On a stormy autumn day, along a rutted dirt road to a long hut, in one half of which there was a postal station, and in the other a clean room where one could rest, eat and even spend the night, a mud-covered carriage with a half-raised top drove up. On the box of the tarantass sat a strong, serious man in a tightly belted overcoat, and in the tarantass - “a slender old military man in a large cap and a Nikolaev gray overcoat with a beaver stand-up collar, still black-browed, but with a white mustache that was connected to the same sideburns; his chin was shaved and his whole appearance bore that resemblance to Alexander II, which was so common among the military during his reign; the look was also questioning, stern and at the same time tired.”
When the horses stopped, he got out of the tarantass, ran up to the porch of the hut and turned left, as the coachman told him. The room was warm, dry and tidy, with a sweet smell of cabbage soup coming from behind the stove damper. The newcomer threw his overcoat onto the bench, took off his gloves and cap, and tiredly ran his hand through his slightly curly hair. There was no one in the upper room, he opened the door and called: “Hey, who’s there!” A “dark-haired, also black-browed, and also still beautiful woman for her age came in... with dark fluff on her face.” upper lip and along the cheeks, light on the move, but full, with big breasts under a red blouse, with a triangular belly, like a goose’s, under a black woolen skirt.” She greeted politely.
The visitor glanced briefly at her rounded shoulders and light legs and asked for a samovar. It turned out that this woman was the owner of the inn. The visitor praised her for her cleanliness. The woman, looking at him inquisitively, said: “I love cleanliness. After all, Nikolai Alekseevich, Nikolai Alekseevich, grew up under the gentlemen, but he didn’t know how to behave decently.” "Hope! You? - he said hastily. - My God, my God!.. Who would have thought! How many years have we not seen each other? About thirty-five?” - “Thirty, Nikolai Alekseevich.” He is excited, asks her, to-
This is how she lived all these years. How did you live? The gentlemen gave me freedom. She was not married. Why? Yes, because she loved him very much. “Everything passes, my friend,” he muttered. - Love, youth - everything, everything. The story is vulgar, ordinary. Over the years everything goes away.”
For others, maybe, but not for her. She lived it all her life. She knew that his former self had long been gone, that it was as if nothing had happened to him, but she still loved him. It’s too late to reproach her now, but how heartlessly he abandoned her then... How many times did she want to kill herself! “And they deigned to read all the poems to me about all sorts of ‘dark alleys,’” she added with an unkind smile.” Nikolai Alekseevich remembers how beautiful Nadezhda was. He was good too. “And it was I who gave you my beauty, my passion. How can you forget this?” - "A! Everything passes. Everything is forgotten." - “Everything passes, but not everything is forgotten.” “Go away,” he said, turning away and going to the window. “Go away, please.” Pressing the handkerchief to his eyes, he added: “If only God would forgive me. And you, apparently, have forgiven.” No, she did not forgive him and could never forgive him. She can't forgive him.
He ordered the horses to be brought, moving away from the window with dry eyes. He, too, had never been happy in his life. He married for great love, and she abandoned him even more insultingly than he abandoned Nadezhda. He placed so many hopes on his son, but he grew up to be a scoundrel, an insolent man, without honor, without conscience. She came up and kissed his hand, and he kissed hers. Already on the road, he remembered this with shame, and he felt ashamed of this shame. The coachman says that she watched them from the window. She is a woman - a ward. Gives money in interest, but is fair.
“Yes, of course, the best moments... Truly magical! “The scarlet rose hips were blooming all around, there were dark linden alleys…” What if I hadn’t abandoned her? What nonsense! This same Nadezhda is not the innkeeper, but my wife, the mistress of my St. Petersburg house, the mother of my children?” And, closing his eyes, he shook his head.
Option 1
On a stormy autumn day, along a rutted dirt road to a long hut, in one half of which there was a postal station, and in the other a clean room where one could rest, eat and even spend the night, a mud-covered carriage with a half-raised top drove up. On the box of the tarantass sat a strong, serious man in a tightly belted overcoat, and in the tarantass - “a slender old military man in a large cap and a Nikolaev gray overcoat with a beaver stand-up collar, still black-browed, but with a white mustache that was connected to the same sideburns; his chin was shaved and his whole appearance bore that resemblance to Alexander II, which was so common among the military during his reign; the look was also questioning, stern and at the same time tired.”
