In 1967, the first novel by V. Rasputin, “Money for Mary,” was printed. It identified the main topics of the writer's work: the affirmation of the highest moral values, pain for the future of his native country and its people.
Two storylines are intertwined in the work: the trip of the protagonist, a villager, to the city to his brother, and a description of the events that caused a difficult decision for him. Five difficult days, on which the fate of Kuzma and his family depend, are described in the story by Valentin Rasputin. “Money for Mary” - a brief summary is offered below - an attempt to reach out to the hardened hearts of people who often forget what mutual assistance and selflessness mean.
Restless night
Kuzmu was awakened by the bright light of the headlights beating through the window. He got up, smoked and returned to bed. Then he had a strange dream. As if riding a car that woke him, stopping at the houses in which the light flashes. This means that there is money, and he takes it for Mary.
Kuzma wakes up a second time and can no longer fall asleep. He is tormented by one thought: to go or not? Finally he decides: there is no way out. There is no one else to ask. Need to go. Morning bus. He lay, as if in oblivion, until the morning. So begins the story of Rasputin. Money for Mary - a summary of the story it will show - turned for the hero into an obsession. Why? This will become clear later.
In town
In the morning Kuzma looked out the window: it was cloudy, as if it was about to snow. Suddenly a huge wind hit the wall. He will accompany the hero the whole long journey, first by bus, then by train.
Maria, having learned that her husband had nevertheless decided to go, answered: “He will not give it.” And when Kuzma found the envelope with the address and sat down at the table, asked: "... Will you come back?" While dressing, he heard crying, but it was time to go.
Rasputin continues to describe the weather and the long road in the bus, “Money for Mary.” A summary of his condition can be expressed simply. He sat in the last seat, his head pulled into his shoulders. It seemed to him that there was only wind and howling around.
In one of the villages, a bus stopped at a store. The sight of the saleswoman in Kuzma evoked memories of recent events.
Audit
5 days ago an unfamiliar man appeared in their house. He came to keep records at the store where Maria was selling. And in the evening of the second day, Kuzma, who returned from work, saw a crying wife at the table and an auditor sitting with a kind of bewildered and guilty look. He said that a major shortage was revealed - a thousand rubles, which was a prohibitive amount of new money. The situation was complicated - said Valentin Rasputin. Money for Mary — a brief summary of men's conversation confirms this — has never been the goal of life. She certainly didn’t take a penny to herself. And the education had such that to deceive it with others, for example, Selpovsky, who often transferred goods with someone along the way, cost nothing. Kuzma noted that he asked his wife not to get involved in this matter, but there was no one to work in the store, and she agreed.
The examiner himself understood that Mary was a victim. Therefore, he was ready to hush up this matter, if within five days - so much he would travel around the villages checking - the whole thousand would be returned to the cashier. Otherwise, there will be a court. With this he left.
The beginning of the first day
Maria did not get up in the morning. Having led the children to school, Kuzma went to the office. From this begins the story of the first of five days, Rasputin. The summary (money for Maria had to be obtained somewhere) was as follows. First, the man went to the chairman, who promised in two or three months, when the reporting year ended, to give a loan. Returning home, he found his wife in the same condition. After the words that still can be corrected, she suddenly jumped up and began to beg her husband to save her. Gradually, Mary calmed down and fell asleep. But Kuzma began to think: what to do? They did not have money - another 700 rubles taken for a new house were not given away. To sell a cow - you can stay without anything at all. There was only one thing left: to go to the villagers. All this resurrected in the memory of the traveling Kuzma.
At the station, tickets were only for a soft carriage, Rasputin notes. The money for Maria — the contents of the conversation with the auditor made it clear — were needed urgently. Because Kuzma decided that the five does not play a role. Now only a brother who had not seen each other for seven years could help.
First day: continued
Reassuring his wife, the man went to the headmaster, who always had money. He started an unpleasant conversation, the essence of which was that they would have to give, otherwise people would condemn. And he promised to remove one hundred rubles from the book.
Kuzma found Komarikh at home: she wondered on the cards and assured Mary that the state house did not fall to her. When the guest left, the wife suddenly laughed. Then she began to talk about what awaited her in prison, and burst into tears again. These bouts of unexpected mood swings testified to the heroine’s difficult state of mind, who at one moment lost her peace and settled life.
In the train
In the soft car, Kuzma felt awkward. He found himself in a compartment with the colonel, a man in a T-shirt and the venomous Gennady Ivanovich. Here the theme of the relationship to the village and the peasantry, which Rasputin will develop in his works, is outlined .
