comes and says that Godot asked me to tell you that he will not come today, but will definitely come tomorrow. The night is coming. Estragon decides not to wear his shoes anymore; it would be better if someone who fits them takes them. And he will walk barefoot, like Christ. Estragon tries to remember how many years he has known Vladimir. Vladimir thinks about fifty years. Estragon remembers how he once threw himself into the Rhone, and Vladimir caught him, but Vladimir does not want to stir up the past. They think about whether they should break up, but decide that it’s not worth it yet. "Well, shall we go?" - says Estragon. “Let’s go,” Vladimir answers. Both don't move.

The next day. Same hour. The same place, but on the tree, on the eve of a completely bare, several leaves appeared. Vladimir enters, examines Estragon's shoes standing in the middle of the stage, then peers tensely into the distance. When the barefoot Estragon appears, Vladimir rejoices at his return and wants to hug him. At first, he does not let him near him, but soon softens, and they rush into each other's arms. Estragon was beaten again. Vladimir takes pity on him. They are better off alone, but still they come here every day and convince themselves that they are glad to see each other. Estraton asks what to do with them, since they are so happy. Vladimir offers to wait for Godot. A lot has changed since yesterday: leaves have appeared on the tree. But Estragon does not remember what happened yesterday, he does not even remember Pozzo and Lucky. Vladimir and Estragon decide to talk calmly, since they do not know how to be silent. Chattering is the most suitable activity not to think and not to listen. Some kind of deaf voices seem to them, and they discuss them for a long time, then decide to start all over again, but starting is the most difficult thing, and although you can start with anything, you still have to choose what exactly. It's too early to despair. The trouble is that thoughts still prevail. Estragon is sure that he and Vladimir were not here yesterday. They were in some other hole and chatted all evening about this and that and continue to chat for a year. Estragon says that the shoes on the stage are not his, they are of a completely different color. Vladimir assumes that someone who was pressed for shoes took Estragon's shoes, but left his own. Estragon cannot understand why someone needs his shoes, because they also stung. "You, not him," explains Vladimir. Estragon tries to understand Vladimir's words, but to no avail. He is tired and wants to leave, but Vladimir says that he must not leave, he must wait for Godot.

Vladimir notices Lucky's hat, and he and Estragon put on all three hats in turn, passing them to each other: their own and Lucky's hat. They decide to play Pozzo and Lucky, but suddenly Estragon notices that someone is coming. Vladimir hopes that it is Godot, but then it turns out that someone is coming from the other side too. Fearing that they are surrounded, the friends decide to hide, but no one comes: probably Estragon just imagined. Not knowing what to do, Vladimir and Estragon either quarrel or reconcile. Enter Pozzo and Lucky. Pozzo is blind. Lucky carries the same things, but now the rope is shorter to make it easier for Pozzo to follow Lucky. Lucky falls, dragging Pozzo with him. Lucky falls asleep and Pozzo tries to get up but can't. Realizing that Pozzo is in their power, Vladimir and Estragon consider on what terms it is worth helping him. Pozzo promises a hundred, then two hundred francs for help. Vladimir tries to pick him up, but he falls down himself. Estragon is ready to help Vladimir get up if after that they leave here and do not return. Estragon tries to lift Vladimir up, but he cannot stay on his feet and also falls.

Pozzo crawls away. Estragon no longer remembers his name, and decides to call him by different names until one fits. "Abel!" he shouts to Pozzo. In response, Pozzo calls for help. "Cain!" shouts Tarragon Lucky. But Pozzo responds again and again calls for help. "In one - all mankind", - Estragon is amazed. Estragon and Vladimir get up. Estragon wants to leave, but Vladimir reminds him that they are waiting for Godot. Thinking, they help Pozzo to his feet. He does not stand on his feet, and they have to support him. Looking at the sunset, they argue for a long time whether it is evening or morning, sunset or sunrise. Pozzo asks to wake up Lucky. Estragon showers Lucky with a hail of blows, he stands up and collects his luggage. Pozzo and Lucky are about to go. Vladimir asks what Lucky has in his suitcase and where they are going. Pozzo replies that there is sand in the suitcase and they move on. Vladimir asks Lucky to sing before leaving, but Pozzo claims that Lucky is mute. "How long?" - Vladimir is surprised. Pozzo is losing his patience. Why is he tormented by questions about time? A long time ago, recently… Everything happens one day, like all the others. We were born on the same day and we will die on the same day, in the same second. Exeunt Pozzo and Lucky. A roar is heard behind the stage:

Looks like they fell again. Estragon dozes off, but Vladimir gets lonely and wakes up Estragon. Vladimir cannot understand where is the dream, where is the reality: maybe he is actually sleeping? And when tomorrow he wakes up, or it seems to him that he woke up, what will he know about today, except that he and Estragon have been waiting for Godot until nightfall? The boy comes. It seems to Vladimir that this is the same boy who came yesterday, but the boy says that he came for the first time. Godou asked me to tell him that he would not come today, but he would definitely come tomorrow.

Estragon and Vladimir want to hang themselves, but they don't have a strong rope. Tomorrow they will bring the rope, and if Godot does not come again, they will hang themselves. They decide to disperse for the night so that they can return in the morning and wait for Godot again. "Let's go," says Vladimir. "Yes, let's go," Estragon agrees. Both don't budge.

O. E. Grinberg

Play (1958)

The motley inhabitants of one Dublin house that evening were in a more nervous and animated state than usual: the owner, Musyu, played heartbreaking passages on the bagpipes; female prostitutes fought with former boys who were detrimental to their trade - Rio Rita and Princess Grace; one girl started a scandal because her client turned out to be a Pole, that is, a communist, but his pounds nevertheless reconciled the good Catholic girl with the prospect of an unnatural relationship; a member of the charitable society, Miss Gilchrist, was caught in Mr. Mallidy's room and expelled in disgrace, although one glance at this person was enough to understand that she could earn a living from anything but her body.

The respectable patriots of the Irish Republic are Pat, who almost forty years ago (in the yard, in the sense on stage, the year 1958) lost his leg in the glorious battles with the royal troops and since then has been the manager of the house of Musyu, and his girlfriend and assistant, retired brothel employee Meg - they were simply tensely awaiting some event, while away the wait by talking about life. From this conversation, the viewer mainly learns what kind of house it is, who lives in it, and what was supposed to happen here later in the evening.

Let's start with the owner. His father was a bishop (calmly: not a real one - Protestant), and his mother was Irish, and because of this last circumstance, he somehow suddenly realized in his youth that he was a freedom-loving Celt: he began to study the Irish language, began to dress up in a plaid skirt and play in Celtic football; in the five-year war with England that followed the Easter Rising, he was either a general, or a corporal, or maybe an admiral (Pat did not see much difference between these ranks - they sound similar); he accepted the wonderful nickname Musya, not wanting to be called "Mr." - that hateful word from the vocabulary of the invaders. However, on the path of Irish patriotism, Musya was faced with continuous sad disappointments, which undermined his mind, but not his spirit: to start with the fact that his Irish was understood only by experts from Oxford, but by no means by compatriots by mother, but to top it all, the leaders of the rebels behind you live well gave the British six northern counties.

After the war (and for him it continues even after it), Musyu set up in his house something like winter apartments for veterans of the Republican army, but money is needed, and therefore economic Pat began to let in whores, thieves and other scum for a reasonable fee , which now made up the bulk of the tenants;

Musyu, however, firmly believed that all these were patriots who suffered for their loyalty to the idea. Pat held two strong opinions about the owner of the house, not in the least caring that one excluded the other: either Musyu turned out to be an unbending fighter for the Irish cause, or a half-witted old man, busy with the most complete nonsense. His view of the current activities of the Irish Republican Army was approximately the same.

It was with the activities of the IRA that the event that everyone was waiting for was connected. The fact is that the next morning in Belfast, an eighteen-year-old Irishman who shot an English policeman was to be hanged. In response to this atrocity of the occupiers, the IRA decided to take an English soldier hostage and shoot him if the sentence in Belfast was carried out. As Musyu solemnly announced, the hostage would be kept in his house.

Finally, at the door, Pat saw a man in a paramilitary uniform and with a badge, notifying passers-by that his owner wished to speak only Irish. IRA officer, Pat guessed. So it was. After reconnaissance, the officer retired, and soon it was broadcast on the radio that in Ulster, an English soldier had been kidnapped from a dance by three unknown persons. A short time later, the officer returned, accompanied by two republican volunteers and a prisoner, frankly perplexed by whom and why it took him to spoil a pleasant evening.

The Englishman was very young, his name was Leslie, he served in the army for a week without a year. To some disappointment of the inhabitants of the Musyu house, his beardless physiognomy did not bear even the shadow of the bestial grin of the occupation regime, but this circumstance did not diminish the general interest in the prisoner. Miss Gilchrist was the first to reach Leslie and presented him with a bundle of Sunday newspaper clippings on unpublished details of the life of the royal house, but he cared little for the queen, and even less so for what the newspapers write.

Meg, however, took quite a motherly attitude to the Englishman, prepared a hearty supper and sent a new young maid, Teresa, to clean his room and make up his bed.

Teresa, a country girl who had just left the walls of the monastery school, turned out to be the same age as Leslie - they were both in their forties. Young people easily got into a conversation, and soon found out that war, hatred and all that are things of the past and useless to anyone, they began to chat about this and that, telling stories from childhood. Out of good feelings, Teresa put her icon with the Virgin on Leslie's neck so that she would help the guy in the upcoming trials. The seclusion of the eighteen-year-olds was unwittingly facilitated by an officer who, for the sake of secrecy, imposed strict discipline in the house and put sentries at the door of the prisoner's room. Everyone simply forgot about Teresa ...

When they remembered her and found her with a prisoner, the officer became worried that she would inform the police, but he was assured that this was impossible, all entrances and exits were under reliable guard. Leslie was still wondering what the Irish eccentrics were up to, until one of the tenants showed him a fresh newspaper. It reported that no matter what, the sentence against the killer of the policeman would not be overturned, and also that the IRA had taken a hostage, Private Leslie Alan Williams, who, if the Irishman was executed, would be shot.

Pat, Meg and Miss Gilchrist sat in the prisoner's room and drank purposefully, Leslie sang "Rule, Britannia, the seas!", and then switched to simple country songs. Warmed up by beer, Pat chatted about his military exploits, depicting in a rather cynical way the mess that had been going on during the liberation war. Miss Gilchrist, that, in Meg's expression, the shadow of a dead prostitute, remarked that one should not speak ill of the Irish in the presence of an Englishman, but she was quickly silenced, and Aesley was invited to the table.

A drunken political discussion ensued, and the young Englishman even admitted that Queen Victoria's so-called help was a bastard: she sent five pounds to the famine-stricken Ireland, while donating the same amount to a stray dog ​​shelter. But be that as it may, insisted Aesley, it happened a long time ago, and why on earth should he die for something else. Pat, in drunken complacency, promised that for the next fifty years he should only be afraid of death from an atomic bomb.

In addition to comforters, Leslie suddenly found intercessors in the person of a whole delegation of prostitutes, led by Rio Rita, Princess Grace and Mr. Mallidy, who demanded the immediate release of the hostage. Pat, who had assumed command in the officer's absence, sent them out, and then, so that Leslie and Teresa could be alone, he drove the others out as well.

Leslie begged Teresa to go call the police, convinced her that the guy in the Belfast prison would not want Leslie to be sent after him to the next world. Teresa neither agreed nor refused. The young people had already agreed to meet on the next leave, if, of course, Leslie managed to get out of this bad mess alive, when their conversation was interrupted by an IRA officer, who this time had a gun in his hands.

But then there was a noise, shots, the light went out. The officer, Pat, Meg and Musyu, who joined them, decided that it was the police, however, as it turned out, Mr. Mallidy, Princess Grace and Rio Rita and associates made an attempt to force the release. Pat and Musyu soon laid down their arms, the officer and the volunteer somehow faded away and appeared already dressed in a woman's dress, but they were recognized and arrested on the orders of Mr. Mallidy, as it turned out, an agent of the secret police.

