Summary - "Olesya", a story by A. I. Kuprin

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

The story "Olesya" Kuprin (a summary of it is presented below) was written in 1898. This work is quite voluminous, before which the author published short stories.

Summary. "Olesya" (chapter 1-3)

Hero, gentleman Ivan Timofeevich, fate forces him to settle for six months in a remote village on the outskirts of Polissya. The only entertainment is hunting with Yarmola, a local hired woodsman. The hero, however, tried to teach Yarmol to read and write out of boredom, but he did not show much interest in this occupation. One day the conversation turned to local wonders. The woodsman said that a witch used to live in the village with her little granddaughter, but the peasants drove them away, because one woman's child died, and the villagers blamed the witch for everything. A few days later, the master got lost in the forest and went out to the swamp, where he saw a hut on stilts. He came in, asked for water and wanted to talk to the hostess, but the old woman turned out to be unsociable and began to send him out. As he was about to leave, he ran into a tall, black-haired girl and asked to be escorted to the road. We met, it turned out that this is Olesya.

Summary. "Olesya" (chapters 1-3)

CameSpring. The hero has not met Olesya for a long time, but he thought about her all the time. As soon as the earth dried up, he again comes to the hut in the swamp. At first, Olesya was delighted with him, and then sadly told that she was guessing at him on the cards. They showed that the hero is a good person, but very weak and not a master of his word. A great love awaits him with the lady of clubs, but because of this love, a lady will face great grief and shame in the very near future. Ivan Timofeevich asks the girl not to believe in fortune-telling, because cards often lie. But Olesya replies that her fortune-telling is true.

After a simple dinner, Olesya sees off the master. He wonders how witchcraft works. He asks Olesya to conjure. The girl agrees, cuts his hand with a knife, and then stops the blood with a conspiracy. But the master is not enough, he asks for more. Then she warns that she can completely subjugate his will, and he will fall. They go further, but Ivan Trofimovich stumbles out of the blue all the time and falls, which makes the girl very funny.

After that, the master began to visit the forest hut often. He noticed that Olesya was very clever, she had a figurative and literate speech, although she could not read and write. The forest beauty explained that her grandmother, who was an unusual person, taught her everything.

Once there was talk about the future, about whether Olesya wants to get married. She replied that she could not get married, because it was forbidden to enter the church. All the strength of their kind is not from God, but from him. And by God they are cursed to the last knee forever and ever. The master does not agree, he persuades Olesya not toto believe in these grandmother's inventions. The girl remained with her opinion. Yarmola does not approve of the master's visits to witches.

Summary. "Olesya" (chapters 4 -10)

One day Ivan Trofimovich finds Olesya in a bad mood. It turns out that a constable visited their hut and demanded to leave his area. Barin offered his help. Olesya refused her, but her grandmother agreed.

The master invites the constable to his place, treats him and gives him a gun. He leaves women alone for a while. But the relationship between the master, or panych, as the local villagers call him, deteriorates with Olesya. The girl meets him unfriendly, they no longer walk in the forest, but he continues to visit the hut.

Ivan Trofimovich fell ill and did not come to Olesya for half a month. As soon as he recovers, he immediately visits the girl. She welcomes him with joy. He asks about he alth, goes to see him off. Ivan Trofimovich and Olesya confess their love to each other. Olesya explains her coldness by saying that she tried to avoid relationships, but, apparently, you can’t escape fate. It can be seen that she is ready for all the troubles that fortune-telling predicted for her, because she is this lady of clubs. She promised Ivan Trofimovich that she would never regret anything.

Summary. "Olesya" (chapter 11-14)

The master is surprised to notice that, unlike his previous relationship, he is not bored with Olesya. He is amazed to see that she is endowed with sensitivity and innate natural tact. But his service here ends, and soon he needs to leave. He wants to marrygirl. But she refuses. She says that she is illegitimate and cannot leave her grandmother. In addition, she does not want to tie her Vanechka hand and foot in case he falls in love with another woman. Then, when Ivan Trofimovich offers to take his grandmother with him, Olesya asks out of gratitude if he would like her to visit the church. Ivan replies that he would like to.

Olesya decides to go to church for her love. But the parishioners notice her and begin to mock her. At the church, a crowd of women attacks her, they start beating and tearing her clothes, throwing stones at her. Miraculously, Olesya manages to break free and run away, but in the end she loudly threatens the crowd. The hero jumps into the hut, where he finds Olesya beaten and delirious. She says that being together is not destiny. They need to leave with their grandmother: if something happens, they will immediately be blamed. At night, it rained with hail over the village, the villagers' bread is dying. Ivan ran too late, the hut was empty…

The originality of Kuprin's story is that elements of the mystical, mysterious are woven into the realistic plot, folklore flavor is also added. The story has become a classic of Russian literature, it is studied at school. The summary (Kuprin, "Olesya") does not make it possible to appreciate the poetic charm of this work. Read the whole story to enjoy it.