The work "feast during the plague" in a brief retelling. A feast during the plague The first time of the plague summary

Feast in Time of Plague

There is a set table outside, at which several young men and women are feasting. One of the feasters, a young man, turning to the chairman of the feast, recalls their mutual friend, the cheerful Jackson, whose jokes and witticisms amused everyone, enlivened the feast and dispersed the darkness that a ferocious plague now sends to the city. Jackson is dead, his chair at the table is empty, and the young man offers a drink in his memory. The Chairman agrees, but believes that drinking should be done in silence, and everyone drinks silently in memory of Jackson.

The chairman of the feast turns to a young woman named Mary and asks her to sing a dull and drawn-out song of her native Scotland, so that later she can turn to fun again. Mary sings about her native side, which flourished in contentment, until misfortune fell upon her and the side of fun and work turned into a land of death and sadness. The heroine of the song asks her darling not to touch her Jenny and leave her native village until the infection is gone, and vows not to leave her beloved Edmond even in heaven.

The chairman thanks Mary for the mournful song and suggests that once her region was visited by the same plague as the one that now mows down all living things here. Mary recalls how she sang in her parents' hut, how they loved to listen to their daughter... But suddenly the caustic and impudent Louise breaks into the conversation with the words that such songs are not in fashion now, although there are still simple souls ready to melt from women's songs. tears and blindly believe them. Louise screams that she hates the yellowness of that Scottish hair. The chairman intervenes in the dispute, he calls on the feasters to listen to the sound of the wheels. A cart loaded with corpses approaches. The negro rules the cart. At the sight of this sight, Louise becomes ill, and the chairman asks Mary to splash water in her face to bring her to her senses. With her swoon, the chairman assures, Louise proved that "the gentle is weaker than the cruel." Mary calms Louise, and Louise, gradually coming to her senses, says that she dreamed of a black and white-eyed demon who called her to him, in his terrible cart, where the dead lay and babbled their "terrible, unknown speech." Louise doesn't know if it was in a dream or in reality.

The young man explains to Louise that the black cart has the right to travel everywhere, and asks Walsingam to sing a song, but not a sad Scottish one, "but a violent, Bacchic song", instead of a Bacchic song, to stop disputes and "consequences of women's fainting", and the chairman instead of a Bacchic song sings a gloomy inspirational hymn in honor of the plague. In this hymn, praise is given to the plague, which can bestow an unknown rapture that a strong-willed person is able to feel in the face of threatening death, and this pleasure in battle is "immortality, perhaps, a guarantee!" Happy is he, sings the chairman, to whom it is given to feel this pleasure.

While Walsingam is singing, an old priest enters. He reproaches the feasters for their blasphemous feast, calling them atheists, the priest believes that with their feast they desecrate the "horror of sacred funerals", and with their delights "confuse the silence of the tombs." The feasters laugh at the gloomy words of the priest, and he conjures them with the Blood of the Savior to stop the monstrous feast if they wish to meet the souls of their departed loved ones in heaven and go home. The chairman objects to the priest that their homes are sad, and youth loves joy. The priest reproaches Walsingam and reminds him how only three weeks ago he hugged his mother's corpse on his knees "and wailed over her grave." He assures that now the poor woman is crying in heaven, looking at her feasting son. He orders Valsingam to follow him, but Valsingam refuses to do so, because he is kept here by despair and a terrible memory, as well as by the consciousness of his own lawlessness, he is kept here by the horror of the dead emptiness of his home, even the shadow of his mother is unable to take him away from here, and he asks the priest to leave. Many admire Walsingham's bold rebuke to the priest, who conjures the wicked with the pure spirit of Matilda. This name brings the chairman into mental confusion, he says that he sees her where his fallen spirit will no longer reach. A woman notices that Walsingam has gone mad and "raves about his buried wife." The priest persuades Walsingam to leave, but Walsingam, in the name of God, begs the priest to leave him and go away. Having invoked the Holy Name, the priest leaves, the feast continues, but Walsingam "remains in deep thought."