When everything calmed down, one dead man remained on the battlefield - the English soldier Leslie Williams. On his neck, Princess Grace is at a loss - was the deceased really a Catholic? - noticed (noticed?) Scapular.

L. A. Karelsky

(Islandsklukkan)

Roman (1943-1946)

The action of the novel-trilogy by Halldor Laksness (part one - "The Icelandic Bell", part two - "The Golden-Haired Maiden", part three - "Fire in Copenhagen") takes place at the end of the XNUMXth - beginning of the XNUMXth century. in Iceland and Denmark, as well as in Holland and Germany, where one of the main characters, a poor peasant Joun Hreggvidsson, ends up during his wanderings.

The meaning of the name of the trilogy is revealed in the very first chapter, when, on the orders of the royal executioner, the arrested Joun Hreggvidsson throws down and breaks into pieces an ancient bell - an ancient shrine of Iceland. The Danish crown, which at that time owned Iceland and waged protracted wars, needed copper and bronze.

In the center of the story are the figures of three people whose fates are bizarrely intertwined against the backdrop of real historical events. In addition to Jon Hreggvidsson, this is the daughter of a judge, a representative of one of the most noble families, the "Sun of Iceland", golden-haired jomfru Snayfridur and a learned historian who devoted his whole life to finding and preserving ancient Icelandic manuscripts, Arnas Arnaeus, close to the Danish king.

Jón Hreggvidsson, who lives in absolute poverty and rents his plot of land from Jesus Christ, does not disdain additional “earnings”, such as: he can pull off a piece of rope for repairing fishing tackle or a fishing hook (working on the ground is difficult to feed; the main source of food the food of the Icelanders is the sea). For these crimes, Jone is periodically imprisoned and subjected to other punishments, such as flogging.

He is eventually framed for the murder of the royal executioner and sentenced to death.

However, by an unknown whim of fate, it is in the wretched hut of this poor peasant that a priceless treasure is kept - several sheets of parchment from the XNUMXth century. with a fragment of the text of “Skalda” applied to them - an Icelandic legend about the heroes of antiquity. Literally the next day after the executioner's corpse was discovered in the swamp, but even before Jón Hreggvidsson was tried for murder, Arnas Arnæus comes to the hut, accompanied by his beloved Snaifridur, and buys from Jón's mother these priceless parchment sheets, unsuitable even for to mend shoes.

Later, this episode was destined to become decisive for the fate of both Jon and other heroes.

Jón is tried and sentenced to death.

On the eve of his execution, Snaifridur bribes a guard and saves Jone from death.

Only one person can achieve a review of the case - this is Arnas Arneus, who had left for Denmark by that time. Snaifridur gives Jone his ring and helps him escape the country. Through Holland and Germany, having endured numerous hardships, several times miraculously escaping death, but still retaining the ring of jomfru Snajfridur, Ioun finally gets to Copenhagen and meets Arneus, who by that time had spent almost all his fortune on the purchase of Icelandic antiquities and was forced to marry on a rich but ugly hunchback.

In the end, Arneus manages to ensure that the murder case will be reviewed. Jón Hreggvidsson receives a safe-conduct, with which he returns to his homeland, where his case must be heard again. Judge Eydalin, father of Yomfru Snayfridur, apparently fearing the publicity of the old story about how his daughter helped a convicted criminal escape, enters into an agreement with the peasant: no one will touch him, but he, in turn, must be silent about his case.

Fifteen or sixteen years elapse between the events of the first and second books of the trilogy. During this time, yomfru Snayfridur, desperate to wait for her lover, marries a drunkard and rude Magnus Sigurdsson, who squanders his entire fortune during his long drinking bouts, and in the end even sells his own wife to two crooks for a keg of vodka.

Snayfridur steadfastly bears her cross, refusing all attempts to persuade her to divorce her husband and find a more worthy spouse, which could be her "patient fiancé" pastor Sigurdur Sveinsson. Since she cannot have the best and most desirable share, she is ready to endure humiliation and deprivation, but does not agree to something in between.

Meanwhile, Arnas Arnaeus returns to Iceland from Denmark, having broad powers given to him by the king. He seeks to alleviate the plight of the Icelanders, as far as possible, who suffer both from the hardships caused by the harsh conditions of life on the island, and from the merciless exploitation by the mother country, which has monopoly rights to all external relations of Iceland. In particular, Arneus orders to destroy all the flour brought by Danish merchants, since it is unsuitable for food - it is teeming with ticks and worms.

Arnaeus is also starting to review some of the old cases, in which, as it seems to him, unjust sentences were passed in the past.

The Jón Hreggvidsson case also comes up. It becomes the reason for initiating a case against Judge Eidalin himself, who entered into a secret agreement with the convict and dared to violate the order contained in the royal charter.

At the same time, Snajfridur's husband Magnus Sigurdsson files a complaint against Arnas Arneus himself, accusing him of a criminal relationship with his wife. Magnus is also supported by pastor Sigurdur Sveinsson, who once greatly revered the highly learned husband Arnas Arnaeus, but now sees in his activities a threat to the ruling elite of Icelandic society and personally to the father of his "bride". After much litigation, Arneus manages to win both cases. Judge Eidalin is stripped of his honor and of all positions, and his property becomes the property of the Danish crown.

However, the judicial victory costs Arnas Arnaeus dearly. Not only did he not gain popularity among the people, but, on the contrary, everyone, even pardoned criminals, began to curse him for destroying the age-old foundations of society and insulting respectable, respected people, including Judge Eidalin. Arneus is also charged with the fact that, having destroyed the worm meal, he actually deprived the Icelanders of food and doomed them to starvation, since, apart from Denmark, the Icelanders have no other sources of food (except for fish).

In the year or two that have passed between the events of the second and third books, dramatic changes take place in the fate of the heroes, and above all, yomfru Snayfridur and Arnas Arneus. A plague epidemic in Iceland takes the lives of Jomfru's sister and her sister's husband, the Bishop of Skalholt. The yomfru's father, Judge Eidalin, also dies. In Denmark, the former king dies, who encouraged Arneus to study Icelandic antiquities. The interests of the new king lie in a completely different area - he is only interested in hunting, balls and other amusements. Arnas Arneus falls out of favor at the court and loses his former strength and power, which his enemies did not fail to take advantage of, in particular the rogue Jon Marteinsson, who steals books from the Arneus library and secretly sells them to the Swedes. Among the books he stole is the priceless Skalda.

The same Jón Marteinsson in every possible way helps the opponents of Arneus to seek a review of old sentences handed down in the past in cases that Arneus considered, having authority from the former king of Denmark. In particular, he succeeds in getting the yomfru's husband Snajfridur Magnus Sigurdsson to win the old case of insulting his dignity by Arnaeus. However, on the same evening when the case was won, Jón Marteinsson kills Magnus.

Youmfru Snaifridur herself begins a lawsuit against Arnaeus in order to restore her father's good name and return his possessions. Again, the case of Jón Hreggvidsson emerges, who is arrested again and brought under escort to Denmark, where he is imprisoned, but then released, and he becomes a servant in the house of Arnas Arneus. The disfavor of the king, the lack of support at court - everything suggests that this time fate has turned its back on Arneus and he is destined to lose the lawsuit.

Meanwhile, the king of Denmark, whose treasury has become empty as a result of a lavish lifestyle, decides to sell Iceland, which is too expensive to maintain. Already in the past, the Danish crown negotiated the sale of the island, making such proposals to England, but then the deal did not take place. This time Hanseatic merchants from Germany became seriously interested in her. The point is small - you need to find a person who could become the governor of the island. It must certainly be an Icelander - history has already shown that any outsiders in this position do not stay alive for long, arriving in Iceland. This should be a person who is respected in his homeland. The natural choice of merchants is Arnas Arneus.

Having received such an offer, Arneus finds himself in a difficult dilemma. On the one hand, the monopoly right of the Danish crown to own the island and the merciless exploitation of its inhabitants lead to incalculable suffering for the Icelanders, which means that the transition of Iceland under the rule of the German emperor can ease the fate of the people. On the other hand, Arneus understands that this is only a transition to a new, albeit more well-fed, slavery, from which there will be no way out. "Icelanders, at best, will become fat servants in a German vassal state," he says. "And a fat servant cannot be a great man. A beaten slave is a great man, because freedom lives in his heart." Arneus does not want such a fate for the people who composed the greatest stories, and therefore rejects the offer of the German merchants, although for himself the new position promised the greatest benefits, including the opportunity to arrange a personal destiny together with his beloved.

Striking changes are taking place in the very characters of the main characters. At the end of the story, Arnas Arneus is no longer that brilliant nobleman and highly learned man, full of great plans to save the national heritage of his homeland. This is an infinitely tired person, he was not even too upset by the loss of the main treasure of his life - "Skalda". Moreover, when the fire that breaks out in Copenhagen destroys his entire library, Arnas Arnaeus watches the rampage of fire with some detached indifference.

The character of yomfru Snayfridur is also changing. Despite the fact that she manages to defend her father's good name in court and regain all his estates, this brings her little joy. Once proud and independent in her thoughts and actions, a woman who dreamed of the time when she would ride white horses with her lover, resigns herself to her fate and agrees to marry the "patient bridegroom" of Pastor Sveinsson, who was appointed to the position of bishop in Skalholte instead of the deceased husband of Snajfridur's sister.

In the final scene of the novel, the greatly aged Jón Hreggvidsson, who this time apparently received a final forgiveness for his case, watches as the married couple go to their permanent residence, Skalholt. Black horses gleam in the morning sun.

B. N. Volkhonsky

Roman (1917)

The book opens with a short notice from the author that after the death of Joaquin Monegro, notes were found in his papers, something like "Confession", addressed to the daughter of the deceased. These notes here and there illustrate the story told by the author.

Abel Sanchez and Joaquin Monegro grew up together from infancy, from the time when wet nurses walked with them. From childhood, Joaquin showed a more strong-willed character than his friend; but he, yielding, always knew how to put on his own. Therefore, for Joaquin, the glory of a sharp and unpleasant person was strengthened, and for Abel - a sweet and glorious one. Joaquin chose medicine as his career, and Abel decided to devote himself to painting. Passionately in love with his cousin Elena, Joaquin suffers greatly: the girl does not reciprocate his love, but does not reject it either, playing with the feeling of a young man. When Joaquin introduces Abel to Elena, the artist, shocked by the beauty of the girl, decides to paint her portrait. Work on it ends with their engagement, and then with the wedding, while the portrait is destined to become the first picture, after which the attention of the public will always accompany Abel. Joaquin is very worried about the success of his friend: the suffering of the lover is aggravated by the certainty that he was born an outcast who cannot be loved, as well as the suspicion that Abel was driven not so much by love for Elena as by the desire to humiliate Joaquin. The newlyweds leave for their honeymoon, and Joaquin goes headlong into science, looking for oblivion from his grief in it. Upon his return, Abel falls seriously ill and finds himself on the verge of life and death. His salvation depends entirely on Joaquin, who - not without internal struggle - finds the strength to do everything to save Abel; he is recovering.

Joaquin decides to get married, although he does not believe in his ability to love someone, nor in the fact that he can cause a reciprocal feeling. He connects his fate with Antonia, the embodiment of tenderness and compassion, who, having felt hidden pain in Joaquin, fell in love with him. After the wedding, Joaquin continues to work like a man possessed - he dreams that his fame as a doctor will overshadow the fame of Abel the artist, which is growing. Joaquin's whole life is subordinated to a painful, soul-exhausting rivalry with Abel, in whose contempt he is firmly convinced, and the fight against hatred for a former friend, which takes all his strength. The news that Elena is expecting a child becomes a blow for Joaquin: and here he feels the superiority of Abel, because he and Antonia do not yet have children. The boy is named Aveline, after his father. And soon a child is born to Antonia - the daughter of Joaquinita, to whom the father is unusually strongly attached. His love for his daughter stems not only from natural parental feelings, but also from the hope that the child will help his spiritual renewal, help him get rid of the unkind thoughts that overwhelmed him about Avel Sanchez.

