“The old violinist-musician loved to play at the foot of the Pushkin monument. This monument stands in Moscow, at the beginning of Tverskoy Boulevard, poems are written on it, and marble steps rise to it on all four sides. Having climbed these steps to the pedestal itself, the old musician turned his face to the boulevard, to the distant Nikitsky Gate, and touched the strings of the violin with a bow. Children, passers-by, newspaper readers from the local kiosk immediately gathered at the monument - and they all fell silent in anticipation of the music, because music consoles people, it promises them happiness and a glorious life. The musician placed the case from his violin on the ground opposite the monument, it was closed, and in it lay a piece of black bread and an apple so that he could eat whenever he wanted...”
* * *
The given introductory fragment of the book Love for the Motherland, or the Journey of a Sparrow (A. P. Platonov) provided by our book partner - the company liters.
The old violinist-musician loved to play at the foot of the Pushkin monument. This monument stands in Moscow, at the beginning of Tverskoy Boulevard, poems are written on it, and marble steps rise to it on all four sides. Having climbed these steps to the pedestal itself, the old musician turned his face to the boulevard, to the distant Nikitsky Gate, and touched the strings of the violin with his bow. Children, passers-by, newspaper readers from the local kiosk immediately gathered at the monument - and they all fell silent in anticipation of the music, because music consoles people, it promises them happiness and a glorious life. The musician placed the case from his violin on the ground opposite the monument; it was closed, and in it lay a piece of black bread and an apple so that he could eat whenever he wanted.
Usually the old man went out to play in the evening, at the first dusk. It was more beneficial for his music to make the world quieter and darker. He did not know the troubles of his old age, because he received a pension from the state and was fed enough. But the old man was bored by the thought that he was not bringing any good to people, and so he voluntarily went to play on the boulevard. There, the sounds of his violin were heard in the air, in the darkness, and at least occasionally they reached the depths of the human heart, touching him with a gentle and courageous force that captivated him to live a higher, higher life. wonderful life. Some music listeners took out money to give it to the old man, but did not know where to put it: the violin case was closed, and the musician himself was high at the foot of the monument, almost next to Pushkin. Then people put ten-kopeck pieces and pennies on the lid of the case. However, the old man did not want to cover his need at the expense of the art of music; hiding the violin back in the case, he showered money from it on the ground, not paying attention to their value. He went home late, sometimes already at midnight, when people became sparse and only some random lonely person listened to his music. But the old man could play for one person and played the piece to the end until the listener left, crying in the darkness to himself. Maybe he had his own grief, now disturbed by the song of art, or maybe he felt ashamed that he was living wrong, or he simply drank wine...
IN late autumn The old man noticed that a sparrow had sat down on the case, which was lying, as usual, at a distance on the ground. The musician was surprised that this bird was not yet sleeping and, even in the darkness of the evening, was busy working for its food. True, it is now difficult to feed yourself in a day: all the trees have already fallen asleep for the winter, the insects have died, the earth in the city is bare and hungry, because horses rarely walk and street cleaners immediately remove the manure after them. Where do sparrows actually eat in autumn and winter? After all, the wind in the city is weak and scanty between the houses - it does not hold the sparrow when it stretches its tired wings, so the sparrow has to wave and work with them all the time.
Sparrow, having examined the entire lid of the case, did not find anything useful on it for himself. Then he moved the money coins with his legs, took the smallest bronze penny from them with his beak and flew away with it to an unknown destination. So, it was not for nothing that he flew in - at least he took something! Let him live and care, he also needs to exist.
The next evening, the old violinist opened the case - in case that if yesterday's sparrow flew in, it could feed on the pulp of the bread that lay at the bottom of the case. However, the sparrow did not appear; he had probably eaten somewhere else, and the penny was no good for him anywhere.
The old man still patiently waited for the sparrow, and on the fourth day he saw it again. The sparrow sat down on the bread in the case without interference and began to peck at the prepared food in a businesslike manner. The musician stepped down from the monument, approached the case and quietly examined the small bird. The sparrow was disheveled, big-headed, and many of its feathers had turned grey; From time to time he looked around vigilantly to see enemy and friend with precision, and the musician was surprised at his calm, reasonable eyes. This sparrow must have been very old or unhappy, because he had already acquired great intelligence from grief, misfortune and longevity.
