V. Shalamov's stories are dedicated to the hard life of prisoners in the Gulag, their life in prison. In the world of the Gulag, chiefs and the so-called "thieves" play the main role; the life of prisoners in the camps depends entirely on the case, whatever it may be. The author very vividly and reliably describes the terrible existence of prisoners: eternal hunger, brutal treatment of the authorities, frequent illnesses and gradually advancing degradation.

Eulogy
The author devotes this story to his comrades who were with him in the camps. Shalamov describes the fate of his friends, their sufferings and hopes, painful deaths. Few of those whom the author recalls survived and retained their former worldview.

Life of engineer Kipreev
The author, living on the basis of the principles of morality, told himself that the honor and dignity of a person lies in the willingness to meet death at any time. But then he realizes that it is impossible to know in advance how you will behave at a critical moment, whether you will be able to withstand.
An engineer-physicist by the name of Kipreev behaved very decently during interrogation: he withstood physical violence. But because of the intention to beat the investigator, the engineer was put in a punishment cell. They demanded that Kipreev sign false testimony and blackmailed him - threatening to arrest his spouse. However, the engineer could not be broken, he stood his ground. Sometimes Kipreev was released from hard work, because he repaired some items that were out of order. Thanks to the occasion, the hero remains alive. However, he is internally shaken.

On presentation
Shalamov in his story says that the massacre in the camp affected everyone without exception and gives an example. One of the "thieves" during the game of cards is defeated and offers a game of "presentation", which means borrowing. Completely engrossed in the game, in front of everyone, he orders one of the prisoners, an ordinary intellectual, to give him his sweater. After the refusal of the intellectual, one of the "thieves" kills him, and the card player gets the dead man's sweater.

At night
Gulag prisoners come to the grave of their comrade, take off his clothes. They want to sell the dead man's things in order to buy food the next day. At first, the inmates are disgusted. But then they forget what they are doing, because tomorrow there will be an opportunity to eat and, possibly, smoke.

Single measurement
The author compares imprisonment in the GULAG with corruption. The prisoner, emaciated and weak, works very slowly and, of course, does not give a percentage. One of these people is a certain Zek Dugaev, he is weakening from a working day that lasts 16 hours. Dugaev does the same job all day. In the evening, the caretaker measures the work - it is 25 percent. Dugaev, this figure seems huge. His whole body hurts terribly, he no longer feels hunger. Then the investigator asks Dugaev about his name, surname, term and reason for imprisonment. The next day, the prisoner is taken to an unknown place, surrounded by a fence. Exhausted Dugaev realizes that his life is over. The only thing this man regrets is that he worked the last day of his life.

Rain
A certain Rozovsky shouts to the narrator working next to him that the meaning of life simply does not exist. Rozovsky tries to interrupt the guard, but to no avail. A man who has lost the meaning of life tries to rush to the guards, but then the narrator runs to him. In order to save Rozovsky, he tells the guards that his friend is sick. Then Rozovsky wants to commit suicide and throws himself under the trolley. After the trial, he is simply sent to another place.

Sherry Brandy
The prisoner is a poet, one of the most recognized in the twentieth century, painfully and long dying. He lies in the darkness of two-story bunks. The poet thinks about terrible things, for example, that his bread was stolen. He is ready to look for this bread, to fight for it. But the strength is disappearing every minute. When bread is brought to the poet, he greedily bites it with spoiled teeth. The authorities did not find out about his death for another two days. Sly neighbors raise the dead man's hand in order to get his share of the bread during the distribution.

Shock therapy
The prisoner of the Gulag Merzlyakov, a contented large man, feels a breakdown due to the fact that he works too much. At some point, he became so weak that he fell to the ground. Due to the fact that Merzlyakov no longer wants to carry the log, he is beaten by guards and other prisoners. Despite the fact that Merzlyakov is recovering soon, he wants to delay the time before going to work. The prisoner complains about his poor condition. As a result, Merzlyakov was sent to the surgical department of the central hospital, then to the nervous one. He tries his best to appear sick because he doesn't want to be exposed as a lie and sent back to prison.
But Merzlyakov is examined by the doctor Pyotr Ivanovich, who always exposed those who simulated. Petr Ivanovich is very proud to work so professionally. The doctor immediately understands Merzlyakov's intentions and wants to reveal the whole truth. For this, Pyotr Ivanovich gives his patient a rausch-anesthesia, thanks to which it became possible to straighten Merzlyakov. After this, the prisoner undergoes shock therapy, as a result of which his behavior is similar to that of an epileptic. The settlement of these torments Merzlyakov begs to be discharged.

Typhoid quarantine
A prisoner of the GULAG named Andreev falls ill with typhus. This saves him from hard work and provides an opportunity to survive. Andreev wants to do everything possible to stay in transit for a long time. Then he will have a chance not to be sent to the so-called golden mines, where nightmarish conditions reign. The prisoner hides for a long time: he does not respond to the roll call of the recovered. Finally it's time to check out. Andreev is confident that he has already managed to avoid the worst, because business trips are likely to be not so long now. But then the prisoners see a truck driving off with people who have been sent to their neighbors, and understands the bitterness of their situation.

Aortic aneurysm
Diseases occupy a special place in Shalamov's stories. The author classifies the terrible condition of emaciated prisoners as a type of illness, although officially this was not the case.
Doctor on duty Zaitsev draws attention to Ekaterina Glovatskaya, a very beautiful woman, who was admitted to the hospital. Zaitsev is aware of the beauty's close relationship with a prisoner by the name of Podshivalov, who directs an amateur art group. Despite this, the doctor does not give up hope. Zaitsev examines Glovatskaya, he forgets about his interest in relation to her, he is seized by professional concern. The doctor finds out that women have an aortic aneurysm, in which there is a high probability of death. The doctor draws up a report about Glovatskaya's serious illness. But the head of the hospital believes that Zaitsev is lying in order not to separate Glovatskaya and Podshivalov. The beauty is discharged, and she dies while being loaded into the car.

Major Pugachev's last battle
Shalamov, in his stories, also pays attention to people who are capable of influencing the course of events, and not just being saved, no matter what. In the early 1940s, among the prisoners were those who had fought and were captured by the Germans. These people are radically different from the rest of the GULAG prisoners, they can take risks for the sake of freedom. They saw death, shed their blood. But they were not exhausted by the camp conditions, and this was the "wine". Major Pugachev, one of such brave and resolute people, understands that in such conditions he and his comrades will not survive. Therefore, he gathers a group consisting of a scout, a tankman, a paramedic and pilots in order to make an escape. But they can only escape if they do not participate in common work. Therefore, those who are involved in the conspiracy are gradually promoted to maintenance personnel. Finally spring comes - it's time to escape.

Early in the morning, the camp chef came for the keys to the pantry. The attendant, not suspecting anything, opens the door and is killed. The same fate befell the attendant who came later. Then the participants in the escape kill the guards and take their weapons. The prisoners wake up. The conspirators hold them at gunpoint, while they are stocking up on food and donning military uniforms. Leaving the camp, they "catch" a truck on the terrace and drive until the car runs out of gas. Then the conspirators set off for the taiga. The leader of the escape - Pugachev - recalls his German captivity, about the arrival of "Vlasov" emissaries to the camp of the Germans, who believed that the captives were traitors to the Motherland. At first, Pugachev did not believe the emissaries, but then he became convinced of this. On the first night after the escape, the major realizes that the comrades who agreed to go with him are the most worthy people. A little later, a fierce battle unfolds between the fugitives and the soldiers who found them. As a result, almost all those who escaped from prison die, one is left to be cured and then shot. The escape organizer manages to escape. However, he realizes that sooner or later he will be caught. However, Major Pugachev does not regret anything. He shoots himself.

Please note that this is only a brief summary of the literary work "Kolyma Stories". Many important points and quotes are missing in this summary.

Year of publication of the collection: 1966

Shalamov's Kolyma Tales were written based on the writer's personal experience; he spent thirteen years in Kolyma. Varlam Shalamov has been creating the collection for a long time from 1954 to 1962. For the first time « Kolyma stories ”could be read in the New York magazine“ New magazine ”in Russian. Although the author did not want to publish his stories abroad.

Collection "Kolyma stories" summary

In the snow

The collection of Varlam Shalamov "Kolyma Tales" begins with a question: would you like to know how they trample the road on virgin snow? The man, swearing and sweating, walks in front, leaving behind him black holes in the loose snow. They choose a windless day, so that the air is almost motionless and the wind does not sweep away all human labors. The first is followed by another five or six people, they go in a row and step near the tracks of the first.

The first is always harder than everyone else, and when he gets tired, he is replaced by one of the people walking in the row. It is important that each of the "pioneers" set foot on a piece of virgin soil, and not on someone else's trail. And readers, not writers, ride horses and tractors.

On presentation

The men played cards with Naumov, the Konogon. The guards usually did not go to the horsemen's barracks, so thieves gathered there every night to conduct card fights. In the corner of the hut, blankets were spread on the lower beds, on which lay a pillow - a "table" for card games. On the pillow lay a newly made deck of cards cut from a volume by V. Hugo. To make a deck, you needed paper, a chemical pencil, a loaf of bread (used to glue tissue paper) and a knife. One of the players tapped the pillow with his fingers, the pinky nail was incredibly long - blatarsky chic. This man had a very suitable appearance for a thief, you look at his face and no longer remember his features. It was Sevochka, they said that he "performed excellently", shows the dexterity of a sharper. The game of thieves was a game of deception, played only together. Sevochka's opponent was Naumov, who was a railway thief, although he looked like a monk. A cross hung around his neck, such was the fashion of thieves in the forties.