Meanwhile, Abel, already a renowned artist, is painting Abel and Cain, inspired by Byron's Cain. Joaquin is inclined to see in this canvas a reflection of their complex relationship and his suffering, which the artist is unaware of. At a banquet dedicated to the new painting by Abel Sanchez, Joaquin, a great speaker, delivers a heartfelt speech, praising the artist's new work. This speech turns out to be so brilliant, so deep that everyone forgets about the picture and talks only about Joaquin's speech. This deeply offends Elena, who sees in the behavior of the doctor envy and a desire to outshine her husband, although Abel himself does not share this point of view.

Joaquin, in the depths of his soul, regrets that he did not go further - he did not say about the deliberateness and falsity of Abel's art, his coldness and imitation. After this incident, yielding to the requests of his wife, the doctor begins to go to confession, where he has not been for many years. Abel paints the Virgin Mary with child - an accurate portrait of Helen and his son. The picture was a success, many reproductions were made from it, in front of one of which Joaquin often prays.

Having learned about Abel's affair with his model, Joaquin becomes even more convinced that Abel did not marry Elena out of love, but only in order to humiliate his friend; the past feeling for Elena flares up in Joaquin's soul with renewed vigor. Choosing a time when Abel is not at home, he goes to Elena and confesses to her his passion, that in front of her image, kneeling, he prays to the Mother of God. Having encountered the woman’s coldness, Joaquin does not stop before informing her about her husband’s relationship with the model, but in vain - Elena is relentless, and does not show any feelings other than contempt for Joaquin.

From now on, all the thoughts and forces of the doctor are focused on the adored daughter, on her upbringing and education. Meanwhile, the son of Abel went to the medical unit, and when he completed his education, his father turned to Joaquin with a request to take the young man as an assistant. He agrees, deep down hoping that Aveline will turn out to be mediocrity and his defeat in the scientific field will more than repay Joaquin for the exorbitant glory of his father. However, Aveline turns out to be very capable, and suddenly she and Joaquin are imbued with warm sympathy for each other. The young man persuades the teacher to write a book where he could summarize all his knowledge, but since Joaquin cannot leave the practice, they decide that Aveline will write the book - according to Joaquin's notes. The doctor learns from the young man that he also considers his father a cold and rational person; he complains that his father never paid attention to him.

Such a warm, trusting relationship develops between the young man and Joaquin that the doctor has the idea to pass off his daughter as an assistant. However, this plan runs into an unexpected obstacle: Joaquina decided to devote herself to God and go to a monastery. From a heart-to-heart conversation with his daughter, the father learns that such a decision is dictated by the desire to heal his father from suffering that corrodes his soul, the origins of which the girl has no idea, but which she feels keenly. As a loving daughter, Joaquina yields to her father's entreaties and agrees to reverse her decision to enter a convent and be accommodating to Aveline's advances. Soon the engagement of young people took place.

After the wedding, they live in Joaquin's house, where it immediately becomes warmer and more comfortable. Elena often visits the children, trying to change the way of life and the way of the house according to her taste, to bring secular grace and elegance into it. Antonia, with her usual humility, usually agrees with all Elena's proposals; Joaquin follows her mother's example, but her mother-in-law constantly feels her hidden dissatisfaction, and the relationship between the two women is rather tense. Joaquina, the very naturalness and simplicity, cannot overcome the hostile attitude towards Elena's feigned secularity; besides, she knows that once this woman rejected the love of her father, causing him a lot of suffering.

When a young couple's first child is born, after hesitation they call him Joaquin. The child grows up healthy and beautiful, and although everyone pampers him, he involuntarily reaches out to Abel: he likes his stories, his drawings, his paints. All this awakens in the soul of Joaquin Sr. his former hatred of Abel, which he believed he had long ago managed to get rid of. And then he decides to speak frankly with Abel, begging him not to deprive him of his grandson’s love. The conversation takes on a harsh character, the men shower each other with reproaches, recalling old grievances and knowing each other’s sore spots very well. At some point, unable to bear it, Joaquin grabs Abel by the throat, but immediately unclenches his fingers - Abel begins to wheeze and gives up the ghost.

Joaquin outlives Abel by a year. And all this time he is tormented by the thought that it was he who caused the death of his former friend, turned out to be in the role of Cain, who killed Abel. Some mysterious, incomprehensible illness puts him to bed. Feeling the approach of death, Joaquin calls his wife, children and Elena. When everyone gathers at his bedside, he admits that he considers himself guilty for the death of Abel, who died almost in his arms, at the moment when Joaquin grabbed him by the throat. The dying man tells what a nightmare his whole life was, and asks for forgiveness from his relatives, especially from Antonia, whom he considers his main victim. Mourned by the audience and most devoted to Antonia, Joaquin departs to another world.

N. A. Matyash

(Los intereses creados)

Play (1907)

The play is preceded by a prologue uttered by one of the actors before the curtain, which is a laudatory word for farce as a genre. In the prologue it is reported that the play offered to the audience is a farce, more like a puppet comedy or a comedy of masks: it is artless and involves a child's vision of the world - the author asks the audience to tune in in this way. As it should be in a comedy of masks, the time and place of the action are conditional.

Two friends, Leander and Crispin, come to an unfamiliar town. Their situation is rather difficult, because they are completely without money. Crispin, more quirky and resilient than Leander, is determined to get money and even get rich, for which he proposes a daring plan. Leander must impersonate a rich and noble man who has come to the city on an important state business, and Crispin will take care of the rest under the guise of his servant. Leander does not really like this idea: he is frightened by the possible consequences of such a deceit, but he surrenders to the perseverance of a friend, realizing that their situation is hopeless.

Friends knock on the door of the hotel and ask for better rooms and a hearty dinner. The owner is at first distrustful of them, but Crispin's arrogance and his assertiveness convince the innkeeper that important gentlemen are in front of him. Soon Harlequin, the local poet, and his Friend the Captain arrive. More than once they ate on credit in this hotel and hope to dine here today. However, the innkeeper's patience has run out and he refuses to feed them. The quick-witted Crispin decides to win the Harlequin and the Captain over to his side, pretending to know Harlequin's brilliant verses and the Captain's daring exploits. He immediately orders to feed the Harlequin and the Captain with dinner at the expense of Leander, and the innkeeper does not dare to refuse: he has already learned that these noble gentlemen cannot be contradicted in anything.

Meanwhile, Doña Sirena, a noble but impoverished widow, is about to throw a ball. The main guest on it should be Polichinelle, the richest man in the city. He has a daughter - a marriageable bride, whose hand is hunted by many young people, attracted primarily by the wealth of her father. Counting on the help and patronage of Dona Sirena, each of these seekers of happiness promised her a considerable amount as soon as he married the daughter of Polichinel. Therefore, the coming evening is very important for dona Sirena. But her faithful maid Colombina brings sad news: no one else wants to trust her mistress in debt - neither the tailor, nor the cooks, nor the musicians, which means that the ball will have to be canceled. Dona Sirena is in despair, but then Crispin appears with the message that his master will take care of all the expenses for arranging the ball if Dona Sirena helps him achieve the favor of the daughter of Openchinel. After Crispin comes Leander, whose courtesy produces the most favorable impression on Dona Sirena.

Gradually, guests gather, excited by rumors about the arrival of an important person in the city. And only Polichinel is completely indifferent to this news - he is only concerned that his beloved daughter reads too many novels and refuses to marry some rich merchant. The daughter's point of view is fully shared by her mother, Madame Polichinelle.

At some point during the ball, Crispin and Polichinelle find themselves alone, and from their conversation it becomes clear that they have known each other from the galleys for a long time, that Mr. Polichinelle has a very dark past: he has a lot of robberies and deceptions, and maybe even murders, on his conscience. Crispin warns Polichinelle that he must protect his daughter from the sweet speeches of his master Leander. At the same time, he pursues his goal, hoping that the spoiled girl, not accustomed to being contradicted, will immediately fall head over heels in love with Leander when faced with an obstacle. This is exactly what happens. But Crispin’s plan: to extract as much money as possible from Polichinelle encounters an unexpected obstacle: while playing the lover, Leander truly falls in love with Sylvia, the daughter of Polichinelle, and, not wanting to seem like an unworthy deceiver to the girl, is determined to leave the city right away. But Crispin’s persuasion and especially the reminder of how difficult it was for them to escape from Bologna, where they deceived many people, change Leander’s plans. In addition, it unexpectedly turns out that Sylvia has fallen madly in love with Leander.

Crispin wastes no time in hiring several people who, at night, when Leander has a date with Sylvia, attack him, allegedly wanting to kill the young man. The girl is mortally frightened, and the dexterous Crispin tells everyone that the people were hired by Polichinel to get rid of Leander. Soon the whole city, including Madame Polichinelle, is set against Sylvia's father. The girl, having decided at all costs to unite her fate with her beloved, runs away from home and comes to dona Sirena - it seems that everything contributes to the happiness of lovers. But Leander does not like deceit, and every now and then he tries to tell Sylvia the whole truth about himself. From this he is persistently kept by Crispin and Dona Sirena, who is afraid of being left without the promised money. Leander persists, but then comes Sylvia, who can no longer languish in the uncertainty about his health. Then Leander decides to act on his own and escapes through the window, not devoting anyone to his plans.

At this moment, the Doctor arrives from Bologna - he brought with him a lot of documents confirming that in this city Leander and Crispin had run into debts and fled, deceiving creditors. Along with the Doctor comes Polichinelle, the innkeeper and other people who believed Leander and Crispin and now dream of only one thing - to return their money. The case turns out to be quite deplorable, but the resilient Crispin dodges here too: he extremely eloquently proves to each of those present how pointless it would be for the two friends to be taken into custody - after all, then the money will surely be lost.

Sylvia, Leander, Doña Sirena, and Madame Polichinelle emerge from the back room. Sylvia says that now she knows everything about Leandre, but she still asks her father to give her to him and explains how nobly the young man behaved towards her. Polichinelle does not even want to listen, but everyone is against him, even his wife. Those gathered are concerned not so much with the happiness of young people as with the idea of ​​​​the possibility of earning on their happiness, and in unison they begin to persuade Polichinelle. At the most pathetic moment, Sylvia refuses her father's money, and Leander warmly supports the girl. Here, all those present turn their anger on the lovers and literally force Mr. Polichinel, by hook or by crook, to sign a generous deed of gift in favor of the young. Polichinel surrenders, setting only one condition - that Leander fire Crispin. This fully coincides with the desire of Crispin himself, who, as he admits, has much more ambition than Leander, and he is determined to achieve a lot in life, especially since he knows how to do it - it is necessary to play on the interests of people, and not on their feelings. Thus, the complete reconciliation of the interests of all the actors ends the comedy.

N. A. Matyash

Roman (1908)

The biography of the bullfighter Juan Gallardo begins at the moment when the hero is at the zenith of glory. Knowing no defeats, the favorite of the public comes from his native Seville to Madrid for the opening of the spring season. This is not the first performance of Gallardo in the capital, and luck always accompanies him. However, as expected, the bullfighter is nervous before the bullfight, carefully hiding it from the crowd of besieging fans. The only one to whom he is sincerely happy is Dr. Ruiz, a famous doctor who devoted thirty years of his life to the treatment and nursing of matadors and is revered by all of them. Gallardo brilliantly conducts the fight; his defiantly daring behavior in the arena, his courage delight the demanding Madrid public, almost unanimously recognizing him as the best bullfighter in the world. Immediately after the bullfight, Juan Gallardo orders his faithful companion and assistant Garabato to send a telegram home to reassure loved ones, and another one to Dona Sol, a noble Seville lady, whose favor the bullfighter is very proud of.

