The main characters of the novel Don't Shoot the White Swans by Vasiliev

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Analysis of the story Don't Shoot the White Swans by Vasiliev

The story “Don't Shoot White Swans” touches on the most important theme of man's relationship with nature, the struggle between good and evil.

The life of nature interacts so strongly with man that it becomes one of the main characters. Nature helps us reveal the characters' characters, their feelings and emotions. It is from the attitude towards nature that we can understand who strives for good and who is possessed by evil.

Let's look at the heroes of the story. Egor Polushkin is a hardworking, kind person. He always acts according to his conscience no matter what. It is because of his conscientiousness that he fails to get settled in life. He appears in the eyes of society and loved ones as a loser, and he himself suffers from this, but is unable to do anything. Egor not only loves work, but is also in a special unity with nature, he loves her and is tormented every time, seeing the unfair treatment of her. He is ready to leave his family without food, to give up earning money, but to leave nature and trees intact.

It is not without reason that the white swan is taken into the title and serves as a symbol of the entire story. The image of a swan has long been used by various authors in myths and tales. This symbol expresses the character of the main character, the purity of his thoughts and aspirations. He takes care of nature and feels great happiness from this. Over time, we notice that Egor moves from simple requests to demands to preserve nature.

As opposed to Yegor, we see another character - Fyodor Buryanov. These two characters are complete opposites of each other. Fedor is ready to sell everything; for the sake of profit, he is capable of mercilessly destroying trees and illegally catching fish from the lake.

Life tests Yegor's strength, checks whether his principles are strong and whether his conscience is clear. And in this battle with evil, he emerges victorious. He meets a lot of bad people, but Yegor continues to believe in the good in people, and he meets them too.

Despite the fact that at the end of the story the main character dies, this does not mean a tragic ending. Yegor's kind heart leaves his followers. His pure thoughts and love for nature do not go unnoticed. Yegor's son Kolka, an equally ambitious boy, absorbed all his moral principles from his father. But Kolka also has a cousin, Vovka, who also absorbed the moral principles of his father, Fyodor.

The author sincerely believes that despite the fact that there are a lot of poachers and dishonest people, there are also people like Yegor in the world. Hardworking, sincere and conscientious, they can give a serious rebuff to “predators” with their small numbers.

The main characters of the novel Don't Shoot the White Swans by Vasiliev

Polushkin Egor
A man living in a rural area. Yegor always felt a special unity with nature. The hero could never imagine himself without her. Egor is a romantic, he has a developed sense of beauty. The hero perceives everything very subtly and deeply. No one else has such a depth of perception. Only Yegor understands how much any change or intervention in the life of nature will affect people. Others perceive it in a peculiar way, but this does not bother the hero at all.

Egor is a very brave, persistent and selfless person. Everything that Egor does is done from the heart and of very high quality. You don't often meet such responsible people. In addition to quality, the hero places no small emphasis on beauty. People around him say that he is a stupid person, they say, what can you get from him. The hero fights for nature to the last. Ultimately, he dies. Poachers kill him, but despite this, Yegor’s deed will live on in his son.

Polushkin Kolka

Nikolai is the son of Yegor. The boy is distinguished by his good nature, mercy, compassion, responsiveness and attentiveness. He has one drawback - he takes everything very close to his heart and is very vulnerable. The child has completely taken after his father and loves nature and everything connected with it. The boy will never understand poaching and abuse of living beings. Kolya is an obedient child who supports his father in everything. The child even wrote his own poems, which were later attached to trees instead of posters.

Polushkina Kharitina Makarovna

Egor's wife. The woman had to endure ridicule all her life because of her unique name. Kharitina is distinguished by her kindness and openness, however, she does not agree with the views and vision of her husband. He is ready to make any sacrifice for the sake of nature. The woman perceives this negatively. She was already tired of people's sidelong glances and constant dissatisfaction. Kharitina gets tired of her husband’s excessive correctness; at one point she almost left him. Only after a while did she realize what a strong and highly moral person was next to her.

Fedor Ipatovich Buryanov

An arrogant, greedy, unscrupulous, self-interested, pompous and domineering person. He is engaged in forestry and does not protect nature at all. He will do anything to earn as much as possible. He is at odds with Yegor and is the complete opposite of him. Fedor had a hand in the murder of Yegor.

Marya Buryanova

Fedor's wife, also Kharitina's sister. Exactly the same as her husband. It was no coincidence that the Polushkins ended up in the same village as the Buryanovs; Maria contributed to this. She counted on Yegor to build a house for their family.

Vovka

Son of Fyodor and Maria. Exactly the same as his family. Just like his father, greedy, arrogant, cunning, sneaky. Constantly lies, capable of any meanness and betrayal. Always trying to gain some benefit for himself.

Picture for the essay Characteristics of the characters in the novel Don’t shoot white swans

Heroes of the work Don’t Shoot the White Swans by Vasiliev

Egor Polushkin is a very romantic, brave, kind person, he perceives himself as a part of nature. The man has a pronounced love for everything beautiful and bright. Egor loves to work very much, no matter what he undertakes, he will always do it well and beautifully, as they say, he will put his whole soul into his work. But it seems to the people around him that Yegor is a worthless, clueless loser, due to the fact that he often finds himself in a bad situation.

Polushkin was struck by the beauty of the swans and, without hesitation, bought and settled them on the lake, which previously bore the name Lebyazhye. For his love of nature, Yegor had to pay with his life, dying at the hands of poachers. But the brave work of Egor Polushkin will be continued by his son Kolya, who, just like his father, lives according to his conscience.

Polushkina Kharitina Makarovna is the wife of Egor Polushkin. Kharitina, just like her husband, is very kind, sincere, and open. The woman was very tired of Yegor’s excessive correctness, people’s ridicule about his lack of direction and inability to adapt to life, and even almost left him. It took Kharitina Makarovna time to understand that her husband was an incredibly strong and unusually highly moral person.

Nikolai Polushkin is the son of Yegor Polushkin, just like his father, he is kind, sympathetic, attentive, and fanatically loves nature and its inhabitants. Kolya always supported his father in every possible way, helped him in everything, even wrote poems, which they hung together on trees in the forest instead of uninteresting posters. The boy, just like Yegor, is against poaching and any abuse of living beings.

Fedor Ipatovich Buryanov – forest ranger for forest distribution. Fedor is a very greedy, domineering, self-interested, arrogant man, capable of doing anything for profit, the complete opposite of Yegor Polushkin. Buryanov participates in the murder of Yegor, and later, in order to remain unpunished, he tried to bribe him.

Marya Buryanova is the wife of Fyodor Buryanov and the sister of Kharitina Polushkina. Marya, just like her husband, is a selfish and calculating woman. Marya managed to persuade the Polushkins to move to their village.

