The behavior of the boy Ilyusha from the story Bezhin Meadow. "Bezhin Meadow": characteristics of boys. Work by I.S. Turgenev "Bezhin Meadow". Heroes and characteristics

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev is one of the galaxy of remarkable Russian writers of the 19th century who received worldwide recognition and the love of readers during his lifetime. In his works, he poetically described pictures of Russian nature, the beauty of human feelings. The work of Ivan Sergeevich is a complex world of human psychology. With the story “Bezhin Meadow,” the image of the child’s world and child psychology was first introduced into Russian literature. With the appearance of this story, the theme of the world of Russian peasants expanded.

History of creation

Peasant children are depicted by the writer with tenderness and love; he notes their rich spiritual world, ability to feel nature and its beauty. The writer awakened in readers love and respect for peasant children, and made them think about their future destinies. The story itself is part of a large cycle under the general title “Notes of a Hunter.” The cycle is notable for the fact that for the first time in Russian literature, types of Russian peasants were brought onto the stage, described with such sympathy and detail that Turgenev’s contemporaries considered that a new class had emerged that was worthy of literary description.

In 1843 I.S. Turgenev met the famous critic V.G. Belinsky, who inspired him to create “Notes of a Hunter.” In 1845, Ivan Sergeevich decided to devote himself entirely to literature. He spent the summer in the village, devoting all his free time to hunting and communicating with peasants and their children. Plans for creating the work were first announced in August September 1850. Then, notes containing plans for writing the story appeared on the draft manuscript. At the beginning of 1851, the story was written in St. Petersburg and in February it was published in the Sovremennik magazine.

Analysis of the work

Plot

The story is told from the perspective of the author, who loves to hunt. One day in July, while hunting for black grouse, he got lost and, walking towards the fire of a burning fire, came out into a huge meadow, which the locals called Bezhin. Five peasant boys were sitting near the fire. Having asked them for an overnight stay, the hunter lay down by the fire, watching the boys.

In the further narrative, the author describes five heroes: Vanya, Kostya, Ilya, Pavlusha and Fyodor, their appearance, characters and stories of each of them. Turgenev was always partial to spiritual and emotionally gifted people, sincere and honest. These are the people he describes in his works. Most of them live hard lives, but they adhere to high moral principles and are very demanding of themselves and others.

Heroes and characteristics

With deep sympathy, the author describes five boys, each of whom has his own character, appearance, and characteristics. This is how the writer describes one of the five boys, Pavlusha. The boy is not very handsome, his face is wrong, but the author notices a strong character in his voice and look. His appearance speaks of the extreme poverty of the family, since all his clothes consisted of a simple shirt and patched trousers. It is he who is entrusted with monitoring the stew in the pot. He speaks knowledgeably about a fish splashing in the water and a star falling from the sky.

It is clear from his actions and speech that he is the most courageous of all the guys. This boy evokes the greatest sympathy not only from the author, but also from the reader. With one twig, unafraid, at night he galloped alone towards the wolf. Pavlusha knows all the animals and birds very well. He is brave and not afraid of acceptance. When he says that it seemed to him that the merman was calling him, the cowardly Ilyusha says that this is a bad omen. But Pavel answers him that he does not believe in omens, but believes in fate, from which you cannot escape anywhere. At the end of the story, the author informs the reader that Pavlusha died after falling from a horse.

Next comes Fedya, a boy of fourteen “with beautiful and delicate, slightly small features, curly blond hair, light eyes and a constant half-cheerful, half-absent-minded smile. He belonged, by all accounts, to a rich family and went to the field not out of necessity, but just for fun.” He is the oldest among the guys. He behaves importantly, according to the right of his elder. He speaks patronizingly, as if afraid of losing his dignity.