Gradually, the whole past life of Juan Gallardo unfolds before the reader. He was born into a poor, barely making ends meet family of a shoemaker. When his father died, Juan's mother, Dona Angustias, had a very hard time: after all, she had two children left in her arms - twelve-year-old Juan and his older sister Encarnacion. Juan is given as an apprentice to one of the best shoemakers in Seville, but instead of regularly going to the workshop, the boy flees to the slaughterhouse, where, together with his friends, he teases the oxen with a red rag, imitating the matadors. Then he begins to take part in capeyes - amateur bullfights held in the squares of small towns and villages, for which Juan sometimes disappears from home for several days, to the indignation of his mother. Neither her tears nor beatings work.

Gradually, Juan makes friends among the bullfighters, acquires a rich patron and creates a quadrille from his peers, which follows him to all the surrounding capeia. Finally, Juan has the opportunity to perform in the Seville bullring in Novillada. Unbridled courage and endurance help Juan to win and immediately attract the attention of the public, whose favorite he becomes.

It took only a year and a half for Juan Gallardo to become famous, although he is also listed as a beginner, and not a professional bullfighter. Money comes along with fame - the family moves to a bigger house, Dona Angustias no longer works, and Juan himself, as befits a real bullfighter, acquires flashy jewelry and a frisky bay horse. And now Juan's cherished dream comes true - he is given the opportunity to perform in the arena in Seville along with a professional bullfighter; Juan wins, and the illustrious maestro hands him his sword and muleta - Juan Gallardo receives the official title of matador or espada, which he soon confirms in the arena in Madrid. Now there is no end to those who want to see him in the arena - offers and contracts are pouring in like from a cornucopia. To manage all the affairs, Juan hires don Jose, neglecting the services of Antonio, his brother-in-law, and in order to reward the offended relative, Juan entrusts him with the construction of a new rich house, where the patio will be lined with marble slabs, and inside - luxurious furnishings. The bullfighter himself decides to marry and opts for Carmen, who lives next door, with whom they once played together in childhood. Now the girl has turned into a rare beauty with a kind, docile character, the fame of which is all over the district. The wedding was played together with a housewarming party. But if Juan's mother welcomes her daughter-in-law, his sister Encarnacion and her husband Antonio are wary of her, seeing Carmen and her future children as a threat to their five offspring, whom Juan largely supports.

However, three years pass, and the young couple has no children. Senora Angustias explains this by the fact that Carmen is constantly tormented by fear for Juan. Indeed, on the day of the bullfight - and the young bullfighter has more of them in a season than anyone else in Spain - the young woman does not find a place for herself, waiting for a telegram, and spends the whole morning in church praying earnestly, afraid to miss at least word, so as not to harm Juan. Four years after the marriage, the bullfighter can already afford to acquire the rich estate of Rinconada, where he once, together with hungry comrades, showed his master the art of a novice bullfighter.

And somehow, after the end of the season, when Juan Gallardo enjoys a break from heavy bullfights and exhausting journeys throughout Spain, he meets Dona Sol, the niece of the Marquis of Moraima, one of the noble people of the city, in Seville. This brilliant woman traveled with her husband, a diplomat, almost all the capitals of the world, turning heads with her beauty and education even to crowned heads. And now, having been widowed and deciding to live a little in her homeland, she continues to order toilets from Paris, which does not prevent her from getting involved in folk music and dances, which she finds very exotic, and learning to play the guitar. Juan, as a local celebrity, is invited to the Marquis's estate for a bull hunt, during which Dona Sol shows imprudence - Juan saves her life. After that, they begin a stormy romance, but if the bullfighter is completely absorbed in the feeling that gripped him and is completely at the mercy of this woman, then for Dona Sol he is nothing more than another toy. Forgetting about the family and the estate of Rinconada, Juan spends a lot of time in the company of dona Sol, not embarrassed to ride around together. Juan is proud of this open connection, although it brings him a lot of bitterness: doña Sol is capricious, changeable and capricious.

Thus pass autumn and winter; a new bullfighting season begins. Juan moves from city to city again, and doña Sol goes abroad to fashionable resorts, and the bullfighter does not receive letters from her, which leads him to despair. And now she returns - briefly - to Seville. Juan immediately runs to the woman he loves, but is met with a cold reception from a secular lady. This continues for some time, and then dona Sol expresses a desire to go with Juan to Rinconada: she is attracted by the thought of invading the peaceful family comfort of the torero. Dona Angustias and Carmen become aware of the trip, and this news causes them violent indignation. Gradually, albeit with difficulty, peace in the house is restored, but Carmen continues to suffer severely. But she mainly blames herself: there are no children in the house, which means there is no happiness either.

Juan also suffers, but not because of the disturbed peace of the family hearth: after a trip to Rinconada, doña Sol disappeared from Seville, and Juan feels deeply hurt. The state of mind is reflected in the professional skills of the bullfighter, and at the next bullfight in Seville, he is seriously injured for the first time. At his request, Dr. Ruiz is summoned by telegram; he arrives the very next morning and remains near the bullfighter for ten days, until he is convinced that the danger has passed. But it will take Juan another two months to finally feel recovered. During his illness, complete peace reigns in the house, and in order to please his mother and wife, Juan Gallardo, along with the inhabitants of his quarter, takes part in the processions of Holy Week.

Gaining strength over the winter, Juan decides to start performing, although after what happened, entering the arena scares him.

The bullfighter holds his first fight in his native Seville. But although he kills the bull, the former courage and audacity have left him, which does not hide from the eyes of the exacting public, requiring constant mortal risk from the bullfighter. This deeply shocks the matador, and his fear of the bull only intensifies. His next bullfight is in the capital, but now Juan's enemies are on the alert, who have become aware of the failure of the bullfighter in his native Seville - they begin to avenge his former glory, spreading rumors about the cowardice of Gallardo; fellow craftsmen who always envied Juan do not lag behind.

The bullfighter's nervous state is aggravated by a meeting with dona Sol, whom he sees getting out of the carriage with a brilliant companion near one of the central hotels of the city. Confident that the old relationship will resume, Gallardo goes to visit her. However, Dona Sol receives him with the carelessness of a noble lady and complete indifference. When Juan begins to talk about his love, he meets only coldness and ridicule. Torero understands that this is the final break.

Meanwhile, Carmen in Seville is worried about her husband, and she sends him one anxious letter after another, begging him to immediately quit bullfighting and live in peace with his family in Seville. But the measured life of Gallardo is not to his liking, besides, he is used to not knowing how to count money and no longer thinks otherwise. Therefore, the bullfighter decides to try to regain the lost love of the public, to become for her the former Juan Gallardo. With this decision, he goes to the next bullfight. At the most crucial moment of the battle, Juan notices dona Sol and her companion among the spectators; the torero embraces an irresistible desire to show this arrogant woman what he is capable of. And Juan forgets about any caution, which turns out to be fatal for him. The very first unsuccessful attack of the torero causes a hail of ridicule from the audience stands, which the torero cannot bear. He loses all discretion - and the bull raises him on his horns. This bullfight turns out to be the last for Juan Gallardo:

Dr. Ruiz, hastily called, is no longer able to help him. The last thing a dying bullfighter hears is the roar of spectators demanding new victims.

N. A. Matyash

(Sonatas. Memorias del margues de Bradomin)

Tales (1901-1905)

The cycle consists of four stories: "Spring Sonata", "Summer Sonata", "Autumn Sonata" and "Winter Sonata". They prefaced the author's "Forewarning": "This book is part of the Pleasant Notes, which the Marquis de Bradomin, already quite gray-haired, began to write in exile. He was an amazing Don Juan. Perhaps the most amazing of all! Catholic, ugly and sentimental. "

Mid XNUMXth century Young Marquis Xavier? de Bradomin arrives in Liguria on behalf of His Holiness to bring the cardinal's cap to Monsignor Stefano Gaetani. He finds the venerable prelate near death in the house of his sister, Princess Gaetani. The room where the dying man lies is immersed in a mysterious twilight. The prelate lies on an ancient bed under a silk canopy. His proud profile of a Roman patrician looms in the gloom, motionless, deathly pale, as if sculpted from marble. At the back of the room, Princess Gaetani and her five daughters are kneeling at the altar in prayer. The princess has golden eyes and golden hair.

The daughters of the princess - Maria del Carmen, Maria del Pilar, Maria de la Soledad, Maria de las Nieves - look like her. Only the eldest, twenty-year-old Maria del Rosario, has black eyes, especially noticeable on a pale face. The Marquis instantly falls in love with Maria Rosario, who is about to leave for a monastery. “Looking at her, I felt that love flared up in my heart, ardent and tremulous, like some kind of mystical flame. All my passions seemed to be purified in this sacred fire; now they were fragrant like Arabian incense…” Monsignor Gaetano is dying. He is buried in the Franciscan monastery. The bells are ringing. Returning to the palace of the princess, the marquis finds Maria Rosario at the door of the chapel, where she distributes alms to a crowd of beggars. The girl's face glows with meekness and affection, like the face of a Madonna. She is full of ingenuous faith, she lives in her palace as in a holy monastery, peace emanates from her. It is time for the Marquis de Bradomin to return to Rome, but the princess asks him to stay for a few more days, and on her behalf, Maria Rosario writes a letter to his Holiness asking him to allow the marquis to stay. Meanwhile, a white cassock is brought from the Carmelite monastery, which Maria Rosario will have to wear until the end of her days. The girl puts it on. She seems to Bradomin a saint, but this only increases his attraction to her. When he approaches, the girl is embarrassed every time and tries to hide. Don Juan pride of the marquis is flattered, he is spurred on by youthful enthusiasm. Bradomin is convinced that Maria Rosario is in love with him, and at the same time a strange and disturbing presentiment takes possession of his heart. One night, he sneaks up to Maria Rosario's window and jumps in. The girl screams and falls unconscious. Bradomin picks her up and lays her down on the bed. He puts out the lamp and is already touching the edge of the bed, when suddenly he hears someone's footsteps. Then an unseen person comes to the window and peers into the depths of the room. When the steps are removed, Bradomin jumps out of the window and slinks along the terrace. Before he has time to take a few steps, a dagger blade is thrust into his shoulder. The next morning, meeting with the princess, Bradomin sees undisguised hatred in her eyes. The Marquis is about to leave. He finds Maria Rosario in the hall, she arranges flowers in vases for the chapel. The conversation between the Marquis and Maria Rosario is full of passion. The girl begs Bradomin to leave - he seems to her the devil. The youngest of the sisters, five-year-old Maria-Nieves, appears at the door of the hall. Maria Rosario calls her, and the girl first tells the Marquis and her sister the long confused story of her doll, then runs away to the other end of the hall. From time to time, Maria Rosario calls her, afraid to be alone with Bradomin. The marquis explains to Maria Rosario: “Everywhere, even in the monastery cell, my worldly love will follow you. Knowing that I will live on in your memories and in your prayers, I will die happy." Maria Rosario, pale as death, reaches out with trembling hands to the girl whom she had previously placed on the windowsill. Suddenly the window swings open and Maria-Nieves falls out the window onto the steps of the stone stairs. "Devil!.. Devil!.." shouts Maria Rosario. The marquis picks up the dying girl and hands her over to the sisters who run up. "Devil!.. Devil!" - comes from the depths of the rooms.

“Maria Rosario,” recalls the aged and almost blind Marquis de Bradomin, “was my only love in life.”

