Yan Barshchevsky - a famous Belarusian and Polish writer of the 19th century - hails from the village of Muragi, Vitebsk province. One of his stories is The White Magpie. A summary of the excerpt from the book of Barshchevsky, considered the main literary creation of the writer, clearly demonstrates his passion for Belarusian folklore.
Briefly about the author
Barshchevsky began his literary work with the writing of poetic texts. After graduating from the Polotsk College, he taught children at home, traveled extensively in Belarus and got acquainted with local folklore. For some time he lived in St. Petersburg, where he was engaged in teaching activities. It was then that he met with Taras Shevchenko and Adam Mickiewicz. Together with friends - immigrants from Belarus - published the journal "Forget-me-not". In the period from 1844 to 1846 he published the story "Shlyahtich Zavalnya, or Belarus in fantastic stories." A summary of the White Magpie (one of its chapters) will be presented below. Having moved to the city of Chudnov, Yan Barshchevsky continued to write poems, but died, having contracted tuberculosis.
“Shlyakhtich Zavalnya, or Belarus in fantastic stories”
Yan Barshchevsky began to write the main work of his life, when he realized that the poems written by him, the readers liked much less ballads, based on Belarusian traditions. The book contains fourteen stories. One of them is the “White Magpie”. The summary of this passage gives a general idea of the whole book, its artistic features and literary value. This story, the eighth in a row, tells the story of the greedy pan Skomorokh.
The White Magpie: Summary of the Chapter
Pan Skomorokh was very rich and greedy. He treated his subjects very poorly, he was not friends with neighbors. One night, when the sky was full moon, and a storm was raging outside the window, the pan was thinking, sitting in his chair. Suddenly I noticed a tall figure in the corner of the room.
When the stranger came closer, the pan thought that the devil's messenger was in front of him - the guest was so ugly and terrible. He said that he came in the name of Mrs. White Magpie, who is looking for true friends. According to the stranger, the White Magpie is beautiful, rich and powerful. The guest told Skomorokh that the next day she would visit him. After that, the stranger said goodbye and disappeared into the dark.
Pan called the servants and demanded to explain why they did not come to his call. Servants began to tell that suddenly terrible anguish fell upon them, and terrible visions stood before their eyes. Pan drove them away and thought about what had happened until morning. The next day, he ordered the house to be put in order. In the evening he locked himself in a room and demanded that he not be disturbed. When the White Magpie flew into the room and turned into a beautiful richly dressed woman, the pan marveled at her greatness. They talked with each other for a long time. Saying goodbye, the lady wanted to meet the neighbors of Skomorokh. In gratitude, the servant of the White Magpie handed the pan a bag of gold. When the guests left the room, the pan called the footmen and asked if they had visions today. Those answered that they were.
The next day, the pan went to the neighbors and began to tell them about the greatness and beauty of the White Magpie. Some were scared, others gladly agreed to meet with a powerful lady. That evening, like-minded people drank for the health of the White Magpie. At midnight, she showed up and talked with the guests for a long time, asking them about the household. Since then, the White Magpie regularly visited its fans.
At the same time, ordinary people began to notice strange things that were happening around. The servants of the evil sorceress did harm to the people in every possible way, even put charms on the cows so that they would not give milk. However, soon the people found out where the sorceress was hiding, and decided to take revenge on her. Upon learning of this, the sorceress disappeared. Like-minded Belaya Magpies for a long time regretted her departure, and Pan Skomorokh left this area and turned into a bear. In the guise of a beast, he lived in the house of a sorceress and guarded her wealth.
To summarize
The story “The White Magpie” is very instructive. The summary of the passage conveys the wisdom of the Belarusian people, which warns people against greed, because the thirst for profit can destroy the soul of a person. Other stories included in the book were also based on Belarusian legends.
Each person will definitely want to read the work in full, scrolling through the summary. The White Forty (Yan Barshchevsky) is similar in style to some works of N. V. Gogol, a classic of Russian literature.