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The book has been translated into many languages and filmed twice - in and in
Plot
The action of the story begins in fictional city Revsk (the prototype of Revsk, according to the author of the book, was the city of Snovsk) during the Civil War in Russia (1921). The main character, teenager Misha Polyakov, who came from Moscow for the summer, due to a coincidence of circumstances, becomes the owner of an 18th-century dagger without a sheath. The former owner of the dagger, a naval officer, was killed in 1916 a few minutes before the explosion of the battleship Empress Maria. There is some kind of secret associated with the dagger - an encrypted letter is hidden in its handle. The key to the dagger's code is in the scabbard, and the scabbard is in the possession of the White Guard bandit Nikitsky, who served with the deceased owner of the dagger. Nikitsky is hunting for a dagger.
After some time, Misha leaves for Moscow, where he and his best friends Genka and Slava try to unravel the mystery of the encrypted letter. Nikitsky also appears in Moscow. The boys spy on him and manage to steal the scabbard for the dagger by cunning. Nikitsky’s traces lead to an underground counter-revolutionary organization, and an encrypted letter leads to a cache with materials on the legendary “Black Prince” that sank during the Crimean War (as well as other ships that sank in different seas of the planet with valuable cargo). At the same time, the leader of the White Guard gang, Nikitsky, was exposed and arrested. At the end of the story, the guys are accepted into the Komsomol.
Film adaptations
- Dirk (1954) - film directed by Vladimir Vengerov and Mikhail Schweitzer.
- Dirk (1973) - film directed by Nikolai Kalinin.
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Notes
Excerpt characterizing Dirk (story)
Warmed my blood with hope.Young, untouched and pure
I brought you all my love...
The star sang songs to me about you,
Day and night she called me into the distance...
And on a spring evening, in April,
Brought to your window.
I quietly took you by the shoulders,
And he said, not hiding his smile:
“So it was not in vain that I waited for this meeting,
My beloved star...
Mom was completely captivated by dad's poems... And he wrote them to her a lot and brought them to her work every day along with huge posters drawn by his own hand (dad was a great drawer), which he unrolled right on her desktop, and on which , among all kinds of painted flowers, there was in capital letters it is written: “Annushka, my star, I love you!” Naturally, what woman could withstand this for a long time and not give up?.. They never parted again... Using every free minute to spend it together, as if someone could take it away from them. Together they went to the movies, to dances (which they both loved very much), walked in the charming Alytus city park, until one fine day they decided that enough dates were enough and that it was time to look at life a little more seriously. Soon they got married. But only my father’s friend (my mother’s younger brother) Jonas knew about this, since this union did not cause much delight on either my mother’s or my father’s side of the family... My mother’s parents predicted for her a rich neighbor-teacher, whom they really liked, as her groom and, in their opinion, he “suited” his mother perfectly, and in his father’s family at that time there was no time for marriage, since grandfather was sent to prison at that time as an “accomplice of the nobles” (by which, they probably tried to “break” the stubbornly resisting dad), and my grandmother ended up in the hospital from a nervous shock and was very sick. Dad was left with his little brother in his arms and now had to run the entire household alone, which was very difficult, since the Seryogins at that time lived in a large two-story house (in which I later lived), with a huge old garden around. And, naturally, such a farm required good care...
So three long months passed, and my dad and mom, already married, were still going on dates, until my mom accidentally went to my dad’s house one day and found a very touching picture there... Dad stood in the kitchen in front of the stove, looking unhappy “replenishing” the hopelessly growing number of pots of semolina porridge, which at that moment he was cooking for his little brother. But for some reason the “evil” porridge became more and more, and poor dad could not understand what was happening... Mom, trying with all her might to hide a smile so as not to offend the unlucky “cook,” immediately rolled up her sleeves began to put this whole “stagnant household mess” in order, starting with the completely occupied, “porridge-filled” pots, the indignantly sizzling stove... Of course, after such an “emergency”, my mother could no longer calmly observe such a “heart-tugging” male helplessness, and decided to immediately move to this territory, which was still completely alien and unfamiliar to her... And although it was not very easy for her at that time either - she worked at the post office (to support herself), and in the evenings she went to preparatory classes for medical school exams.
Published in 1948, the story “Dirk” was one of the most popular texts in children's literature of the 1950s. It was filmed twice and translated into many languages. The story became the first part of the “Arbat” trilogy about Misha Polyakov and was continued by the books “The Bronze Bird” and “You Shot”. In the 1960-80s, Anatoly Rybakov wrote and published several very sensational prose works: a children's trilogy about Krosh, adult novels “Heavy Sand” and “Children of the Arbat” - however, his early story “Kor-tik” is still included in the circle of children's reading and is regularly republished.
“Dirk” was written in 1946-1948, during a period when the ideological climate in the USSR was rapidly changing. Therefore, the text contained both sorrowful war experiences, post-war hopes for renewal, and attempts to comply with the new state ideology.
