Summary of the work of Taras Bulba. N.V

Taras Bulba meets his sons, who studied in the Kyiv bursa and have now arrived home. These are two hefty fellows, strong and healthy. Taras chuckles at the clothes of his sons; those, not expecting such a reception from their father, stand embarrassed. The eldest son, offended by his father's words, starts beating Taras, who answers. The mother stops them both. The father hugs his sons.

Mother can't get enough of her favorites, and Taras says that this week she will send both of them to Zaporozhye, where they will go through a real school of life. Everyone enters the room, sit down to drink and eat.

After another glass, Taras begins to rage, breaks pots and flasks and decides that they will go to Zaporozhye tomorrow. After all, he is a Cossack, he wants freedom, but here, at home, he has nothing to do. The wife, accustomed to such antics of her husband, stands aside and thinks about the imminent separation from her sons.

Taras goes to give orders for getting ready for the journey, then, together with his sons, goes to sleep in the yard. Following Bulba, everyone falls asleep, except for his wife. She lies near her sons and cries because of the imminent separation from them. She secretly hopes that Bulba, when he wakes up, will postpone the day of departure. But in the morning Bulba immediately begins to get ready for the road.

The poor old woman has no choice but to help him. When everyone has gathered, Taras sits down on the path. The mother hugs her sons, cries, clings to the saddle of the youngest and does not want to let go. The Cossacks take her home. The sons hold back their tears, fearing the wrath of their father.

Everyone drives in silence. Taras imagines how he will come with his sons to the Sich. They are thinking about something else. Both were sent to the bursa at the age of twelve. The eldest, Ostap, at first did not want to study, ran away, but then calmed down when his father promised to lock him up in a monastery.

Soon Ostap became the best in the academy. But this did not break his stubborn character: he loved war and revels. The youngest, Andriy, studied easily. He was more inventive than his brother, seething with a thirst for achievement, loved women, and now yearns for one Polish woman whom he fell in love with in Kyiv.

Meanwhile, Taras comes out of his reverie and offers to stop smoking. Then they go further. Everywhere only the steppe. Only three days later, the Cossacks feel the proximity of the Dnieper.

They dismount from their horses and board the ferry. Finally they arrive at the Sich. “Crowds of people were scattered over a space of five versts. They gathered in small heaps." The Cossacks reach the square where the Rada gathers. Taras soon sees familiar faces, greetings begin.

Taras has been living with his sons in the Sich for about a week now. Ostap and Andriy do little about military affairs, since in the Sich young people are mainly brought up by experience, not theory.

The Cossacks give all their free time to the revelry. And the brothers plunge headlong into revelry.

Meanwhile, Bulba is thinking about how to start some business, for example, go to the Turks or Tatars, but he is told that a non-aggression pact has been signed. Then Taras arranges a feast, for which they gather foremen and kuren chieftains.

When they drink well, they go to the square and invite the people to war. But the Koschevoi proposes not to go to war, since the Cossacks promised peace, but “to let some young people go with the canoes.

Let the shores of Anatolia scratch a little.” They decide that they will send several young men under the guidance of experienced warriors. Fees begin.

At this time, a ferry approaches the shore, on which there are ragged and tortured people. One of them says that the Jews do not give life in the Hetmanate, Catholicism wants Christians to renounce their faith. Koshevoy asks why they did not take up the sabers.

They answer him that there are too many Jews, and the colonels and the hetman have been killed. The Sich gathers in the square, they decide to go to Poland, since it is from there that all lawlessness comes. Bulba is pleased with the circumstances: opportunities for exploits are opening up.

Soon the entire south-west of Poland was captured by the Cossacks. Only the city of Dubna does not give up. The Cossacks decide to take the city at all costs. But two weeks later, everything remains the same. Everyone is impatient, including Ostap and Andriy, who have now gained experience in military affairs.

Once Andriy was sitting in the evening under the walls of the city, when a woman approached him. Looking closer. Andriy recognized her as a Tatar, a panna's maid, whom he had been in love with back in Kyiv.

The maid says that the panna is in the city, she has not eaten for several days. She asks Andriy for help, as she is sure that he will not betray her. Andriy finds food and goes with her through the underground passage to the city.

Here he sees terrible pictures of hunger: a dead woman with a baby who is still alive and looking for mother's milk; the withered body of a hanged man who could not endure suffering.

Finally, Andriy meets his beloved, who seems to him even more beautiful. Panna asks Andriy for help, as she is sure that he will not betray her. He says he is ready to die for her. A Tatar woman comes and reports that the Poles have entered the city, brought food and captured Cossacks.

The Poles were able to get into the city, because the Cossacks of Pereyaslavsky kuren were drunk. Many were killed, others were taken prisoner.

