The story "The Alpine Ballad": a summary and analysis of the work

Today in this article we will talk about one famous story about the love of two prisoners of war and provide its brief content. The Bykova "Alpine ballad" is a famous work of the author, telling us about the present, deep feeling, which does not choose the time and conditions for its appearance.

The action takes place in the middle of the Second World War, in Austria, in the camp of prisoners of war near the Lahtali Alps.

At night there was another bombing, after which in the morning five prisoners of war were found in the dilapidated shop of the plant, an unexploded bomb. Replacing the damaged fuse in it, they began to decide who would beat the striker. Throwing the lot, it fell to die a consumptive prisoner (heftling), but he did not have the exact blow of strength, and then took the sledgehammer Ivan Tereshka (the main character). Suddenly, the German officer approached the group (mostly Germans from the prisoners, who neutralized the unexploded ordnance, stayed away). He called Tereshka and ordered him to clean his dirty boots.

The escape

Near the prisoners were working women. Suddenly, Ivan caught on himself the contemptuous glance of one of them, about which the story "The Alpine Ballad" continues. The summary can hardly be accurately conveyed, as from this view felt Tereshka at this moment. This look in his soul like splashed the boiling water with a piercing pain of reproach. At that moment, the last thing that allowed itself to be controlled, it suddenly broke off. He jumped abruptly from his knees, after which the German struck his jaw. He grabbed the gun, but suddenly an explosion occurred, and the shop became invisible in a cloud of dust. Ivan snatched the weapon from the officer's hands and ran swiftly. Miraculously not hitting the funnel, he jumped over the fence, spiked with iron peaks, and found himself on a potato field.

A little further there was a real thick forest, only to reach him Tereshka did not have time, because it overtook the dogs. But he shot one of them. The gun jammed on the second shot. The dog jumped, but the man managed to grab him by the collar and break the ridge. Everything, the path to the forest was free.

Acquaintance with Julia

Once in the forest, Tereshka suddenly discovered that someone was following him. It was a young, very tiny black-eyed girl, Italian Julia. In addition to her, Ivan in the distance saw heftling. But Tereshka did not need escorts, it was much easier for him to escape alone, only he could not leave the girl, because she was too careless and naive, as discussed later in the story "The Alpine Ballad." Its brief content will tell you more about it.

Even though the weak girl followed, Ivan did not slow down. Only now, climbing a steep slope up through fallen trees and stones, he noticed that he had been bitten by a dog. And also that after the explosion he lost klumpes (wooden pads), which served as captive shoes, and now through the wilds he made his way barefoot. The chase suddenly lagged behind, and Tereshka heard behind his back only the tapping of the pads of his persistent companion.

Ivan's Dream

Next, the "Alpine Ballad" (a brief summary we are considering in this publication) tells us that a rainy and cold night of fugitives was caught in a stony canyon overgrown with crooked pine. It was very difficult to make their way through the Lahtal Alps, although the mountains were an excellent obstacle between German motorcyclists and fugitives. Ivan, who fell asleep under an overhanging rock, dreamed of a recurring dream. In it, he was captured again and again. It happened in a village located near Kharkov, when his unit was surrounded. Then Tereshku was wounded with a bayonet, and he woke up only in captivity.

Morning in the forest

In the morning, Julia woke Ivan, as described later in the story "The Alpine Ballad" (a brief summary of the book is presented to you in this article). They could explain themselves in a mixture of German and Russian. A few German words a man learned in Germany, a girl to speak a little Russian taught her friend, also a prisoner. Tereshka had a plan: to cross the Alps and reach Trieste. There, according to rumors, there were detachments of resistance. Here, the main thing was not to fall into the hands of the fascists again, not to let them hang themselves on a silk black boa constrictor for a drumbeat.

Of course, it can not convey the emotions and feelings that arise when reading a book, its brief content. The Bykova "Alpine Ballad" is filled with despair, hope, faith and an amazing strength of spirit.

Coming out of the gorge, they fell into a pine thick forest, in which they met an Austrian, a local resident. Threatening him with a pistol, Tereshka took from him a loaf of bread and a leather jacket. The man was poorly dressed and elderly. Ivan absolutely did not want to become a robber, but he had no other choice, because in order to cross the mountains, he needed clothes and food. Far away, Tereshka saw a manor in which, evidently, this Austrian lived.

Meeting with heftling

Further in the story "The Alpine Ballad", the content of which we are considering, it is said that the prisoners ran away from the place of meeting with the Austrian and climbed into the crevasse, overgrown with rhododendrons, in order to have a snack. Suddenly, they heard the sound of shots. Ivan, looking out of the crevice, discovered the heftling, who was following Julia. The one from the estate ran in their direction, the Germans were beating it with machine guns. After the prisoner disappeared behind the rock, shots also stopped. Ivan from this place hurried to leave as far as possible.