Plot
Cover of Anatoly Rybakov’s story “Dirk”. Moscow, 1959
"Detgiz"; Russian State Children's Library
The whole plot is the story of the search and deciphering of the riddle of the naval dagger: the main (autobiographical) hero Misha Polyakov receives this relic from the hands of his acquaintance - the red commander Polevoy. A cipher is applied to the rod inserted into the cork, and the key to the cipher is in the sheath: the guys are looking for them throughout the entire action of the story. Having solved the complex code of the dagger, its owner will receive instructions about the location of the hiding place. The meaning of this riddle is complicated by the fact that while trying to steal the dagger, its last owner, naval officer Vladimir Terentev, was killed, and the ship “Empress Maria”, on which he served, was this moment mysteriously exploded and sank.
The master who made the dagger was Polikarp Ivanovich Terentyev - according to the legend invented by Rybakov, “an outstanding gunsmith of the times of Anna Ioannovna and Elizaveta Petrovna”, “the creator of the first design of a diving device” and the ancestor of the last owner of the dagger, Vladimir Terentyev. The main negative character of the story, Terentyev’s killer and the temporary owner of the scabbard, former naval officer Nikitsky, believes that there are treasures in the hiding place - and is cruelly mistaken.
The city of Revsk and Rybakov’s Jewish childhood
"Belarusfilm"
The action of the first part of the story takes place in the fictional city of Revsk, the prototype of which, by the writer’s own admission, was the city of Snovsk (later Shchors), located in Chernigov province, on the border of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. The family of Anatoly Rybakov’s mother, Dina Abramovna, came from there. In the hungry year of 1921, Anatoly’s mother brought Anatoly from Moscow to his grandparents for the holidays - this biographical episode with noticeable transformations is reproduced in the story. Before the revolution, Rybakov’s Snovskaya relatives were quite prosperous; his grandfather ran a hardware and mosquito store. After the revolution, the shop, along with the large house, was requisitioned, but during the NEP period, grandfather resumed the business.
Later, already in the 1970s, Rybakov captured Snovsk in one of the first Soviet novels dedicated to the tragedy of the Holocaust - the famous “Heavy Sand”. The story there is told from the perspective of a hero who bears little resemblance to the protagonist of “Kortik” Misha Polyakov, but the descriptions of the city and his grandfather’s family are in many ways similar. Looking at the earlier text through the prism of the later one, we can see the emergence of the theme of the Jewish shtetl and its fate in the 20th century, which was important for Rybakov’s later work.
A still from the television film “Dirk”, directed by Nikolai Kalinin. 1973
"Belarusfilm"
Of course, in “Kortika” there is not a word either about the Jewishness of the family or about the deep religiosity of the grandfather: according to Rybakov’s later recollections, he was the headman in the synagogue and his grandson accompanied him every Saturday to prayer, carrying “with him his prayer book and a bag with a tales." But some hints are still scattered in the text of the story: one of the main attributes of the grandfather is a “shabby frock coat”, in which one can guess rather a lapserdak [Lapserdak - outer long-skirted clothing among Polish and Galician Jews]. In his autobiographical “Novel-Memoir,” Rybakov writes that it was “a greasy frock coat, smelling of iron and drying oil.” But perhaps the most remarkable scene is the departure of the main character, Misha, from Revsk and saying goodbye to his grandparents:
“When the cart turned from Alekseevskaya Street onto Privokzalnaya, Misha looked back and for the last time saw a small wooden house with green shutters and three willows outside the front garden fence. Pieces of shingles and shreds of tow stuck out from under its broken plaster, and in the middle, between two windows, hung a round rusty tin with the inscription: “Phoenix Insurance Company.” 1872."
In fact, Anatoly Aronov (that was his last name back then) would visit Snovsk on vacation at least once, in 1926, and his grandfather and grandmother would move to Moscow in 1929, after re-requisition of their store. However, if we remember what fate befell the Jews who found themselves in the occupied territories during the war, we can see this scene differently. Before us is a farewell to a world that will never be reborn. The sign of the insurance company seems to indicate that this forever disappeared world is old, pre-revolutionary, and the knowledge about the extermination of Jews during the Second World War indicates that this is a world of Jewish shtetls.
“Wooden houses with green shutters” from “Kor-ti-ka” will become “wooden houses with blue shutters” in “Heavy Sand”, but in general a Ukrainian-Jewish city, in which a large railway was located -th station, we will still recognize it. Some fragments of “Heavy Sand”, dedicated to my grandmother and grandfather, will later migrate almost unchanged to the autobiographical “Novel-Memoir”. Recreating the memory of the lost world of Jewish shtetls takes its origins precisely in “Dirk,” which Rybakov began writing immediately after the war.
The story began in 1946, when perpetuating the memory of the dead Jews seemed not only feasible, but also an urgent task. At that time, for example, the “Black Book”, collected on the initiative of Ilya Erenburg and Vasily Grosman, was being prepared for publication; In 1948, when “Dirk” was published, the publication, on the initiative of the Central Committee, had already been suspended for a year, and its collection was scattered. A completely new era of struggle against “rootless cosmolitism” was beginning, and the Jewish theme in literature was banned for a long time.
