Summary A literary work implies a clearly structured text that conveys not only the meaning of the work as a whole, but also, highlighting individual chapters and parts of the novel, story, pointing out the characteristics of the characters and their inner world.

Often to retell summary story, poem or novel, we need to divide it into parts so that the story turns out logical, and we do not jump from place to place.

Brief retelling

Brief retelling requires special preparation from the student. It is imperative that you practice in advance before giving a brief retelling. This method is not new and is used not only for brief retelling works, but also before a report or public performance. We recommend making a plan for a brief retelling and if you have difficulty speaking in public, then write it on a piece of paper and take it with you. Many prominent figures always had such a “cheat sheet” with them. Over time, once you have mastered the basic techniques of summarizing, you will find it easy to speak not only in front of your class, but also to larger audiences.

Summary

To confidently master summary Not only literary works, but also for performances taking place in culturally significant places, you need to train your memory. Memory training is not a tedious process. Rather, it is a game that you can play by yourself without outside help.

Sooner or later we will have to briefly summarize what we saw or said. For example, at school, when the teacher, after a long monologue, asks you to repeat what “did I just say?” Here, not only an excellent memory will come to the rescue, but also humor - the undoubted companion of every person. How can we write summary? The presentation is usually read to us several times. Listen to it for the first time without recording or getting distracted. After you have listened, break the text into parts in your head and highlight the main thing - this is not easy for the first time, but in the future this technique will make your life easier at university. Listening to the presentation a second time, highlight the main thing in each aspect of the presentation. This way the summary will be almost ready. Do not forget the names of the main characters and their relationships in the work.

Brief retelling presentation will be incomplete if you miss the climax - this is one of the most important aspects. Of course, watch out for errors not only spelling, but also stylistic ones. Keep in mind that the brief content of the work will remain in your memory for a long time and competent speech is not only an adornment to a person, it is an opportunity to find a common language, to communicate freely not only with your friends, but with strangers. Grammatically correct speech- this is a succinct, concise presentation of not only our own thoughts, but things of a different order that saturate our lives.

Summarize. To learn a brief retelling and summary, knowledge of the rules of the Russian language is not enough - you need to train in public speaking, train your brain to memorize. The best way Memory training is learning poetry by heart. In addition to training your brain, memorizing poems will be useful: you can recite a poem at any opportunity: in the company of friends, at a birthday party, on a date or for a walk with your loved one.

As a guide, we provide brief summaries of works of Russian literature:

LITERATURE OF THE XI—XVIII CENTURIES

Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin

Alexander Nikolaevich Radishchev

Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin

LITERATURE OF THE FIRST HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY

Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol

Alexander Sergeevich Griboyedov

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Mikhail Yurjevich Lermontov
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LITERATURE OF THE SECOND HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY

Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev

Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov

Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky

Fedor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky

Nikolai Semenovich Leskov

Ivan Aleksandrovich Goncharov

Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky

Vladimir Galaktionovich Korolenko

In 1836, Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin wrote the story “ Captain's daughter", which was a historical description of the Pugachev uprising. In his work, Pushkin was based on real events of 1773-1775, when, under the leadership of Emelyan Pugachev (Liar Peter Fedorovich), the Yaik Cossacks, who took escaped convicts, thieves and villains as their servants, began a peasant war. Pyotr Grinev and Maria Mironova are fictional characters, but their destinies very truthfully reflect the sad time of the brutal civil war.

Pushkin designed his story in a realistic form in the form of notes from the diary of the main character Pyotr Grinev, made years after the uprising. The lyrics of the work are interesting in their presentation - Grinev writes his diary in adulthood, rethinking everything he has experienced. At the time of the uprising, he was a young nobleman loyal to his Empress. He looked at the rebels as savages who fought with particular cruelty against the Russian people. During the course of the story, one can see how the heartless ataman Pugachev, who executes dozens of honest officers, over time, by the will of fate, wins favor in Grinev’s heart and finds sparks of nobility in his eyes.

Chapter 1. Sergeant of the Guard

At the beginning of the story main character Pyotr Grinev tells the reader about his young life. He is the only survivor of 9 children of a retired major and a poor noblewoman; he lived in a middle-class noble family. The old servant was actually involved in raising the young master. Peter's education was low, since his father, a retired major, hired the French hairdresser Beaupre, who led an immoral lifestyle, as a tutor. For drunkenness and indecent acts he was kicked out of the estate. And his father decided to send 17-year-old Petrusha, through old connections, to serve in Orenburg (instead of St. Petersburg, where he was supposed to go to serve in the guard) and assigned an old servant Savelich to look after him. Petrusha was upset, because instead of partying in the capital, a dull existence in the wilderness awaited him. During a stop along the way, the young master made an acquaintance with the rake captain Zurin, because of whom, under the pretext of learning, he got involved in playing billiards. Then Zurin suggested playing for money and as a result Petrusha lost as much as 100 rubles - a lot of money at that time. Savelich, being the keeper of the master’s “treasury,” is against Peter paying the debt, but the master insists. The servant is indignant, but gives the money.

Chapter 2. Counselor

In the end, Peter is ashamed of his loss and promises Savelich not to play for money anymore. What awaits them ahead long road, and the servant forgives the master. But due to Petrusha’s indiscretion, they again find themselves in trouble - the approaching snowstorm did not bother the young man and he ordered the coachman not to return. As a result, they lost their way and almost froze to death. As luck would have it, they met a stranger who helped the lost travelers find their way to the inn.

Grinev recalls how then, tired from the road, he had a dream in a wagon, which he called prophetic: he sees his house and his mother, who says that his father is dying. Then he sees an unfamiliar man with a beard in his father’s bed, and his mother says that he is her sworn husband. The stranger wants to give his “father’s” blessing, but Peter refuses, and then the man takes up an ax, and corpses appear around. He doesn't touch Peter.

They arrive at an inn that resembles a thieves' den. A stranger, frozen in the cold in only an army coat, asks Petrusha for wine, and he treats him. A strange conversation took place between the man and the owner of the house in thieves' language. Peter does not understand the meaning, but everything he heard seems very strange to him. Leaving the shelter, Peter, to Savelich’s further displeasure, thanked the guide by giving him a sheepskin coat. To which the stranger bowed, saying that the century would not forget such mercy.

When Peter finally gets to Orenburg, his father’s colleague, having read the cover letter with instructions to keep the young man “with a tight rein,” sends him to serve in the Belgorod fortress - an even greater wilderness. This could not but upset Peter, who had long dreamed of a guards uniform.

