The story by L. N. Tolstoy was written in 1872 and refers to literary direction realism. The title of the work refers the reader to A. S. Pushkin’s poem “ Caucasian prisoner" However, unlike his predecessor, Tolstoy in his story portrayed not a romantic, idealized character, but an ordinary Russian officer Zhilin - a brave, hardworking and humane hero, capable of always finding a way out of a difficult situation.
Main characters
Zhilin- a gentleman from a poor family, an officer, served in the Caucasus. Heading home, he was captured by the Tatars, from which he escaped only the second time.
Kostylin- the officer with whom Zhilin was captured by the Tatars.
Other characters
Dina- daughter of Abdul-Murat, “thin, skinny, about thirteen years old.” She carried food to Zhilin when he was in captivity and helped him escape.
Abdul-Murat- “owner”, a Tatar who bought Zhilin and Kostylin, Dina’s father.
Chapter 1
Zhilin serves as an officer in the Caucasus. One day he receives a letter from his mother asking him to come home. After thinking, Zhilin “straightened out his vacation,” said goodbye to his friends and got ready to go.
“There was a war in the Caucasus at that time” - the Tatars attacked lonely travelers, so Zilina’s convoy was accompanied by soldiers. Wanting to get there faster, the officer decides to break away from those accompanying him, and Kostylin joins him.
However, on the way they met Tatars. Due to the fault of Kostylin, who got scared and ran away, the unarmed Zhilin was captured and taken to an aul (Tatar village). The prisoner was put in stocks and locked in a barn.
Chapter 2
After some time, Zhilin was informed that the Tatar who captured him also caught Kostylin and sold the captives to Abdul-Murat, who now became their “master”. The Tatar forced the captives to write letters home asking for ransom. Zhilin understood that his mother did not have money, so he wrote a letter with the wrong address so that it would not reach.
Chapter 3
Zhilin with Kostylin a whole month lived in a barn. The stocks were put on them during the day and removed at night. Zhilin “was a master of all kinds of needlework,” so for the sake of entertainment he began to sculpt dolls from clay for the owner’s daughter Dina. The girl, grateful to the man for the toys, secretly brought him food - milk and cakes.
Chapter 4
Planning his escape, Zhilin began digging a hole in the barn. One night, when the Tatars left the village, the prisoners escaped.
Chapter 5
The officers left the village without hindrance. Soon Kostylin began to complain that he had chafed his feet. They walked through the forest almost all night, Kostylin was far behind, and when his comrade could no longer walk, Zhilin carried him on himself. On the road they were caught by other Tatars and taken to Abdul-Murat.
They wanted to kill the Russians in the village, but Abdul-Murat decided to wait for the ransom. Again the fugitives were put in stocks and this time lowered into a pit five arshins deep.
Chapter 6
“Life has become completely bad for them.” The officers were given raw food, “like dogs,” and the pit itself was wet and stuffy. Kostylin became very ill - “he kept moaning or sleeping,” “and Zhilin became depressed.” One day Dina appeared at the pit - the girl brought them food. Another time she reported that Zilina was going to be killed. The officer asked the girl to bring him a long stick, and at night Dina threw the long pole into the hole.
Zhilin was going to take Kostylin with him, but he was too weak and refused. With Dina's help, the officer got out of the hole. He was very much in the way of the block, but he couldn’t dislodge the lock, so he had to run away like that. Saying goodbye, Dina began to cry and gave the man some flatbread for the journey.
The officer walked through the forest and, coming out to the field, saw Cossacks on the left sitting around the fires. Zhilin hurried to cross the field, fearing to meet Tatars on the way. And so it happened - before he could reach his own people, three Tatars noticed him. Then Zhilin waved his hands and shouted: “Brothers! Help out! Brothers!” . The Cossacks heard him, ran across the Tatars and saved the fugitive.
Having recognized Zhilin, the officers took him to the fortress. Zhilin realized that it was not his destiny to go home and get married, so he remained to serve in the Caucasus. “And Kostylin was bought out only a month later for five thousand. They brought him barely alive."
