K. Paustovsky - the story "Meshcherskaya Side". Nature for K. Paustovsky is not only beautiful pictures of fields, hills, rivers and lakes, blue sky in his works. It is also an expression of love native land, to Russian nature. The feeling of nature for Paustovsky is an integral element of the feeling of the Motherland, it is nature that teaches a person moral purity, spiritual integrity, an interested, careful attitude to the past of his country, to people, to language and life.
Nature is always at the center of this writer's attention. He traveled widely and reflected his impressions in his the best works. Paustovsky was especially attracted by the nature of central Russia with its quiet, harmonious, slightly sad life. The story "Meshcherskaya Side" tells us about such a nature. “There are no special beauties and riches in the Meshchersky region, except for forests, meadows and clear air. Nevertheless, this region has a great attractive force. He is very modest - just like Levitan's paintings. But in it, as in these paintings, lies all the charm and all the diversity of Russian nature, imperceptible at first glance.
The story consists of 15 chapters, essays, each of which is an independent work. The chapters are not connected by a common plot, but at the same time they are united by a common hero-narrator, a wanderer traveling through the wilds of untouched, almost wild nature. In "Meshcherskaya side" the writer opens A New Look on the world is the desire for harmony of all living and existing things, the desire to resolve, overcome all the contradictions between man and nature.
In the story, the writer creates beautiful pictures of modest Russian nature. By what means is this achieved? The writer uses an unusually colorful color palette, unusual, figurative comparisons, epithets: we see “lilac bells in the clearings”, the lake shines like a “black, obliquely set mirror”, the sunset gilds the trees with “old gilding”, “Venus lights up with blue crystal at dawn ".
But, in addition to a variety of colors, the writer draws our attention to the various sounds that these places are saturated with. Here the writer often uses the technique of personification. The Meshchersky region near Paustovsky makes noise, rings, sings in different voices. “The dawn is still smoldering in the west, the bittern is screaming in the thickets of wolf berries, and the cranes are muttering and fumbling on the mshars, disturbed by the smoke of the fire”, “Fog rustles in the garden”, “Flocks of birds with a whistle and a slight noise scatter to the sides”, “The bowler hat is angry and mutters on fire. For some reason we speak in a whisper - we are afraid to frighten off the dawn. With a tin whistle, heavy ducks rush past. Silence is also very attractive on Meshchera, when the bell of a lost cow is heard by a traveler for a kilometer.
In addition, the Meshchersky region is the land of special forest smells. From the hands of the heroes it smells of “smoke and lingonberries”, in the bath it smells of “apples, cleanly washed floors”, in the garden “it smells of rain - a gentle and at the same time pungent smell of moisture, damp garden paths”. When the hero sails away on a foggy morning in a boat, "the smell of the smoke of rural stoves no longer reaches him." Ahead of him is a “desert September day”: “Ahead is confusion in this wide world fragrant leaves, grasses, autumn wilt, calm waters, clouds, low sky.
Gradually, the image of the hero-narrator is more clearly outlined in the story. We see that this is a good-natured person who loves and understands nature, a hunter, a fisherman, who is keenly interested in people and the world around him. Paustovsky's nature and man are inseparable, they cannot exist without each other. And, drawing these beautiful pictures, the author cannot do without the people who live on this earth. These are shepherds, ferrymen, watchmen, foresters - the most ordinary, simple people, but all are wonderful and kind, in each of them the author finds some interesting, bright, memorable feature. So, the image of the old grandfather-basketmaker Stepan, nicknamed "The Beard on the Poles", is noteworthy in the story. He sheltered a lost girl in his hut, tells the hero of the story about the past of the Meshchera region.
These places are very rich in talent. So, the village of Solotcha is the birthplace of the famous engraver Pozhalostin, the artists Arkhipov and Malyavin, and the sculptor Golubkin. Here the hero-narrator also meets with the aunt of Sergei Yesenin, who was born not far from Solonchy.
The event plan of the story is presented by the story of the heroes' campaign on Poganoe Lake and the story of an unlucky Moscow fisherman. In the first story, the heroes almost lost their friend, the writer Gaidar, who went alone to look for Poganoe Lake, which had a bad reputation among the people. However, then Gaidar was found - another traveler with a compass went in search of him. The story of the unlucky Muscovite fisherman gives the whole story a comical tinge. In the image of this man, the author presented us with a hero who is not adapted to life in the forest, in nature. He is awkward, deprives everyone of breakfast, accidentally hitting a cooked fried egg with his foot and breaking a jug of milk. His fish don't bite. When he suddenly managed to fish out a huge pike, while he was admiring and admiring her, “the pike tried on, blinked his eye and hit the old man on the cheek with his tail with all his might,” knocking his pince-nez off.