For several days the sparrow did not appear on the boulevard; Meanwhile, pure snow fell and it froze. The old man, before going to the boulevard, daily crumbled soft music into the violin case. warm bread. Standing at the height of the foot of the monument, playing a gentle melody, the old man constantly watched his open case, the nearby paths and the dead bushes of flowers in the summer flowerbed. The musician was waiting for the sparrow and longing for it: where does it sit now and keep warm, what does it eat in the cold snow? The lanterns around the monument to Pushkin were burning quietly and brightly, beautiful, clean people, illuminated by electricity and snow, gently passed by the monument, moving away on their important and happy affairs. The old man continued to play, hiding within himself a pitiful feeling of sadness for the small, diligent bird that now lived somewhere and was exhausted.
But another five days passed, and the sparrow still did not fly to visit the Pushkin monument. The old violinist still left an open case with crumbled bread for him, but the musician’s senses were already tired from anticipation, and he began to forget the sparrow. The old man had to forget a lot in his life irrevocably. And the violinist stopped crumbling the bread; it now lay in the case in one piece, and only the musician left the lid open.
End of introductory fragment.
Development of a literature lesson in 6th grade
SUBJECT. The life formula of the heroes of A. Platonov’s story “Love for the Motherland, or
The Sparrow's Journey."
GOALS: help students determine A. Platonov’s formula for life;
convey to the children the reverent soulfulness, the intimacy of the
tone intonation;
to intensify understanding of the philosophical subtext of the story;
to cultivate kindness, mercy, and hard work in students.
EPIGRAPH.
To live is to constantly work, give people joy, be necessary for someone, take care of someone, love.
A.P. Platonov.
DURING THE CLASSES.
1.The teacher's word. Introduction to the topic.
Guys, you have read A.P. Platonov’s story “Love for the Motherland, or the Journey of a Sparrow.” You probably followed with fascination the fairy-tale incident, in which everyday reality and fairy-tale motifs were bizarrely and at the same time naturally and organically combined.
What questions did you have after reading this story? What got you excited?
2.Text analysis.
So what is this story about? What important, secret thing did the author want to tell the reader about?
Vocabulary work: SECRET – sacredly kept and secret, intimate.
/ About love for the homeland, about mercy, about love for all living things /
Vocabulary work: CHARITY - willingness to help someone. or forgive someone. out of compassion and philanthropy.
And it’s probably also about how difficult it is to live in the world.
What is the genre of this story?
/Fairy tale incident/
And it takes on a parable sound.
Vocabulary work: A PARABLE is an allegorical story with a moral teaching.
Allegory - an expression containing another, hidden
this meaning.
And this fabulous incident encourages you to think about life: about what is necessary in order to live, and about what life is impossible without.
And you have already named some of its components.
Love to motherland?
Mercy LIFE?
Love for all living things?
But why, contrary to our expectation of a happy ending to a fairy tale?
incident sparrow dies? Accidental death?
To answer these and other questions, let’s take a closer look at the characters and how they live. And as the conversation progresses, we will try to determine what was a necessary condition for the life of the violinist and the sparrow.
Therefore, the topic of our lesson will sound like this...
3. Analytical conversation in the image of a violinist.
Let's take a closer look at the old musician. How do you imagine it?
/Grey-haired, slightly stooped, in a coat and hat, in his hand a case containing a violin./
What makes a musician go to Tverskoy Boulevard every day and play at the Pushkin monument?
Tverskoy Boulevard
/The old musician “was bored by the thought that he was not bringing any good to people, and therefore he voluntarily went to play on the boulevard.” His music consoles people, it speaks to hearts./
Have you ever heard the sounds of a violin? Let's listen.
4 . Music: fragment of the musical work by composer Schubert “Winterreise” - disc.
Why does music sound bad in a cramped room?
/ “The melody sounded bad in the cramped room, it touched only one single soul of the violinist, and this was not enough, or his soul became poor in his old age.”/
No, his soul did not become poor: music is his selfless gift of goodness strangers, random passers-by.
Why does the violinist play at the Pushkin monument?
Monument to Pushkin (painting)
/Because both a simple violinist and a great poet give people goodness and happiness with their art (on the monument there is an inscription: “And for a long time I will be kind to the people because I awakened good feelings with the lyre”). That's why they stand next to each other./
Why doesn't he take money for his game?