The Jew Yankel tells Taras Bulba that Andriy is among the Poles and should marry the pan's daughter. Bulba does not believe at first, but then, remembering the character of Andriy, his penchant for female beauty, he realizes that this is true. Taras is angry and wants to kill his son.

The battle between the Cossacks and the Poles begins. One of the chieftains is killed, and Ostap avenges him. The fearless Ostap is chosen as chieftain. Taras thinks why Andriy was not in the battle: maybe he is ashamed, like Judas, or maybe the Jew lied after all? Bulba imagines how he will cruelly take revenge on the lady for Andriy.

The news comes to the Cossacks that while they are on a campaign, the Tatars attacked the Sich, seized wealth and took many prisoners.

Cossacks on the council decide to go in pursuit of the Tatars. Taras Bulba objects. He says that the Cossacks forgot about their comrades who were captured by the Poles. One of the oldest Cossacks, Kasyan Vondyug, says that someone should follow the Tatars, and someone should stay here, near Dubna, to try to free their comrades.

Upon learning that half of the Cossacks left, the Poles decide to give battle. Taras Bulba is informed that the Poles are coming with cannons, and with them his son Andriy. Bulba, in anger, does not believe at first, but then he remembers that he has not seen him for two days.

During the battle, Bulba sees Andrii. He shouts to the Cossacks to lure Andriy into the forest, and there he meets his son one on one. Bulba tells him about the betrayal and kills him. Andriy, before dying, pronounces the name of his beloved.

Reinforcements come to the Poles, and they break the Cossacks. Ostap is taken prisoner. Taras Bulba is wounded.

A faithful friend of Taras Bulba Tovkach saves him and takes him to the Setcha, treats him and raises him to his feet. Everything is new in the Sich now: the old comrades who stood for the faith and the Cossack brotherhood have perished. Taras cannot take part in the fun of the Cossacks: he thinks about Ostap. He begs Yankel to send him to Warsaw, although he knows that a lot of money is promised for his head.

The Cossacks, bored with nothing to do, got drunk on patrol and missed reinforcements to the Poles. Koshevoy gathered an army and scolded the Cossacks for drunkenness. One of the kuren chieftains promised to beat the Poles. The Cossacks began to prepare for battle. But Taras could not find Andrii anywhere, worrying that he could be captured. Yankel, a Jewish acquaintance, approached him. He told Bulba that he went to the city and saw his youngest son there. Yankel told Taras that Andriy was not a prisoner there. He asked me to tell his father that he renounces his homeland, comrades and father. Now Andriy will fight against his comrades. Soon there was a sortie of the besieged Poles. The Cossacks famously repulsed the attack. Ostap distinguished himself in battle. After the battle, the Cossacks of the Uman kuren chose Ostap as their chieftain, instead of the kuren who died in battle. Taras was proud of his eldest son, but for his younger son, his heart ached.

Sad news came from the siege. Having heard about the absence of the Cossacks in Zaporozhye, the Tatars raided. Having beaten the Cossacks who remained in the kurens and taking them prisoner, they stole cattle and horses, and also took away the military treasury. The Cossacks hastily gathered a council to solve the problem. After all, if they do not rush to the rescue, the captured Tatars will be sold into captivity. Koshevoy decided to lift the siege of Dubno and go to recapture the prisoners and the treasury. But Taras was against this plan. He says that in the besieged city there are also captured Cossacks who are threatened with torture and death. Then they decided that part of the Cossack army, led by the ataman, was going to rescue their comrades and the treasury from the Tatar captivity, and the rest, choosing Taras Bulba as a temporary ataman, would continue the siege of Dubno. At night, part of the Cossacks goes in search of the Tatars. After parting, the Cossacks were depressed, but Taras ordered to unpack the wine. The Cossacks drank to faith and flogged.

The city ran out of provisions again. The Poles tried to make a sortie for food, but the Cossacks killed half of them, the other half returned to the city empty-handed. The Jews, taking advantage of the sortie, made their way to the camp of the Cossacks and learned about the Cossacks who had gone to the Tatars. They immediately spread the news in the city. The Poles cheered up and began to prepare for the battle, they decided to lift the siege, killing the Cossacks Taras, seeing the revival in the city, began to hastily prepare the Cossacks for battle. He makes a speech that inspires the Cossacks. It was a terrible and cruel battle. Many good Cossacks laid down their lives for their faith and fatherland. In this battle, Taras Bulba killed his son Andriy. “I gave birth to you, I will kill you,” Taras said so. But even before his death, Andriy whispered the name of his Pole. But the brave and honest Ostap was captured.

Here is a summary of the work of N.V. Gogol "Taras Bulba". The content is given chapter by chapter to make it easy for you to navigate. Moreover, we have paid special attention to the most important points that should not be missed if you want to get "excellent" in the lesson.

