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M.I. Glinka opera "Ruslan and Lyudmila"

The opera "Ruslan and Lyudmila" is practically the first performance that students of children's music schools get acquainted with at the lessons of musical literature. The famous "March of Chernomor" from the fourth act is well known not only to professionals, but also to music lovers. So much wide polarity of the performance M.I. Glinka is due to the fact that it is filled with wonderful, lyrical and such “Russian” music, fabulous, fantastic images and an exciting plot based on the work of another great Russian creator - A.S. Pushkin.

A summary of Glinka's opera "" and many interesting facts about this work, read on our page.

Summary of "Ruslan and Lyudmila"

At the wedding feast of Ruslan and Lyudmila, a strange thing happens, two monsters suddenly appear and carry the bride away, leaving all the guests standing in a dumb stupor. The inconsolable father has no choice but to promise the one who finds Lyudmila to give her as a legal wife. Three knights are sent in search: Ruslan, Ratmir and Farlaf.

Young and brave warriors are waiting for a lot of ill-wishers and helpers on the way. So, thanks to the wizard Finn, Ruslan finds out who kidnapped his beloved, it turned out to be the evil Chernomor. The mysterious well-wisher informs Ruslan that Lyudmila still loves him and is waiting for him to rescue her from the captivity of the sorcerer.

Not all knights were in fact as brave as Ruslan. Farlaf, despite his beautiful bass voice, is in fact just an ordinary coward who is already ready to completely abandon the search. On the way, he comes across the sorceress Naina, who wants to help and prevent Ruslan from winning.

The next fairy-tale character that gets in the way of the protagonist is a huge Head, who turned out to be Chernomor's brother. He gives the brave warrior a sword with which to defeat the villain.

In the meantime, the insidious sorceress Naina did not waste time in vain and by cunning lured travelers to her castle with the help of beautiful maidens and visions. Only thanks to Finn's help do they manage to avoid death and break the spell. In the deadly duel between Ruslan and Chernomor, thanks to the magic sword, the knight wins and it would seem that this is victory! But, the insidious villain has bewitched Lyudmila and the girl sleeps soundly.

Ruslan went with her and his devoted friends to Kiev. But another cowardly warrior went in search of Lyudmila, remember? Farlaf waited for the retinue to stop for the night and stole the girl, hurrying to go to Kiev as soon as possible and receive the long-awaited reward. But only Ruslan can disenchant Lyudmila, because he has a magic ring, handed by the kind Finn. Appearing around the palace, the brave warrior breaks the spell of Chernomor, and all the guests rejoice, glorifying the brave Ruslan and his lovely bride Lyudmila.

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Interesting Facts

• Work on the opera lasted about five years.
• Glinka He said that the comedian Shakhovsky was the first to give him the idea to write an opera at one of Zhukovsky's evenings.
• When the author started working on the work, there was not even a libretto yet.
• Interestingly, the country Lukomorye, in which the action takes place, was depicted on maps of the 16th-18th centuries. It was a locality in Siberia, located on the right bank of the Ob River.
• The long-awaited premiere of the performance was timed to coincide with the sixth anniversary of the first performance. opera "A Life for the Tsar" .

• The opera was written by the composer within the walls of his house, located on Gorokhovaya, 5.
• It is curious that the legendary and beloved by many prologue "At the Lukomorye", A.S. Pushkin included in the poem only 8 years after it was written, during the editing.
• Despite the great work done, the premiere of the opera was received rather coldly. This is partly due to the libretto, around the writing of which there were many rumors. Moreover, the composer himself is the culprit of these conversations. He wrote in one of his stories that at the next meeting, Bakhturin, drunk in just half an hour of work, sketched out a plan for a future performance.
• The original manuscript of the opera has not survived, as it burned down in a fire at the Mariinsky Theater in 1859. N. Rimsky-Korsakov , M. Balakirev and A. Lyadov had to restore it.
• Especially for this opera, Glinka came up with a technique that allows you to show the sound of the harp . A little later, Rimsky-Korsakov used this idea in his fairy tale operas: Snow Maiden " and " Sadko ».

• In his opera M.I. Glinka was the first to use a unique technique - the “scale of Chernomor”. This is a scale that is located in whole tones - a whole-tone scale. The author specially came up with such an original scale to emphasize the image of Chernomor. Later this approach was used Dargomyzhsky , Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin .
• Throughout its existence, the opera has been performed on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater about 700 times.
• For the film "Ruslan and Lyudmila" it took 300 birds - parrots. However, their purchase would be very expensive for the film studio, so it was decided to go for the trick. We bought several dozen parrots, and the rest of the birds were “played” by pigeons, painted under them.