When the horses stopped, he got out of the tarantass, ran up to the porch of the hut and turned left, as the coachman told him.
The room was warm, dry and tidy, with a sweet smell of cabbage soup coming from behind the stove damper. The newcomer threw his overcoat onto the bench, took off his gloves and cap, and tiredly ran his hand through his slightly curly hair. There was no one in the upper room, he opened the door and called: “Hey, who’s there!”
A dark-haired woman, also black-browed and also still beautiful beyond her age, entered... with dark fluff on her upper lip and along her cheeks, light as she walked, but plump, with large breasts under a red blouse, with a triangular belly, like a goose’s, under black woolen skirt.” She greeted politely.
The visitor glanced at her rounded shoulders and light legs and asked for a samovar. It turned out that this woman was the owner of the inn. The visitor praised her for her cleanliness. The woman, looking inquisitively at him, said: “I love cleanliness. After all, Nikolai Alekseevich, Nikolai Alekseevich, grew up under the gentlemen, but he didn’t know how to behave decently.” "Hope! You? - he said hastily. - My God, my God!.. Who would have thought! How many years have we not seen each other? About thirty-five?” - “Thirty, Nikolai Alekseevich.” He is excited and asks her how she lived all these years.
How did you live? The gentlemen gave me freedom. She was not married. Why? Yes, because she loved him very much. “Everything passes, my friend,” he muttered. - Love, youth - everything, everything. The story is vulgar, ordinary. Over the years everything goes away.”
For others, maybe, but not for her. She lived it all her life. She knew that his former self had long been gone, that it was as if nothing had happened to him, but she still loved him. It’s too late to reproach her now, but how heartlessly he abandoned her then... How many times did she want to kill herself! “And they deigned to read all the poems to me about all sorts of “dark alleys,” she added with an unkind smile.” Nikolai Alekseevich remembers how beautiful Nadezhda was. He was good too. “And it was I who gave you my beauty, my passion. How can you forget this?” - "A! Everything passes. Everything is forgotten.” - “Everything passes, but not everything is forgotten.” “Go away,” he said, turning away and going to the window. “Go away, please.” Pressing the handkerchief to his eyes, he added: “If only God would forgive me. And you, apparently, have forgiven.” No, she did not forgive him and could never forgive him. She can't forgive him. He ordered the horses to be brought, moving away from the window with dry eyes. He, too, had never been happy in his life. He married for great love, and she abandoned him even more insultingly than he abandoned Nadezhda. He placed so many hopes on his son, but he grew up to be a scoundrel, an insolent man, without honor, without conscience. She came up and kissed his hand, and he kissed hers. Already on the road, he remembered this with shame, and he felt ashamed of this shame. The coachman says that she watched them from the window. She is a woman - a ward. Gives money in interest, but is fair. “Yes, of course, the best moments... Truly magical! “The scarlet rose hips were blooming all around, there were dark linden alleys...” What if I had not left her? What nonsense! This same Nadezhda is not the innkeeper, but my wife, the mistress of my St. Petersburg house, the mother of my children?” And, closing his eyes, he shook his head.
Option 2
On a stormy autumn day, along a rutted dirt road to a long hut, in one half of which there was a postal station, and in the other a clean room where one could rest, eat and even spend the night, a mud-covered carriage with a half-raised top drove up. On the box of the tarantass sat a strong, serious man in a tightly belted overcoat, and in the tarantass - “a slender old military man in a large cap and a Nikolaev gray overcoat with a beaver stand-up collar, still black-browed, but with a white mustache that was connected to the same sideburns; his chin was shaved and his whole appearance bore that resemblance to Alexander II, which was so common among the military during his reign; the look was also questioning, stern and at the same time tired.”
When the horses stopped, he got out of the tarantass, ran up to the porch of the hut and turned left, as the coachman told him. The room was warm, dry and tidy, with a sweet smell of cabbage soup coming from behind the stove damper. The newcomer threw his overcoat onto the bench, took off his gloves and cap, and tiredly ran his hand through his slightly curly hair. There was no one in the upper room, he opened the door and called: “Hey, who’s there!” A dark-haired woman, also black-browed and also still beautiful beyond her age, entered... with dark fluff on her upper lip and along her cheeks, light as she walked, but plump, with large breasts under a red blouse, with a triangular belly, like a goose’s, under a black woolen blouse. skirt." She greeted politely.