The work is part of the series "Little Tragedies". They were created in 1830. It was then that there was a cholera epidemic in Moscow. This is reflected in the work. “A Feast in the Time of Plague” is a creative reworking of the work of J. Wilson (English playwright) “The Plague City”. Pushkin left only one of the 13 scenes that Wilson had. Pushkin not only translated the scene, but also significantly reduced the action, and also introduced two songs into the work. The title has also been changed.

On the street, men and women feast at the laid table. The chairman says that Jackson, a cheerful and cheerful person, has recently died. His jokes made everyone laugh. They loved him, they willingly communicated with him. The chairman says it's impossible to forget Jackson. It also reminds that there are many survivors. And, therefore, there is no need to be sad. A chairman named Walsingam offered a drink in Jaxon's honor.

Everyone agreed with him. Those present drank in silence. The chairman invited one of the girls present to sing. He says her voice is amazing, bringing out the perfect sounds. Walsingam invites Mary to sing a sad song, after which it will be possible to indulge in fun again. Mary agrees. The girl sings about those times when there was no plague. The country prospered, everyone was happy. Her song contrasts sharply with the surroundings. And that makes it even harder for those present. But at least with a song, Mary reminds her friends that life can be beautiful.

"There was a time, flourished
In the world our side:
On Sunday was
The church of God is full;
Our children in a noisy school
voices were heard
And sparkled in a bright field
Sickle and quick scythe.

These memories are, in general, everyday and simple. But now, when there is mortal danger around people, they are perceived as a symbol of another, happy life, in which there was no plague, everyone was healthy and happy. In the present, people have nothing, no hope, no faith in tomorrow. The feast and fun they indulge in is only an attempt to drown out fear.

In the same song, Mary says that everything has changed. And now life frightens the living, because at any moment death can come.

Quiet all - one cemetery
Not empty, not silent -
Every minute they carry the dead,
And the groans of the living
Fearfully ask God
Rest their souls."

Mary's song contains words about love. The girl says that love will triumph over death. Let the mortal body die. But the soul will always be alive, it will be in heaven.

Those present thanked Mary for her song, even though it is sad. Each of the feasters saw something different in the song. Even if not everyone liked the song, it was impossible to remain indifferent to it. The conversation was interrupted by a shout from the chairman. He said he heard the sound of wheels. A cart passes by, carrying the dead from the plague. One of those present, Louise, becomes ill. She is brought to her senses. She says that in a faint she had an ominous vision:

"Terrible Demon
I dreamed: all black, white-eyed ...
He called me to his cart. In her
They lay dead - and babbled
Terrible, unknown speech...
Tell me, was it in a dream?
Has the cart passed?

Louise is trying to calm down. The young man says that now this black cart travels in various places, everyone is obliged to let it through.

The young man asks Walsingam to sing a "free, lively song." The chairman says he will sing the plague hymn he wrote last night.

All those present willingly agree to listen to a hymn in honor of the plague.

"Terrible Queen, Plague
Now she's coming at us
And flattered by a rich harvest;
And to us in the window day and night
Knocking with a grave shovel ...
What should we do? and how to help?

In the song, Walsingam calls to lock up, to hide from the Plague in unrestrained fun. Let the minds drown in wine, then the "darkness of the grave" will not be terrible.

“We sing glasses together,
And the rose-maidens drink the breath
Perhaps - full of Plague!

The song is very symbolic. It says that people decide not to think that perhaps the next day will be their last. They want to enjoy life as long as possible. Their aspiration cannot but admire. Let around - devastation and death. But as long as a person is alive, he should try to find joy in what surrounds him.

The old priest comes. From his point of view, feasters are madmen. He speaks directly to them about this. Their philosophy is incomprehensible to the priest.

“Godless feast, godless madmen!
You are a feast and songs of debauchery
Swearing at the gloomy silence
Everywhere death spread!

The priest says that he prays in the cemetery, around - the horrors of death and disease. Those who feast offend the "silence of the coffins", offend the memory of those who died, and the feelings of those who mourn their loved ones. The priest says that the demons make the feasters rejoice at such a mournful time.

Those present are trying to drive the priest away. He calls them to finish the feast, conjures “the holy blood of the Savior”, says that if they want to meet the souls of the dead in heaven, they must give up fun, observe mourning.