/He is selfless. He enjoys playing for others, he is glad that his art is needed by people./
Why did the old man fall in love with the sparrow so much and bring him bread every day?
/The violinist felt something related in him: old age, loneliness...
His kindness warms his heart: he thinks that in the warmth of his room
a sparrow could endure the winter as if it were retired/
To whom will the violinist give his music and love after the disappearance of the sparrow?
/A gentle turtle who will brighten up his loneliness./
Why does he sometimes wake up at night?
/From fear that he was dying, but the knowledge that he had a living turtle calmed him down and gave him strength to live./
So who does the musician live for?
5. Analytical conversation in the image of a sparrow.
Now let's turn to the second character of the story - the sparrow.
So, the sparrow suddenly disappears... Where does he end up? Retell this episode.
Retelling of the episode "In the Land of Paradise".
The Moscow sparrow, by the will of fate, finds himself in a paradise country, where he reigns eternal summer, and the abundance of natural gifts allows you not to worry about your daily bread, “because it was enough to peck one fat berry in the grass to be satisfied with it for the whole day and all night.”
But is everything so good there for the sparrow?
/No. He yearns for black bread. The sparrow is tormented by the sadness of loneliness, although there are beautiful birds nearby singing sweet songs./
Who becomes his friend in this country?
/A lonely snake without poison and without teeth, also old./
Remember, what about the old man's friend?
/The turtle and the snake have been symbols of wisdom and knowledge for many centuries./
What does a sparrow dream about?
/About my native Tverskoy Boulevard./
So, homesickness.
And a miracle happens, truly fabulous... What?
/Sparrow, having made a second trip to his homeland, ends up in the house of an old musician and comes to life, warmed by the warmth of his heart./
...And dies.
Why does a fairy-tale incident - contrary to fairy-tale tradition - end tragically? Why does the sparrow die?
/The sparrow was old, sick, he could not endure such a long journey from a hot country to Moscow - his heart could not stand it, or maybe he hit the stones hard, falling from the sky... /
This means that the death of the sparrow is by no means accidental... Let's try to figure this out.
Remember how a sparrow lives?
/He flies to the monument when he is hungry, but the musician waits for him every day./
How does he take the bread brought by the violinist?
6 .Selective reading of episodes.
/The sparrow arrived only on the fourth day, “without interference, he sat down on the bread in the case and began to peck in a businesslike manner.” ready food" - p134;
some time later - “he immediately sank into the case and began to peck ready bread" - p.135/
“He is already accustomed to living in the storm and eating abundantly from it. He no longer wanted to constantly hunt for food on the boulevard. predation... He only regretted that there were no crumbs of sour bread among all this mighty wind” - p. 14
How did the sparrow get used to living?
And when the sparrow is satisfied with life, he hums a song. To whom? / To myself./
Does the sparrow remember the old violinist?
/No. He doesn’t even hear his music, unlike the turtle./
Does he love anyone, does he think about whom? Doesn't love anyone, thinks only of himself.
This shows him indifference to others.
And the sparrow is deprived of what makes the miracle of life possible: the ability and willingness to love, give, give, work.
7. Generalization.
What did A. Platonov’s story make you think about?
/Caring for others, compassion is an indispensable condition of life; cordiality and kindness are his main wealth./
The writer Platonov himself treated plants and animals as his equals, which is why the hero of his story, the musician, is having a hard time with the death of the sparrow.
“But there was something missing in the music to completely console the old man’s grieving heart. Then he put the violin back and began to cry.”
What is the main theme of the story?
/Love for the Motherland, for all living things, for life./
What did the writer want to tell us with this story? (Idea)
/You need to learn to give kindness, love all life on earth, live for others, work./
A.A. Platonov himself speaks about this.
8. Appeal to the epigraph.
Portrait of Platonov and epigraph
Mercy and kindness are the basis of life. You write about this in your essays on the topic “Lessons of Kindness.”
9.Reading passages from essays – passages are highlighted in advance by the teacher.
10.Conclusion . (Teacher reading a poem by K. Kuliev.)
Look at the world with kind eyes.
For us people, only goodness brings happiness,
It's at the end stronger than evil Always,
Good will forever be our god,
To him is our prayer and praise.
K. Kuliev.
Our meeting with A.P. Platonov does not end here...
