Kuprin "Olesya": description, characters, analysis of the work. A.I

History of creation

A. Kuprin’s story “Olesya” was first published in 1898 in the newspaper “Kievlyanin” and was accompanied by a subtitle. "From memories of Volyn." It is curious that the writer first sent the manuscript to the magazine “Russian Wealth”, since before this the magazine had already published Kuprin’s story “Forest Wilderness”, also dedicated to Polesie. Thus, the author hoped to create a continuation effect. However, “Russian Wealth” for some reason refused to publish “Olesya” (perhaps the publishers were not satisfied with the size of the story, because by that time it was the author’s largest work), and the cycle planned by the author did not work out. But later, in 1905, “Olesya” was published in an independent publication, accompanied by an introduction from the author, which told the story of the creation of the work. Later, the full-fledged “Polessia Cycle” was released, the pinnacle and decoration of which was “Olesya”.

The author's introduction is preserved only in the archives. In it, Kuprin said that while visiting a friend of the landowner Poroshin in Polesie, he heard from him many legends and fairy tales related to local beliefs. Among other things, Poroshin said that he himself was in love with a local witch. Kuprin will later tell this story in the story, at the same time including in it all the mysticism of local legends, the mysterious mystical atmosphere and piercing realism of the situation surrounding him, the difficult fate of the Polesie inhabitants.

Analysis of the work

Plot of the story

Compositionally, “Olesya” is a retrospective story, that is, the author-narrator returns in memories to the events that took place in his life many years ago.

The basis of the plot and the leading theme of the story is the love between the city nobleman (panych) Ivan Timofeevich and the young resident of Polesie, Olesya. Love is bright, but tragic, since its death is inevitable due to a number of circumstances - social inequality, the gap between the heroes.

According to the plot, the hero of the story, Ivan Timofeevich, spends several months in a remote village, on the edge of Volyn Polesie (the territory called Little Russia in tsarist times, today the west of the Pripyat Lowland, in northern Ukraine). A city dweller, he first tries to instill culture in the local peasants, treats them, teaches them to read, but his studies are unsuccessful, since people are overcome by worries and are not interested in either enlightenment or development. Ivan Timofeevich increasingly goes into the forest to hunt, admires the local landscapes, and sometimes listens to the stories of his servant Yarmola, who talks about witches and sorcerers.

Having gotten lost one day while hunting, Ivan ends up in a forest hut - the same witch from Yarmola’s stories lives here - Manuilikha and her granddaughter Olesya.

The second time the hero comes to the inhabitants of the hut is in the spring. Olesya tells fortunes for him, predicting a quick, unhappy love and adversity, even a suicide attempt. The girl also shows mystical abilities - she can influence a person, instilling her will or fear, and stop bleeding. Panych falls in love with Olesya, but she herself remains distinctly cold towards him. She is especially angry that the gentleman stands up for her and her grandmother in front of the local police officer, who threatened to disperse the inhabitants of the forest hut for their alleged sorcery and harm to people.

Ivan falls ill and does not come to the forest hut for a week, but when he comes, it is noticeable that Olesya is happy to see him, and the feelings of both of them flare up. A month of secret dates and quiet, bright happiness passes. Despite the obvious and realized inequality of lovers by Ivan, he proposes to Olesya. She refuses, citing the fact that she, a servant of the devil, cannot go into church, and therefore, get married, entering into a marriage union. Nevertheless, the girl decides to go to church to please the gentleman. Local residents, however, did not appreciate Olesya’s impulse and attacked her, beating her severely.

Ivan hurries to the forest house, where the beaten, defeated and morally crushed Olesya tells him that her fears about the impossibility of their union have been confirmed - they cannot be together, so she and her grandmother will leave their home. Now the village is even more hostile towards Olesya and Ivan - any whim of nature will be associated with its sabotage and sooner or later they will kill.

Before leaving for the city, Ivan goes into the forest again, but in the hut he finds only red olesin beads.

Heroes of the story

Olesya

The main character of the story is the forest witch Olesya (her real name is Alena, according to grandmother Manuilikha, and Olesya is the local version of the name). A beautiful, tall brunette with intelligent dark eyes immediately attracts Ivan's attention. The girl's natural beauty is combined with a natural intelligence - despite the fact that the girl does not even know how to read, she has, perhaps, more tact and depth than the city girl.

