V. P. Astafiev wrote his works "Vasyutkino Lake" in 1952. A summary of the story will help you get to know this interesting story in 15 minutes. The biography of the writer will allow you to learn about his difficult but interesting fate.
The story "Vasyutkino Lake" belongs to the Soviet writer Viktor Petrovich Astafiev. The work tells about the boy Vasyutka. It describes in detail the taiga in the Yenisei region, the work of fishermen. The writer himself comes from those places, so he knew about all this from childhood.
Biography of V. P. Astafiev
Victor Astafiev was born in 1924 in the Yenisei province in the village of Ovsyanka. He had a centenarian great-grandfather who owned a mill. Because of this, the old man and his family were dispossessed by the Soviet regime and exiled to Siberia. On the way, the head of the family died. His shrewd son, even before the dispossession of kulaks, managed to resettle Peter (the father of the future writer), so he saved this part of the family.
But Peter Astafiev was a frivolous drinker. It was his fault that an accident occurred at the mill. And since by this time she had already been taken away, she belonged to the collective farm, the man was convicted and exiled to the camp.
Even before that, his wife had been forced to work for two, and after the arrest of her husband, she also began to visit him periodically in the camp. On one of these trips, a woman drowned in the Yenisei, as the boat capsized. So Victor was left alone, because he had no brothers and sisters, they died in infancy.
After 5 years, after serving his sentence, Peter Astafiev returned to the village. Soon he married, but the stepmother did not replace the boy's mother. She did not have a good relationship with him, and the child was sent to a boarding school for orphans.
While still in school, he began to write. When an essay was given in high school, he came up with a story that, after the war, formed the basis for the work "Vasyutkino Lake". But first things first.
Hard years
The war began. By this time, the young man had already left the boarding school, graduating from school, and then from the railway school. He worked as a coupler.
Like other workers of the railway, Astafyev received a reservation. Once a train from Leningrad was brought to their station. Victor was amazed by what he saw - these were carriages with the bodies of Leningraders, because almost all of them died on the way. Astafyev, shaken to the core, decided to volunteer for the front.
Previously, the war was written about as something heroic and even interesting. Once there, Viktor Petrovich realized that this was not so. Later describing the war, he argued that it was pain, fear and horror.
Victor was sent to the reserve regiment. The conditions here were terrible - in winter the barracks were not heated, the children were fed very poorly, there was practically no treatment, as well as military training. Therefore, many emaciated and still "unfired" soldiers from his regiment died in their first battle.
Viktor Petrovich wrote the novel "Cursed and Killed" in 1993, in which he outlined the events of those years.
A family
After the war, Astafyev demobilized and left for the Urals. He married Maria Koryakina, who also became a writer. In a marriage that lasted 55 years, the couple had two daughters and a son, but one of the babies died in infancy. The couple also raised two adopted girls. Victor Petrovich Astafiev died in 2001. He was buried in his homeland near the village of Ovsyanka.
People still remember and honor this popular writer. In his village there is a library named after Viktor Petrovich, there is a house-museum of the writer. The school curriculum includes many works by Astafiev, including "Vasyutkino Lake". This bright story allows you to fall in love with Russian nature even more, to learn compassion and resourcefulness.
"Vasyutkino lake" - summary
This story introduces the reader to a 13-year-old Vasyutka boy. Together with his parents, grandfather and friends of his father, he went to the banks of the Yenisei. Adult men were supposed to fish here, but the weather failed. It got colder, it started raining, and the catch became scanty. Vasyutka's father was a foreman and urged everyone to go down the Yenisei to wait there for the autumn season.
The fishermen loaded their belongings into boats and began to ferry to another place. Here everyone settled in a hut, which stood on the banks of the Yenisei. Besides Vasyutka, there were no more children there. So the bored boy began to entertain himself. Every day he went to the nearest forest for cedar cones, then treated adults with them.
When there were practically no such natural trophies left near the hut, the boy decided to explore distant places. He wanted to go straight ahead, but his mother insisted that his son take bread and matches with him. The main character obeyed the parent, and then hit the road.
Further, the plot of the story takes the reader to taiga places. Viktor Petrovich describes them competently. Having typed cones, the boy saw the wood grouse. Taking aim, Vasyutka shot at the bird. At first, the wounded capercaillie did not give up and tried to fly away, but then fell to the ground. Taking this trophy, the guy wanted to go home, but realized that he was lost.
He began to look for notches in the trees that would help him find the right path, but did not find them. Then the main character of the story "Vasyutkino Lake" tried to go out to the Yenisei, because there must be people near the river. But this also failed. Vasily realized that he would have to spend the night in the taiga and did the right thing. First he lit a fire, then he shook off the smoldering logs, put his trophy in the form of a bird on the hot soil, and covered it with burning coals from above. After supper, the child removed the remnants of food, scooped up the coals and lay down on a warm place of the fireplace, having previously put soft moss here.
Having learned these details, the reader will have an idea of how to behave in such an extreme situation in the forest.
The next day Vasyutka again failed to go out to the people. But he periodically shot ducks, baked them, so he had food. So the child spent several days and only on the fifth came out to the lake. It was amazing, like in a fairy tale. There were a lot of fish in this reservoir. Vasyutka correctly decided that the lake should be connected to the river. So he found the Yenisei, and the passing ship took the child to his parents.
The guy told the fishermen about the wonderful lake, which was then named after him. After 2 days, Vasily brought them to this reservoir. The brigade has settled here. It was decided to put up a hut and fish in this wonderful place.
Here is such an interesting story competently written by Viktor Petrovich Astafiev. Of course, many would like to find this wonderful lake, to visit there. But the writer, at the beginning of the story, warns that he cannot be found on the map, although there are many similar in this area. And the artistic word of Viktor Petrovich helps to mentally move to this wonderful natural land and visit there without leaving home.
The main character of the story
Of course, this is Vasyutka. The brave boy did not despair when he found himself in a difficult situation. He did the very right thing, remembering the morality of his parents and fishermen. Seniors often talk about various cases, about how to behave in an emergency. Therefore, Vasya took the most necessary things with him:
- bread;
- gun;
- matches.
These items allowed him not to starve, not to freeze. He knew that the leftovers of food should be hung on a tree at night so that they would not be eaten by animals.
In this story, Vasily's father is Shadrin Grigory Afanasyevich. This man is smart, businesslike, reliable. Surely, creating this fabulous work, Astafyev meant himself by the image of Vasyutka and wanted him to have such a father. The child dreamed of a full-fledged family. After all, the story also features mother and grandfather.
Despite the difficult fate, Viktor Petrovich Astafiev was able to become a respected person, he loved nature and was able to create many wonderful works.