Popular arias and numbers from the opera "Ruslan and Lyudmila"

Overture (listen)

Bayan's song "Cases of Bygone Days" Act 1 (listen)

Farlaf's Rondo "The hour of my triumph is near" from scene 2, act 2 (listen)

Ruslan's aria "About the field, the field, who strewn you with dead bones" from the 3rd scene of the 2nd act (listen)

March of Chernomor Act 4 (listen)

The history of the creation of "Ruslan and Lyudmila"

He drew attention to the poem "Ruslan and Lyudmila" during the lifetime of the great poet. At the same time, the composer decided to write an opera based on this plot, which greatly interested Pushkin, who began to actively participate in the discussion of the plan of the work. However, the sudden death of the poet interrupted this collaboration. Subsequently, K. Bakhturin, V. Shirokov and the composer himself worked on the libretto. In addition, Glinka's friends, N. Kukolnik, worked on the text of the opera, on whose verses there were written many romances , historian Markevich and censor M. Gedeonov. As a result of the work done, the plot of the performance was greatly changed. So, the epic beginning came to the fore, and the lyrics deepened greatly. In addition, the main character has only two real rivals left. As for the Khazar prince, he turned into an assistant to Ruslan. The image of Bayan is now significantly enlarged.

As a result, all the careful work on the performance lasted several years. In 1837, the composer completed the first act and even presented it to the directorate of theaters. About a year later, separate numbers were performed at the Kachenovka estate, which were very warmly received by the audience. Work on the entire score ended in 1842.

The epic opera in five acts turned out to be really impressive. It praised heroism and real nobility. In addition, cowardice, malice and cruelty were mercilessly ridiculed and criticized. In addition, this is a fairy tale, which means its main idea is the victory of good over evil. Another distinctive feature of the opera is the amazing gallery of images created by Glinka. Among them there is the courageous Ruslan, the cowardly Farlaf, the cruel Chernomor, the kind Finn and other heroes who are distinguished by their bright characters.

Productions

The play premiered on November 27, 1842 at the Bolshoi Theatre. It was decided to time the production to coincide with the anniversary of the premiere of the composer's first opera, A Life for the Tsar. Moreover, Glinka's second opera was staged on the same stage, at the same time, but this did not help her. The performance was not particularly successful. Moreover, many reproached Glinka for not taking the creation of the libretto with due seriousness, but this is not at all the case. The well-known critic Serov noted that the libretto of the opera was written without a plan, in pieces, even by different authors. However, the surviving information confirms that Glinka worked very carefully and painstakingly on this work, including paying attention to the libretto. This is confirmed by another critic - Stasov, who noted how diligently and carefully Glinka worked even on the smallest details of the opera.

Nevertheless, at the premiere, already during the third act, the audience cooled off, and at the end of the fifth, the imperial family left the theater altogether, without waiting for the final chords. After the curtain fell, Glinka did not know if he should go on stage. Moreover, the departure of the emperor affected the reception of the opera by the public. Despite this, the play was staged a total of 32 times in its first season.

However, gradually, with each new production, the success of the work only increased. Among the brightest and most notable premieres, it is worth noting the 1904 version, which was successfully staged at the Mariinsky Theatre. It was dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the famous composer M. Glinka. Among the soloists were such eminent singers as Slavina, Chaliapin, Ershov and others.

Among modern productions, the premiere, which took place in April 2003 at the Bolshoi Theater, on which Viktor Kramer worked, stands out. Moreover, even before the performance was presented to the public, he positioned himself as an opera of the 21st century. Original scenery, play of light, "dancing" double basses, special direction - made this production special. However, this version was a failure and only lasted three performances.

A rather scandalous production took place at the Bolshoi Theater. On November 5, 2011, the public was able to get acquainted with the work of director Dmitry Chernyakov, who has long been famous for his provocative works. But this time his idea turned out to be a failure and many spectators left the hall without waiting for the finale, the rest shouted “shame” at all. If the first act of the opera was performed quite conservatively, then innovations began in the second. Lyudmila ended up in the villain's camp, and they tempted her with Thai massage. There are very few clothes on the characters, and the scenery does resemble a beauty salon. Everything is unusual in this version: a corporate party, scenery for a movie, with leaving "corpses" after work, a reminder of the country's hot spots. But the main character in this production is not Ruslan, but Finn.

The opera fell in love not only in Russia, but also abroad, where it was repeatedly presented to the public. Foreign connoisseurs of art first got acquainted with the opera "Ruslan and Lyudmila" in 1906 in Ljubljana, then in 1907 in Paris, London, Berlin and other European cities. Among them, the work of C. Mackeras, which he presented in Hamburg 1969, stands out the most. This time, Balanchine acted as the choreographer. The audience warmly welcomed the singers and appreciated the work of the great composer.

Such an interesting story is very interested in filmmakers. So, for the first time the poem was filmed in 1914 by Vladislav Starevich. A little later, Viktor Nevezhin and Ivan Nikitchenko took up, which was released in 1938. The third film adaptation was conceived by director Alexander Ptushko in 1972. The two-episode fairy tale film immediately captivated viewers with its magnificent plot, luxurious costumes and unsurpassed acting. It is interesting that the non-professional actress Natalya Petrova was invited to the role of Lyudmila, for whom this role became her debut and almost the only one. By the way, Chernomor was also played by a non-professional.

For more than a hundred years, a magnificent opera Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka captivates the hearts of classical music lovers, and this applies even to the smallest admirers of the performance. A stunning plot, magnificent music of the composer captivates literally from the first chord, forcing you, along with the actors, to plunge into this fabulous atmosphere. We offer you to watch the opera "" and, together with the main character, try to overcome all difficulties and rescue your beloved from the captivity of Chernomor. You can watch Glinka's opera right now in excellent quality and original production.