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Chapter 1.

Bulba, the Cossack ataman, met his two sons, Ostap and Andriy, who had returned from the seminary. The appearance of the two fellows amused my father, and he began to ridicule the long scrolls of the seminarians. Finally, the elder could not stand it and said that if the father laughed, he could beat him. The old man accepted the challenge, and the father and son began to recklessly give each other cuffs. Bulba expressed pride in his eldest son.

The mother stood up for the younger one, not allowing him to join the fight. After that, the father called his son a mazunchik and ordered him never to listen to a woman. Taras decided to send his sons a week later to the Zaporizhzhya Sich so that they would become real men.

On the occasion of the arrival of his sons, Bulba called the centurions and the entire regimental rank to him. During the feast, the old man changed his mind and announced that he was leaving for Zaporozhye the very next morning.

Characteristics of Taras Bulba in the first chapter .

Taras- “one of the indigenous, old colonels: he was all created for abusive anxiety and was distinguished by the rude directness of his temper” . This man, a deep believer, considered it permissible to take up arms for the glory of Christianity.

While the sons slept, the mother combed their curls and silently suffered because tomorrow she would have to part with her children. Seeing her husband only two or three days a year, this woman turned all her love to them. She was afraid that she would never see her sons alive again.

Chapter 2

The next morning Taras and two young Cossacks left the house. The riders were silent: each thought about his own. Both boys were sent to the seminary at the age of twelve. Ostap took a dislike to teaching and pawned his textbook four times in order to run home. He was mercilessly flogged and returned back. Finally, Bulba promised him that if he did not learn all the sciences, he would never return to the Sich. The threat worked - the boy sat down at the textbooks and even succeeded.

He was a stern fellow, with a strong character. He was indifferent to everything except war and rampant revelry. His younger brother Andriy was distinguished by a lighter disposition. Teaching was easy for him. He himself more than once became the leader of dangerous enterprises and often, with the help of a dodgy mind, was able to avoid punishment for that. Andriy seethed with a thirst for achievement, but he was also attracted to the fair sex.

Soon he made acquaintance with the governor's daughter, a beautiful Polish woman. The girl so captured the heart of the bursak that even at home he could not get rid of thoughts about her.

For three days the horsemen rode across the steppe, taking only short breaks for lunch and rest, until they finally saw several scattered kurens and rode out into a vast square.

The Cossacks joyfully greeted the newcomers, telling Bulba the latest news about the battles and the Cossacks.

Chapter 3

Description of the Sich.

The Cossacks did not bother themselves with the study of military affairs. The youth comprehended this science right on the battlefield. Sich “represented an extraordinary phenomenon ... an uninterrupted feast, a ball that began noisily and lost its end.” Everyone who got here “I spat on my past and carelessly indulged in will and camaraderie” .

It was enough to say that you believe in Christ, as you were received here as an old friend. The Sich consisted of about sixty kurens. The economy was led by a kuren ataman, who had all the money, clothes, grubs, etc. on his hands. They gave him the money for safekeeping.

Pretty soon the sons of Taras were in good standing with the Cossacks, which pleased Bulba. However, the old man did not like the idle life.

Koshevoy did not agree to raid Tatarva. Then Taras persuaded several Cossacks, and at the general meeting they changed the kosher.

Chapter 4

The very next day, the Cossacks again gathered the Sich to think about how to circumvent their promise of non-aggression and fight.

From the other side of the Dniester a ferry came with a crowd of Cossacks in tattered scrolls. Visitors began to talk about the fact that the Jews trample on the Orthodox faith, rent churches, harness Christians instead of horses.

Unrest began in the ranks of the Cossacks. Everyone was outraged by the behavior of the Jews. The crowd rushed to the outskirts of the Sich, where it was possible to find Jewish merchants, with the intention of immediately slaughtering everyone.

The Cossacks were ready for war. At the general meeting, they decided to go straight to Poland.

Chapter 5

Soon fear spread throughout the Polish southwest. The Cossacks dealt cruelly with the Poles. Even the elderly, women and children often became victims of the Cossacks. Along with everyone, Ostap and Andriy fought. The elder fought with a composure not characteristic of twenty-two years. Taras dreamed that in time a good colonel would emerge from him. Andriy, who perceived the war as something like music, "did not know what it means to ponder or calculate." He always rushed into the thick of things, and with his recklessness and prowess alone, with a furious onslaught, he brought great confusion into the ranks of opponents.

Approaching the city of Dubno, the Cossacks decided to take it by storm. However, not only men came out to defend the city, but also everyone who could do anything to help in the battle. The Cossacks had to retreat.

However, they cordoned off the city from all sides, devastating its surroundings. The sons of Taras got bored.