The visitor glanced briefly at her rounded shoulders and light legs and asked for a samovar. It turned out that this woman was the owner of the inn. The visitor praised her for her cleanliness. The woman, looking at him inquisitively, said: “I love cleanliness. After all, Nikolai Alekseevich, Nikolai Alekseevich, grew up under the gentlemen, but he didn’t know how to behave decently.” "Hope! You? - he said hastily. - My God, my God!.. Who would have thought! How many years have we not seen each other? About thirty-five?” - “Thirty, Nikolai Alekseevich.” He is excited and asks her how she lived all these years. How did you live? The gentlemen gave me freedom. She was not married. Why? Yes, because she loved him very much. “Everything passes, my friend,” he muttered. - Love, youth - everything, everything. The story is vulgar, ordinary. Over the years everything goes away.” For others, maybe, but not for her. She lived it all her life. She knew that his former self had long been gone, that it was as if nothing had happened to him, but she still loved him. It’s too late to reproach her now, but how heartlessly he abandoned her then... How many times did she want to kill herself! “And they deigned to read all the poems to me about all sorts of ‘dark alleys,’” she added with an unkind smile.” Nikolai Alekseevich remembers how beautiful Nadezhda was. He was good too. “And it was I who gave you my beauty, my passion. How can you forget this?” - "A! Everything passes. Everything is forgotten." - “Everything passes, but not everything is forgotten.” “Go away,” he said, turning away and going to the window. “Go away, please.” Pressing the handkerchief to his eyes, he added: “If only God would forgive me. And you, apparently, have forgiven.” No, she did not forgive him and could never forgive him. She can't forgive him. He ordered the horses to be brought, moving away from the window with dry eyes. He, too, had never been happy in his life. He married for great love, and she abandoned him even more insultingly than he abandoned Nadezhda. He placed so many hopes on his son, but he grew up to be a scoundrel, an insolent man, without honor, without conscience. She came up and kissed his hand, and he kissed hers. Already on the road, he remembered this with shame, and he felt ashamed of this shame. The coachman says that she watched them from the window. She is a woman - a ward. Gives money in interest, but is fair. “Yes, of course, the best moments... Truly magical! “The scarlet rose hips were blooming all around, there were dark linden alleys…” What if I hadn’t abandoned her? What nonsense! This same Nadezhda is not the innkeeper, but my wife, the mistress of my St. Petersburg house, the mother of my children?” And, closing his eyes, he shook his head.
Collection of stories “Dark Alleys” by I.A. Bunin wrote far from his homeland, while in France and worried about the consequences October Revolution and the difficult years of the First World War. The works included in this cycle are filled with motifs of the tragic fate of man, the inevitability of events and longing for his native land. The central theme of the collection of stories “Dark Alleys” is love, which turns out to be closely connected with suffering and fatal outcome.
Central to understanding the writer’s intention is the story of the same name in the collection “Dark Alleys”. It was written in 1938 under the influence of a poem by N.P. Ogarev’s “An Ordinary Tale”, where the image of dark alleys is used, as well as the philosophical thoughts of L.N. Tolstoy that happiness in life is unattainable, and a person only catches its “lightnings” that need to be appreciated.
Analysis of the work by I.A. Bunin "Dark Alleys"
The plot of the work is based on the meeting of two already elderly people after many years of separation. To be precise, the story talks about 35 years since the last breakup. Nikolai Alekseevich arrives at the inn, where the owner Nadezhda meets him. The woman calls the hero by name, and he recognizes his former lover in her.
It's passed since then whole life, which the loved ones were destined to spend separately. The whole point is that Nikolai Alekseevich in his youth left a beautiful maid, who then received her freedom from the landowner and became the mistress of the inn. The meeting of two heroes raises a whole storm of feelings, thoughts and experiences inside them. However, the past cannot be returned and Nikolai Alekseevich leaves, imagining how life could have turned out differently if he had not neglected Nadezhda’s feelings. He is sure that he would be happy, he thinks about how she would become his wife, mother of children and mistress of the house in St. Petersburg. True, all this will remain the hero’s pipe dreams.
