Mikhail Alexandrovich Sholokhov was a witness and participant in the bloody events of the civil war that swept our country at the beginning of the twentieth century. The attitude of the Cossacks to the revolution, the difficulty of choosing the right side and the need to take up arms against their brothers - all this was experienced by the writer himself. And this experience turned into “Don Stories” by Sholokhov, a brief summary of which we will consider in the article.
About the product
The stories included in the collection are dry, unemotional and therefore incredibly reliable stories of the lives of different people who fell under the merciless wheels of revolutionary changes. Even death is depicted with extreme ordinariness, in which one feels the incredible tragedy of the time, where death is familiar and unremarkable.
Sholokhov's Don Stories is left to the reader to draw conclusions. A summary of the work can serve as further evidence of this.
In total, the collection includes twenty stories, but we will consider only a few of them, since the scope of one article does not allow us to describe all of Sholokhov’s “Don Stories.” A brief summary of the three works will be given below.
"Food Commissioner"
The main character is Ignat Bodyagin, he is a food commissar (food commissar), that is, a person responsible for collecting and delivering the harvest to the state. He goes to his native village, from where his father kicked him out six years ago. Then Ignat stood up for the worker whom Bodyagin Sr. hit. Upon returning, the son learns that his father was sentenced to death for refusing to hand over bread. Among the Reds, Bodyagin Sr. recognizes Ignat and curses him, predicting that his grief will still be poured out on his son, because the Cossacks are coming to the village to exterminate Soviet power. They shoot him in front of his son Bodyagin Sr.
The discord between loved ones is perfectly conveyed by the summary. Sholokhov’s “Don Stories” is good because it reflects harsh reality without embellishment.
The Cossacks are approaching, the battle is approaching. Ignat and Teslenko, the commandant of the tribunal, are forced to stay late in order to have time to hand over the bread. An uprising begins in the village. Teslenko and Ignat are forced to flee. On the way, Bodyagin notices a child in a snowdrift. He takes the boy into his saddle. Now the horse is not going so fast, and the chase is getting closer.
Realizing that they will not be able to leave, Ignat and Teslenko tie the boy to the saddle, letting the horse gallop, while they themselves remain and die.
"Alyoshka's Heart": summary
Sholokhov’s “Don Stories” are valuable for their historicity. They allow you to relive and feel the terrible events of the past and now.
There has been drought and famine for two years now. Alyosha's family did not eat bread for five months. The boy manages to get some foal, and in the evening, having eaten too much, his sister dies. The girl is buried, but the dogs dig her up and eat her. Polya, Alyosha's older sister, climbs into the house of Makarchikha, a rich neighbor. He finds cabbage soup in the pot, eats his fill and falls asleep. The owner returns, kills her and throws out the body. The next night, Alyoshka himself climbs into Makarchikha’s place, she catches him and beats him.
Leshka’s mother dies, the boy runs away from home and ends up in a procurement office. Here he meets political committeeman Sinitsyn, who feeds the boy. Alyoshka gets a job and goes to a club to listen to books being read. Having learned where the boy disappears, the owner beats him.
Mikhail Sholokhov does not spare his heroes. “Don Stories” sometimes even seem unnecessarily cruel, but all this is because they depict a fierce time.
Alyoshka learns about the bandit attack and warns Sinitsyn. At night, the Reds repulse the attack, and the bandits hide in the house. Alyosha is wounded by a grenade fragment, but the boy survives.
"Alien Blood"
This story completes “Don Stories” by M. Sholokhov. Grandfather Gavrila's only son, Peter, disappeared in the war against the Reds. A new government has come, and there is no one to help the old man with the housework.
In the spring, Gavrila and his old woman begin to plow the land, still hoping that their son will return. The old man orders him a sheepskin coat and boots and puts them in a chest.
Peter's colleague Prokhor returns. He talks about the death of a friend. Gavrila cannot believe it and goes to the steppe at night to call her son.
