Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin in 1900 wrote the story “Taper”. The summary of the work will allow the reader to save time and get acquainted with the plot in five minutes.
Acquaintance with the characters of the work: Rudnev sisters
The story “Taper”, the brief content of which you read, begins with an introduction to the Rudnev family. This is, first of all, Tina - a 12-year-old girl, the daughter of the owner of the house.
The girl ran into the room in which the maids dressed her sisters. Tina was very worried, she wanted the Christmas meeting to go well. She shared her concern with her sisters, telling them that there was no taper.
The older sister, who was already respectfully called Lydia Arkadyevna, was, on the contrary, too calm. She made a remark to Tina, saying that she should not break into the room like this.
Then Tina asked her second sister Tanya to go with her to help prepare for the celebration. After all, an hour later they should have lit the Christmas tree.
Next, we learn about the younger sister Katya. She and Tina, together with their peers, were previously locked in a nursery and were not allowed to receive a Christmas tree. But this year, Tina was the first time involved in the upcoming magic, so she was so worried - she wanted everything to work out.
Father mother
The Rudnev family was large and noisy. The girls had brothers. Friends constantly came to the children, so the house was always fun. But this joy was not shared by the mother of children, Irina Alekseevna. She was a princess and before her marriage she had the surname Oznobishin. The woman boasted of her noble birth and rarely left the room, considering it less than her dignity to talk with a noisy crowd. She communicated only with the same noble and "petrified" descendants of the ancient clans. We learn about all this from the story “Taper”. The summary of the work will introduce the reader to the head of the family.
Despite her aristocracy, a woman was jealous of her husband, and there could be reasons for this. Although Arkady Nikolayevich was already over 50, the man was distinguished by a light character and a special charm. He was a patron of ballet art, a player, often disappeared in the English club. When he returned home after winning, he called his friends and girlfriends of his children on horseback rides outside the city.
And the friends of the Rudnev’s children were constantly in their house. Therefore, the buffet here was never locked, because anyone who came could want to eat at an inopportune hour. Sometimes the children asked the cook to cook something tasty, and he did not immediately, but agreed. All together at the table gathered rarely. Usually someone had already dined, and someone had just come to morning tea. Here is such a fun and slightly chaotic atmosphere reigned in this hospitable house.
Not surprisingly, it was planned to celebrate Christmas by a large friendly company. Dad for children was the main adviser and friend. When the older children did not know what to present to their friend Kolya Radomsky, the father said - a cigarette case. The head of the family was also engaged in the musical design of the evenings. About also tells a summary of the story "Taper".
Music
The action of the story tentatively takes place in 1885. Arkady Nikolayevich usually invited the Ryabov Orchestra to the house for the holidays. However, this year, due to misunderstandings, they did not manage to do this - the musicians were already busy. They could not find another orchestra.
That's why Tina tried to find out about the taper, to find out who will play the piano on holiday? But the housekeeper Olympiad Savichna, the valet Luka found an excuse for themselves why they did not invite the musician, and the maid Dunyasha swore that she did not even hear that the taper should come. A summary of the story will tell about further events.
Guests
Tanya, a respected sister of Tina, sent Dunyasha to search for a piano player (tapper), and at that time the guests had already begun to arrive. Two large families came - Maslovsky and Lykov, other guests came, but there was still no musician.
But Luka approached Tatyana Arkadyevna and asked her to go to the front. Tatyana saw Dunya and some small figure there. Dunya began to whisper in her mistress’s ear so that she wouldn’t scold her: she couldn’t find a musician anywhere, only found this little one and didn’t even know if he could play.
Tatyana at first sight realized that the boy was poor, selfish and shy. He was ugly, with delicate features, he looked 11 or 12 years old. But the boy said he was 14. He assured himself that he was able to play and had considerable experience.
Talented child
Lydia tried to tease the taper, mockingly asking if he can play polka, quadrille, lance, but Tanya asked her in French to stop acting that way. A brief summary of the story “Taper” comes to an interesting moment. Kuprin further talks about the fact that Tina was on Tatyana’s side, she resolutely took the boy’s hand and led her into the hall. The guests began to be perplexed, but soon the surprise was replaced by emotion. As soon as the child’s fingers touched the keys, unusually beautiful sounds poured out, they applauded him.
Arkady Nikolayevich praised the boy, whose name was Yuri Azagarov, and asked to play “Faust”, they lit a Christmas tree to the sounds of this march. Then Yura played polka, waltz. At this time, the owner of the house was talking with some important gentleman. It turns out that it was Anton G. Rubinstein - a talented composer. He became a teacher of Yura Azagarov.
This concludes the story written by Alexander Kuprin - “Taper”. Brief contents of the works help the reader quickly find out their plot and make an impression of them.