In the small town of Knyazh-gorodok in southwestern Russia, where the Polish influence is so strong, there lives a family: the boy storyteller Vasya, his sister Sonya and his father. The mother died when the boy was six years old. The father seemed to have forgotten about his son - so deep was his grief.

In the city on the island there is an old abandoned castle where poverty lives.

Old Janusz brings order among the beggars - he welcomes someone, he kicks someone out. The unfortunate exiles, according to rumors, found shelter in the dungeons near the chapel - also abandoned. They “made up a friendly community and were engaged, among other things, in petty theft in the city and its environs.

The organizer and leader of this community of unfortunates was pan Tyburtsy Drab, the most remarkable personality of all those who did not get along in the old castle.

His appearance was the most muzhik, but he knew Latin and some other wisdom.

He had children: a boy of about seven, but tall and developed beyond his years, and a little four-year-old girl.

Vasya, yearning for his father's attention, wanders around the city, for which he is called a tramp and a worthless boy. The father is so strict and gloomy that the boy is afraid of him and withdraws into himself. Sincerely, the boy loves only his sister Sonya, but both the father and the nanny are afraid that he will spoil the baby and limit their communication.

Once, loitering with the same vagabond boys, Vasya crept up to the chapel and fell down. His comrades fled in fear, they believed that an evil spirit lives in the chapel.

In the chapel, the hero of the story meets the children of Tyburtsy: Valek and a little sickly girl Marusya.

The narrator treats them with apples and offers friendship.

But Valek shakes his head negatively: the son of a beggar, a drunkard and a thief cannot be friends with the son of a pan judge, and the girl invites the narrator to come.

The boy promises to come and tell no one about it.

Especially touches the heart of a sensitive lonely boy Marusya.

“It was a pale, tiny creature, resembling a flower that grew without the rays of the sun. Despite her four years, she still walked poorly, stepping uncertainly with crooked legs and staggering like a blade of grass; her hands were thin and transparent; the head swayed on a thin neck, like the head of a field bell; my eyes sometimes looked so unchildishly sad, and her smile reminded me so much of my mother in the last days, when she used to sit against the open window and the wind shook her blond hair, that I myself became sad, and tears came to my eyes.

I involuntarily compared her to my sister; they were the same age, but my Sonya was round as a donut and elastic as a ball. She ran so briskly when she used to play out, she laughed so loudly, she always wore such beautiful dresses, and every day the maid wove a scarlet ribbon into her dark braids.

And my little friend almost never ran and laughed very rarely, when she laughed, her laughter sounded like the smallest silver bell ...

Her dress was dirty and old, there were no ribbons in the braid, but her hair was much larger and more luxurious than Sonya's, and Valek, to my surprise, knew how to braid it very skillfully, which he did every morning.

When Vasya comes, the children go out and play in the fresh air.

The guest tries to draw the girl into outdoor games, but she cries. She plays with flowers and multi-colored pebbles, saying something. The gray stone had sucked the life out of her.

Children talk about their parents. It turns out that Tyburtsiy greatly respects the “pan judge” because he is fair and not afraid of those in power. He even "sued one count."

The boy is sad that his respected father will never be able to love his son the way he loves Valek and Marusya Tyburtsy, who sometimes even cries over them.

One day, the narrator accidentally discovered the entrance to the dungeon and was struck by the dusk, dampness, and cold. So this is what "gray stone" kills Marusya!

Valek admits to the narrator that sometimes he steals rolls in the market - after all, Marusya cries when she is hungry.

The judge's son is upset: he is used to the moral standards of people who never go hungry, but still does not give up their friends.

For a long time it was possible to hide childhood friendship from Tyburtsiy. Vasya came to the chapel only when he saw Tyburtsy and his company in the city.

Tyburtsy at first frightened Vasya to death, promising to fry him at the stake, and then started an adult conversation with him: “To each his own, everyone goes his own way, and who knows ... maybe it’s good that your road ran through ours. It’s good for you, because it’s better to have a piece of a human heart in your chest instead of a cold stone, do you understand? ..”

That evening, Tyburtsiy managed to steal a ham from a priest - and in the dungeon there was a real feast.

- Tell me, my Marusya, did I do well that I brought you a roast?

- Good! - the girl answered, slightly sparkling turquoise eyes. - Manya was hungry.