At this point, the story "The Alpine Ballad" takes us to the past, where it is said that Ivan escaped from captivity for the first time. At the last run their company was able to reach Ukraine. Caught near some village, the fugitives sent Tereshka for provisions. But the Germans saw him. Despite the fact that Ivan managed to hide in the hut on the way, hiding there under the stove, the policeman "smoked" him out of the shelter. He decided to set this house on fire, because of which the fugitive was betrayed by the master's spouse. He did not have anger at this woman, but he wanted to shoot the traitor-policeman.

Having got out on a bare slope from a crevice, Ivan has unexpectedly found out, that that гефтлинг which the Italian named madman, still is alive. He followed them, demanding food. He had to share a piece of precious bread, as Tereshka was afraid that they would be given away by this terrible geftling. Ivan, of course, understood that he must be killed, but only the insane was completely defenseless, so the man did not raise his hand. About this he then very bitterly regretted.

Bykov, "The Alpine Ballad" (short summary): Julia

They on the slope found a path and went along it. It was very cold, camp clothes did not warm them at all. Julia told Ivan about herself on the way. As it turned out, she grew up in a very rich family. Falling in love with the communist, she threw everything for him. The girl considered the USSR a fantastic country in which everyone is happy and equal. Ivan decided not to convince her, without telling how life is really hard there.

In the evening it began to snow. Tereshka stubbornly walked forward, he wanted to pass as quickly as possible the mountain range, only Julia ran out of strength. And again he could not leave this defenseless girl. He put it on his shoulders and walked along the slippery narrow path. Only in the morning they crossed the pass and ended up in the meadow zone.

Ivan still did not have a beloved girl yet. After his father died of hunger, he had to raise his family. Of course, then it was not until love. The only example of such a relationship for him was the love between a young nurse and a senior lieutenant (he had Ivan as an orderly). The feelings of this couple were serious and strong, but after the young man died, she quickly switched to another. After that, Ivan seemed to the girl to be treacherous and unstable. He decided for himself that love is not for him. This is stated in the story "The Alpine Ballad." Analysis of the work gives us to understand how much he feared deep affection and how passionately she wished for it.

Ivan's story about himself

On an amazing alpine meadow, in which were the fugitives, a huge amount of strawberries grew. In the story "The Alpine Ballad" the author tells that for the first time in a long time Julia and Ivan were able to eat. The man tried to tell the girl the truth about life in the USSR, but she took offense at him, locked in herself. It should be noted that she did not want to lose her illusions, it was all she had left. She considered Tereshka a hero, but Ivan himself had a different opinion. He thought that he needed to commit suicide instead of being captured by the Germans. His country, he also considered fair, this and tried to explain to the girl. In the Belarusian villages, famine was a temporary phenomenon for him, while depression was a completely random error.

Love of Ivan and Julia

Then you can read about the sudden flare-up feeling in the story "The Alpine Ballad." Analysis of the love between Julia and Ivan says that it arose unexpectedly and captured them without any residue. In these terrible conditions, in deprivation, left alone with only hope, the young people were able to awaken in their hearts a real deep feeling, which they had never experienced before. Something secondary, unsaid, keeping them all the time at a distance, was unexpectedly happily experienced, overcome. Among the primordial nature of the surrounding mountains, in a step from terrible death, a powerful, mysterious and unexplored one was born, it craved, lived, called and frightened. Lovers in the meadow spent a day, it was all that they measured out in this life.

"Alpine ballad", heroes: geftling

They are again overtaken by a crazy heftling. He had to give more bread. Ivan again began to bleed the wound, did not heal a ragged dog bite. Geftling for a time disappeared, but a day later appeared again, no longer alone. With himself he led the Germans, saying that they would give the Russians a lot of bread. The fascists spread a narrow chain across the meadow, and the young people again had to flee.

Blood poisoning

She let her know about herself, and Tereshka could not escape anymore, he moved only by leaps, dragging his swollen and heavy leg behind him, as he says in his book The Alpine Ballad of the Bykov. Analysis of the work gives us to understand how valuable, selfless and rare is true love. Ivan knew that he had begun to get blood from the wound. The fugitives tried to get as high as possible, where German bullets could not reach them. Julia crawled to the edge of the stubble-covered talus and dragged Ivan along with him. Then I had to make my way through the prickly thickets. They had to reach the saddle. Fascists overtook, and Tereshka began to shoot. Julia asked all the cartridges not to spend, leave at least 2: for him and for himself.

Breaking through the stilt, the lovers reached the saddle. Here they saw that the pursuit was behind, as if the Germans had decided to let them go. Ivan did not hurry to rejoice. The Germans fell behind only because the young people fled into the trap themselves. The gorge, where they ended up, ended in an abyss. The fugitives were already at the edge when the Nazis sent down their dogs. Here Ivan saw on the slope far below a snowdrift. He scraped the girl in an armful and threw it to the snow with all his might. I myself could not jump, my leg hurt. Dogs attacked him.

Instead of an epilogue

Many years later, Ivan's relatives received a letter from Julia Novelli, an Italian communist. It was then picked up by the partisans, rescued and warmed. During the war, the girl joined them, after which she began to serve in the Union for Peace. She raised a son named Giovanni, who was already 18. The woman insisted that the boy learn the Russian language, the language of his father. She herself did not forget for a moment her beloved.