Chapter 3. Fortress

The owner of the Belgorod garrison was Ivan Kuzmich Mironov, but his wife, Vasilisa Egorovna, was actually in charge of everything. Simple and sincere people Grinev immediately liked it. The middle-aged Mironov couple had a daughter, Masha, but so far their acquaintance has not taken place. In the fortress (which turned out to be a simple village), Peter meets the young lieutenant Alexei Ivanovich Shvabrin, who was exiled here from the guard for a duel that ended in the death of his opponent. Shvabrin, having a habit of speaking unflatteringly about those around him, often spoke sarcastically about Masha, the captain’s daughter, making her look like a complete fool. Then Grinev himself meets the commander’s daughter and questions the lieutenant’s statements.

Chapter 4. Duel

By nature, kind and good-natured, Grinev began to become closer and closer friends with the commandant and his family, and moved away from Shvabrin. The captain's daughter Masha had no dowry, but turned out to be a charming girl. Shvabrin's caustic remarks did not please Peter. Inspired by thoughts of the young girl on quiet evenings, he began to write poems for her, the contents of which he shared with a friend. But he ridiculed him, and even more began to humiliate Masha’s dignity, assuring that she would come at night to someone who would give her a pair of earrings.

As a result, the friends quarreled, and it came to a duel. Vasilisa Egorovna, the commandant’s wife, found out about the duel, but the duelists pretended to make peace, deciding to postpone the meeting until the next day. But in the morning, as soon as they had time to draw their swords, Ivan Ignatich and 5 disabled people were escorted out to Vasilisa Yegorovna. Having reprimanded them properly, she released them. In the evening, Masha, alarmed by the news of the duel, told Peter about Shvabrin’s unsuccessful matchmaking with her. Now Grinev understood his motives for his behavior. The duel still took place. The confident swordsman Peter, taught at least something worthwhile by tutor Beaupre, turned out to be strong opponent for Shvabrin. But Savelich appeared at the duel, Peter hesitated for a second and ended up wounded.

Chapter 5. Love

The wounded Peter was nursed by his servant and Masha. As a result, the duel brought the young people closer together, and they were inflamed with mutual love for each other. Wanting to marry Masha, Grinev sends a letter to his parents.

Grinev made peace with Shvabrin. Peter's father, having learned about the duel and not wanting to hear about the marriage, became furious and sent his son an angry letter, where he threatened to be transferred from the fortress. At a loss as to how his father could have found out about the duel, Peter attacked Savelich with accusations, but he himself received a letter of dissatisfaction from the owner. Grinev finds only one answer - Shvabrin reported the duel. His father’s refusal to give his blessing does not change Peter’s intentions, but Masha does not agree to get married secretly. They move away from each other for a while, and Grinev realizes that unhappy love can deprive him of his reason and lead to debauchery.

Chapter 6. Pugachevism

Trouble begins in the Belgorod fortress. Captain Mironov receives an order from the general to prepare the fortress for an attack by rebels and robbers. Emelyan Pugachev, who called himself Peter III, escaped from custody and terrified the surrounding area. According to rumors, he had already captured several fortresses and was approaching Belgorod. It was impossible to count on victory with 4 officers and army “disabled” soldiers. Alarmed by rumors about the capture of a neighboring fortress and the execution of officers, Captain Mironov decided to send Masha and Vasilisa Yegorovna to Orenburg, where the fortress was stronger. The captain's wife speaks out against leaving and decides not to leave her husband in difficult times. Masha says goodbye to Peter, but she fails to leave the fortress.

Chapter 7. Attack

Ataman Pugachev appears at the walls of the fortress and offers to surrender without a fight. Commandant Mironov, having learned about the betrayal of the constable and several Cossacks who joined the rebel clan, does not agree to the proposal. He orders his wife to dress Masha as a commoner and take her to the priest’s hut, while he opens fire on the rebels. The battle ends with the capture of the fortress, which, together with the city, passes into the hands of Pugachev.

Right at the commandant’s house, Pugachev commits reprisals against those who refused to take the oath to him. He orders the execution of Captain Mironov and Lieutenant Ivan Ignatyich. Grinev decides that he will not swear allegiance to the robber and will accept an honest death. However, then Shvabrin comes up to Pugachev and whispers something in his ear. The chieftain decides not to ask for the oath, ordering all three to be hanged. But the old faithful servant Savelich throws himself at the ataman’s feet and he agrees to pardon Grinev. Ordinary soldiers and city residents take the oath of allegiance to Pugachev. As soon as the oath was over, Pugachev decided to have dinner, but the Cossacks dragged the naked Vasilisa Yegorovna by the hair from the commandant’s house, where they were plundering property, who was screaming for her husband and cursing the convict. The chieftain ordered to kill her.

Chapter 8. Uninvited Guest

Grinev's heart is not in the right place. He understands that if the soldiers find out that Masha is here and alive, she cannot avoid reprisals, especially since Shvabrin took the side of the rebels. He knows that his beloved is hiding in the priest's house. In the evening, the Cossacks arrived, sent to take him to Pugachev. Although Peter did not accept the Liar’s offer of all sorts of honors for the oath, the conversation between the rebel and the officer was friendly. Pugachev remembered the good and now granted Peter freedom in return.

Chapter 9. Separation

The next morning, in front of the people, Pugachev called Peter to him and told him to go to Orenburg and report his attack in a week. Savelich began to bother about the looted property, but the villain said that he would let him go to sheepskin coats for such impudence. Grinev and his servant leave Belogorsk. Pugachev appoints Shvabrin as commandant, and he himself goes off to his next exploits.

Peter and Savelich are walking, but one of Pugachev’s gang caught up with them and said that His Majesty was granting them a horse and a sheepskin coat, and half a rouble, but he supposedly lost it.
Masha fell ill and lay delirious.

Chapter 10. Siege of the city

Arriving in Orenburg, Grinev immediately reported on Pugachev’s actions in the Belgorod fortress. A council met, at which everyone except Peter voted for defense rather than attack.

A long siege begins - hunger and need. On his next foray into the enemy’s camp, Peter receives a letter from Masha in which she begs to be saved. Shvabrin wants to marry her and keeps her captive. Grinev goes to the general with a request to give half a company of soldiers to save the girl, but he is refused. Then Peter decides to help out his beloved alone.

Chapter 11. Rebel settlement

On the way to the fortress, Peter ends up on Pugachev’s guard and is taken for interrogation. Grinev honestly tells everything about his plans to the troublemaker and says that he is free to do whatever he wants with him. Pugachev's thug advisors offer to execute the officer, but he says, “have mercy, so have mercy.”

Together with the robber chieftain, Peter travels to the Belgorod fortress; on the road they have a conversation. The rebel says that he wants to go to Moscow. Peter feels sorry for him in his heart, begging him to surrender to the mercy of the empress. But Pugachev knows that it’s too late, and says, come what may.

Chapter 12. Orphan

Shvabrin holds the girl on water and bread. Pugachev pardons the AWOL, but from Shvabrin he learns that Masha is the daughter of an unsworn commandant. At first he is furious, but Peter, with his sincerity, wins favor this time too.

