The story "The Enchanted Wanderer. "The history of the creation of the story" The Enchanted Wanderer
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"The Enchanted Wanderer"- the story of Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov, written in -1873. Included in the cycle of legends about the Russian righteous.
History of creation and publication
In the summer of 1872, Leskov traveled across Lake Ladoga to the islands of Valaam, Korela, where the monks lived. It was then that the idea of a story about a Russian wanderer was born. By the end of the year, the story was written, entitled " Black Earth Telemak" and offered for publication by the editors of the magazine " Russkiy Vestnik". However, the editor-in-chief of the magazine M. N. Katkov refused, referring to the "dampness" of the work.
The story was first published in the Russkiy Mir newspaper, from August 8 to September 19, 1873, under the title "The Enchanted Wanderer, His Life, Experiences, Opinions and Adventures" and with a dedication to S. E. Kushelev (it was in his house that Leskov first read the story).
Artistic Features
The narrative organization of the story is a tale - a reproduction of oral speech, an imitation of an improvised story. Moreover, not only the manner of speech of the narrator, Ivan Flyagin, is reproduced, but also the speech features of the characters he talks about.
The story is divided into 20 chapters, the first is a kind of exposition, a prologue, the rest tell about the life of the hero and are separate, more or less complete stories. The logic of the narrative is determined not by the chronology of events, but by the memories and associations of the narrator (“whatever I remember, then, if you please, I can tell”).
Formally, the story reveals similarities with the canon of life: a story about the hero's childhood, a consistent biography, a struggle with temptations.
dramatizations
- - opera The Enchanted Wanderer by R. K. Shchedrin
Screen adaptations
- - The Enchanted Wanderer
- - The Enchanted Wanderer
Write a review on the article "The Enchanted Wanderer"
Literature
- Dykhanova B. "The Sealed Angel" and "The Enchanted Wanderer" by N. S. Leskov. M., 1980
- Ozerov L. "The Enchanted Wanderer" // Literary Studies. 1981. No. 1
Notes
The story is included in the list of "100 books for schoolchildren", recommended by the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia for secondary school students for independent reading.Links
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An excerpt characterizing the Enchanted Wanderer
“She is not in Venice, Your Eminence. She and her father went to Florence to visit her sick cousin.- As far as I know, there are no patients in your family at the moment. Who fell ill so suddenly, Madonna Isidora? There was an undisguised threat in his voice...
Caraffa began to play openly. And I had no choice but to meet the danger face to face ...
“What do you want from me, Your Eminence?” Wouldn't it be easier to say it directly, saving us both from this unnecessary, cheap game? We are smart enough people that, even with a difference in views, we can respect each other.
My legs were trembling with horror, but for some reason Caraffa did not notice this. He glared at my face with a burning gaze, not answering and not noticing anything around. I could not understand what was happening, and all this dangerous comedy frightened me more and more ... But then something completely unforeseen happened, something completely beyond the usual framework ... Caraffa came very close to me, everything in the same way, without taking his burning eyes off, and almost without breathing, he whispered:
– You cannot be from God... You are too beautiful! You are a witch!!! A woman has no right to be so beautiful! You are from the Devil!
And turning around, he rushed out of the house without looking back, as if Satan himself was chasing him ... I stood in complete shock, still expecting to hear his steps, but nothing happened. Gradually coming to my senses, and finally managing to relax my stiff body, I took a deep breath and... lost consciousness. I woke up in bed, drinking hot wine from the hands of my sweet maid Kei. But then, remembering what had happened, she jumped to her feet and began to rush around the room, not really understanding what to do ... Time passed, and I had to do something, think of something in order to somehow protect myself and his family from this bipedal monster. I knew for sure that now every game was over, that the war had begun. But our forces, to my great regret, were very, very unequal... Naturally, I could defeat him in my own way... I could even just stop his bloodthirsty heart. And all these horrors would immediately end. But the fact is that, even at thirty-six, I was still too pure and kind to kill ... I never took life, on the contrary - very often gave it back. And even such a terrible person as Karaffa was, she could not yet execute ...