Andrey Platonovich PLATONOV
LOVE OF THE MOTHERLAND, OR THE JOURNEY OF THE SPARROW
(Fairy tale incident)
The old violinist-musician loved to play at the foot of the Pushkin monument. This monument stands in Moscow, at the beginning of Tverskoy Boulevard, poems are written on it, and marble steps rise to it on all four sides. Having climbed these steps to the pedestal itself, the old musician turned his face to the boulevard, to the distant Nikitsky Gate, and touched the strings of the violin with his bow. Children, passers-by, newspaper readers from the local kiosk immediately gathered at the monument - and they all fell silent in anticipation of the music, because music consoles people, it promises them happiness and a glorious life. The musician placed the case from his violin on the ground opposite the monument; it was closed, and in it lay a piece of black bread and an apple so that he could eat whenever he wanted.
Usually the old man went out to play in the evening, at the first dusk. It was more beneficial for his music to make the world quieter and darker. He did not know the troubles of his old age, because he received a pension from the state and was fed enough. But the old man was bored by the thought that he was not bringing any good to people, and so he voluntarily went to play on the boulevard. There, the sounds of his violin were heard in the air, in the darkness, and at least occasionally they reached the depths of the human heart, touching him with a gentle and courageous force that captivated him to live a higher, beautiful life. Some music listeners took out money to give it to the old man, but did not know where to put it: the violin case was closed, and the musician himself was high at the foot of the monument, almost next to Pushkin. Then people put ten-kopeck pieces and pennies on the lid of the case. However, the old man did not want to cover his need at the expense of the art of music; hiding the violin back in the case, he showered money from it on the ground, not paying attention to their value. He went home late, sometimes already at midnight, when people became sparse and only some random lonely person listened to his music. But the old man could play for one person and played the piece to the end until the listener left, crying in the darkness to himself. Maybe he had his own grief, now disturbed by the song of art, or maybe he felt ashamed that he was living wrong, or he simply drank wine...
In late autumn, the old man noticed that a sparrow had sat on the case, lying, as usual, at a distance on the ground. The musician was surprised that this bird was not yet sleeping and, even in the darkness of the evening, was busy working for its food. True, it is now difficult to feed yourself in a day: all the trees have already fallen asleep for the winter, the insects have died, the earth in the city is bare and hungry, because horses rarely walk and street cleaners immediately remove the manure after them. Where do sparrows actually eat in autumn and winter? After all, the wind in the city is weak and scanty between the houses - it does not hold the sparrow when it stretches its tired wings, so the sparrow has to wave and work with them all the time.
Sparrow, having examined the entire lid of the case, did not find anything useful on it for himself. Then he moved the money coins with his legs, took the smallest bronze penny from them with his beak and flew away with it to an unknown destination. This means that he didn’t fly in for nothing - at least he took something! Let him live and care, he also needs to exist.
The next evening, the old violinist opened the case - in case that if yesterday's sparrow flew in, it could feed on the pulp of the bread that lay at the bottom of the case. However, the sparrow did not appear; he had probably eaten somewhere else, and the penny was no good for him anywhere.
The old man still patiently waited for the sparrow, and on the fourth day he saw it again. The sparrow sat down on the bread in the case without interference and began to peck at the prepared food in a businesslike manner. The musician stepped down from the monument, approached the case and quietly examined the small bird. The sparrow was disheveled, big-headed, and many of its feathers had turned grey; From time to time he looked around vigilantly to see enemy and friend with precision, and the musician was surprised at his calm, reasonable eyes. This sparrow must have been very old or unhappy, because he had already acquired great intelligence from grief, misfortune and longevity.
For several days the sparrow did not appear on the boulevard; Meanwhile, pure snow fell and it froze. The old man, before going to the boulevard, crumbled warm soft bread into the violin case every day.
End of free trial.
Program " Primary School 21st century"
Summary of a reading lesson in 4th grade
on the topic: A.P. Platonov “Love for the Motherland, or the Journey of a Sparrow”
Lesson objectives.
Familiarization with the content of A. Platonov’s fairy tale “Love for the Motherland or the Journey of a Sparrow” and the music of great composers.
Development of analytical thinking skills.
Formation of a child’s spiritual culture and aesthetic taste.
Nurturing the emotional sphere of students, increasing interest in literature and music.