Chapter 13. Arrest

Pugachev gives Peter a pass to all outposts. Happy lovers go to their parents' house. They confused the army convoy with Pugachev's traitors and were arrested. Grinev recognized Zurin as the head of the outpost. He said that he was going home to get married. He dissuades him, assuring him to stay in the service. Peter himself understands that duty calls him. He sends Masha and Savelich to their parents.

The military actions of the detachments that came to the rescue ruined the robber plans. But Pugachev could not be caught. Then rumors spread that he was rampant in Siberia. Zurin's detachment is sent to suppress another outbreak. Grinev recalls the unfortunate villages plundered by savages. The troops had to take away what people were able to save. News arrived that Pugachev had been caught.

Chapter 14. Court

Grinev, following Shvabrin's denunciation, was arrested as a traitor. He could not justify himself with love, fearing that Masha would also be interrogated. The Empress, taking into account his father's merits, pardoned him, but sentenced him to lifelong exile. The father was in shock. Masha decided to go to St. Petersburg and ask the Empress for her beloved.

By the will of fate, Maria meets the Empress in the early autumn morning and tells her everything, not knowing who she is talking to. That same morning, a cab driver was sent to pick her up at the house of a socialite, where Masha had settled down for a while, with the order to deliver Mironov’s daughter to the palace.

There Masha saw Catherine II and recognized her as her interlocutor.

Grinev was released from hard labor. Pugachev was executed. Standing on the scaffold in the crowd, he saw Grinev and nodded.

Reunited loving hearts continued the Grinev family, and in their Simbirsk province a letter from Catherine II was kept under glass, pardoning Peter and praising Mary for her intelligence and kind heart.

Bible Availability

Long ago, the scriptures that made up the Bible were inaccessible ordinary people. They were copied manually in monasteries and circulated in the monastic environment. But with the invention of printing, the text of the Old Testament became accessible to almost everyone. The Bible is the best-selling book, its circulation never runs out. They even give it away for free. It is in every home; many have it on the shelf collecting dust.
Until the 16th century, it was an unattainable task for a commoner to find this text and read it (unless, of course, he was taught to read and write and did not dig around in dung all his life). The priests retold this book, omitting some details, exaggerating some places, emphasizing where they pleased. A person could not verify them; he could only trust in the authority of the intermediaries. Nowadays this text is available to everyone, but purely nominal believers have never read it. They simply perform rituals dictated by tradition, like trained ones.
IN Lately in the press there was a wave of inflated sensations about the discovery of new texts of antiquity, the apocrypha of the gospel and the Old Testament. But even if you carefully read the most ordinary Bible, you can see many places that believers are unaware of or do not notice. Only the persistent are able to master this indigestible text beyond the second description of creation. Some people read selected passages that are recommended to them, ignoring most of the book. But more often than not, the Bible is simply never opened. But this book can turn anyone into an atheist.

But let's start with translation. The original Bible is read only by particularly fanatical Jews or scholars. Everyone else is content with the translation.
Everyone now calls it the Septuagint Greek translations indiscriminately. It is these translations that have been used since time immemorial. Orthodox Church in Russia. It is noteworthy that the history of the creation of the translation of seventy interpreters has several versions. The most common one is described both in the Talmud and in Greek sources, with minimal difference. The Greeks said that King Ptolemy wanted to purchase a translation of the Hebrew book and hired 72 translators for this. The Talmud states that the king imprisoned polyglot rabbis and forced them to translate the Torah. In both stories, mercenaries or prisoners translated while isolated from each other. And at the end, supposedly all the texts were identical. However, the literary decorations characteristic of Greek texts of that era overwhelm the Septuagint. And, as we now know, the story of the seventy translators is just a myth.
The Jews believe that even such a beautiful translation, made by wise rabbis, is a profanation of the Holy Scriptures. In the words of one of the Talmudists: “He who makes a literary translation is blasphemous; he who translates literally is a liar.”
This translation was apparently used by the New Testament writers and other Greek-speaking writers. For example, the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke mentions Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, who is not mentioned in the original Hebrew, but who appears in the Septuagint. Still, with minimal semantic losses and, in some cases, even with additions not present in the original, the translation of seventy is not so bad.
The situation is much worse with the Vulgate, the Latin translation used by Catholics. This translation was made by the monk Jerome in the 4th century, after a quick course in Hebrew. Naturally, his work is replete with the most absurd errors, due to ignorance of the language in general and phraseology in particular. The funniest part is from Exodus where it is said that “the skin of [Moses’] face shone” (;; ;;; ;;; ;;;;). But in Hebrew the word ";;;;;;" means both “horn” and “to shine.” As a result of a stupid mistake, many Catholics admire the horned Moses; the most famous statue with horns was created by Michelangelo himself.
I used several translations. Synodal, which is a compilation of translations from Hebrew, Greek and Latin, that is, despite all its outdatedness, it was nevertheless done diligently. And the newest translation into Russian, completed in 2011. I also had to familiarize myself with some medieval Western translations; most often I turned to the King James Bible and its later editions made by the Anglican Church. Then two different translations from English into Russian, which were transcriptions from Latin and from Greek language. And more advanced new translations from the USA and Canada.
Of course, you can get confused in such a broken phone, because it is often a translation of a translation, or even a translation-translation-translation. Therefore, I had to turn to the works of biblical scholars who also study the text in the original so that comparison could be made. Only by comparing all the options can you see what has been lost, what has been edited, and what has even been added to the original for some purpose. Many untranslatable puns have been lost, while verbal embellishments have been added elsewhere. But in general, the biblical meaning is not lost in any translation. Modern translations are much better than old ones. Therefore, you can safely discuss the content without fear of being deceived.

Brief retelling of the Old Testament

Unfortunately, it turns out that a brief (even very brief) retelling general details I cannot escape the biblical epic. I would not like to turn the article into a children's adaptation, as missionaries like to do. Much more prominent figures analyzed the book before me. For example, if you want to laugh, I recommend Leo Taxil. What interests me is something else: under what conditions and for what purposes this book was composed. And without summary- there is no way to approach this goal. Of course, I can't resist mocking. And the problem is not my depravity or some sophisticated malice. The text itself is tragicomic.