Olesya is sure that she is “not like everyone else” and soberly understands that for this dissimilarity she can suffer from the people. Ivan doesn’t really believe in Olesya’s unusual abilities, believing that there is more to it than a centuries-old superstition. However, he cannot deny the mysticism of Olesya’s image.

Olesya is well aware of the impossibility of her happiness with Ivan, even if he makes a strong-willed decision and marries her, so it is she who boldly and simply manages their relationship: firstly, she exercises self-control, trying not to impose herself on the gentleman, and secondly, she decides to separate , seeing that they are not a couple. Social life would be unacceptable for Olesya; her husband would inevitably become burdened by it after the lack of common interests became clear. Olesya does not want to be a burden, to tie Ivan hand and foot and leaves on her own - this is the heroism and strength of the girl.

Ivan Timofeevich

Ivan is a poor, educated nobleman. City boredom leads him to Polesie, where at first he tries to do some business, but in the end the only activity left is hunting. He treats legends about witches as fairy tales - a healthy skepticism is justified by his education.

(Ivan and Olesya)

Ivan Timofeevich is a sincere and kind person, he is able to feel the beauty of nature, and therefore Olesya initially interests him not as a beautiful girl, but as an interesting person. He wonders how it happened that nature itself raised her, and she came out so tender and delicate, unlike the rude, uncouth peasants. How did it happen that they, religious, although superstitious, are ruder and tougher than Olesya, although she should be the embodiment of evil. For Ivan, meeting Olesya is not a lordly pastime or a difficult summer love adventure, although he understands that they are not a couple - society in any case will be stronger than their love and will destroy their happiness. The personification of society in this case is unimportant - be it a blind and stupid peasant force, be it city residents, Ivan’s colleagues. When he thinks of Olesya as his future wife, in a city dress, trying to carry on small talk with his colleagues, he simply comes to a dead end. The loss of Olesya for Ivan is as much a tragedy as finding her as a wife. This remains outside the scope of the story, but most likely Olesya’s prediction came true in full - after her departure he felt bad, even to the point of thinking about intentionally leaving this life.

Final conclusion

The culmination of events in the story occurs on a big holiday - Trinity. This is not a coincidence; it emphasizes and intensifies the tragedy with which Olesya’s bright fairy tale is trampled by people who hate her. There is a sarcastic paradox in this: the servant of the devil, Olesya, the witch, turns out to be more open to love than the crowd of people whose religion fits into the thesis “God is Love.”

The author's conclusions sound tragic - it is impossible for two people to be happy together when the happiness for each of them individually is different. For Ivan, happiness is impossible apart from civilization. For Olesya - in isolation from nature. But at the same time, the author claims, civilization is cruel, society can poison relations between people, destroy them morally and physically, but nature cannot.

A brief retelling of the work “Olesya” chapter by chapter from the Many-Wise Litrekon will help you remember the main events from the story. The detailed and accurate plot of the book will be useful for composing arguments in exam papers. Therefore, “Olesya” in abbreviation is not only good preparation for the lesson, but also a reliable resource for the exam.

The main character, a gentleman from the city, Ivan Timofeevich, arrives in a remote village in the Volyn province for six months. He is an aspiring writer, so he gladly accepted the offer to go into the wilderness. There he hoped to draw observations from life for future literary successes.

But the local people were not sociable and did not provide the master with grounds for observations. People only bowed to him and tried to kiss his hand (they were used to being slaves). He got bored with it, and the books he took for the trip soon ran out.

Then he began to engage in hunting, which became a joy for him. Bored, Ivan Timofeevich treated the locals with castor oil and iodine, got fed up with this, and then tried to teach the forest worker Yarmola to read and write. But he was so incomprehensible that in a month they barely mastered the spelling of his last name. Intelligent reading and writing were impossible in Yarmola's performance. With this, Ivan finished educating the people.

