Vasil Bykov is a Soviet writer who devoted many of his works to the tragic history of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War. In his story "Sign of trouble", a summary of which you can now read, also tells about the fate of people who had to survive the horrors of these years. The writer told about the heroism of the Soviet people and the strong character of a simple Belarusian woman in his famous work.
Stepanida and Yanka
Vasil Bykov in 1982 wrote the book “Sign of trouble”. The summary of the work will introduce the reader to the main characters, the plot, help to analyze the story, draw conclusions.
In the first chapter of the book, we get acquainted with Stepanida, who grazes her cow named Bobovka. Going back, she saw Janka. This is a country boy, an orphan. He is deaf and dumb, the writer talks about his tragedy a little later.
The young man grazed a herd of cows. Seeing that he was too lightly dressed and could freeze, a compassionate woman explained to him with signs that he should go home for warm clothes.
After some time, Janka ran back, by his expression, with gestures, the woman realized that something had happened. But no matter how much the guy tried to explain to her, he did not succeed. Then Stepanida left her animal under the supervision of Janka and went in the direction where he was pointing.
The Germans came
Stepanida herself and her husband Petrok Bogatka lived on a farm called Yakhimovschina. At that time the Great Patriotic War was already underway. But while the residents behaved as in peacetime. They harvested grain from collective farm fields, dug potatoes, made stocks for the winter, looked after cattle.
There were no Germans in the village, so life was rather measured, without any special incidents. But that day everything changed. We learn about this from the story "Sign of trouble." The summary of the book will tell about the next moment.
When the woman reached the bridge, she saw that people were swarming around him. It was the Germans who restored the river crossing the partisans destroyed by the partisans.
Arriving home, she told her husband that the Germans were in the village. They began to think together how to be now. First of all, the husband and wife hid the piglet, because the enemy soldiers would not stand on ceremony with him, but would be cut and eaten. Then they thought where to hide the cow, but did not find a way out.
Stepanida wanted to take away also the things of the daughter Feni, who had studied in Minsk before the war, and found among them a letter that the woman was handed to the collective farm for the flax stripping. Petrok said that she would burn this award, which was stamped, but the brave woman refused.
The summary of the book “Sign of trouble” conveys further events, namely the arrival of policemen and Germans in the house.
Uninvited guests
Soon the policemen came to the house - Kolondenok and Guzh. They said that an important German boss would arrive soon and, along with the guards, would settle in the house at Bogatka. This concludes the third chapter.
Passing the “Sign of trouble” in abbreviation, the summary cannot but include descriptions of peasant life, the everyday affairs of ordinary people. Stepanida was constantly busy with something: she was grazing, milking a cow, feeding chickens, a piglet. Bykov describes how a woman chopped grass in a trough with a chop - preparing a chicken stirrer.
These moments indicate that she was a good housewife. During this occupation, Stepanida reflected that her husband could not resist the police, since he does not have male firmness and independence.
The woman was not afraid of the police, because she despised them. She was not afraid of the Nazis, who chose their home for housing. When they ordered Stepanida to milk milk for them, she brought it, but very little, saying that it was no more. Then the Germans themselves went to milk the cow and revealed the woman’s deception. But she was not afraid. At first, Stepanida did not even realize that for this the German wanted to kill her, but could not unfasten the holster. Then the fascist began to whip the rebellious woman with a chain from a holster, but she steadfastly survived this.
Here about such a simple, but courageous and unyielding woman Vasil Bykov told in his novel “Sign of trouble”. The summary goes to chapter eight.
Fascists are rampaging
In this chapter we learn about Petruk’s experiences. Enemies drove him and his wife out of the house and settled there themselves with complete comfort. The couple was forced to live in a barn. Once Petroc, getting up from a solid couch, went out into the garden and saw soldiers shamelessly shaking his apple tree. One even climbed onto her. At first, the man wanted to complain to the sergeant major, but then he realized that this would not lead to anything.
Uninvited guests shook the second apple tree, began scurrying around the garden, mercilessly trampling vegetables that the owners had not yet managed to harvest. After that, the barbarians wanted milk. The owner went to look for Bobovka, which his wife left to graze.