Conclusion
In the story “Prisoner of the Caucasus,” Tolstoy, using the example of the images of Russian officers Zhilin and Kostylin, reveals important moral issues- loyalty, friendship, comradely duty, responsiveness, kindness, perseverance and courage. Developing a parallel line of friendship between Zhilin and Dina, the author shows that true kindness and tolerance can nullify any evil, even confrontation between peoples and war.
A brief retelling of “Prisoner of the Caucasus” helps to familiarize yourself with the main events and brief description story, however, for a better understanding of the story, we advise you to read its full version.
Story test
Test your knowledge of the short version of the work:
Retelling rating
Average rating: 4.7. Total ratings received: 2444.
The story “Prisoner of the Caucasus” was written by L. N. Tolstoy in the 70s of the 19th century.
“The events of the story take place during the war between the Russians and the mountaineers, but the narrator does not provide any historical information, limiting himself to one short phrase: “There was war in the Caucasus then.” For the first time, Tolstoy’s story was built on the events themselves, on the plot itself - on the simplest interest in how things will end.
Nothing more is required from the reader than sympathy for the hero who is in danger of death.
The material for the story was events from the life of Tolstoy himself in the Caucasus (persecution by the Chechens, who almost took him prisoner) and some book sources describing the Caucasian war and captivity.”
B. Eikhenbaum. "Leo Tolstoy"
From the memoirs of F. F. Tornau: “In order to prevent a stranger from creeping up to my prison at night, Tambiev (the owner) taught a very angry large black dog that belonged to him to lie near the door, which instilled fear in the entire neighborhood. At first, when I appeared, she bared her teeth, grumbled, and was even about to cling to her legs, but soon I struck up the closest friendship with her, of course, secretly, so as not to arouse Tambiev’s suspicion. I was not very full, but the poor dog was even hungrier: secretly I gave her what I could from my millet, and Ha-kraz, as she was called, when she saw me, was no longer angry, but only waved her tail, looking at me with the most tender eyes...
Having obtained a piece of pencil, I drew on the shutter and on the planed posts everything that came to mind; there was no point in thinking about paper. The Circassians tolerated animals, flowers and species, but did not want to tolerate human figures and always scraped them off. The Surets, as they called them, filled them with superstitious fear. “Where do you get the courage,” Tambiev once told me, “to portray a person created in the likeness of Allah in such a similar way?” You cannot give souls to your image. Look, when you die, in the next world your surets will take away your peace, demanding an immortal soul for themselves; and where will you get it from?" Then I started carving poles from dogwood wood that the Circassians use for walking in the mountains. They really liked it, and many asked to decorate their poles, which I always succeeded in doing, to their satisfaction.<...>
Childhood curiosity prevailed over fear. Looking at the Tambiev children, who had long been accustomed to me, other children began to come closer, then one of the girls decided to climb into my tower, and it ended with us becoming very good friends... Most often, two young girls visited me... Kuchukhuzh and her maid Han. Taking advantage of every free minute, they came running to me with some children's stories or questions, brought me eggs, berries, tobacco, brought other girls with them, sang Abazekh songs in chorus, or, seeing me reluctant and thoughtful, sat silently waiting for me kind words."
Circassian song
Epilogue
Notes
Basics
"Prisoner of the Caucasus"- the second completed poem by Alexander Pushkin. The poem was written in 1820-1821. during the southern exile.
“Prisoner of the Caucasus” combines elements of descriptive (Pushkin planned to write descriptive poems about Crimea and the Caucasus) and plot romantic poem: the epic line (the Caucasus, the exotic life of the highlanders, the arrival of Russian conquerors) is intertwined with the lyrical line (the love of a captive Russian and a Circassian woman). For the first time, Pushkin portrays a romantic contemporary hero. The poem gained enormous popularity, including causing many imitations. The poem of the same name (borrowing entire fragments of text from Pushkin) was written by 14-year-old Lermontov.
“Prisoner of the Caucasus” was significantly influenced by Byron’s poems - “Don Juan”, “The Bride of Abydos”, “The Giaour” - with French translations of which Pushkin became acquainted during his southern exile.
In the epilogue to this lyric poem Pushkin concerns military-political issues. There is no doubt that the romantic poet did not intend to glorify the aggressive policy of the Russian government. “The ardent Tsitsianov”, Kotlyarevsky, “the scourge of the Caucasus” Ermolov, from whose approach “the East rises to howl” - in them the young romantic looked for a living embodiment of the same ideal of the “romantic hero”, which, in his words, and “the horror of people and glory was worthy."