Chapter Two: The Witch's Tale

One evening, Yarmola talks about the witch Maynulikha and her granddaughter, who lived in this village several years ago. One day, the locals found out that the old woman practiced witchcraft (supposedly she took revenge on the woman for not giving her money: she bewitched her child, and he died), and they decided to drive her, and at the same time her granddaughter, out of the village. They broke their house and almost killed the witch.

Now the family lives in the forest. The narrator becomes interested in this story and decides to go into the forest to meet the mysterious witch and her granddaughter. Some people from the village went to her for witchcraft medicines. Yarmola does not like this idea, so he refuses Ivan’s offer to accompany him.

Chapter Three: Description of Olesya

The master gives up his desire to meet the witch and goes about his business. Later, while hunting, Ivan Timofeevich forgets the way home and accidentally finds a hut that in appearance resembles Baba Yaga's hut.

Going inside, the narrator realized that he was in the house of the witch Maynulikha, whom he had heard about from Yarmola. The stern old woman was not happy with the guest and tried to send him out of the house, but he decides to stay late and asks the old woman to tell his fortune, for money, of course. But before the witch had time to tell the storyteller’s fortune, a laughing girl with tame finches entered the house.

My stranger, a tall brunette of about twenty to twenty-five years old, carried herself lightly and slenderly. A spacious white shirt hung freely and beautifully around her young, healthy breasts. The original beauty of her face, once seen, could not be forgotten, but it was difficult, even after getting used to it, to describe it. His charm lay in those large, shiny, dark eyes, to which the thin eyebrows, broken in the middle, gave an elusive shade of slyness, power and naivety; in the dark-pink tone of the skin, in the willful curve of the lips, of which the lower, somewhat fuller, protruded forward with a decisive and capricious look.

Ivan Timofeevich places great emphasis on the girl’s eyes, finding cunning and simplicity in them. Her name was Olesya. The young lady apparently liked the guest, and she decides to see him off, and also says that he can visit them again, but without a gun (she doesn’t like hunting, she feels sorry for animals). On the way, she said that the local authorities were harassing them and regularly demanding money. One land surveyor even pestered Olesya, but she self-confidently and proudly declared that she rejected his advances. She does not need human society at all and does not communicate with the villagers.

Ivan returned home and heard a warning from Yarmola: it is a sin to hang around with witches.

Chapter Four: Fortune telling

In the spring, when the paths have dried out, the narrator returns to the forest to visit Olesya and her grandmother. The old woman does not like the guest, and she does everything to show that he is not welcome here. But Olesya is the opposite.

A man wants to know his fate and asks the girl to tell fortunes to find out about the future. But the girl refuses, and then completely admits that she has already laid the cards on him. She is afraid to ask fate a second time, and claims that “all the little girls are unhappy.” Olesya talks about the prediction that Ivan Timofeevich’s life will be sad. The cards showed that he was weak, that he would not truly love anyone, and that he would bring a lot of pain and disappointment to those who would adore him. He doesn’t know how to save money, he’s not a master of his words, and his kindness is not from the heart. He is too keen on the female sex, so he will have a lot of evil in his life. There will be a moment when he wants to commit suicide, but cannot. Of course, he will never marry, but in his old age he will receive a large inheritance. Olesya also says that great love awaits him from a girl with black hair, to whom he, unfortunately, will only bring pain “worse than death” and shame “that cannot be forgotten.” Ivan cannot believe that he will bring so much suffering to someone, but Olesya assures him that her fortune-telling always comes true.

She tells the story of a horse thief whose death she predicted by his face. A week after this, he was beaten to death by men from the village, driving nails into his heels. Olesya says that they are surrounded by bad people.

Chapter Five: Miracles

The guest eats stew with the hostesses, and then Olesya accompanies him to the road.
A girl with charming eyes tells a man about the miracles that she and her grandmother can do. But the man is adamant and does not believe in such fairy tales, to which Olesya decides to show him what she can do. Olesya takes out a knife and makes an incision on the man’s arm, and then heals the wound, stopping the bleeding. Then she makes him stumble out of the blue. Ivan is perplexed how the savage could learn to speak so well while living in the forest, and Olesya explained the phenomenon by the origin of her grandmother. She knows a lot and speaks well.

At the end of the chapter, the girl asks what the hero’s name is, and he says his name - Ivan Timofeevich.