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka "Ruslan and Lyudmila"

Year: 1820 Genre: poem

Main characters: the old prince Vladimir, his daughter Lyudmila, prince Ruslan, the magician Chernomor, Rogdai, Ratmir and the knights Farlaf.

The work "Ruslan and Lyudmila" was the first major work of the author, it was written in the period 1817-1819.
This work is filled with faith in love, courage, and how to fight for your happiness. Pushkin showed that no matter what, in the end, good triumphs over evil.

The plot is that Prince Vladimir is celebrating the wedding of his daughter, but suddenly she is kidnapped. Now her fiancé Ruslan goes in search of her, he will face many trials, a long journey and enemies. But in the end everything ends well.

Read a summary of the poem Ruslan and Lyudmila for children (Pushkin)

Prince Vladimir decided to arrange a holiday by bringing together his sons, friends and other people. The reason for the celebration was the wedding of his only daughter, Luda. Everyone around is happy about this event, only a few knights stand aside, despondent, as they envy Lyudmila's fiancé.

After the end of the holiday, the prince gives his blessing to the young and takes them to their chambers. Suddenly, the weather worsened, the wind and thunder suddenly appeared, and a voice began to be heard from the darkness. When the storm ended and Ruslan came to his senses, he found that his bride was gone. Vladimir, having learned about the disappearance of his daughter, sends knights to search for her, and says that whoever finds her first will marry him. Each of the knights is already dreaming about how to save the young beauty. Arriving at the road, they found that it was divided and now each went his own way. Ruslan also went in search of a bride, on his way he came across a cave in which an old man lived. He told him that he had been waiting for a long time, and said that Ruslan would definitely find a bride, but before that there would be many difficulties. Lyudmila was stolen by Chernomor and in order to save the girl, it is necessary to kill him. Until the morning, Ruslan sat with the old man, who told him the story of his life. While Ruslan was listening to the old man, Rogdai thought about how he could get rid of Ruslan and save the girl. Rogdai, gathering his strength, goes to meet the enemy and on the way he meets an old grandmother who showed the way.

Ruslan is looking for Lyudmila, but suddenly Rogdai appears in front of him with a spear. All this time, Lyudmila is in the mansions of Chernomor, the most beautiful room was allocated for her, as well as many servants. There is a battle between Ruslan and Rograd, as a result, Ruslan gets the victory.

Then Ruslan finds himself in the fields where the war once unfolded, swords and bones of warriors lie around. Here he finds some weapons for himself and goes on his way. Soon a hill appears in front of him, but in the end it turned out to be the head of a warrior. The head came to life and blew Ruslan into the field. After that, the guy attacks the warrior's head, pierces her tongue, and then beats her on the head. Lyudmila is teasing the slaves at this time. Chernomor came up with a cunning plan, he turned into the girl's lover, caught her and sent her to her chambers.

Finally Ruslan met with Chernomor. Their struggle lasted for several days, a struggle not for life, but for death. The weak point of Chernomor was the beard, chopping it off Ruslan comes out the winner. He goes to look for Lyudmila, accidentally finds her under the invisibility cap. Ruslan and Lyudmila are very glad to each other and go home. On the way, Ruslan meets Ratmir, who is also happy, because he has found a girlfriend. They reconciled with Ruslanov and parted as friends.

Naina told Farlaf how to get rid of Ruslan, and soon he kills him, and he leaves with Lyudmila. A new problem came to Kiev, the Pechenegs gathered around the city. The old man, whom Ruslan met in a cave, revives the guy and gives him a ring that will help remove the spell from Lyudmila. Ruslan hurries to Kiev, at this time the enemies attack the city. Ruslan emerges victorious from the battle with Russian enemies. Going for his beloved, he meets Vladimir and Farlaf. Farlaf is very surprised to see Ruslan, and swears that he personally killed the guy. Ruslan, not paying attention to anything, runs to Lyudmila and resurrects her.

Picture or drawing Ruslan and Lyudmila

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Sovereign Vladimir arranges a feast with his sons and close friends, as they have a great holiday - the wedding of Lyudochka's daughter. Everyone rejoices at the wedding, except for the three knights. Since all three would like to be in the place of Ruslan's fiancé.

The holiday ends. The sovereign gives the newlyweds a blessing and they are taken to their chambers. Out of nowhere, the wind picks up, thunder rumbles, and a voice comes through the gloom. After Ruslan comes to his senses, he discovers the absence of his young wife.

When the father finds out that his daughter is missing, he sends knights to search for her, and to the one who finds her, he promises her hand and heart, and half the kingdom as a gift. The Knights are leaving.

Ratmir, one of the knights, is already looking forward to the embrace of the rescued. Farlaf dreams of great deeds. Rogdai, as always very quiet. The Knights arrive at the crossroads, and each decides to go his own way. Ruslan went separately, in front of him he notices a cave in which he finds an old man. The old man says that he has been waiting for him for a long time. He informs the groom that he will be able to save the bride, and reports that she was kidnapped by Chernomor. But before being rescued, he will have to go through quite a few difficulties, it is necessary to find where Chernomor lives and kill him.