Thus, in the story the writer recreates the unique world of pure, primordial nature. And the main principle of Paustovsky is to find beauty in the ordinary. He talks about how extraordinary this simple land is. “I love the Meshchera region because it is beautiful, although all its charm is not revealed immediately, but very slowly, gradually. At first glance, this is a quiet and unwise land under a dim sky. But the more you get to know it, the more, almost to the point of pain in your heart, you begin to love this ordinary land. And if I have to defend my country, then somewhere in the depths of my heart I will know that I am also defending this piece of land, which taught me to see and understand the beautiful, no matter how unprepossessing it may be, this forest pensive land, love for who will never be forgotten, just as first love is never forgotten.
ordinary earth
"There are no special beauties and riches in the Meshchersky region, except for forests, meadows and clear air." In winter and autumn, mowed meadows are dotted with haystacks, which are warm even on frosty and rainy nights. In the pine forests it is solemn and quiet on calm days, and in the wind they "noise with a great ocean rumble."
This region "lies between Vladimir and Ryazan, not far from Moscow, and is one of the few surviving forest islands ... of the great belt of coniferous forests", where "ancient Russia sat out from the Tatar raids."
First meeting
The narrator first comes to the Meshchersky region from Vladimir, on a leisurely narrow-gauge steam locomotive. At one of the stations, a shaggy grandfather climbs into the car and tells how last year the “ulcer” Leshka the Komsomol member sent him to the city “to the museum” with the message that “unfamiliar birds, of enormous growth, striped, only three” live in the local lake , and these birds must be taken alive to the museum. Now the grandfather is also returning from the museum - they found an “ancient bone” with huge horns in a swamp. The narrator confirms that the skeleton of a prehistoric deer was indeed found in the Meshchera swamps. This story is about unusual finds is remembered by the narrator "especially sharply".
vintage map
The narrator travels around the Meshchera region with an old map drawn before 1870. The map is largely inaccurate, and the author has to correct it. However, using it is much more reliable than asking the locals for directions. The natives always explain the way "with frantic enthusiasm", but the signs they describe are almost impossible to find. Somehow, the narrator himself had a chance to explain the way to the poet Simonov, and he caught himself doing it with exactly the same passion.
A few words about signs
“Finding signs or creating them yourself is a very exciting experience.” Those that predict the weather are considered real, for example, the smoke of a fire or evening dew. There are signs and more difficult. If the sky seems high, and the horizon is approaching, the weather will be clear, and the fish that stops pecking seem to indicate a close and prolonged bad weather.
Return to the map
“Exploring an unfamiliar land always starts with a map,” and traveling through it is very exciting. To the south of the Oka River, the fertile and inhabited Ryazan lands stretch, and to the north, beyond the Oka meadows, pine forests and peat bogs of the Meshchera Territory begin. In the west of the map, there is a chain of eight pine forest lakes with a strange property: the smaller the area of the lake, the deeper it is.
To the east of the lakes "there are huge Meshchersky swamps -" msharas "", dotted with sandy "islands" on which moose spend the night.
Once, the narrator and his friends were walking by mshares to Pogany Lake, famous for its huge toadstool mushrooms. Local women were afraid to go to him. Travelers with difficulty reached the island, where they decided to rest. Gaidar went to look for Poganoe Lake alone. With difficulty finding his way back, he said that he climbed a tree and saw the Filthy Lake from afar. It seemed so terrible that Gaidar did not go any further.
Friends came to the lake a year later. Its shores turned out to be like a mat woven from grass, floating on the surface of black water. At each step, high fountains of water rose from under the feet, which frightened the local women. The fishing in that lake was good. Returning unharmed, friends earned a reputation among the women as "inveterate people."
Forest rivers and canals
In addition to swamps, the map of Meshchersky Paradise shows forests with mysterious “white spots” in the depths, the Solotcha and Pra rivers, as well as many canals. On the banks of the Solotcha, the water in which is red, there is a lonely inn. The banks of Pri are also sparsely populated. A cotton factory operates in its upper reaches, which is why the bottom of the river is covered with a thick layer of packed black wool.
Canals in the Meshchersky region were dug under Alexander II by General Zhilinsky, who wanted to drain the swamps. The drained lands turned out to be poor, sandy. The canals have stalled and become a refuge for waterfowl and water rats. The wealth of the Meshchera region is "not in the ground, but in the forests, in peat and in flood meadows."
Pine "Meshchersky forests are majestic, like cathedrals". In addition to pine forests, there are spruce forests in Meshchera, mixed with rare patches of broad-leaved groves and oak forests. There is nothing better than to walk through such a forest to the reserved lake, spend the night by the fire and meet the majestic dawn.