The third boy, Ilyusha, was completely different. Also a simple peasant boy. He looks no more than twelve years old. His insignificant, elongated, hook-nosed face had a constant expression of dull, painful solicitude. His lips were compressed and did not move, and his eyebrows were knitted, as if he was constantly squinting from the fire. The boy is neat. As Turgenev describes his appearance, “a rope carefully tied his neat black scroll.” He is only 12 years old, but he already works with his brother in a paper factory. We can conclude that he is a hardworking and responsible boy. Ilyusha, as the author noted, knew well all the popular beliefs, which Pavlik completely denied.

Kostya looked no more than 10 years old, his small, freckled face was pointed, like a squirrel’s, and his huge black eyes stood out on him. He was also poorly dressed, thin and short in stature. He spoke in a thin voice. The author's attention is drawn to his sad, thoughtful look. He is a slightly cowardly boy, but, nevertheless, he goes out with the boys every night to graze horses, sit by the night fire and listen to scary stories.

The most inconspicuous boy of all five is seven-year-old Vanya, who was lying near the fire, “quietly huddled under the angular matting, and only occasionally exposed his light brown curly head from under it.” He is the youngest of all, the writer does not give him a portrait description. But all his actions, admiring the night sky, admiring the stars, which he compares to bees, characterize him as an inquisitive, sensitive and very sincere person.

All the peasant children mentioned in the story are very close to nature, they literally live in unity with it. From early childhood, they already know what work is and independently learn about the world around them. This is facilitated by working at home and in the field, and during night trips. That is why Turgenev describes them with such love and reverent attention. These children are our future.

The writer's story does not belong only to the time of its creation, to the 19th century. This story is deeply modern and timely at all times. Today, more than ever, a return to nature is required, to the understanding that we must protect it and live with it in unity, as a beloved mother, but not a stepmother. Raise our children on work and respect for it, on respect for the working person. Then the world around us will change, become cleaner and more beautiful.

Turgenev is a master of prose poetry. Both schoolchildren and adults read blank verses performed by him. Stories tell about nature and its unsurpassed beauty. Here the images of different people, life episodes that cannot be faked are vividly and accurately described. Peasant life, its hardships and hardships are also mentioned. The cycle of stories contains 25 plots that were written over about 10 years. They are capacious, bright, precise, beautiful and at the same time absolutely simple.

Among these stories there is a story called “Bezhin Meadow”. Most of them talk about the surrounding nature. You can feel the atmosphere of summer, everything is warm and light. Turgenev managed to intertwine the destinies of people with Russian nature. The story has its own structure - a cyclical complete one. The beginning of the story is a sunny day, but the most important thing happens at night. All events end in the morning, because with dawn something alive and joyful comes. There is hope for a better life. But in Turgenev's story this period of the day is overshadowed by the real life of the peasants.

In the center of the story are images of boys from the village. It is them that the hunter meets near the fire. Each boy comes from a peasant family. They differ from each other in wealth, which is expressed in their behavior, manners, clothing, and appearance. If we talk about bright personalities, then these are Fedya and Pavel. But Ilyusha was also here.

Characteristics of the hero

Turgenev does not immediately reveal the hero Ilyusha, his personality. Initially, his name is only mentioned when talking about the company of children. But from the first minutes, readers understand that it is Ilyusha who is the best storyteller among all those present. A child can tell many stories about evil spirits and understands Slavic mythology. He could tell something terrible and at the same time interesting about the dead, drowned people, werewolves.

As for appearance, Ilyusha is unremarkable. He has a weak-sighted face that looks sickly, and a hooked nose. Compared to other children, he is poorly dressed, but his clothes are always neat and clean. The boy is only 12 years old, but he has already gone to work. Thus, he wants to help his parents, who are trying their best to support their family. Ilyusha's voice is weak and without much enthusiasm. You can clearly understand that the boy is tired, and this fatigue is chronic. But the young man can be proud of himself; he went to work at a paper factory with his brother. In this production, a 12-year-old boy processes and scrapes paper. The children receive very little in terms of salary, but they are happy about it. The guys don't always get home at night because they aren't always allowed out of work.

