It's no secret that true art can work wonders. This idea is proved in his short story “The Old Cook” by Paustovsky. The summary of the work takes us to the end of the XVIII century - at the time when the Austrian composer, known to the whole world - V. A. Mozart, lived and worked.
On the verge of death
1786 year. A decrepit wooden gatehouse in Countess Thun's garden on the outskirts of Vienna. Next to her is a booth where a dog lives his life. Its owner, as Konstantin Paustovsky points out , the old countess cook, was dying. He was blinded by the heat of the stoves and for the past few years has been kept by the hostess. Together with the cook, his eighteen-year-old daughter Maria lived. The main wealth of the girl was an old harpsichord, which stood out against the background of a miserable situation. He was sensitive to every sound made in the house, for which the cook called the instrument a guard.
The desire to open the soul
The girl washed her dying father and put on a clean shirt. At this moment, notes K. G. Paustovsky, the old cook said that one should confess before death. He never loved priests, so he asked his daughter to go out and call the first person to pass by. The old man wanted to open his soul to a stranger and was sure that no one would refuse a dying man. Maria hesitated, but ran out into the street. I had to wait a long time. Finally she saw the man and set out to him the request of her father. He calmly listened to the girl, and then went to the gatehouse.
Confession
The stranger turned out to be a very thin and small young man, dressed simply, but elegantly. He sat down beside the bed and said cheerfully: “Speak! Perhaps, by the power given by the art that I serve, I can alleviate your suffering. ” So introduces a new hero in his work K. Paustovsky. The old cook, whose story about one episode from his life is given below, told that he feels a sin. When his wife became seriously ill, he stole a golden saucer from the hostess and sold it to buy the necessary medicines and food. Only it still did not help, and Martha died. And conscience did not give man rest all these years. Upon learning that no one of the servants was punished, the young man noticed that what had happened was not a sin, but a feat of love. Then he wanted to know about the old man’s last will. The dying man asked the stranger to take care of Mary. Then he added that his dream was not feasible, since he would like to once again be in a flowering garden and see his wife young and healthy.
Resurrection of the past
The young man suddenly said: “Good!” He went up to the harpsichord and began to play - Paustovsky continues the story “The Old Cook”. A summary of the next scene shows how omnipotent real art is. During the performance of a piece of music, the stranger was pale. And for the first time in many years, the harpsichord sang for real. Music filled the gatehouse and garden. Even the dog got out of his booth and sat quietly shaking his ears. And the old man suddenly got up and said that he sees a young, laughing Martha. He remembered that winter day in the mountains when they first met.
The stranger continued to play. At the same time, he painted a verbal picture in which a magnificent spring garden was filled with the first flowers. "I see!" - the old cook said enthusiastically. Paustovsky (the summary of the episode confirms this) managed to convey the feelings of a dying man, already expecting nothing from his life, who unexpectedly came into contact with beautiful music and his past.
The secret is revealed
The old man asked to open the window. He breathed greedily and said that he saw everything as if in fact he was back in his youth. Now he wanted to know only one thing - the name of the man sitting at the harpsichord. “Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,” said the stranger. Maria bowed low to the famous composer. When the girl straightened up, the old cook was already dead. And outside the window a dawn flared up, illuminating the garden covered with wet snow. Thus ends his work “The Old Cook” by Paustovsky, the summary of which you just read.
Story composition
The work resembles a confession and leaves the reader with a bright feeling, however, like the other creations of this author. The story can be divided into two contrasting parts: the feeling of melancholy and despondency caused by the first lines of the work is gradually replaced by the belief that spiritual kindness and willingness to selflessly help one’s neighbor are still preserved in the world of people. Let's see how K. Paustovsky achieves this.
"The Old Chef" (genre - story): artistic techniques
The work begins with a description of the gloomy atmosphere: the gatehouse where the old man dies is “decrepit,” the benches in the house are “lame,” the dishes are covered with cracks. In addition, the branches in the garden are “rotten”, and the gate is “rusted”. To this can be added the dark sky, cold rain and the approaching "black night". The fate of the blind owner was shared by his dog, who could no longer bark and dutifully awaited the end.
The young man seemed to bring light to the gatehouse: his black camisole with crystal buttons reflected the sparks of a candle. He was cheerful and shook his head in a boyish way. When the music began, the dark night (like the sky) for the old man turned first into blue and then into blue. And the garden in his imagination was filled with white flowers. And the rain on the street was replaced by wet snow, which in the end of the story shone on tree branches. Thus, the antithesis becomes the main means of expression, helping to understand the author's position: true art is able to color everything around with a radiant light and revive life.
In addition to the color scheme, an important place in the story “The Old Chef” Paustovsky (readers' reviews say that this is to some extent a piece of music) diverts sound recordings. Already on display, we hear the crunch of wind-blown branches, the quiet grunt of a dog, the trembling, senile hum of a harpsichord. These unpleasant sounds are replaced by the melody that a stranger walking along the street sings.
Finally, a “quick ringing" scattered across the gatehouse, and then real music sounded by a harpsichord sounded in a loud voice. She was so magnificent that she made the dog leave her booth, and the old man felt healthy and sighted again. Maria did not remain indifferent to the melody that sounded: she suddenly distinctly imagined a fragrant garden with blossoming apple trees. The enchanting power of real art turned out to be so powerful.
The image of the composer
A stranger from the very beginning makes a good impression. He is cordial and responds without question to Mary’s request. His playing on the harpsichord fills with peace and happiness the last minutes of the old man's life. In fact, a deep mystery is being performed in the eyes of the reader: a dying man under the influence of divine music feels this forgiveness given above, his conscience is finally calmed down.
The genius of the composer awakens their best qualities in people, gives happy minutes, and, if necessary, performs the mystery of the transition of the soul to another world. It's no secret that music can emotionally affect a person when it is difficult to find words. This is its advantage over other forms of art, which Paustovsky managed to emphasize in his work. “The old cook” (analysis confirms this) - the story of how a pipe dream, thanks to the divine influence of sounds extracted from the harpsichord, became a reality for a dying old man.
By the way, Mozart himself lived a short (only 35 years), but a joyful and fruitful life. Musical works written by him (over 600), centuries later, delight our ears. And D. Shostakovich called it “the youth of music, the ever-young spring, bringing the joy of spring renewal and spiritual harmony.”
Problems of conscience and true love in the story
The meeting of the great composer and the old chef was led by the latter's desire to confess the only sin that he committed in his life. This is the theft of a golden saucer from the hostess. For many years she does not give rest to Johann Meyer. In addition, he wanted to repent to his daughter, whom he taught never to take someone else's. Tormented by the fact that gold did not help to heal Martha, which means that theft was in vain.
To alleviate the mental suffering of a crystal-clear man, always accustomed to living in harmony with his own conscience, the author sends him a meeting with Mozart. The composer was able to not only listen to the old man, but also, finding out the details of what happened, make a fair decision. Meyer is not guilty that he wanted to save a dear person from death. This means that this is not a theft, but a “feat of love”, which not everyone is capable of. Nevertheless, the story of the hero teaches the reader to be more attentive to his actions, so that later he does not have to answer to his own conscience.
Instead of an epilogue
“The Old Chef” is not the only work of K. Paustovsky in which he tried to show how music can influence a person’s feelings. For example, the story “Basket with Fir Cones” about another great composer, E. Grieg, is devoted to the same topic. And the writer himself, like his brilliant heroes, encourages the reader to appreciate the good relations between people, teaches to see and understand the beautiful around him, to live for the sake of others.