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Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky
Snow Maiden
A spring tale in four acts with a prologue
Spring fairy tale "Snow Maiden"
1
In the forest edge Kostroma region Among the wonderful nature is located “Schelykovo”, a former estate, and now a museum-reserve of the great Russian playwright A. N. Ostrovsky.
Ostrovsky first came to these places as a young man. He was twenty-five years old.
Since then, the writer had a cherished dream - to settle in Shchelykovo. He was able to realize this dream only 19 years later, when, together with his brother, he bought the estate from his stepmother. Having become a co-owner of the estate, Ostrovsky came there every year in early May and left only in late autumn.
Nature appeared before him in bright diversity, changing its clothes. He observed its revival, lush flowering and withering.
He also had his favorite places here.
Ostrovsky from an early age was distinguished by his passion for fishing. At the dam of the winding Kuekshi river, he spent long hours with fishing rods. Near the steep banks of the Sendega River he could be seen with a spear 1
Ostroga is a fishing tool in the form of a pitchfork.
He went with a seine to the wide Meru River, which flows into the Volga.
The writer found great pleasure in walking through the surrounding villages, forest tracts and clearings.
He often went to a grove with the strange name “Pig Forest”. Centuries-old birch trees grew in this grove.
Alexander Nikolaevich descended from the mountain on which the estate is located to the old bed of the Kueksha River and walked along the wide valley, which served as a place of festive games and entertainment for the surrounding youth. At the top of this sloping valley there is a spring. During Ostrovsky’s time, a fair was held here every spring, which attracted crowds of people.
The writer also visited a round clearing near the village of Lobanovo. Surrounded by forest, it was also a place for Sunday rest for peasant youth. Here the playwright watched the round dances and listened to the songs.
Ostrovsky often visited his friend I.V. Sobolev, a skilled woodcarver, in the village of Berezhki. The extraordinary silence of this forest corner, the sparseness of people (there were only a few houses there) and the peculiar northern architecture of the tall, sharp-topped barns that belonged to the residents of this village created the impression of some kind of detachment from the world, a fairy-tale quality.
Ostrovsky also had other places he liked.
His affection for Shchelykov only grew stronger over the years. He more than once expressed his admiration for the beauty of Shchelykovsky nature in letters to friends. So, on April 29, 1876, he wrote to the artist M. O. Mikeshin: “It’s a pity that you are not a landscape painter, otherwise you would have visited my village; You’ll hardly find a Russian landscape like this anywhere.”
2
Ostrovsky's observations of the people and nature of the Shchelykovo environs were reflected in many of his works.
They were most clearly reflected in the spring fairy tale “The Snow Maiden” (1873). The basis of this poetic work was folk tales, traditions and legends, rituals and customs, sayings and songs that the writer became familiar with from childhood. He colored folk fantasy with the bright colors of his own invention, imbued the work with subtle humor and inserted the images of his fairy tale into the frame of Shchelykov’s picturesque nature.
“The Snow Maiden” is a fairy tale about the beauty of mighty, ever-renewing nature and at the same time about human feelings, about the people, their aspirations and dreams.
In this life-affirming work, Ostrovsky paints his ideal public life, defining fair, beautiful human relationships.
The playwright begins his tale with the meeting of Frost and Spring on Red Hill.
Builder of ice palaces, owner and ruler of blizzards and blizzards, Frost is the poetic embodiment of winter, cold, freezing nature. Spring-Red, appearing accompanied by birds, is a warm breath and light penetrating the kingdom of winter, the personification of the fertilizing force, a symbol of awakening life.
The girl Snegurochka is a beautiful child of Frost and Spring. There is coldness in her soul - the harsh legacy of her father, but it also contains life-giving forces that bring her closer to her mother Spring.
Frost and Spring gave the Snow Maiden, when she was 15 years old, to the trans-river settlement of Berendeyev Posad, the capital of Tsar Berendey. And so Ostrovsky paints before us a kingdom of happy Berendeys.
What gave the poet the idea to create the image of the fabulous Berendey kingdom?
Ostrovsky obviously heard that in the Vladimir province there is a Berendeevo swamp. The legend about the ancient city of the Berendeys was associated with it. This legend could have suggested to Ostrovsky a fantastic image of the Berendey kingdom.
Russian village life, ancient rituals and customs, folk types that Ostrovsky admired in Shchelykov helped him recreate the appearance of the cheerful Berendeys.
The remarkable feature of Ostrovsky’s fairy tale is that it is fantastic and at the same time true, that in its conventional, bizarre images one can clearly see the deep truth of human feelings.
Ostrovsky embodied in the Berendey kingdom the people's dream of a fairy-tale country where peaceful labor, justice, art and beauty reign, where people are free, happy and cheerful.
Tsar Berendey personifies folk wisdom. This is “the father of his land”, “an intercessor for all orphans”, “a guardian of peace”, confident that the light “only holds on to truth and conscience.” The bloody deeds of war are alien to Berendey. His state is famous for its working, peaceful and joyful life. He is a philosopher, worker and artist. Berendey paints his chambers with a skillful brush and enjoys the luxurious colors of nature.
Berendey loves fun too. His close boyar Bermyata is a joker and wit, to whom the king entrusts the organization of folk amusements and games.
Ostrovsky admires in his fairy tale the simple people - noble, humane, cheerful, tireless in work and fun.
Tsar Berendey, addressing the singing and dancing Berendeys, says:
The people are generous
Great in everything: interfering with idleness
He won’t work and work like that,
Dance and sing to the fullest, until you drop.
Looking at you with a reasonable eye, you will say,
That you are an honest and kind people, for
Only the kind and honest are capable
Sing so loudly and dance so bravely.
The inner world of the Berendeys is clearly revealed in their attraction to art. They love songs, dances, music. Their houses are painted with colorful paints and decorated with intricate carvings.
Berendeys are distinguished by strong moral principles. They highly honor love. For them, love is the expression of a person’s best feelings, his service to beauty.
In their understanding, love is the attraction of free feelings, independent of selfish motives. Berendey’s words sound like law:
Does not tolerate coercion
Open marriage.
For the Berendeys, love is inseparable from fidelity. Slobozhanin Murash states:
I've been living for a long time, and the old order
Quite well known to me. Berendey,
Beloved by the gods, they lived honestly.
Without fear, we entrusted our daughter to the guy,
For us, a wreath is a guarantee of their love
And loyalty to death. And never once
The wreath was not desecrated by treason,
And the girls knew no deception,
They knew no resentment.
Fidelity to this word is valued above all else among the Berendeys.
Mizgir, a merchant from the royal settlement, had not yet entered into marriage with Kupava, but, having promised to exchange wreaths on Yarilin’s day, he thereby forever linked his fate with her. And when, captivated by the beauty of the Snow Maiden, he broke his word, in the eyes of the Berendeys he became a terrible, unheard-of criminal.
The Berendeys have no bloody laws. The death penalty is replaced here by eternal exile. They apply this measure of the highest punishment to Mizgir.