The old man tells the story of Ruslan's life at Ruslan's request. Once he worked as a shepherd in the most beautiful fields of Finland. He was inexperienced in love. By unfortunate chance, he fell in love with Naina. This girl didn't love him back. After the refusal, he could not find solace for himself for a long time and left his native places. Gathering a squad, he went to seek adventure in naval battles. He failed to forget the insidious Naina, and he began to dream of coming home. After 10 years, having accumulated a sufficient amount of wealth, he dared to again ask for the hand of this woman, but this time he was refused. Leaving no hope, he learned witchcraft, but here he failed, as Naina appeared before him in an aged form. He did not even notice that while he was studying with the wise sorcerers, forty years had passed, and his beloved had turned seventy. The spell worked, but he didn't need her so old anymore. He found out that she was also a witch, and dumbfounded by this news, he ran away wherever his eyes looked, and after he heard the curses of his former lover.

That's how he ended up in this remote place where he lives all alone. The stories continued until morning. Ruslan gathered his things and inspired went on a journey for his beloved.

Meanwhile, Rogdai is plotting to leave Ruslan and free Lyudmila's heart. Turning his stallion around, he gallops to meet Ruslan.

Farlaf had a hard morning. He woke up and tried to have breakfast in the silence of the forest. But, before he had finished his breakfast, he noticed how a rider was rushing at him. Dropping everything, he ran away. Rushing on his heels, the horseman threatened to cut off his head. Rogdai was chasing him, who thought he had caught Ruslan, but, realizing that this was not his main opponent, he leaves.

Rogdai meets a decrepit old woman who shows him the way to his enemy. And the old woman helps Farlaf to get up and sends him home, since he has nothing to do on such a terrible path and the fact that the beautiful Lyudmila will still become his wife. He does everything as the old woman said.

Ruslan, still inspired, was looking for his beloved, but in an instant he realized that he was ordered to stop and saw Rogdai, brandishing a spear at him.

At this time, the stolen Lyudmila wakes up in the monastery of Chernomor, in a beautiful room on a charming bed. The maids approach her to help her change and braid her hair. And someone's beautiful voice sang charming songs to her. But Lyudmila did not feel any better from this, she went to the window and saw that she was very high, and only the tops of the snowy mountains were visible to her. She went out into the yard and found herself in front of a beautiful garden. In her sadness, she sits down on the ground to cry, but a set table appears in front of her, and a beautiful melody is in the air.

Lyudmila, without noticing it herself, gorges herself. Getting up from the ground, she noticed that the treats were gone. She was tired and something weightless carried her to her chambers. Lyudmila senses danger. And, suddenly, the Arabs appear in front of her, carrying in their hands someone's gray beard. At the end, she notices an old man. She screams and the dwarf is frightened, entangled in his own beard, and the servants immediately carry him away.

Ruslan fights with Rogdai not for life, but for death. Ruslan wins, and the enemy finds his death in the river.

In the monastery of Chernomor, servants comb their beards, a snake appears on the threshold, which in the blink of an eye turns into Naina. She warns Chernomor, but he is confident in his strength as long as his beard is in place. The snake flies away, and the bearded old man goes in search of Lyudmila in his possessions, but does not find her anymore. She did not disappear anywhere, she simply hid under the invisibility cap, which fell off at the fright of Chernomor.

Ruslan finds himself on the battlefield, where swords and shields are scattered next to the bones of former soldiers. He finds equipment for himself and continues on his way. He sees a hill in the distance. But, as it turns out a little later, this is not a hill, but a huge head of a warrior in a helmet. Ruslan woke up his head, and she, laughing, blew him into the field.

Ruslan throws down his weapon and pierces the warrior's tongue.

The head lost control, and Ruslan hit it with all his might. The warrior's head rolled to the side, and in its place Ruslan found a helmet.

He really wanted to finish off the head, but spared her and went on. The head told the story. For a long time she walked like a giant warrior, but she had an evil dwarf brother. The brother shared a secret that they could be killed with the help of a special sword, but as soon as they found it, a negligent relative cut off his head. Chernomor put his head here to guard the sword.

The third knight, Khan Ratmir, saw a castle along the way, on the wall of which stood a beautiful maiden. As soon as he came closer, a huge crowd of no less beautiful girls greeted him luxuriously.

Ruslan spends the whole night with his head.

Ludmila spends her time teasing the slaves. Chernomor is not stupid, he takes the form of a wounded lover and catches a negligent captive. The call of the horn is heard and Chernomor leaves Lyudmila alone.

They fought for two days and two nights, Chernomor weakened and asked for mercy. Having descended, Ruslan cuts off his beard and goes towards the invisible bride. Accidentally touches the invisibility cap from Lyudmila's head and the lover hugs the bride. The old man from the cave explains that she will wake up in Kiev in her native land.

On the way back, Ruslan meets Ratmir, who also found his happiness with a beautiful maiden. And wishing each other happiness, the former enemies disperse.

Naina teaches Farlaf how to kill Ruslan. Farlaf kills the sleeping Ruslan and leaves with Lyudmila. The people of Kiev meet a new misfortune - there are crowds of Pechenegs around the city. The old man from the cave revives Ruslan with living and dead water, he also gives Ruslan a ring that will help remove the spell from his beloved.

Ruslan immediately leaves for Kiev. Enemies lean on the walls of the city, but there is no winner in this war. In the morning, a horseman comes out of the crowd of Pechenegs. Ruslan defeats all Russian enemies, leaving the dead villains at the walls of the city.

