Retelling plan
1. Meet the driver Maltsev and his assistant.
2. Maltsev takes on a difficult task and goes blind while the train is moving. Such lineup management could lead to disaster.
3. Maltsev regains his sight, he is put on trial and sent to prison.
4. A former machinist goes blind again while conducting an investigative experiment with lightning-like electrical discharges.
5. An assistant driver, after a special exam, drives passenger trains himself. He takes the blind Maltsev on a trip.
6. Maltsev begins to see the light.
Retelling
The hero talks about an incident that happened to him and the “best locomotive driver” Maltsev. He was young, thirty years old, but already had a first class qualification and drove fast trains.
Maltsev was the first to be transferred to the new passenger locomotive "IS". The narrator was appointed as his assistant. He was very pleased with the opportunity to master the art of driving, and at the same time become familiar with new technology.
The driver received the new assistant indifferently. He relied only on himself and his knowledge in everything, so he carefully double-checked all the parts and components of the machine. This was a habit, but it insulted the student with lack of faith in his abilities. But for his professionalism, the hero forgave a lot to his teacher, who definitely felt the way. The train was never late; they even quickly made up for delays at intermediate stations along the way.
Maltsev practically did not communicate with either the assistant or the fireman. If he wanted to point out shortcomings in the operation of the machine that needed to be eliminated, he would bang the key on the boiler. He thought that no one else could love a locomotive and drive it the way he did. “And we, however, could not understand his skills,” the author admits.
One day the driver allowed the narrator to drive the train himself. But after some time, he was four and a half minutes behind schedule. Maltsev successfully compensated for this time.
The hero worked as an assistant for almost a year. And then an event happened that changed the lives of the heroes. They took the train four hours late. The dispatcher asked to reduce this gap in order to let the empty truck onto the neighboring road. The train entered the zone of a thundercloud. A blue light hit the windshield, blinding the hero. It was lightning, but Maltsev did not see it.
Night has come. The hero noticed that Maltsev was driving worse, and later it became clear that something was wrong with him. When the hero screamed, the driver braked urgently. A man stood on the road and waved a red-hot poker to stop the train. Ahead, just ten meters away, stood a freight locomotive. They did not notice how yellow, red and other warning signals passed. This could lead to disaster. Maltsev ordered an assistant to drive the locomotive, admitting that he was blind.
Having reported the incident to the depot manager, the assistant went to accompany him home. Already on the way to the house, Maltsev regained his sight.
After the incident, Maltsev was put on trial. The investigator called the driver's assistant as a witness, and he said that he did not consider Maltsev guilty, since the driver was blinded by a nearby lightning strike. But the investigator treated these words with distrust, because the lightning had no effect on the others. But the hero had his own explanation. In his opinion, Maltsev became blind from the light of the lightning, and not from the discharge itself. And when lightning struck, he was already blind.
Maltsev was still found guilty because he did not transfer control to an assistant, risking the lives of hundreds of people. From the investigator the hero went to Maltsev. When asked why he did not trust him with his place, he replied that it seemed to him that he saw the light, but in fact it was in his imagination. Maltsev was sent to prison. The hero became an assistant to another driver. But he missed Maltsev, his ability to really work, and did not give up the thought of helping him.
He proposed conducting an experiment with a prisoner using a Tesla installation to produce artificial lightning. However, the experiment was carried out without warning, and Maltsev became blind again. But now the chances of returning vision were much less. Both the investigator and the hero felt guilty for what happened. Having found justice and innocence, Maltsev received an illness that prevented him from living and working.
At this moment, for the first time, the hero came up with the idea of the existence of certain fatal forces that accidentally and indifferently destroy a person. “I saw that facts were occurring that proved the existence of circumstances hostile to human life, and these disastrous forces were crushing the chosen, the exalted people.” But the hero decided not to give up and resist the circumstances. A year later, the former assistant passed the exam to become a driver and began to independently drive passenger trains. Very often he met Maltsev, who, wiping himself on a cane, stood at the station platform and “greedily breathed in the smell of burning and lubricating oil, listened carefully to the rhythmic work of the steam-air pump.” He understood Maltsev’s melancholy, who had lost the meaning of life, but could do nothing to help him.