The biblical narrative opens with the story of the creation of the world. Consistently, the demiurge creates everything that exists in 6 days. Heaven and earth. Change of day and night. Water and dry. Further in approximately this order. Plants, reptiles, birds, fish, animals and other living creatures. Then he took it into his head to create a man, in his own image and likeness, who would rule this world and all the cattle, fish and birds. In the end, he appreciated his work and was pleased with the result.
After the first description of creation, there follows a second, more rich in details, in some places different from the first. In the second half of the article I will explain where such doublets in the biblical text come from. There will continue to be a lot of them. In general, the second description clarifies that all animals were generated by the earth. That is, stupidly made of dirt. Adam gave all the animals names. Actually everyone. Bacteria are not mentioned there; there were no microscopes then. Nor are hundreds of thousands of animal species mentioned that the ancient Jews could not even have heard of. Because the world at that time was very limited. If you believe the same scripture, there are several rivers, several lakes and a sea all around, and in the middle there is dry land. Moreover, all this is the “circle of the earth”. Flat, with edges, and as if covered with a hemisphere of heaven, on which the luminaries change every now and then, by order of the creator.
Speaking of luminaries. The light appeared on the first day. And the moon and sun are only on the fourth. How did the little god measure the change of time of day? Why is it written “evening and morning” in the story about the first three days?
The Creator creates a wife for a man from a rib. He also instructs the couple not to eat from the same tree in the Garden of Eden. Adam's first wife Lilith completely disappeared from the Bible. But judging by the descriptions in the midrash, she was something like a fertility goddess. And she was very loving, in other words, she fucked with animals and even angels. A similar girl is depicted in the Sumerian text “Gilgamesh and the Willow” under the name Lilleik. The subsequent text is extremely similar to the Sumerian epic of Gilgamesh. Also created from clay; however, the myth about the creation of man from clay or dust was very common in all the lands of the Middle East. The story of Gilgamesh is also older than the Bible. The noble savage from this text does not hesitate to copulate with animals and seeks the herb of immortality. The essence of the myth of the Fall has an ancient composition. A serious theological problem faced the writers, because it was necessary to show that sin and evil are inherent in man. But he was created in the image and likeness of the most beautiful god. However, we got out of it. The wife was seduced by a cunning serpent, who persuaded her to eat from the forbidden tree and give the fruit to her husband. Like, nothing will happen, and you yourself will become like full-fledged gods.
God walks through the garden, not otherwise than with his feet. And Adam and Eve, realizing that they were naked, were hiding behind the trees from the face of the Almighty. I would like to immediately note that at the beginning of the Bible very often the deity has anthropomorphic descriptions. Not finding the first people, the deity says: “Where are you?” This all-seeing and all-powerful God cannot find a half-naked man and woman. As a result, he finds out through questioning what happened, this is all-seeing and all-powerful, don’t forget. Angry. Expels Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, makes them mortal and gives them fertility. In addition, he makes sure that the woman gives birth in agony. Although a woman would give birth in pain even without special instructions from above, but oh well. And the snake loses its legs and orders it to crawl on its belly. Although why he is angry is unclear, because he is omnipotent and omniscient and clearly foresaw further events. Or it turns out that nothing in the world depends on it, and after its creation it can only intervene locally. This only makes it obvious that the idea of ​​an omnipotent creator deity was attached much later to more ancient myths. This will be discussed in more detail later.

Cain and Abel

Eve gave birth to Cain and then Abel. Abel was a cattle breeder, and Cain was a farmer. Both of them offered sacrifice to the deity. However, Cain's sacrifice (fruits) was ignored. But Abel’s sacrifice (the lamb) made him happy. After which the little god, in a mocking tone, asks him why he hung his nose. A couple of lines later, Cain, without thinking for a long time, dunked his brother in the field. Again the all-knowing one asks the unfortunate killer where is your brother. Although he immediately answers that he knows everything. And in the end he drives Cain somewhere east of Eden. “And Cain said to God: My punishment is greater than to endure; Behold, you are now driving me off the face of the earth, and I will hide from your presence, and I will be an exile and a wanderer on the earth; and whoever meets me will kill me.” How does he leave the earth and intend to wander on it at the same time? How can he hide from the all-seeing creator of the world? And who will kill him if at that moment there are at most 5 people living on earth? And those are his close relatives.
Then it is completely unclear where all future people take their wives. God created only Eve, and the birth of some other ladies is not described in the Bible. Women in general, as inferior sinful creatures, are not particularly willing to be mentioned. And even more so in pedigrees. Of course, the commentaries and midrashim explain that Adam and Eve also had daughters. In general, at an early stage, humanity suffered from forced incest. The meager minds of writers and future interpreters could not come up with other options.
Over time, people have multiplied considerably. Their lifespan was very long, sometimes hundreds of years. Half-page descriptions of genealogies look very comical, in which the following is continuously written: “Seth lived one hundred and five years, and begat Enos.” So it turns out that they either gave birth without the participation of women, or reproduced by division and budding.

And so women are finally mentioned, but only as some beauties seducing either angels or demons, from whose unequal connections giants were born. And again, God is not happy with what the little people he created are doing. And he decided to exterminate everyone, including animals and birds, what they did wrong is not specified. Apparently it's just too much. Again, the Almighty cannot cope with what is happening and wants to create a cataclysm - to flood the whole world.
But he chooses the righteous Noah and his three sons and tells them to build an ark on which they can be saved.
Parallel to this myth, there were two more of the same myth during this period in the Mediterranean - Greek and Akkadian. The Akkadian myth, which is based on the legend of Gilgamesh, was known among the Sumerians, Hurrians and Hittites. The reason Enlil decided to exterminate humanity was because people forgot to make New Year's sacrifices to him. But Ea warns Utnapishtim that there will soon be a flood. So he builds a cubic ark. When it starts to rain. He and his retinue and animals hide in the ark. And batten down the hatches. The flood continued for six days, even the small gods were so frightened that they flew to the sky and sat quietly like dogs. On the seventh day, the ark floats to Mount Nisir, and Utnapishtim waits another seven days. Then he sends a dove, then he sends a swallow. And at the end there is a crow.
Greek myth says the following: “Angered by the cannibalism of the wicked Pelasgians, Almighty Zeus brought down streams of water onto the earth, intending to drown all of humanity in it. However, Deucalion, king of Phthia, warned by his father, the Titan Prometheus, whom he visited in the Caucasus, built an ark, loaded it with provisions, and then boarded it with his wife Pyrrha, daughter of Epimetheus. Soon the south wind rose and it began to rain. The rivers overflowed their banks, and all the land was flooded. The ark was carried for 9 days. And then he landed on Mount Parnassus, and a dove informed Deucalion about the appearance of land.
There is a slightly more colorful description of the flood from the Talmud: “Water quickly flooded the entire earth. Seven hundred thousand sinners gathered around the ark, begging: “Open the door, Noah, let us in!” And Noah screamed from within: “Didn’t I ask you to repent for a hundred and twenty years, but you didn’t listen to me!” “We repent,” they answered him. "Late!" People tried to break down the door and turn over the ark, but a pack of rejected wolves, lions and bears did not tear hundreds of people to pieces. The rest fled. When the Lower Waters of Tiona rose, the sinners first of all threw children into the rivers, hoping to stop the rising water, while they themselves climbed trees and mountains. The rain threw them down, and soon the rising waters picked up the ark. The waves tossed it from side to side, so that everyone inside resembled pea pods in a boiling pot. They say that the Lord heated the waters of the flood with a flame and punished fiery lust with scalding water, poured fiery rain on sinners and did not stop the crows from pecking out the eyes of those who swam in the streams of water.”
The ship that Noah and his sons built from wood, the gopher, must have been, even by the most conservative estimates, of incredible size. At the same time, like any farmer of those times, he lived in a tent and had not heard of such things as an axe, a saw, a hammer and nails. Let us assume that the instruments were provided to him by the Almighty. But did he have experience as a shipbuilder? It seems that making a huge ship with four people and making it floatable is not an easy task. But let’s say Noah dealt with it too.
But what then to do with the fact that Noah had to select 7 pairs of clean animals and a pair of unclean ones. Despite the fact that the number of living species means, according to the Bible, those that survived the flood is about 5 million. And he had to assemble this menagerie onto a ship that no longer seemed so large in seven days. Of course, no species unknown to the poor authors of the text are mentioned. No kangaroos, koalas, platypuses, lemurs, bison, penguins, skunks or armadillos. This is forgivable for fools living on a flat circle of earth surrounded by an ocean. They had no idea about the existence of America, Madagascar, Antarctica, Australia and other, not even such distant places. I have not yet mentioned insects, crustaceans and other mandavos and worms. Plus, all these species, even if we assume that they were in the ark, then how did they then spread from Mount Ararat across the planet, leaving no traces in other places. Of course, because endemic species formed over millions of years in isolation, and did not ride on the waves with Noah on a boat.
By order of the Lord, Noah also had to stock up on food for all the inhabitants of the ark. There should have been enough food for everyone during the 10-month voyage. Meat for crocodiles, fish for penguins and hay for cows. Etc.
When the ark finally landed on dry land, Noah made a sacrifice to God. He sniffed the burning flesh (with his nose, no less, everyone knows how God loves the smell of burning flesh) and promised not to torment more people. True, it didn’t last long. Very soon the little people decided to build the Tower of Babel, and the Lord confused their languages ​​- because they don’t fuck. Then the deity goes into all sorts of troubles. And almost until the very end he does not stop playing with his loser offspring, like an extravagant sadist who takes pleasure in inventing ever more sophisticated tests, punishments and tortures.