The next morning there was a loud knock on the door. My heart has stopped. I knew it was the Inquisition... They took me away, accusing me of "verbiage and witchcraft, intoxicating honest citizens with false predictions and heresy"... That was the end.
The room in which I was settled was very damp and dark, but for some reason it seemed to me that I would not stay in it for a long time. Caraffa came at noon...
- Oh, I beg your pardon, Madonna Isidora, you have been given someone else's room. It's not for you, of course.
"What's the point of all this play, monsignor?" - proudly (as it seemed to me) throwing up my head, I asked. “I would rather just tell the truth, and I would like to know what they are really accusing me of. My family, as you know, is very respected and loved in Venice, and it would be better for you if the accusations were true.
The story was written in 1872-1873. The idea came to Leskov during a trip to the Valaam Monastery on Lake Ladoga in the summer of 1872. published in the Russian World newspaper August 8 - September 19, 1873 under the title "The Enchanted Wanderer, His Life, Experiences, Opinions and Adventures." A separate edition of the story appeared a year later. Initially, "Russian Telemak", Leskov wanted to create a domestic "Odyssey". The second name is "Black Earth Telemak". Keeping the adventure line of the story, Leskov wanted to emphasize the nationality, democratism of his hero, a man "from the earth", a serf. Its final version - "The Enchanted Wanderer" - focuses on two words at once: "wanderer" and "enchanted". After all, a wanderer is one who seeks the truth, the truth, gets to the bottom of the meaning of life, as the heroes of Nekrasov's poem "Who Lives Well in Rus'" did. No wonder Flyagin is often overcome by "thoughts", and his nickname is Golovan. Severe trials, suffering and sorrows await the hero on his difficult path. This is the real "going through the torment" as it says in the Bible. But the unusualness of the Leskovsky wanderer lies in the fact that he is "enchanted", he lives not so much with his mind as with feelings, experiencing a lot, emotionally responding to various phenomena and aspects of life. It is no coincidence that he himself considers himself an "admired person." The prince calls him an "artist", and the listeners on the ship speak flatteringly of him as an "enchanted hero". This definition is truly justified. Already in the first chapter, passengers see "a bogatyr in the full sense of the word, and, moreover, a typical Russian bogatyr - simple-hearted, kind, reminiscent of Ilya of Muromets." But it is not only the external resemblance that is important, but the fact that his whole life, his behavior in overcoming misfortunes are filled with a heroic feat.
The hero of Leskov, possessing tremendous physical strength, at the same time is distinguished by amazing moral strength, courage, desperate audacity, readiness to take risks at any moment, a feat. It is distinguished by extraordinary stamina, resistance to adversity, vitality. He says to himself: "All my life I have been perishing and could not possibly perish." And indeed it is. Suffice it to recall the case when he falls into the abyss with the horses, or the episode when he throws himself into the icy water under Tatar bullets, or the pages of his life connected with Asian captivity. Heroism and inner immeasurable strength help him stay alive and unharmed.
Ivan Severyanovich becomes a symbol of his people, of Russia itself. It is not for nothing that it is said about him in the story: "A Russian man can handle everything." There is a feeling that the very history of the country stands behind Flyagin: nomadism of the people, horse crossings, the Tatar yoke, serfdom, campaigns in the Caspian Sea, wars with the highlanders in the Caucasus, religious quests. And he absorbs everything. When he hears the voice of the spirit: "Arm," he is going to go to war. He confesses to his listeners: "I really want to die for the people."