Arriving at the place, he is looking for his beloved in the tower in order to awaken her, but he meets Vladimir and Farlaf on the way. Farlav begins to repent that he killed Ruslan and took Lyudmila. Ruslan, blinded by the desire to see his beauty again, runs to Lyudmila and puts on the ring. Lyudmila wakes up.

Year of writing:

1820

Reading time:

Description of the work:

The poem Ruslan and Lyudmila was written in 1820 by Alexander Pushkin. This is his first completed poem, which is also a fairy tale. Pushkin wrote the poem Ruslan and Lyudmila, being inspired by ancient Russian epics.

If we talk about the time of writing the poem Ruslan and Lyudmila, it is worth mentioning that the poet himself considered it to be the beginning of his studies at the Lyceum, but the poem was written, of course, after the end of the Lyceum. It is possible that in the Lyceum Pushkin matured the main idea, but not the text of the work.

Read below a summary of the poem Ruslan and Lyudmila.

Prince Vladimir the sun is feasting in the grid with his sons and a crowd of friends, celebrating the wedding of his youngest daughter Lyudmila with Prince Ruslan. In honor of the newlyweds, the harpist Bayan sings. Only three guests are not happy with the happiness of Ruslan and Lyudmila, three knights do not listen to the prophetic singer. These are Ruslan's three rivals: the knight Rogdai, the braggart Farlaf and the Khazar Khan Ratmir.

The feast is over, and everyone disperses. The prince blesses the young, they are taken to the bedchamber, and the happy bridegroom is already looking forward to love delights. Suddenly there was a thunder, a flash of light, everything grew dark, and in the ensuing silence a strange voice was heard and someone soared and disappeared into the darkness. Ruslan, who has woken up, is looking for Lyudmila, but she is not there, she is "kidnapped by an unknown force."

Struck by the terrible news of the disappearance of his daughter, enraged at Ruslan, the Grand Duke appeals to the young knights with an appeal to go in search of Lyudmila and promises whoever finds and returns his daughter to give her as a wife in reproach to Ruslan, and in addition - half the kingdom. Rogdai, Ratmir, Farlaf and Ruslan himself instantly volunteer to go looking for Lyudmila and saddle their horses, promising the prince not to prolong the separation. They leave the palace and gallop along the banks of the Dnieper, and the old prince looks after them for a long time and in his mind flies after them.

Knights ride together. Ruslan languishes with longing, Farlaf boasts of his future exploits in the name of Lyudmila, Ratmir dreams of her embrace, Rogdai is gloomy and silent. The day is drawing to a close, the horsemen drive up to the crossroads and decide to leave, each trusting his fate. Ruslan, devoted to gloomy thoughts, rides at a pace and suddenly sees a cave in front of him, in which a fire glows. The knight enters the cave and sees in it an old man with a gray beard and clear eyes, reading an ancient book in front of a lamp. The elder addresses Ruslan with a greeting and says that he has been waiting for him for a long time. He calms the young man, informing him that he will be able to regain Lyudmila, who was kidnapped by the terrible wizard Chernomor, an old thief of beauties living in the northern mountains, where no one has yet been able to penetrate. But Ruslan is destined to find the home of Chernomor and defeat him in battle. The elder says that the future of Ruslan is in his own will. Delighted, Ruslan falls at the old man’s feet and kisses his hand, but suddenly a torment appears again on his face. The wise old man understands the cause of the young man’s sadness and reassures him, saying that Chernomor is a powerful magician, able to bring the stars from the sky, but powerless in the fight against inexorable time, and therefore his senile love is not terrible for Lyudmila. The elder persuades Ruslan to go to bed, but Ruslan languishes in anguish and is unable to fall asleep. He asks the elder to tell him who he is and how he got to this land. And the old man with a sad smile tells his wondrous story.

Born in the Finnish valleys, he was a peaceful and carefree shepherd in his homeland, but to his misfortune he fell in love with the beautiful, but hard-hearted and obstinate Naina. For six months he languished in love and finally opened up to Naina. But the proud beauty replied indifferently that she did not love the shepherd. Feeling disgusted with his usual life and occupations, the young man decided to leave his native fields and set off with a faithful squad on a brave voyage in search of battles in order to earn the love of proud Naina with swearing glory. He spent ten years in battles, but his heart, full of love for Naina, yearned to return. And so he returned to throw rich trophies at the feet of the arrogant beauty in the hope of her love, but again the indifferent maiden refused the hero. But this test did not stop the lover. He decided to try his luck with the help of magical powers, having learned powerful wisdom from the sorcerers living in his area, whose will everything is subject to. Having decided to attract Naina's love with the help of witchcraft, he spent imperceptible years studying with sorcerers and finally comprehended the terrible secret of nature, learned the secret of spells. But evil fate pursued him. Called by his sorcery, Naina appeared before him as a decrepit old woman, hunchbacked, gray-haired, with a shaking head. The horrified sorcerer learns from her that forty years have passed and today she turned seventy. To his horror, the sorcerer was convinced that his spells had worked and Naina loved him. With trepidation, he listened to the love confessions of a gray-haired, ugly old woman, and to top it off, he learned that she had become a sorceress. The shocked Finn ran away, and after him the curses of the old witch were heard, reproaching him for being unfaithful to his feelings.

