The long-awaited wedding day. Other characters in the play

For the first time - Alexey N. Tolstoy. Killer whale. M., Theater Library Publishing House, 1916.

N.V. Krandievskaya-Tolstaya recalls the history of the creation of the play. “His aunt, Marya Leontyevna Turgeneva, settled with me on Molchanovka (...) Aunt Masha was a living source of family legends, traditions and chronicles. Tolstoy has already drawn from this source more than once for his work (“Trans-Volga Region”, “A Week in Turenev”, “The Lame Master”, “Two Lives”) (...) Aunt Masha’s stay in our house in the spring and summer of 1916, undoubtedly, contributed to the writing of the play "Killer Whale", the plot of which was borrowed from hectic life Aunt Masha's beloved nephew Leonty Komarov. Even earlier, the same plot was used by Tolstoy in the story “A Week in Turenev”. The exact date I don’t remember writing “Killer Whale”. I only know that “Killer Whale” was written in one breath, hastily, in about two weeks, and that it was written soon after the play “Rocket”, and not before it, for later Tolstoy often said that the unsuccessful “Rocket” was for him a running start for writing "Killer Whale".

– I have never written a single play as easily and cheerfully as “Killer Whale” (collection “Memoirs of A.N. Tolstoy.” Leningrad, Lenizdat, 1977, pp. 122–123).

The play was completed by Tolstoy on November 16, 1916, and already on December 12, 1916, the premiere took place at the Moscow Drama Theater. Apparently, Tolstoy intended the play for Art Theater, but Vl. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko, who read the play, did not immediately decide to stage it, and then lost interest in it (see: L. M. Freidkina. Days and years of Vl. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko. Chronicle of life and creativity. M. 1962, p. 320).

In the spring of 1917, the play was staged by the Moscow theater - Nezlobina; in the summer of the same year - at the Arkhangelsk Drama Theater. And everywhere the performances enjoyed constant success. True, the first review might have upset Tolstoy: “We remember the success with which (...) the comedy of the same writer was held last year.” Devilry“(…) Yesterday we watched his “Killer Whale”. No, in this comedy the evolution of the author’s talent is not noticeable (...) Really, success should be attributed rather to great game actors who superbly used the material given by the author” (“Moskovskie Vedomosti”, 1916, December 13).

On the same day, a different review appeared in the Teatr newspaper: “This is the real, living, full of action a comedy that the Russian theater has long been yearning for. There is no need to look for depth of thought, high mood, or big questions here. In the play gr. Al. N. Tolstoy are touched upon in passing and human dramas, and human sorrows (...) And then gr. A. Tolstoy clearly outlines the characters: the people of his comedy are living, genuine people” (“Theater”, 1916, December 13).

The production at the Nezlobin Theater in 1917 caused a negative review in the newspaper “Novoe Vremya”. It was noted that Tolstoy’s heroes speak and act at the expense of logic and common sense. “Gogol called his “Marriage” “an absolutely incredible event.” But how can we call the “comedy” of Gr. Al. Tolstoy? (...) For a farce, all this sloppy and careless concoction is not funny enough, for a comedy it is too implausible and meaningless” (“New Time”, 1917, April 5/18).

Performances resumed in 1922, first at the Vasileostrovsky Theater in Petrograd, and in 1923 at the Tauride Petrograd Theater and at the Moscow Drama Theater "Comedy" (formerly Korsha). Speaking about the performance at the Comedy Theater, the reviewer wrote: “Today “Killer Whale” sounded as fresh and young as it did then - a century ago (...) The play and the performers survived the revolution and did not fade... which means this is a real human (for a person from man - heart to heart) the play, which means the actors who played it are people who, through old age, have come with us to a second life" ("Theater and Music", 1923, No. 11, May 22).

It is known that Tolstoy was very fond of this play and played the role of Zheltukhin in it. “During his first performance - in January 1922 at the Russian theater in Riga - he performed the play “Zheltukhin’s Romance”, written specifically for this performance and not included in any edition (in this edition the romance is included in the text. - A.M. ). Subsequently, A.N. Tolstoy played this role more than once during summer trips with theaters around the Soviet Union” (A.L. Sokolskaya. - SS, 10, p. 754).

In 1933, on May 12 and 18, the Moscow Association of Writers organized a performance by the Moscow drama theater in favor of the sponsored MTS. A. N. Tolstoy played the role of Zheltukhin. For these performances, Tolstoy revised the text. His most interesting amendments are noted in SS, 9, p. 755.

In the 30s and especially in the early 40s, “Killer Whale” was staged in many theaters Soviet Union. Reviewer L. Borovoy wrote about the performance of the Moscow Theater of Drama and Comedy: “The very old Petrograd Killer Whale by Alexei Tolstoy has retained its charm even now. Everything in it is large, convex, full-voiced (...) That’s why we think so important success"Killer Whales" on the stage of the reorganized Moscow Drama and Comedy Theater" (" Soviet art", 1940. August 3).

In future lifetime publications (Goslitizdat. 1934–1936, 8 and Plays) Tolstoy returned to the original edition (1916).

“Killer Whale” was staged both in the post-war years and at the end of the 50s. As a researcher of Tolstoy’s work writes: “Killer Whale” is one of the most perfect artistically Tolstoy's comedies of the pre-revolutionary time. In it the playwright showed off his skill speech characteristics, the art of composition, the ability to develop the action in an entertaining and quick way, to pit characters against each other in lively and interesting conflicts” (Zvereva, p. 14).

Published according to the text: Plays.

A. N. Tolstoy

Comedy in four acts

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* * *

Characters:

Anatoly Petrovich- Prince Belsky.

Varvara Ivanovna Dolgova- his aunt.

Ilya Ilyich Bykov- her pupil.

Raisa Glebovna- Bykov's bride.

Masha. Marya Semyonovna Kosareva- Killer whale.

Abram Alekseevich Zheltukhin.

Anna Apollosovna- cousin of the prince.

Faith- her daughter.

Stivinsky.

Uranov.

Dunyasha- housemaid.

Pankrat- sailor.

The first action in Petrograd; the rest is on the Dolgovaya estate and on the Volga.

Act one

A room in a hotel. Sitting at the card table Prince, Uranov And Stivinsky are in care. Opposite, sitting on the sofa Masha and, resting his chin, looks at the players. The room is smoky, a mess, empty bottles, leftover food.

Uranov. I'm telling you, I want to sleep. Tired of it.

Stivinsky. Indeed, it’s six o’clock. I'll be good tomorrow. No, how will I sing tomorrow?

Prince. Kids time. I'll order another bottle of champagne. In the end it was terribly stupid - I was completely lost. For my peace of mind, at least sit down and I'll mark the last pot.

Uranov. Let's play for nuts or something. Eh, prince, you better go to bed.

Stivinsky. My forehead is cracking, the back of my head is cracking, my head is like an ashtray with cigarette butts. And the voice - listen... (Strikes a note.) Is this salt? Cock crow. I'm dead!

Masha. And don't sleep, no one will cry.

Uranov. Money, money must be shown, then you can ask for anything. That's how the world works.

Prince. Terribly unpleasant.

Uranov. Eh, prince... Today I won against you, and yesterday they took me by the horns at the stock exchange. He barely left alive. We are all, as they say, today a prince, tomorrow scum.

Stivinsky. Well, I'm off. (Masha.) Killer whale, my beauty, farewell, goddess. I would like to come sometime, play music, remember the old times.

Masha. Wait. (Goes to the table.) Alexey Ivanovich, well? (Takes the ring off his finger.) What is the price?

Uranov approaches.

Uranov. Thing!

Stivinsky. Gorgeous little thing. What water!

Masha. How much do you give, I ask?

Prince. My dear, this is the last resource.

Uranov. I'll give you a thousand rubles, by God, it's just you.

Masha. A thousand for this ring? Sit down anyway, swords.

Uranov. It's coming. (Sits down and takes cards.)

Everyone is standing around.

Masha. King of Clubs

Uranov. It's coming. (Starts putting cards left and right.)

Prince. To think that some king of clubs is now in control of our destiny.

Stivinsky. Are you an amateur? strong sensations, prince?

Prince. Oh no, I tend to be melancholic and pure life. But, unfortunately, I have no choice but to experience strong sensations.

Masha (to Uranov). Hand over more quickly.

Uranov. I rent as best I can.

Stivinsky. His fingers are too thick.

Prince. It feels like these fingers are moving inside my brain.

Stivinsky. Four cards left.

Prince. Here's a case!

Uranov. A thousand in the bank?