The chairman objects to the priest. He says that "youth loves joy." And so they do not want to come to terms with the tragedy that is about to take their lives. Walsingam believes that they are doing exactly the right thing, trying to oppose inevitable death with joy and pleasure.

The priest reproaches Walsingam, reminding him that just recently his mother died. And he sobbed bitterly over her corpse.

“Is that you, Walsingam? Are you the one
Who is three weeks old, on his knees,
The corpse of the mother, sobbing, hugged
And fought with a cry over her Grave?

The priest tries to explain to Walsingam that his mother looks at her son from heaven and regrets that he is unable to understand the truth at such a painful moment.

The priest is sure that Walsingama's mother weeps bitterly in heaven when she looks at her son, who indulges in fun and debauchery, instead of spending time in humble prayer. The chairman objects to the priest. He doesn't want to think about something sad. The chairman wants to lose himself in the fun of the feast. And then the painful reality will not bother him. He answers the priest that it is hard for him from the "dead emptiness" that has settled in his house. Walsingam does not want and cannot follow him. Only in a crowd of feasting friends does he forget his despair, terrible memories let him go. He says: “... old man! go in peace; / But cursed be who will follow you!

The feasters support the chairman. The priest reminds him of his dead wife. The chairman recalls her:

“She considered clean, proud, free -
And I knew heaven in my arms...
Where I am? holy child of the world! see
I am you where my fallen spirit
Will not reach already ... "

One of the women calls the chairman crazy:

"He's crazy
He is delirious about his buried wife!”

The priest tries to take the chairman away. But he asks to be left alone. The priest leaves and prays for Walsingam:

“God save you!
I'm sorry, my son."

The priest leaves. The feast continues. The chairman is thoughtful.

The main pathos of the work is a reflection on the essence of moral laws. People are in a critical situation.

Any minute the plague could overtake them. What do they choose in "perhaps their last hour? They indulge in unbridled fun. On the one hand, their behavior is reprehensible. They violate the unwritten moral laws that regulate behavior in such a situation.

But on the other hand, the behavior of feasters can be viewed differently. Everything in this world is perishable and fragile. They understand that their feast may be the last. They do not want to think that death is behind them.

It is much easier for them to forget themselves in a cheerful feast. Although it's a stretch to call it funny. The two songs that are in the work show that the feasters are in fact by no means as frivolous as it might seem.

From the priest's point of view, they are committing a crime. But the priest eventually understands that these people, who endured so many trials and lost loved ones, deserve at least a brief moment that will allow them to forget about all the troubles. "A Feast During the Plague" is a philosophical work that makes you think about the meaning of life and the short duration of people's stay on sinful earth.

The chairman thanks Mary for the mournful song and assumes that once her region was visited by the same plague as the one that now mows down all living things here. Mary recalls how she sang in her parents' hut, how they loved to listen to their daughter... But suddenly, the caustic and impudent Louise breaks into the conversation with the words that such songs are not in fashion now, although there are still simple souls ready to melt from women's tears and blindly believe them. Louise screams that she hates the yellowness of that Scottish hair. The chairman intervenes in the dispute, he calls on the feasters to listen to the sound of the wheels. A cart loaded with corpses approaches. The negro rules the cart. At the sight of this sight, Louise becomes ill, and the chairman asks Mary to splash water in her face to bring her to her senses. With her swoon, the chairman assures, Louise proved that "the gentle is weaker than the cruel." Mary reassures Louise, and Louise, gradually coming to her senses, tells that she dreamed of a black and white-eyed demon who called her to his terrible cart, where the dead lay and babbled their "terrible, unknown speech." Louise doesn't know if it was in a dream or in reality.

The young man explains to Louise that the black cart has the right to travel everywhere, and asks Walsingam to sing a song, but not a sad Scottish one, “but a violent, Bacchic song”, instead of a Bacchic song, to stop disputes and “consequences of female fainting”, and the chairman instead of a Bacchic song sings a gloomy inspirational hymn in honor of the plague. In this hymn, praise is given to the plague, which can bestow an unknown rapture that a strong-willed person is able to feel in the face of threatening death, and this pleasure in battle is “immortality, perhaps, a guarantee!” Happy is he, sings the chairman, to whom it is given to feel this pleasure.

