"The Tale of Kish": a brief retelling. "The Tale of Kish", Jack London

Jack London's stories are specific, they carry the charge of an ineradicable faith in man. The writer went down in history and literature as a true humanist and idealist. His beliefs are obvious to every reader: the world will be changed for the better by strong, kind and fair male workers. Such was he, who began to earn a living bread, being still a child. The sale of newspapers, exhausting labor in a cannery, the hard work of a sailor ... Jack London's works are easy to read: a dynamic, with clearly defined semantic details, the plot facilitates the work of those wishing to write a brief retelling of them. "The Tale of Kish" is no exception. This is a retelling of the legend of a 13-year-old Canadian Eskimo named Kish.

Story for children

Why did the American writer choose the main character of his story not the strongest physically and not the most educated hunter, but a teenage boy? Moreover, the events described by him are divorced from the spirit of the times, they refer to gray antiquity. At that time the whole life of the Eskimos was determined by tribal relations. Jack London, a writer by vocation and socialist by conviction, pushed the idea of social justice to create the plot. The narrative of the mind, courage and kindness of the boy contains our brief retelling. "The Tale of Kish" introduces the reader to the hard life of the Canadian Eskimos.

Scene

The tribe lives near the Canadian coast of the severe Arctic Ocean, beyond the Arctic Circle. On the ground there is such a layer of snow that it is impossible to move without skis. The dogs are used as the pulling force for the Eskimo sleds. Most of the year is occupied by the polar night and the polar day. At the head of the tribe is the leader of Klosh-Kwan. The Eskimos are destined to live together and together withstand the cold and hunger. Tundra is a very harsh environment for life. The breadwinners of the tribe are hunters. The fate of the tribe, whose hunters are accompanied by failure, is sad.

The feat of the hunter Bock, Kish's father

The young Kish is proud of his father, who was the best hunter and died a glorious death, worthy of being remembered by subsequent generations of strangers. During his lifetime, he hunted for two, and when the booty was divided among his fellow tribesmen, Bok watched, so that the old and the feeble remained unchanged. A great heart had this man. When the hard times came and the best hunters of the tribe returned from hunting with nothing, and the old people, children and women seemed to have completely lost hope, he decided on a brave act. The tribe, exhausted from hunger, was in dire need of food. And the self-sacrificing hunter dared to fight the storm of the snowy tundra-the bear.

The hunt turned out to be very dramatic, as evidenced by its brief retelling. "The Tale of Kish" tells us a story about the exploit of a man exhausted by hunger, shattered in a deadly duel with a mighty beast. Boc's hand was true, he managed to deal him a decisive blow with his faithful spear. However, the strength of the owner of the tundra was much higher than that of the human. Even the last forces were enough for him to crush Bok and deprive him of his life.

Thanks to the dedication of his best hunter, the tribe survived ...

Dishonest section of provisions

The fate of the family of the deceased was not easy: the widow of Aikigi and Kish's son. The tares of self-interest and selfishness sprouted in the hearts of their fellow tribesmen: the hunters of the tribe, after the death of Bock, forgot about the fair and equal division of the prey and allotting enough meat. The genus of the leader Klosh-Kwan, the family of hunters: Ug-Gluka and Massuka, was well-nourished. But at the same time, the tribe was undernourished by people like Aikiga and Kish, which is briefly narrated to the readers. "The Legend of Kish" is the story of the establishment and formation of a new leader of the Canadian Eskimo tribe, who firmly decided to put an end to this dishonesty and outrage.

An innate mind and a rare ability even for his adult tribesmen to speak were distinguished by a 13-year-old teenager.

Kisch's daring speech before the tribe

One evening, when the tribe gathered in the biggest needle belonging to the leader, the word was suddenly taken up by Kish. His performance was bold to the point of folly. He opposed the greed of adult male hunters, staying in the minority (the rest of the tribesmen, obviously, were afraid). At first, the boy reminded the hunters who had gone too far about the feat of their father. Then he formulated the main idea of his speech: families that lost the hunter-breadwinner, also in the division of extraction, are worthy to get good pieces of meat, rather than bones. From Kish's words it followed that the experienced hunter, Ug-Gluk, and the strongest man of the Massu tribe did not act in conscience either.

The fact that the guy after such words was practically expelled from the council, tells "The Tale of Kish." The summary of the work contains a scene where the mercenary hunters Ug-Gluk and Massuk have tried to embarrass the boy with angry shouts, and the fellow tribesmen to convince him that he does not have an advisory vote.

The young hunter leaves for the tundra

But Kish, to their surprise, was not scared of them, in actual fact being "hard nut". He answered them quite dignifiedly and not in a childlike way. His words surprised the men with a firm belief in themselves and, again, non-childlike principles. He evidently expected the support of the deprived and hungry fellow tribesmen. But they were silent in fright. Then Kishu had to go all-in. The thirteen-year-old boy openly opposed himself to the right of the strong in the tribe, when the best pieces were given to strong men, and the widows and old people remained hungry, and promised to change them. How did it sound?

He recalled the fair division of production by his father Bok, in the past the best hunter of the tribe, whose feat begins the story "The Tale of Kish." The summary of his speech can be characterized as the statement of a fundamentally different society.

Then, at the tribal meeting, the boy's words were not taken seriously by anybody. After him, coming out of the leader's needle, taunts rushed. But his words did not turn out to be the child's impetuosity: the next day Kish, armed with his father's hunting possessions, himself went hunting in the direction where the ocean ice was closing with the land buried in snow. The unexpectedly low temperature did not stop him.