Gunsmith Terentyev and the struggle for domestic priorities in science and technology
A still from the television film “Dirk”, directed by Nikolai Kalinin. 1973
"Belarusfilm"
Of course, Polikarp Terentyev did not get along with the tsarist regime: “Under Elizaveta Petrovna... [he] fell into disgrace and retired to his estate.” There he devoted all his energy to his strongest hobby - diving: “But all his projects for a diving device and the recovery of some sunken ship were fantastic for that time.”
In the cache left by Terentyev for his descendants, who were destined to live in a technically more advanced future, there were maps indicating the geographical coordinates of sunken ships that once transported money and jewelry - invaluable help to a country impoverished for during the First World War and Civil War.
The figure of Terentyev is the product of an ideological campaign, known in the Soviet press as “the struggle for domestic priorities in science and technology.” Publications in the press, fiction books, films, and finally, school programs on exact and natural sciences starting from 1948-1949, they consistently proved that all any significant scientific and technical inventions were made by Russian scientists and engineers. The hot air balloon, bicycle, steam engine, incandescent lamp, radio, television and airplane - all these inventions were attributed to Russian automobiles. Rybakov’s legend about the dagger and its master continued this series with the first inventor of the “diving device” [What Rybakov understood by “diving device” is not very clear. Maybe this is a diving bell - a device that has been used in Europe since the 17th century to raise sunken objects. Perhaps they meant a submarine made by the Russian peasant Efim Nikonov during the reign of Peter I. The boat, of course, could not sail, but as part of the “struggle for domestic priorities” campaign they wrote about Nikonov ].
The English ship "Black Prince" mentioned in the story sank near Balaklava in November 1854. They tried unsuccessfully to raise it from the bottom of the sea in the 1920s, and this topic caused constant noise in the press. It is possible that, as a schoolboy, Rybakov followed the development of this story. In 1936, Mikhail Zoshchenko wrote an investigative book, “The Black Prince,” in which he argued that there was actually no gold on the ship and tried to reconstruct the circumstances of the disaster. Most likely, Rybakov read this book.
Wreck of the Black Prince in 1854. Painting by Ivan Aivazovsky
the-submarine.ru
However, the history of the Terentyev family and its tragically deceased descendant Vladimir has another obvious example - Veniamin Kaverin’s novel “Two Captains”, published in 1944. Kaverin's hero struggles with an explanation mysterious death expedition that happened back in the imperial period, on the eve of the revolution. The culprit of the tragedy is alive, well known to the hero and is trying to hide the circumstances of his long-standing crime. However, if the expedition of Captain Tatarinov, described by Kaverin, had real historical prototypes (three polar expeditions went to the North Pole in the early 1910s), then the weapons engineer Te - who lived in the mid-18th century Rent-Ev had no historical prototypes: he was Rybakov’s original creation, which very well suited the requirement of the “struggle for domestic priorities” campaign.
Pioneer detachment and youth policy of the 1940s
A still from the television film “Dirk”, directed by Nikolai Kalinin. 1973
"Belarusfilm"
The action of Rybakov's story develops in the early 1920s. Misha Polyakov lives in one of the Arbat houses, where there is a club under the house committee, and a drama club attached to it. But the boys dream of more - to create a pioneer detachment in their home, imitating the first pioneers from Krasnaya Presnya. In the end they succeed.
At first glance, this storyline is connected only with the early, legendary history of the pioneer organization. However, if you look closely at the activities of the club and the pioneer detachment, you can see here the features of the children's and youth policy of the second half of the 1940s.
The resolution of the Komsomol Central Committee of March 13, 1947 “On improving the work of the pioneer organization” reproached local pioneer organizations for the fact that many squads and detachments “copied methods academic work schools" and "limited their work to boring reports and tedious meetings within the school walls." As an alternative, it was proposed to organize “local excursions, read books, children’s newspapers and magazines and discuss what they read,” “arrange sports competitions; in the junior class pioneer units, organize children’s games”, “arrange collective screenings of plays and films and discuss them”; “conduct excursions to museums, organize trips; organize reviews of the work of units and competitions between units,” “hiking and excursions into nature, to interesting historical places.” All these types of joint children's leisure are consistently discovered by Misha Polyakov and his friends.
The resolution of the Komsomol Central Committee stated stagnation and formalism in the work of the pioneer organization, which in the 1940s seemed to many to be inevitable and uninteresting. Rybakov tried to update, refresh this perception and show that things were not always like this and the first pioneers created their organizations not by order from above, but fueled only by their own revolutionary enthusiasm and overcoming numerous difficulties. Turning to the revolutionary romance of the turn of the 1910s-20s turned out to be a very productive plot and thematic move. It will be actively used by literature, theater and cinema of the Thaw, including Rybakov himself in the next two parts of his trilogy about Misha Polyakov and his Arbat friends.