Vovka Buryanov is the son of Fyodor and Marya Buryanov. The boy, despite his young age, is resourceful, cunning, greedy, deceitful, boastful and envious, capable of doing any meanness for the sake of profit.

Nonna Yuryevna is a local young school teacher. Nonna is a very good, bright, kind and fair person. The woman sincerely loves Yuri Chuvalov, but after her beloved confesses that he is married, Nonna feels deceived and decides to leave the village.

Yuri Petrovich Chuvalov is a forester, a good, honest, decisive, decent and fair man, trying to live according to his conscience. He takes his work with great responsibility; it was he who helped Yegor get the position of forester. At the end of the work, he marries the teacher Nonna Yuryevna.

Cherpak and Filya are insignificant people who took part in the murder of Yegor Polushkin. Only after his death did Phil’s conscience awaken and he began to repent of what he had done.

Characteristics of heroes 2

This hero is a simple man from the village who loves everything beautiful, he is a romantic. He is a very creative person, he does his work not only efficiently, but also beautifully. He puts his whole soul into his work. He loves nature very much, but those around him consider him worthless. Egor is killed by poachers.

The heroine is the wife of the main character. She is very good-natured and suffers from her name. She doesn’t understand her husband, she wanted him to be like everyone else, it’s hard for her to live with a man who doesn’t have cunning and adaptability, he considers him stupid. The wife even wanted to leave such a husband, but then she realized what a generous person he was.

The boy Kolka is the son of Yegor. The boy is very similar to his father, he is just as sympathetic and good-natured. He, like Yegor, loves nature, animals, he is sensitive and easily hurt, and also compassionate. He helps his father and supports him.

Fedor Ipatovich Buryanov.

Fyodor Ipatovich is a forester, he is unscrupulous, stingy, and seeks his own benefit everywhere. Yegor was his brother-in-law and he used the naive man for profit. He is a participant in the murder.

The wife of Fyodor Ipatovich, the same as her husband. She persuades the Polushkin family to move to the village so that Yegor can build a house for them in his own way.

The boy is very greedy and envious, like his parents Fyodor and Marya. He is very cunning, he can get out of any situation, as if he were already. He lies constantly and likes to brag. He does everything on the sly. The boy even mocks the poor animals. The bastard also strives to find profit everywhere.

This woman works as a school teacher. She is fair, smart and decent. She understands the main character Yegor perfectly and also appreciates beauty. A woman is in love with the new forester Yuri Petrovich, but upon learning that he has a wife, she leaves the village.

Yuri Petrovich Chuvalov.

The honest man is the new forester. He is very responsible and hardworking. He respects Yegor and appreciates him.

The work also talks about Phil and Cherpak, they are covens. They drank alcohol together with Yegor, but this did not stop them from taking part in the murder of the main character. After what happened, conscience comes to one of the scoundrels, nicknamed Cherpak, and he begins to repent of what he did, and comes to Yegor’s grave to look after her.

Heroes of the work Don't Shoot White Swans

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Analysis of the story “Don’t Shoot White Swans”

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Annotation. The article discusses the problems and system of images of B. Vasiliev’s story “Don’t Shoot White Swans”. Material for teachers on its study, questions and assignments for students are presented.

Key words: man and nature, ecology, artistic image, tradition.

One of the urgent tasks facing literature teachers today is the environmental education of students. I would like that, when building a system of educational classes and extracurricular educational activities, the literature writer would include in it Boris Vasiliev’s story “Don’t Shoot White Swans” (1973).

As practice shows, it is best to discuss this work in the eighth grade in a detailed conversation. Written in beautiful language, emotionally, openly expressing the author’s position, the novel captivates eighth-graders and awakens high feelings.

The novel “Don't Shoot White Swans” is devoted to the most pressing problem of the relationship between man and nature, the confrontation between good and evil.

The action of the story is associated with the life of nature, which not only serves as the background and place of action, but sometimes becomes a kind of hero of the work. And the forest, and the river, and the Black Lake, and the village dogs, and even a dried tree, transformed by the efforts of the main character of the story, Yegor Polushkin, into a sculpture - all this actively participates in the movement of the plot and in identifying human feelings.

It is the attitude towards nature that divides the characters in the work into two camps: those who understand, love, and protect it, and those who are only capable of dragging, grabbing, killing, spoiling and destroying everything in their path. On those who protect and create beauty, protect nature, and on those who easily, thoughtlessly and mercilessly raise their hands against it for the sake of selfish personal gain.

The dramatic plots of Boris Vasiliev’s works stir the soul and remain in the memory of readers, among whom, perhaps, there is no one indifferent to the tragic fate of the five girls under the command of Sergeant Major Vaskov (the story “The Dawns Here Are Quiet ...”), or to the events of the last day of the life of the junior police lieutenant Kovalev (p. “The Very Last Day”), nor to the bitter disappointments and losses of the river boat captain Ivan Burlakov from the story “Ivanov’s Boat”. But, perhaps, never before has a writer expressed his author’s attitude to his characters and problems so openly as he did in the story “Don’t Shoot White Swans.”

Cover of the book “Don’t Shoot White Swans” by B. Vasilyev The title itself sounds like a cry, a call and a warning, a spell or a covenant. There is a palpable desire in him to express the inner pathos and meaning of the book.

Immediately after the magazine publication, a heated discussion developed around the story. A number of critics (V. Kardin, I. Dedkov, V. Baranov) saw in the main character, Yegor Polushkin, yesterday’s peasant who moved to live in a small forest village, a “non-resistance”, “blessed”, a person “not of this world”, and the story was criticized for the idea of non-resistance, forgiveness, for the fact that it was written “from the most noble motives, but without due respect for the real complexity of our modern life” (I. Dedkov).

Other critics and writers (L. Uvarova, V. Shaposhnikov, G. Metsinsky), on the contrary, considered Vasiliev’s story a bright work of the second half of the twentieth century, and the image of the main character as vital and convincing, carrying a great moral and aesthetic charge.

What exactly is the main character and what issues does the author address?

Man and nature, man and his conscience, the extent of man’s responsibility for everything that happens around him - these are the most important problems posed by the author. Yegor Polushkin is one of the people who have the gift of experiencing joy from work, no matter how outwardly prosaic it may be. No matter what Yegor does, no matter where he works - as a carpenter in a construction team, at a boat station, or later as a forester - he always works “as his heart dictated.”

Moreover, he works not only earnestly, but also with the consciousness of enormous responsibility for the work. Labor, in his opinion, “will be produced for the joy of people.” A master with golden hands, a skilled craftsman, with which our land is rich, Yegor Polushkin wants to do any business “so that his conscience does not suffer.”