One day, Adriy accidentally discovered a Tatar woman making her way through the camp of the Cossacks late at night. In her, he recognized the maid of the lady with whom he fell in love as a student in Kyiv. The Tatar woman said that the lady herself and her father were in the city, they were starving. The girl noticed Andrii from the city embankment and sent a maid to ask him for bread. Tatar left the city through an underground passage.

The young Cossack took food from the wagon belonging to his kuren and went with the Tatar woman to the underground entrance. Sleepy Taras stopped them on the way. Seeing that a woman was next to her son, he warned him.

Chapter 6

Through the underground passage, the Cossack entered the city. Famine reigned outside the city walls. Everywhere lay the bodies of dead or dying people. The maid took the young man to one of the houses, where he met his old love. The feelings of young people flared up with renewed vigor. Andriy confessed his love to the lady, swearing that he would renounce everything in the world for her sake - from the Cossacks, parents, fatherland. Then a maid ran into the room and shouted that "ours" had entered the city and brought food.

The fact is that Pereyaslavsky kuren, located in front of the side city gates, was dead drunk, so the troops were able to enter the city almost unhindered. When the Cossacks of other kurens came to their senses, the last convoys were already in the city.

Chapter 7

Koshevoy gathered the Cossacks to discuss everything that was happening. The Cossacks promised to beat the enemy even more furiously. Leaving for his regiment, Taras was surprised that he did not see Andriy there. He was not among the dead, and he would not have been captured alive. Bulba was brought out of his thoughts by the merchant Yankel, who said that he had seen Andriy in the city. He also said that the son of Taras is not in poverty: the governor gave him the best horse and uniforms, that is, Andriy became a real pan. Bulba did not believe for a long time that Andriy voluntarily went over to the enemy side. Yankel also told the reason for the transition of the young man to the Poles - he spoke about the beautiful lady. Another Jew conveyed the words of Andriy that he renounces the Cossacks and will fight against them. From rage, Taras nearly hacked the merchant on the spot, but he managed to escape.

Bulba remembered that the last time he saw Andriy next to a woman. Ataman, still not believing in the betrayal of his son, led his regiment into an ambush - another attack on the city was being prepared.

The Cossacks lined up under the walls of the besieged city and began to tease the Poles with caustic remarks. Buckshot burst from the rampart. The Cossacks stepped aside. The gates opened, and the governor himself rode out at the head of the Polish army. The battle began, in which Ostap again proved himself to be a brave fighter. Even the Koschevoi praised his son Taras. After the end of the battle, Bulba thought for a long time about why Andriy was not visible in the enemy ranks: either the son was ashamed to go against his own, or the Jew deceived.

Chapter 8

In the morning the news came that the Tatars, taking advantage of the absence of the Cossacks, robbed the Sich. The customs of the Cossacks was to pursue the kidnappers to the last, to rescue the prisoners, since soon they could be in the slave bazaars of Asia Minor. Koshevoy was in favor of immediately setting off in pursuit. However, Taras was against such a decision. He reminded the Cossacks that the Poles also captured a lot of Cossacks, who are also waiting for help from their comrades. The Cossacks hesitated.

As a result, we decided to split up. Koshevoy with part of the army went after the Tatars, and Bulba was put in charge of the rest.

Taras saw that despondency began to take possession of his army, he ordered to treat the Cossacks with good old wine.

Chapter 9

In the city, no one knew that part of the Cossacks had gone after the Tatars, and the besieged perceived the movement in the enemy camp as another military maneuver.

The Poles made a sortie, and many of them were immediately killed by the Cossacks. However, the survivors found out that the enemy army had decreased. Taras gathered the Cossacks and gave them a speech about the fact that for a real Cossack there is nothing more sacred than fellowship. No one can even die more worthily than a Cossack devoted to camaraderie.

Another battle has begun. The Cossacks began to lose, but the Cossacks fought hard. One by one, both ordinary Cossacks and atamans left. Suddenly the gates of the city opened, and a regiment of hussars flew out. Ahead of all, the most daring knight rushed. Taras recognized him as his son Andriy. The same one, not noticing anything, carried away by the ardor of battle, chopped left and right of his own. Bulba ordered to lure his son to the forest. There Taras grabbed the horse's bridle with a strong hand.

“Andriy looked around: before him was Taras! He was shaking all over and suddenly became pale…”

Taras began to ask if the Poles had helped his son. Andriy could not answer anything, he stood neither alive nor dead in front of his father. Taras, saying that he himself gave birth to him, he himself would kill him, took off his gun from his shoulder. Andriy stood as pale as a sheet, and only repeated the name of the beautiful Polish girl. Bulba fired. The young man fell like a wreck.

After what happened, Taras regretted only that the good Cossack was gone like a vile dog. When Ostap offered to bury his brother, the ataman did not allow this to be done. He said that even without them there would be mourners.