Trying to forget his unhappy love, the Marquis de Bradomin decides to make a romantic trip around the world. He is drawn to Mexico - its antiquity, its ancient dynasties and cruel gods. There he meets an amazing Creole woman, who struck him "with her bronze exotic beauty." Their paths cross. First, she finds herself on a sailboat on which the Marquis travels. In one of the episodes on the ship, her cruelty is revealed, which frightens and attracts Bradomin. A negro giant, one of the sailors of the sailboat, hunts sharks with a knife. Nina Chole (that's the Creole's name) wants to watch him kill the shark. But the Negro refuses, because there is a whole flock of sharks. Ninya Chole offers him four gold coins, and the sailor's greed wins over prudence. He jumps overboard, kills one of the sharks, drags her behind him, but does not have time to board the ship - the sharks tear him to pieces. Nina Chole throws gold coins into the water: "Now he will have something to pay Charon." In Veracruz, it turns out that Niña Chole and the Marquis need to travel in the same direction, and they unite their people. Once in the monastery of San Juan de Tegusco, the marquis introduces Chole as his wife and spends a night of love with her in one of the cells for travelers. Nina Chole anticipates how terrible the revenge of General Bermudez, her husband, will be. She is also tormented by another sin she committed out of ignorance - "the magnificent sin of antiquity", as Bradomin perceives it. Nina Chole married her father, who returned from exile, without knowing it. In a skirmish with the robbers, Bradomin shows miracles of courage, and Ninya redeems the life of the pursued, throwing all his rings under the feet of the robbers with magnificent contempt. Somehow, on the way, Nina Chole and the Marquis meet a rider, at the sight of which the Creole turns pale and hides her face under a veil. A few more people are waiting in the distance. As soon as the rider is near, Ninya Chole jumps off the saddle and runs towards him, shouting: "Finally, my eyes see you again! Here I am, kill me! My lord! My king!" Diego Bermudez lashes Nina Chole in the face with his whip, hauls him into his saddle with a rude motion, and gallops away, cursing the air. The Marquis de Bradomin does not pursue the kidnapper - after all, he has dual rights to Ninya Chole, she is both his wife and daughter. The Marquis can only console himself with the fact that he has never fought over a woman in his life. But the image of Nina Chole continues to haunt him. At night, the marquis hears shots, and in the morning he learns that "the bravest Mexican was killed." It turned out to be Diego Bermudez. The Marquis meets Ninya Chole again. This woman remained in the history of his life "as a sweet, cruel and fanned image."

"My beloved, I am dying and I want only one thing - to see you!" - such a letter is received by the Marquis de Bradomin from his former lover Concha. The Marquis travels to Galicia, to the secluded old palace of Brandeso. He finds cum lying in bed. She is pale, her beautiful eyes sparkle feverishly. The Marquis realizes that she is about to die. Yet Concha gets up to receive him in her palace. The marquis helps her dress with the reverence with which statues of saints are removed. Concha and the Marquis have dinner together and spend the night together. “I confess that I have never loved her so passionately as on that night,” recalls the Marquis de Bradomin. By evening, Concha feels a strong chill, but does not allow to send for a doctor. She does not let go of Bradomin, remembering the childhood years they spent together, remembering their former love. Don Juan Manuel, Bradomin's uncle, comes to the palace, an old man full of life and addicted to wine of Fontelle. The next day, the daughters of Concha are expected to arrive, accompanied by their cousin Isabeli. For the sake of decency, the marquis must temporarily leave the palace. He leaves with Juan Manuel, but on the way he is thrown by a horse, and they have to immediately return to Concha. The girls and Isabelle have already arrived. Concha is jealous of the Marquis of Isabeli (as, indeed, of all other women). In the evening, having come to the marquis, Concha dies in his arms. The marquis goes to Isabeli's room to tell her the terrible news, but she understands the purpose of his arrival differently. The Marquis stays in Isabeli's bed. Returning to his room, he looks with horror at the yellowed, distorted face of Concha. Then, clutching to his chest, he carries this terrible burden along the corridors to Concha's room. In the morning, the daughters of Concha drop in on the marquis. Together they go out onto the balcony and see a kite. The Marquis de Bradomin fires and the kite falls. The girls run up to the dead bird and drag it along. They want to show her mother... A strange sadness, like twilight, envelops the soul of the Marquis. Poor Concha is dead! "I cried like an ancient god to whom they stopped making sacrifices!" - the Marquis de Bradomin concludes this story.

Marquis is getting old. He is tired of long wanderings around the world, all his illusions have collapsed, he is disappointed in everything in the world.

The Marquis de Bradomin appears in Estelle to the court of Don Carlos VII, whom he supports in his struggle for the throne. Queen Margarita - at the sight of her, the Marquis feels like a knight, he is ready to die for a lady - accepts him as an old friend. She gives him an amulet embroidered with her own hand. Among the ladies of the court, the marquis meets Marie-Antonietta Volfani, who was once his lover. Marie Antonietta, who possessed the "soul of a righteous woman and the blood of a courtesan," spends the night with Bradomin and, interfering with words of love with complaints and regrets, announces to him that this was their last meeting - at the insistence of the queen, she will have to make peace with her husband for the common cause.

("Over the years, a person learns that tears, remorse and blood help to enjoy love," the Marquis notes.) Bradomin was wounded in the left shoulder in a skirmish with opponents. In one of the nearest estates, where the nuns from the burnt monastery have now found refuge, the marquis is undergoing an operation (which he stoically, without a single groan, endures) - he has to amputate his arm. Among those who care for the marquis is a convent pupil, a fifteen-year-old girl, almost a child. Maximina is not beautiful, but she has dreamy "velvet eyes" and a voice "like a balm". The marquis charms her with his sadness. Maximine's soul awakens love for him. Unable to cope with the flared feeling, Maximina takes her own life. The nuns try to hide this from Bradomin, but he guesses what happened, and he becomes afraid of his sinfulness. He is seized by "the sadness of a devastated soul, the soul of a Don Juan who destroys lives in order to later mourn his victims." The Marquis returns to Estella. The King and Queen express their gratitude and admiration for his courage. Then there is the last meeting of the Marquis de Bradomin and Marie-Antonietta, who returned to her husband (he was beaten by a blow) and takes care of him, abandoning her love for the Marquis. “Sadness falls on my soul like winter snow, and my soul is covered with a shroud; it is like a desert field,” concludes the notes of Marquis Xavier? de Bradomin.

V. S. Kulagina-Yartseva

Roman (1904)

The novel is set in the twenties.

On the outskirts of Madrid, which adjoins several city cemeteries, live Manuel Alcazar with his widowed sister Ignacia and Salvador, who settled with them, with her young brother Enrique. Manuel works as a typesetter in a printing house, Salvador works in the morning in the workshop of ready-made children's dresses, and in the evening gives needlework lessons, Ignasia does housework and cooks. On the ground floor of the house is the barber shop of the hunchback Rebolledo and the workshop of his son, the electrician Perico. Neighbors are friendly and often get together to play cards. Usually they are joined by a friend of Rebolledo's father, old Canuto, a former veterinarian and misanthrope. The life of these two families, both in winter and summer, proceeds quietly and peacefully, without any special joys, but without sorrows either.

One day a slender, pale, long-haired young man in black comes into the house with a dog. This is Juan, Manuel's brother, whom he has not seen for fifteen years. He talks about what happened to him. He left the seminary and joined a troupe of itinerant comedians, then he met an artist, and they restored paintings in the church together. From hand to mouth he lived and studied painting in Barcelona, ​​and began modeling. Figurines willingly bought, managed to save some money. Then he went to Paris, where he continued his studies, worked in a jewelry workshop, making all kinds of trinkets, key rings and rings. At the opening exhibition, Juan presented his works, they were noticed, orders began to arrive, and some prosperity appeared. Now he has returned to his homeland. I learned my brother's address by accident from an Englishman, Robert Hasting, who lives at the Paris Hotel. Juan asks Salvador to pose for him for a sculptural portrait, he immediately notes the originality of her personality.

After a series of sessions and many searches, Juan finally manages to grab the right expression, Salvador's face seems to be laughing and sad at the same time. He advises his brother not to waste time and marry Salvador, this is a rare and worthy girl. Perico is of the same opinion. However, Manuel is indecisive: it seems that he has nothing in his soul but a feeling of gratitude, because if it weren’t for Salvador, he would have led the life of a tramp, hunting wherever and whatever he needs.

For an art exhibition, Juan provides the sculptural group "Rebels", a statuette of a junk dealer and a bust of Salvador. His work causes lively talk, orders begin to arrive. But the jury awards him only the third prize, they have everything planned in advance. Juan is indignant and even intends to refuse both the medal and the monetary reward, but his brother persuades him not to flog the fever. He dreams of renting a printing house and needs money. Juan does not like Manuel's desire to become the owner, but he has powerful support in the person of both women. To open a business, there is not enough a substantial amount, and Manuel borrows the missing money from Robert, inviting him as a partner.

Setting up a printing house turns out to be a very troublesome business; from troubles and overwork, Manuel falls ill. Salvador carefully looks after him, and more and more often he thinks about marriage. For the duration of his illness, Manuel instructs his old friend Jesus, the typist, to take care of the printing house, who settles in his house.

One day, Juan, together with the decorator, whom he met at the exhibition, enters a tavern under the sign "Dawn". His new friend collaborates in an anarchist newspaper under the pseudonym Libertarian, and the young man finds in him a friend and like-minded person. The tavern seems to both to be a very suitable place for meetings, and on Sundays meetings of members of an anarchist circle, receiving the name "Scarlet Dawn", begin to take place here. Juan becomes its organizer and soul. Among the members of the group are Reboledo, Jesus, Canuto, Libertarius, the student Cesar Maldonado, the Basque Subimendi, the worker from Madrid, the Frenchman Karuti, the Russian Jew Ofkin, the shoemaker Sharik, the engraver Skopos. Out of curiosity, Manuel also comes here. Those who gather here argue, discuss, and exchange literature of a general sociological and revolutionary character. Differences emerge, opinions clash. Anarchism, which Juan professes, is sublime, humanitarian in nature. Juan read almost nothing from anarchist books, his favorite writers are Tolstoy and Ibsen. The anarchism of the Libertarian, proclaiming the revolt of the individual against the state, is an expression of militant individualism. For Maldonado, the son of a lackey, anarchism stems from wounded vanity and appears as a way to take revenge on a society that despises him for his low birth. Unprincipled anarchism is embodied by Madrid, Jesus and Canuto, who preach destruction for the sake of destruction.

Manuel has a lot of work in the printing house, he is forced to fire Jesus for drunkenness, but he remains to live in his house and, lounging all day, surprisingly, always has money.

Robert, who delivers the order to Manuel, advises his friend to treat anarchist ideas like sports and not get too carried away. He regretfully states that Manuel could achieve a lot in life, but by nature he is not a fighter, weak-willed and weak-willed. Manuel hires the chauffeur Pepe Iorales, a socialist by conviction, and now they often argue about the advantages and disadvantages of socialist and anarchist doctrines.

Manuel keeps putting off an explanation with Salvadora, it seems to him that the girl is in love with her brother, and then there is nothing left but to leave and put a bullet in her forehead. The family discovers that Jesus has been stealing from cemeteries at night. Together with accomplices, among whom is the venerable lord Canuto, he pulls out marble slabs, iron chains, metal handles, crucifixes and candelabra, which comes true to junk dealers. However, when the police get on the trail of the gang, Jesus and Señor Canuto manage to leave for Tangier.

Juan does not appear in Manuel's house for a long time, he learns that his brother is sick, he is not well with his lungs. Manuel seeks out Juan at a run-down hotel and transports him to his place. Thanks to good care, Juan soon gets back on his feet.

Manuel is increasingly critical of the anarchist doctrine, yet he is a bourgeois, he likes order and discipline. And planting bombs is generally barbaric, he believes, and he does not agree with Libertarian in any way, who claims that the terror of the state should be answered only with terror. During his illness, Juan does not stop working actively, he deals with propaganda issues and conducts extensive correspondence. A fine-hearted idealist, he visits the slums, desperately trying to find the "gold of the human soul" among the embittered, corrupt city scum. At an anarchist rally in the theater, he gives a fiery speech about human dignity, the liberation of the human person.