Maltsev was irritated by friendly words and sympathy. One day the hero promised to take him on a trip if he would “sit quietly.” The blind man agreed to all the conditions. The next morning the hero put him in the driver's seat. He put his hands on top of his, and so they drove to their destination. On the way back, he again put the teacher in his place. And in quiet areas he even allowed him to drive the car on his own. The flight ended safely, the train was not late. The hero hoped for a miracle. On the last stretch, he deliberately did not slow down before the yellow traffic light. Suddenly Maltsev stood up, extended his hand to the regulator and turned off the steam. “I see a yellow light,” he said and began to brake. “He turned his face and cried. I walked up to him and kissed him back." Kostya’s desire to “protect him (his teacher) from the grief of fate” performed a miracle. Until the end of the route, Maltsev drove the car independently. After the flight they sat together all evening and all night. This time the hostile forces retreated.
Platonov Andrey
In a beautiful and furious world (Machinist Maltsev)
Andrey Platonovich PLATONOV
IN A BEAUTIFUL AND FURIOUS WORLD
(Machinist Maltsev)
At the Tolubeevsky depot, Alexander Vasilyevich Maltsev was considered the best locomotive driver.
He was about thirty years old, but he already had the qualifications of a first-class driver and had been driving fast trains for a long time. When the first powerful passenger locomotive of the IS series arrived at our depot, Maltsev was assigned to work on this machine, which was quite reasonable and correct. An elderly man from the depot mechanics named Fyodor Petrovich Drabanov worked as an assistant for Maltsev, but he soon passed the driver exam and went to work on another machine, and I, instead of Drabanov, was assigned to work in Maltsev’s brigade as an assistant; Before that, I also worked as a mechanic’s assistant, but only on an old, low-power machine.
I was pleased with my assignment. The IS machine, the only one on our traction site at that time, evoked a feeling of inspiration in me by its very appearance; I could look at her for a long time, and a special, touched joy awoke in me - as beautiful as in childhood when reading Pushkin’s poems for the first time. In addition, I wanted to work in the crew of a first-class mechanic in order to learn from him the art of driving heavy high-speed trains.
Alexander Vasilyevich accepted my appointment to his brigade calmly and indifferently; he apparently did not care who his assistants would be.
Before the trip, as usual, I checked all the components of the car, tested all its servicing and auxiliary mechanisms and calmed down, considering the car ready for the trip. Alexander Vasilyevich saw my work, he followed it, but after me, he again checked the condition of the car with his own hands, as if he did not trust me.
This was repeated later, and I was already accustomed to the fact that Alexander Vasilyevich constantly interfered with my duties, although he was silently upset. But usually, as soon as we were on the move, I forgot about my disappointment. Distracting my attention from the instruments monitoring the condition of the running locomotive, from monitoring the operation of the left car and the path ahead, I glanced at Maltsev. He led the cast with the courageous confidence of a great master, with the concentration of an inspired artist who has absorbed the entire outer world into his inner experience and therefore dominates it. Alexander Vasilyevich’s eyes looked ahead abstractly, as if empty, but I knew that he saw with them the whole road ahead and all of nature rushing towards us - even a sparrow, swept from the ballast slope by the wind of a car piercing into space, even this sparrow attracted Maltsev’s gaze, and he turned his head for a moment after the sparrow: what would become of it after us, where it flew.
It was our fault that we were never late; on the contrary, we were often delayed at intermediate stations, which we had to proceed on the move, because we were running with time catching up and, through delays, we were put back on schedule.
We usually worked in silence; Only occasionally did Alexander Vasilyevich, without turning in my direction, tap the key on the boiler, wanting me to draw my attention to some disorder in the operating mode of the machine, or preparing me for a sharp change in this mode, so that I would be vigilant. I always understood the silent instructions of my senior comrade and worked with full diligence, but the mechanic still treated me, as well as the lubricator-stoker, aloof and constantly checked the grease fittings in the parking lots, the tightness of the bolts in the drawbar units, tested the axle boxes on the drive axes and so on. If I had just inspected and lubricated any working rubbing part, then Maltsev, after me, inspected and lubricated it again, as if not considering my work valid.