Then the players had to argue and swear to set the rate. Naumov lost his costume and wanted to play for a show, that is, in debt. Konogon called the main character to him and Garkunov demanded to take off his quilted jackets. Garkunov had a sweater under his quilted jacket, donated by his wife, with which he never parted. The man refused to take off his sweater, and then the others attacked him. Sashka, who had recently poured soup for them, took a knife from the bootleg and extended his hand to Garkunov, who sobbed and fell. The game was over.

At night

Dinner is over. Glebov licked the bowl, the bread melted in his mouth. Bagretsov gazed into Glebov's mouth, not having enough strength to look away. It's time to go, they went to a small ledge, the stones burned their feet with cold. And even walking did not warm.

The men stopped to rest, it was still a long way to go. They lay down on the ground and began to scatter stones. Bagretsov swore, he cut his finger and the blood did not stop. Glebov was a doctor in the past, although now, then, it seemed like a dream. The friends were removing the stones, and then Bagretsov noticed a human finger. They pulled out the corpse, took off his shirt and underpants. When they finished, the men threw stones at the grave. They were going to exchange clothes for the biggest valuables in the camp. As in this there was bread and perhaps even tobacco.

Carpenters

The next content in the collection "Kolyma stories" contains the story "Carpenters". He talks about how there was fog on the street for days, so thick that you could not see a person two steps away. For two weeks the temperature had been kept below minus fifty-five degrees. Potashnikov woke up with the hope that the frost had fallen, but this did not happen. The food that the workers were fed gave them energy for a maximum of one hour, and then they wanted to lie down and die. Potashnikov slept on the upper bunk, where it was warmer, but his hair froze to the pillow during the night.

The man grew weaker every day, he was not afraid of death, but did not want to die in the barracks, where the cold chilled not only human bones, but also souls. Having finished breakfast, Potashnikov went to the place of work, where he saw a man in a deer hat who needed carpenters. He and another man from his team introduced themselves as carpenters, although they were not. The men were brought to the workshop, but since they did not know carpentry they were sent back.

Single measurement

In the evening, Dugaev was informed that the next day the op would receive a single measurement. Dugaev was twenty-three and everything that happened here greatly surprised him. After a meager dinner, Baranov offered Dugaev a cigarette, although they were not friends.

In the morning, the caretaker measured the segment for the man to work on. Working alone was even better for Dugaev, no one would grumble that he was not working well. In the evening the caretaker came to evaluate the work. The guy did twenty-five percent, and the number seemed huge to him. The next day he worked with everyone, and at night he was taken to the base, where there was a high fence with barbed wire. Dugaev regretted one thing, that he suffered and worked that day. The last day.

The man was on watch to receive the package. His wife sent him several handfuls of prunes and cloaks, which they would not be able to wear anyway, because it is not proper for ordinary workers to wear such expensive shoes. But the mountain superintendent, Andrei Boyko, offered him to sell these cloaks for one hundred rubles. With the money raised, the main character bought a kilogram of butter and a kilogram of bread. But they took away all the food and overturned the broth with prunes.

Rain

The men had been working at the range for three days, each in his own pit, but no one went deeper than half a meter. They were forbidden to leave the pits and talk to each other. The main character of this story wanted to break his leg, dropping a stone on it, but nothing came of this venture, only a couple of abrasions and bruises remained. It rained all the time, the guards thought it would make the men work faster, but the workers only started to hate their work even more.

On the third day, the hero's neighbor, Rozovsky, shouted from his pit that he realized something - there is no meaning in life. But the man managed to save Rozovsky from the guards, although he still threw himself under the trolley after a while, but did not die. Rozovsky was tried for attempted suicide and the hero never saw him again.

Kant

The hero says that his favorite northern tree is cedar, elfin. You could find out the weather by the dwarf tree, if you lie down on the ground, it means it will be snowy and cold and vice versa. The man had just been transferred to a new job collecting elfin wood, which was then sent to the factory to make unusually nasty vitamins against scurvy.

We worked in pairs during the assembly of the dwarf. One chopped, the other pinched. On that day, they did not manage to collect the norm, and in order to correct the situation, the partner of the protagonist put a large stone in a bag with branches, they still did not check it.

Dry ration

In this "Kolyma story", four men from stone faces are sent to cut trees with the Duskanya key. Their ten-day rations were negligible, and they were afraid to think that this food would need to be divided into thirty parts. The workers decided to dump all their food together. They all lived in an old hunting hut, buried their clothes in the ground at night, leaving a small edge outside so that all the lice could not get out, then they burned insects. They worked from sun to sun. The foreman checked the work done and left, then the men worked more relaxed, did not quarrel, but took more rest, looked at nature. Every evening they gathered at the stove and talked, discussed their difficult life in the camp. It was impossible to refuse to go to work, because there was no pea jacket or mittens, in the act they wrote “dressed for the season” so as not to list everything that was not there.

Not everyone returned to the camp the next day. Ivan Ivanovich hanged himself that night, and Savelyev cut off his fingers. Upon returning to the camp, Fedya wrote a letter to his mother that he was living well and dressed for the season.

Injector

This story is Kudinov's report to the head of the mine, where an employee reports a broken injector, which does not allow the entire brigade to work. And people have to stand for several hours in the cold at temperatures below minus fifty. The man reported to the chief engineer, but no action was taken. In response, the head of the mine suggests replacing the injector with a civilian. And call the injector to account.

Apostle Paul

The hero sprained his leg and was transferred as an assistant to the joiner Freezorger, who in his past life was a pastor in some German village. They became good friends, and often talked about religious topics.

Frizorger told the man about his only daughter and this conversation was accidentally heard by their boss, Paramonov, and offered to write a wanted statement. Six months later, a letter came in which said that Freezorger's daughter was disowning him. But the hero noticed this letter first and burned it, and then another one. Later, he often recalled his camp friend, while he had the strength to remember.

Berries

The main character lies on the ground exhausted, two guards approach him and threaten. One of them, Seroshapka, says he will shoot a worker tomorrow. The next day, the team went to the forest to work, where blueberries, rose hips and lingonberries grew. The workers ate them during their smoke breaks, but Rybakov had a task to collect berries in a jar to exchange them for bread later. The main character, together with Rybakov, came too close to the forbidden territory, and Rybakov crossed the line.

The guard fired twice, the first warning one, and after the second shot Rybakov was lying on the ground. The hero decided not to waste time and picked up a jar of berries, intending to exchange them for bread.

Bitch Tamara

Moses was a blacksmith, he worked wonderfully, every piece was endowed with grace, and his superiors appreciated him for it. And once Kuznetsov met a dog, he began to run away from it, thinking that it was a wolf. But the dog was friendly and stayed in the camp - she was given the nickname Tamara. Soon she was whelping, a kennel was built for six puppies. At this time, a detachment of "operatives" arrived at the camp, they were looking for fugitives - prisoners. Tamara hated one guard, Nazarov. It was clear that the dog had already met him. When the time came for the guards to leave, Nazarov shot Tamara. And after going down the slope on skis, he ran into a stump and died. Tamara's skin was ripped off and used for mittens.

Sherry - brandy

The poet was dying, his thoughts were confused, life flowed out of him. But he reappeared, he opened his eyes, wiggled his fingers swollen with hunger. The man reflected from life, he deserved creative immortality, he was called the first poet of the twentieth century. Although he had not written down his poems for a long time, the poet put them in his head. He was dying slowly. In the morning they brought bread, the man grabbed him with aching teeth, but the neighbors stopped him. In the evening he died. But they recorded death two days later, the poet's neighbors received the dead man's bread.

Baby pictures

That day they got an easy job - sawing wood. After finishing their work, the squad noticed a pile of rubbish near the fence. The men even managed to find socks, which were very rare in the north. And one of them managed to find a notebook filled with children's drawings. The boy drew soldiers with machine guns, drew the nature of the North, with bright and clear colors, because it was so. The northern city consisted of yellow houses, shepherd dogs, soldiers, and blue skies. The man from the detachment looked into the notebook, felt the sheets, and then crumpled it and threw it away.

Condensed milk

Once, after work, Shestakov suggested that the protagonist escape, they were in prison together, but were not friends. The man agreed, but asked for canned milk. He slept badly at night, and did not remember the working day at all.

Having received condensed milk from Shestakov, he changed his mind about running. I wanted to warn the others, but I didn't know anyone. Five fugitives, together with Shestakov, were caught very soon, two were killed, three were tried a month later. Shestakov himself was transferred to another mine, he was well fed and shaved, but did not greet the main character.

Bread

In the morning they brought herring and bread to the barrack. The herring was given out every other day, and every prisoner dreamed of a tail. Yes, the head was more enjoyable, but there was more meat in the tail. Bread was given out once a day, but everyone ate it at once, they lacked patience. After breakfast it was getting warm and I didn't want to go anywhere.

This brigade was in typhoid quarantine, but they worked anyway. Today they were taken to the bakery, where the master from twenty chose all only two, stronger and not inclined to escape: the Hero and his neighbor, a guy with freckles. They were fed bread and jam. The men had to carry the broken brick, but the job was too hard for them. They often took breaks, and soon the master let them go back and gave them a loaf of bread each. In the camp we shared bread with neighbors.

