In the difficult troubled nineties of the nineteenth century, at the time of the birth of the first popular revolutionary organizations, during the active struggle of the working class for their rights, a new name appeared in the arena of fiction Russian literature - the writer Alexei Maximovich Gorky, later named the poet of the revolution.
First samples
In the first poetic samples A.M. Gorky sounded bitterness and disappointment from hostility, evil and surrounding lies. But not only readers of that time were familiar with early poetic works. During this period of life, the first romantic stories of the writer were written, which brought A.M. Bitter worldwide fame. Against the background of gloomy literary works about the end of the world, the appearance of the writer’s stories was like a glimpse of new fresh sounds.
One of the earliest and most recognizable works of the time is the story written by Maxim Gorky - “The Old Woman Izergil”, a summary of which is described in this article. This instructive work has long been included in the school curriculum, however, you understand the depth of its meaning sometimes already in adulthood.
Story writing
We know from history that the writer traveled a lot, in his youth he visited Bessarabia, where he met ordinary people, lived in this environment, listened to stories, legends, and legends. Heard stories formed the basis of stories written by Maxim Gorky. "Old Woman Isergil" - a summary of several legends that formed the basis of this work.
The period of writing the story coincides with the era of the development of capitalism in tsarist Russia, which began to develop especially rapidly after the famine that befell the country in 1892. A large number of peasants from starving devastated villages were forced to look for work so as not to die of starvation. Weren't these circumstances the impetus for writing The Legends of the Heart of Danko, which was included in the story composed by Maxim Gorky? "Old Woman Izergil" - a summary of the second legend, which has been preserved by the Russian people in tales and tales from time immemorial. Most likely since the Mongol invasion.
Summary
If dry language retell the contents of this work, then we will see that at the beginning of the story describes the old woman who saw the light. It was her name that called the creation of Gorky, who decided to put a description of legends in her mouth.
In one of the legends about Larry - the son of an earthly woman and an eagle - there is a story about a handsome, strong and arrogant young man who, like his father, a proud eagle, looked down on people. This legend begins the story written by Maxim Gorky. The old woman Isergil narrates on the seashore, peering into the night steppe, on which the shadows of clouds running across the night sky began to fall. The old woman said that Larry, driven out by the tribe for his cruelty and pride, was punished with loneliness and, in anticipation of death, became a shadow. The young man was so selfish and arrogant that he had no place among ordinary people who were outraged by his arrogance. Thinking about the punishment for him, Larry wanted to kill, but the wise old man, looking at the young man, realized that the highest suffering would be the expulsion of him from society. The story describes how Larry, wanting to die after decades of lonely existence, could not even commit suicide, the blade of a knife broke on his chest, and the earth became soft and parted, preventing the narcissistic guy from banging his head on her.
Such was the punishment for man for excessive pride, as Maxim Gorky states. The Old Woman Isergil, a brief summary of which was first given in Samara Newspaper in 1895 (a year after writing the story), was published a little later in the same newspaper in several issues in its entirety.
However, Maxim Gorky also described the second legend in the work, which tells about humanity and readiness for self-sacrifice in the name of others. Danko was the name of the young man who led desperate people through a dark dense forest, and when the ungrateful crowd began to murmur at him for such a difficult and thorny path that he showed them, he decided to lighten the path with his ardent and warm heart, tearing it from his chest .
conclusions
The interweaving of two legends shows the different sides of human thinking and attitudes towards difficulties. All this is reflected in the story written by Maxim Gorky - “The Old Woman Izergil”, a brief summary of which cannot convey the depth that can be felt by reading the work in full. The smallest details in the description of the arrogant Larry, his beauty and cruelty, the darkness of the forest through which Danko led the people - all this matters.
The importance of this work is also evidenced by the fact that in 1902 a musical drama was staged (the name of the author who wrote it, unfortunately did not survive). The problems that are shown in this story by A.M. Gorky, many people are now worried and therefore remain relevant throughout the entire existence of this work.