Condemning Mizgir, Tsar Berendey says:
Get away from us, criminal, scoffer
The fervor of trusting love,
Instilled in us by nature and the gods.
Drive him away from every door,
From every dwelling where they are sacredly venerated
Honest old customs!
Drive him into the desert, into the forest!
The Snow Maiden, the offspring of Frost, could not remain among the people praising the Sun, living by the warmth of its hot rays. The sun melted it and turned it into a stream.
Mizgir, who saw his dream in the graceful charm of his appearance, in modesty, in simple-minded naivety, in the spontaneity of the Snow Maiden’s character, was deceived in his hopes of happiness with her.
He complains:
I have been deceived by the gods; it's a joke
Cruel fate. But if the gods
Deceivers, the world is not worth living!
He runs away to Yarilina Mountain and throws himself into the lake.
Snegurochka and Mizgir died. But their death did not pass without a trace. She confirmed the correctness of the life and morals of the Berendeys. She melted the coldness and alienation between them, returning their inherent love and loyalty.
Addressing the people, before whose eyes Snegurochka and Mizgir died, the wise Berendey says:
Snow Maiden's sad death
And the terrible death of Mizgir
They can't disturb us. The sun knows
Whom to punish and have mercy on? Finished
Truthful trial! Frost's offspring -
The Cold Snow Maiden died.
For fifteen years she lived among us,
Fifteen years he was angry with us
Sun. Now, with her wonderful death,
Frost's interference ceased.
Let's drive away the last trace of cold
From our souls we turn to the Sun.
The Sun God Yarilo returned to the earth, and it came to life, promising abundant shoots.
The chorus of cheerful Berendeys welcomes Yarila, bringing warmth and abundance:
Grant, god of light,
Warm summer!
The Red Sun is ours!
There is no more beautiful person in the world!
Krasnopogodnoe,
Summer is grainy
The Red Sun is ours!
There is no more beautiful person in the world!
The fairy tale ends with this life-affirming hymn.
We know Ostrovsky, the author of plays that illuminate all aspects of contemporary Russian life, severely criticizing the “dark kingdom” of money-grubbers and tyrants. And in these plays the playwright showed the beauty of the Russian folk character, the poetry of Russian nature.
In “The Snow Maiden” Ostrovsky is a soulful lyricist, a singer of man and nature. Here the beauty of the characters, their unique originality are embodied in amazingly poetic language and melodic verses. Listen to how his verse sounds and sings, sometimes decorous and solemn, sometimes lively and folk-like, fervent, to how flexible this verse is, how obediently it submits to the poet’s thoughts.
The monologue of Spring flows majestically, describing the country under the rule of Frost:
Spring its gloomy country.
Deprived of fruitful power,
The fields lie cold. In chains
You can't hear their glass murmur
The song of birds is similar to a folk song:
The birds gathered
The singers gathered
In herds, in herds
The birds were landing
The singers sat down
Rows, rows.
And in a completely different way, decorously and solemnly, the people glorify Berendey:
Long live the wise one,
Great Berendey,
Lord silver-haired,
Father of his land!
Ostrovsky is a sorcerer of language and verse, a poet, like Pushkin, who masters all its modes, all its tones.
“The Snow Maiden” is a truly polyphonic work. The voices of the fantastic Frost and Spring, the cheerful songs of birds and the monologues of people sound differently. The solemn song of the blind guslars gives way to the silly chants of the boby Bakula, the wise measured speech of Tsar Berendey - to the passionate hymns of Lelya, addressed to the Sun.
“The Snow Maiden” also delights us with the play of its folk humor. We laugh heartily at the brave in words and cowardly in deeds Brusila, the narrow-minded Bobyl and Bobylikha, these lazy and stupid residents of the settlement beyond the river.
3
The images of “The Snow Maiden” are so wonderful, her poetic style is so musical that she charmed and captivated many artists.
Famous painters V. M. Vasnetsov, K. A. Korovin, B. M. Kustodiev, A. A. Arapov reproduced her images with their brushes.
N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov created the opera “The Snow Maiden”, in which he preserved Ostrovsky’s words.
It was no coincidence that the writer embodied this wonderful fairy tale in dramatic form. He intended it to be staged. Ostrovsky created a special type of play, full of fantastic transformations, enchanting scenes, and unbridled folk fun.
This fairy tale, the first in Russian drama, is distinguished by its rare entertainment and vivid theatricality.
The Snow Maiden was first staged at the Bolshoi Theater on May 11, 1873. In 1900, “The Snow Maiden” was staged almost simultaneously by two famous Russian directors: A.P. Lensky on the stage of the Maly Theater and K.S. Stanislavsky on the stage of the Art Theater.
For the production of “The Snow Maiden” at the Art Theater, composer A. T. Grechaninov wrote wonderful music.
K. S. Stanislavsky said this about Ostrovsky’s spring fairy tale: ““The Snow Maiden” is a fairy tale, a dream, a national legend, written and told in Ostrovsky’s magnificent sonorous verses. You might think that this playwright, the so-called realist and everyday life writer, never wrote anything ", except for wonderful poetry, and was not interested in anything else except pure poetry and romance."
Ostrovsky's fairy tale, staged by the Art Theater, made a huge impression on A. M. Gorky. In a letter to A.P. Chekhov, he noted: “But The Snow Maiden is an event. A huge event - believe me!.. I, you know, am filled with some kind of joy from The Snow Maiden, and although I saw terribly sad things in Moscow , but left it - as if he had bathed in living water.”
If fate brings you to Shchelykovo in the spring, you will not sit still. You will be drawn to the park, located on the territory of the museum-reserve, where you will hear the singing of nightingales. And you will say in the words of the poet:
Mighty nature is full of wonders!
Scattering your gifts abundantly,
She plays whimsically: she will throw
In a swamp, in a forgotten corner
Under a bush, a pearl spring flower,
Thoughtfully bowed lily of the valley, splashing
On the whiteness of it with cold dust
Silver dew - and the flower breathes
The elusive scent of spring,
Captivating the eye and smell
You will feel and understand that the source of the images of Ostrovsky’s fairy tale is in this living, inexhaustible life of nature, rich in the poetry of colors, sounds, movement...
B. Nikolsky
Snow Maiden
The action takes place in the country of the Berendeys in prehistoric times. Prologue - on Krasnaya Gorka, near Berendeyev Posad, the capital of Tsar Berendey. The first action takes place in the settlement of Berendeyevka across the river. The second act is in the palace of Tsar Berendey. The third act is in a reserved forest. The fourth act is in the Yarilina Valley.
Prologue
Faces:
Vesna-Krasna.
Father Frost.
Girl Snow Maiden.
Goblin.
Maslenitsa- straw man.
Bobyl2
Bobyl is a poor landless peasant.
Bakula.
Bobylikha- his wife.
Berendey of both sexes and all ages.
Spring Suite, birds: cranes, swans, geese, ducks, rooks, magpies, starlings, larks And other.