Abraham - the founder of the Jewish people

Again the little people multiplied. Once again we are mired in sins. And this time God has a new favorite - Abraham. He chases him around different lands, sets all kinds of incomprehensible tasks for him, in general, trains him as best he can. His wife Sarah could not conceive children. Then she brought him a slave, Hagar. She bore him a son, Ismail. After which the wife forced Abraham to drive her away with the child.
Abraham constantly tries to slip Sarah himself into a concubine, wherever he happens to be. Even when she was already quite old. After the unfortunate people agreed to take it, God punished them. And Sarah came back. One of the deceived turns out to be Abimelech, who looks quite decent in comparison with God’s chosen Abraham.
The following is a slightly abstract story about Sodom and Gomorrah. IN Once again the omniscient and omnipotent performs strange somersaults. He takes the form of angels to verify rumors about the sinners of Sodom. “The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and their sin is very heavy; I’ll go down and see if they are doing exactly what they are doing, what is the cry against them that rises up to me, or not, I’ll find out.”
Angels came disguised as strangers to Sodom. And Lot invited them, directly begged them, to visit them. Of course, the evil locals wanted to “get to know” the aliens - in other words, fuck them en masse. The perverts gathered around Lot's house and ordered the guests to be handed over. But Lot offered to take his virgin daughters in return. A woman is worth nothing; it is more important to protect the honor of men. But the angels blinded the angry crowd in time, and Lot and his family were ordered to leave the city, and without even looking back. True, his wife did look back when they had already left the city. The Lord, a lover of cataclysms and enchanting punishments, incinerated the sodomites. What was sinful about the fact that she wanted to enjoy watching sinners burn, I never understood, but God turned her into a pillar of salt. What’s more interesting is that those same virgin daughters, under the pretext of procreation, got their father drunk and copulated with him. However, even this incestuous frenzy is not considered sinful. I would like to note that when the biblical text speaks of a person, it means a man. A woman is something at the level of an object.
But let’s return to Abraham, who, according to tradition, is considered the God-chosen ancestor of all Israelites. In her old age, Sarah did give birth. And she gave birth to Isaac. When the boy grew up, God gave a new crazy order to his father - to kill his son on the mountain. Naturally, the wonderful righteous man agreed. How mercifully, at the last moment, when Abraham was about to deal a mortal blow to his child, an angel flew in and held his hand. He passed the test of submission to the Almighty. And he agreed to accept a lamb as a sacrifice instead of a man. Some researchers consider this a kind of transition from the tradition of human sacrifices to the offering of animals.
Sarah died at 127 years old, then Abraham found a wife for his son named Rebekah. Abraham himself died at the age of 175.
Rebekah gave birth to Isaac's twins Jacob and Esau, again after decades of infertility. In his old age, Isaac was almost blind and decided to bequeath all his property to Esau, but Jacob, at his mother’s prompting, deceived him by pretending to be his brother. Why was he expelled? Tests rained down on him, including a fight with an angel in the desert (possibly with the Lord himself, it’s not entirely clear from the text) - a fight in the literal sense, in best traditions gopots. But then he returned, proving that he deserves forgiveness. Jacob had two wives, and they also competed with each other to see who would bear him the most children. And then the incomprehensible “Santa Barbara” continues: sex with slaves, polygamy and so on.