The story of N. S. Leskov is not only about the heroic, but also about the beautiful. After all, in order to be ready to courageously defend your Fatherland, you must be able to see and appreciate its beauty. And Flyagin is given this in the highest measure. Ivan Severyanovich, an artist and an artist at heart, is primarily conquered by nature. When he gets to the monks, he admires the road, along the edges of which "planted birches" have grown, "and from those birches there is such greenery and spirit, and in the distance the field view is vast ... "In a word, it is so good that it would be like this when all this and cried out ... "He carried this childhood memory to his later years. And here is how he talks about the Kursk night:" Stars are hung in the sky like lamps, and below the darkness is so thick that it is as if someone is rummaging around in it and touches. "Even in captivity, he can admire the steppe:" The feather grass is white, fluffy, like a silver sea, worries. "Flyagin admires and all living creatures he meets. Such is his passion for pigeons. clay feather, and the little dove is white, and so red-legged, very pretty!
Ivan Severyanovich, by the will of fate, turns out to be the nanny of the child, and there are no limits to his affection for the little girl. This weak creature Flyagin protects as much as he can until the time comes to give him to his mother. The wanderer is able to appreciate other people's customs and customs, without at all sharing the views of "foreigners". "I took all these curious examples into my mind," says Golovan.
And how he knows how to listen to a song, "languid, heavy, heartfelt", which "stings for the soul and takes it to the full." And yet, for a long time, horses remained the greatest charm of the Leskovsky wanderer. He admires the strong character of the horse, its "fun fantasy", its attraction to the will of the steppe, its sadness, but most of all - its beauty and perfection. "I understand beauty in a horse," Leskovsky's hero admits.
When Ivan meets Grushenka, a gypsy, he is fascinated by a woman and love. He says: "Here it is, where the real beauty is, what nature's perfection is called."
The very speech of the hero becomes an expression of another of his charms - the beauty of the language and its richness. And all Flyagin's "enchantment" was united in his mind into the concept of the Motherland and its people. After all, all these steppes, rivers, forests, herds, handsome horses - all this is the Fatherland. And all these coachmen, postilions, wrestlers, merchants, soldiers, uhlans, children, beautiful women are native people. And all this is worthy of charm. That is why Flyagin-Golovan, the bogatyr and enchanted wanderer, "really wants to die" for them.
Many are familiar with the work of Nikolai Leskov "The Enchanted Wanderer". Indeed, this story is one of the most famous in Leskov's work. We will now make a brief analysis of the story "The Enchanted Wanderer", look at the history of writing the work, discuss the main characters and draw conclusions.
So, Leskov wrote the story "The Enchanted Wanderer" in the period from 1872 to 1973. The fact is that the idea appeared during the author's journey through the waters of Karelia, when in 1872 he went to the island of Valaam, a famous shelter for monks. By the end of the same year, the story was almost finished and was even being prepared for publication under the title "Black Earth Telemak". But the publishing house refused to publish the work, considering it raw and unfinished. Leskov did not retreat, turning for help to the editors of the Novy Mir magazine, where the story was accepted and published. Before we make a direct analysis of the story "The Enchanted Wanderer", we will briefly consider the essence of the plot.
Analysis of The Enchanted Wanderer, main character
The events of the story take place on Lake Ladoga, where travelers met, whose goal is Valaam. Let's get acquainted with one of them - coneser Ivan Severyanych, who is dressed in a cassock, he told the others that from his youth he has a wonderful gift, thanks to which he can tame any horse. The interlocutors are interested in hearing the life story of Ivan Severyanych.
The hero of The Enchanted Wanderer, Ivan Severyanych Flyagin, begins the story by saying that his homeland is the Oryol province, he comes from the family of Count K. As a child, he fell in love with horses terribly. Once, for fun, he beat one monk so much that he died, which shows the attitude of the protagonist to human life, which is important in The Enchanted Wanderer, which we are now analyzing. Further, the main character talks about other events of his life - amazing and strange.
It is very interesting to note the consistent organization of the story in general. Why can you define it as a tale? Because Leskov built the narrative as oral speech, which imitates an improvisational story. At the same time, not only the manner of the main character-narrator Ivan Flyagin is reproduced, but also the peculiarity of the speech of other characters is reflected.