November 12, 2014Many generations of people in childhood read the story by A. N. Rybakov “Dirk” - the first book of the trilogy “Dirk” / “Bronze Bird” / “Shot”. All these books are addressed to youth. The action genre chosen by the writer is quite consistent with this category of readers. The plot of the story is very dynamic, it captivates from the very first minutes of reading. The topic of this article is the summary we compiled for the above-mentioned story.
Rybakov’s “Dirk” immediately after being written in 1948 became a youth hit for many years.
The author of "Dirk" conquered literary heights
What was the previous life path Anatoly Naumovich? The writer Rybakov (Aronov) cannot be denied either courage, business acumen, or human wisdom. Indiscriminately repressed at the age of 22, he was arrested in 1933, allegedly for counter-revolutionary propaganda, and already in 1941, thanks to his energy and determination, he held the position of head of the Ryazan Regional Motor Transport Department. He went through the war from Moscow to Berlin, becoming a major and head of the automobile service of the rifle corps. The banal phrase " Talented man talented in everything” - this is about Rybakov.
Having been demobilized in 1946, Anatoly Naumovich immediately decided to create a story. This article is an attempt to present the reader with a brief summary of it. Rybakov’s “Dirk” (this is the writer’s first work) demonstrated to the general public that a new powerful talent had entered Soviet literature. Even then it was felt that this talent could reach the peaks of the human spirit.
Today, the literary talent of the adamant writer Anatoly Rybakov is not disputed by anyone. His famous tetralogy “Children of the Arbat” and the landmark novel about Jewish origins “Heavy Sand” have forever entered the treasury of world literature.
The courage of talent
Let us recall one more fact from his biography. True talent should not be in awe of strongmen of the world this. Anatoly Naumovich was convinced of this. While working on “Children of the Arbat” (later published in 52 countries), none other than the loyal hymn author Sergei Mikhalkov tried to put a spoke in his wheels: “Are you arguing for Stalin there?”
The answer from Anatoly Rybakov was immediate and comprehensive: “After all, Tolstoy argues for Napoleon!” This man, a former repressed person, at one time survived when they tried to destroy him; he did not hide from the front; did not bow his head later - until the end of his days.
And after the war, the front-line soldier decided to write a story about his pre-war childhood, obviously having first written a brief summary of it in a draft. Rybakov's "Dirk" has a plot and action movie rhythm that is absolutely unusual for Soviet literature, which, in fact, contributed to its popularity among readers and subsequently contributed to the creation of a filmography of the story. After all, Anatoly Naumovich was a creative and energetic person.
Plot plot
The first part of the book introduces us to the atmosphere of the 20s of the last century. It is correct to remind the reader: the action of the story takes place precisely during civil war, which leaves an imprint on the summary. Rybakov’s “Dirk” immediately, from the first scene, introduces us to the main character, the boy Misha Polyakov. This Muscovite (the author of the story is also a Muscovite) is temporarily staying with his grandparents in the provincial town of Revsk. Misha's father died in the tsar's penal servitude, and his mother, who worked from morning until late at night in a textile factory, had a hard time. Her parents took the boy in to feed and look after him.
Misha Polyakov was an active, lively child. The boy got up early on the morning with which the story “Dirk” begins. Summary(A. Rybakov cannot be accused of being tedious) will introduce us to the boy’s plan: to cut off a flap from the camera unnoticed in order to finally make the coveted slingshot for himself.
At the same time, by chance, he sees something that was not intended for his eyes. And this serves as the plot of the story. It’s nice, you see, to feel such dynamism of presentation on the part of the author. At least it's promising. What does Misha see? His grandparents' neighbor, retired sailor Sergei Ivanovich Polevoy, is trying to hide something in an empty doghouse. This “something” turns out to be a triangular officer’s dagger with a bronze snake around the bone handle.
Sailor Polevoy
In fact, times in Revsk were not the calmest: bandits were operating in the area, and the White Guards were trying to break through towards the city. The intrigue of the story “Dirk” takes on new features. The summary (A. Rybakov is distinguished by his skill in escalating the plot) with detective thoroughness will inform us that the leader of the bandits Valery Sigismundovich Nikitsky owns the scabbard of the dagger and strongly wants to get the blade itself.
Obviously, there is some mystery associated with the weapon. In the past, Nikitsky was a naval officer on the same ship with sailor Sergei Polev - the battleship Empress Maria. He killed the previous owner of the dagger, an officer of the same ship. Sailor Polevoy tried to detain the scoundrel, and they got into a fight. However, this duel took place in the context of a battle, and a sudden explosion scattered them in different directions, leaving one with a scabbard, the other with a dagger.
Mysterious dirk
Advancing along with the White Guards on Revsk, Nikitsky and his bandits try to take possession of the dagger, but he fails. Misha leaves for Moscow with his mother. Sailor Polevoy gives him a dagger. The boy hides it in the closet. Before donating, Sergei Ivanovich told him what he knew about the dirk.
Its handle is collapsible, and a plate with an engraved code is hidden inside. The key to this cipher is obviously on the scabbard. Possession of both blade and sheath at the same time - necessary condition to find out. He is clearly revealing some secret, as in mysterious stories the reserved closed door is opened by a password-revocation.