The narrator lives in a tent by the lake for several days. One day, on the Black Lake, a rubber boat in which he was fishing with a friend was attacked by a huge pike with a razor-sharp fin. Frightened that the pike will damage the boat, they turn to the shore and see a she-wolf with cubs, whose refuge turned out to be near the fishing camp, under a pile of dry brushwood. The she-wolf ran away, but the camp had to be moved.
In Meshchera, all lakes have different colors of water. Most of all black, but there are also purple, and yellowish, and tin-colored, and bluish.
The water meadows between the forests and the Oka look like the sea. Among the meadows stretches the old channel of the Oka, called Prorva. “This is a dead, deep and motionless river with steep banks” and deep pools, surrounded by human-sized grasses. The narrator lives on Prorva every autumn for many days. After spending the night in a hay-lined tent, he fishes all morning.
A small digression from the topic
The village of Solotcha was inhabited by a "great tribe of fishermen". Solotchane successfully fished with an ordinary rope. Once a “tall old man with long silver teeth” came to the village from Moscow. He tried to fish with an English spinning rod, but the old man had no luck. But once he caught a huge pike on Prorva. Pulling the fish ashore, the old man bent over it in admiration. Suddenly, the pike “tried on ... and hit the old man on the cheek with its tail with all its might,” and then jumped up and went into the water. On the same day, the unlucky fisherman left for Moscow.
More about meadows
In the meadows of Meshchera there are a lot of lakes with strange "talking" names. "At the bottom of Hotz lie black bog oaks." There used to be beavers in Bobrovsky. The gulley is the deepest lake with exceptionally capricious fish. Lake Bull stretches for many kilometers, and in the Ditch "there are amazing golden lines." The oxbow lake is surrounded by sand dunes, and flocks of cranes gather on the banks of the deep Muzga. Hundreds of ducks nest in Selyanskoye Lake. The narrator named Lake Langobard in honor of the “Langobard” watchman (an ancient Germanic tribe, in the lane - “long-bearded”).
“In the meadows - in dugouts and huts - talkative old people live”, guards of collective farm gardens, ferrymen and basket workers. Most often, he met with a thin, thin-legged Stepan, nicknamed "The Beard on the Poles." Once the narrator spent the night in his hut. Stepan talked for a long time about how difficult it was for the village women "under the tsar", and how many opportunities they have now, under Soviet power. As an example, he remembered his fellow villager Manka Malavina, who now sings in the Moscow theater.
Home of talent
Solotcha is a rich village. For the first year, the narrator lived with "a meek old woman, an old maid and a rural dressmaker Marya Mikhailovna." In her clean hut hung a painting by an unknown Italian artist, who left his work in payment for the room to the father of Marya Mikhailovna. He studied icon painting in Solotch.
In Solotcha, almost every hut is decorated with paintings of children, grandchildren, nephews. Famous artists grew up in many houses. In the house next door to Marya Mikhailovna lives an old woman - the daughter of Academician Pozhalostin, one of the best Russian engravers. The next year, the narrator “rented an old bathhouse in the garden from them” and saw the beautiful engravings for himself. The poet Yesenin was also born not far from Solotcha - the narrator happened to buy milk from his own aunt.
Lives near Solotcha and Kuzma Zotov, who was a poor man before the revolution. Now in Zotov's hut there are radio, books, newspapers, and his sons have become people.
The narrator's house is a small bath house in a dense garden. It is fenced with a palisade, in which village cats get stuck, running to the smell of freshly caught fish. The narrator rarely spends the night in the house. For overnight stays, he usually serves an old gazebo in the depths of the garden. It is especially nice there on autumn nights, when a cool wind sways the light of a candle, and a night butterfly sits on an open page of a book. On a foggy morning, the narrator wakes up and goes fishing. “Ahead is a deserted September day” and “lost in ... a world of fragrant foliage, herbs, autumn wilt.”
Unselfishness
You can write about the riches of the Meshchera region, but the narrator loves his native places not for the abundance of peat or wood, but for their quiet and simple beauty. And if he has to defend his native country, then in the depths of his heart he will know that he is defending "and this piece of land that taught me to see and understand the beautiful ... this forest pensive land, love for which will not be forgotten, just as first love is never forgotten."
Summary of the "Meshcherskaya side" of Paustovsky
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Genre: story
The main characters of the story "Meshcherskaya side" and their characteristics
- Author-narrator. Nature lover, notable fisherman.
- The author arrives in Meshchera and begins to explore this land.
- He gets acquainted with the forests, lakes and m'shars of Meshchera.
- He fishes on the lakes, on the old channel of the Oka, Prorva, and recalls funny incidents while fishing.
- The author meets local residents and learns that many famous people come from these places.
- The author lives in a small house and goes fishing almost every morning.
- He loves Meshchera not because she is rich, but because her charm manifests itself gradually.
The native land will always be dearer to a person than anything in the world, no matter what it is.