Chapter Six: Controversies about Magic

Now Ivan is a frequent guest at Maynulikha’s. Olesya and he are often together. They become more and more attached to each other, and Ivan Timofeevich begins to suspect that their relationship is developing from friendship into a romantic affair. Their most interesting conversations begin when Olesya accompanies him to the road. On the way, she found out various details about the life and interests of people in cities, as well as about natural science. Ivan likes not only the girl’s beauty, but also her intelligence and free nature.

In one of these conversations, a man mentions that if Olesya falls in love with a man, she will get married in a church and move to the city, and the girl replies that since childhood her soul has been devoted to him (the Devil), and she cannot appear there. And their frequent argument began again: Ivan insisted that Olesya simply possessed knowledge gained by experience and ahead of science, and she stubbornly defended her magic from his mistrust. She was sure that unclean spirits gave strength to her and her ancestors - the witches. Ivan Timofeevich tries to find out the nature of the abilities of Olesya and her grandmother, but meager knowledge does not explain her skills. Despite the arguments, which always ended in irritation, Ivan became more and more attached to Olesya. But Yarmola stopped communicating with the master, moving away more and more. The hero did not kick him out only out of pity for his large and hungry family.

Chapter Seven: Eviction of the Witch

Once again, when Ivan Timofeevich visited Maynulikha, he noticed sadness on the old woman’s face. Olesya refused to say what was the matter. The sorceress told the man that a local police officer had come to them and demanded that she and her granddaughter leave the village immediately, otherwise things would be bad. Of course, Mainulikha tried to pay her off, but he didn’t take the money. It turned out that the witch lived on the land with the consent of one landowner, and now he died, and the new owner of the land decided to drain the swamps and disperse the unwanted guests. The women had exactly 24 hours to leave, but their passports were not in order. And they had nowhere to go, no relatives or friends. Ivan promised to “work hard,” but the matter threatened to fail.

Proud Olesya did not go to see off the guest this time out of pride: she was too offended by his intervention.

Chapter Eight: Bribery of a policeman

After Maynulikha’s story, Ivan Timofeevich calls the police officer, Evpsikhy Afrikanovich, to visit him and treats him to homemade starka. The man asks not to disturb Olesya and her grandmother until he himself comes to an agreement with the new landowner. At first, the servant of the law does not make a deal, citing the harmfulness of both women to local society. But then he gradually gives in to the persuasion. In return for the service, Ivan Timofeevich is forced to donate his gun.

The constable promises not to touch the women for now and takes with him radishes, butter and starka, kindly offered by the owner.

Chapter Nine: Breakup with Olesya

After a conversation with Evpsikhy Afrikanovich, their meetings with Olesya became less frequent. The narrator constantly thinks about the girl, he realizes that he is in love with her, and is even angry with himself for becoming so attached to her. However, Olesya herself sadly and silently sat next to him, and did not react to his pleading glances. She was always with him only in the presence of her grandmother and no longer accompanied him to the road. One day he sat with them all day and felt bad.

One day a man falls ill with a fever and falls ill for 6 days, unconscious and delirious. He barely moved and slept almost all the time. But then he got up and recovered.

Chapter Ten: Declaration of Love

As soon as Ivan Timofeevich recovers, he almost runs to meet Olesya. Seeing her, he understands that this girl is incredibly dear to him. During this meeting, the girl confesses to the narrator that she loves him. The girl’s gaze expressed a lot: anxiety, fear, reproach for absence, and declaration of love. He couldn’t say anything, but just looked at her...

In front of their grandmother, they spoke about the disease with restraint and quietly. Then she got ready to see him off and winked at him. The grandmother warily asked where she was going, and she desperately said that it was her business and she should keep the answer. It turned out that she and her grandmother had discussed this more than once: the harsh and terrible prediction haunted the women. She says that she is afraid of fate, and initially wanted to leave her, but understands that this is impossible. During the period of separation, Olesya suffered terribly and decided to go through torment just to feel the joy of love. And the whole night merged into some kind of enchanting fairy tale... The girl promised that she would not force or be jealous of Ivan. Let him care about only one love this night.