Soon a new favorite of the deity is born - Moses, also known as Moshe Rabbeinu or Musa (among Muslims). Exodus begins with a description of how the people of Israel were brutally oppressed in captivity by the Egyptians. The enslaved tribe suffers, they are forced to build cities of stone, and the poor fellows groan under the blows of the scourge. Moreover, the evil Pharaoh ordered Jewish women to throw their newborns into the river. One of them put her son Moses in a basket and let him swim. And then he was picked up by the pharaoh's daughter. And he was her instead of a son. But soon the blood of real ancestors awakened in him. When he saw an Egyptian beating a Jew, Moses killed the offender. And in order to avoid the wrath of the ruler, he had to flee to the land of Midian. Where he became a cattle breeder and lived with a local priest. There he married Zipporah and she bore him two sons. Much later, Moses would destroy his wife's people, at the whim of God, as usual.
One day, when Moses was tending cattle, God spoke to him from a burning bush. God's new chosen one did not believe in his destiny, after which other miracles were demonstrated to him, such as the transformation of a staff into a snake and back. And great achievements were predicted for him, and it was said that he would become the liberator of the people of Israel.
He returned to the capital together with Aaron, whom God appointed as something of a speechwriter for him. They asked Pharaoh to release the Jews from Egypt into the desert to make sacrifices. But Pharaoh stubbornly refused. Moreover, every time his heart was hardened by God himself. That is, God played his sadistic games with all parties to the conflict at once. The pharaoh must become a toy villain and then the victim of another joke of the deity. This will continue to happen many times in the future. Kings or other enemies of the Israeli people always have a lot of options to resolve the conflict peacefully. But God hardens their hearts. To portray their side as evil. But this is not a conflict of good and evil. This is simply the whim of a deity who is excited by the sight of bloodshed.
But that time something more interesting happened than a banal massacre. Aaron and the Egyptian priests began to compare their magical abilities. As someone spoiled by modern pop culture, I think of wands and striped Hogwarts scarves. The wizards either filled the rivers with blood or sent toads to the country. Moreover, the priests of the pharaoh did not lag behind and easily repeated these spells. True, it is unclear how they distinguished, whose toad was where, they probably had different colors, like the jerseys of basketball players, only without sponsor labels. In any case, the next day the unfortunate amphibians died, “and they were gathered into heaps, and the earth stank.”
As a result, God himself intervened and carried out the Egyptian executions. He sent flies, pestilence, locusts, hail and the list goes on. It’s really strange, after the fifth plague - the pestilence - from which “all the cattle of Egypt died out.” We read about the seventh plague: “a very strong hailstorm” struck everything “from man to beast.” The cattle are already dead. Or did he rise again to die again?
The last execution was the extermination of all babies in Egypt. The Lord ordered the Jews to mark houses with the blood of sacrificial animals that should not be touched. Again, it is unclear why he, the omnipotent and omniscient, needs any human notes. In short, he killed the Egyptian firstborn. In honor of this event, Passover, or in our opinion Easter, is celebrated.
The intimidated Pharaoh allowed the Jews to leave, if only this **** would stop. Again, the just, kind and honest God gives good advice to their beloved tribe when they are about to leave: “You will not go empty-handed: every woman will beg from her neighbor and from the woman who lives in her house for silver and gold and clothing, and you will dress your sons and your daughters with them, and you will Egyptians."
What follows is the well-known fantastic story of persecution and parting of the sea, but there is nothing interesting about it. It is much more interesting that the author (or authors, although traditionally the authorship of these texts is attributed to Moses himself) of the Exodus has very vague ideas about Egypt. Most likely, the one who wrote this text knew about the empire from the banks of the Nile by hearsay. He calls the entire Egyptian elite pharaohs indiscriminately. Gives a bunch of unverifiable information and nothing concrete. It is not surprising that Israeli archaeologists, no matter how much they searched, found only confirmation of the obvious fact - the story of the exodus is a fiction, like most texts in the Bible. These stories are not confirmed by Egyptian chronicles. Agree, it is doubtful that the ancient chroniclers did not notice the great executions of the Almighty. It’s just that the Egyptians were not at all interested in the pitiful nomadic tribe.
During the Exodus, Moses dragged his people through the desert for 40 years. Probably got lost in three palm trees; Susanin would have envied such skills as a guide. In the desert they met other tribes, which they began to exterminate. There was nothing to eat there, so God poured mysterious cereals onto the ground - manna from heaven. And then fried quail. So they ate porridge and quail.
After three months of wandering, God handed Moses tablets with laws on Mount Sinai. But while the deity was describing how to build the Ark of the Covenant out of gold, Aaron and the rest of his fellow tribesmen got bored and created a golden calf for themselves. Having descended, Moses was so surprised that he dropped the tablets - then he was given others, albeit with different rules. For worshiping the idol, Moses gave the order to the sons of the Levi family to take swords and kill their neighbors. Several hundred people were slaughtered in this way. “He who sacrifices to gods except the Lord alone shall be destroyed.”
What instructions did God give when concluding the covenant with Moses? Quite banal, don’t kill and don’t steal, and they didn’t mean all people, but only fellow tribesmen. Other instructions include: rules for buying and selling slaves, how to properly sell your daughters, and a bunch of petty agricultural regulations about oxen addressed to cattle breeders, for whom the entire text was written. The famous “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” And the phrase, thanks to which inquisitors could exterminate the innocent in the Middle Ages: “Do not leave the sorcerers alive.” It turns out that these superstitious fanatics simultaneously believed in damage and the evil eye, and not just in divine miracles.
It also talks about circumcision. Yes, circumcision is mandatory for anyone who honors the Biblical text, it is prescribed from above and there were no overriding instructions. And for this to be done correctly, it must be done by the Mohel, whose responsibilities include not only removing the foreskin. He is obliged to suck the blood coming out of the baby’s genitals with his mouth. Cases where elderly men sucking infant pussies infected children with diseases, sometimes fatal, are not uncommon in our time.
Well, the covenant about greed prohibits coveting your neighbor’s things. And among other things, after the house and cattle, the wife is called in the list. Which indicates the position of women in that society.
God ends by threatening punishment for those who disobey. One of the terrible punishments is hemorrhoids. In general, no special laws were given that would distinguish the Jewish people from the most savage tribes for the better.

The book of Leviticus, referred to by Talmudists as the “Holy Rule”, consists almost entirely of instructions on sacrifices, instructions for clergy and prohibitions. And also some instructions on how to make food kosher. Food bans are especially funny. It follows from them that God does not like pork meat and shellfish - accordingly, he forbids eating them, without explanation, it’s simply not possible, that’s all. The creator of the universe really likes to be petty, he cares about what you eat. Don't eat ham and oysters! What follows are many “compelling” reasons for the death penalty. For example, those caught in bestiality should be killed, and cattle should also be killed. Although it remains unclear what the animal did wrong. She was probably a depraved little goat or lamb, making eyes at her shepherd. Homosexuals should be killed in the same way. I’ll keep quiet about those who decide to do something on Saturday. To clarify, the Bible even contains a description of the case of a peasant who collected brushwood on the Sabbath - for which he was subsequently executed outside the camp by his fellow tribesmen.
Sometimes the prohibitions are so outlandish that one can imagine what kind of morals reigned in this tribe. Especially if people had to be ordered from above, and even on pain of death, not to **** cattle.
It is also worth mentioning the idiotic classifications of animal data there. For example, the hare is classified as a ruminant along with goats and cows. And the bat, according to the authors, is a bird.

Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy is like Moses' farewell speech before his death. He, who never entered the Promised Land, appoints Joshua as his successor and goes to the mountain, from which he surveys the lands of Israel and dies. This book describes the events of the exodus and wandering through the desert from a different perspective, it is more detailed and adult. Later I will analyze in detail why this happened.
For example, this is how Moses describes his passage through the lands of Heshbon. He asked King Sigon to let the army through, but he refused (again embittered by the deity). Of course, God gave the command to kill everyone. After all, genocide turns him on even more than cataclysms. Further quote: “The Lord, our god, gave him into our hands: we killed him and his sons, killed his entire army. At that time, we captured all his cities and put them under spell - we destroyed them. In these cities we exterminated men, women, and children, every last one.”
Well done, there is something to be proud of. Naturally, these nonsense do not find any confirmation. Modern preachers love to justify these mythical massacres. Allegedly, wicked people, adulterers and other homosexuals lived in those lands. But this is a complete fabrication. The Bible says nothing bad about 90 percent of the supposedly exterminated nations. It was necessary to kill them in the name of God. Sacrifice.

