"Prince Silver". The Tale of the Times of Ivan the Terrible

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The novel "Prince Silver. The Tale of the Times of Ivan the Terrible" was written by A. K. Tolstoy after the death of Emperor Nicholas I. The writer has long wanted to embody his plan on the pages of the book - to reflect the horrors of the reign of Ivan IV, the cruelty of the guardsmen, the silent humility and suffering of the Russian people. The work "Prince Silver", a summary of which we will now recall, should be read by everyone who cares about their native history.

Nikita Romanovich is a young prince who returns to his native state after a five-year absence: he failed to sign peace with Lithuania. In the village of Medvedkovo, he sees the terrible atrocities of the guardsmen, takes them for villains, flogs them with whips with his warriors and hands them over to the local headman. Himself with two freed captives goes to the mill to stay for the night. The captives turn out to be forest robbers, but they help the prince and protect him from his comrades. At night, Prince Vyazemsky arrives and demands love herbs from the miller in order to forcibly kindleElena's love. Prince Nikita Romanovich and Elena loved each other, but while he was in Lithuania, the girl was forced to marry boyar Morozov in order to avoid Vyazemsky's harassment.

In Moscow, the prince sees sad pictures: rude, constantly drunk guardsmen administer their "justice", burn the villages and call themselves "the king's servants". In sadness, he goes to his father's old friend Morozov (Elena's husband), who tells Nikita Romanovich about Tsar Ivan the Terrible's move to Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda, about betrayals, denunciations and violence. Having secretly explained himself in the garden with Elena, the prince goes to the sovereign, where bleak pictures await him: gallows and chopping blocks next to temples and the royal chambers. Moreover, guardsmen try to poison the unarmed prince with a bear, but the son of Malyuta Skuratov saves him from death. The prince is invited to the feast of Ivan the Terrible, where poisoned wine flows like water, only false speeches are heard, and Nikita Romanovich himself is accused of bullying guardsmen in Medvedkovo. Maxim Skuratov saves him from execution again.

At the feast, Vyazemsky receives permission from the tsar and decides to kidnap Elena. Disguised as an envoy of Ivan the Terrible, he arrives at Morozov's house, where Serebryany has already been invited. Morozov heard the conversation in the garden, but could not understand who was the man with whom his wife was talking. He, under the guise of an old "kissing ceremony", is trying to find out - Elena, having kissed Nikita Romanovich, faints. Later, Morozov reproaches his wife for treason, but at that moment inVyazemsky bursts into the bedchamber and by force takes the woman away. He could not go far - the wounds that Prince Silver inflicted on him take away his last strength, and he loses consciousness in the wilderness of the forest. The frightened horse brings Elena to the mill. The cunning miller understands who this woman is, so he dissuades the guardsmen who have arrived from spending the night and speaks wounds to the kidnapper.

After a skirmish with Vyazemsky, Nikita Romanovich ends up in prison, where he is interrogated by Malyuta and Boris Godunov. The king tries to forget about them and goes hunting, where he meets two blind songwriters, whom he invites to sing in his chambers. It turns out to be the robbers saved by the Silver who want to free him from prison. They did not manage to put the king to sleep with songs, but they still rescue the prince from the dungeon and take him away by force. In the forest, Prince Serebryany meets Maxim Skuratov, rescues him from the hands of the robbers and leads the villagers. Together they go to battle against the Tatar army, and only with the support of Basmanov, who unexpectedly appeared, do they manage to win the battle.

Vyazemsky's dishonest plan is soon revealed: Morozov accuses him of kidnapping his wife, and Basmanov calls Vyazemsky a sorcerer - the tsar proposes to resolve their dispute in a fair fight. Vyazemsky goes to the miller, asks to "speak" the saber for victory. The battle did not take place: riding out against Morozov, Vyazemsky fell off his horse - still fresh wounds opened. On his chest, the tsar sees an amulet with herbs and also accuses Vyazemsky of witchcraft against the royal power. Trying to justify himself, the villain says that Basmanov has the same amulet. Tsarhe throws both of them into prison, and puts a jester's caftan on Morozov and forces him to express everything that he thinks about his reign. After the feast, Ivan the Terrible executes everyone: the miller, the robbers, Morozov, Basmanov and Vyazemsky.

Silver tells everything to the king, and he forgives the disgraced prince. Nikita Romanovich refuses the offer to go to the guardsmen and heads the guard regiment. The prince decides to send his stirrup (Mikheich) to the monastery, where Elena is awaiting tonsure, and bring her back. Mikheich does not have time. The prince goes himself to say goodbye to the woman he loves. Elena, who took the name Evdokia after she was tonsured, says that they could not be happy because of the spilled blood of Morozov.

Silver faithfully serves the sovereign. Time passes, and all the words of Morozov at the last feast come true: John is defeated in the west, and in the east, only Yermak's forces manage to conquer Siberia. The novel ends with a call to all Russia to forgive the cruelty and atrocities of Ivan the Terrible. He is not the only one who bears the burden of responsibility for everything that happened - this is what A. K. Tolstoy. Prince Serebryany and Morozov are worthy boyars who remained loyal to their state and managed to survive in a difficult struggle.

The name of the protagonist was chosen by Tolstoy not by chance - it was worn by the ancestor of the royal family of the Romanovs, so there were no problems with censorship. Empress Maria Alekseevna even awarded the writer with a gold keychain in the form of a miniature book.