Perhaps one of the most "fabulous" and magical Russian writers - P.P. Bazhov. The Malachite Box is a book that everyone knows: from very young children to serious literary scholars. And no wonder, because there is everything: from a fascinating plot and finely prescribed images to unobtrusive morality and many allusions and reminiscences.
Biography
A Russian Soviet writer, a famous folklorist, a man who was one of the first to process the Ural tales - all this is Pavel Petrovich Bazhov. The "malachite box" was precisely the result of this literary treatment. He was born in 1879 in Polevsky, in the family of a mining master. He graduated from factory school, studied at the seminary, was a teacher of the Russian language, traveled to the Urals. These trips were aimed at collecting folklore, which subsequently will form the basis of all his works. Bazhov's first book was called “Ural were” and was published in 1924. Around the same time, the writer got a job at the Peasant Newspaper and began to publish in many magazines. In 1936, the tale "The Girl of Azovka", signed by the name "Bazhov", was printed in the magazine. The Malachite Box first saw the light of day in 1939 and was subsequently reprinted several times, constantly replenished with new tales. In 1950, the writer P.P. Bazhov.
The Malachite Box: Title Poetics
The unusual title of the work is explained quite simply: a casket of beautiful Ural stone, filled with wonderful jewelry made of gems, gives his beloved Nastenka the central character of the tale, Stepan the oreman. He, in turn, does not receive this box from anyone, but from the Mistress of the Copper Mountain. What is the hidden meaning of this gift? The casket, finely crafted from green stone, carefully passed down from generation to generation, symbolizes the hard work of miners, the subtle skill of cutters and stone-cutters. Ordinary people, masters of mining, workers - it is them who make Bazhov their heroes. The “malachite box” is also named because each writer’s tale resembles a finely faceted, iridescent, shining precious pebble.
P.P. Bazhov, “Malachite Box”: summary
After the death of Stepan, the casket continues to be kept at Nastasya, however, the woman is in no hurry to flaunt the donated jewelry, feeling that they were not for her. But her youngest daughter, Tanyusha, sticks to the contents of the casket with all her heart: the jewelry seems to be made especially for her. The girl grows up and earns a living by embroidery with beads and silk. The rumor about her art and beauty goes far beyond her native places: master Turchaninov himself wants to marry Tanya. The girl agrees, provided that he takes her to Petersburg and shows her a malachite chamber located in the palace. Once there, Tanyusha leans against the wall and disappears without a trace. The image of the girl in the text becomes one of the personifications of the Mistress of the Copper Mountain, an archetypal guardian of precious rocks and stones.