The summary (“Dirk” by Rybakov from now on becomes even more interesting to read) will now take us to Moscow, to a courtyard on the Arbat. There is an apartment where Misha and his mother live. The blade of the dirk, hidden by Misha, found shelter in a secluded place, in the depths of the closet. However, sailor Sergei Ivanovich Polevoy hinted to the boy that the bandit Nikitsky had an orderly, who also served on the same battleship, named Filin. This was a real thread for further search. The boy remembered that a man with the same last name lived in his house. He asked his aunt Agrippina Tikhonovna and found out that Filin had indeed come to Moscow from Revsk.
Also, with the help of cunning, the boy learned about Owl’s service in the navy. His son Borka, nicknamed Zhila (he had been a huckster since childhood, selling cigarettes and candies at the market), managed to interest him in an amateur production of a play about “a sailor’s life.” He brought a ribbon with the inscription “Empress Maria” for props. Thus, Misha’s guesses were justified.
A Tale of Friendship
And the writer certainly managed to portray storylines the main character and his peers: Genka Petrov (the son of a machinist) and Slava Eldarov (the son of the chief engineer of the factory). These were three comrades - no water spilled.
Nevertheless, the writer A. N. Rybakov created a wonderful story - “Dirk”. “As I understand what true friendship is” - essays on this topic were once popular in schools. What are we talking about? Moreover, such an essay could well be written using the friendship of Mishka, Genka and Slavka as a basis. After all, the strongest friendship begins in childhood and carries through life. Such friendship connected the writer with his peers from the Arbat courtyard. It is no coincidence that A. Rybakov introduced autobiographical features in the image of Slavik Eldarov. After all, Anatoly Naumovich’s father, like Slavik’s, was a chief production engineer.
Our remark
Unlike the story by Anatoly Naumovich, our summary is a story. Rybakov’s “Dirk”, of course, describes the plot in more detail, more interestingly, and more broadly. The story contains many successful episodes from the point of view of artistic description, which we are forced to exclude from the narrative. After all, it should, by definition, be short. In particular, we did not include in this article a description of Revsk and the events in it. We kept silent in our story about the unique courtyard atmosphere of Arbat at the beginning of the 20th century and about the organization of the pioneer cell by three comrades: Mishka, Genka and Slavka. All this can be learned only by studying the full content. “Dirk” Rybakov A. N., master artistic word and plot construction, he wrote selflessly. We are sure that after this story you will want to read both “The Bronze Bird” and “The Shot”.
In Moscow. The second and third parts of the story
Let's return to the plot of the first work by A. N. Rybakov. Three comrades managed to track down that Owl was storing some heavy boxes that looked like coffins in a secluded corner of the basement. The leader of the gang, Nikitsky Valery Sigismundovich, once followed here, to the basement of his former orderly. They both then went to a philatelic store. There the old man, his owner, kept the scabbard from the dagger. Their complex design was described by Anatoly Rybakov. Brief retelling(the original work describes the assembly in more detail) what is said in the story about the scabbard can be represented as follows: a rigid connection of fan-shaped opening plates (when folded - the surface of the scabbard), a ring holding them together, and a ball fixing the pointed part.
The boys managed to examine the assembly process carried out by the owner of the stamp shop. To do this, they placed a fake advertising booth right in front of his store window (attaching posters to both sides of the car and placing an observer in the middle). With her help, they saw and heard how one day Owl, having gone to the owner of the shop, discussed with him for a long time some complex mysterious code.
Mastering the Sheath
The guys established that the sheath was passed on by the owner of the shop to Filin and vice versa through Borka Filin (the son of the former orderly).
In the fourth part of the story, the boys hatched a plan to take possession of the sheath by playing on the greed of the young huckster, Borka. While he was carrying the scabbard from the store owner to his father, the guys offered him to buy a wheelbarrow at a bargain price. While they were bargaining, their accomplice, a former homeless guy who had acquired thieving skills in the past, quietly stole Borka's scabbard and then handed it to the boys.
Fifth part. Failed brainstorming and sudden help
The guys started reading books about codes, but things didn’t go well... A brief summary of Rybakov’s story “Dirk” will now outline for us the further logic of their search. It happened by chance that the school director, Alexey Ivanovich, found out about the dagger. The teacher brought the boys who had committed the offense of reading a book about codes in class to him. Alexey Ivanovich, having system knowledge, deciphered the inscription on the blade and sheath. It said that the handle of the blade with a snake served as a mechanical key for some kind of watch that had to be wound. The director realized that the matter was taking a serious turn, so he brought the boys together with the “man from Petrovka,” that is, an NKVD investigator, Comrade Sviridov. The director also discovered in the reference book on information about the battleship "Empress Maria" that the surname of the deceased officer, the owner of the dagger, was Terentyev.