Food appropriation begins. They come to Gavrila to take the bread, he argues and is not going to give away what he has acquired through back-breaking labor. Then a Cossack drives up and shoots the food detachments. One of them remains alive, and the grandfather brings him to the hut. The old men are nursing the guy. He comes to his senses and is called Nikolai, but Gavrila and his wife call him Peter.
Nikolai-Peter gradually recovers, begins to help with the housework, Gavrila invites him to stay. But then a letter arrives from the factory where Nikolai grew up, and he leaves. There is no limit to the grief of old people who have again lost a son, even an adopted one.
Conclusion
Sholokhov’s “Don Stories” are tragic and joyless. The summary is excellent proof of this. There is too much death and human grief in these stories.
In Sholokhov's work "The Shepherd" the main character is a young and very handsome guy named Grisha. The little girl Dunya remained in his arms. Several years ago, their parents died, and the brother said that he would not give his sister anywhere, and would earn money and raise his sister himself. In order to earn money, he decided to ask the chairman to give him a job.
And after some time, the chairman found a job, he decided to give him a job as a shepherd. Animals were brought here from all the villages, which Grisha must look after. And he is ready for this work. In addition, he had long dreamed of entering an agricultural institute and studying to become a veterinarian. And here fate itself gives him such a chance, and there is no way to miss it. And although he tried very hard and cared for the animals, one day they began to get very sick and die. And the guy couldn’t do anything about it, although he read specialized literature. Now the owners of the animals constantly come here and quarrel with the shepherd, and also scare him with the fact that they will report him to the police and he will be imprisoned, and his sister will go to an orphanage.
In addition, the chairman himself regrets that he got involved with this guy who has not yet gained experience, and also does not know how to treat them. It would be better if he took an old man who was wise from experience and everything was much better. But he would be constantly sick and herding animals is hard for him.
But before, a cow was very highly valued, and if a family has a cow, then their life will be completely different and prosperous, and not the same as others. That is why the owners spent a lot of money on giving her all the medications and injections so that, God forbid, she would not get sick with any disease. Almost every day he had to take out several animal bodies at once by car and bury them in the field. In addition, Grisha turned to the chairman many times and asked for help, but he solved other problems. The guy thought that the chairman must definitely stand up for him, because he was confident in him and must remain confident until the end. But the chairman decided differently. He decided not to interfere in this matter and thought that people would decide everything themselves. In addition, he was sure that there was no icon in Grisha’s house, which means that God was not protecting him or saving him from troubles.
Meanwhile, Grisha was very upset by these events and decided to write about the chairman to higher authorities. When the chairman found out about this, he decided to order people who would quietly remove the main character and everything would gradually pass. One day a guy was returning home and suddenly two guys appeared before his eyes. They grabbed the guy and started beating him very badly. After waiting for him to die, they poured dirt directly into his mouth and left him in the dirt on the street.
When the main character's sister found out about this, she was simply depressed; she saw only one way out. And then she decided to quickly run away from here before they got to her. She runs quietly to the station and buys a ticket and leaves for the city. She has one goal, to start over and quickly forget about all the events that happened recently.
Analysis 2
The work is one of the stories included by the writer in a prose collection called “Azure Steppe.”
The main character of the story is a nineteen-year-old village Komsomol member Grigory Frolov, presented by the writer as a young man who dreams of getting an education at a workers' school, distinguished by an active life position, spiritual sensitivity and a caring attitude towards the life around him. Grigory independently raises his seventeen-year-old sister Dunyasha, since their family’s parents die early.
On the recommendation of the local chairman of the village council, Gregory is elected by the people to work as a shepherd at a meeting. The young man takes on a new business with joy and zeal, studying the necessary literature and consulting with old-timers. Grigory’s sister, who has become a shepherd, helps him take care of the animals collected by his fellow villagers.
After some time, the shepherd begins to have troubles in the form of a pestilence of animals that are affected by a fatal disease. Local residents blame Gregory for the death of the cows, who, in their opinion, is unprofessional in his duties. The young man tries his best to save a healthy herd, but calves and cows continue to die. Moreover, during that period of time, cows are the only sources for the existence of families, giving people food. Therefore, Gregory, feeling his personal responsibility, has a hard time experiencing what is happening.