The boy returns home, not knowing what to think.

“Beggars ... thieves ... they have no home! .. I have long known from those around me that contempt is combined with all this. I even felt all the bitterness of contempt rising from the depths of my soul, but I instinctively protected my affection from this bitter admixture.

With the advent of autumn, Marusya began to get sick. “She didn’t complain about anything, she just kept losing weight; her face grew pale, her eyes darkened, became larger, her eyelids lifted with difficulty.

On warm days, Marusya is taken upstairs, but there are fewer and fewer such days. In the cold, the girl remains in the dungeon - and she is getting worse.

Old Janusz, the head of the beggars in the castle, informs Vasya's father of Tyburtius' bad behavior. And although the pan judge drives the informer away, the boy rushes headlong to tell Tyburtius the bad news. We must be more careful.

Marcus is getting worse. Nothing pleases her. Vasya turns to his sister Sonya.

“Sonya had a large doll, with a brightly painted face and luxurious flaxen hair, a gift from her late mother. I had high hopes for this doll, and therefore, having called my sister to a side alley of the garden, I asked her to give it to me for a while. I so convincingly asked her about this, so vividly described to her the poor sick girl who never had her own toys, that Sonya, who at first only pressed the doll to herself, gave it to me and promised to play with other toys for two or three days, without mentioning anything about the doll.

And what? “The little doll did almost a miracle: Marusya, who had not left her bed for a long time, began to walk, leading her blond daughter, and at times even ran, still slapping the floor with her weak legs.”

Sonya does not really complain and does not cry, assuring the nanny that the doll has gone for a walk. But all this seems very suspicious... Clouds are gathering over the boy.

Valek and Vasya decide to return the doll back, but the girl, lying in oblivion, is alarmed at the slightest attempt to take her treasure from her, and the boys retreat.

Finally, the cloud breaks into a thunderstorm. The father calls Vasya into the office and arranges an interrogation for him, accusing him of stealing a doll - and this is the memory of his mother.

The judge, seeing his son's denial, becomes so furious (ready to beat him up) that the boy is afraid to lose his disposition towards his father forever.

And then Tyburtsy appears, who returns the doll and tells his father for whom Vasya took it.

“I was still standing in the same place when the office door opened and both interlocutors entered. I again felt someone's hand on my head and shuddered.

It was my father's hand gently caressing my hair.

Tyburtius took me in his arms and, in the presence of my father, placed me on his knees.

“Come to us,” he said, “father will let you go to say goodbye to my girl ... She ... she died.”

The father asks Vasya for forgiveness, and the son eagerly kisses his hand. Trust relationships are restored. Both understood a lot.

The father gave the boy money:

“Say that I most humbly ask you to accept them from me... Most humbly...”

Vasya says goodbye to his little girlfriend.

"Shortly after the events described, the members of the "bad society" scattered in different directions."

Tyburtsy and Valek disappeared quite unexpectedly, the chapel collapsed.

“Only one grave, fenced with a palisade, every spring turned green with fresh turf, full of flowers.

Sonya and I, and sometimes even with my father, visited this grave ... "

Illustration by V.P. Panov

Very briefly

A boy from a good family is faced with the cruelty and injustice of the world towards the poor. Despite the difficulties, he shows compassion, kindness and nobility, helping the disadvantaged.

“My mother died when I was six years old” - this is how the hero of the story, the boy Vasya, begins the story. His father, the judge, grieved for his wife, paying attention only to his daughter Sonya, since she looked like her mother. And the son "grew like a wild tree in the field", left to himself, without love and care.

The town of Knyazh-Gorodok, where Vasya lives - "stink, dirt, heaps of guys crawling in the street dust" - was surrounded by ponds. On one of them there was an island, on the island - an old castle, the horror of which "reigned over the whole city."

Beggars and other "dark personalities" lived in the ruins of the castle. There were strife between them, and some of the "unfortunate cohabitants" were expelled from the castle. They were left homeless, and Vasya's "heart sank" from pity for them.

The leader of the outcasts was Tyburtsy Drab, who has a terrible monkey appearance. In his eyes "sharp insight and intelligence shone," and the past "was shrouded in the darkness of the unknown."

With him, two children were occasionally seen: a seven-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl.