What does the story "Meshcherskaya side" teach
The story teaches to love nature, to enjoy its beauty, to be surprised by its miracles, to love walks through forests and lakes. Teaches you to enjoy every day you live, to find happiness in the most simple things. It teaches you never to lose the ability to be surprised.
Feedback on the story "Meshcherskaya side"
I really enjoyed this romantic story. The author talks about the Meshcherskaya side with great love, and when reading his descriptions, you also begin to want to go somewhere in the wilderness and live in nature, in peace and quiet, away from noisy and dirty cities.
Proverbs for the story "Meshcherskaya side"
Native land - paradise in the heart.
Where the pine has grown, there it is red.
Everyone has their own side.
What are the eyes, such is nature.
In summer with a fishing rod, in winter with a handbag.
Ordinary land.
There are no special beauties in the Meshchersky region, it is modest, like the paintings of Levitan, and it contains all the charm and diversity of Russian nature.
There are meadows, forests, lakes, haystacks.
It is solemn and quiet in the forests, lakes with dark water, swamps are covered with aspen and alder, and everywhere there are half-ruined houses of foresters.
Here you can hear the cries of hawks, the knock of woodpeckers, the howl of wolves, the sounds of an accordion, and in the morning the discord of roosters.
And every day this land seems to you richer and dearer to your heart.
This region lies between Vladimir and Ryazan.
First meeting.
For the first time, the author got to the Meshcherskaya side from Vladimir, on an old train, where passengers even sat on the platforms. The stations were littered with fresh logs and wild flowers.
At the Pilevo station, a bearded grandfather climbed into the car and began to complain that he was again sent to the museum with a message. The message spoke of unfamiliar birds on the lake and offered to send catchers.
Grandfather told how in the past years a torchak, the antlers of a huge deer, was found. Then the author heard many stories about mammoths and treasures, but this first one sunk into his soul most of all.
Old map.
The author took out an old map of the 19th century, many places on it have changed, but it was more reliable than the advice of local residents. Following these tips, the author always strayed, because there were many noticeable landmarks. So he trusted his own instinct more.
A few words about signs.
In order not to get lost in the forest, you need to know the signs. For example, notches on pines that he himself left.
But the main signs are the weather. The simplest is smoke from a fire. You can predict the weather by dew, fish, sunset.
Return to the map.
The Oka is shown in the south of the map. To the north of it stretch wooded and swampy places. Pine forests hide lakes and peat bogs. And to the south of the Oka, the inhabited Ryazan steppes spread.
In the west of Meshchera there are forest lakes, and the smaller the lake, the deeper it is.
Mshary.
Mshary are former lakes that have become overgrown over time. They have hills - former islands.
Once the author made his way to Pogany Lake, which got its name from the filthy mushrooms and cranberries, the size of a walnut. Near this lake there were "green bogs", which were scary to look at.
It was difficult to walk along the msharams, it was necessary to jump from hummock to hummock, and between the hummocks there was water and dry sharp birch roots stuck out. Msharas were overgrown with sphagnum and lingonberries, and the leg was drowning in moss up to the knee. The travelers reached the island and decided to rest. With them was Gaidar, who soon found traces of an elk. Gaidar went to look for Poganoe Lake, which was somewhere nearby, and disappeared. He was gone for three hours and did not respond to cries. Only the wolves howled from the direction he had gone. A man with a compass went in search of the writer.
It became dark, from somewhere the sounds of a car could be heard. Everyone was surprised, but Gaidar and his comrade who were looking for him came out from the other side. It was Gaidar, who was tired of shouting, imitating the signals of a car.
Gaidar said that he saw Poganoe Lake, and it seemed terrible to him. The water in the lake was black.
The following summer, the author nevertheless reached Poganoe Lake. The water really turned out to be black, and there were black perches in the lake, which the writer caught on a fishing line.
After that, local residents began to consider the author desperate.
Forest rivers and canals.
Two rivers flow through the forests. Solotcha is winding and rich in ides, while Pra is larger, there are many villages on its banks and there is a cotton factory, because of which the bottom of the river is covered with a layer of cotton.
In addition to rivers, there are canals. The swamps were going to be drained even under the king, but the land turned out to be poor, and the drainage was abandoned. And the canals are overgrown and ducks and tenches nest in them.
These channels are very picturesque, thickets hang over them in arches, reeds grow along the banks. The silence is broken only by the sound of mosquitoes.
There are water rats that successfully catch fish.
Forests.
The pine forests of Meshchera are light and dry. They make noise in the wind. They have a strong resinous smell. There are also spruce forests, birch, and oak copses. The latter are impassable and many angry ants live in them.
The silence of these forests fascinates, you want to speak in a whisper in them.