Snake charmer

This story is dedicated to Andrei Platonov, who was a friend of the author and himself wanted to write this story, he even came up with the title "The Snake Charmer", but died. Platonov spent a year at the Dzhankhara. On the first day, he noticed that there are people who do not work - thieves. And Fedechka was their leader, at first he was rude to Platonov, but when he found out that he could squeeze novels, he immediately softened. Andrei retold The Jacks of Hearts Club until dawn. Fedya was very pleased.

In the morning, when Platonov went to work, some guy pushed him. But they immediately whispered something in his ear. Then this guy approached Platonov and asked not to say anything to Fedya, Andrei agreed.

Tatar mullah and clean air

It was very hot in the prison cell. The prisoners joked that first they would be tortured by evaporation, and then tortured by freezing. The Tatar mule, a strong man of sixty, talked about his life. He hoped to live in the cell for another twenty years, and in clean air at least ten, he knew what "clean air" was.

It took twenty to thirty days for a person to turn into a goner in the camp. The prisoners tried to escape from prison to camp, thinking that prison is the worst thing that could happen to them. All the prisoners' illusions about the camp were quickly destroyed. People lived in unheated barracks, where in winter ice froze in all the cracks. Parcels came in six months, if they did. There is nothing to talk about money at all, it was never paid, not a dime. The incredible number of diseases in the camp left the workers no way out. Considering all the hopelessness and depression, clean air was much more dangerous for a person than a prison.

First death

The hero saw many deaths, but he remembered the first one he saw best. His team worked the night shift. Returning to the barrack, their foreman Andreev suddenly turned in the other direction and ran, the workers followed him. A man in military uniform stood in front of them, a woman lay at his feet. The hero knew her, it was Anna Pavlovna, the secretary of the head of the mine. The brigade loved her, and now Anna Pavlovna was dead, strangled. The man who killed her, Shtemenko, was the boss who broke all the prisoners' homemade bowlers a few months ago. He was quickly tied up and taken to the head of the mine.

Part of the brigade hurried to the barracks to have lunch, Andreev was taken to testify. And when he returned, he ordered the prisoners to go to work. Soon Shtemenko was sentenced to ten years for murder out of jealousy. After the verdict, the chief was taken away. Former bosses are kept in separate camps.

Aunt Fields

Aunt Paul died of a terrible disease - stomach cancer. Nobody knew her surname, not even the wife of the boss, to whom Aunt Paul was a servant or "daytime". The woman did not engage in any dark deeds, only helped to arrange for her fellow Ukrainians for easy work. When she fell ill, visitors came to her hospital every day. And everything that the boss's wife passed on, Aunt Paul gave to the nurses.

Once Father Peter came to the hospital to confess the patient. A few days later she died, soon Father Peter appeared again and ordered to put a cross on her grave, and so they did. At first, Timoshenko Polina Ivanovna was written on the cross, but it seemed that her name was Praskovya Ilyinichna. The inscription was corrected under the supervision of Peter.

Tie

In this story by Varlam Shalamov, "Kolyma Stories," you can read about a girl named Marusya Kryukova, who came to Russia from Japan and was arrested in Vladivostok. During the investigation, Masha's leg was broken, the bone healed incorrectly, and the girl was limping. Kryukova was a wonderful needlewoman, and she was sent to the "management house" to embroider. Such houses stood near the road, and the chiefs spent the night there two or three times a year, the houses were beautifully decorated, paintings and embroidered canvases hung. In addition to Marusya, two more girls, needlewomen, worked in the house, a woman looked after them, who gave the workers threads and fabric. For compliance with the norm and good behavior, the girls were allowed to go to the cinema for prisoners. The films were shown in parts, and once, after the first part, the first part was again staged. This is because the deputy head of the hospital, Dolmatov, came, he was late, and the film was shown first.

Marusya went to the hospital, to the women's department to see a surgeon. She really wanted to give the doctors who cured her, ties. And the woman overseer allowed. However, Masha did not succeed in fulfilling her plans, because Dolmatov took them away from the craftswoman. Soon, at an amateur concert, the doctor was able to examine the boss's tie, so gray, patterned, of high quality.

Taiga golden

The zone is of two types: small, that is, transfer, and large - camp. On the territory of the small zone, there is one square barrack, in which there are about five hundred seats, bunks of four floors. The main character lies on the lower one, the upper ones are only for thieves. On the first night, the hero is summoned to be sent to the camp, but the zone officer sends him back to the barrack.

Soon, artists are brought to the barrack, one of them is a Harbin singer, Valyusha, a thug, asks him to sing. The singer sang a song about the golden taiga. The hero fell asleep, he woke up from a whisper on the upper bunk and the smell of tobacco. When the orderly wakes him up in the morning, the hero asks to go to the hospital. Three days later, a paramedic comes to the barracks and examines the man.

Vaska Denisov, the pig thief

Vaska Denisov could not arouse suspicion only by carrying firewood on his shoulder. He carried a log to Ivan Petrovich, the men sawed it together, and then Vaska chopped all the wood. Ivan Petrovich said that now he had nothing to feed the worker, but gave him three rubles. Vaska was sick of hunger. He walked through the village, wandered into the first house he came across, in the closet he saw the frozen carcass of a pig. Vaska grabbed her and ran to the government house, the vitamin business trip department. The chase was already close. Then he ran into the red corner, locked the door and began to gnaw a pig, damp and frozen. When Vaska was found, he had already eaten half of it.

Seraphim

There was a letter on Seraphim's desk, he was afraid to open it. The man had been working in the North in a chemical laboratory for a year, but he could not forget his wife. Two more prisoner engineers worked with Seraphim, with whom he hardly spoke. Every six months, the laboratory assistant received a ten percent increase in salary. And Seraphim decided to go to a neighboring village to unwind. But the guards decided that the man had run away from somewhere and put him in a barrack, six days later the head of the laboratory came for Seraphim and took him away. Although the guards did not return the money.

Returning, Seraphim saw a letter, his wife wrote about the divorce. When Seraphim was left alone in the laboratory, he opened the manager's closet, took out a pinch of powder, dissolved it in water and drank it. The furnace started in the throat, and nothing else. Then Seraphim ripped open his vein, but the blood flowed too weakly. Desperate, the man ran to the river and tried to drown himself. He woke up already in the hospital. The doctor injected a glucose solution, and then unclenched Seraphim's teeth with a spatula. The operation was done, but too late. The acid corroded the esophagus and stomach walls. Seraphim calculated everything correctly the first time.

Day off

A man was praying in the clearing. The hero knew him, that was the priest from his barrack, Zamyatin. Prayers helped him live like a hero, poems that are still preserved in his memory. The only thing that was not supplanted by humiliation is eternal hunger, fatigue and cold. Returning to the barrack, the man heard a noise in the instrumental, which was closed on weekends, but today the lock was not hanging. He went inside, two thieves were playing with the puppy. One of them, Semyon, pulled out an ax and lowered it on the puppy's head.

In the evening, no one slept because of the smell of meat soup. The Blathari did not eat all the soup, because there were few of them in the barracks. They offered the remains to the hero, but he refused. Zamyatin entered the barrack, and the blatari offered him some soup, saying that it was made from mutton. He agreed and after five minutes returned the clean bowler hat. Then Semyon told the priest that the soup was from a dog, Nord. The priest silently went out into the street, he vomited. Later, he confessed to the hero that the meat tasted as good as lamb.

Dominoes

The man is in the hospital, his height is one hundred and eighty centimeters, and his weight is forty-eight kilograms. The doctor took his temperature, thirty-four degrees. The patient was placed closer to the stove, he ate, but the food did not warm him. The man will stay in the hospital until spring, two months, the doctor said. At night, a week later, the patient was awakened by the orderly and said that Andrei Mikhailovich, the doctor who treated him, was summoning him. Andrey Mikhailovich invited the hero to play dominoes. The patient agreed, although he hated this game. During the game, they talked a lot, Andrei Mikhailovich lost.

Several years passed when the patient in the small zone heard the name of Andrei Mikhailovich. After some time, they still managed to meet. The doctor told him his story, Andrei Mikhailovich was sick with tuberculosis, but he was not allowed to be treated, someone reported that his illness was a false “bullshit”. And Andrey Mikhailovich has come a long way through the frost. After successful treatment, he began to work as a resident of the surgical department. On his recommendation, the main character graduated from paramedic courses and began to work as an orderly. Once they had finished cleaning, the orderlies were playing dominoes. "Stupid game" - Andrei Mikhailovich admitted, he, like the hero of the story, played dominoes only once.

Hercules

For the silver wedding, the head of the hospital, Sudarin, was presented with a rooster. All the guests were delighted with such a gift, even the guest of honor Cherpakov appreciated the cockerel. Cherpakov was about forty, he was the head of the dignity. department. And when the guest of honor got drunk, he decided to show everyone his strength and began to lift chairs, then chairs. And later he said that he could tear off the cock's head with his hands. And tore it off. The young doctors were impressed. Dancing began, everyone danced because Cherpakov did not like it when someone refused.

Shock therapy

Merzlyakov came to the conclusion that it is easiest for the undersized to survive in the camp. Since the amount of food dispensed is not based on the weight of people. Once, during general work, Merzlyakov, carrying a log, fell and could not go further. For this he was beaten by the guards, the foreman, and even his comrades. The worker was sent to the hospital, he was no longer in pain, but with any lie he delayed the moment of returning to the camp.

In the central hospital, Merzlyakov was transferred to the nerve department. All the thoughts of the prisoner were only about one thing: not to unbend. On examination by Pyotr Ivanovich, the "patient" answered at random and the doctor did not need to guess that Merzlyakov was lying. Pyotr Ivanovich was already anticipating a new exposure. The doctor decided to start with rausch anesthesia, and if that does not help, then shock therapy. Under anesthesia, the doctors managed to straighten Merzlyakov, but as soon as the man woke up, he immediately bent back. The neurologist warned the patient that in a week he would ask him to be discharged. After the shock therapy procedure, Merzlyakov asked to be discharged from the hospital.

