"Than people are alive": a brief summary. Leo Tolstoy "Than people are alive"

Later the work of Leo Tolstoy evoked and still causes mixed opinions from both readers and literary critics. A special place in it is occupied by the so-called "folk tales" in which the great Russian writer cultivates the genre of the parable as the only possible genre of "allegorical validation of the truth". Is it so? The story "Than people are alive" will help in this to understand ...

"Than people are alive": introduction

Once upon a time there lived a Russian shoemaker. Were with him and his wife, and the kids are full of house. He lived with the peasant at the apartment, for he had neither his own house nor the land. He earned bread only by shoemaking. But bread in those days was expensive, and work - cheap. It turned out that the man will earn, then he will.

They had a fur coat for two with their wife, and she became unusable. What to do? By the fall of the accumulated "dailies": three rubles were kept at home in the trunk, and five more - were for the peasants in the village. There is nothing to do, he went to the village. He goes along the road and thinks: "I'll get my five rubles, add three more, and then certainly my sheepskin for a fur coat ..."

Yes, there it was. As a man came to the village, he left with nothing - only twenty kopecks from all the money and returned, and the sheepskins were not given credit. The cobbler was ashamed, he drank some vodka for the whole collection, and he returned home. He goes and talks to himself. That comforts itself, then regrets, thinks how to live. After a while, I was angry at all: I need them, and I do not need them, because they have a house, and their own cattle, and bread, and I'm all here - what I earned, so I live ...

Old chapel

How does the plot of the work "What are people alive" unfolds further? The summary does not end here. Behind all these thoughts, he did not notice how he approached the chapel. He sees something white behind her. Looks, but can not make out. Not a stone, not a beast ... It seems like a person, yes it's very white. Comes closer, so it is - a man naked at all, sitting quietly, leaning against the wall. Do you want to help or pass by? Come - what it is, who knows? Obviously, not for praiseworthy deeds here he found himself, and what with him, with naked things to do, not with himself the last "clothes" to take off ... The cobbler passed by, and suddenly his conscience began to speak, more than former thoughts "screamed": " What are you doing, Semyon? A man in need was, can die, but you pass by, you tremble for wealth: "Has Ali grown rich?"

Semyon turned back, came closer and saw: a very young man, in strength, not crippled, only - frozen and very scared to death, sitting quietly, leaning, weakened like, can not lift an eye ... Suddenly woke up, turned and looked at Semyon . This look touched and moved Semyon. He threw off his caftan, boots "valenie" and put it on: here, pacing, get warm, take my stick, lean, if it's weak, and go to my house, "but these things will be sorted out without us."

In the house of a shoemaker

They go easily, they say little. How a man got here can not say, only he says it's not local, no one has offended him, he has nowhere to go, and still, because God punished him. Semyon was surprised: he was gentle at the speeches, but he said little about himself-he was hiding something, on the other side-and there were not many such cases ...

A shoemaker and a stranger came to the first home. As soon as they crossed the threshold, Matryona - Semyon's wife, immediately sensed the spirit of wine from her husband. I went out into the canopy, that's it: a husband without a caftan, without a sheepskin coat for a new fur coat, and with him a peasant is somehow incompetent without a hat and in felt boots. What to do? She broke off her heart, thinks, drank everything, and even got involved with some kind of unfortunate. It is visible, as entered only, so it is frozen and a head downwards lowered - means, is afraid of something. Oh, it's not good ...

Semyon understood that his woman was angry, but there was nothing to be done: as his eyes at the chapel would remember, his heart would "leap in". He began to talk about the fact that the peasants did not have money in the village, they promised to return them later, the rest he kept the "money", did not drink, only twenty cents ... He continued to tell about the chapel, about how he met a naked man there, How sorry he was, and Matryona did not listen, she screams, she curses, she can not stop ... She wanted to leave - she broke off, stopped, and saw that the stranger was sitting silently on the edge of the bench, her hands on her knees, her head down, everything wrinkled, as if His throat is squeezed by someone. Semyon says to her: "Is there no God in you?". Heard his words and took pity even more. I took out kvass, the last edge of bread, handed a knife, spoons, and they began to supper. Suddenly the traveler became more cheerful, looked up, looked at Matryon, stared so, looked good, and smiled, for the first time in all the time.

They ate, went to bed, but can not sleep with them. As the woman remembers, that there is no bread for tomorrow, that the "garment" was given last, so the heart contracts. And remember his smile - it becomes more fun: Well, we will live - we will be full ... And from the other side - we give something, do not stint, but it does not come back to us kindly. So they fell asleep in these thoughts. We read further the work that L. Tolstoy created - "Than people are alive". The main events of the story are yet to come.

Shoemaking

Day by day, week after week - and the year passed. The wanderer Mikhail lives as before at Semyon's. For what kind of work does it take - everyone comes out from him as if he were making a century: he fixes his boots, and sews them himself. Glory went around the district that no one would put on such strong boots as Mikhail. More people came to Semyon, and prosperity began to increase. And Mikhail, as soon as the work ends, sits down, does not say a word, half a word, and looks all up. He never goes out on the street, eats little, talks little and does not laugh.