The shepherd asks for help from the chairman, insisting on calling the veterinary service, but he, being a representative of old views, refuses the young man, pointing out that the reason for his troubles is the absence of an image of God in the form of an icon in Gregory’s house.
Grigory learns about the unfair act of the chairman, who, during the division of land plots, reveals himself to be a fraudster. The young man decides to inform the proper authorities about this fact by writing an article in a local newspaper. This information reaches the chairman and he hires bandits to eliminate the inconvenient employee.
Gregory's life ends when two mercenaries attack, who not only kill the young man and put a handful of cold, wet earth into his mouth. Dunyasha, grieving for her departed brother, decides to leave for the city, dreaming of getting an education and continuing Gregory’s work.
The semantic load of the story “The Shepherd” lies in the depiction of a person who has a strong position in life, who shows courage and bravery in the fight for revolutionary ideas.
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M.A. Sholokhov is a wonderful writer who is known throughout the world. He lived all his life on the Don in the village of Veshenskaya, Rostov region, and therefore the Cossacks, their life and way of life are his favorite topic. He writes about this in his work “Don Stories”. On our website “Don Stories” a brief summary will help students, and even ordinary readers, get acquainted with the plot of this wonderful work.
Head of the Food Committee
The plot of the first work in the collection “Don Stories” is as follows: the head of the food committee, Ignat Bodyagin, goes to the village. Dad drove him out of the village several years ago, because Ignat defended a farm laborer whom Dad wanted to beat. Bodyagin’s father intended not to give his bread to the Cossacks. The revolutionary tribunal sentenced him to death. The father, of course, recognized his son among the Red Army soldiers. He asked, they say, if he didn’t let the Reds into his storeroom, then he is an enemy, and they are prowling the Cossack barns, but they are the government, so what? Bodyagin Sr. cursed Ignat. The father was shot in front of Bodyagin.Cossack detachments are getting closer to the village. The commandant of the revolutionary tribunal Teslenko and Ignat stayed in the village to hand over the confiscated bread. The Cossack uprising began. Ignat and Teslenko try to escape, but Bodyagin noticed a little boy in a snowdrift not far from the village and picked him up. He put the baby on the horse and wrapped him in his own sheepskin coat, causing the mare to move more slowly. Teslenko began to persuade him to abandon the child, even cutting Bodyagin’s hands bloody, but Ignat did not ask for the child. Then the riders realized that there was no escape from the chase. They got off their horses, tied the boy to the saddle and released their horses into the steppe. They themselves fought and shot back, but died.
The second small work in the collection “Don Stories” was “The Heart of Alyosha.”
Due to a two-year drought, famine set in. Alyosha's family has not eaten bread for five months. Alyosha got hold of the foal's meat by fighting it off from a hungry pack of dogs. And in the evening Alyosha’s little sister Nyura died because she had eaten too much meat. Alyosha and his mother buried the girl in the garden, but the dogs dug her up and devoured her. Polya's older sister climbed into the neighbor's house, ate cabbage soup from a pot and fell asleep with her head in the oven. And the mistress came home, found Polya sleeping there, beat her to death with an iron and threw her into an abandoned well.Alyosha saw this. At night, the boy climbed into this neighbor’s cellar and drank milk. A neighbor found him there, beat him severely and threw him out near the river, thinking that the boy had died. Then this neighbor went to Alyosha’s mother with the goal of buying her house for her daughter and son-in-law. But Alyosha’s mother had already died of hunger. Leaving the house, the neighbor saw Alyosha, who was crawling home covered in blood, and ran away.