Stlanik

In autumn, when it’s time for snow, the clouds hang low, and the air smells of snow right in the air, but the cedar does not creep, then there will be no snow. And when the weather is still autumn, there are no clouds, but the elfin tree lay on the ground, after a few days it snows. The cedar tree not only predicts the weather, but also gives hope, being the only evergreen tree in the North. But the elfin tree is gullible enough, if in winter you make a fire near a tree, then it will immediately rise from under the snow. The author considers the elfin tree to be the most poetic Russian tree.

Red Cross

In the camp, the only person who can help the prisoner is the doctor. Doctors define the "labor category", sometimes even release them, make certificates of disability and release them from work. The camp doctor has a lot of power, and the blathari realized this very quickly, they treated the medical workers with respect. If the doctor was a civilian, then they gave him gifts, if not, then most often they threatened or intimidated. Many doctors were killed by thieves.

In exchange for the good attitude of the blatars, the doctors had to put them in the hospital, send them on vouchers, cover the simulators. The atrocities of thieves in the camp are innumerable, every minute in the camp is poisoned. Having returned from there, people cannot live as before, they are cowardly, selfish, lazy and crushed.

Conspiracy of lawyers

Further, our collection "Kolyma Stories" will briefly tell about Andreev, a former student of the University of Law. He, like the main character, ended up in the camp. The man worked in the Shmelev brigade, where human slag was sent, they worked the night shift. One night the worker was asked to stay because Romanov had summoned him. Together with Romanov, the hero went to the office in Khatynny. True, the hero had to ride in the back in a sixty-degree frost for two hours. After the worker was taken to the authorized representative Smertin, who, as before, Romanov asked Andreev if he was a lawyer. For the night, the man was left in a cell, where there were already several prisoners. The next day, Andreev sets out with the guards on a journey, as a result of which his fingers are frozen.

(1)

How is the road paved on virgin snow? First, a man walks in calm weather, leaving his mark on the untouched snow. Others follow him, but do not step on his tracks. Once they reach the end of the trail, they turn back to make the road wide and suitable for transport. Everyone who follows the trail should step on even a small piece of virgin soil. Only readers ride tractors and horses, while writers pave the way.

On presentation

It was the safest to gather at the Naumov horseman. The guards on duty never dropped in there. That is why there were card matches between thieves every night. That evening the maps were made from a volume by V. Hugo. Every thug should be able to draw them. This distinguished the assembled from the rest of the prisoners. Sevochka possessed all the qualities of a thief.

His face was unremarkable, his hands were white, inoperative. The little finger nail seemed longer than all the others. He was a sharpie. His opponent in the game was Naumov. At stake was a suit from Naumov's side, a thousand rubles from Sevochka and several worn-out jumpers. The narrator and Garkunov, who were sawing wood for the Naumov barracks, watched the game. Naumov lost his suit, but was not going to give up. They put a blanket on the line.

Having lost all the things, Naumov offered to play on debt. After examining those sitting in the barracks, he beckoned the narrator to him, but, not finding valuable things with him, he sat them down. Garkunov was wearing a woolen sweater, which the players liked. The partner's resistance was quickly suppressed. The players dispersed, satisfied. The narrator now needed to find a new partner for the wood sawing.

After dinner, Glebov and Bagretsov went to the mountain where the deceased had recently been buried. Throwing stones, Bagretsov got hurt, and Glebov suddenly remembered that he had once been a doctor. But that didn't matter now. Taking off the clothes of the deceased, Glebov felt uncomfortable. Tomorrow they will be able to buy bread and a little tobacco with the money received from the sale of linen.

Carpenters

For two weeks there was a frost of fifty degrees. Potashnikov could no longer endure this cold. Working, he could not get warm in any way. Meager lunch and dinner did not help to recuperate. His neighbor died yesterday - he just didn't wake up. Potashnikov realized that something needed to be done. But he couldn't think in the cold. It seemed that the soul was frozen.

Now he was trying to just get through those cold days. He had a chance to become a foreman, but he did not use it: he did not want to destroy his comrades. The brigade was offered to work as carpenters, and only Potashnikov and Grigoriev agreed. It turned out that they both do not know how to carpentry. But they didn't care, the main thing was that they would spend at least two days warm. The carpenter Arnstrem, having seen how the arrived prisoners worked, allowed them to warm themselves by the stove for two days. After the expiration of the period, the frost dropped to thirty degrees. Sima was coming to an end.

Single measurement

In the evening, the inspector said that tomorrow twenty-three-year-old Dugaev will receive a single measurement. This news alerted the foreman. After dinner, Dugaev wanted to smoke. Suddenly, his partner Baranov handed him a cigarette. Dugaev knew that nobody could be trusted here. The next morning, the caretaker himself put Dugaev at his workplace. By evening, he had completed only twenty-five percent of the work needed. He was sent for questioning to the investigator.

After answering four standard questions: name, surname, article, deadline, he went to the barrack and fell asleep. The next day Bugaev again worked with his brigade, and in the evening he was taken under escort into the forest. Walking along the path, he suddenly realized that he wasted his energy on work on his last day.

Parcels are received at the watch. Standing in line, the narrator dreamed that he would now receive sugar and makhorka, but his wife sent him unnecessary cloaks and some prunes. Caretaker Boyko immediately offered to buy cloaks for one hundred rubles. There was no other choice, and he sold. I decided to buy butter and bread with the money I received. He ran to the store manager, and then to Semyon Sheinin, Kirov's former assistant. He ran for boiling water, but then the narrator was hit on the head and the food was taken away.

He returned to the barrack and began to cook the remaining prunes. Next to him Sintsov and Gubarev each cooked soup in their own pot. Suddenly the military broke in and scattered their dishes. The prisoners could only eat up the remaining food from the floor. After a while, they brought Efremov, beaten to a pulp for stealing firewood.

“It was raining for the third day. The authorities hoped that because of him the prisoners would work faster. They stood waist-deep in the ground and drilled stones. Looking at the dying horses, the narrator realized that man became man because he is physically stronger than all other animals. He tested his viability recently, in the same pit. And he realized that he was not capable of self-harm. He had to wait for the end of the working day. And while he waited, he remembered the woman who had walked past them on the path yesterday. “Pointing to the sky, she said:“ Soon, guys, soon. ”Her support amazed the prisoner. At this time, there was a cry from Rozovsky, who realized that there was no meaning in life. After some time, he was accused of attempted suicide and transferred to another location.

Spring is always short in Siberia. During this time, many plants have time to bloom. The prisoners went to collect elfin trees. This plant was considered to be a useful cure for scurvy, although it was proven over time that it did not benefit the body. For picking up elfin trees, they were entitled to edging - a short rest. The narrator's companion has long gone to the collection of elfin trees. He understood that with a narrator who was not accustomed to this work, he would not be able to fulfill the norm. The companion helped the narrator and urged him on. Putting a stone in the bag for more weight, the prisoners rushed to dinner. They barely had time to get soup and tea.

Dry ration

Four prisoners were sent on a business trip to the Duskanya key to clear out about a sec in the forest. The rations given to them were frighteningly small, but nevertheless they were glad to escape from the stuffy barracks into nature, where there was no convoy. They were all exhausted by the long years of imprisonment. Lack of food, frost affected their health. Ivan Ivanovich was once one of the best workers, but now he is weak. He was happy to go on this business trip, because in the colony he had no authority, anyone could humiliate and beat him.

Fedya Shchapov, the youngest of the four, was sentenced to ten years for illegal slaughter of cattle. His natural love for work distinguished him from all other prisoners. Saveliev once studied at the Moscow Institute of Communications. He was sentenced to ten years for writing a letter to the leader about the horrors of prison life from the Butyreka prison, where he was on a trifling matter. The narrator liked to talk to him about Moscow. After working all day, they met only ten percent of the norm. The foremen did not like it. The prisoners realized that they would now be sent back to the camp.

At night Ivan Ivanovich hanged himself. Savelyev refused to take the dead man's things. He took an ax and cut off four fingers in front of the foreman. When they returned to the camp, a case of premeditated self-mutilation was opened against Savelyev. The narrator and Fedya continued their lives in the same tent, from where they went on a forest trip some time ago.

Injector

Report to the head of the mine comrade A.S. Korolev. The twelfth of November was about six hours of idle work for the fourth brigade. This was due to the low temperature reaching minus fifty degrees. In this regard, there was a breakdown of the injector. Having considered this report, Korolyov decided to arrest the prisoner of the Injector and bring him to legal responsibility. Instead, he proposed to appoint a civilian worker.

Apostle Paul

The narrator dislocated his foot as he descended the slippery ladder in the pit. He was assigned to help the carpenter Adam Frizorge, a former pastor in a German village near Marksstadt on the Volga. They already knew each other: together they were sent to the coal exploration as a subservient. The narrator liked Freezorger for his peaceful nature. They never fought.

Once, during one of the conversations, the narrator corrected Adam, who called him: Paul the apostle. Freezorger sincerely repented of his mistake. He began to trust the narrator and even showed him a photograph of his only daughter. She did not write to him, and the chief offered to help in finding her. After a while, a statement came in which the daughter abandoned her father because he was an enemy of the people. The narrator burned the statement, and then the letter that came later. Soon he was transferred to another place, and he did not hear anything more about Adam.