Once the author spent the night on the Black Lake with friends. They took a boat and went to fish. Suddenly, a huge sharp fin of a pike emerged very close by, it could easily sink the boat. The fishermen had to urgently return to the shore, and the pike pursued them.
On the shore, people saw a she-wolf with cubs, she had to be scared away with a stone.
Black Lake is named so because of the black water. The lakes of Meshchera are of different colors, but most of all are black. But there are lakes that are purple, yellowish, tin. The black color of the lakes is due to peat, the older it is, the blacker the bottom of the lake.
Meadows.
Water meadows stretch between the forests and the Oka. They contain the old channel of the Oka - Prorva, deep, overgrown, with steep banks. On one stretch, the author saw huge burdocks and raincoats, most of the channel was overgrown with such thick grasses that it was impossible to land on the shore, there was almost always a haze above the channel - fog or haze.
The author liked to visit Prorva in autumn. He came with a boat, set up a tent and fished. The night sky above Prorva is full of bright stars.
A small digression from the topic.
Once an old man from Moscow, a fisherman, came to Solotcha. He was spinning fish. He walked along the banks, cast a spinning rod and invariably pulled out an empty lure. The old man complained about his fate, especially when he was tearing the line.
Once he was taken to Lake Segden. All night the old man stood on his feet, afraid to sit on the wet grass. Then he stepped on the scrambled eggs and broke the jug of milk. Everyone laughed their heads off.
And so the old man was taken to fish on Prorva. The old man was lucky, he pulled out a pood pike and laid it on the shore near the water. Then he took out his pince-nez and began to look at the fish, admiring its beauty. But the pike did not want to just lie down. She brushed off her pince-nez with her tail and jumped back into the water.
On the same day the old man went back to Moscow.
More about meadows.
There are many lakes in the meadows. At the bottom of one lie bog oaks, in another there were beavers, in the third golden lines, the fourth stretched for many kilometers, and the fifth was famous for capricious fish. Flocks of cranes rest on Lake Muzga, and flocks of ducks have chosen Selyanskoye Lake. The author jokingly called one lake Langobardsky, in honor of the bearded watchman, and soon the locals dubbed the lake Ambarsky.
The variety of grasses in the meadows is huge. Chicory, clover, chamomile, dill, cloves and hundreds of other herbs grow here. There are also meadow strawberries.
Old men.
In the meadows, in dugouts and huts, talkative old men live - garden watchmen, ferrymen, basket makers. Acquaintance with them usually happens during a thunderstorm. Old people like to talk about unusual things - water aeroplanes, gliders, French cuisine, badger races.
Once the author spent the night with his grandfather Stepan, thin and bearded. A girl of twelve years old was sitting by his fire, who until night was looking for a heifer in the meadows, and strayed. Stepan treated the girl to a cucumber, and began to cook stew in a pot.
He began to tell that all the surrounding places were once monastic, and life in those days was terrible. The men were still okay, they were coping, and the women even had worms in their eyes from constant proximity to the fire in the kitchen.
The girl was frightened, but Stepan reassured her, saying that now the girls have a completely different life. And he remembered a certain Malyavin, who is now a singer in Moscow and sends her grandfather two hundred rubles every month.
Home of talent.
For a whole year the author lived in Solotch with the dressmaker Marya Mikhailovna, a lonely woman. In her hut hung two paintings by an Italian artist. He came to these places and left the paintings to Maria's father.
In the neighboring garden big house, Academician Pozhalostin, who died before the revolution, and his daughter lived in it, already an old woman.
The author was perplexed, Pozhalostin - the most famous engraver and suddenly in these places. And then the collective farmers began to wait for the artist Arkhipov. Pozhalostin, Arkhipov, Malyavin, Golubkina - all come from these places. And the village was famous for its icon painters.
The following year, the author settled in Pozhalostin's house. An old woman, the aunt of the poet Yesenin, who also came from these places, brought him sour cream.
On one of the lakes, the author met Kuzma Zotov, a former poor man who brought his sons to the people. One became the head of the ichthyological station, the second became a botany teacher, and Vasya is still at school, but wants to become an artist. It was he who found the paints of the French artist, who lost them in a hurry due to a thunderstorm.
My house.
The author spoke about his house in particular. This is a former bathhouse, which stands in a dense garden. In the evening, a lot of cats darting around the garden, who dream of stealing the fish caught by the author.
In autumn, the garden is covered with leaves and it becomes light in the house. The author rarely spent the night in it, but when he stayed at home, he tried to spend the night in an old gazebo, where sparrows tried to peck at the ticking clock.
The author wakes up at dawn, goes into the house, makes tea, then takes the oars and goes down to the river. He sails away in the fog, and this lostness in the vast world seems to the author to be happiness.
Unselfishness.
You can write a lot about Meshchera. This land is beautiful and you love it because its charm is not revealed immediately. The more you get to know her, the more you start to love.