Masha. Yes, all in!

Uranov. King of clubs bit.

Masha. Bit! (To the Prince.) King of the Beats. (To Uranov.) I'll do anything. Ten of spades.

Prince. Masha!

Uranov. It's coming. There are two thousand in the bank. (Tosses right, left.)

Stivinsky (to Uranov). You, brother, are a spider, a stockbroker. What a pity about the rings.

Uranov. Bat.

Masha. Bat!

Stivinsky. Bat!

Prince. Things are not going my way.

Masha. There are four thousand in the bank... For everything you want?

Uranov. Oh?

Prince (Masha). You are crazy!

Masha. Let me go. (To Uranov.) Swords.

Prince. My dear, in the end I will have to pay with my skin.

Masha. They will give a lot for your skin. I'll pay for mine.

Uranov. It's coming, it's coming. The skin is expensive.

Prince. God knows what absurdity!

Masha. Nine of Hearts.

Stivinsky. Massacre!

Prince (Stivinsky). At such moments I feel terribly alone. You never need to act out. This is the law. We've hit a rocky patch. I swam out twice, but this time...

Uranov. Bat! (Rises.) Game over. (Puts a ring on his finger.) There are seven thousand behind you. When would you like to receive it?

Masha. I don't know... One of these days... Someday... I'll give...

Stivinsky. Tell me - no one will believe it.

Uranov. How will you pay? Dear lady, I feel sorry, I feel sorry for you. Marya Semyonovna, in two words.

Masha. Yes... what are you talking about?

Uranov. Please go to the corridor or, preferably, to my room. We’ll decide now so that there’s no looking back later.

Masha (weakly). I don't want.

Stivinsky (checks cards at the table.) That's right. An amazing case.

Masha (to Uranov). I can not. (With tears.) Leave me alone!.. (To the Prince.) Why are you silent?

Prince (to Uranov). You seem to intend to forgive my debt? Never! A gambling debt is a debt of honor. I don't pay my tailor because this kind of debt is punishable by the state. At heart I am an anarchist, oddly enough. When I go to borrow money, I give myself my word of honor not to pay. This is my protest. But green table debts are not enforceable by law, so I pay them. This is also what I protest.

Uranov. When would you like to receive it?

Prince. The other day.

Uranov (takes out the bill). Will it be easy to sign the bill?

Prince. Oh, as much as you like. (Sits down and signs.)

Stivinsky (Masha). What did he offer you?

Masha. Well, it's clear that...

Stivinsky. Man!

Uranov (hides the bill). This way it will be more correct. I'll wait. Well, prince, don’t be angry, we played by honor. Goodbye, Marya Semyonovna, pen.

Prince. Get out!

Uranov. Thank you for the treat. (Gone.)

Stivinsky. Well, prince, paw.

Prince. What did I want to say, Stevinsky?.. Oh, by the way... you won’t have it until Thursday?

Stivinsky. I shoot at the rubble myself.

Prince. However, I am so... (He accompanies Stivinsky to the door. He returns. He lifts the curtain and freezes at the window.) Game over.

Dawn.

Masha. You alone are to blame for everything. Oh, I’m a fool, a fool... I’ve been following him around like a bourgeois for a whole year. What offers do I decline? I refuse any money. How disgusting you are to me.

Prince. The street is very light and there are a lot of people. They're going about business. Concerned. Everyone has at least some money. Everyone has a home and a family.

Masha (sitting at the piano, resting his chin on the back of the chair). I want to beat you.

Prince. You don't dare do this.

Masha. How else would I dare?

Prince. On rare occasions I can still apply to you physical strength. But I am absolutely inviolable for you.

Masha. Boredom.

Prince. There's a whole empty day ahead. My blood is saturated with tobacco and wine fumes. It's bad when you can't sleep.

Masha. I'll get poisoned in the evening.

Included Abram Zheltukhin, very sleepy and in rumpled clothes.

Zheltukhin. French.

Masha. What?

Zheltukhin. French.

Prince (without turning around from Abram at the window). What are you saying?

Zheltukhin. French genre. I say there is a French genre in the room. (Stretches.) Fine. And I snored for about four hours. Drink, huh? Do you have anything to get wet, Kasatka?

Prince. There are masons paving the street. A little girl is walking, carrying milk.

Zheltukhin (Masha). What about him?

Masha. Lost.

Zheltukhin. How, completely?

* * *

Characters:

Anatoly Petrovich- Prince Belsky.

Varvara Ivanovna Dolgova- his aunt.

Ilya Ilyich Bykov- her pupil.

Raisa Glebovna- Bykov's bride.

Masha. Marya Semyonovna Kosareva- Killer whale.

Abram Alekseevich Zheltukhin.

Anna Apollosovna- cousin of the prince.

Faith- her daughter.

Stivinsky.

Uranov.

Dunyasha- housemaid.

Pankrat- sailor.

The first action in Petrograd; the rest is on the Dolgovaya estate and on the Volga.

Act one

Uranov. I'm telling you, I want to sleep. Tired of it.

Stivinsky. Indeed, it’s six o’clock. I'll be good tomorrow. No, how will I sing tomorrow?

Prince. Kids time. I'll order another bottle of champagne. In the end, it was terribly stupid - I was completely lost. For my peace of mind, at least sit down and I'll mark the last pot.

Uranov. Let's play for nuts or something. Eh, prince, you better go to bed.

Masha. And don't sleep, no one will cry.

Uranov. Money, money must be shown, then you can ask for anything. That's how the world works.

Prince. Terribly unpleasant.

Uranov. Eh, prince... Today I won against you, and yesterday they took me by the horns at the stock exchange. He barely left alive. We are all, as they say, today a prince, tomorrow scum.

Stivinsky. Well, I'm off. (Masha.) Killer whale, my beauty, farewell, goddess. I would like to come sometime, play music, remember the old times.

Masha. Wait. (Goes to the table.) Alexey Ivanovich, well? (Takes the ring off his finger.) What is the price?

Uranov approaches.

Uranov. Thing!

Stivinsky. Gorgeous little thing.

What water!

Masha. How much do you give, I ask?

Prince. My dear, this is the last resource.

Uranov. I'll give you a thousand rubles, by God, it's just you.

Masha. A thousand for this ring? Sit down anyway, swords.

Uranov. It's coming. (Sits down and takes cards.)

Everyone is standing around.

Masha. King of Clubs

Uranov. It's coming. (Starts putting cards left and right.)

Prince. To think that some king of clubs is now in control of our destiny.

Stivinsky. Are you a lover of strong sensations, prince?

Prince. Oh no, I tend to live a melancholic and pure life. But, unfortunately, I have no choice but to experience strong sensations.

Masha (to Uranov). Hand over more quickly.

Uranov. I rent as best I can.

Stivinsky. His fingers are too thick.

Prince. It feels like these fingers are moving inside my brain.

Stivinsky. Four cards left.

Prince. Here's a case!

Uranov. A thousand in the bank?

Masha. Yes, all in!

Uranov. King of clubs bit.

Masha. Bit! (To the Prince.) King of the Beats. (To Uranov.) I'll do anything. Ten of spades.

Prince. Masha!

Uranov. It's coming. There are two thousand in the bank. (Tosses right, left.)

Stivinsky (to Uranov). You, brother, are a spider, a stockbroker. What a pity about the rings.

Uranov. Bat.

Masha. Bat!

Stivinsky. Bat!

Prince. Things are not going my way.

Masha. There are four thousand in the bank... For everything you want?

Uranov. Oh?

Prince (Masha). You are crazy!

Masha. Let me go. (To Uranov.) Swords.

Prince. My dear, in the end I will have to pay with my skin.

Masha. They will give a lot for your skin. I'll pay for mine.

Uranov. It's coming, it's coming. The skin is expensive.

Prince. God knows what absurdity!

Masha. Nine of Hearts.

Stivinsky. Massacre!

Prince (Stivinsky). At such moments I feel terribly alone. You never need to act out. This is the law. We've hit a rocky patch. I swam out twice, but this time...

Uranov. Bat! (Rises.) Game over. (Puts a ring on his finger.) There are seven thousand behind you. When would you like to receive it?

Masha. I don't know... One of these days... Someday... I'll give...

Stivinsky. Tell me - no one will believe it.

Uranov. How will you pay? Dear lady, I feel sorry, I feel sorry for you. Marya Semyonovna, in two words.

Masha. Yes... what are you talking about?

Uranov. Please go to the corridor or, preferably, to my room. We’ll decide now so that there’s no looking back later.