Joshua

After the death of Moses, the little god helps Joshua. Who lived 110 years and did a lot during this time. Thanks to his epic activities, we can see how the herem rule is formed. Yahweh says: “You will destroy all the nations that the LORD your god will deliver into your hand; you must not feel sorry for them.” The Almighty loudly proclaims: “My arrows will be drunk with blood, my sword will devour flesh.” Naturally, this is followed by a series of genocides, and there seems to be no end to this bloodbath. So what is the herem rule? Roughly speaking, the cities of other nations fall under a spell by order from above. God wants every living and breathing thing in those cities to be destroyed. No mercy. Men, women, children and even livestock are killed as a sacrifice to God. Of course, there are connotations in translations - like “completely destroyed.” But the word herem means precisely the complete extermination of all living things, without poetic meaning, only literally. Joshua executes captives, although there are exceptions when he takes livestock for himself. And sometimes he leaves women alive, but only so that they become sexual slaves. But the herem rule does not give the vanquished a chance - they cannot surrender, become slaves, accept the faith of the winner, or be expelled. They must be exterminated. The extermination of peoples is considered a sacred act performed in the name of God. And the one who does this is a hero. It's amazing how you can simultaneously hate Hitler for the Holocaust and praise Joshua. But you are surprised until you understand that the authority of Holy Scripture turns even genocide into a noble and righteous deed in the eyes of believers. Maybe they are still aware that they are reading a collection of fairy tales that have nothing to do with historical chronicles.
By the way, during the glorious battles of Joshua, many miracles occur. For example, the walls of the city of Jericho are destroyed by the sound of trumpets. But the most funny moment is when God extended the day so that Jesus could slaughter all the enemies on the battlefield. To the wise writers of that time, the sun seemed to be nothing more than a light bulb on the sphere of the sky. In fact, to extend the day, the earth's rotation would have to stop. If this happened, then everything unsecured would continue to move at the same speed. I can just imagine bearded men waving swords, flying into low-Earth orbit at a speed of about 1770 km per hour.
Joshua served his master faithfully. He destroyed cities and destroyed peoples without a trace. Although later in the Bible there are all those peoples that he allegedly exterminated. To quote history and religious studies professor Phillip Jenkins: “For example, the Book of Judges, which describes later events, claims that the same ethnic groups that Joshua supposedly exterminated are again hindering Israel and are unconquered. Back in the 18th century, the English skeptic Thomas Woolston, in this regard, noted: “Either the story of the Book of Judges or the story of the Book of Joshua is entirely false.”
As a more modern skeptic, I would like to note that both books are false.

David and Solomon

Then the Bible becomes unbearably boring (although even before that it was not fun, but at least the fairy-tale atmosphere brightened up the general misery). Because the events described in it are getting closer to our time, it is becoming more difficult for the authors to lie.
But what is most repulsive are the huge genealogies that do not carry any meaning, such as, for example, in the first book of Chronicles - as many as nine chapters, just a list of names.
Of course, the text continues to be full of exaggerations and fantasies. But still, the events described there have, albeit distantly, a relationship to history.
Only a few important figures are worth mentioning. David and his son Solomon - albeit overgrown with myths, but probably existed personalities.
One could tell how the young David defeated the strong man Goliath, one could describe how he fought as a partisan when he grew up. Much more important are the reforms he undertook, both governmental and religious, when he came to power. We can say that David is the first king of the full-fledged united lands of Israel.
So he placed the Ark of the Covenant in the Tabernacle on Mount Zion, making that place a center of worship and pilgrimage. Under him, worship services became more musical; according to legend, he himself was a poet and composed psalms praising Yahweh.
David included priests in the state apparatus, appointing scribes and judges. Secularization is for suckers; real machos listen to the opinions of bearded Levites in everything. He also wanted to build a Temple in which the Ark of the Covenant would be kept. He prepared Construction Materials and plans, provided his heir with the means to implement this grandiose plan. He himself was not allowed to begin construction because he had shed too much blood. You cannot please a capricious deity. Either kill more, or kill too much.
David died at the age of 70. The years of life in the Bible become more realistic.

The image of Solomon is so embellished that it is difficult to discern a historical figure behind all this brilliance. He is called the wisest and most talented. They say he could talk to animals. He is credited with authoring the Book of Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs, the Book of Proverbs, and many psalms. For later periods Jewish history (the unfortunate people of Israel will again be enslaved and tortured by foreigners) the kingdom of Solomon is better times. The storytellers endow Solomon with fantastic treasures and a huge harem. In general, if someone hasn’t understood yet, Solomon was the coolest of all, something between Batman and Superman. True, apart from the Bible, there is no historical evidence of the existence of such a magnificent king in those lands. But still, based on indirect evidence, it can be assumed that there was some historical figure, a certain king, during whose reign the Temple was erected, later destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar II.
If you believe some factual passages from the Bible and Josephus, who describes many events hundreds of years after they happened, Solomon was not that smart. High costs the construction of the Temple and the palace depleted the treasury. Under Solomon, uprisings of the peoples allegedly exterminated by Moses and Joshua began. And immediately after his death, the state was divided in half into Judea and Israel.

Ezra and Nehemiah

As I said earlier, the Jewish people were re-enslaved by their more powerful neighbors. This time by the Persian Empire. Therefore, the text is full of lamentations. Something like this: Dear God, why did you punish us like that? The writers come to the conclusion that this is a punishment for indulging in polytheism, because Solomon built an altar for each of his foreign wives - and there were hundreds of them.
The next truly important figures in the biblical text are the governors of the province of Judah, Ezra and Nehemiah.
But first it is worth mentioning King Josiah, who is extolled and set as an example by these figures. Josiah is a reformer who centralizes the worship of God in Jerusalem. He destroyed the sacred images of the Gentiles, killed the priests right on the altars, and burned their bones on the altars as an offering to his god. In general, he behaved like a typical religious terrorist. About the same level as the Taliban blowing up Buddha statues.
Ezra and Nehemiah clearly already existed. And their actions have a real basis. They actually created a revolution. Because Ezra's efforts helped give the Jewish religion a form that was to define it for centuries to come, he can be called the father of Judaism, that is, the specific form of Jewish religion that emerged after the Babylonian captivity.
Josephus describes Ezra as a personal friend of the Persian king Xerxes. This Jewish high priest, returning from Babylon, successfully recreated the Jewish government structure based on Torah laws. In everything alien to his people, he saw an abomination. In his native land, he sees that the people do not support the sacred alienation from the goyim. Men take foreign women as wives. Ezra was angry and gathered the community. He read to them new law; It is now unknown what exactly he read. But most likely it was something between the laws of Moses and the Persian jurisprudence of those years.
First of all, Ezra ordered the expulsion of all foreign wives and children with mixed blood. Well, at least not to kill and sacrifice to God - and that’s fine. Ezra developed a spiritual discipline based on the sacred texts of the Torah. Around this time, Deuteronomy was “accidentally discovered,” suspiciously clearly supporting all the theses of the reformers. Deuteronomy was immediately attributed to Moses and included among the sacred texts. This is how the Pentateuch came into being. The Torah could be simply read, but then it was confusing and indigestible. Therefore, they began to read it in the context of rituals that separated listeners from everyday life. At this point the text became sacred scripture. The religion known as Judaism was born.
Any modern believer who adheres to laws addressed to Bronze Age herders from a semi-desert region seems at least strange. If a modern Jew can at least somehow relate to them, on a national basis, for example. Any European or American leaves me bewildered. It is clearly written that God is the Jewish God, and all other nations are enemies and villains.