“Money for Mary” - this brief summary of the conversation in the compartment underlines this - a story in which the author is more concerned with the influence of the material side of life on the spiritual world of a person. Gennady Ivanovich reproaches the village for living on everything ready and enjoying a lot of advantages over the city. Most of all, he was indignant that the workers were sent to harvest. Kuzma was embarrassed by such a conversation, and he gladly agreed to move to another compartment in order to give his place to the preference player.
Damn shop
Summary of Rasputin’s novel “Money for Mary” continues the story of how Mary began to trade. She was not the first to be accused of embezzlement, because no one wanted to work as a seller. Yes, and Mary was persuaded by chance. At first, Nadia Vorontsova agreed to go to a store that had been closed for several months. But only after the birth of a baby is it in 4-5 months. Maria, however, lived near the store, and the loan for the house had to be paid. After much deliberation, she agreed to work temporarily. But four months passed, and Nadia said she changed her mind. And Maria got used to it, and the registration carried out at her request showed that everything was in order. Children were always supervised, and there was no need to sit in the store all day. She could do business, and when a buyer came, she ran to let him go. So everything went on as usual, until Maria began to insist that an audit should be carried out. And its result - it is not clear how the shortcoming arose, and even so large that the inspector himself was in amazement. And the woman’s life suddenly ended. Her attempts to appeal to people ended in nothing - her childhood friend only burst into tears, not offering concrete help. And for the third day she had not left the house. Cried and asked for death, imagining how Kuzma and four sons would remain without her.
Sleep on the train
Her husband was riding in another compartment. A married couple of old people evoked in him memories of his wife and their more recently, quiet, prosperous life. Asleep, he saw another strange dream, in which the collective farmers decided to collect - in detail, everything describes Rasputin - money for Mary. Its summary is that the chairman proposed counting all the inhabitants and dividing a thousand into them. It turned out that everyone had to pass only 4.40. Rounded and formed 5 rubles. It turned out more than the amount. When the needy were allowed to take as much as needed from the balance, it turned out that all the money had disappeared. Kuzma was terrified in a dream and woke up. So conveys the feelings of the exhausted hero Rasputin.
“Money for Mary” - a brief summary of the chapters makes it clear - the story is about how unpredictable a person’s life is and how easily it can change by chance.
End of the first day
After returning from the director, Kuzma listened for a long time to Grandfather Gordey who came to him, then visited his old friend, Vasily, who was also unable to help. In the evening, he first thought of a brother who lived well. The last time they saw each other was at her father’s funeral, and about three years ago Maria stayed in their city, but arrived with the conviction that she was not welcome there. Kuzma concluded for himself that his brother was a cut chunk, and no longer tried to meet him. But now was another matter.
Together with Vasily we went to Stepanida, who had money, but to no avail. Tired Kuzma that night fell asleep quickly and firmly.
Second day
The next morning, grandfather Gordey brought 15 rubles, which he took from his son. Then Vasily led Kuzma to his mother, and she, as if from “the other world”, gave back more than a hundred rubles, set aside for her own funeral and commemoration — she did not want to burden the children. Then, out of hopelessness, he looked into the office, where he met with the chairman. The latter had a difficult fate. He spent seven years in prison, as in strad with his own money he bought fuel from a skipper for a collective farm. This was qualified as wrecking - there was official fuel on the ship - and they gave a real time. After his release, they were not allowed to serve for several years, and then they themselves came to ask. The innocently injured chairman understood Mary better than anyone, and therefore found a way out. He suggested that the specialists give a monthly salary - it was 640 rubles - to Kuzma. Maybe not right away, but everyone agreed. And in the evening, the director brought the promised 100 rubles. It turned out a decent amount, and Kuzma, who had experienced incredible embarrassment and shame all day, still could not help but rejoice.
Day three
In the morning, when I went to the office for money, I met with a mechanic. He complained that a friend was coming to him, but there was no money — Kuzma would give him 30 rubles. Then he listened to the unpleasant and stinging speeches of the accountant, who said that he had already spent his salary. The wife of a veterinarian will come home to Kuzma for money. So yesterday’s mood of the hero will soon disappear - a little more than half the money. Two days remained before the auditor arrived, and his brother had only hope.
In the town
Coming out of the car Kuzma froze. Everything around was covered with snow, and the wind seemed to be gone. The man took it as a good sign and headed for the bus stop. Once on the right bus, he suddenly felt lost and lonely, and the whole story with money seemed insignificant in comparison with what was now waiting for him.
Kuzma found his brother's house and knocked. “... Pray, Mary! They will open it for him now. ”
So unexpectedly ends the story Rasputin Valentin Grigorievich. “Money for Mary,” the summary of which you read, has an open ending, and each reader has the right to think up subsequent events.