The beginning of spring. Midnight. Red hill covered with snow. To the right are bushes and a rare leafless birch tree; to the left is a continuous dense forest of large pines and spruces with branches hanging from the weight of the snow; in the depths, under the mountain, a river; The ice holes and ice holes are lined with spruce trees. Across the river is Berendeyev Posad, the capital of Tsar Berendey. Palaces, houses, huts - all wooden, with intricate painted carvings; lights in the windows. The full moon silvers the entire open area. Roosters crow in the distance.
First appearance
Goblin sits on a dry stump. The entire sky is covered with birds flying in from across the sea. Spring-Krasna on cranes, swans And geese descends to the ground, surrounded retinue of birds.
Goblin
The end of winter, the roosters crowed,
Spring-Red descends to the earth.
The midnight hour has come, Goblin's gatehouse
If you watch out, dive into the hollow and sleep!
Falls into a hollow.
Spring-Krasna descends onto Krasnaya Gorka, accompanied by birds.
Vesna-Krasna
At the appointed hour in the usual sequence
I appear on the land of the Berendeys.
Greets you sadly and coldly
Spring its gloomy country.
Sad view: under a veil of snow,
Deprived of living, cheerful colors,
Deprived of fruitful power,
The fields lie cold. In chains
Playful streams - in the silence of midnight
You can't hear their glass murmur.
The forests are silent, under the snow
The thick paws of the fir trees are lowered,
Like old furrowed brows.
In the raspberry fields, under the pines, they were shy
Cold darkness, icy
Amber resin icicles
Hanging from straight trunks. And in a clear sky
How the moon burns and the stars shine
Increased radiance. Earth,
Covered with downy powder,
In response to their greetings, the cold one seems
Same shine, same diamonds
From the tops of trees and mountains, from flat fields,
The road is flattened from potholes.
And the same sparks hung in the air,
They waver without falling, they flicker.
And everything is just light, and everything is just a cold shine,
And there is no heat. That's not how I'm greeted
The happy valleys of the south are there
Carpets of meadows, acacia scents,
And the warm steam of cultivated gardens,
And the milky, lazy glow
From the frosted moon on the minarets,
On poplars and black cypresses.
But I love midnight 3
Midnight – northern.Countries,
I love their powerful nature
Wake up from sleep and call from the depths of the earth
Giving birth to a mysterious force,
Carrying to the careless Berendeys
Abundance lives unpretentious. Lubo
Warm for the joys of love,
For frequent games and celebrations, clean up
Secluded bushes and groves
Silk carpets of colored grasses.
(Addressing the birds who are shivering from the cold.)
Comrades: white-sided magpies,
Cheerful tickler talkers,
Gloomy rooks and larks,
Singers of the fields, heralds of spring,
And you, crane, with your friend the heron,
Beautiful swans and geese
Loud and fussy ducks,
And small birds - are you cold?
Even though I'm ashamed, I have to admit it
Before the birds. It's my own fault
That it’s cold for me, Vesna, and you.
Sixteen years since I'm just a joke
And amusing my fickle temper,
Changeable and whimsical, has become
Flirting with Frost, the old grandfather,
A gray-haired prankster; and from then on
I'm in captivity with the old one. Man
It’s always like this: give me a little will,
And he will take it all; that's the way it's done
From antiquity. I would like to leave the gray one,
But the trouble is, the old man and I have a daughter -
Snow Maiden. In the deep forest slums,
In the melting ice 4
Lyadina is a low, damp place overgrown with forest or bushes.Returns
The old man is his child. Loving the Snow Maiden,
Feeling sorry for her in her unhappy lot,
I'm afraid to quarrel with the old one;
And he’s happy about it: he’s chilling, freezing
Me, Vesna, and the Berendeys. Sun,
Jealous, looks at us angrily
And frowns at everyone; and that's the reason
Cruel winters and cold springs.
Are you shaking, poor things? Dance -
Keep warm! I've seen it more than once
That people warmed up by dancing.
Even reluctantly, even in the cold, but dancing
Let's celebrate the arrival of the housewarming party.
Some birds take up instruments, others sing, others dance.
Choir of birds
The birds gathered
The singers gathered
In herds, in herds.
The birds were landing
The singers sat down
Rows, rows.
Who are you birds?
Who are you singers?
Big, big?
Who are you birds?
Who are you singers?
Smaller, smaller?
Eagle - governor,
Quail - clerk 5
Clerk - a clerk, a scribe in the clerk's office.,
Clerk, clerk.
Owl - commander,
Yellow boots,
Boots, boots.
Geese - boyars,
Ducklings are nobles,
Nobles, nobles.
Chiryats are peasants,
Sparrows are slaves,
Slaves, slaves.
Our crane is a centurion 6
A centurion is the leader of a hundred soldiers.
With long legs
With your feet, with your feet.
Rooster is a kisser 7
The kisser is a tax collector. Upon taking office, he took the oath by kissing the cross.,
Chechet is a trading guest,
Trade, trade.
Puppy swallows -
Orca maidens,
Girls, girls.
Our woodpecker is a carpenter,
Fisherman - tavern,
Tavern, tavern.
Pancake maker - heron,
Cuckoo is a clique,
Clicky, clicky.
Red face -
The crow is pretty,
Pretty, pretty.
In winter - on the roads,
In the summer - according to the restrictions,
I'll get stuck, I'll get stuck.
Crow in matting,
There is no one more expensive
More expensive, more expensive.
Frost falls from the forest onto the dancing birds, then snow flakes fall; the wind rises, clouds roll in, cover the moon, darkness completely obscures the distance. Birds screaming and huddling towards Spring.
Vesna-Krasna(to the birds)
Hurry into the bushes, into the bushes! I'm planning on making a joke
Old Man Frost. Wait until the morning
And tomorrow they will melt for you in the fields
Thawed patches, wormwood on the river.
Bask in the sun for a bit
And you will begin to make nests.
Birds goes into the bushes, comes out of the forest Freezing.
Second phenomenonVesna-Krasna, Father Frost, Snow Maiden.
Freezing
Spring-Red, is it back well?
Spring
And are you healthy, Santa Claus?
Freezing
Thank you.
My life is not bad. Berendey
They won’t forget about this winter,
She was cheerful; the sun was dancing
From the cold at dawn,
And in the evening I woke up with ears full of ears.
I’ll think about going for a walk, I’ll take a club,
I'll clarify, I'll make the night silver,
I really need freedom and space!
Through rich town houses
Pounding in the corners
At the gates with ropes 8
Vereya is a pillar on which the gate leaves are hung.Creak
Sing under the runners
I love it
Love, love, love!
From the fishing line along the path behind the cart,
A creaking convoy hurries to spend the night.
I guard the convoy
I'll run ahead
On the edge of the field, in the distance,
On the frosty dust
I'll lie down in the haze 9
Márevo is a mirage, a dry fog that creates visual illusions.,
In the midst of the midnight skies I will rise as a glow.