Masha (weakly). I don't want.

Stivinsky (checks cards at the table.) That's right. An amazing case.

Masha (to Uranov). I can not. (With tears.) Leave me alone!.. (To the Prince.) Why are you silent?

Uranov. When would you like to receive it?

Prince. The other day.

Uranov (takes out the bill). Will it be easy to sign the bill?

Prince. Oh, as much as you like. (Sits down and signs.)

Stivinsky (Masha). What did he offer you?

Masha. Well, it's clear that...

Stivinsky. Man!

Uranov (hides the bill). This way it will be more correct. I'll wait. Well, prince, don’t be angry, we played by honor. Goodbye, Marya Semyonovna, pen.

Prince. Get out!

Uranov. Thank you for the treat. (Gone.)

Stivinsky. Well, prince, paw.

Prince. What did I want to say, Stevinsky?.. Oh, by the way... you won’t have it until Thursday?

Stivinsky. I shoot at the rubble myself.

Prince. However, I am so... (He accompanies Stivinsky to the door. He returns. He lifts the curtain and freezes at the window.) Game over.

Dawn.

Prince. The street is very light and there are a lot of people. They're going about business. Concerned. Everyone has at least some money. Everyone has a home and a family.

Masha (sitting at the piano, resting his chin on the back of the chair). I want to beat you.

Prince. You don't dare do this.

Masha. How else would I dare?

Prince. On rare occasions, I may still use physical force against you. But I am absolutely inviolable for you.

Masha. Boredom.

Prince. There's a whole empty day ahead. My blood is saturated with tobacco and wine fumes. It's bad when you can't sleep.

Masha. I'll get poisoned in the evening.

Included Abram Zheltukhin, very sleepy and in rumpled clothes.

Zheltukhin. French.

Masha. What?

Zheltukhin. French.

Prince (without turning around from Abram at the window). What are you saying?

Zheltukhin. French genre. I say there is a French genre in the room. (Stretches.) Fine. And I snored for about four hours. Drink, huh? Do you have anything to get wet, Kasatka?

Prince. There are masons paving the street. A little girl is walking, carrying milk.

Zheltukhin (Masha). What about him?

Masha. Lost.

Zheltukhin. How, completely?

Masha nods.

I bumped into Uranov in the corridor, he also said – wow!

Prince. This time we died.

Masha (slightly elevated). Fatal end.

Pause.

Zheltukhin. What, should we sleep or talk? Sleeping, in my opinion, is somehow uncomfortable now. A?

Prince. The debt in the hotel is very high. For restaurants, too, they should be everywhere, except for the third category. If I move from this hotel to another, I will be arrested immediately.

Zheltukhin. Yes, there is a good hotel here, an excellent hotel. Persian best. All the swindlers live here, sharpers, speculators.

Prince. Don’t forget, there is a woman on my shoulders.

Zheltukhin. What, Kasatka, apparently we need to look for a patron?

Masha. I can not. I hate men. (Points to his throat.) This is where my ball sits.

Prince. Marya Semyonovna will not repeat this step. The killer whale has become a decent woman. I picked it up. If things ever get better for me, I'll marry her.

Zheltukhin. Getting married!.. Well, just golden words... Do you hear, Masha, he said that he was getting married, and I am a witness.

Masha (to the prince). Something you are very sure of. Make sure I don’t throw you out into the street myself.

Zheltukhin. And don't even think about leaving him. You'll get the deal.

Masha. It will not be worse.

Zheltukhin. Well, go away.

Masha. If only I didn’t fall in love with this... peacock...

Zheltukhin. Both of you are nervous.

Prince. You need to say neurasthenics. If only I could fall asleep and sleep all day! Abram, you're an engineer, come up with something.

Zheltukhin. Firstly, I am a former engineer, currently without practice. But I was never a cheater, no. Although they beat me several times, it was in vain. The equivocation weighs heavily on me.

Prince. Take some kind of service, position.

Zheltukhin. In any service you need to work like an ox. And no matter where you go, your salary will still go to the bailiff.

Prince. You are right. Stock game?

Zheltukhin. They'll trick you.

Prince. How do you look at such an idea - if you play cards?

Zheltukhin. Need money.

Prince. Borrow?

Zheltukhin. Well, take it...

Prince. Yes, it's over. No way out.

Masha (softly). I hate you both. Idle talkers.

Zheltukhin. Wait, I'll think about it. Firstly, it is impossible to imagine that we would disappear. In general, we are excellent people, cheerful, and we don’t offend anyone. Why us? Let others disappear.

Prince. I swear to you I will start new life. I am thirty two years old. For the last twelve years, I have been making efforts to create a new, bright life. I will never give up this dream. Think about it - my career started brilliantly. The ministry adored me. I owed one doorman eight hundred rubles. But here... It’s sad to remember. There was a day when everything went downhill. This was my first big loss. Restaurants, gambling houses and horse racing ruined me. But not women, no. There are two principles in my life: the dark is the game, and the light is women. Love always cleanses. As long as I am able to worry, I am not yet dead. The women of society are now inaccessible to me. Alas, I'm too shabby. I broke with the light. Now my ideal is a little, blonde, bourgeois, meek creature. Tulle on the window, geraniums, birds. There is peace, there is blissful sleep, rest from these sparrow nights.

Masha. Blonde? Who is she? (Goes to him.)

Zheltukhin. Masha, Kasatka, come on, this is him ideally.

Masha (to the prince). No! What is her name? Look me in the eyes when they ask you. (Sits nearby.)

Prince. How mediocre you are. What kind of femme are you 1
Woman (French)

Masha. Fam! And while I had money, you liked black hair. Blonde! Today I’ll find out how cute you are. I believed him. She was faithful all year. I didn’t allow anyone to pinch me. Do you remember how the gambling house picked you up? Thin, unshaven, his jacket was short. Stands trembling. “For some reason, madam, I’m still feeling cold,” he says. Fell in love. I lived through my situation for forty thousand. He lost the jewelry, sold two fur coats, one of monkey fur, the other of ermine, with a foal on top. What are you doing? Answer, hizdrik!

Prince (Zheltukhin). Don't you think it's raining heavily?

Zheltukhin. No, it’s drafty.

Masha. I hate it. I won't leave you alone. I'll dry up and get consumption out of spite. Even now the blood is gushing out of my throat.

Zheltukhin. Stop talking nonsense! Disgusting.

Prince. Masha, when we got together, do you remember what the words were?

Masha. What words?

Prince. About feelings, about the sublime, with which the heart was full. Do you remember our first romance? Masha, you are cruel. Killer whale, you are taking it too quickly. (Grabs the guitar.) Someday you will understand - I only wanted love, but I am not a very practical person.

Zheltukhin. It will always bring you to tears.

Masha. I don't believe anything!

Prince. Our romance. (Sings in a fake voice.)

Masha. Stop doing that. Put down the guitar. My torment! I don’t want, I still don’t want you!

Zheltukhin. Eh, that's not how you eat. (Takes the prince’s guitar and sings the same romance with great feeling.)

Masha. Lord... Lord...

Prince. Yes, there is beauty in life.

Zheltukhin (puts down the guitar). And yet our situation, my brothers, is perpendicular.

Prince. We can go around the yards and sing.

Zheltukhin. Really. With a parrot, pulling out tickets for good luck... Eh, Anatoly, Anatoly, your head is like a date, it’s no good. Can't we leave? Do you have any aunt hanging around?

Prince. Aunties? Yes, I have one aunt. She is a landowner.

Zheltukhin. Landowner? So he lives in a village, with everything ready? Anatoly, let's go to my aunt! Let her feed us for a week, well, a month. I’m now in this position: as soon as I wake up, I think – I’m still lost, and for the whole day there’s no imagination. If I could live in peace for a week, I would wriggle out. By God, I’ll turn around and get you out.

Prince. May God bless you, what is her name? Varvara Ivanovna Dolgova. She's always been a big weirdo. Kind and hospitable. Imagine, he tries to keep up a correspondence with me all the time. Her letter was lying around somewhere, but I still haven’t opened it. I decided to read it in a bright moment... (Takes out a letter.) Abram, this is first of all a holy woman!

Zheltukhin. Well, then we have no reason to go to her.

Prince. Why?

Zheltukhin. How can I suddenly come to a holy man? I will be ashamed all the time.

Prince. You can come a little later. I'll cook auntie. (He goes to the window, looks at the dank square, and sinks onto the sofa with a sigh.) Imagine living in an old, half-deserted house, on the ground floor, where it is dark from the lilac bushes and sparrows scream all day.