After the fatal step, Ivan asked if Olesya regretted what she had done. She said that she was happy and ready to meet her fate. Ivan was frightened by a gloomy premonition of trouble.

Chapter Eleven: The Proposal

The sweet love story of Ivan and Olesya continues for a whole month. But the time has come to leave the village, the authorities called him to the city, and the man wants to marry Olesya, although he understands that they are not a couple. In the end, he persuades himself to take this step, citing the example of scientists who marry seamstresses and live well.

At a meeting with Olesya, he forces himself to admit to leaving and propose. She was upset, but not surprised and did not show her confusion.

At first, Olesya refuses marriage and says that it is simply impossible for a number of reasons. She is illiterate, and he is a gentleman, what will people say when they see their couple? She doesn’t even have a father; her mother gave birth to her out of wedlock. But he soon realizes that he also cannot live without his lover. She wants to go with him like this, without a crown, because she does not want to bind him with vows. He even agrees to take his grandmother with him.

At night she woke up and asked if he would be pleased if she went to church? He replied that a man can even laugh at God, but a woman must believe in him. She disappeared into the forest, and he wanted to stop her and dissuade her, but he did not listen to the dictates of his heart... but in vain.

Chapter Twelve: The Beating of Olesya

That day, Ivan was leaving for work, and arrived at the height of the holiday. Everyone was drunk. But he noticed a strange change in people: they no longer approached him with bows and kisses, but looked with hostility and curiosity. One of them, a drunk man, cursed long and dirty, referring to Ivan’s relationship with Olesya. He wanted to beat him with a whip, but he left.

At home, Ivan learns from the clerk Mishchenko that Olesya was in the church, but the local women laughed at her, insulted her, beat her and threw stones at her. They almost smeared her with tar (this was the greatest shame), but the strong and dexterous Olesya ran away from them, although she suffered greatly. She was barely wearing her surviving rags instead of clothes, and her face was covered in scratches. The girl got angry and turned to the crowd, saying that they would all regret what they had done. After listening to the clerk, Ivan Timofeevich went into the forest. On the way, he came across Yarmola with a malicious expression on his face.

Chapter Thirteen: The Last Meeting

Arriving at the old woman, the man sees Olesya unconscious. Mainulikha is very angry with Ivan and scolds him, making sure that he is to blame for what happened. She immediately realized that he insisted on going to church.

Having come to her senses, the girl says that they need to leave forever, because they decided to leave the village. Now any event in the village will be blamed on them, and the residents will torture them to death. We need to run, and immediately. Ivan did not agree with Olesya’s arguments, he did not believe in fate and vowed to protect them. But the girl was inexorable: fate does not want their happiness, and she already sees separation. She asked him to leave for the night, citing fatigue. Grandmother even allowed them not to hide and say goodbye like human beings.

The girl's only regret is that she does not have a child with the man she loves.

Chapter Fourteen: Epilogue

In the evening of the same day, heavy rain and hail fell over the village, damaging the millet. Ivan Timofeevich's servant, Yarmola, in the morning advises the man to get out of the village as soon as possible, fearing that this is the work of a witch. People got drunk in the morning and were eager for reprisals against him and the witches.

Before leaving forever, the narrator decides to go into the forest again to say goodbye to the girl and warn her, but in the place he finds only a mess and a string of red beads. This is all he has left of Olesya.