The romantic style created by Pushkin in “Prisoner of the Caucasus” for a long time became a model of the style of all romantic poems.
Despite critical statements Pushkin about his poem, he still loved it. In the draft version of his letter to N.I. Gnedich dated April 29, 1822, we read: “You see that fatherly tenderness does not blind me about the “Prisoner of the Caucasus,” but I confess that I love him, without knowing why; there are poems from my heart. My Circassian woman is dear to me, her love touches my soul.” In 1829, in “Travel to Arzrum,” he wrote: “Here I found a tattered copy of the “Prisoner of the Caucasus” and, I confess, re-read it with great pleasure. All this is weak, young, incomplete; but much is guessed and expressed correctly.”
"Prisoner of the Caucasus" is dedicated to N. N. Raevsky (son of the hero of the Patriotic War of 1812), to a close friend a young poet who supported him during the difficult events of the spring of 1820 that preceded his exile to the south. “You know our close connection,” Pushkin wrote about N. Raevsky to his brother, “and important services, forever unforgettable for me...” (letter dated September 24, 1820)
Staying in mid-19th century century in the Caucasus, Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy became participants in a dangerous event, which inspired him to write “Prisoner of the Caucasus.” While accompanying the convoy to the Grozny fortress, he and his friend fell into a trap among the Chechens. The life of the great writer was saved by the fact that the mountaineers did not want to kill his companion, so they did not shoot. Tolstoy and his partner managed to gallop to the fortress, where the Cossacks covered them.
The key idea of the work is the contrast of an optimistic and strong-willed person with another - sluggish, lack of initiative, grumpy and compassionate. The first character retains courage, honor, courage and achieves release from captivity. The main message: under no circumstances should you give up and give up; hopeless situations exist only for those who do not want to act.
Analysis of the work
Storyline
The events of the story unfold in parallel with Caucasian War and they tell about the officer Zhilin, who at the beginning of the work, at the written request of his mother, leaves with a convoy to visit her. On the way, he meets another officer - Kostylin - and continues the journey with him. Having met the mountaineers, Zhilin’s fellow traveler runs away, and the main character is captured and sold to the rich man Abdul-Marat from a mountain village. The fugitive officer is caught later and the prisoners are kept together in a barn.
The mountaineers seek to obtain a ransom for the Russian officers and force them to write letters home, but Zhilin writes a false address so that his mother, who is unable to raise so much money, does not find out about anything. During the day, prisoners are allowed to walk around the village in stocks and main character makes dolls for local children, thanks to which he wins the favor of 13-year-old Dina, daughter of Abdul-Marat. At the same time, he plans an escape and prepares a tunnel from the barn.
Having learned that the villagers are worried about the death of one of the highlanders in battle, the officers decide to flee. They leave through a tunnel and go towards the Russian positions, but the mountaineers quickly discover and return the fugitives, throwing them into a pit. Now the prisoners are forced to sit in stocks around the clock, however, Dina from time to time brings Zhilin lamb and flatbread. Kostylin finally loses heart and begins to get sick.
One night, the main character, with the help of a long stick brought by Dina, gets out of the hole and, right in the stocks, runs away through the forest to the Russians. Kostylin remains in captivity until the end until the mountaineers receive a ransom for him.
Main characters
Tolstoy portrayed the main character as an honest and authoritative person who treats his subordinates, relatives and even those who captivated him with respect and responsibility. Despite his obstinacy and initiative, he is careful, calculating and cold-blooded, has an inquisitive mind (he navigates by the stars, learns the language of the mountaineers). He has self-esteem and demands from the “Tatars” respectful attitude to the prisoners. A jack of all trades, he repairs guns, watches, and even makes dolls.
Despite Kostylin’s meanness, because of whom Ivan was captured, he does not hold a grudge and does not blame his neighbor in captivity, plans to escape together and does not abandon him after the first almost successful attempt. Zhilin is a hero, noble towards enemies and allies, who maintains a human face and honor even in the most difficult and insurmountable circumstances.