I will spill, Frost,
Ninety stripes
They will scatter in pillars and countless rays,
Multi-colored.
And the pillars push and spiral,
And underneath them the snow lights up.
A sea of light-fire, bright,
Zharkogo,
Lush;
There's blue, there's red, and there's cherry.
I love it
Love, love, love!
I'm even angrier about the early days,
At the ruddy dawn.
I will reach out to the dwellings from the ravines to the clearings,
I'll creep up, I'll creep up in the fogs.
Smoke curls over the village,
One way dies;
I am a gray fog
I'll freeze the smoke.
How he stretches
It will stay that way
Over the field, over the forest,
By superiority,
I love it
Love, love, love!
Spring
You feasted well, it’s time
And on your way, to the north.
Freezing
Do not drive fast,
And I'll leave myself. I'm not happy with the old man
You quickly forget about the old things.
Here I am, an old man, always the same.
Spring
Everyone has their own habits and customs.
Freezing
I'll leave, I'll leave at dawn,
In the breeze, I'll rush off to the Siberian tundra.
I'm sable on my ears,
I'll kill the deer 10
Dokha - a fur coat with fur inside and out.On shoulders,
I decorate my belt with trinkets;
By plagues, by yurts of nomads,
According to the wintering grounds of fur hunters
I’ll come in, wander around, and do some shamanism.
They will bow to my waist.
My dominion in Siberia is eternal,
There will be no end to it. Yarilo is here 11
Yarilo is the ancient Slavic god of the Sun and fertility.
It bothers me and you change me
To a stupid breed of idle lovers.
Just count the holidays and steam the mash
Korchazhniki, cook forty buckets
They know how to brew honey.
They ask the Sun for spring warmth.
For what? - ask. Not suddenly he will start plowing,
The plow is not working properly. Eves edit 12
Rule the eves - in the days preceding the holiday, cook honey and beer.
Yes, revel, sing stoneflies, in circles
Walk all night from dawn to dawn, -
They have one concern.
Spring
To whom?
Will you leave the Snow Maiden?
Freezing
Our daughter
At an age, he can manage without nannies.
Neither on foot nor on horseback
And there is no trace of her in her chambers. The Bears-
Fescue and seasoned wolves
They patrol around the yard; owl
On the crown of a pine tree on a hundred-year-old night,
And during the day the capercaillie stretch their necks,
The passer-by is watched over.
Spring
Melancholy will take between eagle owls and goblin
Sit alone.
Freezing
And what about the chamber servants?
As maids at her beck and call
Crafty gray fox 13
Sivodushka is a fox with dark gray fur on the neck and belly and a brownish-brown back.;
The bunnies get her cabbage;
Than the light runs on the marten's fontanel
With a jug; squirrels gnawing nuts
Squatting down; stoats
In the hay's minions in her service.
Spring
Yes, it’s still melancholy, think about it, grandfather!
Freezing
Work,
A wave of strands, a beaver edge
Trim your sheepskin coat and hats.
Sew colorful reindeer mittens.
Sushi mushrooms, lingonberries and cloudberries
Prepare for the winter bread shortage;
Sing out of boredom, dance, if you have the desire,
What else?
Spring
Eh, old man! The girl is free
Sweetest of all. Neither your chiseled tower,
No sables, beavers, or mittens
The lined ones are not roads; on thoughts
The girl Snegurochka has something else:
Live with people; she needs girlfriends
Fun and games until midnight,
Spring parties and burners
With the guys, bye...
The tears will disappear. Work hard, artist,
Above the sculpting of barely noticeable stars -
And everything will go to dust. But yesterday
The woman bird returned from across the sea 14
The baba bird is a gray-brown pelican.,
Sat down on a wide wormwood
And the wild ducks cry in the cold,
He scolds me abusively. Is it really
It's my fault that I'm too hasty
What's wrong warm waters without looking at the calendar 15
Saints - a church book containing a calendar with a complete list of saints according to the days on which their memory is celebrated, as well as indicating holidays.,
Heading north without time?
I weaved and weaved, and the ducks cackled,
There are no women in the trading baths;
And what did I overhear! Between gossip
Such a speech was blurted out by the woman bird, -
What, swimming in Lankaran Bay 16
Lenkoransky Bay is a bay in the southern part of the Caspian Sea.,
In the Gilan lakes 17
Gilan Lakes are lakes in the Gilan region, an administrative region of Iran located on the southwestern shore of the Caspian Sea.I don't remember
At the drunken ragged fakir
And the sun has a hot conversation
I heard that it’s like the sun
He is going to destroy the Snow Maiden; only
And is waiting to be planted in her heart
With its ray the fire of love; Then
There is no salvation for the Snow Maiden, Yarilo
It will burn it, incinerate it, melt it.
I don’t know how, but it will kill. How long
Her soul is pure as a child,
He has no power to harm the Snow Maiden.
Spring
Enough!
Did you believe the stories of the stupid bird!
No wonder her nickname is Baba.
Freezing
I know
Without a woman, I think Yarilo is evil.
Spring
Give me back my Snow Maiden!
Freezing
I'm not giving it!
Where did you get the idea that I would like such a turntable?
Did you believe your daughter?
Spring
What about you, red nose,
You're swearing!
Freezing
Listen, let's make peace!
What a girl needs most is supervision
And a stern eye, not just one, but ten.
And you have no time, and you don’t want to
It's better to keep an eye on your daughter
Give it to Bobyl's settlement
Childless, instead of a daughter. Will
She has enough worries, and so do the guys.
There is no profit for Bobylev’s daughter
Roll your eyes. Do you agree?
Spring
I agree, let him live in the Bobylskaya family,
If only he was free.
Freezing
Daughter doesn't know
Absolutely love, in her cold heart
There is not a spark of destructive feeling;
And love won't know if you
Spring warmth of languishing bliss,
Caressing, warming 18
Vibrant - exciting.
Spring
Enough!
Call the Snow Maiden to me.
Freezing
Snow Maiden,
Snow Maiden, my child!
Snow Maiden (looks out from the forest)
He approaches his father.
Attention! This is an introductory fragment of the book.
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Summary of the tale
The action takes place in the country of the Berendeys in mythical times. The end of winter comes - the goblin hides in a hollow. Spring flies to Krasnaya Gorka near Berendeyev Posad, the capital of Tsar Berendey, and with it the birds return: cranes, swans - Spring's retinue. The land of the Berendeys greets Spring with cold, and all because of Spring’s flirtations with Frost, the old grandfather, Spring herself admits.
Their daughter, Snegurochka, was born. Spring is afraid to quarrel with Frost for the sake of her daughter and is forced to endure everything. The “jealous” Sun itself is angry. That’s why Spring calls all the birds to warm themselves up by dancing, just as people themselves do in the cold. But just when the fun begins - the choirs of birds and their dances - a blizzard rises. Spring hides birds in the bushes until the new morning and promises to warm them up. Meanwhile, Frost comes out of the forest and reminds Vesna that they have a common child.