“I, Alexander Vasilyevich, have already checked this crosshead,” I told him one day when he began checking this part after me.
“But I want it myself,” Maltsev answered smiling, and in his smile there was sadness that struck me.
Later I understood the meaning of his sadness and the reason for his constant indifference towards us. He felt superior to us because he understood the car more accurately than we did, and he did not believe that I or anyone else could learn the secret of his talent, the secret of seeing both a passing sparrow and a signal ahead, at the same moment sensing the path, the weight of the composition and the force of the machine. Maltsev understood, of course, that in diligence, in diligence, we could even overcome him, but he could not imagine that we loved the locomotive more than him and drove trains better than him - he thought it was impossible to do better. And that’s why Maltsev was sad with us; he missed his talent as if he were lonely, not knowing how to express it to us so that we would understand.
And we, however, could not understand his skills. I once asked to be allowed to conduct the composition myself; Alexander Vasilyevich allowed me to drive about forty kilometers and sat in the assistant’s place. I drove the train, and after twenty kilometers I was already four minutes late, and I covered the exits from long climbs at a speed of no more than thirty kilometers per hour. Maltsev drove the car after me; he took the climbs at a speed of fifty kilometers, and on the curves his car did not throw up like mine, and he soon made up for the time I had lost.
I worked as Maltsev’s assistant for about a year, from August to July, and on July 5, Maltsev made his last trip as a courier train driver...
We took a train of eighty passenger axles, which was four hours late on its way to us. The dispatcher went to the locomotive and specifically asked Alexander Vasilyevich to reduce the train's delay as much as possible, to reduce this delay to at least three hours, otherwise it would be difficult for him to issue an empty train onto the neighboring road. Maltsev promised to catch up with time, and we moved forward.
It was eight o'clock in the afternoon, but the summer day still lasted, and the sun shone with the solemn strength of the morning. Alexander Vasilyevich demanded that I keep the steam pressure in the boiler only half an atmosphere below the limit all the time.
Half an hour later we emerged into the steppe, onto a calm, soft profile. Maltsev brought the speed up to ninety kilometers and did not go lower; on the contrary, on horizontals and small slopes he brought the speed up to one hundred kilometers. On climbs, I forced the firebox to its maximum capacity and forced the fireman to manually load the scoop, to help the stoker machine, because my steam was running low.
Maltsev drove the car forward, moving the regulator to the full arc and giving the reverse to the full cutoff. We were now walking towards a powerful cloud that appeared over the horizon. From our side, the cloud was illuminated by the sun, and from inside it was torn by fierce, irritated lightning, and we saw how swords of lightning pierced vertically into the silent distant land, and we rushed madly towards that distant land, as if rushing to its defense. Alexander Vasilyevich, apparently, was captivated by this spectacle: he leaned far out the window, looking ahead, and his eyes, accustomed to smoke, fire and space, now sparkled with inspiration. He understood that the work and power of our machine could be compared with the work of a thunderstorm, and, perhaps, he was proud of this thought.
At the Tolubeevsky depot, Alexander Vasilyevich Maltsev was considered the best locomotive driver.
He was about thirty years old, but he already had the qualifications of a first-class driver and had been driving fast trains for a long time. When the first powerful passenger locomotive of the IS series arrived at our depot, Maltsev was assigned to work on this machine, which was quite reasonable and correct. An elderly man from the depot mechanics named Fyodor Petrovich Drabanov worked as an assistant for Maltsev, but he soon passed the driver exam and went to work on another machine, and I, instead of Drabanov, was assigned to work in Maltsev’s brigade as an assistant; Before that, I also worked as a mechanic’s assistant, but only on an old, low-power machine.
I was pleased with my assignment. The IS machine, the only one on our traction site at that time, made me feel inspired by its very appearance; I could look at her for a long time, and a special, touched joy awakened in me - as beautiful as in childhood when reading Pushkin’s poems for the first time. In addition, I wanted to work in the crew of a first-class mechanic in order to learn from him the art of driving heavy high-speed trains.
Alexander Vasilyevich accepted my appointment to his brigade calmly and indifferently; he apparently did not care who his assistants would be.