Drawings and illustrations for the story "Meshcherskaya side"
In Russian literature there are many books devoted to native nature, dear to the heart places. Below we will consider one of these works, which was written by K. G. Paustovsky, the story "Meshcherskaya Side".
ordinary earth
At the beginning of the book, the narrator introduces readers to this land, gives brief description. At the same time, he notes that this region is unremarkable. Here fresh air, meadows, lakes. All this is beautiful, but nothing special. The location of the area is also mentioned by the Meshcherskaya side, located not far from Moscow, between Vladimir and Ryazan.
First meeting
The narrator got to Meshchera from Vladimir when he was traveling by train on a narrow gauge railway. At one of the stations, a shaggy grandfather climbed into the car, who was sent to the museum with a notice. The letter says that two very large birds live in the swamp, striped, unknown species. They need to be caught and delivered to the museum. Also, the grandfather said that a "junk" was found there - huge antlers of an ancient deer.
vintage map
The author took out a map of this region, a very old one. The surveys of the area were made before 1870. There were many inaccuracies on the diagram, they managed to change, the lakes became swampy, new forests appeared. However, despite all the difficulties, the narrator preferred to use the map, rather than the tips of local residents. The fact is that the natives explained in too much detail and confusingly where to go, but many signs turned out to be inaccurate, and some were not found at all.
A few words about signs
The author claims that creating and finding signs is a very exciting activity. He then shares some of his observations. Some signs persist for a long time, others do not. However, the real ones are those associated with time and weather. Among them there are simple ones, for example, the height of the smoke. There are difficult ones, for example, when the fish suddenly stop pecking, and the rivers seem to die. This is what happens before the storm. All beauties cannot display summary. Paustovsky (“Meshcherskaya side”) admires the nature of Russia.
Return to the map
The author, using the map, briefly describes the lands on which the Meshchersky region is located. The Oka is depicted at the bottom of the diagram. The river separates 2 completely dissimilar spaces. To the south - inhabited fertile Ryazan lands, to the north - marshy plain. In the western part there is Borovaya Storona: dense pine forests, in which many lakes are hidden.
Mshara
This is the name of the swamps of the Meshchersky region. Overgrown lakes cover an area of hundreds of thousands of hectares. Wooded "islands" are sometimes found among the swamps.
It is worth adding the following case to the summary. Paustovsky ("Meshcherskaya side") tells about one of the walks.
One day the author and his friends decided to go to Poganoe Lake. It was located among the swamps and was famous for its large cranberries and huge grebes. Walking through the forest, which had been on fire a year ago, was difficult. Travelers quickly got tired. They decided to rest on one of the "islands". The writer Gaidar was also in the company. He decided that he would find his way to the lake while the others were resting. However, the writer did not return for a long time, and his friends were alarmed: it was already dark and they began. One of the company went in search of. He soon returned with Gaidar. The latter said that he climbed a pine tree and saw this lake: the water there is black, rare weak pine trees stand around, some have already fallen. A very scary lake, as Gaidar said, and the friends decided not to go there, but to get out on solid ground.
The narrator got to the place after a year. The shores at Poganoe Lake were floating and consisted of densely intertwined roots and mosses. The water was really black, and bubbles were rising from the bottom. It was impossible to stand still for a long time: the legs began to fail. However, the fishing was good, the author and his friends caught perch, which earned them the fame of “inveterate people” in the village of the women.
Many other entertaining incidents are contained in the story written by Paustovsky. "Meshcherskaya side" reviews received different, but mostly positive.
Forest rivers and canals
The map of the Meshchersky Territory shows forests with white spots in the depths, as well as two rivers: Solotcha and Pra. The first water is red, there is a lonely inn on the shore, and almost no one settles on the banks of the second.
There are also many channels marked on the map. They were laid in the time of Alexander II. Then they wanted to drain the swamps and populate them, but the land turned out to be poor. Now the canals are overgrown, and only birds, fish and
As you can see, in the story written by Paustovsky (“Meshcherskaya side”), the main characters are forests, meadows, lakes. The author tells us about them.
Forests
The Meshchera pine forests are majestic, the trees are tall and straight, the air is transparent, the sky is clearly visible through the branches. There are also spruce forests, oak forests, and groves in this region.
The author lives in the woods in a tent for several days, sleeps little, but feels cheerful. Once he and his friends were fishing on the Black Lake in a rubber boat. They were attacked with a sharp and durable fin, which could easily damage the floating facility. Friends turned to the shore. There was a wolf with cubs, as it turned out, her hole was next to the tent. The predator was driven away, but the camp had to be moved.
Near the lakes of the Meshchersky region, the water is of different colors, but most often black. This is because of the peat bottom. However, there are purple, yellow, blue and tin pools.
meadows
Between the forests and the Oka there are meadows similar to the sea. They hide the old river bed, already overgrown with grass. It's called Breakthrough. The author lives in those places every autumn for a long time.