Frost, Spring, Snow Maiden. Snow Maiden ( Spring Tale) A. N. Ostrovsky, illustration by Adrian Mikhailovich Ermolaev
Each of the parents takes care of the Snow Maiden in their own way. Frost wants to hide her in the forest so that she can live among obedient animals in a forest chamber. Spring wants a different future for her daughter: for her to live among people, among cheerful friends and boys playing and dancing until midnight. The peaceful meeting turns into an argument. Frost knows that the sun god of the Berendeys, the hot-tempered Yarilo, has vowed to destroy the Snow Maiden.
As soon as the fire of love is lit in her heart, it will melt it. Spring doesn't believe. After a quarrel, Moroz offers to give their daughter to be raised by the childless Bobyl in the settlement, where the boys are unlikely to pay attention to their Snow Maiden. Spring agrees.
Frost calls Snow Maiden from the forest and asks if she wants to live with people. The Snow Maiden admits that she has long been yearning for girlish songs and round dances, that she likes the songs of the young shepherd Lelya.
Snow Maiden, artist A. M. Ermolaev
This especially frightens the father, and he tells the Snow Maiden, more than anything else, to beware of Lel, in whom the “scorching rays” of the Sun live. Separating from his daughter, Moroz entrusts the care of her to his forest “leshutki”. And finally gives way to Spring. Folk festivities begin - seeing off Maslenitsa. The Berendeys greet the arrival of Spring with songs.
Bobyl went into the forest for firewood and saw the Snow Maiden dressed like a hawthorn. She wanted to stay and live with Bobylya and her adopted daughter.
Bobyl and Bobylikha. V.M. Vasnetsov
Life is not easy for the Snow Maiden with Bobyl and Bobylikha: the named parents are angry that she, with her excessive bashfulness and modesty, has scared off all the suitors and they are not able to get rich with the help of their adopted daughter’s advantageous marriage. Lel comes to stay with the Bobylys because they alone are ready to let him into the house for money collected by other families. The rest are afraid that their wives and daughters will not resist Lel's charm.
Snow Maiden and Lel. Vasnetsov, sketch
The Snow Maiden does not understand Lel’s requests for a kiss for a song, for a gift of a flower. She plucks a flower with surprise and gives it to Lelya, but he, having sung a song and seen other girls calling him, throws away the already withered flower of the Snow Maiden and runs away to new fun.
Many girls quarrel with guys who are inattentive to them because of their passion for the beauty of the Snow Maiden. Only Kupava, the daughter of the rich Sloboda resident Murash, is affectionate towards the Snow Maiden. She tells her about her happiness: a rich trading guest from the royal settlement of Mizgir has wooed her. Then Mizgir himself appears with two bags of gifts - bride price for girls and boys.
Kupava, together with Mizgir, approaches the Snow Maiden, who is spinning in front of the house, and calls her for the last time to lead the girls’ round dances. But when he saw the Snow Maiden, Mizgir fell passionately in love with her and rejected Kupava. He orders his treasury to be carried to Bobyl's house. Snegurochka resists these changes, not wishing harm to Kupava, but the bribed Bobyl and Bobylikha force Snegurochka to even drive Lel away, which Mizgir demands.
Mizgir and Kupava. Vasnetsov, sketch 1885-1886
The shocked Kupava asks Mizgir about the reasons for his betrayal and hears in response that the Snow Maiden won his heart with her modesty and bashfulness, and Kupava’s courage now seems to him a harbinger of future betrayal. The offended Kupava asks for protection from the Berendeys and sends curses to Mizgir. She wants to drown herself, but Lel stops her, and she falls unconscious into his arms. In the chambers of Tsar Berendey, a conversation takes place between him and his close associate Bermyata about the troubles in the kingdom: for fifteen years now Yarilo has been unkind to the Berendeys, the winters are getting colder, the springs are getting colder, and in some places there is snow in the summer.
Berendeyki in "The Snow Maiden". V. Vasnetsov.
Berendey is sure that Yarilo is angry with the Berendeys for cooling their hearts, for “cold feelings.” To quench the Sun’s anger, Berendey decides to appease him with a sacrifice: on Yarilin’s day, the next day, to tie together as many brides and grooms as possible in marriage. However, Bermyata reports that because of some Snow Maiden who showed up in the settlement, all the girls quarreled with the guys and it is impossible to find brides and grooms for marriage.
Then Kupava, abandoned by Mizgir, runs in and cries out all her grief to the king. The king orders to find Mizgir and convene the Berendeys for trial. Mizgir is brought in, and Berendey asks Bermyata how to punish him for cheating on his bride. Bermyata offers to force Mizgir to marry Kupava. But Mizgir boldly objects that his bride is the Snow Maiden.
Kupava also does not want to marry a traitor. The Berendeys do not have the death penalty, and Mizgir is sentenced to exile. Mizgir only asks the king to look at the Snow Maiden himself. Seeing the Snow Maiden come with Bobyl and Bobylikha, the Tsar is amazed by her beauty and tenderness and wants to find a worthy husband for her: such a “sacrifice” will certainly appease Yarila.
The Snow Maiden admits that her heart does not know love. The king turns to his wife for advice. Elena the Beautiful says that the only one who can melt the Snow Maiden’s heart is Lel. Lel calls the Snow Maiden to make wreaths before the morning sun and promises that by morning love will awaken in her heart. But Mizgir also does not want to give up the Snow Maiden to her opponent and asks permission to enter into the fight for the Snow Maiden’s heart. Berendey allows and is confident that at dawn the Berendeys will joyfully meet the Sun, which will accept their atoning “sacrifice.” The people glorify the wisdom of their king Berendey.
At dawn, girls and boys begin to dance in circles, in the center are the Snow Maiden and Lel, while Mizgir appears and disappears in the forest. Admired by Lelya's singing, the king invites him to choose a girl who will reward him with a kiss. The Snow Maiden wants Lel to choose her, but Lel chooses Kupava. Other girls make peace with their loved ones, forgiving them of their past infidelities. Lel is looking for Kupava, who has gone home with her father, and meets a crying Snow Maiden, but he does not feel sorry for her for these “jealous tears” caused not by love, but by envy of Kupava.
Sketch of a poster for the opera by N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov "The Snow Maiden". Artist K.A. Korovin
He tells her about secret lovemaking, which is more valuable than a public kiss, and only for true love is he ready to take her to meet the Sun in the morning. Lel reminds how he cried when Snegurochka did not respond to his love before, and goes to the guys, leaving Snegurochka to wait. And yet, in the heart of the Snow Maiden, there is not love yet, but only pride that Lel will lead her to meet Yarila. But then Mizgir finds the Snow Maiden, he pours out his soul to her, full of burning, real male passion.
He, who has never begged a girl for love, falls to his knees in front of her. But the Snow Maiden is afraid of his passion, and his threats to take revenge for his humiliation are also terrible. She also rejects the priceless pearls with which Mizgir is trying to buy her love, and says that she will exchange her love for Lel’s love. Then Mizgir wants to get the Snow Maiden by force. She calls Lelya, but the “leshutki”, whom Father Frost instructed to take care of his daughter, come to her aid.