Thus, in the story “Dark Alleys” there are three main plot points:
- The hero's stop at the inn
- Meeting ex-lovers
- Reflections on the way after the incident
The first part of the work is an episode before the characters recognize each other. Here the portrait characteristics of the characters predominate. It is the social difference between people that is significant. For example, Nadezhda addresses the visitor “Your Excellency,” but the hero allows himself “Hey, who’s there.”
The pivotal moment is the meeting that marks the second part of the plot. Here we see a description of feelings, emotions and experiences. Social boundaries are dropped, allowing for greater knowledge characters, contrast their thoughts. For the hero, a meeting with Nadezhda is a rendezvous with his conscience. The reader understands that she has retained her inner integrity. Nikolai Alekseevich, on the contrary, feels his life is useless, aimless, he sees only its ordinariness and vulgarity.
The third part of the story is the actual departure and conversation with the coachman. Social boundaries are important for the hero, which he cannot neglect even for the sake of high feelings. Nikolai Alekseevich is ashamed of his words and revelations, and regrets that he kissed the hand of the owner of the inn and his former lover.
This structure of the plot makes it possible to imagine love and past feelings as a flash that unexpectedly illuminated the ordinary life of Nikolai Alekseevich, who was bored with himself. A story built on the hero’s memories is an artistic device that allows the author to talk about familiar things in a more exciting way and make an additional impression on the reader.
In the text of the work there are no instructive intonations, condemnation of the actions of the heroes or, conversely, manifestations of pity for them. The narration is based on a description of the feelings and emotions of the characters, which are revealed to the reader and it is he who has to evaluate what happened.
Characteristics of the main characters of the story “Dark Alleys”
The image of Nadezhda appears in a positive light. We don't learn much about her from the story, but it's enough to draw certain conclusions. The heroine is a former serf, who is now the mistress of a state-owned postal station. Having grown old, she continues to look beautiful, feel light and “beyond her age.” Nadezhda was able to get a good job in life thanks to her intelligence and honesty. The coachman, in a conversation with Nikolai Alekseevich, notes that she is “getting rich, giving money on interest,” i.e. on loan. The heroine is characterized by practicality and enterprise.
She had to go through a lot. The emotions from Nikolai Alekseevich’s act were so strong that Nadezhda admits that she wanted to commit suicide. However, she was able to overcome difficulties and become stronger.
The woman continues to love, but she failed to forgive the betrayal of her beloved. She boldly declares this to Nikolai Alekseevich. The wisdom of Nadezhda evokes the reader’s sympathy. For example, to the general’s attempts to justify his past actions, she replies that youth passes for everyone, but love never does. These words of the heroine also say that she knows how and can truly love, but this does not bring her happiness.
The image of Nikolai Alekseevich is in many ways contrasted with Nadezhda. He is a nobleman and a general, a representative high society. Did good career, but in his personal life the hero is unhappy. His wife left him, and his son grew up to be an insolent and dishonest man. The hero looks tired, while his former lover is full of strength and desire to act. He once gave up love a long time ago and never got to know it, spending his whole life without happiness and pursuing false goals. “Everything passes. Everything is forgotten” - this is the hero’s position in relation to happiness and love.
Nikolai Alekseevich is already about 60 years old, but when he meets Nadezhda, he blushes like a young man. The soldier remembers with shame that he abandoned his beloved, but does he have the strength to correct what happened? No. The hero again chooses the easiest path and leaves.
The character’s spiritual weakness, the inability to distinguish true feelings from “a vulgar, ordinary story” dooms him and Nadezhda to suffering. Nikolai Alekseevich can only remember the past, his love, which “gave him the best moments of his life.”
The love between Nadezhda and Nikolai Alekseevich turns out to be doomed, and the history of their relationship is full of drama. Why did everything happen like this? There are several reasons. This is also the weakness of the hero, who pushed away his loved one and did not see the future in his feelings for her. This is also the role of prejudices in society, which exclude the possibility of a relationship, and especially a marriage, between a nobleman and an ordinary maid.