A small digression from the topic
It is impossible not to insert the next episode in the summary. Paustovsky ("Meshcherskaya side") talks about such a case.
Once an old man with silver teeth came to the village of Solotche. He fished on spinning, but local anglers despised the English bait. The guest was unlucky: he cut off the baubles, dragged snags, but could not pull out a single fish. And local boys successfully caught on a simple rope. Once the old man was lucky: he pulled out a huge pike, began to examine it, admire it. But the fish took advantage of this delay: she hit the elderly man on the cheek and dived into the river. After that, the old man gathered all his things and left for Moscow.
More about meadows
In the Meshchersky region there are many lakes with strange names, often "speaking". For example, beavers once lived in Bobrovsky, bog oaks lie at the bottom of Hotz, Selyansky is full of ducks, the Bull is very large, etc. The names also appear in the most unexpected way, for example, the author called the lake Langobard because of the bearded watchman.
Old men
Let's continue with the summary. Paustovsky (“Meshcherskaya side”) also describes the life of rural people.
Loquacious old men, watchmen, basket-makers, and ferrymen live in the meadows. The author often met with Stepan, nicknamed Beard on Poles. That was his name because of his extreme thinness. Once the narrator was caught in the rain, and he had to spend the night with his grandfather Stepan. The basket maker began to remember that before all the forests belonged to monasteries. Then he talked about how hard life was under the tsar, but now it is much better. He told about Manka Malavina - the singer. Previously, she would not have been able to leave for Moscow.
Home of talent
There are many in Solotch talented people, in almost every hut there are beautiful paintings painted by a grandfather or father. Famous artists were born and raised here. The daughter of the engraver Pozhalostina lives in the house next door. Aunt Yesenina is nearby, the author bought milk from her. Icon painters once lived in Solotcha.
My house
The narrator rents a bathhouse, converted into a residential building. However, he rarely sleeps in the hut. He usually sleeps in a gazebo in the garden. In the mornings, he boils tea in a bathhouse, and then goes fishing.
Unselfishness
Let us mention the last part, finishing a brief retelling. "Meshcherskaya Side" (Paustovsky K. G.) shows that the author loves these places not for their wealth, but for their quiet, calm beauty. He knows that in case of war he will defend not only his homeland, but this land too.
Brief analysis
In his work, the writer talks about the Meshchersky region, shows its beauty. All the forces of nature come to life, and ordinary phenomena cease to be such: rain or a thunderstorm becomes threatening, bird chirping is compared to an orchestra, etc. The language of the story, despite its apparent simplicity, is very poetic and replete with various artistic devices.
At the end of the work, the author speaks of selfless love for his land. This idea runs throughout the story. The writer casually mentions natural wealth, much more he describes the beauty of nature, the simple and kind disposition of the locals. And he always claims that it is much more valuable than a lot of peat or forest. Wealth is not only in resources, but also in people, Paustovsky shows. The Meshcherskaya side, the analysis of which is being considered, was written according to the actual observations of the author.
The Ryazan region, in which the Meshcherskaya side is located, was not the native land of Paustovsky. But the warmth and extraordinary feelings that he felt here make the writer a real son of this land.
Paustovsky Konstantin
Meshcherskaya side
Konstantin Georgievich Paustovsky
MESHHERSKAYA SIDE
ORDINARY EARTH
In the Meshchersky region there are no special beauties and riches, except for forests, meadows and transparent air. Nevertheless, this region has a great attractive force. He is very modest - just like Levitan's paintings. But in it, as in these paintings, lies all the charm and all the diversity of Russian nature, imperceptible at first glance.
What can be seen in the Meshchersky region? Flowering or sloping meadows, pine forests, floodplain and forest lakes overgrown with black mounds, haystacks smelling of dry and warm hay. Hay in stacks keeps warm all winter.
I had to spend the night in stacks in October, when the grass at dawn is covered with hoarfrost, like salt. I dug a deep hole in the hay, climbed into it and slept all night in a haystack, as if in a locked room. And over the meadows there was a cold rain and the wind swooped in oblique blows.
In the Meshchersky Territory, you can see pine forests, where it is so solemn and quiet that the "chatterbox" bell of a lost cow can be heard far away, almost a kilometer away. But such silence stands in the forests only on windless days. In the wind, the forests rustle with the great oceanic rumble and the tops of the pines bend after the passing clouds.
In the Meshchersky region you can see forest lakes with dark water, vast swamps covered with alder and aspen, lonely huts of foresters, charred from old age, sands, juniper, heather, shoals of cranes and stars familiar to us from all latitudes.