Zheltukhin (touched). Birds...ah!

Prince. The rooms smell of sage, unpainted floors, icon cases, barefoot girls walking around. On holidays, sleepy landowners and their landowners come. They drink tea in the garden, talk about geese, about some wheat, or remember the past, how grandfather married grandmother and what holidays and balls there were. And on the second floor there is wheat piled up, only mice run around there, gnawing damask sofas and the old library. Abram, all this was my family not so long ago. How far, how hopelessly far away it all is! What kind of sweet pies are baked there, what kind of pickles. What sunsets across the river! Village songs. In the evening you go out into the rye - it smells of honey, dodder, quail gurgle, and you feel that your soul is without sin. Yes.

Masha began to cry.

There are no headaches and disgust for everything. A? What are you talking about, Masha?

Zheltukhin. You know, Anatoly, you are still a pig.

Masha. I won't go anywhere with you.

Prince. Why? What a whim!

Zheltukhin. Yes, brother, she is partly right.

Masha. I have no desire to talk to holy women.

Zheltukhin. Give it up, Masha. If you want, I’ll swear that his aunt is probably the one with the past.

Prince. Abram, be more correct!

Masha. Indeed, His Excellency will suddenly bring such a story to my aunt. How will she stay alive? All her brines will turn sour. No wind can blow sin out of me, my friend.

Zheltukhin. Wow, what a fool! Well, aren't you a fool, you speak vulgarities.

Masha (to the prince). Traitor, the very last traitor!

Prince. Tiens 2
Here: what is it like (French).

Masha, I don’t think I said anything. Well, yes, I remembered the past, I forgot for a minute. Sorry. Yet I never ceased to remember that of the three of us, I am... well, how can I put it... the most diminutive in moral terms. I'll tell auntie that you are my wife. I hope, gentlemen, that we will not talk much about our past.

Zheltukhin. God forbid! You will not recognise me. Just warn me about food, I’m sanguine.

Prince (who managed to skim the letter during this time). Auntie writes that they are preparing a joyful event - the wedding of some girl Raisa Glebovna with Ilya Ilyich. Ilya Ilyich Bykov is her pupil and manages the estate.

Zheltukhin. That's when we'll come to the wedding. Very handy. Anatoly, sit down and write to your aunt.

The prince sits down.

And you, Mashenka, are still gentler with him, we must take into account his origin. No matter how much you bully him, he is still a prince. No, no, yes, it will break through.

Prince. I write: “Ma tante 3
Auntie (French)

My wife, friend and I decided to a short time visit your estate." How next?

Zheltukhin (examining empty bottles). Well, that's not it at all. Wait. (He goes out the inner door.)

Prince. All for me Lately life was very difficult. And, of course, this could not but respond to my feelings for you, Masha. We’ll take a break, look around, and then we can start a new life. For all I know, I might finally be appointed head of the zemstvo... In the village, everything happens. You will have a position, not some airless space in a hotel.

Masha. Fine. Are you asking me?

Prince. Yes, please.

Masha. Why do you need me to go?

Prince. That is, why? I don't know. What a stupid question. If I go alone, then we are separated! This is extraordinarily ridiculous. We love each other. Please don't look at me with those eyes.

Masha. I do not love you.

Prince. Not true. I do not believe. You've told me this a hundred times. Why bring the relationship to such a point? And without that, the heart is ready to stop. Masha, I beg you...

Masha (seriously). I'll go with you. I have nowhere to go now, you understand. But I don’t know what will come of it. If you betray me, remember, I will not regret you or your aunt. I am gentle as long as I love even a little, but if I throw it out of my heart, I have neither pity nor shame.

Prince. Well, yes, well, yes, well...

Zheltukhin comes with bottle.

Zheltukhin. I stuck it in the hatbox - and, of course, a bottle. (Uncorks.) Sit down and write. Will you ever understand what Zheltukhin is? (Dictates.)“Unforgettable aunt. Longing for my native place undermined my body so much that I became completely ill. Childhood memories haunt me. The city with its electricity disgusted me. I want silence and truth among my family..."

Prince (through teeth). Well, this is too ornate...

Zheltukhin. Write. (Dictates.)“Dear aunt, a few weeks spent under your hospitable roof would breathe new life into me. Oh, auntie, auntie, how much I have suffered during these twelve for long years! I'm almost an old man..."

Prince (writes). “...suffered for these twelve long years...”

Zheltukhin (dictates).“A friend of my life will come with me, my wife Marya Semyonovna, with whom I intend to be legally married in a short time.”

Masha laughs, takes the guitar and plays.

I don’t find anything funny... “And also, with your permission, my childhood friend will come...”

Prince. Excuse me, what kind of childhood friend are you?

Zheltukhin. Oh, what are you like, by God. It is impossible without this. What an egoist you are... (Dictates.)“He is a strange person, even repulsive at first glance, but he is a kind soul and does not drink.” I can vouch for this... “All animals have the right to rest, birds make nests, foxes dig holes... Dear Auntie... life is a hard and even ridiculous thing (with tears), and to those who are struggling with all their strength, feeling how every day the noose around their neck is tightening more and more..."

Slow curtain.

Act two

Room village house, serving as both an office and a dining room. In the depths there is an arch, behind it there is a corridor, to the right and left, and in the very depths there are glass doors to the garden, flooded with the sun. Bushes of blooming lilac are visible. To the left is the door to the rooms. At the table Ilya Ilyich Bykov standing drinking iced tea. Raisa leaned over the book.

Ilya. During these three days, you and I didn’t talk at all. Such a fuss. I want to tell you a lot, a lot of serious things, Raisa. Are you listening to me?

She confirms that she is listening.

Entertainment, idleness, all this noise are attractive, perhaps, of course. But we must take this new step seriously... The day after tomorrow is our wedding... Raisa?

Raisa. Yes, I'm listening.

Ilya. Wedding. You must clearly understand its meaning. We grew up as children together, played pranks, dreamed. Yes, yes, it was all excellent. And finally, the day comes when eyebrows should be furrowed. It's no fun. We must enter a harsh life hand in hand... This is a conscious end to youth, to stupid dreams...

Raisa. Please, Ilya, close the window, it’s drafty.

Ilya. For God's sake, Raisa, don't think that I'm reproaching you. But the arrival of this princeling, sleepless nights, empty talk is not the time... Look at Aunt Varya, she is more worried than us. Completely exhausted. Some impulses within us have not yet been restrained, Raisa. I want to say instincts.

Raisa. What are you worried about, Ilya?

Ilya. I worry? Not a bit.

Raisa. Something happened?

Ilya. I say, it’s outrageous to barge into someone else’s life on the eve of a major event.

Raisa. And who broke in? You yourself read the prince’s letter. Aunt Varya and I cried over him.

Ilya. Oh, why aren’t you and Aunt Varya crying? They roared all day long when the four-legged chick hatched.

Raisa. A chicken cannot live on four legs. Of course, I felt sorry for him.

Ilya. And I don’t feel sorry for this prince at all. A slacker and an empty talker.

Raisa. He good man and very unhappy.

Ilya. Tell!..

Raisa. Yes.

Ilya. Now, if you like, Marya Semyonovna is truly worthy of pity. This is a complex and deeply suffering nature.

Raisa (pursing his lips). May be.

Ilya. You're pursing your lips too much, Raisa. In general, I don’t care about princes now. Let his aunt babysit him like he’s a dirty bag. I would pass a state law against slackers and slackers. They dangle under their feet.

Pause.

What are you reading?

Raisa."Young woman's hygiene." Aunt Varya ordered to read this book several times in a row.

Ilya. This is a very useful read, of course. In general, we need to read more serious books.

They stood up. And the samovar is cold. (He runs and collides with Aunt Varya.)

Varvara. Raisa!

Raisa. Aunt Varya!

Varvara. You're running again!

Raisa. The samovar needs to be heated.

Here is an introductory fragment of the book.
Only part of the text is open for free reading (restriction of the copyright holder). If you liked the book, full text

can be obtained from our partner's website.

pages: 1 2 3 4

A. N. Tolstoy
Current page: 1 (book has 3 pages in total) [available reading passage: 1 pages]
killer whale

Comedy in four acts

* * *

Characters:

Anatoly Petrovich- Prince Belsky.

Varvara Ivanovna Dolgova- his aunt.

Ilya Ilyich Bykov- her pupil.

Raisa Glebovna- Bykov's bride.

Masha. Marya Semyonovna Kosareva- Killer whale.

Abram Alekseevich Zheltukhin.