Before the trip, as usual, I checked all the components of the car, tested all its servicing and auxiliary mechanisms and calmed down, considering the car ready for the trip. Alexander Vasilyevich saw my work, he followed it, but after me, he again checked the condition of the car with his own hands, as if he did not trust me.
This was repeated later, and I was already accustomed to the fact that Alexander Vasilyevich constantly interfered with my duties, although he was silently upset. But usually, as soon as we were on the move, I forgot about my disappointment. Distracting my attention from the instruments monitoring the condition of the running locomotive, from monitoring the operation of the left car and the path ahead, I glanced at Maltsev. He led the cast with the courageous confidence of a great master, with the concentration of an inspired artist who has absorbed the entire outer world into his inner experience and therefore dominates it. Alexander Vasilyevich’s eyes looked ahead abstractly, as if empty, but I knew that he saw with them the whole road ahead and all of nature rushing towards us - even a sparrow, swept from the ballast slope by the wind of a car piercing into space, even this sparrow attracted Maltsev’s gaze, and he turned his head for a moment after the sparrow: what would become of it after us, where it flew.
End of introductory fragment.
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Platonov Andrey
In a beautiful and furious world
A. Platonov
IN A BEAUTIFUL AND FURIOUS WORLD
At the Tolubeevsky depot, Alexander Vasilyevich Maltsev was considered the best locomotive driver.
He was about thirty years old, but he already had the qualifications of a first-class driver and had been driving fast trains for a long time. When the first powerful passenger locomotive of the IS series arrived at our depot, Maltsev was assigned to work on this machine, which was quite reasonable and correct. An elderly man from the depot mechanics named Fyodor Petrovich Drabanov worked as an assistant for Maltsev, but he soon passed the driver’s exam and went to work on another machine, and instead of Drabanov, I was assigned to work in Maltsev’s brigade as an assistant; Before that, I also worked as a mechanic’s assistant, but only on an old, low-power machine.
I was pleased with my assignment. The “IS” car, the only one on our traction site at that time, evoked a feeling of inspiration in me by its very appearance: I could look at it for a long time, and a special, touched joy awakened in me, as beautiful as in childhood when reading Pushkin’s poems for the first time. In addition, I wanted to work in the crew of a first-class mechanic in order to learn from him the art of driving heavy high-speed trains.
Alexander Vasilyevich accepted my appointment to his brigade calmly and indifferently: he apparently did not care who would be his assistants.
Before the trip, as usual, I checked all the components of the car, tested all its servicing and auxiliary mechanisms and calmed down, considering the car ready for the trip. Alexander Vasilyevich saw my work, he followed it, but after me, he again checked the condition of the car with his own hands, as if he did not trust me.
This was repeated later, and I was already accustomed to the fact that Alexander Vasilyevich constantly interfered with my duties, although he was silently upset. But usually, as soon as we were on the move, I forgot about my disappointment. Distracting my attention from the instruments monitoring the condition of the running locomotive, from monitoring the operation of the left car and the path ahead, I glanced at Maltsev. He led the cast with the courageous confidence of a great master, with the concentration of an inspired artist who has absorbed the entire outer world into his inner experience and therefore dominates it. Alexander Vasilyevich’s eyes looked ahead, as if empty, abstractly, but I knew that he saw with them the whole road ahead and all of nature rushing towards us - even a sparrow, swept from the ballast slope by the wind of a car piercing into space, even this sparrow attracted Maltsev’s gaze , and he turned his head for a moment after the sparrow: what will happen to him after us, where did he fly?
It was our fault that we were never late; on the contrary, we were often delayed at intermediate stations, which we had to proceed on the move, because we were running with time, and through delays we were put back on schedule.
We usually worked in silence; Only occasionally did Alexander Vasilyevich, without turning in my direction, tap the key on the boiler, wanting me to draw my attention to some disorder in the operating mode of the machine, or preparing me for a sharp change in this mode, so that I would be vigilant. I always understood the silent instructions of my senior comrade and worked with full diligence, but the mechanic still treated me, as well as the lubricator-stoker, aloof and constantly checked the grease fittings in the parking lots, the tightness of the bolts in the drawbar units, tested the axle boxes on the drive axes and so on. If I had just inspected and lubricated any working rubbing part, then Maltsev followed me again inspecting and lubricating it, as if not considering my work valid.