And meanwhile the battle continued. The best of the Cossacks perished. Bulba and Ostap again rushed into battle. Six Poles attacked the young man at once. He fought back as best he could, but did not have enough strength, and they tied Ostap. They took him prisoner. Taras wanted to help his son, but lost consciousness.

Chapter 10

Waking up, Bulba found that he was seriously wounded, learned that his old friend Tovkach had been taking him to the Sich for two weeks now. Taras remembered that his son had been taken prisoner by the Poles, then he tore off the bandages from his wounds and again lost consciousness. The old friend, as if on a child, straightened his bandages, tied him up in luboks and rushed on, wanting to bring Bulba to Zaporozhye, even if lifeless. Already in the Sich, Tovkach found Taras a sorceress who soldered the warrior with herbs. A month and a half later, the ataman was on his feet. The Sich became another. Many old Cossacks died: both those who remained with Bulba and those who went after the Tatar. The old chieftain greatly missed his son. Finally, he decided to go to Poland himself to find out about the fate of Ostap.

A week later, Bulba was in the city of Uman, where his old friend Yankel lived. Taras, showing the money, persuaded the Jew to take him in a wagon under bricks to Warsaw.

Chapter 11

Yankel brought Bulba to a small Jewish street. The merchant learned that Ostap was in the city dungeon. Yankel promised the chieftain to arrange a meeting with his son. In the room where Taras was, three more Jews gathered, they began to discuss something in their own language. The Zaporozhian offered them money and gold in exchange for his son's escape from the dungeon. The Jews decided to ask the old Jew Mordochai for advice. They ordered Taras to lock himself in the house and not let anyone in, while they themselves went out into the street. There they shouted something in their own language for a long time, until they finally entered the room. The old Jew said to Taras: “When we and God want to do it, it will already be as it should be,” which calmed Bulba a little.

Ataman waited all day. When the Jews returned, it became clear that the escape had failed, since the prison was surrounded by an army, and the execution was scheduled for the next day. However, Yankel promised to arrange a meeting nonetheless. Taras had to dress up as a foreign count and go to the right place early in the morning.

Bulba blackened his mustache, eyebrows, put on a small dark cap on the top of his head, and no one would have recognized the old ataman in this thirty-five-year-old man. Yankel took Taras to prison, but he spoke to the haiduk and showed imprudence. The Pole suspected him of being a Cossack. The situation was saved by Yankel, who gave money to the guard, but the meeting still did not take place.

Taras decided to go to the square to watch his son being executed. Ostap was the first to be taken to the place of execution. The young Cossack passed all the tests with honor. Even cruel tortures could not wrest from him neither a cry nor a groan. Bulba stood in the middle of the crowd, his head bowed, and repeated: "Good, son, good!"

Only during the last mortal agony did Ostap exclaim: “Father! where are you? Do you hear?

Suddenly, in the midst of the general silence, there was a voice: "I hear."

The military began to examine the crowd. Pale, Yankel looked around, but Taras was no longer by his side.

Chapter 12

The whole Sich has gathered under the leadership of Taras Bulba, the Cossacks are going to Poland. The Polish garrisons fled. Taras's regiment was distinguished by the greatest ferocity and cruelty. Only fire and the gallows were waiting for his enemies. When peace was made with the Poles. only Bulba did not agree to pacify his hatred. Together with his regiment, where all those dissatisfied with the shameful truce were nailed, he walked around Poland, robbing and burning down the richest castles.

Hetman Potocki was instructed to capture Taras Bulba. The Poles overtook Bulba over the steepest near the Dniester River. The ataman ordered the Cossacks to break through the ranks. The Cossacks made their way, but Taras's cradle with tobacco fell out on the run. The Cossack stopped to find a faithful companion and was captured by a gang of Poles. The Poles decided to burn Taras alive at the stake. Here they found a tall tree. they pulled the Cossack with iron chains to a wooden pole, nailed Bulba's hands, pulling him higher so that everyone could see. They began to lay out a fire. However, Taras did not think about himself. He looked at the battlefield, which was in front of him, as if in the palm of his hand. Taras looked to where the retreating Cossacks were shooting back.

Bulba saw that four sterns were approaching the shore, and loudly shouted at the top of his voice for his comrades to retreat to the river. The Cossacks heard and followed the advice of the ataman. They jumped straight from the cliff on horseback into the Dniester. Only two died before reaching the water. The rest managed to escape. Seeing that the Cossacks were already in the canoes, Taras was delighted, shouted to remember him and every spring the Cossacks came to Poland for a walk. Then he turned to his tormentors:

“Wait, the time will come, the time will come, you will know what the Orthodox Russian faith is!”

Fire shot up over the fire, capturing the legs of the prisoner. The Cossacks quickly sailed on narrow canoes, talking about their chieftain.