How did the guys search for Terentyev’s family? A brief summary of the story “Dirk” will tell us about this later. A. N. Rybakov tells a fascinating story about the further investigation of the guys. They built a version, suggesting that the deceased officer was familiar with the family of Admiral Podvolotsky, whose granddaughter studied in Misha’s class. The guess was confirmed. The admiral's widow opened the box of letters, which revealed letters from correspondence with Terentyev. She also told the boys that Nikolsky was the brother-in-law (wife’s brother) of the officer Terentyev he killed. As follows from the addresses on the letters, the Terentyev family lived in Pushkino.
Sixth part. Disclosure of the circumstances of the crime
We will continue to present a summary of “Dirk” (Rybakov) in chapters, adhering to their order. The guys arrived in Pushkino, where they found the house in which the mother of the deceased officer, Maria Gavrilovna Terentyeva, lived. However, to their surprise, none other than Mr. Nikolsky came out of his door. The situation took a dangerous turn, because further search threatened them with a collision with an insidious bandit. Misha reported what had happened to Comrade Sviridov. He recommended that the boys not go to Pushkino anymore.
Detention and confrontation
The detained bandit leader, denying the charges brought against him, claimed that he was a completely different person, the suspect’s namesake - Sergei Ivanovich Nikolsky. However, the bandit was confronted by a solid evidence base, collected through the efforts of the boys, which Nikolsky was unaware of. The summary of the story “Dirk” tells us about the decisive role of the confrontation in this case. Rybakov A.N. describes how it was organized by investigator Sviridov. Confrontation between Misha Polyakov and Nikitsky main character told the story about the raid of Valery Sigismundovich’s gang on Revsk and showed the dagger to the investigation. Maria Gavrilovna Terentyeva recognized her son’s weapon, testifying that Nikitsky had tricked himself into entering her house, calling himself a false name.
Revelation
A mysterious clock was found in the house of Maria Gavrilovna. They were ancient, tower-like. The handle of the cutlass with a snake fit perfectly into the watch groove. After turning it, a hiding place opened in the clock. There was a document that Nikitsky was trying to get to: the exact coordinates of the treasures that sank on the dead ships. Among them is the flagship of the Sultan of Crimea Devlet-Girey, whose treasures the criminal was trying to get to.
Conclusion
So you got the summary. “Dagger” Rybakov masterfully composed and laid out a dynamic plot in chapters, completely capturing the reader’s attention in the first part and not letting it go until the very end of reading - until the sixth part of the story. The concept of the work felt potential and depth, which influenced its continuation with the subsequent stories “The Bronze Bird” and “The Shot.”
Many generations of people in childhood read the story by A. N. Rybakov “Dirk” - the first book of the trilogy “Dirk” / “Bronze Bird” / “Shot”. All these books are addressed to youth. The action genre chosen by the writer is quite consistent with this category of readers. The plot of the story is very dynamic, it captivates from the very first minutes of reading. The topic of this article is the summary we compiled for the above-mentioned story.
Rybakov’s “Dirk” immediately after being written in 1948 became a youth hit for many years.
The author of "Dirk" conquered literary heights
What was the previous life path of Anatoly Naumovich? The writer Rybakov (Aronov) cannot be denied either courage, business acumen, or human wisdom. Indiscriminately repressed at the age of 22, he was arrested in 1933, allegedly for counter-revolutionary propaganda, and already in 1941, thanks to his energy and determination, he held the position of head of the Ryazan Regional Motor Transport Department. He went through the war from Moscow to Berlin, becoming a major and head of the automobile service of the rifle corps. The banal phrase “A talented person is talented in everything” is about Rybakov.
Having been demobilized in 1946, Anatoly Naumovich immediately decided to create a story. This article is an attempt to present the reader with a brief summary of it. Rybakov’s “Dirk” (this is the writer’s first work) demonstrated to the general public that a new powerful talent had entered Soviet literature. Even then it was felt that this talent could reach the peaks of the human spirit.
Today, the literary talent of the adamant writer Anatoly Rybakov is not disputed by anyone. His famous tetralogy “Children of the Arbat” and the landmark novel about Jewish origins “Heavy Sand” have forever entered the treasury of world literature.
The courage of talent
Let us recall one more fact from his biography. True talent should not tremble before the powers that be. Anatoly Naumovich was convinced of this. While working on “Children of the Arbat” (later published in 52 countries), none other than the loyal hymn author Sergei Mikhalkov tried to put a spoke in his wheels: “Are you arguing for Stalin there?”
The answer from Anatoly Rybakov was immediate and comprehensive: “After all, Tolstoy argues for Napoleon!” This man, a former repressed person, at one time survived when they tried to destroy him; he did not hide from the front; did not bow his head later - until the end of his days.
And after the war, the front-line soldier decided to write a story about his pre-war childhood, obviously having first written a brief summary of it in a draft. Rybakov's "Dirk" has a plot and action movie rhythm that is absolutely unusual for Soviet literature, which, in fact, contributed to its popularity among readers and subsequently contributed to the creation of a filmography of the story. After all, Anatoly Naumovich was a creative and energetic person.