Elena Katulskaya as the Snow Maiden in N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera “The Snow Maiden”
They take Mizgir into the forest, beckoning him with the ghost of the Snow Maiden, and in the forest he wanders all night, hoping to overtake the ghost Snow Maiden.
Meanwhile, even the heart of the king’s wife was melted by Lel’s songs. But the shepherd deftly dodges both Elena the Beautiful, leaving her in the care of Bermyata, and the Snow Maiden, from whom he runs away when he sees Kupava. It was precisely this kind of reckless and ardent love that his heart was waiting for, and he advises the Snow Maiden to “eavesdrop” on Kupavi’s hot speeches in order to learn to love. The Snow Maiden, in her last hope, runs to her mother Vesna and asks her to teach her real feelings.
Actress Alyabyeva in the role of Spring in the play “The Snow Maiden”;
Victor Vasnetsov. Spring. Sketch for the play “The Snow Maiden”;
Nadezhda Zabela (Vrubel) as the Snow Maiden (1890).
Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky
Snow Maiden
A spring tale in four acts with a prologue
The action takes place in the country of the Berendeys in prehistoric times. Prologue on Krasnaya Gorka, near Berendeyev Posad, the capital of Tsar Berendey. The first action in the settlement beyond the river Berendeyevka. The second act in the palace of Tsar Berendey. The third act is in a reserved forest. The fourth act in the Yarilina Valley.
Persons :
Vesna-Krasna.
Father Frost.
Girl – Snow Maiden.
Goblin.
Maslenitsa- straw man.
Bobyl Bakula.
Bobylikha, his wife.
Berendey of both sexes and all ages.
Spring Suite, birds: cranes, geese, ducks, rooks, magpies, starlings, larks and others.
The beginning of spring. Midnight. Red hill covered with snow. To the right are bushes and a rare leafless birch tree; to the left is a continuous dense forest of large pines and spruces with branches hanging from the weight of the snow; in the depths, under the mountain, a river; The ice holes and ice holes are lined with spruce trees. Beyond the river is Berendeyev Posad, the capital of Tsar Berendey: palaces, houses, huts - all wooden, with intricate painted carvings; lights in the windows. The full moon silvers the entire open area. Roosters crow in the distance.
First appearance
Goblin sits on a dry stump. The entire sky is covered with birds flying in from across the sea. Vesna-Krasna on cranes, swans and geese descends to the ground, surrounded by a retinue of birds.
Goblin
The roosters crowed the end of winter,
Spring-Red descends to the earth.
The midnight hour has come, Goblin's gatehouse
If you watch out, dive into the hollow and sleep!
(Falls into a hollow.)
Vesna-Krasna descends onto Krasnaya Gorka, accompanied by birds.
Vesna-Krasna
At the appointed hour in the usual sequence
I appear on the land of the Berendeys,
Greets you sadly and coldly
Spring its gloomy country.
Sad view: under a veil of snow
Deprived of living, cheerful colors,
Deprived of fruitful power,
The fields lie cold. In chains
Playful streams - in the silence of midnight
You can't hear their glass murmur.
The forests are silent, under the snow
The thick paws of the fir trees are lowered,
Like old, frowning eyebrows.
In the raspberry fields, under the pines they were shy
Cold darkness, icy
Amber resin icicles
Hanging from straight trunks. And in a clear sky
How the moon burns and the stars shine
Increased radiance. Earth,
Covered with downy powder,
In response to their greetings, the cold one seems
Same shine, same diamonds
From the tops of trees and mountains, from flat fields,
The road is flattened from potholes.
And the same sparks hung in the air,
They waver without falling, they flicker.
And everything is just light, and everything is just a cold shine,
And there is no heat. That's not how I'm greeted
Happy valleys of the south, there
Carpets of meadows, acacia scents,
And the warm steam of cultivated gardens,
And the milky, lazy glow
From the frosted moon on the minarets,
On poplars and black cypresses.
But I love midnight lands
I love their powerful nature
Wake up from sleep and call from the depths of the earth
Giving birth, mysterious power,
Carrying to the careless Berendeys
Abundance lives unpretentious. Lubo
Warm for the joys of love,
For frequent games and celebrations, clean up
Secluded bushes and groves
Silk carpets of colored grasses.
(Addressing the birds who are shivering from the cold.)
Comrades: white-sided magpies,
Cheerful tickler talkers,
Gloomy rooks and larks,
Singers of the fields, heralds of spring,
And you, crane, with your friend the heron,
Beautiful swans and geese
Loud and fussy ducks,
And small birds - are you cold?
Even though I'm ashamed, I have to admit it
Before the birds. It's my own fault
That it’s cold for me, Vesna, and you.
Sixteen years since I'm just a joke
And amusing my fickle temper,
Changeable and whimsical, has become
Flirting with Frost, the old grandfather,
A gray-haired prankster; and from then on
I'm in captivity with the old one. Man
It’s always like this: give me a little will,
And he’ll take it all, that’s how it goes
From antiquity. I would like to leave the gray one,
But the trouble is, the old man and I have a daughter -
Snow Maiden. In the deep forest slums,
In the unmelting ice it returns
The old man is his child. Loving the Snow Maiden,
Feeling sorry for her in her unhappy lot,
I'm afraid to quarrel with the old one;
And he’s happy about it - he’s chilling and freezing
Me, Vesna, and the Berendeys. Sun
The jealous one looks at us angrily
And frowns at everyone, and that's the reason
Cruel winters and cold springs.
Are you shaking, poor things? Dance,
Keep warm! I've seen it more than once
That people warmed up by dancing.
Even reluctantly, even in the cold, but dancing
Let's celebrate our arrival for a housewarming party.
Some birds take up instruments, others sing, others dance.
Choir of birds
The birds gathered
The singers gathered
In herds, in herds.
The birds were landing
The singers sat down
Rows, rows.
Who are you birds?
Who are you singers?
Big, big?
The action takes place in the country of the Berendeys in mythical times. The end of winter comes - the goblin hides in a hollow. Spring flies to Krasnaya Gorka near Berendeyev Posad, the capital of Tsar Berendey, and with it the birds return: cranes, swans - Spring's retinue. The land of the Berendeys greets Spring with cold, and all because of Spring’s flirtations with Frost, the old grandfather, Spring herself admits. Their daughter was born - Snegurochka. Spring is afraid to quarrel with Frost for the sake of her daughter and is forced to endure everything. The “jealous” Sun itself is angry. That’s why Spring calls all the birds to warm themselves up by dancing, just as people themselves do in the cold. But just when the fun begins - the choirs of birds and their dances - a blizzard rises. Spring hides birds in the bushes until the new morning and promises to warm them up. Meanwhile, Frost comes out of the forest and reminds Vesna that they have a common child. Each of the parents takes care of the Snow Maiden in their own way. Frost wants to hide her in the forest so that she can live among obedient animals in a forest chamber. Spring wants a different future for her daughter: for her to live among people, among cheerful friends and boys playing and dancing until midnight. The peaceful meeting turns into an argument. Frost knows that the sun god of the Berendeys, the hot-tempered Yarilo, has vowed to destroy the Snow Maiden. As soon as the fire of love is lit in her heart, it will melt it. Spring doesn't believe it. After a quarrel, Moroz offers to give their daughter to be raised by the childless Bobyl in the settlement, where the boys are unlikely to pay attention to their Snow Maiden. Spring agrees.