Anna Apollosovna- cousin of the prince.

Faith- her daughter.

Stivinsky.

Uranov.

Dunyasha- housemaid.

Pankrat- sailor.

The first action in Petrograd; the rest is on the Dolgovaya estate and on the Volga.

Act one

Uranov. I'm telling you, I want to sleep. Tired of it.

Stivinsky. Indeed, it’s six o’clock. I'll be good tomorrow. No, how will I sing tomorrow?

Prince. Kids time. I'll order another bottle of champagne. In the end, it was terribly stupid - I was completely lost. For my peace of mind, at least sit down and I'll mark the last pot.

Uranov. Let's play for nuts or something. Eh, prince, you better go to bed.

Masha. And don't sleep, no one will cry.

Uranov. Money, money must be shown, then you can ask for anything. That's how the world works.

Prince. Terribly unpleasant.

Uranov. Eh, prince... Today I won against you, and yesterday they took me by the horns at the stock exchange. He barely left alive. We are all, as they say, today a prince, tomorrow scum.

Stivinsky. Well, I'm off. (Masha.) Killer whale, my beauty, farewell, goddess. I would like to come sometime, play music, remember the old times.

Masha. Wait. (Goes to the table.) Alexey Ivanovich, well? (Takes the ring off his finger.) What is the price?

Uranov approaches.

Uranov. Thing!

Stivinsky. Gorgeous little thing. What water!

Masha. How much do you give, I ask?

Prince. My dear, this is the last resource.

Uranov. I'll give you a thousand rubles, by God, it's just you.

Masha. A thousand for this ring? Sit down anyway, swords.

Uranov. It's coming. (Sits down and takes cards.)

Everyone is standing around.

Masha. King of Clubs

Uranov. It's coming. (Starts putting cards left and right.)

Prince. To think that some king of clubs is now in control of our destiny.

Stivinsky. Are you a lover of strong sensations, prince?

Prince. Oh no, I tend to live a melancholic and pure life. But, unfortunately, I have no choice but to experience strong sensations.

Masha (to Uranov). Hand over more quickly.

Uranov. I rent as best I can.

Stivinsky. His fingers are too thick.

Prince. It feels like these fingers are moving inside my brain.

Stivinsky. Four cards left.

Prince. Here's a case!

Uranov. A thousand in the bank?

Masha. Yes, all in!

Uranov. King of clubs bit.

Masha. Bit! (To the Prince.) King of the Beats. (To Uranov.) I'll do anything. Ten of spades.

Prince. Masha!

Uranov. It's coming. There are two thousand in the bank. (Tosses right, left.)

Stivinsky (to Uranov). You, brother, are a spider, a stockbroker. What a pity about the rings.

Uranov. Bat.

Masha. Bat!

Stivinsky. Bat!

Prince. Things are not going my way.

Masha. There are four thousand in the bank... For everything you want?

Uranov. Oh?

Prince (Masha). You are crazy!

Masha. Let me go. (To Uranov.) Swords.

Prince. My dear, in the end I will have to pay with my skin.

Masha. They will give a lot for your skin. I'll pay for mine.

Uranov. It's coming, it's coming. The skin is expensive.

Prince. God knows what absurdity!

Masha. Nine of Hearts.

Stivinsky. Massacre!

Prince (Stivinsky). At such moments I feel terribly alone. You never need to act out. This is the law. We've hit a rocky patch. I swam out twice, but this time...

Uranov. Bat! (Rises.) Game over. (Puts a ring on his finger.) There are seven thousand behind you. When would you like to receive it?

Masha. I don't know... One of these days... Someday... I'll give...

Stivinsky. Tell me - no one will believe it.

Uranov. How will you pay? Dear lady, I feel sorry, I feel sorry for you. Marya Semyonovna, in two words.

Masha. Yes... what are you talking about?

Uranov. Please go to the corridor or, preferably, to my room. We’ll decide now so that there’s no looking back later.

Masha (weakly). I don't want.

Stivinsky (checks cards at the table.) That's right. An amazing case.

Masha (to Uranov). I can not. (With tears.) Leave me alone!.. (To the Prince.) Why are you silent?

Uranov. When would you like to receive it?

Prince. The other day.

Uranov (takes out the bill). Will it be easy to sign the bill?

Prince. Oh, as much as you like. (Sits down and signs.)

Stivinsky (Masha). What did he offer you?

Masha. Well, it's clear that...

Stivinsky. Man!

Uranov (hides the bill). This way it will be more correct. I'll wait. Well, prince, don’t be angry, we played by honor. Goodbye, Marya Semyonovna, pen.

Prince. Get out!

Uranov. Thank you for the treat. (Gone.)

Stivinsky. Well, prince, paw.

Prince. What did I want to say, Stevinsky?.. Oh, by the way... you won’t have it until Thursday?

Stivinsky. I shoot at the rubble myself.

Prince. However, I am so... (He accompanies Stivinsky to the door. He returns. He lifts the curtain and freezes at the window.) Game over.

Dawn.

Prince. The street is very light and there are a lot of people. They're going about business. Concerned. Everyone has at least some money. Everyone has a home and a family.

Masha (sitting at the piano, resting his chin on the back of the chair). I want to beat you.

Prince. You don't dare do this.

Masha. How else would I dare?

Prince. On rare occasions, I may still use physical force against you. But I am absolutely inviolable for you.

Masha. Boredom.

Prince. There's a whole empty day ahead. My blood is saturated with tobacco and wine fumes. It's bad when you can't sleep.

Masha. I'll get poisoned in the evening.

Included Abram Zheltukhin, very sleepy and in rumpled clothes.

Zheltukhin. French.

Masha. What?

Zheltukhin. French.

Prince (without turning around from Abram at the window). What are you saying?

Zheltukhin. French genre. I say there is a French genre in the room. (Stretches.) Fine. And I snored for about four hours. Drink, huh? Do you have anything to get wet, Kasatka?

Prince. There are masons paving the street. A little girl is walking, carrying milk.

Zheltukhin (Masha). What about him?

Masha. Lost.

Zheltukhin. How, completely?

Masha nods.

I bumped into Uranov in the corridor, he also said – wow!

Prince. This time we died.

Masha (slightly elevated). Fatal end.

Pause.

Zheltukhin. What, should we sleep or talk? Sleeping, in my opinion, is somehow uncomfortable now. A?

Prince. The debt in the hotel is very high. For restaurants, too, they should be everywhere, except for the third category. If I move from this hotel to another, I will be arrested immediately.

Zheltukhin. Yes, there is a good hotel here, an excellent hotel. Persian best. All the swindlers live here, sharpers, speculators.

Prince. Don’t forget, there is a woman on my shoulders.

Zheltukhin. What, Kasatka, apparently we need to look for a patron?

Masha. I can not. I hate men. (Points to his throat.) This is where my ball sits.

Prince. Marya Semyonovna will not repeat this step. The killer whale has become a decent woman. I picked it up. If things ever get better for me, I'll marry her.

Zheltukhin. Getting married!.. Well, just golden words... Do you hear, Masha, he said that he was getting married, and I am a witness.

Masha (to the prince). Something you are very sure of. Make sure I don’t throw you out into the street myself.

Zheltukhin. And don't even think about leaving him. You'll get the deal.

Masha. It will not be worse.

Zheltukhin. Well, go away.

Masha. If only I didn’t fall in love with this... peacock...

Zheltukhin. Both of you are nervous.

Prince. You need to say neurasthenics. If only I could fall asleep and sleep all day! Abram, you're an engineer, come up with something.

Zheltukhin. Firstly, I am a former engineer, currently without practice. But I was never a cheater, no. Although they beat me several times, it was in vain. The equivocation weighs heavily on me.

Prince. Take some kind of service, position.

Zheltukhin. In any service you need to work like an ox. And no matter where you go, your salary will still go to the bailiff.

Prince. You are right. Stock game?

Zheltukhin. They'll trick you.

Prince. How do you look at such an idea - if you play cards?

Zheltukhin. Need money.

Prince. Borrow?

Zheltukhin. Well, take it...

Prince. Yes, it's over. No way out.

Masha (softly). I hate you both. Idle talkers.

Prince. I swear to you, I will start a new life. I am thirty two years old. For the last twelve years, I have been making efforts to create a new, bright life. I will never give up this dream. Think about it - my career started brilliantly. The ministry adored me. I owed one doorman eight hundred rubles. But here... It’s sad to remember. There was a day when everything went downhill. This was my first big loss. Restaurants, gambling houses and horse racing ruined me. But not women, no. There are two principles in my life: the dark is the game, and the light is women. Love always cleanses. As long as I am able to worry, I am not yet dead. The women of society are now inaccessible to me. Alas, I'm too shabby. I broke with the light. Now my ideal is a little, blonde, bourgeois, meek creature. Tulle on the window, geraniums, birds. There is peace, there is blissful sleep, rest from these sparrow nights.