Kostylin is a wealthy, overweight and clumsy officer, whom Tolstoy portrays as weak both physically and morally. Because of his cowardice and meanness, the heroes are captured and fail their first attempt to escape. He meekly and unquestioningly accepts the fate of a prisoner, agrees to any conditions of detention and does not even believe Zhilin’s words that he can escape. All day long he complains about his situation, sits inactive, and becomes more and more “loose” from his own pity. As a result, Kostylin is overtaken by illness, and at the time of Zhilin’s second attempt to escape, he refuses, saying that he does not even have the strength to turn around. He is brought back from captivity barely alive a month after the ransom from his relatives arrives.
Kostylin in the story of Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy is a reflection of cowardice, meanness and weakness of will. This is a person who, under the pressure of circumstances, is unable to show respect for himself and, especially, for others. He fears only for himself, not thinking about risk and brave actions, which is why he becomes a burden for the active and energetic Zhilin, prolonging his joint imprisonment.
General analysis
One of the most famous stories Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy's "Prisoner of the Caucasus" is based on a comparison of two extremely opposite characters. The author makes them antagonists not only in character, but even in appearance:
- Zhilin is not tall, but has great strength and agility, while Kostylin is fat, clumsy, and overweight.
- Kostylin is rich, and Zhilin, although he lives in abundance, cannot (and does not want) to pay the mountaineers a ransom.
- Abdul-Marat himself speaks about Zhilin’s obstinacy and the meekness of his partner in a conversation with the main character. The first optimist expects to escape from the very beginning, and the second says that escaping is reckless because they do not know the area.
- Kostylin sleeps for days on end and waits for a reply letter, while Zhilin works on needlework and repairs.
- Kostylin abandons Zhilin at their first meeting and runs away to the fortress, but during the first escape attempt he drags a comrade with wounded legs on himself.
Tolstoy appears in his story as a bearer of justice, telling a parable about how fate rewards the initiative and brave man salvation.
An important idea is contained in the title of the work. Kostylin is a prisoner of the Caucasus in the literal sense of the word even after the ransom, because he did nothing to deserve his freedom. However, Tolstoy seems to be ironic about Zhilin - he showed his will and broke out of captivity, but does not leave the region, because he considers his service to be fate and duty. The Caucasus will captivate not only Russian officers who are forced to fight for their homeland, but also the mountaineers, who also have no moral right to give up this land. IN in a certain sense Everyone here remains Caucasian captives characters, even the generous Dina, who is destined to continue to live in her native society.
One gentleman served as an officer in the Caucasus. His name was Zhilin. One day he received a letter from home. His old mother writes to him: “I have become old, and I want to see my beloved son before I die. Come say goodbye to me, bury me, and then with God, go back to the service. And I have found a bride for you: she is smart, and good, and has property. If you fall in love, maybe you’ll get married and stay completely.” Zhilin thought about it: “And indeed: the old woman has become really bad; maybe you won't have to see it. go; and if the bride is good, you can get married.” He went to the colonel, straightened out his leave, said goodbye to his comrades, gave his soldiers four buckets of vodka as a farewell, and got ready to leave. There was a war in the Caucasus at that time. There was no passage on the roads either day or night. As soon as any of the Russians leave or move away from the fortress, the Tatars will either kill them or take them to the mountains. And it was customary that escorted soldiers walked from fortress to fortress twice a week. Soldiers walk in front and behind, and people ride in the middle. It was summer. At dawn the convoys gathered for the fortress, the accompanying soldiers came out and set off along the road. Zhilin was riding on horseback, and the cart with his things was in the wagon train. It was 25 miles to go. The convoy walked quietly; Then the soldiers will stop, then someone’s wheel will come off in the wagon train, or a horse will stop, and everyone will stand there, waiting. The sun had already set for half a day, and the convoy had only covered half the road. Dust, heat, the sun is so hot, but there is nowhere to hide. Bare steppe, not a tree or bush along the road. Zhilin rode forward, stopped and waited for the convoy to arrive. He hears a horn playing behind him - stand there again. Zhilin thought: “Shouldn’t I leave alone, without soldiers? The horse under me is good, and even if I attack the Tatars, I will gallop away. Or not to go?..” He stopped and thought. And another officer, Kostylin, with a gun, rides up to him on a horse and says: - Let's go, Zhilin, alone. There’s no urine, I’m hungry, and it’s hot. At least squeeze my shirt out. - And Kostylin is a heavy, fat man, all red, and the sweat just pours from him. Zhilin thought and said: - Is the gun loaded?