The wounded child asks the priest for something to eat, but he is refused. After this, Alyosha trudges to the office. Political Commissar Sinitsyn fed him steamed wheat grains with vegetable oil. Alexey began to go to Sinitsyn every day, and the commissar noticed that the boy’s head wound was festering and there were worms in it. Sinitsyn removed the worms from the wound. That's how they became friends. A wealthy farmer, Ivan Alekseev, accepted Alyosha as a worker. Sinitsyn asked Lesha why he no longer came to him, and having received an answer, he invited the boy to the club. There he read a book about exploitation to Alexey. The owner found out where Alyosha went at night, so he beat him severely. But the boy had a kind heart, he was not angry with the owner, because he feeds him.
At night, Alyosha pretended to fall asleep, and he himself heard that bandits had come to Ivan and told him that tomorrow at midnight they would attack the village. In the morning, Alyosha ran to Sinitsyn and told him about what he had heard at night. Alyosha’s owner was arrested, and the Red Army soldiers set up an ambush. The bandits took refuge in a barn. And Alyosha had the chance to throw a grenade out the window. But having reached the window and pulled out the pin, Alyosha saw that a man with a girl in his arms and a woman had come out of the barn; they decided to give up. Alyosha covered the grenade with his body, Sinitsyn managed to grab and throw away the grenade. But Alyosha was wounded by a shrapnel near his heart. When the boy woke up, he saw in the hands of the commissar a Komsomol card in his name. Sinitsyn shook Alexey's hand, and the child saw that his older comrade was crying.
“Step Blood” is the next story in the collection “Don Stories”.
Grandfather Gavrila thought at night about his son Peter, who disappeared during the war. I remembered how I accompanied him to fight against the Reds, bought a good horse, for which I had to sell two bulls. How he gave him a saddle and a silver bridle, which he had inherited from his grandfather. How at the farewell he ordered his son to serve faithfully and bravely, as his father served, so as not to disgrace the Cossack army and the entire Don.Red Army soldiers appeared in the village a month after Peter was seen off to the front. Old man Gavrila, out of spite, wore red Cossack trousers with stripes. He wore on his chest all his awards, which he received for bravely serving the king. Grandfather was offended by the Red regime. There was no strength for anything anymore.
But in the spring the grandfather began to plow the field. He and his wife still hope that Peter will show up. Gavrila ordered a sheepskin sheepskin coat to be sewn for Peter, bought boots for his son, and sewed a hat for him. One time he saw his wife holding this hat in her arms like a baby and rocking it. Grandfather hid his hat, but from that moment on his wife’s eye twitched and her mouth twisted.
Peter's fellow soldier, Likhovidov Prokhor, returned from Turkey. He said that the son of the old men died a brave death during the battle with the Red Army for Novorossiysk. The parents were plunged into great grief. But Gavrila does not believe in his son’s death; he goes out into the steppe at night and calls Peter.
Meanwhile, food allocation is taking place in the village. So the Red Army soldiers and the chairman came to Gavrila’s house to take away the bread. Grandfather began to swear, but quickly realized that swearing would not help here. While the food detachment was in my grandfather’s yard, a Cossack on horseback rode up to the fence and shot all the Red Army soldiers with a rifle. Gavrila was charged a whole sack of oats for this “service”. Late in the evening, grandfather decides to go to the threshing floor, where the Red Army soldiers from the food detachment are lying. Those shot were wearing only underwear, as the Cossacks took their sheepskin coats. One young guy with white hair was still alive. Gavrila dragged him into the house. And he and his wife began to nurse this young man. Gavrila noticed that the old woman began to treat the guy like a son. The Red Army commander came into Gavrila’s house and asked him to take care of his comrade. They came out of the wounded man. He said that his name was Nikolai, but Gavrila and his wife called him Peter. And the grandfather becomes more and more accustomed to him, and the image of his own son gradually fades away. He tried to return the previous feeling of pain, but it didn’t work, which made the old man ashamed.
When the wounded man was able to walk, he was given a sheepskin coat, boots and a hat, which were intended for Peter. Nikolai began helping with the housework and calling Gavrila father. “Peter” said that he was a worker and was born in the Urals. He doesn’t know his parents, he grew up at a factory, joined the army, and became a member of the Communist Party. And Gavrila told him about the loss of his son and that he and his wife fell in love with the Red Army soldier like their own child. Gavrila invited “Peter” to stay with them, promised to marry him and leave him the farm. “Peter” agreed to stay, but he cannot work because his right arm has stopped moving due to the injury.