Having fled from Naina, the Finn settled in this cave and lives in complete seclusion. Finn predicts that Naina will also hate Ruslan, but he will be able to overcome this obstacle.

All night Ruslan listened to the stories of the elder, and in the morning, with a soul full of hope, gratefully hugging him goodbye and parting with the blessing of the wizard, he sets off in search of Lyudmila.

Meanwhile, Rogdai rides "between the forest deserts." He cherishes a terrible thought - to kill Ruslan and thereby free his way to Lyudmila's heart. He decisively turns his horse and gallops back.

Farlaf, having slept all morning, dined in the silence of the forest by the stream. Suddenly he noticed that a rider was rushing straight at him at full speed. Throwing away lunch, weapons, chain mail, the cowardly Farlaf jumps on his horse and flees without looking back. The rider rushes after him and urges him to stop, threatening to "rip off" his head. Farlaf's horse jumps over the moat, and Farlaf himself falls into the mud. Rogdai, who has flown up, is already ready to defeat the opponent, but he sees that this is not Ruslan, and in annoyance and anger he rides away.

Under the mountain, he meets a barely alive old woman, who points to the north with her stick and says that she will find the knight of her enemy there. Rogdai leaves, and the old woman approaches Farlaf, who is lying in the mud and shaking with fear, and advises him to return home, not to endanger himself anymore, because Lyudmila will be his anyway. Having said this, the old woman disappeared, and Farlaf follows her advice.

Meanwhile, Ruslan seeks his beloved, wondering about her fate. One evening, sometimes, he rode over the river and heard the buzz of an arrow, the ringing of chain mail and the neighing of a horse. Someone shouted at him to stop. Looking back, Ruslan saw a rider rushing towards him with a raised spear. Ruslan recognized him and shuddered with anger...

At the same time, Lyudmila, carried away from her wedding bed by the gloomy Chernomor, woke up in the morning, enveloped in vague horror. She lay in a luxurious bed under a canopy, everything was like in the fairy tales of Shehe-rezada. Beautiful maidens in light clothes approached her and bowed. One skillfully braided her braid and adorned her with a pearl crown, the other put on her an azure sundress and shod her, the third gave her a pearl belt. The invisible singer sang merry songs all this time. But all this did not amuse Lyudmila's soul. Left alone, Lyudmila goes to the window and sees only snowy plains and the peaks of gloomy mountains, everything is empty and dead all around, only a whirlwind rushes with a dull whistle, shaking the forest visible on the horizon. In desperation, Lyudmila runs to the door, which automatically opens in front of her, and Lyudmila goes out into an amazing garden in which palm trees, laurel, cedars, oranges grow, reflected in the mirror of the lakes. Spring fragrance is all around and the voice of the Chinese nightingale is heard. Fountains beat in the garden and there are beautiful statues that seem to be alive. But Lyudmila is sad, and nothing amuses her. She sits down on the grass, and suddenly a tent unfolds over her, and before her is a sumptuous dinner. Beautiful music delights her ears. Intending to reject the treat, Lyudmila began to eat. As soon as she got up, the tent disappeared by itself, and Lyudmila again found herself alone and wandered in the garden until evening. Lyudmila feels that she is falling asleep, and suddenly an unknown force lifts her up and gently carries her through the air to her bed. The three maidens appeared again and, having put Lyudmila to bed, disappeared. In fear, Lyudmila lies in bed and waits for something terrible. Suddenly there was a noise, the hall was lit up, and Lyudmila sees how a long line of araps in pairs carries a gray beard on pillows, behind which a humpbacked dwarf with a shaved head, covered with a high cap, stalks importantly. Lyudmila jumps up, grabs him by the cap, the dwarf gets frightened, falls, gets tangled in his beard, and to the squeal of Lyudmila the Arabs carry him away, leaving his hat behind.

Meanwhile, Ruslan, overtaken by the knight, fights with him in a fierce battle. He tears the enemy from the saddle, lifts him up and throws him from the shore into the waves. This hero was none other than Rogdai, who found his death in the waters of the Dnieper.

A cold morning shines on the tops of the northern mountains. Chernomor lies in bed, and the slaves comb his beard and oil his mustache. Suddenly, a winged serpent flies through the window and turns into Naina. She welcomes Chernomor and informs him of the impending danger. Chernomor replies to Naina that he is not afraid of the knight as long as his beard is intact. Naina, turning into a snake, flies away again, and Chernomor again goes to Lyudmila's chambers, but cannot find her either in the palace or in the garden. Lyudmila is gone. Chernomor in anger sends slaves in search of the disappeared princess, threatening them with terrible punishments. Lyudmila did not run away anywhere, she just accidentally discovered the secret of the Black Sea invisibility cap and took advantage of its magical properties.