There is one thing Yegor does not know how to do and does not want to do - to settle down in life, to adjust, to make deals with his conscience. So he walks around like a “fool”, a klutz in the eyes of some resourceful neighbors, feeling guilty before his wife, and before his son, and almost all people. But this feeling of guilt comes from a heightened conscience. “He acted not for reasons of reason, but as his conscience dictated,” the author will say about him more than once.

A hard worker and creator, Egor is not only in love with nature, but in his heart he understands the blood indissolubility with it. He is worried about the ever-increasing contradictions between man and nature: “We are orphans: in discord with the mother earth, in a quarrel with the father forest, in a bitter separation with the sister river. There is nothing to stand on, and nothing to lean against,” the students quote from the text.

There is an episode in the story that testifies to the high civic and moral maturity of the hero. We will certainly draw the students’ attention to it. One day, unemployed Yegor saw an advertisement in the office that procurement organizations were accepting money from residents of the village of Lyko.

Taking his son with him, Yegor went into the forest the next day. And then a picture appeared before his eyes, from which a chill went down his skin: “Bare linden trees heavily dropped fading flowers to the ground. The trunks, white, like a woman’s body, glowed dimly in the green dusk, and the ground beneath them was wet from the juices that regularly drove the roots from the depths of the earth to the already doomed peaks.

“They ruined it,” Yegor said quietly and took off his cap, “they ruined it for rubles, for fifty kopecks.” And Yegor, whose family was left without a penny of money, refuses the right income and returns home, because such “earnings” contradict his moral convictions.

Yegor Polushkin listens sensitively to the life of nature, he sees and understands its beauty, which is dear to him because of its ability to elevate the human soul. Therefore, he not only admires nature - he “wants to scoop up this untouched beauty with his palms and carefully, without muddying or spilling, bring it to people.”

Preserving this beauty for people is what Egor is concerned about, when he paints animals and birds on pleasure boats instead of numbers, and when he refuses to destroy an anthill when digging ditches for laying pipes, and when he brings from Moscow a couple of swans instead of gifts for the family, so that they can breed again. Black Lake and the lake would become, as before, Swan...

It is no coincidence that images of swans appear in the work and are even included by the author in its title. This image has a rich tradition of poetic and historical-mythological interpretations. In ancient mythology, the swan was a symbol of the poet; this bird was dedicated to Apollo, the patron of the arts. In Russian literature, it is present in the poetry of G. Derzhavin (“The Swan”), V. Zhukovsky (“The Tsarskoye Selo Swan”), in Pushkin’s Lyceum cycle, in the lyrics of Annensky (“Mikulich”), N. Gumilyov (“In Memory of Annensky”) and other poets.

By integrating his work into this literary tradition, Vasiliev emphasizes the poetic nature and moral strength of the main character - a man endowed with a subtle sense of beauty, a guardian and defender of nature.

Having become a forester of the reserve, Polushkin behaves as a friend and ally of nature. He “ecstatically cleared the forest, cut through overgrown clearings, pulled dead wood and dead wood into piles... He worked with passion, with exhausting, almost sensual pleasure, and, falling asleep, he always managed to think what a happy person he was.”

A high poetic gift lives in Yegor’s soul. He knows how not only to love nature and take care of it, but also to create beautiful things for the joy of people. In a broken linden tree, he notices a harmony hidden from others and carves out of it a sculpture - an elegant figure of a maiden combing her hair.

With his attitude to life, Yegor Polushkin resembles Turgenev’s Kalinich. But unlike Turgenev’s hero, he is not just an enthusiastic dreamer, but an active person, he is a citizen. The writer carefully traces the spiritual evolution of his hero. At the beginning of the story, he preaches passive kindness: “I want kindness to be given to everyone, both bad and good people,” he forgives tourists for the senseless, out of boredom, burning of an anthill (“and if they burned an anthill, then God be with you”).

However, over time, Yegor becomes more and more convinced that evil must be actively resisted; this is the only way to defeat it. Resist both in word and - most importantly - in deed. Genuine love for nature requires active actions aimed at protecting and preserving it - this is one of the important thoughts of the story. This is where the author leads his readers. When, having become a forester, Yegor finds the cutters, his former friends, in the forest, he no longer persuades them to stop destroying trees, but demands: “I, as the official forester of the local area, officially demand...”

Egor Polushkin is contrasted in the story with people like his brother-in-law Fyodor Buryanov. The writer shows the contrast of the moral principles of these characters, depicting their different attitudes towards nature. Fedor is an outright grabber, the main thing in his nature is predation. Taking advantage of his position, he steals protected forest, poaches on the lake, carries carts of bast for sale, mercilessly destroying the forest.

Profit is his passion, he subordinated his whole life to it. Egor, on the contrary, is a moneyless person who can, without hesitation, give away his last. Fedor is always and in everything a destroyer. Egor is a creator, guardian, protector.

Life pits him against people of not the best moral standards. But he is convinced: there are more good people. Such as the teacher Nonna Yuryevna, the forester Yuri Petrovich Shuvalov, who takes an active part in the fate of Yegor, appointing him the guardian of the protected forest. In this post, Polushkin appears to us as a whole, deep, strong nature.

At the end of the work, Yegor protects nature from poachers who killed the swans that he brought to Black Lake from the Moscow Zoo, and, brutally beaten by Fyodor Buryanon and his cronies, dies. But from this unequal duel with brutal poachers, he emerges as a moral winner, turning from Yegor the Poor Bearer, as he was dubbed in the village due to life’s troubles, into St. George the Victorious.

Drawing the scene of Polushkin’s death, the author uses an important iconographic allegory. In Yegor’s fading consciousness, the image of his heavenly patron appears from the famous icon “The Miracle of St. George on the Serpent,” in which the Great Martyr St. George the Victorious slays the serpent, personifying evil, with a spear. In his dying vision, a red horse appears to Yegor and calls with an inviting neigh “to gallop to where the endless battle is going on” and “where the black creature, writhing, still spews out evil.”

Despite the death of the main character, the ending of the story cannot be called hopeless and gloomy. Yegor Polushkin has successors and heirs. Having carried through all the hardships, he bequeaths his reverent perception of the beauty of nature and his love for his native land to his son Kolka.

Yegor dies, but Kolka, the “clean-eyed boy” who inherited from his father his kind, generous heart, skillful hands and, like his father, who loves all living things, remains alive. Having chosen, like his father, the uncompromising path of affirming goodness, he will continue everything that Yegor did not manage to complete.