The boy had the quality of a leader; the guys always sat and listened to his stories. He knew how to win the attention of others.

The image of the hero in the work

Each of the five boys in the story fit perfectly into the company. Some were brave and courageous, some were cowardly. However, the hunter noticed hard work and kindness in each of them. Ilyusha was a little man, he had a strong character. Boys do not consider it shameful to come to the aid of their parents. They know what they have to do. The guys understand the importance of such qualities as hard work and honesty. In addition, they value work.

In the story “Bezhin Meadow,” Turgenev spoke about a generation of children who were not afraid to work in the fields or walk with horses at night. In addition to work, they also had time to have fun; it was enough for them to listen to horror stories.

The boys wanted to scare each other by telling scary stories. However, not every one of them believed what was told. The guys understood that it was really scary for them. Turgenev described children accustomed to work in the best possible way, and they were accustomed from an early age.

(Answer 1):
The story “Bezhin Meadow” by Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev talks about how
The hunter got lost in the forest and came across Bezhin meadow. He saw five
boys Ilyusha, Pavlush, Vanya, Kostya and Fedya. They guarded the herd, sitting
around the fire and telling different stories. But most of all the author
singles out Ilyusha and Pavlusha.
They are about twelve years old. Ilyusha's face
quite insignificant: hook-nosed, elongated, slightly blind. Lips
compressed, knitted eyebrows, yellow hair, almost white. Dressed in new bast shoes and
onuchi, a thick rope, twisted three times around the waist, carefully
pulls off his neat black scroll.
Ilyusha talks and knows
more stories than Paul. He is convinced of his stories, speaks with
he is feverish, afraid, he is verbose and emotional. Ilyusha says
a story about how he and his friends allegedly saw a brownie on a paper
factory. Ilyusha says that on Parents' Saturday it is possible to
see those who are destined to die this year. Mentions a certain woman
Ulyana, who saw on the porch one boy who died in
last year, and myself
myself To the objection that grandma Ulyana is still alive,
Ilyusha replies that the year is not over yet. Next the conversation turns to
the end of the world (solar eclipse), which happened not so long ago.
The peasants who witnessed this phenomenon were frightened and decided that
“Trishka will come.” To the question
about who Trishka is, Ilyusha begins
explain that this is the kind of person who will come when they come
the last times, that he will seduce the Christian people and what about
nothing can be done about him - neither put him in prison, nor in chains
chain him or kill him, since he will be able to avert everyone's eyes.
Turgenevskaya
the night liberates a person spiritually, disturbs his imagination
endless mysteries of the universe: “I looked around: solemnly and
the night stood regal... Countless golden stars seemed to flow
everything, vying with each other, flickering in the direction of the Milky Way, and, rightly, looking at
them, you seemed to vaguely feel the rapid, non-stop
the run of the earth..."
Night nature inspires children with beautiful stories
legends, offers riddles and herself talks about their possible
permission. Explaining the mysterious phenomena of nature, peasant children do not
can get rid of the impressions of the world around them. Nature is disturbing
with its riddles, a person’s thought makes it possible to feel
the relativity of any discoveries, clues to its secrets. She humbles her strength
person, showing his superiority.
The writer sought not only
awaken in the reader a feeling of love and respect for the village children,
but also made me think about their future fate. The author is always
attracted people who were spiritually and emotionally gifted, honest and
sincere. Such people live on the pages of his works, and live
just as it happens in reality, it is very difficult, because it
people of high moral principles, high demands on themselves and
to others.
The images of boys - the heroes of the story - are covered in lyrical
a mood of sadness and sympathy. But it ends with a life-affirming
a festive picture of the coming morning.

I. S. Turgenev’s story about the beliefs of peasant children, who are the main characters of the story “Bezhin Meadow,” was first published in N. A. Nekrasov’s magazine “Sovremennik” in 1851.

Lost Hunter

Realizing that he had lost the right path, our hero wandered until the night, which descended to the earth, fragrant, warm and dark. Suddenly, in the distance, he noticed two small lights, and hurried towards their light, towards the people.