But then “Peter” received a letter from his factory, calling him back. Gavrila realized that his “son” would decide to leave. “Peter” told the old people that he could not stay, since his conscience would not allow him to leave his factory. Gavrila agrees, but asks to console the old woman with the hope of the return of her “son.” The old man sees off “Peter” and is very sad, but tries to hold on. "Peter" leaves. Gavrila shouts for him to come back, but he felt that his “son” would not return.
Mikhail Sholokhov, who went through the Civil War and saw all its sides, created the collection “Don Stories” based on real events. The collection of stories written in 1924-1926 consists of 6 works: “Birthmark”, “Alyoshka’s Heart”, “Nakhalenok”, “Foal”, “Alien Blood” and “Azure Steppe”. The stories are written in the spirit of their time and permeated with communist ideology, which corresponds to the stylistic manner of socialist realism. “Don Stories” by Sholokhov, a brief summary of which is united by a common theme - the life of ordinary people on the Don during the Civil War - is a reflection of the sorrows and hopes of the Russian people.
Each story is imbued with Bolshevik ideology. However, this is not the main ideological line of all works. The depth of the concept of the collection “Don Stories” lies in the fact that in the unfair and terrible conditions of war, the main thing is to remain human. Using the example of the main characters, the author calls for this truth. The author depicts the traditions of the Don, the richness of the soul of ordinary people, in whom the Cossack spirit of freedom, faith and truth lived for centuries. In his stories, the author tried to show the tragedy of the nation through the story of a particular person.
Characteristics
The characters in M. Sholokhov's stories are brave and selfless individuals, ready for action and heroism in the inhuman conditions of war. And although the author’s ideological views are clear, he is not indifferent to everyone affected by the war. He sympathizes with hungry children, and Cossacks who have lost what they believed in for centuries, and peasants for whom it is a sacred duty to work on the land, even innocent animals involved in this terrible turmoil of troubled times.
All the heroes of the stories are not alike, but they all have one thing in common - the difficult fate of a person during the Civil War, and it does not matter which side he was on. The heroes of Sholokhov's stories are children left orphans due to the war; old people whose children’s lives were taken by the war; people who cannot accept that instead of bread they sow death on their land. Every hero, no matter what ideas he shares, wants peace, the opportunity to live in his native land, cultivate it, and raise children. Each hero of the stories is endowed with a love of life, a desire to help others, to save his neighbor, even at the cost of his life.
The story "The Foal" reveals a picture of human relations with animals during the Civil War. At the height of the battles, the mare of the fighter Trofim brought a foal. The squadron commander ordered to kill him so as not to impede further advancement. But, having discovered that the gun with which Trofim tried to shoot the foal was not loaded, he decided to leave the baby alive. After all, the war will soon end, someone will have to plow the land. On the way, the foal kept slowing down the horse. Then the commander again ordered to shoot him, but Trofim missed. During the fighting, people and horses died, but the foal miraculously survived. One day the squadron was crossing a river under fire. The foal found itself in a dangerous section of the river, where it was twisted by the current. Seeing this, Trofim rushed to sleep, despite the mortal danger. At that moment, even the enemy stopped firing, and everyone watched the scene of salvation. Having pulled the baby ashore, Trofim felt a shot in the back and fell backward, and his face lit up with joy for his life saved.
The story “Alyosha’s Heart” reveals horrifying pictures of hunger. Fourteen-year-old Alyosha, who has not eaten bread for several months, loses his family: two sisters and his mother, and miraculously remains alive. When he had absolutely no strength left, political commissar Sinitsyn extended a helping hand to him, feeding the boy daily and introducing him to the circle of his like-minded people. Alyosha goes to work as a worker for the wealthy peasant Ivan Alekseev. The owner loads him with work like an ox and often beats him, especially after learning about Alyosha’s visits to the political committee. One night the boy learned about Alekseev’s connection with bandits opposing Soviet power, and told Sinitsyn everything. The soldiers organized an ambush and neutralized the gang. During the operation, Alyosha, in order to protect the girl, fell with his chest on a grenade. At the last moment, Sinitsyn saved him, but a shrapnel wounded him near his heart. For his courage, the boy was accepted into the party with the words that his kind heart would still knock for valiant deeds for the good of the Motherland.