The action of the story “Olesya” in a brief summary develops in the small, forgotten Ukrainian village of Perebrod on the outskirts of Volyn Polesie. The main character, who finds himself here, has no entertainment other than hunting with his faithful servant Yarmola and trying to teach him to read and write, he is bored and not at all happy that he will have to spend a whole six months here. One time, Yarmola surprises his master with his talkativeness and talks about the witch Manuilikha, who lives nearby. She has a difficult fate - she was a real witch, and it was for such activities that she was evicted.
There was a blizzard, and the hero could not go hunting. But immediately after the weather improves, he goes into the forest. The situation turns out unexpectedly - he gets lost and, while trying to find someone to help, stumbles upon someone's house. Convinced that a forester lives there, he enters the room and sees an old woman. Her appearance frightens the hero: she is exactly the real Baba Yaga, as described in children's folk tales. Despite the fact that Mainulikha was not particularly happy with the guest, she agrees to tell fortunes for him using the silver quarter that the hero gives her. In the midst of this mysterious act, a charming girl enters the house, as it later turned out to be the granddaughter of the witch Olesya. She has long black hair and looks like a girl about 20 years. She turns out to be quite kind to the guest and does not miss the opportunity to see him off.
The narrator realizes that he is falling in love with a girl. He feels inspired and understands that his heart is already firmly attached to this person.
With ardent desire, after all the roads in the forest have dried out, the narrator again goes to the hut to Maynulikha. He is met by Olesya, who again is clearly much more pleased with the guest than the sorceress herself. This time the hero asks the girl herself to tell fortunes, and she in response admits that she has already spread the cards on him. She says that the cards promise him great love from some woman with dark hair, and for those who love him immensely, he will only bring pain and suffering. The dark-haired girl will face shame worse than death, the fault of which will be the narrator himself.
After the fortune telling, Olesya again goes to see off the guest. They start a conversation where Olesya admits that she and her grandmother have a great gift. To prove it, she shows him what she is capable of - healing his deepest wound, and making him stumble when she runs away from him. To all the narrator’s attempts to find out where her witch grandmother came from, she only replies: “Grandma doesn’t like to talk about it.” On this day, the narrator reveals his name for the first time - the hero’s name is Ivan Timofeevich.
A spark clearly slipped between the heroes, and Ivan Timofeevich becomes a guest in the witch’s house. At first, Maynulikha was irritated by the hero’s frequent presence, but Olesya’s intercession and the hero’s gifts were able to melt her heart.
Ivan is in love with Olesya not only for her beauty, but her incredible intelligence attracts a man to a girl. They argue a lot about Olesya's gift, while the hero tries to justify her hobby from the point of view of science. But, despite the quarrels, a feeling of love and affection arises between them. The only one who does not support the couple is Yarmola - he is against his master’s connection with the family of witches, and he is also alarmed by their fear of the church. Because of this, tense relations develop between Yarmola and Ivan.
On his next visit, Ivan finds Maynulikha and Olesya in a bad mood. It turns out that the local police officer is to blame for their bad mood. He believes that the witch and her granddaughter are “the plagues of these places” and asks them to leave the house immediately. If they disobey, they will face severe punishment. Having learned about this, the hero offers his help. The old woman, despite her granddaughter's dissatisfaction, agrees. Ivan persuades the constable, but he agrees to leave the old woman and granddaughter alone only after the hero gives him expensive gifts and treats.
After this incident, Olesya chose to avoid any communication with Ivan.
Separation is a huge test for love; it only strengthens big feelings, but can kill small ones.
Here Ivan is struck by a serious illness - Polesie fever, a very serious and merciless disease. And only after recovery Ivan was able to solve the problem with Olesya. He learns that the girl only wanted to escape from fate. However, the feelings are strong - they confess their love to each other and are happy that it is mutual. Despite the fact that Olesya cannot forget the predictions, Ivan has bad thoughts about this, and Maynulikha experiences rage, the lovers are in an inspired state.
Meanwhile, Ivan needs to leave Perebrod, since his work here is ending. He intends to take Olesya as his wife and take her with him. Having proposed to his beloved, he is refused. Olesya replied that she did not want to ruin his fate and was ready to disappear, without marriage.
Ivan understands that his refusal to marry is directly related to his beloved’s fear of the church. But desperate Olesya says that she is ready to overcome her fear for the sake of the one she loves, and makes an appointment for him in church tomorrow, on the feast of the Holy Trinity.
Ivan has a feeling of foreboding.
The next day, Ivan does not make it to his beloved due to a delay at work. Upon arriving home, he talks with the local landowner, who talks about today's “fun”. It turns out that today in the church local girls caught a witch, beat her and wanted to smear her in tar, but she ran away. It was Olesya who came to church, defended the service, after which the women attacked her and beat her. As the girl ran away, she promised that there would still be due punishment for their action.
Ivan, who learns about all these details later, immediately runs to the witch’s house and finds Olesya beaten and feverish there and Maynulikha cursing Ivan. Later, when Olesya comes to her senses, she explains that she and her grandmother can no longer stay in this village and they should separate. She also says that she really regrets that she and Ivan don’t have children.
At night of the same day, a terrible natural disaster strikes Peregrad - hail. In the morning, Yarmola advises the owner to quickly leave the village, since the hail, which, according to the locals, was sent by those same witches, brought great destruction and now people began to say nasty things about Ivan. The hero runs to the witch's house with a warning of danger, but finds no one there - only the bright red ones remain in this house. This decoration will always serve as Ivan’s memory of Olesya’s pure and strong love.

