P.P. Bazhov, "The Malachite Box": the title, the plot, the images

Perhaps, one of the most "fabulous" and magical Russian writers - P.P. Bazhov. "Malachite box" is a book that everyone knows: from very young children to serious researchers-literary critics. And it is not surprising, because there is everything: from the fascinating plot and subtly prescribed images to unobtrusive morality and a lot of allusions and reminiscences.

Biography

A Russian Soviet writer, a well-known folklorist, a man who was one of the first to treat Uralic tales - all this Pavel Petrovich Bazhov. "Malachite box" was just the result of this literary processing. He was born in 1879 in Polevskoy, in the family of a mountain master. He graduated from the factory school, studied in the seminary, was a teacher of the Russian language, traveled the Urals. These trips were intended to collect folklore, which would subsequently form the basis of all his works. The first book of Bazhov was called "The Urals were" and was published in 1924. At about the same time, the writer got a job in the Peasants' newspaper and began to publish in a variety of magazines. In 1936 in the magazine was printed the tale "The Maid of Azovka", signed by the surname "Bazhov". "Malachite Box" first saw the light in 1939 and was subsequently reprinted several times, constantly replenished with new stories. In 1950, the writer P.P. Bazhov.

"Malachite Box": the poetics of the title

The unusual headline of the work is explained quite simply: a casket made of fine Ural stone, filled with wonderful ornaments from gems, gives to his beloved Nastenka the central character of the story, the ore-bearing Stepan. He, in turn, receives this box not from anyone, but from Mistress Copper Mountain. What is the hidden meaning hidden in this gift? The casket, finely worked from a green stone, gently transferred from generation to generation, symbolizes the hard work of miners, the delicate craftsmanship of cutters and stone cutters. Simple people, masters of mining, workers - they make their heroes Bazhov. "Malachite box" is named so also because each story of the writer resembles a thinly faceted, iridescent, shining precious stone.

P.P. Bazhov, Malachite Box: a brief summary

After Stepan's death, the casket continues to be kept by Nastasya, but the woman is not in a hurry to flaunt in the ornaments presented, feeling that they are not meant for her. But her youngest daughter, Tanyusha, is sticking to the contents of the casket with all her heart: the decorations seem to have been worked out especially for her. The girl grows up and earns a living by embroidery with beads and silk. The rumor of her art and beauty goes far beyond her native places: the baron Turchaninov himself wants to marry Tanya. The girl agrees, provided that he will take her to St. Petersburg and show the malachite chamber in the palace. Once there, Tanyusha leans against the wall and disappears without a trace. The image of the girl in the text becomes one of the personifications of the Mistress of Copper Mountain, an archetypal keeper of precious rocks and stones.