In total, there are 20 chapters in The Enchanted Wanderer, the first chapter is a kind of exposition or prologue, and the other chapters directly tell the life story of the protagonist, and each of them is a complete story. If we talk about the logic of the tale, it is clear that the key role here is played not by the chronological sequence of events, but by the memories and associations of the narrator. The story resembles the canon of life, as some literary critics say: that is, first we learn about the childhood years of the hero, then life is consistently described, it is also clear how he struggles with temptations and temptations.
conclusions
The protagonist in the analysis of The Enchanted Wanderer typically represents the people, and his strength, as well as his abilities, reflect the qualities inherent in the Russian person. It can be seen how the hero develops spiritually - initially he is just a dashing, careless and hot guy, but at the end of the story he is an experienced and mature monk over the years. However, his self-improvement became possible only thanks to the trials that he inherited, because without these difficulties and troubles he would not have learned to sacrifice himself and try to atone for his own sins.
In general, thanks to such, albeit a brief analysis of the story "The Enchanted Wanderer", it becomes clear what the development of Russian society was like. And Leskov managed to show this in the fate of just one of his main characters.
Note for yourself that the Russian man, according to Leskov's plan, is capable of sacrifice, and not only the strength of the hero is inherent in him, but also the spirit of generosity. In this article, we made a brief analysis of The Enchanted Wanderer, we hope you find it useful.
The idea of writing a work about a simple Russian traveler was born by the author in 1872. Leskov, who decided to make a trip to the Valaam Islands, having lived for some time among the monks, began writing this story in the summer and finished it by the end of the year. Having finished the work and giving it the title - "Black Earth Telemak", he offered his story for publication in the editorial office of a well-known magazine. To the disappointment of the author, the editor-in-chief of the journal was forced to refuse to publish this story, explaining his decision by the "dampness" of the proposed work.
A year has passed, the author's work was finally approved for publication. The newspaper that published the story was called Russkiy Mir. The story was published under the title The Enchanted Wanderer, His Life, Experiences, Opinions and Adventures. It was dedicated to Sergey Egorovich Kushelev. For the first time, Leskov read this story in Kushelev's house. However, starting next year, in further editions, this very “dedication” was removed.
The story itself consists of twenty chapters. The story begins with a prologue. The remaining chapters describe the life of the hero and consist of complete stories in the form of memories of the narrator himself (stories from childhood and sequential development).
One of the most relevant in the 19th century was the topic of knowing God, finding the right and righteous path. The author offered a number of original images that develop the theme of righteousness. He interpreted the definition of "righteous" as a person who was able to comprehend the truth of life. The assigned title for the story “The Enchanted Wanderer” consists of definitions: “enchanted” - that is, amazed, bewitched, shocked, “wanderer” - a person who has overcome the spiritual path. The protagonist of the story, who has gone through a personal peculiar way, is fascinated by this life.
Ivan Flyagin is the main character of the work. This is the story of a Russian, very simple man who loves horses. The author tells about his life and overcoming the difficulties encountered on his life path. Tragedy struck, he committed murder. As a result, he decided to enter a monastery. "Truth" for him is self-sacrifice. He really wants to protect the Motherland, to sacrifice himself for the sake of the people.
The essence of the story is the story of the main character's search for his place in this world, the knowledge of spirituality. Ivan was able to defeat evil in himself, he found inner peace, moral satisfaction, and the fascination of the universe. He discovered for himself the ordinary truth - to live for the sake of others.
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Several travelers, sailing on Lake Ladoga, got into a conversation with an elderly man of enormous stature and a heroic physique who had recently boarded their ship. Judging by the clothes, he was preparing to enter the monks. By nature, the stranger was simple-hearted and kind, but it was noticed that he had seen a lot in his lifetime.
He introduced himself as Ivan Severyanych Flyagin and said that he had traveled a lot before, adding: “All my life I have been dying, and I could not die in any way.” The interlocutors persuaded him to tell how it was.
