Remembering the work of V.A. Zhukovsky, one can not help but talk about ballads. The most famous are Svetlana and Lyudmila. Few people remember the interesting, different from the other ballad "Cup". Being a free translation of the work of Schiller, the ballad Zhukovsky’s Cup, a brief summary of which we will present in this article, is of interest to the reader not only because of the plot and beauty of the syllable, but also because of the allegorical meaning and various meaningful strata. Their value is that they can be interpreted by each reader in their own way, giving rise to many unexpected judgments.
King's challenge
From the stage on the rock begins Zhukovsky’s ballad “Cup”. The summary of the first part of the work looks like this: the ruler summoned all his subjects to a high rock. He appealed to the knights and armor, so that they would return to him the golden goblet, which would be their reward. Having received the goblet, the king throws it from a high cliff into the depths of the sea.
He repeatedly appeals to the knights with his call, but no one dares to go for the cup. Everyone in complete silence looks down. Then the king had to turn to his subjects for the third time.
Page act
The page appears in the second part of Zhukovsky’s Cup ballad. In a brief summary of this part, it should be said that the young man unexpectedly for all volunteered to get this royal item. Everyone looked at him in amazement: he was very young and handsome, brave and daring.
The audience felt sorry for the brave young man, but they did not dare to pity him out loud. The page went to the very edge of the cliff and began to peer into the depths of the sea. They were terrible and mysterious: the waves beat noisily on the rocks, everything roared, as if a thunderstorm had begun. It seemed that water and fire were mixed, the abyss was raging. The young man, uttering a prayer, threw himself from a cliff.
Page trouble
The experiences of subjects are also masterfully shown in this part of the Zhukovsky’s Cup ballad. In a brief summary, we note that the subjects were very worried about the fate of a brave young man. All those present were horrified when the page disappeared into the depths of the sea. When they looked at this raging stream, no one had any doubt that he could not be saved. But they continued to peer into the waves.
The audience began to argue that they would not agree to jump off a cliff for any wealth of the king. Even if he promises them to share the throne with him. Because no one had yet got out of this sea abyss, and all the ships that got there turned into debris. But the struggle between water and fire is growing, sky-rocket foam soars up in a column. And suddenly the stream rushes up with a terrifying roar.
Page Return
The climax of Zhukovsky’s ballad “Cup” is extremely important. In a brief summary of this part, we should talk about the wonderful return of a brave youth from a raging abyss. The audience saw how he fights with the sea with one hand, and in the other he has the royal cup.
Page is happy that he was able to get out and can again greet the light. Happy and the audience that the young man managed to escape. He effortlessly gets ashore and falls at the feet of the king with a goblet. The ruler orders his daughter to give him a reward by filling the goblet with a stream of grapes. And the young man seems that nothing is better in the world.
Then the page encourages people to enjoy life and talks about what happened to him in the deep sea. He saw deep-sea creatures and only by a miracle could grab onto the cliff on which the cup was. Trying to escape from the monster, he fell into the tide, and raised a column of water to the surface.
A new challenge to the king
The most important thing in the ballad "Cup" Zhukovsky is the unexpected proposal of the ruler. Despite the fact that the young man proved his courage, he offers him a new task: he throws a ring with a diamond into this goblet and says that if the page rushes after him and takes it out again, he will become his beloved knight and will receive a royal daughter as his wife. The young girl began to ask her father to regret the poor page.
But the king, not listening to her, throws the reward into the depths of the sea. The young man, inspired by the gaze of the royal daughter, in which fear and pity was read, throws himself into the waves. But in vain did the princess peer into the waters. They continued to foam and make noise, but the page remained in the depths of the sea.
the main idea
In the "Cup" of Vasily Zhukovsky, the main characters are the tsar and the page. The cup symbolizes the king’s conscience. For him, this quality is not of particular value. Therefore, the king so carelessly throws the goblet into the sea. He does not think about what is wrong and unreasonable, asking to get it: after all, there are very few chances to return from the depths of the sea. This characterizes him as an unreasonable ruler.
But his subjects, on the contrary, are well aware of the danger and put their life and health above all treasures. Thus, it can be said that subjects are common sense, the link between risk and prudence. Page can be associated with risk and courage, defying fate itself. The youth can also be compared to fire: it burns brightly, attracts to itself, can warm, and the king is water, which can extinguish it at once.
For the king, the fact that the page was able to fulfill his task is a defeat, and his pride cannot put up with it. That is why he throws the cup again. To the end, the motives of the young man are not clear why he decided once again to throw himself into the raging sea. This could be a belief in their invulnerability after a miraculous salvation or a secret love for the princess.
But the main idea of Zhukovsky’s “Cup” is this: you do not need to tempt fate, even if you are lucky. One must be able to reason logically and reasonably. After all, the princess wisely said that there was no need to resubmit the page, and if the king still wanted to listen to what was happening in the deep sea, then let someone else go.
This ballad differs from other works of V. A. Zhukovsky. After all, the poet was a fan of romanticism and admired the work of German and English poets. And in the “Cup” there is a call to not succumb to emotions, but always try to reason before doing anything. This is what makes this ballad so amazing and unlike the others. The plot makes you think about whether people are guided by the right feelings when making decisions.
But it should be noted that features of a romantic trend are present in this work. The page is shown in the image of an ardent, bold and romantic young man. This can be understood by the way he describes everything that happened to him in the deep sea. The action itself takes place at the time of kings, knights and beautiful ladies, which is also characteristic of romanticism. Thus, the ballad “Cup” is an amazing and wonderful combination of romanticism and deep meaning.