Character formation, family education, continuity of generations... The author pays considerable attention to these problems. How Egor Polushkin and his antipode Fyodor Buryanov contrast in their views on life, people, nature. The moral principles of their children, cousins Kolya and Vovka, are so opposite.

If Yegor Polushkin teaches his son kindness by his example, then Fyodor Buryanov also teaches his son cruelty by personal example. The author talks in detail about what “lessons” his father gives to the younger Buryanev. “Vovka’s dogs were never transferred. Before Fyodor Ipatych has time to shoot one, he immediately starts another... A dog is not a toy, a dog requires expenses and, therefore, must justify itself.

Well, if you’ve grown old, lost your sense of smell, or lost your anger, then don’t blame me: why feed you? Fyodor Ipatych personally shot her with a gun in his own garden... He gave the skin to dog owners (they paid sixty kopecks!), and buried the carcass under an apple tree. The apple trees were fruitful, you can’t say anything.”

Such “lessons” do not pass unnoticed for my son. If Kolka Polushkin knew how and loved to dream, and his dream “was different every day about travel, about animals, about space,” then Vovka “had one for all days: if only he could open some kind of hypnosis so that everyone would fall asleep. Well, that's it! And then I would take a ruble from everyone!”

The writer contrasts such predators and money-grubbers as Fyodor Buryanov, as visiting tourists-poachers, with the moral beauty of people like Yegor Polushkin. In lyrical comments woven into the artistic fabric of the story, he speaks of the immortality and ineradicability of people like Yegor: “When I enter the forest, I hear Yegor’s life. In the busy babble of aspen trees, in pine sighs, in the heavy swing of spruce paws... She calls me quietly and shyly.”

With his novel “Don’t Shoot White Doves,” B. Vasiliev awakens high feelings in the reader’s soul. And this is his undeniable moral strength.

Questions and assignments for students:

1, What place does the story “Don’t Shoot White Swans” occupy in the creative biography of B. Vasiliev? 2. What is the meaning of its name? 3. What do you think is the main idea of this work? What is the author rebelling against and defending? 4. Tell us about the main character of the story, Yegor Polushkin. What does the author value most about him? 5. How do critics - participants in the discussion on the story “Don’t Shoot White Swans” evaluate the image of Yegor Polushkin? 6. Who is Yegor Polushkin: winner or loser? 7. Who helps Egor protect nature? 8. Who opposes Yegor in the story? How are these characters drawn by the author? 9. What is the meaning of the contrast in the story between two young heroes: Kolya Polushkin and Vovka Buryanov? Which side do you sympathize with? 10. Can we say that Vasiliev’s story is optimistic? What do you see as its educational significance? 11. Write an essay on one of the topics: “Who, from your point of view, is the main character of the story: Egor the Poor-Bearer or St. George the Victorious?”; “The moral evolution of Yegor Polushkin”; “He who does not love nature does not love man.” How is this idea of F.M. Dostoevsky realized in Vasiliev’s story “Don’t Shoot White Swans”?”

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The main characters of “Don’t Shoot White Swans” - characteristics of the characters in the story

In the novel “Don't Shoot White Swans” the heroes, the most ordinary people, show an example of the eternal struggle against evil. The main character, a worthless Russian man, dies in a battle with enemies, but remains a real person until the end of his life. He is left with a son who has absorbed all the good qualities of his father, and I want to believe that he will become a worthy successor of the righteous struggle against the shortcomings that prevent him from building a happy future. Among the main characters of “Don’t Shoot White Swans,” we can confidently include wildlife, which has played an important role in people’s lives.

Characteristics of the characters “Don’t Shoot White Swans”

Main characters

Polushkin Egor

A simple rural man with a romantic soul, in whom a love of beauty is developed. He does all the work he undertakes with his soul. There is a creative element in him, and he tries to do all the work not only efficiently, but also beautifully. In the village he is considered stupid and unlucky. Loves the surrounding nature and all living things. Dies at the hands of poachers.

Minor characters

Kharitina Makarovna

Polushkin's wife. All her life she has to suffer from her name, which she was called. A good, kind woman, but she does not share her husband’s views, she suffers from his “inability to live like people”, from the ingenuity and inability of her stupid husband. At some time, she even wants to leave him, and only later does she realize what a great soul her husband is.

Kolka

Egor's son. A good, sympathetic boy, he was like his father in character. An easily vulnerable boy, he loves nature and various living creatures, fully supports his father, helps him in everything. A deeply developed sense of compassion. He wrote poems, which Polushkin hung in the forest instead of boring lifeless posters.

Fedor Ipatovich Buryanov

The forester has weight in the village, as he is involved in the distribution of timber. A man without conscience, greedy and selfish. Uses his official position for personal gain. He also uses his brother-in-law Yegor. Ready to do anything for profit. Participates in his murder, trying to evade responsibility, wants to bribe him.

Marya Buryanova

Buryanov's wife, Kharitina's sister. Two boots in a pair with her husband. She persuaded the Polushkins to move to the village, pursuing a selfish goal, so that Yegor would build them a new house “like a relative.” She considers herself a progressive woman.

Vovka

The son of the Buryanovs, the complete opposite of Kolka. Just like his parents, just as greedy and envious, cunning and resourceful. Deceitful and boastful. Likes to act on the sly. Like his father, he strives to find profit in everything and abuses animals.

Nonna Yurievna

Village school teacher. A fair, intelligent and decent young woman. A connoisseur of beauty, she finds understanding with Polushkin. In love with Chuvalov. Having learned from his story that he is married, she leaves for Leningrad, feeling deceived.

Yuri Petrovich Chuvalov

New forester of the village. Decisive, honest and fair. He takes his work with great responsibility. He understands people well, appreciates Yegor for his excellent work and creative approach to business. Legitimizes the relationship with the young teacher.

Filya and Cherpak

Worthless people, swindlers. They party and drink together with Polushkin, but this does not prevent them from taking part in the murder of Yegor. Only after the death of a comrade does Phil’s conscience awaken, and repentance comes to him; he takes care of his grave.

This was a brief description of the characters in Boris Vasiliev’s novel “Don’t Shoot White Swans,” which makes it possible to better understand the inner essence of each of the characters.

Don't shoot white swans

All the residents of the village called Yegor Polushkin a poor bearer. Nobody remembered where the first two letters disappeared. Even Polushkin’s wife, Kharitina, called her husband an “overseas inhuman” and a “damn poor bearer.” Kharitina was originally from Zaoneezhye, and her grievances began in early childhood, when a drunken priest gave her this impossible name. Her sister called her Tina, and her good neighbors called her Kharey. Sister Maryitsa lured the Polushkins to this village, built at a woodworking factory. Once upon a time, endless forests roared around the village. Over the course of several decades, they were cut down. They came to their senses when there was only one grove left near the Black Lake. She was recognized as a “reserve” and a forester was assigned - Maryitsa’s husband and Polushkin’s cousin, Fyodor Ipatovich Buryanov. Buryanov became the richest and most respected man in the village.