“I, Alexander Vasilyevich, have already checked this crosshead,” I told him one day when he began checking this part after me.
“But I want it myself,” Maltsev answered smiling, and in his smile there was sadness that struck me.
Later I understood the meaning of his sadness and the reason for his constant indifference towards us. He felt superior to us because he understood the car more accurately than we did, and he did not believe that I or anyone else could learn the secret of his talent, the secret of seeing both a passing sparrow and a signal ahead, at the same moment sensing the path, the weight of the composition and the force of the machine. Maltsev understood, of course, that in diligence, in diligence, we could even overcome him, but he could not imagine that we loved the locomotive more than him and drove trains better than him - he thought it was impossible to do better. And that’s why Maltsev was sad with us; he missed his talent as if he were lonely, not knowing how to express it to us so that we would understand.
And we, however, could not understand his skills. I once asked to be allowed to drive the train myself: Alexander Vasilyevich allowed me to drive about forty kilometers and sat in the assistant’s place. I drove the train - and after twenty kilometers I was already four minutes late, and I covered the exits from long climbs at a speed of no more than thirty kilometers per hour. Maltsev drove the car after me; he took the climbs at a speed of fifty kilometers, and on the curves his car did not throw up like mine, and he soon made up for the time I had lost.
The story “In a Beautiful and Furious World,” a brief retelling of which is presented in the article, is a piercing, sad and touching work by the Soviet prose writer Andrei Platonov. It was first published in 1937.
about the author
Before we begin a brief retelling of the story “In a Beautiful and Furious World,” it is worth dedicating a few words to its creator. Andrey Platonov was born in 1989. His father was a machinist. Many of the heroes of the writer’s works are railway workers. The character in the work “In a Beautiful and Furious World” also works as a machinist.
A brief retelling of Platonov’s book does not give an idea of the extraordinary talent of this prose writer. His gift lay not so much in the ability to choose the right word, but in the ability to show the suffering of a person using the example of some everyday, seemingly insignificant situations. Perhaps the whole point is that he knew firsthand about suffering.
During the Civil War, the aspiring writer worked as a front-line correspondent. In 1922 he published his first book. Ten years later, Platonov wrote the story “For Future Use,” which angered Stalin. Repressions began. In 1938, the writer’s son was arrested and released two years later, but he lived only a few months, suffering from tuberculosis.
Andrei Platonov also went through WWII. With the rank of captain, he again worked as a correspondent, but risked his life on the front line along with ordinary soldiers. After the end of the war, he published “Returning Home,” after which he was subjected to new, more fierce attacks. Until the end of his days, the talented prose writer was deprived of the right to earn money by writing.
"In a Beautiful and Furious World": retelling
Platonov created works that, according to critics, have no analogues in literature. It's all about a unique, original style. It is impossible to evaluate it by reading the retelling. “In a Beautiful and Furious World” is still a work based on an amazing story. The author talked about events that are unlikely to happen in real life. Therefore, even a superficial acquaintance with the plot will be interesting.
Below is a plan for a brief retelling. “In a Beautiful and Furious World” is easier to summarize as follows:
- Maltsev.
- Konstantin.
- Sudden flash.
- Arrest.
- Tesla installation.
- Experiment.
- Living in darkness.
Alexander Maltsev
What is the story “In a Beautiful and Furious World” about? The summary must begin with the characteristics of the main character.
Alexander Vasilievich Maltsev works at the Tolubeevsky depot. And here he is the best driver. He's about thirty. He drives the train with great skill, with a certain detachment. And at these moments it seems that he does not see anything else around.
Alexander Vasilyevich is a man of few words. Only in extreme cases does he turn to his assistant, Konstantin, on whose behalf the story “In a Beautiful and Furious World” is narrated.
A brief description of Maltsev is given at the beginning of the work. Hard work, passionate love for one's work, even a certain sense of superiority over colleagues - these are the characteristics and qualities of the main character. “In a Beautiful and Furious World” is a work by the author, from whose pen such images were often born. A man who lives by work, unable to exist without it, is a typical hero of Platonov.