Gogol "Taras Bulba", chapter 2 - summary

The children of Bulba - the stern, firm Ostap and the dexterous Andriy, greedy for female beauty - did not resemble each other. Ostap thought only of military glory, and while still studying in Kyiv, Andriy burned with a passionate love for a Polish woman he accidentally saw - the daughter of a Kovno governor. Once he even made his way to her house through the chimney.

Gogol "Taras Bulba", chapter 3 - summary

Trying to quickly acquaint his sons with military affairs, Bulba suggested that the main Zaporizhian leader - the ataman - organize a campaign against the Tatars or Turks. The guarded ataman refused, citing treaties. Then Taras staged a Cossack revolt and gathering in the Sich. Having run out to the main square, the Cossacks deposed the Koschevoi and chose Bulba's comrade, Kirdyaga, in his place.

Gogol "Taras Bulba", chapter 4 - summary

Gogol "Taras Bulba", chapter 5 - summary

The Cossacks betrayed terrible devastation all the southern regions of Poland. Ostap and Andriy, delighting Bulba, showed unheard-of courage in this war. In the end, the Zaporozhye army besieged the city of Dubno and decided to starve it out.

One night, when the entire Cossack army was sleeping under the city walls, Andriy suddenly saw the face of an old Tatar woman in front of him - a servant of that Polish lady whom he fell in love with in Kyiv. The Tatar woman said that her mistress was in Dubno and was already close to starvation. From the city walls, she saw Andrii among the Cossacks and now she asks him for at least a piece of bread.

Andriy's heart skipped a beat at this news. Slowly picking up food in a bag, he followed the Tatar woman to a secret underground passage that led beyond the city walls.

Taras Bulba. Feature film based on the novel by N. V. Gogol, 2009

Gogol "Taras Bulba", chapter 6 - summary

The Tatar accompanied Andrii to the city, to the house of her mistress. The lady, who had become even more beautiful, looked tenderly at her savior. Love clouded the Cossack's mind. He immediately swore to the beautiful Polish woman that he would renounce his homeland, father and Cossacks for her sake.

A Tatar woman who ran in brought news to Andriy and panna: strong Polish reinforcements had entered the city.

Andriy and the Polish beauty. Illustration by S. Ovcharenko for Gogol's story "Taras Bulba"

Gogol "Taras Bulba", chapter 7 - summary

The Poles managed to get into the city, suddenly attacking a drunk Pereyaslavsky hut at one of the gates. Many Cossacks died at the same time. Taras Bulba could not find Andrii and thought that he was also killed. However, an acquaintance of the Jew Yankel said: he saw his son in the city. Fascinated by the beautiful Polish woman, he ordered to tell the Cossacks that they were no longer his brothers.

New bloody battles began to boil under the walls of Dubno. When the ataman of the Uman kuren fell in them, the Cossacks chose Bulba's son, Ostap, in his place.

Gogol "Taras Bulba", chapter 8 - summary

The news came to the Cossacks that the deserted Sich was brutally plundered by the Tatars. The Zaporizhzhya army was divided: one half of it rushed after the Tatars, and the other half remained to besiege Dubno.

Gogol "Taras Bulba", chapter 9 - summary

Taras tried to encourage those who remained under the walls of the city with a proud speech about comradeship. Having learned about the retreat of half of the Cossacks, the gentry came out from behind the walls with strong detachments. In the mortal battle, many glorious warriors fell on both sides. At the decisive moment, Polish reinforcements unexpectedly flew out of the city gates, at the head of which rode, chopping the Cossacks, the son of Bulba, Andriy.

The enraged father caught up with his son near the forest, grabbed his horse by the reins, cursed Andriy for betraying the people and faith, and shot him with a gun. (See Death of Andriy.) Ostap drove up to Bulba. From the forest, a crowd of Poles suddenly rushed at them. Taras saw how Ostap was seized and they began to knit. He rushed to help his son, but lost consciousness from a terrible blow.

Gogol "Taras Bulba", chapter 10 - summary

The old comrade Tovkach carried the wounded Bulba out of the battle and took him on horseback to the Sich. There, Taras's wounds healed, but he knew nothing about the fate of Ostap. The thought of a son did not give Bulba peace.

Taras decided, at least at the cost of his own life, to find out what had happened to Ostap. The Poles valued Bulba's head at two thousand chervonny, but the familiar Jew Yankel, for a generous bribe, secretly drove him through the outposts to Warsaw at the bottom of a wagon covered with bricks on top.

Gogol "Taras Bulba", chapter 11 - summary

In Warsaw, Yankel, with the help of other crafty Jews, learned that Ostap was in the city dungeon. An attempt to get him out of there, or at least to get a meeting with him for money, failed. Bulba soon learned that the next day Ostap and other Cossacks were being executed in the city square in the presence of a huge crowd.