Hearing from her husband that the Nazis wanted milk, the woman began to milk a cow right on the street. She decided that it was better for milk to go to the ground than the invaders would get. They killed the cow when they could not get what they wanted from it. Such a sad moment is described in the book “Sign of trouble”. A summary of the work proceeds to the next, ninth chapter.
Chapters 9-11
It was not possible to save the cow, then Stepanida wanted to save at least a pig. Together with Jank they hid the animal in a badger hole. From the same chapter we learn that a brave woman made her way to the night where the German chef’s rifle hung and drowned her in a well.
After that, the invaders began to rage even more. They forced Petrok to dig a hole in the toilet for them, but the policemen who arrived told the old man to go dig potatoes with his wife. Petrok disobeyed the order, and the officer hit him hard.
But when the man built the toilet, he was praised. To celebrate, he decided to ask the soldiers to give their violin, which they took. At first they ordered him to play for a long time for them, then they gave the instrument away.
At the end of chapter 11, Stepanida finds out that they killed Yank ...
Chapters 12-13
In the twelfth chapter, the heroine of the story recalls the pre-war time. When Soviet power was established, it was decided to accelerate the pace of collectivization. At one of the meetings of the commander (committee of the poor) , it was decided to dispossess Ivan Guzhov, whose son subsequently became a German police officer. Stepanida hesitated, but voted against it. However, by a majority vote, it was decided to dispossess Guzhov.
But this was not limited to. At one of the following meetings, it was decided to dispossess even those who had once used hired force. Police officer Vasily Goncharik was ordered to dispossess his family of his bride Anna. After that he shot himself. The policeman was Jank's older brother, who became deaf and dumb at the age of three.
At that time, many families suffered innocently. Almost everything was taken from them and sent together with young children to Siberia or other remote regions of the country. Not all survived after this. V. Bykov V.V. knew and told about this inglorious part of the country's history.
“Sign of trouble”, a summary of the chapters - the second half of the story
In chapter 14 we learn how Stepanida and Petrok got married. They worked at the farm of Adolf Yakhimovsky. The woman was expecting a baby, soon gave birth to a boy Fedya.
After the revolution, the rich began to be robbed of the land and given to the poor. Thus, the young couple got the farm.
At first, Stepanida was glad that they would now have their own land, economy, but she was ashamed that they were getting this through someone else's misfortune. Although Adolf Yakhimovsky continued to live in his house, and Stepanida tried to help and take care of him, the old man did not survive dispossession and hanged himself.
Before that, the Rich Girls found a frozen lark and thought that this, as Bykov said, was a "sign of trouble." The summary of the book will end soon, but it remains to tell about the most important and sad point.
In the following chapters, the author continues to talk about the pre-war memoirs of Stepanida, about the ongoing dispossession.
Feat of a woman
The rich suffered much grief during the war. An elderly man was forced to go build a bridge. From these works he came home barely alive. Then the visiting policemen beat an elderly couple, as they tried to find moonshine in their house and thought that they would not give it back.
Petrok had a bottle hidden in the forest. He secretly took her to wash his wife’s wounds, but Gouge took away the moonshine. Then Petroc could no longer remain silent. Hearing curses addressed to them, the Germans beat him and take him away.
After the woman came to, she decided to take revenge on the Nazis. A peasant woman heard that one of the little townsmen had an unexploded bomb. She exchanges it for a pig and barks. The police found out about this and tried to get into the closed house to Stepanida. She, seeing that there is no salvation, sets fire to the source in which she was, and perishes. This concludes the book and the summary.
“Sign of trouble”, Bykov V. V: analysis of the work
Stepanida did not, she died, but failed to break her spirit, humiliate, defeat the enemies. A buried bomb will cause fear in them, as it can explode at any time.
The author shows that even the limp and submissive Petrok at the end also does not withstand bullying and begins to rebel.
Bykov spoke about the difficult fate of an elderly married couple. Readers are very sorry for them. But they were able to live with dignity. Miracles of courage were shown by a simple Belarusian woman. She personifies the image of the peasant heroines who made a great contribution to the victory over the invaders! Everlasting memory.