Frost calls Snow Maiden from the forest and asks if she wants to live with people. The Snow Maiden admits that she has long been yearning for girlish songs and round dances, that she likes the songs of the young shepherd Lelya. This especially frightens the father, and he tells the Snow Maiden, more than anything else, to beware of Lel, in whom the “scorching rays” of the Sun live. Separating from his daughter, Moroz entrusts the care of her to his forest “leshutki”. And finally gives way to Spring. Folk festivities begin - seeing off Maslenitsa. The Berendeys greet the arrival of Spring with songs.
Bobyl went into the forest for firewood and saw the Snow Maiden dressed like a hawthorn. She wanted to stay and live with Bobylya and her adopted daughter.
Life is not easy for the Snow Maiden with Bobyl and Bobylikha: the named parents are angry that she, with her excessive bashfulness and modesty, has scared off all the suitors and they are not able to get rich with the help of their adopted daughter’s advantageous marriage.
Lel comes to stay with the Bobylys because they alone are ready to let him into the house for money collected by other families. The rest are afraid that their wives and daughters will not resist Lel's charm. The Snow Maiden does not understand Lel’s requests for a kiss for a song, for a gift of a flower. She plucks a flower with surprise and gives it to Lelya, but he, having sung a song and seen other girls calling him, throws away the already withered flower of the Snow Maiden and runs away to new fun. Many girls quarrel with guys who are inattentive to them because of their passion for the beauty of the Snow Maiden. Only Kupava, the daughter of the rich Sloboda resident Murash, is affectionate towards the Snow Maiden. She tells her about her happiness: a rich trading guest from the royal settlement of Mizgir has wooed her. Then Mizgir himself appears with two bags of gifts - bride price for girls and boys. Kupava, together with Mizgir, approaches the Snow Maiden, who is spinning in front of the house, and calls her for the last time to lead the girls’ round dances. But when he saw the Snow Maiden, Mizgir fell passionately in love with her and rejected Kupava. He orders his treasury to be carried to Bobyl's house. The Snow Maiden resists these changes, not wishing harm to Kupava, but the bribed Bobyl and Bobylikha force the Snow Maiden to even drive Lel away, which Mizgir demands. The shocked Kupava asks Mizgir about the reasons for his betrayal and hears in response that the Snow Maiden won his heart with her modesty and bashfulness, and Kupava’s courage now seems to him a harbinger of future betrayal. The offended Kupava asks the Berendeys for protection and sends curses to Mizgir. She wants to drown herself, but Lel stops her, and she falls unconscious into his arms.
In the chambers of Tsar Berendey, a conversation takes place between him and his close associate Bermyata about the troubles in the kingdom: for fifteen years now Yarilo has been unkind to the Berendeys, the winters are getting colder, the springs are getting colder, and in some places there is snow in the summer. Berendey is sure that Yarilo is angry with the Berendeys for cooling their hearts, for “cold feelings.” To quench the Sun’s anger, Berendey decides to appease him with a sacrifice: on Yarilin’s day, the next day, to tie together as many brides and grooms as possible in marriage. However, Bermyata reports that because of some Snow Maiden who showed up in the settlement, all the girls quarreled with the guys and it is impossible to find brides and grooms for marriage. Then Kupava, abandoned by Mizgir, runs in and cries out all her grief to the king. The king orders to find Mizgir and convene the Berendeys for trial. Mizgir is brought in, and Berendey asks Bermyata how to punish him for cheating on his bride. Bermyata offers to force Mizgir to marry Kupava. But Mizgir boldly objects that his bride is the Snow Maiden. Kupava also does not want to marry a traitor. The Berendeys do not have the death penalty, and Mizgir is sentenced to exile. Mizgir only asks the king to look at the Snow Maiden himself. Seeing the Snow Maiden come with Bobyl and Bobylikha, the Tsar is amazed by her beauty and tenderness and wants to find a worthy husband for her: such a “sacrifice” will certainly appease Yarila. The Snow Maiden admits that her heart does not know love. The king turns to his wife for advice. Elena the Beautiful says that the only one who can melt the Snow Maiden’s heart is Lel. Lel calls the Snow Maiden to make wreaths before the morning sun and promises that by morning love will awaken in her heart. But Mizgir also does not want to give up the Snow Maiden to her opponent and asks permission to enter into the fight for the Snow Maiden’s heart. Berendey allows and is confident that at dawn the Berendeys will joyfully meet the Sun, which will accept their atoning “sacrifice.” The people glorify the wisdom of their king Berendey.
At dawn, girls and boys begin to dance in circles, in the center are the Snow Maiden and Lel, while Mizgir appears and disappears in the forest. Admired by Lelya's singing, the king invites him to choose a girl who will reward him with a kiss. The Snow Maiden wants Lel to choose her, but Lel chooses Kupava. Other girls make peace with their loved ones, forgiving them of their past infidelities. Lel is looking for Kupava, who has gone home with her father, and meets a crying Snow Maiden, but he does not feel sorry for her for these “jealous tears” caused not by love, but by envy of Kupava. He tells her about secret lovemaking, which is more valuable than a public kiss, and only for true love is he ready to take her to meet the Sun in the morning. Lel reminds how he cried when Snegurochka did not respond to his love before, and goes to the guys, leaving Snegurochka to wait. And yet, in the heart of the Snow Maiden, there is not love yet, but only pride that Lel will lead her to meet Yarila.
But then Mizgir finds the Snow Maiden, he pours out his soul to her, full of burning, real male passion. He, who has never begged a girl for love, falls to his knees in front of her. But the Snow Maiden is afraid of his passion, and his threats to take revenge for his humiliation are also terrible. She also rejects the priceless pearls with which Mizgir is trying to buy her love, and says that she will exchange her love for Lel’s love. Then Mizgir wants to get the Snow Maiden by force. She calls Lelya, but the “leshutki”, whom Father Frost instructed to take care of his daughter, come to her aid. They take Mizgir into the forest, luring him with the ghost of the Snow Maiden, and he wanders in the forest all night, hoping to overtake the ghost Snow Maiden.