The detachment had been waiting for the narrator for a long time: he fell under the weight of a log and could not get up. Only after the guard Seroshapok threatened to shoot him, the narrator stood up. The next day, Sero Hat took the prisoners out to collect the fallen wood. He marked the territory beyond which it was forbidden to go. Rybakov, companion of the storyteller, collected rose hips. They promised to give him bread for this. Seeing that the bank is not filled to the end, he enters the forbidden territory. A shot is heard and Rybakov falls. When the detachment was built, Seroshapka, looking at the narrator, said that he wanted to kill him, but he did not give a reason.

Bitch Tamara

She was brought from the taiga by the blacksmith Moisey Moiseevich Kuznetsov. He ended up in the camp on the denunciation of his own young wife. The bosses appreciated his skill and for this much forgave him. The dog immediately won over the whole camp. She took food only from her hands and never stole. Soon the bitch was whelping. When a group of operatives who were looking for escaped prisoners arrived at the camp, Tamara rushed at them and bought boots for the head of the task force Nazarov. She was tied to a tree. It was clear from her behavior that it was not the first time she had met the guards. When the operatives were leaving, Nazarov, hearing the growling of a dog, fired a burst from a machine gun at it and disappeared into the forest. Nothing passes without a trace: Nazarov ran into a stump in the forest and died. The skin was removed from the dog. Soon the forester bought it to sew the "dogs".

Sherry brandy

The poet was dying. He did not have the strength to argue with those who stole his bread. The mittens were also stolen by someone. He lay and thought that a person can be immortal. He himself acquired creative immortality: after him his poems will live. He thought that all life was created to inspire the poet. He compared the whole world to poetry.

Once, as a child, a Chinese man told him a happy life, now he remembered this man without malice. He was hungry, but there was nothing. When the daily ration was distributed, he grabbed the bread with loose teeth and eagerly ate it. Everyone told him not to rush, that he could finish eating later, later. The poet suddenly wondered: when then? In the evening he died. The neighbors received bread for the dead for another two days.

Baby pictures

The prisoners were taken to work for five people. Today they sawed wood. After finishing their work, the prisoners began to dig in a heap of garbage. They found torn socks, frozen bread and cutlets there. The narrator was especially jealous of the socks. He was lucky to find only a children's notebook. Looking at the drawings, he remembered the legend about the boy-god who created the taiga.

The child, judging by the drawings from the notebook, saw very little in his life. All of his drawings were dedicated to prison barriers and soldiers. The partner, having felt the sheets of the notebook, threw it back into the trash and advised him to look for a newspaper from which he could make cigarettes.

Condensed milk

Shestakov was the luckiest one. He was the only one in the camp who got a job in his specialty. Once, when the narrator could not take his eyes off the loaves of bread in the store, Shestakov invited him to run. The narrator realized that this was a trap, that he would definitely deceive him, but agreed, but first he needed to eat.

He received two cans of condensed milk from Shestakov. Having eaten them immediately, he refused to participate in the escape. Those five whom Shestakov persuaded were soon either killed or extended their term. The conspirator himself was transferred to another place, and when the narrator met him again, Shestakov did not greet him because of those two cans of condensed milk.

Today was the dispensing day. They gave out herring. Usually either heads or tails were given. Today were the last ones. Everyone waited for their turn with bated breath, hoping for good luck. Suddenly he will get a piece that is ten grams more than the others. After they have eaten the herring, the prisoners start eating bread. When everything is eaten, you need to get dressed and go to work.

Now everyone is in typhoid quarantine, but even here they are forced to work. Every time prisoners are assigned to work, everyone tries to get to where they sort out vegetables or some other food. In this lottery, someone is lucky, but someone is not. When the detachment passed by the bakery, two were taken to the shop. Everyone else could only envy their luck. The master fed both prisoners with hot, freshly baked bread and took them to work. In the evening they were given a loaf each, and they went back to the camp. The day ended well.

Snake charmer

Andrei Fyodorovich Platonov told how he recounted to the thieves in the “Javkhara. Dumas, Conan Doyle, Wallace. He dreamed of writing the story "The Snake Charmer", but three weeks after the conversation he died. The narrator decided to write this work for him himself. In "The Snake Charmer" Platonov, having entered the "Dzhankhara", experienced the full power of thieves. When he agreed to retell the novels to them, he found himself under their protection. Thanks to them, he ate well, slept, and worked little. Nobody touched him, fearing reprisals from the thieves.

Tatar mullah and clean air

It was hot in the prison. The Tatar mullah, an investigative prisoner in the Big Tataria case, said that if he was not shot, he would live another ten years in the “clean air” in the camp or twenty in prison. The narrator, however, knew that in the camp one could become exhausted after twenty or thirty days of work in the "clean air."

Many considered arrest and imprisonment to be the most terrible event in their life. They rushed to the camp, thinking that it would be easier there. They were taken farther north, where the village air gave way to the smell of fumes from the marshes and the ubiquitous mosquitoes overwhelmed. The northern air was too heavy for the cores. Here, no one moved by jogging, except perhaps the youngest. Reality destroyed all illusions.

The only connection to the mainland was through parcels. Everyone knew that what was sent must be used immediately, otherwise the thieves would be taken away. No money was paid for the work. Sometimes the brigades themselves decided to whom to give the over-fulfilled percentage, so that at least someone would receive a bonus. Having tasted the camp life, the prisoners recalled the cell of the remand prison as something bright and the best that happened to them. If you count all the misfortunes and difficulties that overtake in the camp, then you can no longer talk about the beneficial properties of "clean air".

First death

The prisoners who went to clear the road from snow drifts were heavily guarded by an escort. They couldn't get warm until the work day was over. Six hours later, already feeling nothing, the prisoners think of only one thing: how not to freeze completely. The end of the day always comes unexpectedly, and everyone is so happy that they even find the strength to talk.

Kolya Andreev was the foreman. He always went ahead of the detachment, paving the way. That evening, he led the brigade along the top of the snow-covered rampart. Suddenly he began to descend. There, near the woman's body, stood the mine investigator Shtemenko. The secretary of the head of the mine, Anna Pavlovna, was killed. Shtemenko was sentenced to ten years for murder out of jealousy, but was serving his sentence somewhere else.

Aunt Fields

Aunt Paul died of stomach cancer. She was the orderly for the chief's wife. Aunt Paul was a great cook, for which she was highly regarded. The woman helped her fellow Ukrainians, but she gave only advice to the rest of the prisoners. The bosses liked her incorruptibility very much. They patronized her and strove for her release. But Aunt Paul fell ill.

From the day she was admitted to the hospital, the bosses began to visit her. Once Father Peter came to confess it. Everyone called him Petka Abramov, and it was unusual for them to see him in the role of a priest. When Aunt Paul died, Peter demanded to put a cross on the grave and write the real name of the deceased: Praskovya Ilyinichna Timoshenko.

Marusya Kryukova came to Moscow from Japan. When she was arrested and sentenced to twenty-five years, her leg was broken. In Kolyma, the bosses immediately saw her talent for embroidery, but they never paid her for the work. Soon Marusya was sent to Dalstroy to embroider curtains. Two more girls worked there with her. A woman was placed to watch them, who believed that at any second the girls could steal something. But they didn't steal. All three were arrested and sent to the camp under Article 58.

When Marusya was admitted to the hospital, she was diagnosed with osteomyelitis. Soon she was discharged, and she promised to embroider ties for doctors. When Marusya was embroidering, Dolmatov came in and took away the ties. She was very upset, but there was nothing she could do. Dol matov came to the next film show wearing one of the ties, and Marusya, gesturing, showed the doctor that it was supposed to be his gift.

Taiga golden

In the small zone, prisoners are waiting to be sent further to work. The narrator, knowing this system, deceives the contractor who came for people: he pretends to be sick and unable to work, although there was no need to pretend in the camp. Remaining in a small zone, he hears how singers are brought to the thieves for entertainment, but he doesn't care. He tries to sleep as much as possible.

In the evening, the contractor angrily asks where he wants to go to work. The narrator doesn't want anywhere. He says he is sick and needs to go to the hospital. Three days later, a doctor comes and examines him, but does not send him to the hospital.

Vaska Denisov, the pig thief

Vaska, in order to go to the village, borrowed a newer pea jacket from his friend. He understood that in his dirty things he would be too noticeable for the "free-spirits".

Prisoners in the village had to walk under escort or with firewood on their backs. Vaska found a hidden log and knocked on the apartment. They opened him and allowed him into the house. After chopping wood, he waited until he was fed, but the owner gave him only three rubles. Hungry, he walked across the village and climbed into a house. There he found a raw frozen pig in the closet and was about to leave, when suddenly people began to leave the rooms. He started to run. Hid in the vitamin business trip office. Having barricaded himself in the room, he began to eat the pig. When the door was broken down, he managed to eat half.

Seraphim worked as a laboratory assistant in a chemical laboratory in the North. He left because of a "family spat", considering distance to be the best cure for grief. After working for a year, he felt that love for his wife still lives in his heart. All this time, Seraphim almost did not speak to anyone, only exchanged a few words with the head of the laboratory Presnyakov.

Once he decided to go to another village to buy the necessary things. Arriving there, he found that he had forgotten the documents. The guards immediately grabbed him and sent him to the isolation ward. He sat in it for five long days. When they finally released him, beaten and hungry, Seraphim decided to commit suicide. The wife's letter, in which she demanded a divorce, was the last straw. He drank the acid, but felt no effect and tore the veins in his left arm. Not satisfied with this, he ran to the river and threw himself into the icy water. They dragged him out and sent him to the hospital. There, Seraphim underwent stomach surgery, but the acid had already done its job, and he died.