These turned out to be peasant boys who were released to graze horses at night. They are the main characters of the story “Bezhin Meadow”.

By the fire

There was gloomy darkness all around. The hunter quietly lay down under a bush. The kids, and there were five of them, decided that he had dozed off and began to carry on an interrupted conversation. Meanwhile, our hero took a closer look at everyone. Fedya, about 14 years old, Pavlusha and Ilyusha, about 12 years old, Kostya, about 10 years old, and the youngest, who looked to be about seven years old, Vanyusha, are the main characters. The Bezhin meadow where they grazed their horses was located near the river and very far from the hunter’s house.

Fedya and Pavlusha

Fedya is the oldest boy, slender and handsome, with blond curly hair and light eyes, obviously growing up in a rich family. His clothes were beautiful and new, and the boots belonged to him, not his father. He went out at night for fun.

His position obliged him to hold on significantly. Pavlusha, with disheveled hair and gray eyes, was squat and awkward. His pockmarked face was intelligent, and his voice sounded significant. He couldn’t boast of clothes, but that wasn’t the main thing about him.

This is what the main characters looked like. The Bezhin meadow they were on became mysterious at night. Pavlusha will play a special role in the story. I. Turgenev characterizes the four other boys (they are also the main characters, “Bezhin Meadow”) not as brightly as Pavlusha.

Ilyusha, Kostya and Vanya

Ilyusha had an insignificant face; he constantly squinted at the fire and pulled a cap over his almost yellow hair. He was neatly dressed in new bast shoes and onuchi and a black scroll. Kostya, sad and thin, seemed to want to tell something, but it seemed that he lacked words. Vanya, lying on the ground and covered up to his curly head with a matting, as it later turns out, was a poetic and kind boy. Here are all the main characters. Bezhin Meadow united different boys that night. Every single one of them loved to listen to scary stories, which Ilyusha told more than anyone else. The main characters of Turgenev's "Bezhin Meadow" are children with different characters. Now we will look at each of them in detail.

The main characters (“Bezhin Meadow”), their characteristics

Fedya - his position obliges him to behave taciturnly and it is important not to lose his dignity. He tries to maintain a patronizing air towards all the boys.

Pavlusha is the brightest of all the guys, despite his ugliness. Scary stories that take everyone's breath away pour out of him. Pavlusha can tell an endless number of scary stories. He is the only one who has heard the brownie walking around at night, rearranging objects at night in an old paper mill. He meaningfully explains to those present that the brownie cannot be seen.

On a dark night, his tales become completely believable. Pavlusha himself is not afraid of anything. When it seemed to him that the herd was attacked by wolves, he jumped onto his horse, the dogs flew after him, and only he was seen. When he returned, saying that, fortunately, there were no wolves, everyone was amazed at his courage and determination. No less bravely, he went to the river for water. Everyone was afraid that the merman might drag him away. But Pavlusha returned as if nothing had happened, bringing water. His entire behavior shows the reader an intelligent boy with a strong character. At the end, the author says that Pavlusha died that same year. He fell from his horse and died.

Characteristics of Ilyusha

Ilyusha is the same age as Pavel, he also knows local beliefs well, but tells them in a hoarse, weak voice. Ilyusha's story about the drowned man also captures the boys' imagination, and they listen to it with unflagging attention, because the story turns into the appearance of a werewolf who can speak human language. Ilyusha is happy to tell a story about a risen dead man who searches for the gap-grass at night.

They ask him with surprise about this story and in general when they can see the dead. He even knows how to find out who will die this year. Everyone is amazed. In fact, Ilyusha, unlike all the kids, already works with his brother at the factory. This earns the children's respect, as does his deep knowledge. These are the main characters (“Bezhin Meadow”) by Turgenev.