Konstantin
The story is told by a young man who admires the talent of a driver. No matter how much he tried to understand the secret of Maltsev’s extraordinary gift, he failed. Konstantin worked as his assistant for about six months. And then an event occurred that can be called the culmination of the work “In a Beautiful and Furious World.” A brief retelling of the story, which Maltsev’s assistant witnessed and took part in, is presented below.
Sudden outbreak
It happened on the way. Everything went as usual. No signs of trouble. But suddenly thunder roared and bright lightning flashed. So bright that Konstantin was a little scared, and then asked the fireman what it was.
It was a sharp blue light that flashed for an instant. It is not surprising that Konstantin did not recognize a completely ordinary natural phenomenon. At the same time, Maltsev led the train calmly and calmly. When he heard the word “lightning” from the fireman, he said that he saw nothing. But how could one not notice the piercing, instantaneous flash?
After some time, Konstantin began to notice that the driver was driving worse. But this could be explained by fatigue. When they passed a yellow and then a red traffic light, assistant Maltsev got scared and suspected something was wrong. And then the driver stopped the train and said: “Kostya, you will drive further. I'm blind."
Arrest
Maltsev's vision returned the next day. But on that fateful night he committed several serious violations. The driver was put on trial, and no one believed Konstantin when he talked about temporary blindness. But even if the investigator believed it, the driver would not have been released. After all, having lost his sight, he continued to drive the train, thereby risking the lives of passengers.
Maltsev admitted to Konstantin that even when he was blind, he saw the line, and the signals, and the wheat in the steppe. But he saw it in his imagination. He did not immediately believe in his blindness. I only believed it when I heard firecrackers.
Tesla installation
Maltsev was sent to prison. Konstantin continued to work, but as an assistant to another driver. He missed Maltsev. And one day he heard about a Tesla installation, the use of which, as he hoped, could prove the innocence of the driver.
Using this installation, it was possible to test a person’s exposure to electrical discharges. Konstantin wrote a letter to the investigator who was in charge of Maltsev’s case, asking him to conduct tests. In addition, he indicated where the installation was located and how the experiment should be carried out. The assistant driver waited for several weeks for an answer.
Expertise
It was not for nothing that Konstantin wrote a letter to the investigator. After some time, he called him to his place. An examination using the Tesla installation was carried out. Maltsev again lost his ability to see. His innocence was proven. He was released. However, the investigator still felt guilty for a long time for listening to Konstantin’s advice. After all, this time the driver was blinded forever.
Living in the dark
There was no hope for recovery. Maltsev was in fact easily susceptible to electrical discharges. And if the first time he led the train, vision returned, then during the experiment the eyes, which had previously been injured, were damaged. Maltsev was destined to spend his entire life in darkness. You can’t see any lines, no traffic lights, no fields. Not seeing everything without which he previously could not imagine his existence.
This is the sad story of the hero of the story “In a Beautiful and Furious World.” A summary is provided. But Platonov did not put an end to this.
Konstantin passed the exams and became a driver. Now he drove the train himself. Maltsev came to the platform every day, sat on a painted bench and looked with an unseeing gaze in the direction of the departing train. His face was sensitive, passionate. He greedily inhaled the smell of lubricating oil and burning. Konstantin could do nothing to help him. He was leaving. Maltsev remained.
But one day Konstantin took Maltsev with him. He put Alexander Vasilyevich in his place and put his hand on the reverse. On quiet sections, Konstantin sat in the assistant’s place and watched as the former driver drove the train, forgetting his grief. And on the way to Tolubeev, Maltsev’s vision returned again. He saw a yellow traffic light, ordered Konstantin to turn off the steam, and then turned to face him, looked with his sighted eyes and began to cry.
After work they went to Maltsev’s house and talked until the morning. Konstantin was afraid to leave Alexander Vasilyevich alone with the hostile force of this beautiful but furious world.
Retelling a work of fiction saves time. In order to find out the content of a story or story, it is enough to spend only 2-3 minutes. But still, you should read the books of such masters of words as Andrei Platonov in the original.