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The Buryanovs' house is a five-walled mansion, cut down by Polushkin's golden hands. When Yegor and his wife and children - son Nikolai and daughter Olga - moved to the village. Buryanov gave his old, unsightly hut to his cousin, from where he even removed the floors and logs from the cellar. In return, Yegor built Fyodor Ipatovich a good-quality five-wall building, and skillfully carved a cockerel for the roof.

Polushkinna’s son, Kolka, a “clean-eyed little man,” took after his father. The boy was smart, patient, but very pure and trusting. He rarely cried, and not because of resentment or pain, but only because of pity and sympathy for others. And Kolka was most offended when his father was called a poor bearer. But Vovka, Buryanov’s son, was often and strongly offended, and roared only because of his own grievances.

On his native collective farm, Yegor Polushkin was in good standing, but things didn’t work out at his new place. All of Polushkin’s troubles stem from the fact that he couldn’t work without a soul. The first two months, when Yegor Fyodor Ipatovich was building a house from dawn to dusk, he worked joyfully, “as his heart commanded.” The cunning Buryanov knew that rushing a master would cost himself more. Then they took Polushkin into a carpentry construction team - and an endless black streak began. Egor, a skilled carpenter, did not know how to work in haste. He did everything slowly, as if “for himself,” and thwarted the construction team’s plan.

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Having gone through all the construction crews of the village, Polushkin ended up as a general worker, but he didn’t stay here for long either. One day, on a warm May day, Polushkin was assigned to dig a trench for a sewer pipe. Egor worked joyfully. The trench turned out to be straight, like an arrow, until an anthill was encountered on its way. Polushkin took pity on the hardworking goosebumps and took a detour around the trench, only to realize that there are no crooked sewer pipes. This incident became known to the entire village, and finally strengthened Polushkin’s reputation as a beggar. Kolka began to come home from school covered in bruises.

Yegor's next place of work was a boat station. She stood by a small lake that appeared on the site of a dammed river. The station served tourists who flocked to this vibrant corner not only from the regional center, but also from Moscow itself. Yegor's golden hands came in handy here. The head of the boat station, an “elderly man, very tired of life,” Yakov Prokopych Sazanov, was pleased with Yegor’s work and diligence, and Polushkin himself liked the work.

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Meanwhile, the new forester called Fyodor Ipatovich Buryanov and demanded from him all the acts for cutting down the forest. And what kind of acts when Buryanov’s new five-walled hut lights up the whole village.

Yegor tried his best at his new job. Only once did he anger his boss - instead of the black numbers required by the charter, he painted a cheerful, bright animal or flower on the bow of each boat. Seeing Yegorov’s “art,” Yakov Prokopych became angry and ordered this disgrace to be painted over. The real trouble, however, was not long in coming. The first group of tourists this year arrived at the boat station - “three men, and two little girls with them.” Sazanov allocated a valuable motor boat to Polushkina and ordered him to transport tourists across the river. Egor took Kolka with him to help. The tourists were transported, a place for the camp was chosen, but here’s the problem: there was a huge anthill nearby. Egor suggested moving the camp to another clearing, but one of the tourists said that the ants were not a hindrance to them, but “man is the king of nature,” doused the anthill with gasoline and set it on fire.

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Afterwards, the tourists laid out a tablecloth, laid out food, and began to treat Yegor and Kolka. Even though the Polushkins accepted the treat, burning ants still stood before their eyes. Polushkin had never abused alcohol, but now he drank too much, began dancing and falling. The tourists were amused and egged on. Kolka felt ashamed of his father. He tried to stop Yegor, and Polushkin raised his hand against his son for the first time. Kolka ran away, and Yegor trudged to the shore. I started to start the engine in the boat, but it didn’t start, it just turned over. So, I turned it over and dragged it along the shore by the rope.

Fyodor Ipatovich was in concern and confusion: the new forester Yuri Petrovich Chuvalov demanded to pay for the logs that were used for the house. Buryanov had money, but did not have the strength to part with it.

Egor brought the boat to the station empty - no oars, no motor. He came to his senses only two days later and rushed to search, but in vain. Everything disappeared: the engine, the tank, the rowlocks, and the tourists. Kolka left home and lived with teacher Nonna Yuryevna for several days. For the lost property, Polushkin had to pay three hundred rubles - unprecedented money for him. Buryanov didn’t lend me any money, so I had to cut up the pig and take it to the city to sell. And Buryanov “stole money” from those tourists. Vovka was sent to search for Kolka. He wandered into the tourists’ place and found out not only about Yegor’s “demonstration performances,” but also that their fishing was not going well. So Buryanov took them for 30 rubles to Black Lake, to the protected area.

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In the city, Polushkin was deceived, and he received only 200 rubles for the pig. And then at the procurement office they posted an advertisement: regional procurement officers buy soaked linden bast from the population and pay 50 kopecks per kilogram. While Polushkin was thinking and taking permission from Fyodor Ipatovich, Buryanov himself wasted no time. Arriving a few days later in the forest, Polushkin saw a completely stripped and destroyed linden grove.

Kharitina Polushkina went to the authorities all this time and managed to get a nursery for her daughter and a job for herself. She began working as a dishwasher in the dining room. After the failure, Yegor gave up on himself and started drinking. Friends appeared, Cherepok and Phil, and taught Polushkin how to play the coven, deceive people and take money out of the house.

It was at one of these gatherings that Polushkin and Nonna Yuryevna met. Kolka's teacher was from Leningrad. She ended up in this remote village after graduating from college. Nonna Yuryevna lived here like a gray mouse, but rumors about the young and unmarried teacher still spread - they were spread by the landlady with whom the teacher lived. Then Nonna Yuryevna showed persistence and knocked out a separate home for herself - a tumbledown hut with a leaky roof. To repair this roof, Nonna hired three shabashniks, Polushkin, a shard and Filya. Yegor did not deceive the teacher. And Kharitina gave the money that was not enough for repairs.

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The new forester, Yuri Petrovich Chuvalov, like the teacher Nonna Yuryevna, was from Leningrad. His parents died a year after the victory, and little Yura was raised by a neighbor. Chuvalov found out about this only at the age of 16, but the woman who raised him remained a mother to Yuri Petrovich. Of course, Fyodor Ipatovich did not know all this when he went to the regional center to hand over a certificate of payment for the forest to the forester, who went to build the Buryanovskaya five-wall. But this information turned out to be not enough. Yuri Petrovich needed permission to cut down pine forest. In vain Fyodor Ipatovich fussed and wriggled out - Chuvalov was adamant, and kept the daddy with Buryanov’s certificates.