Kostya and Vanya

Kostya, a weak and thin boy, even looking sickly, in a thin voice told the story with the mermaid, which he had heard from his father. A carpenter from the settlement of Gavrila got lost in the forest, and he met a wondrous wonder: a silver mermaid with green hair was swinging on a branch and calling him to her.

Gavrila really wanted to approach her, but gave up on himself. And the hand was heavy, it could barely rise. The little mermaid became sad and told Gavrila that he too would now always be gloomy, and disappeared. So Gavrila walks around forever sad. But in general Kostya is a coward. He would not have dared, like Pavel, to go to disperse the wolves, and the cries of a heron over the river scared him.

The youngest and most inconspicuous is curly-haired Vanya. He lay there all night without getting up, so that the author did not see him at first.

He speaks with a slight burr, in a very childish voice. He only listens to his older comrades, and does not say anything. When he is offered a gift, he, a kind and caring boy, asks to give it to his sister, because Anyuta is a good girl.

So all the main characters of the story “Bezhin Meadow” are described. The characterization shows us the spiritual beauty of children with their little weaknesses. I. Turgenev is probably the first Russian writer to dwell in such detail on the topic of child psychology.

Ilyusha is one of the main characters in the story “Bezhin Meadow” by Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev. The author calls him Ilyusha, using a soft sign. He is twelve. Ilya’s favorite pastime, like the rest of the boys, is to go out into the field at night with them and herd horses. By the way, there are only five boys: Ilyusha himself, Pavlusha, Fedya and Vanya. They always sat around the fire together and told different stories.

Ilya dressed unremarkably, as he was from a poor peasant family. Throughout the entire work, the author emphasizes his poverty. But despite this, his clothes looked quite clean and tidy. Ilyusha’s face was a little elongated, always with an expression of some kind of sick solicitude, his nose had a slight hump. His hair was light yellow, almost white. His eyebrows looked as if he was constantly squinting from the light that came from the fire. Ilyusha is a serious and gloomy boy. He has a rather hoarse and weak voice. This voice is exactly the one that best suits the expression on his face.

At twelve years old, he and his brother work in a factory. His responsibilities include smoothing the paper. We can conclude that Ilyusha is a very hardworking boy. He spends most of his time working in the factory. Sometimes it even happens that they spend the night at the factory so as not to waste time on the way home.

What distinguished Ilyusha from his comrades was his ability to tell scary stories well. During gatherings around the fire, he will often talk about ghosts and merman. Thanks to this, he could easily attract the attention of the other guys. Ilya always told stories with great emotions, with passion. Ilyusha always tells her stories very vividly, colorfully and in some detail. He knew folk signs and beliefs better than anyone from the campaign. He told his stories not as a witness, but from the words of “eyewitnesses.” He told stories about the Antichrist Tishka, about drowned people. He also made predictions about who would die next year. From this we can understand that Ilyusha is a boastful boy, an inventor.

Option 2

In Turgenev's story, the writer writes that a hunter who was hunting in the forests, returning home in the evening, got lost. After wandering through the forest for some time, he comes out to a clearing where five boys are sitting. They drove a herd of horses into the field for the night, and at dawn they were supposed to return home with the horses. The guys loved this night adventure. The story comes from the perspective of hunter Ivan Petrovich, who asked to spend the night with the guys. They did not refuse the hunter and accepted him into their company. Pretending to be asleep, the hunter looks at each of the guys and draws conclusions.

One of the boys was a boy named Ilyusha, who looked no more than twelve years old. Ilyusha was poorly dressed, but his clothes were all clean and neat. The boy had the qualities of a leader; he knew how to win the attention of the children with his stories. The boy told the most stories about werewolves, drowned people, dead people and other evil spirits.

Ilyusha was a good storyteller and could tell many stories at once. The guys all listened to Ilyusha attentively, and they liked the way he told stories. The hunter, having carefully examined the boy, saw that his almost white hair was sticking out in different directions under his felt cap. The boy kept trying to pull his hat over his ears.