Day off

In the camp, everyone rests in their own way. While walking in the forest, the narrator saw Zamyatin praying. He did not have dignity, but still often repeated the Sunday service, so as not to forget. Returning to the barrack, the author heard a noise in the instrumental. Going inside, he saw two blatars holding a puppy. With an ax blow, they killed the animal and in the evening cooked soup out of it. They offered the remains to the narrator, but he refused. Then they gave the soup to Zamyatin. When he ate it, the Blatari revealed to him the secret of what the broth was made from. Zamyatin ran out of the barracks. He vomited. Later he confessed to the narrator that the meat tasted to him no worse than lamb.

When the narrator was admitted to the hospital, his weight was forty-eight kilograms. The attending physician, Andrei Mikhailovich, allowed him to stay in the hospital for two months. One evening he called the patient into his room and offered to play dominoes. The narrator did not like this game, but out of gratitude agreed. The game was played slowly. They talked more. A few years later, the narrator found himself in a small zone. He sought to be sent to the hospital. Having heard the name of Andrei Mikhailovich from the paramedic, he asked to give him a note. After waiting several weeks, he began to despair, but then he was called to the dentist. Andrei Mikhailovich was waiting for him in the corridor. During the time they did not see each other, he contracted tuberculosis. The doctor was already sailing to the mainland, when suddenly, on a denunciation, he was taken off the ship. When he recovered, he began to work as a resident of the surgical department. Thanks to Andrei Mikhailovich, the narrator managed to return to the mainland. He first worked for him as an orderly, then learned to be a paramedic. Once in a conversation, the narrator learns that Andrei Mikhailovich also does not like dominoes: for the first time he took dominoes in his hands. “I wanted to do something nice for you,” the doctor admits. Their term was supposed to end in one year, but Andrei Mikhailovich died earlier.

Hercules

Andrei Ivanovich Dudar was a little late for the silver wedding of the head of the Sudarin hospital. Having presented the spouses with a rooster, he sat down at the table. After drinking a little, the guest of honor Cherpakov began to demonstrate his physical abilities: he lifted the chairs, let him feel his biceps. After a while, he came up with another number: taking a rooster, the guest of honor tore off his head. The delighted women rushed to wipe the blood from his trousers and shirt. When everyone went to dance, Andrei Ivanovich stepped on the corpse of his beloved rooster. He pushed it deeper under the table and went to dance.

Shock therapy

Merzlyakov often wondered why, when making rations for prisoners, no one looked at the weight of a person: a tall and large prisoner received as much bread as a thin and small one. He knew that a frail intellectual would live in the camp longer than any giant. He himself was large in stature and suffered greatly from a lack of food.

When he was appointed a groom, he began to steal oats and grind them. So he thought to hold out for the winter. But soon the head of the horse base was replaced by another senior groom, who reported to the authorities about the theft of oats. Merzlyakov was sent to general work. Having lost the rest of his strength, he fell under the weight of a log, thereby delaying the return of the brigade to the barrack. He was severely beaten and taken to hospital.

Merzlyakov decided to pretend to be sick to the last, but one of the doctors - Peter Ivanovich - liked to expose the simulators. He undertook to expose Merzlyakov. First, the doctor applied rausch anesthesia, under which it turned out that the patient was pretending. But Merzlyakov was not ready to give up. Then Peter Ivanovich applied shock therapy. It consisted in the following: a large dose of camphor oil is injected into the patient's blood, which leads to an attack. After the procedure, Merzlyakov agreed to be discharged from the hospital.

Elmwood is the only evergreen plant in the North. This is a tree of hope. It doesn't like winter as much as the prisoners. When the elfin tree rises from under the snow, then the end of the cold has come. Even the warmth of a fire can make a tree wake up from its sleep. This is the most poetic wood, and it gives more warmth than other woods.

Red Cross

In the zone, only a doctor can really help a prisoner. He takes care of people's lives, protects them from the arbitrariness of their superiors, can send them to the hospital, register a disability, and give them rest. But the doctor is forced to survive in the camp. Blathari play a large role in prison life. They bribe or intimidate doctors, bosses, and other prisoners. They are devoid of morality, shame, conscience. They can steal, humiliate, kill.

Their lifestyle affects the lives of other prisoners. Those who find themselves in the camp are forced to adapt to the desires of the blatars. By pleasing them, you can count on extending your life. In the camp, the main argument is strength. If you are weak, you will suffer. The intellectual loses all his knowledge in a few weeks. He becomes the servant of the thieves at the first blow. The opinion and tastes of thieves and murderers affect the whole camp life of Kolyma.

Conspiracy of lawyers

Andreev was transferred to the Shmelev brigade, which consisted of "human slag" - all those who visited the gold mines. He did not see the brigadier's face, he knew only his hoarse voice. When the brigade was being built, Shmelev sent Andreev to the authorized Romanov. Arriving at the appointed time, Andreev knocked on the door. A fat, perfume-smelling man let him in. He asked Andreev about his specialty. It turned out that he studied at Moscow University at the Faculty of Law. Romanov took him to another city, where the senior commissioner Smertin was waiting for them. Andreev was put in a prison cell for the night. In the morning the escorts took him away. Romanov gave him bread, two herrings and makhorka. Andreev was taken further. When the car drove up to the Serpantinnaya Investigative Prison), he thought that his end had come, but the car moved on. The next stop took place in the village of Yagodny. Andreev spent two days in it. On the next trip, the convoy stopped at the road cafeteria. Andreev was put on the floor next to another prisoner who was being taken to Magadan to be shot. After some time they were put in the back of a car and again taken to who knows where. When they got to Sporny, the prisoners were numb from the cold. They were placed in an unheated detention center, where Andreev froze all ten toes. When they arrived in Magadan, the hero was sent to the regional department. There he was received by Captain Rebrov, who began to ask if he knew Parfentiev and Vinogradov. The first was once Andreev's foreman, and he did not know the second. After the interrogation, Andreev was sent to the "Vaskov house" - the Magadan prison. After a while, it was announced that Rebrov had been arrested and that all those convicted under his warrants were released.

Typhoid quarantine

Andreev was sent to typhoid quarantine. There he felt that he was still able to respect himself and fight for his life. He realized that he needed to keep out of sight of the contractor who recruited people for the gold mines as long as possible. Andreev no longer wanted to go back there. More than a thousand people were in quarantine. There was the same world as in the camp.

The thieves took places closer to the stove, ate more than everyone else. Andreev managed to deceive his superiors, he was sent to light work. Sometimes he was able to work alone, which was much preferable. When about thirty people remained in quarantine, Andreev was sent on a local business trip. But, to the surprise of the prisoners, they were given winter clothes. When they were put in the car, everyone realized that they were being sent north again, beyond the Yablonovy ridge.

5 / 5. 1

The plot of V. Shalamov's stories is a painful description of the prison and camp life of the prisoners of the Soviet GULAG, their tragic destinies similar to one another, in which the case, merciless or merciful, an assistant or a murderer, arbitrariness of chiefs and thieves reigns supreme. Hunger and its convulsive satiety, exhaustion, painful dying, slow and almost equally painful recovery, moral humiliation and moral degradation - this is what is constantly in the focus of the writer.

GRAVE WORD

The author recalls by the names of his comrades in the camps. Recalling the mournful martyrology, he tells who and how he died, who suffered and how, who hoped for what, who and how behaved in this Auschwitz without stoves, as Shalamov called the Kolyma camps. Few managed to survive, few managed to survive and remain morally unbreakable.

LIFE OF ENGINEER KIPREEV

Having not betrayed or sold anyone, the author says that he has worked out for himself a formula for active protection of his existence: a person can only consider himself human and withstand, if at any moment he is ready to commit suicide, ready for death. However, later he realizes that he only built a comfortable shelter for himself, because it is not known what you will be like at the decisive moment, whether you simply have enough physical strength, and not just mental strength. Arrested in 1938, the engineer-physicist Kipreev not only survived the beating during interrogation, but even rushed at the investigator, after which he was put in a punishment cell. However, they still get a signature from him under false testimony, frightened by the arrest of his wife. Nevertheless, Kipreev continued to prove to himself and to others that he was a man, and not a slave, as all prisoners are. Thanks to his talent (he invented a method for restoring burnt out light bulbs, repaired an X-ray machine), he manages to avoid the most difficult jobs, but not always. He miraculously remains alive, but the moral shock remains in him forever.

FOR PRESENTATION

Camp corruption, Shalamov testifies, to a greater or lesser extent, affected everyone and took place in a variety of forms. Two thieves are playing cards. One of them is played in fluff and asks to play for "presentation", that is, in debt. At some point, infuriated by the game, he unexpectedly orders an ordinary prisoner from among the intelligentsia, who happened to be among the spectators of their game, to hand over a woolen sweater. He refuses, and then one of the thieves "finishes" him, but the sweater still goes to the blatar.

AT NIGHT

Two prisoners sneak to the grave, where the body of their deceased comrade was buried in the morning, and take off the underwear from the dead man to sell or exchange for bread or tobacco the next day. The initial disgust for the removed clothes is replaced by the pleasant thought that tomorrow they might be able to eat a little more and even smoke.