Year: 1898 Genre: story Main characters: Ivan Timofeevich, Olesya

The narrator comes to a remote village for six months and, out of boredom, communicates and engages with peasants and hunts. One day, while hunting, the main character loses his way and ends up in a house where the witch Maynulikha and her granddaughter Olesya live, who helps him find his way back. he begins to visit their hut more often and bribes the policeman so that he does not kick the women out of their home. Ivan Timofeevich falls ill and does not come to Olesya for a week, and upon returning their feelings flare up with particular force, and the man proposes marriage to the girl. To please her beloved, one morning Olesya goes to church, but the village women attack her after the service - Mainulikha and her granddaughter are forced to leave. Young people say goodbye and part forever; Having entered the wooden hut before leaving, the narrator finds only Olesya’s red beads there.

The story teaches readers that for the sake of love, people must perform feats and fight for it. But not one person, but both must be ready to defend the bright feeling hidden in their hearts.

Read a short retelling of Oles Kuprin

Master Ivan Timofeevich leaves the big city for six months and finds himself in the remote village of Perebrod, on the outskirts of Volyn Polesie. The young man is unbearably bored, not knowing what to do with himself. He has already read all the books that the narrator took with him. He tried to treat local residents, but realized that all their illnesses - “I can neither eat nor drink” - were completely undefinable. Even an attempt to teach his servant Yarmola to read and write ended unsuccessfully.

In a few months, he was able to learn only the letters of his last name. Be that as it may, the servant became attached to Ivan, especially because the master, unlike the rest of his family, did not scold him for drunkenness. The only available entertainment for the narrator is hunting. One day an unimaginable snowstorm begins, and then Yarmola tells the main character that the witch Maynuliha lives nearby. No one knows where she came from, but because of her evil deeds, the residents evicted her outside the village, and now she lives in the forest in a wooden hut.

Soon it gets warmer outside, and the hero and his servant go hunting. Having gotten lost in the forest and missing Yarmola, Ivan Timofeevich comes across a small hut, which he mistakes for a forester’s lodge. Going inside, he discovers an old woman there, who in appearance very much reminds him of Baba Yaga, “as the folk epic depicts her.” Mainulikha is not happy about the guest's arrival, but becomes friendlier when the main character takes out a quarter and asks him to tell his fortune. In the middle of the fortune telling, a young girl with dark hair, the granddaughter of the witch Olesya, enters the house. Unlike her grandmother, the girl greets the guest good-naturedly and shows him the way home.

In the first days of spring, the narrator's thoughts constantly return to Olesya. At the first opportunity, Ivan Timofeevich goes to the witch. Olesya warmly greets the guest, but Mainulikha is again not happy about his arrival. He asks the girl to tell his fortune, and she admits that she has already spread cards on him. This year he will fall in love with a girl with dark hair, but this relationship will not bring them happiness: the one who falls in love with him will experience a lot of grief, she will face a shame worse than death.

To prove that she and Maynuliha really have a gift, she heals Ivan’s deep wound and makes him stumble when he follows her. The narrator tries to find out how the witch appeared in Polesie, but the girl evasively answers that the grandmother does not like to talk about it.

Since then, the hero often visits the witches. Mainulikha still greets her guest unfriendly, but his gifts and Olesya’s support gradually calm her down. Ivan and Olesya are becoming closer and dearer to each other, but the master’s relationship with the servant Yarmola is deteriorating - he is dissatisfied with Ivan Timofeevich’s behavior. He notes that witches are wary of churches and never go to them.

In Oles, the main character likes not only beauty, but also her freedom-loving nature, lively mind and childish innocence, at the same time not devoid of the slyness of a beautiful woman. She often asks the master questions about other countries, about the structure of the earth, about big cities. However, the girl’s thinking is still shrouded in superstitions; she believes that her soul has already been sold to the devil.