Masha. Blonde? Who is she? (Goes to him.)

Zheltukhin. Masha, Kasatka, come on, this is him ideally.

Masha (to the prince). No! What is her name? Look me in the eyes when they ask you. (Sits nearby.)

Prince. How mediocre you are. What kind of femme are you 1
Woman (French)

Prince (Zheltukhin). Don't you think it's raining heavily?

Zheltukhin. No, it’s drafty.

Masha. I hate it. I won't leave you alone. I'll dry up and get consumption out of spite. Even now the blood is gushing out of my throat.

Zheltukhin. Stop talking nonsense! Disgusting.

Prince. Masha, when we got together, do you remember what the words were?

Masha. What words?

Zheltukhin. It will always bring you to tears.

Masha. I don't believe anything!

Prince. Our romance. (Sings in a fake voice.)

Masha. Stop doing that. Put down the guitar. My torment! I don’t want, I still don’t want you!

Zheltukhin. Eh, that's not how you eat. (Takes the prince’s guitar and sings the same romance with great feeling.)

Masha. Lord... Lord...

Prince. Yes, there is beauty in life.

Zheltukhin (puts down the guitar). And yet our situation, my brothers, is perpendicular.

Prince. We can go around the yards and sing.

Zheltukhin. Really. With a parrot, pulling out tickets for good luck... Eh, Anatoly, Anatoly, your head is like a date, it’s no good. Can't we leave? Do you have any aunt hanging around?

Prince. Aunties? Yes, I have one aunt. She is a landowner.

Zheltukhin. Well, then we have no reason to go to her.

Prince. Why?

Zheltukhin. How can I suddenly come to a holy man? I will be ashamed all the time.

Zheltukhin (touched). Birds...ah!

Masha began to cry.

There are no headaches and disgust for everything. A? What are you talking about, Masha?

Zheltukhin. You know, Anatoly, you are still a pig.

Masha. I won't go anywhere with you.

Prince. Why? What a whim!

Zheltukhin. Yes, brother, she is partly right.

Masha. I have no desire to talk to holy women.

Zheltukhin. Give it up, Masha. If you want, I’ll swear that his aunt is probably the one with the past.

Prince. Abram, be more correct!

Masha. Indeed, His Excellency will suddenly bring such a story to my aunt. How will she stay alive? All her brines will turn sour. No wind can blow sin out of me, my friend.

Zheltukhin. Wow, what a fool! Well, aren't you a fool, you speak vulgarities.

Masha (to the prince). Traitor, the very last traitor!

Prince. Tiens 2
Here: what is it like (French).

Zheltukhin. God forbid! You will not recognise me. Just warn me about food, I’m sanguine.

Zheltukhin. That's when we'll come to the wedding. Very handy. Anatoly, sit down and write to your aunt.

The prince sits down.

And you, Mashenka, are still gentler with him, we must take into account his origin. No matter how much you bully him, he is still a prince. No, no, yes, it will break through.

Prince. I write: “Ma tante 3
Auntie (French)

My wife, friend and I decided to visit your estate for a short time.” How next?

Zheltukhin (examining empty bottles). Well, that's not it at all. Wait. (He goes out the inner door.)

Prince. Life has been very difficult for me lately. And, of course, this could not but respond to my feelings for you, Masha. We’ll take a break, look around, and then we can start a new life. For all I know, I might finally be appointed head of the zemstvo... In the village, everything happens. You will have a position, not some airless space in a hotel.

Masha. Fine. Are you asking me?

Prince. Yes, please.

Masha. Why do you need me to go?

Prince. That is, why? I don't know. What a stupid question. If I go alone, then we are separated! This is extraordinarily ridiculous. We love each other. Please don't look at me with those eyes.

Masha. I do not love you.

Prince. Not true. I do not believe. You've told me this a hundred times. Why bring the relationship to such a point? And without that, the heart is ready to stop. Masha, I beg you...

Prince. Well, yes, well, yes, well...

Zheltukhin comes with bottle.

Prince (through teeth). Well, this is too ornate...

Prince (writes). “...suffered for these twelve long years...”

Zheltukhin (dictates).“A friend of my life will come with me, my wife Marya Semyonovna, with whom I intend to be legally married in a short time.”

Masha laughs, takes the guitar and plays.

I don’t find anything funny... “And also, with your permission, my childhood friend will come...”

Prince. Excuse me, what kind of childhood friend are you?

Slow curtain.

Act two

A room in a country house that serves as both an office and a dining room. In the depths there is an arch, behind it there is a corridor, to the right and left, and in the very depths there are glass doors to the garden, flooded with the sun. Bushes of blooming lilac are visible. To the left is the door to the rooms. At the table Ilya Ilyich Bykov standing drinking iced tea. Raisa leaned over the book.

Ilya. During these three days, you and I didn’t talk at all. Such a fuss. I want to tell you a lot, a lot of serious things, Raisa. Are you listening to me?

She confirms that she is listening.

Entertainment, idleness, all this noise are attractive, perhaps, of course. But we must take this new step seriously... The day after tomorrow is our wedding... Raisa?

Raisa. Yes, I'm listening.

Raisa. Please, Ilya, close the window, it’s drafty.

Ilya. For God's sake, Raisa, don't think that I'm reproaching you. But the arrival of this princeling, sleepless nights, empty conversations - not at the right time... Look at Aunt Varya, she is more worried than us. Completely exhausted. Some impulses within us have not yet been restrained, Raisa. I want to say instincts.

Raisa. What are you worried about, Ilya?

Ilya. I worry? Not a bit.

Raisa. Something happened?

Ilya. I say, it’s outrageous to barge into someone else’s life on the eve of a major event.

Raisa. And who broke in? You yourself read the prince’s letter. Aunt Varya and I cried over him.

Ilya. Oh, why aren’t you and Aunt Varya crying? They roared all day long when the four-legged chick hatched.

Raisa. A chicken cannot live on four legs. Of course, I felt sorry for him.

Ilya. And I don’t feel sorry for this prince at all. A slacker and an empty talker.

Raisa. He is a good man and very unhappy.

Ilya. Tell!..

Raisa. Yes.

Ilya. Now, if you like, Marya Semyonovna is truly worthy of pity. This is a complex and deeply suffering nature.

Raisa (pursing his lips). May be.

Pause.

What are you reading?

Raisa."Young woman's hygiene." Aunt Varya ordered to read this book several times in a row.

Ilya. This is a very useful read, of course. In general, we need to read more serious books.

They stood up. And the samovar is cold. (He runs and collides with Aunt Varya.)

Varvara. Raisa!

Raisa. Aunt Varya!

Varvara. You're running again!

Raisa. The samovar needs to be heated.

Varvara. I have explained to you a hundred times: you have no right to expose yourself to danger - to break your legs. Are you a girl or a bride finally? You don't think about your body at all. After the wedding, do whatever you want, even walk around on your head.

Raisa. What are you saying, Aunt Varya, I really think about my body.

Varvara. So go.

Raisa leaves.

I was completely exhausted. Oh, fathers, give me a cigarette. Well, you look after the bride, there is nothing to say.

Ilya. I can’t tell her anymore: remember about the kidneys, about some organs. Leave her alone. She's been sulking at me for two days now.

Varvara. Here's a girl! What were you talking to her about?

Ilya. About the wedding.

Varvara. No tea when this wedding takes place. I’m going to Uncle Grigory’s to rest for two weeks. (Worried.) Ilya, there is no hemp oil anywhere.

Ilya. I'll have to buy sunflower. Still, the workers complained that the hemp oil was rancid...

Varvara. Do what you want. But a pound of sunflower is sixteen and a half. If we go broke, it's not my fault. Dunka!

Running down the corridor Dunyasha with buckets.

Dunyasha. What do you want?

Varvara. Where are you going?

Dunyasha. Slop from the young gentlemen.

Varvara. Well, she probably spilled them all over the corridor.

Dunyasha. Blast your eyes, not a bit. (Hides.)

Varvara. We woke up, thank God. Second hour. What it is? How are they alive? I didn’t expect to see Anatoly like this. He's old and pathetic. Tell me, Ilya, like a man, does he love her?