What can be heard in the Meshchersky region, except for the hum of pine forests? The cries of quails and hawks, the whistle of orioles, the fussy clatter of woodpeckers, the howl of wolves, the rustle of rain in the red needles, the evening crying of the harmonica in the village, and at night - the discordant singing of roosters and the mallet of the village watchman.
But so little can be seen and heard only in the first days. Then every day this region becomes richer, more diverse, dearer to the heart. And, finally, there comes a time when each and above the dead river seems to be its own, very familiar, when amazing stories can be told about it.
I broke the custom of geographers. Almost all geographical books begin with the same phrase: "This region lies between such and such degrees of eastern longitude and northern latitude, and borders in the south with such and such an area, and in the north with such and such." I will not name the latitudes and longitudes of the Meshchera region. Suffice it to say that it lies between Vladimir and Ryazan, not far from Moscow, and is one of the few surviving forest islands, a remnant of the "great belt of coniferous forests." It once stretched from Polissya to the Urals. It included forests: Chernihiv, Bryansk, Kaluga, Meshchersky, Mordovian and Kerzhensky. In these forests, ancient Russia sat out from the Tatar raids.
FIRST MEETING
For the first time I came to the Meshchersky region from the north, from Vladimir.
Behind Gus-Khrustalny, at the quiet Tuma station, I changed to a narrow-gauge train. It was a Stephenson train. The locomotive, resembling a samovar, whistled like a child's falsetto. The locomotive had an offensive nickname: "gelding". He really looked like an old gelding. At the curves, he groaned and stopped. Passengers went out to smoke. Forest silence stood around the panting "gelding". The smell of wild cloves, heated by the sun, filled the carriages.
Passengers with things sat on the platforms - things did not fit into the car. Occasionally, on the way, sacks, baskets, carpenter's saws began to fly out from the platform onto the canvas, and a shaft and their owner, often a rather ancient old woman, jumped out for things. Inexperienced passengers were frightened, and experienced passengers, twisting the goat's legs and spitting, explained that this was the most convenient way to get off the train closer to their village.
The narrow-gauge railway in the Meshchersky forests is the most leisurely Railway in the Union.
The stations are littered with resinous logs and smell of fresh felling and wild forest flowers.
At Pilevo station, a shaggy grandfather climbed into the car. He crossed himself in a corner where a round cast-iron stove rattled, sighed and complained into space:
Just a little, now they take me by the beard - go to the city, tie up your bast shoes. And that is not in the consideration that, perhaps, their business is not worth a penny. They send me to the museum, where the Soviet government collects cards, price lists, and everything else. Send with an application.
What are you doing wrong?
You look - here!
Grandfather pulled out a crumpled piece of paper, blew off the terrycloth from it and showed it to the neighbor woman.
Manka, read it, - said the woman to the girl, rubbing her nose against the window.
Manka put on her dress on her scratched knees, drew up her legs, and began to read in a hoarse voice:
- "It happens that unfamiliar birds live in the lake, of enormous growth, striped, only three; it is not known where they flew from - they should be taken alive for the museum, and therefore send catchers."
Here, - said the grandfather woefully, - for what business they now break the bones of old people. And all Leshka is a Komsomol member, An ulcer is a passion! Ugh!
Grandpa spat. Baba wiped her round mouth with the end of her handkerchief and sighed. The locomotive whistled in fright, the forests hummed to the right and to the left, raging like lakes. The west wind was in charge. The train with difficulty broke through its damp streams and was hopelessly late, panting on empty half stations.
Here it is our existence, - repeated the grandfather. - Summer year they drove me to the museum, today again!
What did you find in the summer year? - asked the woman.
Something?
Torchak. Well, the bone is ancient. She lay in the swamp. Like a deer. Horns - from this car. Straight passion. They dug it for a whole month. In the end, the people were exhausted.
Who did he give up on? - asked the woman.
The guys will be taught on it.
About this find in "Research and materials regional museum"The following was reported:
"The skeleton went deep into the bog, not giving support for the diggers. I had to undress and go down into the bog, which was extremely difficult because of the icy temperature of the spring water. The huge horns, like the skull, were intact, but extremely fragile due to complete maceration (soaking ) bones. The bones broke right in the hands, but as they dried, the hardness of the bones was restored. "
A skeleton of a gigantic fossil Irish deer was found with a span of two and a half meters of antlers.
From this meeting with the shaggy grandfather, my acquaintance with Meshchera began. Then I heard many stories about mammoth teeth, and about treasures, and about mushrooms the size of a human head. But this first story on the train stuck in my memory especially vividly.
OLD MAP
With great difficulty, I got a map of the Meshchersky region. There was a note on it: "The map was compiled from old surveys made before 1870." I had to fix this map myself. River courses have changed. Where there were swamps on the map, in some places a young pine forest was already rustling; swamps appeared in place of other lakes.