Chuvalov was not going to give this folder to anyone, he simply “could not deny himself the pleasure of leaving Fyodor Ipatovich alone with fear.” However, Yuri Petrovich still decided to visit this distant corner of his farm, fortunately there was a reason: to give a parcel from his mother to the local teacher.

The “fast lane” began again in Polushkin’s life. He helped Nonna Yuryevna from the bottom of his heart and did not bother her with “construction” problems. I decided everything myself. Kolka helped his father, although all his thoughts were about Olya Kuzina and the puppy. Kolka was in love with his classmate Olya, but Kuzina herself looked exclusively at his cousin Vovka. And Kolka traded the puppy from Vovka for a new compass, saving him when Buryanov Jr. decided to drown the animal. Now the puppy lived with the Buryanovs, and Vovka fed it every other day, but he didn’t give it to Kolka, he demanded the “real price.”

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In the midst of this hectic activity, a new forester appeared at Nonna Yuryevna’s house. Having learned that Chuvalov was going to Black Lake, Nonna Yuryevna advised taking Yegor as a guide. Yuri Petrovich took not only Yegor and Kolka to Black Lake, but also Nonna Yurievna herself. The forester gave Kolka a special instruction: to write down in a notebook all the living creatures he encountered along the way. Along the way, Nonna Yuryevna, a city resident, managed to get lost, but everyone reached the Black Lake safe and sound. Yuri Petrovich said that this lake used to be called Lebyazhy.

An old tourist camp was discovered near the lake and Chuvalov ordered to cut out a new pillar marking the protected area. Only Yegor was not working on the pillar when everyone left. One morning he saw Nonna bathing in the lake, and cut out the figure of a naked woman from a crooked trunk. He cut it out and got scared: the forester would scold him for his unauthorized artwork. However, Chuvalov did not swear - the figure turned out to be a real work of art.

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Fyodor Ipatovich, meanwhile, learned that Yegor had taken the forester to Black Lake, and harbored a grudge - he decided that Polushkin was aiming for his place. Buryanov frowned for two days, “turning over his cast-iron thoughts,” and then smiled evilly. Well, Yegor was happy. No one had ever spoken to him so respectfully, called him Yegor Savelich or taken his art seriously. Kolka was also lucky: Chuvalov gave him a real spinning rod.

After this trip, Chuvalov realized that no one would look after the protected area better than Polushkin. So Yegor became a forester instead of Buryanov. Polushkin got down to business zealously. He cleaned the forest, and instead of “prohibiting” signs, he hung billboards with poems “about order” from Kolka’s essay throughout the reserve. Egor drove Filya and Skull, who were illegally cutting down the forest, out of the forest.

Meanwhile, Nonna Yuryevna went to the regional center and agreed to buy a globe, maps and sports equipment for the school. Arriving in the city, she called Yuri Petrovich, who invited her to lunch. Nonna discovered “that until now two completely opposite creatures had coexisted peacefully in her” - an adult, self-confident woman, and a cowardly girl. It was the woman who spent the night with Chuvalov, and after that Yuri Petrovich admitted that he was married. Chuvalov's marriage was strange. When he was working in the Altai forestry, a young trainee, Marina, came to him from Moscow. After spending the night with her, Yuri immediately got married, and three days later the young wife left for Moscow. Two months later, Marina reported that she had “lost” her passport with a marriage stamp and received a new, clean one. Chuvalov did not lose his passport, but tried to forget about this story. A few years later, Yuri found out that Marina had given birth, but she did not say whether it was his child. He didn’t have time to explain anything to Nonna—having heard about the marriage, she got dressed and left. Arriving in the village a few days later, Chuvalov learned that Nonna had left for Leningrad.

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Chuvalov came to the village for a reason - he brought a boss who really liked Kolka’s works. It was then that Chuvalov told Polushkin “the story of his family life.” A week later, a call came from Moscow - Yegor Polushkin was invited to the All-Union Conference of Forestry Workers. For Buryanov, things were not going well at all - the criminal investigation department became interested in him.

Yegor traveled to Moscow through the regional center, but did not find Yuri Petrovich there - he left for Leningrad. In the capital, Polushkin “participated in debates” and visited the zoo. He arrived in Moscow with the money of almost all the residents of the village and a list of “orders,” but, once at the zoo, he forgot about the list and bought two pairs of live swans. Polushkin wanted the lake to become Lebyazhy again. Polushkin also found Marina, the wife of Yuri Petrovich, and learned that she had long ago had another family.

Polushkin arranged the swans in a house near the Black Lake, and placed two more birds made of light wood on the sides of the house. Yuri Petrovich returned from Leningrad alone. Nonna refused to return, and Polushkin was already thinking: shouldn’t he go to Leningrad?

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That night when Polushkin heard a strange noise in his forest “was wonderfully robberish.” The day before, at the village store, Kolka met the same tourist who set the anthill on fire, with a string bag full of vodka. That’s why Yegor drove his horse through the night, autumn and wet forest, even Kharitina couldn’t hold back. Explosions came from Black Lake - they were killing fish there. Running out into the light, towards the fire, Yegor saw a pot over the fire, from which swan paws were peeking out. The remaining swans, already plucked, lay near the fire, and the fifth swan, a wooden one, was burned in the fire. These poachers brought Phil and Skull to the lake, they beat him, and someone else baited the dog. They found Yegor by the evening of the next day. He crawled towards the house, and behind him from the lake itself there was a trail of blood.

At the hospital, Polushkin was interrogated by an investigator, but Yegor did not give up those whom he recognized. And he recognized not only his former friends, but also Fyodor Ipatovich. Buryanov came to the hospital to ask for forgiveness and brought a bottle of expensive cognac. Yegor forgave, but did not want cognac, and Fyodor Ipatovich found the expensive French drink bitter. Polushkin closed his eyes and “stepped over the pain, sadness and melancholy,” and then rode on his horse “to where the endless battle is going on and where the black creature, wriggling, is still spewing out evil.” And Kolka gave Vovka a spinning rod for a puppy.

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Summary of the novel “Don’t Shoot White Swans”

Boris Vasiliev’s novel “Don’t Shoot the White Swans” (in some publications – “Don’t Shoot the White Swans”) was first published in the magazine “Yunost” in 1973. In 1980, director Rodion Nakhapetov made a film of the same name.

The Buryanov family moved to live in a remote village built near a woodworking factory. The head of the family, Fyodor Ipatovich, received a job as a forester and very quickly became the richest and most respected person in the village. Fyodor Maryitsa's wife has a married sister, Kharitina. Maryitsa persuaded her sister to move to the same locality to be closer to relatives.