One day, Vasya and his friends climb into the chapel on the mountain near the castle. Friends were afraid of the "devils" in the darkness of the chapel and ran away, leaving him alone. So Vasya meets Valek and little Marusya. They became friends. Later, Vasya finds himself in a dungeon, where "two jets of light ... poured from above ... stone floor slabs ... the walls were also made of stone ... drowned in complete darkness." This is where his new friends live.

Vasya began to visit children from "bad society" often. Marusya was the same age as his sister, but she looked sickly: thin, pale, sad. Picking flowers was her favorite game. Valek said that "the gray stone sucked the life out of her."

Vasya is tormented by doubts about his father's love, but Valek answered that Vasya's father is a very fair judge - he was not even afraid to condemn the rich count. Vasya thinks about it and begins to look at his father differently.

Tyburtsy learns about Vasya's friendship with Valek and Marusya - he gets angry, but allows the judge's son to go to the dungeon, because his children are happy for the boy. Vasya understands that often the dungeon lives on theft, but with contempt for hungry friends, his "affection has not disappeared." He feels sorry for the sick, always hungry Marusya. He brings her toys.

In autumn, the girl languishes from illness. Vasya tells about the sick, unfortunate Marusa sister, persuades her to give her best doll, donated by her late mother, for a while. And "the little doll did almost a miracle" - Marusya cheered up and began to walk.

The toy is found missing at home. The father forbids the boy to leave the house. Vasya and Valek decide to return the doll, but when the boys took it away, Marusya "opened her eyes ... and wept softly, softly ... plaintively." Vasya understands that he wanted to deprive his “little friend of the first and last joy of her short life” and leaves the doll.

Father interrogates Vasily in the office, forcing him to confess to stealing.

His face was terrible with anger: “You stole it and demolished it! .. To whom did you demolish it? .. Speak!”

The boy confesses that he took the doll, but says nothing more. Tears dripped from his eyes, but inside "a burning love arose" for those who warmed him in the old chapel.

Suddenly Tyburtsy appears, gives the doll and tells everything to the judge. The father understands that his son is not a thief, but a kind and sympathetic person. He asks Vasya to forgive him. Tyburtsy informs that Marusya has died, and the father lets Vasya go to say goodbye to the girl. He gives him money for the poor.

After these events, Tyburtsy and Valek "suddenly disappeared" from the city, like all "dark personalities".

Every year, in the spring, Vasya and Sonya brought flowers to Marusya's grave - here they read, thought, shared their youthful thoughts and plans. And, leaving the city forever, "they said their vows over a small grave."

The story “Children of the Underground” by Korolenko (another name is “In Bad Society”) was written in 1885. The work was included in the writer's first book, Essays and Stories. In the story "Children of the Underground" Korolenko touches upon the issues of compassion, empathy, nobility, reveals the topics of fathers and children, friendship, poverty, growing up and becoming a person, which are significant for Russian literature.

main characters

Vasya- the son of a judge, a boy of six who lost his mother. The story is told from his perspective.

Outrigger- a homeless boy of seven or nine years old, son of Tyburtsy, brother of Marusya.

Marusya- a homeless girl of three or four years old, daughter of Tyburtsy, sister of Valek.

Other heroes

Tyburtsy Drab- the leader of the beggars, the father of Valek and Marusya; an educated man who loved his children very much.

Vasya's father- pan judge, father of two children; The loss of his wife was a great tragedy for him.

Sonya- the daughter of a judge, a girl of four years old, Vasya's sister.

1. Ruins.

The main character's mother, Vasya, died when he was 6 years old. The heartbroken father of the boy “as if completely forgot” about the existence of his son and only occasionally took care of his daughter, little Sonya.

Vasya's family lived in the town of Knyazhye-Veno. Beggars lived in the castle outside the city, but the manager drove out all the "unknown personalities" from there. People had to move to the chapel, surrounded by an abandoned cemetery. Chief among the beggars was Tyburtsy Drab.

2. Me and my father

After the death of his mother, Vasya appeared less and less at home, avoiding meeting with his father. Sometimes in the evenings he played with his little sister Sonya, who loved her brother very much.

Vasya was called "a tramp, a worthless boy", but he did not pay attention to this. One day, having gathered a "squad of three tomboys", the boy decides to go to the chapel.

