Valentin Rasputin is a Soviet and Russian writer whose work belongs to the genre of so-called "village prose." While reading the works of this author, one gets the impression that what they say happens to your good friends, their characters are so convex and lively. Behind the apparent simplicity of presentation lies a deep immersion in the characters of people who are forced to act in difficult everyday circumstances.
The story "French Lessons", a brief summary of which will be presented in this article, is largely autobiographical. It describes a difficult period in the writer's life, when after graduating from elementary school he was sent to the city to study in high school. The future writer, like the hero of the story, had to live with strangers in the hungry post-war years. How he felt at the same time and what he experienced, you can find out by reading this small but vivid work.
Summary of "French lessons." The game of Chica
The story is on behalf of a village boy sent to the city to continue his studies in high school. It was a hungry year of 1948, the owners of the apartment also had children who needed to be fed, so the hero of the story had to take care of his food himself. Mom sometimes sent programs from the village with potatoes and bread, which quickly ended, and the boy almost constantly went hungry.
Once he got into a wasteland, where the children played for money in the "Chika", and joined them. Soon, he adapted to the game and began to win. But each time he left after collecting the ruble, for which he bought himself a mug of milk on the market. He needed milk as a cure for anemia. But this did not last long. The guys beat him twice, after which he stopped the game.
Summary of "French lessons." Lidia Mikhailovna
The hero of the story studied well in all subjects except the French language, in which he was not given a pronunciation. The French teacher, Lidia Mikhailovna, noted his diligence, but lamented for obvious shortcomings in spoken language. She found out that her student was playing for money to buy milk, which was beaten by her comrades, and was filled with sympathy for a capable but poor boy. The teacher offered to study additionally the French language at her home, hoping to feed the poor fellow under this pretext.
Summary of "French lessons." "Zameryashki"
However, she still did not know what a tough nut she had to face. All her attempts to seat him at the table were unsuccessful - the wild and proud boy flatly refused to “sit down” with his teacher. Then she sent a parcel to the school address with pasta, sugar and hematogen, seemingly from a mother from the village. But the hero of the story knew perfectly well that it was impossible to buy such products in the general store, and returned the gift to the sender.
Then Lidia Mikhailovna went to extreme measures - invited the boy to play with her a game for the money, familiar to her from childhood - “measurements”. He did not immediately, but agreed, considering it an “honest job”. From that day on, every time after the French lessons (in which he began to make great strides), the teacher and student played "zameryashki". The boy again had money for milk, and his life became much more satisfying.
Summary of "French lessons." End to everything
Of course, this could not go on forever. Once the headmaster found Lidia Mikhailovna playing with a student for money. Of course, this was considered an offense, incompatible with her further work in school. The teacher left three days later to her homeland, to the Kuban. And after some time, on one of the winter days, a parcel with pasta and apples arrived in the name of the boy at school.
The story "French Lessons" (a summary of which was the subject of this article) inspired director Evgeny Tashkov to shoot the film of the same name, which was shown for the first time in 1978. He immediately fell in love with the viewer and is still released on CDs.