While Walsingam is singing, an old priest enters. He reproaches the feasters for their blasphemous feast, calling them atheists, the priest believes that with their feast they desecrate the "horror of sacred funerals", and with their delights "confuse the silence of the tombs." The feasters laugh at the gloomy words of the priest, and he conjures them with the Blood of the Savior to stop the monstrous feast if they wish to meet the souls of their departed loved ones in heaven and go home. The chairman objects to the priest that their homes are sad, and youth loves joy. The priest reproaches Walsingam and reminds him how, only three weeks ago, he hugged the corpse of his mother on his knees "and wailed over her grave." He assures that now the poor woman is crying in heaven, looking at her feasting son. He orders Valsingam to follow him, but Valsingam refuses to do so, because he is kept here by despair and a terrible memory, as well as by the consciousness of his own lawlessness, he is kept here by the horror of the dead emptiness of his home, even the shadow of his mother is unable to take him away from here, and he asks the priest to leave. Many admire Walsingham's bold rebuke to the priest, who conjures the wicked with the pure spirit of Matilda. This name brings the chairman into mental confusion, he says that he sees her where his fallen spirit will no longer reach. A woman remarks that Walsingam has gone mad and "raves about his buried wife." The priest persuades Walsingam to leave, but Walsingam, in the name of God, begs the priest to leave him and go away. After invoking the Holy Name, the priest leaves, the feast continues, but Walsingam "remains in deep thought."

There is a festive meal. People sit at the table and feast. One of them turns to the chairman and talks about their friend Jackson. Jackson previously also sat and feasted at this table, but now his chair is empty. Jackson died. It was proposed to honor his memory and drink for his repose. But the chairman had his own views on such toasts, so everyone drank to Jackson in silence.

The chairman of this fun asks one of the women, her name is Mary, to sing a song from her native Scotland. The woman sings a sad and vile song. She sings about how her prosperous land became a wasteland in which only one death was the mistress. The heroine of this song asks her beloved to leave the settlement so that he does not get infected. And she wants him to come back after the illness has passed. At worst, they will meet in heaven.

The chairman thanks for the beautiful song and conjectures that the same plague of bones here is all living things, which once raged in Scotland. Mary remembers singing in her parents' hut. Louise intervenes in the conversation of the two with caustic remarks in relation to the song. She says that now no one sings such songs, because they have not been in fashion for a long time. Louise screams that only a simpleton can touch men with such songs. She hates the hair color of Scottish girls. The chairman interrupts their argument and offers to listen to the sound of an approaching wagon. A cart with corpses, driven by a Negro, is approaching them closer and closer. Louise gets sick from this sight.

The Chairman suggests that Mary splash water on Louise's face to bring her to her senses. The fact that Louise fainted proved her weakness. Mary tries to calm the awakened Louise, and she talks about the nightmare. While fainting, she dreamed of a black demon who sang mournful songs and carried many corpses on a cart. She does not understand: a dream or reality. Louise is explained that the cart can go anywhere.

In order to stop the disputes and prevent women from fainting, the chairman asks one man to sing a cheerful wind-up song. But the man sings a long hymn to the plague. It praises the greatness of the raging plague, which makes a person feel a special pleasure. While the chairman is singing, the priest comes to them. He accuses them of blasphemy and says that this feast should not disturb the silence of the dead. He conjures them with a terrible heavenly punishment to stop the feast and go home. But young people make fun of him.

The priest reminds the chairman to remember how he fought over the corpse of his mother recently. He calls him to follow him, but Walsingam stays behind and fends off the priest's words. Everyone is in awe of his resilience and bold words. Even the spirit of Matilda, his wife, could not take him away from there. Someone says that Walsingam has gone mad. The priest leaves, but the chairman remains. Walsingam is in deep thought.

The story shows how different people overcome grief and look death in the eye. Some try to forget, others pray, and the latter boldly await their fate. When death is inexorably close, it is necessary to laugh and boldly expect it without being shy - such is the moral of this story.