Taras wished to go to the place of execution. Ostap was brought to the executioner first. He endured terrible torments with unshakable courage. "Good, son, good!" - Bulba said to himself with bated breath, looking at this. Just before his death, in terrible suffering, Ostap exclaimed: “Father! Do you hear?

"I hear!" came the answer in the midst of the general silence. The Polish guards rushed to look for Taras, but he had already slipped away. (See Death of Ostap.)

Ostap before execution. Illustration by S. Ovcharenko for Gogol's story "Taras Bulba"

Gogol "Taras Bulba", chapter 12 - summary

Hetman Ostranitsa and his comrade Gunya were raised in Little Russia new Cossack uprising. The regiment fought best of all, led by Taras Bulba, who avenged the murdered Ostap. The Cossacks defeated the most crowned hetman, Mykola Potocki, but then their leaders imprudently made peace with the enemy.

Bulba dissuaded from this world, and when they did not listen to him, he continued to fight with one of his regiments. Five Polish regiments overtook him on the banks of the Dniester. The gentry seized Taras, chained him to a tall tree on a hill, and began to burn him at the stake. But even in the last minutes of his life, Bulba managed to shout to his comrades-in-arms galloping to the river about the place where the boats were hidden. Already engulfed in flames, he loudly prophesied that a great Orthodox kingdom would rise on Russian soil, and there would be no power in the world that would not submit to him. (See Death of Taras Bulba.)

Gogol's literary work "Taras Bulba" from the cycle "Mirgorod" takes its reader to the events of the 17th century. At the same time, the author often mentions the 15th century, referring the date of birth of the protagonist to this time and emphasizing, by this moment, the fantastic nature of his story. Two narrative lines can be distinguished in the work: the first tells about the life of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks and the Polish campaign, and the second - the story of the Cossack Taras Bulba and his sons.

A very brief retelling of the plot of N.V. Gogol's story "Taras Bulba"

The sons of Taras Bulba, Ostap and Andriy, graduate and return to their father's house. The father is eager to show them the Cossack life and for this he takes them with him to the Zaporizhzhya Sich. The guys quickly join the cheerful team, in which the Cossacks drink and walk out of idleness. Bulba requires a change of Koschevoi. The new leadership decides to go to Poland. Dubno is the first to be hit. The city is besieged, and nearby villages are robbed and burned. The Cossacks do not like such atrocities, they want to fight with an equal opponent.

Andriy, having fallen in love with a Polish woman, betrays his homeland and father. He sneaks into the besieged city to his beloved and remains on the side of the enemy. In one of the battles with the Poles, Taras personally kills his defector son. Ostap is a good warrior, but he loses one of the fights and is captured, where he is executed in front of his father. Taras Bulba devotes the rest of his days to revenge for the murder of his son. He himself dies at the hands of haiduks.

Summary of Gogol's story "Taras Bulba" chapter by chapter

If a literary work is divided by the author into chapters, then its perception by the reader in a summary is more effective to perceive in the same chapters.

Chapter 1. The return of Andriy and Ostap home from Kyiv

Old Taras Bulba and kind mother greet their sons Ostap and Andriy. Young Cossacks are returning from the Kyiv Academy. Mother missed the children very much, but their father Taras immediately collects and takes the grown-up sons to the Zaporizhzhya Sich in order to quickly introduce them to the course of Cossack life.

Chapter 2

On the way to the Zaporizhzhya Sich, the riders did not talk - everyone thought about his own. Father recalled his young years and military victories. Ostap recalled how difficult the years of study at the Academy were for him. Andriy thought about his adventurous adventures during training - how he liked the beautiful Polish girl, and he climbed into her bedroom at night. The young lady was not afraid of the unexpected guest for long, and made friends with Andriy. And after an adventurous date, he safely got out of the Polish woman's house with the help of a pannochka's maid.

The travelers drove their horses across the endless steppes for a long time and arrived at the battlefield, where everything was filled with freedom, and life flowed measuredly.

Chapter 3

For a whole week they buzzed along with fellow Cossacks Ostap and Andriy in the Zaporizhzhya Sich. Taras did not like this, he wanted to teach his sons the art of fighting, not drinking. But the Koschevoi saw no reason to equip the Cossacks for the campaign. Taras Bulba thinks out how to change the intractable koshevoi. He arranges a big booze, after which the Cossacks elect Kirdyaga as the new leader.

Chapter 4. Cossacks go to war on Polish lands

Taras Bulba and the new Koschevoi decide to send the Cossacks to fight. Kirdyaga thinks to send the Cossacks to the Turks, but alarming news arrives - the Poles executed the hetman and the colonel as Ukrainians. Then the Cossacks hastily began to gather in a campaign against the Poles. With the army goes Yankel, a Jew and a merchant.