3. I get a new acquaintance

The doors of the chapel were locked. The boys helped Vasya get inside. Suddenly, something dark stirred in the corner, and Vasya's comrades ran away in fright. It turned out that inside the chapel were a boy and a girl. Vasya almost got into a fight with a stranger, but they started talking. The boy's name was Valek, his sister was Marusya. Vasya treated the guys with apples and invited them to visit. But Valek said that Tyburtsiy would not let them go.

4. Acquaintance continues

Vasya began to visit the children often, bringing them treats. He constantly compared Marusya with His sister. Marusya did not walk well and very rarely laughed. Valek explained: the girl is so sad because "the gray stone sucked the life out of her."

Valek said that Tyburtsy was taking care of him and Marus. Vasya answered with chagrin that his father did not love him at all. Valek did not believe him, arguing that, according to Tyburtsy, “the judge is the most best person in the city", since he was able to sue even the count. Valek's words made Vasya look at his father differently.

5. Among the "gray stones"

Valek brought Vasya to the dungeon where he lived with Marusya. Looking at the girl surrounded by gray stone walls, Vasya remembered Valek's words about the “gray stone”, “sucking her fun out of Marusya”. Valek brought Marusa a bun. Having learned that the boy stole it out of desperation, Vasya could no longer play with his friends as serenely.

6. Pan Tyburtsy appears on the stage

Tyburtius returned the next day. The man at first got angry when he saw Vasya. However, when he found out that he became friends with the guys and did not tell anyone about their shelter, he calmed down.

Tyburtsy brought with him food stolen from a priest (priest). Watching the beggars, Vasya understood that "a meat dish was an unprecedented luxury for them." Vasya felt contempt for the poor awakening inside him, but he defended his attachment to friends with all his might.

7. Autumn

Autumn was coming. Vasya could come to the chapel no longer fearing "bad company". Marusya began to get sick, she grew thinner and paler. Soon the girl completely stopped coming out of the dungeon.

8. Doll

To cheer up the sick Marusya, Vasya begged Sonya for a while for a big doll, a gift from his mother. Seeing the doll, Marusya, “it seemed that she suddenly came to life again.” However, soon the girl became even worse. The guys tried to take away the doll, but Marusya did not give the toy away.

The disappearance of the doll did not go unnoticed. Outraged by the disappearance of the toy, his father forbade Vasya to leave the house. A few days later he called the boy to him. Vasya admitted that he took the doll, but refused to answer to whom he gave it. Tyburtius suddenly appeared and brought a toy. He explained to Vasya's father what had happened and said that Marusya had died.

The father asked his son for forgiveness. He let Vasya go to the chapel, handing Tyburtius money.

9. Conclusion

Soon the beggars "scattered in different directions." Tyburtsy and Valek suddenly disappeared somewhere.

Vasya and Sonya, and sometimes even with his father, constantly visited Marusya's grave. When it's time to leave native city, they "pronounced their vows over a small grave" .

conclusions

Using the example of the main character, the boy Vasya, the author showed the reader the difficult path of growing up. Having endured the death of his mother and the cold from his father, the boy learns true friendship. Acquaintance with Valek and Marusya opens up to him the other side of the world - the one where there are homeless children and poverty. Gradually main character learns a lot about life, learns to stand up for what is important to him, and appreciate loved ones.

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Retelling rating

Average rating: 4.2. Total ratings received: 1211.

V.G. Korolenko - the story "Children of the Underground". In this story, V.G. Korolenko tells about the process of growing up a little boy, about the events that shape his soul. Vasya has a difficult situation in the family: his mother died, his father does not pay any attention to him, he only takes care of his little daughter, because she looks like her mother. The son grows, "like a wild tree in the field." The place where Vasya lives is surrounded by ponds. On one of them is an island on which the castle stands. Beggars and vagabonds live in the ruins of the castle. Some of them, thieves and beggars, are outcasts not only from "decent society", but also from their environment: they are driven out even from the ruins of the castle. Among such outcasts is Pan Tyburtsy, with him two children - Valek and little Marusya. All of them are forced to live in a dungeon. The hero Korolenko meets these children. Seeing the need and poverty, he acquires a new view of the world, for the first time he experiences a feeling of pity and compassion. It is in "bad society" (the second title of the story) that Vasya receives his first lessons in kindness and humanism. When Marusya is seriously ill, the boy, trying to please the unfortunate child, brings her a doll of his sister Sonya. Then the missing toy is discovered in the house. Father accuses Vasya of stealing, but pan Tyburtsy stands up for him. He returns the doll and tells that Marusya has died. The father understands how wrong he was towards his son, asks his forgiveness, gives him money for the Tyburtsy family. At the end of the story, it says that

Vasya and Sonya visit Marusya's grave every year. This place becomes very important to them. Leaving the city forever, they "pronounced their vows over a small grave."

