Summary of Turgenev's Notes of the Hunter: Revived Scenes of Peasant Life

A brief summary of Turgenev's "Notes of the Hunter" is boldly called an artistic chronicle of the serf Russian village. In this series of stories, a simple peasant was first shown as a man of incredible spiritual wealth, a hero of a large scale.

Bezhin Meadow

This work opens the whole cycle of stories, and, consequently, a brief summary of Turgenev's Notes of the Hunter. On a hot July day, the narrator lost his way among the forest. Even after dark, he managed to reach the night pasture, where he asked to spend the night next to five shepherd children: Fedya, Ilyusha, Pavlusha, Vanya and Kostya. Sitting by the fire, each of the boys told their story related to meeting with a fairy tale creature. Fedya tells that one day, spending the night at a factory, he met a real house-man. Kostya tells the story of the carpenter Gavrila, who met a mermaid. The Lord told the carpenter to cross himself, the mermaid burst into tears and disappeared. However, in the end, she wished that Gavrila always went sad. Ilyusha told how the hitter Yermil found a white lamb on the grave of a drowned man, who bared his teeth with the approach of darkness and began to speak with him in a human voice. Then the boys told us that if you sit on the porch in the church on your parental Saturday , you can see the deceased or one of those who soon will go to the forefathers. At that moment, Pavlusha came back and said that it was a bad thing: he was called a brownie. And Fedya added that Paul had already called the drowned Vasyatka. The hunter fell asleep. When he awoke in the morning, all the boys were asleep. Only Pavlusha woke up and looked intently at the night visitor. He silently threw him and walked along the river. Pavlushi, unfortunately, did not become the same year: the boy fell off his horse and was killed.

"The Chorus and Kalinych"

Continuing to outline the brief content of Turgenev's "Notes of the Hunter", let's move on to the next story. It is, in fact, an acquaintance with two completely opposite characters, who, nevertheless, managed to find a common language and make friends. Before the narrator appears Chorus - not a dreamy, calculating person, who through and through sees them in common with Kalinich, the master - Polutykin, who can hide his thoughts, cheat, if necessary. Kalinich is his complete opposite: it is important for him to maintain contact with nature, this is a dreamy, trusting person, not well versed in people. Kalynych was well acquainted with the secrets of nature: he managed to talk fright and stop the blood. The same chorus, more practical and close "to society, to people," did not possess these skills. Nevertheless, Chor was attached to Kalinich and patronized him, because he felt himself more wise. In turn, Kalinych loved and respected his friend.

"Ermolai and Miller"

The summary of Turgenev's "Notes of the Hunter" leads us further. The narrator introduces us to Ermolai - an odd man, carefree, rather talkative, with a distracted and awkward appearance. Nevertheless, Ermolai had a wonderful sense of hunting and fishing. Going to the evening hunting for woodcocks, the heroes decided to spend the night at a nearby mill. The wife of the miller Arina allowed them to spend the night in an open canopy and carried them some food for dinner. It turned out that the narrator was acquainted with her former master, Mr. Zverkov (once Arina was a maid to his wife). Many years ago, Arina asked the master for permission to marry a lackey Petrushka. Barin and his wife were insulted by such a request, so they sent the girl to the village, and Petrushka was sent to the soldiers. Later, Arina became engaged to a miller who bought her.

"County doctor"

Another interesting, though very simple story, which should be included in the summary of Turgenev's "Notes of the Hunter". Somehow in the autumn during his wanderings the narrator fell ill. He stops at a hotel in a county town. He is brought to Trifon Ivanovich, the district doctor, who prescribes the medicine to the hero and shares his story. Once the doctors called in the house of an impoverished widow - in the note the landlady said that her daughter was on death and asked the doctor to come as soon as possible. Arriving at the widow's house, Trifon Ivanovich began to render all possible assistance to the patient, Aleksandra Andreevna, who was tormented by the fever. For several days, the doctor takes care of the patient and begins to experience a "strong position for her". However, despite all his efforts, Alexandra did not go on the mend. One night, feeling that the end is near, the girl confessed to love Trifon Ivanovich. After 3 days, Alexandra Andreevna passed away. The doctor himself, after this story, took his wives to Akulina, a merchant's daughter who had a bad temper, but had as many as seven thousand dowries.

"Burmistre"

How many surprising, diverse and not similar to each other characters managed to portray I. Turgenev! Collection of "Notes of a Hunter" can be called one of the best achievements of the writer. The hero of this story is Arkady Pavlovich Penochkin. Penochkin is considered one of the most educated people in the district, one of the most enviable suitors. His house is built according to the plan of an architect from France, he writes out French books (although he hardly reads them), his people are dressed in English fashion. The author does not treat Penochkin very well, but somehow he has to stop at the nobleman for the night. The next morning they both go to the village of Penochkina-Shipilovka, and stop at the house of Sofron Yakovlevich, a local burmist. Penochkin asks him about his business affairs, and the burmist tells us that everything is going well - thanks to the wise instructions of the master, of course. Having traveled around the estate, the heroes see that an exceptional order reigns everywhere. However, leaving the barn after hunting, the heroes see two men - one young and the other older. They kneel and complain that they are tortured to the limit with a burmistre. The two sons of the old man Sofron had already taken in the recruits, and now he wants to take away the third. The last cow from the yard took, and his wife and did beat. The peasants say that the burly master ruins not only them. But Penochkin does not even want to listen to them. A few hours later, in Ryabov, the narrator began to talk with Anadist, a local peasant. The narrator begins to question the friend he knew about the Shipilov peasants. In response, he hears that the village only officially belongs to Penochkin, and Sofron owns it as his personal good and does as he pleases. The peasants are forced to work like farm laborers, not to waste their time, and Sofron makes money on their labor. Barin, however, the peasants do not see any reason to complain: Penochkin does not care, as long as there are no arrears.

Of course, the above stories are not all the works from the cycle. However, having become acquainted with the brief content of some creations, you can see how versatile and unusual the image of the life of ordinary people Ivan Turgenev has come up with . "Notes of a Hunter" is a series of short stories that can rightfully be considered one of the most worthy and remarkable in the history of Russian literature.