Chapter 5. Cossacks in the Polish lands. Siege of Dubno

Summer. The Cossack army passed through the Polish cities. The prosperous city of Dubno was besieged. After dark, Andriy's maid comes to Andriy, with whom Bulba's son is in love, and tells him about the terrible famine in the city. The beloved of the Cossack turned out to be the daughter of the governor of Dubno. He decides to go along the secret passage to the besieged Dubno in order to bring bread to the lady.

Chapter 6

The youngest son of Taras makes his way to Dubno, meets his lady and loses his head from love for her. He decides to stay on the side of the Poles, renouncing his father and brother. At the same time, fresh forces are approaching Dubno. The Poles grew bolder and made a night attack on the Cossacks.

Chapter 7

In the morning, Yankel announces unpleasant news - the youngest son of Taras went over to the side of the enemy. A heavy battle begins, in which many were killed - both the Pole and the Cossacks. The battle ended in nothing, but in its process, Ostap was appointed chieftain. The eldest son of Taras showed himself as a courageous warrior and a good chieftain to his Cossacks.

Chapter 8

The Cossacks learn that the Tatars have attacked the Zaporozhian Sich. Part of the army returns home to repulse the attackers, and part remains near Dubno, where Taras Bulba becomes the koshevoi.

Chapter 9

As soon as part of the Cossacks left the siege, the Poles decided to give battle to the thinned army of the conquerors. Many people on both sides were killed in the battle. Taras Bulba meets Andriy, who is fighting on the enemy side. He cannot forgive betrayal and shoots his son in front of Ostap. Andriy falls dead. The Poles win the battle, capture Ostap and wound Taras Bulba.

Chapter 10. Taras Bulba goes in search of Ostap

Taras Bulba goes to the Zaporizhzhya Sich to treat the wound. Having recovered, he concludes an agreement with Yankel, and he secretly takes him to Warsaw in search of his eldest son.

Chapter 11

Upon arrival in Warsaw, Taras learns that the execution of the Cossacks will take place the next day and his son is on the sad list. The father wants to save his son from execution, but his plan fails. Together with the crowd, he is forced to follow the preparations for the execution. Ostap is looking for his father and he lets him know that he is there.

Chapter 12

The young hetman of Ukraine soon made peace with the Poles. Taras Bulba does not agree with the truce. He, with his faithful Cossacks, continues to raid Pole settlements. So he avenges the execution of his son. The Poles are gathering an army to pacify Bulba. The battle stretches over four days. Bulba is captured and sentenced to death by burning at the stake. Dying, the old Cossack glorifies Orthodoxy and the power of the Russian people.

Briefly about the history of the creation of Gogol's story "Taras Bulba"

The idea of ​​​​creating "Taras Bulba" originated with Nikolai Vasilyevich in the 30s of the 19th century, and the history of work on this literary work is really interesting. In the work, the writer, painstaking by nature, turned to two types of sources of inspiration and information:

1. To historical sources, including information not published anywhere, such as memoirs, letters, personal archives of ordinary people;
2. By artistic sources, meaning Ukrainian folklore: songs, thoughts, etc.

The events gleaned from historical facts would not have looked poetic and dry without the influence of folk art on everyday details, plot and structure in Gogol's text. Thanks to Gogol's appeal to songs, the artistic language of the work is unusually melodious and lyrical, sparkling with vivid epithets and comparisons.

Gogol worked on the story for about 10 years. The author rewrote his work about eight times, increased the volume from nine to twelve chapters, while adding texture to the heroes, their stories of details, and strengthening the battle scenes. Nikolai Vasilievich was not satisfied with the end result.

As an educated person who cares about the history of the people, Gogol understood the importance of the past, but the story "Taras Bulba" should not be classified as historically reliable. The text of the work, in addition to facts, contains a lot of fantasy, hyperbole and contradictions, which does not detract from the artistic value of literary work.

The main characters of the story "Taras Bulba"

The main characters in the story are the Cossacks Taras Bulba and his sons Ostap and Andriy:

• is the main character in the story. Dear Cossack, first-class warrior. Basic life values: faith, duty, Motherland.
• Ostap - the eldest and worthy son of Taras. Graduated from seminary. In battle, he showed himself brave and wise. He was appointed ataman.
• Andriy - the youngest son of Taras and brother of Ostap. A young man sensitive to the world around him and nature. He disappointed his father when he went over to the side of the enemy.

Other heroes of the story "Taras Bulba"

• Yankel - a Jew who tries to find a benefit in everything.
• Pannochka - the daughter of a pan from Poland, whom Andriy fell in love with.
• Tatar - the servant of his beloved Andria, who told him about the famine in Dubno and about the underground passage.