Leskov. The Enchanted Wanderer. audiobook
Leskov "The Enchanted Wanderer", chapter 2 - summary
Ivan Severyanych was born in the Oryol province and came from the serfs of Count K. His father was the master's coachman, and Ivan himself grew up in the stable, from a young age learning everything about horses that can be learned about them.
When he grew up, he also began to carry the count. Once, during such a journey, a wagon with an old nun who had fallen asleep on top of the hay did not give way to him. Overtaking him by the side, Ivan pulled this monk on the back with a whip. Rubbing his eyes, he fell asleep under the wheel of his cart - and was crushed to death.
The case was hushed up, but the deceased nun appeared to Ivan in a dream on the same day. He reproachfully predicted a difficult life for him in the future. “You will die many times and never die, and then you will go to blacks.”
The prediction immediately began to come true. Ivan was driving his count along the road near a steep mountain - and in the most dangerous place of the descent, the brake of the crew burst. The front horses had already fallen into a terrible abyss, but Ivan kept the rear horses, throwing himself on the drawbar. He saved the gentlemen, but he himself, having sagged a little, flew down from that mountain - and survived only with unexpected happiness: he fell on a clay block and rolled down on it to the bottom like on a sleigh.
Leskov "The Enchanted Wanderer", chapter 3 - summary
Soon he got a pigeon and a dove in his stable. But the pigeons that were born to them got into the habit of stealing and eating one cat. Ivan caught her, whipped her with a whip and chopped off her tail.
This cat turned out to be master. The maid came running to scold Ivan the Countess for her and hit him on the cheek. He drove her with a dirty broom. For this, Ivan was severely flogged and sent to a tedious job: standing on his knees to beat small stones for the paths of the count's English garden with a hammer. Ivan became so unbearable that he decided to hang himself. I went into the forest and, already with a noose around my neck, jumped from a tree, when suddenly I cut the rope from nowhere a gypsy came from. With a laugh, he suggested that Ivan run away from the masters and engage in horse-stealing with him. Ivan did not want to follow the thieves' path, but there was no other choice.
Leskov "The Enchanted Wanderer", chapter 4 - summary
On the same night, he brought out the two best horses from the master's stables. They galloped off with a gypsy to Karachev and sold the horses dearly there. But the gypsy gave Ivan only a ruble out of all the proceeds, saying: “This is because I am a master, and you are still a student.” Ivan called him a scoundrel and broke up with him.
For the last money he made for himself, through a clerk, a holiday with a seal in Nikolaev, arrived there and went to work for a gentleman. The master of that wife with a repairman (an army horse buyer) fled, but his little daughter remained. He instructed Ivan to nurse her.
This matter was easy. Ivan took the girl to the seashore, sat with her there all day and drank goat's milk. But once a monk appeared to him in a slumber, whom he killed on the road, and said: “Let's go, Ivan, brother, let's go! You still have a lot to endure." And he showed him in a vision a wide steppe and wild horsemen galloping over it.
And her mother began to secretly go to the girl on the seashore. She persuaded Ivan to give her daughter to her, promising a thousand rubles for this. But Ivan did not want to deceive his master.
Leskov "The Enchanted Wanderer", chapter 5 - summary
The new husband of the girl's mother, a lancer repairman, also came ashore. First, he and Ivan had a fight, scattering that very thousand rubles along the shore, and then Ivan, taking pity, gave his daughter to his mother anyway, and fled from the owner along with this mother and the lancer. They reached Penza, and there the lancer and his wife gave Ivan two hundred rubles, and he wandered off to look for a new place.
Across the Sura River, horses were then traded. The Tatar horde of Khan Dzhangar brought whole herds from their Ryn-sands. On the last day of the auction, Dzhangar drove out a white filly of extraordinary playfulness and beauty for sale. Two noble Tatars began to argue for her - Bakshey Otuchev and Chepkun Emgurcheev. None of the others wanted to give in, and in the end they, because of the mare in defiance they went: taking off their shirts, they sat down opposite each other and began to flog one another with all their might on the back with a whip. Whoever gives up first will give up the mare to the opponent.