The tragic story “Mole” tells the story of a young 18-year-old squadron commander, Nikolai Koshev. His father was a Cossack, and Nikolka inherited his courage, daring, and a mole the size of a pigeon’s egg on his leg. However, having seen a lot of blood and death in his short life, the boy is tired of war and dreams of studying. A new task has been set - to neutralize a gang of rebels. They turned out to be Cossacks. During the fight, the chieftain kills Nikolka with a saber while galloping. He decided to take the boots of the dead man as a trophy. And when I took them off, I saw a mole the size of a pigeon’s egg. Sobbing heavily, the chieftain realized that he had killed his own son and shot himself in the mouth.
The story “Alien Blood” opens up to the reader with a touching story. Grandfather Gavrila lives out his years alone with the old woman. They had one son, Petro, who went to war with the Reds and did not return. They continue to wait for their son, while at the same time not reconciling with the new government. Peter's colleague Prokhor returned to the village and told the old people about the death of his son, taking away their last hope. One day, food appropriation executors came to Gavrila demanding that he give back the bread. My grandfather had so much anger and resentment in his soul, but he did not resist. At that moment, Kuban soldiers burst into the yard and shot at the intruders. Among the corpses, Gavrila found a half-dead guy. Immediately the anger disappeared, because in front of him was not a Bolshevik, but a man. For three months the old people nursed Nikolai, calling him Peter and loving him like their own son. When the guy got stronger, he began to work the land with his named father. One day he received a letter from his native Urals, where he was called to raise a plant. After thinking a little, Nikolai decided to return to his usual business, and the old people became orphans again.
The story “Azure Steppe” is told from the perspective of the old shepherd Zakhar. Once upon a time his father served as a coachman for Mr. Tomilin, then he himself replaced his father. The master was wild and ruthless. His son grew up like that. The new government expelled the young lord from his possessions, but he returned with the Cossacks to take revenge. Among the prisoners who were about to be executed were the grandchildren of grandfather Zakhar, Semyon and Anikei. The grandfather began to crawl at the master’s feet to beg for mercy for them. Tomilin agreed on the condition that they themselves ask for forgiveness and serve him. But they said that they would not bend to the lords, like their father and grandfather. Semyon's wife came running to the execution, with whom they were killed together. All the prisoners were killed, except for Anisiy, who was shot with three bullets, and then a horse-drawn train drove over him. He lost his legs, but lived with honor. And when no one saw him, he kissed and stroked the earth, regretting that he could not work on it.
The epic novel by Mikhail Sholokhov tells us about the historical events that took place from 1912 to 1922, namely the First World War, revolution and civil war.
The events of the novel take place in the Cossack village of Gremyachiy Log in the 30s, when the rural population was going through the most difficult times - collectivization.
The hero of the story “Nakhalyonok” is eight-year-old Mishka, the son of a Red Guard, for which he is teased and beaten by the children of wealthy peasants and the priest Vitka. The father came from the front and told Misha about the Civil War and who Comrade Lenin was, who since then became the object of the boy’s grievances and secrets. In a dream, Mishka promised Lenin that he would go to fight for his people. Seeing a Red detachment in the village, Misha wanted to go to the front, but did not have time. But my father was called to fight again. The morning after the battle, the grandfather brought his murdered father. The gang broke into the village, burned down the executive committee and ruled their own rules. Then the grandfather put Mishka on a horse and ordered him to go to the Red detachment for help. The kid found the fighters almost at the cost of his own life and, passing on information about the capture of the village, fulfilled the promise made to his father and comrade Lenin.