Juan and his comrades are invited to a rich house, the owner of which intends to publish a radical journal and offers cooperation. However, the conversations of the intellectuals gathered here are nothing but demagogic chatter, they strive to achieve selfish goals and at the same time are afraid of the raging people's elements. A common language cannot be found.

The day of the coronation of King Alphonse the Thirteenth is approaching. Silvio Fernandez Traskanejo appears in the Crimson Dawn circle with an offer to take part in the conspiracy. The libertarian, disengaged from the group, warns Manuel: Juan is gullible, they want to entangle him in some kind of story, this is probably the intrigues of the police, the disclosure of the conspiracy would be very useful for her.

Juan brings Passalacqua, who has arrived from Paris, to the house. The guest behaves suspiciously, at night, secretly from Juan, Manuel and Salvador inspect his things and find a bomb in the suitcase, which Perico manages to defuse, drawings of explosive devices, illegal literature. All compromising owners are carefully destroyed. When the police come in the next morning with a search, they can't find anything. Manuel is shocked: how could the infinitely kind, such a humane Juan participate in such a villainous crime? Nothing can justify mass murder. "All ways, all methods are good, as long as they lead to the passionately anticipated revolution," Juan argues. Traskanejo is exposed, he is a provocateur acting on orders from the police.

Things in the printing house are not going as well as we would like, he still cannot pay off his debt, Manuel reports to Robert who has arrived from England. But the partner decided to go out of business and leave his friend as the full owner of the printing house, he hands him a sale record. Robert advises Manuel to discard anarchist ideas, he himself is a supporter of enlightened despotism, does not believe in democracy, considering it only as a principle of building a society, but not its goal.

Manuel and Salvador finally get married. On the eve of the coronation day, Juan disappears from the house. There are rumors that an assassination attempt will be made along the way of the procession. Worried, Manuel wanders the crowded streets in search of his brother, but nothing special happens. Only Senor Canuto, showering insults on the soldiers and the national flag, falls under saber blows. Manuel, in his arms, carries his weakened brother out of the crowd, which is being crowded by the police.

For several days, Juan is in a semi-conscious state, he flatly refuses to confess to the priest invited by Ignasia. The police come with a warrant for his arrest, but he has already died. The guardians of the law strongly recommend that the funeral be held without a demonstration. A large crowd gathers at the house, the coffin is covered with a red banner.

A. M. Burmistrova

Andalusian Elegy (1914)

“Platero and I” is a cycle of lyrical sketches by the poet Juan Ramon Jimenez. The hero of the cycle is the gray donkey Platero, who throughout the year is almost the only friend, companion and interlocutor of the author. The very first lines give a portrait of this charming animal: “Platero is small, shaggy, soft - so soft in appearance, as if all made of cotton wool, without a single bone. Only his eyes are crystal hard, like two agate scarabs... He is a sissy and caresses like a child, like a girl, but dry and strong in body, like stone.”

And here is the author himself - how he sees himself: "dressed in mourning, with a Nazarene beard under a low black hat, I must look strange on the gray Platero rune." "Mad!" - the cries of mischievous gypsies rush after the pensive poet. - He was asleep! .. "The author is not offended when he is teased. On the contrary, he is seized by a strange tenderness for everything around him. Everyday, provincial Andalusia opens up to him in its active natural essence. Nature, and people, and all living beings are connected, linked in the perception of the author by this love for their native land. He sees the surroundings of Mogher's native town in an infinitely varied change of colors, smells and sounds, in a series of seasons - from spring to spring, in a round dance of worldly worries and resounding holidays. He immediately confides all his thoughts and impressions to Platero, who listens to him with touching sympathy. The author believes that the donkey understands everything, but does not speak the human language, as we do the language of animals. But on the other hand, he gives his owner a lot of joy and sincere warmth.

In his notes, Jimenez stops the moments of a fleeting life in order to feel its charm in a new way; draws unique portraits of fellow countrymen, tells dramatic or funny stories.

There are dozens of characters in the cycle. First of all, these are children - as a rule, poor, but not discouraged. Here is one such flock, after a meager dinner, cheerfully indulges in the game of "beggars." Then they begin to show off, exposing themselves to each other:

- My father has a silver watch...

And my horse...

And my gun...

“The very watch,” the narrator remarks with quiet bitterness, “that wakes up before dawn, and that gun that does not kill hunger, and the horse that leads to need ...”

One girl suddenly sings a mournful adult song with a "fragile voice, like a glass stream": …"

And over Andalusia, either a hot sun shines, or a short, clearing thunderstorm rages, or an autumn wind blows, or low clouds hang. Jimenez, referring to Platero, compares his native land with wine, then with bread, then again with wine, then again with bread. Sometimes it seems to him that Moger himself is like bread - he is "white inside, like a crumb, and outside golden, like a crisp." At noon, when the city languishing in the heat eats fresh bread, it seems that this is one huge mouth eating huge bread.

Here is another picture of local customs - suddenly shots are heard in the city. Do not be afraid, silly, the narrator reassures the donkey, this is just killing Judas. It takes place on Holy Saturday. Several effigies of Judas are armed over the streets and squares in the most crowded places, and there is hardly a single gun in the city that is not discharged into a villain-traitor. “Only Judas now,” the writer continues, referring to Platero, “is a deputy or a teacher, a judicial rank or a tax collector, a mayor or a midwife, and every man, falling into childhood ... in the confusion of vague and absurd spring obsessions, puts his cowardly bullet into that who hates him..."

The narrator's heart contracts with melancholy pain when he encounters a silly kid - an outcast in the children's crowd, a creature who has neither the gift of speech nor a shadow of charm. Eternally joyful, but not pleasing anyone, one day he disappeared from his usual place on the bench. He probably moved to the sky, where he just as quietly and meekly follows his surroundings with his eyes.

But another tragedy - a beautiful and proud animal is subjected to brutal violence. This short story is called "Glazed Stallion". The horse in question is dazzlingly beautiful. "He was a crow, in blue, green, red tints, with a touch of silver, like a raven and a scarab. In his young eyes, a bright flame flashed scarlet, like on a brazier ..."

Four men with hairy arms are waiting for this unsuspecting handsome man at the paddock. Silently snorting, they lean on the animal, press it to the ground and "after a brief fierce struggle, they finish off its mournful, magical beauty."

As if the very colors of nature fade after the accomplished outrage. The stallion, turned into a gelding, lies motionless on the straw - lathered, exhausted and miserable. Trembling and dejected, they cover him with a blanket and slowly lead him to the barnyard. To the narrator, watching this painful scene, it seems that the horse has separated from the earth, having lost what connected it with the roots of life...

Thus, a poetic view of the world is distinguished by heightened sympathy for everything that suffers pain and oppression; sadness, wisdom and compassion are fused with faith in the renewal and continuity of life. Now spring comes with its inherent heat - and Jimenez finds an unusually expressive image of its phenomenon: “we are as if in a giant luminous honeycomb - the hot core of a huge stone rose.” The same ability to discern beauty in the everyday, the familiar allows him to admire rude and seemingly unattractive people. He gazes admiringly at the three old women: sallow, sweaty, dirty, they still retain their lasting beauty. - "she is still with them as a tearless, strict memory."

And here is a family of gypsies, "stretched out like the tail of an exhausted dog, in the cobblestone sun." With almost Rubensian colors, with undisguised delight, Jimenez sculpts portraits of each member of this impoverished wandering company. The mother is like a clay statue, bursting with young nakedness green and red rags ... The girl is solid unkempt hair, lazily drawing obscene scribbles on the wall with charcoal ... A naked baby lying on his back and urinating in his navel, filling the air with an unanswered cry ... Finally, a man and a monkey , which itch in unison - he scratches his hair, she scratches his ribs ... Sometimes a man unbends, gets up for a long time, goes out into the middle of the street and indifferently beats a tambourine. The gypsy sings, piercingly and mournfully. The monkey grimaces.

“In front of you, Platero, is the ideal of the family,” the narrator says with a feeling of sincere peace.

Here is a maid who had a habit of frightening her household in the evenings by dressing up as a ghost. She wrapped herself in a sheet, put garlic cloves on her teeth like fangs, and slowly approached the hall with a candle. Maybe the Almighty punished her for her addiction to harmless fun - once in a thunderstorm a girl was found on the path in the garden struck by lightning.

Here is a boy who once fled from Seville, where he served in a rich house in order to seek his fortune on the side. He went to "teasing the bulls in the provincial arenas." Now he passes by his native places under contemptuous and condemning glances. A "doubly crimson" cloak is thrown over his shoulder, his teeth are shattered by a recent fight, his stomach is empty, and his purse too. But he goes on, towards his destiny, without complaining and without asking for help.

Here is a miserable, beggar smuggler. During the hunt, his decrepit gun, tied with twine, fell apart. And the poor fellow's hand was wounded. Trembling, he comes to the local doctor. He bandages him, muttering under his breath: "Nothing, it's nothing ..." And suddenly the doctor's parrot, sitting in a cage, repeats gutturally: "It's nothing ..."

And here is the foreman of the porters Moghera Leon. On the back of his head is a thick, smooth callus from many years of wearing trunks. But in the evenings, Leon transforms into a musician. He plays cymbals during the holidays...

Life opens in its tragicomic details, in bright carnival variegation, in the cycle of death and birth. The narrator with the same wise sadness tells about someone's fading, whether it be an old man, a child or an animal. The reader is given his perception of any individual life as a valuable and important event in itself. Forever remained in this Andalusian elegy the little girl who so loved to caress the donkey, so fearlessly put her little hand into his mouth, so touchingly called him: "Plateritto, Plateretto! .." She was carried away by a serious illness, and for many weeks, rushing about in a fever delirious in her cradle, she still babbled the name of her pet: "Plateritto... Plateretto..."

There was also the proud fox terrier Lord, who had to be shot after being bitten by a rabid dog ... And the old canary, who was once found dead on the floor in his cage. The kids are upset™ examining him. “He had enough of everything,” they say in surprise, “and he didn’t need water or food ...” Yes, Platero, the narrator continues, he didn’t need anything. "He died because he died," Campoamor, another old canary, would say," says Jimenez, referring to the famous Spanish poet.

alas, the day comes when the industrious little Platero himself dies. It happens suddenly, on a hot sunny afternoon. The veterinarian sadly explains that the donkey got poisoned… He ate something poisonous… There is still hope. But Platero is no longer getting better. He is buried in the garden under a wide pine tree.

"Platero, you see us, right? .."

V. A. Sagalova

(Las bodas de sangre)

Tragedy (1932)

Spain, early XNUMXth century Mountain village. The action of the play begins in the Bridegroom's house. Mother, having learned that he is going to the vineyard and wants to take a knife, bursts into curses to the one who invented knives, and guns, and pistols - everything that can kill a man. Her husband and eldest son are dead, killed in knife fights with the Felix family, the hated Mother. The mother can hardly bear the thought of the wedding, the Bride is unpleasant to her in advance, the Groom leaves, the Neighbor appears. The mother asks her about the Bride and learns that she had previously had a fiancé who had been married to her cousin for two years. This is Leonardo, from the Felix family, who was very small at the time of the quarrel between the two families. The mother decides not to tell her son anything.

House of Leonardo. Leonardo's mother-in-law sings a lullaby to the child "about a high horse that does not want water." Leonardo's wife knits. Enter Leonardo. He had just come from the smithy, changing horseshoes for a horse. It seems to his wife that Leonardo rides it too much, so yesterday he was seen on the plain. Leonardo says he was not there. The wife tells Leonardo about her cousin's upcoming wedding in a month. Leonardo is gloomy. The wife wants to know what oppresses him, but he abruptly cuts her off and leaves. Leonardo's wife and mother-in-law continue to sing a lullaby "about a high horse". The wife is crying.