Spectators crowded around. Chepkun won, and he got the mare. And Ivan the Bogatyr got excited, and he wanted to take part in such a competition himself.
Leskov "The Enchanted Wanderer", chapter 6 - summary
And Khan Dzhangar now brought out a carac stallion, even better than that mare. Ivan sat down for him to flog with the Tatar Savakirei. They fought with whips for a long time, both were bleeding, and in the end Sawakirei fell dead.
The Tatars had no claims - flogged voluntarily. But the Russian police wanted to arrest Ivan for killing an Asian. He had to flee with the Tatars of Emgurcheev far to the Steppe, to the Ryn-sands. The Tatars considered him to be a healer, although Ivan knew only sabur and galangal root from potions.
Soon a terrible longing for Russia began to torment him. Ivan tried to escape from the Tatars, but they caught him and “bristled” him: they cut his feet and stuffed chopped horse mane under the skin. It became impossible to stand on the feet: the hard horse hair pricked like needles. Somehow it was possible to move, only by twisting the legs, “on the ankles”. But the Tatars did not offend the Russian wanderer in any way. They gave him two wives (one - a girl of 13 years old). Five years later, Ivan was sent to treat the neighboring horde of Agashimola, and she stole the “skillful doctor”, wandering far to the side.
Leskov "The Enchanted Wanderer", chapter 7 - summary
At Agishimola they gave Ivan two other wives. From all of them he had children, but he almost did not consider them as his own. In the midst of the monotony of the steppe, homesickness tormented me more and more. Chewing hard Tatar horse meat, Ivan recalled his village: how ducks and geese are plucked on God's holiday, and a drunken priest, Father Ilya, goes from house to house, drinks a glass and collects treats. The Tatars, on the other hand, had to live unmarried, and could die unseasoned. Often the unfortunate wanderer crawled out behind the yurts and quietly prayed in a Christian way.
Leskov "The Enchanted Wanderer", chapter 8 - summary
Once Ivan heard that two Orthodox preachers had come to their horde. He hobbled up to them, fell at their feet and asked for help from the Tatars. But they said: we don’t have a ransom for you, and we are not allowed to frighten the infidels with royal power.
Ivan soon saw one of these preachers killed nearby: the skin was torn off from his arms and legs, and a cross was carved on his forehead. Then the Tatars also killed a Jew who came to spread the Jewish faith among them.
Leskov "The Enchanted Wanderer", chapter 9 - summary
Soon two strange people with some kind of boxes came to the Tatars from nowhere. They began to frighten the horde with the “god Talaf”, who can cause heavenly fire - and “this very night he will show you his strength.” And on the same night, in the steppe, at first something hissed, and then a multi-colored fire began to pour from above. Ivan realized that it was fireworks. The visitors ran away, but left one of their boxes with paper pipes.
Ivan picked up these tubes and himself began to let out fires from them. The Tatars, who had never seen fireworks, fell on their knees in fear before him. Ivan forced them to be baptized, and then noticed that the "caustic earth" from which the fireworks were made burned their skin. Pretending to be sick, he secretly began to apply this earth to the feet until they festered, and the horse bristles came out with pus. Giving new fireworks for warning, Ivan fled from the Tatars, who did not dare to chase him.
The Russian wanderer went through the entire steppe and reached Astrakhan alone. But there he got drunk, got into the police, and from there he was taken to his count in the estate. Pop Ilya excommunicated Ivan from communion for three years because he had polygamy in the Steppe. The count did not want to endure the uninvolved with him, ordered Ivan to be whipped and put into quitrent.
Leskov "The Enchanted Wanderer", chapter 10 - summary
Ivan went to the fair and, like a connoisseur, began to help the peasants, who were deceived in the horse trade by gypsies. He soon gained great fame. One repairman, a noble prince, took Ivan to his assistant.