SINGLE MEASUREMENT

Camp labor, unambiguously defined by Shalamov as slave labor, for the writer is a form of the same corruption. The gross prisoner is not able to give a percentage rate, so labor becomes torture and slow mortification. Zek Dugaev is gradually weakening, unable to withstand a sixteen-hour working day. He carries, kailit, pours, again carries and again kailit, and in the evening the caretaker appears and measures what Dugaev has done with a tape measure. The named figure - 25 percent - seems to Dugaev very large, his calves ache, his arms, shoulders, head ache unbearably, he even lost the feeling of hunger. A little later, he is summoned to the investigator, who asks the usual questions: name, surname, article, term. A day later, the soldiers take Dugaev to a remote place, surrounded by a high fence with barbed wire, from where the chirring of tractors can be heard at night. Dugaev guesses why he was brought here and that his life is over. And he regrets only that the last day was in vain tormented.

RAIN

SHERRY BRANDY

A poet-prisoner dies, who was called the first Russian poet of the twentieth century. It lies in the dark depths of the lower row of solid two-story bunks. It takes a long time to die. Sometimes a thought comes up - for example, that bread was stolen from him, which he put under his head, and this is so scary that he is ready to swear, fight, search ... But he no longer has the strength for this, and the thought of bread too weakens. When they put a daily ration in his hand, he pushes the bread to his mouth with all his might, sucks it, tries to tear and gnaw with scurvy loose teeth. When he dies, two more Anias do not write off him, and inventive neighbors manage to receive bread for the dead as a living person when distributing them: they make him, like a puppet, raise his hand.

SHOCK THERAPY

The prisoner Merzlyakov, a man of large physique, finding himself in general work, feels that he is gradually giving up. One day he falls, cannot get up right away and refuses to drag the log. First they beat him, then the guards, they bring him to the camp - he has a broken rib and pains in his lower back. And although the pains quickly passed, and the rib healed, Merzlyakov continues to complain and pretends that he cannot straighten up, trying at any cost to delay the discharge to work. He is sent to the central hospital, to the surgical department, and from there to the nervous one for research. He has a chance to be activated, that is, written off due to illness. Remembering the mine, pinching the cold, a bowl of empty soup, which he drank without even using a spoon, he concentrates all his will so as not to be caught in deception and sent to the penalty mine. However, the doctor Pyotr Ivanovich, himself a prisoner in the past, did not fail. The professional displaces the human in him. Most of his time he spends precisely on exposing simulators. This flatters his pride: he is an excellent specialist and is proud that he retained his qualifications, despite a year of common work. He immediately realizes that Merzlyakov is a simulator, and anticipates the theatrical effect of a new exposure. First, the doctor gives him a raush-anesthesia, during which Merzlyakov's body can be straightened, and a week later, the procedure of the so-called shock therapy, the effect of which is similar to an attack of violent madness or an epileptic seizure. After that, the prisoner himself asks for discharge.

TYPHOSE QUARANTINE

Prisoner Andreev, falling ill with typhus, goes into quarantine. Compared with general work in the mines, the position of the patient gives a chance to survive, which the hero almost did not hope for. And then he decides, by hook or by crook, to stay here as long as possible, in the transit, and there, perhaps, he will no longer be sent to the golden slaughter, where hunger, beatings and death. At the roll call before the next dispatch of those who are considered recovered to work, Andreev does not respond, and thus he manages to hide for a long time. The transit line is gradually emptying, the turn finally reaches Andreev as well. But now it seems to him that he won his battle for life, that now the taiga is satiated and if there are dispatches, then only for close, local business trips. However, when a truck with a selected group of prisoners, who were unexpectedly given winter uniforms, passes the line separating short-range missions from distant ones, he realizes with an inner shudder that fate has cruelly laughed at him.

AORTIC ANEURISM

Illness (and the emaciated state of the "goner" prisoners is quite tantamount to a serious illness, although officially it was not considered such) and the hospital - in Shalamov's stories an indispensable attribute of the plot. Inmate Ekaterina Glovatskaya is admitted to the hospital. Beauty, she immediately liked the doctor on duty Zaitsev, and although he knows that she is in close relations with his acquaintance, prisoner Podshivalov, the head of the amateur art circle ("serf theater", as the head of the hospital jokes), nothing prevents him in turn try your luck. He begins, as usual, with a medical examination of Glovatskaya, with listening to the heart, but his male interest is quickly replaced by a purely medical concern. He finds Glovatska's aortic aneurysm, a disease in which any careless movement can cause death. The bosses, who took it as an unwritten rule to separate lovers, had already once sent Glovatskaya to a female mine in the penalty area. And now, after the doctor's report about the prisoner's dangerous illness, the head of the hospital is sure that this is nothing more than the intrigues of the same Podshivalov, who is trying to detain his mistress. Glovatskaya is discharged, but already when she is loaded into the car, what Dr. Zaitsev warned about happens - she dies.

THE LAST FIGHT OF MAYOR PUGACHEV

Among the heroes of Shalamov's prose there are those who not only strive to survive at any cost, but are also able to intervene in the course of circumstances, to stand up for themselves, even risking their lives. According to the author, after the war of 1941-1945. in the northeastern camps began to arrive prisoners who fought and passed German captivity. These are people of a different temper, “with courage, the ability to take risks, who believed only in weapons. Commanders and soldiers, pilots and scouts ... ". But most importantly, they possessed the instinct of freedom, which was awakened in them by the war. They shed their blood, sacrificed their lives, saw death face to face. They were not corrupted by camp slavery and were not yet exhausted to the point of losing their strength and will. Their "fault" consisted in the fact that they were surrounded or in captivity. And it is clear to Major Pugachev, one of these people who have not yet been broken: "they were brought to death - to replace these living dead", whom they met in Soviet camps. Then the former major gathers prisoners who are just as resolute and strong, as they match, who are ready either to die or to become free. In their group - pilots, reconnaissance, paramedic, tanker. They realized that they were innocently doomed to death and that they had nothing to lose. An escape is being prepared all winter. Pugachev realized that only those who bypass common work can survive the winter and after that run. And the participants in the conspiracy, one after the other, are promoted to the subservient: someone becomes a cook, someone a cultor, who fixes weapons in the guard detachment. But now spring is coming, and with it the planned day.

At five o'clock in the morning they knocked on the watch. The duty officer lets in the camp prisoner cook, who has come, as usual, for the keys to the pantry. A minute later, the officer on duty is strangled, and one of the prisoners changes into his uniform. The same thing happens with the other duty officer who returned a little later. Then everything goes according to Pugachev's plan. The conspirators burst into the premises of the security detachment and, having shot the officer on duty, seize the weapon. Keeping at gunpoint the suddenly awakened soldiers, they change into military uniforms and stock up on provisions. Leaving the camp, they stop a truck on the highway, disembark the driver and continue their journey by car until the gasoline runs out. After that they will go to the taiga. At night - the first night at large after long months of captivity - Pugachev, waking up, recalls his escape from a German camp in 1944, crossing the front line, interrogation in a special department, charges of espionage and a sentence of twenty-five years in prison. He also recalls the visits to the German camp of emissaries of General Vlasov, who recruited Russian soldiers, convincing them that for the Soviet power all of them who were captured are traitors to the Motherland. Pugachev did not believe them until he could be convinced himself. He lovingly looks at his sleeping comrades, who believed in him and stretched out their hands to freedom, he knows that they are "better than everyone, more worthy than everyone." A little later, a battle ensues, the last hopeless battle between the fugitives and the soldiers who surrounded them. Almost all of the fugitives die, except for one, seriously wounded, who is healed in order to be shot later. Only Major Pugachev manages to leave, but he knows, hiding in a bear den, that he will be found anyway. He does not regret what he did. His last shot was at himself.

Consider the collection of Shalamov, on which he worked from 1954 to 1962. Let's describe its brief content. "Kolyma Tales" is a collection, the plot of stories of which is a description of the camp and prison life of the Gulag prisoners, their tragic fates, similar to one another, in which chance rules. The author's focus is constantly on hunger and satiety, painful dying and recovery, exhaustion, moral humiliation and degradation. You will learn more about the problems raised by Shalamov by reading the summary. "Kolyma Tales" is a collection that is a comprehension of what the author experienced and saw for 17 years, which he spent in prison (1929-1931) and Kolyma (from 1937 to 1951). Photo of the author is presented below.

Eulogy

The author recalls his comrades from the camps. We will not list their names, since we are compiling a summary. "Kolyma Stories" is a collection in which artistry and documentary are intertwined. However, all murderers are given a real name in the stories.

Continuing the story, the author describes how the prisoners died, what torments they endured, talks about their hopes and behavior in Auschwitz without furnaces, as Shalamov called the Kolyma camps. Only a few managed to survive, but only a few managed to survive and not break morally.

"Life of engineer Kipreev"

Let us dwell on the following curious story, which we could not help but describe, making up a summary. "Kolyma Stories" is a collection in which the author, who has not sold or betrayed anyone, says that he has worked out a formula for himself to protect his own existence. It consists in the fact that a person can withstand, if he is ready to die at any moment, he can commit suicide. But later he realizes that he only built a comfortable shelter for himself, since it is not known what you will become in the decisive moment, whether you will have enough not only mental strength, but also physical strength.

Kipreev, an engineer-physicist, arrested in 1938, not only was able to withstand interrogation and beatings, but even attacked the investigator, as a result of which he was put in a punishment cell. But all the same, they are trying to get him to give false evidence, threatening to arrest his wife. Kipreev nevertheless continues to prove to everyone that he is not a slave, like all prisoners, but a man. Thanks to the talent (he fixed the broken one and found a way to restore the burnt out light bulbs) this hero manages to avoid the most difficult work, but not always. Only by a miracle does he survive, but the moral shock does not let him go.