Each of the five boys fit well into the company, some of them were braver, some more cowardly, but one thing the hunter noticed for sure was that each of them was very kind and hardworking. Ilyusha is very strong in character and looks like a little man. The guys know their business and do not consider it shameful to help their relatives. Each of them knows the value of their work and how important it is to be honest and hardworking.

Turgenev described a generation of children who worked in the fields, went to the “night” with horses and found time to amuse themselves by telling horror stories that they heard from their parents and in their home village.

Although the guys told horror stories trying to scare each other, not everyone believed in them. Each of the guys knew what they really should be afraid of. Turgenev best described the children who were accustomed to work from an early age.

Essay about Ilyusha

I.S. Turgenev is a master of prose poetry. His blank poems are read with pleasure by schoolchildren and adults. The series of stories “Notes of a Hunter is not inferior to them. Each story contains amazingly beautiful descriptions of nature, accurate and vivid human images, genuine episodes of people's lives, the hardships and hardships of peasant life. 25 plots are bright and succinct, beautiful and precise in their simplicity, on which the author spent more than 10 years of painstaking work.

One of them was the story “Bezhin Meadow”. A significant part of the story is occupied by a description of nature. You can feel the atmosphere of summer, everything around is permeated with light and warmth. I.S. Turgenev subtly interweaves Russian nature and human destinies. The story has a complete cyclic structure. It begins with a description of a hot sunny day, the main events develop at night, and ends in the morning. Dawn always brings joy to all living things. The birth of a new day gives hope for the best. Only the dawn of Turgenev is overshadowed by the reality of peasant life. The guys are driving the herd home, which means the next night everything will happen again. And Pavlusha will die this summer, falling from a horse.

The central place in the story is occupied by images of village boys met by a hunter at night around a fire. All the guys are from peasant families, but with different incomes, and this is noticeable in their appearance, clothes, manners and behavior. The most striking personalities were Pavel and Fedya.

Ilyusha was also one of these guys. The author does not immediately reveal the identity of this hero. Having introduced us to the company of children, Turgenev mentions only the name of Ilya. But we can be sure that Ilyusha is the best storyteller of all those present. He knows more than all the stories about evil spirits, knows Slavic mythology and can talk about it interestingly.

His appearance is unremarkable: a hooked nose, a faded, blind face with a painful expression. His clothes are perfectly clean and tidy, but he is dressed very poorly, even in comparison with other peasant children. The boy is already about 12 years old, so he works a lot, helping his parents support their family. His voice is weak and lifeless, indicating chronic fatigue. He has a reason for special pride, because he and his brother work at a paper mill, where they process and scrape paper. They pay a pittance there, but the children are happy about that. The guys are not always allowed to go home to spend the night.

Despite the paucity of description of the hero and the small number of lines, the reader feels a strong personality in this boy. Already now he works a lot along with his parents, despite his fatigue.

Characteristic 4

The great Russian writer I.S. Turgenev in his works, in addition to describing the beauty of Russian nature, to which he gave the main place, paid attention to describing the life of peasants and their families in the countryside. Since he himself was often in the village, the writer loved to go hunting, so he saw all the details of village life. In his stories, the author very subtly and understandably for the reader presents a picture of the life of peasants, their daily life and the worries that worried people. The writer did not ignore peasant children, because they were an integral part of the village.

In the story “Bezhin Meadow” I.S. Turgenev shows the reader five village boys, watching them from the side, the narrator imagines the image of each of them. One of these is the twelve-year-old boy Ilyusha. Among everyone, he didn’t particularly stand out and doesn’t attract much attention. The author describes his external characteristics as insignificant: a hump nose, an elongated face, as if elongated, a somewhat blinded gaze, knitted eyebrows, as if frowning, and compressed lips. Looking at him, one got the impression that the boy was constantly squinting from the fire or bright light, but in fact he just had a thoughtful, caring look. It seemed that Ilyusha was puzzled and worried about something. Judging by his general appearance, it was clear that the boy was from an ordinary peasant family, which belonged more to the poor. However, one can guess that these are neat, hardworking people who value and take care of what they have, even the smallest thing. This can be seen from the boy’s clothes: some of his things are newer, and some are already old, but everything is clean and tidy. It seems that Ilyusha wears clothes very neatly and carefully: the buttons are carefully fastened, the belt is tied evenly, etc. It is immediately obvious that the boy has been accustomed to this since childhood.