Kharitina, her husband and children move to the village. However, instead of helping close relatives get a good job, Fyodor Ipatovich tries in every possible way to take advantage of his kind and simple-minded brother-in-law Yegor Polushkin. At this time, Yuri Petrovich Chuvalov was appointed to the post of forester. The new forester discovered that Buryanov's house was built from state forest. Seeing that the forester is a dishonest person, Chuvalov appoints Yegor Polushkin to this position.

Fyodor Ipatovich decided to take revenge on his brother-in-law. Hearing someone killing fish in a local lake at night, Yegor hurried to the reservoir. The poachers attacked the new forester and severely beat him. Polushkin recognized his offenders, among whom was his brother-in-law Fyodor, but never betrayed anyone to the police. Buryanov came to Yegor’s hospital to ask for his forgiveness. The forester forgave his brother-in-law and soon died.

Characteristics

Buryanov family

The head of the family, Fyodor Ipatovich, is characterized as a cunning and ruthless man, capable of doing anything to achieve his own goals. Buryanov treats even a close relative as free labor. Having moved to a new house built by Yegor, Fyodor “mercifully” left his brother-in-law’s family an old hut, from which he even took the floors. Knowing that Polushkin would forgive him, Buryanov organized an attack on his relative.

Vovka's son is a match for his father. Already in his young years, the boy knows how to manipulate others, playing on their weaknesses. To get her cousin Kolka Polushkin's new compass, Vovka threatens to drown the puppy. The compass should be a ransom. However, even after receiving the desired item, the boy does not stop there. Vovka continues to keep the puppy, claiming that he is not worth one compass. Something else needs to be given.

Polushkin family

Polushkin received his name in honor of Yegor (George) the Victorious. His friends call him a poor man because Yegor constantly finds himself in unpleasant situations. Most of these situations arise only because Polushkin is a kind and honest person who does not tolerate violence even towards insects. Indicative is the case of Yegor’s refusal to dig a ditch for sewerage in a straight line, as was necessary. While working, Polushkin noticed an anthill and did not want to destroy it.

Egor is a talented carpenter. He knows how not only to build, but also to decorate and carve fancy figures from wood. However, the master does not stay at any of the jobs for long. He works with all his heart on every detail, which means he always spends a lot of time on his work. Not a single carpentry team wants to cooperate with such a carpenter. Polushkin misses deadlines, which leads to conflicts with customers. Egor never sees his own benefit and does not try to look for it. The desire for beauty makes the carpenter forget about everything in the world. Once in the capital, he first of all goes to the zoo, and not to the shops, as visitors from the outback usually do. Struck by the beauty of the swans, Yegor could not help but buy beautiful birds to settle on the lake.

Not only the head of the Polushkin family is distinguished by kindness, but also his wife and son. Kharitina is a grumpy woman. She believes that her life has not worked out since childhood, since during her baptism a drunken priest gave her a strange name. The most important test for Kharitina was her husband. A wonderful family man and faithful husband, Yegor, however, cannot get along well in life. Despite the constant discontent and grumbling, Kharitina is able to give her last, just like her husband. The Polushkins' son Kolka madly loves his loser father and is always offended when Yegor is called a poor man. Kolka spared neither a compass nor a spinning rod to save the puppy.

Yuri Chuvalov

The secondary character of the novel, thanks to whom Polushkin received the position of forester, appears as a positive hero. He denounces the dishonest Buryanov and removes him from his position.

Gradually, the image of Chuvalov begins to “blacken” and is finally revealed after the forester spent the night with the village teacher Nonna Yuryevna. Only in the morning did Chuvalov admit that he was not free. Once upon a time he seduced a girl named Marina. After the wedding, Marina left her husband for Moscow, where she “lost” her passport and received a new one, which did not have a stamp about marriage.

At the end of the novel, Chuvalov managed to rehabilitate himself. He married the pregnant Nonna Yuryevna. By that time, the forester’s ex-wife had already had another family for a long time.

main idea

A moral act does not always receive material reward. However, a much higher reward awaits those who act according to their conscience - the right to feel like a Human.

Analysis of the work

Even a summary of “Don’t Shoot White Swans” can make a lasting impression on the reader. The author uses images that “catch” the audience, holding their attention for a long time, forcing them to follow the course of the story and empathize with the characters.

Living and inanimate nature helps draw the line between the kindness and callousness of the characters. If for the Polushkin family the life of a puppy and an ant is precious, then the other heroes of the novel do not consider either animals or insects to be living beings at all. Tourists who were bothered by the anthill simply doused it with gasoline and set it on fire. Yegor was so amazed by the sight of the burning ants that he allowed himself to drink too much.

It is unlikely that the story will leave anyone indifferent. It is unlikely that anyone will remain indifferent to Boris Vasiliev’s story “Tomorrow there was a war”, in the center of which ordinary schoolchildren are depicted, whose lives will soon be changed by the war.

Another story by Boris Vasiliev, “The Dawns Here Are Quiet,” shows female nature from another side unknown to us, namely her heroism, self-sacrifice and strength, which manifested themselves during the war.

White swans are also important images in the work. They embody the beauty and grace to which the kind soul of Yegor Polushkin is inclined. We can say that the proud noble bird is the embodiment of the spirit of the main positive hero of the novel. Polushkin, like a swan, is devoted to his wife, morally pure and blameless. Egor shares the fate of the beautiful birds. The swans he bought were barbarously killed and boiled in a cauldron, like ordinary chickens. Polushkin was also destroyed by the same hands. The author shows readers the cruel truth of life: pure, refined souls have no place in this harsh world.

Boris Vasiliev

Don't shoot white swans

From the author

When I enter the forest, I hear Egor's life. In the busy babble of aspen trees, in pine sighs, in the heavy swing of spruce paws. And I'm looking for Yegor.

I find him in the redwoods of June - tireless and cheerful. I meet him in the autumn wet weather - serious and disheveled. I wait for him in the frosty silence - thoughtful and bright. I see it in spring bloom - patient and impatient at the same time. And I’m always amazed at how different he was - different for people and different for himself.

And his life was different - life for himself and life for people.

Or maybe all lives are different? Different for yourself and different for people? But is there always a sum in these differences? Whether we appear or be different, are we always one in our being?

Yegor was united because he always remained himself. He did not know how and did not try to appear different - neither better nor worse. And he acted not for reasons of reason, not with an eye, not for approval from above, but as his conscience dictated.

Yegor Polushkin was called the poor bearer in the village. When the first two letters were lost, no one remembered this, and even her own wife, stunned by chronic bad luck, frantically screamed in a voice as corrosive as a mosquito’s ringing:

- Inhuman overseas, my orphan curse, God save and have mercy, you damned poor bearer...