"For presentation"

Shalamov, who wrote "Kolyma stories", the summary of which interests us, testifies that the camp corruption affected everyone to one degree or another. It took various forms. Let us describe in a few words one more work from the collection "Kolyma Stories" - "To the Presentation". The summary of his plot is as follows.

Two thieves are playing cards. One loses and asks to play debt. Infuriated at some point, he orders the unexpectedly prisoner of the intelligentsia, who happened to be among the spectators, to give the sweater. He refuses. One of the thieves "finishes" him, but the blatar goes to the sweater anyway.

"At night"

We pass to the description of one more work from the collection "Kolyma stories" - "At night". Its summary, in our opinion, will also be of interest to the reader.

Two prisoners sneak to the grave. The body of their comrade was buried here in the morning. They take off the dead man's linen so that they can exchange it for tobacco or bread tomorrow, or sell it. Disgust for the clothes of the deceased is replaced by the thought that, perhaps, tomorrow they will be able to smoke or eat a little more.

There are a lot of works in the collection "Kolyma Stories". "The Carpenters", the summary of which we have omitted, follows the story "Night". We suggest you get acquainted with it yourself. The work is small in volume. The format of one article, unfortunately, does not allow describing all the stories. Also a very small work from the collection "Kolyma Stories" - "Berries". A summary of the main and most interesting, in our opinion, stories is presented in this article.

"Single measurement"

Defined by the author as slave labor camp is another form of corruption. The prisoner, exhausted by him, cannot work out the norm, work turns into torture and leads to slow death. Dugaev, a convict, is getting weaker and weaker because of the 16-hour workday. He pours, kailite, carries. In the evening, the caretaker measures what he has done. The figure of 25%, named by the caretaker, seems very large to Dugaev. His hands and head are unbearable, his calves ache. The prisoner does not even feel hungry anymore. Later he was summoned to the investigator. He asks: "Name, surname, term, article." The soldiers take the prisoner away every other day to a remote place surrounded by a fence with barbed wire. At night, the noise of tractors can be heard from here. Dugaev guesses why he was brought here, and realizes that life is over. He only regrets that he was tormented in vain for an extra day.

"Rain"

You can talk for a very long time about such a collection as "Kolyma Stories". The summary of the chapters of the works is for informational purposes only. We bring to your attention the following story - "Rain".

"Sherry Brandy"

The prisoner poet, who was considered the first poet of the 20th century in our country, is dying. It lies on the bunk, in the back of their bottom row. The poet dies for a long time. Sometimes soap comes to him, for example, that someone stole the bread from him, which the poet put under his head. He is ready to search, fight, swear ... However, he has no strength for that. When a daily ration is put in his hand, he presses bread to his mouth with all his might, sucks it, tries to gnaw and tear with loose scurvy teeth. When a poet dies, he is not written off for another 2 days. When distributing, neighbors manage to receive bread for him as if he were alive. They arrange it so that he raises his hand like a puppet.

"Shock therapy"

Merzlyakov, one of the heroes of the collection "Kolmyskie Stories", the summary of which we are considering, is a large-build convict, in general works he understands that he is giving up. He falls down, cannot get up and refuses to take the log. First, they beat him up, then the guards. He is taken to camp with lower back pain and a broken rib. After his recovery, Merzlyakov does not stop complaining and pretends that he cannot straighten up. He does this in order to delay the discharge. He is sent to the surgical department of the central hospital, and then to the nervous one for research. Merzlyakov has a chance to be written off due to illness. He tries his best not to be exposed. But Pyotr Ivanovich, a doctor who was himself a prisoner in the past, exposes him. Everything human in him supplants the professional. He spends most of his time on exposing those who pretend. Pyotr Ivanovich anticipates the effect that the case of Merzlyakov will produce. The doctor first gives him anesthesia, during which it is possible to straighten Merzlyakov's body. A week later, the patient is prescribed shock therapy, after which he asks for discharge himself.

"Typhoid quarantine"

Andreev goes into quarantine after contracting typhus. The position of the patient compared to working in the mines gives him a chance to survive, which he almost did not hope for. Then Andreev decides to stay here as long as possible, and then, perhaps, he will no longer be sent to the golden slaughter, where death, beatings, hunger. Andreev does not respond to the roll call before sending the recovered to work. He manages to hide in this way for a long time. The transit line is gradually emptying, the turn finally comes to Andreev. But it seems to him now that he won the battle for life, and if now there are dispatches, it will only be for local, close business trips. But when a truck with a group of prisoners, who were given unexpectedly winter uniforms, crosses the line separating long and short business trips, Andreev realizes that fate has laughed at him.

In the photo below - on the house in Vologda, where Shalamov lived.

"Aortic aneurysm"

In Shalamov's stories, illness and the hospital are an indispensable attribute of the plot. Ekaterina Glovatskaya, a prisoner, goes to the hospital. This beauty immediately liked Zaitsev, the doctor on duty. He knows that she is in a relationship with convict Podshivalov, his acquaintance, who runs a local amateur art circle, the doctor nevertheless decides to try his luck. As usual, he begins with a medical examination of the patient, listening to the heart. However, male interest is replaced by medical concern. In Glovatskaya, he discovers This is a disease in which every careless movement can provoke death. The bosses, who made it a rule to separate lovers, once already sent the girl to the penalty female mine. The head of the hospital, after the doctor's report about her illness, is sure that this is the intrigue of Podshivalov, who wants to detain his mistress. The girl is discharged, but during loading she dies, which Zaitsev warned about.

"The last battle of Major Pugachev"

The author testifies that after the Great Patriotic War, prisoners who fought and went through captivity began to arrive in the camps. These people are of a different temper: they know how to take risks, they are brave. They only believe in weapons. Camp slavery did not corrupt them, they were not yet exhausted to the point of losing their will and strength. Their "fault" was that these prisoners were in captivity or surrounded. It was clear to one of them, Major Pugachev, that they had been brought here to die. Then he gathers strong and decisive, to match himself, prisoners who are ready to die or become free. The escape is prepared all winter long. Pugachev realized that after having survived the winter, only those who manage to avoid common work can escape. One by one, the participants in the conspiracy are promoted to the service. One of them becomes a cook, the other becomes a culture dealer, and the third repairs weapons for the guards.

One spring day, at 5 am, they knocked on the watch. The attendant lets in the prisoner-cook, who, as usual, has come for the keys to the pantry. The cook strangles him, and another prisoner changes into his uniform. The same thing happens with the other attendants who returned a little later. Then everything happens according to Pugachev's plan. The conspirators burst into the security room and take possession of the weapon, shooting the officer on duty. They stock up on provisions and don military uniforms, keeping the suddenly awakened fighters at gunpoint. After leaving the camp, they stop a truck on the highway, disembark the driver and drive until the gasoline runs out. Then they go into the taiga. Pugachev, waking up at night after many months of captivity, recalls how in 1944 he escaped from a German camp, crossed the front line, survived interrogation in a special department, after which he was accused of espionage and sentenced to 25 years in prison. He also recalls how emissaries of General Vlasov came to the German camp, who recruited Russians, convincing that the captured soldiers were traitors to the Motherland for the Soviet regime. Then Pugachev did not believe them, but soon he was convinced of this. He looks lovingly at his comrades who are sleeping next to him. A little later, a hopeless battle ensues with the soldiers who surrounded the fugitives. Almost all of the prisoners die, except for one who is healed after being seriously wounded in order to be shot. Only Pugachev manages to escape. He hid in a bear den, but knows that he too will be found. He does not regret what he did. His last shot was at himself.

So, we have reviewed the main stories from the collection, the author of which is Varlam Shalamov ("Kolyma stories"). The summary introduces the reader to the main events. You can read more about them on the pages of the work. The collection was first published in 1966 by Varlam Shalamov. "Kolyma stories", a summary of which you now know, appeared on the pages of the New York edition of "New Journal".

In New York in 1966, only 4 stories were published. In the next, 1967, 26 stories by this author, mainly from the collection of interest to us, were translated into German in the city of Cologne. During his lifetime, Shalamov never published the collection "Kolyma Stories" in the USSR. The summary of all chapters, unfortunately, is not included in the format of one article, since there are a lot of stories in the collection. Therefore, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the rest yourself.

"Condensed milk"

In addition to those described above, we will tell you about one more work from the collection "Kolyma stories" - Its summary is as follows.

Shestakov, an acquaintance of the narrator, did not work at the mine in the face, since he was a geological engineer, and he was taken to the office. He met with the narrator and said that he wanted to take the workers and go to the Black Keys, to the sea. And although the latter understood that it was not feasible (the way to the sea is very long), he nevertheless agreed. The narrator reasoned that Shestakov probably wants to surrender all those who will participate in this. But the promised condensed milk (to overcome the path, it was necessary to refresh himself) bribed him. Going to Shestakov's, he ate two cans of this delicacy. And then he suddenly announced that he had changed his mind. A week later, other workers fled. Two of them were killed, three were tried a month later. And Shestakov was transferred to another mine.

We recommend reading other works in the original. Shalamov wrote "Kolyma stories" very talentedly. The summary ("Berries", "Rain" and "Children's pictures" we also recommend reading in the original) conveys only the plot. The author's style and artistic merit can only be appreciated by getting acquainted with the work itself.

Not included in the collection "Kolyma stories" "Sentence". For this reason, we did not describe the summary of this story. However, this work is one of the most mysterious in the work of Shalamov. Fans of his talent will be interested in getting to know him.