But what about Ruslan? Having defeated Rogdai, he went further and ended up on the battlefield with armor and weapons scattered around, and the bones of warriors turning yellow. Sadly, Ruslan looks around the battlefield and finds among the abandoned weapons for himself armor, a steel spear, but cannot find a sword. Ruslan is driving through the night steppe and notices a huge hill in the distance. Riding closer, in the light of the moon, he sees that this is not a hill, but a living head in a heroic helmet with feathers that shudder from her snoring. Ruslan tickled the nostrils of his head with a spear, she sneezed and woke up. The angry head threatens Ruslan, but, seeing that the knight is not frightened, he becomes angry and begins to blow on him with all his might. Unable to resist this whirlwind, Ruslan's horse flies far into the field, and his head laughs over the knight. Enraged by her ridicule, Ruslan throws a spear and pierces his tongue with his head. Taking advantage of the confusion of his head, Ruslan rushes to her and beats her on the cheek with a heavy mitten. The head shook, turned over and rolled. In the place where she stood, Ruslan sees a sword that fits him. He intends to cut off the head's nose and ears with this sword, but he hears her groan and spares. The prostrate head tells Ruslan his story. Once she was a brave giant knight, but to her misfortune she had a younger dwarf brother, the evil Chernomor, who envied her older brother. One day, Chernomor revealed the secret he found in the black books, that behind the eastern mountains in the basement there is a sword that is dangerous for both brothers. Chernomor persuaded his brother to go in search of this sword and, when he was found, he fraudulently took possession of it and cut off his brother's head, transferred it to this desert region and doomed it to guard the sword forever. The head offers Ruslan to take the sword and take revenge on the insidious Chernomor.

Khan Ratmir went south in search of Lyudmila and on the way he sees a castle on a rock, along the wall of which a singing maiden walks in the moonlight. With her song, she beckons the knight, he drives up, under the wall he is met by a crowd of red girls who give the knight a luxurious reception.

And Ruslan spends this night near his head, and in the morning he goes on further searches. Autumn passes, and winter comes, but Ruslan stubbornly moves north, overcoming all obstacles.

Lyudmila, hidden from the eyes of the sorcerer with a magic hat, walks alone through the beautiful gardens and teases the servants of Chernomor. But the insidious Chernomor, having taken the form of a wounded Ruslan, lures Lyudmila into the net. He is already ready to pick the fruit of love, but the sound of a horn is heard, and someone is calling him. Having put on an invisibility cap on Lyudmila, Chernomor flies towards the call.

Ruslan called the sorcerer to fight, he is waiting for him. But the insidious wizard, having become invisible, beats the knight on the helmet. Having contrived, Ruslan grabs Chernomor by the beard, and the wizard takes off with him under the clouds. For two days he carried the knight through the air and finally asked for mercy and carried Ruslan to Lyudmila. On the ground, Ruslan cuts off his beard with a sword and ties it to his helmet. But, having entered the possession of Chernomor, he does not see Lyudmila anywhere and, in anger, begins to destroy everything around with his sword. With an accidental blow, he knocks off the invisibility cap from Lyudmila's head and finds a bride. But Lyudmila sleeps soundly. At this moment, Ruslan hears the voice of the Finn, who advises him to go to Kiev, where Lyudmila will wake up. Arriving on the way back to the head, Ruslan pleases her with a message about the victory over Chernomor.

On the bank of the river, Ruslan sees a poor fisherman and his beautiful young wife. He is surprised to recognize Ratmir in the fisherman. Ratmir says that he found his happiness and left the vain world. He says goodbye to Ruslan and wishes him happiness and love.

Meanwhile, Naina appears to Farlaf, who is waiting in the wings, and teaches how to destroy Ruslan. Creeping up to the sleeping Ruslan, Farlaf plunges his sword into his chest three times and hides with Lyudmila.

The murdered Ruslan lies in the field, and Farlaf with the sleeping Lyudmila strives for Kiev. He enters the tower with Lyudmila in his arms, but Lyudmila does not wake up, and all attempts to wake her up are fruitless. And then a new misfortune falls on Kiev: it is surrounded by the rebellious Pechenegs.

While Farlaf is going to Kiev, the Finn comes to Ruslan with living and dead water. Having resurrected the knight, he tells him what happened and gives him a magic ring that will remove the spell from Lyudmila. Encouraged Ruslan rushes to Kiev.

Meanwhile, the Pechenegs besiege the city, and at dawn a battle begins, which does not bring victory to anyone. And the next morning, among the hordes of Pechenegs, a rider in shining armor suddenly appears. He strikes right and left and puts the Pechenegs to flight. It was Ruslan. Having entered Kiev, he goes to the tower, where Vladimir and Farlaf were near Lyudmila. Seeing Ruslan, Farlaf falls to his knees, and Ruslan strives for Lyudmila and, touching her face with a ring, awakens her. Happy Vladimir, Lyudmila and Ruslan forgive Farlaf, who confessed everything, and Chernomor, deprived of magical powers, is accepted into the palace.

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The poem begins with a dedication to the beautiful women whom A. S. Pushkin loved and always admired. The dedication turns into an introduction, which says that Alexander Sergeevich himself ended up in a fairyland, and the scientist cat told him this wondrous tale about the amazing love of Ruslan and Lyudmila.

Canto 1

Events begin at the wedding feast. Prince Vladimir the Red Sun married his daughter Lyudmila to Ruslan. In this song, Pushkin introduces readers to the poem. One, Rogdai, is a brave warrior, the other is Farlaf, a braggart and joker, but a modest warrior among swords. And the third is the young Khazar Khan Ratmir.