The novel uses the technique of antithesis. “Bad society,” Pan Tyburtsy and his children are contrasted by Korolenko with “decent society.” However, rich people, smart and decent, are distinguished by indifference to their neighbor, their life is closed in their own prosperous little world. Pan Tyburtsy is an outstanding, tragic personality, a philosopher, a man not without dignity and independence. The sensitive soul of the boy felt all these qualities, reached out to them. Communication with poor, unhappy children becomes a real school of life for Vasya.

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Vladimir Galaktionovich Korolenko

"Children of the Underground"

Beggars and other "dark personalities" lived in the ruins of the castle. There were strife between them and some of the "unfortunate cohabitants" were expelled from the castle. They were left homeless and Vasya's "heart sank" from pity for them.

The leader of the outcasts was Tyburtsy Drab, who has a terrible monkey appearance. In his eyes "sharp insight and intelligence shone," and the past "was shrouded in the darkness of the unknown."

With him, two children were occasionally seen: a seven-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl.

Tyburtsy learns about Vasya's friendship with Valek and Marusya - he gets angry, but allows the judge's son to go to the dungeon, because his children are happy with the boy. Vasya understands that often the dungeon lives on theft, but with contempt for hungry friends, his "affection has not disappeared." He feels sorry for the sick, always hungry Marusya. He brings her toys.

In autumn, the girl languishes from illness. Vasya tells about the sick unfortunate Marusa sister, persuades her to give her best doll, donated by her late mother, for a while. And "the little doll did almost a miracle" - Marusya cheered up and began to walk.

The toy is found missing at home. The father forbids the boy to leave the house. Vasya and Valek decide to return the doll, but when the boys took it away, Marusya "opened her eyes ... and wept quietly ... plaintively." Vasya understands that he wanted to deprive his "little friend of the first and last joy of the joy of her short life" and leaves the doll.

Father interrogates Vasily in the office, forcing him to confess to stealing.

His face was terrible with anger: “You stole it and demolished it! .. Who did you demolish it for? .. Speak!”

The boy confesses that he took the doll, but says nothing more. Tears dripped from his eyes, but inside "a burning love arose" for those who warmed him in the old chapel.

Suddenly Tyburtsy appears, gives the doll and tells everything to the judge. The father understands that his son is not a thief, but a kind and sympathetic person. He asks Vasya to forgive him. Tyburtsy informs that Marusya has died and the father lets Vasya go to say goodbye to the girl. He gives him money for the poor.

After these events, Tyburtsy and Valek "suddenly disappeared" from the city, like all "dark personalities".

In the story, Vasya's story begins with the fact that he reports the death of his mother. Then he was only six years old. His father was an excellent judge who grieved for his wife for a long time. He spent most of his time with his only daughter, who looked so much like her mother. He practically did not remember his son.

Vasya lives in the town of Knyazh-Gorodok, around which there were ponds. One of them had an island where the old castle was located. Rather, the castle looked like the ruins where the beggars lived. Quite often, there were disputes and scandals between them, so some "roommates" were expelled from the so-called castle.

The main thing in this company was the rather unsympathetic Tyburtsy Drab. Wherever he went, they always saw a seven-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl next to him. Once Vasya and his friends went to the chapel. So he meets these two children: Valek and Marusya. For the first time, Vasya finds himself in their dungeon house.

Vasya visited them quite often, Marusya was for years like his sister, but she looked very sickly. She loved picking flowers. Vasya began to notice that his father did not like him, but Valek insisted that he was fair and honest. After all, he was not afraid and condemned the rich count. Now Vasya has a different opinion about his father.

Tyburtsy learns about their friendship. Of course, he is not happy with this, but he allows Vasya to come to the dungeon. He brings toys to the weak and sick Marusya. In autumn, the girl falls ill, and he brings her a doll that belonged to his sister. Soon, the girl gets better.