For three years the wanderer lived well with the prince, earning a lot of money on horses. The prince trusted him with his savings, because he often played cards, and Ivan stopped giving him money if he lost. Ivan was tormented only by his occasional "exits" (binge binges). Before drinking, he himself gave his money to the prince.
Leskov "The Enchanted Wanderer", chapter 11 - summary
Once, Ivan was especially drawn to the “exit” - and at the most inconvenient moment: the prince had just left to trade at another fair, and there was no one to give the money to. For a long time Ivan strengthened himself, but during a tea party in a tavern, one empty regular stuck up to him. This little man always begged everyone for a drink, although he assured that he used to be a nobleman and once even came naked to the governor's wife.
He started an ornate conversation with Ivan, all the time begging for vodka. With him, Ivan himself began to drink. This drunkard began to assure Ivan that he possessed "magnetism" and could rid him of his passion for wine. But until the evening they both got so drunk that they could hardly remember themselves.
Leskov "The Enchanted Wanderer", chapter 12 - summary
Ivan was afraid that the "magnetizer" would rob him, and he kept feeling the large bundle of money in his bosom, but he lay still. When both of them left the tavern, the rogue mumbled some spells on the street, and then brought Ivan to a house with lit windows, from where a guitar and loud voices could be heard - and disappeared somewhere.
Leskov "The Enchanted Wanderer", chapter 13 - summary
Entering the house, Ivan saw out of the corner of his eye how some gypsy “magnetizer” was leading out through the back door with the words: “Here’s fifty kopecks for now, and if we benefit from it, we’ll add more for bringing it.” Turning to Ivan, the same gypsy invited him to "listen to songs."
In the big room drunk Ivan saw a lot of people, there were also quite a few city rich people. Among the audience walked the indescribable beauty of the gypsy Grusha with a tray. She treated the guests to champagne, and in return they put banknotes on a tray. At a sign from the elder gypsy, this girl approached Ivan with a bow. The rich began to wrinkle their noses: why does a peasant need champagne. And Ivan, having drunk a glass, threw the most on the tray: a hundred rubles from his bosom. Immediately, several gypsies rushed to him and put him in the first row, next to the police officer.
The gypsy choir danced and sang. Grusha sang the plaintive song "Shuttle" in a languid voice and again went with a tray. Ivan threw another one hundred rubles. The pear kissed him for this - as it stung. The whole audience danced with the gypsies. Some young hussar began to wriggle around Pear. Ivan jumped out between them and began to throw one hundred rubles at Grusha's feet one after another. Then he grabbed the rest of the pile from behind his bosom - and also threw it away.
Leskov "The Enchanted Wanderer", chapter 14 - summary
He didn't remember how he got home. In the morning, the prince, who had lost to the nines, returned from another fair. He began to ask Ivan for money for "revenge", and he in response told how he spent as many as five thousand on a gypsy. The prince was stunned, but did not reproach Ivan, saying: "I myself am the same as you, dissolute."
Ivan ended up in the hospital with delirium tremens, and after leaving there, he went to repent to the prince in the village. But he told him that when he saw Grusha, he gave not five thousand, but fifty, so that she would be released to him from the camp. For a gypsy, the prince turned his whole life upside down: he retired and mortgaged the estate.
Grusha already lived in his village. Going out to them, she sang a sad song about “sadness of the heart” to the guitar. The prince sobbed, sitting on the floor and hugging a gypsy shoe.
Leskov "The Enchanted Wanderer", chapter 15 - summary
The windy prince Grusha soon got bored. She became homesick and often told Ivan how she was tormented by jealousy.
The impoverished prince was looking for a way to recoup his losses. He often went to the city, and Grusha was worried if he had a new passion there. The former love of the prince lived in the city - the noble and kind Evgenia Semyonovna. She had a daughter from the prince, who bought the two of them a profitable house to provide for, but he himself almost did not go to them.
