"White Soroka": a short extract from the work of Jan Barschevsky

Jan Barshchevsky - a famous Belarusian and Polish writer of the XIX century - comes from the village of Muragi of Vitebsk province. One of his stories is "White Soroka". A brief extract of the book from Barshchevsky's book, considered the writer's main literary work, clearly demonstrates his enthusiasm for Belarusian folklore.

Briefly about the author

Barshchevsky began his literary career with writing poetic texts. After graduating from the Polotsk Collegium, he taught children at home, traveled extensively throughout Belarus and got acquainted with local folklore. For some time he lived in St. Petersburg, where he was engaged in teaching activities. It was then that he met Taras Shevchenko and Adam Mickiewicz. Together with friends from Belarus, he published Nezabudka magazine. In the period from 1844 to 1846 he published the novel "Shlyakhtich Zavalnya, or Belarus in Fantastic Narratives". A brief summary of the "White Magpie" (one of its chapters) will be presented below. Having moved to the city of Chudnov, Ian Barshchevsky continued to write poems, but died after contracting tuberculosis.

"Gentry Zavalnya, or Belarus in Fantastic Narratives"

Ian Barshcheuski began to write the main work of his life when he realized that the poems written by him liked the readers much less ballads based on Belarusian legends. The book contains fourteen novellas. One of them is "White Soroka". The brief content of this passage gives a general idea of the whole book, its artistic features and literary value. This story, the eighth in a row, tells the story of greedy Pan Skomorokha.

"White Soroka": a summary of the chapter

Pan Skomorokh was very rich and greedy. He treated his subjects very badly, he did not make friends with his neighbors. One night, when there was a full moon in the sky, and a storm was raging outside the window, Pan pondered, sitting in his chair. Suddenly I saw a tall figure in the corner of the room.

When the stranger came closer, the pan thought that before him the messenger of the devil - so ugly and terrible was the guest. He said that he came in the name of Pani White Magpie, who is looking for her faithful friends. According to the stranger, White Soroka is beautiful, rich and powerful. The guest told Skomorokh that next day she would visit him. After that the stranger said goodbye and disappeared in the dark.

Pan called the servants and demanded to explain why they did not come to his call. The servants began to tell that suddenly a terrible melancholy fell on them, and terrible visions stood before their eyes. Pan drove them away and thought about what had happened before morning. The next day he ordered order in the house. In the evening I locked myself in the room and demanded that he was not disturbed. When White Soroka flew into the room and turned into a beautifully dressed woman, the pan was amazed at its greatness. They talked for a long time with each other. Saying goodbye, Pani wanted to get acquainted with Skomorokh's neighbors. As a gratitude, the servant of the White Magpie handed a bag of gold to the saint. When the guests left the room, the pan called the footmen and asked if they had any visions today. Those answered that they were.

The next day Pan went to his neighbors and began to tell them about the greatness and beauty of the White Magpie. Some were frightened, others gladly agreed to get acquainted with the powerful pani. That same evening, like-minded people drank to the health of the White Magpie. At midnight she appeared and spoke for a long time with the guests, asking them about the farm. Since then, White Soroka regularly visited her admirers.

At the same time, ordinary people began to notice the strange things that were happening around. The servants of the evil sorceress in every possible way harmed the people, even imposed a spell on the cows, so that they would not give milk. However, soon the people found out where the sorceress was hiding, and decided to take revenge on her. Upon learning of this, the witch disappeared. Adherents of the White Magpie long regretted her leaving, and Pan Skomorokh left this area and turned into a bear. In the guise of the beast he lived in the house of the sorceress and guarded her wealth.

Let's sum up

The story "White Soroka" is very instructive. The summary of the passage conveys the wisdom of the Belarusian people, which warns people against greed, because the greed for profit can ruin a person's soul. The basis of other novels included in the book were also Belarusian legends.

Everyone will necessarily want to read the work in full, spilling out the summary. "White Soroka" (Jan Barshevsky) in its style is similar to some of the works of NV Gogol - a classic of Russian literature.