The son proved worthy of his father

On the third day of his absence, a fierce storm broke out. Hope that the guy will survive, almost no choice. And on the morning of the third day he appeared in the village, when the hunters of the tribe were about to set out for his corpse, and his desperate mother Aikig, in anticipation of loss, tore her hair and smeared her face with soot.

The effect of the unexpected action was fully utilized by the author of the story Jack London ("The Tale of Kish"). A short narration of the work reflects the main aspect of this event. Kish returned from the tundra with prey (he carried on his shoulder a heavy piece, carved from the carcass of a bear he killed). He triumphed because he was a worthy successor to his father. The bear, killed by him on the hunt with two cubs, was a supercomplex prey, which was on the shoulder only to the outstanding master of hunting. After feeding larva attacks any, wandered into her possession, with incredible cruelty.

Chief Producer of the Tribe

Turning to the men of the tribe, the teenager said that they can bring his hunting trophy to the village of carcasses, if they go with sledges in his tracks. So the hunters of the tribe were put to shame by the boy, who provided all the tribes with enough bear meat. They were perplexed, because such a hunt was beyond their power. For the tribesmen, the ordinary boy suddenly acquired mystery, mystery.

A brief retelling of the story "The Tale of Kish" confirms the seriousness of the protagonist's intentions, expressed earlier on the advice in the Klosh-Kwan needle. He argued his case for new hunting successes. The hunters openly envied the boy, who became a real breadwinner for his tribe. Evil tongues (and among them the first one - Ug-Gluk) openly accused the young hunter of witchcraft. But their plots were destroyed by the opinion of other tribesmen of Kish. After all, thanks to him everything, even widows and old people, was now full. Following the bear, the young man's prey was first of a young bear, and then the bear was really huge.

New home

Once a young but already recognized best hunter told the leader that he wants to build for himself and his mother a new spacious house (needle). Having received a formal "welcome", Kish did not limit himself to this. He knew the price, and therefore, by the right of the chief earner of the tribe, he demanded that his new tribesmen build a new needle. This really made sense, because hunting required the boy to complete self-giving, and, staying in the village, he had to restore strength. But now his mother, who lives in the most spacious needle of the tribe, became the most respected woman. Her self-esteem rose, with her began to consult women.

Fears of the Eskimos

The story is really mysterious. How to measure the strength of a bear and a teenage boy? Readers of the story are intrigued, and soon this mystery tells them D. London ("The Tale of Kish"). A brief retelling of the work tells us about the secret advice of hunters. Ug-Gluk continued to insist that the young lucky man used witchcraft and insisted on secretly sending after Kish when he went hunting, spies from the best hunters of the tribe. After a stormy debate with the old hunter, they all agreed. To keep an eye on Kish, skillful hunters of Boone and Beam were obliged. They had to follow the boy, but did not catch his eye.

A brief retelling of the fairy tale "The Tale of Kish" at this stage should not be confined to a dry statement of the events of the plot, it should sound the assessment of the heroes. The fact is that in this work there is a conflict, but there are no negative characters. In the understanding of the Eskimos, the boy's amazing successes border on a miracle. Knowingly cautious Ug-Gluk organizes surveillance for Kish. This fully corresponds to the views of the Eskimos on the surrounding world. They are convinced that witchcraft is a sin that can bring misfortune to the entire tribe. It is unacceptable. Convincing in his logic of the story is Jack London ("The Tale of Kish"). The brief content of the story further contains a convincing clue of the boy's victories over the huge bears, which testifies to his main asset - his sharp mind.

Unusual hunting Kish. View from the outside

The hunters of Bim and Bone really went after the breadwinner of the tribe. They followed him like a shadow, and watched as he struck the bear. His hunting seemed strange and mysterious to them. Returning to the village, they hurried to tell about what they saw.

From a distance, Bim Bone noticed that the bear that met Kishu did not pay any attention to him and followed his own path. However, the boy provoked him with loud cries and persecution. The predator rushed after him. Here Kish needed all his agility and speed. However, the young hunter did not just flee to all the shoulder blades. On the way of the bear he occasionally threw small light balls, and he immediately ate them during the chase.

But the beast was not destined to overtake the boy. Soon he howled in pain. Obviously, these balls were fatal for him ... The bear faltered before our eyes, lagging behind Kish. Soon he turned back, then his tracks began to get confused ... The weakened giant began to roar with pain and helplessly roll on the ground. Here he was overtaken by Kish's verified death blow ...

Instead of concluding

The end of the story is somewhat reminiscent of the final scene of Gogol's "Inspector General" - a general astonishment. The summary of the story "The Tale of Kish" in details shows the denouement of the plot.

From the story of Beam and Boon, the Eskimos concluded that they were dealing with a sorcerer.

But soon they had to change their minds. When a crowd of hunters led by the leader broke into Kish's needle, he ate. Welcoming the newcomers, he seated the guests according to seniority. Then the leader announced to the boy that he was accused of witchcraft and demanded an explanation.

The summary of the story "The Tale of Kish" originally describes the boy's answer. He visually showed them his know-how in the bear hunt. At first, Kish cut off a piece of whalebone and showed the audience its elasticity and sharpness. Then took his piece and turned into a ring. Then the boy put the whale's mustache in a small earthen pit and filled it with sealed fat. The result was a ball, a simple adaptation that first melted in the esophagus of a bear, and then hit it.

After such a revelation, the tribesmen began to respect Kish even more. When his time came, he succeeded at the head of the Klosh Kwang tribe. Thanks to his intelligence, justice and wisdom, his people were not only respected, but also loved. After hundreds of years his name is remembered by subsequent generations of Canadian Eskimos.