She screamed on one note, as long as she had enough air, and did not use punctuation marks. Yegor sighed sadly, and ten-year-old Kolka, offended for his father, cried somewhere behind the shed. And he cried because even then he understood how right his mother was.

And Yegor always felt guilty from screaming and swearing. Guilty not by reason, but by conscience. And therefore he did not argue, but only was executed.

“People’s men are breadwinners, their house is full, and their wives are like swans!”

Kharitina Polushkina was from Zaonezhye and easily switched from swearing to lamentation. She considered herself offended from the day she was born, having received from a drunken priest a completely impossible name, which the affectionate neighbors shortened to the first two syllables:

“Our Kharya is criticizing her breadwinner again.”

And she was also offended that her own sister (well, a tub of a tub, by God!), so her sister Marya swam around the village like a white fish, pursing her lips and rolling her eyes:

- Tina was unlucky with her man. Ah, bad luck, ah!..

This is with her - Tina and her tight lips. And without her, Kharya is mouth to ear. But she herself lured them to the village. She forced me to sell my house, move here, and endure ridicule from people:

- Here, Tina, there is culture. The movie is showing.

The movie was shown, but Kharitina did not go to the club. The household is a mess, my husband is a fool, and there is almost nothing to wear. Showing up in public every day in the same dress - you become familiar. And Maryina (she, therefore, is Kharya, and her sister is Maryitsa, that’s it!), so Maryitsa has five woolen dresses, two cloth suits, and three jersey suits. There is something to look at the culture in, something to show off in, something to put in the chest.

And Kharitina has one reason: Yegor Savelich, dear husband. The spouse is legitimate, although unmarried. Father of an only son. Breadwinner and breadwinner, gore him with a goat.

By the way, he is a friend of a decent person, Fyodor Ipatovich Buryanov, Marya’s husband. Across two alleys is our own house, with five walls. From branded logs: one to one, without a knot, without a hitch. The roof is zinc: it shines like a new bucket. In the yard there are two wild boars, six sheep and Zorka the cow. A milk-bearing cow means Maslenitsa is in the house all year round. Moreover, there is a rooster on the roof ridge, as if alive. All business travelers were taken to him:

— A miracle of a local craftsman. With one axe, imagine. It was done with one ax, just like in the old days.

Well, the truth is, this miracle had nothing to do with Fyodor Ipatovich: it was only located on his house. And Yegor Polushkin made the rooster. He had enough time for fun, but for something practical...

Kharitina sighed. Oh, the deceased mother did not look after her, oh, her father-father did not leave her reins! Then, you see, she would not have jumped out for Yegor, but for Fedor. I would live like a queen.

Fyodor Buryanov came here to buy rubles back when the forests here were noisy—there was no end in sight. At that time there was a need, and they felled this forest with gusto, with a roar, with progressiveness.

The village was built, electricity was installed, and water supply was installed. And as soon as the branch from the railway was extended, the forest all around ended. Existence, so to speak, at this stage overtook someone’s consciousness, giving birth to a comfortable, but no longer needed village among the stunted remnants of the once ringing red forest. With great difficulty, regional organizations and authorities managed to declare the last area around Black Lake a water protection area, and the work stalled. And since a transshipment base with a sawmill, built with the latest technology, already existed in the village, they now began to transport timber here specifically. They transported, unloaded, sawed and loaded again, and yesterday's lumberjacks became loaders, riggers and workers at the sawmill.

But Fyodor Ipatovich predicted everything exactly to Maryitsa a year in advance:

- Khan to the progressives, Marya: soon there will be nothing to blame. We should find something more capable while the saws are still buzzing in our ears.

And he found it: a forester in the last protected area near Black Lake. Free mowing, plenty of fish, and free firewood. It was then that he built a five-walled house for himself, and stocked up on good things, and organized the household, and dressed the housewife - at any cost. One word: head. Master.

And he kept himself in line: he didn’t squirm, he didn’t make a fuss. And he knew the value of a ruble and a word: if he dropped them, then with meaning. With some people he won’t even open his mouth in the evening, but with others he will teach the mind:

- No, you didn’t turn life back, Yegor: it turned you back. Why is this situation? Get into it.

Yegor listened obediently and sighed: ah, he lives badly, ah, badly. He brought his family to the extreme, he brought himself down, he felt shame in front of the neighbors - Fyodor Ipatych says everything is right, everything is right. And I am ashamed in front of my wife, and in front of my son, and in front of good people: No, we must end it, this life. We need to start another: maybe for her, for the future bright and reasonable one, Fyodor Ipatych will pour another glass and add some sweetness?..

- Yes, to turn your life around - to become a master: that’s what the old people used to say.

- The truth is yours, Fyodor Ipatych. Oh, really!

“You know how to hold an ax in your hands, I don’t argue.” But it's pointless.

- Yeah. That's for sure.

- You need to be led, Yegor.

- It is necessary, Fyodor Ipatych. Oh, we must!..

Yegor sighed and lamented. And the owner sighed and thought. And then everyone sighed. Not sympathizing - judging. And Yegor lowered his head even lower under their gaze. I was ashamed.

And if you delve into it, then there was nothing to be ashamed of. And Yegor always worked conscientiously, and lived peacefully, without self-indulgence, but it turned out that all around he was to blame. And he did not argue with this, but only grieved greatly, cursing himself for all he was worth.

From the nest they had hatched, where they lived on their native collective farm, if not in wealth, then in respect, they fluttered from this nest overnight. It’s as if they were stupid birds or some kind of bastards who have no stake, no yard, no children, no farm. The eclipse has arrived.

That March - blizzard, chilly - the mother-in-law died, Kharitina and Maryitsa’s dear mother. She passed away right before Evdokia, and for the funeral her relatives gathered in the sledges: cars got stuck in the snow. So Maryitsa arrived: alone, without an owner. They cried for Mama, sang the funeral service, remembered her, and performed the full ceremony. Maryitsa swapped the black scarf for a down shawl and blurted out:

“You’ve fallen behind the cultural life here in your dung.”

- So how? - Yegor did not understand.

— There is no real modernity. And Fyodor Ipatych is building a new house for us: five windows onto the street. Electricity, department store, cinema every day.

- Every day - and something new? - Tina was amazed.

- But we won’t go back to the old ways, it’s really necessary. We have this... House of models, manufactured goods from abroad.

Ancient faces looked sternly from a languid corner. And the Mother of God no longer smiled, but frowned, but who had looked at her since the old woman gave up her soul? Everyone looked forward, into what’s his name... modernity.

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