Being once in the city, Ivan stopped by to Evgenia Semyonovna. Suddenly the prince arrived. Evgenya hid Ivan in the dressing room, and he heard from there all their conversation with the prince.
Leskov "The Enchanted Wanderer", chapter 16 - summary
The prince persuaded Evgenia to mortgage the house in order to get twenty thousand money for him. He explained that he wanted to get rich by buying a cloth factory and expanding the trade in bright fabrics. But Eugenia immediately guessed: the prince was simply going to give a deposit for the factory, pass for a rich man from this, marry the leader’s daughter - and get rich not from cloth, but from her dowry. The prince confessed that this was his plan.
The noble Eugenia agreed to give a mortgage on the house, but asked the prince: where will he put his gypsy? The prince answered: Grusha is friends with Ivan, I will marry them and build a house for them.
The prince proceeded to buy the factory, and sent Ivan to the fair in Nizhny to collect orders. However, when Ivan returned, he saw that Pear was no longer in the village. They said: the prince took her somewhere.
They were already preparing the wedding of the prince with the daughter of the leader. Ivan, yearning for Grusha, could not find a place for himself. Once, in agitation, he went out onto a steep river bank and, in desperation, began to call for a gypsy. And she suddenly appeared out of nowhere and hung around his neck.
Leskov "The Enchanted Wanderer", chapter 17 - summary
All ragged, being at the end of her pregnancy, Pear was trembling with frenzied jealousy. She kept repeating that she wanted to kill the prince's bride, although she herself admitted that she was not to blame for anything.
Leskov "The Enchanted Wanderer", chapter 18 - summary
Grusha said that when Ivan was in Nizhny, the prince once invited her to ride in a carriage - and brought her to some bee in the thicket of the forest, saying: now you will not live with me, but here, in a house under the supervision of three single-court girls .
But Grusha soon managed to escape from there: she deceived the girls while playing hide and seek. Having slipped away from them, the gypsy went to the prince's house - and, behold, she met Ivan.
Grusha asked Ivan to kill her, otherwise she herself would destroy the innocent bride of the prince. Taking a folding knife out of Ivan's pocket, she shoved it into his hands. Ivan pushed the knife away in horror, but Grusha said in a rage: “you won’t kill, I will become the most shameful woman in revenge for all of you.” He could not hit her with a knife, but he pushed her off the steep slope into the river, and the gypsy drowned.
Leskov "The Enchanted Wanderer", chapter 19 - summary
Ivan ran in desperation, wherever his eyes looked. It seemed to him that a pear soul in the form of a girl with wings was flying nearby. By chance, he met an old man and an old woman riding a cart. Upon learning that they wanted to recruit their son, Ivan agreed, changing his name, to go to the army instead of him. So he thought at least partly to atone for his sins.
For more than fifteen years he fought in the Caucasus. In a battle near a gorge, where a river flowed below, several soldiers tried to swim across to the other side under the shots of the rebellious highlanders, but all died from bullets. When there were no other hunters left, the wanderer Ivan volunteered to do the same. Under a hail of shots, he reached the other side of the river and built a bridge. Swimming, Ivan had a vision: a Pear flew over him and blocked him with wings.
For this feat, he received an officer's rank, and soon - and resignation. But the officers did not bring prosperity. The retiree Ivan pushed around for some time either in a small clerical position or as an actor in a booth, and then he decided to go to a monastery for food. There he was identified as a coachman.
Leskov "The Enchanted Wanderer", chapter 20 - summary
Thus ended the ordeal of the enchanted wanderer. True, in the monastery, at first, Ivan was often bothered by demons, but he resisted them with fasting and fervent prayers. Ivan Severyanych began to read spiritual books, and from this he “prophesied” about an imminent war. The hegumen sent him as a pilgrim to Solovki. On this trip, the wanderer met on Ladoga with the listeners of his story. He confessed the tales of his own life to them with all the frankness of a simple soul.