Book of Esther

Yahweh appears with enviable consistency at the beginning of the book, but then he does this less and less. He no longer wanders, no longer sniffs, no longer condescends to visit sinners. His image is becoming more and more hidden. He doesn't attract attention. And in the last book of the Hebrew Bible, the Book of Esther, it is never mentioned at all. By the way, this book is one of the bloodiest. Of course, it traditionally does not correspond to historical reality and what is described in it did not happen, but it is still worth telling.
The villain Haman plotted against the Jewish people. Then he was found out and hanged, all his people were exterminated, and without instructions from above. Simply out of revenge, they “killed seventy-five thousand of their enemies,” who were unlikely to plot against the Israelis. “It was the thirteenth of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth they rested—they had a day of feasting and joy.” Now it is called the holiday of Purim.

It is worth talking about several books that seriously stand out from the rest of the biblical text. Additional writings consisting of sermons, poems, proverbs, psalms. It is almost impossible to associate them with any specific events or authors. These texts have been accumulated for many hundreds of years and were added by the compilers of the sacred text for no apparent reason.

The Psalter is a collection of songs praising God, which should be sung on certain holidays. Written in the tradition of Jewish poetry. However, the psalms don’t stand out that much if you look closely. For example, in 136, a resentful enslaved Israelite dreams of the return of the former greatness of Jerusalem, sitting on the bank of a river, somewhere in the Babylonian lands. And he exclaims vengefully: “Blessed is he who takes and dashes your [Babylonian] babies against a stone!”
In any case, the most beautiful parts of the Bible are Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs. The book of Ecclesiastes is a unique phenomenon in the Bible, noticeably different from other books included in the canon. It even contradicts the Torah in places and is filled with atypical cynicism and worldly wisdom. For example, about slaves. For the Bible and texts based on it, slavery is the norm. Thus, Ecclesiastes says that slaves must be beaten if they do not obey their master. But beat in moderation, otherwise a dead slave is useless.
And the Song of Songs is an erotic poem. There are few texts in world literature that can compare with this work, glorifying the bodily beauty of a woman. An expression combining singular and plural of the same noun is characteristic of the Hebrew language and usually means the superlative degree of the concept (Holy of Holies, vanity of vanities). “Song of Songs” means the best of songs.

This story is based on memories of his childhood, family and people around him at that time. The actions described in it take place in the middle of the 19th century. Below is Tolstoy's story “Childhood”, a brief summary.

In contact with

Chapters I to IV (Teacher Karl Ivanovich, maman, dad, classes)

1. Nikolenka, who turned 10 three days ago, and his brother were raised and taught science by Karl Ivanovich . The boy loved his teacher, although this morning Karl Ivanovich angered him. The teacher also loved his students, but while in the classroom, he tried to be strict. Karl Ivanovich loved to read a lot, because of this he even ruined his eyesight. Having waited for the boys to take their morning toilet, he took them to greet their mother.
2. In his story, Tolstoy very much regrets that he cannot remember in detail his mother of those times. He remembered only her brown eyes and dry hands with which she caressed Nikolenka as a child. After greeting the children, mom sent them to dad to tell him to come to her.
3. Dad had a serious conversation with the clerk, so he asked to wait a little. After saying hello, dad told the boys his plan, who leaves for Moscow at night and takes them with him for more serious studies. Contrary to Nikolenka’s expectations, dad then sent them to classes with Karl Ivanovich, promising to take the boys hunting later.
4. Karl Ivanovich was very upset by the resignation he received, due to the departure of his charges. He constantly complained to Uncle Nikolai about his future fate. It seemed to Nikolenka that lessons would never end that day, but then steps were heard on the stairs.

Chapters V to VIII (The Holy Fool, preparations for the hunt, hunting, games)

Chapters IX to XII (Something like first love. What kind of person was my father? Classes in the office and living room. Grisha)

1. The game immediately stopped after Nikolinka’s sister, Lyubochka, tore the worm along with the leaf from the tree. The children began to watch the worm, and Nikolenka liked to look more at Katenka (the daughter of the governess Lyubochka Mimi). He always liked her, but now he realized that he loved her even more. At this time, the boys' father announced that, at the mother's request, the departure was postponed until the morning.
2. In chapter X of his story Tolstoy discusses the character of his father. He characterizes his parent as a self-confident, enterprising person, with shades of courtesy and revelry. His favorite pastime was playing cards, and he also loved women. His father was a happy man, Tolstoy believed. He loved to be in public and was able to tell all sorts of stories in a very interesting and interesting way.
3. When we returned home from hunting, dad, after talking with Karl Ivanovich, decided to take him with him to Moscow. Maman approved of this news, saying that the children would be better off with him, and they were used to each other. Just before going to bed, the children decided to look at the chains of Grisha, who spent the night on the second floor.
4. Watching Grisha pray before going to bed made such an impression on the boy that Tolstoy writes about the impossibility of forgetting these feelings for the rest of his life.

Chapters XIII to XVI (Natalia Savishna, separation, childhood, poetry)

Chapters XVII to XX (Princess Kornakova, Prince Ivan Ivanovich, Ivins, guests are gathering)

1. Then the grandmother received Princess Kornakova with her congratulations. They had a conversation about methods of raising children. The princess welcomed corporal punishment in education. Nikolenka thought it was good that he was not her son.
2. There were a lot of guests with congratulations that day. But Nikolenka was struck by one of them - this is Prince Ivan Ivanovich. He looked at the prince with admiration and respect. He liked that his grandmother was happy about the appearance of the prince. After listening to the boy’s poems, he praised him and said that he would be a different Derzhavin.
3. Next, Ivina’s relatives came. They had a son, Seryozha, who Nikolenka really liked. He sometimes even tried to imitate him. The children began to play their favorite game - robbers.
4. Meanwhile, guests began to gather in the living room and hall. Among them was Mrs. Valakhina with her daughter Sonechka. Nikolenka was not indifferent to Sonechka and she occupied all his attention.