Ilya. Prince - Marya Semyonovna? The devil knows.

Varvara. What are you saying? Well, what about her?

Ilya. Don't know.

Varvara. But he wants to marry her.

Ilya. Yes, he promised, but he doesn’t seem to be in much of a hurry.

Varvara. Who is she?

Ilya. Don't know. (Takes the violin.)

Varvara. She has a past, do you think?

Ilya. Yes, I think she has a past. (Plays.) In general, Marya Semyonovna is a strange woman.

Varvara. In fact, play my favorite.

Ilya begins to play bersez.

I am very, very sorry for Anatoly. He looks just like Aunt Anna Apollosovna. Soulful boy. I'm glad that he finally escaped from this capital.

Ilya (playing). I couldn't get ham in town. We'll have to do without the ham.

Varvara. For the wedding, I'm thinking of killing a turkey, the one that fights.

Ilya. You can kill a turkey.

Varvara. It turns out they lived in a hotel and dined in restaurants. What kind of stomach can handle this? No, think about it.

Ilya. Yes... A strange woman, Marya Semyonovna. (From this moment he begins to play a passionate aria.)

Varvara. Whatever you tell me, I feel, I feel: they have a terrible drama. They are hiding something. This woman is not a match for him. But, in any case, it is our duty to do everything possible for Marya Semyonovna if it ends in disaster. (Listens to the music.) Ilya, what are you doing?

Ilya. And what?

Varvara. What were you playing just now?

Ilya. I don’t know, really, I’m thinking about it.

Varvara. Come here.

He comes up.

(Wags a finger.) Look at me, Ilya.

Ilya. Please leave it!

Varvara. You have a difficult character. Remember, you are just like your father. I still sometimes scream in my sleep when he comes to mind. That's the kind of man he was. It happened that he would look with his own eyes, and you would die completely, even though you were a simple coachman... And what passions! What a wild life! And he died in an unusual way. He took a breeding stallion out of the stable at night, drunkenly jumped on him, whistled shrilly and ran off into the air. He galloped ten miles, you hear, and rushed off the cliff into the Volga. Terrible! Everything was not enough for him.

Ilya. In any case, I respect and love Raisa, and you have nothing to worry about.

Varvara. God willing, God willing. Still, spend less time with this one... the black one.

Ilya. I don't like this conversation, Aunt Varya. Do you hear in highest degree I don't like it.

Varvara. Frr... Like an Indian rooster.

Enter prince And Masha.

Prince. Ma tante! Good morning.

Varvara (kisses him on the forehead). What a morning for you, father. It will soon be night outside.

Masha. Hello.

Varvara (kisses Masha). How did you sleep, my dears?

Masha. Thank you.

Prince. I slept like a baby. I wake up in the morning and not a single nasty thought. The air here does wonders. Isn't it true, Marie? I haven't felt such a lift in spirit for a long time.

Masha. The air is very beautiful.

Dunyasha brings in the samovar and leaves.

Varvara. Here is the samovar: this is the fourth one we are heating. Eat some flatbread. Those are rye, but these are made from grain. They don't bake this in St. Petersburg. Or they’ll serve you such a flatbread that you’ll lie on your stomach all day.

Masha. Thank you.

Prince. Ma tante...

Varvara. Say it in human terms: auntie. And in French I feel offended. It’s somehow insensitive, as if you were pushing burrs into me. Eat sour milk. (Sits down at the samovar.)

Prince. Auntie, let me kiss your hands. My God, that means there are still kind, unselfish, pure people in Russia. I'm happy…

Ilya(n hangs his pipe by the fireplace). Hm. We say: a calf's joy over fresh air.

Varvara. Ilya!

Ilya. I didn't say anything offensive, Aunt Varya.

Varvara. Ilya, you are impossible! (Makes scary eyes.) It's a windbreak for me. Anatoly obviously has good reasons to be so happy.

Prince. Ma foi! 4
Here: of course! (French)

Thousands of reasons. Here you go. I walk out of the washroom into the corridor, and suddenly the door creaks. It's disgusting when doors squeak. In this case, I always imagine that a gentleman in a tailcoat should come in and say: “Would you like to pay the bill?” This time, instead of a tailcoat, a most charming creature appears, your bride, Ilya Ilyich. My God! After all, I’m in the village, with my aunt!

Varvara. It’s good for you, Anatoly, to drink a decoction of chamomile with citrus seed.

Prince. Thank you. Further, I am simply touched by how busy everyone here is with some kind of business. I look out into the garden and see: Ilya Ilyich is dragging some kind of bag, you, auntie, are scolding the barefoot girl, the dog is sitting on a chain. And across the grass, right through the dew, barefoot, stepping with tiny feet, Raisa Glebovna walks with a sieve of gooseberries. Ilya Ilyich, you are the happiest of people!

Masha (screams). Ay!

Varvara. What's happened?

Masha. I cut off my hand.

Ilya (approaching quickly). Show. Deep?

Masha. No, it doesn't hurt now.

Ilya. I told you not to serve sharp knives. There is a saw for bread.

Varvara (Ilya). Let me go, let me go, father, I’ll tie it myself.

Ilya. Put in iodoform.

Masha. Thank you, I feel very good. (Looks carefully at Ilya, sits down on the sofa.)

Prince. Marie, you are a clumsy... So what are your plans after the wedding, Ilya Ilyich? Are you traveling abroad?

Varvara at the medicine cabinet.

Ilya. For what? We have a lot to do here too.

Varvara. Mowing, rye needs to be reaped, fallow plowed.

Prince. Plow steam? Hm! But the young woman will want to go out and show the toilets. Aren't you afraid that she will get bored in such a wilderness?

Ilya. Well, I wouldn't marry someone like that.

Prince. You're right.

Masha (suddenly). Ilya Ilyich, did you live in St. Petersburg?

Prince. What? What?

Ilya. Yes, I studied at the forestry academy there. About six years ago.

Varvara. And he finished with a gold medal.

Prince. Bravo, bravo.

Masha (Ilya). I look, I look, by God, I saw you.

Prince (hurriedly). Marie, you have a bad visual memory... It happens that you meet a person on the street, briefly, and then you become attached to his face.

Masha. Of course, you’ve been to the Aquarium, in the garden, where is the open stage?

Ilya (with anxiety). Yes... I've been... So what?

Masha (laughs). Remember the learned parrots? With tufts.

Ilya. Parrots?.. My God!.. Well?

Masha. Every time the parrots finished, the music played a waltz and appeared...

Ilya (screams). Orca!! (As if he’s lost his tongue, he looks at Masha without stopping.)

Varvara. What Killer Whale?

Prince. Auntie, just imagine. Once Marya Semyonovna, even before our marriage, of course, was in such a difficult financial situation that I had to go on stage and sing romances. All work is noble, isn't it? What?

Masha. I didn’t just sing romances.

Varvara. What else were you doing there?

Prince. Well, God bless my memory... I jumped through hoops.

Varvara. Did you jump through hoops?

Prince. The work is hard and very respectable, but at least I find so. (Goes to the window.)

Varvara. So you are an acrobat?.. Lord have mercy!.. And I, excuse me, Marya Semyonovna, almost lost my mind, I kept thinking, what are you doing?

Masha. I, Varvara Ivanovna, was also a laundress.

Varvara. Laundress?

Masha. She also served as a maid and in a store. I am a villager myself, from Pskov.

Varvara. My God, my God!..

Prince. My friend, this is still not a topic for conversation. Each of us has made mistakes...

Varvara. What does this mean - Killer whale?

Pause. Included Raisa.

Raisa. And I'm waiting for you in the garden. Hello, Prince. (Masha.) We've met. The water is so fresh and nice. I was swimming.

Prince. Nice, fresh. God, what youth...

Raisa (puts palms to cheeks). What nonsense you are talking.

Varvara. Anatoly, you are not pedagogical.

Masha (remembers). Yes, I used to have rye blonde hair.

Prince (Raisa). If you're not bored with me, let me offer you my hand. I'm old and safe. Let's go pick gooseberries.

Raisa glances at her aunt.

Varvara. Go, go.

Raisa. We need to grab the sieve.

Prince. Sieve! My God!

Masha (meaningfully). Anatoly!

Prince. What, Marie?

Masha. Perhaps you forgot?

Prince. I forgot. What? Important? I do not remember. (Frivolous gesture.) Some nonsense.

Masha (through teeth). Go, go, darling...

Prince leaves with Raisa.

Varvara. Ilyusha... Marya Semyonovna... Explain to me.

Attention! This is an introductory fragment of the book.