Sholokhov Mikhail
Mikhail Sholokhov
From the steppe, brown, scorched by the sun, from the salt marshes, cracked and white, from sunrise - a hot wind blew for sixteen days.
The earth was charred, the grass was warped yellow, the veins of the wells, densely spilled along the road, were dry; and the ear of grain, which had not yet been swept out of the tube, faded, withered, bent towards the ground, hunched over like an old man.
At noon, through the dozing farmstead, there were copper bursts of bell ringing.
Hot. Silence. Only their feet shuffle along the fence - they are raking through the dust, and the crutches of their grandfathers are tapping on the bumps - they are feeling the road.
They call for a farm meeting. Hiring a shepherd is on the agenda.
The chairman tapped the stub of his pencil on the table.
Citizens, the old shepherd refused to guard the herd, saying that the payment was disproportionate. We, the executive committee, propose to hire Grigory Frolov. Nashevsky is a Rozhak, an orphan, a Komsomol member... His father, as you know, was a Chebotar. He lives with his sister, and they have no food. I think, citizens, you will find yourself in such a situation and hire him to guard the herd.
Old man Nesterov could not stand it, his backside wiggled and fidgeted.
This is impossible for us... The herd is healthy, but he is what a shepherd is! By autumn, half the calves will be missing...
Ignat the miller, a wise old man, said in a sarcastic, honeyed voice:
We will find a shepherd even without the executive committee, it’s up to us alone... But we need to choose a man who is old, reliable and courteous to the point of a beast...
That's right, grandpa...
If you hire an old man, citizens, his calves will soon be lost... Times are not the same, theft is enormous everywhere... - The chairman said this insistently and expectantly; and here they supported me from behind:
The old worthless... Please take into account that these are not cows, but summer calves. Here you need dog legs. When a herd begins to gather, the old man will run and lose his offal...
Laughter rolled in and out, and grandfather Ignat said in a low voice from behind:
The communists have nothing to do with it... It is necessary with prayer, and not anyhow... - And the harmful old man stroked his bald head.
But here the chairman with all severity:
Please, citizen, without any antics... For such... like... I will remove you from the meeting...
At dawn, when smoke creeps from the chimneys like wisps of smeared cotton wool and spreads low in the square, Grigory gathered a herd of one and a half hundred heads and drove them through the farmstead to a gray-haired and inhospitable hillock.
The steppe is spotted with brown spots of marmot holes; marmots whistle long and warily; Little bustards take off from dens with squat grass, sparkling with silvered plumage.
The herd is calm. The cloven hooves of calves clatter across the earthen, wrinkled bark like rain.
Walking next to Grigory is Dunyatka, the assistant shepherd sister. Her tanned, freckled cheeks are laughing, her eyes, her lips are laughing all over, because she has only had the seventeenth spring on the red hill, and at seventeen everything seems so cheerful: her brother’s frowning face, and the lop-eared calves chewing weeds as they walk. , and it’s even funny that for the second day they haven’t had a piece of bread.
But Gregory doesn’t laugh. Under his weathered cap, Grigory has a steep forehead, with transverse wrinkles, and tired eyes, as if he had lived much more than nineteen years.
Tabui walks calmly along the side of the road, scattered in a spotted swath.
Grigory whistled at the calves who were lagging behind and turned to Dunyatka:
We’ll earn some bread by autumn, Dun, and then we’ll go to the city. I’ll go to the workers’ school and place you somewhere... Maybe also for some kind of training... In the city, Dunyatka, there are a lot of books and they eat clean bread, without grass, not like here.
How about we get some money... should we go?
You weirdo... They will pay us twenty poods of bread, well, that’s the money... We’ll sell it at a ruble per pood, then we’ll sell the millet, dung.
Grigory stopped in the middle of the road, drawing and calculating in the dust with a whip.
Grisha, what are we going to eat? There is no bread...
I still have a piece of stale crumpet in my bag.
We’ll eat it today, but what about tomorrow?
Tomorrow they will come from the farm and bring flour... The chairman promised...