The Groom and Mother come to the Bride's house to woo. The Father of the Bride comes out to them. They agree on the day of the wedding. Every time a mother remembers her dead eldest son. The Bride appears. The Mother of the Bridegroom instructs her, explaining what it means to get married:

"Husband, children and a wall two cubits thick - that's all." The bride seriously promises: "I will be able to live like this." After the departure of the Bridegroom and Mother, the Servant wants to examine the gifts brought to the Bride (among them - fishnet silk stockings, "the dream of women"). But the Bride is furious about the gifts and the upcoming wedding. The maid says that at night she saw a rider who stopped under the Bride's window - she found out it was Leonardo. There is a clatter of hooves. Leonardo drives by again under the windows.

Wedding day. The Servant arranges the Bride's hair in an intricate hairstyle. The Bride stops all free talk of the Handmaid about marriage. She is gloomy, but full of determination, and when asked by the Servant if she loves her fiancé, she answers in the affirmative. There is a knock. The maid opens the door for the first guest. It turns out to be Leonardo. The bride and Leonardo talk like lovers who have quarreled and are mortally offended by each other. "I have pride. That's why I'm getting married. I'll lock myself up with my husband, whom I should love more than anything in the world," says the Bride. “Pride will not help you […] Burning silently is the most terrible punishment that we can subject ourselves to. Did my pride help me, did it help that I didn’t see you, and you didn’t sleep at night? Not at all! Only I was all on fire! You think time heals and walls hide everything, but it doesn't. What gets into the heart can't be torn out!" - Leonardo's rebuke sounds. The maid tries to drive Leonardo away. You can hear the approaching guests singing: "Wake up, bride, / This is the morning of the wedding ..."

The bride runs away. Leonardo goes deeper into the house. The guests appear and read poems to the Bride: "Come down, dark-skinned girl, / a train of silk / dragging along the echoing steps."

The Bride appears - in a black dress of the nineties, with flounces and a wide train. On the head is a wreath. All hail the Bride. The Bridegroom's mother sees Leonardo and his wife. "They are family members. Today is the day to forgive," the Father of the Bride tells her. "I tolerate, but do not forgive," she replies. The Bride hurries the Bridegroom: "I want to be your wife, to be alone with you and hear only your voice." The bride and groom and the guests leave. Leonardo and his wife remain on the stage. She asks her husband not to leave on horseback, to ride with her in a wagon. They are arguing. “I don’t understand what’s wrong with you,” the wife admits. “I think and don’t want to think. I know one thing: my life is broken. But I have a child. They leave together. Offstage voices continue to sing: "Remember that from home / you go out to church. / Remember that a star / you go out bright!"

Before entering the Bride's house, the Servant, singing, places trays and glasses on the table. Enter the Groom's Mother and the Bride's Father. The Mother hardly leaves her thoughts about her dead loved ones and, together with the Father of the Bride, dreams of grandchildren, of a large family. But Mother understands that it will take a long time to wait. (“That’s why it’s scary to watch your blood flow on the ground. The stream dries up in one minute, and it costs us many years of life ...”)

Cheerful guests appear, and young people follow them arm in arm. Leonardo almost immediately goes inside the house. A few minutes later, the Bride leaves. When she returns, the girls approach her for pins: the one to whom she gives the pin first will marry sooner. The bride is excited, it is clear that there is a struggle in her soul, she absentmindedly answers the girls. Leonardo walks in the back of the stage. The Groom seems to be worried about the Bride. She denies this, asking him not to leave her, though she evades his embrace. Leonardo's wife asks the guests about him: she cannot find him and his horse is not in the stall. The bride goes to rest. After a while, her absence is discovered. Leonardo's wife enters, shouting: "They ran! They ran! She and Leonardo! On a horse. Embraced and flew like a whirlwind!"

The wedding is split into two camps. The groom and his relatives give chase.

Forest. Night. Three woodcutters talk about the fate of the fugitives. One of them thinks: "We must listen to the heart; they did well that they fled." Another agrees: "Better to bleed and die than to live with rotten blood." The third woodcutter says about the Bridegroom: "He flew like an angry star. His face was ash-gray. The fate of his family is written on it." They are going away. The stage is illuminated by bright blue light. It is Luna who appears in the form of a young woodcutter with a pale face. He reads a monologue in verse: "I am a bright swan on the river, / I am the eye of gloomy cathedrals, / there is an imaginary dawn on the leaves, / I am everything, they cannot hide anywhere."

"Let there be no shadow for them, / no place where they could hide!"

"Oh, I want to penetrate the heart / and warm it up! Give the heart - / let it leave her chest / and spread over the mountains! / Oh, let me penetrate the heart, / penetrate the heart ..."

The moon disappears behind the trees, the scene is plunged into darkness. Death enters in the guise of a Beggar...

The beggar woman calls the Moon and asks for more light, "to illuminate the waistcoat and shade the buttons", "and then the knives will find their way."

The Bridegroom appears, accompanied by one of the young men. The groom had just heard the clatter of hooves, which he could not confuse with any other. The groom and the young man disperse so as not to miss the fugitives. Beggar-Death appears on the Bridegroom's road. "A handsome young man," the Beggar notices, looking at the Bridegroom. "But you must be even more beautiful when you sleep." She leaves with the Bridegroom. The Bride and Leonardo enter. There is a passionate dialogue between them.

Leonardo: "What kind of glass stuck in my tongue! / La wanted to forget you, / built a stone wall / between our houses. / When I saw you in the distance, / I covered my eyes with sand. / So what? I mounted a horse, / and the horse flew to your door ... "

The bride echoes him: “How everything is mixed up! I don’t want to / share your bed and food with you. / So what? so that I return, / but I am rushing through the air / following you like a blade of grass.

The bride persuades Leonardo to run away, but he drags her along, and they leave, embracing. The moon appears very slowly. The stage is flooded with bright blue light. Violins sound. Suddenly, two heart-rending screams are heard one after the other. At the second cry, the Beggar Woman appears, stops in the middle of the stage with her back to the audience and opens her cloak, becoming like a bird with huge wings.

White room. Arches, thick walls. To the right and left are white benches. Brilliant white floor. Two girls in dark blue dresses unwind a red ball and sing: "The lover is silent, / all scarlet is the groom. / On the shore of the dead / I saw them",

Enter Leonardo's wife and mother-in-law. The wife wants to return and find out what happened, but the mother-in-law sends her home: “Go to your home. Take heart: / from now on you will be lonely / live in this house, grow old in it / and cry. Only the door, remember, / already in it will not open. / He is dead or alive, but these windows / we will block everything. Rains and nights / let their tears fall / on the bitterness of the herbs.

They are going away. Beggar appears. To the girls' questions, she answers: "I saw them. Soon / there will be both - two streams. / An hour has passed - they froze / between large stones. Two husbands / sleep motionless at the feet of the horse. / Both are dead. The night shines / with beauty. They killed! / Yes, killed!"

A beggar woman and then the girls leave. Soon Mother and Neighbor appear. The neighbor is crying, and Mother's eyes are dry. Now undisturbed calm awaits her - after all, everyone has died. She no longer has to worry about her son, look out the window to see if he is coming. She does not want to see anyone and does not want to show her grief. Enter the Bride in a black cloak. The mother moves menacingly towards her, but, having mastered herself, stops. Then hits the Bride. The neighbor tries to intercede, but the Bride says that she came to be killed and buried next to the dead. "But I will be buried clean - not a single man admired the whiteness of my chest." She tries to explain her flight to Mother: “I burned on fire, my whole soul was in ulcers and wounds, and your son was a trickle of water for me - I expected children from him, calm, healing power. But he was a dark river, overshadowed by branches , which excited me with the rustling of reeds and the deaf roar of the waves ... "

The Bride asks the Mother for permission to cry with her, and she allows, but at the door.

The funeral procession is coming. "Four youths bowed / carry them. How tired are the shoulders! / Four youths in love / carry death to us through the air!"

V. S. Kulagina-Yartseva.

Roman (1943, publ. 1951)

The action takes place in 1942 and is centered around a small cafe in one of Madrid's quarters. There are about one hundred and sixty characters in the book, they appear and, barely touching each other, disappear, picked up by the cycle of life in the giant beehive of the city. Some figures are outlined more voluminously and characteristically.

The owner of the café, Dona Rosa, is a fat, unkempt woman dressed in mourning and hung with diamonds. She has unhealthy facial skin, uneven blackish teeth, a mustache above her upper lip, sausage-shaped fingers. At heart, she hates visitors and relieves her soul by constantly scolding her employees. The affairs of the greedy and self-serving Dona Rosa are going very well, the capital is multiplying, she prefers to invest it in real estate. Dona Rosa sympathizes with Hitler and worries about the German army, in a vague premonition, which she does not dare to understand, the fate of the Wehrmacht is seen by her as connected with the fate of her cafe.

Café patrons - people who think everything is going as it should and it's not worth the trouble to try to improve - reflect on the pathetic, but pleasant and exciting little things that fill or empty their lives. Among the cafe's regulars is Don Leonardo Melendez, a rogue, an adventurer who swindles money from simpletons, aided by his respectable appearance, demeanor, and speaking with aplomb. Protested bills rain down on Don Jaime Arce, but he does not lose his presence of mind and prefers not to focus on the unpleasant. The widow Isabel Montes sits for hours in a corner with a distant look, she recently lost her son, who died of meningitis. Already elderly senorita Elvira lives than God sends. The trouble is that he sends not very thickly, and besides, he always sends something overwhelmed and worthless. Doña Rosa is right, Elvira reflects, she must get along with old Don Pablo, even though he is disgusting and boring, otherwise you won’t last long. Checkers players tease the referee's clerk, Don José Rodriguez de Madrid, who got lucky in the lottery. Dona Pura and her friend do not get tired of talking about the decline of morals. The wealthy publisher Don Mario de la Vega teaches a hungry, ingratiating neighbor - you have to work hard, then you will have a cigar and a glass.

Upon learning that Eloy Rubio Antofagaste is a bachelor, he offers him a position as a proofreader, but no complaints and all sorts of trade unions. And Martin Marco does not have the money to pay for coffee, and he is thrown out the door. The young man graduated from the university and is trying to earn money by translations and articles in provincial newspapers. He is interested in social problems, but he has a decent confusion in his head. He spends the night with a friend, and in the morning he goes to the bank or the post office, it's warm there, you can write poetry, pretending to fill out telegraph forms or receipts. When it is very tight, Martin visits his sister Philo, who takes pity on him and feeds him. Her husband, Roberto Gonzalez, serves in the assembly of deputies, and in his spare time earns extra money by keeping account books in a perfume shop and a baker. He treats Martin badly, calls him a tramp and a parasite. The owner of the bar, Celestino Ortiz, is an avid bookworm, his favorite book is Nietzsche's Aurora, from where he knows whole pieces by heart and quotes them to the point and out of place. Dairy owner Ramona Bragado is a pimp. Mario de la Vega resorts to her services, who likes Quiz, who works as a packer. The girl is tired and desperate, in the printing house all day on her feet, the fiancé, who is sick with consumption, is getting worse, the mother swears incessantly, commands everyone, the father is a spineless man, always drunk, you can’t rely on him for anything. For the sake of money Quiz is ready for anything.

From sketches and sketches, scenes and dialogues, a picture of a dull everyday life, monotonous and devoid of meaning, is formed, the morals, deeds, worries, dreams of the heroes of the book appear.

An out of the ordinary event is the appearance in the cafe of Maruchita Ranero, the former lover of the employee of Doña Rosa Consortio Lopez, whom he once abandoned, the mother of his two twins. She brought her husband to Madrid for an operation and found an unfaithful lover, to whom she is ready to forgive everything. Marukhita is now a well-to-do woman, she has a manor, a little land that generates income. My husband has cancer and won't last long. She plans how she will buy this cafe and live with the Consortio, as if there were no long years of separation.