Instill a sense of compassion, understanding, love for the Motherland, mercy, love for all living things, the ability to give good.
Learning to hear and listen to music.
Equipment: multimedia projector, presentation, portrait of the writer.
During the classes.
1 . Updating student activities.
Watch the video clip “It’s All Russia”
Why do we start our lesson with music?
What feelings did you experience when listening to music? (presentation 1.2 slide)
2 . Checking homework.
Name the poets who wrote poems about
Homeland? (N.M. Rubtsov, I.A. Bunin, A.A. Blok, K.D. Balmont) (presentation 3 slide)
3 .Selective reading. I will read excerpts, and you name the author and title of the work.
Again, like in the golden years,
Three worn out flapping harnesses,
And the painted knitting needles knit
Into loose ruts...
There is a word - and it is one.
Russia. This sound is a pipe.
The evening is fading, the distance is turning blue,
The sun is setting.
Farewell, my homeland! North, goodbye, -
The Fatherland of glory and valor.
My Rus', I love your birches!
From the first years I lived and grew up with them.
My school is wooden!
The time will come to leave -
The river behind me is foggy
He will run and run.
Answers on questions.
Which of these poems did you like best?
Read it by heart.
4. Reading competition.
What lines speak about the poet’s love for his homeland?
5.Work on new topic lesson.
The teacher's introductory speech about the writer A.P. Platonov and his works. (presentation 4.5 slide)
6. The teacher reads the fairy tale in parts and analyzes the text by questions. Why is the fairy tale called this?What is this fairy tale about?
Let's open the first page of the fairy-tale incident “Love for the Motherland, or the Journey of a Sparrow.” Who is the main character in the fairy tale?
How do you imagine an old man? (1 task in a notebook)
7. Work in groups.
a) First group.
Why did the violinist go to play the violin at the monument to A.S. Pushkin?
What did the musician want to express when playing the violin?
Why doesn't a musician charge money for his art?
Why does he play at the Pushkin monument? Why do people stop near a musician?
Why did the violinist fall in love with the sparrow so much and carry bread for him every day?
Did the sparrow understand music?
What attracted the sparrow more - music or bread crumbs?
Conclusions . What, What does the concept of life include? What are its first terms? (Mercy, love for everything earthly.)
b) Second group. "Sparrow in Paradise"
Why did the sparrow feel sad on the new land, why does he want to fly home? What is he missing?
Who does he choose as his friends? Why? - Where does it find refuge?
What torments the sparrow? What does he dream of in a paradise country?
c) Third group . "The Musician and the Turtle."
Why did the musician buy a turtle? - What will the presence of a turtle in his house give to a musician?
Did the turtle understand the musician’s mood and his playing?
What is valuable for Platonov in man and in every living creature?
Conclusions . The ability and willingness to love.
G) Fourth group."The Sparrow and the Hurricane."
How does a sparrow feel in a hurricane?
How does he get his food? Is it difficult for him to get it?
Is he happy with life in a hurricane?
Why did the sparrow, when flying in a hurricane, forget how the pensioner looked after him?
What does he regret, what is he missing from the hurricane?
Conclusions . Are there new components in the “formula of life”?
e) Fifth group. A new meeting between the sparrow and the violinist.
Why does a fairy tale incident - contrary to fairy tale tradition - end tragically?
Why does the sparrow die? - Did the musician love the sparrow, and the sparrow love the musician?
Why did music lack complete consolation after the sparrow's death?
What do the old man and the sparrow have in common? What's different?
8.Listening to music. (Imagine yourself for a moment near the monument to Pushkin, listen to the music)
9. Analytical conclusions.Is it possible to put next to a musician, and Pushkin, and all the great people?
What is this story about? What important, secret things did the author want to tell readers about? Why is the story called “Love for the Motherland, or the Journey of a Sparrow”?
What does Andrei Platonov’s “formula of life” include? (Love for the Motherland, mercy, love for every living thing, the ability to give goodness, to give, selfless love.)
Is the death of a sparrow accidental?
No, the death of the sparrow is by no means accidental. Sparrow is one of those who are accustomed to clearly taking what they need from life. So, the sparrow is deprived of life-giving principles, which, according to Platonov, are labor, the ability and willingness to love and give. It is thanks to them that the miracle of life becomes possible.