The difference in views on love also predetermined the dramatic destinies of the heroes. If for Nadezhda, feelings for a loved one mean being true to yourself, driving force, inspiring and helping her in life, then for Nikolai Alekseevich love is a moment, a past story. The irony is that it was this moment, this part of life associated with a former lover, that became the most best moment for all the years.
CaucasusIn Moscow, on Arbat, mysterious love meetings take place, and a married lady comes rarely and for a short time, suspecting that her husband guesses and is watching her. Finally, they agree to go together to the Black Sea coast on the same train for 3-4 weeks. The plan succeeds and they leave. Knowing that her husband will follow, she gives him two addresses in Gelendzhik and Gagra, but they do not stop there, but hide in another place, enjoying love. The husband, not finding her at any address, locks himself in a hotel room and shoots himself in the temples from two pistols at once.
The no longer young hero lives in Moscow. He has money, but he suddenly decides to study painting and even has some success. One day, a girl unexpectedly comes to his apartment and introduces herself as Muse. She says she heard about him as interesting person and wants to meet him. After a short conversation and tea, Muse suddenly kisses him on the lips for a long time and says - no more today, until the day after tomorrow. From that day on, they lived like newlyweds and were always together. In May, he moved to an estate near Moscow, she constantly went to see him, and in June she moved completely and began to live with him. Zavistovsky, a local landowner, often visited them. One day main character I came from the city, but there was no Muse. I decided to go to Zavistovsky and complain that she wasn’t there. Arriving to him, he was surprised to find her there. Coming out of the landowner's bedroom, she said - it's all over, the scenes are useless. Staggering, he went home.
Brief summary of I. A. Bunin’s story “Dark Alleys.”
On a stormy autumn day, a dirty carriage drives up to a long hut, in one half of which there is a postal station, and in the other - an inn. In the back of the tarantass sits “a slender old military man in a large cap and a Nikolaev gray overcoat with a beaver stand-up collar.” A gray mustache with sideburns, a shaved chin and a tired, questioning look give him a resemblance to Alexander II.
The old man enters the dry, warm and tidy room of the inn, smelling sweetly of cabbage soup. He is greeted by the hostess, a dark-haired, “still beautiful woman beyond her age.”
The visitor asks for a samovar and praises the hostess for her cleanliness. In response, the woman calls him by name - Nikolai Alekseevich - and he recognizes in her Nadezhda, his ex-love, whom I haven’t seen for thirty-five years.
Excited Nikolai Alekseevich asks her how she lived all these years. Nadezhda says that the gentlemen gave her freedom. She was not married, because she really loved him, Nikolai Alekseevich. He, embarrassed, mutters that the story was ordinary, and everything has long passed - “everything passes over the years.”
For others, maybe, but not for her. She lived with him all her life, knowing that it was as if nothing had happened to him. After he heartlessly abandoned her, she more than once wanted to commit suicide.
With an unkind smile, Nadezhda recalls how Nikolai Alekseevich read her poems “about all sorts of ‘dark alleys’.” Nikolai Alekseevich remembers how beautiful Nadezhda was. He was also good, it was not for nothing that she gave him “her beauty, her fever.”
Excited and upset, Nikolai Alekseevich asks Nadezhda to leave and adds: “If only God would forgive me. And you, apparently, have forgiven.” But she did not forgive and could never forgive - she cannot forgive him.
Having overcome his excitement and tears, Nikolai Alekseevich orders the horses to be brought. He, too, had never been happy in his life. He married for great love, and his wife abandoned him even more insultingly than he abandoned Nadezhda. I hoped for my son, but he grew up to be a scoundrel, an insolent man without honor and conscience.
In parting, Nadezhda kisses Nikolai Alekseevich’s hand, and he kisses her hand. On the road, he remembers this with shame and is ashamed of this shame. The coachman says that she looked after them from the window, and adds that Nadezhda is a smart woman, she gives money on interest, but is fair.
Now Nikolai Alekseevich understands that the time of his affair with Nadezhda was the best in his life - “The scarlet rose hips were blooming all around, there were dark linden alleys...”. He tries to imagine that Nadezhda is not the owner of the inn, but his wife, the owner of his St. Petersburg house, the mother of his children, and, closing his eyes, shakes his head.