From Ilyusha’s conversation with friends, the reader understands that, despite his childhood, the boy already works enough in his life. He and his older brother got a job at a paper factory in order to help their parents, as they say, “make ends meet.” They work there a lot, sometimes even staying until the night. Just as we see, Ilyusha grazes horses at night, which is not entirely easy for a child, but this is also help for the family. However, this does not upset the boy; there is not a drop of anger or irritation in his words for such a difficult childhood life. He understands that everyone in the family must work and contribute to the family budget. These are signs of instilling hard work, respect and care for parents.

Analyzing the boys' conversation, it is clear that Ilyusha knows many stories about supernatural forces and believes in mythological images. Observing the behavior and character traits of the boys all night, the narrator understands that Ilyusha in the company of friends is not, so to speak, on the sidelines, he can interest and attract the attention of the guys. In a word, the boy has organizational skills. This is noticeable when he tells stories that happened in the village, which he heard from his father and other residents. His friends listened to him with interest, asked questions, to which Ilyusha answered with reason.

From this we can conclude that the boy had sufficient information and was to some extent educated. After all, the entire education of peasant children of that time was based on the information they received from older generations. However, having limited opportunities for education and development, compared to today, peasant children grew up hardworking, well-mannered and responsible for their behavior. They used every opportunity for their education and development, in order to improve their lives, with interest and thirst.

Sample 5

One summer, the narrator was late hunting, got lost, and only towards night came to the fire where the boys were sitting, guarding a herd of horses. In hot summers, numerous insects prevent horses from grazing during the day. Therefore, from evening until the next morning they are sent to graze in the meadows. Guarding a herd at night is the most interesting and honorable job for village boys. It was to such a company that the narrator approached. He met the boys, asked permission to spend the night and quietly lay down under a bush. After a while, the boys stopped being shy and continued the conversation. There were five of them.

Among the boys, Ilyusha stood out for his seriousness, although he looked about twelve years old. His elongated, blind face with frowning eyebrows and constantly compressed lips “reflected some kind of painful solicitude.” He was dressed in a neat black scroll, belted with a thick rope; There are new bast shoes on my feet. Ilyusha is the only one of all the boys who has a headdress - a low, constantly slipping felt cap on his light, almost yellow, disheveled hair. Unlike other boys, Ilyusha works in a paper factory. There he and his brother (and about ten other kids) work from morning to evening, and sometimes the owner forces him to stay overnight.

Ilyusha not only knows rural legends better than anyone, but also talks about them very well. And about the brownie, whom they heard at night at the factory: “I didn’t see him, and you can’t see him.” And about the white talking lamb: “The ram bares its teeth, and he too - byasha, byasha...”. And about the old gentleman who wanders at night in search of tear-grass. And about Trishka - the elusive man who will come before the end of the world... Ilyusha knows many scary stories, but he himself is most afraid of evil spirits. As soon as an unfamiliar sound is heard, or the dogs suddenly jump up and run barking into the meadows, Ilyusha is the first to get scared. When they heard the brownie at the factory, he said, they were so scared that “they all fell down and crawled under each other.” And when Pavel heard the voice of the drowned boy Vasya, Ilyusha immediately said that this was a bad omen. However, he also knows other signs - and that “you can’t see the dead at every hour. And on Parent’s Saturday – and the living... well, that is, who’s turn to die.” And about the fact that the goblin does not shout, but only claps his hands.

Probably, if Ilyusha managed to become literate, he could collect and process rural legends, and even write books - after all, his love for folk art is very clearly manifested in him.

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