10. Conversation. A fairy tale is a lie, but there is a hint in it
What is Platonov's writing goal? What do his parables teach? (To reveal to people the true meaning and truth of life, to show what a joy it is to understand the world and help it become better.)
What is in these works from the story and what from the fairy tale?(presentation 6 slide)
11. Work in notebooks.
12. Lesson summary. Reflection.-Which people around us do we like best?
How can you determine a person: is he good or evil?
What components of A. Platonov’s “formulas of life” are especially important today?
MERCY
Choose a synonym for that word: regret, participation, pity, condolences, compassion.
COMPASSION - pity, sympathy, aroused by the misfortune of another (Ozhegov’s Russian language dictionary)(presentation 7 slide)
10. Homework: Brief retelling of the work.
Let's see what components you derived in A. Platonov’s “formula of life” (see diagram).
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Andrey Platonov
Love for the Motherland, or the Journey of a Sparrow
(Fairy tale incident)
The old violinist-musician loved to play at the foot of the Pushkin monument. This monument stands in Moscow, at the beginning of Tverskoy Boulevard, poems are written on it, and marble steps rise to it on all four sides. Having climbed these steps to the pedestal itself, the old musician turned his face to the boulevard, to the distant Nikitsky Gate, and touched the strings of the violin with his bow. Children, passers-by, newspaper readers from the local kiosk immediately gathered at the monument - and they all fell silent in anticipation of the music, because music consoles people, it promises them happiness and a glorious life. The musician placed the case from his violin on the ground opposite the monument; it was closed, and in it lay a piece of black bread and an apple so that he could eat whenever he wanted.
Usually the old man went out to play in the evening, at the first dusk. It was more beneficial for his music to make the world quieter and darker. He did not know the troubles of his old age, because he received a pension from the state and was fed enough. But the old man was bored by the thought that he was not bringing any good to people, and so he voluntarily went to play on the boulevard. There, the sounds of his violin were heard in the air, in the darkness, and at least occasionally they reached the depths of the human heart, touching him with a gentle and courageous force that captivated him to live a higher, beautiful life. Some music listeners took out money to give it to the old man, but did not know where to put it: the violin case was closed, and the musician himself was high at the foot of the monument, almost next to Pushkin. Then people put ten-kopeck pieces and pennies on the lid of the case. However, the old man did not want to cover his need at the expense of the art of music; hiding the violin back in the case, he showered money from it on the ground, not paying attention to their value. He went home late, sometimes already at midnight, when people became sparse and only some random lonely person listened to his music. But the old man could play for one person and played the piece to the end until the listener left, crying in the darkness to himself. Maybe he had his own grief, now disturbed by the song of art, or maybe he felt ashamed that he was living wrong, or he simply drank wine...
In late autumn, the old man noticed that a sparrow had sat on the case, lying, as usual, at a distance on the ground. The musician was surprised that this bird was not yet sleeping and, even in the darkness of the evening, was busy working for its food. True, it is now difficult to feed yourself in a day: all the trees have already fallen asleep for the winter, the insects have died, the earth in the city is bare and hungry, because horses rarely walk and street cleaners immediately remove the manure after them. Where do sparrows actually eat in autumn and winter? After all, the wind in the city is weak and scanty between the houses - it does not hold the sparrow when it stretches its tired wings, so the sparrow has to wave and work with them all the time.
Sparrow, having examined the entire lid of the case, did not find anything useful on it for himself. Then he moved the money coins with his legs, took the smallest bronze penny from them with his beak and flew away with it to an unknown destination. So, it was not for nothing that he flew in - at least he took something! Let him live and care, he also needs to exist.
The next evening, the old violinist opened the case - in case that if yesterday's sparrow flew in, it could feed on the pulp of the bread that lay at the bottom of the case. However, the sparrow did not appear; he had probably eaten somewhere else, and the penny was no good for him anywhere.
The old man still patiently waited for the sparrow, and on the fourth day he saw it again. The sparrow sat down on the bread in the case without interference and began to peck at the prepared food in a businesslike manner. The musician stepped down from the monument, approached the case and quietly examined the small bird. The sparrow was disheveled, big-headed, and many of its feathers had turned grey; From time to time he looked around vigilantly to see enemy and friend with precision, and the musician was surprised at his calm, reasonable eyes. This sparrow must have been very old or unhappy, because he had already acquired great intelligence from grief, misfortune and longevity.