A big shock is the murder of the mother of one of the regulars of the cafe homosexual Suarez, the old woman was strangled with a towel in her room. The police arrest the son and his boyfriend on suspicion of murder, and the neighbors raise money to give Señora Suarez a decent funeral. The readiness of others to come to the rescue is also shown when Martin suddenly has problems with the authorities. True, he still does not know about the troubles that threaten him and, visiting her grave on the day of the anniversary of his mother's death, he intends to start a new life again.

A. M. Burmistrova

(Cinco horas con Mario)

Roman (1966)

Suddenly, at the age of forty-nine, Mario Callado dies of a heart attack. After him, a large family remains - his wife Carmen and five children. Accepting condolences and then, sitting awake at the body of her husband, Carmen silently conducts an endless conversation with him. From this internal monologue, the story of the acquaintance and relationship between Mario and Carmen gradually emerges, their - so different - characters and outlook on life - the whole history of the family, the story of two people who lived side by side for many years, but were always strangers to each other.

Carmen grew up in a wealthy bourgeois family, where there was a decent income and a few servants. His father worked in the illustration department of a large conservative newspaper, and his mother ran the house. Mario and Carmen meet right after the war - her memory is still very fresh. Mario had two brothers killed on the side of the Republicans, and the Carmen family was openly pro-Frankist. The political views of future relatives worry Carmen's parents, but they still decide to marry their daughter to Mario, relying on his abilities, which, in their opinion, should provide the young man with a brilliant university future.

However, as it turns out, Mario is not going to make a career at all. He is quite content with a modest position as a teacher and the opportunity to publish the newspaper El Correo, his favorite offspring. In his free time, he argues hoarsely with friends who, like Mario, dream of rebuilding the world on a more just basis, and writes the philosophical novel "Castle in the Sand". This book is completely incomprehensible to Carmen and her father, whose opinion the woman considers indisputable, moreover, such books do not bring money to the family. Mario is alien to any conventions: to the indignation of his wife, he rides a bicycle to work and does not suffer at all, unlike Carmen, due to the lack of a car; makes acquaintances with just anyone and does not recognize the right people at all, is surprisingly inattentive to his clothes, does not take offerings from wealthy parents of mediocre students before the exam, flatly refuses to become a deputy of the ayuntamiento, the local government, so as not to feel obliged to support the official line.

Carmen, on the contrary, is a slave to conventions. The subject of her most serious experiences is the lack of silverware in the house; therefore, when receiving guests, she serves only cold snacks, so as not to expose in front of people what she perceives as her shame. She appreciates only the external in people - the demeanor, the right tie, the ability to say something pleasant in time or to remain silent when it is beneficial. Her admiration is caused only by those who managed to make a career - no matter how. Mario does not meet these requirements and causes only condescending and mocking attitude of his wife. She does not understand his openness and directness, his honesty and inability to dodge - all this in Carmen's system of life values ​​\uXNUMXb\uXNUMXbis related to big shortcomings. Sitting at the coffin of her husband, the woman recalls how many times in his life he missed the opportunity to advance in the service, how careless he was with the right people; reproaches him for refusing to sign a false protocol and thereby making enemies for himself, being left without an apartment. She mentally reproaches her husband for not wanting to share her way of thinking, neglected charity work, believing that the poor should not be given chocolates, but give what belongs to them by right; this was always written by the newspaper El Correo, which was published by Mario and which Carmen could not stand. Neither newspapers, nor Mario's books, nor his friends have ever been close to her.

It is not surprising that she does not understand the reasons for her husband's depression and, contrary to the insistence of the doctor, treats his condition as a whim. Carmen does not know what to answer her husband when he constantly repeats: "I am alone." Mentally, she reproaches him for this and, of course, feels offended, seeing Mario's illness as a reproach to herself.

In her endless monologue at the coffin, Carmen constantly argues with her husband, reproaches him, expresses old hidden grievances, which, perhaps, she never told him during her lifetime. They come from very different families and from different social circles, and living side by side for years has not smoothed out these differences. For Carmen, her father is still the ideal, whom she considers a great writer, although in fact he was a mediocre and very conservative journalist. Mother, endlessly uttering banalities, a woman perceives as a storehouse of worldly wisdom. But she treats her husband’s relatives and friends with open disdain: if her own family embodies moral principles for her, traditional, old Spain, then Mario’s relatives sympathized with the Republicans, which Carmen is ashamed of. She cannot stand either his sister Charo or his daughter-in-law Encarna, the widow of one of the dead Mario brothers. She does not understand - and therefore evokes contempt - the dedication with which Encarna cared for Mario's paralyzed and childish father: Carmen sees this as only ostentatious and does not suspect that the woman is quite sincere, just as she sincerely mourns Mario. In the same way, Carmen and Mario's outward calm at his mother's funeral are incomprehensible, she does not feel great grief behind his behavior, since she appreciates only external manifestations.

Very different, Carmen and Mario also have a different attitude towards raising children: what seems essential to the wife does not bother the husband at all, and vice versa. So, Mario takes to heart the fact that his daughter Menchu ​​studies poorly, and Carmen, who sees the only purpose of a woman in marriage, does not bother at all, because she considers teaching a meaningless exercise. She does not approve of the excessive enthusiasm of the eldest son, named after his father, for studies. Mario Jr. is as much a mystery to her as Mario Sr. Carmen does not understand why her son is standing at the coffin of his father in a blue sweater, not bothering to change into a black suit, why he does not care what category the funeral will be held in. However, she had already firmly decided that now, when she remains the mistress of the house, those who remain to live with her under the same roof will have to share her views - the question of not crushing the personality in the child, which worried her husband so much, before it doesn't even come up.

Carmen spends the night in such memories and reflections, the night at the coffin of her husband. Their whole life passes before her eyes - the life of very different and strange people, who have not become close for many years, lived side by side. Mario comes in the morning; he tries to distract his mother from heavy thoughts, but she does not understand him in the same way that she did not understand Mario Sr. And only when, when asked by his mother if he slept, the young man replies that he could not fall asleep, because it always seemed to him that he was drowning in a mattress, Carmen recalls that this is exactly what her husband said during bouts of depression. And she gets scared. But voices distract her. - Acquaintances gather: soon they should take out the coffin. In the last moments of parting with her husband, Carmen thinks of only one thing - the black sweater is too tight for her figure and this is not very decent.

N. A. Matyash

(Senas de identidad)

Roman (1966)

Alvaro Mendiola, a Spanish journalist and film director, who has long been living in France in voluntary exile, having suffered a severe heart attack, after which doctors ordered him to rest, comes to Spain with his wife Dolores. Under the shadow of his home, which once belonged to a large family, from which he alone remained, Alvaro goes over in his memory his whole life, the history of his family, the history of Spain. Past and present mingle in his mind, forming a kaleidoscopic picture of people and events; the contours of a family history, inextricably linked with the history of the country, are gradually emerging.

At one time, the richest Mendiola family owned vast plantations in Cuba, a sugar refinery and many black slaves - all this was the basis of the well-being of the clan that flourished at that time. The hero's great-grandfather, a poor Asturian hidalgo, once went to America, hoping to make a fortune, and quite succeeded in this. However, further the history of the family goes down: his children inherited a huge fortune, but by no means the talents and hard work of their father. The sugar factory had to be sold, and after Spain lost the last colonies in 1898, the family broke up. Grandfather Alvaro settled on the outskirts of Barcelona, ​​where he bought a large house and lived in grand style: in addition to the city house, the family had an estate near Barcelona and a family home in Yeste. Alvaro remembers all this, looking at an album of family photos. People who have long been dead look at him from them: one died in a civil war, another committed suicide on the shores of Lake Geneva, someone simply died a natural death.

Flipping through the album, Alvaro recalls his childhood, the pious señorita Lourdes, the governess, who read him a book about infant martyrs; recalls how shortly after the victory of the Popular Front, when churches were burned all over Spain, an exalted governess tried to enter the burning church with him in order to suffer for the faith, and the milicianos was stopped. Alvaro recalls how hostile the new government was in the house, how his father left for Yeste, and soon the news came from there that she had been shot by milicianos; how in the end the family fled to a resort town in the south of France and there they waited for the victory of the Francoists, greedily catching news from the fronts.

Having matured, Alvaro broke up with his loved ones - with those who still survived: all his sympathies are on the side of the Republicans. Actually, reflections on the events of 1936-1939, on how they affected the appearance of Spain in the mid-sixties, when Alvaro returned to his homeland, run like a red thread through the entire book. He left his homeland a long time ago, after his documentary was met with hostility, where he tried to show not the tourist paradise into which the regime was trying to turn the country, but another Spain - the Spain of the hungry and the destitute. After this film, he became a pariah among his compatriots and chose to live in France.

Now, looking back at his childhood, at close people, Alvaro sees and evaluates them through the prism of his current views. A warm attitude towards relatives is combined with the understanding that they were all a historical anachronism, that they managed to live without noticing the changes taking place around them, for which fate punished them. The distant years of the civil war are approaching very close when Alvaro goes to Yeste to look at the place where his father died. The hero hardly remembers his father, and this torments him. Standing at the cross that has been preserved at the site of the execution and looking at the landscape, which has hardly changed over the years, Alvaro tries to imagine how this man must have felt. The execution of Father Alvaro, and with him several other people, was a kind of act of revenge: some time before, the government had brutally cracked down on peasants in these places who opposed the will of the authorities. One of the few surviving eyewitnesses of this long-standing tragedy tells about the outrages and cruelty of Alvaro. Listening to this peasant, Alvaro thinks that there is not and could not be right or wrong in that war, just as there are no losers and winners, there is only Spain that lost.

So, Alvaro spends a month in Spain in constant memories. The years that he lived away from her, intoxicated with freedom, now seem empty to him - he did not learn the responsibility that many of his friends who remained in the country found. This sense of responsibility is given by hard trials, such as Antonio, Alvaro's friend, with whom he made the documentary that caused so much attack. Antonio was arrested, spent eighteen months in prison, and then sent to his native land, where he had to live under constant police surveillance. The regional police department followed his every move and kept notes in a special diary, a copy of which Antonio's lawyer received after the trial - this diary is abundantly quoted in the book. Alvaro remembers what he was doing at that time. His adjustment to a new, Parisian life was also not easy: the obligatory participation in meetings of various republican groups so as not to break ties with the Spanish emigration, and participation in the events of the French left-wing intelligentsia, for whom - after the story with the film - he was an object of charity. Alvaro recalls his meeting with Dolores, the beginning of their love, his trip to Cuba, friends with whom he participated in the anti-Franco student movement.

All his attempts to connect the past and present pursue only one goal - to regain his homeland, a feeling of unity with it. Alvaro is very sensitive to the changes that have taken place in the country, the ease with which the most acute problems were covered up with a cardboard facade of prosperity in order to attract tourists, and the ease with which the people of Spain came to terms with this. At the end of his stay in Spain - and at the end of the novel - Alvaro travels to Montjuic in Barcelona, ​​where the president of the Generalitat, the government of Catalonia, Luis Companys, was shot. And not far from this place, where, of course, there is no monument, he sees a group of tourists, to whom the guide tells that here during the Civil War the Reds shot clergy and senior officers, so a monument to the fallen was erected here. Alvaro does not pay attention to the usual official interpretation of the national tragedy; he has long been accustomed to this. He is struck by the fact that tourists take pictures in front of the monument, asking each other what war the guide was talking about. And looking from the heights of Montjuic at Barcelona lying below, Alvaro thinks that the victory of the regime is not yet a victory, that the life of the people still goes on on its own and that he must try to capture truthfully what he witnessed. This is the internal result of his trip to his homeland.

N. A. Matyash

1. In more detail, the principles of construction of this publication are set out in the preface to the volume "Russian Literature of the XNUMXth Century".
2. Facet is an organ of vision that refracts light in a special way.
3. Asphodel - a plant of the lily family - asphodel. In the realm of Hades, the shadows of the dead roam the Asphodel Fields.
4. In Buddhist mythology, Avalokiteshvar is the personification of compassion.
5. I don't dispute this (lat.).

Editor: Novikov V.I.

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