Plot plot
The first part of the book introduces us to the atmosphere of the 20s of the last century. It is correct to remind the reader: the action of the story takes place precisely during the Civil War, which leaves an imprint on the summary. Rybakov’s “Dirk” immediately, from the first scene, introduces us to the main character, the boy Misha Polyakov. This Muscovite (the author of the story is also a Muscovite) is temporarily staying with his grandparents in the provincial town of Revsk. Misha's father died in the tsar's penal servitude, and his mother, who worked from morning until late at night in a textile factory, had a hard time. Her parents took the boy in to feed and look after him.
Misha Polyakov was an active, lively child. The boy got up early on the morning with which the story “Dirk” begins. A brief summary (A. Rybakov cannot be accused of being tedious) will acquaint us with the boy’s plan: to cut off a flap from the camera unnoticed in order to finally make for himself the coveted slingshot.
At the same time, by chance, he sees something that was not intended for his eyes. And this serves as the plot of the story. It’s nice, you see, to feel such dynamism of presentation on the part of the author. At least it's promising. What does Misha see? His grandparents' neighbor, retired sailor Sergei Ivanovich Polevoy, is trying to hide something in an empty doghouse. This “something” turns out to be a triangular officer’s dagger with a bronze snake around the bone handle.
Sailor Polevoy
In fact, times in Revsk were not the calmest: bandits were operating in the area, and the White Guards were trying to break through towards the city. The intrigue of the story “Dirk” takes on new features. The summary (A. Rybakov is distinguished by his skill in escalating the plot) with detective thoroughness will inform us that the leader of the bandits Valery Sigismundovich Nikitsky owns the scabbard of the dagger and strongly wants to get the blade itself.
Obviously, there is some mystery associated with the weapon. In the past, Nikitsky was a naval officer on the same ship with sailor Sergei Polev - the battleship Empress Maria. He killed the previous owner of the dagger, an officer of the same ship. Sailor Polevoy tried to detain the scoundrel, and they got into a fight. However, this duel took place in the context of a battle, and a sudden explosion scattered them in different directions, leaving one with a scabbard, the other with a dagger.
Mysterious dirk
Advancing along with the White Guards on Revsk, Nikitsky and his bandits try to take possession of the dagger, but he fails. Misha leaves for Moscow with his mother. Sailor Polevoy gives him a dagger. The boy hides it in the closet. Before donating, Sergei Ivanovich told him what he knew about the dirk.
Its handle is collapsible, and a plate with an engraved code is hidden inside. The key to this cipher is obviously on the scabbard. Owning both the blade and the sheath at the same time is a necessary condition to recognize it. He clearly reveals some kind of secret, just as in mysterious stories a secret closed door is opened by a password-revocation.
The summary (“Dirk” by Rybakov from now on becomes even more interesting to read) will now take us to Moscow, to a courtyard on the Arbat. There is an apartment where Misha and his mother live. The blade of the dirk, hidden by Misha, found shelter in a secluded place, in the depths of the closet. However, sailor Sergei Ivanovich Polevoy hinted to the boy that the bandit Nikitsky had an orderly, who also served on the same battleship, named Filin. This was a real thread for further search. The boy remembered that a man with the same last name lived in his house. He asked his aunt Agrippina Tikhonovna and found out that Filin had indeed come to Moscow from Revsk.
Also, with the help of cunning, the boy learned about Owl’s service in the navy. His son Borka, nicknamed Zhila (he had been a huckster since childhood, selling cigarettes and candies at the market), managed to interest him in an amateur production of a play about “a sailor’s life.” He brought a ribbon with the inscription “Empress Maria” for props. Thus, Misha’s guesses were justified.
A Tale of Friendship
And the writer certainly managed to depict the storylines of the main character and his peers: Genka Petrov (the son of a machinist) and Slava Eldarov (the son of the chief engineer of the factory). These were three comrades - no water spilled.
Nevertheless, the writer A. N. Rybakov created a wonderful story - “Dirk”. “As I understand what true friendship is” - essays on this topic were once popular in schools. What are we talking about? Moreover, such an essay could well be written using the friendship of Mishka, Genka and Slavka as a basis. After all, the strongest friendship begins in childhood and carries through life. Such friendship connected the writer with his peers from the Arbat courtyard. It is no coincidence that A. Rybakov introduced autobiographical features in the image of Slavik Eldarov. After all, Anatoly Naumovich’s father, like Slavik’s, was a chief production engineer.
IN Soviet time Some of the most popular and beloved detective youth feature television films were “Dirk”, “The Bronze Bird” and “The Last Summer of Childhood”. They were based on the books of Anatoly Rybakov, an outstanding Russian writer and prose writer. Let us dwell on the story “Dirk”, or rather, on its brief content, so that Once again remember the events that those simple Moscow Arbat boys who lived in the difficult and troubled post-revolutionary times had to endure.
Rybakov. "Dirk". Summary
The first part of the book describes the atmosphere of the 20s. The main character is an ordinary boy Misha Polyakov, who temporarily moved to the provincial town of Revsk to spend some time with his grandparents. His father died, unable to withstand the hard work in the tsarist penal servitude, and his mother worked hard in a textile factory from morning to evening. That is why her parents periodically took the boy Misha to their place in order to better look after him.