- Charged. - Well, then let's go. The only agreement is not to leave. And they drove forward along the road. They drive along the steppe, talking and looking around. You can see far all around. As soon as the steppe ended, the road went between two mountains into a gorge, Zhilin said: “We need to go out onto the mountain and have a look, otherwise they’ll probably jump out from behind the mountain and you won’t see it.” And Kostylin says: - What to watch? let's go ahead. Zhilin did not listen to him. “No,” he says, “you wait downstairs, and I’ll just take a look.” And he turned his horse to the left, up the mountain. The horse near Zhilin was a hunting horse (he paid a hundred rubles for it in the herd as a foal, and rode out himself); how she carried him up the steep slope on wings. As soon as he jumped out, lo and behold, in front of him, on a tithe of space, there were about thirty Tatars standing on horseback. He saw it and began to turn back; and the Tatars saw him, rushed towards him, and at a gallop they grabbed their guns from their cases. Zhilin set off at full speed and shouted to Kostylin: - Take out your gun! - and he thinks to his horse: “Mother, take it out, don’t catch your foot, you’ll stumble - you’re lost.” If I get to the gun, I won’t give in to them.” And Kostylin, instead of waiting, as soon as he saw the Tatars, he rolled as fast as he could towards the fortress. The horse is fried with a whip, first from one side, then from the other. Only in the dust can you see the horse wagging its tail. Zhilin sees that things are bad. The gun is gone, you can’t do anything with one checker. He started the horse back to the soldiers - he thought about leaving. He sees six people rolling across him. Under him the horse is kind, and under those they are even kinder, and they even gallop across. He began to turn around, wanted to turn back, but the horse was already running wild, he couldn’t hold it, he was flying straight at them. He sees a Tatar with a red beard on a gray horse approaching him. Squeals, teeth bared, gun at the ready. “Well,” Zhilin thinks, “I know you devils, if they take you alive, put you in a pit, and flog you with a whip. I won’t give in alive.” And Zhilin, although small in stature, was brave. He grabbed his saber, launched his horse straight at the Red Tatar, and thought: “I’ll either knock him down with the horse or cut him down with the saber.” Zhilin couldn’t get enough space to get onto his horse, they shot at him from behind with guns and hit the horse. The horse hit the ground with all its might and fell on Zilina’s leg. He wanted to get up, but two stinking Tatars were sitting on him, twisting his arms back. He rushed, threw off the Tatars, and three people jumped off their horses and started beating him on the head with rifle butts. His vision grew dim and he staggered. The Tatars grabbed him, removed the spare girths from the saddles, twisted his arms behind his back, tied him with a Tatar knot, and dragged him to the saddle. They knocked off his hat, pulled off his boots, ransacked everything, took out his money, his watch, and tore up his dress. Zhilin looked back at his horse. She, my dear, fell on her side and lies there, only kicking her legs, not reaching the ground; there is a hole in the head, and black blood is whistling from the hole - the dust has moistened a yard all around. One Tatar approached the horse and began to remove the saddle. She keeps beating,” he took out a dagger and cut her throat. It whistled from the throat, fluttered and steam escaped. The Tatars took off the saddle and harness. The Tatar with a red beard sat on the horse, and the others lifted Zhilin into the saddle; and so as not to fall, they pulled him with a belt to the Tatar and took him to the mountains. Zhilin sits behind the Tatar, sways, rubs his face into the stinking Tatar back. All he sees in front of him is a hefty Tatar back, a sinewy neck, and the shaved back of his head turning blue under his hat. Zhilin’s head is broken, blood is caked above his eyes. And he can neither recover on horseback nor wipe off the blood. My arms are twisted so tightly that my collarbone ache. They drove for a long time from mountain to mountain, forded a river, drove out onto the road and drove through a ravine. Zhilin wanted to notice the road where he was being taken, but his eyes were smeared with blood, but he couldn’t turn around. It began to get dark. We crossed another river, began to climb a stone mountain, there was a smell of smoke, and dogs began to bark. We arrived at the village.