The midday sun is hot. Gregory’s baggy shirt was wet with sweat and stuck to his shoulder blades.
The herd moves restlessly, the calves are stung by gadflies and flies, the roar of cattle and the itching of gadflies hangs in the heated air.
In the evening, before sunset, we drove the herd to the base. Nearby there is a pond and a hut with straw rotted from the rains.
Gregory overtook the herd at a trot. He ran heavily to the base and opened the twig gate.
He counted the calves, passing them one at a time into the black square of the gate.
On the mound, which stuck out behind the pond like a vigorous pea, a new hut was built. The walls were smeared with droppings, and Grigory covered the top with weeds.
The next day the chairman arrived on horseback. I brought half a pound of corn flour and a bag of millet.
He sat down, lighting a cigarette, in the chill.
You're a good guy, Gregory. You will look after the herd, and in the fall we will go with you to the district. Maybe there are some ways you can go to study... I have a friend there from the education department, he can help...
Grigory flashed with joy and, seeing off the chairman, held his stirrup and squeezed his hand tightly. For a long time I looked after the curly curls of dust spreading from under the horse’s hooves.
The parched steppe, with the consumptive blush of the dawn, was suffocating from the heat at noon. Lying on his back, Grigory looked at the hillock, covered with melting blue, and it seemed to him that the steppe was alive and difficult for it under the weight of the immeasurable villages, villages, cities. It seemed as if the soil was swaying with intermittent breathing, and somewhere below, under thick layers of rock, another, unknown life was beating and rushing about.
And in broad daylight it became creepy.
With his gaze he measured the unmeasured rows of hillocks, looked at the flowing haze, at the herd that stained the brown grass, and thought that he was far cut off from the world, like a loaf of bread.
On Sunday evening, Grigory drove the herd to the base. Dunyatka lit a fire at the hut and cooked porridge from millet and fragrant sparrow sorrel.
Grigory sat down by the fire and said, stirring the dung with a whip:
Grishak's heifer fell ill. I should tell the owner...
Maybe I should go to the farm?..” asked Dunyatka, trying to appear indifferent.
No need. I can’t protect the herd alone... - He smiled: - You miss people, huh?
I miss you, Grisha, dear... We’ve been living in the steppe for a month and we’ve only seen a person once. If you spend the summer here, you’ll forget how to hum...
Be patient, Dun... We'll go to the city in the fall. We will study with you, and after we have learned, we will return here. Let’s start cultivating the land like a scientist, otherwise it’s dark here and the people are sleeping... Everyone is illiterate... there are no books...
You and I will not be accepted into the apprenticeship... We are also dark...
No, they will accept it. In the winter, when I went to the village, I read Lenin’s book with the cell secretary. It says that power belongs to the proletarians, and it says about education: what, supposedly, those who are from the poor should study.
Grishka rose to his knees, copper reflections of light danced on his cheeks.
We need to study in order to be able to govern our republic. In the cities, the workers hold power there, but in our country the chairman of the village is a kulak, and in the villages the chairmen are richer...
I, Grisha, would wash the floors, do laundry, earn money, and you studied...
The dungs smolder, smoking and flaring up. The steppe is silent, half asleep.
With a policeman driving around, the secretary of the Politov cell ordered Grigory to come to the village.
Grigory went out before light and by lunchtime from the hill he saw a bell tower and houses covered with straw and tin.
Dragging his calloused feet, he made his way to the square.
Club in the priest's house. Along new paths that smelled of fresh straw, I entered a spacious room.
With the shutters closed, it's half dark. At the window, Politov is wielding a plane - making a frame.
I heard, brother, I heard..- He smiled, offering his sweaty hand. - Well, there’s nothing you can do about it! I inquired in the district: there was a need for guys at the oil mill, it turns out they had already recruited twelve more people than needed... You look after the herd, and in the fall we will send you to apprenticeship.
If only there was this work... The farm kulaks did not want me to be a shepherd... Like, a Komsomol member is an atheist, he will guard without prayer... Gregory laughs tiredly.