For several days the sparrow did not appear on the boulevard; Meanwhile, pure snow fell and it froze. The old man, before going to the boulevard, crumbled warm soft bread into the violin case every day. Standing at the height of the foot of the monument, playing a gentle melody, the old man constantly watched his open case, the nearby paths and the dead bushes of flowers in the summer flowerbed. The musician was waiting for the sparrow and longing for it: where does it sit now and keep warm, what does it eat in the cold snow? The lanterns around the monument to Pushkin were burning quietly and brightly, beautiful, clean people, illuminated by electricity and snow, gently passed by the monument, moving away on their important and happy affairs. The old man continued to play, hiding within himself a pitiful feeling of sadness for the small, diligent bird that now lived somewhere and was exhausted.
But another five days passed, and the sparrow still did not fly to visit the Pushkin monument. The old violinist still left an open case with crumbled bread for him, but the musician’s senses were already tired from anticipation, and he began to forget the sparrow. The old man had to forget a lot in his life irrevocably. And the violinist stopped crumbling the bread; it now lay in the case in one piece, and only the musician left the lid open.
* * *
One day, in the depths of winter, around midnight, snow started drifting. The old man played the last piece of Schubert’s “Winter Road” and then planned to retire. At that hour, a familiar gray-haired sparrow appeared from the middle of the wind and snow. He sat down with his thin, insignificant paws on the frosty snow; then he walked around the case a little, blown throughout his body by whirlwinds, but indifferent to them and fearless, and flew inside the case. There the sparrow began to peck at the bread, almost burrowing into its warm pulp. He ate for a long time, probably as much as half an hour; The blizzard had already almost completely covered the inside of the case with snow, and the sparrow was still moving inside the snow, working on its food. This means he knew how to eat for a long time. The old man approached the case with the violin and bow and waited for a long time in the midst of the whirlwind for the sparrow to free the case. Finally, the sparrow got out, brushed itself in a small snowdrift, said something briefly, and ran away on foot to its lodgings for the night, not wanting to fly in the cold wind, so as not to waste its strength.
The next evening the same sparrow again arrived at the Pushkin monument; he immediately sank into the case and began pecking at the finished bread. The old man looked at him from the height of the foot of the monument, played music on the violin from there and felt good in his heart. That evening the weather was calm, as if tired after yesterday's acrid snowdrift. Having eaten, the sparrow flew high out of the case and muttered a small song in the air...
It was not light for a long time in the morning. Waking up in his room, the retired musician heard the singing of a blizzard outside the window. Frosty, hard snow rushed down the alley and blocked out the daylight. Even at night, in the darkness, frozen forests and flowers of an unknown woman lay on the window glass. magical land. The old man began to admire this inspired play of nature, as if nature was also yearning for better happiness, like man and music.
You won’t have to go play on Tverskoy Boulevard today. Today the storm is singing, and the sounds of the violin will be too weak. Nevertheless, in the evening the old man put on his coat, tied a shawl around his head and neck, crumbled some bread into his pocket and went outside. With difficulty, choking from the hardened cold and wind, the musician walked along his lane to Tverskoy Boulevard. The icy branches of the trees on the boulevard crunched desertedly, and the monument itself rustled sadly from the flying snow rubbing against it. The old man wanted to put the bread lumps on the steps of the monument, but he saw that it was useless: the storm would immediately carry away the bread, and the snow would cover it. All the same, the musician left his bread on the step and saw it disappear in the darkness of the storm.
In the evening the musician sat at home alone; he played his violin, but there was no one to listen to him, and the melody sounded bad in the emptiness of the room, it touched only one single soul of the violinist, and this was not enough, or his soul became poor from old age. He stopped playing. There was a torrent of hurricane flowing outside - things were probably worse for the sparrows now. The old man went to the window and listened to the force of the storm through the frozen glass. Is the gray-haired sparrow even now not afraid to fly to the Pushkin monument to eat bread from the case?
* * *
The gray-haired sparrow was not afraid of the snow hurricane. Only he did not fly to Tverskoy Boulevard, but walked, because it was a little quieter below and he could take cover behind the local snowdrifts and various passing objects.
Sparrow carefully examined the entire area around the Pushkin monument and even dug in the snow with his feet,
end of introductory fragment
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