Here, at the wedding, an intriguing plot twist takes place. When the feast ended in the evening, the guests dispersed and the young people were escorted into the bedroom, an unknown force swooped in and Lyudmila disappeared from the room at the moment when Ruslan, in love, was in sweet anticipation of the wedding night. Ruslan himself did not understand what had happened.

Distraught with grief, Prince Vladimir promised to marry Lyudmila to the one who would find and return her home. UslanRuslanRrrR Ruslan and three heroes in love went in search. At the crossroads, the travelers go in different directions, and Ruslan is left alone.

Suffering from the loss of his beloved, Ruslan drove aimlessly until he reached some cave. It was inhabited by the lonely old seer Finn. The elder told Ruslan that Lyudmila was kidnapped by the magician Chernomor, and told how to find him.

On a sleepless night, when neither the old man nor Ruslan could sleep, the old man told him about his fate and love for the beautiful Naina.

Canto 2

Canto Two shows us the remaining three heroes, two of whom were definitely in no hurry to look for Lyudmila. Rogdai and Farlaf met the old woman at different times. The horned old woman sent her to certain death, and Farlaf was advised to return to her estate near Kiev, sit there quietly and wait.

Meanwhile, Lyudmila, who lost consciousness at the moment when the sorcerer grabbed her, woke up in the morning in a rich room on soft featherbeds. Three charming girls helped her get dressed and put herself in order. But Lyudmila is not happy with either the rich decoration of the room, or the decorations, or the Garden of Eden, or the luxurious dishes that appeared literally out of nowhere. Her dear friend is not here, and she feels depressed and miserable. And at night, when Chernomor came to her bedroom, Lyudmila raised such a screech that the dwarf got tangled in his own beard and was forced to retreat. This scene was written with genuine Pushkinian wit.

Canto 3

In the third song, the poet tells about Naina's visit to Chernomor, where they conspired against Ruslan and Finn.

Lyudmila disappeared, and Chernomor sent all his servants in search of her. But the cap of invisibility, lost by the sorcerer in the chambers of the young princess, is to blame for the disappearance of the beauty.

Ruslan, meanwhile, went to the field of old battle. Bones, quivers, shields lay around. Everything spoke of a great and heroic battle. After the battle with Rogdai, the prince remained practically unarmed. He finds himself suitable armor. On the way, he met with a huge, like a mountain, but a living head. Ruslan angered his head, and she gave Ruslan a test. Ruslan threw a spear and hit the tongue. The head begged for mercy. This head told the knight the story of the sword and told that the strength of Chernomor was in the beard.

Canto 4

From the fourth song, the reader learns that the Khazar Khan Ratmir got into the house of 12 virgins and stayed in it. Ruslan continues on his way.

Lyudmila, meanwhile, hiding under a cap of invisibility, is sad in the mansions of Chernomor. Sometimes she teases the sorcerer's servants by appearing and disappearing again. This continued until Chernomor decided to deceive the princess, turning into a wounded Ruslan. Lyudmila rushes to him and realizes that it was a trap. She loses consciousness again. The insidious wizard intends to take advantage of the girl's condition, but his plans are violated by the sounds of the horn.

Canto 5

It is Ruslan who challenges Chernomor to a fight. Ruslan's confrontation with the sorcerer continued for three days and three nights. The evil sorcerer carried the knight, who firmly grabbed the dwarf by the beard, under heaven until he exhausted himself. When he descended to the ground, Ruslan cut off the sorcerer's beard, and put the sorcerer himself in his bag. Our hero tried in vain to find Lyudmila, but she slept under an invisible hat in a magical dream. Ruslan, in desperation, began to destroy everything around him and with his sword removed the hat from Lyudmila's head. She slept. He heard the voice of old Finn, who advised him to take the sleeping Lyudmila to Kiev.

On the way back, Ruslan with Lyudmila and a beardless, helpless dwarf drove up to the head. Ruslan showed Chernomor to the head, and witnessed her agony and death.

The young prince continued on his way. Stopping to wait, he saw a fisherman, a girl came out to him, and Ruslan was surprised to recognize Khan Ratmir in the fisherman. The meeting of recent rivals was warm and cordial.

When Ruslan stopped in a field to rest, Naina, turning into a cat, led Farlaf to the place where Ruslan was sleeping in a dead sleep. Farlaf dealt a fatal blow to Ruslan and kidnapped Lyudmila.

Canto 6

Farlaf brings Lyudmila to the palace. Prince Vladimir is glad that his daughter was found. They called all the musicians to wake up Lyudmila. But the joy of returning is overshadowed by the attack of the Pechenegs on Kiev.

Meanwhile, Finn revives Ruslan and gives him a ring with which Ruslan can wake up his wife. The young hero travels to Kiev, enters the battle with the Pechenegs. Inspired by unexpected help, the people of Kiev also enter the battle.

The Pechenegs are finally defeated, and Ruslan with a ring goes to Lyudmila. He touches her brow, and Lyudmila awakens from her sleep. Farlaf, seeing the living Ruslan, is afraid that his crime will be revealed, he himself repents of his deed. They forgive him. The dwarf is also left to live at court.

The poem ends with an epilogue, part of which was written during Pushkin's stay in the Caucasus. The plot of the poem ends with a happy ending, but the epilogue turned out to be sad and somehow hopeless. “The fire of poetry has gone out,” the author admits in the last lines.