Summary “Dirk” begins its development from the moment when one day, going out into the yard early in the morning, Misha Polyakov decided to secretly cut out an elastic band from the old man Semyon in order to make himself a slingshot, which he had dreamed of for so long. And then, completely by chance, he draws attention to the fact that their neighbor, sailor Sergei Ivanovich Polyakov, very quickly hid something in an old
Plot twist
The boy waited a little while the neighbor left to check his hiding place and find out what valuable things he hid there. Mishka put his hand in and felt a soft package, unwrapping it, he saw a shiny officer's triangular dirk, the handle of which was entwined with a bronze snake. Having carefully examined the thing, he hid it back. And here the summary of “Dirk” gets exciting intrigue.
In those days, bandits of various stripes were operating in Revsk, and the White Guards could break through at any moment. Returning home for dinner, Mishka hears that his relatives are talking about some Valery Sigismundovich Nikitsky, a former retired white officer who led a large gang.
And in the evening, Misha met with Polevoy, who told him about the battleship Empress Maria, on which he once served. The next day, the restless boy wanted to take a closer look at the hidden dagger. He pulled it out of its hiding place, when suddenly two wood splitters appeared in the yard, preventing him from putting this bladed weapon back in place. They began to behave very suspiciously and for some reason were interested in Polevoy. Misha had to hide the dirk at home, and then he went for a walk around the city with his best friend Genka.
When he returned home some time later, he saw how Nikitsky’s people tied up Polevoy and began to demand a dagger. The boy quickly realized, he instantly pulled out the cutlass he had hidden and handed it to Polevoy, and he rushed at the feet of one of the bandits, thereby saving his neighbor, who managed to escape from his pursuers. The summary of the story “Dirk” is increasingly confusing, which the boys will soon have to find out.
History of the dirk
In fact, a very interesting and dangerous story was connected with the dagger. On the ship “Empress Maria” Polevoy served together with the White Guard Nikitsky. And one day he became an unwitting witness to Nikitsky’s murder of officer Vladimir, the former owner of the mysterious dagger. Polevoy wanted to detain him, but during the fight the ship exploded and the scabbard remained with the killer, and the dirk itself remained with Polevoy. The summary of the book “Dirk” continues with another unexpected event.
Return to Moscow
As a result, Polevoy gives the dirk to Misha for safekeeping and tells him that this precious thing has some kind of code, and that the keys to it are in the sheath. By taking possession of these two things at the same time, you can open a secret hiding place. He also reminds that Nikitsky's orderly Filin may know the truth related to the dagger.
Soon, Misha’s mother comes for Misha and takes him back to Moscow. He also encourages Genka to go there, who wanted to go to his aunt Agrippina Tikhonovna. Mishka never forgot about his secret, and together with Genka they began their own investigation. They soon found out that Mishka’s neighbor in his Moscow apartment was a warehouse manager named Filin.
Owl
And so the summary of “Dirk” gradually begins to bring the reader closer to the solution. Soon their friend Slava joined the guys. After asking Aunt Agrippina, who also lived next door, they found out that Owl had actually once served in the navy. The boys began to follow him and one day overheard his conversation with a philatelist from a trading store. The two were talking about some kind of code. The guys also established that the scabbard from the shop should be delivered to his father by Owl Owl's son Borka. And then they arranged everything so cunningly that they managed to steal the package with the sheath from this poor fellow.
Terentyev
Now the guys just have to solve the mystery. They involved the school director Alexei Ivanovich in this case, who unraveled the inscription that said that the dirk was a mechanical key for winding some kind of watch. They also learn the name of the former owner, he was a certain Vladimir Terentyev. The guys, continuing their investigation, begin to look for his family. Realizing that the matter is dangerous, the director informs his friend from the NKVD Sviridov.
Their joint search leads to the mother of the murdered man, Maria Gavrilovna Terentyeva, who lived in Pushkino near Moscow. The guys began to watch the house, when suddenly they saw that none other than Nikitsky himself came out of her house. Under a false name, he insinuated himself into the trust of the mother of the officer Terentyev he killed. And here is the summary of “Dirk” coming to its denouement.
Main roundabout
The guys immediately notified Sviridov about this, who immediately launched a raid and arrested the bandit, who, after much excuses, surrendered to the authorities in a confrontation with Misha.
Terentyev's mother recognized her son's dirk and pointed to a large antique clock. After several turns of the handle, a cache opened in the clock, which contained secret papers with the exact coordinates on which ancient treasures were transported.
Nikitsky himself was interested in the ship of the Crimean Khan Davlet-Girey with gold, which sank in Balaklava Bay.
As a result, this list was sent to the Sudopodjem organization, where Polevoy himself actually worked. And Mishka, Genka and Slavka were soon solemnly accepted into the Komsomol.
The writer Anatoly Rybakov “Dirk” famously spun it. A summary cannot convey the fullness of the colors of the events that took place and their action, so it is still more interesting to read this work in the original.