Meanwhile, even the heart of the king’s wife was melted by Lel’s songs. But the shepherd deftly dodges both Elena the Beautiful, leaving her in the care of Bermyata, and the Snow Maiden, from whom he runs away when he sees Kupava. It was precisely this kind of reckless and ardent love that his heart was waiting for, and he advises the Snow Maiden to “eavesdrop” on Kupavi’s hot speeches in order to learn to love. The Snow Maiden, in her last hope, runs to her mother Vesna and asks her to teach her real feelings. On the last day when Spring can fulfill her daughter’s request, since the next day Yarilo and Summer take over, Spring, rising from the water of the lake, reminds the Snow Maiden of her father’s warning. But the Snow Maiden is ready to give her life for a moment of true love. Her mother puts a magic wreath of flowers and herbs on her and promises that she will love the first young man she meets. The Snow Maiden meets Mizgir and responds to his passion. The immensely happy Mizgir does not believe in the danger and considers the Snow Maiden’s desire to hide from Yarila’s rays to be an empty fear. He solemnly brings the bride to Yarilina Mountain, where all the Berendeys have gathered. At the first rays of the sun, the Snow Maiden melts, blessing the love that brings her death. It seems to Mizgir that the Snow Maiden deceived him, that the gods mocked him, and in despair he throws himself from Yarilina Mountain into the lake. “The Snow Maiden’s sad death and the terrible death of Mizgir cannot disturb us,” says the Tsar, and all the Berendeys hope that Yarila’s anger will now fade away, that he will grant the Berendeys strength, harvest, life.
In the forested region of the Kostroma region, among wonderful nature, is located Shchelykovo, a former estate, and now a museum-reserve of the great Russian playwright A. N. Ostrovsky.
Ostrovsky first came to these places as a young man. He was twenty-five years old.
Since then, the writer had a cherished dream - to settle in Shchelykovo. He was able to realize this dream only 19 years later, when, together with his brother, he bought the estate from his stepmother. Having become a co-owner of the estate, Ostrovsky came there every year in early May and left only in late autumn.
Nature appeared before him in bright diversity, changing its clothes. He observed its revival, lush flowering and withering.
He also had his favorite places here.
Ostrovsky was distinguished by his passion for fishing from an early age. At the dam of the winding Kuekshi river, he spent long hours with fishing rods. Near the steep banks of the Sendega River he could be seen with a spear. He went with a seine to the wide Meru River, which flows into the Volga.
The writer found great pleasure in walking through the surrounding villages, forest tracts and clearings.
He often went to a grove with the strange name “Pig Forest”. Centuries-old birch trees grew in this grove.
Alexander Nikolaevich descended from the mountain on which the estate is located to the old bed of the Kueksha River and walked along the wide valley, which served as a place of festive games and entertainment for the surrounding youth. At the top of this sloping valley there is a spring. During Ostrovsky’s time, a fair was held here every spring, which attracted crowds of people.
The writer also visited a round clearing near the village of Lobanovo. Surrounded by forest, it was also a place for Sunday rest for peasant youth. Here the playwright watched the round dances and listened to the songs.
Ostrovsky often visited his friend I.V. Sobolev, a skilled woodcarver, in the village of Berezhki. The extraordinary silence of this forest corner, the sparseness of people (there were only a few houses there) and the peculiar northern architecture of the tall, sharp-topped barns that belonged to the residents of this village created the impression of some kind of detachment from the world, a fairy-tale quality.
Ostrovsky also had other places he liked.
His affection for Shchelykov only grew stronger over the years. He more than once expressed his admiration for the beauty of Shchelykovsky nature in letters to friends. So, on April 29, 1876, he wrote to the artist M. O. Mikeshin: “It’s a pity that you are not a landscape painter, otherwise you would have visited my village; You’ll hardly find a Russian landscape like this anywhere.”
Ostrovsky's observations of the people and nature of the Shchelykovo environs were reflected in many of his works.
They were most clearly reflected in the spring fairy tale “The Snow Maiden” (1873). The basis of this poetic work was made up of folk tales, traditions and legends, rituals and customs, sayings and songs, which the writer became familiar with from childhood. He colored folk fantasy with the bright colors of his own invention, imbued the work with subtle humor and inserted the images of his fairy tale into the frame of Shchelykov’s picturesque nature.
“The Snow Maiden” is a fairy tale about the beauty of mighty, ever-renewing nature and at the same time about human feelings, about the people, their aspirations and dreams.
In this life-affirming work, Ostrovsky paints his ideal of social life, which defines fair, beautiful human relationships.
The playwright begins his tale with the meeting of Frost and Spring on Red Hill.
Builder of ice palaces, owner and ruler of blizzards and blizzards, Frost is the poetic embodiment of winter, cold, freezing nature. Spring-Red, appearing accompanied by birds, is a warm breath and light penetrating the kingdom of winter, the personification of the fertilizing force, a symbol of awakening life.
The girl Snegurochka is a beautiful child of Frost and Spring. There is coldness in her soul - the harsh legacy of her father, but it also contains life-giving forces that bring her closer to her mother Spring.
Frost and Spring gave the Snow Maiden, when she was 15 years old, to the trans-river settlement of Berendeyev Posad, the capital of Tsar Berendey. And so Ostrovsky paints before us a kingdom of happy Berendeys.
What gave the poet the idea to create the image of the fabulous Berendey kingdom?
Ostrovsky obviously heard that in the Vladimir province there is a Berendeevo swamp. The legend about the ancient city of the Berendeys was associated with it. This legend could have suggested to Ostrovsky a fantastic image of the Berendey kingdom.
Russian village life, ancient rituals and customs, folk types that Ostrovsky admired in Shchelykov helped him recreate the appearance of the cheerful Berendeys.
The remarkable feature of Ostrovsky’s fairy tale is that it is fantastic and at the same time true, that in its conventional, bizarre images one can clearly see the deep truth of human feelings.
Ostrovsky embodied in the Berendey kingdom the people's dream of a fairy-tale country where peaceful labor, justice, art and beauty reign, where people are free, happy and cheerful.
Tsar Berendey personifies folk wisdom. This is “the father of his land”, “an intercessor for all orphans”, “a guardian of peace”, confident that the light “only holds on to truth and conscience.” The bloody deeds of war are alien to Berendey. His state is famous for its working, peaceful and joyful life. He is a philosopher, worker and artist. Berendey paints his chambers with a skillful brush and enjoys the luxurious colors of nature.
Berendey loves fun too. His close boyar Bermyata is a joker and wit, to whom the king entrusts the organization of folk amusements and games.
Ostrovsky admires in his fairy tale the simple people - noble, humane, cheerful, tireless in work and fun.
Tsar Berendey, addressing the singing and dancing Berendeys, says:
The people are generous
Great in everything: interfering with idleness
He won’t work and work like that,
Dance and sing to the fullest, until you drop.
Looking at you with a reasonable eye, you will say,
That you are an honest and kind people, for
Only the kind and honest are capable
Sing so loudly and dance so bravely.
The inner world of the Berendeys is clearly revealed in their attraction to art. They love songs, dances, music. Their houses are painted with colorful paints and decorated with intricate carvings.
Berendeys are distinguished by strong moral principles. They highly honor love. For them, love is the expression of a person’s best feelings, his service to beauty.