One day, Ivan, coming to visit, finds the witches in a bad mood. The local police officer, Evpsikhy Afrikanovich, wants to kick the women out of the house and threatens them with exile if they do not leave the house within twenty-four hours. Ivan Timofeevich offers his help, and Mainulikha accepts it, although Olesya is clearly unhappy. Having appeased the policeman with gifts and treats, the master manages to persuade him not to evict the witches from their home. The police officer leaves the women alone.

Proud Olesya is greatly offended and begins to avoid Ivan. He disappears for six days, struck down by a serious and serious illness. Having gained strength, Ivan Timofeevich finally meets the girl and manages to explain himself. Olesya admits that by her behavior she is trying to avoid the fate predicted by her own lips, but she understands that all her attempts are in vain, and confesses her love to the man. Ivan reciprocates her feelings.

Meanwhile, the time allotted for service in Polesie ends, and the narrator is forced to return to the city. He decides to propose to his beloved. The girl refuses marriage, offering to simply follow him into the city. Ivan suspects that Olesya is simply afraid of the church and the fact that God will not accept her. The girl inadvertently wonders whether the narrator would be pleased if she came to the service.

The day after the conversation comes the feast of the Holy Trinity, which falls precisely on the day when, according to popular belief, there are signs of a future crop failure. It is on this day that Ivan Timofeevich goes to a neighboring town on his official business. Driving among people, he notices their unceremonious and hostile looks. Having heard a rude and disgusting phrase addressed to him from a drunken man, the master gallops towards the house. In the narrator’s room, the clerk of the neighboring estate, Nikita Nazarych, is already waiting. He tells Ivan that after mass there was a scandal in the village. Later, the narrator was able to accurately reconstruct the entire sequence of events that happened that day.

Olesya, wanting to please her lover, came to mass, but was late and only made it to the middle of the service. She stood in the hallway the whole time, but even so, her appearance excited the local women: they kept looking around and whispering. The girl still found the strength to complete her service to the end. However, as soon as she left, a crowd of women was already waiting at the fence, getting closer and closer to the girl. At first they silently examined the frightened Olesya, and then began to make ridicule, rude words and curses. The witch tried several times to escape from the circle, but was pushed away again and again, until someone from the edge offered to smear her with tar. It is known that even the gates of the house where a girl lives, smeared with tar, are associated with an unbearable shame for her.

Angry, Olesya rushed at the nearest woman and knocked her down. Dozens of bodies mixed into a common mass, and the witch miraculously managed to get out of the huge pile of people. Stones flew after her, laughter and hooting sounded. Having run away, the girl turned around and shouted:

You'll cry your fill!

According to an eyewitness, this phrase was uttered with such intense hatred that the crowd first fell silent and then began to curse again.

Ivan Timofeevich immediately jumps on his horse and rushes into the forest. In the hut he finds Olesya unconscious. The old woman angrily scolds the master, blaming him for the girl’s misfortune. Having come to her senses, the witch calms the narrator, convincing him that she does not blame anyone for anything and is not afraid of anything, but greatly regrets her curse, shouted out of anger. The girl understands that if any misfortune happens in the village, the residents will consider Mainuliha and her granddaughter to blame. Olesya promises her lover that all the memories and experiences associated with the departure of the witches will soon be erased from his memory, and again his life will be easy and cheerful. The narrator feels that the girl is saying goodbye to him.

A terrible thunderstorm is raging over Perebrod. In the morning, Yarmola advises the master to leave as soon as possible. The hailstorm that happened the day before destroyed the crops of half the village, and many residents are angry and rioting, blaming the witch for their misfortunes. Ivan realizes that Olesya’s assumptions are coming true, and gallops to the hut to warn her about the impending danger. But the house is already empty. With tears in his heart, Ivan Timofeevich looks around in the hut, on the floor of which there are heaps of rubbish and rags lying around. Just as he is about to leave, he notices a bright thing on the window, clearly left there on purpose. It turns out to be a string of cheap bright red beads, called “corals” in Polesie - the only memory left of the beloved.