If you liked the beginning of the book, then full version can be purchased from our partner - distributor of legal content, LLC liters.

The work of Alexei Tolstoy “Killer Whale”, a summary of which is presented below, was written in 1916. Events develop in pre-revolutionary Russia. The first action of the two-act play takes place in Petrograd, then the author transfers his characters to a provincial estate on the Volga.

For decades since the creation of the work, performances based on it have been staged in many theaters in our country. And today audiences enthusiastically accept “Killer Whale” performed by stage groups in large and small cities throughout Russia.

Names and characteristics of the main characters

Getting started with Tolstoy’s play “Killer Whale,” let’s first find out whose name is in the title of the work. In a close circle they call Marya Semyonovna Kosareva a killer whale. A young woman of humble origin earned her living by her labor. In her own words, she was a laundress, a maid, and a store employee.

In addition, Masha, taking the pseudonym “Kasatka”, sang romances on amateur stages and performed acrobatic acts for the entertainment of the public. Marya Semyonovna did not disdain the patronage of rich men. She considers herself a sinful and deeply unhappy woman. This one draws us main character A. N. Tolstoy. Killer whale... The summary, like the full text of the work, will allow the reader to understand that under this name hides a person with conflicting feelings, but with a kind and open heart.

During the period described in the play, Masha is in a close relationship with Prince Anatoly Petrovich Belsky. A thirty-two-year-old nobleman squandered his fortune indulging in idle amusements, including drinking and card games. The killer whale cannot count on financial support prince; on the contrary, the man literally lives on her means. They met when Anatoly Petrovich was in distress after another card loss. Marya Semyonovna's compassion for Belsky grew into a feeling that she mistook for love.

Other characters in the play

Together with the loving couple in one of the hotels in St. Petersburg there is a certain Abram Alekseevich Zheltukhin, a middle-aged man who calls himself a friend of the prince. As the plot develops, other characters appear on the stage.

Her pupils, Ilya Ilyich Bykov and Raisa Glebovna, live in the house of a kind landowner. They are about to get married. Young people who have known each other since childhood are connected by mutual interests and tender feelings for each other. TO minor characters we can include Uranov and Stivinsky - the prince’s partners in playing cards, his relative Anna Apollosovna with her daughter Vera, the maid Dunyasha and the sailor on the Volga pier Pankrat, as well as Varvara Ivanovna Dolgova - distant relative Anatoly Petrovich, who is his aunt.

Another card fiasco

Where does Tolstoy's play "Killer Whale" begin? Summary of chapters, or rather, chapters theatrical performances, of which there are only four, invites us to plunge into the atmosphere of the enclosed space of a St. Petersburg hotel. While on a distant estate preparations are underway for the wedding of Ilya and Raisa, Prince Belsky in a smoky, untidy hotel room is trying to win back his gambling debt.

His partners, Uranov and Stivinsky, do not want to join the game, since Anatoly Petrovich has no money left. The prince begs and looks at Masha with hope. Taking pity, Marya Semyonovna puts her ring on the line and sits down to play. But luck is not on her side. As a result, Belsky's debt only increases. Uranov makes an obscene proposal to Kasatka, promising to settle his financial problems. Masha refuses with tears, the prince signs the bill of exchange, and the players leave the room. However, it is too early to put an end to the summary of Tolstoy’s Killer Whale.

Escape from debt

Left alone in the room, Marya Semyonovna and Belsky begin to quarrel. A sleepy Abram Zheltukhin appears. Having learned about the plight of his friends, he invites everyone to go somewhere together. The prince remembers that he has an aunt who lives in a rural estate on the Volga. Zheltukhin clings to this idea, forces Anatoly Petrovich to write a letter to Varvara Ivanovna with the news of the arrival of guests, and he himself dictates the necessary words.

The killer whale at first refuses to go, citing the fact that she, a sinful girl, is ashamed to appear in front of the prince’s virtuous relative. But Zheltukhin and Belsky persuade her. The prince promises to introduce Marya Semyonovna as his wife, and in the future to actually tie the knot with her. This ends the first act of A. Tolstoy’s play “Killer Whale”. The summary of the remaining parts is devoted to the description of more interesting events.

Mixed feelings

Masha and Anatoly Petrovich have been living in the house of a hospitable aunt for several days. Abram Zheltukhin should arrive a little later. The arrival of guests disrupted the usual order of the quiet estate. It feels like some changes are brewing. The prince increasingly quarrels with Marya Semyonovna. He admires the local nature, rural life and is simply fascinated by Raisa, the bride of Ilya Ilyich. A sincere and naive village girl awakened in Belsky’s soul unknown bright experiences. In retelling summary Tolstoy's "Killer Whale" is impossible to depict the fullness of the feelings that torment the characters. But still we see that each character reveals itself from an unexpected side.

Kasatka recognizes Ilya Bykov as her longtime admirer, who followed her several years ago in St. Petersburg. Masha sang on stage then summer garden in the "Aquarium", enjoyed great success with the public, had no end to the gentlemen, so she was more than indifferent to the advances of the black-eyed young man and even mocked them. Ilya also remembers Marya Semyonovna, and a conversation takes place between them that is not entirely pleasant for both. Former passions flare up again, disturbing the man’s heart, and Kasatka feels that, probably, for the first time in her life she has truly fallen in love. Ilya Ilyich is trying to put an end to this, urging Aunt Varvara to quickly begin his wedding with Raisa.

The long-awaited wedding day

The newlyweds are preparing to attend church, there is commotion in the house, and preparations are underway for the wedding feast. The day before, Abram Alekseevich Zheltukhin arrived at the estate. He had already gained the trust of Aunt Varvara Ivanovna, persuaded the maid Dunyasha to remind the hostess as often as possible that guests in the person of Prince Belsky, Kasatka and himself would bring happiness to the house. Zheltukhin has his own selfish interest, he wants to stay here longer, since there is always food on the table tasty food and drinking. Meanwhile, in the plot of Tolstoy’s play “Killer Whale,” the summary of which we are trying to convey, the climax comes.

Another of the prince’s aunts, Anna Apollosovna, arrives, invited as the mother of the bride. Her daughter, Verochka, is happy adult young lady, whispers about something with Raisa Glebovna, and then approaches Belsky. She tells Anatoly Petrovich that Raisa does not want to marry her fiancé at all and asks to disrupt the wedding by insulting Ilya and challenging him to a duel. The prince recalls that during a joint walk, Raisa hinted about her feelings for him, but Belsky did not have the determination to answer her in kind. No, of course, he will not upset the upcoming marriage of the girl he likes.

In the presence of the guests, Varvara Ivanovna blesses the newlyweds and reads out her will, where she assigns each of them an equal share of the estate. The bride and groom, accompanied by relatives, go to church. Marya Semyonovna, burning with unrequited feelings for Ilya, decides to stay alone in the house.

Unexpected turn of events

A few minutes later, Ilya Ilyich bursts into Masha’s room. He confesses his love to the woman and offers to run away, especially since there is a troika of horses harnessed under the windows, prepared for a wedding walk. The killer whale tries to object. Having picked up the weakly resisting Marya Semyonovna in his arms, Ilya places her in the cart.

On a dark night, Masha and her lover are waiting on the Volga pier for a steamer that will take them away from these places. Sailor Pankrat explains that the river boat is late for some reason. The killer whale and Ilya go to the banks of the Volga to pass the time until the arrival of the ship.

In their absence, Zheltukhin appears on the pier. He explains to Pankrat that he came here from the estate on foot, since Varvara Ivanovna drove him out of sight. Still would! After everything that happened, Abram dared to say his favorite phrase that guests like him, Marya Semyonovna and Belsky are fortunately in the house.

The sound of a bell is heard. It was the landowner Dolgova who came to find the groom who had run away from the wedding. Having met with Zheltukhin, Varvara reprimanded him for disgracing her and leaving on foot - after all, she could have given him a cart. Auntie goes to the shore, hoping to bring some sense to Ilya.

Soon Prince Belsky and Raisa approach the pier. They also decided to leave. ex-fiancee I’m still not sure about the feelings of my escort. After some reproaches, the prince and Raisa Glebovna confess their love to each other.

At the end of the summary of “Killer Whale,” Tolstoy prepared a beautiful happy ending for viewers and readers. Newly created couples make peace with each other and forgive previously inflicted insults. Finally, the ship arrives and the lovers set off. Varvara Ivanovna wishes everyone happiness and gives farewell words like a mother. Zheltukhin also did not go unnoticed - his aunt invited him to live in her estate.