Arrival of master

One winter the master came to the shoemaker wearing a fur coat, his face was red, poured, his neck, like a bull's, like a man from another world. He came not just for that - he brought a "shoe goods", expensive, German quality, and asks him to make boots from him so that the year would be worn, not torn or rubbed. If Semyon does his job well, he will get ten rubles, and if the boots "break" before the year, they will sit in the prison. The shoemaker was frightened, and Mikhail nodded to him, saying, take the job and not be shy. The Semyon began to take measurements from his master's foot, suddenly sees that the stranger looks at him in the corner empty after the master, he can not take his eyes off, then suddenly he smiles, for the second time all the time he enlightened everything.

The master stood up, adjusted his fur coat, once again warned the shoemaker that he would not make mischief, and headed for the exit. Yes forgot to bend down, and hit his head on the door. After his resignation, Mikhail began a new job.

Time passes. A shoemaker comes up to him to see what happened, he looks - and from his "commodity" German boots are not sewn, but barefoot. He sighed, and only began to scold him, as someone knocked at the door. They opened the door: the boy comes in from that same master, and says that the owner has not reached home - he is halfway there, and the lady asks urgently to sew the barefoot "to the dead."

Merchant with two girls

Two years passed. They live as before, and the shoemaker does not snore at his worker. They sit once at home. The boy, the son of Semyon, ran to the window and looked out into the yard. Look, to their house is a merchant girl with two girls in fur coats and kerchiefs. One has a limp leg. Mihaila ran to the window. The cobbler was surprised - he had never looked out on the street before.

He went into the house to the shoemaker, and asks a woman to make boots for girls. We took measurements, talked, and learned that the little ones are not native, but take them. Six years ago, a misfortune occurred: a tree fell on his father in the grove. Only drove, he died. They buried him on Tuesday. And the mother at the same time gave birth to twins, these are the same girls, but she did not live for three days - she gave her soul. How she died, she crushed one of them. Here's her leg and turned. There were orphans alone. They lived then with her husband in the neighborhood with him, so they took the babies. She fed them with her breast, because, as she barely gave birth. A year later, his own son died, and God did not give any more children. And prosperity began to grow, life improved. And that could be, if not these girls - "only I and wax in the candle", that they are - the most native of the family. As they say, without father and mother you can live, but without God ... L. Tolstoy ("Than people live") imperceptibly brings the reader to the main idea of the work.

Confession of Mikhail

L. Tolstoy, "Than people are alive" - the short content of the work further narrates that during all the time Mikhail was not taking his eyes off the girls. He folded his hands on his knees, as before, looking up and smiling, for the third time all the time. Suddenly he got up, took off his apron, bowed to Semyon and Matryona, and asked that they forgive him, as God forgave him. And the husband and his wife see that the light began to go from him. They fell on their knees in front of him, and asked to explain everything: who he is, why he smiled three times, and for what God forgave him ...

And he told them his story. He is an angel. One day God sent him to a woman to take her soul. He flew in, and sees that she gave birth to twins. They are crouching near her, but she can not get up, and they can not put them to their breasts. I saw an angel, and I understood at once why he had come to see her. She prayed to him, they say, she crushed her husband with a tree, and no one remained with her, who would feed her children and put her on her feet? Mikhail regretted the woman, put one baby to her breast, and the other - gave it to her. But the Lord returned the angel to the earth, saying that after he takes the woman's soul, he will know the three truths: "what is in people, what is not given to people, and what people live on." The summary of the work does not end there.

The angel understood that when he knew them, then he would return to heaven. He took out his mother's soul, a lifeless body fell down and crushed one of the twins. The leg was turned upside down. The angel rose above the village, and his wings departed. The soul rushed one to God, and Mihail fell to the ground.

L. Tolstoy, "Than people are alive": three main words

The chapel was closed. He did not know until now that there is a human life, that there is cold, hunger. Now, at once, he experienced all the human misfortunes. Then he met Semyon, and realized that he would not help him, because he himself does not know how to feed himself and warm himself, his wife and children. Despair was, see, returns Semyon, and he did not recognize him: then in his face lived death, and now he recognized God in him. Then he met Matryona - Semyon's wife, and she seemed worse than her husband - "she breathed a dead spirit." But the shoemaker reminded her of God, and at the same time she changed: she became alive, and in it he recognized God. At that moment the angel learned the first truth - that there is love in people, and he smiled then for the first time.

Then a gentleman in a fur coat arrived at the cobbler's house. As soon as he crossed the threshold, he saw Mikhail behind him with the angel of death, and realized that the master would die before sunset. Hence, people are not given the knowledge that they need for their body. This was the second truth. He was delighted with the second word and smiled.

A few more years passed, and God still did not reveal the last truth to him. But here came the merchant girl with the girls. He recognized them at once and was surprised inordinately. After all, he thought that without his own parents he could not live for the children, but, it turns out, their immensely alien woman grew up and loved them. Then he saw in her face a living God, and took the third truth - a person does not care about himself, but love. So he smiled for the third time.

The story "Than people live" ends with a miraculous ascension of Michael to heaven to God. The angel sang a song of praise to God, the whole house shook, the ceiling parted, the angel's wings spread behind him, and he rose to the sky ...

Once again I want to recall that in the article there was a talk about the work of L. Tolstoy "Than people are alive". The summary can not so convey that "evangelical spirit", which is invisibly present in every line, in every letter of the story, which strikes unexpectedly and irresistibly. Therefore, reading the work in full is simply necessary.