M. M. Prishvin is a writer who masterfully owns the word. He was perfectly able to create completely different artistic images and interesting descriptions of nature. The story "Mysterious Box", a brief summary of which is proposed in this article, is included in the series of works "Beasts". Its writing was the result of Prishvin’s trip to the northern forests.
M. M. Prishvin, The Mysterious Box: Summary
The narration is conducted on behalf of the author, who, under the guise of a narrator, told a story heard from an old hunter in Siberian forests. This hunter in the past was a partisan who received an award for his service. So, what does the Mysterious Box tell us about? The summary begins with a conversation between the narrator and the experienced hunter about how often wolves attack people and how scary it is for humans.
The hunter, smiling, says that for a person a wolf is like an ordinary dog. With due intelligence and courage, even unarmed can be saved from a flock of these animals. The summary of the “Mysterious Box” conveys the idea that this is the main difference between a dangerous Siberian predator and a vulnerable person.
The story of the wolf hunt with a pig
In support of his words, the former partisan tells the story of how four hunters went to the steppe to hunt wolves. They took a piglet with them in a large drawer without a lid to attract the attention of animals. It is known that in winter, wolves are especially hungry, therefore, they will necessarily respond to the squeal of a pig. When they left for the field, they began to pinch the piglet so that it squealed louder and attracted hungry animals. A pack of wolves came to the sound. The horse of the hunters was frightened by the predators and rushed away. A piggy box and one of the men fell from the sleigh.
Wonderful salvation
Part of the pack went to pursue the horse, and another dealt with the piglet. Having decided to eat a defenseless man, the wolves saw that he had disappeared, and instead a box turned upside down in the snow was moving. Animals were puzzled by a similar phenomenon.
After the box rushed to the snowdrift, the leader decided to check what was there. He got closer and touched the box with his paw, bending his face to the crack. The hunter, who was sitting inside, was not at a loss and blew on him. The wolf bounced off, and the whole flock rushed away from fear. His comrades returned for the hunter. So an unarmed man escaped from a whole flock of hungry predators.
Human word
In Prishvin’s story “The Mysterious Box”, a brief summary of which is proposed here, the human word is mentioned, which the wolf hunter “blew”. These are the words "Fools you, wolves." The superiority of intelligence and the use of improvised tools were able to help the hunter out of a seemingly hopeless situation.
The summary of “The Mysterious Box” is quite able to cope with the transmission of the main idea of the story, which is that human ingenuity and resourcefulness help people survive even in the most incredible and dangerous situations. And it is precisely these properties of the human mind, along with others, that place it one step higher than the wild predator.